Post by Nyssa on Nov 13, 2010 7:15:17 GMT -5
Wooded Terrain
Kein, Nyssa
She hasn't had a moment to speak with the Chieftain. He hasn't come back since her mother told him the same news she relayed to her daughter. But Ruya is not here right now and, at the moment, and neither are all those worries and fears that plagued the young and heavily pregnant female. Where her mother went at this moment is not on her mind, knowing that she would not leave with so much more still to be shared between them. She had woken in panic, a sudden fear of being alone gripped her, and a sickness washed over her whole being. When Nyssa realized that it was because her cubs were demanding to feel the touch of the rain for themselves the fear vanished to be replaced by a serenity (one occasionally broken by pain). Now, though, pressed against a large, wide rock and covered by a small, broken overhang, Nyssa rests on her side with two small cubs tucked against her belly. Her eyes are half-lidded, slightly glazed over as she focuses on simply breathing, finding herself curling instinctively against the weather to protect the two-- her two-- their two cubs.
It took a long time for Kein to find some sort of peace. Even now, the anger is there. It may well be there until the day he dies, as far as he knows. He no longer needs to worry about taking that anger out on Nyssa, though, which is incredibly important to him. And as he returns, even the rain cannot completely mute the scent of what has happened in his absence. It is only a shame that what should have been a joyous occurrence pains the chieftain deeply as he spots Nyssa around the two cubs, as he has to contend with the fact that he is no longer certain he wants to see them.
There is movement as one of them, the boy -- Kein's son -- fidgets against her and even that slight movement stirs Nyssa from her half-sleep, her ears rolling forward as she bends to nervously investigate both. She spends a lengthy time simply grooming each cub then noses them even closer to her, before she looks up at the approaching male as if waking from a dream. There is a half smile behind her eyes and she stretches out her neck and scents the air between them as though she could taste his apprehension on her tongue. She would ask him closer but only gives him a slow and purposeful blink. She will not chase him away but she will not force him closer.
Kein stands where he is for a moment. He cannot tell much about the cubs just by their scent, but finally he takes a few steps closer, so that he can tell how many there are, and even... Fighting hard to keep a frown from his face, he asks, "Does she...?" That's all the more he can manage to get out, and even now, he prays that Ruya was wrong, that Nyssa will be able to tell him that the sole female cub bears no markings on her body.
Of course it would have been too easy to just forget everything that they were told, as little as it was, and to pretend like nothing had changed. Kein's question brings back a vague in indistinct memory of not long ago as she cleaned the little girl, finding the marking on her chest something that could not, and would never be, removed. Nyssa closes her green eyes, eyes clearly filled with pain, and nods once. Yes, she does. The female's ears pin back against her head and when she sighs it is accompanied with tears as she bends and touches her nose to the little girl.
Kein looks away from Nyssa as any hope he may have had left is dashed. He spends a few moments breathing deeply, then looks back to her. "I'm sorry, Nyssa. It wasn't... I'm just sorry." After speaking, he closes the remainder of the distance between them. He keeps his eyes on Nyssa as he lowers his head to gently nose at the cubs.
"So am I," is her whispered response, her voice catching as though she's cried too much already today and is struggling to not do so again. "Sorry for..." This. Not those cubs, though, she will never be sorry that they are here and she knows that she will never be sorry for that. Nyssa is sure that somewhere there is good in all of this and again the Matron's words echo in her ears. "I-- I -know-, Kein, I just -know- that it will not be the burden that you fear." It can't be; such a struggle for one so small, so young? Nyssa refuses to believe it to be true. "I don't understand why. I wish to speak with my mother about many things..." Kein is not a spiritual being and that she has come to accept yet she will not throw away these happenings as meaningless.
Kein shakes his head slightly. "I knew I should have taken you all away from here long ago. I can't... Your mother was right, Nyssa. Amaranth no longer has a matron. Nayeli left days ago. Left for good." And now because he couldn't abandon his responsibility here, but Nayeli felt no such reservations... their daughter will pay for it. And because their daughter will pay for it, how can Kein feel anything but as though he is being punished?
"Should I not have come?" The words come after a strained hesitation and after they have left her mouth that ill feeling remains. Perhaps it would have been better? Nyssa shakes her head and shoves such thoughts from her mind. Self pity will get her, Kein, or their two cubs no where. "Purpose, Kein." That is one constant she believes in. "There is always one even though it may be impossible for us to see. I am... sorry... so sorry... for Nayeli." And what else can she say?
"No." Kein's voice is every bit as stern now as when he tried to deny that his now-newborn daughter would be matron. "Nayeli... Don't feel sorry for her, Nyssa. Just... don't." He will. He will always sorrow for her, for the things that drove them apart. But Nyssa shouldn't have to. "I love you. And I love... I love our children."
"Even though they were born in the rain," Nyssa soothes, both for Kein and her own peace of mind, "They should not be consigned to sadness." She even manages a smile at his final words, reaching out to press her muzzle along his fore leg before her attention is on the girl, the marked one. She pauses, touching her with her nose, and then breathes very quietly into the girl's ear, "Arroyo." It could have been her imagination but, to Nyssa, it seemed as though the cub responded in kind with a breathy yawn and wordless squeak. Then the female looks up to the Chieftain, tears replaced by gentleness. "Kein. Name your son."
Kein is silent for a moment. Not because he has no idea. He has thought long and hard about this. After a brief time, he answers simply with, "Aiden." After saying it, he lowers his head to nuzzle at first his son, then his daughter. This changes... well, everything, but Kein is still intent upon raising these cubs far differently than how his first two litters were raised. They are going to come first, and if Amaranth burns around them because of it... then so be it.
Nothing will burn long, so long as the rain is just beyond the horizon. Nyssa's smile blooms and her whiskers spread out wide, and then when she closes her eyes she can feel just a small portion of all that weight evaporating from her shoulders and into the air. A breeze picks up just slightly and eddies around her paws and she stills herself to listen. It is hard to tell whether or not she was successful but the young female lowers her chin to the ground to continue her rest from before, knowing that just at this time she and Kein do not have to exchange any more words. Not now.
Kein settles down beside Nyssa, content to join her in silence and watch the young cubs as they sleep.
Kein, Nyssa
She hasn't had a moment to speak with the Chieftain. He hasn't come back since her mother told him the same news she relayed to her daughter. But Ruya is not here right now and, at the moment, and neither are all those worries and fears that plagued the young and heavily pregnant female. Where her mother went at this moment is not on her mind, knowing that she would not leave with so much more still to be shared between them. She had woken in panic, a sudden fear of being alone gripped her, and a sickness washed over her whole being. When Nyssa realized that it was because her cubs were demanding to feel the touch of the rain for themselves the fear vanished to be replaced by a serenity (one occasionally broken by pain). Now, though, pressed against a large, wide rock and covered by a small, broken overhang, Nyssa rests on her side with two small cubs tucked against her belly. Her eyes are half-lidded, slightly glazed over as she focuses on simply breathing, finding herself curling instinctively against the weather to protect the two-- her two-- their two cubs.
It took a long time for Kein to find some sort of peace. Even now, the anger is there. It may well be there until the day he dies, as far as he knows. He no longer needs to worry about taking that anger out on Nyssa, though, which is incredibly important to him. And as he returns, even the rain cannot completely mute the scent of what has happened in his absence. It is only a shame that what should have been a joyous occurrence pains the chieftain deeply as he spots Nyssa around the two cubs, as he has to contend with the fact that he is no longer certain he wants to see them.
There is movement as one of them, the boy -- Kein's son -- fidgets against her and even that slight movement stirs Nyssa from her half-sleep, her ears rolling forward as she bends to nervously investigate both. She spends a lengthy time simply grooming each cub then noses them even closer to her, before she looks up at the approaching male as if waking from a dream. There is a half smile behind her eyes and she stretches out her neck and scents the air between them as though she could taste his apprehension on her tongue. She would ask him closer but only gives him a slow and purposeful blink. She will not chase him away but she will not force him closer.
Kein stands where he is for a moment. He cannot tell much about the cubs just by their scent, but finally he takes a few steps closer, so that he can tell how many there are, and even... Fighting hard to keep a frown from his face, he asks, "Does she...?" That's all the more he can manage to get out, and even now, he prays that Ruya was wrong, that Nyssa will be able to tell him that the sole female cub bears no markings on her body.
Of course it would have been too easy to just forget everything that they were told, as little as it was, and to pretend like nothing had changed. Kein's question brings back a vague in indistinct memory of not long ago as she cleaned the little girl, finding the marking on her chest something that could not, and would never be, removed. Nyssa closes her green eyes, eyes clearly filled with pain, and nods once. Yes, she does. The female's ears pin back against her head and when she sighs it is accompanied with tears as she bends and touches her nose to the little girl.
Kein looks away from Nyssa as any hope he may have had left is dashed. He spends a few moments breathing deeply, then looks back to her. "I'm sorry, Nyssa. It wasn't... I'm just sorry." After speaking, he closes the remainder of the distance between them. He keeps his eyes on Nyssa as he lowers his head to gently nose at the cubs.
"So am I," is her whispered response, her voice catching as though she's cried too much already today and is struggling to not do so again. "Sorry for..." This. Not those cubs, though, she will never be sorry that they are here and she knows that she will never be sorry for that. Nyssa is sure that somewhere there is good in all of this and again the Matron's words echo in her ears. "I-- I -know-, Kein, I just -know- that it will not be the burden that you fear." It can't be; such a struggle for one so small, so young? Nyssa refuses to believe it to be true. "I don't understand why. I wish to speak with my mother about many things..." Kein is not a spiritual being and that she has come to accept yet she will not throw away these happenings as meaningless.
Kein shakes his head slightly. "I knew I should have taken you all away from here long ago. I can't... Your mother was right, Nyssa. Amaranth no longer has a matron. Nayeli left days ago. Left for good." And now because he couldn't abandon his responsibility here, but Nayeli felt no such reservations... their daughter will pay for it. And because their daughter will pay for it, how can Kein feel anything but as though he is being punished?
"Should I not have come?" The words come after a strained hesitation and after they have left her mouth that ill feeling remains. Perhaps it would have been better? Nyssa shakes her head and shoves such thoughts from her mind. Self pity will get her, Kein, or their two cubs no where. "Purpose, Kein." That is one constant she believes in. "There is always one even though it may be impossible for us to see. I am... sorry... so sorry... for Nayeli." And what else can she say?
"No." Kein's voice is every bit as stern now as when he tried to deny that his now-newborn daughter would be matron. "Nayeli... Don't feel sorry for her, Nyssa. Just... don't." He will. He will always sorrow for her, for the things that drove them apart. But Nyssa shouldn't have to. "I love you. And I love... I love our children."
"Even though they were born in the rain," Nyssa soothes, both for Kein and her own peace of mind, "They should not be consigned to sadness." She even manages a smile at his final words, reaching out to press her muzzle along his fore leg before her attention is on the girl, the marked one. She pauses, touching her with her nose, and then breathes very quietly into the girl's ear, "Arroyo." It could have been her imagination but, to Nyssa, it seemed as though the cub responded in kind with a breathy yawn and wordless squeak. Then the female looks up to the Chieftain, tears replaced by gentleness. "Kein. Name your son."
Kein is silent for a moment. Not because he has no idea. He has thought long and hard about this. After a brief time, he answers simply with, "Aiden." After saying it, he lowers his head to nuzzle at first his son, then his daughter. This changes... well, everything, but Kein is still intent upon raising these cubs far differently than how his first two litters were raised. They are going to come first, and if Amaranth burns around them because of it... then so be it.
Nothing will burn long, so long as the rain is just beyond the horizon. Nyssa's smile blooms and her whiskers spread out wide, and then when she closes her eyes she can feel just a small portion of all that weight evaporating from her shoulders and into the air. A breeze picks up just slightly and eddies around her paws and she stills herself to listen. It is hard to tell whether or not she was successful but the young female lowers her chin to the ground to continue her rest from before, knowing that just at this time she and Kein do not have to exchange any more words. Not now.
Kein settles down beside Nyssa, content to join her in silence and watch the young cubs as they sleep.