Pregante

[Boso]

Boso looked blank. "Oh," he said. He had made an assumption without really thinking about it, and ended up looking like a complete buffoon in front of everyone. As the deer's cheeks began to burn, another mystery occurred to him: "Well, if it's not you, then who...?" 

Boso squirmed as Shani began to giggle and looked as petulant as a two-point deer could look. He flicked his tail. "It's not funny," he pouted, looking away.

The bushes shook. The metallic tang of blood loomed like a shadow. Boso backed up until his haunches were against a tree. He dug in and lowered his antlers on instinct. "Come out," he commanded, the words tumbling over themselves. "Or I'll give you what for!"

The leaves parted.

Boso stopped suddenly and pulled back. "No," he gasped, drawing in his breath sharply. He hardly dared to breathe, as if what he was seeing was a ghost. Then he realized that this was no ghost at all, but blood and flesh as real as the grass and the trees and the mountains. 

"...Dad."

[Nevada]

Ears perked forward immediately as Boso's body language turned from petulant to defensive, eyes swiftly turning to the bushes as they quivered and the heavy scent of blood hit Nevada's nose like a wave crashing against the shore.

In an instant, the Shifter was on his paws and darting forwards to put himself between Shani and whatever was approaching, lips curled back to show his fangs, prepared to attack whatever pushed through the bushes if it posed a threat to what was left of his small family.


The leaves parting had every muscle in Nevada tensing in preparation to leap forward and attack if necessary but the moment he laid eyes upon the mate he had seen vanish beneath the crumbled ruins of Pride Rock he froze, eyes widening in disbelief. Ears flicked back against his skull and his tail tucked between his legs as Nevada stood trembling in terror.


"N..no-- you... You're supposed to be dead... You're not real--"


Claws dug into the soft ground beneath him as an unfamiliar and uncontrollable rage bubbled up within his chest, emerald-green eyes flickering momentarily to a piercing golden hue as another side of Nevada rose up and tried to claim control for the first time in decades before Nevada forced himself to turn and bolt away from the gathering as quickly as he could.

[Kiara]

"I -- well -- does it matter --??" Kiara's tail lashed in discomfort at Boso's question. If she wasn't the 'father', who was? And like she'd said, did it really matter? Perhaps it would, perhaps it wouldn't. Partially it depended on the timing... Whether Shani had gone looking elsewhere for something that Kiara hadn't been able to give her.

That thought offered no small bit of bothering to the young shifter.

Thoughts aside she moved forward, one paw resting on Shani's as she sat beside the smaller feline in solidarity. Questions could come later -- some in private as they ought to be. For now Kiara set her task to support Shani. "They're Shani's cubs, so -- so, if there's no dad, they're mine." Her words had been a little halting, and Kiara's tone was a bit unsure as she looked to Shani for confirmation. Was that what Shani wanted? "Right?"

Talk died for a moment as Boso shifted his attention outside of the group, his gaze drawing the rest to notice the telltale rustlings of an encroacher. The paw resting on Shani's tensed as Kiara stiffened, the tips of her claws slipping from their sheaths as she waited to see who and what had come to interrupt this family meeting.

Only... It was just more family.

It felt like a kick to the gut. Seeing the dark shape materialize between the shadows, his form broken up by stripes and smudged lines beneath the dappled light of the canopy. The tiger who'd killed her father. The tiger who'd saved her life.

The tiger who was her father.

Kiara gripped at Shani's paw desperately as though to anchor herself as she sucked air into her lungs, as though by bringing in enough she could suffocate the fires of emotion rising within. So much warred within her: grief, panic, anger, relief -- all the things she'd tried to deal with one at a time the past few months, crashing upon her all at once with the appearance of the one who'd set in motion her entire existence.

If there was one word to sum up the expression on Kiara's face it was overwhelmed. Eyes wide, muzzle parted and panting, tears dropping freely as her body sought some physical way to release the battle within.

And a hoarse, shaking whisper.

_"Jasper."

[Shani]

~End of thread~