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 Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:10 am
Cheshi hopped along the edge of the water hole, actually managing to go several strides away from Sungura. She was getting better, improving a great deal.. she'd even agreed to go to the water hole during one of the busier times of day, and allowed Meme to leave her and Sungura there. There were lions around, and other animals, but none seemed too focused on the pair of hares at the water's edge. It was reassuring and still an improvement, but Cheshi was still a bit anxious..
"Where did Tuli and Mn head today?" she asked offhandedly, looking back towards Sunny. She was trying to make small talk, but also worrying about them. Of course.. he would reassure her and try to think up less worrisome small talk.. but Cheshi didn't have anything else on her mind to try.
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:24 am
Sungura wanted eagerly to follow Cheshi over to where she hopped, but knew that allowing her to go off on her own was her way of learning to deal with the stressful situation. He was thankful for Memetuka's great help in Cheshi's stress. The lioness had only ever offered comfort and Cheshi seemed to trust her.
This was nice for Sungura, but he still held a bit of jealousy towards the lioness. When they were younger, he dragged Cheshi everywhere, without a care in the world and without worry for how she was feeling. He was young and wreckless and now worried if that was why she did not seem to trust him as well.
Casting the thought aside, Sungura could only hope to help Cheshi, understanding that any help, from anyone, was appreciated. He could not allow his jealousy to ruin Cheshi's improvement. "I believe they stayed near the den. I know Kutulia met another hare the other day and she wanted to tell Mnyama all about it."
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:33 am
It was not that Cheshi did not trust Sungura, quite the contrary- she trusted him very much, just in a different way. She loved him, she worried about him, but their relationship had always been different than the one she had with Memetuka. The lion seemed deadset on Cheshi being less dependent, wanting to help her before she made the same kinds of mistakes that she made. Sungura was content to just have Cheshi around, which was fine for Cheshi when they didn't have kittens to worry about. Having kittens is when things had really turned everything upside down.
When Sunny reassured her that their girls were simply at home talking, she felt a little better. However, he didn't offer much of a different route for conversation.. though this other hare was something she'd not really heard about already.
"She met another hare?" she asked quietly, "Do you know who?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:04 am
When Cheshi quickly asked about the new hare, Sungura became worried that he might have spoke of something that would stress his mate out. In truth, he had only heard as little as she had, but attempting to recollect the pieces, the male became quiet for a moment. "Well.. Kutulia only mentioned it to me because I happened to meet her along her way returning home.." The male thought aloud.
Scratching his head, Sungura continued to think, digging for the name of the strange rabbit his daughter described. "I believe she said his name was Biskiti, but from his description, he was not quite right.." Sungura remembered his daughter telling him that he was also nervous, but for sake of keeping that aspect of their relationship out of the conversation, the hare continued on, "Nice hare overall though.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:07 am
Like any parent, especially any protective parent, Cheshi would be happiest knowing where her babies were at all times, knowing who they met, that they were happy and safe.. but working on being more realistic, she knew she'd have to settle for some of the stories about their days..
She listened to his re-telling of their daughter's description, nodding slowly and wondering what could be wrong with him that he wasn't "quite right' .. it sounded almost like he might have been a bit crazy.
"Oh," she blinked, "I never hear about what they've been doing.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:29 pm
When Cheshi mentioned that she never heard about what her daughters had been up to, Sungura felt a bit guilty. Since the kits were younger, Kutulia was always a daddy's girl, asking him for advice and trusting his judgement. Because of their close bond, he was also the first to hear bits of her stories.
Looking out towards the den, Sungura responded, trying to keep his tone upbeat and comforting. "I'm sure Tuli plans to explain everything as soon as she returns to the den. She was excited about meeting a new hare. Even I haven't heard all the details!"
And attempting to change the subject, he smiled and returned his gaze to Cheshi, "Care to join me on a walk? We've made it to the watering hole, but there isn't really a lot to see around here.. I can show you all those beautiful flowers Tuli and I have found."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:35 pm
Cheshi knew, deep down, that she was missing a lot from being a mother when she hid away in the den all that time. Maybe she hadn't thought about it then, but she couldn't stop now. She was glad they were all safe, that they had safe lands to live in and that Memetuka was there for them.. but her daughters, she didn't really feel like she knew anything about them. Tuli was so close to Sunny, and all she really knew about Mnyama was that she loved to go out and play even when Cheshi tried to tell her not to.
"Mhmm," Cheshi mumbled rather sadly, glancing up only when he asked her to go for a walk with him. Her immediate reaction was to look around them, but nothing was really there.. was there any good reason not to go?
"I guess," she agreed carefully.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:42 pm
Sungura could see how bothered Cheshi was at the moment and this caused his guilt to increase. On many of the occassions that Cheshi remained in the den, he had left with Kutulia to explore. Was Sungura to blame for why Cheshi had not spent as much time with her girls? Or could he have convinced their mother to join them?
Sungura's ears lowered as they often did when he felt bad for something. But keeping his smile on his face, the male grabbed ahold of the familiar white paw he always held onto. "I promise. As soon as we're back from the walk, we'll talk to both the girls. They're getting big and want to explore, but we're still a family."
As he awaited a response, he began to hop forward, slowly and carefully. They took a path that he and Kutulia had taken many times. It was matted down so that Cheshi could see others walked it before.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:52 pm
For how awful Cheshi felt about her daughters, she couldn't help but feel bad about everything Sungura as well. How on earth did he put up with her? She was very grateful he was there, she couldn't be a mother like her's had been, but the girls were lucky to at least have him.. She was surprised when Sunny suddenly grabbed her paw, promising they would talk to the girls and reminding her that they were still a family.
"O-ok," she agreed, her ears lowered as well. She allowed herself to be lead away down the well-worn path.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:00 pm
While Sungura could not help the lowering of his ears, when he noticed Cheshi's also go down, he held a bit tighter to her paw and became concious of his own ears. Raising them again, he continued to smile. While they walked, he looked around, remembering the many memories he had made with Kutulia. She went from being rather shy, to opening up and longing to learn about the pridelands.
Again, unsure as to whether or not this was the right move, Sungura thought he might express to Cheshi more about what he knew of their daughter. On the other hand, he didn't want to make his mate feel left out. "Kutulia's favorite color is blue." He said almost randomly.
But as they neared the area he wished to take Cheshi, a small clearing of bright blue flowers became clear to the two of them. "These are her favorites.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:05 pm
Cheshi was happy to hold tightly to her mate's paw, it made her feel more connected to him and reassured her that he hadn't given up on her yet. She sighed, and couldn't seem to will her ears back up just yet. She had a lot on her mind, and was rather anxious while on the move as there was a lot more work to watching where you were going, keeping up and watching out for things around you.. but she was well practiced in those areas.
"Blue?" Cheshi repeated, noticing the blue flowers just as he said that. Blue was a color that often reminded her of her mother, for that was the colro of her eyes. However, it hadn't been quite this shade of blue, the flowers were very bright and beautiful.. just like Tuli.
"The flowers she brought back to the den the other day, there were a couple of these among them," she commented, her ears perking back up a bit.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:27 pm
By Cheshi's reaction, Sungura assumed that he had done right in telling the female hare more about their daughter. "Yea. She's always careful not to grab too many. She worries about taking them all because she wants to share them." Sungura beamed at the thought. Kutulia was such a soft spoken, gentle hare. He was really proud to be her father.
The two hares were no longer walking along the path, but rather in a small circle in which the flowers grew. They were relatively small and sparse, but dazzling amongst the pale green and yellow grasses. "These over here," Sungura said with a smile, "Are some of my favorites." He pointed to a pale pink flower and looked towards Cheshi, "They remind me of your eyes.." The dark hare spoke quietly, feeling a pink hue rush to his cheeks.
Pulling a smaller flower from the tall branch, he handed it to Cheshi, "I would love for you to keep one."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:41 pm
Cheshi couldn't help but smile as he described how Tuli never took too many, it was a very kind thing to do, to want to share your favorite things with everyone. As hard as it might be for her to show it, or even to admit that she could rightfully feel that way.. she was very proud of her girls. The little things she was learning about Tuli made her feel a bit better about her, but Mnyama, she figured, would always worry her.
She followed along with him, admiring the flowers- especially when they came to a stop at some very pink flowers. At his comment on them, she couldn't help but blush and rub at her cheek.
"It's beautiful," she murmured, taking it from Sunny with a shy smile.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:00 pm
While Sungura could easily hide his cheeks, Cheshi could not hide even the faintest of blushes. Her blush, however, only caused the male to offer a large, genuine smile. "And here, take another and--" Sungura picked another flower from the plant and tucked it carefully within her fur on her head, above her ears, "--wear it like this." He finished once he was done.
Unknowing of how much Cheshi worried about their relationship, it had not ever occured to Sungura that he might leave her. Sungura was jealous of Meme, but adored Cheshi more than anyone else. To see her blush and smile, excited to see the flowers was enough to make up for all other feelings of frustration.
"I am so glad that I was able to show you the flowers. Tuli will be jealous when I let her know."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:16 pm
Cheshi's ears lowered again when Sungura grabbed another flower and gently tucked it in by her ear, and when he moved away from her, her ears perked back up properly again. Her pink eyes glanced upward, though she couldn't really see much where he forehead blocked her view of it. So she looked back at Sungura with a smile.
"We'll see," she said, "Should we go tell her?"
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