Dysi had struck out on his own, yet again, leaving Maleficar back home in the den. He felt guilty, but his paws were restless and he wasn’t ready to settle completely. He wanted to walk, explore, talk to strangers – it was ismply in his blood. His cubs had grown, and were now on their own adventures. He and Maleficar were trying for cubs of their own this time, hoping to start a family together, not simply raising their own families side-by-side. It was strange, because he had honestly feared he would not trust another person enough to start a real family with them, not after Nyoka. He didn’t blame Nyoka for choosing Nanashi, after all, it was the safe choice. It was the one with less drama. It was the one that her heart had wanted. Still, it stung, even years after.
He sighed to himself, when a sound caught his attention. A familiar song, or rather a familiar voice.
“The sun is bright, the clouds are gone, the day is new and there’s a song hidden in the wind~”
The voice was a blast from the past and it knocked the air out of Dysi’s lungs. Eyes wide, he found his paws dragging him towards the sound, and the familiar figure came into view. She was sitting atop a collection of rocks, the sun streaming onto her fur in a beautiful glisten. She was…a sight for sore eyes, and he couldn’t help but speak her name.
“Satomei…”
The figure spun on her place, and familiar eyes widened. “Dysi?” She gasped, her own flashbacks of the past shocking her. “Oh my gosh! Dysi!” She grinned, and moved towards him, slinking down from the rocks. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in so long!”
Since she was an adolescent, pregnant and scared and fleeing with her mother. So much had changed since then, but he was still a welcome sight!
“I…it’s been so long, Satomei. How are you? How are your cubs?” He felt a pang in his chest, because this female was his daughter, his own kin but he had never claimed her. Aiko and Dysi…they couldn’t have been together, not at the time, and they had never settled things together. Satomei was his daughter, but never his daughter.
She grinned. “I’ve been good! I am…I am travelling with a friend. My cubs have grown. Yuuki’s a dad! So I’m a grandma, it’s weird.” She laughed, delighted by it but confused none the less. Yuuki and Pen were adorable though, so she didn’t mind being a grandma. “They had quite a big litter too, five, which is huge for hybrids!”
“You’re a grandmother?” He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He was a great-grandfather? To cubs who would never know who he was? He felt like the blood was roaring through his ears.
“Yes!” She laughed, but grew concerned as he seemed to sway on his paws. “Dysi? Dysi? Are you ok?” She rushed to his side, trying to stablise him but he simply sink to the ground. “Dysi what’s wrong? Talk to me? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, dear,” he tried to assure, but his words lacked conviction. He sighed, and rested his head on the ground. “Just…overwhelmed.” He hadn’t expected to see her today, nor any day really. He thought he would never see her again after she had left the colony. Then he had left himself, and he was sure all the ties were gone. He would never see his cubs from Aiko and yet here she was, talking about her own babies and her own grandbabies and he was just…lost.
“Overwhelmed? Why?” Satomei frowned at him, concerned. She rested a paw on his paw, trying to comfort him, unaware of his turmoil.
Did he want to do this? Aiko wasn’t here, and Nanashi was not there to punish them for being part of his family. He should tell her. He stared at the pale pink eyes of his daughter, and felt the pang in his heart grow into a dull but constant ache.
“Your mother never told you, did she?” He asked softly and Satomei frowned.
“Tell me what? Dysi, you’re not making a lot of sense right now. Are you sure you’re ok?”
“I need to tell you something, Satomei,” he said, biting the bullet finally and staring at her. He pushed himself upright, so he was sitting rather than lying on the floor like some child. “Aiko and I…we could never tell you this. Not in the pride. Not with your uncle breathing down her neck. Not with…Nyoka and I…”
Satomei frowned, a weird feeling of what was about to happen. “What are you talking about Dysi?” She demanded. “You’re not making sense!”
“Satomei…I always wanted to tell you all. But we couldn’t. Your mother did such a good job with you guys,” he was rambling now, completely missing the entire point of telling her, which was to acutally tell her.
“Dysi! What are you saying?” She interrupted, staring at him with wide eyes. “Are you…are you saying that you’re…”
“Your father.”
The similarities were obvious, when you knew the heritage, and even if you didn’t, but Aiko and Dysi had always denied it.
Satomei’s mouth hung open and she was stunned into silence for a moment. She blinked. “No…Mum…” Aiko had never told them. Once she had gotten older, Satomei had never even thought about who her father was. She hadn’t cared, because she had a family who loved her, and now here he was, walking back into her life and throwing out that he was her father.
What did he expect from her?
“Why are you telling me this?” She demanded. “Why now? Why after all these years? Why not when we were leaving the colony? Why not then, when I was terrified and scared and not knowing how I was going to provide for my family. Why didn’t you tell me when I actually needed a father in my life?” She knew her words were cruel but she couldn’t stop them spilling out. Her eyes were wide and her breath kept catching in her throat. “Where were you Dysi?”
Dysi didn’t know what to say, only staring at her as she riled herself up, panicking. She shook her head, stumbling backwards away from him.
“I…I need to go. Ruu will be wondering where I am,” she stammered out, backing away and shaking her head. “I can’t…I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry.” She turned tail quickly, racing away from him, her cheetah heritage showing through very clearly as she ran.
