Luna

Her eyes were the only thing that stood out about her.

She had always been taunted about her short tail and pointy ears. Never really fitting into any of the groups. Never able to play with any other cubs. Maybe that's why she was so ill minded about others.

And maybe that's why she was being left off for dead.

The king of her Pride had chased her off, after she brought in a very sick cub she was looking after. She really was having fun with the little one. Watching him jump off of her, bat at her ears and try to climb on her head. He was the only thing that was willing to interact with her, it seemed. But soon his nap came about, and she let him curl up against her in a shade of trees. But when he had woken up, he wasn't his usual happy self. He wondered about a little bit, before Luna had picked him up and taken him to the Tenders.

Now she found herself out in the desert, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. She slowed herself to a stop.

She didn't even know where she was.

She heard a snap of a twig behind her and whirled around to face a... what was he? He looked a lot like her, but at the same time...not.

"Are you lost?" He asked her, she took a defensive stance.

"What is it to you?" She snarked.

"It is my Pride's lands. And you are trespassing." He stated simply, and Luna finally took notice of the lions that surrounded her. It seemed that the small group had come back from a hunt, seeing that one of the lionesses remained by the buffalo carcass. But why was a king and his submales with the hunting group?

"So, are you lost, or are you a spy?" He asked, his face darkening. A lionesses growled behind Luna. That's when she heard a small playful growl. She looked and behind of the king came out a small cub, tumbling as she played with a passing bug.

The cub looked exactly like Luna.

"What's her name?" She found herself asking, before she could think better of it. The king's face seemed to soften at the innocent question.

"Jasper." The said cub looked up at the king, before she pounced onto his back, and made her way up onto his head. When she was in her position, she batted at is eyes, playfully. Luna, prepared herself to grab the cub. Her previous king, and many other kings she had seen, did not like seeing or playing with the cubs.

To her surprise, the king laughed. He began bob his head up and down, making the cub jump off of his head just an inch. Jasper growled playfully, mewling happily when she was suspended in the air for a second. The king and the cub did so a little longer, before the cub let out a happy yip and jumped off of the king's head.

Luna, felt herself move forward to catch the cub, even though she was too far. That's when she saw the king move forward, swing his body around and making the cub land on his back again.

"What have I told you about jumping off of high places?" The king scolded the cub. Jasper seemed to look down in shame.

"Not to do it, unless you're ready." Wait, so the king let her do it before?

"That's right." He said, before taking the cub by her collar and placing her down on the ground. Jasper, perked up immediately and made her way over to Luna. The lionesses began to growl again, but immediately stopped when the king raised his paw.

Luna took a look at the cub, her eyes looking at her intensely.

"You're eyes are really pretty!" She complemented, Luna felt herself melt and layed down in front of the cub.




That is how Luna now found herself being in her current Pride. She had been told that Jasper's mother was found in the desert left for dead like Luna. The mother begged the king, Paki, to take her cub and the rising king didn't have the heart to say no. So Jasper was now part of the Pride, but didn't have a permanent mother to be looked by. That's when Luna said she would volunteer. It was completely on a wim. She didn't really think it through, didn't really prepare. But now, she loved Jasper.

The way her little adopted daughter jumps around happily, calling Luna her mom. The way Jasper gets excited over anything and everything.

But there is always the nights when Jasper would wake up after a nightmare. Luna had done her best to comfort the small cub, but she wasn't her mother. She couldn't calm the cub quickly enough to stop the cub from having panic attacks.

"So you're worried about her?" Andromeda clarified, the Queen had taken Luna under her wing, after Luna had joined the new Pride.

"Yes... I just want the best for her. But it seems my best is not enough." Luna looked down in shame.

"Child you must stop making your efforts seem like a small thing. You're putting your everything into raising Jasper. You just need time for her to come around. I can tell you that she already loves you dearly. She's just a little untrusting from her experience. All you can do is give her time." Andromeda suggested, before she walked on to help other lionesses that called for her.




It was another night when Jasper woke up from a nightmare. Luna tried her best to calm the terrified cub. But in the end, Jasper ended up in her corner, that she went to when she had panic attacks. But tonight Luna lost all her hope. When she would go after Jasper, she stayed put, listening to the weak mewls of the cub.

Luna then got up and made her way out of the cave. The cub would be better to be left alone- a desperate mewl caught Luna's attention. She looked back to see the cub struggling on her shaking legs to stand up. Luna trotted back to the cub and used her nose to help the cub up.

"What's wrong? Does something hurt?" Luna asked frantically.

"Don't lea-leave me." The cub mewled weakly. Luna let out her best calming rumbling. The cub let out a purr of her own.




"I'm glad that she's opened up to you." Andromeda said and chuckled as she watched the cubs play.

"I'm just glad that she's alright. I want her to have all the things that I didn't have." Luna smiled, when Jasper came to her.

"What is it?"

"I wanna sit with mama!" The kit chirped back. Luna heard Andromeda 'aww' at her side.

"Alright, sweetheart. You can stay with me as long as you want."