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Veri had stayed in the diseased pride much longer than she had originally planned. At first she was going to leave the cubs with Mith and go back to the mountain, then she decided to stay until the cubs were weaned completely, and then... They were only eating solid food and had done so for quite some time. Yet she was still here.

The cubs lived in Mith's den, and she stayed in the area the queen had showed her. She visited her cubs, and she took them out to play. Sometimes other pride members came to see her, and sometimes she was called to the restricted area where the sickest resided. As Mith had predicted her talents could be quite useful, in a morbid way. She liked it.

The best part was knowing that her offspring was well cared for by the nannies of the pride, and ultimately watched over by Mith. He was their guardian and when she left (someday soon now, surely) he'd be there for them.

Sharp teeth nipped her tail, but she didn't flinch, she just moved her tail, letting the tip of it dance across the dusty ground. It wasn't something she'd imagined herself doing, but here she was, entertaining a cub while thinking over the decisions that had led her here.

Curiosity mostly. And then... finding a sense of purpose that appealed to her.



Ee'bo was busy practicing his pouncing skills using the red tipped tail tuft of his mother. Veri was sitting very still, thinking about whatever god-moms thought about, and he could easily pretend that the black and red tuft was a separate being. It eluded his little paws, moving this way and that. He liked it that way. Sometimes he managed to catch it and hold it, but only for a short while.

It was the bestest toy, really. Sometimes his nannies or siblings tried to play the same game, but they couldn't get it right. Veri was larger than the lionesses in the pride, and no other tail was quite the same. And when she was in this mood she could keep playing forEVER. It was awesome.

Veri tensed for a moment, but there was no mistaking the voice. Uuni. The memories... The mayhem. Good times, and bad. She smiled and turned her head towards the voice. The illusion was very good, but she could see a goddess sized patch of woods that looked slightly off. It was hard to blend while moving, and something had moved over there.

"Nice camo-work," she said and nodded a greeting to her sister, "You nearly managed to sneak up on me there."

Uuni had, in fact, managed to sneak up on her, but Veri was not going to admit that. Was she going soft? Maybe... But Uuni was always good at this, so she wasn't too embarrassed.

"I guess I got distracted," she said, as a small cub poked his head out from behind her.



Ee'bo really managed to get the tail this time. He chomped down with his sharp little teeth, and was disappointed to get no reaction whatsoever. His mother was talking to someone, but he couldn't see who it was. He let go of the tail and wandered around his mother, looking this way and that. It took him some time to walk around her, and when he couldn't see anyone he walked around her again.

"Who is that," Ee'bo asked, demanding some answers from his mother, "I heard someone!"

"They're actually really friendly around these parts," Veri said, "They're open to anyone... I guess they have to."

They had even accepted her, and her special skills. She had come here on a mission to satisfy her curiosity, and she had found answers to questions she didn't know she had asked. Curious how these things work out. She snorted when Uuni asked if she'd managed to fall in love. She liked this place, she cared for her cubs, and Mith'ando was a good friend. Like a younger brother, one that would eventually fade and die like all mortals.

"More?" Veri said with a grin, "I just gave these guy's away."



Ee'bos jaw dropped when Uuni's disguise did. Wow! She had just... like that! And she looked really badass and she had horns. But he didn't like the way his mother talked to the strange goddess.

"You didn't give us away," Ee'bo protested, "Mith is just guarding us when you're not there."

He was pretty sure mom was just making a joke, but it upset him that she should joke about that. The small cub knew she wouldn't be around forever, both Uncle Mith and Veri said so, but she'd been around up until this point and he didn't want that to change.



Veri gave Ee'bo a reassuring lick on top of his head. This was the trouble with cubs, and the reason Mith took care of the parenting, assisted by various nannies. They were fragile, in more ways than one.

"This is your auntie Uuni," she said to Ee'bo, deliberately using the sillier name auntie to tease her sister, "Uuni, meet my son Ee'bo."

This was a rather strange place, Kasoro thought to himself. It smelled...off. Something was wrong here but he couldn't put his paw on what it was. Not that he was terribly concerned, of course. His sister and mother didn't seem upset by it, and when he was told to stay he settled down in the dirt to think about what it might be. Perhaps there was a kill nearby. Fresh kills always made him a bit wary for some reason. He had just started to eat meat and, while it was delicious, he was skittish around the corpses. Yeah, that was probably it.

White ears swiveled this way and that once Uuni disappeared, taking in the sounds of the immediate area. A few soft voices could be heard in the distance, although he wasn't sure who they belonged to. Oh, perhaps they were going to meet friends! Mother dealt with friends from time to time, and they were never allowed to go with her. She would always come back, though, sometimes in a bad mood. Hopefully this time the friends she was dealing with wouldn't make her grumpy.

Kasoro rolled onto his back to look up at the sky as he waited with his sister. He was growing quite bored and was about to roll over to bat at his sibling's ear, when another voice was added to the murmurs. Mother was talking with someone who had a cub as well! Interest perked, Kasoro jumped to his feet and strained to hear what they were saying. He took a few steps forward, but winced. Mother had told him to stay put. He sat down for all of two minutes before he couldn't handle the curiosity. Mother might be mad, but he had to know!

He ran forward, following Uuni's scent, even as it changed to that of a bird. She did some fun tricks sometimes that had confused him when he was younger, but now that his mind was growing in strength he knew better than to be thrown off by the changed smell. Sure enough, a light breeze picked up and Uuni's scent drifted towards him. Encouraged, he put on a little extra burst of speed before breaking through the small grove of trees and into a clearing. There was Uuni, along with another large lioness and...a cub!

Kasoro froze to the spot, blue eyes wide as he took in the scene. Wow...maybe he was going to have a friend! His sister was nice, but getting new playmates would be fun.

Uuni's brows raised. Eyes following the path of the black cub, she soon had a good idea of why he was suddenly excited.

Of course.

"He might. Keep a careful eye on him." Uuni's smile was easily seen. It never hurt to get the small offpsring thinking she was magical. It would be useful to them, later, when they thought it was a good idea to call upon that magic. Her son, however, was not given so pleasant of a welcome.

"Kasoro." The exasperation was clear in her voice and she let out a long sigh. "You left your sister all alone." Although, if she knew anything about this particular batch of children, she was probably close behind.

Whatever further scolding Kasoro may have received was quickly cut short by more serious tones. Uuni trusted the girl of the litter to find her way here on her own, and with the cubs occupied, she could more easily talk to her sister.

"Good." Uuni was nodding. "It's better that they don't leave." For everyone, really, but especially for themselves.

"Mortals think gods and goddesses are capable of many things which we're not," Uuni pointed out carefully. She didn't trust it. But, what the hell did she trust? Veri, she supposed, completely summarized that list.

"The mortals would pee themselves, Veri." But Uuni was grinning, a white, sharp-toothed grin. It would be delightful to see them trip over themselves with shock and awe. "Perhaps when you're done here."

If she was ever done here. "What is it that you do for them?" Run medic, perhaps. Help them figure out how to stay in good favor with Amaret? Uuni was really at a loss.

Ee'bo was completely oblivious to the grown up talk. He had a cousin now, a BOY cousin, one that would probably not disappear. Kasoro, Kasooorooo. And... his new cousin had a sister too! Cool, but Cru could have that one. She'd sometimes whine about the lack of girls in their den. Now she could have a cousin that was a girl! This was just great!

"I'm Ee'bo," he said, "Are you going to stay with the nannies too?"

He lived with Uncle Mith, but when he was busy or too sick they all went to the nannies to play. Some cubs lived with the nannies all the time because their parents were dead or super, super sick. And some days, like this one, his mother came to visit and play.



The boys were busy getting to know each other. Good. Veri grinned back, remembering what they had done, and thinking about what they could do together in the future. When the blood sisters joined forces it was a terrifying sight indeed. Sometime soon... She needed the rush.

"That's half the fun," she said, mirroring the feral grin, "I'm sure we could find some place in need of... chaos."

When she was done... When would that be? She supposed she'd have a reason to return to this place as long as Mith and her children still lived. Or perhaps she'd stop by from time to time as long as her help was needed and welcomed. But that didn't mean she could take a break and enjoy herself elsewhere.

"I help them die," she said simply, "The sickest bleed inside, and it's less painful to die from that than to choke on phlegm."

Kasoro glanced to his left as his sister appeared. He knew she wouldn't be far behind, no matter where they ended up. Neither of them liked to be left alone if the other was off adventuring, and this was certainly an adventure! He gave another little sniff as Ee'bo spoke, that odd smell hitting him again. What was it...

"Nannies?" he echoed, glancing at his sister. "Oh...yes, that's right. Mom's too busy to keep an eye on us all the time. She does important stuff," he said with a little nod. He had no hard feelings towards Uuni about being left here. He knew she wouldn't put them anywhere dangerous, and he had family here! What could be better than that? He hoped there would be a few more cubs to play with, too.

"Is your mom a Goddess, too?" Kasoro could only assume she was. She was big, had wings, and was their aunt. Surely if his mom and her were related they would both be Goddesses. "Is this her pride?" He was a bit fuzzy on the details of what was going on here. All he knew was that their mother had to leave them here so she could continue about her godly duties. "And what's that smell? It kinda smells like a rabbit that's been killed kinda recently..."

It was the pride itself, but he didn't know that. The sickness that infected so many of the lions was new to him, as was it's scent.

"The nannies are nice," Ee'bo said, "I stay there when I'm not with Mom and uncle Mith. You can probably visit. I've got a sister too, and brothers. The other kitlings will like you I think. They like everyone who's not from around here."

He couldn't wait to introduce their new cousins to his siblings. He'd found them, sort of, so they were his discovery to share. He was sure Cru would be pleased to have a girl to spend time with. Most of the family except Mom were boys.

"Yu-huh," he said, "She's the Goddess of Blood and Mith says she's the best mom ever."

He beamed up at his mother.



Veri heard Ee'bo, but pretended she hadn't. Mith had told her he'd make sure the cubs would know, love and respect her. Some days it made her want to run, but she knew he did what he thought was best for them. She just wasn't used to the unconditional love. It was almost, but not quite like being worshipped.

"It's not the worst way to go, apparently," Veri said, remembering the few she had helped, "They tend to just doze off and not wake up."

She had thought of her tendency to make blood thinner in the mortals around her as an annoying side effect of her powers, and it had been a bit of a surprise to find a pride that found it useful. However morbid that use was. It would be a nice change of pace to shake up the mortal world a little.

"You have to let me know if you find a good place," she said and grinned, "I'm sure we could 'help'."

Stupidity needed a sharp slap over the head from time to time. Most of the time it didn't help, but it could be satisfying even if the silly mortals didn't snap out of it.

"This little deal of yours," she said, "Do I even want to know?"