[FIN] Goodbye, Mother. (Vaako, Gintare)

[Mogami]

Riddiq had decided to stay outside while Vaako said goodbye to the family first. The blue-eyed juvenile suspected his older brother didn’t want to see him breaking down in front of Gintare but Vaako was fairly certain the chances of that happening were pretty low. Unless his mother started screaming at him which, in all honesty, he believed to be very unlikely – he wasn’t quite sure how he’d react if something like that were to happen. He’d felt strangely calm as he entered the den but his heart suddenly missed a beat and then its rhythm increased at a steady pace. His movements felt constricted and breathing was harder than normal – and not just because he was still recovering from running all the way back.

“Mother…?” he called as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. His throat felt dry and the word felt foreign in his mouth but he continued, walking with tense steps to what appeared to be the shape of his mother. “Mom?”  

[Princess_Feylin]

Gintare was home, which was something unusual in and of itself. Since her cubs had gotten older, she had taken to wandering farther and farther afield in search of independence. She didn't do well with being forced to stay in one place for too long, and even moving her brood around from time to time, as she had done, didn't quite satisfy her tendency to roam. Having cubs was just cumbersome. She would be relieved when they were old enough to look after themselves.

"Vaako," she replied. "You make me feel old when you call me 'mother.'"

She was in a decent mood, for all that she was in the den, which tended to make her a bit tetchy and antsy, and so she grinned at her second son, he of the bright blue eyes. He had his father's eyes, and sometimes that bothered Tare, but in recent times she'd found that she could think of Arindam without that squeezing around her heart that she'd always felt in the past. Perhaps she was getting over him.

The thought cheered her and she said with good humor to Vaako, "Actually, just looking at you makes me feel old. You're getting big."  

[Mogami]

Vaako listened to her mother, quickly assessing her mood from her words. He was quiet for a few moments, staring at his mother’s face as if he was trying to forever imprint it on his mind and a moment later as if he was looking right past her. "You're not old!" or "Yeah, I'm big now!" were things he might've said had the situation been different but right now, Jak was the priority.

“Jakyra is missing.” He said at last. “I was with her and she disappeared. We think someone took her.”

What else was to be said? He was already taking responsibility and using “we” to imply his older brother already knew what had happened. All there was left was their resolution and now that the time had come, it seemed a lot harder to say the words. There was no guarantee he’d ever see his mother again, or his sister for that matter. This could be... no, this most likely was a final goodbye.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Missing?" she repeated, thinking about the news and mulling it over in her head. "And possibly taken."

Tare shifted, getting to her feet and stretching thoroughly so that both her forelimbs and her hind legs got their share of stretch. Then she shook her head, looking as though she was trying to clear it, but in actuality simply completing the action of stretching. It was an unconscious habit to make the motions more than a little seductive, but she didn't give it a second thought in the presence of her cubs. They were her offspring, and she sincerely doubted it would ever cross any of their minds to look at her in that way. The closest they might get would be an objective assessment that she was good-looking and in fine shape for a lioness who had a litter of five.

"Would you mind telling me how you came to the conclusion that she's been taken by someone? I had been under the impression that she is given to hiding from time to time, just as Riddiq is given to solitary brooding. Why do you think this is different?"

It wasn't that a primal part of her brain didn't go into fierce, protective mother mode upon hearing Vaako's words, but she didn't often listen to her maternal instincts, and a lifetime of practice ignoring them meant that she could look at this situation objectively, and without going into hysterics. At least for the moment.  

[Mogami]

Vaako watched as his mother rose, his blue eyes glued on hers. He’d expected a bigger reaction from her, one with a lot more visible concern. Gintare’s eyes were scarily similar to Riddiq’s and yet he'd seen a lot more worry (and anger) in them. His reaction certainly outmatched their mother’s so far.

“I waited for her for a long time. Then I heard running. I followed her tracks and found some bigger ones. Cheetah maybe.” He spoke slowly in a monotone. This was it. It was coming now. The moment his mother would blame him and probably even scream. Maybe run off to look for her missing daughter. “I came back to tell Riddiq and we went to look for her. Mom, we’re…”

He frowned, just a little as the words got stuck in his throat.

We’re leaving…  

[Princess_Feylin]

Gintare watched her son. She was actually very good at reading people, particularly males. Usually she read them because she was trying to gauge how likely it was she would sleep with them, but she could detect other things too. And in someone she'd known their entire life, as she had Vaako, she stood a very good chance of being able to pick up on more than they meant to give away. In Vaako she saw his concern, his distress, his guilt and determination.

She needed a little time to digest everything the blue-eyed boy had said, and so she found herself talking, just asking inane questions until she could get her mind around the idea that one of her cubs had gone missing, and that a cheetah might have something to do with the girl's disappearance. One thing at a time. That's how she'd have to take all this. Because if she thought about it all at once it would reflect on her as a parent, and possibly as a person.

"What were you doing? Were you supposed to be meeting her or finding her? It seems a little odd that you wouldn't think anything of her disappearing for some time."

Riddiq. Riddiq would find Jak if anyone would. The two of them were thick as thieves, as the saying went, and Riddiq was a startlingly good hunter for someone his age. But if the cheetah had been running, there was little chance anyone would catch up with him. Or her. She would have to investigate for herself.

"All right," she said. "I'll come look. Maybe I'll pick up on something you two missed."  

[Mogami]

“I was hiding. She was supposed to follow my scent and find me. But she never came. I heard someone running in the opposite direction but no one answered when I called.” The young lion’s frown deepened as he grew increasingly frustrated with the questions. He must’ve been making a really bad job at explaining himself because Riddiq hadn’t believed him at first either. And not even now, when one of his sisters had been abducted and he was about to abruptly leave the den, did he admit to be playing “hide-and-seek” with his sister.

“You don’t have to.” Vaako said quickly when he realized what his mother was planning on doing. “Where her tracks end, the cheetah’s begin. She was taken.”

He paused, one deep breath shaking his whole body as he released some of the tension on his chest, eyes still fixed on his mother’s.

“We’re leaving, mom. Riddiq and I. We’re going to find her.” There was some determination in his voice at first but Vaako’s tone soon softened. “We just came to say goodbye.”  

[Princess_Feylin]

Tare nodded. Hide-and-seek then. It was certainly more understandable that Vaako wouldn't be keeping track of Jak, then. Nothing to hold against him, there. And even if he had known, she really wouldn't have expected him to do much more than come home and tell her.

Oh, not that she thought he was any sort of coward, but she had enough maternal instinct that she would have preferred he didn't attack or pursue the cheetah who took his brother. Her preference would have been for him to come straight home as soon as he realized Jak was missing. The time that had been lost while he was off with Riddiq frosted her. The two were clever, but they lacked her experience.

"Fine. I'm still going to look, you know. It's sort of what mothers do when their cubs go missing." The fact that she hadn't noticed when her own cub went missing didn't speak well for her claims to motherhood, but her cubs ought to know better than to bring anything like that up. She was not above swatting them if they deserved it.

"You are? Well, that should be exciting for you. You know I may not be here when you get back, right?"

It was horrible, but the first thing she thought was Freedom!  

[Mogami]

Vaako looked at his paws when Gintare told him she’d go look anyway. Of course, he couldn’t expect his mother to just accept that her two sons were leaving without at least making sure Jak had really been taken.

Exciting. Exciting?! What could she possibly mean by that? Vaako’s head rose abruptly and he looked at his mother carefully trying to decipher her expression.

“We’re not going to have fun. We’re just going to bring her back.” She seemed to accepting his departure a little too easily – happily even? – and Vaako didn’t really like how that made him feel. “I wouldn’t just leave if I didn’t have to.”

He had to force himself not to raise his tone. He didn’t want Svan and Kofie to listen just yet. It was important to Vaako that he explained the situation to his mother before he talked to his sisters. Kofie in particular, worried him a little. She’d been following him around lately and he knew that it would be hard to tell her that Jakyra was missing and that he was leaving with Riddiq.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"It will still be exciting," Gintare said. "Independence, real independence, is. It's addictive..."

Here she was speaking about herself, but she couldn't quite convince herself that others wouldn't feel the same once given the opportunity to experience it. Sure, the pads-to-be that she teased around the Ukuucha tended to be very tradition-bound, but even some of them found that their pride's rules were to restrictive after leaving for a time.

"I wish you and Riddiq the best luck with your search," Tare said.

A part of her mind had already written Jak off. It was cold and heartless of her, perhaps, but she had lived all her life in these lands and she knew the way things worked, the harsh realities of the world. Sometimes bad things happened for no reason, and there was nothing to be done about it. Tare would look for Jak, but she didn't hold out much hope of finding her, or have very high expectations that Riddiq and Vaako would either.

"I'll take care of telling Svan and Kofie, if you want to be off right away."  

[Mogami]

“Right…” Vaako said quietly because he simply didn’t know what to say in response. It was amazing how one short word could be spoken so slowly and drag on for quite so long.

He could be mistaken but it sounded like his mother was actually pleased to get rid of them. But… they were still pretty young, weren’t they? Wasn’t she worried that they’d have trouble finding food? Didn’t she worry that something terrible would happen to them? Well, he could understand it where Riddiq was concerned. His older brother was the definition of independent but Vaako? He’d expect a little more concern.

“No… I should tell them.” It was his fault, after all and he really wanted to have a few words with Kofie before he left. He took a couple of steps towards his sisters before turning back to his mother again. “Then I’ll show you where she went missing. Riddiq is right outside. He wanted to talk to you in private.” This talk hadn’t really gone too well. It had done nothing to soothe his worries and, if possible, had left him feeling even more empty than before.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Tare shook her head.

"I'll find the place. It shouldn't be too difficult, since it will carry Jak's scent, and yours, and Riddiq's. With any luck there'll still be a hint of the cheetah's scent, too."

She didn't hold out much hope on that count thought. With all the other people tromping through more recently, there probably wouldn't be much left to pick up. Still, she would make an effort.

"I won't keep you from your quest any longer though," she said "There are some preparations I need to make before I can go hunting for Jak. So perhaps you had best find your sisters and tell them, if you're determined to be the one to do so. I'll go talk to Riddiq."

There were things she wanted to say to Riddiq, too, so that worked out well.  

[Mogami]

“Right.” Vaako said again because it really was all that came to his mind at the moment. He turned his back on his dark mother (who looked so very much like Jakyra) and started walking towards his sisters, feeling stranger than ever. He didn’t really know how take Gintare’s reaction. He hadn’t expected her to break down or run out without thinking (that wasn’t like his mother and it certainly would’ve made him feel worse) but this odd reaction hurt him deeply. From the outside, it looked to Vaako as if she had already resigned herself to Jak’s fate, whatever that was and taking everything in stride as if a missing cub was a perfectly natural occurance. “I lost one” and “two are leaving on their own” were not things she should be thinking about so calmly, he thought. At the very least, she should look a little worried. Would she react the same if he was the one missing? Or if he told her he was leaving on his own…?

He sighed, before looking yp to Kofie’s dark face and then Svan’s pale one, all traces of emotion slowly disappearing from his expression.

“Kofie, Svan. I need to talk to you.”

- FIN -