It was hard for her to ignore the stares the other pride members lowered onto her as she walked through the heart of the pride back to her family's den. She could feel them, criticizing and blaming her for what had happened to the Myrsky Syntynyt. Sakari was the little seer brat, spouting off tales of death and doom. Before, they all just wrote her off as crazy. Now that they knew it was true, their skepticism turned into blame. How could she have let this happen to her pride? Why didn't she convince someone sooner that her visions were true and they were all doomed?
They were dying.
It was all her fault.
If she hadn't ran through the pride preaching and yelling that death was coming for them, no one would have known what she had seen. She could quietly suffer along with the rest of them instead of being ostracized. Sakari couldn't help but lower her head in shame. After all, it was her fault. Her youth and inexperience meant she had been unprepared for the sight. She couldn't comprehend the urgency to figure out what it all meant, and for that her pride suffered.
The chocolate brown lioness paused, and then it tackled her like a rhino. Always unpredictable, always seeming to strike when she was at her lowest. This time, she saw nothing, only felt it. Warmth swelled in her chest, chasing away her self-doubt and insecurities. Sakari felt confident, felt like she could take on the entire world and nothing could stop her! It was an incredible high, and she lifted her head up towards the cloudy skies and laughed. The sound was pure joy.
As quickly as the struck her, they left, and the swirling change of emotions wrecked her mind. She lost her breath as that laughter faded into the air, the sound choking in her throat. The pain her heart felt morphed into physical pain and she collapsed onto the ground. Mud stained her pelt as she writhed against the ground, unable to release herself from the agony of her vision. Shame like she had never felt before, emotions too potent for any one lioness to handle.
Now everyone was definitely watching her, witnessing the strange display from a lioness many had already written off as crazy. Their eyes were like sharp claws, peeling her flesh from bones and leaving her with open wounds. Wounds that would become infected, festering, making her sicker and weaker.
The vision dissipated, leaving her alone and confused against the cold ground. She was afraid to lift her head and face the world. Instead Sakari curled up into a ball, hiding her face into the crook of her elbow. She tried to swallow the tears, but nothing stopped their flow. Her will was not strong enough now. Rain pelted her as a storm kicked up, chasing most of the lions within the pride back towards the safety of their dens. The wet drops were cold and stinging, but her suffering was minute compared to the vision's intensity. She would rather lay here and suffer than go through that again.
"Get up." The voice was cold, and seemed to cut through the rain itself. Sakari tried to ignore it, eventually she woud be left alone until Ayanga found her. Her sister would be able to make sense of all this, surely.
"Get up." The voice was more insistent this time, impatience lining the words. Daring a glance up, Sakari witnessed an unusually marked lioness. The female was small, but seemed to exude strength. Her coat was very dark, but it only made the strange bone-like markings on her legs stand up more. Electric blue markings moved through her fur like a current in the rain. The female was disheveled, and the rain hadn't shown her any more kindness than it had shown Sakari.
"If you were my child I'd drag you by the tail until you stood up, but you are not my child. Get. Up." Jupe's blue eyes stared down at the young adolescent. There was no sympathy within her gaze, Jupe pitied no one. She had been standing amongst the crowd, watching as the adolescent was tormented by some unseen force. Jupe could have remained that passerby, unwilling to lend a paw out to those who needed it. Normally, she would have just remained so. But, this female was barely any older than her own children and it struck a nerve in such trying times.
Every once in a while, they all needed a push in the right direction. Jupe just wasn't merciful about it. She stood there, waiting as the younger lioness stumbled onto her feet, her head held low in shame. Jupe could not see the tears between the rain, but she knew they were there. It was a weakness they all had to shed. "Good." It was as much praise as anyone would earn from the lioness. "Lift your head." Nothing about her words even hinted at them being a suggestion. Rather they were a demand, refusing to allow Sakari submit to her weaknesses.
Jupe stood by, waiting until Sakari rediscovered her nerve and lifted her head. What a pitiful child, and whatever plagued her Jupe had no hope of understanding or aiding the lioness in that fight. Some things were just meant to be handled alone. The dark lioness said nothing else, and instead bowed her head in an almost understanding gesture. Stepping forward, Jupe seemed to disappear into the rain and back to whatever business she had been attending to before.
Sakari was left alone, standing against the onslaught of rain. Thunder rumbled overhead, lightning cracking through the sky. It did not shake her now. Her visions were not something she should fear, and if she could survive them she could survive whatever else the world threw her way. Let the worse come, Sakari was ready to face ridicule and resistance. "Ayanga..." the chocolate lioness whispered. Something was happening, and this puzzle she could not solve alone.
( WC: 1012 )