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 Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:58 am
[[Backlog RP when Ksen was a juvenile]]
Talahm had left Bari with the children this afternoon. They were getting so big, it was if they had just been born. A small smile crept onto his maw as he couldn’t help but sigh. He loved raising children, teaching them the rights and wrongs of the world. He finally had the opportunity to try his teaching on one of his own offsprings, and was rather pleased at his results.
At least, most the time he was pleased. He had told a certain little wanderer to stay in the den with her mother and siblings, but Talahm could hear the faintest footsteps padding in the marshy swamps, following him. It was always like that with little Ksenia. She would wander off, and usually leave either Tala or Bari to look for her. At least when she went wandering today, it was following her father.
His eyes shifted to the corners, trying to take a peek at her. Her darker pelt blended better into the covered swamp, making it a little more difficult; however, there was no mistaking the flash of white of her paws against the muddied earth.
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:00 am
Yes, even though Ksenia had been told to stay home, the itch in her paws told her she had to go! She needed to see where father was going so if he was ever lost, she would find him! It made perfect sense! She needed to wait though. Father would just return her home if she made herself noticeable. I don’t think he would be to happy if that happened, she thought to herself, waiting for the close to be clear from in and out of the den. When Mother is busy with the brothers and sisters, she would make a dash for it!
Waiting for just the opportune moment, she quickly scrambled out the entrance, making sure to avoid the small purple flowers that grew in the ground.
---
“Swamp Flowers,” Talahm said as all his children gathered around him, “they help make our den home.” He remembered back when Bari and him were younger, not children but just in their primes. It was these flowers that brought the two lovers so closer together. It was these flowers, that would never tear them apart. “Why don’t you kids gather some of these and take them to your mother. I am sure she will like them very much.”
---
Ksenia reminisced on what her father told her about these flowers. She loved the story of how something so small and fragile brought two together. She made sure she would never trample something so delicate!
Cerulean blue eyes followed her father’s fleeting form, before softly trotting after him. The swamplands gushed inbetween her toes, leaving a feeling that only children loved. The only thing she didn’t like about the muck would be cleaning it off her shiny white stockings. Black on white never was an easy chore.
Her ears perked forward as she watched her father. He seemed to have slowed his pace. Had he spotted her? She ducked low to the ground. Surely he hadn’t! She had been so careful to avoid being caught. Maybe if she lingered back a ways more, he would suspect nothing.
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:01 am
“I know you are there, Ksen. You don’t need to hide anymore”
The look of a deer caught in the headlights was the only expression to describe how Ksenia looked. Sighing, she crouched low, her belly touching the ground as she inched towards her father. “How did you know I was there?”
“I am your father, I know everything,” Tala gave her a stern look, but it melted soon as her big blue eyes looked at him pitifully. “I thought I told you to stay with your mother?”
“I was but---“ How was a good way to phrase this.. “When you go off, I don’t know where you go! What if you get lost. No one would know where you were! It would like I would know where you were, and then I could go rescue you with mommy and the others!” Yes, she liked how her logic worked. “Besides! I don’t want you to get lonely being out her all by yourself!” She stated matter-of-factly with a giggle. “
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:24 am
“Is that so?” He asked with an amused smirk on his maw. “Well then, we wouldn’t want that happening… Did you at least tell your mother?” He knew the answer to that already just by the look she gave him now. He sighed, bringing a paw up to his head as if to rub his temple. “You know, you probably should go back home. You know she will be worried for you disappearing like that.”
Ksenia pouted. “But I wanted to go with you! Please, just this once!” Both father and daughter knew that was a flat out utter lie.
Her father groaned. “Alright…but just this once. You and I are going to need to pick a lot of flowers for your mother after this.”
“YES!” Ksen jumped for joy as she stood next to her father before they began walking out again. “So where are you going? Anywhere special? OH is it a secret hideout? I like secret hideouts! I---“
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:25 am
The ramblings of Ksenia were going on and on. Talahm couldn’t help but be amused about how much energy a growing child had. He listened to her, even though a lot of the talk became babbling, but he didn’t care. “No, it’s not a secret place. Just a small pool your mother and I use to come to a lot.” It was true, when Tala and Bari first met was new a small waterhole; now, he just found the pool just relaxing. Once day, he would bring the whole family here. Perhaps when they returned from their naming quests.
Oh! The naming quests! That soon would be bestowed upon all his children. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to let them go just yet, but he knew when the time was right his mind would be settled.
The journey to the small pool of water was rather short, but it probably seemed longer to a small child who had to take more steps in order to keep up with the larger lions. He smiled, watching Ksenia before going to relax just near the edge. It was midday, the sun was shining just through a hole in the canopy above. Perhaps this would be a good time to speak with his daughter about the naming quest she would soon endure.
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:52 am
“WOW water! Can I go play in it, Dad? Plllleassseee?” Without waiting for an answer, she jumped in the murky water, splashing the surrounding areas. She loved playing the water. When her siblings were around, they would take turns dunking one another as well as splashing them when they weren’t looking. They had one time even gained up all together and splashed their parents who had been resting on the shore. They didn’t like that much, but the kids were to young to know any different.
After a few minutes of splashing around in the water, Ksenia headed to shore. Her paws that were once covered in thick dark mud were now just slightly gray. This was a much easier task to clean on the pearly white fur! She headed towards her father, flopping down next to him as she began cleaning herself.
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:54 am
As his daughter lied down beside him, matching cornflower blue eyes watched her carefully. He pondered a way to begin…
“Hey, Ksen, do you like adventure?” He asked. What little kid didn’t?
The charcoal female looked up from her paws with bright eyes. “Adventure? YES! I always want to go on an adventure!” This was a reason she wandered off so many times. The itch in her paws to just keep moving was something that just never seemed to be satiated. “Why? ARE WE GOING ON AN ADVENTURE?!?” She asked excitedly.
Talahm laughed. “No, not we. But soon, when you are older you are going to have the biggest adventure of your life. Do you want to know more about it?”
“DO I EVER!”
Well, that was an easy start to the conversation. “You know where we live, right?” At this, he noticed Ksenia nod. “One of our traditions here is that when a child becomes an adolescent, they go on a naming quest. You will have the opportunity to find out who you are, and even pick a name. Just like your mother and I have done with you and your siblings, but now, the decision is yours.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:11 am
The smaller lioness took everything in. “But that means I have to leave? I can’t have the adventure here?” She said sadly. “What was your adventure like when you had to leave?”
Talahm nodded. “It may seem scary, but you won’t be alone. You’ll have the spirts of the swamp on this journey with you. Your brothers and sisters will also go on an adventure, but you may not be journeying together. There may always be the possibility that you will meet up with them again in the southlands. My adventure began when I was born. You see, I was not born in this pride, only accepted as a member to teach. I wanted to learn the customs and ways, and it wasn’t until your mother showed me the way. She is who gave me my new name. Outside this pride, I was once known as Odijo. But here, now, I am called Talahm.” He loved both his names, for his loved ones gave it to him. Odijo meant teacher, given to him by his mother. Who knew that with a name like that he would actually love to teach others about things that he knew. Talahm, which meant busy, was given to him just after he had met his children for the first time. Bari commented on it as soon as she returned with them, saying how busy the two of them would be with a larger litter at hand.
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:26 am
Ksenia nodded. “So, it’ll be adventure then?” She seemed less nervous now that she knew her brothers and sisters would also be on an adventure just like hers. “That sounds like fun!” She smiled up to her father. “I wish I was older! All the grownups get to do the fun stuff!” she pouted playfully.
“You’ll be old enough one day soon enough,” he flashed her a small, gentle smile before rising to his feet. “Come on, child. We need to go collect those flowers for your mother before she gets too worried about us.” With a quick nod from Ksenia, they both headed off, back to the den. Soon, little Ksenia’s adventure would begin.
[Fin- Word Count 1759]
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