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 Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:27 am
Rain pattered against the roof of the den where Unu'le slept. It was a light but steady rain this morning, not like the harsh lightning storms and torrential downpours of the African savanna. Not that Unu'le would know the difference, because she had, insofar, not seen rainfall at all. She was used to the usual hot sun of their climate, and the noise awoke the young cub from her nap.
Her green eyes opened and her ears swiveled toward the mouth of the den, as curious as any young cat. What in the world was that odd noise? She unwound herself from the tight ball she'd coiled herself up in to sleep, and picked up a quick trot out to the entrance of their den. And her jaw dropped.
The world outside was transformed -- everything was all wet! Looking up, all she could see was dense grey clouds instead of the cool blue sky she was used to, and the sun was nowhere to be found. Looking up proved to be a bad idea, though, because a raindrop nearly hit her in the eye. Jerking back, she let out a tiny "Eep!" and turned and ran back to the back of the den, the hide amulet pouch usually hung around her neck flying back behind her shoulders instead.
"Daddy!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:45 am
Tawa'di was roused from his sleep quite suddenly by the little upset voice of his daughter. It took him a moment to realize where he was and who's voice it was, all the while grunting before his voice finally found itself again.
"Unu'le?" he asked, letting his eyes get used to the bits of light that poured into the cave. It was dim from the rainclouds, but still lighter than the dead of night. "What is wrong, child?"
He shook his mane as he raised himself up, hoping to jar his brain awake too. Cubs were just a touch more trouble than he would have imagined, but it was still quite a blessing to him. His green eyes fell upon her form, quite the panic stricken cub. Hopefully there was nothing amiss out there. He would not show immediate concern and worry, as it might only agitate his little pale daughter even more than she was already.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:55 am
Unu'le bounded straight to her father's dark form, hurriedly burrowing under his forepaw where she might be safe. "The pond exploded," she whimpered, frightened. "It's all wet outside. And the clouds ate the sun!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:59 am
Tawa'di couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her comments. The pond exploded? Interesting, quite interesting indeed. He lowered his head to give her a nuzzle, surely burying her in his large greying mane in the process. "Well, that's certainly something, isn't it?" he asked calmly. She would need to learn what was actually happening on her own, instead of him actually just telling her. Knowledge like that stuck in the mind far better and longer than just being told.
"Why don't we go make sure? Here, I'll come with you little Unu'le. Is that alright?" He was hoping to at least get her to the edge of the cave, so she could really discover just what was coming out of the sky.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:20 pm
Unu'le curled up in Tawa'di's thick mane, comforted but confused. Why didn't her father seem particularly concerned? But his calm demeanor helped to alleviate her fears, although she quivered a bit at her father's invitation. Slowly, though, she crawled out from under his paw. "O-okay..." Her emerald eyes glanced out toward the entrance again, apprehensive.
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:43 pm
Tawa'di chuckled at his daughter. He understood her worry, as cubs had a habit of making anything into their nightmares, but proud that she had the courage to face this fear and learn just what it was.
"Good. I'll walk first, just in case there is anything scary there." As soon as he finished he took a few slow steps forward, carefully avoiding his daughter so he wouldn't trip over her. He was getting a little too good at tripping over things lately, and the last thing that he wanted to do was to make Unu'le more nervous over something else.
He quickly reached the opening of the cave, carefully keeping himself just inside so he wouldn't get wet. He could feel the chill in the air from the rain, and his own green eyes watched it silently as he waited for Unu'le to come to his side.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:30 am
It was a moment or two before the young cub followed her father to the cave's entrance, and she took a glance or two back as she finally did so, wishing she could just curl up with Tawa'di at the back of the cave where she'd be safe. But her pawsteps steadily carried her to her father's side,
Rain pattered down in steady sheets, dripping from the roof of the den. It smelled different, she realized. This wasn't pond water. She stuck her paw out tentatively, flinging it back as the rainfall wet her toes, and she shivered. "It's not the pond," she murmured, more to herself than to her father, but she questioningly looked up at him anyway.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:18 am
Tawa'di smiled warmly at her daughter. She had picked up on that fact much quicker than he had thought, and things were going along well. A very good lesson indeed.
"Yes, it isn't pond water. Not...quite yet, actually." He lowered himself onto his belly, so his eyes would be at nearly the same level as his daughter's. "Do you see the ground out there, and how it's quite wet? Where do you think some of that water might go?" He was guiding her a bit to try and figure it out herself. If she couldn't, he would still inform her. Children's minds could make an enemy out of anything that they didn't know about, and that was the last thing that Tawa'di wanted.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:21 pm
Unu'le slid to her belly alongside her father, recognizing a lesson when he started one. She peered outside, at the wet ground, at the water sliding off the rocks and leaves, before she glanced back to Tawa'di, trying to figure out what the answer was that he wanted. It wasn't until she noticed the tiny rivulets of water forming and running downstream that her ears perked and she slowly answered. "To... lower ground?"
Then she suddenly connected two and two together. Her father had said not quite yet. "To the pond! And downstream, to the river," she added, as an afterthought.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:00 pm
"Quite correct! And in this, is sort of is pond water, but it won't be pond water until it reaches the pond." Good, this was going quite well. He wouldn't blame her for being nervous over the rain for a bit. The idea that things falling out of the sky could be seen as normal was a foreigh subject to cubs, and the idea that rain is where most of their drinking water came from could be quite confusing as well.
"So, what you see is rain, not the pond exploding up and falling down. The rain feeds the pond, which in turn keeps us full when we are thirsty."
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:52 am
For a moment or two she was silent, letting Tawa'di's explanation sink in a bit and gazing out and the wet scenery she was used to seeing quite dry and bathed in sun, not rain. But there was still a thing or two she didn't quite understand.
"Where does rain from, daddy?" she asked, and in typical cub fashion, she fired off another question right after the first. "What makes it rain?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:06 pm
"It rain falls down, then there's only one place it can come from." He peered outwards, though was careful not to stick his head outside of the saftey of the cave. Small droplets of wayward raindrop fell onto his forepaws, but otherwise he was dry.
"It comes from the sky. Particularily, clouds." He wanted to describe this just right. "See how it's so dark outside? When the clouds hold onto too much water, they get dark. That's how you know it'll rain soon." And with that, it was always a good warning to hide or else you'd get completely soaked! She'd learn that with a little time, and one or two soakings herself, though.
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:20 pm
Unu'le nodded, pretty sure she understood. She knew it seemed silly, being afraid of something harmless, but her father never embarrassed her, always making sure she understood the hows and whys of things. She may not understand it quite yet, but she would thank him for it later.
She stared out at the steady rain for a while, then turned to Tawa'di for one more question. "So, is it safe to go out and play?"
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