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 Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:07 pm
 Kizev was at the water hole this morning and something wasn't right. There were a lot of lions out today, especially adults, and most of them seemed to be talking. Some looked excited, some looked disappointed, some were wearing expressions the juvenile found himself unable to decipher. Obviously something had happened. He considered going up to one of the grownups and simply asking what was up, but that would probably get him a clout on the ear. Then his face lit up as a perfectly wonderful idea struck Kizev. It had been inspired by the lioness walking up to the water's edge just now, one of his older half-sisters. Aysu was commonly known to know everything that was going on in the pride. Maybe if he went up to her, she'd simply tell him what had happened! With this plan in mind, the young white lion sidled up to his sister. "Morning Aysu!" he chirped cheerfully, putting on a smiling face just for her.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:14 pm
Aysu was in a good mood and she was making no effort at all hide it. She might have felt ashamed for being so happy about someone else's misfortune, or perhaps embarrassed for her close relationship to the subject of the day's gossip.. but she was also one of the most vocal supporters of Yareha's eviction. His attitude had changed when they had grown up but she had completely lost interest in defending him once he tried to kill Mazin. Since then, she had plenty of time to reconsider her opinions and her brother finally getting what he deserved was not going to make it happen.
Her cubs were not too far off from her but, since they were in the center of the pride's land, she was not too concerned with keeping an eye on them. She was taking a drink when a smiling little lion appeared beside her. She lifted her head and smiled back at him.
"Good morning, little brother," she said.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:18 pm
Kizev blinked. The older lion seemed much more cheerful than usual. He wondered if he could manage to get her to tell him without asking outright. It shouldn't be too hard, given how happy Aysu looked today.
"Always have to remind me how much bigger you are, don't you?" the boy mock-complained to the black lioness. His act was completely ruined by the grin across his face. He knew perfectly well how big his father and brothers were, and that he'd likely end up just as large when he was an adult. It was only that such a time seemed so very far away in the ever nebulous future.
"You seem really happy this morning," he went on, pushing a bit closer to the subject of his curiosity.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:25 pm
"I have to before you catch all the way up," she said matter-of-factly, sticking a paw on his head and waving it over to her own legs as if measuring just how much he had grown. He was a bit bigger than her own cubs but it seemed so much more dramatic a change in a cub she didn't see as often. She could blink and he'd have a full mane and tower over her!
"I am very happy this morning," Aysu admitted, though her smile faded a bit as she realized explaining her good mood to a cub would be tricky. She wasn't sure how her father intended to handle explaining Yareha's banishment with his younger cubs, she wasn't even sure what she intended to tell her own-- though it would be easier with Xwaya, Radimi, Nina and Ikwezi: they would be slaves, they already were on the way to learning just how important it was to be respectful. And, of course, she was allowed to expose them to her own opinion without regard to how another parent might feel about it.
She would have to lie.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:29 pm
The juvenile made a face at his sister's antics with her paw, measuring how big he was. Bad enough that his dad did it far too often, now her too? What was it with grownups and measuring kids anyway? He, for one, couldn't wait until he was a grownup himself and no longer subject to such indignities.
"Well? You're not usually this happy without a reason," he prodded when it became clear that Aysu wasn't going to just blurt it out to him. What was the use of going to the family gossip when she wasn't going to gossip?
"What are you so happy about?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:45 pm
His indignant expression over her measurement was half the fun and she figured he would understand someday. She sighed when he did indeed demand an explanation for her happiness. She didn't care for her conclusion that it would be best to lie to the lad and it caused her to pause long enough to realize there was another side to this. Even if she stayed off topic and gave some excuse, he would hear sooner or later and it wouldn't take a genius to guess why.
Being truthful, though, would mean toning down her delight.
"I suppose you'll figure it out sooner or later," she said, "Last night Yareha was kicked out of the pride, you know he and I never really got along." It was a bit of a stretch, of course, but for as long as Kizev had been around, she and Yareha had not gotten along.
"I guess I'm just relieved not to be worrying about running into him again."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 9:51 pm
Lavender eyes blinked as Kizev digested this news. Yareha had been...kicked out of the pride? The juvenile hadn't even known such a thing was possible, let alone that it could happen to one of his brothers. Not that he knew this particular brother very well. He knew who Yareha was, and knew his nieces and nephew by Yareha, but the two of them had never spent a lot of time together, and none of it alone. Which was a shame. Of all his brothers, Yareha was the one who looked most like Kizev, and the younger lion had hoped this would mean they'd have a particularly close relationship.
It hadn't seemed like Yareha's fault, but he'd been very busy as a Hunter and never had any time to just hang out. And now they'd never be able to do that.
"Why did they kick him out?" Kizev asked at last, frowning. He didn't bother asking how Aysu could be so happy, everyone knew that she didn't get along with Yareha at all.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:09 pm
When he asked why Yareha was kicked out, Aysu hesitated as she considered the audience she had. Her cubs were low class and definitely learning with very focused attention on the importance of being respectful. Kizev was not born here and so it was something they were careful about teaching him.
"To be honest, Kizev, Yareha was not a very respectful lion," she said, "It's OK to ask questions about our traditions here, but if you can't accept the answers then this isn't the right home for you. It puts us all in danger if you offend the Great Lion."
Aysu decidedly left out her opinions on the physical threat she believed Yareha to be. Opinions on that topic were also diverse and it wasn't entirely relevant to the conversation they were having now, though she hoped it came up when deciding what to do. It was something Kizev could learn about later, even Aysu wouldn't go telling anybody who would listen that story.
"Yareha couldn't accept the answers but he wouldn't leave, either, so he had to be told to go."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:14 pm
Kizev had to mull that one over for a time. Yes, he was learning about the Great Lion and how He blessed every lion and litter to a varying degree. Some were more blessed than others, and if he remembered correctly, his older siblings had been born into the lower middle class. It wasn't the lowest class, and that was about all that could be said. But it hadn't seemed like a bad place to be, not when they were protected by the pride as a whole.
It was strange though. Hadn't Yareha and Aysu and their whole litter been born here? They'd known this stuff their whole lives. Not like he and 'Dama, who were learning and who wouldn't even know what class was theirs until they were adolescents and old enough to go through the ritual.
"That's pretty sad," he said at last. It was more than sad, but the juvenile was having a hard time conceptualizing this whole thing.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:20 pm
"Yes," she agreed quietly after watching her little brother think the situation through. Just because her ultimate reaction was to be happy to be rid of Yareha didn't mean Aysu didn't appreciate the complexity of the situation. The only downside she saw to being openly happy about it was her understanding of what happened might not be so easy to see, but she wasn't terribly worried about that.
"Everybody is better off now, though, even Yareha" she said.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:23 pm
He had to think about that one too. He could see how the pride would be better off with Yareha gone, but how could his brother be in a better position now that he was no longer here? The pride was a safe place to live, that was why his mother had brought he and 'Dama here when they were too small to remember.
"Are you sure?" Kizev asked Aysu, looking for all the world like the child he still was, begging for reassurance. He may not have known his brother well, but he didn't want anything really bad to happen to him!
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:32 pm
"I'm positive," she asserted, knowing very well his concern was for his big brother, out there in the vast world without the pride or the Great Lion to keep him safe, "He'll be happier somewhere else."
Probably.
Aysu wasn't sure he would ever settle down but surely even being a rogue, controlling your own path, had to be an improvement over resenting everything your pride did here. At least then if he hated it, it was his own fault. Maybe he'd even find a pride that would be able to stand him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:38 pm
Hmmm. That didn't sound entirely convincing. Kizev wanted to be able to do something for his brother, even if he hadn't been the best of people. He decided he'd pray to the Great Lion to help Yareha out.
But...if his brother had been born under a waning moon and was no longer a part of the Mwezi'Johari, would the Great Lion even listen? Now there was a problem! He thought about asking Aysu that one, but decided she wouldn't be the best option.
Aysu's oldest daughter, Lailah K'chol, wasn't that much older than he was, and she was the Shaman's apprentice besides. She'd know!
"I'm glad," he told the black lioness absently, already plotting to track down her daughter. "Thanks for telling me!" Curiosity satisfied, he absented himself quickly from the water hole and headed out on his new quest.
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