You Gotta Start Lifting Your Head Up

The brown figure of the lioness moved up the side of Pride Rock, slowly and carefully. She was near here a lot these days, much to her mothers happiness, Kata had achieved something the golden lioness had wanted since her mother had birthed she and her siblings. Kata was going to birth a Prince or Princess, she could feel that much from her belly, the cub was fiesty in her stomach but there was only one. She wondered what he or she would be like, would they be exactly like her or exactly like Scar, maybe a blend of them both? She still couldn't believe that such a thing was actually possible, her having cubs, she had never dreamed of the day and she smiled softly at the thought.

She had been surprised at Scar's want when he had showed it, but he had been so vulnerable and lonely, how could she have ever said no? She'd submitted and since then she hadn't been far from the Kings side for more than a half a day at a time, especially now that he knew she was pregnant. He was protective and caring, at least to her, to others he probably appeared possessive but the naive lioness only took most of his overbearing behavior as a sign of caring that he didn't know how to express quite right due to stress. She was more likely to try and explain his actions away when she could, and other times she turned a blind eye, something had changed in her for him. She was mistakenly caring for the tyrant, he was the father of her unborn cub after all.

Such thoughts troubled her and she turned her thoughts to much nicer and fonder things, like what she might name her little cub when it was born. She smiled to herself in that warm way as she climbed, despite the scarceness of food she'd somehow kept fed, that had a lot to do with Scar himself but also with her sister Imani. The two hadn't been able to meet as often or long as they had before but when they did Imani tried to always bring something with her, a gift she'd say for her niece or nephew. Kata hadn't confided in anyone who her cubs father was, though it might have been obvious, but she did tell Imani and though shocked her sister had taken the news calmly and level headed as she always was. It was nice but also frustrating not to know what the sandy lioness really thought about it all, Hasira was of course elated but her opinion was selfish and Kata didn't trust it to be something she could count on.

When she was close to partway up the lioness sat to rest for a moment and peer out over the Pridelands. She was almost afraid to go further without Scar to escort her, she was terrified of his consort mostly, Zira wasn't a lioness to be trifled with and was the official Queen. What would she think of the brown lioness providing heirs much like Heshima had done before her departure? Kata didn't know and she was scared to find out, she wasn't sure her pregnancy had escaped the striped lionesses attention but as of yet that hadn't exchanged any words on the matter, or any at all really. The blue eyed lioness was thankful for that, she wasn't sure she could really take the striped female if it came to anything beyond terse words and she didn't want to put her cub in danger if it did come to such. A sigh escaped her maw and she laid down, the rock doing little to cool her in the unbearable heat, she felt her little babe poke her in the side again and a fluttering smile came to her face but it was tinged with melancholy.

What was she bringing him into?