...Right, so the two had been wandering around in the haven for some time. Clouds upon clouds floated by, and there was no stop to the clouds. Takadamu had said that he would lead the two back to his children - all of them, Viraji, Sitiri, Xia Hua, Salima, and Upinzani. They had not passed a single soul since they had left from meeting each other, and some time had passed already."Are you sure you are not lost, Takadamu?" he said to his son, looking down at the quite small black speck in front of him.
He was aware that his children were powerful and had strong blood running through them, but they still were cubs. He could not put his entire trust in one of them if Takadamu had said he could find anything. Of course, he would no doubt trust Takadamu if he had aged a little, but the lad was just still a cub!
"Uh... right... We're uh, on the way, dad! Gosh! Don't hurry, I left them somewhere far away, okay?" Takadamu responded a little anxiously, keeping his eyes darting around the area before him.He wouldn't admit it, but indeed they were lost. Was it his father causing the problem? He could have sworn at first that he was able to track anything and anyone from just thinking about it, but now... Where was everyone?!
"We're close!" he said affirmatively, yet he really did not know where they were.
"Son, if you need my help, although I do not know where you left them..."
Mushkeli, from his mother, Bast, had some worry and compassion for his children. They were, after all, his, and thus a part of him. That was what Bast would say.
"No, trust me dad, I'm almost there. I mean, I found you, didn't I?"
He did. That was a given. Of course if he was able to find their big father, he could find five other little things sprawling about. Ohhh, if they had wandered off, he would shout at them! And maybe get dad to do it too. Except their father wasn't the shouting type, or the speaking type for that matter. But that was okay, for Takadamu looked up to Mushkeli regardless of anything!
"Grrr.. Upinzani, Viraji, and Sitiri better not be up to their tricks again! I think Xia wouldn't let them get away with it though. Unless she was jealous. Hmph! You should have seen it when we were with mom, dad. Some of them just don't like it when I'm better at things! But you know I'm the best, right, dad? Who cares about... the occult? Or anonymity? Or obstruction. Or... tradition and prides. I actually do stuff! Right, dad?"
Obviously Takadamu was a boisterous and proud son. Ah, where did the family go? Perhaps it was just because he was a feisty cub. That must have been it.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Takadamu. Still, you are a newborn. You have yet to fill your paws and know what powers they have in them. If you are weary from using your powers, let me know and we will rest. I know my children can take care of themselves..." Mushkeli offered.
He had to admit, he was a little surprised and proud of his boy's insistence and will to go forth with something, even if Takadamu did not really know how to handle his powers yet.
"Dad, you don't understand!" he cried out, stopping to look back at his big father.
"I found you! I can do this! I mean... I'd be better at you than doing it, right?"
He snorted, smiling playfully and batting at his father's toes with his tiny claws. Ahh, now that he had father back again, he could maybe be allowed to do some more roughhousing with the others. Upinzani would be fun to mess around a little bit... He needed to take that toothy snide grin off of his youngest brother at some point!
"Man, you should have been there with mom. I think she liked the girls more than the me and Upinzani. Just because they looked more like her, hmph!"
"Oh..." he replied, holding back the disappointment from the mention of Nalini.
He wondered how she raised them. They definitely did not seem to be bothered by the fact that he has been missing from the family. Perhaps Nalini simply never told them. Perhaps she simply spirited them away. And she did just that. He felt like... he should have been angered at these prospects. But he had already gone through them. He had already gone through all of these possibilities, and so thinking about them again was just a rehash. It was a rehash of all the bad feelings, but yet, since he had gone through them, he felt that he was soon allowing them to go. He would forget Nalini; it was not worth remembering that memory.
And he would not ask to find her again.
"I am... glad that you came for me, Takadamu," he said simply.
"Of course, no problem! I liked having a dad around more, really. Mom just... doesn't get it! I mean, you wouldn't care if Upinzani lost a bet to me and had to eat a worm, huh?" he laughed out loud, remembering the time that actually happened, but Nalini wouldn't let it occur.
That lucky Upinzani. This time he wouldn't get away!
"They all told me you wouldn't be here. They said you wouldn't be here because it was way too light up here for you to look like you belong. But what a find, dad! All these clouds that look the same... And I can find my way through all of them! Oh boy, we'll have some fun going through them. You'll tell me more, right dad? About this place... What do you call it? And are there clouds that mean something? And is there a big cloud? How do gods like you get around, huh?"
Takadamu yammered away, still quite excited despite the lack of comments and enthusiasm from his father.
He supposed he wasn't talked about, back when Nalini was raising the cubs for the little time she did. He knew it was his job to take them in now. Of course, Nalini left him, and then the cubs... It was surprising, but... Of course, it was done.
"I will do what I can for you, son."
"Ahh, great!" Takadamu exclaimed, then picking up a different sense.
Ah, he had found them!
"Hey dad, they're over there! I told you I wasn't lost."