It was quiet, the cubs all fast asleep in little piles of colourful fur. A few of them made tiny sounds in their sleep, little meeps and chirrups that barely disturbed the stillness of the cave. One or two moved every so often, tails curling as they raced through some imagined dream landscape, tows twitched with memories of play. But one pile of cubs held her attention, just as they did most nights.
The little huddle were all curled up together, yet there was a different quality to their sleep, a little more restless, a little less innocent.... no one would ever notice unless they knew the cubs in question well or at least observed them each night for the majority of their still young lives. Yet Tahirah had been doing just that, almost since the day they first arrived in her paws, given over by their mother as was pride tradition, to be cared for and taught until they were old enough to be allowed back into the pride on their own.
Sighing silently she stood and padded over. She was never entirely sure if she should wake them, or let them dream their unusual dreams. But she was sure at least one of them would wake this night, needing her gentle reassurance to chase whatever demons away that haunted them. They were so young.. too young, and so very fragile, she feared that this constant nightly onslaught would be too much for them, but there was nothing she could do, only be there to sooth away the fears and lick away the tears. To offer soft words of reassurance and a warm embrace to sooth them. But none of those things helped her and each night it came down to this... watching them as they twisted and turned among their siblings, tiny sounds escaping every so often that held none of the innocence of the other cubs but spoke of something darker, far more real...
Biting her lip as one of the cubs whimpered, she very carefully stretched her slender body across the ground and gently curled up around the cub-pile, nosing one closer and into her paws as she settled them with the careful and experienced touch of a nanny. Once they were all settled, curled up against her and each other, one cradled between her forelegs, she closed her eyes and, just a she did every night, silently whispered a prayer to the heavens. Couldn’t they just be like the rest? Why did whatever it was that plagued their sleep return night after night....
Tahirah was not stupid, she knew the gods existed and that sometimes they came down and bred with mortals, that much was legend and told in nearly all the Old Stories... but surely the gods weren’t so cruel as to inflict the curse, or whatever it was that always prevailed in the tales... these cubs were young and innocent, no matter their blood or birthright, and they certainly didn’t deserve nightly terrors from such a thing. Had he been a lioness of a more hot-blooded nature she would have been angry at those great celestial beings... but she could not, for her heart was filled only with gentle wonder and a great love for all things. She was almost as innocent as the cubs she protected and cared for though she herself would never suspect it. She was a romantic and a dreamer, one who dreamed of the perfect life of love, laughter and happiness. And it was that world that she strived for, hoping, wishing, to give the cubs she raised the best possible life once they left her paws. She wasn’t naive however, or stupid, she was a very skilled tutor, part historian, part storyteller and part playful cub herself. She filled the days with lessons that were disguised in play, and story times were filled with the pride’s history, told with an amusing skill at manipulating her voice to imitate whatever character she spoke about. She taught the cubs their history and to be proud of it, she taught them the errors of their forefathers so that they might learn from them. She instilled in them a pride for their homeland and an understanding of their own station in the world.
Humble and giving Tahirah did her best to ready the cubs for their adult life, but for the first time, she was stumped by how to deal with this new challenge... How did one combat nightmares with stories? Terrified cubs whose only desire was for the nightmares to stop? She offered comfort and unconditional love but some nights it just didn’t seem like enough. One of the youngsters squirmed, kicking out at his siblings and making them mewl in protest though thankfully no one woke. Leaning over she gently scooped the cub up and settled him in her paws, the first cub having crawled and squirmed his way over to his siblings during her silent vigil. Licking his curly tuft gently she tried to sooth the dreams away and allow him to sleep, and to her relief it seemed to work for he quieted and calmed down, curling up in a tight little ball against her chest. Holding back a worried sigh she lowered her head, dark eyes watching the cubs with a worried expression.
It was full dark now, night slowly rolling past, brining that peculiar time when all was quiet and yet the world was alive with the smallest sounds as small nocturnal creatures woke and started to forage and socialize. This was the world few others saw, but it was one Tahirah knew well. How many nights had she stayed awake, comforting her charges, watching over them, protecting them.... Yet she had never regretted her choice, to become a nanny had been her goal in life and she loved every minute of it, the only times she wished she was more, somehow better equipped to deal with it, was these times... when the moon shone full and the lands lay still, but demons plagued the cubs dreams and tere was absolutely nothing she could do to help...
word count = 1,022
