Sinbad watched with a deep scowl. He had taken Gaddith from his mother's side once more and pitted him against the side of a cliff. The cub was too soft...of all his siblings, he was the largest. He had the most potential. Maybe he'd earn his place back among the firekin. While his blood was....thin at best, he was still one of his bloodline. He was better off than most of the filthy-veined bastards making the lands their home now.
The cub was panting hard, he'd only climbed his way up about three feet from the ground. "...move...." He growled.
Mwako'Nakama had woken to her eldest brother being taken by her father. Mwako'Dadmu was still sleeping, and if awake, would likely run after his father. Damu loved him so much, she thought to herself, but why couldn't he love me? She wondered. She needed to know. But she knew the reason, her pelt. She was fire, why couldn't everyone see that? Fire was not limited to reds and white, blacks and crimsons, the center was gold and orange, like her, like the burning sun! Nakama huffed and rana fter them. She was the youngest, the smallest of their litter, but she tried her best to catch up. She saw Gaddith crawling and falling, trying to climb a cliffface. They were so far from the den out here, mom could not come here.
"I want to try, why won't you train me?" Nakama asked, argued, pulling on ehr father's tail in her mouth, her silver eyes shining. She grit her teeth on it hard and pulled, trying to get his attention. Alls he wanted was for him to love ehr and be proud of her, she bore the family mark mixed with her pelt!
Sinbad glanced over and wrinkled his nose. Great...he'd been followed. He didn't -hate- the cub but he knew her fate...and sadly she'd taken after her mother's side of the family. Small. Weak. And overly eager to prove her weakness.
He flicked his tail, freeing it from her mouth. "If you wanna try, go ahead, no one's stopping you."
Gaddith took a deep breath and looked back over his shoulder. "...Nakama? A...Are you sure?"
Nakama had lost her prize. Her father was so much larger, even Gaddith, so much larger, and she fell onto her rump. She stood shaking herself, sneezing and rubbing her nose. Her silver eyes were on Gaddith, they wanted Gaddith to see she was not weak, but her brother, she knew, would have more faith than her father. At least, she hoped it was so. "I do, I'll show you, you'll be proud, and, and-" she wanted to say so much more. Proud that he had a daughter with her pelt, proud of her being of his blood, proud she had come from a line of both father and mother.
She wakled to teh cliffface, and touched it. She saw where Gaddith's claws had gone, how far he had gotten. It seemed so high. She wriggled herself, let he small claws out, jumped and tried to grab hold, but she slid down, gritting her teeth she tried to stop herself, but felt teh sand underneath her. She jumped again, got a littel farther, and fell back, her side hitting the ground. She coughed and got up again, grinding her jaw. She wasn't going to give up, no. No amtter if it hurt.
Sinbad laid himself down and curled a paw up under his chin. He obviously wasn't enthused to watch her little performance, but he'd tolerate it. Might as well...he might get a good laugh about it. And it would be one more thing to scold her mother about, damn weak lioness. No doubt she was still back in her cave, sobbing over her stories and historical nonsense.
Gaddith froze on the ledge he'd climbed to, his own silver eyes wide in anticipation. Climbing wasn't easy. It stretched his back, shoulders, and the nerves in his claws to the limit. Not to mention the rough rocks scraping at their belly and the occassional speck of sand that would fall into his eyes.
Gaddith winced. "...anchor yourself, find your footing then move on. One step at a time!"
Nakama did not hear her father's voice, but the encouragement from her brother. Would her father be mad of what Gaddith did, giving her help? She tried again, taking it slow. Her small paws found where they would fit, adn she gripped, hard. She grit her teeth, pulled and placed a paw under herself. She followed it, again and again, she smiled as she went farther, but a stone slipped and she had to quickly grab again. She breathed hard, looked below her. It wasn't far, for her father, but she was just as high as her father was long. If she fell, it'd hurt, bad.
How much farther would she have to go? When Gaddith said stop, or she fell? How far did her father want her to go? She stayed still, trying to think, trying to keep herself fastened to the stone.
