TW: Child death

As three more months went by, Unina continued to keep a watchful eye over them, always remaining vigilant everywhere they went to ensure their safety. The bond the family of three females shared grew stronger with each passing day. Little did they know that their time together wouldn't last long.

It was early morning, the tall yellow-green grass swayed in the gentle breeze, and the sun was just beginning to warm the earth. The cubs, brimming with energy, were passing the time playing a game of tag.

"I'm gonna get you!" Fuli called, her tail flicking with excitement as she bolted after Usana. She wasn't too far behind her, her little legs churning rapidly as she gave chase.

"Eep!" Usana cried out in mock fear as she fled from Fuli.

They darted and swerved through the plains, their laughter and growls of exhilaration filling the air. Fuli was right on Usana's tail, then she lunged forward. "TAG!"

"ACK!" Usana squealed as she stumbled onto the ground from the impact of Fuli tackling her. The two rolled around for a bit before Fuli had Usana pinned to the ground, both letting out breathless giggles.

"Hehe, you're it!" Fuli chirruped.

Up ahead, Unina paused to look back and noticed her cubs had gotten sidetracked once again, "Girls, stay close to me," she reminded them before continuing onward.

Noticing their mother leaving, Fuli and Usana put their antics on hold and they hurried after Unina. The family trio trekked through the plains, Unina taking the lead with her big, graceful strides while her daughters skipped along her side.

"Hey Usana, wanna continue playing tag?" Fuli chirped, "You're still it."

"Sure!" Usana vowed, smirking. "Careful, big sis. I'm so gonna get you back."

"Only if you can catch me," Fuli taunted, sticking her tongue out at Usana. "But you can't, you're nowhere near as fast as me."

"We'll see about that!" Usana growled playfully, feeling a rush of competitiveness. "Start running."

"Okay!"

In a blink of an eye, the king cheetah then sprinted off, Usana hared after her as quickly as she could, trying to match her older littermate's greater speed.

"Girls!" Unina exclaimed, surprised when her cubs raced right past her. Chuckling and shaking her head, she watched as the two sisters scurry through the grass again. In the front, Fuli zig-zagged around, making it difficult for Usana to keep up; she occasionally stumbled and nearly tripped over her own paws.

"Ugh, will you slow down a little?"

"Neveeeeeeeeeerrrrrr!" Fuli yowled, her unswerving pace persisted, determined to purposely tire out her sister.

Behind them, Unina paused for a moment to leap onto the top of a large termite mound to check on her surroundings for a bit, scanning around for any potential prey or predators in the area. So far, the savanna remained empty, save for a few herds in the distance as well as trees and bushes. At the same time, she kept a keen eye on her daughters while they played, an amused, adoring smile formed across her face. Suddenly, Fuli shot out from the grass and scampered over to Unina with Usana right behind her, the two girls ran in circles around their mother.

"Come back here!" Usana shouted, still chasing Fuli.

"Can't catch me!" Fuli taunted, swiftly maneuvering around the termite mound. Unina sat at the top, laughing at the cubs.

Usana huffed in exertion as she made laps around the mound in an attempt to catch her sister, she always struggled to keep up with the older cub's rapid speed and her stamina wasn't that great either, resulting in her always getting worn out quickly. But then an idea popped in her head, and the younger cub cleverly twisted and stood in place, grinning at the sight of Fuli's shocked expression when she saw Usana cut her off her path.

"I've got you now!"

"Ah!" Reacting quickly, Fuli's paws skidded against the ground, slowing her down in time to prevent herself from colliding into Usana, before twisting and springing onto the termite hill, her claws scrabbling hastily against the side as she hauled herself up, out of Usana's reach. The latter was beyond shocked, her jaw dropped as she stared at Fuli, flabbergasted.

Then she yowled indignantly, "Hey, that's cheating!"

"Still haven't caught me yet," Fuli giggled, digging her claws into the hard dirt to cling on.

"Mamaaaaaaa, Fuli isn't playing fair!" Usana wailed.

"Fuli..." Unina lightly scolded.

"I'm just messing around!" Fuli snorted, rolling her eyes. "Usana needs to stop being so dramatic."

"But you're not playing fair!" Usana repeated, shooting the king cheetah cub an annoyed glare.

"Can you help me up here?" Fuli asked Unina, feeling her grip slip a little.

"That's also cheating!" pouted Usana, "Mama's not supposed to help!"

"Uh, actually, we never said that she couldn't."

Before Unina could intervene, Fuli suddenly shrieked when she felt a few termites begin to crawl onto her paws, having been disturbed by the cub's excessive movements. "EEEK!! GET 'EM OFF, GET 'EM OFF!!"

Distracted, Fuli lost her grip as she shook the bugs off her paws and fell backwards onto the ground.

"Fuli!" Unina and Usana exclaimed in unison. Usana quickly rushed to Fuli's side just as Unina got down from the termite mound. Concerned, she bent down to sniff and nose at Fuli, checking for injuries. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Rrgh... I'm fine, Mama," Fuli mewled groggily, getting back up. She gave a disgusted shudder as a chill went down her spine, "Ugh, are they off of me?"

"They're gone," Usana confirmed.

Unina sighed, nuzzling Fuli in relief, "Be more careful, next time."

"I will," Fuli said.

"In that case.... TAG!" Fuli then felt a light tap on her shoulder while Usana giggled to herself. "You're it, now!"

"W-wait, what?" Fuli stared at her surprised, which quickly shifted into a cross glare. "Hey, now you cheated!!"

"You did it first!" Usana argued.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"That didn't even count! I fell!"

"Girls girls, enough," Unina said, ceasing the two's bickering. "You both will play fair, or not play at all. Understand?"

"Yes, Mama," both cubs agreed.

"At least I always play fair..." Usana mumbled to herself.

"At weast I aways pway fayer!" Fuli muttered, mocking Usana's tone.

"Fuli," Unina called her out again, giving her daughter a stern look.

"Yeah yeah, okay, whatever," Fuli quickly said, "I'll be nice."

Unina gave a satisfied smile, "Good."

Fuli then glanced up at the termite mound, suddenly feeling curious. "What were you even doing up there, Mama?"

"Well dear, standing on something tall like a termite mound helps me get an even better view of the area," Unina explained. "It especially helps us with hunting. Sight is our most important sense, and the higher you are, the more easily you can seek out your prey."

"Really?" Usana mewed, her ear flicking with interest. "How much can you see up there?"

"Quite a lot, you'd be surprised," Unina replied. "Wanna take a look?"

"Sure!" Both girls replied, abandoning interest in continuing their game.

"As long as no more termites crawl onto me," Fuli added as she and Usana padded over to the base, glancing up at the mountain of dirt.

"If you aren't disturbing their dens too much, they should leave you alone," Unina reassured her. "Try not to move around too much, or they might feel threatened and start to bite at you."

The mother cheetah watched as her cubs attempted to scrabble their way up the hill, a few more termites scattered around from the disturbance.

"Whoa!" Fuli squeaked when she almost slipped off again, "This is hard."

"Yeah," Usana agreed, struggling a little herself. But she was doing significantly better than her sister and was even able to surpass her, clawing her way up the mound with such ease that Fuli was blown away.

How is she doing that!?

Usana reached out an offering paw, "Need any help?"

"No! I can do this myself!" At the same time, a startled yelp left her throat as she almost lost her grip once more. This is even more challenging than climbing a tree.

"Come on, Fuli, you can do it!" Usana encouraged as she made it to the top.

"Rrrrgg, stupid termite mound..." the king cheetah cub muttered in irritation. Come on! It's just a pile of dirt! Why is climbing so difficult for me!? Sheepishly, she looked back at Unina in defeat and the adult cheetah nodded.

"I've got you," she said, nudging Fuli upward with her muzzle, much to her chagrin. Soon, she was able to reach the top and stand beside Usana before Unina joined them shortly.

"Now what?" Usana asked.

"Take a look around and tell me what you see," Unina instructed.

The girls both looked around in different directions, scanning the whole of the open plains.

"Whoa, you can really see a lot from up here!" Usana chirruped with wonder. "I see some springboks grazing over there, and another termite mound over there." She then turned to her left, "Oh! There's some gazelles and zebras at a watering hole over there!"

Fuli stared at her younger littermate with a dumbfounded expression, "How are you all seeing anything out there?"

"Try to focus, dear," Unina advised.

"I'm trying!" Fuli insisted. Ugh, that's easy for you to say!

While Usana continued to be mesmerized by the far away sights of the savanna, Fuli only grounded her teeth in frustration. Unlike other cheetahs, she lacked her kind's signature malar stripes, which were thick, black tear-like stripes that streaked down each corner of the cheetah's eye. These markings are very important as they help reflect the sun's glare from the cheetah's eyes, which is very useful for hunting. But because Fuli didn't have them, her vision was significantly poor, so everything looked like hazy blobs in the distance against the sun's annoyingly bright glare.

"I can't see anything! I'm the blindest cheetah ever!" Fuli wailed.

"Oh, don't say that," Unina consoled.

"How come I don't have those tear marks?" Fuli grumbled, venting her frustration by kicking at a loose piece of dirt from the termite hill. "You and Usana both have them. Literally every cheetah in existence has them except for me!"

"I figured it was probably a result of you being born too early," Unina said, "Much like how Usana was very weak and sickly when she was born. But I'm sure we'll find a way to help you when you become old enough to hunt."

"Hmph, this is so unfair," Fuli sulked. How am I ever going to learn how to hunt when I don't even have the cheetah's most important sense?

"Um... Mama?" Usana's uneasy mew then cut through her thoughts. "There's someone out there."

"What is it, sweetie?" Unina chirped, looking up and following her gaze, Fuli then saw her muzzle drop into a concerned frown. While Fuli could still only see blobs, her mother most likely spotted the figure that unsettled Usana in the distance.

Now Unina was standing up and alert as she glared ahead into the savanna, the fur along her neck had risen up too.

She's really worried, Fuli recognized immediately. "What is it, Mama?"

"There's a lion out there," Unina answered, still focused on the predator. Fuli gasped while Usana's ears flattened in distress. 

They've heard countless warnings from their mother about how dangerous these rivaling predators were, and that they don't just stop at stealing kills from cheetahs, but also eliminate them and their cubs as well. The girls could soon recall stories of how Unina got harassed by a pride of lions while pregnant, the stress of the incident causing to give birth to them a week early and she ended up miscarrying their brothers. But their very first real encounter with these felines was when a pair of rogue lion brothers came over and stole the gazelle carcass Fuli and Usana were trying out for the first time, forcing the family to flee their den site. 

Unina turned to face her now worried daughters, her expression softened a little but still retained a certain grimness. "You two go hide. This won't take long."

"W-where are you going?" Usana mewled anxiously.

"I'm going to drive the lion off," Unina briefly explained. "In the meantime, you two just stay hidden. Don't let the lion see you. I'll come for you when it's over."

"O-okay... Be careful," Usana said.

"Be careful, Mama," Fuli agreed.

"You too, girls," Unina said, giving her cubs a small reassuring smile before heading off to confront the lion. Fuli and Usana slid down from the termite mound and remained behind in the vegetation as they were told, attentively watching as their mother bounded closer to the approaching enemy. Unlike the two male lions from the previous encounter, this one had a muscular, deep-chested build whereas the rogue brothers looked thin and underfed with their ribs visibly showing. The second major difference was the mane; while the brothers were young and just beginning to grow a scraggly, thin mane, this lion possessed a thick, fully grown head of hair completely covering around his face, chest, and part of his back.

"Wow, he's huge," Usana gulped.

"He's even bigger than the other two lions we saw last time," Fuli added. He looks twice as big as the two rogues combined.

Fuli could feel Usana trembling beside her. "He looks so big and scary! I hope Mama will be okay. She said lions kill cheetahs!"

"She'll be fine," Fuli assured her, giving her a comforting nuzzle. "Mama is the fastest and bravest cheetah ever, she can outrun anything, no problem! Besides, this time it's only one lion."

The two sisters peeked through the tall grass to watch Unina stopping just a few feet in front of the lion, whose amber eyes gleamed with malice as he bared his fangs. The two faced off, prowling in circles with tails lashing and hackles arose as they exchanged hostile hisses and growls at each other.

Then the lion paced forward, muscles rippling beneath the fur of his broad shoulders with each step he took. Unina did the same, trotting closer towards him and closing the space between them.

"Beat it, spotty," the lion growled first, "You're in my territory."

"Since when?" Unina scoffed, "I didn't smell any of your scent markers when I arrived."

"Since now," the lion haughtily replied as he raked his claws against the ground, scoring deep claw marks against the earth to officially mark his turf. "Now get out of here, or I will tear your skinny limbs right off." 

"Try it, hairball," Unina spat, unfazed by the threat. Snarling, the lion abruptly charged the cheetah. Just as he came near Unina's face, she nimbly twisted and sprinted off with the lion pursuing her. "HUWEZI!"

Fuli and Usana gasped softly as they observed their mother luring the predator away from their direction. Unina ran and ran, making sure the lion was still tailing after her.

"Go, Mama, go!" Fuli whispered to herself.

"Please don't die!" Usana added worriedly. A frightened squeak came from her throat when she saw the lion attempt to snap at Unina's tail, only for the mother cheetah to swiftly dodge the attack by sprinting the other way. "Oh, I can't watch..." The younger cub cowered behind Fuli, shielding herself from the sight of Unina risking her life to take on the very predator she had been warned about. "This is so scary!"

"Tch, 'scary'? You mean so awesome!" Fuli chirruped excitedly. "Look at her go! She's so fast, that lion can barely keep up!"

While Usana continued to fearfully avoid watching Unina and the lion any longer, Fuli continued to observe her mother in awe as the adult cheetah dashed around the plains, twisting and turning as she outran the lion with ease. Unina suddenly juked and weaved through the plains, causing the larger cat to stumble and almost lose his footing. Self-consciously growling and frustrated, he rushed after the lithe, speedy feline again, only for her to make a sharp left turn midrun. The bumbling lion missed the turn and clumsily tripped over his own paws again, unable to match Unina's pace as he vainly lumbered after her.

This guy seriously doesn't stand a chance!

Soon enough, the male lion was beginning to slow, his tongue lolling out from his mouth as he panted heavily.

"Hey Usana, I think he's about to give up," Fuli informed, then she snorted, "You can stop being such a scaredy-cat now."

Gradually, Usana peeked from behind her paws and blinked her eyes open. She saw the lion had stopped running now, all out of breath. Unina speeded on ahead and left him to glare after her in defeat.

Usana sighed, finally allowing herself to relax, "That was close."

"You should've seen Mama! She was so cool and so fast! " Fuli chirped excitedly. She then began zipping around, mimicking the running and juking movements she saw Unina did. "She was all like woosh! 'Huwezi! Can't catch me!' That lion stood no chance at all! She's so awesome!"

"Wow!" Usana breathed in amazement.

"And look, she's still alive!" Fuli pointed out. "She escaped the lion! Told ya she could do it!"

"Heh, I guess you're right," Usana said.

Fuli smirked, "I'm always right!"

But little did they know, the male lion was in fact not alone. Not too far from the area, two lionesses have picked up the sound of the cubs' chattering. Sniffing the air, they've detected their scents just a few feet away from where they stood. 

"I can smell that varmint's kids," one of the lionesses said, pointing ahead. "They're this way."

"Let's get them," the second chuckled sadistically, and the two hurried over

Further ahead, Unina eventually slowed down into a light jog, barely breaking a sweat as she trotted back around to see how far behind the lion was. Her confident expression immediately dropped when she noticed the two lionesses now stalking straight towards where she left her daughters, who were oblivious to the oncoming danger.

"NO!" she immediately made haste to where she left her daughters, but the lionesses were much closer to them than her. 

Upon hearing their mother's alarmed cries, Fuli and Usana fell silent and looked around, the anxious look on Usana's spotted face quickly returned.

"What's going on...?"

"I-I don't know," Fuli stuttered, now concerned.

They heard Unina's voice again, "GIRLS, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

Suddenly, two dark shadow loomed over Fuli and Usana and as they both looked up, finding themselves directly in front of a pair of female lions. Both green and blue pupils dilated. A fearful gasp came from Fuli while a loud, terrified shriek ripped out of Usana's throat.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"GIRLS!" Unina shouted, dread filling her senses at the sound of their screams. In the nick of time, she reached her daughters just as the lionesses approached them. Instinctively, the cheetah cubs bolted in a panic with the lionesses in hot pursuit.

"C'mere, you little furballs!" one of them snarled, determined to snatch up one of the cubs and finish them off. 

"Usana, you need to run faster!" Fuli yowled to her sister, who was significantly lagging behind. 

"I'm trying!" Usana cried, but the lionesses were already onto her. But just before they could grab her, Unina came in just at the nick of time and shoved the attacking feline away from her younger cub, giving her a chance to escape.

"KEEP RUNNING, DON'T STOP!" Unina ordered. The two lionesses snarled maliciously at Unina as they both closed in on her.

"Tch, cheetahs," one of them growled, "Nothing but skinny, pathetic weaklings."

"Let's skin her spots off," the other jeered.

With a snarl, the first lioness lunged and swiped her claws at Unina. The female cheetah reeled back, narrowly dodging the first attack, but then one of the other lionesses surged forward and raked her claws across Unina's flank, eliciting a pained shriek from her.

With the mother now distracted, thanks to his pride, the male lion grinned knowing he could easily pick off much easier targets like the two cheetah cubs.

Eventually Usana couldn't keep up any longer and tripped, stumbling forward and collapsing onto her side. By the time she got back up, the lion was already standing before her, engulfing her in his large shadow and stunning her in still with a cold stare.

When she soon realized that Usana wasn't following, Fuli skidded to a halt and turned around, noticing her sister still crouched down on the grass, paralyzed with fear as she stared up at the great intimidating predator towering over her.

"Usana, move! Get out of there!"

But Usana either couldn't hear her or was too scared out of her mind to listen to any background noise around her.

"Usana, go now!" Fuli desperately tried again. "Usana!" The younger cub still couldn't budge. "Usana, come to me, please!"

"I-I can't..." Usana managed to utter a whimper, her legs shook wildly. She tried to make them move but they remained frozen to the ground. The hairs on her body stood on its ends and her breath came out in short, shaky gasps as she stared up at the lion, her poor little heart pounding against her chest while her face was pale with terror.

The next thing Fuli saw was the lion whipping out a paw and hooking his claws onto Usana, her little sister crying out in pain as she was hauled effortlessly towards the enemy.

"HEY! Get away from my sister, you big brute!" Fuli shouted defensively, bounding back over. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The large lion now glared at Fuli with venomous yellow eyes, causing the king cheetah cub to freeze in place. He then glowered at Usana whimpering in his claws as he dug through the layer of her spotted fur and pricked at her skin. The next thing Fuli saw was the lion's claws finally caving in through the back of Usana's neck. Usana's sky-blue eyes bulged to whites as a choked cry left her, blood bubbling from her lips.

"USANA!!" Fuli screamed in horror. The lion unhooked his blood-stained claws from the cub, who laid motionless on the ground as more blood left her now lifeless body, spewing scarlet all over the once yellow-green grass beneath her.

N-n-no... That did not... That did not just happen... Horrified, Fuli stared into her younger littermate's eyes that used to sparkle with life and emotion, now looking blank and glassy on her permanently petrified face. She resisted the urge to gag as her blood ran cold. Usana...

The lion simply kicked Usana's small body to the side as he prowled closer to Fuli. "You're next."

Now it was the poor king cheetah cub's turn to be frozen still with terror, her paws stuck to the ground.

Having witnessed what had just happened, a distraught screech from Unina split the air; "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" 

Fueled by rage, she shoved past the lionesses and surged forward in an extra burst of speed and threw herself right at the lion. "YOU BASTARD!!!"

She bit deeply right into the lion's face as she knocked him away from her other cub just in time. He roared in pain as he skidded across the ground with a groan and the mother cheetah let out a vicious snarl as she stood protectively in front of Fuli, who stared up at her wide-eyed.

Her gaze then drifted over to poor Usana as she lay crumpled in the grass staring blankly into the sky. Her heart stopped as she staggered towards Usana and gently nudged at her little paws, as if to make her walk again. She lapped her tongue over the ghastly wound that marked her baby and to clean the blood matting the once soft, fawn-orange fur; as if the cub would feel better afterwards. But deep down, Unina knew these attempts were feeble, and they didn't change the brutal truth that laid before her;

Usana, her second born daughter, two months old, is gone.

All Unina could do in that moment was stare wordlessly at her child's lifeless form with her lip quivering, unable to comprehend her fate. It felt like the world had stopped turning.

"M-mama?" Fuli then spoke in a small voice. Trembling, Usana glanced up to meet her remaining daughter's teary emerald gaze. 

Looking around, Unina noticed that the lionesses standing by, giving the last two cheetahs threatening snarls as they stood by, muscles tense and ready to strike at any second. Their leader growled in chagrin as he rolled back onto his paws. He glared at the cheetah mother, who got up and stood her ground, blocking the pride away from Fuli.

The lion took a step forward, giving a callous chuckle, "Consider this your final warning. Get the hell off my turf, or you and your other kid end up just like her."

With one last sorrowful glance at Usana's corpse, Unina ushered Fuli away, much to her dismay.  

"W-wait...!" she sobbed. "We can't leave her here...!"

Unina's heart shattered even more at this, but she kept pushing Fuli onward, and the cub reluctantly padded off with her mother into the plains with their tails and ears drooping. 

Oh Usana... My poor, sweet, baby Usana... I'm so sorry...