[PRP] Reunited and It Feels So Good (Kujali x Briskei)

[RuIerr]

’God, I hate this place.’ That seemed to be a singular train of thought that had lasted for, well, quite a few years. Kujali used to be a very happy guy. “Used to” being the key phrase. Now, he was lucky if he cracked a smile every once in a while. He still wasn’t sure how he had separated from his siblings. “Siblings” meaning his brother and their, uh, sister. That was more or less how he had gotten accustomed to introducing Kuamini to others. Although, when he thought about it, the amount of sleepwalking he did could have been the issue…

Shaking his head, Kujali rid himself of thoughts of his siblings. He didn’t like to think of them much, as it only made him grumpier. And knowing that he was to blame for their separation didn’t make the situation much better. He simply had to make do with life as it was now, rather than dwelling on what could have been.

Dame Nightfury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Ruler of Everything

Months. Years. Eons. Briskei had no idea how long ago all hell had broken free on his life and his ... uh, siblings. One moment they were together and the next they weren't. Briskei had stopped keeping time in the long term and instead only tracked it by sun up, sun down and dark. And that was all he could do until he found them again. Briskei sighed and stopped to sniff the air. There had finally been a hint of Kujali roaming in this area. Briskei could only hope that was still true. Because he really didn't know what else to do or look at this point.

And if Kujali's disappearance wasn't bad enough. The day after Kuamini had disappeared as well. Disappeared. The both of them. Like they were ghosts. Their scent trails had only gone so far before there was NOTHING. Absolutely nothing to tell Briskei where they had gone, what had happened to them, which way they had gone. And suddenly he had been alone. A state he hadn't been in ... well - ever. Briskei didn't mind the alone part so much but he did mind the worry, the stress, the complete and horrible gut wrenching feeling in his stomach of not knowing what had happened to Kujali or Kuamini. He made him feel like he had failed. Utterly and completely failed. For a cheetah that took joy and pride in finding not finding them was hard. It was hard to feel anything more than failure every time he put his head down not having found them .... He NEEDED to find them.

And the first step was ....

"FINALLY!" Briskei shouted having caught the scent of Kujali. He sprinted in the direction his scent was coming from. Finally.  

[RuIerr]

Kujali’s ear twitched and his head snapped up involuntarily. His heart started racing like he was mid-Gazelle-chase, but he was just… padding along, minding his own business. Brow furrowing, he started to get angry. How dare the winds trick him into hearing his brother’s voice. Kujali never did enjoy pranks, especially those mean-spirited ones. But when he turned around...

His head craned around and there he spotted him - literally, spots, all over. They were hard to forget when you grew up plain as snow, envious of your brother's slightly flashier coat. Kujali had heard of these phenomena called "oases" where you were so tired you started, well, seeing things. Imagining things like voices, Cheetahs, that were not there. Although he didn't dare get his hope up, he couldn't not respond to the shout. "Briskei?" He yelled into the distance, heart racing faster than ever.

Dame Nightfury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Ruler of Everything

Taggings!

Briskei didn't know if he should laugh, roll his eyes or shout back. All three were kind of difficult to do at the same time, especially when running full out at top speed. He briefly wondered who his brother would have met that would run at him like he was prey on his travels because Briskei didn't think of himself as flashy at all. That was going to be the trouble when they finally found Kuamini. Neither brother had distinctive markings besides his spots and they blended in just fine which was ideal for hunting ... food, not hunting one's - uh, adopted sister. Would she even remember who they were? Or had her memory returned? Did it return and make the time and memories she spent with them go away, lost in her mind somewhere. Briskei would have shaken his head if he wasn't running. Now was not the time to think of that. That would come later. And Briskei was going to be a very good younger brother and hand that responsibility over to Kujali.

"Yeh!" Briskei shouted back at Kujali. He had never really acquired the skill to hold down a conversation while using all of his breath and energy on running. The "Yeh" was suppose to be "Yeah" but words never came out properly on a run.

He was getting closer now, which was really really good because he was about to collaspe. A cheetah just wasn't meant to sprint that far so fast. Especially when you were taking down dinner to re energize yourself. Briskei would be lucky if he didn't collapse at Kujali's feet.  

[RuIerr]

Kujali realized a bit late that his brother was really, well, his brother. Even as he watched the spotted coat flash towards him, it didn’t click in his mind. It was so foreign for Kujali to separate his brother and his, uh, sister. When Kuamini had joined them it had seemed strange at first – not even because of her coloring, but for the fact that she wasn’t even a Cheetah. The fact that Kujali and Briskei looked so similar certainly didn’t help. In the old days, when they’d introduce themselves as siblings, they would get the absolute weirdest of looks. Kuamini never seemed to mind, and so Kujali grew to not caring. And that was the start of cementing her and their, uh, sister. Since then, it was abnormal to see her away from the brothers’ sides. When Kujali found out how he’d lost his siblings, he assumed Kuamini and Briskei had at least stayed together. Apparently, he’d been wrong.

When it finally clicked in Kujali’s mind that this really was his brother, his eyes widened even further. “Briskei?” He questioned the speeding bullet heading towards him. “But where’s—” he didn’t even have time to brace himself…

Dame Nightfury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Ruler of Everything

Briskei ran right into Kujali - though he refused to acknowledge that. In fact, Briskei didn't run into his brother, he tackled him. Yes, that's exactly what happened.

Briskei tackled his older brother, rolling and tumbling and tackling him to the ground, just to be sure that Kujali didn't get up and disappear again while he was trying to catch his breathe after sprinting the distance between them. He huffed and panted as he lay on top of his brother quite happy to remain there for a few hours, as far as Briskei was concerned. He deserved a little break, even a few hours of breaking since he hadn't allowed himself any time to breathe and relax and take breaks since his siblings had abandoned him one right after the other. There was no blame to be place, it was just a simple fact of what had happened, but Briskei wasn't going to just let it happen again anytime soon. If ever.

Letting out a gust of breathe, Briskei lifted his head long enough to sniff at Kujali's fur, just to be on the safe side. Then collapsed fully, smiling. One down one to go.  

[RuIerr]

It wasn't exactly surprising that Briskei ran straight into Kujali. Honestly, he'd kind of expected it, but had continued on thinking he was imagining things. It was impossible to continue that strain of thought when his brother slammed directly into him, tackling him to the ground and then collapsing directly on top of him. But not before catching his breath and confirming the scent to ensure it was, in fact, his long lost brother.

In the heat of the moment, Kujali was sure Briskei didn't realize the impact he would have - literally - on his brother. But Kujali lie there underneath the other male, panting, attempting to catch his own breath. He hadn't had the breath knocked out of him before, but boy, it wasn't fun.

Attempting to roll over, Kujali struggled. "What the hell, Kujali!" He laughed, still trying to push his brother off. Then, the struggle stopped and his brows furrowed once more. "What happened to Kuamini? Where is she?"

Dame Nightfury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Ruler of Everything

When Briskei had enough breath and energy again - like one or two - he ... rolled off his brother before splaying out beside Kujali. Briskei had half a mind to stay splayed atop of Kujali - no matter how heavy he was or how much he would have impaired Kujali's breathing. It was the only way to guarantee that Kujali would still be there once the sheer exhaustion of that sprint had faded. "Why ... are ... you ... cursing ... you ... self?" Briskei asked, happy just to be able to have enough breath to pant out the question.

And then he wasn't happy at all. No, not at all.

The frustration and anger of all the time apart gave him energy and breath again. He was able to roll up into a sitting (kind of) position. "That's nice. No, oh I'm glad to see you, Briskei. Or I've been looking for you everywhere! I can't believe you found me! Is everything okay? How has life been since I last saw you because mine was not good without my siblings. No, you have to jump right to it. No nicities at all."

Briskei really wanted to pace. Pacing helped him think and deal. Unfortunately the anger that had gotten him up to a sitting position fizzled out and left him with nothing. Exhausted and weary, Briskei felt himself sway. "I know about as much as you do where Kuamini is. She disappeared. The night after you disappeared. For all I know she thought it was a hide and seek game and forgot to be found," Briskei admitted. The niext hurdle was far more complicated than finding Kujali would ever be. At least he describe Kujali effective. I simple 'he looks like me but without spots' got something out of passer-bys. But 'she's a white leopard with lilac leopard spots and she's our sister' wouldn't get them anywhere fast.  

[RuIerr]

Kujali laughed, still trying to catch his breath. Why had he cursed himself? It seemed like neither of them had a working brain at the moment. And his lack of oxygen certainly couldn't be helping. He was thankful when his brother finally rolled off of him, leaving him heaving for quick breaths. The situation felt deceptively positive and calm until Briskei opened his mouth.

Kujali rolled over and stood up, head cocked to one side, brow furrowed. "Why are you angry at me? You two are the ones who-" he cut himself off as Briskei continued on, explaining that Kuamini had also disappeared that night. "That doesn't make any sense," he mumbled, flopping down into a sitting position. "She was supposed to be with you, how could she have disappeared?" His entire body sagged, feeling defeated. The one thing that had kept him going throughout the time separated from his siblings was that at least they had each other. Now not even that was true. "She's okay though, right? She had to be okay." While Kuamini was a wonderful leopardess, she wasn't exactly the brightest. She seemed to get confused easily, and that concerned Kujali - that type of girl couldn't really fare well on her own. But maybe she'd found someone else to run with. Maybe.

Dame Nightfury

 

[Dame NightFury]

Ruler of Everything

Briskei scooted closer to his brother and nudged his shoulder. While he knew the hunt for Kuamini could potentially come up with nothing, he was still confident in himself and his ability to find things. That meant taking a good long rest at the moment, but not getting depressed over the next (exhausting) leg of the search. Especially now that he was part of a team again. Because Briskei was NOT going to be happy to let Kujali away from him any time soon. If ever really. "She probably woke up when I was in deep. I should have felt her get up or heard her move around. Unless she was purposefully being quiet ... I had been frantic trying to find you. She might have taken the task on herself instead."

Briskei sighed and shook his head. Classic. "It's sweet really. When you think about it. But I'm still going to throttle her when we find her."

"And speaking of throttling." Turned to glare at his brother. "This was seriously a lot of work to find you! What happened? DId you get abducted and deposited on the other side of the continent or something? I mean even your scent trail was fading to nothingness that morning! I had half a mind to think you were taken by aliens. Or humans for that matter ... And then of course eventually finding you and having to some how rescue you from either situation. I'm thinking the aliens would have been easier. They're probably more reasonable than humans, being all alien and possibly imaginary. That's got to make a being more likely to understand logic."

Briskei knew he was rambling, but it had been soooo long since he could actually talk - full indepth conversation about ANYTHING that he couldn't help it. He had missed his brother. And he missed his sister as well. But right now he had the one and that made him happy despite the lack of the other.

"So was it aliens? DId they probe you?"  

[RuIerr]

At the continuance of the conversation on their sister, Kujali felt a whole other weight press down upon his chest. It was now, very clearly, their duty to find her. But where could Kuamini have gone? These lands were expansive, it seemed impossible that they'd ever encounter her. But then again, Briskei had found him, and their reunion seemed unlikely. Perhaps anything really could happen.

At Briskei's comment, Kujali burst out laughing. "Gods, as much as I love her..." he trailed off, rolling his pale blue eyes. The two brothers being separated from one another was one thing - they were both fully capable of handling themselves. He had never been worried about Briskei. But now he began to worry about the well-being of Kuamini. She wasn't quite the sharpest canine in the mouth...

The turn of the conversation had Kujali chuckling once more. "Aliens? You really think aliens took me?" He shook his head in disbelief, glancing at his brother. "Have you gone completely daft in my absence? I know I'm the one with the brains, but still, Briskei!" Although both of them were equally, fairly intelligent, it was always an easy dig to target Briskei's intelligence. They were brothers, after all. Isn't that was they were for? Kujali bumped his shoulder, laughing at himself. Trying to distract himself from the new problems he faced as a result of finding Briskei entirely alone.

Dame Nightfury