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 Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:52 pm
Nikalo paused and looked over his shoulder. He could still hear her, out here. The moon. His aunt. The moment he passed into the maze, he would no longer be connected with anything out side it. He was sure that this is why his sister paused at the opening. Being so far from the sky was trying for her. It was for him sometimes too but..Broken, fleeting. YOU cannot hide from ME, you-- Nikalo launched himself into the maze with his aunts voice still echoing in his head.
Anijak watched the moon boy vanish into the woods with a look of pain on his face. He was lounging out side, currently, in clear view of the entrance for anyone who chose to look. Not that anyone did. He snorted, rising to his feet and looking at the maze. He'd have to go through all that trouble just to go see his sister and be bored. He wondered if he should just head home. Citali would have be fine without him, anyway. And he wouldn't get in trouble for being out so late. The thought made him lift his lips in a snarl. But she would and he'd feel bad and... he was already in the maze so the thought didn't matter anyway.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:11 pm
Acierta sensed Nikalo bolt into the darkness after her. She turned to glance over her shoulder, smiling gently at him. Her coat and his marking seemed to hold on to their celestial heritage... A faint gleam, enough to light the way.
"It will be ok, Nikalo." She said in her sweet voice, knowing something troubled him. She couldn't hear it, but she still knew.
Turning forward once more, she inched under an arching root, scrambled up over the next one, and wiggled her way through the brush.
Farther behind she could hear another rustling, but it did not worry her. Surely it was another of the group?
Citali yawned and stretched, eyeing Kizrain's twitching tail. Of the group, Kiz was the only one who hadn't brought any newcomers to the secret place. "Kizrain.. Are you going to bring anyone to Loyalty Unending?"
Amongst the group, they didn't bother saying '2'.
Kizrain twitched in surprise at the question, and turned where he stood. Laying in the thick grass, he considered Citali with a faint frown. "I don't know...."
He had thought about his brother.. Maybe... But Kelasia was talking about bringing Adian and Clasira, and they were his friends too.. So maybe them?
"I haven't decided on anyone."
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:47 pm
Nikalo smiled brilliantly at his sisters back. It was okay, now that he was here. He didn't know what it was about this place that block the influence of the moon, but he was grateful for the silence. He followed his sister closely, wiggling through the brush as well. He often thought they should make it easier to get to the Lost Cove, but it would be easier for others to show up as well. That wouldn't be good. Only their friends were really allowed. His mind wandered as they crawled, to the StarFalls. Nik wanted to sit near them again, bask the the sound of them, the scared feeling, but he was worried about it. There was such a feeling that he shouldn't be so close to disturbing them. He didn't know where it came from, either the others or falls themselves, but it was almost like he wouldn't be welcome near the falls, not since that first day. Nikalo shrugged off the thoughts, not wanting to seem troubled.
Anijak could see the two moon children ahead of him, squirming through the brush about ten times easier than he was managing. Being bigger had it's perks. This was not one of them. The beads around his tail got caught on a branch. The beads on his left fore paw got caught on a twig. The beads around his neck got caught on... something else. Ani tore at the things with his teeth until they let him go, only to get caught on something else. He was going to tear the woods down at this rate. He settled back to sit right in the middle of the bath, staring forward. Citali probably never had this problem. But she didn't have the beads he did. She had bells. And could still move more quietly than he could. Ani laughed softly to himself and sat there, shaking his head. He'd get there eventually. Or someone would come.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:48 pm
Acierta paused as the sound of pursuit ceased. That had to be one of them.. One of the larger ones.. Piquet or Anijak? Did they not know there was a slightly wider path that ran parallel to this trail? Granted it was much harder to find, but it was there.
She frowned and turned. "Do you know who was folllowing us, Brother?"
She couldn't quite smell who it was... Their scents were tangled all through this place.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:58 pm
Nikalo looked at his sister, face to face with her now, and smiled. Yes, he knew who it was. No, he wasn't going to tell her. He'd seen Anijak lurking outside before they'd entered. He know that the older boy had seen the way Nik had entered the maze. He didn't want Ani to ask and knew that Ani wouldn't once they were around others. "I'm not really sure. Perhaps you should go back to find him?" He was careful with his tone so she wouldn't know he was lying. But... he didn't want her to know either.
Anijak heard them talking ahead and sighed. The boy didn't want to come back for him, but that wasn't much of a surprise. A small smile cross his lips. That prank had been perfect. The look on Nikalo's face was priceless. He snickered a bit before looking about, realizing the state he was in. This was not the same path his sister had taken on but... He would curse but that might get back to his mother. Not that he could get in any more trouble than he was already going to be in being out past nightfall. Still, with any luck, he'd be able to get Citali out of trouble. It'd be worth it then. "Um, a little help back here?" He called up.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 7:42 pm
Clearly puzzled, the little MoonChild frowned at her brother for a moment, a line wrinkling her brow. Nikalo was acting peculiar, but she couldn't leave whoever it was tangled in the trees like that. It just wouldn't do.
"Tell Citali where I am..." She sighed at last, wriggling past him and disappearing into the thick brush with a flick of her tailfeathers. "And that I'll be along when I get him loose."
"Brothers..." She muttered as she wriggled, crawled, and skittered along. "Hello!? Piquet? Anijak? Which one of you is it!? Are you still stuck?"
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 7:58 pm
"Of course." Nikalo smiled softly as his sister slipped past him. He trusted Anijak not to try anything on her, regardless of the older boys love of pranking people. The older boy seemed to be on his best behavior when Citali was around. Which could be useful information sometime in the future. Nik took a started forward again, humming softly to himself. It wasn't much further to the cove, where the others would be waiting. He found himself smirking around his hum. And stopped, a bare foot from the cove entrance. The others wouldn't be able to see him, just yet. They probably heard him humming, though. Humming. That song.
Nik nearly bit his tongue in two. It was the song that his aunt sung to herself when she slept. How could he be so carelessly humming it here, of all places. His sanctuary. He wanted to laugh. So, she could find him even here. That thought he'd had. Using Anijak's softness for his sister against him. That had to be her thought. Right? He was friends with them all. Right?
Nikalo stepped into the cove after his pause, smiling softly at everyone gathered. "Citali." He nodded in a greeting, moving over to the older lioness. "My sister is trying to unstick your brother. She'll be along in a moment." They might ask why he'd stopped. He wouldn't tell them. Couldn't tell them about the darkness he took with him wherever he went.
Anijak listened to Acierta move back toward him. Of course it would be her. He was going to have to pull the moon boy aside and apologize, he could tell. His nose wrinkled up in a snarl at the thought. He shouldn't have to say he was sorry to a cub who walked around with his head in the clouds. He really shouldn't have to apologize to anyone but... Citali would notice if Nikalo was more distant with him that with the others. And then he'd have to explain... and that would be a bad bad thing. So, he'd apologize when he got the boy alone.
"It's Anijak, Acierta. And, well, yes, I am." He laughed ruefully, tugging his head to one side. The branch that he was hooked around his beads poked him in the head. "Yeah, still reeeeeally stuck."
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 8:32 pm
Acierta tossed one last look over her shoulder as the brush closed behind her. Nikalo's "Of course." followed her, and she wondered why he hadn't offered to go back. Perhaps something had happened between him and one of the other boys? Boys always played pranks and did strange things girls didn't do...
Maybe that was all it was.. A 'boy' thing.
Shaking her head, she pushed it all to the back of her mind for the moment. There were some things no female would ever understand, but she could mull it over another time.
Soon she was close enough to hear him, and giggled. "Ohhh, Ani."
She sighed, shaking her head as she stepped through the last leaves and came upon him, considering the predicament. "What a right mess you have found yourself in this time."
She made no effort to hide the warmth or laughter in her voice as she considered the elder male, sitting on her haunches to almost meet his eye. Even then, she fell a little short. It seemed she would be delicate throughout her life.
"You are a mess." She said sweetly, resting a paw on his chest as she stood on her hind feet and stretched to begin untangling his beads from the twining branches. "A big, big mess... You have to stop growing, Ani... You make me feel so small..."
Kizrain grinned as Nikalo arrived, waving his tailfeathers at him. "Heya MoonChild."
He chuckled. "Been wondering when you were gonna show up!"
Citali smiled at Kiz, then turned her attention to Nikalo. Trust Anijak to get stuck... He must have tried to follow the Kit-Trail again.. Hmmm... Would Piquet make the same mistake?
"Perhaps I should just make your little sister sit out there and direct my brothers to the proper paths.. It would probably save her less time then it takes to untangle them." She grinned. "But then again, perhaps I should just tell her to leave them, next time... It is nice to see you Nikalo, and you have my thanks for the warning..."
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 8:48 pm
Nikalo laughed softly. "Yeah, but then we would be deprived of her company, now wouldn't we?" He didn't think much of his sister having to go untangle the gangling lion anyway. Why was she responsible for them? He was still smiling, though. "Besides, I think she'd much rather untangle them. Maybe they'll remember to take the path you take next time." Nik settled down next to Kizrain with a smile. "At least you knew we were going to show up, though. Not sure about the others, are we?"
Nikalo looked away from the pair of them. He sounded weird. He was acting weird. And was being... mean. Maybe he really needed to clear his head.
Anijak blinked at her for a long moment. She didn't really seem so small standing on her hind feet, balancing against him. Then he laughed a little. "Well, maybe you should start, Ci-Ci." He tilted his head back so that it was easier to look at her. "Besides. You should be glad you are small or someone would have to come rescue you from this evil path!" He tugged his neck to the side again, pulling on the beads she was trying to untangle.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 8:57 pm
"True enough." Citali replied evenly, considering him. Thoughts chased each other behind her eyes, shadowed and hidden enough that they could not be discerned. Her mask did the rest. "It would be a shame not to have her here... And I am sure she will remind them."
Kizrain gave his companion a lop-sided grin. He wasn't sure if his brother would show up... Or any of the others. "No.. Not really... You have an ok walk?"
Kelasia frowned openly at Nikalo, not caring if he saw her. She clicked disapprovingly, then shook her head, remaining tucked to one side of the grove. She lay nearest to the grass that hid the DreamPool, now that Kizrain had moved off from it. The feel of the waters nearby, waters that held an element much like her family's gifts, soothed her.
But Nikalo was not right, and they both knew it.
"I would if I could." She replied tartly, gently unhooking another branch from the necklace. "Careful, don't flail about so much."
Her voice was cross, but obviously feigned. She was never cross. Not really. "You'll break it before I have a chance to get you loose, and then what will we do?"
She looked woeful, for a moment. But a spark of mischief flared in her eyes, and the other expression was lost.
At the rest, she snorted. "I doubt anyone would have to rescue me... Not that anyone would if I needed it. But besides, I would use the right path. And if I didn't, I don't have any finery to get caught anyway.. So it would be at least another ten or so paces in, when I had to climb under the root, that I would encouter a problem."
She considered his beads with longing for a moment, then dropped down, working on the ones that twined about his foreleg, her eyes fixed on the ground.
"They'd be perfect, if they didn't get you in such trouble." She scolded playfully.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 9:19 pm
Nikalo looked back up at Kizrain with a smile. "Yeah, it was fine. Just a walk. What have you been doing in here while we were gone? I'm surprised its still so quiet in here." He shouldn't have said those things about the others. They would be here when they would be here. Nik looked over at Kelasia when she clicked at him, head up and proud. But that's how he always was so it wouldn't be noticed. He narrowed his eyes for just a moment before looked up at Citali. She was closed off, too. Women. Intuition. Damn. "So..." He trailed off, not saying what he was thinking. That would be bad. Very bad. So he smiled brightly at them. "I suppose we have to wait for my sister and Anijak, then."
Anijak didn't miss any of the looks that cross the cubs face as she unhooked him from nature. Ah. Ah ah. If there could have been, a light bulb would have been flashing over his head. Little Ci-Ci liked shinys. She also had a low estimation of her worth. He wanted to laugh. If she got stuck, the entirety of LU2 would come rushing to save her. Which would cause more problems than it would solve. And she was very confident that she could do it on her own, anyway. He stifled a laugh. "If it breaks, it breaks. May save me the trouble." Ani looked down at her as she work on the other set. "They are such a pain, sometimes. I don't know how I am going to get into the cove if I get any bigger... or now, really." He wasn't going to say anything about the rest. Maybe have Citali talk to the girl about it. Ci-Ci really didn't get it at all. "How does Citali get to the cove without any trouble, Ci-Ci?"
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 9:34 pm
Kizrain chuckled at Nikalo. "Lucky for you.. Mom and dad were off somewhere.. So I was helping Kalliska with Sitian and Nahenia... Well, being Naha's cubs, you know she knows the way.. And every once in awhile she tells a story.. And they know, that I know the way.. So me trying to leave?"
He snorted and rolled his eyes as Kelasia giggled at him. "I had Sitian chomped onto my tailfeathers like a darn meat-eating fish, and Nahenia just sitting there and looking at me with these big teary eyes."
He shook his head, looking disgusted. "It took forever to get free of those two... I hope they don't ever fall for the same male.. Then again, maybe I do.. I'd love to watch them tear him apart..."
"That's not very nice, Kiz." Kelasia said, though there was a smile on her face. "You should be nicer... What if two males fall for each of them, and decide that you're a threat?"
"If it breaks, it makes a big mess because all these will go flying everywhere... We'd never find them all, Ani." She shook her head, but smiled when she got the other strand loose. "THERE! Now, be careful, and come this way..."
"As far as Citali goes..." She shrugged. "She goes the 'cub' way... Though I imagine the way she doesn't make sound when she doesn't want to, is the same way she doesn't get stuck if she doesn't want to."
She frowned and looked over her shoulder at him. "How does she do that anyway?"
Rather than trying to lead him back a few paces, she moved up the path a few paces and wriggled through the brush that pressed against a tree-trunk and a large boulder. It was a bit of a squeeze for a teen, but anything else could fit through with ease, including Ani and his beads she hoped. Holding as many of the branches aside as she could, she ordered him to follow.
"Come on." She murmured through gritted teeth. "This way takes a little longer..."
The cub path, able to admit larger travelers, therefor was harder to traverse than the straight line of the kit path on the least-dense side of the woods. The cub path was a few paces off, and twined around some of the larger trees, looping back on itself, before leading to the heart of the hiding spot.
The teen and adult path was the hardest to follow, with many dead ends and false turns, and a longer, looping path that ran far into the woods, then back on itself, and then eventually to the Lost Cove.
It was tricky, and a little treacherous... And that was probably what made it the MOST fun.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 9:50 pm
Nikalo laughed at Kizrain's story and Kelasia's gentel chide. He could see it happening, almost, if he closed his eyes. But he didn't, he kept them trained on Kizrain as he laughed. This place, these people. This was where he belonged. His aunt be damned. "Well, four on one really isn't fair. So I'll have his back, obviously." He stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Anijak followed Acierta through the brush, frowning and silent. No one had told him about the other paths "Cub path. Huh." He said softly. Why hadn't his sister told him about it? He could have avoided making himself look like a fool again. He looked down at his beads. Ci-Ci was right, though. They would have broken before he could have gotten free. And he would have never found them all. That would have made him... upset. "Thank you, Ci-Ci." He paused a moment. "For coming back to get me."
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 10:05 pm
Kizrain shuddered at the thought of that fiasco.
"Thanks, Nikalo..." He murmured gratefully. "I'll hold you to that."
He grinned at Nikalo and then Kelasia. "Any chance you guys want to help me babysit?"
Kelasia gave a joyous laugh, lilting and musical. "Heavens and Fayth above, NO! I love you like a brother, Kiz... And Nadasaya is very sweet.. But Sitian?"
She shook her head. "Nu-uh.. She's sharp, and so are those teeth. You are SO on your own."
Acierta nodded vaguely as he reiterated the second path. "Yes.. You know, I suppose we should name them.. Then again, maybe not.. I don't really know... Mama showed me all three, just in case... Though she carried me for the adult one, it was a loooong walk... And I still think I'd get lost.. All the fake turns and paths..."
She trailed off for a moment, shaking her head. "Anyway, if you like, Asia or I can show you this one again later... From the beginning... I bet she had to show Citali earlier, because I don't think we really got around to discussing it yet."
She paused at an up-thrusting root, preparing to scramble over it. Her smile was kind, her voice even softer and sweeter than usual. "I'll always come back for you, Ani."
And over she skittered, out of sight.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 10:17 pm
Nikalo smirked at Kizrain. "If you can't handle them by yourself, I suppose I could lend a hand." Babysitting might get his mind off things anyway. His smirk faded a bit at the mention of Fayth. It wasn't a word that invoked good feelings in him but he couldn't really tell why. It had to have something to do with Salania but he didn't know. Probably didn't want to. He didn't even know what a Fayth was. He bolstered his smile back to where he thought it had been. "It can't be that bad."
Anijak stopped dead at her words for about a second before hurrying to catch up with her. He would get lost if he lost her. He turned over the last thing she said in his mind. Ani even stopped thinking about why Citali didn't warn him about the kit path. Why would she say something like that? Different reasons ran through his head but none of them made sense. The one he settled with was one he'd thought of before. Ci-Ci had a leader mentality. She probably psychically couldn't leave anyone behind. That had to be it. "You probably will have to show it to me again. More than once, most likely."
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