“You have such beautiful fur, Laka.” Eeva spoke as the young adolescent came to stand before her. The two were sisters, very close, but very different in looks. One dark brown, the colour of autumn. The other a sheen of silvery-grey. And yet their build was the same, and their outlook on life was the same too. Live life to the fullest. Love family. Love friends. Enjoy every moment of every day.
“You, too. You look so much like Mother, Eevie. And your pelt looks so beautiful under the sun.”
Eeva smiled. “Father says you look like Grandmother, that you get your looks from her.”
“Uh huh.”
“I wish we could have met her.”
“Our grandmother?”
“Yes.” Eeva continued. “both our grandparents.” She paused to think of their names. “A’kiutu and…Abadan. It is so sad what happened to them all. What happened to Father. He must have felt so lost and alone. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live without family.”
“Terrible.” Laka agreed. “So A’kiutu was a Subiani.”
“That’s right. Shadow Clan through and through. But Grandfather Abadan, he was from Earth Clan. A Fa’moyo, I believe.”
“I couldn’t imagine going to another Clan! Not knowing anyone accept the one you live, apart from your family…”
“Well luckily for us, we were born female. This is home forever no matter who we fall in love with.” Eeva smiled at her little sister and reached up a paw to pat her on the nose. “Now hold still a moment, I’m almost finished.”
As they had been talking, Eeva had been artistically imprinting Laka’s fur with the tattoos that the Ela’wadiyi prided themselves upon. They told a story, each one individual and unique. Eeva bore a mark of a wolf upon her pelt, signifying her strong relationship with Wingu. Laka had not yet found such a friend and so she had not placed upon her any signifying mark. Instead she was telling the story of Laka’s growing enthusiasm and love for life by improving on the floral pattern she had been given at birth.
“As I was saying.” Eeva continued. “You have beautiful fur. This colour wouldn’t have looked right on my dark fur, but yours wears it perfectly! I am so jealous!”
Laka wriggled a little. “Stop it, Sis, you’re embarrassing me!”
“Okay, all done! You can take a look now.”
With a squeal of excitement, Laka bounded down towards the clear pool and stepped into its depths to examine the new tattoos. She waited for the water to settle and then tipped her weight from side to side to see the new marks printed there. She gasped with surprise to see them, new and brilliant blue against her silver pelt. “Oh, Eeva! You’re such a good artist! Thank you so much! I can’t wait for the others to see them!”
Eeva, smiling fondly, moved down to stand at the edge of the shallow pool. “I did a few of my own, but it’s much easier to do on someone else.”
“Thank you.” Laka said again, turning back towards her sister. The pair touched foreheads, purring, and moved back up into the trees of their mountainous home.
“So, tell me.” Laka continued. “When are you bringing Wingu Waya home to stay?”
“W-what?” Eeva looked immediately embarrassed.
“Oh come on, Sis, I know all about you two.” The silver’s grin widened. “He’s really cute and cloud-marked. That makes him extra special.”
“Well…it’s not like that. Not really…well, I don’t know what it is.” The elder sister paused and glanced down at her paws, face hot, eyes confused. “I mean…we’re friends. Good friends. Like…well, I’d like to take him on a date but…I don’t know!” She was getting flustered again. “I mean…I think he’d say yes if I asked him but…but what about…about the Clan thing.”
“The Clan thing?”
“You know…what we were talking about earlier. About leaving a Clan to join a new one. We wouldn’t want to do that, would we, Sis? Why should he want to?”
Laka rolled her eyes. “Why did our grandfather leave the Earth Clan?” She laughed. “Eeva, the reason is simple. Because you’re here, that’s why. Just tell him you love him! Sheesh! Remind me to fall in love with an outsider, will you? Less complicated that way.”
Eeva gave her a gentle cuff. “Father would kill you!”
“He fell in love with Mother, didn’t he?” She responded back. “So how would it be any different? Besides, they don’t need to worry. I doubt I’ll be meeting any outsiders in any case.” She seemed a bit pouty about this. “Subiani’s aren’t supposed to have adventures.”
“Of course they are.” Eeva chided. “Just secret ones. What they don’t know won’t hurt them. Just don’t do anything foolhardy or dangerous.” She gave her sister a hug. “Promise.”
“I promiseeee.” Laka whined. “I’m practically grown up now, Eevie, I’m not about to go chasing the mountaintop dragons!” She twitched her nose thoughtfully. “I just…well…I’m curious about the world. Don’t get me wrong. I always want to live here and stay here and call this place home. But I don’t want to never step outside the borders. I want to…to see a little of the world. Just a peek of what’s next door.”
Eeva looked at her sister, reminded a lot of herself right then. “You sound a lot like I did back then. Listen, Laka. I think the world out there would be a fascinating place but…it could be dangerous, too. You can’t always trust everyone. Mother has experience of that. If you want to do it, then do it. Don’t hold back. Don’t have regrets. But…maybe ask Mother about it first? Just for stories of her homeland or what she got up to in between her old home and here.” She gave Laka another quick hug. “You may be older now, but they still think of you as their baby. And, no matter how old you get, you’ll always be my baby sister. We love you and we worry about you.”
“I know. I know. I love you all, too.” Laka replied. “But how did this conversation get onto me? Weren’t we talking about you and Wingu?”
Eeva flustered. “Um…well…come on, let’s get back. Your tattoos won’t take long to dry and I’m sure Mother and Father want to see them.”
“Way to change the subject!” Laka replied.
And as the sisters moved on, their easy and happy banter filled the gaps between the pleasant breeze and birdsong.
/fin.
