Post by Therdde on Jan 4, 2009 21:21:21 GMT -5
Characters:
Kein - Male Adolescent Cougar
Aurora - Female Cougar Cub
Nuba - Male Cougar Cub
Kaya - Female Cougar Cub
Crevan - Male Cougar Cub
- Fallen Log -
The water level of the river is still steadily falling, and Kein anticipates that they will be able to start the journey back to Amaranth within the next few days. How long will it take them? Kein can't be certain, with his cubs being so young. Longer than it took Maulisho to bring them to the oasis, many months ago, certainly, but hopefully they will all be in Amaranth within a couple of weeks. Returning from the south, where he was checking to see how far the water had receded, Kein tries to figure out how to spin the idea so that his cubs will be excited about the idea, at least to begin with. He knows by the end, the cubs will likely be tired of traveling, but the longer they are enthusiastic, the faster the trip will be... Hopefully.
This mossy, rotting, creepy looking log is -so- interesting! At least to the tiny cub whose level of perception is not even higher than the upper rim of the fallen trunk. It's been a source of much curiosity for the lastborn, Aurora, and even now the runt has wobbled her way over to it once again - hopefully avoiding the protective jaws of her mother grabbing her away from the nasty thing. Sniffing around the base and sides of the mossy log, Aurora is still small enough to easily fit most of her body inside, even if a couple of her larger siblings have quickly grown too big to join her anymore -- and so she does just that, easily squeezing her slender frame inside the rotting wood about halfway before a scuttling beetle disturbed from his home distracts her. Her dark-tipped tail flick-flicks about rapidly as she watches with wide greenish-blue eyes!
The day hasn't been particularly hard for son Nuba; his morning and most of afternoon has consisted of sleeping, eating, and wrestling with his siblings. He sniffs the ground around, running back for mommy if he ever gets any more than ten feet away. However, as he sees his father returning, enthusiasm and excitement bolts through him. "Daddy!" He calls out, hoping to call attention to himself from Kein.
Kein entered the small clearing they've been inhabiting just in time to see his smallest cub disappear into the log that has been entertaining for all of them. Before he could even think about walking over there to fetch her, though, another of his cubs calls out to him, and his attention is pulled from the log to his second son. Smiling, Kein sits where he is and says, "Good evening, Nuba!" As with the other cubs, Kein speaks slowly, saying each word clearly, and as he waits for Nuba to reach and, likely, pounce him, he looks over the others in the area, to make sure no one is missing and that nothing is out of place, even though he was not gone for very long.
Aurora wriggles her way in a little further in pursuit of the beetle, who's now flicking his wings about irritably as his home intruder just refuses to leave. Having pushed her way in up to her haunches, hind legs splayed against the muddy ground as she attempts to keep moving forward, Aurora eventually notices that she can't force herself in any further. So, she decides to try and flank the beetle from the -other- side -- but then quickly realizes she can't push herself back -out-, either. The poor girl has wedged herself rather firmly inside the hollow log, or at least too tightly for her to push herself back out by her diminutive force alone. Her hind paws scrabble on the thick edges of the trunk, the runty cub letting out a series of alarmed chirps!
Nuba waits for Kein to sit down to invite him before the cub actually runs out to him, as fast as he can run, anyway. In his enthusiasm, he stumbles and nearly falls just before reaching his daddy, and as a result doesn't pounce him. Instead, he slows down and rubs himself against his father's leg. Nuba laughs though happily unaware of his humorously pathetic attempt. His sister's crying out suddenly halts Nuba's laughing as his mind is suddenly focused on something else.
Kaya is about to join the rest of her siblings when she hears Aurora chirping. The eldest cub begins a quick search and finds, to her dismay, that her little sister is stuck in a log and she runs to investigate.
Kein would have been more than happy to play with Nuba, but Aurora's alarmed cries get his attention immediately. Immediately, he's thinking of some of the worst things that might have happened, but there is no pain in those cries. Just worry. That's about as much as he has managed to realize by the time he reaches the end of the log that Aurora entered, that his youngest cub is not actually /hurt/. Even so, as he crouches down to look into the log, he says, "Aurora? Are you okay, baby?" He sounds calm enough, but the very fact that he is no longer speaking as slowly as he normally does with the cubs is proof enough that he is worried.
The other end of the log is suddenly filled with the familiar sight of her father's face, and it has an instinctively calming effect on the frightened girl. Immediately, the frequency and intensity of her pleading squeals lessen, though they're still uttered every few seconds. "Ohkay, daddy," she mewls out with a clear frown on her face, obviously upset with her trapped situation. She stops struggling, a little tired out from the first burst of panicked energy, which may actually help prevent her from getting even more wedged in as she waits for Daddy to Make Everything Better.
Nuba follows Kein like a shadow, even though he is curious about his sister. He mews at her, though she probably can't hear him. He sniff around to the other side of the log, then back next to Kein. "Aura?" Her's is perhaps the hardest to say, Nuba is no exception to it difficulties.
Kaya boldly pokes her head into the log and comes face-to-face with her sister. "You stuck, Aura?" Though she is rambunctious, just as big a troublemaker as Cael, her heart remains firmly in the right place.
The only remaining question is, how does he make everything better, short of gnawing through the log? Will he even be able to reach her, and if he does, will he be able to get a hold of her to get her out, hopefully without hurting her? He cannot see well enough inside the log to tell, and so, while addressing Kaya, he moves just to the side of the log to reach his right forepaw in there as far as he can. "She's not stuck. She just needs a little help." Kein /tries/ to sound reassuring, at least, though whether he'll be as successful as he hopes to be is less certain.
Aurora mews again when her older (and bigger) sister appears at the other end of the log, feeling simultaneously happy to see her and a little embarrassed at being so helpless. Even the beetle seems to be taunting her plight, scuttling around temptingly just out of reach. The tawny-spotted cub remains as still as she can meanwhile, a rather difficult accomplishment for the furry ball of energy, waiting for her father to figure something out.
Kaya looks around a bit, then pops her head out of the log and makes a quick decision that obviously did not involve a lot of thought. Kaya bounds to the other side of the log and starts crawling in She'll push her sister through! That should work!
It might work, if Kaya weren't even larger than her sister. Kein is positioned to be able to see Kaya as he touches, just barely, Aurora's hindleg, but that's as far as the rescue attempt gets, immediately. "Kaya! No!" He doesn't want another of his cubs stuck... But then, at least if Kaya gets herself stuck, she ought to be easier to reach than her smaller sister.
Too late. Kaya, too, gets stuck, but as Kein had predicted not as badly. she tries pushing out and after a large amount of effort, manages to pop out of her unfortunate position and shake herself out. She backs out of the log and starts to think.
"Come back over here, Kaya. I'll get her." Kein is quick to add that before he lowers himself back to the ground to push his shoulder tightly against the log. Like this, he manages to reach a little bit further, and he feels around for a while to try to find the best place to wrap his paw around his daughter's leg so that he can give her a light tug without having to grab onto her with his claws. Unfortunately, it still isn't far enough.
Nuba stays out of the way for the most part, but staying as close to Kein as he can. He's a very fond creature, but his curiosity eventually grasps a hold on him as he sticks his nose in the log. "Aura...ra!" He calls out.
Aurora's panic starts to set in again as the moments pass and her head and forequarters are still stuck inside of the log, hindpaws splaying as she attempts to backpedal out, though the muddy ground from where the high water levels even seeped in closer here gives her little purchase to go off of. "Daaadeee!" she cries out, the high-pitched sound echoing inside of the hollowed out tree trunk. "Bruvver!" she calls towards Nuba as she sees him, too, concerned for her situation.
Kaya walks around the log a bit, ambitiously. Then she has another not-so-well though out plan. She heads for Aurora's hindquarters. Pull her out by her tail!
Kein isn't going to be able to get Aurora out from here. Perhaps that is unsurprising, given that she got stuck trying to come the way Kein is trying to get her, but his concern has him not thinking as clearly as he normally might, so he abandons this end of the log. Upon doing so, and taking a single step back, his height allows him to see her tail on the other end... And Kaya on her way to it. Watching his firstborn as he follows after her, he says, to Aurora, "Just a little bit longer, Aurora." And hopefully, Kaya will take that as a hint not to make things worse by, oh, trying to push her through on this end, or something.
Rather than following Kein, as he would under normal circumstances, Nuba stays on the side of the log with his little sister. "Aura!" He calls out again, this time now certain that it is indeed his sister. "Hey!"
Kaya doesn't get the hint. In fact, she figures that Kein said it to possibly encourage her to proceed. Kaya takes Aurora's tail in her mouth and starts to pull, not thinking about her teeth or the fact that having one's tail pulls must really hurt. But she wants to help!
Aurora settles down again at the clear voice of authority, but then her older sister goes and does something to undo all that calm. The runty girl -squeals- as her tail is tugged on, claws flailing wildly both inside and out as she attempts to both dislodge herself and stop whoever's doing such horrible things to her poor tail.
Kein leaps forward at when he sees Kaya bite down on her sister's tail, but it isn't fast enough to save Aurora from the pain of having her tail yanked. "Kaya! Let your sister go!" Sure, he knows that Kaya is trying to be helpful, but he can't just let her cause her siblings pain, no matter how good her intentions are. He doesn't try to bat her away from her sister or anything like that, though. Not yet, anyway. If she were to ignore him, that might change, but he gives her the chance to release her poor sister's tail.
As Kein leaps forward, Nuba immedately drops to his belly and presses his ears against his head. He doesn't exactly know what's going on, but when something that large comes flying at a cub, a cub is going to be inclined to be a bit frightened. He lies there, spooked, but eventually rises to his feet and mews.
Kaya lets go suddenly and backs away from her father. Seeing him leap toward her was enough. Her ears are splayed back and she stays low looking up at her father.
Aurora's tail immediately tucks away between her legs to safety as soon as it's leg go, mewling pitifully as the poor cub is still stuck inside the log. She idly wonders between the jumble of thoughts and emotions that fill her mind if mommy wouldn't have had her out by now if she were here to take control of the situation. But if daddy saves her in the end, then maybe she'll still think he's her hero.
Kein wants to apologize as soon as he sees Kaya's expression. He doesn't want his cubs to fear him for any reason, but he /definitely/ doesn't want them to be afraid of him because they think he might hurt them. Getting Aurora out still has to be his priority, but he will have to have a talk with Kaya soon, definitely, to explain himself. When he reaches Aurora, he reaches out to place his paw under her and tugs lightly, now that he can actually reach her with no difficulty. He is gentle, not wanting to scare her further or hurt her, even more now than before, since she just had her tail pulled.
Nuba looks at Kaya, then pokes his nose in the way of the log. "Aura!" He encourages his sister to allow Kein to remove her from the log. Nuba has no doubts about the power of *his* daddy! He retreats out of the way and sits down at Kein's leg, laughing, probably for no reason.
Kaya is still afraid and has curled up now a bit, watching her father warily. Her ears are still fallen back. Surely daddy didn't mean to scare her!
Aurora mewls plaintively as she's tugged on, but this time with a much better grip than the one attempted before. Even so, she only slips out of the log a centimeter or two -- perhaps a firmer grip and a larger force is required to finally pull her free.
At least it doesn't seem to cause her pain, and she doesn't struggle against him. Could Kein bring himself to pull harder if it made her cry? Well, luckily, he won't have to answer that for himself. After the first tug, which frees her only slightly, he holds her a little more tightly with his paw and pulls a little harder. Still not hard enough to cause her any injury, should she be truly stuck, but it is much more force than Aurora was capable of, stuck in the log as she was.
Nuba watches Kaya. She was acually scared, Nuba was just surprised. Wanting to play and already losing interest in her other sister, Nuba sneaks around Kein, stalking Kaya. Without waiting very long, he jumps on two his hindlegs and lands on Kaya, laughing. Whether or not Kaya wanted to, it was playtime for Nuba.
Kaya was not expecting to be pounced and yowls and soon sends up her paws to defend herself. She hasn't quite learned claw control as she begins to wrestle her brother.
Aurora resists the urge to extend her claws and struggle against the unusual feeling of being tugged out of the tight spot, but a final bout of firm force from her father's muscle strength finally pulls her free, the cub falling back on her rump with a muddy plop. Blinking against the sudden re-exposure to sunlight, Aurora glances up with a rather embarrassed look at her father. "Thank yew..."
After, finally, freeing Aurora, in a rather inefficient manner through all of his worry and his concern about hurting her, he looks at Nuba and Kaya as they wrestle. Upon spotting that they are both okay, perhaps just startled, he looks back to his younger daughter, grooming some of the mud from her before asking, "Are you okay, Aurora?" There is nothing but concern in his voice. It doesn't even occur to him to be amused, so at least he shouldn't be adding to her embarrassment.
Nuba laughs as he wrestles his probably unwilling sister, until his Aurora is free. Quickly he turns around and steps to his little sister. "Aura! Hey!" He seems very happy to see Aurora again, as if it's been forever! However his back is turned to Kaya...
...and Kaya takes full advantage of the situation and jumps up onto Nuba's back and bites at his ear, growling playfully.
Aurora nodnods her little head, a faint pout still on her lips as only her dignity is hurt. But she attempts a smile nonetheless, to both her father and brother (before he's attacked) -- even so, it doesn't seem the girl is very good at hiding her true emotions.
Kein continues grooming Aurora, at least until most of the mud and bits of bark and moss are out of her fur. Between Kaya's stumble into the water and now Aurora's mess, it would not surprise him if Nayeli decided to start teasing him about his (in)ability to keep his cubs clean and safe. It only takes a moment, though, and then he noses Aurora toward her playing siblings with a smile. She is smaller, yes, but he doesn't view her as any more fragile than the others, and playing is important. At least, it wa sto him, when he was younger, and he never had any reservations about picking on his slightly smaller siblings... And there were plenty of times when they got the better of him.
Nuba collapses immediately into the wet ground infront of Aurora. It only takes a moment before he's giggling again, growling back at his sister. He rolls over, attempting to bat Kaya, and manages to get up and run away. Nuba takes runs to the other side of Kein, using him as cover. For that moment, he forgets that the object he's hiding behind is even his father, he's just a wall to hide behind. He pokes his tiny head out to the side, at Kaya and Aurora. "Hee!"
Kaya leaps to her feet and growls playfully and starts running toward Nuba. She's the oldest, she has to assert her authority over her siblings. Rawr!
Kein is the oldest, and were it to come to that, he would have no issue asserting /his/ authority, but for now, he just watches. He doesn't move when Nuba decides to hide behind him, but he does grin lightly as he observes and uses this time to finish thinking about how he is going to tell his cubs what he wants to tell them while they wear themselves out.
As Kaya comes at Nuba, the son attempts for a tackle, but is very late and is dropped back down to the ground. He crys out a loud mewl, which morphs into a laugh as he struggles his way out and continues wrestling with his sister. He may be a bit smaller than Kaya, but he has some good fight in him!
Kaya has only one goal when wrestling her siblings: Ears must be punished! And so she starts gnawing on Nuba's ear, but her main activity is primarily past.
Nuba growls again as hit ears are targeted! As their chewed he pushes Kaya off roughly. He's had enough of *that*, that's for sure. "No!" He calls out as a parent would, scolding Kaya, but only copying what he knows. Quickly he retreats back to Kein's side, again like a shadow, just in case Kaya would choose to exact revenge on his ears again. Through it all, though, Nuba seemed quite content to play with his sister. He purrs and rubs his head on his daddy's side.
Kaya is about to charge, but stops and slows a bit to a stop when she hears the command "No!" so forcefully, ears falling back.
Kein recognizes the sound of a cub who wants nothing more to do with what is going on. As Nuba shouts at his sister, Kein speaks up, his voice calm, but firm. "Okay. That's enough now." He drapes a paw over the male cub at his side, then says, "We all need to have a talk now anyway." With the second thing he says, Kein's tone lightens up some, and he smiles, looking down at Nuba, then Aurora, then Kaya. The three cubs he knows are awake.
As his siblings play and wrestle, one of the cubs lies on the ground alone near Kein, simple watching. Crevan doesn't look lonely or neglected in the least; he rather enjoys merely observing, really. The quiet cub looks up at his father at random intervals, watching his facial expressions, and then looking back at the activity, the same expressions upon his own young face. When Nuba comes back to Kein's other side, Crevan glances his way, but otherwise remains in his stoic position, then realights his gaze upon the Chieftain when he begins to speak.
Aurora has finished sulking by her father's side, and when he addresses the collective group of cubs, the distraction seems to help her forget all about the recent fiasco involving her being stuck halfway inside a log. She glances up at the much larger cougar, blue-green eyes blinking as the light filters through the trees above and behind him.
Kaya also turns her eyes up to her father in curiosity. "Ish something wrong, daddy?" Kaya asks. The tone he takes seems serious enough.
Kein nudges Nuba over just far enough that he can lie down, still unaware that Crevan is awake, so that he can get his head down lower to where his cubs are. "Nothing is wrong, but Mom and I are going to need a lot of help in the next few days, so I wanted to talk to you all about it. Do you all think you're up for it?" Unless they're scared, he has never known a cub to back down from a challenge, or from the idea of being able to help nearby adults.
Nuba flops down to his side and licks his paw quickly before looking up at daddy. He listens carefully as he always does with mom and dad. Kein presents the question in a form of a challenge, which Nuba is very much willing to take on. The cub starts purring rapidly. "Hee hee! Yeah!" He calls out to Kein enthusiastically.
Aurora giggles and nods excitedly! "Yah daddy! Whadda we gotta do?"
Kaya stands and puffs up her chest. "I can do knee thing." Kaya says with pride. She'll never fail to rise to a challenge! She is Kaya! She is the greatest! She is awesome!
The enthusiasm makes Kein smile, and after a moment, he says, "Well, I'll tell you what I want you all to help me worth, but first I'm going to tell you why, okay?" He doesn't wait for a response from his cubs before he adds, "We're going to take a really long trip, back to where Mommy and I lived before you all were born. It's going to be a lot of fun, and you're going to get to see a lot of neat things and meet a lot of nice cougars, but it's also going to be a lot of work." The only thing Kein can relate it to, in his own past, was when his family fled from Amaranth. Hopefully, this will be easier on his cubs than that trip was on him, but it will certainly take longer.
Nuba rests his head on the ground, visually tired out from wrestling. A lot of work, is most of what Nuba understood out of the speech. "Will you come?" The cub asks honestly. In his mind, it's worth it if dad comes along with. A lot of nice cougars, huh? They probably wrestle without biting ears. Nuba looks to Kaya, then Kein, still on his side.
Aurora considers this as meticulously as a cub her age can, and her brows furrow from the effort. "So...this isn't our home, daddy?" That's her only real question -- walking doesn't seem so bad, and she can't really comprehend much wider of a space than what she's been kept in since she was born, anyway. She doesn't seem too upset about the prospect, regardless: "I don't like that log anyway." A spiteful glare is shot towards the offending dead tree. Besides, what's her other option? Stay behind?
Kaya looks all the more enthusiastic about this. "What is home like, daddy?" Kaya asks. "Lots of couers?"
Kein turns his head to nose against Nuba and says, "Of course I'm coming. So is Mommy and Uncle Yuma." After answering his son's question, he looks to his daughters, still smiling. "This isn't home. Home is up in the mountain. There are a lot of great places to explore, and play. Mommy and Uncle Yuma and I grew up there, and we want you to grow up there too. You have a lot of other family there too, and they want to meet you. You will never be bored again." This final statement is made with a mischievous grin. If nothing else, if his cubs /do/ happen to be bored, some day, it ought to be plenty easy to find someone who will be plenty happy to entertain them, so that he and Nayeli might get a little more rest than they're getting, currently.
"Hee..." Nuba imagines what this place looks like, as he closes his and rests his head on Kein's paw. Granted, his vision is this exact same location, log included, with more cougars to play with. All cubs, excluding mom and dad and Uncle Yuma! His mental and physical comfort are aparent as he yawns and then purrs.
Kaya's visions are similar. With a lot of cubs... and she is in charge.
"In order for us to take this trip, though, we're going to all have to be really well-rested." Kein's grin fades, and, again, he looks at each of the cubs he knows are awake in turn. "That means that when your brothers and sisters go to sleep, you should go to sleep too, so that we all have lots of energy for when we're traveling, okay?" With three adults, they can carry a few sleepy cubs, sometimes, but it will all go a lot faster and more smoothely if the cubs sleep at the same time, which will allow the adults to rest as well.
Aurora nods obediently, not having the mindset yet that may make her want to resist or rebel against her parents' word -- for now, what they say goes. Especially if it's going to help them out. "Oh-kay."
Nuba is almost asleep now, but he hears what daddy is saying. He yawns again, wanting to nap right now. Granted, he'd rather sleep with mom, who was also asleep now, but that would require getting up *and* moving away from dad. So instaed, he attempts to sleep at Kein's side.
Kaya looks over at her siblings, then up at her father. The weariness of Nuba is contagious and she yawns.
Kein's smile returns and he says, "Good." So far as he knows, he'll have to have the same talk with Crevan and Cael, but this really went quite well. And, as at least two of his cubs seem to be tired right now, Kein reaches out to nuzzle the onces he can reach and draw them in closer, so they can all get some rest together, now.
Kein - Male Adolescent Cougar
Aurora - Female Cougar Cub
Nuba - Male Cougar Cub
Kaya - Female Cougar Cub
Crevan - Male Cougar Cub
- Fallen Log -
The water level of the river is still steadily falling, and Kein anticipates that they will be able to start the journey back to Amaranth within the next few days. How long will it take them? Kein can't be certain, with his cubs being so young. Longer than it took Maulisho to bring them to the oasis, many months ago, certainly, but hopefully they will all be in Amaranth within a couple of weeks. Returning from the south, where he was checking to see how far the water had receded, Kein tries to figure out how to spin the idea so that his cubs will be excited about the idea, at least to begin with. He knows by the end, the cubs will likely be tired of traveling, but the longer they are enthusiastic, the faster the trip will be... Hopefully.
This mossy, rotting, creepy looking log is -so- interesting! At least to the tiny cub whose level of perception is not even higher than the upper rim of the fallen trunk. It's been a source of much curiosity for the lastborn, Aurora, and even now the runt has wobbled her way over to it once again - hopefully avoiding the protective jaws of her mother grabbing her away from the nasty thing. Sniffing around the base and sides of the mossy log, Aurora is still small enough to easily fit most of her body inside, even if a couple of her larger siblings have quickly grown too big to join her anymore -- and so she does just that, easily squeezing her slender frame inside the rotting wood about halfway before a scuttling beetle disturbed from his home distracts her. Her dark-tipped tail flick-flicks about rapidly as she watches with wide greenish-blue eyes!
The day hasn't been particularly hard for son Nuba; his morning and most of afternoon has consisted of sleeping, eating, and wrestling with his siblings. He sniffs the ground around, running back for mommy if he ever gets any more than ten feet away. However, as he sees his father returning, enthusiasm and excitement bolts through him. "Daddy!" He calls out, hoping to call attention to himself from Kein.
Kein entered the small clearing they've been inhabiting just in time to see his smallest cub disappear into the log that has been entertaining for all of them. Before he could even think about walking over there to fetch her, though, another of his cubs calls out to him, and his attention is pulled from the log to his second son. Smiling, Kein sits where he is and says, "Good evening, Nuba!" As with the other cubs, Kein speaks slowly, saying each word clearly, and as he waits for Nuba to reach and, likely, pounce him, he looks over the others in the area, to make sure no one is missing and that nothing is out of place, even though he was not gone for very long.
Aurora wriggles her way in a little further in pursuit of the beetle, who's now flicking his wings about irritably as his home intruder just refuses to leave. Having pushed her way in up to her haunches, hind legs splayed against the muddy ground as she attempts to keep moving forward, Aurora eventually notices that she can't force herself in any further. So, she decides to try and flank the beetle from the -other- side -- but then quickly realizes she can't push herself back -out-, either. The poor girl has wedged herself rather firmly inside the hollow log, or at least too tightly for her to push herself back out by her diminutive force alone. Her hind paws scrabble on the thick edges of the trunk, the runty cub letting out a series of alarmed chirps!
Nuba waits for Kein to sit down to invite him before the cub actually runs out to him, as fast as he can run, anyway. In his enthusiasm, he stumbles and nearly falls just before reaching his daddy, and as a result doesn't pounce him. Instead, he slows down and rubs himself against his father's leg. Nuba laughs though happily unaware of his humorously pathetic attempt. His sister's crying out suddenly halts Nuba's laughing as his mind is suddenly focused on something else.
Kaya is about to join the rest of her siblings when she hears Aurora chirping. The eldest cub begins a quick search and finds, to her dismay, that her little sister is stuck in a log and she runs to investigate.
Kein would have been more than happy to play with Nuba, but Aurora's alarmed cries get his attention immediately. Immediately, he's thinking of some of the worst things that might have happened, but there is no pain in those cries. Just worry. That's about as much as he has managed to realize by the time he reaches the end of the log that Aurora entered, that his youngest cub is not actually /hurt/. Even so, as he crouches down to look into the log, he says, "Aurora? Are you okay, baby?" He sounds calm enough, but the very fact that he is no longer speaking as slowly as he normally does with the cubs is proof enough that he is worried.
The other end of the log is suddenly filled with the familiar sight of her father's face, and it has an instinctively calming effect on the frightened girl. Immediately, the frequency and intensity of her pleading squeals lessen, though they're still uttered every few seconds. "Ohkay, daddy," she mewls out with a clear frown on her face, obviously upset with her trapped situation. She stops struggling, a little tired out from the first burst of panicked energy, which may actually help prevent her from getting even more wedged in as she waits for Daddy to Make Everything Better.
Nuba follows Kein like a shadow, even though he is curious about his sister. He mews at her, though she probably can't hear him. He sniff around to the other side of the log, then back next to Kein. "Aura?" Her's is perhaps the hardest to say, Nuba is no exception to it difficulties.
Kaya boldly pokes her head into the log and comes face-to-face with her sister. "You stuck, Aura?" Though she is rambunctious, just as big a troublemaker as Cael, her heart remains firmly in the right place.
The only remaining question is, how does he make everything better, short of gnawing through the log? Will he even be able to reach her, and if he does, will he be able to get a hold of her to get her out, hopefully without hurting her? He cannot see well enough inside the log to tell, and so, while addressing Kaya, he moves just to the side of the log to reach his right forepaw in there as far as he can. "She's not stuck. She just needs a little help." Kein /tries/ to sound reassuring, at least, though whether he'll be as successful as he hopes to be is less certain.
Aurora mews again when her older (and bigger) sister appears at the other end of the log, feeling simultaneously happy to see her and a little embarrassed at being so helpless. Even the beetle seems to be taunting her plight, scuttling around temptingly just out of reach. The tawny-spotted cub remains as still as she can meanwhile, a rather difficult accomplishment for the furry ball of energy, waiting for her father to figure something out.
Kaya looks around a bit, then pops her head out of the log and makes a quick decision that obviously did not involve a lot of thought. Kaya bounds to the other side of the log and starts crawling in She'll push her sister through! That should work!
It might work, if Kaya weren't even larger than her sister. Kein is positioned to be able to see Kaya as he touches, just barely, Aurora's hindleg, but that's as far as the rescue attempt gets, immediately. "Kaya! No!" He doesn't want another of his cubs stuck... But then, at least if Kaya gets herself stuck, she ought to be easier to reach than her smaller sister.
Too late. Kaya, too, gets stuck, but as Kein had predicted not as badly. she tries pushing out and after a large amount of effort, manages to pop out of her unfortunate position and shake herself out. She backs out of the log and starts to think.
"Come back over here, Kaya. I'll get her." Kein is quick to add that before he lowers himself back to the ground to push his shoulder tightly against the log. Like this, he manages to reach a little bit further, and he feels around for a while to try to find the best place to wrap his paw around his daughter's leg so that he can give her a light tug without having to grab onto her with his claws. Unfortunately, it still isn't far enough.
Nuba stays out of the way for the most part, but staying as close to Kein as he can. He's a very fond creature, but his curiosity eventually grasps a hold on him as he sticks his nose in the log. "Aura...ra!" He calls out.
Aurora's panic starts to set in again as the moments pass and her head and forequarters are still stuck inside of the log, hindpaws splaying as she attempts to backpedal out, though the muddy ground from where the high water levels even seeped in closer here gives her little purchase to go off of. "Daaadeee!" she cries out, the high-pitched sound echoing inside of the hollowed out tree trunk. "Bruvver!" she calls towards Nuba as she sees him, too, concerned for her situation.
Kaya walks around the log a bit, ambitiously. Then she has another not-so-well though out plan. She heads for Aurora's hindquarters. Pull her out by her tail!
Kein isn't going to be able to get Aurora out from here. Perhaps that is unsurprising, given that she got stuck trying to come the way Kein is trying to get her, but his concern has him not thinking as clearly as he normally might, so he abandons this end of the log. Upon doing so, and taking a single step back, his height allows him to see her tail on the other end... And Kaya on her way to it. Watching his firstborn as he follows after her, he says, to Aurora, "Just a little bit longer, Aurora." And hopefully, Kaya will take that as a hint not to make things worse by, oh, trying to push her through on this end, or something.
Rather than following Kein, as he would under normal circumstances, Nuba stays on the side of the log with his little sister. "Aura!" He calls out again, this time now certain that it is indeed his sister. "Hey!"
Kaya doesn't get the hint. In fact, she figures that Kein said it to possibly encourage her to proceed. Kaya takes Aurora's tail in her mouth and starts to pull, not thinking about her teeth or the fact that having one's tail pulls must really hurt. But she wants to help!
Aurora settles down again at the clear voice of authority, but then her older sister goes and does something to undo all that calm. The runty girl -squeals- as her tail is tugged on, claws flailing wildly both inside and out as she attempts to both dislodge herself and stop whoever's doing such horrible things to her poor tail.
Kein leaps forward at when he sees Kaya bite down on her sister's tail, but it isn't fast enough to save Aurora from the pain of having her tail yanked. "Kaya! Let your sister go!" Sure, he knows that Kaya is trying to be helpful, but he can't just let her cause her siblings pain, no matter how good her intentions are. He doesn't try to bat her away from her sister or anything like that, though. Not yet, anyway. If she were to ignore him, that might change, but he gives her the chance to release her poor sister's tail.
As Kein leaps forward, Nuba immedately drops to his belly and presses his ears against his head. He doesn't exactly know what's going on, but when something that large comes flying at a cub, a cub is going to be inclined to be a bit frightened. He lies there, spooked, but eventually rises to his feet and mews.
Kaya lets go suddenly and backs away from her father. Seeing him leap toward her was enough. Her ears are splayed back and she stays low looking up at her father.
Aurora's tail immediately tucks away between her legs to safety as soon as it's leg go, mewling pitifully as the poor cub is still stuck inside the log. She idly wonders between the jumble of thoughts and emotions that fill her mind if mommy wouldn't have had her out by now if she were here to take control of the situation. But if daddy saves her in the end, then maybe she'll still think he's her hero.
Kein wants to apologize as soon as he sees Kaya's expression. He doesn't want his cubs to fear him for any reason, but he /definitely/ doesn't want them to be afraid of him because they think he might hurt them. Getting Aurora out still has to be his priority, but he will have to have a talk with Kaya soon, definitely, to explain himself. When he reaches Aurora, he reaches out to place his paw under her and tugs lightly, now that he can actually reach her with no difficulty. He is gentle, not wanting to scare her further or hurt her, even more now than before, since she just had her tail pulled.
Nuba looks at Kaya, then pokes his nose in the way of the log. "Aura!" He encourages his sister to allow Kein to remove her from the log. Nuba has no doubts about the power of *his* daddy! He retreats out of the way and sits down at Kein's leg, laughing, probably for no reason.
Kaya is still afraid and has curled up now a bit, watching her father warily. Her ears are still fallen back. Surely daddy didn't mean to scare her!
Aurora mewls plaintively as she's tugged on, but this time with a much better grip than the one attempted before. Even so, she only slips out of the log a centimeter or two -- perhaps a firmer grip and a larger force is required to finally pull her free.
At least it doesn't seem to cause her pain, and she doesn't struggle against him. Could Kein bring himself to pull harder if it made her cry? Well, luckily, he won't have to answer that for himself. After the first tug, which frees her only slightly, he holds her a little more tightly with his paw and pulls a little harder. Still not hard enough to cause her any injury, should she be truly stuck, but it is much more force than Aurora was capable of, stuck in the log as she was.
Nuba watches Kaya. She was acually scared, Nuba was just surprised. Wanting to play and already losing interest in her other sister, Nuba sneaks around Kein, stalking Kaya. Without waiting very long, he jumps on two his hindlegs and lands on Kaya, laughing. Whether or not Kaya wanted to, it was playtime for Nuba.
Kaya was not expecting to be pounced and yowls and soon sends up her paws to defend herself. She hasn't quite learned claw control as she begins to wrestle her brother.
Aurora resists the urge to extend her claws and struggle against the unusual feeling of being tugged out of the tight spot, but a final bout of firm force from her father's muscle strength finally pulls her free, the cub falling back on her rump with a muddy plop. Blinking against the sudden re-exposure to sunlight, Aurora glances up with a rather embarrassed look at her father. "Thank yew..."
After, finally, freeing Aurora, in a rather inefficient manner through all of his worry and his concern about hurting her, he looks at Nuba and Kaya as they wrestle. Upon spotting that they are both okay, perhaps just startled, he looks back to his younger daughter, grooming some of the mud from her before asking, "Are you okay, Aurora?" There is nothing but concern in his voice. It doesn't even occur to him to be amused, so at least he shouldn't be adding to her embarrassment.
Nuba laughs as he wrestles his probably unwilling sister, until his Aurora is free. Quickly he turns around and steps to his little sister. "Aura! Hey!" He seems very happy to see Aurora again, as if it's been forever! However his back is turned to Kaya...
...and Kaya takes full advantage of the situation and jumps up onto Nuba's back and bites at his ear, growling playfully.
Aurora nodnods her little head, a faint pout still on her lips as only her dignity is hurt. But she attempts a smile nonetheless, to both her father and brother (before he's attacked) -- even so, it doesn't seem the girl is very good at hiding her true emotions.
Kein continues grooming Aurora, at least until most of the mud and bits of bark and moss are out of her fur. Between Kaya's stumble into the water and now Aurora's mess, it would not surprise him if Nayeli decided to start teasing him about his (in)ability to keep his cubs clean and safe. It only takes a moment, though, and then he noses Aurora toward her playing siblings with a smile. She is smaller, yes, but he doesn't view her as any more fragile than the others, and playing is important. At least, it wa sto him, when he was younger, and he never had any reservations about picking on his slightly smaller siblings... And there were plenty of times when they got the better of him.
Nuba collapses immediately into the wet ground infront of Aurora. It only takes a moment before he's giggling again, growling back at his sister. He rolls over, attempting to bat Kaya, and manages to get up and run away. Nuba takes runs to the other side of Kein, using him as cover. For that moment, he forgets that the object he's hiding behind is even his father, he's just a wall to hide behind. He pokes his tiny head out to the side, at Kaya and Aurora. "Hee!"
Kaya leaps to her feet and growls playfully and starts running toward Nuba. She's the oldest, she has to assert her authority over her siblings. Rawr!
Kein is the oldest, and were it to come to that, he would have no issue asserting /his/ authority, but for now, he just watches. He doesn't move when Nuba decides to hide behind him, but he does grin lightly as he observes and uses this time to finish thinking about how he is going to tell his cubs what he wants to tell them while they wear themselves out.
As Kaya comes at Nuba, the son attempts for a tackle, but is very late and is dropped back down to the ground. He crys out a loud mewl, which morphs into a laugh as he struggles his way out and continues wrestling with his sister. He may be a bit smaller than Kaya, but he has some good fight in him!
Kaya has only one goal when wrestling her siblings: Ears must be punished! And so she starts gnawing on Nuba's ear, but her main activity is primarily past.
Nuba growls again as hit ears are targeted! As their chewed he pushes Kaya off roughly. He's had enough of *that*, that's for sure. "No!" He calls out as a parent would, scolding Kaya, but only copying what he knows. Quickly he retreats back to Kein's side, again like a shadow, just in case Kaya would choose to exact revenge on his ears again. Through it all, though, Nuba seemed quite content to play with his sister. He purrs and rubs his head on his daddy's side.
Kaya is about to charge, but stops and slows a bit to a stop when she hears the command "No!" so forcefully, ears falling back.
Kein recognizes the sound of a cub who wants nothing more to do with what is going on. As Nuba shouts at his sister, Kein speaks up, his voice calm, but firm. "Okay. That's enough now." He drapes a paw over the male cub at his side, then says, "We all need to have a talk now anyway." With the second thing he says, Kein's tone lightens up some, and he smiles, looking down at Nuba, then Aurora, then Kaya. The three cubs he knows are awake.
As his siblings play and wrestle, one of the cubs lies on the ground alone near Kein, simple watching. Crevan doesn't look lonely or neglected in the least; he rather enjoys merely observing, really. The quiet cub looks up at his father at random intervals, watching his facial expressions, and then looking back at the activity, the same expressions upon his own young face. When Nuba comes back to Kein's other side, Crevan glances his way, but otherwise remains in his stoic position, then realights his gaze upon the Chieftain when he begins to speak.
Aurora has finished sulking by her father's side, and when he addresses the collective group of cubs, the distraction seems to help her forget all about the recent fiasco involving her being stuck halfway inside a log. She glances up at the much larger cougar, blue-green eyes blinking as the light filters through the trees above and behind him.
Kaya also turns her eyes up to her father in curiosity. "Ish something wrong, daddy?" Kaya asks. The tone he takes seems serious enough.
Kein nudges Nuba over just far enough that he can lie down, still unaware that Crevan is awake, so that he can get his head down lower to where his cubs are. "Nothing is wrong, but Mom and I are going to need a lot of help in the next few days, so I wanted to talk to you all about it. Do you all think you're up for it?" Unless they're scared, he has never known a cub to back down from a challenge, or from the idea of being able to help nearby adults.
Nuba flops down to his side and licks his paw quickly before looking up at daddy. He listens carefully as he always does with mom and dad. Kein presents the question in a form of a challenge, which Nuba is very much willing to take on. The cub starts purring rapidly. "Hee hee! Yeah!" He calls out to Kein enthusiastically.
Aurora giggles and nods excitedly! "Yah daddy! Whadda we gotta do?"
Kaya stands and puffs up her chest. "I can do knee thing." Kaya says with pride. She'll never fail to rise to a challenge! She is Kaya! She is the greatest! She is awesome!
The enthusiasm makes Kein smile, and after a moment, he says, "Well, I'll tell you what I want you all to help me worth, but first I'm going to tell you why, okay?" He doesn't wait for a response from his cubs before he adds, "We're going to take a really long trip, back to where Mommy and I lived before you all were born. It's going to be a lot of fun, and you're going to get to see a lot of neat things and meet a lot of nice cougars, but it's also going to be a lot of work." The only thing Kein can relate it to, in his own past, was when his family fled from Amaranth. Hopefully, this will be easier on his cubs than that trip was on him, but it will certainly take longer.
Nuba rests his head on the ground, visually tired out from wrestling. A lot of work, is most of what Nuba understood out of the speech. "Will you come?" The cub asks honestly. In his mind, it's worth it if dad comes along with. A lot of nice cougars, huh? They probably wrestle without biting ears. Nuba looks to Kaya, then Kein, still on his side.
Aurora considers this as meticulously as a cub her age can, and her brows furrow from the effort. "So...this isn't our home, daddy?" That's her only real question -- walking doesn't seem so bad, and she can't really comprehend much wider of a space than what she's been kept in since she was born, anyway. She doesn't seem too upset about the prospect, regardless: "I don't like that log anyway." A spiteful glare is shot towards the offending dead tree. Besides, what's her other option? Stay behind?
Kaya looks all the more enthusiastic about this. "What is home like, daddy?" Kaya asks. "Lots of couers?"
Kein turns his head to nose against Nuba and says, "Of course I'm coming. So is Mommy and Uncle Yuma." After answering his son's question, he looks to his daughters, still smiling. "This isn't home. Home is up in the mountain. There are a lot of great places to explore, and play. Mommy and Uncle Yuma and I grew up there, and we want you to grow up there too. You have a lot of other family there too, and they want to meet you. You will never be bored again." This final statement is made with a mischievous grin. If nothing else, if his cubs /do/ happen to be bored, some day, it ought to be plenty easy to find someone who will be plenty happy to entertain them, so that he and Nayeli might get a little more rest than they're getting, currently.
"Hee..." Nuba imagines what this place looks like, as he closes his and rests his head on Kein's paw. Granted, his vision is this exact same location, log included, with more cougars to play with. All cubs, excluding mom and dad and Uncle Yuma! His mental and physical comfort are aparent as he yawns and then purrs.
Kaya's visions are similar. With a lot of cubs... and she is in charge.
"In order for us to take this trip, though, we're going to all have to be really well-rested." Kein's grin fades, and, again, he looks at each of the cubs he knows are awake in turn. "That means that when your brothers and sisters go to sleep, you should go to sleep too, so that we all have lots of energy for when we're traveling, okay?" With three adults, they can carry a few sleepy cubs, sometimes, but it will all go a lot faster and more smoothely if the cubs sleep at the same time, which will allow the adults to rest as well.
Aurora nods obediently, not having the mindset yet that may make her want to resist or rebel against her parents' word -- for now, what they say goes. Especially if it's going to help them out. "Oh-kay."
Nuba is almost asleep now, but he hears what daddy is saying. He yawns again, wanting to nap right now. Granted, he'd rather sleep with mom, who was also asleep now, but that would require getting up *and* moving away from dad. So instaed, he attempts to sleep at Kein's side.
Kaya looks over at her siblings, then up at her father. The weariness of Nuba is contagious and she yawns.
Kein's smile returns and he says, "Good." So far as he knows, he'll have to have the same talk with Crevan and Cael, but this really went quite well. And, as at least two of his cubs seem to be tired right now, Kein reaches out to nuzzle the onces he can reach and draw them in closer, so they can all get some rest together, now.