"Dahabu?" Jasiri sat in the middle of the little 'clearing' (called such only due to a lack of roots and underbrush tripping lions over) she and her friend often occupied, a worried expression on her face. Since the flood...Jasiri hadn't seen much of the black and gold juvenile. And she hadn't seen him at all in the past couple of nights. She was starting to worry. Had he gotten sick? Had he left her? Had he....had something else gotten to him?
The possibilities were endless, and each one made her stomach churn more than the last. Finally, she shook her head and started searching for him. Ooooo...when she found him, she was going to leave a few scars over his pretty markings for making her worry so!
Gone. She was gone, and he saw it happen and....Dahabu just couldn't take it anymore. He lay flopped in a little hollow of roots, just big enough for himself and maybe another, smaller cub. And he cried. He'd been doing a lot of that the last couple of nights. And he couldn't stand the thought of what Jasiri would think of him. What Tani would think of him. Both would probably find his crying stupid, or something like that...just not as nice. And the opinion both held of him meant so much to him...
But his mother was gone. And Dahabu had been able to do nothing about it. Had been too small and scared...And so he hid from his sibs, from his friends, and just cried and slept and caught a hare or two.
Jasiri had been close to giving up when she FINALLY caught her friend's scent among the dampness of the post-flood jungle. Smelling no blood, she started for the source quickly, relief in her heart. And she immediately felt that relief turn to worry again when she saw Dahabu just...laying there, looking like he'd been sentenced to the sun. She cautiously went to him, and crouched low.
"Dahabu? 'Habu, what's wrong? Why...why do you look like that?" Why was her toy so sad? Dahabu was always smiles and laughter and cute pouts that she could never quite manage with anyone but her Daddy. So why? Where had her brightness gone?
Dahabu started when Jasiri spoke, looking at her with bleary, wide red eyes. Oh no! She'd found him! And...and he looked like a pile of dung and...ohno! He shrunk back a bit, trying to let the deep shadows hide his shabbiness. "I...uhm..." He snuffled a bit, trying to gain control of himself. Jasiri had found him. She...she deserved to know.
"Mother is gone. She...she was taken. And...and I couldn't stop it! Jasiri, I was useless, unable to protect Mother! I just hid, small and scared!" He couldn't try to hide it anymore. He just cried.
Mother....his mother was gone? Jasiri didn't understand it for a moment, as her own mother was someone she couldn't stand...But then she remembered the way Dahabu spoke of his Blood-binder mother. Remembered seeing glimpses of how Ukoo had treated her cubs, with love and kindness rather than fear like her own mother. If she hadn't her Daddy, Jasiri was certain she might have envied him. But now...now she was gone? And her poor little toy was broken.
Had it been anyone else, she would have been disgusted with their crying, or made fun of them. But Dahabu...he was something else. "'Habu..." She crawled in, wriggling a bit so she could curl around him. He was dirty and muddy and not-clean...but he was hers. And he was hurting. "I'm still here, 'Habu. You're still here. And you're not useless. Even....even I get scared, 'Habu. When the other creature is so much bigger than me." She hated admitting it...but her toy and friend needed to hear it.
Dahabu curled into the smaller cub as he cried, not caring anymore. He'd been close to his mother. He'd loved her more than anyone else. He'd wanted to make her proud. But now...she would never see him again. And Jasiri's words hit him a bit after she stopped talking. She...
He stopped crying out of shock and stared at her. "You..." He nuzzled her. "Thank you, 'Siri. I...I'm sorry. I just..." He drooped again. "I miss Mother. I miss her so much, and it's only been a few days...How am I supposed to live the rest of my life without her?"
Jasiri snorted and bapped him on the head with one of her front paws. "You dufus. You've got a brain, use it. I can't give you ALL the answers, silly little toy." Of course, if the idea came to him, like it had her, he'd have to wait until she was big enough too. No way was he going alone! He'd....he'd probably walk right into the sun! And that would be no good.
Dahabu yelped and pouted. "'Siri....That was mean." But he took her advice. And he thought...and then his heart entered the equation and he gasped and nearly squished Jasiri as he wiggled out of the hollow. "I can go save her! I can sneak into wherever she's been taken and bring her home!" It was a brilliant idea! He was dark, he'd blend in with the shadows of the night!
Jasiri groaned and wriggled out as well...Then thunked Dahabu on the head again. "No, you stupid! I mean...you can go rescue her....but not UNTIL WE'RE BIG." She snorted, looking appalled at her friend's lack of common sense. "We gotta be able to protect ourselves. Ya'know...from big nasty non-vampires." After all, non-vampires were all big and brutish until turned.
Dahabu yelped again. "I...I...oh." He slumped and pouted, then looked at her wide-eyed once again. "Wait...'we'? You...you're coming with?" Was Jasiri....was Jasiri really willing to go with him?
The splotchy cub nodded. "Of course. Who else is gonna keep you outta bad trouble? And make sure you don't make the lions that took your mother don't die of laughter. Because I'm sure that's how you'll get your mother back, and that wouldn't be good. I don't think your fur would ever change back from red to black!" She grinned and nudged Dahabu's shoulder. "You're...my friend, 'Habu. My best friend and toy. And...seeing you like that...it hurt."
Dahabu smiled softly. "Thank you, 'Siri." He purred and nudged her back. "I'll...try not to get like that again." He chuckled nervously. "Though...I suppose I shouldn't say that until after I'm clean again, huh?" He...was shaggy, scraggly, a little bit thin, and muddy and dusty with bits of jungle trying to stick to his fur. Without another word, he took off for the nearest source of water: a little stream that the flood hadn't eaten.
Jasiri laughed and followed him, feeling a need to be a little more clean as well. Some of Dahabu's dirt had transferred to her. And the entire way there, she smiled. She had Dahabu's smile and laugh back, even if it was a little sadder and quieter. But she'd try her best to fill that void he had now. Or...make it hurt less. Because she'd never admit it....but he meant the world to her. And she'd do anything to make sure he was happy again.
