Post by Therdde on Apr 12, 2010 20:49:13 GMT -5
Kohana wanted it noted that this is Kohana's deathscene.
Characters:
Kaya - Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
Maul - Adolescent Female Cougar
Kohana - Male Rabbit
Thrash - Adolescent Male Cougar
Wooded Terrain
Kaya is one scraped up female. Seems she got into a bit of a scrape. Looking at some of the wounds it appears it could have been a larger cougar trying something. She limps through, looking for her mother or father, wincing. Maybe a healer would be nice, too.
The winter is never particularly kind here on the mountain, but this year, more than most, there has been a scarcity in prey and a bite to the wind that makes its way through the trees. Kein has all but abandoned this northernmost border, visiting it only often enough to make sure there is not some new threat to the tribe that has presented itself, like a few years back, when the wolves were driven into these parts by flooding. Then, he overlooked it, but this winter, there is hardly food enough as it is. He's not going to allow more strain to be placed on the land.
Unlike her father, Maul is a frequent visitor to this forested area. The empty branches keep a little bit of snow off of the ground, making it just that much easier to move. Given that this is only the girl's second winter, she'll take all the help she can get. That is, so long as that help does not require her to swallow her pride. Her inability to do so is the reason why her bones show through her fur and she is stuck spending almost all of her days following the tracks of prey. She would have to be a fair bit hungrier than she is now before she would consent to being treated as anything but another Sister of the tribe.
Kaya finally finds herself driven to take a rest. Only so far she can walk with wounds like this. Not critical, but enough to cause great pain and tire the female quickly. She just wants to find her father. He'd know what to do. Kaya finally sits and finally forces herself to tend to her wounds, licking them delicately, unaware her father and little sister are in the area.
Though Kein expects no one to be nearby, he remains alert, and more so when the rare scent of his eldest child hits his nose. Before he spots her, he lets out a chuff, then continues to follow her scent. It is not much longer before he gets to her, and when he does spot her, he greets his once-troublesome child with a pleasant, if weary, smile.
Maul perks her ears when she hears a distinctly familiar sound. It immediately causes her to stop walking, and as her stomach growls in response to her pausing her her hunt, she frowns. Her resolution to get by this winter with just her and her mate means that nearing her father will delay her chance at eating considerably. As far as she knows, though, his chuff was to her. Therefore, after some hesitation, she begins walking in his direction.
Kaya doesn't hear the chuff, she's a tad focused on her wounds. Once she cleans one out, she moves on to removing the dirt and grime from another.
The chieftain's smile goes clearly unnoticed, and so it fades, replaced by a spoken greeting. "Daughter-" Then, Kein spots the details he missed, before. With concern, he takes a step closer to her and asks, "What happened, Kaya?" His eldest child does not look to be in good shape. He cannot be surprised, but it does upset him.
Maul is near enough to her relatives that she can hear her father speak. She freezes when she first hears him speak, but a moment later, he continues. Apparently, she is not the daughter to whom he is speaking. She doesn't recognize the name, and she hesitates more as she tries to decide whether satisfying her hunger or her curiosity is more important to her.
Kaya looks up and sees her father. She licks her lips and says, "Hi, daddy." Kaya says wearily. "I was wondering I could find somewhere safe..."
Kohana is hoping though the forest looking for some grass to eat but all he finds is snow even in the dense forest areas, so he just wiggles his cute little button nose and hops a few more feet in the snow.
That doesn't answer his question, and so Kein repeats it, this time with an edge in his tone. "What happened, Kaya?" It is not his daughter he is angry with, but he can imagine any number of creatures that could have done this to his daughter, any one of which will be due for a visit from the none-too-pleased chieftain, if he finds out they harmed his daughter.
Maul's decision is made for her when the brown and white furred rabbit appears. Her hunger gets the better of her, and without the slightest warning, she leaps at him, salivating with the idea of being able to line her stomach with meat. The conversation between her father and unknown sister is completely gone with her mind, with the scant promise of food.
Kohana digs into the snow with his padded paws to find some grass but comes up short and get's only the dead stuff, just then helooks up and twitches his ears before he starts to hop off as fast as he can just missing Cougar reachs but he's not as young as he use to be and has to stop seeing he's out of breath not to far from where he just was. Easy prey.
Kaya turns to look away from her father a bit and says, "Scuddle and I were moving. We wanted to go somewhere a little more secure and safe... and we bumped into a large cougar. I don't know who he was. He seemed to know who *I* was..." Kaya shakes her fur off a bit and finishes. "Next thing I know is he's clawing at me, Scuddle goes after him, telling me to run... and I never saw either of them again..."
"Where was it, daughter?" Kein's first though, as always, is his own father. Large certainly describes him, and though he did everything possible to keep Azriel from learning anything at all about his children, the very fact that Aylin knew them, however indirectly, means he failed. So help him, if he ever sees Azriel again... Still, without waiting for an answer to his question, he adds, "You know you are always welcome here."
Maul is built to run fast, even in her near-starved state. Desperation drives her even faster than normal, and it is mere moments before she is practically on top of the rabbit. At least she is not torturous, in her hunt. Her first move to touch the rabbit is a well-aimed snap of teeth at his neck as she attempts to quickly secure her meal.
Kohana tries to out run the ugly smelly Cougar but it's not good his old body couldn't take it, at least it was painless for the rabbit as his neck was server by the teeth, he lays there dead and his warm blood turns the snow under him a crimson red.
"Out to the forest." Kaya says, then turns to groom at her wounds again. When she finishes, she says, "He seemed enraged over something, but never said anything to either of us."
Then again, enraged doesn't quite sounds like Azriel, who, so far as Kein can tell... was never angry. That only leaves... "When you can, make your way to one of the caves. Your mother and I will make sure you are fed and safe, Kaya." It wouldn't matter if it was Kaya, or Cael, or Nuba. Any of his children arriving in this state would get the same offer, and he'll stick by it. At least, through the winter, he will. Then, he is going to do exactly what he promised Ama and Nayeli he would do if any of his family members were ever hurt.
Maul's mouth is filled with warm blood, and she can not avoid stripping all of the meat from the rabbit's neck and shoulder to begin to take the edge off of her hunger. After that, it is a struggle to keep herself from tearing through the rest of the rabbit, though she can still hear her father and sister. Her sister who is, apparently, badly injured. A responsible, loving sibling would offer up her meal, and with a sigh, Maul stands upright and picks up the rabbit.
Kaya nods and nuzzles her father affectionately, then stands again (Achingly) and is about to head further into her old home territory, when she spots Maul. She smiles. Goodness. She's grown! She walks over toward the other female. "Maul?! My goodness! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!"
Kein's attention is drawn to his younger daughter by his eldest's statement. Quickly, he spots the rabbit she carries, and just as quickly, he spots how thin she is. The former brings a small sense of pride in his daughter's ability to get a meal, while the latter... Still, he has learned his lesson. "Good day, Maul." His greeting to Maul is much more reserved than his greeting to kaya or Kaya's greeting to Maul.
Maul is familiar to her sister, obviously. The opposite, however, is not true, but after setting the rabbit down near the clearly-injured cougaress, Maul greets the other female by name. "Kaya. I've brought you something to eat." It is, after all, the responsible, caring thing to do. It's also the only acknowledgment Maul gives to any familial relationships, as her greeting to Kein consists of nothing more than a slight bow of her head, accompanied by, "Chieftain."
This seemingly cold greeting exchange does not go unnoticed by Kaya, and she frowns, looking confusedly at her sister a moment before turning this same confused look. Why so formal and cold? They're supposed to be father and daughter! "Uh... thank..." She turns her gaze back to Maulisho and tries to move on. "Thank you for the meal."
Kein does not seem surprised at how his daughter greets him. He is more surprised, actually, by Maul giving up her food. Unpleasantly surprised. He can hunt for Kaya. It may add hours to the amount of activity he has to put in on an average day, but he can do it. He cannot, however, hunt for Maul, for the fact that she is so unlikely to accept a meal from him. "Maul-" He bites off his protest, though. Even if he cannot hunt for Maul, he can make it more likely that Thrash brings back food for the two of them. "It is good to see you," he finishes, lamely.
Whatever strain is between Kein and Maul, Maul does not seem willing to drop it. She insists on treating him distinctly unlike a daughter should treat her father, but she does show him every bit of respect a Sister should show to the Chieftain. "You're welcome, Kaya. And it's good to see you as well, Kein." Now that the formalities have been set aside, Maul shows one trait she most certainly did inherit from her father, as well as from countless generations of cougars before him: a distinct lack of social skills. "I should, ah, well. It's getting late."
Kaya frowns. Well, this is worrying. She shakes herr head. "Go ahead and keep your rabbit. I am more in need of rest and maybe some healing." Kaya says. And perhaps some answers about this cool behavior between her little sister and her father.
Making his way through the snow is Thrash, who has been off, and about looking for food all by himself. He was hoping he could bring something back to impress Maul with, but sadly, all he has clinging in his jaws is a sad, skinny squirrel that could barely be considered a meal. His once thick, and powerfully set frame has now withered quite visibly, leaving his pelt to cling to his frame. Most of the food has been going to his mate, and he has been taking only nibbles here, and there. He promised he would protect them both, and it's days like this that he feels largely a failure.
Kein recognizes the desire to leave, and he nods to his younger daughter, though his first sentence references Kaya's statement, more than anything Maul has said. "Kaya is right. She needs to get some rest, and I will be sure that she gets something to eat. Please." That's all he gives in way of a farewell, though he does not look away from Maul as he silently wills her to take the rabbit.
Maul looks between Kaya and Kein for a few seconds, then nods, almost imperceptibly, before lowering her head to take the rabbit she caught with incredible ease before turning to leave. With the scent of rabbit just below her nose and the sound of her own pawsteps to accompany her, she has not, yet, noticed Thrash.
Kaya watches her sister. "Daddy, is there something going on between you and Maul? I could have sworn that this *winter* was supposed to be the most bitterly cold." She says quietly, hoping her sister won't hear.
As he comes into view, Thrash spits the squirrel out into the snow, calling out, "Maul! I got you.." He trails off, seeing that she is beelining away, and with a rabbit in her mouth no less. Ears faltering backwards against his skull, he stares down at the small squirrel then bats it to the side. "..Got you dinner." He says quietly, before flopping himself backwards upon his haunches, sighing loudly, and looking downright miserable.
Kein's attention is quickly drawn away from the departing Maul by Kaya, and then by Thrash. Surprisingly, he feels sympathy for the boy, whose mate seems insistent on getting away. He knows that feeling all too well, actually. With a thin smile to his eldest daughter, he says, "It is nothing new, Kaya. Maul and I... well, we both do the best we can, and I seem to remember that it is not uncommon for my daughters to dislike me, for a while." That's not entirely true. Shade seems to adore him, and he never had any troubles with Aurora. He is merely attempting to set Kaya's worries aside, after which he looks to Thrash. "The winter has been rough on all of us. Take it to her, and she'll appreciate it as much as if she had not eaten in weeks, or else eat it yourself, and go to her with a bit of energy this evening." Maul's tactics, after all, have had a little bit of success at getting Kein to view Thrash not as the male who is sullying his daughter, but rather as the male who is helping him take care of at least one female in the tribe.
Kaya nods. She can remember when she had a large spat with her own father. It came so close to her losing him forever. She feels bad about it, but she is glad it's in the past now. "Um... about that cover..."
Leaning down to gather up the squirrel in his mouth, Thrash looks over towards Kein and Kaya, and gives a simple nod of his head. With a push off through the snow, he starts off after the direction in which Maul left, trying to catch up to the moody girl.
Kein watches Thrash for a moment as he leaves, as well. Then, he returns his attention to Kaya, his expression sober. "I do not patrol this northern border often. As I said, the winter has been hard. Anywhere a way to the south will be safe, though. Would you like me to accompany you?" Kein would like to, anyway, to make sure that his injured daughter is safe, but if Kaya would prefer to be alone, he would respect that.
Kaya nods. "Well, yes. I would like you to." Kaya says, then nuzzles her father. She hasn't found the courage to tell him of the other thing, the reason why she didn't hesitate to flee as Scuddle told her to.
Kein returns his daughter's nuzzling before beginning to cut a slow path to the south. He does his best, as he walks, to balance walking slowly enough to not cause Kaya undue stress, but quickly enough that they find her a place to stay before she grows too tired.
Characters:
Kaya - Female Cougar
Kein - Male Cougar
Maul - Adolescent Female Cougar
Kohana - Male Rabbit
Thrash - Adolescent Male Cougar
Wooded Terrain
Kaya is one scraped up female. Seems she got into a bit of a scrape. Looking at some of the wounds it appears it could have been a larger cougar trying something. She limps through, looking for her mother or father, wincing. Maybe a healer would be nice, too.
The winter is never particularly kind here on the mountain, but this year, more than most, there has been a scarcity in prey and a bite to the wind that makes its way through the trees. Kein has all but abandoned this northernmost border, visiting it only often enough to make sure there is not some new threat to the tribe that has presented itself, like a few years back, when the wolves were driven into these parts by flooding. Then, he overlooked it, but this winter, there is hardly food enough as it is. He's not going to allow more strain to be placed on the land.
Unlike her father, Maul is a frequent visitor to this forested area. The empty branches keep a little bit of snow off of the ground, making it just that much easier to move. Given that this is only the girl's second winter, she'll take all the help she can get. That is, so long as that help does not require her to swallow her pride. Her inability to do so is the reason why her bones show through her fur and she is stuck spending almost all of her days following the tracks of prey. She would have to be a fair bit hungrier than she is now before she would consent to being treated as anything but another Sister of the tribe.
Kaya finally finds herself driven to take a rest. Only so far she can walk with wounds like this. Not critical, but enough to cause great pain and tire the female quickly. She just wants to find her father. He'd know what to do. Kaya finally sits and finally forces herself to tend to her wounds, licking them delicately, unaware her father and little sister are in the area.
Though Kein expects no one to be nearby, he remains alert, and more so when the rare scent of his eldest child hits his nose. Before he spots her, he lets out a chuff, then continues to follow her scent. It is not much longer before he gets to her, and when he does spot her, he greets his once-troublesome child with a pleasant, if weary, smile.
Maul perks her ears when she hears a distinctly familiar sound. It immediately causes her to stop walking, and as her stomach growls in response to her pausing her her hunt, she frowns. Her resolution to get by this winter with just her and her mate means that nearing her father will delay her chance at eating considerably. As far as she knows, though, his chuff was to her. Therefore, after some hesitation, she begins walking in his direction.
Kaya doesn't hear the chuff, she's a tad focused on her wounds. Once she cleans one out, she moves on to removing the dirt and grime from another.
The chieftain's smile goes clearly unnoticed, and so it fades, replaced by a spoken greeting. "Daughter-" Then, Kein spots the details he missed, before. With concern, he takes a step closer to her and asks, "What happened, Kaya?" His eldest child does not look to be in good shape. He cannot be surprised, but it does upset him.
Maul is near enough to her relatives that she can hear her father speak. She freezes when she first hears him speak, but a moment later, he continues. Apparently, she is not the daughter to whom he is speaking. She doesn't recognize the name, and she hesitates more as she tries to decide whether satisfying her hunger or her curiosity is more important to her.
Kaya looks up and sees her father. She licks her lips and says, "Hi, daddy." Kaya says wearily. "I was wondering I could find somewhere safe..."
Kohana is hoping though the forest looking for some grass to eat but all he finds is snow even in the dense forest areas, so he just wiggles his cute little button nose and hops a few more feet in the snow.
That doesn't answer his question, and so Kein repeats it, this time with an edge in his tone. "What happened, Kaya?" It is not his daughter he is angry with, but he can imagine any number of creatures that could have done this to his daughter, any one of which will be due for a visit from the none-too-pleased chieftain, if he finds out they harmed his daughter.
Maul's decision is made for her when the brown and white furred rabbit appears. Her hunger gets the better of her, and without the slightest warning, she leaps at him, salivating with the idea of being able to line her stomach with meat. The conversation between her father and unknown sister is completely gone with her mind, with the scant promise of food.
Kohana digs into the snow with his padded paws to find some grass but comes up short and get's only the dead stuff, just then helooks up and twitches his ears before he starts to hop off as fast as he can just missing Cougar reachs but he's not as young as he use to be and has to stop seeing he's out of breath not to far from where he just was. Easy prey.
Kaya turns to look away from her father a bit and says, "Scuddle and I were moving. We wanted to go somewhere a little more secure and safe... and we bumped into a large cougar. I don't know who he was. He seemed to know who *I* was..." Kaya shakes her fur off a bit and finishes. "Next thing I know is he's clawing at me, Scuddle goes after him, telling me to run... and I never saw either of them again..."
"Where was it, daughter?" Kein's first though, as always, is his own father. Large certainly describes him, and though he did everything possible to keep Azriel from learning anything at all about his children, the very fact that Aylin knew them, however indirectly, means he failed. So help him, if he ever sees Azriel again... Still, without waiting for an answer to his question, he adds, "You know you are always welcome here."
Maul is built to run fast, even in her near-starved state. Desperation drives her even faster than normal, and it is mere moments before she is practically on top of the rabbit. At least she is not torturous, in her hunt. Her first move to touch the rabbit is a well-aimed snap of teeth at his neck as she attempts to quickly secure her meal.
Kohana tries to out run the ugly smelly Cougar but it's not good his old body couldn't take it, at least it was painless for the rabbit as his neck was server by the teeth, he lays there dead and his warm blood turns the snow under him a crimson red.
"Out to the forest." Kaya says, then turns to groom at her wounds again. When she finishes, she says, "He seemed enraged over something, but never said anything to either of us."
Then again, enraged doesn't quite sounds like Azriel, who, so far as Kein can tell... was never angry. That only leaves... "When you can, make your way to one of the caves. Your mother and I will make sure you are fed and safe, Kaya." It wouldn't matter if it was Kaya, or Cael, or Nuba. Any of his children arriving in this state would get the same offer, and he'll stick by it. At least, through the winter, he will. Then, he is going to do exactly what he promised Ama and Nayeli he would do if any of his family members were ever hurt.
Maul's mouth is filled with warm blood, and she can not avoid stripping all of the meat from the rabbit's neck and shoulder to begin to take the edge off of her hunger. After that, it is a struggle to keep herself from tearing through the rest of the rabbit, though she can still hear her father and sister. Her sister who is, apparently, badly injured. A responsible, loving sibling would offer up her meal, and with a sigh, Maul stands upright and picks up the rabbit.
Kaya nods and nuzzles her father affectionately, then stands again (Achingly) and is about to head further into her old home territory, when she spots Maul. She smiles. Goodness. She's grown! She walks over toward the other female. "Maul?! My goodness! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!"
Kein's attention is drawn to his younger daughter by his eldest's statement. Quickly, he spots the rabbit she carries, and just as quickly, he spots how thin she is. The former brings a small sense of pride in his daughter's ability to get a meal, while the latter... Still, he has learned his lesson. "Good day, Maul." His greeting to Maul is much more reserved than his greeting to kaya or Kaya's greeting to Maul.
Maul is familiar to her sister, obviously. The opposite, however, is not true, but after setting the rabbit down near the clearly-injured cougaress, Maul greets the other female by name. "Kaya. I've brought you something to eat." It is, after all, the responsible, caring thing to do. It's also the only acknowledgment Maul gives to any familial relationships, as her greeting to Kein consists of nothing more than a slight bow of her head, accompanied by, "Chieftain."
This seemingly cold greeting exchange does not go unnoticed by Kaya, and she frowns, looking confusedly at her sister a moment before turning this same confused look. Why so formal and cold? They're supposed to be father and daughter! "Uh... thank..." She turns her gaze back to Maulisho and tries to move on. "Thank you for the meal."
Kein does not seem surprised at how his daughter greets him. He is more surprised, actually, by Maul giving up her food. Unpleasantly surprised. He can hunt for Kaya. It may add hours to the amount of activity he has to put in on an average day, but he can do it. He cannot, however, hunt for Maul, for the fact that she is so unlikely to accept a meal from him. "Maul-" He bites off his protest, though. Even if he cannot hunt for Maul, he can make it more likely that Thrash brings back food for the two of them. "It is good to see you," he finishes, lamely.
Whatever strain is between Kein and Maul, Maul does not seem willing to drop it. She insists on treating him distinctly unlike a daughter should treat her father, but she does show him every bit of respect a Sister should show to the Chieftain. "You're welcome, Kaya. And it's good to see you as well, Kein." Now that the formalities have been set aside, Maul shows one trait she most certainly did inherit from her father, as well as from countless generations of cougars before him: a distinct lack of social skills. "I should, ah, well. It's getting late."
Kaya frowns. Well, this is worrying. She shakes herr head. "Go ahead and keep your rabbit. I am more in need of rest and maybe some healing." Kaya says. And perhaps some answers about this cool behavior between her little sister and her father.
Making his way through the snow is Thrash, who has been off, and about looking for food all by himself. He was hoping he could bring something back to impress Maul with, but sadly, all he has clinging in his jaws is a sad, skinny squirrel that could barely be considered a meal. His once thick, and powerfully set frame has now withered quite visibly, leaving his pelt to cling to his frame. Most of the food has been going to his mate, and he has been taking only nibbles here, and there. He promised he would protect them both, and it's days like this that he feels largely a failure.
Kein recognizes the desire to leave, and he nods to his younger daughter, though his first sentence references Kaya's statement, more than anything Maul has said. "Kaya is right. She needs to get some rest, and I will be sure that she gets something to eat. Please." That's all he gives in way of a farewell, though he does not look away from Maul as he silently wills her to take the rabbit.
Maul looks between Kaya and Kein for a few seconds, then nods, almost imperceptibly, before lowering her head to take the rabbit she caught with incredible ease before turning to leave. With the scent of rabbit just below her nose and the sound of her own pawsteps to accompany her, she has not, yet, noticed Thrash.
Kaya watches her sister. "Daddy, is there something going on between you and Maul? I could have sworn that this *winter* was supposed to be the most bitterly cold." She says quietly, hoping her sister won't hear.
As he comes into view, Thrash spits the squirrel out into the snow, calling out, "Maul! I got you.." He trails off, seeing that she is beelining away, and with a rabbit in her mouth no less. Ears faltering backwards against his skull, he stares down at the small squirrel then bats it to the side. "..Got you dinner." He says quietly, before flopping himself backwards upon his haunches, sighing loudly, and looking downright miserable.
Kein's attention is quickly drawn away from the departing Maul by Kaya, and then by Thrash. Surprisingly, he feels sympathy for the boy, whose mate seems insistent on getting away. He knows that feeling all too well, actually. With a thin smile to his eldest daughter, he says, "It is nothing new, Kaya. Maul and I... well, we both do the best we can, and I seem to remember that it is not uncommon for my daughters to dislike me, for a while." That's not entirely true. Shade seems to adore him, and he never had any troubles with Aurora. He is merely attempting to set Kaya's worries aside, after which he looks to Thrash. "The winter has been rough on all of us. Take it to her, and she'll appreciate it as much as if she had not eaten in weeks, or else eat it yourself, and go to her with a bit of energy this evening." Maul's tactics, after all, have had a little bit of success at getting Kein to view Thrash not as the male who is sullying his daughter, but rather as the male who is helping him take care of at least one female in the tribe.
Kaya nods. She can remember when she had a large spat with her own father. It came so close to her losing him forever. She feels bad about it, but she is glad it's in the past now. "Um... about that cover..."
Leaning down to gather up the squirrel in his mouth, Thrash looks over towards Kein and Kaya, and gives a simple nod of his head. With a push off through the snow, he starts off after the direction in which Maul left, trying to catch up to the moody girl.
Kein watches Thrash for a moment as he leaves, as well. Then, he returns his attention to Kaya, his expression sober. "I do not patrol this northern border often. As I said, the winter has been hard. Anywhere a way to the south will be safe, though. Would you like me to accompany you?" Kein would like to, anyway, to make sure that his injured daughter is safe, but if Kaya would prefer to be alone, he would respect that.
Kaya nods. "Well, yes. I would like you to." Kaya says, then nuzzles her father. She hasn't found the courage to tell him of the other thing, the reason why she didn't hesitate to flee as Scuddle told her to.
Kein returns his daughter's nuzzling before beginning to cut a slow path to the south. He does his best, as he walks, to balance walking slowly enough to not cause Kaya undue stress, but quickly enough that they find her a place to stay before she grows too tired.