Post by Tala on May 10, 2012 19:17:53 GMT -5
Pristine Lake:
The lake is wide, deep, and clear, and in the spring and summer it bears lily pads adorned with brightly-colored flowers. Clusters of reeds stand tall in the marshy shallows, and in the thickets surrounding the lake, birds and other small creatures make their nests, creating a cacophony of various sounds. The lake is, most days, a mirror of the sky, calmly reflecting its blue hue, save for when it's windy enough for the breeze to break through the trees that ring the water, and the sky grows grey and threatening. At the lake's northern end, a river cuts a course towards the mountain's edge, resulting in a waterfall, its thunderous sound easily heard from here.
Kachina: Cougar
Wiraqu: Cougar
Chaska: Cougar
Scorch: Cougar
There is a cool breeze down near the lake today; it blows across the clear looking water sending ripples across its surface in the process. Kachina is settled near the waterfall, eyeing the water that rushes down into the lake, ears perking forward and then lower at times as if she was watching other things besides water. A pair of very thin and loosely feathers ravens are playing around the waterfall, calling back to one another as they toss what seems to be a piece of fish skin and scales back to one another. Even with them being so thin the birds don't eat it, in fact when one tries it finds that he can't and then the other sweeps in to grab it and the fight starts again. For any know with the inner sight like Kach they would see nothing. The raven pair is indeed dead, the fish well is very dead and the two birds most likely died during this game so close to the water and there spirits just haven't figured out that they are indeed, dead. A faint breath escapes Kachina, she looks confused to say the least. Her head lowers slightly to look at the earth around her paws. Even as an adult she is thin an lanky, still holding onto that adolescent look. An while she does have muscling she will most likely never grow to her full size. The time spent in that hole as a cub having stunted her in more than a few ways.
Wiraqu has been hunting, yes. He even caught something! ...it's not a rabbit. But nevertheless, Wiraqu is carrying a pair of mountain grouse. Male and female, a matched set of the birdies! With the prey in his jaws, he's wandering back to the lakeside with a jaunty step, humming something utterly incomprehensible through the feathers.
Admittedly, Chaska has been aloof for a long time, starting to take after his uncle more than his dad. Still, he always seems to know when his sister needs him; somehow he knew, and that brought him wandering down to the lake, tip of tail twitching lazily side to side. He dips his head to lap up a drink of water.. then finds himself laying yellow eyes on his sister, who is again staring at nothing. She's always been like that. Staring at things that aren't there, saying there are things that there aren't. Kachina has taken far more after their mother and family than Chaska has. He sighs, and then slowly slips toward his sister, knowing her even without having seen her very often in some time. "Kachina.." he speaks softly, looking at her with thought, before he comes up alongside her, and crouches down, turning his gaze to the direction she's looking. "... What do you see?"
Kachina ears slowly perk, though this towards the movement that is coming towards her. Her gaze slowly drifts towards Chaska watching him a few moments. She knows very well that many in the clan don't believe what she sees, so after coming back she shut everyone out including Chaska. If they didn't believe her then why bother? She lets her gaze turn back to the ravens, which are suddenly watching her, an there actually sitting on a rock a few feet from her. "Nothing Chaska.." Is offered with a soft tone, almost worried while she just eyes the rock and the raven pair. All the ghosts she has been seeing have changed as she's gotten older, now they are more active, some she swears are looking to be seen. One of the ravens caws out and she flinches at the eerie sound it makes her tail stiffens as it curls more to her side and she swallows. "Where have you been?" Is questioned to Chaska, her eyes closing tightly as she wonders if the ravens will leave, it’s a hope.
Wiraqu flicks an ear as he sees another cougar beside Kachina; a male cougar. A young one, but... the full-grown sort of young, if barely so. The humming pauses and he's quiet as he continues on toward them. Chaska. Son of Amaranth's Sister... but he's not a child anymore, is he? Wiraqu's eyes linger on the other male, before returning to Kachina as she speaks. He comes close, and sets down the prey before licking stray feathers from his maw. "Hello, Kachina. Chaska." Each gets a nod, his attention more to the wandering male now.
"Oh, here, and there, nowhere really important," Chaska admits with a slight shrug, before he looks thoughtfully over to her. "You know you don't have to lie. I don't believe the things you see, but if you see them, then you do." he smirks faintly-- before his head jerks, and he stares at Wiraqu, before uncomfortably slipping from his crouch to sitting up, grooming a paw self-consciously as he mumbles, "Oh, hello, Wiraqu, long time no see." At the adult cougar. Honestly, Chaska hasn't really been hanging around the clan much at all. Much like his uncle Thrash.. Chaska just wanders. What's the point in staying somewhere long? He failed to protect his sister so long ago, and that was his real first responsibility. Since then, he's avoided it.
Kachina nods slightly while letting her eyes open to look at the rock, which the ravens are still sitting upon. It's like they are taunting her, wanting to see what she will do. She swallows a moment, her eyes widening as one slowly hops down and then towards her, another eerie sound escaping it. Though Wiraqu's voice gets her attention and she looks towards him. A soft smile is offered to him, one of the only in the clan to actually get her to smile mind you. "Hello Wiraqu, find any bunnies?" She sends a faint glance to Chaska. "There is no reason to tell what I see, especially if you don't believe it’s possible." Kach has gotten over blaming her mother and Chaska for not finding her; she does understand it wasn't their fault. Though with him not around she's stuck pretty much to herself even within the clan, save for speaking with Wiraqu.
Wiraqu nods his head to Chaska. "Indeed," he says. "It seems you've turned wanderer." The Chieftain smiles. "A good thing, for a young male." He stretches, both casual and showing his muscles. "You are still welcome to visit here, so long as a Sister of Amaranth welcomes you." A slight tilt of his head to Kachina. Though not yet fully a Sister until she returns from the spirit-journey she has hesitated to set out upon, as a female, the expectation is that she will, and will take her place among the females of the tribe. With that, he turns back to Kachina, chuckling. "Today, the rabbits ran faster. The birds flew too slow."
Ears lay back slightly. It feels odd to be told he would only be welcome if by one of the females in the territory, but at the same time.. With his mother gone off to goodness only knows his sister is really the only reason to keep coming back. He hms softly, in thought. Well. His sister, and perhaps his little friend, Minya, who he has admittedly not seen in a long time. He has wandered too much, too long. He sighs a little, and then remarks, "Well, wandering is a lot more interesting than staying holed up somewhere," Chaska admits at Wiraqu, "And well. Seems to me like this place only welcomes queens, and not cats," he smirks faintly, giving Wiraqu a slightly pointed, narrow-eyed glance, before he starts to shift his uncomfortable grooming to the opposite paw.
Kachina smiles to Wiraqu and nods. "So it seems.. An interesting time for birds lately." She murmurs while looking back to the ravens that are still picking at one another, just back on the rock at least. She flicks a ear towards the two males taking in what they are saying. "Chaska.. Don't act that way to Wiraqu." A faint frown seen while her looks back towards her brother. Though her gaze drifts off, back to the rock that ghostly ravens are upon as one falls off behind the rock, the other raven caws out scared like and soon falls off the rock as well. She frowns as she watches the scene take place, unsure what to do, there not really there after all.
Wiraqu takes a comfortable, studiedly unworried seat. He smiles; for he is a cougar not easily offended. "I wandered for some years," he says. "There is much to find interesting." His tail curls around his body, with a slight chuckle despite that pointed glance. "If you wish your own place here, speak to the Matron or the Shamaness. That is their right to give, not mine. I am only their servant." He smiles, only a little pointed-toothily. Most powerful male cat on the mountain, and he calls himself a servant. "Until then, you are as welcome as the Sisters choose to make you. You are a Son of Amaranth. I consider you a welcome guest... unless I hear otherwise." A brief glance to Kachina, and then a smile. "In the end, it is their mountain, and their tribe."
Shooting Kachina a look, Chaska rolls his eyes. Wiraqu may be the most powerful cat on the mountain; but he's rather sure the older cat is also not going to smack him silly for being just a little annoyed that the girls around here have more say than the boys. Girls seem to get into more trouble than anything! He sniffs, and lays the groomed paw to the ground again, and then begins to groom his chest, again uncomfortable around the older male. He looks to Kachina then, and murmurs, "I suppose you're sweet on him because he's cooler than your older brother, huh?" teasingly at the cougress at his side. He then nudges at her side with a forepaw.
Scorch meanders to the lake. The aging cougress -- though not quite as elderly as, say, Kein -- has been with the tribe for a number of years, quietly in the background, participating in hunts, but neither seeking nor earning position. She has become especially quiet after Kein's departure, but is always polite and respectful to her tribemates. Noticing there are already others as she was heading to quench her thirst, she rumbles pleasantly in greeting.
Kachina rolls her eyes faintly while she peers over at Chaska, a faint snuffle escapes her. "Really Chaska.." Is offered after a moment before her attention is skywards once more and the ghost ravens are back once again fighting over that scrap of fish scales like before. Her ears lower a moment as she gets that deva vu feeling as everything starts to unfold much like it did before. "No.. I'm sweet on him because he is nice to me. If you act nice you get sweetness back." She offers while letting her tail smack against Chaska's. Another is heard and she blinks while looking towards Scorch watching her a few moments.
Speaking of Sisters of Amaranth, there's another one; Wiraqu chuffs amiably in answer to Scorch from where he sits with the two younger cats. He appears to have acquired selective deafness, because he doesn't respond to Chaska's teasing of his sister... oh, no, wait, the deafness went away, because he's chuckling at Kachina's retort. "Well, sometimes. Sometimes you get claws across the face. It all depends."
A sniff comes from the male of the two Children of Amaranth, and Chaska half turns to bat at Kachina's tail playfully with one large paw, remarking, "I'm sweet enough. You're no lady, you're just my sister," he replies, as he tries to pin her tail with one paw-- though an ear twitches, and he turns, caught mid-play as he peers at Scorch, and once again settles his paws defensively, and once again starts to groom in a fit of self-conscious manner, this time his shoulder.
Scorch pauses at the horse playing young adult siblings, her muzzle betraying a smile. "Good day, Chieftain," she bows her head to Wiraqu, turning her head back after a proper greet to observe the siblings' banter.
Kachina a soft smile is offered to Wiraqu and she looks back towards Scorch before eyeing her brother and smirks a moment. "Sure.. Just your sister." Is murmured out softly while her gaze turns back to the ghostly ravens.. They are once more sitting upon the rock, eying her with their beady little eyes of crimson and silver and she swallows slightly. As the ravens once more fall to the back of the rock she slowly shifts and makes her way towards the rock peering over it curiously. The ghostly birds are not there now, but she does seen something sticking up from the ground. With a lash of her tail she hops over the rock, pawing at the earth a few times.
Wiraqu does approve of play, yes. Of course, it barely manages to get started, but still. The sibling banter simply makes him smile somewhat. To Scorch, he says "Hullo, Sister." Does he remember her name? Good question, that. He'll avoiding answering it for now. She's certainly a vaguely familiar face! He stretches again, then pauses in the midst of it to see Kachina moving over to bat at invisible nothings. Hurm, well. "Dinner, anyone?" he asks nudging the caught grouse with his paw. "I already ate."
Ears lay back somewhat at Kachina moving to investigate her invisible nothings, before Chaska sighs. Admittedly he doesn't feel.. welcome, around in the mountains much; least of all by his own sister. He looks to Wiraqu, and then shakes his head. "No thank you," he murmurs, before he stands, and starts to stretch a little, thoughtful on things. He waits for Kachina to return, but does say, "Kachina, there's something I'd like to talk to you about when you're done." .. Being a weirdo that is.
Scorch bows her head. "Thank you, but I, too, have already eaten. I just came down for a drink," she says, padding to the lake's edge for some quenching laps. She pauses amid laps, quietly standing over the lake's edge, gazing at her reflection and that of the sky for several long moments before turning back.
Kachina continues to paw at the ground a few times until of all things she finds a few long black flight feathers stuck under the rock. She doesn't hear the others while she works and soon is able to push the rock away. With that done she takes a few steps back looking at what she has found. Two very squished ravens can be found, thin and most likely there all winter. An grasped tightly in one beak is the fish scales they had been playing with. She frowns while sitting to her haunches quietly taking in what she has seen while taking in a breath. As for the ghostly ravens, she can't see them anymore, a sudden eerie cawing escapes several ravens up in the trees. Which she thinks only she can hear, but actually these are live ravens so the sound is carried to all the cougars present..
Oh, sure. He goes and hunts, and then? They've all already eaten. Wiraqu hmphs, though there's no particular ire behind it, and flops down beside his unwanted prey. Well, maybe he'll nibble it a little... he pulls one of them closer, then lifts up his head and tilts it to the sound of those noisy, noisy ravens.
Looking up about him at the sound of ravens, Chaska frowns a little, especially looking toward what his sister has unearthed. He grimaces, and then tries to sooth the ruffled fur by once again taking tongue to shoulder. He clears his throat. "Kachina, when you're done making friends with birds, I want to tell you something.." he says, sounding a little impatient. Sisters, don't they know they're supposed to pay attention to their older brother? (even if older only implies that he was born first..)
Scorch does not see what the younger cougress is up to, but the raven calls do grab her attention and she looks skyward. "Odd," she remarks.
Kachina frowns as she hears Chaska. "I'm not making friends with them. They was trapped.. Before winter, the rock kept the spirits from leaving. See I'm /not/ making it up Chaska." She so wants him to see that she is not faking, not lying to him. Her gaze rests on her brother wishing he would just understand how she felt. "What...what do you want to tell me? That you’re leaving and not coming back like mom, like dad?" She finally snaps out while her eyes close tight.
Wiraqu takes a careful mouthful of feathers, tugging them from the grouse's body, and lets them to to flutter away through the wind. Another one, and on he goes, slowly plucking the bird while keeping a general eye on things... but the Chieftain's not drawn to interfere with any of the current goings-on. The sibling conversation, if tense, is not enough so to trouble him, and crows, well, they're just like that.
"Dad's /dead/, Kachina," Chaska says, flatly, ears laying back, "How can he come back when he's dead? Mom... Who knows. Maybe she's just off looking for Uncle Thrash. She was never really good at being a mom anyway, but at least she tried." He frowns though, when he thinks about it. He had been thinking of leaving. What /is/ there here in these mountains for him? A life of being ordered around by a bunch of girls? "And maybe I /was/ thinking about leaving. It's not like I'm wanted here now that I'm an adult. You heard your beloved Wiraqu, these mountains belong to the Sisters and their clan. In case you've failed to notice, I'm not a /sister/." he frowns, tail now starting to lash about his legs.
Scorch flattens her ears at the boy's words and sighs, but says nothing immediately. After some pause, she says in a soft tone only, "Amaranth is peace and love. Outside of Amaranth is ... danger."
Kachina is utterly quiet as she hears Chaska, her ears pinning down against her head more while she pulls herself further away from him. Her tail twitching slowly before it curls against her hindleg. "Then you should go if that is how you feel." What can she say? Seems like he doesn't want to stick around because she is here, who would? She's crazy after all...a few eggs short of a clutch, crazy as a loon. She's heard it all before. "Dad may be dead. But I can still see him." An even as she says that she knows Chaska will not believe her, or may very well hate her for saying it.
"Yeah, well, I can't. And he doesn't talk to me like he does you. So which one of us got the short end of the stick there, sis?" Chasks asks, sounding sour, as he stands, and turns away from Kachina, tail lashing. "No, I just had to deal with mom going crazy from grief when he died, or going crazy from guilt when /someone/ got taken by a bird, or just going crazy, period. And then when you came back you treated us like it was our fault, and that just made her go even crazier." With a frown, and ears laying back, he turns to look her way: "You belong here. I don't. You stay with your Clan. I'm going to go find someplace for myself. When I do, maybe I'll come back to see you sometimes. Maybe I won't. But you'll be happier here." He starts to walk away in a skulk, trying to pass by Wiraqu, and Scorch, without really going too near them.
Scorch sighs sadly, looking between the Chieftain, the sister and the brother.
Kachina frowns as she hears Chaska, her eyes opening to watch him and she knew very well the bird was going to be brought up. Her ears lower back and a slight shake of her head is seen. "Chaska I'm sorry for that.. I'm sorry I treated you an mom like that. I was hurt, scared. How could you expect me to come back not harmed after that?.." It’s her fault, she always knew it was her fault that mom left, her fault she drove them away and even now where is a slim chance of her improving Chaska is leaving, because of her. The ghosts torment her so badly only feeding into the crazy idea that many think of her. "I don't think I belong anywhere." An if it wasn't for the wolves coming for Ikuna she would be dead, perhaps that is why the ghosts have locked onto her so tightly. Her gaze follows after Chaska, watching him go while her head lowers to look at the birds she unearthed. Would it be easier if she was dead too? At the moment she can't help but wonder.
Chaska doesn't reply loudly, nor kindly. "I didn't expect you to come back. I thought you were dead." He pauses a moment, when he thinks about that. He loves his sister. But.. some things cannot be undone. It wasn't her fault she was gone. But he had already made his peace that she probably wasn't coming back, and then she did, and when she did, she treated them ... in a way not unexpected, but that still hurt. Tail lashing, he looks over his shoulder again at her... But turns away again without saying anything and starts away again, this time faster. Just got to get away, got to find himself a place where he does belong.
Scorch finally speaks up, calling after the brother. "Please ... do not go that way. Do not go with ache in your heart. If you must go, then go ... but ... I would ask ... make peace with your sister before you do. If you wander, you may never see her again, and should either of you perish before you see each other again ... please don't let ill feelings and expression be the last you remember of each other." Her tone is not so much commanding or authoritative as pleading.
The words from her brother cut deep, hurting Kachina more then she thought they would. She shifts slowly on her paws and turns leaping up onto a rock and glances back towards her brother as he leaves. Her cheeks wet with tears and her eyes close tightly before she turns and makes her way up the rock face near the waterfall. She doesn't stop as until she makes her way into a cave and curls up within it, a place she found long ago, an a place she knows at the moment will give her someplace to escape everything that is tormenting her. She does hear Scorch, but what does it matter? Chaska basically said everything he felt an she wouldn't being to try and stop him.
The lake is wide, deep, and clear, and in the spring and summer it bears lily pads adorned with brightly-colored flowers. Clusters of reeds stand tall in the marshy shallows, and in the thickets surrounding the lake, birds and other small creatures make their nests, creating a cacophony of various sounds. The lake is, most days, a mirror of the sky, calmly reflecting its blue hue, save for when it's windy enough for the breeze to break through the trees that ring the water, and the sky grows grey and threatening. At the lake's northern end, a river cuts a course towards the mountain's edge, resulting in a waterfall, its thunderous sound easily heard from here.
Kachina: Cougar
Wiraqu: Cougar
Chaska: Cougar
Scorch: Cougar
There is a cool breeze down near the lake today; it blows across the clear looking water sending ripples across its surface in the process. Kachina is settled near the waterfall, eyeing the water that rushes down into the lake, ears perking forward and then lower at times as if she was watching other things besides water. A pair of very thin and loosely feathers ravens are playing around the waterfall, calling back to one another as they toss what seems to be a piece of fish skin and scales back to one another. Even with them being so thin the birds don't eat it, in fact when one tries it finds that he can't and then the other sweeps in to grab it and the fight starts again. For any know with the inner sight like Kach they would see nothing. The raven pair is indeed dead, the fish well is very dead and the two birds most likely died during this game so close to the water and there spirits just haven't figured out that they are indeed, dead. A faint breath escapes Kachina, she looks confused to say the least. Her head lowers slightly to look at the earth around her paws. Even as an adult she is thin an lanky, still holding onto that adolescent look. An while she does have muscling she will most likely never grow to her full size. The time spent in that hole as a cub having stunted her in more than a few ways.
Wiraqu has been hunting, yes. He even caught something! ...it's not a rabbit. But nevertheless, Wiraqu is carrying a pair of mountain grouse. Male and female, a matched set of the birdies! With the prey in his jaws, he's wandering back to the lakeside with a jaunty step, humming something utterly incomprehensible through the feathers.
Admittedly, Chaska has been aloof for a long time, starting to take after his uncle more than his dad. Still, he always seems to know when his sister needs him; somehow he knew, and that brought him wandering down to the lake, tip of tail twitching lazily side to side. He dips his head to lap up a drink of water.. then finds himself laying yellow eyes on his sister, who is again staring at nothing. She's always been like that. Staring at things that aren't there, saying there are things that there aren't. Kachina has taken far more after their mother and family than Chaska has. He sighs, and then slowly slips toward his sister, knowing her even without having seen her very often in some time. "Kachina.." he speaks softly, looking at her with thought, before he comes up alongside her, and crouches down, turning his gaze to the direction she's looking. "... What do you see?"
Kachina ears slowly perk, though this towards the movement that is coming towards her. Her gaze slowly drifts towards Chaska watching him a few moments. She knows very well that many in the clan don't believe what she sees, so after coming back she shut everyone out including Chaska. If they didn't believe her then why bother? She lets her gaze turn back to the ravens, which are suddenly watching her, an there actually sitting on a rock a few feet from her. "Nothing Chaska.." Is offered with a soft tone, almost worried while she just eyes the rock and the raven pair. All the ghosts she has been seeing have changed as she's gotten older, now they are more active, some she swears are looking to be seen. One of the ravens caws out and she flinches at the eerie sound it makes her tail stiffens as it curls more to her side and she swallows. "Where have you been?" Is questioned to Chaska, her eyes closing tightly as she wonders if the ravens will leave, it’s a hope.
Wiraqu flicks an ear as he sees another cougar beside Kachina; a male cougar. A young one, but... the full-grown sort of young, if barely so. The humming pauses and he's quiet as he continues on toward them. Chaska. Son of Amaranth's Sister... but he's not a child anymore, is he? Wiraqu's eyes linger on the other male, before returning to Kachina as she speaks. He comes close, and sets down the prey before licking stray feathers from his maw. "Hello, Kachina. Chaska." Each gets a nod, his attention more to the wandering male now.
"Oh, here, and there, nowhere really important," Chaska admits with a slight shrug, before he looks thoughtfully over to her. "You know you don't have to lie. I don't believe the things you see, but if you see them, then you do." he smirks faintly-- before his head jerks, and he stares at Wiraqu, before uncomfortably slipping from his crouch to sitting up, grooming a paw self-consciously as he mumbles, "Oh, hello, Wiraqu, long time no see." At the adult cougar. Honestly, Chaska hasn't really been hanging around the clan much at all. Much like his uncle Thrash.. Chaska just wanders. What's the point in staying somewhere long? He failed to protect his sister so long ago, and that was his real first responsibility. Since then, he's avoided it.
Kachina nods slightly while letting her eyes open to look at the rock, which the ravens are still sitting upon. It's like they are taunting her, wanting to see what she will do. She swallows a moment, her eyes widening as one slowly hops down and then towards her, another eerie sound escaping it. Though Wiraqu's voice gets her attention and she looks towards him. A soft smile is offered to him, one of the only in the clan to actually get her to smile mind you. "Hello Wiraqu, find any bunnies?" She sends a faint glance to Chaska. "There is no reason to tell what I see, especially if you don't believe it’s possible." Kach has gotten over blaming her mother and Chaska for not finding her; she does understand it wasn't their fault. Though with him not around she's stuck pretty much to herself even within the clan, save for speaking with Wiraqu.
Wiraqu nods his head to Chaska. "Indeed," he says. "It seems you've turned wanderer." The Chieftain smiles. "A good thing, for a young male." He stretches, both casual and showing his muscles. "You are still welcome to visit here, so long as a Sister of Amaranth welcomes you." A slight tilt of his head to Kachina. Though not yet fully a Sister until she returns from the spirit-journey she has hesitated to set out upon, as a female, the expectation is that she will, and will take her place among the females of the tribe. With that, he turns back to Kachina, chuckling. "Today, the rabbits ran faster. The birds flew too slow."
Ears lay back slightly. It feels odd to be told he would only be welcome if by one of the females in the territory, but at the same time.. With his mother gone off to goodness only knows his sister is really the only reason to keep coming back. He hms softly, in thought. Well. His sister, and perhaps his little friend, Minya, who he has admittedly not seen in a long time. He has wandered too much, too long. He sighs a little, and then remarks, "Well, wandering is a lot more interesting than staying holed up somewhere," Chaska admits at Wiraqu, "And well. Seems to me like this place only welcomes queens, and not cats," he smirks faintly, giving Wiraqu a slightly pointed, narrow-eyed glance, before he starts to shift his uncomfortable grooming to the opposite paw.
Kachina smiles to Wiraqu and nods. "So it seems.. An interesting time for birds lately." She murmurs while looking back to the ravens that are still picking at one another, just back on the rock at least. She flicks a ear towards the two males taking in what they are saying. "Chaska.. Don't act that way to Wiraqu." A faint frown seen while her looks back towards her brother. Though her gaze drifts off, back to the rock that ghostly ravens are upon as one falls off behind the rock, the other raven caws out scared like and soon falls off the rock as well. She frowns as she watches the scene take place, unsure what to do, there not really there after all.
Wiraqu takes a comfortable, studiedly unworried seat. He smiles; for he is a cougar not easily offended. "I wandered for some years," he says. "There is much to find interesting." His tail curls around his body, with a slight chuckle despite that pointed glance. "If you wish your own place here, speak to the Matron or the Shamaness. That is their right to give, not mine. I am only their servant." He smiles, only a little pointed-toothily. Most powerful male cat on the mountain, and he calls himself a servant. "Until then, you are as welcome as the Sisters choose to make you. You are a Son of Amaranth. I consider you a welcome guest... unless I hear otherwise." A brief glance to Kachina, and then a smile. "In the end, it is their mountain, and their tribe."
Shooting Kachina a look, Chaska rolls his eyes. Wiraqu may be the most powerful cat on the mountain; but he's rather sure the older cat is also not going to smack him silly for being just a little annoyed that the girls around here have more say than the boys. Girls seem to get into more trouble than anything! He sniffs, and lays the groomed paw to the ground again, and then begins to groom his chest, again uncomfortable around the older male. He looks to Kachina then, and murmurs, "I suppose you're sweet on him because he's cooler than your older brother, huh?" teasingly at the cougress at his side. He then nudges at her side with a forepaw.
Scorch meanders to the lake. The aging cougress -- though not quite as elderly as, say, Kein -- has been with the tribe for a number of years, quietly in the background, participating in hunts, but neither seeking nor earning position. She has become especially quiet after Kein's departure, but is always polite and respectful to her tribemates. Noticing there are already others as she was heading to quench her thirst, she rumbles pleasantly in greeting.
Kachina rolls her eyes faintly while she peers over at Chaska, a faint snuffle escapes her. "Really Chaska.." Is offered after a moment before her attention is skywards once more and the ghost ravens are back once again fighting over that scrap of fish scales like before. Her ears lower a moment as she gets that deva vu feeling as everything starts to unfold much like it did before. "No.. I'm sweet on him because he is nice to me. If you act nice you get sweetness back." She offers while letting her tail smack against Chaska's. Another is heard and she blinks while looking towards Scorch watching her a few moments.
Speaking of Sisters of Amaranth, there's another one; Wiraqu chuffs amiably in answer to Scorch from where he sits with the two younger cats. He appears to have acquired selective deafness, because he doesn't respond to Chaska's teasing of his sister... oh, no, wait, the deafness went away, because he's chuckling at Kachina's retort. "Well, sometimes. Sometimes you get claws across the face. It all depends."
A sniff comes from the male of the two Children of Amaranth, and Chaska half turns to bat at Kachina's tail playfully with one large paw, remarking, "I'm sweet enough. You're no lady, you're just my sister," he replies, as he tries to pin her tail with one paw-- though an ear twitches, and he turns, caught mid-play as he peers at Scorch, and once again settles his paws defensively, and once again starts to groom in a fit of self-conscious manner, this time his shoulder.
Scorch pauses at the horse playing young adult siblings, her muzzle betraying a smile. "Good day, Chieftain," she bows her head to Wiraqu, turning her head back after a proper greet to observe the siblings' banter.
Kachina a soft smile is offered to Wiraqu and she looks back towards Scorch before eyeing her brother and smirks a moment. "Sure.. Just your sister." Is murmured out softly while her gaze turns back to the ghostly ravens.. They are once more sitting upon the rock, eying her with their beady little eyes of crimson and silver and she swallows slightly. As the ravens once more fall to the back of the rock she slowly shifts and makes her way towards the rock peering over it curiously. The ghostly birds are not there now, but she does seen something sticking up from the ground. With a lash of her tail she hops over the rock, pawing at the earth a few times.
Wiraqu does approve of play, yes. Of course, it barely manages to get started, but still. The sibling banter simply makes him smile somewhat. To Scorch, he says "Hullo, Sister." Does he remember her name? Good question, that. He'll avoiding answering it for now. She's certainly a vaguely familiar face! He stretches again, then pauses in the midst of it to see Kachina moving over to bat at invisible nothings. Hurm, well. "Dinner, anyone?" he asks nudging the caught grouse with his paw. "I already ate."
Ears lay back somewhat at Kachina moving to investigate her invisible nothings, before Chaska sighs. Admittedly he doesn't feel.. welcome, around in the mountains much; least of all by his own sister. He looks to Wiraqu, and then shakes his head. "No thank you," he murmurs, before he stands, and starts to stretch a little, thoughtful on things. He waits for Kachina to return, but does say, "Kachina, there's something I'd like to talk to you about when you're done." .. Being a weirdo that is.
Scorch bows her head. "Thank you, but I, too, have already eaten. I just came down for a drink," she says, padding to the lake's edge for some quenching laps. She pauses amid laps, quietly standing over the lake's edge, gazing at her reflection and that of the sky for several long moments before turning back.
Kachina continues to paw at the ground a few times until of all things she finds a few long black flight feathers stuck under the rock. She doesn't hear the others while she works and soon is able to push the rock away. With that done she takes a few steps back looking at what she has found. Two very squished ravens can be found, thin and most likely there all winter. An grasped tightly in one beak is the fish scales they had been playing with. She frowns while sitting to her haunches quietly taking in what she has seen while taking in a breath. As for the ghostly ravens, she can't see them anymore, a sudden eerie cawing escapes several ravens up in the trees. Which she thinks only she can hear, but actually these are live ravens so the sound is carried to all the cougars present..
Oh, sure. He goes and hunts, and then? They've all already eaten. Wiraqu hmphs, though there's no particular ire behind it, and flops down beside his unwanted prey. Well, maybe he'll nibble it a little... he pulls one of them closer, then lifts up his head and tilts it to the sound of those noisy, noisy ravens.
Looking up about him at the sound of ravens, Chaska frowns a little, especially looking toward what his sister has unearthed. He grimaces, and then tries to sooth the ruffled fur by once again taking tongue to shoulder. He clears his throat. "Kachina, when you're done making friends with birds, I want to tell you something.." he says, sounding a little impatient. Sisters, don't they know they're supposed to pay attention to their older brother? (even if older only implies that he was born first..)
Scorch does not see what the younger cougress is up to, but the raven calls do grab her attention and she looks skyward. "Odd," she remarks.
Kachina frowns as she hears Chaska. "I'm not making friends with them. They was trapped.. Before winter, the rock kept the spirits from leaving. See I'm /not/ making it up Chaska." She so wants him to see that she is not faking, not lying to him. Her gaze rests on her brother wishing he would just understand how she felt. "What...what do you want to tell me? That you’re leaving and not coming back like mom, like dad?" She finally snaps out while her eyes close tight.
Wiraqu takes a careful mouthful of feathers, tugging them from the grouse's body, and lets them to to flutter away through the wind. Another one, and on he goes, slowly plucking the bird while keeping a general eye on things... but the Chieftain's not drawn to interfere with any of the current goings-on. The sibling conversation, if tense, is not enough so to trouble him, and crows, well, they're just like that.
"Dad's /dead/, Kachina," Chaska says, flatly, ears laying back, "How can he come back when he's dead? Mom... Who knows. Maybe she's just off looking for Uncle Thrash. She was never really good at being a mom anyway, but at least she tried." He frowns though, when he thinks about it. He had been thinking of leaving. What /is/ there here in these mountains for him? A life of being ordered around by a bunch of girls? "And maybe I /was/ thinking about leaving. It's not like I'm wanted here now that I'm an adult. You heard your beloved Wiraqu, these mountains belong to the Sisters and their clan. In case you've failed to notice, I'm not a /sister/." he frowns, tail now starting to lash about his legs.
Scorch flattens her ears at the boy's words and sighs, but says nothing immediately. After some pause, she says in a soft tone only, "Amaranth is peace and love. Outside of Amaranth is ... danger."
Kachina is utterly quiet as she hears Chaska, her ears pinning down against her head more while she pulls herself further away from him. Her tail twitching slowly before it curls against her hindleg. "Then you should go if that is how you feel." What can she say? Seems like he doesn't want to stick around because she is here, who would? She's crazy after all...a few eggs short of a clutch, crazy as a loon. She's heard it all before. "Dad may be dead. But I can still see him." An even as she says that she knows Chaska will not believe her, or may very well hate her for saying it.
"Yeah, well, I can't. And he doesn't talk to me like he does you. So which one of us got the short end of the stick there, sis?" Chasks asks, sounding sour, as he stands, and turns away from Kachina, tail lashing. "No, I just had to deal with mom going crazy from grief when he died, or going crazy from guilt when /someone/ got taken by a bird, or just going crazy, period. And then when you came back you treated us like it was our fault, and that just made her go even crazier." With a frown, and ears laying back, he turns to look her way: "You belong here. I don't. You stay with your Clan. I'm going to go find someplace for myself. When I do, maybe I'll come back to see you sometimes. Maybe I won't. But you'll be happier here." He starts to walk away in a skulk, trying to pass by Wiraqu, and Scorch, without really going too near them.
Scorch sighs sadly, looking between the Chieftain, the sister and the brother.
Kachina frowns as she hears Chaska, her eyes opening to watch him and she knew very well the bird was going to be brought up. Her ears lower back and a slight shake of her head is seen. "Chaska I'm sorry for that.. I'm sorry I treated you an mom like that. I was hurt, scared. How could you expect me to come back not harmed after that?.." It’s her fault, she always knew it was her fault that mom left, her fault she drove them away and even now where is a slim chance of her improving Chaska is leaving, because of her. The ghosts torment her so badly only feeding into the crazy idea that many think of her. "I don't think I belong anywhere." An if it wasn't for the wolves coming for Ikuna she would be dead, perhaps that is why the ghosts have locked onto her so tightly. Her gaze follows after Chaska, watching him go while her head lowers to look at the birds she unearthed. Would it be easier if she was dead too? At the moment she can't help but wonder.
Chaska doesn't reply loudly, nor kindly. "I didn't expect you to come back. I thought you were dead." He pauses a moment, when he thinks about that. He loves his sister. But.. some things cannot be undone. It wasn't her fault she was gone. But he had already made his peace that she probably wasn't coming back, and then she did, and when she did, she treated them ... in a way not unexpected, but that still hurt. Tail lashing, he looks over his shoulder again at her... But turns away again without saying anything and starts away again, this time faster. Just got to get away, got to find himself a place where he does belong.
Scorch finally speaks up, calling after the brother. "Please ... do not go that way. Do not go with ache in your heart. If you must go, then go ... but ... I would ask ... make peace with your sister before you do. If you wander, you may never see her again, and should either of you perish before you see each other again ... please don't let ill feelings and expression be the last you remember of each other." Her tone is not so much commanding or authoritative as pleading.
The words from her brother cut deep, hurting Kachina more then she thought they would. She shifts slowly on her paws and turns leaping up onto a rock and glances back towards her brother as he leaves. Her cheeks wet with tears and her eyes close tightly before she turns and makes her way up the rock face near the waterfall. She doesn't stop as until she makes her way into a cave and curls up within it, a place she found long ago, an a place she knows at the moment will give her someplace to escape everything that is tormenting her. She does hear Scorch, but what does it matter? Chaska basically said everything he felt an she wouldn't being to try and stop him.