Nyara's Untold Tales

"Vitani, there you are!"

Programmed into her mind as it was, an automatic response, Vitani turned toward the sound of her name without question. Responded without hesitation or confusion. Undeniably, she knew this newcomer spoke to her. Yet too late, she realised her mistake. Such a simple thing, a name. Or maybe it was not so simple after all.

"Nirvana? W-what's going on, who is this? Why is she calling you-"

Already the other lioness in question was at Vitani's side, standing firm and confident, though unmasked irritation radiated throughout her features, even as she held tightly to her own composure. "Vitani, why are you wasting your time with these..." Nobodies. She did not need to finish her sentence for Vitani to get the message. However, as Vitani's muscles wound tight, the older lioness misread this tension and sighed, seemingly remembering her place as well as that of the company she kept. Cub, or otherwise, Vitani was still to be respected. "Nevermind that. Princess, your parents are waiting for you. It's time to go."

So easily slipping back into who she was supposed to be, the princess in question bristled, narrowing her eyes at the lioness who dared boss her around. "You don't tell me what to do. We leave when I say so." The older lioness was dismissed with an icy glare and a flick of her tail, but Vitani knew she would not linger far. There was no privacy now. Not that it mattered. Everything was ruined now anyway.

Vitani looked back to the outsider, the one she had come to see as...an equal? She was not sure how to put what she felt for them into words, she was not born to know friendship. Not really. She was born to command. To strategize. To manipulate. To fight. All she knew for sure was that the realization, confusion, and hurt in those eyes stung. It stung worse that the thorns and scrapes and the sharp, scalding tongue of her parents whenever she oh so rarely angered them. In a moment of weakness, her eyes widened in hope that she could explain herself, that she could fix this, and she took a step closer. That step was echoed by the other in retreat.

Vitani stopped. ‘What am I thinking?’ She wondered. ‘What am I…feeling?

The hurt in those eyes that stared back at her became something different, something…angrier. Betrayed. Doubtful. Distrustful. "You lied to me." It was not a question. Laughable, that in the end it truly was the name that mattered. It had been the arrogant pride of a self-important cub who had thought her name would really matter. That her reputation as a promising future, villainous enforcer, and Scar and Zira’s prized daughter preceded her. She ought to be pleased to find this perception was true. Strangely, however, she was not. "I thought we were friends, you know. I believed you, thought you truly hated what they stood for. Were you just faking it the whole time? Was it just a game to you, watching me fall for all of your lies? Did you think it was funny?!"

Visibly, Vitani flinched. For the first time in her life she was shaken, and she had no idea what to do. It had all seemed so easy. Not anymore. Another step forward, mirrored by another step back. Ears pressed flat to her skull and tail flickering anxiously, Vitani felt a pricking sting in her eyes. A contrasting echo to the sinking feeling in her gut. She wanted to fix this. She should at least try. But how?

For a moment, her maw opened to do just that. To try. No words came out. Just as that uncomfortable pricking refused to dampen her golden-furred cheeks for the first time since before she can remember. The eyes she can still feel behind her burn just as much. A reminder of her duty, what was lying in wait. Maybe this had become more than a game after all, but it was time for it to end. She was a soldier, born and raised to be a mindlessly loyal servant to their cause, its vessel. A symbol. Once, she had wanted nothing more to be heir, the queen she never could be. Yet that role was taken...by someone else who had less of a reason to be dragged into this mess of a war than her. She may be only young still, but she could stop another she cared for from being dragged into this. The first step…to cut those already broken ties. Vitani had to stop caring. It had never been hard before. Why should that change now?

"Yes."

It was barely more than a hoarse whisper, an echo of a lie, forced into being through gritted teeth. Yet it was a start. Steeling herself, she closed off those emotions, and with the skill that had gotten her into this mess to begin with, she raised her head with an expression of cruel amusement and mild disgust. Fake. She forced the venom and laughter into her words, the sneering smirk on her face as she scoffed. Fake. Forcing herself to see not a friend, but a pathetic stranger, manipulated for her own amusement. Fake. It had been the truth, once, before she realized she was lying to herself as much as them.

Even if Vitani could no longer convince herself, she could convince them. Sever the last ties that bound them to the growing hell of her ever approaching destiny. "You think I actually cared about you? Don't make me laugh! You were a means to an end, a game. It's been fun, but she's right - it's time to go now. Game’s over, so go home. I'm done playing with you now, pathetic Sun."

Every word left a sour taste in her mouth. Where once she would have soaked up the approval of her escort and reveled in those watery eyes, that utterly crushed expression...now they burned a disgust into her very being, one that left her fur standing on end.

The last thing they would see, before she turned away, was the shattering of her forced resolve. The truth she could not hide. Not yet. Those eyes that should have held ice shone with pain, and guilt, and tears she refused to shed. That venomous maw was tugged tight as it trapped firmly within the apology and plea for reconciliation that wanted to burst free. Yet still, Vitani looked them in the eye one last time, another spark of who she could have been tossed aside for who she was expected to be, before she turned away with every intention to never come back.