Makenna

"Mom! Mommy! Get up, mom!" The small voice came again, and Asabte groaned on her sleep. "Mommy!" The voice sounded annoyed. This time, it came with a painful bite on her ear, small teeth pulling her skin.
"Arrrgh!" Asante moaned, raising her head to growl at the playful cub. Makenna didn't mind, getting away from her sheated claws easily. "Okay, I'm awake, what do you want?"
"Teach me to hunt!" Makenna smiled, crouching in front of Asante and jumping at her mother's head. Asante shook her off with a smile. The moment Makenna hit the ground, she was caught in another jaw.
"Whoa, someone's eletric today!" Marcus laughed as he laid on the ground and cleaned his daughter. Makenna suddendly yawned as he licked her, her eyes dropping as she slept.
Asante sighed. Her daughter was born sick, so sick that Marcus thought she was dead. Asante had cried over her and her siblings, while Marcus had fought to keep Elijah alive. He only realized she was alive when he went to bury her, and the cub suddendly started coughing. He took her to a shelted place immediately - he had to leave the other bodies behind in order to save her - and called Safiya trough Kina, Asante's Majordomo, who left her duties when she had cubs, and now Asante and Marcus looked for someone to get her place, and Safiya(the only other member that knew about Makenna, along with her parents) instructed them to keep their daughter a long way away from camp. She had some sickness that was hard to pass to adults, but would spread quickly to other cubs.
With time, Makenna was healed from it, but she now had to live in a similar situation as Haku. There were days - even weeks - that she was full of energy as any healthy cubs, and days where she had no energy at all. She was getting better in controlling this. Now, when she was in the middle of an activity, she could keep doing it until she finished it, and then curl up to sleep.

Safiya had also said that Makenna would be better in a different place, where the air was fresher. And she had to travel to look for the right herbs to heal her. But they had no idea if such a plant even existed. So when she heard that Nova was passing nearby with his small family of mate and son, Asante took the chance.
Nova was coming the following day to take Makenna with him. They were nomads, so they could bump in a trader or a healer with the perfect solucion to Makenna's sickness.
Kai and Asante's other cubs were shocked to meet Makenna. Elijah was very excited. He had a little sister! They were all sad she'd leave soon, but they all enjoyed the time they spent togeher. After a day, as Asante promised, Kai took them home, leaving Asante and Marcus alone for the rest of the week.

Makenna suddendly woke up, shaking her fur.
"So?" She called, "when will you teach me? I'm going tommorrow, you must tell me! You promised!"
"You're too young to learn everything, but come on, let me and your dad teach you some hints."
They spent the whole day having fun with their daughter, and Asante shed a few tears when Makenna curled up next to her. She would miss her baby's warmth.
The next morning, Asante gave Makenna a long bath, and Marcus gave her a few hints of how to behave with Asante's old friend. And how to be nice to any other cubs she met. Makenna was very excited. She would miss her parents dearly, but she would finally be able to go and play with other cubs, possibly. She was between Asante's legs, biting Marcus' tail when a dark shadow appeared in the horizon. It came closer and soon turned up in the shape of Marcus' cousin Nova.

Asante was impressed to see him. He had grown a lot. She remembered he used to have a crush on her when she was a cub, back at Adrian's pride(by that time, Maliki's), but she was so focused on Marcus that paid little to no attention to it.
Nova was tall and strong. He had blue eyes... But not Asante's favorite shade of blue. His were darker than Marcus. He had a peaceful smile on his face. A dark female cub walked next to him.
"Asante, Marcus." He dipped his head in greeting. "It's good to see you again."
"It's great to see you too, Nova." Marcus smiled.
"And this is your lovely Makenna, right?" He leaned his head to be on the same level as her, and smiled.
"Yes, sir." Makenna came closer to take a sniff of the adult lion.
"Sir's my father's name, kid, call me Nova." The dark lion smiled.
"You understand she's... Special, right?" Asante asked, worried, as Makenna yawned under her, and after saying sorry to Nova, fell on a deep sleep.
"Of course." Nova nodded. "Don't worry about it, Asante. She'll be cared for as if she was my own cub."
"As her?" Asante asked, curiou, as she stared at the dark female cub. She had a bright underbelly and deep green eyes. She was beautiful.
"No." Nova seemed embarassed. "Actually I found her wandering alone on my way here. Thought it would be nice since you're trusting yiu daughter to me... Technically it would leave your pride with one less member." Nova looked at the cub, who was sitting like a princess, though her eyes gleamed with curiosity as she looked at Makenna's sleeping form. "This is Neerah."
Neerah looked up to Asante and smiled. "Hi." She called.
"Nice to meet you, Neerah." She replied, then looked at Nova. "I'm not sure... But then you're right, Neera can fulfill the spot Makenna left open."
"Great!" Nova smiled. "Can we stop being so formal now? It's killing me. I'm family, for the star's sake, Asante!"
The lioness had to laugh. "Okay, so..." Asante turned to Makenna, who was yawning again and ready to go. She leaned and licked her cub on the top of her head. "Take care, okay, little one?"
Makenna turned to Asante, and she had tears on her eyes. "I promise, Mommy. I love you." She nuzzled Asante, then went to say goodbye to Marcus.
Neerah, Asante and Marcus watched Nova leaving with Makenna, the cub standing on his back and waving to her parents. Asante took ine last look as they disappeared in the horizon, then turned to Neerah.
"Come on, little one. We must tell everyone of our new member, right?"