" who's Zubery?" Vitani asked Zahara curiously.
" According to big sis. Our dad." Zahara responded." Who is our "big sis" anyway?" Vita' asked once again thrown into the mystery of her past.
"Duni, from what I remember of her she was quite. Especially after you were taken. Always acted like she'd been through a lot." Zahara explained.
"Oh." Vitani replied alittle ashamed of how brashly she asked the question. Duni was the oldest, old enough to remember everything up to that moment. Vitani shivered at the thought.
The two were sitting at their usual spot, Kasi with them again and once again passed out. They patrol had as smoothly as it normally does, the Zebras still as much of a thorn in the side as they always have been. Looking at the slowly setting sun Zahara looked at her sister with a wary gaze." Do you to- go look for her?" The lioness asked in a similarly wary tone." yeah ,but-" Vitani said her mind flooded with several reasons not to go ahead with that.
" We don't know where she is, if she's still alive, if she wants to see us." Vitani listed. Zahara looked alittle disappointed." Yeah you probably right. Still though, I think she'll have the answer to a lot of our questions."
Zahara added.
Vitani sat silent for a few seconds." I would want to meet her. Again like you said, she could probably answer a lot of questions, plus I'd get to meet her which would be, surreal. I just don't think we'd have the time to search for her." Vita' stated doubtful.
The two parted ways, Zahara giving the estranged lioness a tentative hug, something that only Kovu would give.
Walking into the cave, Kasi on her back still unconscious. Lying the lioness down she walked up to her resting place, it's rock still as cold as it normally is. Before she drifted off to sleep, the lullaby her blood mother used to sing came to mind. From what Zahara told her it would send her terrors away. Not really wanting to deal with the horror that came with them. She gave the song a try
Ooh oh umntana umama akekho
Uyotheng' isinkwa
ang'she ngaso
Athi ngidl' amasi
Awadliwanga yimi
Aldiwe yinja inja yaka gogo
Ooh oh umntana umama akekho
Uyotheng' isinkwa
ang'she ngaso
Athi ngidl' amasi
Awadliwanga yimi
Aldiwe yinja inja yaka gogo
After the short luallby the lioness quickly fell asleep. Waking up in the morning she stood up for a few moments before breaking down into tears. She had never truly let everything she had learned get to her.
Her past, the reality that everything she had believed about her passed was false, the struggles that had to be faced in order to keep the truth from hitting her ears.
Kovu, Nuka, everyone she knew, it over whelmed her. The luallby had proven something her mind had yet to fully accept, it was true, whether or not she liked it was out of the question. Everything Zahara had told was real, she was a descended from an empire long fallen, she was kidnapped and raised to a warrior and in turn losing almost everything she could have been. She could've been nice or annoying or maybe just like Kiara's friends, she could've been like her sister. None of that mattered, she was raised to be one thing, for one thing and ever since that plan failed she was just a shell. A shell of the warrior Zira wanted her to be.
To an extent she could understand why the Zebras didn't like her, she had nothing for them to connect to, she barely had a personality. When she was under Zira's guidance her personality was built around hating the Pridelands. Whether or not she and Zira had won the she would still be the way she is now. A husk of lioness, a lioness built off of an idea that win or lose would leave her estranged. Estranged is all she has been for awhile now, it's all her friends had been for awhile now.
All of this had hit her in that moment, all awoken by a lullaby her birth mother sang to them, a fragment of an upbringing that her and her blood could have had. Her tears were loud enough to wake the rest of the guard. They were almost in awe, never had they ever thought they would see the guard's piler of persistence and confidence in her choices, weeping on the floor in front of them." Vita'! What's wrong?" Shabaha asked highly conserved for the well being of her friends. Vitani didn't respond, not that she could, her emotions were still in full swing and her mind couldn't find the energy to answer her friends.
" Vita'!" Imara yelled firmly." Don't think screaming at her is gonna fix anything Ima'." Kasi replied annoyed.
" What do we do?" Tazama asked genuinely confused." I don't know. Hug her, I guess?" Imara said, using the emotional equivalent of throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks.
The group try that idea, moving in to awkwardly hug Vitani. It sort of works, her emotions calming down and the odd, but appreciated warmth of her friends welcoming her out of her break." Sorry- I'm sorry I-" is all she could really get out." It's okay, we here. Just take a second." Shabaha comforted.
Listening to her friends words she took a breather. After a minute her friends finally ask her questions
" What's wrong?" Kasi asked.
" A lot of things, but that isn't important. Not right now anyway. I'll face them- when the time comes. Right now I just-" the lioness says while looking into the sunset.
" Want to appreciate this."
Her friends aren't quite sure how to act, but they do listen to what their leader says. To an extent they are all emotional warped individuals, it going to take time for them to actually feel emotion properly, but that didn't matter to Vitani right now. She was with her friends and the sun. That's all she needed in that moment.
