The Story of Iniabi and Thanee

Like most stories that are told, this one is from long ago. Long before the knife ears, green kind and the no-fur.

There was a great lioness, Iniabi, she was swift and strong, she was the greatest warrior of her tribe. Though one would think it would be good to be the best for their tribe, it often was repaid to her in animosity and tension. Her pride mates caused her great unrest at times. Their jealous thoughts being taken out on her.
Their actions made Iniabi somewhat of a loner at times. Iniabi would often take walks to clear her mind. Her favorite place to wander was a river not too far from where her tribe stayed. She often felt at peace there especially around twilight, watching the reflection of the stars as they glitter in the river.

In another region, there was a small clan of black panthers. One of these panthers was very small and thin. He was an outcast, the runt of a litter, a litter that did not survive. never quite finding a place to belong. He wasn’t the fastest or strongest, but oftentimes he was the smartest. This alienated him terribly. He was quite okay with being an outcast most days, however what he hated was being feared. The oddity of the runt surviving was lucky, the thought of only the runt surviving was absurd. Worse the superstition of an old village to a black kit runt whose family fell apart. Thanee's father, who found Thanee to be a miracle kit, died before Thanee was old enough to remember him. His father died during a hunting party mishap. Thanee's mother went insane with grief from losing her litter and her mate. She disconnected from Thanee and was unable to take care of herself or him. Thanee's mother was taken in by the village doctor, but both his mother and the doctor believed him to be bad luck and did not want him. The clan’s Oracle was the only one to become close with him, but in the end even that wouldn’t help him any, her name was Amali. Amali was unable to have kits herself and took pity on the small thing. She was unsure he'd even survive the winter. Obviously he did. Thanee would grow to believe Amali to be his mother. Amali never corrected his thoughts and never treated him as anything but her own. Amali did tell him honestly of his siblings and Father, but nothing more. Thanee already had to deal with the superstitions of the village anyway; Amali did not want him to worry about how his real mother hated him so. Thanee had begun practicing magic at a very young age. He was a very gifted kit and his magical aptitude only alienated him further however. Thanee grew to become her Oracle and excelled in the arts of magic beyond even Amali.

One day in his practices he made a mistake, it harmed a peer by the name Aimilios, nothing but scratches had. In the scheme of things it was a small mistake. A small bit of magic in his arrow, it burst on impact. Splinters cut Aimilios’s skin. However, it would forever cement how the entire clan would look at him. It gave them the negative reinforcement they needed to justify their hate. Especially Aimilios, he and Thanee would become bitter enemies. Aimilios was very vocal of his mistrust of Thanee and his belief that magic shouldn’t be trifled with. Aimilios was very loved and successful amongst the villagers. Which made his words carry that much more weight .The Oracle was Thanee’s one and only solace. Before long the whole village was calling for Thanee to live away from the clans’ encampment. Thanee was absolutely distraught with the thought of being deemed so unworthy to be amongst his people. Amali called for Thanee soon after the accident. “Thanee my dearest son.” she said warmly before embracing him. “What do you need of me Momma?” Thanee said as the embrace came to an end. “I know life is not easy on you my dear, but I am supposed to tell you, you need to leave.” Thanee was stunned and stood there in silence. “They fear you to the point I am afraid they will harm you. Unfortunately those that are misunderstood are often the ones most hated.” The Amali spoke as she sat down. “Where will I go?!” Thanee exclaimed “I have nowhere and no one.” Tears began to swell up into his eyes. “You were the only one...” he barely said above a whisper. “Easy child; this is not my want in the slightest, but I would rather this than find you harmed.” she said with sorrow in her own voice. “There is an old guard tower not far from the river. I think you would be safe there. We could still see each other, and maybe with time the clan will come to its senses.” "It has already been decided then?” Thanee replied coldly. “Yes, it has." Thanee's tears dripping to the floor as she spoke. He nodded “I will take my leave then Madame.” He turned as Amali reached out for him. He grabbed his belongings, wandered out and staked out his new home. It was a full day’s travel from the encampment. As Thanee left he could hear the sneers and threats whispered among those who watched him leave. He refused to do anything but stand up straight and hold his head up high, but as he was far enough away he could no longer see his former home he began to cry with every inch of his being. By the time he made it to the small outpost he was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into a hole so he could sleep forever. It was nice enough though, it was quiet and there was a certain beauty to peace.

Iniabi was setting off for a walk, as usual. She had hunted all day and was tired. Her pride mates still seething as she caught the most for the day. Being the best had its perks, at the moment she didn’t have to cook what she caught because of it, but the downsides were often problematic. The social repercussions of doing the most without trying hard was difficult. She certainly didn’t ask to be gifted and was often bitter she was. The twilight set in and the river began to glisten. She exhaled and breathed in the cool night air. Something was a miss though. The opposite river bank had something moving towards the water. A slip of a black panther, whose coat glistened a curious silver shade. Iniabi tried to get closer to see the figure better, but the ground was so much higher on her side of the river. She couldn’t quite see as much as she wanted. Perhaps her curiosity was a might bit too much, as she leaned over the small cliff some of the ground crumbled beneath her. Iniabi gasped as the ground gave way; she grasped for anything at all, and only grasped the air in her struggle. She hit the water, hard. The fear hit her quickly as she realized she had never had to swim before. Her lungs were on fire from the water she had inhaled. As the water spun her around with ease she felt something tug at her arm. As her head began to stay above the water she saw what was tugging at her. It was the small panther pulling her to the other side. Once they made it to the riverbank Iniabi’s strength was all but taken from her. She could barely express thanks, as he pulled her up and threw her arm over his shoulder. The ground, the smells and even the light seemed strange and different. Iniabi could barely keep her eyes open, and began to fade out.

Unknown to them, a few of the kits from Iniabi’s tribe saw what happened. Well somewhat. They were spying as young kits often do and saw Iniabi fall. As well as a strange figure dragging her off. They quickly turned tail and told their Chieftain what they had seen.

Iniabi was so confused, she could hardly understand what had just happened. What a strange looking creature, so similar to him yet so different. Why had it fallen into the river? Why was it so terrible at swimming? He had so many questions, but the creature had passed out from the stress of the situation. Thanee pulled the creature as close as he could to the tree he lived in. “There is no way I can carry it up there.” Thanee thought to himself. “Maybe I can use the pulley to hoist them up there…?” he began thinking to solve the problem. As he looked over the creature to try and put a harness on it; he realized it was a female. Quite to his surprise, she was so much larger and broader then any woman he had ever seen. He worked hard to use his pulley system, some extra rope and weights to get her off the ground before the darkness had completely set in for the day. As soon as he managed to get her up there he climbed up himself and pulled her into the tree house. Thanee put pelts on her to try to keep the cold away. Thanee then went to the other side of his small hut in the trees, sat and watched the night come and go; as well as watched his strange visitor sleep.

Iniabi woke with a jump, startling Thanee.
Completely confused, she got up to walk out of the hut and could barely stand, not that it did her any good she noticed they were in the trees.
“By what magic did you get me up here?!” Iniabi yowled.
Thanee shook his head “No magic, just hard work.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I do not need you to believe me for it to be true.”
Iniabi taken back by the small things answer.
“I suppose so, do you intend to keep me here?”
Thanee laughed “I don’t believe I could force you into anything you did not want. I merely wanted to help you until you could help yourself again."
Iniabi nodded and relaxed “I suppose I am in your debt.”
“No debt.” Thanee retorted quickly. “I didn’t see a reason to leave you to die, that is all.”
“Thank you.” Iniabi mumbled “I am unsure that I would’ve gotten the same treatment from my own pride mates.”
“Pride mates?” Thanee said with a little alarm in his voice. “There are more like you?”
“Yes.” Iniabi replied “I imagine there are more like you as well?”
“Sort of, they look like me but bigger. They are different than I, on the inside.”
“I understand…” Iniabi said painfully “My home is like that too.”
“They’re bigger than you at home?!” Thanee remarked with, almost, a gasp.
Iniabi let out a loud, hearty laughter. “Well maybe not that part… they’re just different; especially on the inside.”

Their pain seemed to draw them together, as easily as it had tore others apart from them. Over the next day they had grown quite the friendship. Eating together, talking and living together.
Iniabi knowing how much she does for her pride mates began to talk about her need to get back to her tribe. Thanee was saddened by her want to leave, but understood her sense of duty.
Thanee tried to think of a way to get her back home, but nothing he could think of would work. Not even his magic could work well enough to get her across, or at the very least he didn’t believe it would.
As they tried to come up with a solution they speculated maybe farther down the river it could be crossable. The afternoon approached, and before they could set a plan into place, a small border patrol made its rounds nearby. Aimilios among them came to see Thanee to tease his usefulness as a permanent border guard, as his usual ritual. Thanee did not hear him approach until it was far too late.
Aimilios and his patrol were instantly violent toward Iniabi; She frightened them. The altercation was quick and as Thanee tried to put a stop to it, It was already too late. There were too many, too quickly for Iniabi to handle on her own. She reached out for Thanee, but he was so shocked he didn’t react in time to help her. They knocked Iniabi out with a blow to the head. Thanee began to tear up as the group of his clan mates rejoiced.
“Excellent job!” one praised Thanee. “I can’t believe you tricked it into trusting you." "Smart idea, she could have easily killed you all by yourself.” They all tried to pat him for reassurance that what he had done was good, but that only made him hurt worse. Thanee found himself unable to speak.