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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:31 pm
It had been a little while since Kucha's beloved cubs were born from his mate, and he had had to get used to parenting despite his disability. It helped to have such a large "family" to share the burden, but most of his "siblings-in-law" already had their own cubs to take care of. But he quickly learned the individual scents of his kin, and the slight differences in the brush of their downy-soft coats. The leopard could even distinguish the beats of their tiny hearts. He loved his children dearly, perhaps even more so than Matawi, his nurturing mate.
However, from the very beginning, Kucha had noticed something amiss with one of his cubs. He could hear his only son's pawsteps sometimes wander off on a tangent while the rest of them were on the move. Tawi had always been quick to catch him before he got into trouble, and after a while he didn't seem to be doing it on purpose. The day the cubs were born, as Tawi was describing them to Kucha, she told him of how their son's eyes were the same shining silver as his own. Kucha fretted about the possibility of him sharing his disability, but didn't dare voice it until it was a proven fact.
After time had passed, it had grown more obvious, to the point when Tawi had to sit Kucha down one day to solemnly tell him that their son was, in fact, truly blind. Kucha demanded her to swear that they wouldn't abandon him like his own mother had done to him, and Tawi soothed him saying she wouldn't. Kucha was distraught, but after the gentle leopardess had taken him in, why would she leave one of her own cubs - of course, Kucha had to force the memory of her dumping her first litter with a cheetah from his mind.
So now it was time for Kucha to confront his dear son. He had pulled him away from the rest of their family to rest beneath the shade of a tree surrounded by tall, soft grass. It had been Kucha's favorite place to just lie with Tawi and relax; it was peaceful and quiet, and relatively secluded. Though the midday sun shone over the lands, the shade made the temperature just right. It was a good place to talk.
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:31 pm
He'd never seen light, or color, never known what those things were. His siblings didn't ever really talk about what they saw or didn't see, so he hadn't yet even heard of "sight". Truly, he didn't know ... what he was missing.
Ele only knew that he was different.
Where the pawsteps of his family were sure and strong, his were uncertain and stumbling, especially at first. He ran into things a lot, and ended up bruising his nose more than once. But it didn't seem to bother him... he would just get up, file away where whatever he'd run into was, and go on. Usually he didn't run into the same things again - though it had happened a time or two.
Then, when they started to move, he found it hard to keep up sometimes - harder to tell where the others were. Until he learned to listen carefully and constantly sniff at the air, to follow their scents... then he did better, but still not as good as the rest.
Some of the other young ones teased him for not being able to keep up, wandering off, or running into things whenever they stopped in an area, but he didn't let that bother him either. He was just different, that was all.
But one day, when his father pulled him aside, the young cub started to worry, just a bit. His father had sounded weird, when he said to come with him... What if being different was bad? But then, why hadn't anyone told him? Maybe... they were too scared to, or something. Nervously, he sat down and waited, wondering what was going to happen.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:50 am
The white leopard reached over and gently bit the scruff of his son's neck, pulling him into the cradle of his forelegs. He could feel every breath the cub took, every beat of his heart, so near to his own. "Eletumaini," Kucha spoke softly, gently. "You share so many qualities that I myself have. You have the tuft on your head that none of your sisters share with me." He tousled the thick fluff with his nose, smiling. "I can feel that you have a good structure; you will grow up big and strong."
Kucha knew Ele wouldn't understand the next part. He himself never did until that horrible day when he was abandoned, after being scorned by his mother for his disability. No, it was best to describe it the way he understood it - after all, Kucha didn't know the differences between the colors of his own pelt and his family's; he just went about life with the things that did matter.
"But you are also just like me in another way. A way that neither your sisters, your mother, or any of your extended 'family' share." Taking a deep breath, he came out and said it: "Ele, you are blind." At the quickened, confused beat of his son's heart, he continued, "You are different, it's true. But that's not to say it's a curse. After all, I've survived just fine all these years of my life. I just welcome it as a secret blessing; that's how you must see it." Kucha smiled at his last phrase: neither of them could "see" anything.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:30 pm
At first, the young leopard relaxed at his father's words, smiling when Kucha ruffled at the fur on his head and told him he would grow up strong. That would be good... then, even if there was something wrong with him, it wouldn't matter so much. Because he could just beat up anyone who made fun of him!
But then he frowned slightly, indeed.... not understanding the next part very well. "What... does blind mean?" he asked after a minute or two. Was that just another word for being different?
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:29 pm
Kucha furrowed his brow, deliberating. "Being blind means that you can't see, really." Of course, Ele probably wouldn't understand what that meant, either. "Sight, the ability to see things, comes from our eyes. Eyes are the big round things in the middle of your face." The leopard gently guided his son's paws to his own face, letting the sensitive paws feel the half-submerged eyes, the half-closed lids, and his long lashes. "Can you feel them, Ele? You have them too," he said, moving his paws over Ele's own eyes. "All leopards do. Actually, as far as I know, all animals do." He couldn't explain how eyes worked; even if he knew, it wouldn't have mattered to either of them.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:48 pm
Ele indeed felt his father's eyes and then ducked his head a little when Kucha put a paw over his own face. He had felt them before when he was lying down... putting paws over his own face to see if it was the same as his siblings' a time or two.
"So ... so mine... our eyes ... they're broken?" he asked, slowly. He still didn't quite see what was so bad or serious about it but it was kind of sad.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:53 pm
Kucha chuckled softly, gently nuzzling his son's face. "Not necessarily," he answered. "We just can't use them like others can. In fact, I have found it to be particularly useful whenever I get into a scrap with someone. If you move them around a lot, it confuses your opponent." Hopefully, Ele wouldn't have to worry about fighting any time soon. He'd save those unique lessons for another day.
"But tell me seriously," he said in a playful tone. "Have you ever really needed your eyes? Because that sense has been weakened, your others are so much more sensitive." At least, that's what he himself had observed. He rattled on for a bit on examples of this, such as his sense of smell, which always led him to the first milky n****e of his mother and Kucha's beloved mate; his sensitive hearing which made him first to awaken to the morning songs of birds; even the sense of touch which made him so much more easily remember old trails and the way the earth moved beneath his paws. It was an entirely different world they lived in.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:57 pm
Ele listened for a few minutes then, and slowly nodded. "Yea... I guess so," he replied - though he still sounded a little unsure. He still thought it was a little weird not to have something that everyone else did.
But if his dad said it was okay he would believe him. "I can smell a lot of things no one else can sometimes..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:55 am
"Don't worry, son, you'll do just fine," he said with a slight chuckle. "Just because we don't have the same skills as everyone else doesn't mean we're not as good as them. Everyone has their place." Kucha paused and tried to remember what he'd heard from the Pridelands, when he traveled near there many years ago. "We all share a part in the 'Great Circle of Life.'" He honestly wasn't quite sure if he was using the phrase correctly, but it still seemed to fit.
"Oh?" he asked encouragingly, smiling gently. "Like what?"
It would still be a while before even Ele could have the senses of his father. After all, Kucha had honed his skills through the entirety of his long life, and Ele was still very young.
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:40 am
Ele blinked slightly at the Circle of Life comment. He didn't quite get that one ... but before he could really ask a question, his father asked him a question first.
Grinning, he bounced a little and pointed his head off to the right a little, ears perking. "Uhm, like... I bet no one else has noticed that there was a mouse or something that went through here a little while ago."
Carefully making his way over toward the tiny trail, he patted a paw on the ground. "Here."
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