Safimoto:Safi lay on the ground just outside of the den, watching patiently as Altai slowly plucked feathers from a bird she had caught herself. She was very proud of her baby bird, though Altai probably wasn't much of a baby anymore. She was almost fully grown into her adult feathers and had been hunting on her own on several occasions. She still needed practice, of course, and she was still getting the hang of the plucking, but she was improving.
Altai:Altai dipped her head down to the bird she had caught and tore out the smaller feathers with little grace, sending them flying about her like the snowflakes grandpa Shaha told stories about. She left the flight feathers alone for now, she knew how some of the others liked to wear the longer feathers.
Once she was done, she turned a small, birdy smile upon her mama, only to find the cheeton female looking pensive, with a far-off look in her unfocused eyes.
Tembezishaha:"You've been awfully distracted lately, my little fire." Shaha watched as his daughter jumped slightly at the sound of his deep, rumbling voice. He gave her a small smile and a little nuzzle which he was glad she returned. She had been a quiet cub but he thought she had mostly grown out of that by now. She seemed to do a great deal of talking with that lion who had joined the troupe, Gremio was it?
"Is something bothering you?"
Safimoto:
Safi jumped at the sound of her father's voice, but nuzzled him affectionately when he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. Her papa was huge, larger than any other lion she had met. And he wasn't very tall, no, he was just a big lion, muscled despite his more relaxed life. But then, he was always going off on his own in the evenings, so he probably did as much training as any of the other members of the troupe. Sometimes he was even gone for days at a time, she had stopped worrying about him a long time ago.
And he always came back with wonderful new stories.
She looked off, though, when he asked his question.
"Yes, I suppose," she replied with a small shrug.
Altai:
Altai looked up happily when she heard Grandpa Shaha's voice. She darted away from her kill just long enough to give his leg something of a hug before hopping back over to her food.
"I caught this one all by myself!" she exclaimed and then plucked a few more feathers out. Then her grandpa asked her mama if something was troubling her and she replied that there was. Altai stopped for a moment, frowning at the female that had raised her after her parents had been killed. What could be bothering her? Altai thought that everything was good and happy here. Was she wrong?
Tembezishaha:
Shaha smiled at Altai.
"That's very good," he replied with a small chuckle, bending down to touch his nose to the top of the bird's head before she could flit away again. She was such an energetic little thing, much like his daughter had been when she was younger, minus the talkative part. But now Safi was older and she was more relaxed, though she still had enough energy for several creatures her age and was still rather playful when she wanted to be. But she was more mature now, probably had been for longer than most could say about themselves.
But she had been more quiet, contemplative, and it bothered him a bit. This wasn't like Safi, she was normally cheerful and active.
He pressed his shoulder against hers.
"Tell your old papa?"
Safimoto:
Safi smiled a bit when her papa nudged her a bit. But that didn't stop her from sighing, either.
"I'm not sure, Papa. I've just been all out of sorts lately, I suppose," she replied, her eyes moving to meet their mirror images. She really couldn't hide anything from him, he was her only real family now. Yeah, they had the Chokwe and Altai, but he was her father, her blood, had been with her all her life. She needed him just as much as he needed her.
"There was this lioness that I met. How she acted and what she told me kind of threw me off, I guess," she replied, avoiding what was really bothering her.
Altai:
Altai had started to dig into the carcass as the big cats talked above her. She was listening, but had decided not to interject. Somewhere recently she had learned when to talk and when not to, something that seemed to make a lot of the adults around her much happier.
A lioness that had bothered her mama? She wondered what the lioness had said, how she acted. Was it something bad? Would the troupe have to do something?Questions flashed through her mind, but she kept them there for now, her dark brown eyes watching the lion and his daughter while she pulled pieces of meat from the body.
Tembezishaha:
Shaha gave Safi a worried look and nodded his head.
"You told someone else about this encounter, yes?" he asked, hoping it had gotten to Taban, He was their leader, after all, and he was the one who had young cubs at the moment. If this lioness was a problem, then he should know.
But Shaha wasn't fooled. Safi was hedging, there was something more that was on her mind, that he was sure of.
"But there's something else, isn't there?"
Safimoto:
"I told Gremio, he's going to tell Taban about her," Safi replied with a small nod of her head. Mentioning Gremio made her want to smile. He was always looking out for her and the others.
Safi sighed, her head dipping slightly as she smiled a bit. There was no hiding anything from her papa. He knew her too well.
"I... I was just thinking about the things we had heard about, that cats like myself... with mixed parents... that we cannot have cubs. I was thinking about how I wanted a family some day and that I might not be able to really have one," she finally said with a slump to her shoulders.
Altai:
Altai looked up again, this time frowning. Safi was worried about having a family? But... But wasn't she Safi's family? Sure, she didn't have any delusions that she was Safi's real daughter or anything like that, but she didn't think that she was so disconnected from Safi that the older female felt upset over not being able to have a family. Her feathers drooped a bit and she hopped over to her "mama," hugging her leg with her wings.
"But aren't I your family?"
Tembezishaha:
Ah, so she'd told Gremio. That was interesting, actually. It seemed like lately the first person Safi was telling her worries two was this new lion. She wasn't coming to her papa anymore. Interesting indeed.
Shaha's ears fell when his daughter finally continued. He had figured that one of his children would have come to him about that at some time in their lives. It made him sad that it was his bright little fire.
The big lion wrapped a paw around her shoulders as the falcon hugged her leg.
"I'm sorry, Safi. When I met your mother, I wasn't thinking about many things, how it might affect any cubs we had. We almost didn't have you or your brothers and sisters, we had a close call near the end. I wish I could tell you that what you heard was wrong but... but sometimes I've heard of hybrids having their own families," he said, rubbing his cheek against hers. Why was she thinking about this now? He had an even greater suspicion that it had something to do with Gremio. Maybe he would have to have a talk with this male.
He looked down at the bird and smiled. Altai was a part of their family, but she was growing up. he knew what it was like to have your cubs grow up and leave the nest.
Safimoto:
Safi leaned into her father's hug and even sniffed a bit when Altai hugged her.
"I'm sorry baby. You and Papa are my family, but you're growing up so fast, I'm going to miss having a baby..." she replied. She looked up at her father and then leaned against him just a little bit more.
"I hope the gods smile upon me, then. I feel a bit better now, talking about it helped," she whispered and nuzzled her papa. She then looked at the kill and brightened a bit.
"You've gotten better at that, Altai! I'm really proud!"
Altai:
Altai fluffed up at the praise and wiggled a bit.
"I've been practicing!" she exclaimed, all her worries forgotten as she hopped back over to her food.
Tembezishaha:
Shaha smiled.
"I'm glad, Daughter. You shouldn't let yourself be bothered by things like this and just have faith," he replied, gave her a little squeeze, and moved away to see if he couldn't find this male whom his daughter was so interested in spending time with.
