Post by Therdde on Apr 7, 2009 19:29:48 GMT -5
Characters:
Kein - Male Cougar
Cael - Male Juvenile Cougar
Aurora - Female Juvenile Cougar
Peyote - Male Juvenile Cougar
- Snowy Highlands -
The winter sun has already reached its highest point, and is rapidly falling again. The days are not yet at their shortest, but they are quickly growing shorter, and Kein does his best to make use of the daylight hours, when there are fewer opportunities for intruders to hide. Besides, it helps him to stay alone when some of the others of the tribe are at their most active, and since he has taken to spending time with no one but his family, that's certainly a plus. His pace through the slopes of the highlands is safe, but not terribly slow.
His stint north of the border has cause him quite a headache, and a number of bruises, and young Cael took quite a long time to come home. No just because his body was protesting against moving in general, but also, too, because he knew who was waiting for him when he finally got there. He approached his family's gathering spot fitfully, and with many rests, but when he finally got there most everyone was asleep. Phew. The boy slunk away, to higher ground in the mountain, to relax and try to make a little sense in his frazzled brain. Now, he rests among the snowy crags, nursing a battered side and a bruised ego. Cael's adventure really took a sour turn, and his flattened ears and slightly extended claws convey his feelings on the matter. All the world is ignored, save the dull throb through his body. Stupid, stupid cougar.
Though Kein smelled Malak's presence in Amaranth, he has no idea that his son encountered that cougar. He is not looking for the boy, either, but as he spots a small form in the distance, he turns to approach it. He's in no mood to spend time with Ohanzee's cubs, but he has never seen one of them wander too far away from Jinx or Kasim, so, for the time being, he assumes it is one of his, and there is a small smile on the adult's muzzle as he approaches his as-of-yet unidentified offspring.
Grumblegrumblegrumble. Cael's mouth is moving, a touch, but there's no noise coming from between clenched teeth as he mulls over the afternoon event. He shifts uncomfortably in his little nook, glancing across his shoulder at his side, scruntinizing tiny bits of fur missing from a key paw swat at him that sent him reeling into the bushes. The boy snorts, wholly unamused and returns to his brooding. Well, he would, if movement didn't distract him. Cael's ears roll up and forward, brows knitting as he tries to peer across the distance; when he does, the color drains from his fur and he shuffles uncomfortably but tries to hide his anger. Anger... that is slowly morphing into a very queasy stomach. Bleargh.
Despite being the same age as the rest of her siblings, Aurora still looks like they all did a few months ago -- the youngest of the litter is still undersized and smaller than the rest of the Amaranth cubs, but at least she's healthy. Very much so, by the look of it. Bounding along energetically some distance behind her wandering father, Aurora has been too preoccupied with a rough-and-tumble game of tag with one of the unrelated juveniles, Peyote, to keep up. The small girl chases her bigger playmate, then squeals in delight before darting away when the game is reversed on her -- even if the chieftain has lost sight of her, the sounds of the playing cubs are no doubt enough to keep him unconcerned with their safety. She has nothing but fun on her mind -- she's not even paying attention to her father at the moment, much less her as-yet-unnoticed brother.
This is odd. Normally, when one of the cubs spot Kein, he is greeted enthusiastically. The older male can tell he has been noticed, but the cub not too far off, now, remains firmly where he is. The smile fades, and for a very brief second, Kein wonders if he wrong, if this is one of Ohanzee's. Then he catches Cael's scent. Narrowing his eyes slightly, more in confusion than anything, he continues to approach his son and calls out, "Hello, Cael." Kein has stopped constantly asking himself what the worst thing that could happen in his absence is. Now, instead, he tries to figure out if there is anything he should know that the boy could be upset about. He catches the sounds of playing behind him, but his mind is on the cub he is still approaching.
"Hi, Dad," Cael greets back, smile... slightly forced. At any other time he would dart over and tackle his father, then probably notice his sister and join in with the game. Today, though, is not that day. Once Kein has been acknowledged, though, Cael's eyes quickly dart away from his father's face and that awfully suspicious, scrutinizing gaze, and falls on little Aurora behind him. His sister brings about a grin, and Cael makes as if to get up and join her. The boy grunts and settles himself back down, tail lashing at the sharp twinge. Maybe he'll just watch o.o
Kein is simply not one to skirt around topics, not with his children, and though he has not yet spotted the bits of missing fur, Cael's movements are far from natural. Slowing his pace a little more and waiting until he is close enough that he does not have to raise his voice to speak to the boy, Kein eventually comes to a stop and sits. Then, he asks, "What's wrong, Cael?" There is a hint of sympathy in Kein's tone, but Kein tries to keep it under control. Surely, he thinks, the boy either didn't come down from a tree quite as gracefully as he might have liked, or else picked on some prey just a little too large for him, and Kein doesn't want to embarrass his son.
Well, he picked on something, but it certainly wasn't prey. Cael's ears follow Kein as he approaches and settles, then they instantly flit back and forth a few times as he tries to decide just what to do. Lying would be a problem, and Kein would see right through it, but telling the truth is an equally large problem. Errm. "I, um," he begins, shrugging and looking away, watching Aurora race around and trying to will himself to just get up and pretend that it doesn't hurt. He can't, though, and chews on his lip. "Erm, I, um.. I fell," the male mutters eventually, which, when you think about it, is sort've true.
The sound of conversation catches her ears, and Aurora slows to a stop in her run in an attempt to listen -- which is temporarily interrupted by the hurtling momentum of Peyote's larger size crashing into her from behind. A short scuffle to sort things out, and then Aurora re-emerges from underneath the bigger juvenile, mumbling with a clearly upset look on her maw. The sandy-furred cub pads indignantly forward, closing in on the distance between Kein and herself, and Peyote scrambles along, a silly grin on his face from his successful pouncing attack.
Kein has also learned not to freak out when he thinks his cubs, especially his smallest one, are playing too roughly. The sounds behind him don't particularly concern him, but Cael's behaviour... He wants to help his son, but if his second thought was correct, then Cael might simply not want to talk about it, which could explain why the boy doesn't seem keen on answering. Especially not with his sister nearby. If Kein could see the boy's side from where he's sitting, he would be a bit more insistent, but he can't. Not right now. Forcing his own, small smile, he replies, "Well, perhaps you should be a little more careful, in the future." That's all from Kein for now, as he looks back to his daughter and her playmate.
"Mm, yeah," Cael responds grumpily, reluctantly. He appreciates what Kein's trying to do, but at the same time there's so much room for error at this point. If his father found out, he'd be shackled to a tree deep within Amaranth for a long time. Gulp. But the boy's ears perk lightly when he sees Aurora disappear underneath Peyote, and although he knows they're just playing, the over protective big brother gruffs an annoyed response at the other cub. He struggles to get himself up, and shakes his pelt trying to rid himself of the awful thoughts swarming around him, and bounds less than gracefully from his perch toward the tag-duo to see if his sister is okay. He favors one side just slightly, but not so heavily as to cause true parental panic.
Aurora trots quietly up to the pair of her relatives, Peyote lingering somewhat behind as she does so, chirping affectionately up at her father as she passes before cautiously approaching Cael (who is now moving towards her as well), as though able to sense his discomfort. "Are you okay, Cael?" she questions in her high-pitched voice, sniffing curiously at her strangely-acting brother as she slowly creeps closer to the no longer tucked-away youth.
Kein lowers his head to nose against his daughter as she passes, smiling as he does. He makes no effort to impede her passing, though, and he tries to split his attention between his children and the cub he only barely knows as Aurora's favorite playmate. He is still concerned for his son, but he is hardly panicked, and as Peyote approaches behind Aurora, Kein watches him, part curious and part obligated.
"Ermh, sure," Cael responds to Aurora lowly, eyeballing Peyote but not really saying anything to the other cub. A furtive glance is throw across his shoulder, realizing that Kein has decided to drop the subject of his health, for now, and the boy cub breathes a tad bit easier. He'd still like nothing more than to flee the premises and go back to grumbling, but now he'd just be a bad sport. Cael's tail waves at his sister in their passing, and he turns to face sister and father for a moment, idle paws shifting back and forth, unsure of what to do and unable to decide where to go.
Peyote follows right along chasing after Aurora until something once in a few seconds distracts him. A bug here.. a bird chirping over there.. but he never forgets his main game of playing tag and catches up to give a playful bat at Aurora's tailtip. But then she passes by a much bigger cat, one he has seen now and again but remains wary to trust as he is not in his family, and so backs away from his friend for a moment to give his full but fleeting attention to Cael. He's getting eyeballed by him so he goes ahead and tags him. "Yer't." And scrambles away from the grumbly cub. "No tag backs!!" He shouts, though that never normally works.
Aurora pouts at Cael's response, both physical and vocal. Somehow she doubts that. She opens her mouth to reply, but Peyote has snuck forward and tagged Cael in a continuation of their earlier game, and the runty cub instinctively steps back a few paces to avoid getting tagged right away...if Cael even plays at all. He still seems 'off' to her, and so her playful urge to dart away is temporarily suppressed until she can see how her brother reacts to the invitation by her friend.
Kein watches Peyote as the cub rushes past him to join the others and then tags his son. Kein remains silent, for now. Like Aurora, Kein waits to see how Cael reacts to the playing, given his obvious physical discomfort.
While giving Peyote the squinty eye, he gets paw batted by the aforementioned cub. You. /Touched/. Me. Cael's tail lashes behind him twice, considering, but he doesn't give chase. He doesn't really know Peyote, and doesn't hang around much with him like his sister does. He considers what to do for a few seconds, dark eyes watching Aurora and her equally subdued response to his own. Hrr. Grumptacular cub, away! With a shake of his head, Cael looks at Peyote, "Not playing," he gruffs and takes a few steps off, trying to ignore everyone else and doing a good job at being a litle twerp. He pauses and shoots a darker look, again at Peyote, "Don't hurt my sister," Cael says, suspiciously.
Peyote stops a little ways away and looks back to see Cael isn't chasing after him Or Aurora.. Does that mean he wins?? "I win." He states matter of factly, obviously not having to think on the matter too long. The little juvenile stranger kid friend of Aurora's starts grooming his fluffy black spotted fur.. making a big show of it as hes seen adults do when they were so obviously proud of themselves over something. Totally oblivious to the evil eyes or muttering as hes never experienced a cub like that before and doesn't expect it.
Aurora frowns deeper at Cael's reaction, both from concern and the way he snaps at her friend. She hmphs, making a rather prissy sound as she pointedly turns away from her brother to prance back over towards Peyote. Well, if -he's- not gonna play, it's certainly not going to stop -her- from playing anyway. As she walks past her father once again, her tail briefly brushing over his foreleg in a silent farewell, the fluffy spotted girl cub suddenly lifts up onto her hind legs, pouncing down on the tip of Peyote's tail before she suddenly darts away again, fleeing towards the southwest!
"Cael!" Kein says nothing more until after Aurora walks away. It may be that Peyote didn't hear the command, or else that he just didn't care, but that doesn't make it okay, all the same. While waiting to speak more, Kein looks at his son. He understands that they boy doesn't feel well, but taking that out on the other cubs, on Aurora's friend... It's not okay, and Kein's eyes don't leave his son.
Peyote keeps on a grooming even right up until his tail gets pounced on. After a brief moment of being pure spotted FUZZ, Peyote gripes! "Hey that's not fair, you weren't even IT!" But he is obviously 'it' now and cant let that stand.. will NOT let that stand. So he stops standing and gives wild chase after the girl!!
Cael really doesn't care. Peyote's declaration hits the boys turned backend as he meanders away, figuring it would be a good idea to find a different grouch-spot; preferably in a direction that Kein isn't wandering in. Big brother doesn't seem too concerned that his behavior was quite uncalled for as he moves off, still holding on to a hint of slight discomfort in his stride. And then. The cub stops as if he had just run into a brick wall, and pauses a moment before roughly sitting on his haunches, wincing at the act moments later. Cael doesn't turn around and he doesn't answer either, apparently content with the silent grumpy treatment; oh, he's going to be a /gem/ when his hormones are raging. Totally.
Thankfully, Cael is not the only unpleasant cub who has been around. Not by a long shot. Kein approaches his son slowly, and says, "I would have thought, after how much you didn't like the girl that was rude to you, you would think twice about being rude to someone else, Cael." Kein does not yell, but he is clearly not pleased with his son's behaviour. At all. It's one thing to be embarrassed about an injury, but to be rude to another because of it... Well, Kein knows, first hand, how much that can hurt someone, and Kein spent months torturing himself when /he/ was once rude to another young cub, and even longer trying to make up for it.
The boy's ears flit back and forth on his head, unable to decide if they should stay pinned down in irritation of if they should at least look like they're listening. Cael's mood is souring by the minute, and he doesn't know what to do about it. If his side would stop hurting, and if he were big enough to teach Malak a lesson or two... Grr. He just wanted a little adventure, not a bruise and a guilt trip to go along with it. Kein's son chews over his words for a minute, and looks away from where Aurora ran off, and, effectively, away from his father. "I don't like him." Huff.
"I didn't say you had to like him. I said it isn't okay to be rude to him." Kein passes by his son, this time approaching on the side with the missing tufts of fur, and the tiny bare spots do not escape his notice. Spread much to far apart to be caused by another cub, there are only a handful of explanations, and Kein doesn't like any of them. Turning once he passes Cael, so that he continues to face the boy, and in a slightly-less-angry tone, he suggests, "Why don't you tell me what really happened, son?"
The skin between Cael's shoulders begins to itch uncomfortably as Kein moves behind him, and the boy squirms, unsure of what to make of anything. The rude comment goes unanswered, but as as long as Dad is aware that Peyote is not on his nice list. Nyah. But the shift in tone causes Cael to grimace and shakes his head, trying to pretend that he doesn't have large male cougar puncture marks in his side. "I fell," he offers again... still half true, so he's /not/ lying. Nope. Not here.
"And what caused you to fall?" The possibilies of who could have caused the marks on Cael are endless. For the time being, the foreign male doesn't enter Kein's mind. And though Kein trusts that most of the cougars in Amaranth would not have struck Cael, there are a couple he is not so sure about. Aylin could have been in Amaranth. Qaletaqa. Even Ama, possible, especially if the marks are the result of Cael's attitude, instead of the other way around.
"I tripped," slightly less than half true. He'd /really/ rather not have this conversation, but Kein seems intent on making his evening a little more miserable. Had he not been struck, found Naira, and come home unscathed, Cael would be his normal self. Attitude springs from his turn of events, but unable to deal with it at the moment, it's being taken out on everyone else. To a degree, even Kein is feeling it though the boy tries very, very hard not to snap at his Dad.
It's tempting to tell Cael to go home and stay there until he's ready to talk. Kein still feels sympathy for his son, though, and, more importantly, a need to 'speak' with whoever did this to the boy. Finally sitting, then lying, to lower himself to his son's level, he asks, "Who hit you, son?" He's not pleased about Cael avoiding the truth, but there are more important things just this moment, and so instead of getting upset about it, Kein asks a more direct question.
Cael's gaze slide down as Kein's settles himself, and he stares at a particularly interesting piece of grass coming up between his toes. The question is met with flattened ears hunched shoulders, and somehow Cael manages to lifts his head and face his father with pinched eyes and a flat maw. "I don't know," he says solidly, which /is/ actually true. "Some cougar. Don't know." Headshake.
"Do you remember where, or what he looked lik?." Kein assumes a male, even though it /could/ have been Aylin. The claws were spread very wide apart, after all. It was a big one that attacked his son. Kein is not at all concerned about confronting the cougar that hurt his child, though.
Kein's reaction isn't surprising, but, then again, Kein hasn't yet been told where Cael was, or why. The boy makes an effort of thinking, eyes rolling behind him, and up into the air; hmm... His tail ticks through the grass and eventually he points his nose north. "By the woods. Where Auntie Aylin was." Pause. "But it wasn't her. He sounded like he knew her, though. Tried to scare him off and said mean Auntie Aylin would eat him, but he wasn't scared." Blink. Oh, crap, did he just blurt that? Yep, definately did. The boy cringes, lifting a forepaw and trailing it through the grass, /exuding/ innocence.
By the woods. North of here. With Aylin. The father of Aylin's cubs, maybe? The strange male that entered the territory? Or, worst option of all... Azriel. Suffice it to say, he will be speaking with Aylin very soon. "Okay. I'm sorry that happened to you, son." Then, Kein leans forward to rub against his son lightly. "But you /do/ need to learn that it's not okay to be mean to others because someone was mean to you, okay?
Cael cringes back slightly at the nuzzle, but when it becomes apparent that Kein is not a raging hurricane of death and doom, he relaxes. There might come a time when Kein will know that his son blatently crossed the border and disregarded the danger that the strange male presented, but it is not today! Eventually Cael smiles a bit, but only just, and manages a slight nod. He'll try, sure, but /you/ try being picked on for no reason and then forced to play with someone you don't want to -.-; "M'kay," he murmurs, deciding it best to head on home and relax for a little while and try to get over the whole pouting binge he's been on.
Kein wasn't just being diplomatic. He does not expect Cael to be friends with everyone. There are ways to handle being upset and ways not to handle being upset, though. Indeed, had Cael just stopped at saying he wasn't going to play, this wouldn't have become an issue. Standing again, Kein says, mirroring Cael's thoughts, "Why don't you head on home to Mom, and I'll be there in a little bit with food, okay? And if you aren't in the mood to talk, you can just tell her that I'll tell her everything she needs to know as soon as I get there." Yes, Kein will speak with Nayeli before going after the one who hurt their son.
Cael looks back at his dad as he begins the short trek home, pausing and giving Kein a light nod. His tail tuft twitches in thought, but he's not sure if he'll tell his mother much, either. Maybe the eldest son is just in the mood for some quiet time before dinner. In fact, the more he thinks about it, a good nap alongside Nayeli is looking more and more promising. Cael's smile widens a bit more, and even though his muscles ache a little, he tries to pick up his pace, "Mm, yeah," he offers, before focusing on the walk home.
Kein stands for a while, so eager to accompany Cael, what with the fact that his son is hurting. He keeps his distance for now, though, and after Cael is nearly out of sight, Kein turns to head off and try to find something for his family to eat quickly.
Kein - Male Cougar
Cael - Male Juvenile Cougar
Aurora - Female Juvenile Cougar
Peyote - Male Juvenile Cougar
- Snowy Highlands -
The winter sun has already reached its highest point, and is rapidly falling again. The days are not yet at their shortest, but they are quickly growing shorter, and Kein does his best to make use of the daylight hours, when there are fewer opportunities for intruders to hide. Besides, it helps him to stay alone when some of the others of the tribe are at their most active, and since he has taken to spending time with no one but his family, that's certainly a plus. His pace through the slopes of the highlands is safe, but not terribly slow.
His stint north of the border has cause him quite a headache, and a number of bruises, and young Cael took quite a long time to come home. No just because his body was protesting against moving in general, but also, too, because he knew who was waiting for him when he finally got there. He approached his family's gathering spot fitfully, and with many rests, but when he finally got there most everyone was asleep. Phew. The boy slunk away, to higher ground in the mountain, to relax and try to make a little sense in his frazzled brain. Now, he rests among the snowy crags, nursing a battered side and a bruised ego. Cael's adventure really took a sour turn, and his flattened ears and slightly extended claws convey his feelings on the matter. All the world is ignored, save the dull throb through his body. Stupid, stupid cougar.
Though Kein smelled Malak's presence in Amaranth, he has no idea that his son encountered that cougar. He is not looking for the boy, either, but as he spots a small form in the distance, he turns to approach it. He's in no mood to spend time with Ohanzee's cubs, but he has never seen one of them wander too far away from Jinx or Kasim, so, for the time being, he assumes it is one of his, and there is a small smile on the adult's muzzle as he approaches his as-of-yet unidentified offspring.
Grumblegrumblegrumble. Cael's mouth is moving, a touch, but there's no noise coming from between clenched teeth as he mulls over the afternoon event. He shifts uncomfortably in his little nook, glancing across his shoulder at his side, scruntinizing tiny bits of fur missing from a key paw swat at him that sent him reeling into the bushes. The boy snorts, wholly unamused and returns to his brooding. Well, he would, if movement didn't distract him. Cael's ears roll up and forward, brows knitting as he tries to peer across the distance; when he does, the color drains from his fur and he shuffles uncomfortably but tries to hide his anger. Anger... that is slowly morphing into a very queasy stomach. Bleargh.
Despite being the same age as the rest of her siblings, Aurora still looks like they all did a few months ago -- the youngest of the litter is still undersized and smaller than the rest of the Amaranth cubs, but at least she's healthy. Very much so, by the look of it. Bounding along energetically some distance behind her wandering father, Aurora has been too preoccupied with a rough-and-tumble game of tag with one of the unrelated juveniles, Peyote, to keep up. The small girl chases her bigger playmate, then squeals in delight before darting away when the game is reversed on her -- even if the chieftain has lost sight of her, the sounds of the playing cubs are no doubt enough to keep him unconcerned with their safety. She has nothing but fun on her mind -- she's not even paying attention to her father at the moment, much less her as-yet-unnoticed brother.
This is odd. Normally, when one of the cubs spot Kein, he is greeted enthusiastically. The older male can tell he has been noticed, but the cub not too far off, now, remains firmly where he is. The smile fades, and for a very brief second, Kein wonders if he wrong, if this is one of Ohanzee's. Then he catches Cael's scent. Narrowing his eyes slightly, more in confusion than anything, he continues to approach his son and calls out, "Hello, Cael." Kein has stopped constantly asking himself what the worst thing that could happen in his absence is. Now, instead, he tries to figure out if there is anything he should know that the boy could be upset about. He catches the sounds of playing behind him, but his mind is on the cub he is still approaching.
"Hi, Dad," Cael greets back, smile... slightly forced. At any other time he would dart over and tackle his father, then probably notice his sister and join in with the game. Today, though, is not that day. Once Kein has been acknowledged, though, Cael's eyes quickly dart away from his father's face and that awfully suspicious, scrutinizing gaze, and falls on little Aurora behind him. His sister brings about a grin, and Cael makes as if to get up and join her. The boy grunts and settles himself back down, tail lashing at the sharp twinge. Maybe he'll just watch o.o
Kein is simply not one to skirt around topics, not with his children, and though he has not yet spotted the bits of missing fur, Cael's movements are far from natural. Slowing his pace a little more and waiting until he is close enough that he does not have to raise his voice to speak to the boy, Kein eventually comes to a stop and sits. Then, he asks, "What's wrong, Cael?" There is a hint of sympathy in Kein's tone, but Kein tries to keep it under control. Surely, he thinks, the boy either didn't come down from a tree quite as gracefully as he might have liked, or else picked on some prey just a little too large for him, and Kein doesn't want to embarrass his son.
Well, he picked on something, but it certainly wasn't prey. Cael's ears follow Kein as he approaches and settles, then they instantly flit back and forth a few times as he tries to decide just what to do. Lying would be a problem, and Kein would see right through it, but telling the truth is an equally large problem. Errm. "I, um," he begins, shrugging and looking away, watching Aurora race around and trying to will himself to just get up and pretend that it doesn't hurt. He can't, though, and chews on his lip. "Erm, I, um.. I fell," the male mutters eventually, which, when you think about it, is sort've true.
The sound of conversation catches her ears, and Aurora slows to a stop in her run in an attempt to listen -- which is temporarily interrupted by the hurtling momentum of Peyote's larger size crashing into her from behind. A short scuffle to sort things out, and then Aurora re-emerges from underneath the bigger juvenile, mumbling with a clearly upset look on her maw. The sandy-furred cub pads indignantly forward, closing in on the distance between Kein and herself, and Peyote scrambles along, a silly grin on his face from his successful pouncing attack.
Kein has also learned not to freak out when he thinks his cubs, especially his smallest one, are playing too roughly. The sounds behind him don't particularly concern him, but Cael's behaviour... He wants to help his son, but if his second thought was correct, then Cael might simply not want to talk about it, which could explain why the boy doesn't seem keen on answering. Especially not with his sister nearby. If Kein could see the boy's side from where he's sitting, he would be a bit more insistent, but he can't. Not right now. Forcing his own, small smile, he replies, "Well, perhaps you should be a little more careful, in the future." That's all from Kein for now, as he looks back to his daughter and her playmate.
"Mm, yeah," Cael responds grumpily, reluctantly. He appreciates what Kein's trying to do, but at the same time there's so much room for error at this point. If his father found out, he'd be shackled to a tree deep within Amaranth for a long time. Gulp. But the boy's ears perk lightly when he sees Aurora disappear underneath Peyote, and although he knows they're just playing, the over protective big brother gruffs an annoyed response at the other cub. He struggles to get himself up, and shakes his pelt trying to rid himself of the awful thoughts swarming around him, and bounds less than gracefully from his perch toward the tag-duo to see if his sister is okay. He favors one side just slightly, but not so heavily as to cause true parental panic.
Aurora trots quietly up to the pair of her relatives, Peyote lingering somewhat behind as she does so, chirping affectionately up at her father as she passes before cautiously approaching Cael (who is now moving towards her as well), as though able to sense his discomfort. "Are you okay, Cael?" she questions in her high-pitched voice, sniffing curiously at her strangely-acting brother as she slowly creeps closer to the no longer tucked-away youth.
Kein lowers his head to nose against his daughter as she passes, smiling as he does. He makes no effort to impede her passing, though, and he tries to split his attention between his children and the cub he only barely knows as Aurora's favorite playmate. He is still concerned for his son, but he is hardly panicked, and as Peyote approaches behind Aurora, Kein watches him, part curious and part obligated.
"Ermh, sure," Cael responds to Aurora lowly, eyeballing Peyote but not really saying anything to the other cub. A furtive glance is throw across his shoulder, realizing that Kein has decided to drop the subject of his health, for now, and the boy cub breathes a tad bit easier. He'd still like nothing more than to flee the premises and go back to grumbling, but now he'd just be a bad sport. Cael's tail waves at his sister in their passing, and he turns to face sister and father for a moment, idle paws shifting back and forth, unsure of what to do and unable to decide where to go.
Peyote follows right along chasing after Aurora until something once in a few seconds distracts him. A bug here.. a bird chirping over there.. but he never forgets his main game of playing tag and catches up to give a playful bat at Aurora's tailtip. But then she passes by a much bigger cat, one he has seen now and again but remains wary to trust as he is not in his family, and so backs away from his friend for a moment to give his full but fleeting attention to Cael. He's getting eyeballed by him so he goes ahead and tags him. "Yer't." And scrambles away from the grumbly cub. "No tag backs!!" He shouts, though that never normally works.
Aurora pouts at Cael's response, both physical and vocal. Somehow she doubts that. She opens her mouth to reply, but Peyote has snuck forward and tagged Cael in a continuation of their earlier game, and the runty cub instinctively steps back a few paces to avoid getting tagged right away...if Cael even plays at all. He still seems 'off' to her, and so her playful urge to dart away is temporarily suppressed until she can see how her brother reacts to the invitation by her friend.
Kein watches Peyote as the cub rushes past him to join the others and then tags his son. Kein remains silent, for now. Like Aurora, Kein waits to see how Cael reacts to the playing, given his obvious physical discomfort.
While giving Peyote the squinty eye, he gets paw batted by the aforementioned cub. You. /Touched/. Me. Cael's tail lashes behind him twice, considering, but he doesn't give chase. He doesn't really know Peyote, and doesn't hang around much with him like his sister does. He considers what to do for a few seconds, dark eyes watching Aurora and her equally subdued response to his own. Hrr. Grumptacular cub, away! With a shake of his head, Cael looks at Peyote, "Not playing," he gruffs and takes a few steps off, trying to ignore everyone else and doing a good job at being a litle twerp. He pauses and shoots a darker look, again at Peyote, "Don't hurt my sister," Cael says, suspiciously.
Peyote stops a little ways away and looks back to see Cael isn't chasing after him Or Aurora.. Does that mean he wins?? "I win." He states matter of factly, obviously not having to think on the matter too long. The little juvenile stranger kid friend of Aurora's starts grooming his fluffy black spotted fur.. making a big show of it as hes seen adults do when they were so obviously proud of themselves over something. Totally oblivious to the evil eyes or muttering as hes never experienced a cub like that before and doesn't expect it.
Aurora frowns deeper at Cael's reaction, both from concern and the way he snaps at her friend. She hmphs, making a rather prissy sound as she pointedly turns away from her brother to prance back over towards Peyote. Well, if -he's- not gonna play, it's certainly not going to stop -her- from playing anyway. As she walks past her father once again, her tail briefly brushing over his foreleg in a silent farewell, the fluffy spotted girl cub suddenly lifts up onto her hind legs, pouncing down on the tip of Peyote's tail before she suddenly darts away again, fleeing towards the southwest!
"Cael!" Kein says nothing more until after Aurora walks away. It may be that Peyote didn't hear the command, or else that he just didn't care, but that doesn't make it okay, all the same. While waiting to speak more, Kein looks at his son. He understands that they boy doesn't feel well, but taking that out on the other cubs, on Aurora's friend... It's not okay, and Kein's eyes don't leave his son.
Peyote keeps on a grooming even right up until his tail gets pounced on. After a brief moment of being pure spotted FUZZ, Peyote gripes! "Hey that's not fair, you weren't even IT!" But he is obviously 'it' now and cant let that stand.. will NOT let that stand. So he stops standing and gives wild chase after the girl!!
Cael really doesn't care. Peyote's declaration hits the boys turned backend as he meanders away, figuring it would be a good idea to find a different grouch-spot; preferably in a direction that Kein isn't wandering in. Big brother doesn't seem too concerned that his behavior was quite uncalled for as he moves off, still holding on to a hint of slight discomfort in his stride. And then. The cub stops as if he had just run into a brick wall, and pauses a moment before roughly sitting on his haunches, wincing at the act moments later. Cael doesn't turn around and he doesn't answer either, apparently content with the silent grumpy treatment; oh, he's going to be a /gem/ when his hormones are raging. Totally.
Thankfully, Cael is not the only unpleasant cub who has been around. Not by a long shot. Kein approaches his son slowly, and says, "I would have thought, after how much you didn't like the girl that was rude to you, you would think twice about being rude to someone else, Cael." Kein does not yell, but he is clearly not pleased with his son's behaviour. At all. It's one thing to be embarrassed about an injury, but to be rude to another because of it... Well, Kein knows, first hand, how much that can hurt someone, and Kein spent months torturing himself when /he/ was once rude to another young cub, and even longer trying to make up for it.
The boy's ears flit back and forth on his head, unable to decide if they should stay pinned down in irritation of if they should at least look like they're listening. Cael's mood is souring by the minute, and he doesn't know what to do about it. If his side would stop hurting, and if he were big enough to teach Malak a lesson or two... Grr. He just wanted a little adventure, not a bruise and a guilt trip to go along with it. Kein's son chews over his words for a minute, and looks away from where Aurora ran off, and, effectively, away from his father. "I don't like him." Huff.
"I didn't say you had to like him. I said it isn't okay to be rude to him." Kein passes by his son, this time approaching on the side with the missing tufts of fur, and the tiny bare spots do not escape his notice. Spread much to far apart to be caused by another cub, there are only a handful of explanations, and Kein doesn't like any of them. Turning once he passes Cael, so that he continues to face the boy, and in a slightly-less-angry tone, he suggests, "Why don't you tell me what really happened, son?"
The skin between Cael's shoulders begins to itch uncomfortably as Kein moves behind him, and the boy squirms, unsure of what to make of anything. The rude comment goes unanswered, but as as long as Dad is aware that Peyote is not on his nice list. Nyah. But the shift in tone causes Cael to grimace and shakes his head, trying to pretend that he doesn't have large male cougar puncture marks in his side. "I fell," he offers again... still half true, so he's /not/ lying. Nope. Not here.
"And what caused you to fall?" The possibilies of who could have caused the marks on Cael are endless. For the time being, the foreign male doesn't enter Kein's mind. And though Kein trusts that most of the cougars in Amaranth would not have struck Cael, there are a couple he is not so sure about. Aylin could have been in Amaranth. Qaletaqa. Even Ama, possible, especially if the marks are the result of Cael's attitude, instead of the other way around.
"I tripped," slightly less than half true. He'd /really/ rather not have this conversation, but Kein seems intent on making his evening a little more miserable. Had he not been struck, found Naira, and come home unscathed, Cael would be his normal self. Attitude springs from his turn of events, but unable to deal with it at the moment, it's being taken out on everyone else. To a degree, even Kein is feeling it though the boy tries very, very hard not to snap at his Dad.
It's tempting to tell Cael to go home and stay there until he's ready to talk. Kein still feels sympathy for his son, though, and, more importantly, a need to 'speak' with whoever did this to the boy. Finally sitting, then lying, to lower himself to his son's level, he asks, "Who hit you, son?" He's not pleased about Cael avoiding the truth, but there are more important things just this moment, and so instead of getting upset about it, Kein asks a more direct question.
Cael's gaze slide down as Kein's settles himself, and he stares at a particularly interesting piece of grass coming up between his toes. The question is met with flattened ears hunched shoulders, and somehow Cael manages to lifts his head and face his father with pinched eyes and a flat maw. "I don't know," he says solidly, which /is/ actually true. "Some cougar. Don't know." Headshake.
"Do you remember where, or what he looked lik?." Kein assumes a male, even though it /could/ have been Aylin. The claws were spread very wide apart, after all. It was a big one that attacked his son. Kein is not at all concerned about confronting the cougar that hurt his child, though.
Kein's reaction isn't surprising, but, then again, Kein hasn't yet been told where Cael was, or why. The boy makes an effort of thinking, eyes rolling behind him, and up into the air; hmm... His tail ticks through the grass and eventually he points his nose north. "By the woods. Where Auntie Aylin was." Pause. "But it wasn't her. He sounded like he knew her, though. Tried to scare him off and said mean Auntie Aylin would eat him, but he wasn't scared." Blink. Oh, crap, did he just blurt that? Yep, definately did. The boy cringes, lifting a forepaw and trailing it through the grass, /exuding/ innocence.
By the woods. North of here. With Aylin. The father of Aylin's cubs, maybe? The strange male that entered the territory? Or, worst option of all... Azriel. Suffice it to say, he will be speaking with Aylin very soon. "Okay. I'm sorry that happened to you, son." Then, Kein leans forward to rub against his son lightly. "But you /do/ need to learn that it's not okay to be mean to others because someone was mean to you, okay?
Cael cringes back slightly at the nuzzle, but when it becomes apparent that Kein is not a raging hurricane of death and doom, he relaxes. There might come a time when Kein will know that his son blatently crossed the border and disregarded the danger that the strange male presented, but it is not today! Eventually Cael smiles a bit, but only just, and manages a slight nod. He'll try, sure, but /you/ try being picked on for no reason and then forced to play with someone you don't want to -.-; "M'kay," he murmurs, deciding it best to head on home and relax for a little while and try to get over the whole pouting binge he's been on.
Kein wasn't just being diplomatic. He does not expect Cael to be friends with everyone. There are ways to handle being upset and ways not to handle being upset, though. Indeed, had Cael just stopped at saying he wasn't going to play, this wouldn't have become an issue. Standing again, Kein says, mirroring Cael's thoughts, "Why don't you head on home to Mom, and I'll be there in a little bit with food, okay? And if you aren't in the mood to talk, you can just tell her that I'll tell her everything she needs to know as soon as I get there." Yes, Kein will speak with Nayeli before going after the one who hurt their son.
Cael looks back at his dad as he begins the short trek home, pausing and giving Kein a light nod. His tail tuft twitches in thought, but he's not sure if he'll tell his mother much, either. Maybe the eldest son is just in the mood for some quiet time before dinner. In fact, the more he thinks about it, a good nap alongside Nayeli is looking more and more promising. Cael's smile widens a bit more, and even though his muscles ache a little, he tries to pick up his pace, "Mm, yeah," he offers, before focusing on the walk home.
Kein stands for a while, so eager to accompany Cael, what with the fact that his son is hurting. He keeps his distance for now, though, and after Cael is nearly out of sight, Kein turns to head off and try to find something for his family to eat quickly.