'It has been so long since I have seen them.' She said, her voice delicate and soft. 'They must hate me so much since I've left them. Their father, he is a good lion. I know he did a good job raising them. I just worry that if I do see them again they will want nothing to do with me.'

Vasuki opened his eyes and looked around to see if anyone was there. It was still dark outside the den. There wasn't anyone around. He took a deep breath in. He thought that maybe she was here. But he should have known better. Usually her heard her voice in the day, though it was easy to confuse it with the wind by how quiet it was. At night, he could usually make out what she was saying.

Slowly he got up, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. His mother had been on his might lately.

He wandered around the dens, hoping to run into one of his siblings. It was hard to hear as he still heard the murmurs of his mother's voice.

“Vas, is that you?”

He turned around and saw Chusi. His tired eyes seemed to light up when he saw her. She hurried over to him.

“What's the matter Vas? You are never up this early. Are you still feeling ill?” Chusi asked, looking for any sign of sickness. She stepped away when she found nothing.

He shook his head. “Having trouble sleeping. I thought maybe a walk would do me some good. I was actually hoping to run into someone. Glad it was you.” He said.

Chusi could guess what was troubling her brother. He had been 'gifted' with the ability to hear others. When they were younger he showed no signed of the gift but as he gotten older he started hearing a feminine voice that he later decided was their mother. Others said that he had a seer ability. She had seen others who had visions and she thought that potentially she had one, but wasn't sure.

“Lets go on a walk then. I was about to go on a run, but it can wait until you are feeling better.” She said, giving him a friendly nudge. Vasuki smiled and they began their walk.

“She was saying that she missed us.” He started to explain. Her voice was dying down now, thankfully. He guessed that maybe she was sleeping? “I don't understand why she left us if she was just going to miss us. Why didn't she just stay and be apart of our family?”

“Vas, shhh, you don't want to wake up the whole pride.” Chusi said, quietly. She looked around to see if he had woken anyone up. When she saw that they were still alone, she let out a sign of relief. “I wish she was around more too. Sometimes things are not that simple though. There must have been a reason for her departure.”

“I don't care if she had an excuse. She could at least visit once and explain everything. I hear her so I know she is alive. She doesn't sound distressed so she isn't a prisoner. The only conclusion is that she couldn't be bothered to see us and now feels like she is too late.”

Chusi looked around once more to make sure that Vasuki's outburst didn't wake anyone up. “We really should go further away and talk about this Vas....” she said.

“I know, I just, get so frustrated when I think of how we could have grown up with her. If she had raised us, I wonder if I wouldn't have to hear her.” He said, lowering his voice.

“Yeah...”

They walked in silence as they went further from the pride. Once they were quite a ways away from the pride, Chusi stopped.

“Mother left and there is nothing we can do to change that. You hear her and you know she is thinking about us. Sometimes, I think I have dreams about her, but I'm not sure.” Chusi said quickly. She did not want to overthink her dreams. “I hope everyday that our mother will return to us. But I keep my expectations low. I feel like we were lucky though. Father was always there for us and he still is.”

“You're right. But aren't you a little curious? We could go out in the rogue lands and figure out who our mother is. Track her down and get all the answers we deserve. It would be a blast. And I am sure that we would learn something valuable while we are out there.” Vasuki said. “We could drag mother back to meet everyone. Tell her that yeah we're pissed she left us, but that eventually we might forgive her.”

Chusi couldn't help but laugh. “That's a fantasy. I am not sure you could even pretend that you could forgive her. How would you even start looking for her? Father might have some sort of idea, but if he knew where she was, I am sure he would have told us by now.” The thought was nice though. Finding their long lost mother and getting to know her would be wonderful, but it was unlikely to happen. “Someday she might decide that she wants to get to know us. We shouldn't expect her to though.”

Vasuki nodded his head. “Thanks for taking a walk with me. I feel a little better.” He knew that he wouldn't stop wondering about his mother. It was impossible for him to do so as long as he could hear her voice. But he did take comfort in those around him, especially his siblings. “I know that it would be pointless, but I think that I might someday travel around and see if I do find her. If I don't then who cares, I had fun anyways. And if I do, well I guess I have somethings I would like to tell her.”

“If that is what you want to do, then I will support you. But you might have to go alone. This is my home Vas and I couldn't image ever leaving it. Do you think you can handle going alone?” Chusi said, trying not to be a downer.

He thought she would want to go. “If I go by myself I'll be able to traveler quicker!” He responded with a fake smile. There must be someone in the pride who wouldn't mind traveling with him, he thought. “But I am not leaving any time soon. I still have things to learn. I want to be prepared before I start my journey.”

Chusi grinned. “Fair enough. Now that you've settled down, why don't we head back to the pride.” Vasuki agreed and they headed back home.

WC: 1,147