[LOG] Sunshine and Nighttime Sisters (Kim x Kuku)

[Sergeant Sargent]

Ever since she was able to walk, Kisikusiku would slip away from her mother’s den, vanishing into the dark shadows of the jungle never to be seen again until another clan member found her chewing on the stem of a big flower, sitting between the roots of a big tree, or innocently teasing a butterfly, always right out in the open, unconcealed yet invisible. Too young to realize what she was doing, she melted into the jungle shadows without even trying. Only a flash of her white ears gave her away.

Kuku, as her mother called her, had “run off again” on another adventure of discovery. By now her parents knew that she was only going out to play when she went missing, not trying to run away, but their attempts to explain the importance of staying close to the den fell more or less on deaf ears. What was the harm in going a little further away from the den, and then once you’ve gone a little further, why not go a little further than that?

Kuku didn’t understand what her parents meant about her “disappearing.” If she ever disappeared or went invisible, or whatever it was her parents said she did, she would have definitely noticed! Kuku tried to be invisible once. She closed her eyes and concentrated real hard to make herself disappear. She almost succeeded, but when she opened her eyes she became visible again. After a while she lost interest in being invisible. On this day Kuku was playing on a trickling rock waterfall fed by a shallow stream. Most of the stones were larger than her whole body, perfect for climbing and jumping. It was a cub’s paradise. The water washed around her oversized paws as she hopped down the large, flat rocks descending the falls, unaware of the danger of falling into the deeper pool below.

The days her sister diasppeared were the days her daddy seemed to care about the cubs. The big lion male didn't seem to like the family until something bad happened. Then he always blamed himself. Violet eyes fell upon the sleeping family and she sighed softly, a smile pulling at her lips. Daddy laid beside Mommy, close like always, but not touching. She knew he thought of them precious. Like if he did anything wrong, the family he'd woven together would break. Kim'acha never actually spoke with her father about this matter, she just knew. One sibling was missing, as always. Her little shadow sister had slipped away again, causing no alarm within this peacefull looking group. Though it tugged at her heart when Kisi slipped away like this. She couldn't. Kim was far to bright for such things.

Still, it didn't stop her this day. She stepped out of the cave and was greeted by her grandmother. Explaining she was off to find Kisi, Koi gladly let her go and the yellow Gasht ambled along nearly blind. She'd inherited her father's trade of partial blindness. That's why her eyes were dull but her hearing sharp. How many of their family had this, she didn't know. No one knew about it. Listening, following her scent, Kim'acha eventually heard the trickling of water, head tilting to the side at it as her lips curled again. She didn't know there was a waterfall around here! She should have guessed, though. This was a pure paradise from what Kim could see.

Squinting, she made out a form of another on the stones, playing with the water. Letting out a mewl, the cub slipped in closer, finally seeing a step she could step on and giggled a bit as the water rushed over her paws. It felt good against the heat of the day, better infact, than a bath from their mother did. "Kisi, is that you?" She called out, nose practically against the stones to see where to step next. Kim saw shapes and colors, but didn't see things too clearly. They were fuzzy to her. "Kisi, help me over? Tell me which way to go?"  

[Sergeant Sargent]

“Kim?” Kuku turned around with a big smile and started hoping back up the rocks the way she came. “Hang on, I’ll be there in a second!”

She loved playing with her brighter siblings. Mawu explained that bright lionesses are very honorable and should be respected, but that was only one reason why Kuku liked them. Kuku loved colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo - her favorite colors in the world. But Kuku didn’t mind being black. After all, her mother was almost as black as her and so were two of her sisters. Even Vestip’s coat carried a little black. Having this dark coat just meant she was a part of their family, and at this point in her life, Kuku felt proud to say that. Her back feet slipped as she climbed up the rock. Unhurt and undaunted, she scrambled up and over and stood on the rock next to her bright sister. “Here I am! Are you looking for frogs, too?”

Like the rest of the family, Kuku had no idea that her sister’s vision was impaired. Sometimes Kim seemed to get lost easily or trip over rocks and things. Kuku just thought she was a little clumsy.

When her sister got close enough, Kim chirrped out happily and grinned. Right. Frogs. She had to rememeber they didn't know. The only one who did was their father, and she went to him about it. Of course she was looking for frogs. Seeming to peer into the water, the bright cub grinned a bit and nodded. "Yes! I wanted to bring a frog to daddy... See if he'll warm up a bit," she said with a sage like nod. Those violet eyes watched her sister's movements and she stepped closer, carefully putting her paw on a rock after feeling for it.

She knew that Kisi loved color, and that's one of the reasons she liked being around her black sister. The other two had red on them, a proud color their mother told them. Kisi had none, and it made Kim feel bad that she soaked up her color. That's what she always had thought. She'd gotten her siblings colors and that's why she was so bright. Kim had told Kisi when they were smaller that she was sorry and would find a way to give her back her yellow. 'You deserve yellow,' is what she had said. Kisi had simply shook her head and stated how proud she was to wear the black of their mother and father. It made Kim's heart swell a little with happiness. Another one of her siblings content in the place they were born into.

Mawu had tried to explain that. Their ranks. But Kim didn't get it, nor did she really care. She was content, happy and just wanted nothing more than to play with the rest of the siblings she had. Kim was one of the hardest working when it came to try to get Vestip closer to them. She wanted her daddy by her side more than anything else in this world at the moment. ".....Do you think he'd like a frog....?"  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Kuku nodded with certainty. “Well, of course! Everybody likes frogs, I think.” She pursed her lips in thought. Vestip was a bit of a mystery. He only seemed to be around when she went missing or when Mawu was hunting and recruited him to watch over her brothers and sisters. Kuku hardly ever spent any time with him either. From an early age, Kuku knew that girls are better than boys. She liked being around her mother much more than she liked being around her father.

“Actually, I don’t know what dad would like,” she said, ears twitching. She giggled. “He’d probably get mad if it hopped on him. That’d be really funny.”

Kim should have known that dad wouldn't like frogs. He acted like a girl sometimes in that respect. But even mommy enjoyed frogs. With a little smile, the blindingly yellow female carefully made her way further into the stream on the rocks, seeming to be completely unaware of just how deep the water was. "Yeah... I don't think Daddy would enjoy it. But if we brought him back a big tasty fish?" She asked, those odd orbs focusing on where she last had seen her sister. No doubt Kuku had moved to follow her. Tail flicking a bit more the Gasht female crouched on a big rock and stuck her paw in the water, waiting for a fish to nibble at one of her toes.

"Do you think momma will bring us back some tasty meat?" Kim had taken quite well to gazelle meat; her favorite flavor. When she felt a nibble, her claws struck out and she attempted to get the fish, but to no avail. It was harder than she thought it would be!  

[Sergeant Sargent]

“Wow Kim, that’s a great idea! I bet everybody would be real impressed if we caught a fish, especially grandma.” Kuku climbed down to the lowest rock at the surface of the pool and couched beside her sister as water trickled over her paws and wet her tail. Their sides almost touched, less than an inch or so between them on the rock. A clumsily placed paw or a sudden, uncoordinated movement would easily knock one of the cubs into the water.

The clear water was lit by beams of yellow sunlight that penetrated the canopy. Unaware of the danger, Kuku became entranced by the fish swirling with their colors as the light bounced and danced, flicking off their bright scales like twinkling stars. She inched closer to the edge, lifted her rear end and peered into the water. Kuku had a laugh that savanna lions might compare to a not-too-bright hyena. When the fish scattered, she slid back on the rock, startled by the splash, and let out a doofy giggle.

“I dunno, but I want a fish. I want to know what they taste like.” She licked her lips emphatically. This time, she scooted even closer to the edge, practically sitting on it as she watched the fish swim. After a few seconds, a bright orange fish swam right under her nose. Chills went down her spine, muscles coiled. She wanted that fish.

....  

[Feral Mule]

She was aware of how close her sister was to the water, because she was peering in and trying to look at the fish. She could make them out because they were near the surface. Thank the Gods for that. But, one slip and they would both be at the water's mercy. Looking to her dark sibling, Kim's eyes closed in a peaceful smile.

"Kissy, why don't we go to the shore and the shallows? I'm sure there's more fish there.." She didn't want anyone getting hurt, honestly. "Or at least to the shore again. More solid there, less of a chance of slipping in!"  

[Sergeant Sargent]

“Huh?” Kissy blurted, concentration breaking as she looked at her sister. Why would Kim want to go to the shallows? Kissy wanted to stay and catch one of the pretty fish, but when she thought of her brighter sister leaving her for the shallows she realized she’d be lonely by herself.

“Oh, alright,” she said smartly, but when she turned back to the waterfall she paused. The rocks looked steeper from here than they did on the way down. “Hey, Kim, do you remember how we got down here?”  

[Feral Mule]

".....no?" she asked uncertainly, peering at the rocks beneath her paws. Times like this and Kim wished she had clear vision. With a sigh and a frown, she tried to remember and tentatively put one paw out in front of her, feeling for another rock. When she was met with a wet, hard surface, her face lit up.

"Just follow me, Kissy," she beamed, obviously proud of herself. Kim thought it was her turn to help out her sister. The smaller, black sister always seemed to take care of her, more so than the rest of the siblings.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

“Okay, Kim!” Kissy hopped after her sister. Playing follow the leader was a lot of fun!

She only looked after Kim so much because she seemed clumsier than everybody else. Besides, she happened to spend a lot of time around Kim, since she was so bright and pretty. Life was nothing but a game.  

[Feral Mule]

As her sister followed her, Kim's steps were slow and calculating, picking where she would step; the least slippery spots. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, the golden cub made it back to the shore and she purred in happiness. She made it without slipping! Turning around, she squinted at her sister and attempted to make sure that Kissy wouldn't fall in the water.

"Just.... be careful."  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Kissy followed closely on her heels. Before long her sister’s slow pace started to irritate her. Following her was like having to walk behind a very old lioness with creaky bones. Suddenly a beautiful golden butterfly fluttered over the falls. Gasping in excitement, Kissy stopped and sat down, batting her paws into the air in an attempt to catch it. By the time she looked up her sister was all the way to the shore. “Huh? Kiiiiiim, you’re supposed to wait for me!”

She bounded up the rest of the rocks. At one point she ran too fast and almost slipped over the edge of one of the mossy stones. Fortunately she managed to dig her claws into the rock and pull herself up in time. Little heart pounding in fear, she hopped over the top of the falls and splashed back to shore where her sister waited and sat down to catch her breath.  

[Feral Mule]

When her sister slipped, Kim went forward, onto another rock and froze. What would she do if Kissy fell in? Kim would go in after her! Of course. Kissy would do the same for her. But the her sister got her footing back and pulled herself up. Quickly, she went back to the shore and waited until her sister's paws touched the earth before tugging the younger one close and huddled around her. She felt Kissy's heart pounding and tears sprung to Kim's eyes. She'd almost killed her sister.

She should have waited. She should have gone slower. "I....I'm sorry!" was all she could manage before the tears fell and Kim pressed her face into Kissy's back, wanting to keep her sister as close as possible. The bright female knew she'd be in so much trouble because of this.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

“Huh?” Kissy panted, staring up at her sister in surprise. She didn’t expect Kim to be so upset. Was it because she almost fell off that rock?

She smiled and tried to reassure her. “It’s alright, Kim. I didn’t get hurt, see?”

Even though her heart was still pounding hard from the near accident Kissy recovered from fear quite readily. She felt a little shaken but that was all. Having fun was too important for her to let a little thing like having a near death experience get in the way of her day.  

[Feral Mule]

When she saw her sister was alright, the yellow female backed off a bit, but licked her nose softly and sighed. It was far past time they go home. Kim didn't know how much more she could take after that experiance. "Hey... Let's forget about the fish and just go home..."  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Kissy nodded, grinning. "I'll race you!"

Without even saying ready set Kissy took off. She didn't do it on purpose; it was just like her to forget to give warning.  

[Feral Mule]

As her darker sister ran off ahead of her, Kim let out a huge sigh and then started at her own pace. They wouldn't tell momma about this; oh no! Momma might not let them out of the den again!

[Fin!]