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 Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:17 pm
Tanana had spent all but a few brief hours of the night pacing and talking to Ure. A simple conversation had made her think. Tanana had a problem with that, thinking. She always was. More than most cubs should.
Then again, they were different from other cubs. Still, thinking as hard as she did, and more so about the things she did, might get her in trouble one day. A whole lot of it.
Her current topic of thought: Fatia. Why had Uzulu picked her? Her guess was that he had seen her as the leader, and Fatia as the most timid, and picked them both just for laughs on his end. That old lion couldn't die soon enough.
"Fatia?" Tanana called, returning to their poor sibling place. Their other siblings had all broken off elsewhere, perhaps to do other tasks commanded of them, while she and Fatia were left to remain here until Uzulu arrived.
"Fatia, you have to wake up now."
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:26 pm
Fatia stirred, her eyes not wanting to awaken. Her world felt like a nightmare, though she didn't really know what a nightmare was. Life was how it was, and though she saw that other cubs got to be loved and taken care of and even spoiled, she was born in the wrong level. Why?
Fatia's thoughts and questions vanished when she finally awoke, hearing the voice of her sister Tanana. She loved her sister; heck, all her sibilings dearly, and with a gasp rolled closer to her black and tan sibiling. Her body shook lightly, though that soon settled too as she was finally shifting to a fully awake state. She really never wanted to wake up, but she knew that there were always things you didn't want to do that you had to. Or else you would get beaten.
"Tanana!" she cried out, clinging to her sister's leg. She wasn't crying, since she knew better then to do that during the daytime hours, but she was visibly upset.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:32 pm
Tanana gazed down at her sister like a statue. She pulled the blank face off so well it was almost horrifying. Needless to say, it tore her up on the inside to watch any of her sisters or her brothers show even the slightest bit of distress. When they were this upset, it physically hurt.
Leaning down, she nudged her sibling in the side, an obvious urge to compose herself better. "I know, I know," she said gently. "I know, Fatia. You have to act like you're suppose to, do you understand? If you act this way with Uzulu--or with that boy of his--you're going to get in trouble." It was stating the obvious, she knew it, but most of them seemed to need it. Tanana was their broken record and their rock, and would be as many times as it took to keep them out of harms way.
"You remember what I told you before, right? You have to do everything this son of his tells you, even more than you do with Uzulu." Because Uzulu had a bunch of slaves, but if Fatia messed up as a personal slave, the punishment may be far worse.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:51 pm
Fatia's heart stung by her sister's words, though she fully understood where they were coming from. Fatia had to be strong, and especially put her mind to it; she would easily be considered the weakest link to the group of them.
With a deep sniff, she pulled herself up, sitting up straight and looking back at her sister. Her body language looked alright, but her eyes were still a disaster, as they showed more to her soul then what words could put together. That was something that she would have to learn, either by herself or through more relentless punishment.
"Okay," she said quietly, not daring to look away from her sister. She knew that Tanana was doing her best for them, so Futia kept telling herself to be strong. Be strong! "I'll be good, and do my best..." She stumbled over her words, trying to not get choked up. What if she barely saw her sibilings, once she was given away like this? The monster of dispare nipped at her heals, and she was doing her best to kick it away from her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:06 pm
Tanana was not a mind reader. She did know what her sister was thinking, what her worries were. They were her worries, too. They were all of their worries, so all of them should know.
"You're still going to see all of us," she reminded her in a reasonable voice, which had yet to crack. "We'll still all being sleeping here, most of the time, anyway. And we're going to brothers, remember? I'm sure they'll want to see each other, and we'll be with them. We might even get to see each other more than any of the rest of us."
She would never knowingly lie to her siblings, or give them false hope. She was realistic, more than some of her siblings who rolled their eyes at her talk of being free one day gave her credit for. It was something she'd thought about, and it was just as likely to happen as it was unlikely. "I'll still protect you."
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:26 pm
Futia's position wavered a bit, her body trying to keep up the tense upright position her mind was demanding. She wrapped her tail around her paws, the little white tail tuft just barely reaching her creamy forepaws. There was a bit of renewed strength in her voice, though.
"You think so?" she whispered, as if to not believe it. "I don't know what I'd do if I was stuck all alone." She would probably be miserable for quite a while, but when a slave knew of nothing better, they would conform to what was expected, and demanded, of them. And Futia would be no different.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:36 pm
"I do," Tanana confirmed without quivering in the slightest. Was she completely sure? Totally positive? No. You could never be that way with anything with the lives they live, but you could be almost, and she was.
"You would survive if it came to that, I expect no less from you." From her or any of them. "If we ever get seperated, any of us, you have to make it on your own. I promise we won't die here, and even if it takes a while to find all of us again, I'll make sure we're together."
Her words were foolish, but not without grounds. She'd heard Ohahira grunting about that aunt of theirs--Tara, right? About another pride and another place. One day, they would reach it, she was sure.
"Being a personal slave might work out better for you. Look at Mpaji. He sleeps in that nice, warm den with Uzulu and that lioness because he is hers."
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:10 pm
Fatia's little mind was wrapping around everything that her sister was telling her. She was still nervous, but those reassuring words helping her to calm down, and feel ready to face what was coming to her. She was scared, sure, but if she held onto the words that Tanana shared with her, she would be alright.
"Okay," she said, a bit calmer at this point. "I promise I'll be good, so that we can all be together, just in case anything happens." She nodded briskly. "Hopefully my new master will be somewhat kind to me."
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:34 pm
"Good girl," Tanana praised, nuzzling her sister affectionately. "You can rest some more in here until Uzulu comes," she finished. There had been little sleep for her, and even now she had no urge to head off to the land of dreams.
The wide-awake Tanana peered back out into the opening before returning to her 'waiting spot'.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:17 pm
Fatia didn't really want to go back to sleep, not yet. Nerves, and even a hint of excitement were running through her body. She did lie back down, though, but she kept her eyes open, watching her sister curiously.
She wondered how Tanana held the strength, the glue that kept everyone going. Kept everyone together. She highly admired her sister for that, and a huge piece of her wished she could be like that. Fatia knew better, though, that who you were deep down was just...who you were, and no matter how much you wanted to change it, you couldn't. So she would try to figure out the small bits of her that she could change, and do the best she could for Tanana. For Addae, for Ure, for all her sibilings.
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