His parents weren't far away, in fact, it was very rare that Xenon at the very least wasn't nearby. He'd always been disrespectful towards the rules of the nursery and as such, his father had always made a deliberate point of bringing as many children as he could out with him each day. It enabled them to explore and ensured that they wouldn't be completely and utterly naive to the world around them. It was for this reason that Euphrates found himself on the beach and more importantly, he had been permitted to explore.
Provided he stay within a visible distance of his father (who was reclining comfortable on a set of boulders) he could wander here and there without any further issue. Over the course of the last few months Euphrates had started to gain his bearings around here and the once shy seer was now of the mindset that every hour of freedom was to be embraced. His father had spoiled him in this respect, he and his siblings had been granted far more opportunities to explore and as a result, the nursery had a way of feeling just a tad small and suffocating.
Thus, the cub didn't hesitate as he bounded forward, weaving in and out of the tall (but rough) dune grasses as he went. He had no particular direction or site in mind as he wandered, only that he would permit his paws to guide him and adapt based on wherever they took him.
Alas... 'wherever they took him' happened to be smack bang into the furry stomach of a passing feline - suffice to say that he hadn't been looking where he was going.
"Oh!" he squeaked, falling back onto his rumps as he turned his gaze up towards the adult. He was expecting to be greeted by a stern expression, but instead, he was greeted by the curious gaze of an otherwise benevolent lioness. For a brief moment he was mesmerised, more so by the colour of her eyes and the manner in which they had glazed over. They did the same thing his did whenever he had strange 'dreams'. Arimathras had said not to worry about them, but even then, some of them were a little scary...
"You have quite the tackle," she spoke at last as her vision cleared, a smile lining her lips as she took a moment to confirm that the cub was intact. "I suspect you will make a very good guard some day," she added after a few moments, chuckling softly as he pulled a face. Evidently the cub had no inclination to be a guard, but even then she knew this, there was something else within his future and she had seen it. He wasn't destined for tragedy, but someone close to him was.
Well 'tragedy', she wasn't always sure of how accurate that was and for once, she hoped it was incorrect.
"I don't want to be a guard," Euphrates announced and glanced over his shoulder towards his father. "I want to be like daddy!"
"Oh?" Chessa's brow raised as she waited for the cub to elaborate. Usually cubs within prides aspired to the more heroic line of work, it was refreshing to hear that this particular male had other ideas.
"Mhm, he's a Mshauri - usually you gotta be old to be like him but," he paused briefly and shuffled his paws, perhaps in embarassment but for the time being, Chessa withheld her judgement. "But they say I'm special because I have strange dreams and 'cause of those dreams I can be a Mshauri to!" he explained, wincing slightly as Chessa's brow furrowed and her lips parted.
"So you are a Seer?" Chessa stated curiously, it was phrased as a question but she already knew the answer.
"I have strange dreams," he confirmed and then shook his head. "I had a dream once that came true and then it happened again, but none of them were bad so it was okay, you know?"
"I know," Chessa chuckled and pointed to herself. "I can do the same," she confessed, her smile deepening as the little cubs jaw dropped. If he didn't close his mouth soon she may have to do it for him, then again she supposed he could be forgiven, how many seers could he possibly be aware of?
"Really, don't the dreams scare you?"
"When I was little they did," she replied gently and lowered herself to the ground so that she was at his height. He in return, took a seat beside her while she spoke. "But then I realised that even though I sometimes saw bad things, I could use what I saw to help others," she explained. Admittedly, everything she saw was 'bad' but the cub didn't need to know this, every individual seer was different...hell, some of them didn't even know they were seers! "You see whenever I saw something bad it meant that I could warn them to be careful, it gave them a second chance."
"Did they take it?" Euphrates asked hesitantly and she paused, slowly shaking her head.
"Sometimes they did and they ended up better off, other times they discarded what was said as ridiculous and ended up getting hurt. Not everyone is receptive to our gifts but that doesn't ever mean we should be scared of them ourselves," she pointed out. It was then that she watched him hesitant, fight with himself and then shake his head. Whatever was bothering him was clearly significant.
"I saw one of my friends drown," he said quietly. "My cousin..."
"Pink?" Chessa enquired and he stared at her abruptly, his lips once again parting.
"How...?"
"Like you, I can see certain things," she replied and lifted a paw to nudge at his cheek. "Have you told her?" she asked at last and he shook his head. Suffice to say that she wasn't surprised by this in the slightest, it was an awkward conversation to have as an adult, let alone a child.
"I don't know how, she'd probably just laugh," he murmured, releasing a sigh which the older lioness soon echoed. She appreciated his sentiment and the issues that he was bound to encounter regardless of how he approached the situation. It was a fairly miserable state of affairs but Chessa knew the importance of honesty, if he didn't say it then he might live to regret it as he would know that he may have been able to change something.
"If something happened to her and you never had the chance to warn her, how would you feel?" she asked after a few moments and grimaced. "What if you missed out on giving her that second chance?" she persisted and shook her head. It was something for him to consider and she leant forward. "You know, when I tell others what I see they usually scoff but deep down they're grateful whenever they finally see what I did... if they hadn't known, they might never live to tell the tale."
"Hard as it might be, there are some things you must tell those you care about, otherwise you might never forgive yourself and I can promise you that from experience."
"So you didn't tell some of those you knew?" Euphrates hesitated and she nodded slowly.
"Because I was frightened, just like you," she confessed and then, she smiled, electing to lighten the mood. While it was important for the cub to appreciate his gifts and take responsibility for them, that didn't mean that everything was doom and gloom. "But I grew strong and so will you, you just have to find that inner courage deep down... when you do, you'll never look back and your gifts will be stronger for it too!"
"Like yours?"
"Damn straight," Chessa confirmed and winked. "Although I suspect yours might be more fun than mine is," she mused and waved him closer. "Can you keep a secret?" she whispered and he nodded enthusiastically, secrets were something he was very good at. "If I didn't have these gifts, I wouldn't have as many stories to tell, at least...not heroic ones."
"Really?"
"Mhm, you'd never guess I played a part in a civil war, would you?"
"No!" Euphrates exclaimed, clearly intrigued by what the story entailed, and not to disappoint, the lioness elected to tell him...
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