[FIN] Family (Kizev & Lailah K'chol)

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His niece was, Kizev decided, a very difficult lioness to find. Ever since he'd spoken to Aysu and learned that his half-brother had been kicked out, he'd been trying to track down Lailah K'chol. Apparently being a Shaman meant that she was difficult to find. The juvenile was also reasonably certain that he was supposed to be somewhere learning something that was probably important, but he felt that this was a much more pressing matter.

There! Kizev trotted over to the lounging lioness who appeared, upon closer inspection, to be asleep in the late morning sun. Well, that was no good!

"Good morning, Lailah!" he called loudly.  

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The white lioness jerked awake at the sudden noise and looked around, blinking. Golden eyes fell upon the juvenile standing uncomfortably close to her head and then her mind backtracked to repeat and translate the sound that had woken her up.

"Oh. G'morning, Kizev," she replied sleepily, stretching herself out in a massive yawn. She didn't know her uncle (and wasn't that strange, having an uncle who was younger than she was?) well, but they'd talked in passing now and then. It wasn't common for him to seek her out like this though and she had to wonder what was going on.

"What's up?" Lailah asked a bit more cheerfully as she began waking up a bit more thoroughly.  

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"Well, I was talking to your mom at the water hole, since there were a lot of people there today and they were all talking and Aysu always knows what's going on and she told me that the King and Queen kicked Yareha out of the pride!" the boy exclaimed rapidly. He didn't usually talk that much at once, but in his nervousness and desire for Lailah to understand that it wasn't his fault or anything, he wanted to clarify as much as he could.

"And, well, I was wondering...if he's not in the pride anymore and I ask the Great Lion to look after him...would He?" Kizev stumbled over his question as his fear rose. Surely Lailah would know the answer...right?  

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Whoa. This was a lot of talking to hit somebody with when they had just woken up. Part of the reason Lailah K'chol had been sleeping so late in the morning was that she'd been up rather late the night before. Had, in fact, been present as her uncle Yareha was brought before the King, Queen and Shaman for judgement. She'd said nothing, been instructed to keep her silence and to simply observe.

It had, to say the least, been a difficult night.

Especially because afterwards, Stellaluna had insisted that they discuss it, what Yareha had done, why it deserved banishment, how this situation could be avoided in the future and so many what-ifs that Lailah's head had spun.

Needless to say, she wasn't thrilled to have another uncle confront her first thing in the morning on the subject. But, she sighed inwardly and brought her mind to bear on what he'd asked. And it was a good question.

"Let me think on this for a bit, okay?" she told the younger lion, buying time for her sluggish thoughts to properly process the inquiry.  

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"Okay!" Kizev agreed quickly and eagerly. Lailah would know the answer, that was her job as Shaman! Well, Apprentice Shaman. There was only one Shaman at a time and Lailah was there to make sure that if something happened to Stellaluna, there would still be a Shaman. Kind of like Princess Selene was there in case something happened to her parents.

So the juvenile twitched and stared and thought about sitting but was far too on edge to actually do so while he waited.  

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Okay, so. Yareha had been in the lower middle class, born under a crescent moon as the Great Lion's eye was either almost closed, or just barely open. She thought, idly, that if it was the latter, He'd probably been paying about as much attention as she'd been when Kizev woke her up. Regardless, Yareha would not have a great deal of His attention at the best of times. And now was forever banished from the lands where His Eye was focused.

Kizev, on the other hand, was still young. No one yet knew where he'd be placed, since he and his twin 'Dama had not been born into the pride. They could end up in any of the classes and their blessings were as yet unknown. So where one of her siblings could be assumed to potentially share their blessings with another by virtue of being high class, Kizev did not have that guarantee at this point, so it was unknown what kind of power his prayers would have.

So the answer, she was fairly certain, was that it probably wouldn't help. But was that something to tell a juvenile? Yes he was fairly mature for his age, but that didn't mean he was capable of dealing with weighty issues as an adult. She decided on a compromise.

"As far as I can tell, there is no harm whatsoever in asking the Great Lion to look out for Yareha," Lailah told her uncle at last. "Now, that doesn't mean He will...but if no one asks, I am sure He would do nothing at all."  

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She was silent a long time and Kizev watched her and worried about what the answer might be. He'd hoped for a quick "of course!" or something like that, but clearly that wasn't going to be the case. So he watched Lailah think and fretted and hoped.

When she did finally speak again, the boy's relief was so great and a huge grin split his face. "Oh hooray! Thanks Lailah! I'll pray every night so that nothing too bad happens to brother Yareha outside the pride!"

The juvenile was hopping and skipping around, ready to run off to wherever he was supposed to be.  

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"Wait, Kizev," Lailah called her young uncle back to her and now her face was deadly serious. She wanted to impress this upon him firmly before he went anywhere.

"Your prayers to the Great Lion are your own. But remember, Yareha was banished from the Mwezi'Johari for several very good reasons. No, that doesn't make him any less related to us, but it does mean that if you're going to pray on his behalf you shouldn't make a big fuss about it. Keep it between yourself and the Great Lion...okay?"

She didn't want Kizev's apparent love for his brother to blacken his own reputation, the way Yareha's words and actions has done for the older lion. And perhaps she was wrong to ask the juvenile to keep this a secret. But right now it just wasn't the time to drop stones into the already frothing waters.  

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The boy stopped and listened to what his niece had to say. He wasn't thrilled to hear her words now, but he could see the sense in them. A lot of the lions at the water hole had been very, very happy this morning. That seemed a little weird to him, but Aysu had been happy too...and this was all very confusing.

"Okay, I'll keep quiet," he promised. "Thanks for your help, Lailah!"

Now he was off running, too fast to hear if she called him back a second time. She'd answered his question, she'd given him her advice, and now he was free to do what he wanted. So there!  

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The lioness watched him go. She heartily wished that time would fly and she would not have to worry about any more repurcussions from last night. However, Lailah doubted that would be the case. She fully expected that, seasons from now when they were teaching young cubs about how to respect the Great Lion, Yareha would be brought up as a prime example of what not to do.

They might even make him into some kind of boogeyman to drive the lesson home. She hoped not, but the foundations were already laid and all that remained was to wait and see what happened.

She hoped that, wherever he was, her uncle was better off than he had been here. That way she wouldn't have to feel guilty about it. She hadn't known him well, and couldn't agree with what he'd thought and said, but she felt partially responsible, if only because she was bloodkin to him, and had said nothing. Nothing against him, but nothing supporting him either.