Chapter 2

It was dead silent. Even the No-Mane's steady wailing had stopped. "D-Dead? How? What killed her?!" shrieked my mother in horrified dismay. "M-m-maybe the Sunce…whatever it is…accepted her offer SwiftSpring..." whispered Stealthstriker meekly, as if she could scarcely believe what was happening. "If it did then you," she nodded toward the No-Mane.

"Must honor the… Sunce's… choice. You shall be forever cursed if you kill the cubs."

"Curses? Curses are senile old lioness tales. They don't really," He paused, grimacing as his wounds began to puss because of the movement of the face, "They don't really exist." "I have never believed in them myself, but the evidence is undeniable.

Powerstriker is dead. If you lay one claw on those cubs, you may be next." There was a dark glimmer in my mother's golden eyes, daring the No-Mane to contradict her. "I…you…she…" I heard the beginning of the No-Mane's protest, but I couldn't stay awake any longer. I drifted off, not knowing and at that point, not caring whether I ever woke up again.

"Sis! Get up! Come on, you sleep more than a rock!" I opened my eyes in tiny slits. I was exactly where I'd passed out. I wasn't dead! Slowly, I opened my eyes wider and saw Fire standing over me looking irritated. As always. "Finally, you're awake! You've been sleeping for ages. I'm talking sunrise-and-falls here! You have no idea how boring it gets around here when you and Spark aren't around." "Spark! Spark, where is he? Is he ok?" "Um...." "Oh no…"

"They…they took his body off territory right after they agreed the No-Mane wouldn't hurt us…I'm sorry sis. He was already dead. He was all mangled up, his legs all snapped and his head barely hanging on his body…" Fire shivered darkly at the memory. "What do you mean sorry? He was your brother too! Don't you care? All you think about is your stupid self!" I snarled louder than I intended. "Of course I care! But…but I know you loved him more.

And, you'll miss him more sis. I know how much you'll miss him. Listen, I know I can't replace him, but I'm gonna try to be a better brother from now on, okay? I hate it when you're sad, I really do," he nudged me gently,

"Come on, let's go see Mom. She'll be happy to see that you're up." "Okay Fire." I stretched and rolled over onto my belly. I got up but immediately a pain shot through my leg and I fell down. Fire jumped in surprise. "What's wrong?" he hissed.

"I-I don't know. I can't get up." A thousand thoughts swirled through my mind. What if my leg was broken? What if I could never get up? Would I just die here and starve to death without the ability to move? "Well…well maybe…maybe if you try getting up slowly…?" suggested Fire, panicking. I tried but toppled over again.

I trembled in fear. Lying there on the ground in a terrified heap. I tried one more time, but holding up the paw that had caused me to fall before. So far so good. I placed my paw on the ground gently. It was fine.

Then I shifted my weight onto it and felt a sharp pain spring up from my paw. The pain went up my leg, onto my shoulder, down my back, and suddenly everything hurt. I yelped in pain and surprise before falling yet again. "It's just this one," I explained to Fire lifting my right front paw and trying to keep my voice from shaking like the rest of me.

I suddenly realized how grim my future would be if this didn't heal soon. The thought made every hair on my pelt quiver with fear. "Let me try one last time. I think I can walk to mom if I don't use this leg."

Heaving myself up I began to limp awkwardly toward the scent of my mother. Working with only three legs was difficult; I kept drifting off the course I wanted myself to go in, and tripping.

Now that the pain in my leg was under control I became uncomfortably aware of the other things that hurt. I could feel a deep cut on the base of my tail, which made me suddenly twist my head around to make sure that my tail, which I loved so much, was still attached. I saw it there following me as it always had. I truthfully never been so happy to see it.

Then I felt the pain in my side. My eyes drifted over from looking at my tail to my side. It was mostly scabbed over, but a few tiny bright red bits of blood were preserved. They trickled out drop by drop while I was looking behind me something else caught my eye. The baobab tree that I had watched Spark be flung into still had dried blood from it's horrific encounter with my brother.

Suddenly I saw Spark's body sailing through the air. I remembered when it collided with the tree. The sound was disturbingly vivid in my mind - Spark's last desperate plea for help, which was cut short by a bone-crunching snap.

A sickening snap that had marked the end of Spark's life. He had died for me, saving me…if I didn't heal, he would have given his life for nothing! For no one! If I only had three legs, I would never accomplish anything. I would be as good as dead. The sound rang in my ears and I couldn't take my eyes off the tree. I suddenly wondered what I could have done. What I could have done instead of standing there like a newborn zebra. I whimpered feebly as Spark's image flashed through my mind. Then I fainted again.

"Female! Female? Are you alright? Oh please wake up." It was the worried voice of my mother herself that woke me now. I groaned. "Female they think you're gonna die!" squeaked Fire urgently. "Oh be a little more optimistic will you Fire? How do you feel female?" asked my mother nervously.

"I…I feel," my stomach growled ferociously. "I feel hungry!" Swiftspring laughed heartily then nudged me to my feet. I fell twice before lagging after her as she stalked off to catch us some food.

"Shhh, I see one." Swiftspring whispered, stopping in a clump of long golden grass. Fire and I immediately stopped and watched the master at work. She held her belly close to the ground and slid forward, the movement was so smooth and serpentine. I always admired my mother's grace and skill at hunting.

She stopped noiselessly. The impala she was after rotated its ears around as it paused from its grazing. My mother was so still, and her pelt blended so well with the grass, I could barely see her myself. The impala gazed around one more time, before bowing its long neck, and going back to grazing.

Then, Swiftspring stayed true to her name, she sprang out of the bushes in a blur of gold; I heard the impala grunt in surprise. Fire and I ran forward to get a closer look, no point in staying quiet anymore, the impala already had a lion gripping its neck, it would make no difference whether it noticed us now or not. My tail flew up in excitement, while Fire watched with steady concentration; he wasn't enjoying it at all! What fun was that?

I sighed, I wished Spark were there. It was no fun to watch mother hunt without my little brother to share it with. My heart sank. Oh, Spark. I looked down at my paws. I didn't want to enjoy watching mother hunt, what gave me the right to enjoy anything? My brother was dead. Why should I get to keep living, keep enjoying life, when he had to be a cold corpse being picked at by hyenas and vultures.

It just wasn't fair. I sighed again. "Come on sis, Mom did it. Lets go get something to eat." said Fire, running forward to get a piece of the dead impala. I followed him, dragging my feet; the thought that Spark would never eat again hit me. My hunger disappeared. I just sat and watched Fire and my mother eat.

"Female! Come, eat! You said you were hungry!" "I…um…Lost my appetite Mom. Thanks anyway…" I mumbled. I felt a whole lot less than hungry. I felt sick, it was all my fault. The guilt of knowing that three of my family members had died for me overwhelmed me. They died for me and I may have to live my life as a useless cripple, it just made me wish I were dead. I silently begged the world to just gobble me up. But the world didn't listen and I was forced to continue with my life.