[SRP] We Have Each Other (Gopala and Paro)

[Puhterodactyl]

She shuddered and shrieked. Gopala’s muscles tightened. In her dreams, she saw her children. All dozen or so of them. They were so beautiful, so happy. So plentiful. She was so proud and happy. Her mate, Paropakari was at her side. All but one of their children had his bright colors, but she loved them all equally. Gembala, Lese, Sui, Suraj, Jura, Tiisha, Sawa, Kali, Bahya, Dhikkara, all of them. Pregnancy and childbirth were hell. She thought it would kill her, which went pretty far in explaining why she named one ‘suffering’ and another ‘curse’ and so on. Whoops. Her bad. At least they would get to go on their name quests and find better names to replace them. Really, she was pretty sorry about it. In her dreams, they all were together. Some had mates, some had given her grandchildren! They were all there, and safe. Until… The sky grew dark, the earth shook, the ground burst open and screams tore forth. Her children were swallowed up by the landslide, they all reached out for her and called for her. But she was frozen and helpless, paralyzed while her children died. And where was
Paropakari?! She was alone on the mountain, then back to the swamp of her birth. Her mother and father were there too, but the swamp swallowed them up they became primordial ooze. She cried out for them, for the gods to save them and take her, even save one of her beautiful children, for them she would sacrifice anything. She roared, she mewled, but no sound came out, or no one listened. She fell limp to the ground in her tears and shook. She sobbed, her body heaving with sadness.

And she woke. Paropakari was shaking her violently until she hit him in the face to get him to stop. She looked around, confused. Where were her cubs? Her parents? Her siblings? Where was she? She struggled away from Paropakari until she was against the wall. Her claws were scrambling for traction.

“P-Paro…? Wh-where are they??!” She cried and cried and cried.  

[Puhterodactyl]

Paropakari grabbed his mate and held her close, trying to keep her in once piece. They had both been falling apart since the landslide. Gopala was taking it worse than he was. He had been a rogue most of his life, alone, not knowing his family well or having a pride, only roaming here and there with no real territory, no real ‘home.’ He had joined the Jini-msemi when they were already living in the mountains, but Gopala had always been where he felt ‘at home.’ For him, home was a person, his mate. Wherever they lived didn’t matter to him as long as his family was together. But now that was a shattered dream. A lost hope. He still had Gopala, who he considered his rock and foundation, but they had lost every single one of their cubs. How was that even possible? They had had more than a dozen of the little things, all orange and white and green and blue (and one with brown). They had all been so beautiful and handsome and perfect.

He had also been devastated with their separation and loss, but as Gopala was their mother and taking it much, much harder, he found it difficult to grieve. He was always having to be strong for Gopala, and that was also taking its toll on him. Sometimes he snuck off and cried in private. But now they were a part of a large pride. For the better, of course, but it made finding privacy to mourn a little bit more difficult. Well, he was just here mourning with Gopala now. That was alright. He supposed. Her nightmares had become more frequent and… hard to control. He sighed and stroked her mane.

"There, there."  

[Puhterodactyl]

Gopala shuddered and heaved again, nestling in closer to Paro. She tucked her nose under his chin into his thick green and yellow mane, sniffling and still crying.

“Do you think they will ever find us? Or that we will ever find them?” She asked, her voice still shaking. It was widely known and the news was spread that many of the surviving members of the Jini-msemi had immigrated to the Ela’wadiyi. Actually some of their children had been on their name quests. They would have no home to return to but perhaps they would hear where their parents had gone. Maybe they would see them again. Well, you know, all of the kids bore such a strong resemblance to Paro. Maybe if they asked about their parents, if the individual had seen Paro, then they could point them in the right direction. Gee, they would really need to get Paro’s face out there. Make him well known enough that anyone could say ‘oh, that guy? Yeah he went to the Ela’wadiyi with his mate and they are in the whatever clan.’ They would have to get assigned to a clan. That… that was not that unreasonable, right?  

[Puhterodactyl]

Paro shrugged. He did not want to give his mate any false hope, but it was truly uncertain. Maybe they would hear from Ela members, or nearby rogues, or from old Jini-msemi members who chose not to join the Ela pride that a lot of the lions had become members of the Ela pride. Or maybe they were all dead. The father had no way of knowing, only fears that came upon him in the middle of the night. Well, they had had 14 cubs. Some ought to have survived either in the pride or while they were gone out on their naming quest, right? But at least they had each other. They could start a new family. It would never replace their 14 cubs, but maybe it would help them begin to heal in the meantime. He would not bring it up any time soon, he knew Gopala was still deep in her mourning, but it was an idea for the future. A brighter future.

the end
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