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 Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 6:31 pm
It didn't much bother her, to be honest. She just rolled with the flow, and since everyone treated each other with love and caring, regardless of how they looked, it was a contented life.
But today, something different happened. She had wandered away from the main group and was chasing a cricket. Sometimes it hopped, and sometimes it flew, so following it was very interesting. She knew no adults would let her wander into anywhere dangerous, so she didn't bother with where exactly she was. The cricket landed beside a small boulder, and then burrowed beneath it into the shade. Deciding to change games, she scrambled up on the boulder (which was really just a rock about her size) and surveyed the area. That was when it happened.
She saw someone who looked like her, but wasn't one of her littermates. She was so startled she nearly fell off her boulder. Instead of being blue and black like her litter, he was different shades of brown... and was kinda stripey! She was so excited, she squeaked instead of calling out to him, and promptly did fall off her rock.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 6:41 pm
 It was a fairly ordinary day for Hashiel. He was exploring without his sister or his brother or his twin. Well, okay, the lattermost was somewhat unusual. But it wasn't like they were joined together or anything! He could go places without Shulinav, it was just more fun with his twin. Mostly. He had noticed that when he didn't feel so good, neither did Shulinav. Maybe if they spent time apart, Shulinav would feel better? It didn't seem to make much difference for Hashiel though. The young leopon was distracted from his thoughts by a high pitched squeak and then a thud. Surprised, he turned to see a cub fallen on the ground. She was dark and blue, colors that he'd seen around the pride before. But... But he didn't think she was a lion. In fact, she looked a lot like his sister, Ukwamukela! He knew he and his siblings weren't lions, not fully, but Hashiel didn't usually think about things like that, or about his father. So it was somewhat surprising to see a cub that looked so much like his sister. "Are you okay?" he asked. It had, after all, been quite a tumble for a cub!
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:12 pm
Thankfully she was an agile little thing, and had known enough to tumble and roll rather than stiffen and try to halt herself. Consequently, she was able to sit up, all dusty and with bits of grass in her fur, to stare up at the boy talking to her. "You look like me!" she gasped, her mind still spinning over this fact, rather than over her actual spinning. For a few moments she merely gaped up at him, then seemed to gather her wits. Her eyes brightened and she sat up straighter, her thick tailtip flipping excitedly. "I'm Divy, who're you?" Her ears swiveled forward completely, and it was clear he had her complete and rapt attention.
Belatedly she realized he'd asked if she was okay. Sheepish, with a flash of shyness, she ducked her head before answering. "Yeah, I'm okay. Was just a tumble. See?" She held up a paw and extended the foreleg to show it worked properly, then did so with the other. "Th'nkya for asking," she added shyly. A big boy, who looked like her, and was nice!
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:16 pm
Well, he supposed the girl's observation wasn't surprising, given how few leopons there were in the whole of the Kitwana'antara. He was a little surprised by how quickly she bounced back from the whole falling off a rock thing. He'd always thought that girls were more...fragile...than that.
Though his sister might scratch him up good for even thinking that.
He decided that a little fun was in order. After all, it wasn't like he was that much older than her, to act like an adult. So Hashiel made a show of looking himself up and down, then the cub, then himself again. "I don't see it," he replied, "I've got stripes and you...you're a lot darker than I am." Having established that, he moved on to the rest of her pile of questions.
"My name's Hashiel and I'm glad you're okay! Wouldn't want you to get hurt in such a silly way!"
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:31 pm
His immediate and flat denial of their resemblance stopped her cold. Her whole body froze as she stared up at him with a disbelieving look. But it didn't last, for she soon blinked and opted to convince him. "Well, I suppose not... you are a boy," as if it made such a huge difference. "But look, we both have white muzzles!" She presented hers sideways for him to inspect. "And we both have more than just that as white on us." She nodded earnestly up at him, as if to further convince him by her sincerity.
He moved on though, and so she did too. She smiled up at him as he shared his name, and expressed further concern over her. "Nah, I'm alright," she said, waving a paw dismissively. "Besides, seems like it'd be better to get hurt being silly, when it would hurt less, than to get hurt doing something serious, when there isn't anything to make you laugh and forget it's supposed to hurt!" Her childish logic was a beautiful thing, though she wasn't really aware of it. She only knew that how one felt in one's heart had a lot to do with how one felt in one's body.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:43 pm
The boy considered the cub's new arguments for why they should or shouldn't look alike. "I guess you're right," he supposed. "We do both have a fair bit of white on us. So we're that much alike." She was actually pretty cute, all things considered. In the not-related-to-him-but-still-small-cute-and-female sort of way.
Hashiel was not sure, however, how to follow her train of logic. For his comprehension, it was a long stream of words that didn't entirely make sense about getting hurt and not getting hurt. "Uh...whatever works?" he offered the response to her almost completely cluelessly.
"So...Divy...shouldn't you be in your mother's den? Or something like that?" Yes, he'd wandered loose as a cub, but he wasn't sure that had been something his mother had actually WANTED for him.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 2:50 pm
"My mama doesn't live here," she informed him candidly. "She comes to visit. I live with my siblings. Or... well, with some of them, anyway." In fact, the family was so large, she tended to not ever quite be sure where everyone was. "I don't make trouble, so I can wander. The guards will keep me safe." She nodded serenely, secure in her cubbish acceptance of the world being right so long as the adults were there, doing what they were supposed to. She then squinted at him curiously. "What about your mother? Does she let you wander?" She supposed the way he'd asked what he did that she might not like her son being out here with her.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 4:35 pm
"Oh, so your mom's like my dad!" Hashiel replied, putting two and two together at last. "My mom met my dad when she was traveling outside the pride. She says he'll visit one day, but so far he hasn't."
Not that Hashiel really cared. His father was someone who obviously existed because how else would kids exist, but had no other bearing on the leopon's life. He supposed that she was right about the guards, but it was still a little weird.
"I guess my mom doesn't always know if I wander. She's a Guard and she does have to pull shifts on the Border. But I'm a juvenile and you're just a cub," he pointed out, somewhat logically.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:30 am
Well, yes, she supposed he was right. "But they know where I am, sorta," she defended herself good-naturedly. "I told the minders I wouldn't go far, and I haven't." She gave a firm nod. Nevermind that she could only faintly hear the loudest of the cubbie sounds from here, and only occasionally. "Do you want to play?" Even older boys liked to play, or did so in her experience. But maybe this boy was too grown up? "You aren't an apprentice yet, are you?" Her eyes grew wide and her tone hushed in awe. To be an apprentice at such a young age would be amazing.
Eldest sister Haruma had told her about that, because Haruma had done it. She had known when she was very little what she wanted to do, and had started helping the healers by gathering herbs and keeping patients company. Divy wasn't at all sure what she wanted to be yet, but she figured she'd learn as she grew. "What are you going to be?" she asked, leaning forward more with adoration in her eyes. Even if he wasn't an apprentice, maybe he was one of the lucky few who knew already what he'd be as a grown-up!
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:13 pm
"Sorta, huh?" Hashiel replied. He supposed that he couldn't really tell on the kid when he'd been just as guilty. That did kind of spoil things. So...why not play? It'd be fun, he didn't feel like crap, and it would make the cub happy. All good things in his mind.
"No, I'm not an apprentice yet," the older leopon answered with a laugh. "I don't know what I want to do as a grownup yet, and no one said anything about choosing to me!" He supposed that when he got a bit older he'd be expected to pick some sort of path and begin learning it, but that was for later. Right now was for fun and entertainment!
"So let's play, huh? I bet I know a few games you haven't learned yet!" It would be a fun time, and then he could make sure little Divy got home safe and sound. So no one got in trouble. This time.
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