Hasierara was wondering around the tunnels. He decided he would stay to make sure Bukaeara didn't act up again. That and he wanted to meet his nephew. Knowing Buka, he probably had more nephews and nieces wandering around, but Hasierara didn't worry about it. If he got the chance to meet anymore of his family he would be happy.

It had surprised him that Buka hadn't given Ekaitz the family name of Torm. It was always family tradition to give your sons the family name. He had wondered if Bukaera was go against the family tradition, or decided against it since Ekaitz mother had not been his mate and would have been seen by the family as a b*****d cub. Hasierara didn't see Ekaitz as any less of a family member, even if he was the results of one of Bukaera's flings. The fact that Bukaera decided to raise him was enough evidence that Bukaera thought of him as his son.

He decided to check to see if Ekaitz was in Buka's den. This morning Bukaera had stormed off. After their last meeting Hasiera didn't want to deal with Buka and his bit of drama. He knew they had different views on how others should be treated. Hasiera just hoped that he would get to see his brother again before he left Mazu.

As he wondered around the tunnels, he was sure that he was just getting himself more and more lost. He was given directions to Bukaera's den, but he was still puzzled by the massive amount of tunnels. Hopefully he would run into someone and they could help him figure out where he was, he thought.

Ekaitz was also wondering around the tunnels, lost in thought. Now that he was a bit older he had to start thinking about what rank he would want to go into. His first thought was to become a scout like his father. However he realized he didn't like leaving his home for long periods of time. He much preferred staying with his friends. There were other ranks he considered though. One of his favorites was catcher. He liked being outside the pride, but at the same time he wanted a place to go back to.

He decided he wanted to experience all the different positions in the pride before picking one. It was better to experience different task anyways. Plus he liked helping the brothers. At first he only helped leopard out, because his father was strict on his interactions with other species. However since his father wasn't always around he decided it wouldn't hurt to help non leopards too. He didn't notice anything seriously different between him and the non leopards. Now that he was older he felt that it was okay to make his own choices, that he should be allowed to have friends with who ever he wanted to be friends with. His father did not have the right anymore to tell him who he could spend time with.

As he traveled he noticed a purple striped traveling a ways in front of him. He followed the leopard for a bit, trying to figure out who he was. Normally he knew most of the leopards of the pride. His father was sure of that. However he did not know this leopard and the odd part was that he looked similar to his father in color.

He decided to hurry up and catch up with the unknown leopard. “Hey Mister wait up!” Ekaitz shouted as he hurried up to the leopard. All his time growing up in the pride, he had never learned to keep his voice down. He caught up to the leopard and grinned at him. The other leopard was thinner than his father, but he could definitely see a major similarly between the two.

Hasierara glanced at the younger leopard and smiled. “Hello there. If it isn't too much trouble, I was wondering if you could help me find Bukaera's den?” He asked the young leopard. He hated asking for help, but sometimes it was needed. Hopefully though the young leopard wouldn't be too busy. “I am still new to this pride, I just came here to visit my brother. This is actually the second time I've gotten lost so far.”

He knew that he would never be able to live in a pride like this. It was just too confusing.

Ekaitz stared at him for a moment, not quite sure what to say. “So wait, you're Bukaera's brother?” Ekaitz asked. His father had never mentioned he had a family. Ekaitz had just assumed that Bukaera was the only cub from his litter, or like him just lived with one of his parents. He wondered if his father had failed to mention any other relatives he may have.

“I'm Ekaitz, Bukaera's son.” Ekaitz introduced himself and smiled. He always wanted to have a family. This would be perfect! Maybe this leopard can tell him more about his family. Bukaera never answered any of his questions he had about his family. He had so many questions that he had always wanted answers to, like why his father hated non leopards so much. “Buka left this morning. He was upset over something.”

A wide smile appeared on his maw. “So you're Ekaitz, I never would have guessed,” he said with a laugh. The leopard had none of Buka's coloring. There were only small similarities between the two. “Yes I am Bukaera's older brother Hasierara. It is very nice to meet you Ekaitz. I was actually looking for you, not your father. To be honest he probably doesn't want to see me right now. I sorta pissed him off.”

He hoped that Ekaitz wouldn't think less of him because of it. “I wanted to get to know you before I left. Other than Bukaera, you are really the only other family I have. It would have been a shame if I left without ever knowing you. If you don't mind I would like to spend some time with you.”

“I didn't even knew I had any family. My father never mentioned you. He never talks about his past, even though I asked a couple times.” Ekaitz explained a bit frustrated. “Do you think you can tell me a bit about my family? About your parents? And maybe you can tell me about where you two come from. When ever I ask my pa he just says 'rogue lands' but I know that's a lie. He has a nervous twitch when he lies.”

He wanted to connect with his new found uncle. Hopefully he would tell him a bit about Buka's past. If now he was sure he would never know. He couldn't imagine why Buka would lie about his family. Had he done something so horrible that he never wanted to talk about it? Ekaitz couldn't imagine his father doing anything horrible. Even if he didn't treat others nicely and often used others, it didn't mean he was a bad leopard. He just could be a jerk sometimes.

Hasierara could understand why Bukaera never mentioned to Ekaitz there family history. What happened to their family was horrible and some of the things they did were unforgivable, but they did what they had to to survive. He wasn't sure if he should be the one to tell Ekaitz about their family. However he knew that Buka would never talk about their family's past. He was worried about it spreading around and other creatures thinking less of him. Hasierara had to admit that even he never shared with anyone about his past. It was just a sore subject to bring up, he felt.

“Please do not be mad at Bukaera for not bring it up. Our past isn't something we enjoy talking about. Trust me, if he had a normal up bring he would be sharing all sorts of stories with you about how fun our lives growing up were. However, as it is, our past is something we struggle to talk about. You do have a right to know about it though. It is unfair to leave you in the dark because we are afraid to talk about our lives.”

He cleared his throat. It had been a very long time since he had done this much talking. “I will tell you about our past. However you mustn't talk about it to anyone else. Bukaera is filled with pride. His past is the only thing he feels that could blemish his life. He has a great life here and if others found out about his past he would get frustrated and leave. This pride could really do him some good and I would hate for that to change because of what I am about to tell you.”

Ekaitz was now worried. He knew whatever his father was hiding it had to be big for him to lie about it. However he never thought it would hurt his father. “I really want to know. I don't understand how something in the past can affect someone like this. Plus it is my family's past as well so I should have some right to know what happened. I won't tell anyone especially if it would upset my dad. I would do anything to protect him.”

He didn't like being kept in the darkness this long. His eyes watched Hasierara carefully as he waited to see what his uncle would do. He wouldn't change his mind would he, Ekaitz thought. If Hasierara didn't tell him maybe he had another family member somewhere?

Hasierara sighed. He knew he would have to tell Ekaitz now. “I will tell you as much as I know Ekaitz, but we cannot talk here. There would be a better chance at ease droppers. I know a place on the surface where we can talk in private. If you would take me to the surface I will tell you everything I know.” Hasierara said. The burden of the past is a terrible thing, he wondered if Ekaitz was ready for the task of baring it. If Ekaitz had been his own son, he wondered if he would have shared the information. He knew passing the knowledge down was a difficult task, a task that should have been Bukaera's. However this was the way it needed to be, despite how much Hasierara hated it.

Ekaitz nodded. This was it. Today he would hear his father's story. He knew the path to get out to the surface. However for a moment he hesitated. He had wanted to hear this information for a long time, however he felt that maybe it was the wrong thing to do. His father did not want him to hear the information, despite how desperately Ekaitz wanted to hear it. He wondered if his father had done that for his own good.

However now that he had grown he had the rights to make his own choices. He wanted to know about his family and maybe Hasierara knew where they were. It was hard to imagine a group of purple and blue leopards some where just relaxing. He wondered what made his father leave them in the first place.

He took the first step toward the tunnel leading to the surface. “Follow me,” he said in a voice much more mature than it normally sounded.

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