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 Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 12:06 pm
Riddiq - Adona Benedicta Vaako - Mogami
Mogami
Vaako was running at full speed, jaws tense as he gasped for air. Something had taken his sister, someone had taken JAK! He was running as if his life depended on it which, judging by how he expected his brother to react to the news, might actually be an accurate description of the situation.
He was already picking up the familiar scents around the den but he couldn’t see anyone yet. As he tried to run, find his family and pick up the scents in the air at the same time, the blue-eyed youth tripped and fell heavily, scratching his chin rather painfully on the rough surface. He stood up at once, albeit a little shakily and sprinted forward again, cursing the tired muscles that threatened to give in.
Adona
Sitting just outside the den, Riddiq was in a 'zen' mode. His awkward limbs were filling out slowly but surely, and even at such an awkward state of not-a-cub but not-an-adult... He was still so pulled together. Big freaking surprise. Riddiq's ears twitched when he heard the pair of paws that were running head in towards the den. Frowning a little he listened.
...where were the other set of paws?
Those were too heavy to be Jak's paws. Where was she? His golden eyes opened, and he turned to face Vaako, the growl already building in his throat. Perhaps his notion of running as if his life depended on it was pretty accurate.
"Where is she." were the first words out of Riddiq's mouth, practically in a continuous growl.
Mogami
Vaako ran towards his brother stopping abruptly with he heard the dangerous tone. Panting, lowered ears glued to his neck, the young lion had some trouble answering his brother. Not only was he scared for the reaction he’d get (this was Jakyra they were talking about!) but it was physically demanding to actually form the words.
“Jak…” he started almost painfully, his expression the perfect image of pure agony. Saying it aloud made it all the more real. “Someone took her. Where… is mom?”
His eyes never left Riddiq. There was a very good change he might have to dodge his brother.
Adona
For a split second, it was like Riddiq broke. A second later, he stepped forward, his snarl a little higher pitched than he'd have liked. It wasn't all anger. It was anger tinged with terror and fear for Jak. His Jak. The Jak he was supposed to protect. The Jak he trusted Vaako to protect when he wasn't there.
"You were supposed to protect her!" He snarled, his ears folded flat against his head. "What were you doing?! Where did they take her?"
Mom? Mom wasn't who you should worry about, Vaako. Riddiq glared at him, his eyes dark with fury.
Mogami
He was. He was supposed to protect Jakyra. He was her brother. He was supposed to make her stronger and protect her until she could defend herself. That was probably the only reason Riddiq’s let her be as far from the den as he was today. Vaako had never really considered just how much trust his older brother had showed with that simple gesture. Riddiq would never have taken his eyes off of her.
“I didn’t see it!” Vaako cried out, his body lowering under the weight of his brother’s snarl. “She was tracking me. I was hiding. But nothing happened, Ja-… “The young lion coughed, stumbling on his sister’s name. “I heard running, I shouted for her but I couldn’t find her and I smelled a stranger.”
“I know where the tracks are but if it rains…” he glanced up at the clear sky. Not a problem yet but there were few things quite as fickle as the weather. ”We need to tell mom quick!”
Adona
The growl grew as Vaako stumbled through his explanation, practically leaning forward to try and catch any lie. If this was a joke, he would kill them both, god help him. With a snarl, he shoved past him, starting to run the way he'd come. He paused a few steps in at the mention of their mother, snorting derisively.
"No." He snapped. "Show me where Jak was taken." He glared at him. It was possible, although unlikely, that Jak was just playing an awful joke on Vaako and making him think Vaako had lost her. Maybe the strange scent was one she'd planted there, or something.
Part of him hoped that was the case. If not... His ears flattened a little against his skull. He had wanted this, after all. A way out. He just hoped it hadn't come at such a price. "Start walking." He said, snapping at the air by Vaako's paws to get him moving. They were wasting daylight, and if it did rain like Vaako said, they'd lose the scent.
Mogami
Vaako looked confused almost angry for an instant. Shouldn’t they, at the very least tell Gintare “Hey, your daughter was taken?”. What could be more important than telling their mother that one of her kids was missing? But then again, what would Gintare do? Follow after the perpetrator, a cheetah if his first assessment was correct and leave the rest of her children behind? Nothing was going to stop Riddiq - that much was painfully obvious - but Svan and Kofie… no, Gintare couldn’t just leave. Riddiq was right… as usual. Vaako was the slow one.
“Fine.” He said jumping a little when his brother snapped at the air. He went quiet and started running again, tired muscles loudly regretting that their rest had been too short. He didn’t say anything he was right back where he’s started and by following the marks he’d left before, Vaako reached the point where he believed his sister to have been taken and eyed the larker paw prints viciously. “I don’t recognize the scent. But the paws look cheetah… I think.”
Adona
"Shut up." Riddiq snapped quietly, stalking past him. He glanced down at the paw prints, nodding to himself. He was right, it was a cheetah. That wasn't important. What was important was where the hell he'd taken Jakyra. He leaned down, inhaling lightly to soak up the scent, and began to trot away from Vaako. A childish naive part of him hoped that maybe Jak had fought and was only a short distance away, wounded and waiting for a rescue.
That wasn't to be so. He got a short distance away before stopping and turning, regret and fear etched into his face. He stalked back to Vaako, his jaw clenched so tightly that it hurt. "We're going back." He snapped out, starting to walk back to the den. They had to tell Gintare that Jak was gone. And they had to tell Gintare that they were going after her.
At least, Riddiq was. Though he hadn't asked, he assumed Vaako would follow too. If he didn't... Riddiq wasn't sure how much respect he would have for his brother, if he decided to not at least try to save the sister he had lost. Riddiq was as silent as the wind on the walk back, jaw clenched and eyes downward. He'd let her down. He promised Jakyra she would never need to fight, never need to protect herself, because Riddiq would be there.
And where was he now? Walking back to Mommy. He hated himself for not just taking off, but Vaako wouldn't just let him go.
Mogami
Being chastised only made the consequence his mistake all the more hurtful. Vaako was trying to be a good boy and “shut up” but when Riddiq started walking away as if he was going to take off right away, the blue-eyed stirred restlessly. Riddiq wouldn’t just leave, right? He wouldn’t just take off without even saying goodbye to their mother…
It was a relief when his brother turned and spoke. Vaako followed after him right after, a little slouch in his posture. As if Riddiq’s silence wasn’t harder to take than usual, Vaako felt a strange emptiness inside. A numbness he couldn’t quite explain. The young lion didn’t speak but he also didn’t know what to say if he’d wanted it. All he could think of was Jakyra and even that image seemed to fade dangerously as if he was already forgetting her face and losing himself all the while.
“I’m going with you.” He said quietly, no pause or stutter maiming his speech this time. Riddiq wouldn’t give up on Jak so they were going back just to tell Gintare what had happened… what he’d let happen. And there was no way that he’d be left behind so Riddiq better not be thinking of just dropping Vaako at the den and leave. Staying with his family as the “one who lost Jak” and doing nothing was not an option. They had to find her. He had to find her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:15 am
Adona
The walk back was agonizingly slow. He stopped just outside the den, golden eyes narrowed, and glanced towards Vaako. "You tell her you lost her." He growled low. Vaako would say goodbye first. Riddiq preferred it that way; he wanted a private moment with Gintare to tell her he was leaving. It would be easier if he didn't have to worry about Vaako seeing him in a vulnerable spot with their mother.
Now more than ever, he had a responsibility to be the guardian in the family. A guardian didn't cry, a guardian didn't lash out. A guardian simply took solved the problem. They would find Jak, of that Riddiq had no doubt, but it crossed his mnid that they might not see Gintare for days. Weeks, even months, might pass before they returned to their mother's den. He wasn't concerned for his own safety, but that of Jak's and to a lesser degree, Vaako's. He would have to especially watch his brother now, without Gintare's set of eyes watching when he couldn't.
It was going to be a test to not just leave Vaako somewhere on his own, he could feel it in his bones.
Mogami
Vaako’s ears, low as they were already, seemed to disappear in the small growing mane of the juvenile. He supposed it made sense that he was the one to tell Gintare what had happened, it was his responsibility. But Riddiq was with him now and Vaako had the unconscious feeling his older brother was taking charge of the situation and was allowing himself to simply go with the flow trying desperately not to think or feel so the order came as a small surprise. It occurred to him that Riddiq was punishing him (and would continue to do so as long as they travelled together) which, in a way, felt more than a little justified. It was okay, Vaako wanted (needed was the most accurate word) to be punished anyway.
But there was also the chance he was also and trying to avoid watching Vaako being a cry baby as he said goodbye to Gintare. The young lion shuddered. Would his mother blame him, too? Vaako took one long breath, very silently and very discreetly. Without a word, the blue-eyed lion stepped into the den, abandoning all sense of feeling behind as he searched for the right words to explain to Gintare how one of her daughters was missing and to say goodbye (perhaps forever) to his sisters. And when he returned to the light, there was an overwhelming darkness inside him and he was a different lion altogether. - FIN! -
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