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 Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:20 am
Kohta looked down, another thing he didn't like, at his lovely mate. The dearest and most precious thing he had aside from his children, and proceeded to take a deep breath. She was right again; she usually was. He overreacted quite a bit, but often there had been good reason. His gaze went back to the giant aeon-kitsu as he listened to the story, frowning all the more. Something had come after his daughter! He knew it had been a bad idea to let her wander off. She was too innocent for all this... but really... ... wasn't that his fault? His head hung in guilty shame. She'd simply been their smallest ... and he'd been just as protective of the others, but she simply took every word he said to heart and never left her parents side. And now look. Her siblings would probably have been unhappy to find out too. She didn't look injured though... except...
"Why can't she talk?" he asked in a low gruff voice. It was no longer angry, simply tired and filled with worry as he looked up, directly into his daughter's teal eyes. She looked so much like him but also so much like her mother. It was painful to look at her this way. His tails twirled back and forth over Araphel, trying to assure himself.
Xanabel hid her head in her paws after she'd made eye contact with her father. She was facing towards no one in particular, mainly because she didn't like what they were saying. Or the way they said it. This was such a fuss over her... true she was... traumatized? Was that a good word? But really, it hurt her just as much for them to blame themselves and to worry and want to go after Jorm. They'd get hurt! And then she remembered Ifrit's wounds and looked up to see the scratches on his face and shook her head. There was so much good... but why did bad do so much more damage? Couldn't it cancel out? She simply didn't understand and whimpered, or looked like she was trying to.
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:27 pm
At that, Araphel leaned against Kohta again for just a moment and then padded forward, toward her daughter. "Xana," she said softly, nuzzling at an ear. "It's all right ... you aren't hurt," and whispering too low for Kohta to hear, "And you do know how your father is."
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:16 am
Ifrit sighed. "Shock... she's still in shock. I've heard it happens sometimes that a person might lose their voice when they've gone through something traumatic. It usually wears off after a while." Somehow he didn't think dear ol' dad would be very comfortable hearing that Ifrit had seen worse cases than Xana's before. And that some blocked out all their memories too if the trauma was bad enough. No... that wouldn't be good to mention. "Hopefully she'll get her voice back in a few minutes."
He shuffled his large paws for a moment. "I'm sorry if I'm being a bother about this, sir, ma'am, but it really probably would be better for her if we moved away from here." These were her parents, after all, so he decided to try being a little more respectful. Never mind that he had a millenia on them in age... though he doubted that was a good thing to mention to Kohta either.
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 6:52 pm
Gladly Xanabel rubbed up against her mother in need of comfort. She seemed even smaller and pathetic than her bobtail mother did and it seemed depressing that she needed this sort of comfort. It really had been bad for her. She lowered herself very close to the ground and licked at Araphel's front paws, as if asking her mother to stay next to her. Ifrit was comforting, but mom was still mom. Her ears prickled forward at her friend's voice though and she seemed interested in the fact that the aeon-kitsu really was very concerned.
Kohta's already narrow eyes lightened a little as he straightened his body, seeing the sense in the other male's words. He ruffled his fur haughtily and growled a little, "All right..." He didn't like the way this looked. The aeon looked like he'd rather beat someone up than save them, but he was being polite and considerate of his daughter. His little Xana. That irritated him. Had Xana spent all her time with this other kitsu? And then had this very kitsu left her to the wolves, so to speak? Only to come back to look good? It was all too suspicious, but until Xanabel got over her shock, nothing could be solved. He started moving out of the grove, hoping the aeon-kit would provide a sense of direction.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:46 pm
In response, Araphel stood up just a little taller and licked soothingly around her face and neck. She didn't say anything else, didn't really have to. It gave Ifrit points in her book, though, that he didn't act jealous of her presence there or anything. Some kitsu might resent their current love interest's parents being around. Or possible potential love interest. Something like that.
"Yes ... let's move away from the general area - good idea," she murmured, glancing up at Ifrit. She, too, waited for him to lead the way - assuming he had some kind of destination in mind.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:19 pm
Well, he'd offered to take Xana to that spot by the river with the flowers and the fruit trees and the sharpshooting fish... He could at least take them to the river, if not back to that precise spot. So he stood up and started leading them off, adjusting his pace to slow down for Araphel almost without thinking about it.
He remembered a nice, brightly lit spot by a stream that had a fairly wide open space between the banks and the trees... right now he didn't feel safe staying too close to the trees without knowing where Xana's attacker had slunk off too. It didn't take too long to get there; there weren't as many flowers, and the fish were different, but it was still very scenic. He gave it a quick inspecting glance, but nothing seemed amiss, so he sat down near the water. "Here we go..." He peeked down at Xana. He wanted to ask if she was feeling better yet and... it seemed like a stupid thing to ask so soon afterward.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:12 pm
Xanabel quickly followed Ifrit and then even more quickly she placed herself at the edge of the river and lay on her belly to paw the fish. A little too quickly. She wanted to forget what had happened, but the pain wouldn't leave her mind. It was still sharp and she felt mangled and disgusted. Any day previous to this one she'd have been fascinated by the fact that these fish were different from the one's Ifrit had shown her last time they'd been to the river, but today she was simply trying to -for lack of better term- drown herself in something other than reality. To her, her paw was like a portal and the fish that played with it, her new friends. She was one of them, swimming against the current to n** the object in their way. Feeling it rush against her scales and swimming fiercely to keep up. The sun glinted off her fishy dreams and she looked up blankly into the sky, ignoring the others. Ifrit too. She just couldn't bear to look at them. Not only was she disgusted by the world, but by herself too. She always relied on someone else... and had recklessly believed the world was beautiful all the way around and through. It was a silly child's dream. Was that all she was? A child. An innocent who was so ignorant that she foolishly fell for every trap someone laid? It was just as Jorm had said. She was a fool. A dreadful fool. Her entire body seemed to sink with the thought, and her paw lay suddenly limp instead of playing. Still she was silent.
Kohta made sure to walk with Araphel when the other led them, and still followed his daughter who apparently didn't deem it safe to leave Ifrit's side. He watched her, and then the way Ara-babe looked at her. It was all very upsetting. What of his other children? Were they too hurt like this once? Was this the cause of his concern? Had he been so horrible a father that he caused this pain on his offspring? It was bad enough he fretted about everything excessively when once upon a time he didn't give a damn about anyone but himself. Then Araphel came back into his life and he was amazed by her sheer beauty and kindness... and even though she'd nearly drowned him in the beginning, they had hit it off. All he did was worry about her, even more so now. And to top it off, they had children he worried about too! His mind reeled with it all and he couldn't shake the feeling of being sick. It seemed like a mess.
"Ara-babe," he whispered when they'd reached the clearing. He sat down and wrapped his tails around his beloved, still watching the other two. His eyes followed Ifrit's to his dear little runt of a daughter. A shudder racked the frame of his body. Water. He hated water. He'd never been able to swim even if his life had depended on it. And often times it had. If it hadn't been for Araphel, he'd have drowned. He was nervous when she went limp and nearly moved to drag her back but stayed still. He had to force himself to stay put. "Do you take her here often?" Kohta said, trying to be nice to Ifrit. After all, even though he didn't trust the other one ounce, Xana seemed to and he had saved her. It was enough to earn a bit of respect, neh?
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:30 pm
Araphel was also watching her daughter, concern evident in her gaze - but for the moment, she left Xana alone, knowing that she probably needed more time to try to deal with what had happened. In many ways, it seemed that Xana was more similar to Kohta than to herself.
Even as small as she was, she thought that if some other kitsu tried to attack her, she would fight back ... like her own father, and her uncle. And then afterwards, it probably wouldn't take her so long to get over such a thing ... but. She understood that Xana wasn't like that, and would give her the time she appeared to need.
So instead of saying anything to her daughter, she also turned toward Ifrit, waiting to see what he would say to Kohta's question.
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Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:35 pm
Ifrit watched Xanabel with concern also... but he knew that all he could do was offer support. Xana... poor Xana... she had to come to terms with it herself no matter how much he wanted to fix it. He knew she'd never be the same.
Kohta's quesiton drew him back to here and now, and he turned to looked at both father and mother. "Here?... No, I took her to a different spot before. Prettier... with sharpshooter fish..." He looked troubled. Had Xana not said anything to her parents about him and the places he took her? She probably hadn't said anything to them about her trips out on her own at all then... That bothered him. "This would be he first time I've brought her here. The other spot is a lot longer walk." He frowned just a bit. "She didn't tell you two anything?... At all?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:10 am
If Xana heard the question or answer, she didn't respond, merely she went on with the current of the river. Back and forth. Flowing, leaving, gone. Where was she now? Out of her head, swimming down the river. Being carried away felt cool and vivid. Her body's eyes faded and became a dull gray as her system tried to keep her from hurting herself with thoughts. Instead it let her be pulled away by the fish, only to return... maybe never.
Kohta shook his head, a bit angry with this returning question. When he thought about it... Xanabel never said anything to him anymore and he worried constantly. All of his children were a worry for the overly excitable male who felt responsible for so many things. "No... I suppose she didn't want us to know... unless Ara... she was telling you things?" He looked to his mate, innocently questioning and not accusingly.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:30 pm
Araphel glanced back over at her daughter nervously and then shook her head at Kohta's question. "She didn't say anything to me either ..." she said slowly.
Sitting down, she leaned against Kohta's leg a bit, worried about Xana.
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