Running was Xayna’s life blood. To her she was the fastest thing on four legs. In the real world she could barely run for tripping over stones and roots. It was a good thing that her fur was so dark, otherwise it would have been black and blue from all of the bruises.
She picked herself up from the latest fall, and sat back, wiping back her sniffles with a paw. Mama was a cheetah so she ran really fast, and Xayna was already faster than the hyena pups, so why did she always fall? Maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough! If she ran fast enough she could fly like a Goddess and wouldn’t have to trip over another root ever again.
Safi wasn’t used to being a grandfather in any shape of the word. As he meandered around a few thin saplings, he saw his little granddaughter picking herself up. To have grandchildren this close was a reminder of how old he was getting, and how far his line had spread. It was…actually less terrifying than being a father was. These were Xabryel’s cubs, and as much as he wanted to scream at his ignorant son, he had to admit the boy was a good father. It was odd.
“What’s wrong, little one? Did the Earth try to drag you under again?”
Blinking her bright eyes, Xayna turned to her grandpa. “Drag me under?” Was that what was happening? She turned wide eyes to the ground at her paws. Oh no! What if he was right? What if the Earth was trying to eat her?! “N-no, cuz it doesn’t have a mouth. Or paws, so it can’t drag me anywhere.” There!
Nodding, she made to rise back up and flipped her little tufted tail in the air like a domestic cat. It was just defiant enough to make her feel proud, and cute enough to melt Safi’s heart. “’sides, I’m too fast to be caught!”
Moving closer to the young girl, Safi wrapped a paw around her shoulders and pulled her close. She was so small, almost as small as his Kuu had been when she was a cub. Not many of his family were of cheetah blood, so it always surprised him how fragile they were. All the more reason for me to protect her.
“Is that so? I see you running around every time you come to visit, but Xayna, you’re not going to get very far if you don’t start looking infront of you. You’re too focused on going fast that you don’t see the fall before it happens.”
Pouting, the little cheeton shuffled her paws infront of her. Now that wasn’t fair. “I do so look,” she grumbled. “The trees just like to trip me, and the rocks are mean.” It wasn’t her fault she fell so much. It just happened! Even papa was confused as to why it happened so often, but he just joked it off. She’s got fire ants in her legs. They bite and she just runs faster. Xayna much preferred that to what her grandfather was saying. “How do you know, anyway? You weren’t there; you didn’t see it.” She peered at him with wide, crimson eyes.
“Sassy, aren’t you?” His voice was stern, letting her know early that taking such a tone with him wasn’t going to work. It didn’t the trick; she lowered her defenses and even looked sheepish. Safi wasn’t proud when such moments happened, but better to let her know now than to get into fights later. “If the Earth cannot drag you down, then the tricks can’t trip you and rocks do not feel meanness.”
Ruffling her little head, Safi’s face softened. “I’m just concerned for you, little shadow. One day you’re going to fall and it won’t just be a bruise.” Her little bones were so fragile, and one wrong fall could ruin her running days for good.
Xayna leaned up against her grandfather and purred. It was one of the only things cheetahs had over lions. Since they lacked the anatomy to create roars, they could purr, and it vibrated through her entire body. “Sorry, grandpa. I’ll try to be more careful.” Emphasis on try. Maybe if she started looking then she could run twice as fast and really fly!
“Why do you call me that? Little shadow? Isn’t Auntie Isith the shadow?” Of course she looked up to her Auntie; she was as much a Grandmother as Safi was a Grandfather, and as she now led the family it was as if she were a Goddess in Xayna’s eyes.
“She is, but can’t there be more than one? Isith is a shadow, your grandma Nia is a shadow,” He leaned forward and poked her nose with his. “and so are you, my sweet little shadow.”
Granted, he hadn’t spoken to Isith since Laini had born, so he wasn’t sure how close Xayna’s life blended with her own. Would she be like Xabryel, and be raised under Isith’s paw? She had taken his son from him to raise as her own, so the thought of her taking Xayna from him too left Safi bitter. You’ll never get another chance, Isith. Not again.
Of course the young cub didn’t catch all the subtle taint in his words. All Xayna knew was that she was like the other females in her family, and that made whatever shame she felt at being caught go away. Someday she would be big like them, and just as important.
That meant all the world to her.
“Can we go see grandma Nia, then? I want to her to see my new moves.” She didn’t spend as much time around the once Matriarch as others in the clan, but there was a long distance love there. Even when she travelled with her mother’s family that same love went with her.
Someday she was going to have to choose which side to live with, that much she knew, but right now she didn’t feel the weight of such a decision. Xayna just knew that her life was fun, and happy, so she went along with the flow as fast as she could.
Safi wasn’t sure where his mother would be at the moment, but he only nodded. As he stood he lowered one shoulder in a silent offering, and smiled as Xayna took the opportunity to climb up. “I’m sure she’ll love to see them.”
Safi had to wonder if his mother ever knew in her life just how crazy her family would be. All species were a part of it, with so many different relationship combinations and there were nearly enough to create a pride of their own. He surely hadn’t known it would go this far, but that didn’t mean he wanted it to stop.
For the white leopon growth was progress, and progress was always good. Without it he wouldn’t have had Xayna in his life, and nothing could ever trump his little shadow.
(WC: 1166)
