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Viper was very careful when she was pulling the meat off the gazelle, careful not to affect the pelt which she wished to claim for herself.
“See?” She remarked to Star and Tandotti. “It is far easier to hunt together than separate. This was good fun!” She didn’t have many friends in her home pride but she loved it. It was a lot of fun spending time alone; but she actually found herself liking the company of the other females.
Maybe she should start trying to make friends…
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Tandotti grinned at her companions. "Thanks so much for helping me out!" She bounced. "I'm sure Makosa and Tega will love this!" Her friends back in the Koti hunted for themselves mostly but she liked to spoil them occasionally. Ishara, Makosa's little sister, visited them occasionally as well and that was always worth a special hunt for extra food. She hoped they would be happy with her attempt; although it was only a small feed.
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"Is that the pair you're surrogating for?" Star couldn't help but ask, fascinated. She honestly couldn't imagine having cubs and giving them up. She had felt horribly guilty over her fling with her mate's brother, with him having to pretend they were not his own cubs acting as an uncle to them instead. It was...very harsh but he had done it. Possibly because he knew the reprocussion would fall to her should it be shown that she had flung with Obadias.
"Did they ask you to do it?" She added. Was Tandotti honestly willing to follow through with this all, she couldn't help but wonder.
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Viper knew that Star was struggling with the idea, and Viper herself found it quite odd. “I’m sure they’ll love your food,” Viper said cheerfully to Tandotti, taking off the last bit of pelt from the kill. She draped it on a nearby rock to dry as they chatted. She would wait for it to air out before she attempted to trade it to someone but hopefully she would get a good gemstone for it. She wanted to collect as many gems as she could before she returned to the pride to get them made into necklaces.
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Tandotti smile at Star. “Yeah, they are my friends who I am surrogating for. They have been together for years but because they are both males and both infertile hybrids, they have not been able to start a family together. Tega isn’t too keen on a family but he knows Makosa adores cubs and has always wanted some of his own. So Tega spoke to me about it and asked if I would be willing, and I said yes. Makosa was reluctant at first, I’m assuming he was like you, he was worried that I was being forced into it. But I want to do this, honestly. I am not in a stage of life that I can have a family of my own. I won’t bring lives into the world that I can’t care for. Makosa and Tega will adore the cubs and that is enough for me.” She smiled with a gentle shrug.
“To me, this is the best gift that I can give them. “
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Star listened to Tandotti, attempting to keep her mind open to the ideas but she was struggling. “Wont’ you miss your cubs?” She asked, unable to stop herself. “They will be your flesh and blood but you won’t see them or raise them. Are you going to be ok with that?” She found it hard to believe. Star hated never seeing her cubs; and they were full grown!
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Viper laughed at the conversation and shrugged. “Star, you have to remember, not everyone is quite as motherly as you seem to be. Maybe Tandotti doesn’t want cubs? Not everyone does want them! Sometimes they just complicate things.”
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Star turned her focus to Viper, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Do you want cubs Viper?”
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Viper shrugged her shoulders with a sort of carelessness that Star did not associate with having a discussion about one’s future. “I don’t want them right this second,” Viper explained. “But yeah, maybe someday. I travel so much, it would be really awkward for me to have cubs. I mean. Would I have to stay in my pride the whole time? Do I take them with me? I dunno. IT’s all complicated.” She laughed. “Although that’s not to say I’m planning to wait to have a mate. I just…want to be in a better stage of my life before I attempt to bring cubs into it.”
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Tandotti smiled at the pair of them. “I think it’s a really personal thing,” Tandotti admitted. “I want cubs someday of my own, but I think…knowing that they are loved will be enough for me. Surely they will be happy and I will visit them. They are safe in the pride, and that is enough for me. Any cubs I had of my own accord would be in danger because when I am not in the Koti, then I am a rogue and I don’t think I have the strength to protect them on my own.” She smiled.
“I’m not saying you should rush out and do it too, Star,” Tandotti assured. “I’m just saying that this is what I’ve chosen to do. My life is my own and I have chosen that I should give them the greatest gift of all. A family. You must understand how important that is; and to know you can never have one, it would be downright heartbreaking.”
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“It would be heartbreaking to never have a family,” Star had to admit. “I think you are amazingly kind to do this for your friends. I don’t think I could ever do that. My heart nearly broke saying goodbye to my adult cubs; let alone if I had had to farewell them at their youth.” She stared at her paws, missing her cubs more than ever now.
“I want a family again,” She said softly. “I just don’t know if I will ever have that.”
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Viper chuckled. “Don’t say that Star. I’m sure the next time I bump into you, you will have an army of cubs following on her heels and a loving mate to swoon over you.” She grinned. “Maybe we all could have playdates with our cubs someday,” she joked.
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“Ooooh, that would be so much fun!” Tandotti squealed. “We should definitely do that!” She laughed. “It may take me a while to find a male crazy enough to settle down with me though.”
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Viper snorted. “Join the club on that one!” She grinned.
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Star smile softly, warmed by the support of her new friends. “It’s a deal. Someday, when we all have mates and loving families, we will bring our cubs together for a playdate! Right?”
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“Deal!”
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“Deal!”
-fin-