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 Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:09 am
Muscardini Waking up in the morning to find himself completely surrounded by people continued to be a new and pleasant experience for Muscardini. For someone who had lived his entire life with a fear of abondonment that bordered on an actual phobia, there was nothing as wonderful as waking up to find not only his twin, but also his mate and their six cubs. Well, not Gliri. Gliri always left the den early in the morning to get some time to herself, and he could understand that. His twin very obviously loved his cubs, but she was not a social creature, and he guessed she needed the solitude to keep herself sane. He could grant her that. He was grateful she was willing and able to help care for the cubs. Her storytelling skills had been invaluable so far. "Good morning," he said softly to Lipi, curled up beside him. He gave her ear an affectionate lick, knowing he risked his good looks by waking her before she was ready, but deciding it was worth the risk. Sciuri Even if her mother didn't wake up, Sciuri did when she heard her father's voice. The fact that he spoke softly made no differene to her. She was a light sleeper, like her aunt, and would wake for almost anything. If a sibling shifted too much, or if someone made noises in their sleep, she would wake up long enough to look around blearily and ascertain that there was no immediate danger. She did that now. Of course she had recognized her father's voice when he spoke to her mother, but that didn't mean that there wasn't cause for concern. Her mind conjured all sorts of situations in which he might be speaking softly to avoid attracting the attention of a predator or threat or some kind, and which would require the family to sneak out of their den. It was a very exciting imagining, and a part of her hoped that's what it was, just for the fun of the adventure. It wasn't anything like that, though. Just Dad saying good morning to Mom. Boring! She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Lipi Lipi usually woke when Gliri did to mumble a sleepy good morning to her and almost always fell back asleep right after that. She pressed up against Muscar while he slept and was so warm. Sleep came easy to Lipi these days, mainly because trying to keep up with six cubs, even with help, was still exhausting. So, the small lioness slept hard and deeply. For all her sleeping, though, she was easy to wake up if she was touched. And a lick to the ear startled her for a few reasons. One was that someone had purposly done that. Two was there was only one other lion that would risk being clawed first thing in the morning, and the last reason was because, damn it, she was still tired. However, her head came up none the less and her golden gaze fixed on Muscar with a glare that could make anyone's blood run cold; if it wasn't for the fact she yawned in the middle of her glare. Stupid yawning. It ruined everything. She didn't have the energy to be angry this early yet. So, Lipi gave up her attempt to glare at her mate and stretched her legs out. One of her back feet hit a cub and she blinked at that before looking at the other five who were all pretty close. Ah. The pale one wasn't there. Craning her head back, she rolled her eyesl Aylin had glued herself to Lipi's tail once again. Shifting, slightly, she picked the pale cub up by the scruff of her neck and put her down with the rest of them. That's when she greeted her mate, and only then. "Morning." Her voice was like silk and sandpaper. Aylin Aylin, once again, had a nightmare. It was behind a nightmare and boardered on night terrors. Being considerate when she could focuse, she always crawled away from her family so she wouldn't wake them up with her tossing and turning. For some reason, hugging her mother's tail seemed to, not stop the horrid dreams, but at least make them slightly less horrible. Everyday she did this, and every day her mother woke her up putting her back in the pile of siblings. She didn't whine or whimper when this appened, because she wanted to be back in the pile by now, but couldnt' wake herself up. Once back on the ground, she nuzzled right in the middle of everyone, curling closst to Sciuri, because she was there and because Sciuri was one of her favorite siblings. Why couldn't be explained, but she was. Aylin knew she wouldn't get back to sleep, but just laying there was more than enough for her. "Morning!" She piped up, her voice airy and light, much like her thoughts.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:13 am
Muscardini Muscar grinned, pleased by Lipi's response. He considered it a victory every morning she let him wake her like that without committing violence. Of course, he was fully cognizant of the fact that the only thing which had forestalled violence had been Lipi's sheer exhaustion. He'd take that. He watched as she moved their oddest daughter and smiled at that, too. He loved all five of his daughters and his sole son very much, and was glad that they were all such unique and individual personalities. Sometimes he worried about Aylin, though. She didn't always seem to be, well, there. He worried that she would be in one of her vague moods and be unaware of some impending danger. He would just have to be there to protect her. "Good morning, Aylin. Are we all getting up now?" Muscar asked, still speaking softly in case her siblings didn't wish to be awakened. He'd not noticed Sciuri waking and then trying to go back to sleep. Sciuri Sciuri shifted fitfully as the adults around her shifted, and then one of them - probably Mom - dropped one of her siblings nearly on top of her. Clearly sleep was not in the picture for this morning. It was too bad, really. Unlike Aylin, who suffered from nightmares, Iuri usually slept very well and enjoyed her dreams a great deal. They were always such wonderful adventures. She opened first one eye and then the other to glare at her noisy parents and sister, though she didn't glare too hard. "Do we have a choice?" she asked. "You're so noisy in the mornings Daddy." Turning to Aylin, she nudged her pale sister and bid her a much fonder good morning and apologizing. "Sorry. I know it's not your fault." Lipi Lipi looked to her mate as he spoke and a grin broke out on her face. Leave it to her mate to make himself look like a dolt and wake up the kids. She looked to Sciuri and tugged her toward her father while gathering up the pale girl again. With her body language, she told Muscar to pick up the other girl and haul them outside. Once she got outside, she dropped her pale, spacey daughter off in the grass and let stretched herself out. Morning came early this morning, it seemed. It wasn't quite sun up, but in a few minutes it would be. Which made Lipi think that Gliri was getting out earlier and earlier. She couldn't blame the poor lioness. After all, Gliri went from just having her brother to having her brother, a sister-in-law and five nieces and one nephew, all over the corse of a few short weeks. If Lipi were in her paws, she'd do the same thing. Or find a den to stay alone in while coming to talk every once in a while. Aylin Aylin, however, just stood in the grass for a while before finally turning around and looking at her mother, father, and sister. She loved her family, that much was clear, but after a few minutes of looking, she got that far off look in her eyes as she sat down in the drew-dripped grass.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:14 am
Muscardini "Sorry, Iuri," Muscar apologized not-quite-sincerely. Muscar obligingly took his other conscious daughter in his mouth and followed Lipi out of the den. Unconsciously he sniffed the air to pick up his twin's scent and scanned the ground for evidence of her passage, but she was getting very good at hiding her paw prints and having a mouthful of cub made it more dificult for him to smell other odors. Taste and scent being closely tied and all that. It did make him wonder, though, if he would wake up one morning to find Gliri gone, never to return. He hoped she knew that would break his heart. To clear his thoughts of such distressing ideas, he shook his head, momentarily forgetting that he held a cub still, and then abruptly put Sciuri down on the ground. He apologized to her again, this time for shaking her accidentally. He didn't explain that he'd been worrying about his cubs' aunt. He didn't really want the cubs to figure out that he loved his sister more than anyone else in the family. "There are a lot of them, aren't there?" he said, referring to the cubs. Sciuri Sciuri sniffed and pretended to be offended at being shaken, but in truth she'd enjoyed it. It had been kind of scary and kind of fun. Not that she was going to admit that! She was still miffed at her dad for waking her up to begin with. She'd managed to go back to sleep after Gliri left, and that was a herculean task. It wasn't fair that he'd woken her again. Instead of dealing with her parents, Iuri went over to her sister, who was looking vague and far away again. Sometimes she tried to get Aylin to snap out of it and be normal when she was like this, but Iuri herself was feeling pretty sleepy and out of it, so she just sat down next to her in the grass and tried to ignore the sensation of dew dampening her bum. Lipi The brown, small, lioness nodded her head and watched their daughters, grinning a little. She knew her cubs almost as well as she knew herself. She caught the flash of a smile in Iuri's eyes as she was shaken. That's why Lipi said nothing about it to her awkward mate. Instead she looked over to him and arched a brow. "There are many of them, yes. But I worry for your sister. She's not warming up to them as much as I would hope she would. Perhaps..... Maybe the cubs and I should find a different den." She was proposing this seriously. Lipi didn't want to break up the twins, because she could only imagine what it felt like. "I've stepped on her toes since I first met you. You're so important to her, and I've just been a bother to her. Before you ask, no, this isn't her doing. This is what I feel ......like doing. Until she can cope with cubs better." A sigh escaped her throat as she watched her pale daughter and brown daughter cuddle in the grass. Iuri wasn't a very big morning person, was she? Aylin, though, didn't care, day or night. It made Lipi worried and wonder about what went through the girl's head. But she didn't pry in fear of interupting some ground breaking thought in that pretty head. "Besides. Six cubs and three adults in one den is a lot." Aylin Aylin turned to her sister when she appeared next to her and gave a smile. The pale girl leaned against her darker sister and gave a nuzzle to her shoulder before yawning. "Sciuri... Is your bum cold, too?" She shifted a little, so she was sitting on her hips instead of her bum. Her legs would be on the side of her and there she sat for quite a while while her parents talked. Oh, she knew what her mother was planning, but it didn't matter one bit to her. Father would come see them every day and every night if he agreed. It wasn't breaking up the family. Besides, Auntie didn't like them really. Sometimes she would try to help, but she always left in a hurry looking like she was panicking or in pain.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:53 am
Muscardini "You can't mean that," Muscar said, horrified by the thought of Lipi leaving, and even more dismayed at the thought of her taking the cubs with her. "I mean," he said more softly, hoping his outburst hadn't caught the cubs' attention, "I really don't think that's the way to deal with Gliri. She does love the cubs, in her own way, and I know she likes you. I think...well, for most of our lives I've indulged her in pretty much every detail, and I'm not sure she knows how to cope with things not going exactly as she wants or expects." Put that way it made Gliri sound like a spoiled child, which wasn't what Muscar meant, but he didn't really know how to express it. "I don't want you to go somewhere else. Perhaps...Perhaps it would be better if I suggested to Gliri that she might want to find her Shazidi." He hadn't really spoken of Gliri's relationship with Lipi, and he didn't know if Gliri had, but he supposed one of them really ought to. Now that he had a family of his own, he found it easier to understand how she had wanted the same thing, and he could see that it was possible to have a romantic love without losing any of the bond between them as twins. In truth, he was more than a little ashamed of his behavior in that scenario. Sciuri Iuri didn't pay her parents' conversation any attention. She guessed that they were having mushy conversations or something, and that wasn't anything she wanted to be a part of. While she didn't mind romantic stories, she didn't really like thinking of her parents being all gushy and stuff. That was just weird, since they weren't heros or anyone special like in Aunt Gliri's stories. They were just her parents. "A little," she said, answering Aylin. "It's 'cause the grass and ground's all wet. If we weren't up so early, the ground and the grass would be dry and it wouldn't be a problem." She sighed. Her mother had discussed the idea of living somewhere new, but Sciuri hadn't really taken it very seriously. She couldn't imagine living apart from her daddy and her aunt, even if Aunt Gliri sometimes acted oddly around them. She still told really great stories, and she was all sorts of easy to get around when Daddy and Mom were out hunting or something. She wasn't very strict. Lipi "I didn't mean go away and never come back again. I just meant find a different den, close by, and sleep there. Move back in when Gliri's more fond of us." Leave it to Muscar to make a simple suggestion a fire. Still, if Muscar had proposed this, she would probably have freaked out too. Lipi and Gliri didn't really have a relationship. Sometimes, they talked, but not often and not at length. Lipi didn't really know how to approach the other girl without scaring her or making her panick in some way. A sigh escaped her again and she settled more comfortably, shifting her weight and getting on her belly, paws crossed. "It's got nothing to do with you, I just do not want to come between you two. Even if you wanted her to look for her Shazidi. what if she comes back heartbroken? She'll need you. Not me or the cubs." She looked back at the den and then to the two ahead of her. she loved all of them, and Muscar, and, in some way, Gliri. It got old walking on eggshells so she didn' thurt Gliri's feelings, or scare her into leaving or something. Everytime Gliri left, Lipi thought it was because she said something wrong or did something to offend her. The lack of communication between the two females is what caused it. If it kept up, her muzzle would be turning gray before she knew it. "I know the cubs adore her, and they want to get closer to her, but I don't know.... if thats possible. And her leaving would hurt a few of them. Like those two." She nodded her head to her daughters and then looked up to Muscar. "........ I want to be with you, but..." The usually self-assured, lazy Lipi didn't know what to say after that. She looked so uncertain and lost. Her visions about this were so unclear. She caught flashes of them, her and her cubs, but Muscar wasn't there. Then sometimes she caught sight of her and Muscar and her cubs, but no Gliri, and it wasn't the same den. Things were so confusing. Aylin Aylin nodded her pale head and then laughed a little. "But if the ground was dry, we would miss this pretty sky." The sun hadn't fully rose yet, and it left so many beautiful colors in the sky. Her gaze glazed again as she watched the colors slowly give way to more blue and then sneezed suddenly, snapping herself back to reality. "They're talking about moving." She heard bits and pieces of her parents conversation, and it didn't really bother her. Whatever was going to happen, they had no say in because they were so small. "C'mon. Let's go get some water." The water hole was in their parents sights, she knew that, so it wasn't out of bounds. Everytime the cubs went out to play, Aylin heard her parents say, "Stay where we can see you" and that's what she was doing.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:00 pm
Muscardini "Lipi," Muscar said in an undertone, clearly distressed and doing his best not to sound it. He wasn't a very stoic character when it came to hiding his feelings. It wasn't something he had a lot of practice with. He had rarely had to hide his feelings from Gliri, but now that he had cubs to protect and shelter he found he had to do it more frequently. "You're not coming between us," Muscar said firmly. "We'll always be close. It comes with being twins. But we've also always been together, and I think maybe it's time for us to try being independent." Though his independence would be less than Gliri's. She was the one who was better at being on her own, though. Muscar couldn't stand to be alone. Gliri was just skittish and shy. And yet he still didn't want to lose her. He just really didn't want to lose Lipi. He couldn't see this separation as anything short of a move toward permanence, and he couldn't express how little he wanted that. "Do you really think she would come visit if you left?" he asked. "The cubs would miss her just as much, and they'd know her absence was because she chose not to come. I think it would be more hurtful to them that way. And if she does come back heartbroken, I'll be there for her." He moved closer so that his foreleg touched Lipi's fur. "Don't leave. I'll make this work." Sciuri Sciuri glanced up at the sky as though noticing it for the first time. She wasn't particularly attentive when it came to things like that. The sky didn't have much bearing on her life unless it was raining. And then it was something of a misery. Iuri hated being rained on. It made everything about her droopy and dreary. "I guess..." she said. "But I think I'd rather have the ground be dry and my bum not be cold." Someday, Iuri would make a very practical adventurer, once she learned to tell the difference between what was real and what was just part of a story. Some things were obvious, but others less so, and until she had more experiences herself, Iuri would probably have a little difficulty distinguishing between them. "Moving? I didn't realize Mom really meant to do it." Iuri glanced over her shoulder at the adults and tried to look casual as she strained her ears to pick up on their conversation. To Aylin she said, "I don't want to move. I like it where we are." She tagged along with her sister toward the water hole, but she would have rather stayed and eavesdropped. Lipi All she wanted was for everyone to be happy. Not just her, or Muscar, but Gliri and her cubs, too. Things weren't looking up no matter what they did. Sighing a little bit, Lipi looked up at him when she was touched then then nosed his leg. "C'mere, Muscar..." She waited until he settled beside her and then pressed her side against his. Sighing, she nosed his chest and under his chin. "Fine.... Sorry about... making you panick. I just... I don't want to push her out of the den, or make her feel like she had to leave. .......I didn't know what else to do.. or say." Flicking her ears, she watched her cubs wander away. Lipi knew where they were going, so it didn't matter to her if she asked where they went or not. "I won't leave, Muscar. .....I just... I see these visions... sometimes, you and me, sometimes just me and the cubs, but every time we're in a bit of a different den. It's not this one..." She motioned behind them and then leaned against the bigger male. She hated how random these visions seemed. Most of the time, she could figure it all out, but there were times, like right now, that made everything messed up and not worth it. What Lipi really wanted was just.... her own place with her cubs and Muscar. In a pride, in the rogue lands, she didn't care. It'd be a good change for them. Still, she knew breaking the bonds of twins was hard. Ugh, she didn't know what to do. So, instead, she watched their daughter drift off to the watering hole. Flicking her tail she closed her eyes and sighed. "Look.. Muscar. .....I think.... Well, I know.... I love you but... I don't want to... Family is important, you know?" Aylin "Don't worry, sister, daddy won't let momma leave." Aylin might be far off a lot of the time, but she could sense these things. She might not be a seer like her mother, but she was sensitive to emotions and possible outcomes. Which basically meant she thought a lot. It would surprise her family if they could ever figure it out. Once they got there, she started drinking the liquid and sighed against it, eyes slipping closed. She hit her sister's rump with her tail in jest and laughed a bit. "I like it here too, you know. It's nice. I know all the nargles and dimbits." Her own names for simple little things like rocks and trees.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:13 pm
Muscardini Muscar settled beside Lipi, drawing some comfort from her nearness, but more comfort from the fact that she seemed to be moving away from the idea of leaving him. He wasn't really sure when it had happened, but some time between the night they'd first met and the time she'd borne his cubs Muscar had definitely fallen for Lipi, and the thought of losing her distressed him as much as the thought of losing Gliri. The difference was that he knew Gliri wouldn't be lost forever if she left. They were twins, born together and meant to be together until death, and both of them understood that. Even if they were separated by rivers and mountains and deserts and oceans, he firmly believed that they would eventually find each other again, somehow, and that they would be together in the end. "If your visions are saying we're in a different den, we could always relocate. All of us. Perhaps a larger den, or one with more than one chamber, might make the closeness easier to bear." Sciuri "I hope not. But Aunt Gliri told me Mom used to move around a lot before she met Dad. What if she wants to go back to doing that, and we're keeping her from it?" Sciuri wouldn't mind the idea of moving around and having adventures with her mom, but she didn't want to leave her dad either, and someone had to take care of Aunt Gliri. She was to shy and scaredy to be all right on her own. The family should all stay together, in her opinion. "The...nargles and dimbits," Sciuri repeated slowly, wondering if she'd ever heard Aylin use those words before, and if she was supposed to know what they meant. She bumped her sister back and said, "Fine. If you know them all, introduce me to them." Lipi "....A den with a second chamber would be really good, I think. for all of us. She'll get her privacy and we'll... still be together." Sighing again she watched as her daughters bumped each other and heard the stirrings of the other cubs in the cave. It seemed everyone was going to have an early day. Getting to her paws, she called to the two girls before moving toward the den again. "...C'mon, Muscar. Let's say hi to the rest of the clan." Without looking back, knowing her daughters would follow her, she went into the dimly lite den and greeted her babies with happy noises and licks. Aylin Aylin turned her head when her mother called to her and then looked to her sister before laughing. You know all the nargles and dimbits around here. We climb dimbits and push the nargles around when we want to lay on them. Mommy's calling, though. Let's go play with the others!" She laughed and started back at her own pace, not even hurrying with getting back.
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