[PRP] The Strange Familiar (Vasya/Mawasii/Kefir)

[Meepfur]

Amavasya sat on the edge of the Pridelands, looking out at the lands beyond the border as twilight fell, and wondered for the thousandth time what was out there. She had heard plenty of stories, of course, and knew firsthand that the outside world wasn't always a pleasant place, would never forget when the hyenas had come...and yet, she still wondered. What else was out there? Surely there had to be at least as many good things as bad, and she could only hope that her twin sister had found all of the former and none of the latter.

Though Amavasi had been gone for quite some time now, the hole in Vasya's heart remained, and she felt an emptiness beside her always. She could have gone, too. Maybe she should have, but it was too late now. She had stayed here, stayed home, too afraid to leave what she knew and loved, and in the process lost the one person she had loved the most. She had also lost her sense of self, and still struggled to define who she was and would be. She spent much of her time alone now, uncertain of her interactions with others. How should she act? How would Vasi have acted? Being only half of a whole had been so much easier; simply being whole in and of herself was harder than she had ever imagined.  

[Kimaria]

This brother and sister were not twins. In fact there was very little that they shared, being so different inwardly and outwardly. But all the same, for all their differences, they had stuck close; their qualities complimenting one another perfectly.

First there was headstrong Mawasii, brave and bold and confident, willing to dive in to rescue an endangered soul at a second's notice. She had a good size to her, partnered with a strong frame that spoke of her training to become a warrior - just as her late father had once been. She had never met Hakan'mawasii but she had his name - or a part of it at least - and she felt that drive to become everything he would want her to be.

And more.

Then there was Kafele. He was a bumbling and shy lion who was stuck in a large and awkward body that made him appear to be stronger and more threatening than he was. He lacked the drive and ambition that his sister had, but he was gentle and sweet and tended to be the pacifier, trying to defuse those heated situations where Mawasii might leap into the fray with a battle cry. He was also a seer, but that was a secret kept close to his chest, for though he could control his gift he was wary of using it and preferred to keep it at a distance.

"Slow down, sis." Kafele complained.

"You want to find shelter before nightfall, don't you? It's already getting dark."

"I do but...I'm tired."

Mawasii slowed a little and cast a look back at him. "We've strayed too far to the west. We're too close to pridal territory." As of yet she had not realised just how close that was.  

[Meepfur]

For a moment, drifting in her thoughts as she stared at the gradually darkening landscape, Vasya thought she saw her sister - but no, even as her heart soared, she recognized that that colors and the bearing just weren't right. Now that she focused and paid attention, she could tell with ease that it wasn't Vasi. It was only half in daydream that she could think that at all. And yet...they were not entirely dissimilar.

Curiosity warred with uncertainty as she watched the lioness and her lighter-coated companion draw nearer, but curiosity finally won out. And besides, it was technically her job to investigate strangers, even if it could be pretty awkward business.

She took a deep breath and stood, calling out, "Hello?"  

[Kimaria]

"I don't think--" But that was all Kafele managed to get out before a voice chimed up, interrupting their small disagreement.

Together, the siblings turned to look in the direction of the voice. Strangely, it was Kafele who noticed the similarities first, perhaps because he saw his sister everyday and he was very much used to that dark, spotted pelt.

"Oh!" He said, and maybe he would have declared it then, if it hadn't been for his sister interrupting him. Apparently he was used to being over-spoken by others.

"Hello!" Mawasii called back "I'm sorry, are we...intruding? I know we've come a little too close to pride lands this time. My fault - I tried taking a short cut but didn't realise just how far we'd come." Her blue eyes flashed about the landscape as if to ascertain whether the female was alone.

"You're....you're not going to hurt us, are you?" Kafele asked timidly a moment later.

Mawasii hung her head, seemingly in embarrassment.  

[Meepfur]

"Hurt you?" The scout was surprised by the male's question, and her expression suggested that she'd never so much as considered the possibility of hurting anyone...well, except for hyenas, but these two were clearly not hyenas. "No, of course not."

While the other female surveyed their surroundings, Vasya studied her a little more closely. Their markings really were quite similar, but was it coincidence or something more? Or maybe she was simply seeing a resemblance because she wanted to. Uncertain, she opted to stay quiet for the moment. "It's okay, you're not...really intruding. We're not very strict about that kind of thing, as long as no one causes trouble."  

[Kimaria]

Kafele gave the stranger a brief, relieved smile at that and beside him his sister gave a short laugh. "Don't mind him. He's scared of his own shadow." She drew a little closer and tossed her head in an attempt to flick the straggle of fur out of her eyes. "My name is Mawasii and that big oaf there is my brother, Kafele."

"Pleased to meet you." He added.

"What pride is this, if you don't mind me asking? I was taught to be wary of them all my life and haven't heard of one to be so relaxed around strangers."

"Well, we haven't actually been close to any prides except that one time, 'Sii."

The dark female huffed, realising that her brother was right.  

[Meepfur]

"I'm Amavasya," she offered after the other female made introductions, "But just Vasya will do." Growing up, she and Vasi had sometimes 'switched' names to deliberately confuse everyone, but those days of identity swaps were long gone.

"The Pridelands." Vasya sat delicately, curving her tail around herself. This was evidently going to turn into a conversation, so she might as well get comfortable. "We're very, mm...open, and we get a lot of visitors. Family, mostly. Some of them have really spread out." The scout allowed her curiosity to show a little more openly when she mentioned that last part.  

[Kimaria]

They both nodded simultaneously when she gave her name and then Mawasii spoke up again. "Oh, I've heard of the Pridelands." She just sure where. Maybe a passing rogue? Perhaps her mother or her uncle? She gave a small shrug and sat herself down in a rather less delicate matter. "It sounds like a friendly enough place."

Kafele blinked. "It does." Perhaps, deep in his heart, he wanted a pride, too. The life of a rogue was tiring and it drained his energy far quicker than it did with his sister's. But he couldn't leave her. Without him he didn't doubt she'd go leaping into trouble and then he might never see her again. It was his duty to his family that he remain until she decided, perhaps, that she ought not to be so brash.

"I suppose it makes sense that some members of a family might decide to break away for a while. It must be nice, though, to have somewhere you can come back to."

Kafele gave a quiet nod, his eyes flitting between the two females again. "Um...talking of family...do you think it's a coincidence that you both look...kind of exactly the same?"

Mawasii blinked, surprised. "What? We...do?" She glanced back at Amavasya and then down at her front. "Oh...you're right..." Mawasii looked up. "You think...?"

"Were you...born here?" Kafele asked.  

[Meepfur]

Her look of curiosity gave way to one of relief when Kafele pointed out the lionesses' resemblance to each other. She'd been wondering if it was just her who thought that, whether it was a simple coincidence or something more, and hadn't wanted to bring it up and look like an idiot if she turned out to be imagining things.

"I...was kind of thinking that," she admitted. Maybe it had been easier for Vasya to see because she'd looked at a perfect twin of herself for most of her life, and not just reflections in the water.

"I was. My parents were, too. But my grandmother...my grandmother wasn't." She tilted her head, scrutinizing Mawasii for hints and trying to puzzle out any possible connection. "She's brown, but she has spots, too. And blue eyes..."  

[Kimaria]

For a moment the pair of siblings looked rather stumped and it was the female who broke the silence first: "I wish I knew more about my family." Mawasii concluded with a sigh. "I am told I look almost identical to my father, except that he didn't have the gold on his paws. Unfortunately he died before we were born so we never met him and what little we learned of our family was through our uncle."

"Our father had a brother." Kafele added helpfully. "His name was Kamal and from what I recall, he was brown of pelt and had many children of his own. Perhaps that is where the tie between us lies?"

"The similarities seem to good to be a mere coincidence. Many of us have blue eyes and spots and if the families within the Pridelands travel to and fro, it's very likely we have joined blood somewhere along the line."Mawasii cast her brother a careful look before returning her gaze to Vasya. "Does anyone you know have...the gift to...see things before they have happened or...things that have already happened?"

Kafele almost choked at that. He preferred to keep his seer powers carefully concealed and Mawasii had never felt the need to spread his 'gift' about as freely as this. Besides, their mother was a seer! Any ability he had would have been passed down from her. Not their father's side!  

[Meepfur]

"Kamal?" Amavasya raked her memory for the name, but it didn't ring a bell. "I don't think I've ever heard that name, but it is possible. I'd have to ask my grandmother, Kimya'Ukilia. I'm sure she would know."

"To see things...I have met some who see that way, but no one in my family, at least not that I know of.  

[Kimaria]

Both siblings' ears went up at that name. They recognised that one, perhaps from one of Rap's stories. Or maybe from one of their mother's, recalling conversations she had had with their father. That was that, then. Amavasya was family.

"Kimya'ukilia is our father's sister; our aunt!" Mawasii exclaimed, utterly enthused with this revelation of the link that connected them. She had always thought her family a very small thing, consisting of her siblings and her mother and her adopted uncle, Rap. Now, it seemed, she had family spread all across the lands. It was...strange and hard to comprehend.

Kafele seemed glad of the news; happy not to have to speak much more on his strange seer qualities. If Amavasya knew no one in her family then it most certainly came from his mother's side. "Is there much of the family here in Pridelands?" He asked. "You say your grandmother is here as well?" Though it appeared Kamal was not. Perhaps he had settled in a different pride. Perhaps he had a huge family, too, wherever he was and they could be a part of something so much bigger.

It was...strangely exciting.  

[Meepfur]

This revelation clearly excited them - her cousins! - and Amavasya couldn't help but share the feeling. It was a thrill of discovery, of putting the pieces together, but it was also the feeling of being connected to something.

"She is!" She grinned, her tail lashing with excitement. "There's a lot of us - well, not as many as some families, but still. There's my mother and her siblings, and my two brothers. I...have a sister, too, but she left home."  

[Kimaria]

"This is...amazing. To think we had so much family and we never knew of it. I wonder why my father never settled down like his family did. I wonder if Kimya even knows he is gone..." Probably not, in fact, since who would have known she was here to tell her?

Mawasii didn't feel like she wanted to be the bearer of that news, though. Maybe it was best if his sister knew nothing of what had happened and believed him to still be wandering the rogue lands. For a moment she was touched with a pang of grief - that which she had never felt before. To realise that she had family elsewhere, that her connection with her dad was not completely lost...

She gave a small sniff.

Beside her, Kafele looked equally moved. "It feels almost as if we've come home."

Mawasii turned to look at her brother, wondering if he would stay if offered the chance. Perhaps one day she might look at settling somewhere but now didn't feel right. Not yet.

"Then...perhaps we need not hurry off this day." She replied.

This was a home away from home. A home...the knowledge of that warmed her. This was a good thing. A good thing indeed.

/fin