Shadee

"Mother." Shadee whispered, her eyes watching her mother curiously as she held a paw to the remnants of the Antelope she hunted the night before. "Who was I named after?"

"Gandmthr..." Kivulli muttered, her mouth full of one of the bones she tried to snap. She released it and licked at her lips before attempting a response. "Your grandmother lioness." She spoke. "Her eyes and skin were passed on to me, and then to you. Your sister? She has her deep shadowed colors. Her name, Shadoe, comes from my own name. You two were blessed with beautiful dark colors."

"Where is Grandmother Shade now?" Shadee whispered, pulling herself up to her paws before she walked to lay next to her mothers warm side. She settled in, chin resting on a single paw.

"Our Pride has been around for ages. Our bloodline, we are not meant to be remain secluded, locked in....when it is close to our time we are released from the Pride and are meant to run as free, as wild as we wish until our very last breath. Our spirits fly... there are a few who wish to die with the Pride and there is no shame. Grandmother wanted to run free. I will follow in my mother's path and run free when it is time."

"But how will we remember you?" Shadee whispered, her ears bent back.
"By telling stories, by your dreams. You won't forget me that easily, little one."





[Shadow in Swahili, as Google Translates to, is Kivuli.]