Aiko's pawsteps were quick, hurried. She was worried for the safety of her cubs, as usual. It wasn't as though she didn't trust her brother, far from it. She absolutely trusted him, it was the only reason she'd asked him if he would watch them for her while she was away on...business. The sort of business that cubs weren't old enough for, not by a long shot. It was easier like this, she supposed. Whatever paranoia had driven her to keep them secret had only made her life more difficult than it really needed to be. Her brother was a huge help, it was so much easier to know they were under watchful eyes while she was gone.

Even though no one's eyes could ever be as watchful as hers when it came to her precious babies. Overprotective just didn't do the feeling justice at all. Perhaps it was time for her to look into collecting someone else to babysit for her...her brother surely had better things to do than watch her suspicious cubs. Yes, other things on his mind. That might distract him. And then he might miss something. Oh, stars!

The cheetahess was in a galloping run by the time she reached the dens, panting slightly though she'd only run for half the distance back. She couldn't help it, she really couldn't. These were her precious babies! "Oh, h-hi," she gasped when she reached the entrance of her den, craning her neck to see her little ones, "No problems? Were they good? Did anything happen? Is everything okay?"

She trusted her brother. Really. She did.


The young hybrid sat huddled beside his siblings, his mismatched eyes fixed on the big black not-mama stranger who had been in the den ever since mama left. His brother and sisters had played with it, and then gone to sleep, but not him. He wasn't sure how to feel about this stranger, he didn't want to take his mismatched eyes off of him. It wasn't mama, it wasn't. He just wanted his mama to come home already, and make the big scary stranger go away.

Hikari mewled when he heard the familiar voice, scrambling to his clumsy paws and wobbling halfway across the den before he flopped on his face. Mama was home!