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 Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:30 pm
When she'd first begun to notice the signs Meilin had been feeling nothing short of dreadful. The last thing she wanted was to bring new lives into the life she was being forced to lead now, yet she couldn't go back in time and undo the act. She didn't know if she could go through with it even so. Her mate was no where near here, not even aware that he'd fathered cubs. She wished now that she'd found a different route than passing the desert borders, she could be safe in the Pridelands by now with her sister, or even if she'd chosen to travel with her nephew, his mate, and Vian! That day behind the waterfall was a distant memory now though, and the meeting that followed after only slightly less. There simply was no denying the facts.
She'd be a mother soon, and what would become of the children? Already she felt as if she'd let them down, Vian and the cubs. How could she protect them against this?
The lioness hid herself away in her corner of the slave dens, except when summoned by Kimeti, which wasn't often. He very obviously disliked her, and she didn't feel like trying his patience anymore now that she knew, now that -he- knew. So yes, she hid herself away in the slave caves whenever she could, sure that if word didn't get out, no one would miss her presence. Uuo was good enough to help Meilin with hunting, since her own master didn't particularly care as long as she reported back to his den at some point in the day. Now if she could figure something out before the cubs came...
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:38 pm
Lizard-chasing. A good-enough passtime, for a juvenile like Spaki. However, they ran fast, and all eyes had to be on them when that happened. Not that Spaki could make his eyes look in different places anyway. Only now he was hurtling behind the little reptile rather blindly, and didn't seem to notice where it was heading.
The first time he'd notice something would be different was when the ground got darker with shade, rather than the beating sun. But he still followed the lizard, right untill he threw itself up a dirt-wall, and he forced himself to skid to a halt, nose inches from the wall itself as the lizard clambered away towards the side, then back to the ground, dashing off towards the den exit, as the juvenile, dumbfound, stared at the wall.
And this was how Spaki got into the slave's den.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:01 pm
Spaki wasn't the only one startled, though Meilin's shock came from the abrupt intrusion. It wasn't normal near the slave quarters, and even beyond that she didn't spend much time around children anymore, so the interruption came as a bit of a jolting surprise.
"Moto'spaki...?"
She started to say more, but quickly quieted to simply stare a bit as she remembered that others might be nearby. She didn't rise, either.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:09 pm
An ear flicked, but at first the boy's eyes didn't avert from the wall, untill he backed away, and turned his head, ears perking in surprise. Meilin..? Holy crap.. what den had he ran into?
"Meilin. " He blinked at first, twitching his tail, then seeming to notice something. "You're er.. Bigger. " He said, more as a note to himself than anything else. To him it was kind f funny, though. To see a fat slave. They were usually skinny and badly fed. But here Meilin was being.. fat..ish.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:20 pm
So it was him, and her nose didn't lie. She relaxed a hair, but did take a cautious glance around the cave to be sure he hadn't come with someone else. The other slaves kept to other portions of the slave dens, but especially that other family of slaves, all those cubs. They were clearly avoiding Meilin, though she couldn't say she cared. She saw the scars though, and it made her angry and all the more worried.
There could be better uses for their energy than avoiding other slaves, but she wouldn't be the one to call this to attention.
"I'm pregnant."
She informed bluntly, lowering her head to her paws and curling her hind legs in closer to her stomach self-consciously.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:31 pm
Well gee. What a reply. Quick, blunt and.. not really what had been expected. "You're.. What? " His eyes were wide for a moment, and ears perked in surprise. Pregnant? Didn't that mean.. y'know. Cubs?
"Ew. " Yes, that was all he could say. He didn't even want to imagine how the cubs came out. Hence the ew. Sounded gross. "I didn't know there were many guy-slaves. Unless.. " He paused. What if a male firekin got REALLY messed up? That could happen too. Or some rogue managed to sneak in. He did know one couldn't get pregnant without a guy.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:44 pm
Meilin frowned, surprised that someone Spaki's age already understood this much about how pregnancy started, but it would be silly to call attention to that too.
"There aren't... The father is a male I was traveling with before I got caught."
She shut her eyes, blocking him from seeing them and risking him catching a glimpse of the emotion she was feeling. She missed that male greatly, but knew that she'd probably never see him again even if she did somehow manage to get out.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:51 pm
oh. Oooh. That explained a lot. "So you've been pregnant for a while, " Spaki said, flicking his ears slightly. "So they'll be out soon, " He said, not more a question than a statement. He couldn't help but ponder slightly at this. If she had cubs.. they'd be slaves.
"So what are you gonna do? " He asked, sure she'd probably understand what he meant. She was a slave. That was hard to ignore. And it also lead Spaki to look around a bit and sniff, to make sure no firekin was around.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:22 pm
She was silent.
He asked her that almost as if he knew what she must be thinking, but really, it was just obvious the situation at hand. The cubs would be born slaves, and really she could do nothing to prevent it.
"... I don't know." She confessed.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:28 pm
He paused, sitting on the ground and staring at his paws, dimmed by the darkness in the den. It was perhaps odd that Spaki actually cared about whatever happened to this slave, and part of him would surely beat himself up for caring but.. Spaki couldn't help it. He wanted to be great, a respectable member for the pride. But.. He cared.
Moto'Spaki cared.
"Is there anything I can do? "
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:21 pm
Meilin thought, finding that despite her coarse nature she didn't want to simply dismiss his offer to help, he seemed genuine, and doing so would be unnecessarily harsh. But what -could- he do?
Then, it occurred to her... she lifted her eyes again to look at the young male sitting before her, her words soft spoken.
"Spaki... if they are to have masters, then the best that I could hope for for them would be to have kind ones... Would you take one for yourself...?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:32 pm
He blinked, taken by surprise by this requered. it was enough to make the juvenile stumble to his feet and muscles to tense. She was asking him to.. Keep a slave. "What? " He said, and at first, it came out as a WHA, then he remembered silence and died down on the t.
"But.. My mom.. And Slavery and.. " He paused, then pondered. He'd said he'd help. But.. what would mum say. He'd be bringing back a slave. But then he remembered how slaves were treated. Sumu, his mothers slave. Certainly he didn't want that for Meilin's cub. Maybe he could make this work. He wouldn't beat the cub like other firekin. But if others now.. He'd get beaten. He could pretend, yes. And teach the cub to pretend.
"Ok. " He said it, but it was barely audible, and might even be mistaken by a 'no', especially as he looked away guiltly when he said it.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:40 pm
She wasn't entirely sure she'd heard right, she wasn't even entirely sure she should have asked this of him, but he wanted to help, and it was the only thing she could think of. Her ears twitched expressively as she watched the youth, trying not to pressure either way.
"Spaki...?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:46 pm
He sighed, and forced himself to look up, but moreso at the female's forehead rather than her eyes. Yes, stare at the little hair-tuft she had. Look how stripey it was! Nothing like a dubm internal monologue to keep yoursle from blurting like an idiot.
"I'll do it. " He said. "I'm sure my mom won't complain about her son getting a slave. " He sighed.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:50 pm
It was the first time that Meilin's expression shifted to one of guilt in front of another, she almost looked sad, sorry to be burdening someone so young with something so heavy, let alone the fact that she was bringing her children into this lifestyle. Truly the best she could wish was for them to know some happiness with the right masters. She was fortunate that Kimeti didn't seem to care much of what she or anyone else did, be it for his distrust or be it for his distraction she didn't know. It would be her family's benefit though.
"If you don't want to do this, Spaki, I'll understand. I'm sorry to have to ask you something like this."
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