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 Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:23 am
Auri approached the den warily, glancing inside to see her mother's smiling face. This was not a good sign. Not at all. First, Moyo had asked for her only daughter to come by after she was done exploring ("Or whatever it is that you do these days," she had said not unkindly). The lioness had listened, thought about it, and had finally returned to talk.
The thing she was wary about, exactly, was what they would talk about.
Moyo had that gleam in her eye (yes, Auri could see it from here), the same one that made her daughter and her sons cringe. Not in fear, oh no.
They cringed in suspense.
For what Moyo had to say next was something they did not want to hear.
And this was one of those times Auri cringed.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:50 am
Moyo didn't often have this confidence. She knew exactly what to say to her daughter. And the older lioness knew that this was the right time in telling her, too. It had been far too long since they last had a time and opportunity to talk. Moyo missed that.
And now she had another chance!
She really did hope that Auri would come talk with her. She really, truly did. And Moyo hadn't thought of what would happen before, during, or even after their chat, but she had wanted to go take a bath or clean up or something. The dry air here was horribly scooping up sand and dirt and leaving it everywhere. Instead of being brown, she was...well, a dusty brown. And she didn't like it.
Her ears perked up and she saw her daughter hesitantly standing at the front of their den. Moyo beamed. She had come! Her eyes glittered and she rose slowly.
"Auri! I'm so happy to see you!" she greeted, padding out and nuzzling her only daughter.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:03 pm
Auri gave her mother a head-butt in return, still a good bit wary. What, exactly, was her mother planning to talk about? She had no idea.
"Mother," she replied softly.
Her coat was a dusty white/gold itself, as well, compared to her mother's brown. It was a wonder how Auri got so much gold on her hide when Moyo's gold was only in a design or two, but her daughter's was in more places. Auri rather liked her colors, though. She didn't mind being the odd one out of the bunch. All her brothers were more natural: browns, whites, blacks, tans.
It was a girl's job to stand out in the crowd, of course.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:04 pm
Moyo smiled softly at her daughter.
"Come, let's go take a bath and clean ourselves up," she offered, leading the way to the nearest stream. It was a good-sized stream, too. Plenty of room for the two lionesses to bathe and talk together, while keeping to their respective sides of the bank.
Moyo went first, trotting through the water to take up her place on the far shore of the stream. It wasn't necessarily to block Auri in so much as it was to ensure that she stayed here and heard her mother out. She was worried.
"So, what have you been up to, lately?" she began. "You've spent an awful lot of time in the forest this past week or so."
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:57 pm
Auri nodded, sitting gracefully in the water to start her bath. It wasn't often that they had enough water to do so, but it felt so good to finally rid her hide of the dirt and dust that she had collected in her wanderings.
"Yeah, I guess I've been away for a while," she admitted with a shrug. "I've just been wandering around, getting to know the Pridelands borders and such. It's really not that far from where we are, actually. The borders."
She took a wet paw and rubbed it on her opposite shoulder, happy at all the dirt that was coming off. Slowly, carefully, she laid down and washed her stomach in the stream's flow.
"Why? What have you been up to?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:00 pm
Moyo shrugged, not answering her daughter's question, but instead, copying her to lay down on her stomach. She even rolled around a bit, getting the water to reach her back and hind legs and tail and such. She needed--no, wanted an overall cleaning.
"Wandering around? The borders?" she repeated, glancing a worried eye over at Auri. "You don't go beyond that, do you? Or at least not very often? You know your father and I would be devastated if something happened to you, dear." Moyo couldn't repeat this enough. Ever since what had happened with Tain...
Just the thought of her son made tears come to her eyes.
But no. This was her and Auri's time. Her only daughter. Tain would come back one day. He was a smart lion. He'd find his way back.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:13 pm
Auri rolled her eyes and swallowed a sigh. This is why she didn't really like talking with or being around her mother. This was exactly why. She got too motherly! She would say she worried about something, beg Auri to not go exploring anymore, and get her way. And Auri would let her! The younger lioness would feel guilty for making her mother 'worry' and would promise to not wander away so far ever again.
Ever again.
And she loved to wander! It was her only escape, her only personal time. And now that she'd met Sharifu, the need to see him again was increasing every day.
"Mom, I'm not going past the borders. I'm staying safe."
Auri knew as well as her mother what had happened to Tain when they were all cubs. He had been cubnapped by their parents' enemy. They hadn't seen him since then. It had been a sad day, month, year for them all, but they had grown up without their other brother. Auri's other two brothers had grown up with themselves, off doing who knows what in the savannah.
But Auri had chosen to remain at home, to stay as company for her parents when they needed it. To hunt when they needed food, or when Moyo couldn't do it anymore. She was the good child. The good daughter.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:38 pm
Moyo gave Auri a calculating look from her position on the floor of the stream. Her legs pushed herself up so she stood, gazing at her daughter.
"Are you sure?" Her voice was suddenly hard. "You're not lying to me, are you, Auri? You're not...planning to leave your father and I? You're not going to run away with some and leave us here all alone, are you?"
She couldn't bear it if her Auri left. That would just be too much!
"Please don't leave us, Auri." she repeated. She hated the fact that most children grew up and left their parents' homes once they were independent enough. Sure, she had done the same thing, except a good bit younger than Auri was now. And her parents had let her, and even still, loved her for it. They loved Kiwi and their cubs.
She couldn't do that. Not easily, at least.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:37 pm
That was the final straw.
Auri punched the water with a fist, making a huge splash that covered her back. In anger. She was tired of this.
"You know what, Mom? I didn't leave you because I obviously cared more about you and Dad than the other two boys. I stayed here. I hunt for you, I keep you company. And all I ask for is a little bit of alone time now and then. And if I want to spend that alone time wandering around near the borders, I will.
"And you know what else? You can't stop me. You can't stop me from doing what I want, no matter how hard you try. Because when I was out wandering around near those same borders, even though you don't want me to because I'll get hurt, I met a lion. I met him at one of the many little water holes that are along the path I've found.
"And he grew up since then, and now I like him a lot. And he likes me back. He's going to ask me to be his mate, Mother," she spat out. And although she had never intended for that secret to come out, it did. "And you can't stop me from saying yes.
"Because I'm going to."
As tempting as it was to stomp off and cool down in the forest nearby, that would seem a bit too childish for Auri. So she stood her ground and waited for her mother to reply.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:02 pm
Moyo didn't know what to say.
Auri just...exploded at her, and as much as the older lioness didn't like it, she couldn't help but her the harsh words for what they were. Auri was telling the truth, here. Being more truthful than she ever has, or ever has been in the many years she had been Moyo's daughter (which was all her life, actually).
And now this daughter was saying that she, her mother, was sheltering her too much. Worrying about her too much, and that doesn't make her happy.
She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.
She just stared at Auri.
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Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:17 am
Auri stood there, glaring at her mother. She could feel the heat on her cheeks and the warmth in her paws; she was surprised there wasn't steam rising from the water. Like her mother, she had no idea what to feel.
What to say.
What to do.
She prayed that her father didn't come and find Moyo like this; she wasn't sure what he would do and that was what scared her the most. As peaceful as Kiwi was, he also happened to be extremely protective of her mother, maybe even more so than their children.
With an angry snarl she turned and fled, running as fast as she could. Past the den. Past 'home.' Past anything that she had ever loved and known specifically as hers.
She ran into the woods to try to escape, half hoping she'd run into Sharifu.
But then again, she didn't want to take out her frustration and anger and all her other feelings on him; he was innocent. He had nothing to do with the relationship between her mother and her.
She'd have to get through it alone.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:50 am
Moyo slowly made her way back to the den, still shocked by her daughter's outburst of feelings. She felt...empty, almost.
In one way, she was glad that her daughter finally found someone to be with for her life. She was happy. And now she wanted to meet him, just to say that he had been approved by her.
She hoped that Auri would, at the very least, bring her grandcubs around... Oooh, grandcubs. That thought perked her up a bit. Perhaps she and her daughter would talk before or after, then, and try to reconcile? Maybe then, she would be allowed time with her grandchildren, which included spoiling them, of course...
Moyo entered the den by herself, laid down on fresh grasses, and closed her eyes to think.
Had she really been so distant to Auri, that she no longer knew what was going on in her life? She felt horrible. How could she fix this? Would Auri come to her? No, no. Auri wouldn't do that. She would have to confront her daughter and offer an apology.
And, gods be wiling, her daughter would forgive her.
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