I Promised....

((Date: March 26th open to Shima and Lilura))

Shima walked through the tall yellowish grass, the long blades whipping at her short brown fur. She would have been more at home in her own forest, but being there would bring back memories she didn’t want to remember. It had been a few weeks or so since the news of her son’s supposed death was relayed to her. Her brown eyes closed as the waves of grief she had been hiding built up again. Tears spilled out of her eyes. She had come to this stupid war only for him and now look where it had gotten her; childless and alone. So lost in her grief, Shima didn’t notice the footsteps of another creature slowly moving towards her.

"I'm so sorry, Ciqala. Mommy's so sorry..." She whispered.

"What a pitiful sight you are."

The pawsteps that Shima had neglected to hear belonged to no other than the beauty in four paws, Lilura herself. Was it was hard not to be drawn to someone else's missery and poker her head in for the tigress? Not necessarily. However, a crying, fully grown bear was an interesting sight to see, and the words uttered by the animal, obviously full of grief, were even harder to ignore.

The animal was clearly a hero, for she did not smell of dirt like the outlands did. She smelled of grass and plentifulness; besides, an outlander bear would look much more starved, Lilura was sure. The tigress herself? She was a villain sure, but she didn't spend much time in her supposed headquarters. A miserable place, it was. And Lilura was a kitten with class. Besides, she couldn't wreak much havoc in her own side of the war, whereas making strangers suffer was actually seen as a good thing.

The situation seemed too perfect to pass up.

"What, mama bear couldn't protect her little cub? Such huge animals as you and I should be a lot more competent. What an useless creature you must be if you couldn't keep your child alive." Her tone was clearly mocking, not an ounce of sympathy to be heard in her voice. Lilura was in sort of a mood, really, and provoking another was certain to make her feel better.

"What a pitiful sight you are."

The grieving sow was startled by the sudden voice, instinctively, she turned around to look behind her at the owner of the voice. Her chocolate brown eyes took in the sight of the stawberry tigress. Why had she come here? Was it just by chance or something far more worse, was she stalking
"What, mama bear couldn't protect her little cub? Such huge animals as you and I should be a lot more competent. What an useless creature you must be if you couldn't keep your child alive."

Shima hated that tone, no, she loathed it! "Don't...Just stop" She desperately tried to keep her voice from cracking but failed. "I tried..." Why was she even telling her this? What was the point? The female in front of her was clearly not the counselor or listener type.

Lilura's grin turned wider as the bear spoke; so few words could mean so much. How very amusing. The tigress couldn't help but to let out a hearty laugh before she began circling the bear slowly. The ony creature that could possibly have beaten Shima in a fight was man. Man and his guns and his fire and his dirty cheat attitudes. Or, she mused to herself, a giant firebreathing lizard. There were not many animals large enough to beat a bear, let alone a mother bear, which held the reputation of worst-tempered and most deadly.

And yet, there they were. A female who had lost a cub, broken and sobbing, and a female too shallow to ever care for a child, for she thought herself alone was the peak of perfection. "Did you, now?" The tigress purred, coming to a halt once more, directly facing the bear; she was, however, a good handful of pawsteps away, just so she could dodge if the bear chose to attack.

"If you really wanted to protect that cub, you would have given your life up for theirs. Maybe, deep down, you just wanted to rid yourself of the burden. Maybe you got the cub killed on purpose. Children sure are a nuisance." Oh, how Lilura loved to play the pushing buttons game. It was only a matter of time before she hit jackpot, after all. "It's your fault, after all, that the kid's dead, isn't it? You caused this. You brought it upon yourself. A mother that cannot protect her offspring deserves whatever grief comes her way. You're useless." The tigress continued, hazel eyes filled with evident vice and devoid of compassion as she watched, carefully, for a reaction from Shima.

The tigress had yet to be beat at any of her psychological games of chess, after all.

"Did you, now?"

The sow nodded weakly, she didn't make not eye contact with the tigress.

"If you really wanted to protect that cub, you would have given your life up for theirs. Maybe, deep down, you just wanted to rid yourself of the burden. Maybe you got the cub killed on purpose. Children sure are a nuisance."

"How dare you call him a nuisance. You would know nothing of being a mother" Her brown eyes flashed with pain and grief. One massive paw shot out in an attempt to cuff the feline on the side of her head. The blow was hardly powerful at that, it was more of a 'leave me be' type of swipe. One that she would give her fellow bears who attempted to steal her fish at the salmon run.

"It's your fault, after all, that the kid's dead, isn't it? You caused this. You brought it upon yourself. A mother that cannot protect her offspring deserves whatever grief comes her way. You're useless."

"Not my fault, I'm not useless." Her voice cracked as tears spilt down her muzzle, once again as she made a lunge now at the cat with a roar. Both claws swiped the air.
"LEAVE ME!" She bellowed  out.