when the wolves call

therapy

*Warning, this chapter contains sensitive topics including but not limited to (very detailed descriptions of) self harm/s*icide, vivid descriptions of abuse, and [attempted] murder.*

*Kion pov*

Eventually, I end up at the tree itself, and an adult lioness approaches me. She has brown fur and blue eyes, with an orange flower tucked behind her ear. She walks over and says, "Hello, I'm Nirmala." I say, "Uhm. Hi." She says, 'You're Kion, right?" I say, "Yeah, why?" She says, "I'm the chief healer, and I wanted to check on you, Makovu told me you have a lot of trauma." I say, "I'm fine, thanks for asking." She says, "Not good enough for me. Follow me." I say, "Yeah, no." She says, "Kion, you're not okay."

I'm trying not to get aggravated with her as I say, "Look, I've had a very tough life, and I don't like stirring up old memories." She says, "That's why I'm here, I want you to be at peace with your past." I say, "Well, I don't. If anything, I want Simba dead along with everyone else who hurt me." She looks worried but says, "Please, Kion, just talk to me for 15 minutes." I sigh at her stubbornness, so I say, "Fine, fifteen minutes no more." She calmly says, "Thank you, let's go somewhere more private."

We walk away to a cave, and we both sit down, and she asks, "So, why do you think your father did what he did?" I think for a second, I can't tell her the truth, so I lick my lips and say, "I don't know, I just think he didn't like me." She says, "Do you have any theories." Again, I think for a second and say, "My great uncle, his father's younger brother, was evil. He killed my grandfather, his own father, and tried to kill Simba when he took the throne. I think he was worried I would do that." She nods and says, "What was the abuse like, I know it's hard to talk about, but it helps to talk about it." I immediately say, "Whenever I think about it, I think of three occasions of different severity."

She looks at me curiously and asks, "They are?" I say, 'It used to not be so bad, but the first one I think of was the first time he wanted me dead. I had just finished patrol and walked up priderock and began to eat, which he didn't like, so he pounced, and he clawed and clawed until I was a bloody mess on the floor. Safe to say no one touched the food after that." She asks, "Because you were eating?" I nod and say, "I was always the last to eat, which usually left me very weak and not fed, but that night someone was late and I didn't know that until after." She looks shocked but says, "What about the other two?"

I say, "I also think about the time I genuinely thought I would die." She says, 'You thought you would die?" I nod and say, "I don't remember much of it according to Rafiki, our healer. I had multiple concussions, broken bones, torn muscles, etc..." She says, "What do you remember?" I say, "As crazy as it sounds, I slept in." She says, "That's why!?" I nod and say, "I had a double patrol the day before, so I was up till midnight, and I just didn't wake up in time for morning patrol." After waking up, I don't remember anything. She looks worried and says, "What's the last memory?"

I say, "The day I met Teo." She says, "The wolf?" I say, "Yeah, I was relaxing after patrol near a cave and watering hole, all alone when Simba pounces on me. He clawed and gnawed and pawed. It was terrible. In less than 3 minutes, I was a bloody mess in a puddle of my own blood, and he casually rinsed his fur and walked away. That's a funny image, isn't it? A full-grown lion next to a bloody mess of a cub just walking to the water and taking a bath." She says, "It's terrible." I say, "Eh, it was life, and it led to good. Shortly after all that, I heard an unfamiliar voice offering help." I couldn't see much because of the blood left by this scar. *points to his rights eye* But I could make out a wolf which scarred me, but he helped me and explained he wanted me to join them." She says, "So you did?" I say, "I was, but we had to leave the pack when I arrived because my father wanted them to kill me, but the leader sparred me." She says, "Why'd he spare you?" I say, "He wants us to return in a year when everyone thinks I'm dead." She nods and asks, "Did you ever contemplate s*icide? It's a common thought or action of abused people."

Again, I think about how to explain this before taking a breath and saying, "Have you ever heard of death berries?" She says, "I don't think so, but I assume their toxic." I say, "As I cub, I remember asking my grandmother what they were just to be safe. They're white berries that are very common in the pridelands. Years later, that "advice" she gave me almost allowed us to reunite."

She says, "What made you not?" I think again before saying, "The berry isn't guaranteed to kill you, but it will knock you out. So as the sun rose, I sat at the edge of a cliff facing east, and when the sun became visible, I placed it on my tongue. But I felt a breeze pass through my mane. My family believes that a breeze means that the lions of the past are trying to communicate with you. I couldn't bring myself to eat the berry, not then not there." She says, 'That's good you didn't." I nod as she asks, "What was your average day like?"

I say, "I would wake up early to get away from Simba, and Kiara, my sister, then I would walk to get water and meet my friend Fuli. We would talk for a while before going on patrol for a few hours. Then I'd return to priderock, find something to do for a while, and sleep before doing it all again."

She says, "We're you close with this Fuli?" I say, "Yeah, we would talk about everything, and I think we liked each other's company." She says, 'We're you romantically attracted to this lioness?" I blush slightly and say, "Cheetah, but kind of." She says, "Cheetah, what a love story." I smile and say, "Yeah, we were a strange duo." She asks, "Why were you two so close?"

I think before saying, "We were outcasts, she never had a family, and I never had a real one, so we understood each other. But we were also very similar, we liked the same things so it was a match made in heaven." I smile just thinking about Fuli, and she says, "That's good. Having someone to talk to." I say, "Yeah, it was." She asks, "Does she know you're here?" I shake my head and say, "We didn't have a plan when we left, I told her we were headed north." She says, "Okay, well, maybe one day you'll meet again." I say, "I hope so."

We talk for a little longer until Teo finds me and says, "Hey, Kay, is this a bad time?" I say, "No, what's up." He says, "Me and the others were gonna train a little, wanna join?" I stand and say, "Sure, just give me a minute." He nods and says, "We'll, wait for you." He walks away as Nirmala says, "Well, it was good talking with you, Kion. I think we should do this again." I say, "Yeah, we should." We shake paws, and I say, "Thank you, Nirmala." She smiles and says, "No problem."

Hey guys, Jedi here, and this is my darkest chapter yet. It was originally supposed to be short and not super deep, but I love this. It's what I want this story to be (to quote LionessNightPride) dark and sad but beautiful. But anyways, have a good day/night. may the force be with you, Jedi out!!!