Jicho had been spending most of the day debating his next move. Nyuni was driving him up the wall, and he wanted to speak to his father on the issue. The problem was that it wasn't completely his issue. Nyuni should handle it, but Jicho was worried that she wouldn't disclose the complete truth. She really wanted that boy to stay here, and knowing how she was she would get what she wanted. As long as Father knew what was going on, Jicho wouldn't have any more room to complain.
With a heavy sigh, he left his morning perch to find refuge in a cooler location. Black coats and midday sun rays didn't mix well. While he could find some shade to recline in, the idea of cooler floors in the den lured him into it's depths. With a deep sigh, he let his body crash onto the hard floor, closing his eyes as he once again shifted through different ideas of what to do about his vivacious little sister.
[22:12] RhubarbDumpling: Time had passed since the pride had first opened its borders, yet the rage Shabaha felt over it had not eased at all. On the contrary, with each impure cub that was born, and with each mongrel that passed the den's entrance, her ire built strength. Hatred danced behind those pale eyes, and with each "former" rogue she had to endure stinking up her beloved lands the hatred grew,
She unwound herself from a shadowy corner of the den she had claimed as her own upon seeing her twin enter, the green snake on her back uncoiling.
"What, tired of mingling?" she hissed at him, eyes narrowing. Distgusting as it was, her own flesh and blood had started this abomination, and in Jicho Shabaha saw a young Warithi.
[22:21] Saffy Kitti: Jicho couldn't help but flatten his ears against his head. He never understood his sister's actions, and as the moons past, that 'unconditional' love had faded into a dull frustration. He really didn't want to deal with anything right now, yet he walked right into something. He was baiting her, and he knew he'd take it.
"Tired of the heat," he said with a grunt, his tail twitching slightly in irritation. She was ready to unleash something, wasn't she? "I'm sure you know what it feels like, to be outside in the midday heat." He opened his eyes, lessening the pressure of his ears against his head as he looked in her direction. "What do you want, Shabaha?" he asked with a cautious tone.
[22:25] RhubarbDumpling: Hah. The heat of the sun, or the heat of the hell this place had become? Shabaha knew both, all right, and dared not even drink from the nyungu. Who knew what taint these strangers had passed on those waters, on this soil?
In reaction to his question, the lioness curled her lip. It was a far from dainty action, and had Shabaha only known the manic tone her face was taking on of late, she may have been afraid of herself. Or perhaps proud.
"What do I want, dear brother? I want many things. I suspect you know the vast majority of them, however little you car."
[22:34] Saffy Kitti: Jicho snorted, his ears flat on his skull again. He wondered if she was just taking it out on him because he was here, or because it was him all the animosity was for. He watched her movements carefully as he hastily pasted together a reply.
"There is perhaps a few I know of," he mentioned in a cool tone. "I don't see why you feed your anger into them." He glanced over at her, his brows furrowed slightly. "I do not understand that anger, as we need this to survive." If there was no new blood, they would die out. Then what would the deities think of them then? Foolish children holding onto something that would only destroy them. It was hard for the soft-hearted lion to grasp onto.
[22:45] RhubarbDumpling: Once more Shabaha could not disguise her distaste for such thoughts. Was survival of the flesh more important than survival of the soul, of what was right? Did her beloved pride really care more for their own skin than for the love of their goddess? Disgusting, truly disgusting.
"I do not feed my anger, Jicho. These horrible ways feed my anger. I simply care for what is right, and cannot watch all this wrong without disgust. You are so happy to inherit a tattered legacy, just to keep wombs full? To keep them full of mongrels?!"
[22:54] Saffy Kitti: Sneering would have been rewarding, but he knew better than to let his anger control him. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves down. He had always known that his sister's viewed were not the same as him. When he was younger, he never would have guessed how radically different they were. There were times when he was scared of her, if only because she seemed slightly insane from her devotion. One that Jicho saw both sides to, and ended up picking their father's view.
"There would be nothing to inherit if we did not do this," he said, his eyes lingering away from her's. "We would waste away not knowing anything of what life has to offer." His mind wandered slightly to Siri, knowing that he wouldn't have found anything like that if he had kept himself locked into the shadows, spitting on the rest of the world.
[22:59] RhubarbDumpling: Shabaha saw through these lies, she knew that there was much to inherit where the inheritance was pure. There would be the lands, the pride, the devotions and the traditions. How would these outsiders ever know of the rites, of the goddess? Those who told them did not know them in their purity, for they would speak to the filth.
"The goddess would find a way if you were true to her, brother." This last word she practically spat at him. She hated that her brother, father and mother showed no respect for what was right, for what was pure.
[23:18] Saffy Kitti: Shabaha's obsession with the goddess always seemed....odd. He knew of her, what her position was. So why was she always so fixated on her? He suspected that the black of their coats was her real reason, probably believing in the old stories that the elders would speak. He had taken none of them to heart, since the stories had always seemed so far away.
"There's no proof in that," he stated with a growl. He wouldn't have wanted to test that theory. They could really well destroy themselves, hoping for something that the lion didn't completely believe in. What would she do that they weren't doing already? "We could ready well doom ourselves if we sat around and waited for something that might never come."
[21:43] RhubarbDumpling: Were it possible for Shabaha to explode with anger, this was a likely possibility at this point. Visibly shaking with rage, the lioness's voice came out in a low hiss.
"Never come? You would doubt the goddess? You would doubt the reason for our ways? For our pride's very core? You are no better than the mongrels, Jicho, you have no more belief than a filthy rogue."
In Shabaha's mind the fury bubbled, the faces of her family one by one flashing before her eyes. Had they all been thus corrupted? Had they all turned against her? Turned against the goddess? There was no honour left in them. No blood to match hers, no thought-blood that was not impure.
[21:55] Saffy Kitti: There was a flicker of defeat on his face, worry etching its way through his frustration. Having that thrown in his face was oddly unsettling. He had never considered himself a heretic, but the accusations were one hw could not ignore. His eyes searched around for some sort of escape, but he wouldn't be that lucky.
"Your words are heavy ones," he claimed, his voice dropping. "Ones that should not be thrown so wildly where anyone can hear them." He flexed his paws in a release of tension, feeling the hard, cool ground stopping them from their full extension. Tilting his head to stretch his next, he finally turned his attention to her once again. He could feel the anger licking at his throat, worry that he might say things he didn't fully mean.
"I don't carry doubt, only concern." Defense was not his strong point. "But to call me a fithy rogue is an area you haven't passed until now, Shabaha." His eyes narrowed.
[22:00] RhubarbDumpling: "What, ashamed that those who, like you, do not care will hear?"
The hatred was too far gone now to contain, and as Shabaha drew to her feet she could hear the blood thrumming in her ears, feel each thump of her heart as if it were the shaking of the earth beneath her. She alone was willing to stand for what was right and pure, and she alone would find a way.
"You are no brother of mine. You have no blood that my veins recognise. I hate you, Jicho. All of you. You will pay for this."
With these words, she fled the den, too disgusted to stay another moment in the presence of filth once her family. The time for treading amongst the infidels was over.
[22:21] Saffy Kitti: It had all happened so suddenly. The anger that had only begun to tickle his mind disappeared the moment Shabaha spoke again. Shock enveloped his brain, and as the moment passed, the confusion turned into something he didn't recognize. He had no words for it. The closest thing would be along the lines of disgust, but there was no party to aim it at. It went everywhere.
Finally, when his eyes almost felt glazed over, her regained control of himself again. Hate? He couldn't believe that he heard those words. They had never been close, not really, but to use a term so definite? He resisted the urge to chase after her, knowing deep down in his heart that she was too far gone for him to ever reach out to her again.
His only thoughts were on what to do next. Keep this to himself? He couldn't bear to dump more concerns on his father. She had not claimed to do anything drastic. A term that children used when they were upset, silly revenge for hurt feelings. Still, his heart stirred with worry. For the moment, he laid where he was, forgetting all of his past worries for the sister he worried for.
