[LOG] Around the den (Balia x Shababa)

[Sergeant Sargent]

Balia'azima paced about outside the foot of their den that evening, her mind wandering thoughts plagueing her mind and answers demanding to be known. Perhaps her sister would be able to shed some light on things she had been unable to do herself. The last thing she wanted was the bother her father with questions, as he may find them silly of her, and that would make her look bad in his eyes; she didn't care about how she looked within her sister's.

Balia gave an annoyed growled and sat on her back legs, head held in her paws, "Stop racing so fast!"

While Balia was pacing, Shababa was on her way back to the den. She had grown bored with the grasshopper she’d been torturing and was going home to see if any of her siblings wanted to play a game. Now that she’d eaten her last plaything, she needed someone to keep her entertained. That was when she spotted Balia pacing outside the den. Puzzled, Shababa watched her sister for a minute or two, shook her head and finally came out of hiding.

“What are you doing?” she demanded with a touch of derision. She sat down beside her sister and scowled. Other than making Balia look like a total nutcase, how could talking to yourself possibly help matters?  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Balia's paws smacked earth quickly as her sister spoke. She stood back on all fours, slightly tensed as her sister had caught her off guard. She quickly relaxed though and made a face before giving a reply, "I was thinking. That thing the adults do."

Balia's tailed swished side to side and she sat back down on her behind, cocking her head to the side for a moment, "Where were you? I woke up and you weren't here. I thought maybe something ate you."

Shababa laughed and tapped the side of her sister’s head. “Adults think in here, dummy. You were talking to yourself.”

She loved making fun of her siblings. They were family, so they had to put up with whatever she said. At least that’s the way things were for now. She knew that her siblings might betray her when she was older. Adults made their own rules.

“Silly sister, no one would dare eat me. The question is, what were you doing? You looked like you were trying to stop your brain from popping out of your skull.”  

[Sergeant Sargent]

"I was," Balia admitted to her sister. It wasn't something to be ashamed of after all, as if you didn't keep your brain from leaving your head you'd never be able to use it, "Baba, Mommy wanted to let Daddy take us, didn't she? She knew it was right for us to leave with him, didn't she?"

Balia didn't remember much of when her siblings had been seperated from her mother, she had been so tired after their journey that she had simply forgotten all the details of that day within her very long nap. She didn't even remember if her mother told them good bye, or if she loved them.

"I can't help but dream about her at night sometimes. I don't know why."

“First off, don’t call me Baba. I hate that name,” she snorted. What a stupid question. Shababa shrugged. “I guess. I don’t really care. All I know is our mama had no demon soul. If she had daddy would have brought her back, too. We didn’t belong with her.”

That was enough for Shababa. She could barely remember her mother. She never dreamed either. Even if she did dream, she never remembered any of her adventures.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Balia almost looked horrified that her mother had no demon soul, but quelled that feeling. If her mother had no demon soul than how could they possibly have one? Were they only half demons? A shiver went down her spine at the thought.

"You're right. We didn't belong with her if she has no demon soul. She wouldn't understand anything even if we explained it to her a hundred times."

Balia snorted at her sister and gave off a small growl, "You hate every name I call you Shaba, so pick which one you hate the least so I can stick with it,"

“I want you to call me Shababa. SHA-BA-BA. Is that so hard? And anyway daddy’s demon so is so strong that all of us got our demon souls from him. I already know a lot about my demon. He hasn’t told me his name yet but he promised to tell me when I’m old enough to know.”

If Shababa had been left with her mother, her demon might have been assumed to be an imaginary friend. Perhaps it was only her inner voice. All that mattered was what Shababa believed.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

"Yes, it is." Balia smirked. She was not one to poke and prod at people without reason, but it simply amused her to no end to know her sister detested anything but her rightful name.

Balia quieted for a moment. Shababa had already been having conversation with her demon? It stirred some envy in Balia and her brow furrowed. Her demon did not speak to her at all, not of anything, but she knew it was there, silent, serene, almost with grace. She could feel it was a girl, as she was, and could feel that her demon was proud and regal, but she did not understand why.

"My demon does not talk," She said, "She feels. And I feel it. She wills upon me what it is she wants. We exchange no words."

Shababa scoffed. However, she let the matter drop the moment she saw the envy in her sister’s eyes. She teased, “Maybe your demon is a mute. My demon tells me all kinds of things. If someone is weak or strong he lets me know. Sometimes he tells me little stories.”

Shababa felt her demon like a radiance glowing warmly inside her, an ember that would one day grow into a fire. He felt enormous, even larger than her father, and his strength flowed through her veins like hot lava. In everything she did she felt his strength guiding her. Her demon was more than the boys she so hated. He was not stupid like a child. Rather, he was as wise as an adult male, fully grown and hardened by many battles. That was how she saw him.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Balia hissed at her sister, "How does it matter if my demon is mute or not? I can still feel what it wants! That's how strong our bond is, unlike yours. You two have to speak, we don't."

At least that is how Balia saw it. It was true it bothered her that her demon never spoke to her, she wanted to ask it questions, and wanted the answers, but it never spoke. Maybe when it felt that the answers Balia was seeking could not be answered by her own attempts, she would speak to her. Maybe her demon wanted her to learn to do things on her own, and not to rely on it for everything. She didn't know.

Shababa turned up her nose and laughed. “Oh, please! If you knew your demon half as well as I know mine she wouldn’t bother with wishy washy feelings.”

Feelings could be confusing; they tended to be vague whereas words were specific. This proved to Shababa that her demon was superior to Balia. She shook her head, amused by her sister’s futile taunts. While there were some things she simply couldn’t stand, like being called Baba, most of the time it was extremely difficult to get under her skin.

She sighed and flopped down on her tummy. “Anyway, this is getting boring. We should find something else to do. Have you got any ideas?”  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Balia allowed it to slide this time, she'd get hers when they went to bed that night. Someone was waking up with her butt in their face. Taking in a breath she contemplated what else to do. She didn't want to deal with the bigger kids, they always wanted to spar and Balia was not about to get her coat messed up.

"Want to go bother the adults?" She asked, the lack of interest dripping from her words, "Or maybe we can bother grandpa."

“Hmm!” Shababa smiled and stood up eagerly. “That’s a great idea, Belia. I wonder where Grandpa Verge is right now…”

She looked over her shoulder, tail sweeping back and forth across the ground. As the leader of the Sparda faction Shababa found her grandfather extremely interesting. She loved pestering him for stories. Since she wanted to be on the council one day (Shababa loved bossing others around) she wanted to know everything about the pride and their traditions. “He’s probably in the leader dens. Let’s go see.”

((End~))