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 Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:58 pm
 Coeus sat on the highest cliff she could find. She didn't want to play with her siblings, or cuddle with Papa. She wasn't sad about her mother anymore. In fact she rarely thought much on her. When she needed a mother figure or a mother's opinion, Coeus always went to Zeno. Zeno was more her mother than any one else. And Coeus loved her as such. And usually Zeno could get her out of theis moods that plagued her, but for some reason Coeus didn't want to go to Zeno.
Probably because she had no idea why she was sad. She couldn't even blame it on being fluffiless. Her tuff may not be like Zeno's or Papa's or her older siblings, but it was still fluffier than it had been when she was a cub. If only slightly. And Ares had talked to her about that, and Coeus loved Ares and so listened to her when she could. So it wasn't that.
But what was it then?
Now she was sad and confused. How was she supposed to look on the sunny side of things? When she wasn't even sure what the not-sunny side was?
Gods this was complicated. Coeus sank down to lay in the sun that heated the ground atop the cliff and sighed, frowning and trying to figure it out, and herself while she was at it.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:21 pm
 Makani was doing his usual daily routine thing. He had already caught a bite to eat, and so all that was left to do was find a lady, a damsel in distress, or something, to devote his attention to for the day! This was usually done by walking around a lot. And keeping his eyes and ears open. Most days, his search for someone to fuss over for the day was fruitless.
Today, evidently, wasn't most days.
He wasn't as young as he once was, so Makani had seen enough to recognize that the cub at the edge of the cliff wasn't quite a lion or a leopard. But identifying her species was hardly as important as identifying the reason why she was lying at the edge of the cliff. He couldn't see her face, but her posture hardly suggested happiness.
She was a girl, and as such Makani immediately liked her. And he had raised children himself, which made him all the more concerned, and so the cheetah approached. "Hello." He chirped, though tried to make sure it wouldn't startle the cub, considering she was right next to a cliff.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:30 pm
Coeus felt her heart jump, but she didn't move, very aware of the cliff's edge. She looked around and found a cheetah not to far away, but not too close either. She still did a sweep of her surroundings as Zeno and Papa had taught her, make sure there were no others around and looking for a look escape route if it became necessary, but considering he was a cheetah, Coeus knew her best bet was the cliff before her. And that was way too drastic at the moment anyway.
"Hello." She offered tentatively, more a question than a statement, but she hadn't expected to be interuppted or found or or anything up this high. Then again, there were paths up this way since that was how she'd gotten up here. So it really shouldn't have been that surprising. It's just that she'd not really had any contact with adults that were a part of their little family so it was weird to her.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:45 pm
He slightly regretted her reaction, because he knew that kind of thing. Somehow he still remembered his cubhood, and how he had been taught to do the same. It was wise, indeed, but a part of Makani just wished everyone could get along and not have to worry. Sadly, the world was a dangerous place!
Hopefully he could make this cub forget that for a few minutes. "Why are you so sad?" He stepped a bit closer, but made sure not to corner her against the cliff, and also lied down to make sure he didn't look threatening.At least she seemed like a rather sad cub.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:54 pm
"I don't know!" Coeus exclaimed. "I was trying to figure that out, but nothing is coming to me at all!" Her tail flicked in agitation. "I figured that I might be able to put words to it here, away from my family because all my siblings would be pouncing and bouncing and playing on top of me or Zeno would be distracting me to keep me from feeling it and then making me happy and then Papa would just cuddle, snuggle, nuzzle tackle me and not let me squirm away and I just want to know why not stop it. How can I expect to not fight the feeling if I don't understand it?" Coeus put the question to the male laying to keep her company.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:08 pm
One of the things Makani thought was he was glad he had never had this trouble with his children. at least not any of the children he had met. Skuld had been, perhaps, the most difficult, but she had never had the problem of just being... sad. And honestly, though he really wanted to, the cheetah had no idea how to help this cub. So what he could do was just tentative.
"Well, there are some things you just have to accept." He said, a little lamely. "I'm sorry, I don't really know much about your problem. It isn't very... solid. I'm not used to that." He curled his tail at his side. "But I can talk to you, if you wish, and maybe it could help?" Makani tilted his head and offered her a small smile.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:14 pm
Coeus thought about that for a moment. She didn't want to except it. She wanted to know why she was sad even if it was a silly reason like no tuff on the tip of her tail. Or something. She tilted her head and thought about Papa and Zeno talking, just the two of them, when there was a problem in their family pride. Maybe.
Hesitiantly, she nodded at the cheetah. "If you don't mind. Papa and Zeno do that sometimes and it seems to wrong between the two of them. I just don't know where to start. I don't think it's my tuffless tail. Climbing trees makes up for that and my older siblings that do have fluffy tail tips can't climb the trees like I can or my littermates. So that's not it."
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:24 pm
"Not at all." He nodded, because the cheetah had immediately decided he could stick around and chat the entire afternoon if she wanted him to. Or if her parents didn't come up and chase him away, or something. Some parents did things like that, he figured.
Makani pondered a bit over what she said. "There are some things you can't explain, I suppose. You wonder why you are so sad, since you can't seem to find a reason. Some have every reason to be sad, and yet are happy." He realized this might make the cub feel bad, so immediately emended. "What I mean is, you can't always explain why you feel something. Sometimes the best you can do is just know how you feel." And she clearly felt sad. He took a break there in his talking, to give the cub the opportunity to say something, or ask a question, should she wish to.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:41 pm
She knew that the cheetah spoke truth. She could not deny it, but it still felt wrong to give into those feelings. She wanted to better combat it in the future. But maybe he was right and the best way to do that was to accept it? "They are happy when they have reason to be sad, and I am sad when I have every reason to be happy. Surely that can't be all there is to it. What is the point of being so sad in a happy life? I see why to be happy in a sad life, hope. Sad in a happy life is - miserable. I don't want to be miserable."
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:56 am
"No one does." He nodded. "But accepting that you are sad doesn't mean you give in to your sadness. It just seems like you're not... fighting it the right way, I suppose. And to know ho to fight something, you need to understand that thing. Another part of your problem could actually be accepting happiness." Makani said thoughtfully.
"If you're sad, and all you do is know you are 'sad', you will never be happy. Worrying too much about why you are sad isn't really helpful, because if you can't find out why you will just become frustrated and more upset." Makani really hoped he wasn't just rambling, or confusing the cub. "What you need is to accept that you are sad, really accept it, and understand it may be fore no reason at all. And then you need to find what makes you happy, and try to do as much of that as possible. You should find everything that makes you happy. Maybe sit down and appreciate it, every now and again. Just think about the things that make you happy." It seemed strange to say, but Makani added it on anyways. "Sometimes you need to convince, teach yourself to be happy." He supposed that just like learning how to hunt, you could learn how to become happy.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:28 pm
Coeus's tail swayed as she thought about what the cheetah said. He did make sense. hadn't she just been getting more and more frustrated and upset before he came along to help her figure it out? And that had been making her sadder. Instead of fighting it, she'd been contributing to it. Huh.
The things that made her happy. "My sister Perseus makes me happy. And don't tell Papa, but his snuggles and cuddles make me happy. Zeno's attention and care make me happy. Seeing my shadow on the ground lengthening makes me happy." Coeus looked over at the cheetah. She didn't really know what else made her happy, but those were good starts weren't they?
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:27 am
Makani smiled, and nodded. Yes, that was a very god start. "So when you're sad, all I can suggest is try to focus on the happy things. Remember them, how they make you feel, and appreciate them. Seek them out, if you can." Because as far as Makani could tell, this cub seemed to have a tendency to be sad. And so she would have to be the one to make the effort to be happy, and maybe one day it would be her default mood, not sadness.
"Or, if for some reason things that usually make you happy don't work, try to find something else. Like a hobby! Or make new friends. Or play a game, or something fun."
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:41 am
Coeus nodded at the cheetah. "But how and with who? I can't make new friends when there aren't a lot of kids around. I've only ever seen my siblings. Ever. I think other families avoid us. Because of Papa probably. He does sometimes look big and intimidating and all, but he really is a fluffy pillow." Coeus looked down the cliff side to her family below, going about their business and playtime as usual. "We're kind of .... chaotic."
Coeus stood up and stretched out her spine. "I guess I better find a hobby to fall back on. Just in case. Do you know any good hobbies?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:03 pm
Makani nodded, because he understood that kind of thing. As a cub he'd also met few cubs outside of his family, because, as rogues, parents needed to be more careful as to what their children were exposed to. Particularly cheetah, and single mothers, like his own. "Perhaps you guys could find a friendly pride that wouldn't mind you playing with other cubs." He shrugged, there were prides like that. The Pridelands, for example.
"Good hobbies, uhhh..." Okay, she got him there. He wasn't quite sure he could say he had a hobby, considering most of his time was spent looking for females to please. And he highly doubted that would be helpful for this cub. Even if she were a boy, it was hardly a lifestyle one should recommend to children. "Perhaps collecting things? Like feathers. Or making things, like necklaces."
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:42 pm
Coeus tilted her head. "Make things?" She pictured anklets and mane and tail jewelry. Feathers and shells and holey rocks and odds and ends that she did find around where ever Papa made their den. She could do that. "I like that idea. Especially fur jewelry. I like putting things in my siblings' manes and tails. Even Papa could wear some. He is very fluffy and has lots of mane and tail tuff. He would look good with fur jewelry."
"Cheetah," Coeus, still cautious, but very thankful, nuzzled the top of his head quickly. It was the most affection she showed physically to anyone but Papa. Well, anyone that she knew of, because she still didn't know she cuddled her siblings in her sleep. "Thank you!"
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