01-01-2010, 07:54 AM
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Sorry for this wait, I was away and such :] Word Count: 812 - SoSuWriMo Kaena described the young male as a prince, subject to all the clan's affection and attention. Judging by her face and laugh, he was well taken care of, and Dawali chuckled with her. It was the same process as when a childless family finally recieved their first, or took in a stranger; everyone wanted a piece, and everyone wanted to show their affection, ending up in the child becoming completely showered. It was a good deal for this child, certainly. But her next sentence reflected exactly what he had thought immediately after: a lone child is perhaps doted upon, but ultimately a lonely child. Dawali had spent a lot of his time with children when he was an adolescent, and he knew that the children without siblings were often those who grew up first. They strove to reach the adults in mind, and abandoned their care free life as a child thinking the life of an adult was desirable. Perhaps none of them regretted it, but he doubted that. In a sense, they were robbed of a long and playful childhood. But, this Mason had gained life, and so his cut of this deal was larger than the loss of a long childhood anyway. Dawali's smile shrunk a little, but the child was lucky no matter from which angle you looked at this. "Ah, well that's just how it is, I suppose. If you want to take the trek you are welcome to take him along and come share a day with our litters, though the hike is formidable for an adult, and even more so for a young child." As he finished the sentence his shoulders and arms moved to form an apologetic shrug, a gesture not even made consciously. Such things were pretty much automatic for him. Their conversation held a philosophical air to it, and though he felt as if he was mostly talking about himself (and that was a trap to enter), he took more part in this conversation than he had in others with a similar subject. Perhaps it was the openness he felt from himself, and answered in the scarred female in front of him. Perhaps it was his lingering surprise upon finding that this "frightening" band of individuals seemed harmless to him. Sure, they could probably be vicious when provoked, but then again, who wasn't? When defending that which is important to him, any wolf or coyote would turn into a flurry of claws and teeth: that much he was certain of. His head moded in a nod and he smiled and uttered a wordless sound of confirmation - yes, agreed indeed. "M!" Really, it felt as if the two reached higher levels of intelligence together than he could reach alone. Perhaps this visit should be repeated one day, so that the two of them could muse like this again. It felt fruitful. "Imagine a world where no one cared about the achievements and struggles of their parents, grandparents. What a loss of wisdom it would be... If you have no history, have you a self at all?" As she commented on the system of feathers signalizing rank, the two returned to the subject of big tribe versus small tribe, and Dawali nodded, smiling, as she concluded that having the numbers to crave such a system would be quite nice indeed. Yes, it had been nice, but now he was mostly the only one that held his feathers with tribe; though the other members might decorate themselves with feathers, they knew nothing of their meaning in the true AniWayan system. Just days ago he had caught one of the puppies wearing an eagle feather, and had had to put him into his place: the eagle was one of the holiest animals they knew, and its feathers were reserved for the Chief alone. It was not out of pride or arrogance he had done this, but if there was just one element of that tradition he wished to teach his small tribe, it was that of the eagle feather. After all, how successful could a land-animal ever be in catching a mighty bird such as the eagle? No, the feathers would mostly have to be found on eagles that had died on their own, which just proved how inaccessible they were. They ruled the skies, and should be respected. Their long and elegant feathers were not the playthings of a puppy, and it was a great honor to wear them. "Yes, it is clever.. I think it was my previous Chief who thought of it, I'm not sure. It was like that when I grew up anyways, and it's quite some years ago." He winked as he said that, for neither of them were young, and she could perhaps see the joke in this. Going on 6 years old, he was truly the senior of his tribe. |