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 Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:37 pm
Nynaeve was wandering. It was mid-morning, and she'd gotten bored, despite her large amount of siblings to play with. She was out in the jungle, perhaps a little farther than the little blue cub was normally allowed, but still within earshot of her family.
She could hear them in the background, pouncing and playing. But something else had caught the girls light blue eyes. It was a flower, not very big, but a very bright green color. Green seemed like an unusual color for a flower, which is why it was so interesting. Nynaeve laid down in front of it, staring absentmindedly.
Tejasvi normally wouldn't have been around her cubs during the day, not when she had matters of the pride to attend to, and she would have simply left them with their male nanny for the day as she usually did. However, she had come back to get the heirs, to take them to witness a female coming before council to announce the punishment she had chosen for her toh. It was then that the male had told her that one of her daughters had slipped away, and unable to leave the others alone, Tejasvi had decided to search for her instead (after telling the nanny that he himself now had a toh to pay for letting her slip away unnoticed to begin with).
"Nynaeve?" the young Adhi-raj called out, deep green eyes searching the jungle foliage for the bright blue form of her daughter. A flood of relief passed over her as she saw her, unharmed, staring a flower as calmly as possible. She quirked a brow, but moved closer despite it, stopping at her daughter's side. "Nynaeve, what are you doing out here all alone?" There was a seriousness to her tone, though she wasn't too accusing, not yet.
Everything had been going really well until Nynaeve heard her mother calling. The bright blue cub knew that she probably shouldnt have wandered off, and that she was going to get in trouble.
Sitting up quickly, she turned and faced her mother. "I got bored... and then I saw this flower! Look mama, its green!" Her face lit up in a big smile at this, before she remember that the flower probably wasnt the big issue here.
"I didnt mean to run off... It just looked so interesting."
Tejasvi smiled weakly, despite it all, at the the simple minded answer from her daughter. She remembered a time where things like flowers had been the most important thing in the world, when the honor of a pride didn't rest upon her shoulders, and she could be at ease with the blissful ignorance of cubhood. She knew whichever of the twins followed in her path would, one day, come to envy their own cubs in this too.
"It is very green, Nynaeve, but you can't run off from your nanny like that. He was worried, and now he has toh to pay for losing you." She sat slowly next to her daughter, though reached out a paw to touch the petal of the flower that had intrigued her daughter so. In her defense, it was a very pretty green. "You should think more carefully about the things you do, my darling, for recklessness may one day lead your paws to trouble."
Nynaeve ducked her head down in apology. "I'm sorry mother! I didnt mean to make the nanny loose toh. Is there anything I can do to make it up?" Her nanny was rather nice, for a boy anyways. Boys were still a mystery for Nynaeve, but she knew they were just lioness who'd done something bad before. She couldnt really wrap her brain around the entire concept, and her brain had turned it into a 'boys are gross' concept.
But still, she'd felt bad that she'd lost him some of his honor, when it wasnt all his fault. She'd lost honor too, by taking advantage of him. "I'll try to think more too." She nodded and smiled.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:40 pm
She nodded carefully at her daughter, quite pleased with the reaction she had received. If her daughter could feel bad about making someone else have to pay toh, it was a good sign for her future. She didn't want to say that a cub's wandering was something that constituted paying toh, but she did think it was worthy of some punishment. "Your nanny will have to pay his toh no matter what, he must repair his honor, but you may make it up to him by bringing him that flower you like so much."
She knew the nanny may not want the flower, particularly, but being forced to give a male (any male) something that one liked was not a pleasing thought. Even more, giving a male something was usually something a female didn't like to do at all. She watched her daughter's face, her own serious, waiting for the reaction. She expected disgust, or any show of not wanting to do it.
And Tejasvi got pretty much what she expected. Nynaeve made a face and sighed, looking down at the pretty green flower. But she knew that she had too. She had been hoping to keep the unique flower to herself, making it into a necklace or tucking it behind her ear to make her other siblings jealous. "If you say so mother."
She bent down and carefully bit at the bottom of the stem, gripping it in her teeth. The flower drooped down over the side of her face. "Maybe someday I'll find another pretty flower, one thats even better than this one!" It was a little muffled due to her trying to keep a hold on the stem, but still was understandable. She looked up at her mothers serious face and gave her a smile.
She still really wanted the flower though.
Tejasvi nodded at the look on her daughter's face, knowing that this punishment was fitting. There was no sense in physically punishing her, or doing something drastic over a male. They had little honor to lose, more often than not. Her daughter's pride would be wounded, but over a simple flower it would heal quickly. It would teach her, but it was fitting.
"The jungle yields many bounties," she said simply as she pushed herself back up onto her paws, looking down at her daughter sternly, "so long as you find them without running away from your nanny again. He will appreciate that flower, I think, it will make his punishment a little easier."
Nynaeve tried to look serious, but she just couldnt. It was rare for her to spend time alone with her mother, usually she was with her nanny, and saw her mother along with her other siblings. It was nice to get a little alone time. She took a stepped forward and leaned in to nuzzle her mothers leg.
"I'll do my absolute best momma! And I hope it does." Even though she couldnt keep it, she still felt some remorse for getting him in trouble.
She couldn't help the small smile that spread across her maw as her daughter leaned in to nuzzle against her leg. She didn't often have a lot of free time for her daughters, at least not time for those other than the heirs, whom she was already beginning to train so that one could take her place in the future. It was a bit of a regret of hers, but even then, she knew their bonding would come when they were older, when she had to train her daughters in the way of being a warrior. She knew Kianga would be more involved, even then, but she hoped she could give them at least the time her mother had given her.
"Are you ready to leave, then, Nynaeve, and give that to your nanny?" she was forcing her daughter to do it, but she'd let her daughter do it at her own pace.
Nynaeve positively grinned at her mothers smile. It was small, but it meant a lot to the bright blue cubbin. Blinking her light blue eyes, she sighed and nodded at her mothers question. Might as well get it over with, and besides, the flower stem was leaving a sour taste in her mouth.
"Yea, I am." She took a step back from her mother and turned in the direction of where the nanny was watching her siblings. As she did so, though, she resolved to find the prettiest flower she could to top the green one. maybe something yellow, or pink to match her fur markings. Maybe she would find one for her mothers too.
She stood there and waited for her mother to make the first move, figuring it to be polite.
Tejasvi nodded proudly at her daughter as she chose to go ahead and get this over with. That too was a good trait, and she couldn't help but feel her daughter would bloom into a fine young lioness in time. Taking a step forward, head held high and regal as always, she didn't even have to look back to know that her daughter would follow her. It was a shame she couldn't spend more time with her, but as it was, she had come back to get the twins for a reason and she knew the council would be highly agitated if she made them wait. So, without a moment's pause, she moved in the direction of where she had left the nanny with her other cubs.
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