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 Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:59 am
Kafele couldn’t understand how Kayin could smile when this was such a serious situation! For crying out loud, he was Sahen’s grandson and Kay was a Ligi! It was like some bad joke had suddenly drowned their precious friendship.
“Hey, I’m not spoiled, I’m not a brat… huff!” he started somewhat defensively before being unexpectedly pounced by his friend. Despite his surprise and a certain stubborn resistance to accept this strange new reality, Kafele couldn’t help but to laugh a little at the familiar gesture, allowing himself to fall to the side under the weight of his friend. “What about you, silly?”
“Why are you a Ligi?” he asked the question as if he couldn’t quite believe it even though the prospect of having Kayin always around sounded better and better each time he considered it. “It’s just politics, right? You’re not gonna turn into a big bully on me, are you?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:00 pm
Kafele's laugh unwound a knot in his gut that he hadn't even realized was there. No one, as far as he was concerned, could laugh if they didn't mean it. Laughter didn't lie. Things...would be okay. They were different, but at least they were still together. Now more than ever. Heck, Kayin was assigned to spend time with his friend.
That Kafele was Sahen's grandson had perhaps not fully sunken in. But then again, Kayin was not Indira's blooded son either, but she was his mother. Family, then, was whom you loved. And Kafele...
"P-politics," he agreed, not sure if that was quite the right word. But it made sense. "As Indira's sons, we were expected to... but... Kafe, I thought your family was..." he trailed off uncertainly. If the red-furred cub was Sahen's grandson, then why...why did he still remember how frightened he'd been when the other advanced on him, making him swear to secrecy? The Shatkona's children, surely, would not need to fear his wrath in that way.
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:39 pm
“Ah well. At least you’re safe. Strong as you look, Sahen would probably have kept a really close eye on you if you weren’t part of the First Blood... though you’ll turn Lord if you’re not chosen as your mom’s heir so… Be careful, Kay. Sahen really hates the prophecy. I think he believes in it, too. Or at least doesn’t want to take chances.” Kafele was forgetting that the prophecy fortold the coming of one who was "not born of the First Blood" so, in theory, Kayin would be safe.
It occurred to the red lion how strange they must look to an outsider. A Ligi on top of one of the Heirs? He wanted to chuckle but the conversation was heading to serious ground. Not once he spoke the word “grandfather” aloud again. He truly disliked thinking of Sahen as his family even if his feelings got thoroughly confused when in the presence of the bright red lion.
“Yeah, it took a while for us to find out. Mom didn’t know her mother and Sahen were… you know. He suspected though… apparently, my coat gave it away. I found out a few days before we played tracking. Remember? I was kind of scared you’d run off on me if I told you.” He looked somewhat apologetic. Sometimes lying and omitting looked like one and the same. Did Kayin need to know that Sahen had murdered his grandmother? No, no really. And that mom always fancied herself a princess? No. There was no need to reveal all the drama in his weird family. “My aunt was exiled. Mom settled down when she realized we weren’t being taken to Sahen to be murdered. And uncle Siku… he’s a diplomat. He thinks he can change the pride through words I think. But it’s hard to know what he’s thinking sometimes.”
He wiggled out from under his friend and shook his body in one fluid motion. It was like his worlds had collided and everything seemed to alright… sort of.
“If you meet my sister Dada though, be careful. She hates Ligi. She seems to be under the impression that the Ligi are the ones controlling the pride and that Sahen is just a poor little puppet.” Kafele snorted. It was obvious what his opinion was on the matter.
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:13 am
Kayin nodded solemnly as Kafele spoke. So that was how it was then. Poor Kafe! When he'd fretted over the exiled lioness, he'd been so thrilled to see his friend later that it didn't even cross his mind she might have been his family. And he hadn't even asked to see if something was wrong. He should have asked! What kind of friend was he?
Quietly, he shrank back onto his haunches, letting the red lion wiggle his way free. "It would be nice it words were what changed things," the Tama lion sighed. Perhaps now he could really meet his friend's family? He knew where they were after all... "Dada? Isn't she the one you said looked like me?" She would hate him just for what he was? Well, she certainly was not the only one! So many people hated him now.
He could not express how grateful he was that Kafele had not been one of them. Of course, there was the matter of the prophecy... What was he going to do if his best friend got caught up on the wrong side of it? Kayin couldn't very well side with his friend over his brothers and mother any more than he could pick his brothers over his friend. It would kill him. Well, maybe he could protect Kafele and his family. Sahen was the only problem, right? He could make sure that Dada and Kafele and their mother and uncle were left out of it... somehow...
"I'm sorry things turned out like this," Kayin murmered, though he did smile as he looked up at his friend again. "I'm glad that you are safe now though. I worried... when I couldn't find you that time...I thought you were gone." Abruptly his somber expression brightened. "Oh Kafele! We're powerful now! And we're together! Think of all the good we could do! Helping the hunters to feed everyone, convincing the more heavy-pawed Ligi to leave someone alone...so long as we stay following the Shatkona's laws, we should be fine, right?" Maybe something good could come out of this. Maybe something very very good could.
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:57 am
It was a gentle grin that graced Kafele’s expression. Perhaps it was because his friend remembered things he’d said so very long ago or because Kayin was so open about his fears of losing this friendship. It gave Kafele a warm feeling when the other lion spoke to him in such a way but it also increased one of his greatest fears.
“No, Kay.” Kafele said seriously after some thought. “We are stronger, but we are not strong... yet. I know I’m weak. Weak in his presence and outside of it.” He looked almost angry now as he watched the beautiful cliff from where the tyrant, his grandfather, ruled.
“He holds us all at his whim and I have too much to lose. My mother, my sister, my brothers… even you. I have far too many weaknesses and not enough strength to protect them.” But he suspected Kayin was the same, even if Sahen was against raising a paw against the Mwanasheria and her kin, well… it was Sahen they were talking about. Accidents happened. Kafele wasn't particular difficult to keep in line when one knew the right threaths to use. And the red lion suspected his uncle knew them all. He did his best to force a small smile. "But we are stronger together."
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:44 am
Kafele's words sobered Kayin rather quickly. His friend was right of course. Sahen was still the ruling factor of the pride, and he already did not seem to think of Kayin as a particularly good Ligi. But Kay...he couldn't hurt someone, couldn't scare someone. And especially not for no good reason! Jabari had somehow managed some kind of plan for that, but Kayin had not quite figured out what it was or how he did it. His own brother seemed scarier to him now, though he knew Jabari wouldn't do something horrible to someone.
"You're right Kafe..." Kayin sighed, the excitement evaporating from him. "I just...I don't like the idea of...of hurting someone." It wasn't as though this were some deep secret confession that would get anyone of his family but him into trouble should it be overheard. And he'd trust Kafele, heir or not, with his own life in a heartbeat. "I'm glad to serve the pride though," he added firmly. "Ligi patrol the borders and keep those inside safe from rogues." At least that was someone. "And now I get to spend my time keeping you safe," he added, trying a playful nudge that only felt sort of half-hearted. "Not that you need looking after, eh?" But it gave him something to do, an excuse to not spend time terrorizing people when he was just so horribly bad at it. Maybe he should ask his brother how his plan worked exactly... but with Kafele to 'guard' maybe he'd be okay either way.
Maybe.
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:05 pm
Kafele could see that his words had hit a nerve and quickly realized he wasn’t very happy that he’d dampened his friend’s mood. It was even worse when the red lion recognized that he was allowing the overly-optimistic façade that he usually kept so well to crumble. And in a way, it was okay. He liked being able to finally be completely honest with Kayin. They didn’t have to pretend everything was alright all the time. Because it wasn’t. Inside the borders of the Ashnai’le, lions hungered for scraps of food and feared for their lives. And it worried Kafele that one day, prophecy or not, he would have to take a stand and he feared, now – as the young lion reached adulthood - more than ever, that he would soon be forced to make a choice between his pride and his family, between those living and dying in oppression and his grandfather.
“I know you wouldn’t hurt someone, Kay.” In a way, Sahen wasn’t really family, at least not to him. The cream colored lion in front of him felt much closer than his own flesh. He was, after all, his blood brother. Kafele almost snorted at that last thought. Such a silly childish thing and yet he remembered it perfectly, the day he’d met Kayin as vivid as the day before. “And I do need someone looking after. Making sure I keep my mouth shut and my nose out of trouble.”
Smiling, he ignored the part about the Ligi. Kafele couldn’t really see them as anything other than vicious obstacles for peace but he saw no point in voicing that. Perhaps one day, after Sahen was gone (well, he couldn’t really live forever, now could he?) with an heir or the Chosen One in his place, perhaps then the Ligi could be reformed into true guardians of the pride and protectors of its members. Or disappear completely. That was fine, too.
“Everything will be okay. One day.” He tried a little grin and it felt so natural that it almost had the usual mischievous hint to it. “As long as we stick together, Tama boy.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:08 am
He tried to smile in return, managing it however faint it might have been. Kafe knew him after all. He knew what he was like, how he had grown up. He wasn't like all the others in the pride who saw the title and not who he was. He couldn't handle the way the others looked at him. Like he was a monster. A horrible thing. Someone to fear. He dreaded the terror even more than he did the hatred. He never wanted to inspire either.
"You just watch that tongue of yours, Atmaja," he teased back, nudging his friend again. "We'll be okay. Like you said, we're stronger together."
Mother must have known, Kayin realized. She knew that he was struggling to be a Ligi in more than title. And she must have remembered that night he came home late, the only time he'd ever let her down like that. Had she learned who the friend he'd run off to meet was? Had she, somehow, arranged this? Or was it all just chance, or a random ploy by the Shatkona to solve two problems at once?
No matter the reason. He was happier with his friend by his side. Even if they were Ligi and Heir, hated and feared by all. They still had each other. And that would never change.
((this feels like it's wrapping up to me))
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:54 am
Kafele grinned, utterly amazed at how easy it was being positive and hopeful around his friend. He took a few steps away from Kayin, eyeing the Weeping Lion for a few seconds before his blue gaze searched for his friend once again.
“Well, then…” He said seriously – which by itself should’ve been suspicious enough -, bowing his head ever so slightly. “Catchmeifyoucan, lil’Tama!”
And that was all the warning he’d give because the next moment Kafele was already running at top speed, steering away from the more densely populated areas where they would certainly be seen, judged. There would come a time for sobering up, for showing the pride what the nobility should really be like. But that was not today. Today was a day to celebrate because he’d found Kay again and there were no more secrets between them... or so he believed.
(yep!)
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:09 am
The serious expression on his friend's face worried him for a moment, the tone making him think that there was something else he'd forgotten to consider. Well then what? He watched with concern for a few anxious heartbeats before the worry turned to laughing surprise.
"Hey!" he chuckled, scrambling to his paws and bolting after his friend. And suddenly it was like they were little again. They'd only met a few precious times, Kayin too busy with his training to make any other friends. But he didn't need anyone else. Mother, his brothers, and Kafele. Who else could he possibly need?
...maybe a certain huntress might come to mind... But that was something he didn't yet understand. And he didn't need to worry about it, not now. Not with his friend. Away from the frightening gaze of the Shatkona and the frightened hateful stares of the pride, they could just be themselves. They could just be friends.
(Call it done?)
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:15 am
((Yes! I love theses kids together so much...)) - FIN! -
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