|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:05 pm
Faaiza was unsure what to do. Never before in the younster's life had things been so tumultuous. She hadn't gone through anything remotely like this before in her young years, so she found no wisdom to fall back onto. Nothing she could think of provided her answers or any comfort.
And yet she had to do something! Her mother was dead... She quickly turned her thoughts away from that. Thinking about it was just too hard.
...And others too. Members of the pride were dying left and right. Faaiza couldn't get any details from anybody, even if she had wanted to. At first, she wanted to shut it all out, to blink her eyes and for everything to return to normal.
But she wasn't a cub anymore. She knew better. This was reality and it wasn't going to change simply because she wished it. And she couldn't shut it out, not with her father hurting as much as he was. Seeing his sorrow made her angry and the anger overwhelmed the fear and the pain. Anger turned into determination, an emotion she found easier to process. She was determined to comfort her father however she could and to find out answers, however scary or painful.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:24 pm
Whatever progress Mkaa had made to become who he had become, to have earned the name Jitokeza, was practically erased by the unfortunate events that had impacted his family. He was left alone in a strange pride he was still learning about with two daughters he had an obligation to raise to their standards. He tried not to let his reversion influence his behavior towards the girls or his parenting but it was certainly much more difficult. The only positive thing was he could identify with them more, he was learning with them. He just had previous experience telling him this wasn't how it was everywhere, making it that much harder to accept. Once everything had started, Jitokeza had become a much more protective father. The girls were not so free to wander around when there was no mercy even for the small and defenseless. He liked having them where he could see them- or, at the very least, hear them. The day was slow and everybody just seemed to be relaxing, which Keza was happy to do. It wasn't until he spotted Faaiza, looking pensive and distant, that he felt it necessary to interrupt the peace. Pushing himself up from the ground, he walked over and sat down beside the little blue lioness with a flump. "What's up, kiddo?" he asked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:57 am
Faaiza's silent reverie was broken by the sudden appearance of a figure on her side. She glanced up quickly, blinking with surprise.
"Papa!" she exclaimed, louder than she had intended. She cleared her throat, embarrassed, and spoke again, this time quieter.
"Sorry, you surprised me. I didn't know you were there."
She beamed up at him, trying her hardest to be as bright and chipper as possible.
"I was just sitting and thinking..."
Uh oh. That had too much potential to head down the wrong path. She was supposed to be cheering him up, not making him depressed!
"...about birds!!" she added hurriedly, off the top of her head.
"I think they're really pretty. Don't you?"
Well, it was something.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:28 pm
"Where else would I be?" he asked with a chuckle, acknowledging that lately he hadn't been going very far- or letting them get very far away. He gave her a little nudge, spotting that she was trying just a little too hard to smile. He didn't like to see it but part of him wasn't sure how he would handle the opposite situation.
"Birds?" he repeated, somewhat skeptical at her hesitation but he went along with it anyway, "They are very pretty. Have you ever met one?" Keza didn't have much experience with them himself but he knew of others who had fairly strong friendships with other creatures, including birds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:12 pm
Faaiza smiled for real when her father nudged her. He realized she was trying to hard. Oh well, she'd simply have to get better at it. At least he was willing to play along with her little distraction conversation. And she did in fact like birds.
"No," she said, genuinely sad.
"I'd really like to, though. I love watching them fly, the way they move so gracefully through the trees. It's like they're dancing, don't you think?"
She glanced up into her father's pale eyes. He was trying to be so strong, for her and her sister's sake. She knew that. He rarely let them out of his sight, and even then, they couldn't go very far. She was going to do everything she could to remain strong for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:10 pm
It was conversations like this, observations like now that made Jitokeza realize how hard he really had to try-- and how there just was no easy way to do it. They would always know he was trying, but all of the alternatives he could think of were much worse. And they looked so much like Maji.
"We didn't have many pretty little birds where I grew up, sometimes you'd see great big ones out hunting but they didn't look graceful in the same way," he said thoughtfully, glancing around, "But around here there are more trees, and more smaller ones. If you find them at the right time you can find birds that do dance for each other." He smiled, wishing he knew how to find some birds to show her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:22 pm
Faaiza listened with real interest as her father spoke about birds. It was a distraction, yes, but she was authentically interested. She also liked hearing her dad speak about his past. It was like getting to know him. Every little piece of information helped her to find out ways to help.
"Birds dance for eachother?" she asked. She didn't know that. She wanted to see a bird dance.
"That must be fun to watch! Why do they dance?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:43 pm
Keza smiled, though he knew he had put himself into a somewhat awkward place now that he had started talking about the birds dancing for each other. Courtship wasn't exactly something he cared to explain at the exact moment but there had to be a good way to put it.
"They dance to show off for their mate," he said, deciding to go with the least descriptive truth, "To impress them, or to show how happy they are." OK, he didn't know many birds so it wasn't necessarily untrue.
"That's one of the reasons they sing their pretty songs, too."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:58 pm
Faaiza beamed, her bright eyes lighting up.
"Really?! That's so sweet!"
The youngster leaped up, caught up in the moment and began her own little attempt at a dance. Somewhat clumsy, it had its own little grace to it. Ending with a flourished leap, she grinned at her dad.
And then remembered herself. The grin turned sheepish and she quickly returned and sat by her dad.
"So.... they sing too, huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:12 pm
"Isn't it?" he agreed with a chuckle, inching back as she jumped up to do a little dance of her own. Amidst his amusement, he couldn't help but imagine she might have somebody to show off for someday soon. They were growing up fast. He could be protective but there wouldn't be a point, they'd be on their own when, he thought as their dad, they would need the most protecting.
"Very nice," he complimented her as she took her seat by him again, "And they do sing, an awful lot, sometimes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:50 am
Faaiza grinned, appreciating her father's good-natured reaction.
"Ooh, so they do sing!"
She obliged his ears by not demonstrating that as well. A fine singing voice was something she did not have, at least at this age.
"Do they all sing the same song? Or do they have different ones?"
She hoped she wasn't pestering him with all these questions, but at the very least she was keeping him distracted from thinking about other things. And Faaiza was able to learn something new, a moment she never wanted to pass up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:49 pm
"What do you think?" he asked, shuffling himself back a little bit and laying down so that he didn't have to keep looking down and she didn't have to keep looking up. He was distracted from the other things going on in the swamp, it was nice to just have a conversation with his daughter. This was what life was supposed to be like. This he could do.
"I'm sure you've heard them singing around here, do you always hear the same song?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
