[PRP] Let Me Explain It One More Time (Kivuli &Pur'Jed)[FIN]

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli had found a break in his duties to spend some time playing with his cubs. They all had such different personalities that sometimes it was hard to keep up with them. Especially Nyota, that cub seemed to run off the moment anyone turned their backs to her. But today he was going to spend some time with Pur'Jed. He hoped that today he would be able to explain to her why the lower class members should not be treated with disrespect. With a soft sigh he glanced at his daughter. How many times had he explained this to her already? Patience, he told himself, she is still young and will learn soon enough. "Come on then. Let us go for a walk." Kivuli told her as he rose to his feet.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur'Jed had been lounging - basking, really - and enjoying the idea that today she got her father all to herself. True, her father had somewhat unusual opinions when it came to commoners that sat well with neither Pur nor her mother, but she still enjoyed being the sole recipient of his attention. It made her feel special, since he was so often busy.

"All right," she agreed, mimicking her father's actions and standing. "Are we going anywhere interesting, or is this one of those walks where we just go around in circles?"

In truth, Pur really didn't care which one it was, as long as she had her father's undivided attention, but she would prefer that they went somewhere interesting. Maybe even to see other nobles! She particularly liked to do that, though she sometimes found herself unconsciously comparing how much purple their coat contained to how much there was on her own.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli smiled at his daughter. "Every place has something of interest to it. You just need to know where to look." He lead the way out of their home and began to walk slowly down through the Noble living quarters to where the commoners stayed and attended to their business. "It is much like how each individual is special in their own way." Perhaps today would be the day that she would finally understand that treating those with a lower rank badly was not a wise idea. After all revolts did occur from time to time and he didn't want Pur'Jed or any of his children for that matter to get in the middle of such a thing.

He took a deep breath as he walked along the dirt path. While he enjoyed his noble status and the work that came along with it he also took joy in the little things in life. Such as walking through the common areas with his daughter, or watching the sunrise like he did almost every morning. They were all little gifts to him. As they reached the edge of the commons he looked down at his daughter, slowing his pace a bit. "Tell me what you see."
 

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur wasn't going to start her day with her father by arguing, otherwise she would have mentioned that every place did not have something of interest to it. There were some places that were just dull by definition. She was slowly coming to discover which places these were, and avoid them. Though, in fairness to her father, she'd discovered very few of them so far. Mostly there was at least one person around that she could convince to play with her, or something she could perch on and pretend that she was queen of all she surveyed. That was a game that could keep her busy for hours and hours.

She didn't realize until it was too late, however, that by her tacit agreement she was letting him go into a lecture which was becoming frustratingly familiar. By the time she realized what was going on, it was definitely too late. He was already talking about how everyone was special in their own way. Like the commoners. She knew they were special. They just weren't noble, and so they were beneath her. A person could be special and unimportant at the same time.

With a sigh, Pur obediently gazed over the commoners' land. She was tempted to make up an answer, but that would be compromising her ideals, and she wasn't going to do that. She was proud of who she was and she knew she was right.

"I see people who don't live as well as we do because that is their place in this world," she answered dutifully. "They live well, though, and have no reason to complain of their treatment."

The thoughts were really too complex for her to understand completely, but she'd heard her mother say things like that.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli came to a stop and listened to his daughters answer. He had expected something like that. It seemed that Pur was greatly influenced by her mothers way of thinking, and if when she grew older she retained those ideas well then Kivuli would just accept it. But for now he would try to make her see the wrongness of her views. Perhaps he could change them, perhaps not. Only time would tell.

"Well..."He began after a few moments of thought. "What would you think if all these lions had purple on them but still lived as commoners? Remember Pur, not everyone is born into this life, some choose it for it's simplicity or because it suits their needs." It still amazed Kivuli how different each of his children were. Pur was much like her mother, and then there was Nyota, always running off to play with the commoners or a rogue that wandered near the prides borders. Each would be very special to him but in their own way, he loved them all the way they were, even if he didn't always agree with their way of thinking at times.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur twisted to look over her shoulder at her father, her eyes widened in horror as a very unpleasant thought occurred to her. Her father was very fond of the commoners. What if he chose to be one of them? Wouldn't that mean she was suddenly a commoner, too? Oh, she'd just hate him if he did that.

"I'd feel bad for their families. It must be embarrassing to have someone who's unwilling to contribute to the pride in the way they were meant to. Not to mention what it would do to the people in their families who don't want to be common. They can't force their families to give up their nobility, can they?"

She couldn't imagine a scenario in which being a commoner would suit her. Ever. Oh, she sometimes envied them their lack of responsibility, but she usually made herself feel better by giving them responsibilities in the form of tasks to carry out. They would never have to worry about ruling, and so they had to be reminded of the burden it represented for others. Or so Pur told herself, though it was probably the most fun burden she'd ever heard of. Much of what she said or told herself was a paraphrase of her mother's words.

"You wouldn't do that to us, would you? It would kill mother." And her. But she didn't want to sound selfish.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli let out a small chuckle. "If one is born into nobility they have a choice as to what they do. One cannot force anyone to give that up." He assured Pur with a smile. "You know your aunt Kiri was noble born and yet she choose to fill a non-noble role in the pride." Kivuli remembered Kiri from his cubhood. He played with her every now and then but not nearly as much as he did with Maua. And then one day she disappeared, but now she was back and had assumed the role of a nurse in the pride.

Her next question took him by surprise. Kivuli had never expected her to question whether he would give up his noble title for something lesser. "No, I would not do that to you. I enjoy being a noble, sure it has it's downsides, but what role doesn't?" Well perhaps today wouldn't be the day that Pur learned things the way Kivuli saw them, but at least he was getting some good one on one time with her.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur breathed an audible sigh of relief. Now she had a new nightmare, should the usual large, toothy things that go bump in the night get dull. Delightful. Not that she usually suffered from nightmares, but there was a first time for everything, and the idea of being forced to live the life of a commoner would qualify beautifully.

"Promise? What if the king gets really mad? Can he force someone to stop being a noble?" She wondered about that. After all, she knew Bwana was the leader of the pride, but how much power did he actually have? If he could make a person stop being a noble, that made him a very powerful figure indeed. "What about the queen?"

Thinking about her aunt Kiri made Pur's head hurt. She couldn't understand why she would decide to fill a non-noble role. She knew it wasn't an embarrassment to the family, exactly, but at the same time it wasn't normal, and there were times she worried other noble cubs would bring it up and turn it into a slur someday. If they did, she wouldn't know whether to agree or defend her family.

"You really wouldn't give up being noble?" she asked, seeking to reassure herself. "Because I enjoy it, too, you know."  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

"I promise." He said once more before giving her a loving nudge. Then he thought on her next question. "Well...I suppose if you did something very bad the king or queen could force you into a life of a non-noble. But you wouldn't do anything to make that happen would you?" Kivuli gave her a stern look but knew deep down that Pur was much like Maua and would die before living the life of a commoner. "But even if that did happen, you would still be of noble birth." He told her before starting to walk again. "That is one thing they can never take away from you."

He hoped that the last statement would ease her mind. Kivuli knew that Pur loved being a noble, perhaps too much some days, but he didn't want her to ever thing that she would ever be denied of her noble birth. She was a noble now and always would be, even if she did take on the life of a commoner some day. "Come now, would you like to play? Or perhaps see something specific?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur's fur settled happily along her back at her father's nudge. She was, indeed, reassured. Her father loved her, even if he was odd, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to he if he could help it. When he asked if she'd ever do anything bad enough to make the king that angry she giggled.

"Of course not! I want the king and queen to like me so much that they want me to marry one of their sons someday, and then I'll be a real princess!" She leaped into the air, as though jumping onto an invisible throne, and then landed somewhat gracelessly. Her ungraceful landing prompted an immediate but brief session of face-saving tail-licking.

"You didn't see that, right?" she asked her father hopefully, her green eyes open very wide to look more innocent.

Play or see something specific...Decisions, decisions. Only not really. There wasn't much about the commoners that interested her, and so sight-seeing would just be silly. Which meant she'd get to play!

"Um...We could play pretend. I could be a princess and you could be an evil lion who captured me and now I have to escape because you're evil." Not a very complex plot, but it covered all of the important points: a princess played by Pur and a villain played by someone else.

"Or we could race to home," she went on, trying to be thoughtful and pick a game Kivuli might enjoy. "I'd let you win."  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli lowered himself to his haunches as he looked at his daughter. Well those were both good choices for something to do, but he knew she would enjoy playing a princess much more than racing home. "Hmmm." He said as he glanced up at the sky. "Well we could race home,but-" His eyes moved back down to look at Pur a smile crossed his maw. "Why would I let my captive go that easily?"

Reaching out with a big paw he scooped up Pur, pulling her close to him. "You think you can out fool me so easily little princess?" He said with an evil sounding voice. "And don't think about calling for help, your precious guards cannot hear you from within my cave." Letting out a low rumble he stared down at his daughter, now turned captured princess. Hopefully she would be happy with his version of an evil lion, surely she would because in the end she would be playing a princess so his role wasn't as important as hers.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur's eyes opened wide as though with terror and she squeaked when her father drew her closer. It wouldn't pass for a frightened sound, but the startled sound could almost be construed as protest. Maybe. Pur wasn't a very convincing actress at this point in her life. She would have to learn better.

"Oh no!" she squealed, half giggling.

Her father's evil voice was very convincing, but she wasn't really afraid. If she closed her eyes, he still smelled like her father, and he'd never do anything to hurt her. When she opened her eyes again he was still evil. She tried not to smile, pleased with the game.

"I'm not afraid of you!" she declared defiantly. "I know I'll be rescued. And if no one comes, I'll figure out how to free myself."

She currently had no idea how she would manage to do that, but she'd come up with something. That was how these things worked.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli let out another evil laugh as he pulled his daughter even closer. "Ah but you should be afraid little princess." He said while showing off his teeth in a mock threat. "For I have hidden you away in a cave so deep in the rogue lands you guards will never find you." Kivuli was sure by now Pur was just beaming inside with the idea of being a captured princess, and he had to admit, he played a pretty good evil lion. Now of course it didn't hold a candle to the performers in the pride, but he didn't think that would matter to her.

Lowering himself down more he looked at his small daughter. "And if you try to run...I will chase you down." Throwing his head back in a laugh. "You will never make it back to your pride!" It took quite a bit of determination not to break out into normal laughter at how silly he and Pur must look, laying out in the middle of the commoners section pretending to be a captured princess and an evil lion.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Pur settled down to play the game properly and tried to imagine herself in a cave in the rogue lands. She had never been into the rogue lands and had no interest in venturing so far, but when she imagined them they were desolate and it was perpetually nighttime. Most of the lions were feral and fierce, just the sort of lion her father was pretending to be. She didn't even like to think too hard about the other species that inhabited the area. They were all perfectly barbaric as far as she was concerned. Even worse than groundlings.

"That's what you think," Pur said, raising her chin defiantly. "I think the weight of all that evil would make you very slow."

She glanced around, wondering if there was anyplace she could run for cover that her father couldn't follow her. Somewhere with a small opening, perhaps, or something she could crawl through or under for which he was too large. Nothing came to mind immediately and she considered how quickly he would catch up with her if she just dashed away. Providing she could free herself, which was doubtful at this point.

"I'll be good, though, and stay with you. I'll even hunt and clean for you. But only if you bring me a white rabbit every day. Otherwise I'll try to run away all the time, every day, and you'll spend all your time bringing me back." She thought this was a clever plan. She'd even anticipated that he would say she couldn't ask to be let go, and had decided that she wouldn't ask that anyway. She was going to 'poison' him and run away.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

"The weight of evil makes me slow? No I don't think so." Kivuli sat up at the 'demands' of his captured princess. "A white rabbit every day? And how will I know you won't try to run away when I go to find these rabbits?" Glancing down at his prisoner her shook his head. The look on his daughters face showed just how much she was enjoying this little game. "And why would you clean and hunt? I thought princesses hated getting their paws dirty. Perhaps you think you are better suited to be my slave than a princess hmm?"

His tail flicked about in thought. "And why a white rabbit my dear princess?" Kivuli asked, while reaching up with his paw and scratching at his mane covered throat. "Surely there must be a reason behind such a specific demand." He had to hold in a chuckle as he thought well at least she didn't demand a golden rabbit each day or something else quite extravagant.