Hello everyone, I am here! Happy (very belated) holidays and New Year, hope you all enjoyed yourselves. This chapter took way longer than expected to write cause I was mainly distracted by the holiday stuff as well as Sonic 3 finally releasing, which I watched at least 3-4 times now XD

I also spoiled myself on Mufasa's plot because I can't be bothered to sit down in a theater and watch yet another one of Disney's soulless cash grabs of a pointless prequel to a previous soulless cash grab (ok I did think it was a wee bit better than the 2019 Lion King, they at least tried making the characters more "expressive", which did kinda worked and didn't at the same time *cough cough "brothaaaaaaaaa" cough lol*)

Another reason why this took long is because I actually had some trouble writing this chapter. Like I had an idea of how I want the chapter to go but have trouble actually writing it down/forming sentences to describe it if that makes sense.

Anyways, this is all I got for now. This is apparently the shortest chapter I've written so far. Maybe I'll go back and add more if I feel inspired. For now, I hope you guys enjoy what I have put out here :)

If not then uh sorry I tried

Fuli laid on the ground with sagged shoulders as she waited for her mother to return. For the first time since she was a newborn infant, she actually stayed put in the grassy thicket Unina had placed her in after hours upon hours of walking, getting as far away from the lion territory as possible. Unina then went on ahead to make sure she and her remaining daughter weren't being followed.

As Fuli took a moment to close her eyes, gruesome images that refused to leave her alone continued to flash in her mind; images of Usana getting crushed by the lion's cruel claws right in front of her, the way her sky-blue eyes bulged to whites as single a choked cry left her, her own blood pooling all around her and all over the grass.

In a cold sweat, Fuli snapped her eyes back open, the image still lingered fresh in her mind.

We left her. Now she could just picture her sister's broken body laying in the bloodstained grass of the lion pride's territory. What are those sick predators going to do with her, now...? Have they already let the vultures and other scavengers get to her...? Or... maybe they've eaten her themselves...?

The thought of Usana being consumed by the heartless predators who took her life made her sick. She suddenly recalled the look on Usana's face when she was at the mercy of the lion moments before he killed her. The way she was crouched on the ground and staring up at the beast, the color from her face faded from fear while her legs remained stuck to the ground, refusing to move. Fuli kept shouting, begging for her to get away from the impending danger right before her. But Usana couldn't bring herself to move a muscle, and it didn't take long for her to meet her untimely demise.

It all happened so quickly... Fuli swallowed a lump in her throat as she squeezed her eyes shut once more, I-I... I couldn't do anything... I watched her die, and I couldn't help her...

The lone cheetah cub gave a low growl as she scratched deeply against the ground, paying no mind to the dirt caking up between her claws. Usana should've listened to me. She should've known better than to stand there and stare like an idiot! She let the lion kill her! It's her fault she died!

Fuli sniffled, feeling a sting in her eyes as she blinked away oncoming tears. I should've made sure she was still following me. Maybe if I hadn't run so fast, she would've caught up...

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a tickling sensation and Fuli noticed an ant crawling on her paw.

"Stupid ant," she grumbled, "Get off of me."

The ant either didn't understand her or just refused to listen, and it continued to walk along the young cheetah, who glared daggers at the insect.

"I said GET OFF OF ME!" Fuli snapped, slapping her other paw right over the ant and promptly squishing it. Disgusted, Fuli quickly flicked off the tiny crushed black speck. "You idiot, you should've listened to me! It's all your fault!"

"All who's fault?" Unina's voice then chimed in. Glancing over her shoulder, Fuli saw her mother approaching.

"This dumb ant crawled on me and I told it to get off but it didn't listen!" Fuli angrily responded, releasing all her pent up frustrations. "Now it's dead, and it's his own fault! It's just like Usana. If she hadn't ignored me and moved like I told her to, then the lion wouldn't have caught her and killed her! It's her fault!"

"Fuli, don't say that," Unina chided, but her voice sounded emotionally drained.

"She should've known better! She knows lions kill cheetahs, and she just stayed there! Now she's gone, and I'll never see her ever again!" Fuli continued on, her sullen face twisting as tears began pouring out from her eyes despite her feeble attempts to wipe them away. The more she rubbed at her face, the more tears seemed to come. "She was too afraid to move... Why didn't I make sure she was still following me... Why did I run too fast...? Usana can't run as fast as me... I shouldn't have left her behind..."

"Shhh," Unina hushed soothingly, pulling her remaining cub into an embrace. "Don't say that..." she repeated, gently brushing away Fuli's tears. "It's not your sister's fault that she died."

"Then it's my fault then," Fuli hiccuped, now sobbing so heavily that she was gasping for air. "I should've made sure to stay close to her..."

"It's not your fault either," Unina said softly. She gently cupped the side of Fuli's cheek and tilted her head upward. Fuli sniffled and looked up at her mother, trying to catch her breath. "I tried to distract the lions from getting to you two, but... it wasn't enough," The adult female cheetah stopped for a second, letting out a long, shaky sigh. "I couldn't get to Usana in time. I... I wasn't quick enough to save her... If anyone is to blame for her death, it's me."

Fuli stared at her mother, surprised by her statement. "I don't think it's your fault, Mama..."

"Hm..." Unina simply hummed her wordless reply, blankly staring ahead. Her expression was just as empty, as if she were too exhausted to show any kind of emotion. Fuli could see that her mother's eyes were clouded with sorrow, yet Unina didn't shed a single tear, not even a trickle, as if she were fighting the urge to cry.

"How come you aren't crying?" Fuli mewed. "Aren't you sad, too?"

Unina's breath hitched and her lip began to tremble, and Fuli was so sure her mother was going to suddenly break down on the spot. But instead, Unina just gazed at her with a very tired look.

"Of course I'm sad," she began in a shaky voice, so she took a small pause before speaking again. "Usana is my cub, Fuli, of course I'm sad that she's gone. I'm completely heartbroken and angry that the lion's took my baby's life away. Usana didn't deserve that." The mother cheetah paused again, "But there's no use in crying about it."

"W-what do you mean?"

Unina gave another long sigh, "Cheetah cubs die all the time, Fuli. Only a few manage to survive all the way to adulthood, because most of them end up dying early due to lions and other predators. It's just part of the Circle of Life."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Fuli demanded, pulling away from her mother. Her pelt bristled in outrage. "It's not fair! How can this be part of the Circle of Life?! Lions always take everything from us, first our food, now Usana's own life! And you're always excusing it as 'just part of the Circle of Life'! That's just stupid and cruel and totally unfair!"

"I know, honey, I know," Unina said, trying to calm her daughter's temper.

"Usana shouldn't have had to die!" Fuli vented on, a bitter frown twisting across her muzzle. "It's not fair..."

"It isn't," Unina solemnly agreed. "But that's just how it is sometimes. It's complicated, okay... In life, not everyone gets to live to see another sunrise. It may seem unfair and cruel, but that's just the way things are. And there's nothing you can do about it."

But Fuli just scoffed at this, turning her back against her mother. "It's like you don't care that Usana died."

She was met with absolute silence and when Fuli peeked behind to look at her mother, she found her staring at her, not able to utter a single word. The intensity of the look caught Fuli off guard, but it wasn't as fuming as she expected. Instead, Unina looked greatly hurt, as if someone pierced their claws through her heart and kept tearing at it, worsening the pain even more than it already did for her.

"I do care," she spoke quietly, almost whispering, her blue eyes glistening with emotion. Eyes that painfully reminded Fuli of her sister. "I care... so much."

Immediately, Fuli regretted blurting out the accusation. "S-sorry..."

Unina just nodded silently, neither of them saying much for the rest of the day. Fuli still didn't fully understand how her mother could somehow normalize the loss of her own cub as simply part of the big grand idea that is Circle of Life. As if it somehow justified what the lions did to her, an excuse for how other animals always pushed them around. And in the end, there's nothing Fuli could do about it.

But later that night when the two of them went to sleep, where more dreams of Usana being killed right before her eyes continued to assault Fuli in her already restless sleep, she was soon woken up by the sounds of Unina's ghosted screams, momentarily breaking her away from the nightmares.

Heart racing, Fuli gasped and panted, cold sweat coating her skin beneath her bristling fur. Then she turned to the source of the screams, in the dark she found the lithe silhouette of her mother curled up, sobbing loudly into the night. Unina, a cheetah with a spine of steel, has finally been broken.

Unina had miscarried both of her sons and even then she didn't falter, quickly carrying on for the sake of her remaining two cubs of her litter. But now, Unina swiftly fell apart without Usana.

Fuli presumed that a heart can only crack so much before it finally shatters. Or perhaps it was the nature of the thing; Matakwa and Matumaini had already died the moment they were born and Usana was just as frail with very poor health, her chances of surviving extremely slim. But Unina continued to care for her anyway, nurturing the little runt cub and showering her with just as much if not more love and attention as she gave her healthier eldest cub. And against all odds, her efforts were rewarded when Usana made it to six weeks old.

And yet, she was killed off despite those efforts, and all of Unina's initial hope of her growing up alongside her sister was gone in one fell swoop of an antagonistic lion, the one Unina had failed to protect her from.

So, Unina broke, finally giving in to the grief and anguish she had spent all day trying to keep it all confined, only to find that she was unable to once it became dark. All Fuli could do was lay down beside Unina, nestling up beside her as she reared up her muzzle and gently licked at her mother's shoulders. It took a while, but eventually the mournful cries began to soften down, becoming quiet sobs in the dark before becoming no more than a whimper. Then it all became silent, but neither Fuli or Unina would sleep soundly for the rest of the night.

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The following months haven't been easy for the now family of two. Fuli would continue to be interrupted in the middle of the night to Unina's grieving wails, and in the daylight, she could see how red and puffy her once bright blue eyes had become. She felt just as helpless as when she witnessed her sister's death. She didn't know what to do or say to ease her mother's pain, but from the looks of it, no action or words alone seemed like enough to help her get through such a profound loss.

The strong, determined, confident demeanor Fuli used to see in Unina had completely vanished since Usana died, leaving nothing more than a shadow of her former self. Her posture, once so tall, straight, and proud, curled in on itself. For the first few weeks since Usana's death, Unina would sleep for days on end and then not at all. She'd hunt but barely ate, her body began to grow thinner while her fur became disheveled and unkempt, something that would used to greatly bother Unina, but in her current state she couldn't be bothered to take the time to groom herself. She couldn't speak nor smile. And she stared. She stared a lot. Fuli would often find her mother sitting a couple feet away just staring off wistfully and unblinkingly into the savanna, not saying a single word. Her expression always appeared haunted and Fuli could tell that her mind was full, thoughts churning and racing endlessly, refusing to give rest. And it always made Unina's face collapse shortly afterwards, over and over again.

Fuli had given up interest in venturing out on her own like before, now preferring to stay near her heartbroken mother. As time went on, Fuli grew increasingly concerned for Unina's well-being, wondering if she'll ever recover. Maybe she never would. And yet, Fuli still tried to remain hopeful, holding onto small, subtle signs that things were maybe, just maybe, taking a turn for the better. A glimmer in Unina's soft blue eyes or a night's sleep without waking up to howls of misery meant that tomorrow was going to be easier. And even rarer signs such as Unina cracking small but visible smiles meant that she was finally beginning to forgive herself.

Only time would tell if her heart would heal.