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 Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:48 am
Zapaliti's world was a small one, from the moment she was born. A small cub in a small den, surrounded by other small things-her siblings. Her brothers and sisters and her parents were everything. If anyone had asked her, and had she had enough words to explain, that would have been what she said.
The biggest part of her life, of course, was her mother. She smelled wonderful, and even before the bumbling cub's eyes had opened she knew as soon as she'd entered. In a world of scents, hers was one of warmth and food. And Zapa thought that sometimes she smelled sad. Like how she felt when momma left again.
Today momma had come late, and the cubs were all mewling and calling for her by the time she arrived. The rush to her side for dinner was an ungraceful one, though undoubtedly cute in its own way. Zapa ended up at one far end, nearly brushing against her mother's elbows as she fed. After her hunger waned a little, she realized momma smelled sad again today.
Abandoning her place, she wriggled upwards, nosing her way through the gap between her momma's front paws to bump, ever so slightly at her nose. "M-mom-m-ma," She managed, "M-momma...sad?" She pawed at her momma, what was wrong? Momma seemed so much extra sad...Maybe Zapa could cheer her up?
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:10 am
Ripuka had forgotten how demanding cubs could be. They needed her almost all the time – even when they slept and needed warmth from the bitter nights in the desert. Yes, Makaa was there to help, and he was a wonderful, providing father. Yet, if she thought things would be easier for having him there with her – she was sadly mistaken.
Maybe if she’d birthed a small litter, say one or two, things would have gone smoothly. But she’d birthed six. Six hungry, feisty little cubs.
Many of the cubs were smaller than Firekin cubs should be. However, it was hardly surprising. Ripuka was not in the best condition. Her health was lagging and finally she was beginning to feel her age. It’s true what they say about Firekin. That they are fighters, that they never give up. Ripuka had fought all her life and even now – elderly as she was – she’d risked her health to bring more life to the lands. But this time her litter was not born with the sole intent of increasing the population.
No, this time her children were born from love.
And whilst this should have been a happy time, the joy was scattered with sadness. She felt empty. Her loss of faith had hit her hard. When she was down or sad she had no Finar-Si to look to for guidance. She had only herself. Her parent’s teachings were nothing more than meaningless drivel and looking back she had come to the conclusion that her life had not been well spent.
Well…except for her little ones. Jua, Wakia and Azarax included – though they weren’t so little anymore.
But the lack of faith was not the only thing that saddened her. It was also the birth of her unnatural coloured son. A son that she couldn’t even name in fear that she would love him and not be able to give him up. She remembered the pain of giving Azarax up to slaves. Remembered it in such vivid detail that it all but broke her heart knowing she’d have to relive it again.
Her poor nameless cub, without a mother, father or siblings. No, that wasn’t true. He’d have Azarax and…Wakia too.
She was thinking of the day she’d have to give up her golden cub when Zapaliti wriggled up to her. She smiled at the cub, but the smile was sad. How were cubs so perceptive? How could they pick up so easily on the emotions of another? She’d not said a word to them about what was going to happen to their youngest brother – yet – and still they seemed to sense something was going to happen.
She touched her nose to her daughter’s.
“Don’t worry little one. I’m not sad.” She replied kindly. “Just tired. Mama’s always tired these days.” She flicked her flaming tail so it draped across her hind legs and settled across her golden son’s back. She gave her daughter a lick and resettled herself on the floor of her den.
“You’re getting bigger everyday, you know?” She continued softly. “I blink and you’ve grown. That’s what it seems.” And the quicker they grew the sooner she’d have to give up her son… “In a couple of weeks, I’ll take you up into the world. What do you think?”
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:36 am
Zapaliti would have been confused over how momma could say she wasn't sad, but still smell so unhappy, but she was still to young to go against anything she was told. "Momma...tired?" She repeated. What was tired again? Oh, right, that thing before you fell asleep. She batted at momma's nose when it touched hers, squeaking and bumping back happily. "Momma...sleep!" She burbled. Obviously sleeping made her not tired. Maybe momma needed a nap then.
She 'looked' around when her mom moved, unable to see, but still trying to find where she'd gone. It only lasted a moment though, and her wonderful mom had stopped shifting and settled beside her again.
Oh! Zapa thought that she would like to be big. She thought she did at least. "What's big?" Of course, she knew what big was, she just didn't know that the word 'big' meant big. If momma said she was it though, she hoped it was good! She burrowed against Ripuka, purring happily and sucking gently on a few clumps of fur out of instinct. The world would be nice, she decided, if mom was there. And dad too, though he was still almost just an aspect of mom to her. And of course the other little wiggling things around her. She liked them. If they all were in 'world' she knew she'd like it.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:07 am
"I'll sleep soon, little one, don't worry." She nuzzled against her before responding to her cub's further question.
"Big is..." She paused. Describing things that one took for granted was an odd and awkward thing. Ripuka, who considered herself wise and knowledgable, found herself stumped at such a question. How could she describe it to Zapaliti so that she would understand?
She glanced around the densite and spotted something that could help.
Stretchingout a forepaw, she pulled two small rocks towards them, setting them side by side with an extended claw. "See this rock." She indicated the smaller one. "This is small. The one next to it is big. You see the difference? Just as you are the small lioness and I am the big lioness. When you are older you will be big."
Wow...was that confusing?
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:06 pm
Zapaliti waited patiently...or rather, obliviously, until her mother dragged two rattly things over. She murbled and batted at them. They were familiar, one could only spend so much time crawling belly-first through the den before you learned that some parts of the ground were movable and hard and round...and hard. They were bad to eat, but fun to play with. Unfortunately her swatting made it clear that Ripuka's lesson was at first only second to play time.
Still, the little lioness settled at her mum's words and did her best to follow along. Two rocks...okay.
"Rock!" She announced, patting one of the two stones. "Rock. Rock!" Well she sure knew what a rock was. Oh, but there was more? Okay, better pay attention then.
She did her best to follow...okay. That rock was big. She looked brightly up at her mom, smiled, and asked, "What's small?"
Uh oh...looks like she would need a little more teaching!
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:18 am
Ripuka smiled fondly.
Such innocence, such a sweet child. She wished her children could stay this way forever, always learning, always bright and playful. She just hoped they would make the most of their childhood whilst it lasted. Her adulthood had brought so much pain…
She reached out to pat her daughter lovingly on the nose. “That’s right. Rocks. There are lots of rocks in the world. You’ll see them for yourself soon enough.” Though, no doubt, there were far more interesting things to see in the world.
“Small is the opposite of big.” Ripuka replied. “Big is me. Small is you. See? Small is the same as little. I call you ‘little one’, from time to time.” She purred. What a curious cat! At least she was keen to learn.
“It seems like a lot to learn now, but you’ll pick it up quick enough.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:46 pm
Mmm...Mamma taught complicated things! The rock was little, but Zapaliti was little too? And little was small. Zapaliti and the rock were both little and small. But the OTHER rock was big, and Mamma was big too. So Mamma and some rocks were big, but other rocks and Zapaliti were small, and little. Okay, she thought she had it.
Seeming to lose interest, she wiggled away for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, she returned, slowly rolling a rock that was between the sizes of the others over. "Mamma!" She chirruped. "Is this rock big? Or small? Or little?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:21 am
She watched her little daughter moving around the den, feeling a twinge of love and pride. She was so beautiful. Her white fur touched with orange. She purred as she watched her wriggling away, extending her neck to brush her nose and whiskers along her little one's back.
She chuckled fondly at her daughter's next question. This was going to be hard to explain. "It is small." She replied. "Let me try and think of an easier way to explain this to you, little one." She resettled herself. "Whether an object is small on big is down to our own observation. See. To you, Mama is big. Yes?" She paused before continuing. "But to Daddy, Mama is small, because he is biggest of all. Does that make any more sense? Those two rocks are small to you because they are smaller than you."
She moved to wash her daughter's ears.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:07 pm
Zap mewled in confusion and gave in to the looming bath. Just when she'd thought she'd had it too! Momma had said the rock was small, but then things had gotten hard! Something about...'obseration'? And apparently she had one. Hmm...she looked down at her paw. Nope, no 'obseration' there. Maybe it was on her back?
Momma was big of course! Cause she was! Daddy was big too though...Momma was small to Daddy? That...sort of made sense. "So...to Daddy I am...small-small?" There we go!
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:05 am
Ripuka purred as she nodded. "Exactly. There you go little one. Soon everything will become clear. Soon you'll be big enough to go outside and I will teach you more." She enjoyed teaching and telling stories. Enjoyed everything about being a mother. Yes, she was weak and couldn't go far from the den. but she could go far enough that she could teach them about the lands they had been born into. How to survive. Makaa could teach them the more physical side of life, the ways of becoming warriors, how to defend oneself and she would watch, content.
Nuzzling against her daughter, she spent a moment washing her face and back, then with a deep sigh she leaned against the side of the den, letting her eyes droop.
"You are a smart one, Zapaliti. You'll do just fine, I think." Then, she lowered her head and gave a small breath. "Are you ready for a nap? Mama sure is." She smiled gently.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:30 am
Zap wiggled, pleased that her answer had been right. She was looking forward to the day they got to go outside. She wondered if they'd all go at once, or one by one. "I'll learn good!" She chirruped, determined to fill her head with all Momma's lessons.
The bath was nice, but it, combined with so much stimulation, was making Zap sleepy. "I'll nap with Momma..." A yawn, and she cuddled close to Ripuka, burying her newly-washed nose between Momma's larger paws, and the sand.
((End?))
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