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 Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:55 pm
Silvery rays of moonlight danced off of the sparkling waters of the brook below, falling with the liquid as it crashed down a waterfall. A tiny waterfall though, not that this really impacted its beauty. If you looked at it juuust right, you could see the fine mist breaking up the silvery glow into a million tiny little rainbows. Or possibly just one big one, perhaps, if you were far enough away. Rocks along every side were covered with a thick layer of moss, which created a most comfortable cushion for Kayin as he completely missed out on the natural beauty all around him. The black and white cheetah’s ears lay flat against his head as he attempted to, once again, dislodge the bee’s sting from his paw.
Damn little things… they really got stuck in there… vigorously shaking his paw, he dipped it in the cooling waters once more, hoping to get the swelling down at least a little. A few sad fishbones nearby the male cheetah revealed just what he had been eating recently, since he couldn’t catch real prey.
“b*****d son of a lion…” he muttered to himself before looking at his paw once more. Still too far in… the paw was returned to the water once more and Kayin continued his mutterings. “Honestly, who attacks someone else for paying him a compliment? Seems to me that someone’s got some serious issues to work out, and hopefully before he actually hurts someone. ‘S just not right, that’s what it is.” Still, regardless of cheetahs---or assumed cheetahs---like Kolo, this place was pretty nice. For the first time, those purple eyes looked around the area, watching the water crash down the… oh… two or three feet tall waterfall. Very nice effects, he supposed. And the moss really was properly supportive of his hindquarters.
And it would be nice to have an actual home to come back to. It didn’t mean he’d stop traveling, of course. It simply meant that he would have a home base to return to.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:30 pm
The gentle sound of water falling had caught the ear of a passing cheetah. Aailyah, head seer and leader of the Duma'Chama was out exploring the vast territory that she and her growing family had claimed. The group had marked their borders, but still there was so much to see and really get to know. The river was a great reason Aailyah decided on that particular area, but this sound of water seemed unfamiliar. Glancing down as though to search for some body of water, the cheetah was surprised to see only the family river, thinning out and conitnuing along.
Perhaps she was still too far? Hopping from one large rock to another, the cheetah enjoyed the cool night's breeze and darkened skies. Pausing for a moment, the female shut her eyes and lifted her head, taking in a deep breath. Despite her many tasks and duties, she was so at ease in those lands. It was something else to see the typically stressed female relax and actually enjoy herself.
It was then that the cheetah overheard some muttering, followed by some particularly unkind words - though Aailyah couldn't help but smile, instantly recognising the voice.
Feeling somewhat playful, the female carefully followed Kayin's voice, ensuring that her paw steps were silent. It was not long before the leader found herself overlooking the poor male sitting alone on a stone covered moss, accompanied by a pathetically small pile of fish bones. Had she known she would have stumbled across the wanderer, she might have brought along a portion of the day's hunt. By the look of the male, he seemed as though he wasn't eating well.
Before speaking, the cheetah observed Kayin's behavior, trying to piece together just what he was doing repeatedly dipping his paw into the cool stream of water. When she recognised the symptoms, the female let out a light laugh, finally allowing herself to be known.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 7:27 pm
“Bloody snarled tripe in a rusty bucket…” Kayin went on, completely unaware that he was being watched. Taking his paw out of the water, he gnawed at it slightly, trying to get the accursed bee-sting out of his tender pads. But, of course, it couldn’t be (no pun intended) that simple. The thing was stuck in there, at least until it fell out of its own accord. Putting his paw back into the cooling stream, he finally heard the gentle sound of laughter over the noise of the water. His ears fell back against his skull, feeling certain that it was Kolo come back to mock him.
No… wait. That didn’t sound like a male. The wind changed directions, bringing a familiar---and welcome---smell to Kayin’s nose. His ears pricked back up and he relaxed slightly, recognizing Aailyah’s scent anywhere. Well, that was a blessing! He’d been meaning to speak to her lately, about the possibility of maybe actually staying here!
“Ah, Aailyah! How nice of you to drop in. If I had known you were coming I would’ve… would’ve…” he paused for a moment to think about what he ‘would have’ done if he’d known that Aailyah was coming by. Well, for one thing, he would have dumped that pathetic pile of fish bones in the river and probably would have coerced someone into hunting down some food for him. That way, at least, he wouldn’t look nearly as underfed as he was at the moment. “Well, I would’ve done something special. So, what brings you to this neck of the territory?” he asked, wondering if she had heard about the little fight between himself and Kolo.
Hopefully not; he didn’t want to get kicked out. And he wasn’t about to try and get Kolo kicked out either. This was between them and he just didn’t want Aailyah to get herself involved.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:32 am
Aailyah watched as Kayin's reaction to her scent slowly changed from one of frustration to one of relief. Who did he think she was originally? Shrugging the question off, the cheetah stepped alongside the simply colored male and smiled warmly.
His warm welcome was just what the constantly stressed young leader needed in her life. Kayin, though quite a pain at times, was just what the female needed to escape. His well worded complements and comforting expressions. "Well, I appreciate the offer. That is what counts, right?" Glancing between the male's paw and then back towards the bones, Aailyah debated which issue to solve first. It would be the least she could do to help out a friend.
Coming closer to the male, the female knelt down to inspect his paw. It was clearly swollen and in pain. Upon further inspection, Aailyah noticed the small black p***k stud deep inside his pad. It was good luck that Kayin was so light colored, otherwise the small stinger would be too difficult to find. She was certain there were plants and herbs to help alleviate the swelling and help remove the stinger, but by the look of things Kayin had the small thing in his paw for quite some time and likely wouldn't feel up to walking a great distance to find some.
Willing to make the trek on her own, Aailyah smiled and backed up a bit from the male. "Well, I know there are some plants that can help me remove it, but I need to go away for a bit to find them. If you wait here, i'll be back in a moment!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:53 pm
Ha. Yeah. ‘It’s the thought that counts’, that was what people---that is, cheetahs---said. Kayin personally doubted the words, because thoughts, in his experience, never kept one from starving to death. It was a nice saying and all, but it simply didn’t make any sense. But, this was not the time to get involved in a philosophical discussion with Aailyah; if she had come here, then she had something important to talk about, right? Either that, or she wanted some peace and quiet from her followers and he was not about to make things all depressing for her either.
His ears once again went back as Aailyah inspected his paw, but this time the gesture was one of embarrassment. Honestly, how pathetic was it? He stepped on a bee! A bee! What kind of mighty hunter did that sort of thing? Alright, so Kayin wasn’t a mighty hunter… the only thing he was good at hunting down was someone else to do his work for him. And he was very good at that…
Shaking out his paw, he shook his head slightly, dismissing the idea of using Aailyah to get the stinger out for him. Even he had his limits to how much he would use someone else. “Angel, it’s alright; it’ll come out on its own soon enough. How have you been lately? It can’t be easy, leading all of those cheetahs…”
Responsibility. That was one of the many things that Aailyah had that Kayin lacked. That and honor, most likely. And probably some other things too.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:09 am
Aailyah was about to turn on her paws when she heard the name Kayin so fondly called her. Angel. A reminder of how the pale, winged, cheetah appeared to the male when they had first met. And something that had secretly encouraged Aailyah to help her dream come true and aid the many cheetahs in need.
Glancing back towards the male, Aailyah smiled warmly and happily.
While Aailyah did not live a miserable life, she found that she had stumbled across many hardships. She believed she found happiness with the father of her cubs, but too quickly they lost connection with one another. One by one, her cubs began to leave her and being a new mother, Aailyah was not certain just what to do to stop them. How could she keep them with her when they did not want to stay? Even as cubs.
And then she found Chura again and Kolo and Kayin and soon began her quest to form the coalition. So much seemed to be going right and the cheetah, sadly, was expecting something to crash down on her. Would she scare her son away? Put too much pressure upon him?
At this thought, Aailyah's smile faded and her ears lowered. "W-what about your paw?" She stuttered, feeling almost silly for trying to help such an independent creature. "I wouldn't be gone long and it would help make the swelling go down so that I could better get ahold of the stinger."
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:29 pm
D’aww… now that was so cute! It wasn’t often that Aailyah was caught off-guard, but it seemed that Kayin had the knack for it. At first, it had felt a little strange, catching a Seer by surprise… but, by now, he had the dark suspicion that Seers weren’t the epitome of wisdom and knowledge that they pretended to be. For all of his own lies about being some sort of an oracle, it appeared that genuine Seers weren’t any better.
He waved his paw awkwardly, making the universal gesture for ‘forget about it’. If that wasn’t good enough, the black and white cheetah spoke soon enough, “Nah… no worries. It’ll come out on its own when it’s ready. I’ve been through worse things on my own. I’m fairly sure that I can handle a bee sting on my own. And, if I can’t, you can mock me on the way to my funeral. You can even have your very own ‘I-Told-You-So’ Speech. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Some small part of him knew that it was utterly stupid to refuse Aailyah’s help. It wasn’t like anyone would know, so he couldn’t even blame that strange cosmic maleness that always urged him to refuse any help. His paw hurt. She was willing to help. It should have been easy to accept a bit of help… but, as mentioned, that was a very small part of Kayin, and it was very easily ignored. Angel knew him well enough to describe him as ‘independent’, even to the point of pride.
“Now, come on. How’s everything going for you?”
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:05 am
Aailyah couldn't help but smile when Kayin tried to dismiss the bee sting. It looked pretty bad, but was only a miniscule wound compared to others. Would she have been more wise to simply leave the black and white male and find the herb in order to help him? Or could he really handle the issue on his own? Aailyah would give Kayin the benefit of the doubt that time, but would be sure to find the herb if things worsened.
Glancing down at his paw only for a moment before answering, the cheetah looked up and smiled lightly. "Things are well. Kolo has been appointed head guard and Nadifa is planning to have a second litter of cubs." The simple explanation of close friends of the coalition had he cheetah smiling more broadly and happily, "And Chura. He is improving dramatically in all fields. I am quite proud of him."
Typically when the white female mentioned her son, she was all the more pleased, but something was off about what she said. Like there so often was, something was on Aailyah's mind and it was clearly bothering her.
Looking off as though to avoid any questions, the female quickly asked, "How about yourself, Kayin? How are you? I can see that you're not eating well." As though to push the attention back onto him, the female looked stern and made a gesture towards the small fish bones, "You know, you're welcome in our lands and there is plenty of food. Even if you're unable to hunt yourself, someone would be happy to assist you."
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:35 pm
Whenever Kayin was mentioned in front of Kolo, the gray cheetah would inevitably snarl and possibly mutter something about a ‘jumped-up little flea who rode in the fur of those who are better than him’. Kayin had a different reaction to the gray cheetah’s name, however. He didn’t react at all, merely looking ahead as placidly as anything. Admittedly, he was far less pleased about Kolo’s sudden promotion, but… well, he would get over it. He wasn’t the type to endlessly dwell on someone. Besides, there were more important things to worry about than Kolo. “Well, I’m happy for Nadifa then,” he said, leaving Kolo out of it. Alright, so maybe he was a little bitter…
Anyway! More important things, like Chura and Aailyah. Kayin was just the man to spot tiny little signals that hinted that all wasn’t right in Aailyah’s world, especially the part that revolved around her son. But, before he could ask about what was wrong, the white cheetah hurried on with the conversation. Well, fine. She could be that way. Kayin would just find a way to steer the conversation back to her worries.
“I can hunt!” he said, all of his plans flying out the proverbial window at what he felt was a slander of his non-existent hunting abilities. Male pride won out again, as his mind immediately mistranslated Aailyah’s ‘if you’re unable to hunt’ comment. “It’s just… not easy to hunt right now. With the beesting in my paw and everything.” Actually, now that he thought about it… that was probably what Aailyah had been referring to, rather than his innate hunting skills. Not that he had much of that anyway. With his bright and distinctive pelt, it wasn’t easy to sneak up on prey. It was far easier, he had learned, to manipulate someone else into hunting for him.
Someone else to assist him? Easy for Aailyah to say… the only cheetahs that Kayin knew were Nadifa and Kolo. He didn’t want to bother the first one, since she seemed to have her own problems, and the second one would probably attack him on sight, the intolerant git. And there was Aailyah as well… but, she too had her own issues. “I’m fine, Aailyah. Really. Now, what’s going on with Chura? Don’t think I didn’t notice how fast you changed the topic there…”
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:37 am
Entirely unaware of the drama between Kolo and Kayin, Aailyah thought nothing of her friend disregarding the other male's name and simply wishing the best for Nadifa. Afterall, it was Naddie who was giving birth to the cubs.
While waiting for Kayin's answer, Aailyah certainly did not expect the male to suddenly retaliate, claiming that he could hunt. But as soon as Kayin spoke, the female smiled warmly and let out a light giggle. Perhaps she should have expected that type of response? Aailyah knew Kayin well enough to know that was certainly a jab at his pride, intentional or not.
As though to comfort him, Aailyah leaned forward to offer the male a friendly nuzzle. "Kayin, Kayin.. I understand that you can hunt. I simply said that if you're in a state in which you are unable, someone would gladly help you." Motioning towards his paw, the female held in another light giggle, "Bee sting or not, you still need to eat. I'll have you know, we need to eat quite a bit to maintain our strength and spee-"
Aailyah cut off her own sentence when Kayin brought up Chura. He clearly noticed her change in behavior, despite her attempts to cover it up. What Kayin did not know, however, was that it was not Chura exactly, so much as the fact that the small green cub was from Aailyah's first litter. Lowering her ears, the white female couldn't think of a way out of this one. "Well... I.. It really has nothing to do with Chura actually. I mean. I love my son, I just.." Whatever it was that Aailyah was trying to say, it clearly pained her.
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:11 pm
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid… the one feline he should never be angry with, or short with, was Aailyah. Angel had shown him nothing but kindness, which was certainly more than he ever deserved. While he was busy looking after himself, the Seer was dreaming for everyone, trying to find a way to save them all… not that he honestly believed that cheetahs were in danger of going extinct or anything; that was just Aailyah being overly dramatic. But, it was still sweet of her to worry about everyone before even considering worrying about herself.
Still, she really didn’t need to worry so much. She would earn herself an early grave if she kept tormenting herself all the time. For example, she was getting all bothered about Kayin’s eating habits. But, the black and white cheetah was obviously still alive. So long as he got enough to stay alive, he’d be fine! Nothing to be concerned about.
Kayin watched his friend with a mixture of curiosity and concern, trying to figure out just what Angel had on her mind since she apparently couldn’t articulate it herself. Or simply didn’t want to. That was Aailyah for you, always hogging all the worries and concern for herself. Eventually, realization dawned on Kayin, or at least he thought it was a realization.
“You worry about the rest of your cubs, don’t you? What happened to them? I’ve… heard a little about it.” Not in any real detail. Just that Chura had brothers and sisters out there somewhere, but they had left with their father. Something like that. “Or are you simply worried that you’re putting too much pressure on Chura? Angel…” he nuzzled his friend affectionately, trying to get her to calm down a little. “Everything will be fine.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:59 am
It seemed Kayin had managed to hit the nail directly on the head. At the mere mentioning of Aailyah's other cubs, the pale female's eyes swelled with tears and she turned away rather quickly as though to try and hide her upset reaction.
The male's nuzzle was appreciated, but there wasn't much anyone could say about the matter. Aailyah was very young during her first litter and she did not know the male as well as she had thought. She held no resentment towards him, he did not manipulate her in any way. Aailyah only resented herself for being unable to hold the love of her own cubs.
In some way, the coalition took the place of Aailyah's family when she found all she had was her single son.
Allowing a few tears to fall before lifting a paw to wipe the others away, Aailyah smiled softly. "While I have the Duma'Chama as my family, home and responsibility, Chura is my only close family and i'm afraid I may drive him off." Turning back to view Kayin once again, the cheetah managed to force back the rest of the tears and smile fully. "Well, I should probably return to Chura. It's late and i'm sure he's concerned as to where I am."
Lifting herself and beginning on her way, the cheetah did feel slightly relieved. Before beginning her short run, she softly added, "Your friendship means the world to me, Kayin."
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:11 pm
Damn. Now he had gone and hurt Aailyah’s feelings and made her cry. He made her cry! Now that was just truly mean of him… All he could do now was just be there for her, something that he was perfectly fine with doing. If she needed a shoulder to cry on, or someone to confide in, then he was happy to be that guy. Honored, even, considering all of the lies he had told in the past, all the manipulated truths. He didn’t regret any of that, of course, since it had been necessary for his survival. At least Aailyah hadn’t learned about all those things. In all likelihood, she would never understand… and probably begin doubting him.
And now he couldn’t even say anything to Angel to comfort her, because he didn’t know her son. His knowledge of Chura was pretty limited to a few simple facts: he was young, he would one day be king, and he was green. That wasn’t very much. He couldn’t very well comfort Aailyah by saying, ‘oh, don’t worry; your son is green! He will always love you’. Later, he’d have to try and meet Chura… but, that would come later.
For now, he simply gave Aailyah another nuzzle and said quietly, “If you ever need anyone to talk to, you know where to find me. I’ll always be happy to listen.” Everyone needed a confidante.
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