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 Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:57 am
Ili'ella: #FF8600 | Ecaterina: #3299CC
I thought you were there to guide me...
...You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:59 am
Ili'ella was curled up under a tree, her expression soft and gentle as she stared down at her young cubs. They were getting bigger now, and were becoming more adventurous. She had stopped traveling as much, though she would start again when they were older. She didn't want them to get tired, or injured, trying to keep up with her fast pace. Not to mention, she didn't mind staying in one place. With her cubs with her, it didn't seem like such a horrible prospect.
It didn't mean that she didn't miss feeling the hot earth beneath her paws, hear the birds sing as she moved from place to place, but her babies made it worth it. She sighed, and laid her head back down, her closest cub snuggling closer to her warmth and making her smile.
”Oh, the sun may fall tomorrow, but I don't care,” she sung softly, her tongue coming out to smooth a wayward strand of hair on her young ones head. “I'll close my eyes and thank god for every moment...I got to spend with you.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:08 am
Ecaterina's shoulders were slumped as she walked, her paws ached with every step. She had been walking for hours and her bones had begun to creak with her movement. She was not over the hill yet, but the years had not been sweet to the once vivacious lioness. She was tired, and aching, and somehow not even pausing to rest would make it better. She had been alone for years now, and she hadn't been able to relax since then.
Oh, her sweet prince. Sweet Neculai. He had given her four children, all of which had long since left the nest and flown far, far away. He had been killed years ago, it seemed like days, by hungry Hyenas who had spotted him, weak and tired, and had taken him down. They had spared her, or perhaps she had been too strong for them to attack, but either way, she was left without her mate. She mourned him every day, but it was not her way to allow life to get her down.
“May the moon watch over me, may it guide my paw, someday, my love, I'll find you somehow,” she sung to her self, the tone low and mournful as she thought of sweet Neculai. The ache in her paws felt less painful somehow.
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:29 am
Ili'ella's ears twitched as a soft melodious voice floated passed her senses. It sounded...familiar. She nuzzled her babies once more and rose to her feet, standing over them protectively. She couldn't allow her babies to be harmed, or spotted by a stranger. She would not put it passed some creature to attack them out of spite. She carefully stepped over them, and arranged a fallen branch nearby to hide them, whispering to the sleepy cubs to stay quiet.
She moved towards the sound now, her paws light and careful so she didn't make a sound. She didn't want to alert whoever it was to her presence. She needed the element of surprise, especially if the other creature was larger than she was, or more physically fit. The land around her temporary den was a lush green lands, to help nurture her babies, so the grass helped her footsteps quieten.
Of course, there wasn't much the other could do about hiding herself. Her bright colours stood out against the green landscape as easily as black on white. Ili'ella's breath caught in her throat as she spied the other creature. No, it couldn't be possible...
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:04 am
Ecaterina hadn't expected to find someone so quickly, while she was wandering, but a familiar scent wafted across her nose and caused her to pause. It smelt...so familiar. Where had she smelt that before? Perhaps someone she had passed by, but raising her head caused her heart to almost stop in her chest. She knew that face! She would never forget that face.
"Ili'ella." She had named her herself. Neculai had been in charge of naming the boy, but the girls had been Ecaterina's responsibility. Ili'ella had been one of her favourite names, so she had given it to the one who had looked most like her beloved Neculai.
There was no doubt in her mind that this creature before her was her daughter. Her baby! "Ili'ella!" She called out, much louder now, as she raced towards her. She didn't know what kind of reception she would get, having not seen her daughter since her adolescence but family was family, and she couldn't wait to hear all about her baby girl.
-
Ili'ella would deny missing her mother. She loved her, of course she did, but Ecaterina had always been the type that Ili'ella would prefer to love from a distance. She was...overbearing at times, but still, she was her mother and she couldn't say she wasn't overwhelmed with relief at seeing her mother alive any well.
"Mother!" Ili'ella cried out in return, not willing to move far from where her babies laid hidden, so she stayed where she was and waited for the vibrant blue lioness to come to her instead. She smiled brightly, but it slipped a little. How would she tell her mother of the babies lying hidden? Would she be pleased to hear of grandchildren? Or would she disapprove of Ili'ella's lack of mate? Yet another thing to worry about, she thought, shoulders slumping just a little.
-
Ecaterina didn't notice her daughters mood, too caught up in her own delight at seeing her youngest daughter again. Ili'ella had been one of the most like Ecaterina, with her wandering spirit and bright personality. It was such a welcome sight and she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. Reaching her daughter, she rubbed her cheek against hers in delight. "My little one! It has been too long! I feared I wouldn't see you again."
She pulled back, and continued to smile at the beautiful adult before her. Her last memory of her daughter had been watching her walk away, when she was barely adolescent, out to find her own adventure. She hadn't seen her since then, and she had only come to regret that after Neculai's untimely end.
Oh. She soon realised something distressing. Her daughter...her daughter didn't know of her father's death. How would she tell her now?
-
Ili'ella purred as her mother greeted her and she smiled lightly. "It has! I haven't seen you since I was very young. It is amazing how one can walk and never meet someone they know in this wide land," she said, with a little giggle. Her mother had been a driving force in her life, she knew. It was so strange to see how different they were now. She wasn't the young female who had idolised her mother so much. She was older, wiser, and a little more responsible now. A little.
"What have you been doing all these years?" She asked, nuzzling her mother's cheek. It was so soft, just like she remembered from her childhood.
She paused, as if realising the same thing her mother had realised. "Where is Papa?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:23 am
Ecaterina blanched. She had...been hoping to avoid that last question. "Oh you know me," she ignored it for the moment, laughing it off with a wave of her paw as she answered the other question first. "I don't like to stay in one place, so I've kept on the move. I've met some wonderful lions, and non-lions too! Oh, the stories they told me." She continued to talk, but she was barely listening to herself. It was pure rambling, something she hated, but it delayed the inevitable conversation of why she was alone.
Ecaterina was simply not the type of lioness that was meant to be alone. she was the type that worked better in a crowd, surounding by people watching and taking notice of her. Alone was simply not something that worked for the lioness.
-
Ili'ella noticed the rambling, and she seemed to tense. "Mother...Where is Papa?" She cut into her mother's words, uncaring of the story she just interrupted. A strange feeling built at the base of her stomach, like a lead rock that was weighing her down. She knew, perhaps even before her mother spoke, that something was seriously wrong. Where was he rfather? He had been dedicated to her mother, and barely left her side. Why would she be travelling alone?
Unless...
She didn't even want to think about that 'unless' but judging by her mother's expression, she might just have to.
-
Ecaterina shifted, staring at her paws. She should have expected this, she thought. She shouldn't have just assumed she could walk into her daughter's life, without explaining this.
"He's gone," she told her simply, unable to say 'dead'. How could she tell her that her father had been killed saving Ecaterina? She felt like such a selfish creature whenever she told the story, and she had only told it once, to a sympathetic snake who had lent her ear for a moment, when Ecaterina had been still in shock over the event.
"He's...gone," she repeated, as if that explained it all, her shoulders slumped.
-
Neculai had been dedicated, heart, mind, body and soul to Ecaterina, so to say he was 'gone', in such a simple way, Ili'ella knew what it could only mean. He would never have left of his own free will, nor run off with another female.
Her breath caught in her throat and she felt the led ball sink even lower in her gut. "Oh...mother," she whispered, her voice sad and hoarse. Papa was gone. Gone-gone, just gone. Her babies would never know their grandfather, the one who Ili'ella looked most like. she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, stepped closer and nuzzled her mother. "I am so sorry," she said, her voice wobbly. As much as Neculai had loved Ecaterina, Ecaterina had loved him. The shock would have been horrendus after such a life together.
-
Ecaterina took her daughter's comfort as it was offered. Her eyes slipping closed and she nuzzled her affectionately. "Thank you, my babygirl," She whispered, her own voice wobbly. "but your father would not want us to shed tears." She raised a paw and lightly tapped Ili'ella's cheek with it. "He always loved your smile, don't loose that because he's gone."
She smiled, just lightly, at her youngest. It had been months since she lost Neculai and the shock had diminished, but the pain was still there. She had lost her mate, but she had their cubs still, even if they were far spread and well seperated from her. She loved them still, and she knew they loved her, even if they were happy far from where she was.
"Tell me, what have you been doing?" She asked, to change the subject.
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:30 am
Ili'ella smiled wobbly back at her mother, knowing she was right. The shock had yet to fade though, so her smile barely lasted a moment or two before it had slipped away. She could not shrug off loosing her father, but she would not dwel. Her father had been very much a 'live for the moment' male, and she wouldn't dishonour him by casting aside all he taught her.
Ecaterina's question brought a small smile to Ili'ella's face, if only for the shock that her mother would likely recieve soon. "A lot," she told her quietly and nudged her mother towards where her sleeping bundles laid.
Ili'ella loved her mother. She always had, but staring at the aging lioness, who was more white than blue these days, Ili'ella did not want to follow in her pawprints. When she had been younger, her mother had been all that ili'ella had wanted to be when she grew up, but now, look what her mother had.
She was alone, with her family far flung and far from where she was, all content to never know and she had been alone when she had lost her mate. That was not the type of life Ili'ella wanted. She was old enough to know she didn't want to be her mother.
-
Ecaterina allowed herself to be lead towards the temporary den her daughter had made, watching as she pushed aside the branch. She was unaware of her daughter's musing and instead stared in shock at the collection of tiny bundles of sleepy furr which stared up at her with dull eyes which made her assured they would not remember meeting her.
She glanced at the cubs, then to her daughter, noticing the resemblance in colour, even if the markings were completely different. There was black and white mixed in, which could only mean one thing.
"You must be joking, babygirl!" Ecaterina said, her voice a tad higher than normal. "I can't possibly be a grandmother!"
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