[PRP - Central] Primeval (Ruan Yu & Zyanya)

[Princess_Feylin]

Ruan Yu didn't understand! He had done everything he'd been told to do. He warmed up so carefully before running and he'd checked the path he'd be running over to make sure there were no hazards to catch his flanks or trip him up. But even so he'd sprawled and fallen and now his paw hurt. It hurt a lot and he wanted his mummy!

Weeping and limping Ruan Yu made his way to his family's den, hoping his mum would be there. If she wasn't, well, he didn't know what he'd do. Probably just curl up and cry. He was embarrassed that he'd have to go all the way through the central house with people maybe seeing him crying, but it couldn't be helped. It was the most direct route from where he was practicing to be a messenger to home.

To his dismay, his mum wasn't there when he got home, and so he followed the rough plan he'd laid out and curled up to cry.  

[wooga Paes]

Zyanya, or Ai, something she needed to get used to, wasn't actually too far off. She had been relaxing a short distance from the den, having managed to find a nice spot to survey the lands. She had been here for months now, and yet it all still fascinated her so much. In fact, her life fascinated her a lot, because this wasn't exactly how she had imagined it would pan out. But she was happy here, and liked to think she was making the best of it all.

The cheetah was a bit too distant to actually hear her son as sought her out in the den, but, perhaps by mere, amusing coincidence, decided she best head back. She should probably gather the cubs soon and find her mate, perhaps catch a meal for them, or something...

As she approached the den she began to hear the whimpers, and frowned. What could be wrong? Had the children fought? Ai picked up her pace, reaching the den and peeking in, only to find her son curled up. "Ruan Yu..." Immediately she was by his side, touching him with her nose, trying to figure out what had happened. "What is wrong?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

The den smelled too strongly of his family members for Ruan Yu to notice at first when his mother came in, but soon her voice and touch alerted him to her presence and despite his best intentions he mewled and whimpered.

"I was running. Practicing. Trying to make myself a better messenger, but I fell!"

He snuffled and buried his face in whatever part of his mum's fur he could reach. "I don't know how I fell. I checked the path and I stretched like I was supposed to and everything. I didn't do anything wrong."

And in Ruan Yu's world, when you did everything right, you were supposed to be rewarded, not punished. That was how it ought to be, and he didn't understand why it hadn't turned out to be so. That hurt even more than his paw, actually.  

[wooga Paes]

She frowned, lying down on the floor to provide a better support for her son. Ruan Yu was usually a very composed cub, so it was a little troubling to see him in such a state! Still, Ai was more than ready to give him the comfort he needed, and used her head to pull him closer.

"My dear cub," She sighed, he was so hard working. This might end up being a rather hard lesson to explain now, when he was so young. But it seemed the moment had presented itself. "You did do everything right, I'm sure, and I am very proud of you. Sometimes things just happen, though. Accidents like these, for example. Are you hurt?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

When his mum lay down Ruan Yu snuggled even closer. It didn't make any sense and it wasn't fair and Ruan Yu hated when that happened. It was like how some of his siblings could climb trees but he couldn't. Frustrating and senseless!

At least his mum was proud of him. That meant a lot to Ruan Yu. Parents were so very important, and if his parents were proud of him, Ruan Yu knew he had done things right and he had no reason to be unhappy with himself. He hadn't done anything wrong in that, at least.

"My paw hurts," he whimpered. With a sniffle he explained: "I hurt it when I fell. But I think I'll be okay."

So that she wouldn't worry, Ruan Yu moved so that his wounded paw wasn't tucked under his body anymore. There wasn't any blood or anything. It just hurt. Probably from him landing on it when he fell. He wasn't a heavy cub by any means, but falling on one's own paw would probably do that.

"It's not fair," he grumbled. "There are rules and order for a reason, and everything should follow them."  

[wooga Paes]

She examined the paw briefly, because it was very important to have good paws. She'd have to make sure to keep him still for at least a day or two, then. Her blonde son was probably the cub who took his training the most seriously, so she wondered if he'd find that hard. But that could be dealt with later.

"It would be much simpler, and fair, but not everything works out that way." Ai said, licking the top of his head. "Would it help to know such a thing has happened to me?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

While his mum examined his paw Ruan Yu held still and behaved himself very well, even though it hurt to have her turn it to look at it. He tried to be brave and not cry out or anything, but he did wince. He just couldn't help it.

"I guess," Ruan Yu said reluctantly. "Were you young like me, or did it happen when you were older?"

Ruan Yu didn't know a great deal about his parents' pasts yet, or even how they'd come to meet and fall in love. That kind of mushy stuff wasn't really his thing. Someday he would be curious and interested, but right now he was more interested in learning about how to be the best messenger ever.

"How did it happen?"  

[wooga Paes]

Yes, indeed the paw was hurting her son, and she would definitely have to make him take it easy a few days. But that was fine, this sort of thing happened with children. Ai set his paw down, figuring the best thing to do now was care for his other troubles.

"I was already all grown up." She nodded. "It's how I met your father." At least this wouldn't be a mushy story, since it had taken months for her and her mate to actually become a couple. "I was hunting wildebeest--" She remembered none of the cubs had ever seen a wildebeest. "They're very large... Er, kind of like giant goats." They had seen goats, at least. She paused to make sure Ruan Yu could picture the animals.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ruan Yu tried to keep his expression from being skeptical, but in truth he had a very hard time believing that grown-ups ever had bad things like this happen to them. Grown-ups were meant to be revered and respected, and who could revere and respect people who had instances of dumb bad luck just like anyone else?

"And you were doing it all by yourself? I thought the rules said you had to hunt in groups so that everyone was safe." He couldn't believe his mum had disregarded the rules like that. Or his dad.

"Do wildebeests taste any good?" he asked. Clearly he wasn't much good at simply listening to stories. He wanted to know everything about everything. "Or do they taste like giant goats?"  

[wooga Paes]

"And the rules are right! But I was a rogue at the time, so there were no such rules. Hunting alone was the only option." She explained calmly. Her cubs may never know what it was like to truly be on their own, and in many ways Ai was thankful for that. Pride life was definitely safer.

Ai didn't mind his questions, because at least it meant he was paying attention, and interested. "I suppose they taste pretty good." She shrugged, there was a bit of difference in the taste, but she wouldn't say either kind of meat tasted better. Just different. "So, I had just managed to catch a calf, they are about as big as our goats. And I was almost killing it, when one of its parents came after me." She took another brief pause there, just in case of more questions.

"I was already tired-- cheetah don't run too long-- and couldn't get away. So it ran me over." She said, though she actually didn't remember getting hit. Zyanya had been knocked unconscious.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Rogues didn't have rules like that? That sounded awful. How did they know what was right and what was wrong and what would happen? Not to mention how dangerous it was to go about without a companion. That part of the rules had been stressed a great deal. Not that Ruan Yu needed to be reminded of such things. He obeyed rules just because they were rules and that's what you were supposed to do with rules.

Ruan Yu didn't have any more questions to ask on the subject of wildebeest for the time being. They were like big goats, except their young were the size of goats. Adults apparently care whether their offspring get eaten by cheetahs. Not much else Ruan Yu felt he needed to know, given wildebeest were not often seen around the pride. If they had been, he might have been more curious.

Ruan Yu made a face when his mum came to something like the conclusion of her story. That wasn't anything like what had happened to him. No one had run him over or run him off. He had just fallen and hurt himself. Even though there was no reason he should have done either. His mum at least had a reason it seemed.

"That's not really what happened with me," he pointed out. He wasn't curious about what happened afterward because the ending seemed pretty self-explanatory to him: his mum was still alive and well, so obviously she was all right.  

[wooga Paes]

She shook her head. "It is different in some ways, and similar in others." Zyanya pointed out. "I had done everything I needed to do. I had watched them, timed my attack well, and I had caught the wildebeest I wanted. It was a very nice hunt, if I do say so myself." And she did, of course, in an attempt to bring in some mirth. Even if Ruan Yu was a very serious cub, she was still a rather playful cheetah.

"And yet things went wrong. Just like with you. I almost died, and it took weeks to recover." Her leg still didn't feel right sometimes, but at least it worked. "What I'm saying is sometimes these things just happen, sometimes, and we can't control it. We may have done everything right and still, somehow, something goes wrong. All we have left to do when that happens is get past it." Zyanya had been rather pathetic at that initially, but her son didn't need to know she had been nearly starving herself, convinced she had broken her leg and would never run again.

Good thing she was wrong!  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ruan Yu nodded, and then he yawned. He didn't mean to be rude, he couldn't help the yawn. It had been a really very stressful day with the being injured and miserable and all that.

"I'm glad you recovered," he said politely. He didn't mention that she hadn't explained how she and her father had met as part of this story. That would have been rude, and he was already yawning.

He failed to stifle another yawn, though he covered his face with both forepaws, even the one that hurt. "Sorry. I don't know why I'm so tired all of a sudden."

Ruan Yu uncovered his face and licked his hurt paw tentatively. It didn't hurt as much as it had before, he thought. Maybe he'd be able to go back to training tomorrow.

"I'll try to remember that. About not being able to control things and get past the bad things that happen for no reason," he promised dutifully. He probably wouldn't have much luck with that though. Such things just didn't fit into his worldview.  

[wooga Paes]

Zyanya nodded, not minding the yawn. "That's fine." Even though she would be happy to stay with him, she figured she'd just leave Ruan Yu to rest. Besides, she should probably go check on her other offspring. She stood up, careful just in case the cub still had a lot of his weight on her, so he wouldn't fall over.

"I'm going to go find your brothers and sisters. Maybe your father. You should rest." She lowered her head to briefly touch his with her nose, then slipped out of the den.