Dheetu

Dheetu sniffs softly as she stares deep into a puddle, she was so focused on her reflection the little cub didn't notice when her pride leader rumbled at her, until he nudged her gently that is. She jumps and looks up at him, bowing her head as respectfully as a little cub could. Her father lays next to her and questions her about her staring contest with the puddle.

She sighs and flops against him, nearly getting lost in his thick fur as she glances back at the puddle. Like it was taunting her. "Why do I have eyes like that?" Her voice was small, almost ashamed at even asking.

"Like what?" Her father was ever patient with her, she has not witnessed his supposed cruelty herself, only heard whispers among the older lionesses as they return from hunts. She hardly believed he could be anything but the kind and patient lion she has always know since the day she was finally strong enough to tussle with him.

"No one else has them, they look wrong." She couldn't really explain exactly how she felt about her eyes. She was the only one in her pride to have them, her reflection didn't feel like her own sometimes.

"Darling, if your eyes are wrong...what about me?" She looks up at him, purely confused. "Well I'm obviously not like the other lions around here, does that make me look wrong?" She furrows her brow, much more confused now.

"No?"

Her father smiles at her, his huge teeth glittering in the sunset, "I know it's strange at first, to look different from the other lions, but trust me when I say that it makes you so much more special. There is nothing wrong with that."

She wasn't completely convinced yet, but if her father said she was special she sure wasn't going to deny it.