Haha, you would know considering I made you read them all... 8D ILU! (WC: 539)
Tayui offered Kaena a sad smile and a shake of her shaggy mane in reply. In the time she had been in AniWaya, more and more feathers, beads and other adornments had made their way into her mane and fur. Luckily, her arctic pelt was long and thick, so they remained in tact when she shifted. She did not know how they would have otherwise, had she not such a thick and long pelt. However, now, she had taken most of them out for the springtime. The feathers had lost their shine and the beads had dulled in colour, and she had resolved to find new ones. Her journey to Inferni gave her reason to remove them sooner rather than later, as she did not want to be so easily identified with her tribe. She would bear the responsibility of this visit on her own — there was no reason Kaena had to know where she lived now, and the pale woman had no intentions on clarifying this. Luckily, Kaena did not ask; Tayui's question had most likely stolen away her interest.
Tayui frowned at Kaena's reply, trying not to show her displeasure. There was obviously more to it than just "Haku started it." Her children came up with better and more elaborate excuses than the Inferni woman had. There were three possibilities now: that Kaena was telling the truth and that was all there was to it, which was unlikely; that her words were a half-truth and there was more to it; that Kaena was giving her the same propagandistic rhetoric she gave everyone; or that there was a darker meaning beneath it all. Again, Tayui considered how fortunate she was that no one — save Dawali and herself — knew who the father of her children was. It was becoming more and more apparent to Tayui that the secret would have to remain buried as long as Haku was alive.
“And what’s the full truth?” Tayui asked, exhaling slowly. She was taking too many risks; and these risks could easily have her killed. But she had to know. And if her children had all run off, couldn’t she at least be a little selfish for once? Couldn’t she think about her own interests? She didn’t even know if any of them would return (and it wasn’t like she was trying to throw her life away); she just recognized that there was a possibility that they might never return. And perhaps that was why she took these risks – because she knew there was a possibility they would return and wanted to ensure they had a home to return to, where their father was no longer a threat. Perhaps her quest for knowledge, then, was not as holy as she had made it out to be in her mind. No matter how she looked at it, she was being selfish; but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“The last war wasn’t just one Infernian or Dahlian’s fault. Is that the case this time? ” she posed the question in another way, but this time being mindful to give Kaena an exit. If Kaena really did not want to tell Tayui the truth, she could just say ‘no’ and be done with it.
Table by Kate!
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