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 Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:27 pm
It was dreadfully hot out on the sands, like usual. At a break in the middle of the day, as running pointless errands all morning for Uzulu was tiring, Sethatta lay at the base of a scraggly bush. He enjoyed what little shade it provided.
The only one of his sisters that he had seen all day was Fatia, but they didn't speak as she was shy and he was following a strict order, and wasn't looking forward to a beating. He knew that his other sisters were around though, and was sure that he could find them if he had to. But for now, he was basking in the shade and that was all he wanted. He had no doubt in his mind that Tanana was probably out playing the hero again, as it's something she did well.
As he thought about his sisters and their whereabouts, he got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Or maybe he was hungry, he couldn't tell yet, but he felt he should be on his guard for the moment.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:43 pm
On that day in specific, Tanana had not 'played hero'. She certainly could have used one of her own, though. Or perhaps just a reasonable Firekin would have done the trick, but in her mind no combination of the two exsisted. Far be it the day she was proven wrong about that.
Kienge had been fed earlier, Tanana knew it for a fact. It hadn't kept him from ordering her to get him food. She was a cub. Far smaller than him, and he was small. How was she to get him any meal if his father was still bringing them to him?
She was suspicious of how luck had favored her when she'd found the rabbit corpse. It was an older hare, died of old age, obviously, but not so old it was disgusting to eat. Had she known what was in store, she'd have left the thing alone...
A passing Firekin, a childish adult no less, had seen the sight and come to snag the meal from her. When she stubbornly informed him it was for another one of his rankings, he'd called her 'mouthy' and beat her to a pulp.
Tanana knew, returning to Kienge without his demands was likely to get her another beating. 'Master' would have no regard for the bad shape she was already in. The cub didn't mind the thought of it so much, since a little more and she'd probably be unconcious. At the moment, she welcomed the prospect of sinking into mental darkness.
How long she'd been stumbling around search for Kienge, she didn't know. Her eyes were swollen almost closed. She could just make out shapes and colors, and sought for the bright red and white of her master.
Not far from her brother, she had finally fallen, wincing and whimpering at the bruises as they collided with the ground.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:04 pm
A noise caught his ear as he relaxed. It was high pitched, painful. He turned, and saw the source of the noise was a swollen and hurt Tanana. He stared in surprise for a moment, until he realized he need to see what happened, who hurt her.
Standing quickly and trotting to her side, he inspected her. She obviously had been attacked by another lion, not fallen from a boulder or something. She looked pretty bad, eyes swollen and body weak looking. Sethatta was worried.
"Tanana! Tanana!" He spoke quickly, yet softly. "Tanana, what happened?" He would have touched her but he feared for her injuries. He didn't know if something was broken, or where she hurt for the most part. "Hey, hey. Come on."
He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he stood before her. Nervous was pretty much written all over him. He knew that the masters were vicious, and wouldn't expect less from any of the Firekin members. He pondered moving her to the shade for a moment, but then again recalled his lack of knowledge: he didn't know how badly she was hurt, or where.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:11 pm
Her brother was here? It didn't surprise she hadn't seen him. He was a variety of colors not-so-noticable in her state, and the brightest he had blended in with the sand. She loved her siblings dearly, but she wished he hadn't been there. That way she could have lay there and not felt guilty.
"I'm okay, I'm...okay," she sputtered. Shakily, she rose to her paws again, her entire form continue to quake as if the desert itself was shaking longer after she'd found her footing. "I... They have such tempers!" she spat in disgust. "I didn't do anything!"
It was unheard of for her to sound so angry until then. She really hadn't done anything. Not anything worth this! How could she do what Kienge wanted if the others kept stomping on her while she tried to?!
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:23 pm
As Tanana spoke, and struggled to her paws, he gave her a disbelieving look. She didn't look okay, no matter what she said. And knowing her she wasn't okay, but she remained strong. He continued to inspect her condition, she could stand, still, which was a good sign, but she still looked terrible compared to the last time he had seen her.
"What happened, Tanana?" He asked slowly, staring her in the eyes. Most likely she didn't deserve what happened to her, that he knew. He needed to know. Maybe he could help her. He wanted to help. One thing he lived by in this place they called home was that in the end, everyone will get what they deserve. This wasn't fair to her. "Who was it?" He added with a short breath, "Wha- Why? Just, stay with me..."
He looked around for someone to help her, help them. Where were his sisters? Should he get help? He wasn't sure of anything that he should do now, now that he believed the worst was over.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:28 pm
He was a lot closer now, but Tanana could still hardly see him. She didn't need to. She knew her siblings, and she especially knew her brother. "Don't do anything," she breathed heavily. Don't get help. Don't get angry. Don't do any of that or anything else. That's what she wanted to say, but she didn't have the proper air supply for it.
It took a long time, as she had to keep pausing between the story to breathe or hiccup or cough, but Tanana told him the tale. She told him about Kienge's demand for food, about finding the rabbit and about the Firekin who had hurt her even though she'd only been listening to her master.
--s**t!
"Kienge!" she gasped, then hitched forward, hacking. When her composure was regained, she faced her brother. "Master Kienge, do you know where he is?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:42 pm
Even with her telling him not to do anything, Sethatta still felt an urge to help, but he listened. It's better to satisfy her since she's beat up already, and a rogue brother isn't something she needs now.
He listened through the story, first glad she found food easily, but then unhappy as she was viciously attacked by the lion she met. He also realized she didn't complete her task and she'd be beat again if something wasn't done. He still didn't know what to do. He couldn't let her be beat again because of a selfish lion.
"No no no. I haven't seen Kienge." Sethatta was lying slightly. He had seen Kienge, a while ago, while he was bringing back meat himself to Uzulu. "Just, stay here for another minute. He'll turn up." He thought that if Kienge found them here, he would be angry, but it was a risk he's need to take for now. "I need to help you. I need to find food for you to bring back." Sethatta's voice was low and crafty. He didn't think that Tanana could make it through another beating, especially if Kienge decided that this was the last straw. He shook the picture from his mind. "I'm going to find you food to bring back. You absolutely can't go back empty pawed. I won't allow it."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:52 pm
The problem with the two of them was... they were far too alike in a lot of ways. It made them connected on a level that the rest of them weren't, nor would they likely ever be, but it also caused conflicts the others wouldn't have.
Like right now.
"Seth," she warningly began, drawing in a shuttering breath. Her voice still managed to have that lingering determination and sternness as if she was in fine condition. "I'm not going to let you get in trouble over this. It's not about what you won't 'allow', do you understand? If Kienge found out, they would hurt you. Uzulu might even hurt you. You know how he feels about lying to his sons."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:10 pm
He continued to stare at her. He didn't feel safe allowing her to go back like this. He didn't like it one bit.
"Are you listening to yourself?" He snapped slightly. "You're having trouble breathing, you're barely standing, and you're telling me that you're going to go back to Kienge like... like this?" He knew that Kienge could easily kill her in this condition. He also knew that they might kill her solely because she was useless as she was, and she wouldn't heal in a matter of hours.
"You can't go back. Chances are... You won't return." His voice cracked slightly as he said that last line, but it was something they both had to acknowledge. "I'm going to find you food to bring. I'd rather take the chance and risk getting hurt rather than leave you to stumble off and know the result." He paused, "The last thing we need is for our little family to lose it's strongest member."
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:20 pm
Tanana was taken aback by his words. It was obvious to her she was a sort of... brick wall for them, but so was he in a lot of cases, and it just strange hearing someone say that, even though she knew he didn't mean in the physical sense.
In the other ways, she didn't feel very strong right now. In fact, this was probably the weakest she had ever felt, and maybe the weakest she would feel for a long while.
If she died... If she died, what would happen to the rest of them? Would Fatia finally become so much a coward she'd push their buttons until they beat her to death, too? And Sit... she would give up hope for sure. She didn't have any now, not really.
"I know," Tanana said finally. "But what can you do? We're so young. We can't kill anything."
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:00 pm
He knew she was right. They were too young. Too young to hunt, too young for all of this. Cubs should play and frolic, but that's a dream, he knew it. But he was thinking too far ahead. In this place, one had to think one day at a time and take what they're given.
"Well, you had luck this morning," he started. He knew the odds of them, or just him seeing as she was still quite injured, finding food lying around again that was even partially good was slim to none.
"Maybe we could get lucky again. We just can't let you wander back to him like this and without what he asked for. He wouldn't understand if you said 'But I was hit and beat when I said I needed food for you.' But with this weather, it might be possible.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:28 pm
Tanana rolled the idea back and forth over and over again in her mind. If they went to find something and got caught, her brother could get in trouble. If they didn't, Kienge would kill her. She wasn't so starry-eyed about a possible happy future to be blinded to that fact.
"Alright, but if we got caught, you will go head best you can." Which, probably wasn't very 'best' in the desert, but Tanana had a good nack of drawing attention to her and only to her.
"Which way first?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:08 pm
"Fine." He might as well agree to her terms. If there was a chance to help his sister, he'd take it. He knew they could come up with a plan anyways, if they needed one.
"Well you came from over there," he spoke as he motioned from where she came. "And seeing as you had little luck there, we should try and go somewhere else." He thought for a moment. "We'll have to go east, not too far though, and we'll have to keep out of sight. ... If you're up to it."
He had never actually been "hunting" before. Only dealt with what was brought back. He had seen smaller kills which they could possibly take down themselves. But as for something larger, he doubted they could have any success.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:49 pm
Tanana listened with a look of defeat. Her expression rivaled that of a statue in the company of the Firekin, but when in that of her siblings, she was all too expressive. There was never a question among them how Tanana felt. If she was annoyed with you, pleased, or anything else, they would never have to ask. They could see it.
"I'm al--" The cub hesitated. "I can do it," she corrected. Obviously, she was not 'alright' or 'fine' and her brother was not so easily swayed as her sisters in convincing him she was.
She followed him to the East, trying hard not to think this would never work. Tanana wasn't sure what would become of her if she ever really gave up.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:56 pm
He walked slowly, being sure that his sister could keep up. He hated to see her like this, it pained him, even if he was angry with her actions most of the time. His own confidence in the plan was waining, but he couldn't let it show. Be strong for the family!
He turned to her, about to ask "How you holding up?" But he knew he wouldn't get a truthful response. Instead he said, ".. So see anything yet?" They weren't too far from where they started, but it was far enough that Set hoped they might find some type of small creature to hunt. "I wish there were more shade.." he mumbled quietly, thinking that would somehow make a tree grow spontaneously in front of them so that they could rest. He knew Tanana had had a long day.
They had to find something, anything, that they could bring back to Kienge. Coming back empty handed, after all this time, brought shivers to Set's spine.
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