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 Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:04 am
His world was falling apart around his ears and he didn’t know what to do anymore. He felt completely and utterly lost. Lost because everything that he had taken for granted was being snatched cruelly from him.
First his mother. His beautiful, golden mother. He had never thought her old. She had seemed ageless as the sun and as warm and kindly as if she had forever to live. He remembered the brilliance of her comforting blue eyes, like the summer sky unhindered by clouds. He remembered her soft words, her gentle ways and how he had never seen anything but a smile on her tender face.
Now, now all of that was gone and nothing he could do would bring her back.
He was staring at his reflection in a huge puddle, freshly gathered from a recent downpour, trying desperately to see his mother’s face in his own. His father had always said he looked like his mother. They shared the same golden coat, the same brilliant eyes and gentle ways. Yet try as he might he couldn’t see any familiarity. He couldn’t even remember what she looked like anymore! It was that which frightened him the most. He didn’t want to forget what she looked like! He didn’t want to forget her soothing voice lulling him to sleep as a cub. He didn’t want to forget her scent on the breeze nor the look on her face when he did some silly. But try as he might, her image wouldn’t return to her memory and every attempt made her look strangely disfigured.
He had forgotten her.
A terrible pain constricted his heart, like a porcupine rolling into his chest. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think and he struck out at the water, destroying his image and sending the water into a wild frenzy.
“Mother…” His voice was choked. “Mother, please, don’t be gone.” And then he clung to some dismal hope that maybe she was okay. That maybe she was still alive out there somewhere. But, if that was the case then why didn’t she want to go home? Maybe father had done something?
And then he thought of Amari, his father who had returned to the life of a rogue. Could it be possible they’d had a fight and because Maawio hadn’t returned he had thought her dead? No, he knew his father and Amari wasn’t capable of that. He was a cheerful flirt who didn’t have a bad bone in his body. But then why would he choose this difficult time to leave now? Why would he desert his children when they needed him the most?
Chunuka felt the tears squeeze out between his eyelids. “Dad…why’d you have to go?” If he hadn’t taken the time to ponder on it further, he would have thought his father cruel. But the more he thought on it the more he realised why Amari had left. He was leaving behind the memories of her loss, cutting his ties to attempt to scrape what life he had left. He was not leaving them, he was leaving his grief behind him. But would he ever come back?
Chunuka, though a little naïve, knew now that death awaited all of them. If his mother was gone than his father was close to that time too. What if he went somewhere far away and couldn’t return from illness? What if he was too old to protect himself from other savage rogues? What if, what if, what if; the questions were endless. But sad as it may seem, Chunuka knew that slowly but surely his family was breaking apart.
Well, except for Inari and Kiasi. They were all the family he had left now and as for his remaining siblings…well, they had all but disappeared off the face of the earth.
He yowled, long and low, the sound filled with sadness. Thinking about his siblings made him realise why he had come here. He had been searching for Kiasi to tell her what had happened. He had followed her scent across the puddle ground and had lost it shortly after. Now he had no idea where she was and he realised that he was very much alone. The clouds above his head were dark and ominous, foretelling another downpour yet to come. But Chunuka didn’t care. Getting wet was the least of his problems.
So, pulling himself up into a sitting position he parted his jaws and called for his sister, praying she was close enough to hear. And he kept calling until his heart felt perhaps a little relief from his sadness.
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:56 pm
Kiasi couldn’t recall exactly why she had come out yesterday when the sky had been clouded over with such dark, ominous rainclouds. She had been on a search to find herself something particularly delicious, but sadly enough, she had realized quickly once she got out that she in fact had no one to hunt for her and that hunting in her condition was nearly impossible. At the same time, she had also had absolutely no idea what she really wanted. She had been lucky enough to find a small, deserted den when the rain finally started and a leftover kill this morning once the rain faded away. She had spent the rest of her afternoon finding a good waterhole, and now she was trying to make her way back to the heart of the pride without getting caught in a storm again.
She had just been about to pass by the area that her brother was unknowingly in when she heard him – his voice carried on the wind, so full of pain and with a tone she had never quite heard before. She hesitated, thinking for a moment that it would be better to get herself out of the storm in her condition and just find him later, but something about his tone made her turn and began to trot in his direction. Trotting for her, of course, was more or less a slow saunter for most lions. Not only was she prideful and less inclined to move quickly, she also happened to be carrying around a large litter of cubs in her belly, and late in her pregnancy at that. She bulged at the sides, her belly taught and stretched, and her little form looking quite unfit to be carrying it. She had always been small – such a large litter only emphasized it.
“Chunuka?” she called out worriedly, her deep blue eyes shifting across the lands in an attempt to spot him out among all the mud and shadows of the early afternoon. Her own paws were deep in the muck beneath her and the simple thought of that alone made a grimace pop up on her little maw. However, she ignored it, parting her jaws to answer him with her own drawn-out, worry-filled roar. He would hear that, if nothing else. Maybe she could talk to him while they walked – she really did want to get herself (and the unborn cubs in her belly) out of the rain.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:37 am
He opened his mouth to give another mournful cry when he heard Kiasi’s own on the wind. His whole body tensed and slowly his head turned, ears turning to the direction of the sound. How close was she? “Kiasi?” His word was a hoarse whisper, spoken through his tears. “KIASI?!” He stood, ears pert and tail up, eyes wild with fear. What if he couldn’t find her? What if she gave up and went away?
He called again, a sound that was filled with urgency and desperation. “Kiasi.” And he sped through the mud, spraying muck from his paws. He slithered down a steep decline in the ground, whirled to the right and called again, the sound piercing.
Then, suddenly she was there and Chunuka staggered to a clumsy walk, his eyes not yet registering the swell of his sister’s sides.
“Kiasi, oh, I’m so happy I found you.” Then her size registered and for a moment he was stunned, the thought evident in his wide-eyed expression. “Kiasi, what’s wrong with you? Please don’t tell me you’re dying too. Don’t leave me Kiasi, please.” He wrapped his paws around one of her forelegs as if that would keep her rooted to the spot forever.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:44 am
Kiasi called back to him when she heard her name on the wind once more, calling every time he called in return. However, after a few moments she realized that he was indeed coming to her and she simply stopped moving. It was much more convenient for him to come all the way out to where she was instead of her bloated body having to go find him. Chunuka was a smart boy, and it wouldn’t take him long. Besides, if she moved, she ran the risk of confusing him as to where she was and it could take twice as long for him to find her. As he came bounding into sight, she simply smiled, waiting for him to come over.
Of course, once he got to her, he wrapped those muddy legs around her own and made her grimace. “Chunuka, get up, you’re all dirty,” she said, half a whine to her voice as she tried to wiggle her leg free. She had no idea why he was acting so ridiculous and her only notion at the moment was to get his muddy paws away from her fur. How was she supposed to know he was in a state of distress over their mother missing and their father leaving? She’d had a lot on her mind lately and hadn’t even really thought of her mother – she didn’t know her dad was gone yet, however.
“No I’m not dying, you silly goose,” she said with a quirk of her eyebrow, “I’m pregnant.” She smirked, wiggling her paw again in an attempt to get him up. “It’s kind of the exact opposite of dying when you think about it. I’m bringing life into the world, not taking life out.” She shrugged, latching her deep blue eyes onto him. She really did wish he would get up and stop acting so ridiculous. “Besides, how on earth would I be dying? I suppose I could explode, but that’s kind of ridiculous,” she said, slightly amused with the notion.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:53 am
Chunuka gaped, swallowed, attempted to speak and then gaped again. Speechless. He was speechless. Slowly, obediently he pulled himself up, his distress lost beneath his shock at this new declaration.
Pregnant?
His eyes scanned her swollen sides, tried to imagine cubs curled within. No, it didn't seem to make sense! He lifted his eyes to meet her own, questions mirrored in his face. "P-pregnant? How did this happen? Did...did things work out with that lion of yours then?" He hesitated, unsure what to say next, his eyes falling to her sides yet again. He'd never seen a pregnant lioness before, though he knew they were around. They looked odd, as if they had swallowed a huuuuuge ball. She must have been close to giving birth.
"Congratulations...I guess." He tried to smile and then waved a worried paw at her. "Should you be out here by yourself? What if the cubs...what if the cubs decided they wanted out?"
Apparently he had momentarily forget about his parents.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:09 pm
She watched him in silence all through his gaping and swallowing, her eyebrow arched and a rather amused look stretched across her face. He was such a silly thing sometimes. He was freaking out more than she ever had. Of course, she had planned this all along, so she had never really been that bewildered when she did finally realize she was carrying cubs. In fact, it was exactly what she had wanted – so she wasn’t in the least bit surprised. On the contrary, she was excited to be having them. The only problem was that she was a single mother and she knew that there were quite a few babes in her belly. She hoped, honestly, that she could handle them all.
“How did it happen?” she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow, brushing the mud off of her leg with her other paw before it could dry. “Chunuka, I’m sure you know how it happened, I’m not going to explain it to you.” She did smirk at him though, just to show that she was teasing. She still wasn’t explaining the details, though. His next words made her frown and she shook her head, “no, I don’t know where Kubwa has gone to. These cubs aren’t his.” She seemed, for a moment, to be a little down – then she pushed it away and gave him a smile. There was no use sulking over the past.
She frowned and glanced up at the sky then, distressed just a little over the dark clouds, “no, I really shouldn’t be. I got caught out here last night and I had to huddle in this little cave by myself.” She sighed, shaking her head and glancing back to him, “So if you want to talk to me, we probably need to do it walking.” She did, however, give him a weak smile, “I don’t think the cubs actually come too fast, Chunuka. I could get home before they decided to come out.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:29 am
He wriggled with embarrassment at her teasing, his eyes darting nervously, refusing to meet her eyes. However, the normal interaction between them helped his panicked state somewhat, allowing him to think straighter than he had before. “Y-yes. I know how it happened I…well…” He trailed off and gave her a desperate look. “You know what I mean. I just didn’t expect it…” He trailed off again, boy this was difficult! Males weren’t good with dealing things like this. The whole pregnancy thing was too much for them, Chunuka in particular.
But again, Kiasi was full of surprises and the look on Chunuka’s face was something between sympathetic and shocked. “Not his? Kas, I thought you loved him?” His face changed yet again, grim determination mixed with that protective, brotherly instinct. “Did he hurt you Kas?”
Then, reminded that she shouldn’t really be outside in her condition he moved alongside her. “Let’s head back.” Then, curling his tail around her foreleg he encouraged her to head back to the dens before the heavens opened up above them.
“Kas, if the one you love isn’t the father of your cubs, then…who is? Did someone…” He swallowed back a fearful lump in his throat. A part of him didn’t want to ask but he knew he had to. If someone had violated his little sis, he’d kill them. There would be no mercy, no pacifistic lectures. The fur on his shoulders bristled. “Did someone force you?”
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:23 pm
His stuttering simply made her smile, relaxed with her brother’s seeming innocence on the subject of such things. His silliness did calm her down inwardly, for she really was worried over carrying out the pregnancy itself. She was a single mother, carrying a large litter, and she’d inevitably have to take care of them all on her own as well. Her brother’s demeanor made her smile, took a little bit of weight off her shoulders. She knew she would have him to help her if she asked.
Kiasi frowned slightly at his words, her shoulders shrugging slightly, deep blue eyes drifting away towards the horizon. “I thought I did, Chunuka, but sometimes things just don’t work out like you plan for them to,” she said quietly, finally. She sighed and turned her eyes back towards Chunuka, shaking her head, “no, he did not, at least no more than I hurt him. His life was too complicated – there was no room for me left in it. Not right then, and I suppose I wasn’t patient enough to let him work his problems out.” She smiled weakly, turning her eyes away again, “you know me, I have to be the center of attention.” It was a weak joke, but she was trying to let go of the past.
She nodded as he suggested heading back, turning her body to begin walking along beside him, desperately trying to ignore the turmoil overhead and the clouds that she was sure would split open and rain down upon them at any moment. The den wasn’t too far, no, but it was so much farther for a lioness so heavy with cubs.
“Of course not,” she said with a soft laugh, glad to change the subject away from Kubwa. Her eyes flashed towards him before they settled back ahead of her, on the den in the distance. “I decided that it was time to have cubs, that’s all. Inari has his daughters, and if I can’t have a mate, I can at least have a family to love.” She smiled and glanced back towards Chunuka. “Don’t worry, he was quite the gentlemen.”
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:57 am
"I'm sorry sis..." His heart ached. Poor Kiasi...it was no fun to lose someone you loved, though he had never experienced it himself. He knew he'd be devastated if he lost his mate. "If there's anything I can do then don't hesitate to ask. The family needs to stick together..."
Family.
His chest constricted and his face held a pure look of grief and sadness. He seemed to close up on himself, his back arching. "Oh Kas, what is happening? What has our family done to deserve all this bad fortune?" He was blubbering again, his chin trembling as he held back the sobs.
"Kas there's something else I have to tell you." No, he thought to himself, wait until we've found shelter.
Luckily, the shelter was looming ahead of them and the clouds above them began to grumble like an angry lion. He quickened his pace as much as he dared, keeping close to Kiasi's side.
"Here we go." He paused outside and gestured with a paw. "You first." He could pretend the tears on his face were the first drops of rain.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:52 am
“Don’t be sorry,” she said with a small shrug, her eyes steady on the ground before her. She shifted, glancing up at him with a smile, her tail lashing behind her as she walked along. Then, with a bit of mischief leaking back into her deep blue eyes, she gave him a bit of an amused grin, “of course you can help. You can cubsit the little rascals when they get here.” Oh, she knew that there were a few of them just by the weight and all the movements in her belly – he’d have his paws full if he actually let her push the cubs off on him from time to time.
“What are you talking about, Chunuka?” she asked calmly, turning her eyes up to her brother, even as she saw the shelter looming before them. She knew their mother had left, but as far as anything else, she was very unaware. “Most of us are still here,” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders, her tail flopping slowly behind her, against her legs. “Mom is gone, but at least we still have each other, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”
She was about to ask him what he had to say when they reached the shelter. With a smile, she ducked inside, glad to be out of the coming storm. She yawned a little and lay down, curling up and putting her head on her paws. Her stomach felt a little odd to her, but she pushed away the thought and looked up to Chunuka, “now what do you have to tell me?”
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:20 am
He prepared himself for the words that were finding it difficult to fit into his mouth. Then he slipped into the cavern after her, almost knocking himself out on the sudden slope of the ceiling. Mumbling through the pain he sat himself at the entrance, using his body to make sure no draft could reach her.
"Kas..." He drew in a deep breath. Should he really be telling her this in her condition? What if the reaction hurt the cubs? What if she hated him for telling her? But, what if he didn't tell her and he let it drag on and on. She knew something was wrong and she'd never forgive him for keeping something as important as this back.
"Mother isn't just gone, Kas." The words were pushed from his mouth before he realised what he was saying. "She's..." And then his firm voice shattered, leaving him choking on that one word. "D-dead." He blinked back tears. "Father is gone, he left, just like that." He looked up pleadingly. "It can't be true can it, Kas? It can't be!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:32 am
Kiasi waited patiently for her brother to talk, though her eyebrows remained furrowed as she noticed the increasing uneasiness in his attitude. She couldn’t begin to fathom what in the world it was that caused him so much distress. Chunuka was usually an easy-going fellow, but today he had proved himself to be worrying over something and letting it get the best of him. The way he clung to her, the look in his eyes, the way he couldn’t talk – she was expecting the very worst. She didn’t know what ‘the very worst’ could possibly be, but she knew that something that had the ability to put her brother into such a state of mind as this was something dreadful.
“W-what?” she asked, rather shocked. She had been expecting the worst, true, but expecting and hearing were two very different things. “She’s..” she trailed off, eyebrows furrowed, her expression one that was unreadable in detail, but obviously troubled in some fashion. Then she heard the second words that came spilling out of Chunuka’s mouth – father had left. Forgive the girl, but she had always been a daddy’s girl. As much as she loved her mother, it was her father she had felt closest to. Her eyes widened slightly in shock, a jolt coursing down her spine, and her words (for once) failed her. This was why he was so upset.
Of course, almost as soon as she began to recover from the shock, she felt a sharp pain in her belly. Her face contorted, her eyes swiveling down to look at her stomach. For a few moments, she sat there, confused. Then, realization spread over her face quickly and her eyes flashed as she glanced up to her brother. “Chunuka, I think.. the cubs are coming.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:39 am
He watched the expression on her face, the shock the grief the pain. It was all there as clear as day, just as it had been - no - just as it was on his face. He was still reeling from the meeting, a meeting which should have been happy and wasn't. He had loved his parents so dearly that a part of him was gone now that they were no longer in his life.
He moved to huddle closer when Kiasi's face contorted. He snapped his eyes up to her face again, saw something odd in her eyes and felt his heart shrivel in his chest. What was wrong?
And then she said it. The cubs? No, no this wasn't right. What if the news had killed the cubs?! Yes it was a silly thought but Chunuka wasn't often the brightest bulb - especially when he was panicking.
"Kas! Kas what do you mean?" He was stuttering, stumbling backwards, though he couldn't seem to wedge himself back out of the den. "Kas, it's all my fault. I'm sorry!" He shook his head, eyes wild. "Should I go get someone? Should I get something? Anything?" His eyes darted frantically around the room, desperate for something familiar to catch his eyes.
He had no idea what to do!
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:50 am
Even in her pain, Kiasi managed to watch her brother freak out with a calmness that was uncommon for a lioness going into labor. She knew her brother well, and if she started to freak out, then it would only make him do so more. She had to keep a level head, at least long enough to make him do something productive, something to help. If he had a job to do, then he might calm down a little. She was glad that when the time had finally come, she didn’t have to go through it alone. She needed him, even if it wasn’t in any way she could express.
“Don’t be silly,” she said with a shake of her head, though her teeth gritted slightly after the words, clenched tightly from the pain. The reality of the pain, of what was about to happen was enough to clear her head from the shock he had just given her with his news. In fact, the news itself was being pushed into the back of her mind. No need to dwell on it right now. “I don’t need anyone else, Chunuka, I know what has to be done and no one else is going to help me do it better,” her words were slow, but as calm as ever. There was only a pause every few minutes.
Her talons unfurled, digging slightly into the ground beneath her, her eyes lidded for a moment as she tried to think through a particularly nasty little wave of pain. Then, opening her eyes, she looked up to him with a weak nod, “I need you to stay here. You need to guard the entrance, ok? Make sure nothing dangerous can get in. Right now, I wouldn’t be able to keep them away.” She nodded towards the entrance, her tail wavering behind her.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:21 am
He listened to her. Calm. Calm and cool. That was the Kiasi he knew. Her words, though slow and well spoken were almost missed in the wild flurry of his thoughts, but somehow, through the panic, he realised what she had said.
Guard. Yes he'd guard her with her life since that mate of hers had decided to abandon her. It was probably best that Chunuka had never met him or else he'dbe stalking off, ready to rip that male to shreds.
So much for being able to trust your own kind. Pridelanders were becoming as unruly and badmannered as rogues. Which wasn't surprising really, since most of them were rogues.
No, enough thinking about that. He had to protect Kas. "I'll protect you sis, don't worry about that. And if you need me, just shout, okay?" He pushed himself up to the den's entrance, staring out into the rain. What a miserable day...though he had to admit the rain was a good sign. It meant that there would be a good supply of water to drink when it finally stopped.
He sighed, rested his head on his paws and kept his eyes on the horizon.
One life lost but many gained.
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