Kapuki bounced towards Chaltuu, trotting hurriedly out of the way of the pedestrians in the pride, sauntering calmly across the territory. She was now about two weeks old, and her eyes had opened fully, although they had opened a little earlier than the average cub. They had started out as slits. Overtime, they widened and finally opened completely. Her paws skittered beneath her. "Chalty!"
Chaltuu lifted her head grouchily. The day had arrived much too soon for her liking, and she had hoped to sleep until the sun disappeared and concealed itself behind the horizon. "What is it?" she snapped.
Kapuki flinched, not expecting her sister's outburst. "I've been looking for you!
"Well, you've looked, and you've found me, so congratulations. What do you you want?" Chaltuu sneered, still not so much as glancing at her sister.
"I opened my eyes!" Kapuki squeaked.
Chaltuu was hit with a wave of shock. Without a word, she turned and saw her sister's eyes wide open. She was slightly relieved that Kapuki's eyes weren't carmine or crimson like her fur. Instead, they were a pale hue of lavender.
"Well, that's wondrous," Chaltuu growled. "Good for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go back to sleep without any further interruptions..."
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Chaltuu watched Kapuki scuttle around like a beetle, sniffing between cracks and crevices in the ground like it was some whole knew experience- which, to the little cub, it was. She squeezed her head between a fork in a large tree limb, twitching her small pink nose. "Chalty!" she complained, scraping the branch with her claws. "It's not coming off!"
Laughing dryly in amusement at Kapuki's fruitless struggles to yank the tree limb from around her neck, Chaltuu took hold of one end of the branch in her jaws and carefully slid off of Kapuki. "Make sure you don't get yourself hurt," she warned.
Kapuki nodded vigorously. "I won't!" she promised, before scampering off again.
"Uh-huh, sure... I'm absolutely positive of that," Chaltuu commented.
Sure enough, the inquisitive youngster eventually found out the hazards of a thorn-infested shrub. "Chalty? What's this? It hurts!" she said.
"Aye, aye, aye," Chaltuu grumbled. "It's a thorn, Kapuki... and you should know that when something's sharp and pointy, you'd do better staying away from it." Leaning over, she set her teeth around the spine and tugged it free from Kapuki's paw pad.
Wincing, Kapuki grunted. "Thanks," she mumbled grudgingly.
Chaltuu drummed her paws against the ground. "What did I say about you not getting into trouble, Kapuki?"
"You said not to get hurt," Kapuki said.
"Then what did I say about you not getting hurt?" Chaltuu demanded.
"You said don't do it."
Chaltuu seethed, but had to give her younger sister credit for her cheeky replies. Her tail lashed irritably and her eyes narrowed dangerously at Kapuki, but she didn't say anything otherwise. For a moment she stood rigidly, glaring at her sister. A low growl of annoyance escaped from the back of her throat. "You never seem to obey, do you?"
"No."
"Well, that's something we seem to have in common," Chaltuu said.
"Okay..." Kapuki said. She sat down and flicked her ear casually, as if wishing to change the subject. "Chaltuu? Why did you and Mama have a big fight?"
"Grown-up stuff. Things that you wouldn't understand," Chaltuu answered.
"Yeah, I would!" Kapuki argued stubbornly.
"Obstinate," Chaltuu hissed under her breath. Straightening, she continued. "Well, let's just say that Kivuli's not the best father figure around. You and I know this firstpaw."
Kapuki nodded. "Yeah... So?"
"Well, Uangaze thinks that he's wondrous parental material. Please don't ask why, or how," Chaltuu said, casting her gaze heavenwards. "And I strongly disagree. I assume you do as well."
"Yep."
"I swear, the first chance I get, Spirits try and stop me, I will annihilate him," Chaltuu growled, clenching her jaw and gritting her teeth.
"What's that mean?"
Chaltuu paused. "In other words, I'll destroy him. Make sense?" she asked.
"Okay!" Kapuki chirped. Chaltuu snorted in amusement. She assumed her sister hadn't the faintest clue what the word "destroy" meant.
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Kapuki growled as she pounced on a beetle swiftly, effectively crushing it under her paw. "Whoops," she said innocently. "I squished it, I think." She bent over towards it. "Is it dead? It's gross!"
"Yes, it's dead. And yes, it's gross. But when you grow up, you'll get used to things like crushed beetles and dead mice," Chaltuu said in a bored tone.
Kapuki wrinkled her nose. "Ew!"
Snorting, the older lioness rested her chin on her paws. She was sure that her sister was just being childish and would get over it soon. She shut her eyes, vivid reminiscences swimming through her mind like fish in a lake. Her paws twitched and she grumbled in her sleep, but otherwise remained silent.
"Chaltuu, I swear, you are the most worthless being in the entire savanna!" Kivuli announced, his voice loud and clear. "I wish you were never born! You were a mistake waiting to happen!"
Chaltuu stood over Kapuki's unconscious body. She had no idea what she had done wrong, but her sister was lying limp at her paws, her eyes closed gently and her body rigid and still. Her chest didn't rise and fall with a steady breath.
"You red-furred curse should have died the day you were born!" Kivuli bellowed, his rage seeming to echo through the plains. "Leave! And if we see one of your filthy flea-ridden hairs over our border, I will not hesitate to drive you out." His eyes blazed. "Exile! Leave my sight!"
Without another word, Chaltuu swallowed a lump of pure terror and fled, feeling the scorching gazes of the others burning her ears.
"Aaagh!" Chaltuu roared, her claws scraping the rocks. "Kapuki!"
"What is it?" Kapuki said worriedly, her eyes shining with concern. "Chalty, are you okay?"
Chaltuu inhaled and exhaled heavily, biting her lip. She shook her head. What was she doing? She was Kapuki's older sister, for Spirit's sake. She shouldn't be yowling in fear every time she was haunted by a nightmare.
"I'm fine," she said gruffly. "Go back and play."
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A violent gust of wind blew towards Chaltuu, sending sand and gravel flying towards her face. She grimaced, muttering under her breath. It was nighttime again, the sky much darker than usual. Instead of its usual violet-blue, it had a more Prussian hue, and its normal stars didn't appear. She cursed silently. "Kapuki, would you wait up?" she yelled, annoyance clear in her voice.
Kapuki glowered obstinately back at her, her light lavender eyes sparking with defiance. "No!"
Rolling her eyes, the red-furred lioness shook her head and arched her tail in an exasperated demeanor. "Aye, aye, aye," she grumbled. "I can see why I'm the supreme candidate to look after you."
Kapuki scrambled ahead. "Hurry up!" she shouted impatiently.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Chaltuu responded irritably. "Perhaps if you had slowed down and actually waited, I might have been able to--"
"Yeah, yeah, just c'mon," Kapuki called.
Chaltuu quickened her pace, only doing so to avoid any more restless "scoldings" from her younger sister. At last, she caught up with the cub, watching as Kapuki held her head high, the silent, invisible wind whistling through her thin tawny pelt. Chaltuu glanced at her sister inquisitively. "What are you doing?" she queried.
"What does it look like?"
"Being weird," Chaltuu offered.
Kapuki glared at her sulkily. "No."
"Hey, just trying to answer your question. With all the honesty in my heart," Chaltuu said, dramatically placing a paw over her chest. "So. What's it feel like being the heir?"
"I hate it."
"Really now? Tell me why," Chaltuu said.
"I feel like everyone just babies me," Kapuki said, scowling. "And Dad always thinks I have to act like some sort of princess!"
"Sounds like a fun life you're leading there."
"Hardly!" Kapuki said, frowning. "Dad's never there..." Her voice trailed off and her shoulders slumped dejectedly.
Chaltuu felt a sudden- and very scarce- prick of sympathy for her younger sister. Yes, Kapuki was a stubborn girl who never listened to anyone, but Chaltuu herself had admittedly been in the same situation. She was no different than the purple-eyed cub. Chaltuu knew what it felt like to be ignored by a mother. But in Kapuki's case, it was both of her parents neglecting her, treating her like she wasn't there.
"I understand what you mean," Chaltuu said solemnly.
Kapuki nodded. "I'm going home," she murmured quietly. She shrugged a half-hearted "goodbye" to her elder sister, and turned to leave- only to have her paw slip. With a cry, she scrabbled frantically at the ledge, her paws scraping the rocks.
Chaltuu jerked, and instantly jumped to help Kapuki clamber back up. She reached down with her paw, but her mind unexpectedly leaped back. She recalled herself dangling helplessly from a cliff, the same way Kapuki was. She snapped herself out of it, and swiftly tried to seize her sister's scruff... Only to realize she was a moment too late.
[A/N: I'm going to hide now and nom on some of my M&M's. Bye.
By the way, the two sisters in this stage of Kapuki's life don't actually dislike each other or whatever. They do care for each other.]