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 Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:32 pm
Then there was the taunting about Nerit when Unyezi asked Mitsuki to be hurried along home. And generally no conversation ended terribly well betwen the brothers.
But having told Njiru to send the pair of lions to the dens, Unyezi had been forced to return back there without getting in a good chunk of time looking around. His quick return and the look on his face were clear indications of his sour mood, and to anyone who knew Unyezi well it was probably not an unfamiliar expression. The brothers never got along.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:46 pm
Aureole recognized that they were a member short out of the traveling groups that had arrived but she had given it off to causalities. She knew the rogue life wasn't easy so she assumed that it had been the cause of a decrease in members. Which still seemed like not a negative with the new family that had joined them with an eye-popping litter of eight. It definitely put the new Mwezi'Johari off to a good start. But she had no clue about the negatives going around.
She spotted Unyezi. Smiling, she trotted over to him. He was a very responsible, nice guy. But he looked like he really needed someone to talk to him. And she figured she might as well be good for something.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:52 pm
Stomping back towards home to wait for Mitsuki and Mvushi to arrive and in such a foul mood, Unyezi almost didn't notice that he was walking right towards Aure- who also happened to be heading for him. Her moving towards him is what actually caught his attention, and he almost smiled when he looked up. Normally he might have, but until this was taken care of he supposed he wouldn't be too upset.
"Njiru and his group are back," he grumbled, skipping over the greeting. He didn't mean to be rude, and would likely apologize for it later- but Aureole had been his friend so long, she'd heard all of his rantings about this before. Stupid Njiru.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:07 pm
Aureole smiled sympathetically at the sight of his anger. If she was human, she very much would have made him sit down, take a seat beside him, and rub his back comfortingly. But as it was, she wasn't and could only nudge him with a paw as if to say it can't be that bad. "He can't be getting on your bad side already," she said. She knew he hadn't been the best older brother in the world. As a matter of fact, he had always been very... aggressive about where he believed his ranking should lie. Aureole had learned to tolerate him. But she could tell that whatever it was, Unyezi wanted to talk about it. "What'd he do?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:16 pm
Unyezi paced once Aureole reached him, keeping moving just to help vent his frustration. He almost laughed when Aure optimistically said Njiru couldn't be on his bad side already, he was sure there was no way his brother would end up on his good side. Njiru would never care to be there, and Unyezi would never care to have him there. It was a mutual dislike.
"He lost a slave, said he didn't know he had more than one with him so he's blaming me," he explained, stopping to stand still now, "Denge is gone, and now I have to figure out what to do about Mvushi. He still refuses to even fake respect for me, asking why I wanted him to get Mitsuki as well Mvushi.. even when he already had to take some of the fall for the lost slave."
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:56 pm
Aureole frowned at his answer. Njiru was a problem but she didn't exactly have the heart to tell Unyezi that maybe he should consider exiling Njiru. As a member of the pride, it was his job to listen to the King, the heir, whose job was to make sure the pride was safe, protected, functioning. If someone prevented him from doing the job, they probably shouldn't be around any more, if not severely punished.
But losing a slave was serious business especially when it was one's job and prime responsibility. Lost one who was already lost but still, it did not matter. It might as well be as bad as a king failing to do anything for his people but let them die a cruel fate. Something that, of course, Unyezi would never do. Aureole believed in him.
"Everyone responsible has to take a fall for it," she replied honestly. "When each one of them could have prevented it. Some are just too ready so see the fault in others when they so desperately are trying not to see their own." Even if Njiru did not understand why he was being punished because he didn't want to, the others would. They had enough sense for that.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:06 pm
"What can be done about Njiru? Yelling at him doesn't do much since he doesn't care what I say or think," Unyezi sighed, calming down a bit now that he had explained his problems. Aureole alway had an answer, she was always able to figure out something reasonable- and she was always a good listener, always a good friend. "I might have been unclear, but I only assigned one slave outside of Njiru's care. Njiru thinks he's invincible because he's my brother and because he's good at what he does."
That was what made things so difficult, Njiru was right to feel that way. Unyezi might not like Njiru, but he had a great deal of love and respect for his parents- who had loved Njiru, trusted him and put him in the position he was in now. Until someone else could prove as successful as Njiru in his job, the lion had to keep it.
"Then there's Mvushi," he continued, wanting very much to let the poor lion off the hook for this but knowing it wasn't going to happen, "He gave up a lot for Denge, and now she's run off. But he was the only one with her, and as her mate he has double the responsibility for this."
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:19 pm
She made a face, contemplating what he said, trying to think of something that would help him but that was still at least most likely true. "Well, all I can really see is that Njiru needs to be shaken a bit but I don't know how that'd be done. Or if it could be done, considering he could take whatever it is as just him being suppressed. Use it as justification, even."
She sighed, particularly for Mvushi who would be taking the heat for much of it, a guy who had done what Unyezi might have if he didn't have any responsibilities - if she was to believe rumors. But anyway, Mvushi although grumpy had been a asset as a priest. But now, she was pretty sure he couldn't return even if he wanted to. His sacrifice, it appeared, had been for naught. The other bit was for Unyezi, who had to make decisions for the pride and decide punishments. There was no other lion to do it but him. She couldn't say anything more, or nothing that she could think of. He knew what had to be done without her help. It was not a pretty thing to consider at all.
But it looked like the whole thing was really dragging him down. It was possible that it might be because of something else. "But you're ok, right?" it might have been a pointless question but she had a right to be concerned and if she knew one thing, she knew it never hurt to ask.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:32 pm
"I don't know what everyone thinks of Njiru, last thing we would need is for him to stir up some real trouble because we tried to punish him for something," he agreed with Aure, realizing trying to do that was pointless now. Njiru could easily earn himself punishment, but anyone who didn't know the full story but knew that Unyezi and Njiru had a little feud going on could assume that was the true cause.
With a sigh, he sat down.
"I'm fine," he said, finally smiling a little bit, "Not exactly a warm welcome home. I suppose a slave missing for certain is the least of our problems, with Dyst, Vikesh and Otieno and the others still out there.."
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:41 pm
She shook her head at the thought of how Njiru could get away with things just based on how the situation of their life had laid itself out.
She went to sit beside him, sensing it was him about to say something important. And his big reveal was a pretty large blow to her, opening memories and thoughts she had thought she had conquered. Aureole had convinced herself that her brother had been lost to them in the mortal sense. It kept her from going and searching for her little brother. He had only been a juvenile when they left. It was so young for someone like him to be out there. Yes, he had been with his teacher, his mentor, but still.
Aureole leaned a head on his shoulder. "I'm sure he's alright," she said, not realizing her pronoun had been singular. And perhaps the words were more for herself than for him. And she couldn't very easily unsay them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:57 pm
Unyezi didn't realize what he had said until Aure sat down beside him and fell completely silent for a moment. He winced inwardly, wishing he hadn't mentioned it like that. It was awful to imagine being in her situation, here he was wishing his brother would just go away when her brother was still missing. Unyezi really liked Otieno, he always had. He sighed and when Aure rested her head against his shoulder, he shifted his head around and nuzzled her.
"He'll be back in no time," he agreed, going with the reference to Otieno only without a second thought to it, "If a dolt like Njiru can find his way back here, then certainly they can."
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:27 am
Aureole flashed him a weak smile. "That's part of his job," she said trying a tease about Njiru, "to make sure you never forget he exists." Of course, there was a part of her that knew he'd come. But with such sentiments as she had, her logic had a hard time coming up with an answer she could accept.
"Just a matter of time..." she said in reference to her brother. And time was what could take a toll on someone. But maybe time would temper him, teach him things. Then it would all seem worth it. Of course, assuming he was coming, she told herself.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:30 pm
"He's very good at that," Unyezi muttered with a slight chuckle, knowing that if Njiru did one thing better than his job of leading the hunts it was getting on the king's nerves. He sighed, resting against her now as well.
"That's right," he agreed, "Then we'll all be together again."
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:33 pm
Aureole smiled hopefully simultaneously realizing that they had very rarely been this physically close. But it didn't seem awkward or unpleasant. Rather, it was comforting and seemed quite natural. Then she smiled to herself with that knowledge, a soft, warm smile. "All together," she whispered. "What a day that'll be."
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