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 Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:37 pm
 Nyumbani overslept.
The rule for her was to wake at sunrise and walk, on and on. But her body twitched and turned all night long, moaning and fighting an invisible ghost. Something was plaguing her soul and she couldn't quite place it. The night before.
She remembered being wet and cold, and hearing Ohahira's voice before she faded. But with the sun hitting her back, she no longer felt these concerns. Only that she'd overslept and she needed to get up and move, run, make up for lost time.
Her semi-unconcsious body jerked her onto her feet and her eyes glanced arond wildly. She stood, facing the river and her body relaxed. She didn't need to hurry, for the goddess was taking her back home to mother.
And she'd hear plenty of Ohahira's voice then. Plenty more than she probably wanted.
"Good morning river," she told it, a sweet smile crossing her face at the thickly set woman that was beginning to emerge below her.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:46 pm
Mwokoti hadn't slept, not really. It wasn't as if it was some new thing. Instead, she'd mostly laid around in the same couple of spots, occasionally getting up and abandoning one in favor of another. Her eyes, when they weren't closed, had watched the two sisters.
Ohahira had settled next to Nyumbani and slept there until early morning, when she'd told the Goddess she was going to go get food and left. They appeared to be close siblings, judging by that, but Mwokoti couldn't resist the feeling of on-coming dread that had been plauging her for hours now.
The older sister had risen, and the Goddess followed suit. Her reflection was soon shown in the river, behind Nyumbani's. "Your sister should return soon."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:55 pm
Nyumbani watched the goddes' image appear next to her own, her brown eyes trained on the other lightly. She wondered what was going on in that mind, what secrets and stories ventured in that mind.
But she told herself she really didn't care, because the goddess wasn't family, and never would be. She was a plagued soul who travelled on and on as far as Nyumbani cared. And that was a fate that Nyu did not wish to share in her bloodline.
The words, however, shocked Nyumbani. In any normal circumstance, she would have asked, which one? But she knew who it was. Last nice voice wasn't any trick of the mind, but her heart fluttered at the thought. There were so many questions!
What was her sister doing here? Why wasn't she with mother? Had she run in Tara? What of the other siblings.
But, she knew, when Ohahira actually returned she'd probably greet her with nothing but a soft smile and wise words. Then again, her mind tended to make her do things she'd never even think of. So who knew?
She turned and nodded to the goddess, meandering over to a rock to wait for her sisters return. She was not in the mood to talking to 'holiness to saves lost lives' today.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:01 pm
This lioness was nearing the adult rankings, by the looks of it, but she was still a huge brat. Mwokoti was not the type of Goddess to really care, as long as she moved on and did her job, that was all that mattered. Usually.
This time, it was more than that. She could feel their link to their mother, to Hasana, who was her son's best friend, he'd told her. These two could hate her, but for the sake of those that had done her offspring well when she could not, she'd keep them safe no matter what.
Nyumbani and Mwokoti were alike in ways they would probably never realize, because Mwokoti was not a mind-reader.
Ohahira had only managed to catch a bird, and it was half-dead anyway. She wanted a full stomach before confronting her sibling. There was no agenda for warm smiles or wise words. She, too, had questions.
And, as soon as she was within seeing range of her sibling, she asked, "Why are you out here?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:12 pm
Nyumbani's ears went to her skull and forwards again. She was listening to the footfalls of the godess while still trying to keep her attention on her sibling. It was the old protection tacts coming to bite her in the rear.
"Ohahira. . . " she whispered as she saw her sibling come into view. She was more hungry that one could know, but she was determined to talk to her sister first. A small smile came to her face, but quickly vanished as the question floated towards her at such a distance. There was a dark in her soul.
"I've been out here for a long time Ohahira," she whispered. "Tara left and I . . . " she couldn't bear to say, 'I couldn't find my way back home.'
"This has always felt like home to me," she finished, the lie crossing her eyes, but remaining from her face. Only her siblings could have caught that cover-up, unfortunately, Ohahira was one.
"Why aren't you with mother?" she asked carefully, slowly, concern biting deep into her tongue.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:20 pm
She's lost.
"Yes, Tara did leave." And then Ohahira's fangs were bared, though not at the sister before. Rather, at the one who wasn't there, as if she'd be hiding somewhere near by, or was just invisible. "So, what, you decided to play hero and go find her?"
Ha! Figures Nyumbani would be this blind. "I'm out here because mother abandoned us after Tara left. There's no point in you going back, she doesn't want us anymore."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:26 pm
Well, she wasn't completely lost. She knew every inch of the forest now. Among several inhabitants, she just didn't know how to get home from there.
Shock was masking her face, now, though. Her eyes watching her sister carefully. How could she be saying such a thing?
"What are you talking about Hira? Calm down, I found her, she left." She left. Nyu chocked on the words resting in her own mouth. Nyu had begged her to stay, and Tara had left. She hadn't come home yet? She was still out there. So much for, 'a break' and a 'short time from home'.
"How can you say that!" Nyumbani growled, jumping to defend their mother. "Of course she wants us! She missess us! She loves us Hahi!"
Clearly Ohahira was overreacting, and she needed to calm down. She missed her sisters so much, why'd they have to act like this every time she cared?
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:31 pm
"You're an idiot if you think all of us didn't know the second she vanished that she left. And even if we hadn't, Banji told us. He's as much a plauge on this family as she is." If she hadn't been so angered, Ohahira would have instead been awed at what a moron her sister could be. She'd thought Nyumbani a lot of things, but stupid?
"I can say it because it's true. She told me to leave. I bet by now all of them are gone, completely broken up and lurking around who knows where. I wouldn't be surprised if Swa and Mika were dead, and I doubt Senna is much better off."
None of them were suited to live alone. They never had. They never would be.
"Tara ruined our family, Nyumbani. I'm going to make her pay for it."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:39 pm
Nyumbani thought she could have convinced Tara to stay, but never the less, Hahi's word stung straight to the heart and Nyumbani had to fight for her position.
"Banji's family to Ohahira!" Nyumbani defended once more. What was wrong with her? She'd heard some nonsense in her life, but never any of this from Ohahira. She was always the smart, dramatic type. She may not have shown it, but she had some brains under her skull. Now there was no way in hell Nyu would turn to her sister for advice.
"SHUT UP OHAHIRA! SHUTUP! They aren't dead! They are NOT dead." But the last words struck hard, and caused Nyumbani to stop and think.
Wait? Pay for it?
Had Ohahira gone mad?
"And what is it exactly that you plan to do, Ohahira? Hunt Tara down and spend your existence ripping her apart? What about yourself? Your life, and your siblings. You ever think you abandonned them!? If they're dead its as much your fault as it is Tara's! If you loved them, if you loved this family, you would have stayed despite mom's wishes, but you didn't. You walked out on them Hira. You left."
It was the only thing she could think to say, but none of it came out angry as she wished. Plus, the river seemed to be making her cheeks its new home. "God damn it, Ohahira," she choked, hissing and scratching her nails against the rock on which she stood.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:48 pm
"That's all you have, isn't it? Resorting to insulting me? What ever helps you deal with the truth of things." If she had stayed, what would have come of it? No doubt Hasana shooed the remaining sisters off, too, as soon as she could. What were all of them to do? Revolt and kill their mother?
No, it wasn't their mother that needed to die. Ohahira knew she was foolish, she was a moron like Nyumbani was, but it wasn't her fault. It was Tara's fault. All Tara's fault.
"Goddess of the Lost," Ohahira said suddenly. Mwokoti had been observing the exchange quietly, but now she looked at the black and white of the two. "I learned a lot about her while you were sleeping, Nyumbani. Did you know she can help find someone, and not just places? It's interesting, isn't it? But she's helping you, wasn't she? But I want to find Tara just as badly as you want to find anything, and she can't help us both. Isn't that right?"
Mwokoti's eyes narrowed, but she didn't answer.
"I dismiss you, on behalf of us both," Ohahira announced. The Goddess stared at her, then at Nyumbani. Her wings spread out rapidly, and she was soaring away a second later.
"I wonder if you're a seer, Nyumbani? You predict my plans for Tara so well."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:54 pm
"You could have left together, as a family. I didn't see you running off to keep Tara with us," Nyumbani hissed.
The adolescent standing before her simply could not be her sister. Was there a god of disguises, because it sure felt like it. But those eyes, they were so Ohahira, and there was no doubt in Nyu's mind that her sister was indeed standing before wracked with emotion and pain.
Was it her fault, then, because she had left? Was she to blame for Ohahira's current state? Because it couldn't have Tara, never Tara. Tara merely wanted what she could not have. Normal. They all did.
Except Ohahira, and Nyu wanted to give her the family she loved, but she didn't know how. Not with her sister in a crazed state as she was now.
When the goddess left, Nyumbani held no mind. This was between her and her sister.
Nyumbani stared agape at Ohahira. Even if she was, which she wasn't, the future could be changed.
"I'm begging you Ohahira, please don't." And if was one thing Nyumbani didn't do, it was beg. "Stay with me, we'll go back, get the sisters, forget Tara. Forget her."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:59 pm
"You think it would be that easy? You think she could just stop thinking about Tara? None of us would ever stop, knowing she was out there!" Snarling, Ohahira paced wildly back and forth. The gears in her head were turning in ways they were never intended to.
"I know one day I can forget her," she concluded after a while. "But I'll never forgive her." Those words were clearly a death sentence for their sister. "It'll be better, Nyumbani, you'll see! It'll be better!"
Ohahira jerked to the left and charged away, to somewhere, anywhere Tara might be.
It would be better. They just wouldn't know it until it happaned.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:04 pm
"HAHI!" Nyumbani screamed after her, and then sprinted off in the same direction.
But it was no use. Not only did Ohahira have the head start, but she was a much more lithe lion all the way around, and so was far, far ahead. There was no way that Nyumbani would catch her.
Gasping for air, she finally gave up the search, her sister's name echoing in her head.
It was all her fault. All of it. If only she'd stopped Tara that day. If only. . .
Of all the people to be hurt the most, she thought it had been her, but never pure, innocent Ohahira.
"I have to find Tara," she whispered to herself, drying her tears on a fern and turning a slightly different direction, the pain in her sore feet and limbs returning once more.
The journey never ends.
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