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Description
Baliyo was upset. He didn’t really know why, but he knew that his big sister and his grandmother had begun crying, and that he didn’t like it. The two lionesses were speaking to each other, and using a lot of words that Baliyo didn’t recognize. Still, he caught some that he did, mainly—

“Mommy is with Daddy now, Rani.”

The young cub sat up quickly, looking from Grandma to his sister. He knew all of those words very well, and Baliyo was not happy to hear them: he hadn’t seen Daddy in so long, and lately Mommy had been spending less and less time with him.

“No,” he heard Rani sniffle, pushing her face into Grandma’s chest.

“Afasos,” Grandma said, her voice cracking as she drew the cubs closer to her, “Afasos, mere dil ka pyaar.”

Baliyo put one paw on Grandma’s shoulder, and the other on his sister’s, intent on comforting them.

“I hate those meerkats,” said Rani, “I hate them. I’m glad they’re in the ground too.”

“They didn’t know what was wrong with them,” said Grandma, “We cannot blame them for seeking a cure from the Tree.”

“I hate them,” Rani insisted, and Baliyo nodded along with her.

He remembered a clan of meerkats, vaguely. They had come to the Tree sporting giant lumps on their necks and faces, and shortly afterwards the whole kingdom was thrown into a panic. Mommy and Daddy were suddenly always busy, and the number of lions in the pride shrunk every day—and now Mommy and Daddy had gone away, like all the others.

“I... I’m angry too,” said Grandma, “Oh, meri jaan, I’m angry, and I’m sad. But we have to be here for each other, now.”

Baliyo held on tighter to the lionesses, and huffed. Grandma was right: if Mommy and Daddy, wherever they had had to go, couldn’t be there for them, then they would be all be there for each other.

~~~

(Janna is missing her ‘crown’ in this picture because Ãnanda has only just died, and she has not been re-crowned yet.)

Happy new year, here's something sad! We know canonically that the Tree of Life, while magical, can’t fix every ailment, nor can it fix injuries perfectly. It could heal Ono’s eyes enough to let him see again, but not sharply. If it has limits like that, than I wonder... could it do anything at all for a serious infectious disease?

And so, with great moodiness, I present my headcanon for why the Night Pride is so absurdly small, and why Sãhasí and Ãnanda died so incredibly young: the kingdom got infected by tuberculosis. All but four lions caught the disease and died from it, plus many of their non-lion subjects. Nearly over night, the once strong pride was nothing but one shattered family. Years later Nirmala would join them, which provided some hope for the future. But it wouldn’t be until Kion brought himself and several new members that their numbers really started growing again.

Side note, I used a couple of language-learning websites for the Hindi in this piece, I do not actually speak the language! So if I got it wrong, please correct me

Description
Baliyo was upset. He didn’t really know why, but he knew that his big sister and his grandmother had begun crying, and that he didn’t like it. The two lionesses were speaking to each other, and using a lot of words that Baliyo didn’t recognize. Still, he caught some that he did, mainly—

“Mommy is with Daddy now, Rani.”

The young cub sat up quickly, looking from Grandma to his sister. He knew all of those words very well, and Baliyo was not happy to hear them: he hadn’t seen Daddy in so long, and lately Mommy had been spending less and less time with him.

“No,” he heard Rani sniffle, pushing her face into Grandma’s chest.

“Afasos,” Grandma said, her voice cracking as she drew the cubs closer to her, “Afasos, mere dil ka pyaar.”

Baliyo put one paw on Grandma’s shoulder, and the other on his sister’s, intent on comforting them.

“I hate those meerkats,” said Rani, “I hate them. I’m glad they’re in the ground too.”

“They didn’t know what was wrong with them,” said Grandma, “We cannot blame them for seeking a cure from the Tree.”

“I hate them,” Rani insisted, and Baliyo nodded along with her.

He remembered a clan of meerkats, vaguely. They had come to the Tree sporting giant lumps on their necks and faces, and shortly afterwards the whole kingdom was thrown into a panic. Mommy and Daddy were suddenly always busy, and the number of lions in the pride shrunk every day—and now Mommy and Daddy had gone away, like all the others.

“I... I’m angry too,” said Grandma, “Oh, meri jaan, I’m angry, and I’m sad. But we have to be here for each other, now.”

Baliyo held on tighter to the lionesses, and huffed. Grandma was right: if Mommy and Daddy, wherever they had had to go, couldn’t be there for them, then they would be all be there for each other.

~~~

(Janna is missing her ‘crown’ in this picture because Ãnanda has only just died, and she has not been re-crowned yet.)

Happy new year, here's something sad! We know canonically that the Tree of Life, while magical, can’t fix every ailment, nor can it fix injuries perfectly. It could heal Ono’s eyes enough to let him see again, but not sharply. If it has limits like that, than I wonder... could it do anything at all for a serious infectious disease?

And so, with great moodiness, I present my headcanon for why the Night Pride is so absurdly small, and why Sãhasí and Ãnanda died so incredibly young: the kingdom got infected by tuberculosis. All but four lions caught the disease and died from it, plus many of their non-lion subjects. Nearly over night, the once strong pride was nothing but one shattered family. Years later Nirmala would join them, which provided some hope for the future. But it wouldn’t be until Kion brought himself and several new members that their numbers really started growing again.

Side note, I used a couple of language-learning websites for the Hindi in this piece, I do not actually speak the language! So if I got it wrong, please correct me