Kaalnia ran the cloth through her hands. It had been fine once, but it had been well-worn, maybe by generations of the Shifter outlaws, maybe only by the one that had perished in the war. Either way, it was a piece of history, a humble bandana given the dignity of a heirloom by a funeral rite and entrusted to her. It was an honor, which meant that she had to think long and hard about how she would use it...
But this was Kaalnia. Thinking long and hard was just not her way. She knew exactly what to do with the bandana.
She folded it carefully, holding it in the palm of her hand. ”Kiki?” she called down the stairs of their tree home, ”Light of my life, would you come up here for a sec?”
Quote:
Note: This was supposed to be done during the last meta but I never got around to posting anything @.@ Hence why it's so... old.
Kiki is a youngling and this does not count towards her current stage Kaalnia is a Warrior with one RP between her and another character of mine.
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 8:23 pm
It was Kiki's turn to clean up dinner, and she was proud of being able to do it without help. Kiki knew she was a little odd for liking chores, and she was made fun of sometimes because of it, but the adults liked it so, for this one thing, she could ignore her peers. As she cleaned and dried their table to a somewhat-polished warm-grained hue, she knew her mother would be very proud of her work. But then again, Mama was always proud of whatever she did.
Kiki was just admiring what a good job she had done when her mother called her. ”Coming Mama!” she called, her antennae twitching curiously. She started up the stairs carefully: one never knew what her mother might be up to.
Having reached the top of the stairs without incident, Kiki peered at her mother curiously, half hidden behind the railing. ”What is it, mama?”
Kaalnia couldn't help but grin as her daughter rounded the stairs. She was a beautiful creature, perfection in a tiny little body. Kaalnia could watch her move all day and not be bored. Hell, she could watch her exist all day and not be bored. Anything her daughter did was wonderful, and Kaalnia didn't think that could ever change. She just loved her so unbearably much.
”I have a present for you!” she said, holding out the cloth/
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 8:42 pm
Kiki frowned at the cloth and approached cautiously, reaching out to just barely touch the cloth before looking up and studying her mother's face. Kaalnia was not a prankster, but she was unpredictable sometimes and Kiki wanted to be sure what she was getting into. ”Um...” she said shyly, uncertainly. There had, after all, been that time with the spring and the toy. Was this cloth hiding another, different surprise?
”Go on, take it!” said Kaalnia, mock impatiently, ”It's just some cloth... Well, its special cloth, but uh... It's ordinary cloth, you know, aside from it's specialness...” she trailed off, making a face at her own explanation. ”Just take it. It's a gift that I want you to have... it won't bite or anything...” She couldn't blame Kiki for being so cautious. After all, there had been that time with the spring loaded toy... She still felt a little guilty about startling the girl like that, but it had also been hilarious when the little thing popped out of its box and scared her...
Kaalnia hoped that didn't make her a bad person.
”It's just cloth. I promise.”
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:10 pm
Despite the occasional trick pulled on her Kiki did trust her mother. Reassured by Kaalnia's word that it was just cloth and nothing more, Kiki took the gift gingerly from Kaalnia's hand and unfolded it, frowning at the pattern as she turned it over. ”Its a bandana.” she said, looking up at her mother in confusion, ”Why are you giving me a bandana, Mama?”
”Well, its a special bandana...” Kaalnia said, ”There was this family of Shifters, and they'd lost one of their own in the war... It was very sad. Everyone was very sad. They needed to let go, you know? But there wasn't a body...” Kaalnia hesitated, briefly wondering if the details would be too much for her daughter, and then she mentally shrugged. Kiki could handle this kind of stuff.
”It's hard to say goodbye without a body, you know? So I helped them do a ritual that sort of... pretended that the body was there. That brought the spirit in, or something. I don't know if it worked. You don't know these things, you know? But I figure, whether I did the ritual right or not, whether it did anything or not, it helped them and I figure the man probably appreciated it, wherever he was... Uh, anyway...” she gestured to the bandana, ”That was his bandana and the ritual attached something of his essence to it so that the family could say goodbye to him in their own way. They could have done anything with it... burned it, passed it on, whatever. They gave it to me, which is very nice of them, you know?” Kaalnia neglected to mention that she had also been ambushed by them – why worry her daughter about silly things like that? Things had worked out for the best anyway. ”And I'm giving it to you so that his warrior-essence-stuff can inspire you to be a badass warrior like your mama.” Kaalnia grinned impishly, ”You want it?”
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:50 pm
Kiki was used to filling in the blank spaces of her mother's stories. While she wasn't as creative as some of the other children, she could imagine all kinds of things about her Mom's rituals and the Shifters and so on. Clearly whatever her mother had done was cool beyond imagining – more than cool. Everything Kaalnia did was energetic and over the top and overwhelming and Kiki kind of liked it.
She looked at the bandana for a moment before tying it on her neck. If her mama felt strongly about it, so did she – no hesitation. ”I'm gonna wear it forever!” she chirped, smiling broadly.
Kaalnia's smile matched her daughters. ”There you go.” she said, giving her daughter a hug and a kiss.
Soon it was bedtime, and after making sure all the boring chores were done and after telling Kiki a better, fuller version of the ritual story, per request, Kaalnia herself turned in for the night. As she lay there on her fur-lined bed, her menk swimming in his bubble nearby, she thought about the bandana and what it meant. Would her daughter be a fighter like its former owner? Would it give her courage? Belligerence? Nothing at all, save for a sort of ratty accessory? Kaalnia honestly had no idea what her daughter would grow up to be, but she hoped that, by giving her the bandana, she had improved that future Kiki in some small, tiny, little way.
”I love you, sweetness.” she whispered into the room, before she fell asleep...
~~~
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:52 pm
Kiki looked around her with uncertain eagerness, her eyes wide as she took in the raucous festival around her. She held her mother's hand, staying close to Kaalnia's powerfully muscled side as her tribe celebrated. What they were celebrating, Kiki wasn't clear on, but that didn't matter very much to her. Her mother was taking her to a festival, and that meant food, games, and fun with her mother, all things that Kiki adored. And, perhaps, her friends would be here too and they could have some time to play. In other words, the festival was a festival, and that was what mattered.
Kaalnia shared her daughter's priorities. Sure, the reason for the festival was neat: honestly, more people should just relax and celebrate life itself, there just wasn't enough of that. Living was a miracle that Kaalnia appreciated every day, after all.
But honestly, Kaalnia would take any excuse for a celebration. She existed – nay, she thrived on fun. It was her lifeblood. And what better way to have fun than to take her daughter to a festival? They hadn't hung out much as of late, alas. Kaalnia had been involved in the peacekeeping efforts, helping hybrids and their pureblood earthling kin out where she could. The poor bastards needed all the help she could give them, what with a nasty chunk of the tribe turning against them. Kaalnia needed a break, and she needed a break with her daughter.
She grinned down at Kiunyki, who Kaalnia could swear had grown at least a foot in the past month alone. ”So, theres games, market stalls, food, dancing, and leaf gazing.” she listed, gently swinging their entangled hands, ”What do you want to do first? Or we can just walk, if you want! Your choice!”
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:58 pm
”Um!” Kiki wasn't sure what to do first. She was just so happy to have her mother with her, hanging out with her, being there with her... ”Anything! What do you want?” She knew it wasn't the best of answers – her Mama needed direction – but Kiki didn't know. There were just so many things and since she hadn't spotted her friends yet, that meant she could do them – any one of them – with her mother.
”Hmm!” she said. She wished that Kiki had just picked something, but it didn't matter. They had every oppurtunity in front of them, and they could just take it all in stride, couldn't they? It was a metaphor for life itself. Sort of. Kind of.
Kaalnia decided it was.
”Ooo!” she said, grinning mischeviously at her young daughter... still so young! She needed to enjoy these years, before Kiki went off to train for long hours with the other youngsters. ”I have an idea. Lets jog around the stalls!”
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:06 pm
”A... jog?” Kiki raised an eyebrow, ”A jog? Really Mama?” She was incredulous, and didn't really want to go jogging. Or running. Or training. Kiki wasn't lazy, but racing around a crowded festival didn't seem like her idea of fun... but it did sound like something her Mama would want to do. Her crazy, wonderful, alive Mama. ”Maybe... we could just walk?”
Just walking had been an option, but now Kaalnia really liked the idea. ”Yeah, a jog!” she said enthusiastically, ”Come on!” A jog would be the perfect thing to let off some of her internal reserves of energy, ”Tell you what, I'll make it a game. Not a race!” she laughed at her daughter's expression. If it was a race, Kaa would surely win. Kiki was fast, but not faster than her Mama. Not yet, anyway. ”We don't stop at any of the stands, but we look at each and we see if we can find something we like! Then we'll play some games and whoever wins the most games...” Kaalnia's voice took on a playfully competitive edge, ”Gets the present!”
