Having Siri in his life was something....different. Exciting, thrilling, and also a bit nervewreaking. He wasn't used to having to really worry about himself for more than his family. Now he thought in different ways, especially about the future. Especially about his home.
His nose twitched at the thought. No...there was a scent in the air.
"Big brother!"
He glanced over to see his little sister running towards him. She wasn't really little anymore, especially with even younger sibilings, but Jicho couldn't see her otherwise.
"Big brother!" the lioness gasped as she finally reached her black-coated brother. "I've been looking for you! I managed to catch something today, and I wanted to share it with you!"
The red lioness was the picture of adorableness. Never quite good at anything, but always giving her all was what endeared her to many, especially Jicho. He had quite a weight on his shoulders, and she merely lived day by day, excitement always glowing within her eyes.
"Oh? Is it anything good?" he asked with a chuckle. Normally she could only catch the old, injured, or just plain small.
The red lioness stuck her tongue out at him. "It is, I promise! We can actually both eat off of it!" The young msaka was far from a great huntress, and she knew she would never become anything close to an elder. Regardless, she still kept her head up, and went out on every hunt she was invited too. If not, she would make her own hunt, normally coming back with small creatures to help feed the young ones.
Jicho's chuckle grew into a laugh. "All right, all right, I believe you! Stop glaring at me like you want the shadows to consume me." He nudged her shoulder to shoulder, slowly following her as she led the way.
Skipping forward, Nyuni guided him to the spot where she had left the carcass of a gazelle. It wasn't the biggest one she had seen, but it was certainly one of the larger catches she had done lately. Fully proud of herself, the red lioness offered a small, respectul bow to her elder brother before offering him a wink. "See?"
"I do see. Quite well, Nyuni. You're definately needed to help feed at least the smaller mouths of our people, if only just you and me at times." He motioned to settle down near the corpse, tearing into the meal as if he hadn't eaten for days.
Nyuni pouted for a moment, as she always wished to be more. She never let it stop her, but... "Thanks, Jicho. I'll remember that I'm supposed to feed the babies instead of everyone else."
Jicho balked at her statement, enough so to stop mid-bite. "What?" He swallowed quickly before continuing. "What do you mean? Nyuni, I didn't mean it like that. You have a skill that can be used when it's needed."
Nyuni knew she was over reacting, but it was still a sore spot within her heart. "I just wanted to be able to help everyone. There's no children here anymore. There's less of us than there used to be, too!"
Jicho sighed, knowing what she had meant. The pride had shrunk, especially when they didn't need it to. They were having enough trouble just being as one huge family, and they needed the few outsiders to thin the bloodline out. His tail twitched, knowing that he was growing a bit stressed himself. "You're going a bit too far, Nyuni. We have to keep together if we want to grow. You know that, so I don't know why you're so upset."
Nyuni bit her tonuge, only wanting to argue back to her elder brother. She knew better to, than, because there was no way she was going to win the argument. And she was done running away when things didn't go her way. She was an adult now, and she really needed to start acting like one. Her heart thought otherwise, but she was learning how to ignore it. "Yes, brother," she said quietly, her brown eyes searching the earth below her forepaws.
Jicho watched his sister carefully, seeing that there was something more there than she wanted to say. What it was, he couldn't guess. Sighing, he let it drop, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her today. Hopefully some day soon he would be able to figure it out.
"Is there anything else that's been on your mind lately?"
"No," was the harsh reply. Her eyes were growing more narrow.
"Are you sure?" the black lion asked, cleaning himself from the meal that now sat in his stomache like a rock. It wasn't the most comforting feeling.
"No," came the reply, mimicing the first one. Something that Nyuni wasn't ready to talk about. Jicho had a lot to deal with when it came to her.
The black lion sighed again, exhausted from her already. He loved her, but she was a lot of work. "It's really obvious that something is wrong, Ny. You know you can tell me. It's probably easier than telling Mom or Dad, huh?"
The red lioness shook her head. "It's not telling. It's asking."
Jicho looked surprised. "Ask?" He paused, the surprise slowly settling away so he could think more clearly. "Do you want to ask me now?"
Nyuni shook her head in reply, but kept herself quiet. Her tense muscles were beginning to relax, though. She had obviously calmed herself down from whatever was bothering her just moments ago.
Hmmm. The silent treatment. It was certainly something that he wasn't used to, but when Nyuni fell silent that meant that it was something serious. And as she was rarely as serious as this, he made note to work around her slowly so he could get it out of her. It was bothering her enough that she was bringing it up, but not enough to really interfere with her daily life.
Nyuni's eyes searched Jicho's pale silver ones. She never understood how he saw out of them, but she never understood it from Shabaha either. Her sister....she sighed. No, she wouldn't think about her now. She knew it would make Jicho even more uncomfortable.
Jicho's head tilted to the side, quite cub-like as he watched the varying emotions flicker across Nyuni's face. What was wrong with her? He was never one good at judging others, especially emotions. If only he knew, he could be able to help her now instead of stare at her blankly.
Nyuni sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, big brother. I'm misleading you off of a cliff that doesn't exist. I will be all right. I will ask you when night falls; I feel more comfortable at that time for some reason."
Jicho snorted. "Perhaps because you can't see me, so you'll feel like you're talking to yourself."
The red lioness laughed at the comment, one that she used to be afraid of as a child. Jicho nearly disappeared at night, and if he wasn't careful he was quite good at scaring the others around.
"Sounds like a plan then, hm?" His tail swished behind him. "C'mon, let's see if anyone else wants the rest of this meal before we leave it for the vultures. There must be a more hungry belly around here than those beasts."
Still laughing, the red lioness lept over to her brother, helping him carry back the gazelle carcass to the cave where they would hopefully find someone greatful for the free meal.
Only once the sun fell and the shadows came out would they speak again about Nyuni's worries.
