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 Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:15 pm
The next day found Nesrin high up in a tree on the outskirts of Kwea's den area. Too afraid to leave the den entirely, Nesrin secluded herself as far away from Kwea's family as possible, curled up in the fork of a high branch. Her bright colors stood out amongst the leaves. Kwea could hardly call it hiding, Nesrin thought, but she intended not to be found.
She was not yet an adolescent, although she soon would be. She had just started to notice boys when Kwea took her away. Nesrin always believed her prince would come one day to sweep her off her paws. Not like this. Letting out a quiet sigh, she laid her head on her paws and watched the dappled shadows dance across the earth with the gentle breeze that made music in the branches above and below her. At least she still had her fantasies. Kwea could never take those away.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:03 am
Kichaa had noticed Nesrin the day Kwea had brought her home to the den, though she was not one of the Banu that greeted her. Kichaa didn't spend much of her time in the den any longer, she liked to wander the pride, bothering the males about what they did and asking them to tell her stories of the outside if she felt they were nice enough to indulge her.
The bright red cub appeared out of nowhere at the bottom of Nesrin's tree and looked up at her with her head tilted to the side. She understood the want to not be anywhere near Kwea or the den, but hiding in the tree wasn't exactly working for her, especially considering the tree offered little to no coverage for the poor sunset colored Banu.
"Chacha can see you." Kichaa said, leaning up against the tree with her paws, "Why're you all the way up there?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 2:50 pm
Nesrin blinked. She looked at Kichaa as if the bright red cub had materialized out of the air. For all Nesrin knew, she had. So lost in her own little world, Nesrin did not even notice Kichaa looking up at her until the younger cub spoke. She shifted her weight, suddenly aware of the aches in her joins, and settled with a quiet sigh. "I wanted to be alone."
Her tone was slightly critical. She hated being drawn out of her fantasy world, especially when the real world was so stressful.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:44 pm
"How come?" Kichaa asked, quirking a head to the side, attempting to rake her claws up higher on the tree to drag herself up there to join Nesrin. Kichaa wasn't a very good climber and probably wouldn't make it up there, not for quite some time anyway, so for now she was content with just hanging there like the little bright red monkey she was.
"Being alone isn't fun. Chacha doesn't like to be alone, but Chacha doesn't like being in the den either. His brats are there," She said, obviously talking about Kwea and the cubs. Kichaa wasn't a big fan of him, or his children. She blamed him for everything. For hitting her mother, for what her sister was turning into, everything.
"Are you hiding from him, too?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:04 pm
She heard that a lot. Everyone in her family seemed to think that being alone must make her so miserable. Although Nesrin rarely felt happy, spending the day with family exhausted her and made her more upset than being by herself ever did. Her alone time gave her time to recuperate. Besides, it was peaceful up here with the breeze and the smell of leaves all around her. There was nothing Nesrin loved more than peace.
Nesrin looked around. Kwea seemed to be out of sight. She turned back to Kichaa. "Kind of," she whispered, biting her lip. "I like being alone."
Kichaa's habit of speaking in the third person didn't bother Nesrin. She didn't even find it odd. Even if she did, she would never comment on it. Kichaa probably had a good reason for talking that way. Just because Nesrin couldn't think of one didn't mean Kichaa was wrong to talk like that. Nesrin would always criticize herself before passing judgment on someone else.
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:51 pm
"I saw him being mean to you," Kichaa said, looking away from Nesrin as she herself looked around to see if Kwea was nearby, that and her sister. She didn't want her sister informing Kwea of her conversations with Nesrin, it'd just get them both into trouble and with Kwea already treating Nesrin badly, she didn't want to add to it.
"He was wrong to do that. He should apologize," Kichaa muttered, a rather large huff escaping her lips and causing her nostrils to flare at the thought of what he did. He was so mean.
"Chacha's Mommy won't be mean to you. So you should stick by her and she'll teach you how to be good. Than Kwea will leave you alone," Kichaa said, nodding her head. Even if Kwea had hit her mother once, she had never actually seen it happen and hadn't seen any marks on her mother since that time. Kwea seemed to like her mother a great deal, so she figured if Nesrin stuck around her mother, than Kwea would eventually leave her alone.
"Do you like games, Nesrin?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:18 pm
Nesrin looked guilty. Kichaa shouldn't say that Kwea was wrong. True, Nesrin didn't know why he was mean to her, she had her hunches, but even if she knew his motivation for sure she would never say that he was wrong. It wasn't her place to decide how a pad should treat his banu. She probably deserved to be treated this way, somehow.
"What kind of game?" she asked quietly. She normally didn't play games. When her siblings dragged her into one she often found she didn't like the rules. But she didn't want to seem objectionable.
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:28 pm
Kichaa shrugged her shoulders to Nesrin, unsure herself as to what kind of game they should play. She wasn't sure of what Nesrin's preferences were as far as games went, so perhaps just spouting out some games would give Nesrin some options to pick from. Kichaa understood that Nesrin probably felt misplaced in the situation she was in now, but no one should really ever be alone. Friends were what made life better, right?
"Maybe we could play Hide & Hunt, or maybe Tag? Oh! We could look for shiny stones. I found a shiny stone the other day. It had colors, like yours. It's very pretty," Kichaa said with a big smile. She was trying her best to find things that might sound appealing to Nesrin. She didn't usually make such strides to try and connect with someone, but from what she saw, and how everything was changing, she felt that making some kind of connection with someone, anyone, was in order.
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:39 pm
Nesrin lifted her head. Her expression remained the same as before, eyebrows drawn together and mouth set in a partly open frown as if she was always about to say something then lost her nerve. After a pause she sat up on the branch and said, "I like shiny stones."
She started to creep down the branch. The trick was to keep your eyes on your paws and not look at the ground. When she came to the fork in the trunk she hopped down and landed on her feet beside Kichaa.
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:32 pm
"Shiny stones it is!" Kichaa chirped, as she watched Nesrin scale down the tree and hop down beside her. It was nice to go do something who wasn't her brother Egeman. Koko didn't do anything with her anymore, all her time was now reserved for Kwea, another reason as to why Kichaa didn't want to go home.
"I'll show you were I hid the one I found, it's like your fur, except more like the fur around your face," Kichaa explained, motioning for Nesrin to follow her to her pretty gem's hidden location. Kichaa had decided to hide it instead of bringing it back to the den, because she knew if any of the boys noticed it and decided they'd want it that it would be taken from her, and she was not going to let that happen. It was her shiny stone, and would remain so.
It didn't take Kichaa long to lead Nesrin to the hiding place of her shiny stone. It was rather inconspicuous, which was an amazing thing for Kichaa as she wasn't quite sure what inconspicuous was, what with being so bright that even the thickest foliage couldn't hide her coat. The stone was tucked between some rocks and reeds at the edge of one of the watering holes. It was blocked off from light so that it would not sparkle, and therefore would not catch anyone's eye. Sticking a paw down in between the rocks, Kichaa brought the stone up and showed it to Nesrin.
It was a rough stone, not finely crafted like some stones within the pride, but it was pretty none the less. She held it out to Nesrin for her to take and inspect, feeling that she might like it greatly, "Isn't it pretty?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:33 pm
Nesrin looked a little perplexed. She followed Kichaa and stayed close behind her without saying anything. At first all she did was look around her. As they went on her gaze drifted to the horizon so that she looked just over Kichaa's head for most of the trip, although anyone who saw her would have probably said she didn't look at anything in particular at all.
She sat down and watched Kichaa dig a bit absently. When Kichaa brought out the stone Nesrin's eyes finally seemed to come into focus. The stone was so beautiful she really didn't know what to say. "Uh-huh," she said a little nervously. "Where did you find it?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:29 pm
"You can't tell anyone, ok? It will be Chacha and Nesrin's secret," Kichaa said, perking her head up to make sure that no one was watching or attempting to listen in on their conversation. After all, if they knew where Kichaa had found the stones they'd either take them from her, or they would hit her for wandering that far outside of the vicinity of the dens without having an escort of some sort.
"I found them a long ways from here, at this little, little stream close to the edge of the pride. I found them at night, because others will get mad if they see Chacha there during the day," She whispered.
"Nesrin can have it if she wants," Kichaa said, offering the stone to Nesrin as a token of sorts. She wasn't like the other Banu within the den, and would not look at her like they did.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:13 pm
Nesrin nodded. Yes, she would keep Kichaa's secret. Keeping secrets came second nature to her. When she heard where Kichaa found the stones her ears drooped a little and she bit her lip. They could get into a lot of trouble if someone found them wandering around so far away from their pads. She shook her head emphatically. "No," she protested softly. "I-I don't want to get in trouble. It's very pretty, but..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:44 pm
Kichaa's face went angry for a moment in protest of Nesrin's words, but soon she sighed and her ears dropped with a sad look spreading across her face. She did not want to get Nesrin in trouble, even if it meant she would be playing alone once again. There was no use in getting someone in trouble with her, especially when it seemed she was always being faulted for one thing or another.
"Chacha understands," Kichaa said with a sigh, still pressing Nesrin to take the shiny stone, "At least take the stone, please? It's a gift from Chacha to Nesrin. A welcome present, ok?"
Even if Nesrin wouldn't come with her to go find more shiny stones, she knew that Nesrin wouldn't give her up to Kwea, or the others. Even if she told the truth to try and spare herself, Kichaa knew it wouldn't make a difference. Kwea, in his cruelty, had it out for Nesrin, and any bit of truth that came from her mouth would still be considered a bed of lies.
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