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The day was hot as the sun neared it's climax. The noon day sun was unforgiving so Kelina tried to stay under the canopy. She tidied up her little home that she shared sometimes with her father when he was home. Her father was quite the interesting character. Gituku was never really around much of her childhood, only visiting for a week or so before leaving again. Their relationship was already kind of strange, it didn't help that Kelina thought that her father was keeping something important from her. He hardly ever talked to her and spent most of his time working when he was in the settlement. Kel didn't really complain about that though, because she knew when he left, he normally left a good amount of his earnings with her.

As if he could hear her throughts, Gituku appeared and deposited a small satchel on the table and then proceeded to stand there and look at her as if she was some interesting piece of art. "Goodbye daughter, until next time." He said promptly, giving her a small hug before taking to the trees. Kelina remembered a time that she would watch her father descend to the forest floor to travel, wishing her mother would let her go with him. Needless to say she never did. But her mother wasn't with her now, Gituku was the only family she had left. With a split second decision, she tied the satchel to her waist before jumping to the trees herself. Instead of going all the way down to the floor, she descended to the lower canopy, where the branches were thicker and would support more weight. She nimbly jumped from branch to branch, they swayed a bit but produced little noise. Keeping her father in her sights, she followed him, careful that he didn't see her and that she didn't make any noise. Kelina would finally find out what her father does when he leaves.

After traveling for quite some time, Kelina's limbs were getting tired, but her father walked on at an astounding rate. He must have walked this path before...he hasn't stopped and hasn't slowed...Father, where could you be going? Kel thought to herself as she forced her sore legs to move on. Not being able to see the sun, she had no idea what time of day it was or how long she had been traveling. She resisted the urge to go up into the upper canopy to see, that would just get her lost and she would loose her father. Had she not rushed out to follow her father, she could have thought about packing a meal or water at least. With a frown, she worked through her thirst and hunger to keep up with Gituku.

But just then, he stopped suddenly and looked up into the trees. Kelina crouched down, making herself as small as possible as she clung to the tree branch. Gituku continued looking up in the trees until he was staring at one spot opposite of where his daughter hide. Kel's brow furrowed as she cocked her head, were there Alkidikes up there? "Lasarra, what are you doing so far away from your mother?" Gituku said rather loudly up into the trees. Lasarra? Who's that? Has he seen me and gotten my name mixed up? No, that's not right. He's looking off opposite of me Kelina stayed put and kept her eyes focused on her Gituku.

A soft laugh escaped Gituku at his daughter's outburst. "I know you're not a youngling anymore, it's just hard to remember sometimes." He hugged his daughter lovingly. And Lasarra's mother was making food? "Well we better not keep her waiting then! You know how she gets when we're late." He said with another laugh, holding his daughter close to him as they went back towards the village.

Kelina stared as a shifter jumped out of the trees and walked over to her father. Surprisingly the two looked more alike than herself and Gituku. How could that be? Was this what father always does when he leaves? Does he have another family? For mother's sake I'm going to find out. Kel jumped down from the tree she was hiding in, landing with a soft thud, she was in a crouching position from jumping. She quickly stood and walked after where her father was walking away with some other girl. "Gituku!" Kel yelled at her father, a slight bit of anger in her voice. Her mother loved him until her dying day and this was what he was doing in his spare time? And this girl knew he was coming? Does that mean that her family was 'the other family'? In Kelina's mind, she was furious but only let a fraction of that show as she marched after her father.

Gituku turned, putting himself between Kelina and Lasarra, almost as if he could block out Lasarra and make her not be there. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, he had hoped that this day would never come. But that was ignorant of him, of course his daughters would wonder where he went and would eventually try to find him or follow him. "Kel, I can explain."

Kelina crossed her arms and stared right at him defiantly. "You better start now, otherwise I might think you're a cheater that's not worth being called family." She would hold nothing back. If Gituku was cheating on her mother the whole time, there was no point calling him father.

"Kelina, this is Lasarra, my daughter. Lasarra, this is Kelina...my other daughter." Gituku said somewhat awkwardly as he gestured between the two girls.

Kelina stared at her father and...sister in disbelief as she realized her fear was true. And this girl looked close to her age which meant this had been going on her whole life. Her head shook in her disbelief as her fists shook in anger at this man who was her father. Kel felt bad for her mother and wondered if she had even known.

Gituku's hands fell to his side as Lasarra spun him around to face her. "Can we all just sit down and I'll explain?" He didn't wait for their answers as he sat, folding his hands up as he waited for his daughters. This was one thing he had been hoping to avoid. How could he explain this so that it made sense to them?

Kelina decided to indulge him as she strode over there, keeping space between the other girl and her father. She sat down, tucking her legs underneath her so she could leave in a moments notice. "Start explaining then." Kel said, looking at him evenly, obviously furious.

"This might not come as much of a shock to you, Kelina, but your grandparents weren't very fond of me when your mother and I got together. We were young and stupid and before we knew it, Alina was pregnant with you. Your grandparents were furious, and they chased me away from your mother. While wandering, I met your mother Lasarra. It was love at first sight. I stayed with her for quite some time and she went to Aisha to plead for a child. Not long after, we had you. I felt the pressure from Abeni to stay and settle down, but that only made me feel guilty about Alina. I went back to visit then, you were both about a year old. It was then that I found out that your grandparents had passed away Kelina, and your mother needed help buying food for you. So I stayed and worked, giving her the money from my earning. I would make enough to support the two of you and then come back here to Lasarra and Abeni. This trouble is of my own making. I couldn't stay with either one of you because then I'd feel guilty about the other. If either of you want me out of your lives now, I understand." He finished, calmly, his focus transferring between the two girls.

Kelina listened intently, still not happy with Gituku, but still not ready to forgive him. Her gaze shifted to the other girl now. "It seems that we're sisters then." She said as she outstretched her hand for a handshake. She really had nothing left to say to Gituku. He was her father, but she didn't know if she wanted him in her life or not yet.

Gituku stood and gave his daughters a hessitant smile before heading to the village.

Kelina let go of the other girl's hand after their brief handshake. It was such an odd notion, after all this time, finding out that she had a sister was fairly shocking to her. She looked around nervously, what could she say to this girl who was kind of family to her now? Would she even accept her as family? Fiddling with her own hands, she had a hard time figuring out some way to make things less awkward. "Do...you have any other siblings? The only family I..have is Gituku." It was somewhat sad how alone she was in the world, she never really minded it until now when she heard about Lasarra having a family.

"I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. Gituku was hardly ever present when I was a youngling. He would show up, do any work he could and leave the money with my mother when he left. I never understood why he always left especially after my mother died. He'd still come every once in a while and work. I hope he was at least there when you were young." Kelina couldn't harbor any ill will or feelings towards this girl. It wasn't her fault that their father was a cheater, no matter the circumstances. "I didn't mean to intrude on your village or time with Gituku..." She said apologetically.

Kelina thought about how weird the Alkidikes were, how strange their customs were. But Kel was in no place to judge, to each their own. She didn't understand the Alkidike's way of thinking about sisters. Sure there were other girls in her village, but they didn't call each other sisters. She supposed it made one feel like they were part of something greater, that they could never be alone because of all their sisters. Kel almost wished she could have that kind of assurance. But that's when Lasarra suggested that she come live with herself in Ast.

"I live in Ast, not very far away from here. I still have my mother's house. It's not much but it's a home. You can always come see what you think. Like I said, it's not very far so you could still visit home or move back if you decide." Kel was almost giddy with the thought of finally having a small family again. She didn't know if she would want Gituku to come back but she, like Lasarra, was happy to know the truth. "I'm happy to finally know the truth too. It's weird to think about that all this time, you've just been in the next village over. I hope I don't sound too needy." She said with a nervous laugh.

"I"m sorry that all those years my mother and I kept Gituku from you and your mother. I'd someday like to meet your mother. But I'm sure the time and place for that might be in the future some. When either you our Gituku explains...you know?"

It couldn't be easy for Lasarra being a halfbreed among the Alkidikes. Even among the other earthlings had their doubts about halfbreeds. Kelina herself didn't mind them at all. Its not like children could control what their parents did. That would be silly to judge someone for something they couldn't change. "Ast is fairly accepting to halfbreeds and is one of the more diverse villages. Honestly, it would be really difficult for any one to even tell that you were." Kelina shrugged. It's not like she had those antennas that would make her stick out.

"I must admit. I'm relieved that we're getting along so well already. This morning, when I followed Gituku, I didn't know what to expect. Now, things seem unreal, and better than I could have imagined." She smiled, so happy that she had family again.

"I feel kind of bad for Gituku, if how you looked at first is any correlation to how furious your mother will be, I hope Gituku can run fast." The thought of Gituku running away from a woman made Kel want to laugh.

((sorry its a crappy reply. >.<

"I have a feeling, that even if people aren't accepting you can take care of yourself, apparently like your mother." Kelina said with a laugh as she imagined some Alkidike chasing after Gituku with his arms flailing. Her smile broadened with that thought. "Your mother seems like a very wise person, and also very dangerous to Gituku. But I'm sure your mother will make sure he gets what he deserves." Her smile had turned to more of a quirky smirk. And almost as if it was on time, Kel heard a rustling in the trees before seeing a very panicking looking Gituku running across the road back into the trees, and yes with his arms flailing. She tried to hold in her laughter but after all the years Gituku had been with her, she had never seen that expression on his face. It was priceless. She couldn't quite help containing herself though because she burst out in laughter as soon as Gituku crossed the road. "Do you think your mother is in pursuit behind him?"

She wondered, after seeing Gituku run past, if Lasarra's mother was giving him a head start, maybe finishing dinner to have her strength before hunting him down. Since Kelina didn't really know this area, the only place she could think of Gituku going was back to Ast to her house. But since it seemed Lasarra was more familiar with this are, her mother must be too which mean it was likely Gituku wouldn't get as far as Ast. Pushing back some hair that was in her face, Kelina leaned over propping herself up with her arm as she was more relaxed now. "Was living in an Alkidike village looking like a shifter while growing up? " Kel could probably only imagine a fraction of the teasing her half sister had gotten when growing up. She seemed to make it okay though, maybe a bit stand-offish, but Kel was sure Lasarra's mother had a lot to do with her childhood. Lasarra's mother sounded a lot like her own, but with more fire.