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 Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:31 am
Finally! Korrin was no longer a little brother! Wit the birth of Siti's cubs, even though they were really in no way related to him, he felt all the part of an older brother! It was exciting and terrifying...and at first he had almost been angry. "I'll be a good brother to them," He'd decreed. "Not like Baako. I won't leave them alone!" And he hadn't. After being allowed near the cubs again, the serval had taken to constantly lingering with them, babysitting when asked, and even doing a bit to help get food for Siti, so she could stay home more.
When the cubs began walking and talking, it had been amazing! Had he himself ever been this small? He'd been smaller, actually, but he couldn't remember it. The cubs were harder to keep track of at this age, but he felt very loved and involved. He was, apparently, the perfect size to pounce or wrestle with, when one of the cubs needed some fun.
Today had been rather quiet, actually, and Siti had gone out. Happy to help, Korrin had draped himself over the exit to the den the cubs were napping in. A well-intentioned, if undersized guard.
The oldest cub of the litter, if only by moments, Kitandiko felt the heavy weight of responsibility over them. She kept her eyes open and her ears perked, not wanting to let her siblings wander into any danger. Particularly after what had happened with her sister at the ocean. They had both nearly drowned, and though Siti was none the wiser, And felt there was the constant danger of getting in trouble looming over her.
She just wanted to do good, and she had to make up for that little slip up. If only she could find a way to make up for it, in a karmic kind of way, so the guilt would vanish and she could go on playing the role of valiant protector, without the lingering idea that she was in no way cut out for such a job.
Needing to think, a solitary cub despite her efforts to remain family oriented, And wandered toward the mouth of the den only to find their little big brother blocking the way. She tried to step over him, but her legs wobbled and she ended up draped over him, as her namesake would naturally imply.
Oh? Didn't want to play. He was about to ask if she was hungry, when she went on. Still stubborn..."Well I guess it won't hurt if you go out...just stay close. Try to keep where I can see you, alright?" He slithered out from under Kit to let her by, frowning a little. For a moment he wondered if she just didn't want to talk to him, or if she really just wanted to get some air.
Either way, he was determined to offer support. Then den did get stuffy, he knew, though he personally liked that. To each their own though. "Well if you want company, let me know, alright?" If she started to wander too far he could always catch up. For all his being called a 'cub' he really was fully grown, and much more sure and swift than any of Siti's children for now at least.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:44 am
“Why?” she asked, feeling confrontational for no reason. It was one of her more difficult personality traits. She couldn’t help but start trouble, even though she pledged daily that she would be good. She eyed him as he moved from under her, setting her paws beneath her resolutely, “why should I stay where you can see me? You’re not even related to us, and mom never told me I have to listen to you.”
“I don’t want company. That’s why I’m leaving,” she sighed, swishing her tail behind her as she moved away from the den, She heard the waters nearby, and a chill ran through her spine, her skin tingly at the memory of how the cold water had made her feel. She shrank back a little, as if she were already too close to the water for her own good, “I’m… uh… I’m going to go… this way.” She said, more for her own benefit than his. She wasn’t scared, she was just… going a different way because she hadn’t explored inland yet.
Yeah. That was it.
Korrin started to feel nervous around Kit when her reply seemed angry. Had she woken up on the wrong side of the pelt? For an instant the old urge to cower flickered up, but he quelched it with a reminder that this was his family, they wouldn't hurt him.
At least, not physically. "You're not even related to us!" It was like a slap in the face to the poor serval. "What...?" He stammered a bit, and withdrew, squinting at his feet a moment as if they were the most fascinating things ever. Not even related? But..he...and they...and Siti..
He made no response to the cub's further comments. He was distraught, to say the least. Intentional or not, Kit's words had hurt him, and hurt him greatly. So he wasn't related. He thought of them as siblings, didn't that count? He'd known them since birth, didn't that count? Siti had adopted him, made him part of the family...None of it counted?
What if the others all felt that way? The idea was too horrible, and he shook himself, refusing to think about it, just in time to see Kit start heading inland. Well what now? Should he do what he thought a good broth-no...did she even think of him as a friend?...Should he follow her, or stay? He was torn over the issue.
And eyed the serval curiously. She frowned, not realizing her comments would be taken so badly. Scuffing her paws against the ground, she shifted her gaze from side to side, swaying with it thoughtfully. She should probably apologize, though she hardly felt compelled to. The key thing with apologies were that they needed to come sparingly, so their meaning never lost its impact. So she never offered them, and would not until she really needed to. Instead, she would have to work her way around this situation.
“Listen, you can come with me if you want. The others never wake up this early, and I don’t think mom will mind if we’re just a few feet off that way. We can play, if you want. I just woke up and had a bad dream, again, so I’m… you know. Whatever.” She frowned, not finding her words in the least bit comforting. If she didn’t, she didn’t imagine he would.
“I’ll tell you a secret, if you want. Something I haven’t told mom yet, but you have to promise you won’t tell her. And then we can have it between us, and you’ll know something about me no one else does. That can make you my brother, even if there’s no blood between us, right?”
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:25 pm
Korrin watched Kit blankly. He bit back the urge to ask 'Well, are you going or what?' That wasn't a nice thing to do, and he didn't want to distance himself more than she already thought he was. It was good she didn't apologize. To him it would have seen like covering her tail more than anything, and that wasn't what he needed.
He managed a sort of pained half hopeful, half suspicious look when she offered him to come along. She was right about the other part though. The other cubs sounded fast asleep, from what he heard, and as long as he was nearby it would be okay. His own frustrations did seem to diminish when Kit complained of a bad dream. That he could understand. So many times, before he'd met this family, he'd had nightmares when he was alone. That explained part of her mood, at least.
Again, he was suspicious of her offer to make him a secret-brother, but then...it was better than nothing. And he desperately wanted to be accepted by the cubs...It was worth a shot, right? He got to his feet and nodded. "I would...like to be your brother. Secret-brother, I guess."
“Works for me,” she said with a nod and a gesture that he could follow her. She walked a littler farther than she had indicated, but came to a stop not too far away from the den. Sitting down, she swished her tail and looked around. She much preferred the inland to the water’s edge. Out there it was nothing but sand and water, both of which she was not too fond of, and the strange sound of the churning waters drowned out a lot of everything else. Inland she could hear the grasses and the creatures that lived there, she much preferred their company to fish and jelly puddles that stung if you touched them. Not that she ever had, but she had seen it happen.
“So I had a nightmare,” she said, not finding it particularly hard to talk about. Sharing wasn’t difficult for her, because she didn’t really believe in secrets. She understood the nature of creatures, and how they liked to speak and tell stories. She knew there were some things that specific people shouldn’t know, like her mother could not know this story, but if she told Korrin to keep it ‘secret’, then he probably would. And if she did find out eventually, at least she would have someone to blame, “but it was tied into what happened with Lila the other day. She went to the water and was playing in it, but it swept her out and I had to go in and swim her back. I hate water, and I we both could have… you know. But we can’t tell mom because she’ll get mad at us for being bad.”
Korrin bobbed his head, hopes returning at Kit's urging. He gave one last peek into the den-yep, all fast asleep-and hurried after her, easily catching up to walk beside and slightly behind her. He remained standing when she sat, stretching and rubbing against a rock. He'd been sitting all day it seemed, and standing felt good.
His attention was brought back to Kit when she began to talk, and he stopped his rubbing to pay attention. Nightmares were scary (obviously) and he knew he never talked about his own...so hearing Kit share was a rather brave thing to do, in his mind. "What happened with Lil-" oh. She was going to explain. Better be quiet and listen then. His eye would have bugged out if they'd been able to though. They had nearly both WHAT? Drowned...
"Don't worry. I won't tell!" He would however point out the possible dangers of the sea to Siti next he saw her. Maybe because she was still new to it as well she didn't see how dangerous it could be.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:04 am
And frowned, shaking her head at the ground, “I hope you don’t. I don’t want to be bad. Not for mom or for my family. I just want to take care of them. And, I guess, if you’re going to be a part of this family, I want to take care of you, too. I feel like I can go it, you know, like I have a lot of what it takes to be that kind of person inside me. It’s just harder for me than I thought, and I don’t know why.”
She sighed. Being the oldest, if only by moments, weighed heavily on her. She knew the adopted members of their family were technically more responsible than she was, but she couldn’t help but feel that blood was stronger. Changing the subject, or rather bringing it back to what it was, she shook her head.
“I hate water. Even before she made me go in it, I hated it. It feels so weird, and I don’t ever want to go in it again. I don’t want to be that close to it, or even hear it. It makes my skin crawl.”
Korrin tilted his head slightly. "Why would you be bad though? You saved Lila. That's a good thing, not a bad one. Even being near the water isn't that bad, unless Mom specifically told you not to." He didn't remember such an instruction, but it was possible they'd been told while he was out once. "And I can understand how you feel. That's how I feel." There was a pause while he considered how he'd come to be here.
"My real family abandoned me. Just up and left without taking me one day. But then Siti found me, and made me part of her family." He smiled a little. "So I don't wanna mess this one up." He still blamed himself for driving his old family away, though in time he would accept that it was in fact not his fault at all.
"We live near the water though..." His ears flicked back a moment. "Would you leave? I mean...the water's right outside the den. But if you don't like it...why don't you like it? Aside from the whole...you know."
“I don’t think you’ll mess this one up,” she said pointedly, though she didn’t explain what she meant. She smiled, though it was fleeting, and shook her head, “I’m sure mom brought you in for a reason. She probably knows you’re better for us than on your own.” She was speaking casually, what she was thinking coming out without much processing. She was articulate for her age, but she didn’t filter herself all that often, “Maybe your first family just didn’t see it. If mom does, though, something must be there.”
Sighing, she looked up at the sky. Time didn’t seem to be passing. “I wouldn’t leave my family unless I had to. Sometimes I think about going on an adventure, but what’s the point if I don’t have a purpose? I don’t see why I would leave unless something took me away. Something important. Or if I was told to leave, I guess.”
She sighed, shaking her head, “I just don’t like it. I saw it for the first time, that whole big thing of water, and I just knew I didn’t want to go near it. I can’t explain it any different. I guess it’s just natural. I’m weird.”
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:22 am
It was good to hear from someone else that he wasn't going to mess up. His confidence was returning as he spent more time with the family. Once upon a time, when he'd been with his brother, he was the most confident serval in the world. It had only been when said brother disappeared that he found himself fearful and afraid. He was learning to stand on his own now though, and it made him overall a more positive cat.
"Thanks, Kit." He leaned over, offering a spontaneous sort of rub-hug. He liked all of Siti's cubs, even if sometimes they didn't like him. And he was starting to understand Kit more, he thought.
"I don't think you're weird." He bated gently at her side. "It's a lot of water. Mom's from a place with a lot of trees, which means a lot of ground, so it makes sense it'd be weird to you. Even if you haven't seen anyplace but here, I mean. You're allowed to not like it."
And let him rub her, though she hardly reciprocated. She did appreciate the gesture, it was just awkward for her to be physically connected to friends or family. Sniffing, she nodded at his thank you, then shrugged and laughed.
“Just because you don’t think it, doesn’t make it not true,” she pointed out, smiling rather wickedly. She liked making jokes at her own expense. She pawed back at him, standing and lowering herself into a playful posture, claws digging at the earth, “I’m glad I have permission to not like it, then. I won’t have to feel guilty about it. I’m pretty sure mom likes this place.”
She bounced on her front paws and swatted at him before retreating playfully, “but you better not tell mom any of this, or I’ll… I don’t know, but I will!”
Korrin didn't mind that Kit didn't return his hug. One day she would, maybe. "Well if you say so." He smiled. Somehow the mood seemed lighter. Distantly he could hear the waves, but he was distracted from their roar. "Well still. You're not weird to me. I bet Lila feels sort of the same, now at least. She won't think you're weird either. And that two against one, you know!"
He was excited at the prospect of playing. So far the cubs had been to little. It reminded him of his own missed childhood, and in an instant he was down, tail waggling in the air, ready to counter any pounce with his own. "Oh I won't tell mom! It's over and done with now, it's not like she can change it." He swatted at her feet before launching himself forward, aiming to (gently) tackle his sister.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:58 am
“That’s a good point,” And said thoughtfully, having never taken a moment to do the math. They did out number her in that moment, and she was glad for it, mostly. It didn’t change how she felt, but it was a nice thought.
She let him tackle her and scuffled with him playfully, kicking her stubby back feet and trying to keep him with her, rather than rolling away to escape. She chewed on whatever she could gnaw, catching his ear and tugging it before releasing him abruptly and bouncing off. She heard the sound of morning yawns and mewing banter on the air and knew her siblings were waking up.
Frowning, she looked back toward the den. “I guess they’re waking up. We should probably go back.”
Korrin fought back for the few moments their scuffle lasted, pawing at Kit's face and trying to free his ear when she tugged on it. It felt good just to play like this, and he was glad he was such a small size then. Even being older, he didn't have to worry about smushing them or anything.
He perked his ears when Kit mentioned waking up. The cubs? Oh man, he had to get back before they all ran loose over the pride. "We should." He gave her a sly look. "I'll race you there?"
And was not much for racing, but she was energetic in that moment and took off at a run before there was ever a ‘go’ in the air. She ran as fast as her stubby paws could carry her, but she was still young and rather uncoordinated. She couldn’t get there before him, but she certainly tried. Panting, out of breath, she moved to a corner of the cave and flopped down, taking a nap just as her siblings were waking up.
When she was awake again, she would have to have a rematch with Korrin.
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