Barafu:
Barafu'moyo walked slowly in the early hours of the day. Shai was busy taking Baridi and 'Tei out to observe Pich hunting on his own, so he had a little bit of time to himself. He cared deeply for his mate and children, though he would probably never admit it, and yet he had spent his entire life on his own. It was only natural that he would wish to get away every so often.
Kweupe:
Kweupe sat on a small rise, watching the cloud slightly, blocking out the sun. Malai, Shahara, and Han had been gone for a while now, and yet it felt like it had just been yesterday. The wound that had been caused by no longer being connected to them made her ache, a thing she had most certainly not been expecting. She thought she had gotten over losing those she cared about.
It seemed that some habits were harder to kill, after all.
Barafu:
Barafu stopped suddenly as he saw another cheetah in front of him. It wasn't seeing another that made him pause, no, it was the cheetah herself, with her dusty coat and golden spots. It was the coloring of his older littermates, twin boy and girl. If this was his darling sister Kweupe, he would most certainly have some fun with her. He had taken revenge on Mafunde, but Kweupe was fresh. He would much like to hurt her emotionally as well, but if all he could get was roughing her up, than that would have to do.
He approached her as quietly as a falling star.
Kweupe:
Kweupe thought for a bit on the male she had recently met, trying to get her mind off of missing her children. He was a nice male, one she had lots of fun with. She fancied spending more time with him, and had gone off to find them something to eat for them. But seeing the rise had reminded her of watching her children leave, and, well, memories sucked.
Barafu:
That was it.
It WAS her.
The scent on the breeze was most certainly his older sister, and the bands on her legs were yet another dead giveaway. Oh, he could almost taste her fear. How would she react, seeing the weak baby brother they had all forgotten about, alive and ruthless? He would make her scream for being chosen. How dare their father save her and Mafunde and not him? There was not justice in the world that would balance the unfairness of that one damned night.
The white cheetah stopped just behind the female, smirking darkly in the fading light.
"Hello, dearest sister," he purred in his most sinister of voices.
Kweupe:
Kweupe's blood ran cold at the low voice over her shoulder. It was as if all of her nightmares and fears were wrapped into one voice, a voice she had never thought she would hear.
Very slowly, the cheetah turned, shocked at the male just a few feet from her. He was white, like their father had been and with the same bands and tear-marks, only in their mother's light gold. His body was covered in the most horrid of scars, including some across his muzzle and just above his eye. He wore the pelt of a jackal around his neck and back, and the look in his eyes... it seared her.
"Oh gods... Wingu..."
Barafu:
Barafu's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth at her words.
"Never say that name again!" he barked at her, his temper flaring in his dark eyes, ears flicked back in hatred of that name. He hated that name, loathed it. He was no cloud, soft and innocent! He was hard, cruel, cold. He was the Ice Heart, and she would learn well he had not chosen that name lightly.
With a snarl, he lunged at her.
Kweupe:
Kweupe cried out when her brother attacked, trying her best to get over the emotions running through her and dodge. She barely moved out of the way in time, which was saying something for her smaller brother's speed, considering she had had the high ground at the very beginning.
She leaped from the small hill, turning to keep her brother in her sights.
"What happened to you?" she cried out, thunder rumbling in the distance, heralding an approaching storm.
Barafu:
Barafu's eyes burned with hatred as he rounded on his sister. His banded ears set back against his scull, his teeth bared, he stalked towards her, slowly and purposefully.
"What happened to me?? Life! You were so lucky, you and your damned twin. That b*****d took you to safety and felt me to die! You got to grow up happy in your stupid little family and I had to fight every damned day. Where's the justice in that?"
And with that he lunged at her again.
Kweupe:
Kweupe was too shocked by his words to move. It wasn't until he had slashed at her throat that she pulled back with a choked scream, his claws cutting shallowly into her. The rain came all of a sudden, pelting down on them as the cheetahs danced a dance of pain and death around one another. Kweupe had never really needed to fight, so she was no match for her younger brother, smaller as he might have been. He was quicker, stronger, and much more trained than she was. It wasn't long before she was lying on the muddied ground, bleeding from her neck and back where he had raked his claws.
Barafu:
Barafu stood over her, breathing heavily.
Damn, but he couldn't kill her. He wanted her to suffer and death was a release. He should blind her, yes that would make her suffer. Oh, but so much worse.
"Never have children, dear sister," the sadistic cheetah warned as the rain pelted down around them. The lightning flashed behind him ominously.
"For if you do, know they shall never be safe from me. I stole Pich away. Know that nothing will stop me from taking them from you as well."
And with that, he turned from her and walked off into the storm.
Kweupe:
Kweupe heard his words, and with each one her heart cracked more and more. There really was nothing left of the tiny cub she had once called brother. All that was left was a hateful, bitter creature that had beat her into the ground and threatened any family she chose to have in the future. Thank the gods he didn't know about Ini or Zikwi. Though they where near grown, they were still her babies. She couldn't bare for him to take them from her.
She attempted to stand, but the pain in her back was too great. With another scream, she collapsed into the mud, the sudden storm pelting her viciously.
