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 Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:46 pm
She supposed she could go find a friend to play with today, maybe Sar, Savassi, Timka or Asha. Or Kito, that could be fun! Maybe even make Tezcacoatl take her exploring. But, come to think of it, it had been, perhaps, two whole days since she really played with her siblings. Tala realized she missed playing with her siblings, then, and decided that should immediately be remedied. So she turned from her walking and headed back towards the den, ready to accost the first sibling she found and spend some “quality-time” with them!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:57 pm
Mafunde was a bit shaken up by the interaction she had had with her father. She knew that he didn't blame her at all, because it wasn't her fault. She couldn't help but think that maybe it was her fault, though. Could she had handled...anything better? Mafunde followed Tala, though she hadn't really realized what she was doing. Being to worried and sad made it easier to follow a body than to make her own decisions this morning. That is, until she nearly ran head-first into Tala. "Eek!" The black and white cub rolled backwards for a moment, as her paws and legs had simply failed her for a moment. "Ouch! I'm going to get a bump on my head from that," she grumbled to herself, trying not to cry.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:04 pm
She's had no idea her sister had been following her, and as such had not been concerned with paying attention as she turned and hurried along. Of course they would bump in to each other. For her part, Tala didn't really fall over, rather just stood still after impact, blinking at the sudden, blurry vision of her sister on the ground.
"Mafunde!" She exclaimed, surprised. Then, as a very delayed reaction, she sat back. "Ow. Are you okay?" Yes, now her head was actually starting to hurt, and she laid her ears and screwed her eyes together for a few moments. When she opened them again, she still had a rather unhappy expression. "Watch were you're going." Tala at least had the decency to not really sound upset or annoyed, because it was sort of her fault, too.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:08 pm
"Sorry," Mafunde started, and then the tears started to leak out from her eyes. At least she wasn't completely bawling, but she wasn't that far from it either. "I can't see to do anything right. You do it so effortlessly..."
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and willed herself to not whine. Don't cry. Don't blame it on anyone but herself.
"Sorry, Tala." Her sister deserved better, even if they were still young, and learning, and not always steady on their paws. "Dad's not that happy with me, and I don't know what to do...I just sorta started following you without realizing it."
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:14 pm
Despite what might be her first actual headache ever (she was usually good about not hitting her head on things), Tala wasn't too out of it to see something was off. Just... were those tears? she didn't want to see tears! this was definitely not the sort of sibling interaction she had been hoping for today. "No, I'm sorry! Mafunde, I... it's okay!" She blinked, not quite understanding what was wrong.
"What do you mean dad's not happy with you? Why?" Perhaps she needed to pay better attention to what went about here at home. She stood, only briefly, so she could inch closer to her black and white sister, as if to offer more support.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:26 pm
"I don't know. He's always been kinda quiet around me, which is ok!" She sniffed a bit, swallowing the rest of the tears. She didn't want to cry anymore. "I guess...he said something about his mom, and I look just like her I guess." She shivered a bit, remembering that her father looked so upset. Like someone had chomped his tail right off or something!
And every time he looked at her, that pain developed in his eyes. Mafunde didn't understand what it was she had done.
"I dunno, maybe I just said something wrong and he doesn't want to scold me." She inched towards Tala, glancing outside of the cave. "Maybe we should walk out, in case someone...overhears." She didn't want everyone to know that her dad was being weird around her!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:30 pm
The idea of their father being upset because Mafunde looked like their grandmother seemed very strange to Tala, and she furrowed her brows. Daddy wouldn't be mad at her because of that, would he? It wasn't even her fault! Besides, if Mafunde were more... er, red, she and Tala would look quite a lot alike.
"Maybe he's just... okay." She stood up, but first moved to stand beside her sister before heading outside. "Do you remember saying anything?" She might have suggested their father missed his mother, and Mafunde reminded him of her, or something, but such a conclusion did not come quickly to a cub.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:43 pm
Mafunde walked next to Tala outside, the cub so happy that her sister was here for her, and helping her a bit. Really, how was Tala not perfect? Clearly Mafunde didn't hang out with her as much as she thought she did.
"No. I dunno. I don't wanna tell Mom, cause I don't want her to worry." Her brows furrowed. "Maybe...he'll tell me when I'm older, if he's still not mad at me."
It was hard to think of a time when he wouldn't be, since Mafunde's understanding of time was very warped. Everything always seemed to last forever!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:49 pm
She tried to think about what possibly could have upset their father. Mafunde wasn't even a troublemaker, really. It was Tala who' made friends with a venomous snake, and once or twice even snuck off without permission. Yet she had never really gotten much more than a bit of a scolding, or being grounded.
"Maybe you... um. Stepped on his... no, that's silly." Why would dad even get upset over stepping on his tail? Besides, she'd already said it had to do with their grandmother. "How long have you been noticing this?" Tala really felt like she should have been paying more attention!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:53 pm
"Maybe it isn't me..." The more that Tala struggled to find something to pin the blame on, the more that Mafunde wondered. And wondered some more.
"Tail?" Mafunde filled in, her own tail involuntarily moving to hide under her body. That would hurt! "Maybe I disobeyed him without realizing it, and maybe it was something grandmother never would have done?" That...was about as close to a good answer as she could think of, even though there was no way she would have known until she got in trouble.
"I dunno, he's always looked at me a little weirdly. I though that maybe cause I'm more blacker than everyone else." She didn't think that was a bad thing, since Tala had some black in her too!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:01 pm
Not her? So that meant... hm, okay. That was very weird. "So.. you look like our grandmother." She said, mostly just to have it out there, and help her reason. She laid her ears back.
Mafunde's idea was a pretty sound one. "But," she countered, aloud. "You don't really misbehave. And I do worse, sometimes." This really was quite weird. "Even when I brought Tezcacoatl over..." that had been a very interesting day. "And I'm blackish, too." And she simply couldn't connect their father's attitude with color alone. That seemed weird.
"Maybe it's something she did. Or maybe he just misses her, and you look a lot like her." She didn't know what had happened between her father and his mother, but she knew he never told them stories about the lioness!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:16 pm
The sun felt nice on her face. It helped to calm her down a bit, and she didn't feel as frantic as she had a bit before. Tala was helping too, even if neither of them had any clue as to what happened.
"Maybe. You think he'll tell us if we ask him directly?" He may put it off, but Mafunde was old enough to know that he wasn't that strong against ignoring his daughters' wishes! They'd get it out of him, and if the two of them were there, there was no way it'd go bad.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:19 pm
"Maybe..." She blinked and looked up at the sky, but avoided the sun directly. That would hurt.
... oh. "Or maybe not too directly. Maybe he wouldn't like it." But how could you indirectly ask a father why he seemed strange around one of his children? Hmph, they'd have to be smart with wording! Tala was good enough at talking, considering her age, but still, this was something different. "Don't worry, though." She turned her attention back to her sister, and offered a small smile. "Thing's will be okay, you'll see. And I'll always be here for you."
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:43 pm
Mafunde was a little confused as to why Tala didn't want to ask their father directly, but she wasn't going to go against what Tala said. She assumed that Tala had more experience, since she was so adventurous.
"Ok," the black and white cub said, not looking terribly sad. Things would be ok, because Tala said so.
"So...did you want to go out and play?" Mafunde asked, her fur a little patchy from where the tears dried, but otherwise seeming to be a-ok.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:50 pm
Even though this hadn't been the sort of encounter with a sibling she'd been expecting, or hoping for, Tala was happy she had been able to calm down Mafunde, even if only a little.
This wasn't to say she wasn't glad for the suggestion of play. "I think we should!" She nodded, not only because Tala quite liked playing, but also because Mafunde could probably use some distracting. She seemed sad, still, and since the red cub didn't know what else to do... "We could find Matumaini, Cali or... anyone, and play tag!" One-on-one tag didn't usually work. Ooh, maybe she could even introduce Mafunde to some of her friends, she imagined her sister could use a few friends.
"I think maybe they're that way." She indicated a random direction with her maw, but with such conviction that it was clear she was certain, and it must be true. Offering her sister another smile, she headed the way indicated. Tala's current mission was simply make Mafunde happy again!
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