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 Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:48 am
The juvenile was leaning forwards to catch a glance of her reflection in the stream. This place was her favourite place in the whole wide world! Here the grass had been cropped short by rabbits so it felt soft and spongy beneath her paws. A big tree cast dappled shade across her back, protecting her from the strongest of the sun's rays. The water was shallow and clear and babbled as if it were singing with joy.
Yes, this place was perfect.
Now, she was standing on the bank, leaning forwards, watching her face wobbling in the reflection. Her eyes were as blue as the sky above her head and the mix of dark chocolate brown fur contrasted briefly with them. Then, suddenly, she was losing her balance and toppling head-first into the shallows. After a moment of surprised splashing she straightened and pulled herself into a sitting position, watching the water running past her sides.
"Wet..."
--
Since arriving in these lands Zuko had kept almost entirely to himself. He'd never been an entirely social creature, but perhaps even more so now than ever did he feel distant from other lions. He'd spent the better half of what should have been his adult life wandering as a rogue trapped in this youthful state. Because of the Fire goddess' curse he'd never reach his full size, full maturity, maybe even his full prime, and because of this and the scar she'd left him with he felt the need to avoid others. It seemed shameful.
So one could imagine that with the springing up of cubs within the pride he was looking for places to spend his time alone, not purposely avoiding anyone but seeking solitude at most given chances. He'd followed the sound of water to this place where he spotted one of the cubs sitting upright in the stream. For a moment Zuko hesitated, feeling awkwardness creeping up on him again. Should he stay to make sure the cub was alright? Or should he go?
--
The decision would soon be out of his paws, for a few moments later Eeva looked up and spotted him. Well, he was new! Maybe he could be a new playmate! Yes, that'd be fun! Besides, as heir to the Shadow Clan it was her duty to meet and greet, wasn't it? Yes, yes it certainly was. So, with a mewl of excitement she pulled herself up out of the water. Splashing through the shallows, she lifted her head high and gave a high-pitched chirp.
"He~llo!" And as she drew nearer she saw his scar and hesitated a moment, blinking up at him with a sort of concerned fascination. She'd never seen a scar in her life, not even knew how someone aquired one. This poor lion certainly did look...sad.
--
The look on Zuko's face said it all as his eyes nervously darted left and then right as if searching for the cub's parents, his body had stiffened a bit, but otherwise he didn't move, even when she began to stare at his scar. "Hey."
A few moments longer passed with nothing said between them. Finally the older male seemed to grow uncomfortable having such attention on his face, if she'd just get it over with and ask what happened to his face or why it was "like that" it would be better than the silence. His expression of discomfort was slowly dissolving back into his usual silent, almost brooding look.
"Well...?"
--
She blinked and though she clearly wanted to ask, remained silent. She wasn't sure whether asking outright would be considered rude and her father had told her many times how rudeness was not accepted for a Clan leader. So, for a moment she held her tongue and looked at him. He had dark grey fur that contrasted brilliantly with his tattoos. He was smalled than her father but bigger than her brothers, a sort of..in-between lion, not a baby but not grown-up, either.
Though his eyes sure did look grown up.
"Are...you okay?" She took a step closer, hovering now. "You're face doesn't have a smile." She blinked. "I'm...um...Eeva Subiani, daughter of Ona'raha and Rehema..."
She paused, held her breath and then questioned gently. "What happened to you, mister?"
--
"I'm fine..." He replied with his usual raspy low tones. It seemed the softer he spoke the more scratchy his voice became, but he had lived with it for years and certainly wasn't thinking about it now. "I'm... Zuko Amuliwa, son of Ursa and Ozai." He was so damned rusty at this, why did he have to be so bad with kids?! "... Shouldn't you be with your parents or something?"
Then came Eeva's question, and Zuko sighed, shutting his eyes and lowering his head as if he'd known it was coming, which he had, he just knew. He might have learned his lesson but he certainly didn't care to be reminded of it all the same, but even he wasn't so callous as to ignore a child.
"I made a goddess angry." Was his simple answer.
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:38 pm
--
"Hello then, Zuko Amuliwa. You have a pretty family name!" She chirped, liking the way it felt to say. "Oh, my Mummy and Daddy are sort of close by. Over there somewhere, see?" She waved a paw at the foliage behind her. "They've got their paws full taking care of my brothers. Boys are much naughtier than girls, you see." She nodded as if it was all matter-of-fact.
Perhaps she would have questioned him further, but for everything that she was, Eeva could be an observant soul. The tattoos on her pelt weren't heart-shaped for nothing. She thought with her heart and she could see that he didn't like to talk about it. She'd known it before she'd even asked but felt she had to...else he might spend the whole conversation waiting for it to happen.
She couldn't have that.
"Well, don't worry. I don't think there are any Goddess things here so you should be alright." She nodded. "And if any show up I'll scare them!" She giggled, pausing to look up at him again.
"Which Clan are you from, Zuko? You don't look like Bird Clan or Earth Clan and the only Ela'wadiyian people I've met have been from there."
--
... Pretty? Well... she was just a child, and a female one at that, she might not yet realize that such a compliment was a little "demasculating" when spoken to a guy, and he actually -didn't- want her to feel bad for it, so-- "Um... thanks..."
Boys, naughtier than girls, riiiiight. He scoffed rather softly, and in the same quiet tone as before told her.
"You've obviously never met my sister then."
Naturally, and it was a thing to be celebrated as far as he was concerned. There was absolutely zero love lost between he and Azula, after all. His mood was a little aleviated at her promise to scare off any stray deities, but he had to smirk (just with his eyes) at such a bold claim even if even she thought it laughable. Reaching out with a black paw he poked her in the center of her chest.
"You won't do much scaring if you're laughing the whole while you're doing it."
"I'm from the Wolf clan originally..."
--
"No problem." She replied easily. Her ears lifted then, instantly curious about his family. Were they here too? She glanced past him as if expecting to see more dark-pelted lions with golden tattoos. But alas, there were none there.
She didn't know what it was about this male. With other Ela'wadiyian lions she felt comfortable and able to ask and say pretty much anything she liked. With this one, however, she was finding that she had to be careful what she said and what she asked. She'd never met anyone like him before. She imagined he had many secrets that he wanted to keep hidden from sight. It intrigued her and drew her in, but she was smart enough not to ask anything further.
Her father would have been proud if he'd been there to witness it.
"You never know..." She smothered a giggle into a paw as he poked her. "Depends whether they like laughing or not. Not everyone likes laughing, I'm sure." Including you, she thought silently.
"Originally? Why do you say that? Are you not in Wolf Clan anymore?" Could someone just change like that? She wasn't sure they could. In any case she was even more intrigued now and she hadn't even thought that was possible. And more importantly, why would they want to change?
--
"I guess." He rumbled, glancing away. "I'm just not. I didn't want to go back to the Wolf clan when I came back."
He seemed to give it a moment's thought, as if unsure if he should continue or not. In the end he didn't say anything more on it, but wasn't sure what he should say or do himself to continue the conversation, if there was anything else to even be said.
--
She smiled up at him, trying to read his expression but finding it hopelessly impossible. He probably had many stories to tell if he managed to put all those silent thoughts into words. Maybe her father could teach him how to do that.
Ona'raha was a crafter of words, a storyteller since a cub. He'd be able to get something out of this moody male. She'd been hoping to at least get him to open up a little more, but apparently even she couldn't manage such a task.
"So, if you don't want to go back to being a Wolf, what are you going to be?"
--
Oh... what a question, because it had so many possible answers, and he had considered them all on his journey back. In truth the answer was pretty simple from a literal standpoint, but he couldn't help but take a figurative turn in his mind with it. Silence followed for a few minutes, then he seemed to focus again, come back down to Earth, looking to the cub.
"A Shadow... It seems to suit me better after my travels..."
He had actually long since decided this, but again the question of how much of an answer was too much...
--
Her eyes widened and joy brightened her little face. For a moment it seemed she might dance with the emotion but instead she bounced on her toes a little, doing well to contain it.
"Really? Really, really?" Her bouncing was getting more obvious and her tail swayed behind her. "You'd best meet Father, then. He's the caretaker until I'm fully grown." She closed the gap between them, daring to wrap her forepaws briefly around his foreleg, boucing away quickly in case he decided to give her a clout.
"I am Shadow too."
Her smile didn't fade. "Father will want to say it, too, but since I met you first I guess I ought to say it as well." She was bouncing again. "Welcome to the family."
Zuko had never met someone so happy to hear that he'd be staying around. In a way it was encouraging, but in a way it was also strange. She only just met him after all, but then again he coldn't claim to have had a normal childhood or been around other cubs his age much, maybe they really were all or mostly like this. It was harder, either way, for him to stay tense and uncomfortable when Eeva was so clearly overjoyed, and weather she'd meant for it to happen or not there was a tiny quirk at both corners of his lips in a ghost of a smile. It had been a very, very long time since he felt he was a part of any kind of a family. "Thank you..."
/fin
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