Cat Bath [ K-Tribe ]

[Izmina]

K'zhumi was coming around the edge of the wagon when the ball of water hit K'yohko, as the water broke in all directions, she managed to get thoroughly soaked as well. Standing in shock for a good couple minutes, Zhumi begins to fume. Ears flat, tail swishing and sopping wet she begins to stalk towards the mischief makers.

 

K'tahjha was hugely surprised at her aunt's playful streak, and as she watched random tribesmates get hit by the surprise attacks, Tahj doubled over in laughter. She had almost forgotten how good it felt just to laugh.

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li grinned mischievously and flicked an ear towards K'ile before mumbling softly as a ball of water rose up out of the water and sped towards K'ile.  "Uncle Ile! Think Fast!"  Xha'li called out when the ball was only a few illms from the back of his head before falling over on his back in the water laughing.

[Twinflame]

Water fell over the Elder, despite K'yoko's incidentally blocking it. He had saved her the force of the crash, but it had swelled over his shoulders and fallen on her thin form. The very thin old woman became even thinner as he hair was wet down and smoothed over her head, her clothes sticking to her skeletal frame. Still for once, her gleaming silver eyes were concealed behind her hair, leaving only her tattoos and broad, toothy smile visible. She cackled up at K'yohko and poked him with a clawed hand. "You are worrying if you are doing the best for the tribe, when what you should be worrying about is whence came your attacker and what recompence you can extract upon her."

 

K'ile's entire body stiffed when he was stuck with the water. He stood straight and his tail stuck out behind him, ears high on his head and eyes wide looking around. The water had dazed his sense of smell, wrapping him in the mineral scent of mud and moss. Still, he managed to see Xha'li's belated second water bomb meant for him. His instinct pulled him to the side as though it were fire flying at him, and he rolled into the sand just as the water whooshed by him. The sand stuck to his already-wet body, though, coating his arms and shoulders in mud.

 

"Augh, stop that!" K'ile stood once more, brushing the mud off of him. "You're wasting water and you know I don't like getting wet, Luha!"

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li looked up and pouted as his water ball missed K'ile..."Thats what I get for warning him I guess..." he said resignedly before shouting back, "This ain't wasting water Uncle, here at the springs it'll quickly flow back down to replenish the pool in a matter of days."

[Lyraciilee]

K'luha looked with a proud smirk to Tahj, her tail swishing happily behind her. Yes! Success! It'd been awhile since she was able to mess around with the tribe like that. Although K'luha did notice a very angry K'zhumi stalking towards them. She laughed a bit nervously and tugged at her hair before looking back towards K'ile while he yelled at her. She grinned cheerfully again, putting another hand in the water to splash at him again.

 

"You better dodge if you don't like getting wet then! Or come and stop me!" It had been a long time since K'luha had been able to yell playfully at anyone in the tribe. She had been so high strung over K'ailia's raising and being, but she wasn't as concerned about Tahj. Tahj was already a good girl. She wasn't constantly afraid for her. Maybe, just maybe a little bit, K'luha was making a little bit of progress towards something positive.

 

K'iara, like K'ile, also hated being wet. Perhaps it was their genes that were so closely shared or something. The huntress shrieked as if she'd been shot when K'ile dodged Xha'li's water bomb and it hit her squarely instead. Drowned, she felt utterly drowned.

 

"Don't get me wet because you're dodging K'ile!" K'iara hissed back towards her uncle, pushing her wet hair from her eyes before lunging forward to push K'ile towards the incoming water. If she could use him as a shield, she was going to. Although, she had to duck behind him to effectively use him as a shield.

 

It was a little frightening how thin his Grandmother was. K'yohko hadn't seen her without long billowing cloth in a very long time. She seemed thinner now, but he supposed the old age and lack of food would do that. He hoped in their new home, she could return to a better weight.

 

His ears twitched rapidly, both unsure as to how to take being soaked and unsure how to act on his Grandmother's words. Revenge on K'luha? He straightened up the best he could and looked over. She looked... very happy. And so did Tahj and Xha'li. It was a long time since there was such joy. To see it, his lips twitched into the faintest smile.

 

Feeling rather a rather impulsive desire to act on K'takka's words, K'yohko cast her one last gaze.

 

"I'll be right back." He muttered before slipping through the wagons and dashing forward. Pushing all his might forward, he took a running jump into the oasis aiming to land where the water was deeper. This would be the largest splash he could make, and his running cannon ball was a surprising success. A large wave splashed out around him, dousing K'luha from her back and seeking to overwhelm Xha'li and Tahj too. All the tribe members anywhere near the oasis could be hit. Albeit, the water wasn't quite deep enough and K'yohko felt his legs ache from hitting the ground in the water with more force then he'd intended. He stood completely from the water and shook out his hair, pushing it from his eyes and glancing around.

 

K'luha had yelped at suddenly being doused again, only to look back a bit shocked at the Nunh. The behavior wasn't something he usually did. K'yohko held a blank face and glanced back to her.

 

"What?" Yohko looked to his previous mate blankly. Luha coughed a bit and looked away again, a soft blush on her face.

 

"Nothing!"

[Izmina]

K'zhumi stalks across towards the chaos, enjoying the all together too rare sounds of laughter. As she walked a mischievious thought formulated, much like when she'd tickled Tahj awake. She slips out of her cloak, bending over to fill it with water she attempts to empty the entire thing over K'luha's head. A grin spreads over her face, yes it was good to see the tribe relaxing and playing together.

 

K'tahjha was distracted by her aunt, when her father unexpectedly barrelled into the spring, thoroughly drenching the girl. She stood dumbfounded for a brief moment before she begins giggling hysterically.

[K'nahli]

The rowdiness from the group occupying the bath was increasing with every second that passed - and their energy was pressing lightly into K'nahli's nerves, her envy. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to ignore their innocent cries of joy as they all frolicked so happily together in the water, completely worry-free in the tribe's earned period of rest.

How she envied them. How she wished she could have nothing other than a physical injury to worry her like so many others had. They were so much more bearable when compared against what her own mind liked to torture her with. Her mind... it was truly her own worst enemy. She could seldom understand it's irrationality and yet it always took such a strong effect on her no matter how much she attempted to reason with it. She knew one thing, but still thought another.

 

It was during this period of thought and because of it, that she was unprepared. Because of her own self-loathing, that even K'luha's loud shout that sought to disrupt the Sagolii's entire eco-system didn't garner enough of her attention - and therefore, failed to see it coming.

 

 

 

*~SPLASH~*

 

The peculiar, yet unseen orb of water that had been intentionally targeted for the blue-haired girl crashed in to the side of her head so suddenly that the huntress couldn't help but let slip a very uncommon and girly gasp of surprise. Her maroon eyes were reminiscent of the moon when in full resplendence as they immediately shot open the second the water had engulfed her and glistened greatly as Azeyma's rays caught against the droplets that hung loosely from the dark lashes which framed the tops of her eyes. The girl's full and wide-eyed gaze was cast absently before her, lingering for a but a few moments in total shock. Her hair had darkened tremendously as it had quickly become saturated with water and left numerous, dark clumps of hair sticking thinly to the sides of her face and forehead, with a few peeking just low enough to enter the summit of her vision. Without even needing to look at herself, K'nahli could quickly tell that the water had drenched her thoroughly and swamped her as far down as her knees.

The girl slowly, with a motion of reluctance, brought her arms which had been thrown out away from the sides of her body, before her to take her first, official inspection of the damage. Her lips began to quiver subtly with incredulity as the cooling sensation that had washed over her quickly grew tepid in the direct light and began to seep deep into her skin with an unwelcomed comfort. Several blinks forced their way over a vibrant gaze of sheer disbelief before, at last.... the girl escaped her surprise and slowly transformed into a familiar figure that first announced itself with a deeply drawn frown and a piercingly, fearsome glare.

 

"K'LUHA, YOU IDIOT!!!" the girl screamed over to her childish aunt angrily as she delivered a contemptuous stare in the older miqo'te's direction. A light flush occupied her expression though her anger would surely have little effect on the woman. What other reaction could have been expected from the girl? This was exactly what she wanted!

For this reason precisely, K'nahli didn't even wait long enough to see if her aunt would respond before returning to inspect herself once again with a disgruntled hiss through her teeth.

 

"Ugh.." she groaned silently as she examined her drenched clothes with disdain. She flicked her arms a few times in an attempt to shake free the excess water though it was to no avail. She'd have to spend a few hours in these soggy clothes before Azeyma would relieve her of this plight.

The girl sighed bitterly as she submitted to a posture of defeat. While once upon a time she may have been just as guilty of such behaviour that her aunt so eagerly demonstrated, she was not in the mood for such jokes now. Rubbing the excess water from her lashes the girl gave a modest shake of her head. She stopped, however, as something at the corner of her eye begged for her attention; and after that whole scenario, she couldn't afford to not be vigilante of her fellow tribeskin.

 

Her eyes searched sideward as the mysterious, speeding figure which had caught her attention dashed it's way toward the oasis.

 

".....?"

 

K'yohko suddenly launched himself into the air, gaining an impressive height before coming crashing down into a deep section of the water once against, drowning all of the other occupants in the massive wave created from his entry. K'nahli's gaze grew a little wider once again with interest as she studied her father carefully as he re-emerged from the water. This was so.... not K'yohko. At least it hadn't been a side of him she had recognised for quite some time. She didn't believe such playfulness still existed in him. Slowly guiding her hand upward to mop the soaked bangs further away from her eyes, the oldest daughter watched her father carefully for a long moment in which she seemed to have briefly forgotten all of the grievances she retained within her heart for the nuhn. If not for those things... she might have been happy to see him like this. No, she would have been. Perhaps even, to some extent, she was even now... she just had trouble admitting it so openly to herself.

 

K'nahli drew her gaze away once again, staring at nowhere in particular in the sand as she searched her thoughts with a discontented look on her face.

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li spluttered before laughing once more as Yohko's tidal wave rushed over him.  Gasping between laughs he manged to get out "Healers Orders, have fun."  Before jumping towards Yohko to create his own tidal wave to sweep over the tribe gathered around the oasis.

[Twinflame]

"Dodge. I am dodging!" Kile crossed his arms with a huff. Now that he could see the waterbombs coming, there was no way K'luha would be able to get him.As she launched another of the water bombs towards him, he stepped to the side of it easily. He heard K'iara shouting at him, predicting her frustration. The low grating of her voice made her sound ferociously vengeful, and he turned wide-eyed to look at the woman, her skin wet and shining in the bright sun, hair as bright as his own, eyes shining blue at him. "What?"

 

She knocked him backwards. He hadn't even seen the blow coming. Stumbling two steps kept his footing, put put him directly int he path of K'luha's second water bomb, exploding over him and his immediate vicinity. At least it washed the mud off him, but it left him scowling. He shivered in the wind. "Ugh. Thanks, K'iara. At least I didn't get you wet on purpose."

 

The splashing and shouting continued as he glared at K'iara, his ears flat on his head. The whole tribe had regressed to children at play, it seemed. He was not surprised to hear K'nahli's angry shouting over everyone. He was a bit surprised that he didn't hear K'mih getting in on the fun, since being an overaged child was pretty much her them. Too far from the oasis to be struck by simple waves, K'ile was spared the diver's retribution.

 

He raised his gaze just in time to watch K'yohko Nunh rise from the water with that expression of static neutrality on his face. K'ile's ears stood up in surprise, blinking at the large man. Of all people, K'yohko? Really? And he managed to do it without any cheer at all, like a stone pretending to be a plant. K'ile looked over at Xha'li's laughter, watching the strangely pale halfblood moving to jump into the water at the Nunh. Brave, for a man that K'yohko was likely still mere seconds away from killing.

 

Also, perfect. K'ile smiled. "Okay."

 

He dropped low, gripped the ground with every toe and finger, tail lifting high behind him, and launched himself forward, kicking sand at K'iara as he bolted away. If there was one thing K'ile could do, it was run quickly. His arms extended out to his sides and his legs moved beneath him quickly and quietly, skirting around the oasis bolt-quick. K'luha was looking off to one side. K'yohko was looking at K'luha, standing in the deepest part of the water. And Xha'liu crashed down in the water, loudly, creating the perfect distraction.

 

K'ile's entrance was fast and slight, his small size working to his advantage. It was his greatest disadvantage compared to K'yohko, the largest man in the tribe. It wouldn't matter now, though. K'yohko might try to dodge Xha'li's wave, but he couldn't avoid both that and K'ile. The small Tia was sure his target was helpless.

 

"Bath time, kid!" K'ile threw himself at K'yohko's back, at full speed, hoping to knock the Nunh into the water and maybe even pin him there.

[Lyraciilee]

K'luha flailed, her attention stolen from K'yohko to K'zhumi as she was drenched with water. She sputtered and laughed loudly, looking to K'zhumi coyly. She swung her tail up from the water to splash K'zhumi again, still grinning widely. Even K'nahli's yelling couldn't bring K'luha down. She only stuck her tongue out at K'nahli and laughed again. K'luha looked to her giggle niece and quickly splashed her over as well.

 

"Oooh, don't let down your guard Tahj or I'll get you too!" she grinned widely, splasing some more weak waves in Tahj's direction.

 

K'yohko looked coolly to Xha'li, although his usual serious expression tinged on something less tense. Have fun? Was that what they were supposed to be doing? Yohko didn't have too much time to think on it as Xha'li jumped towards him and drenched K'yohko in another wave. The Nunh sputtered and pushed his hair back from his face again, a small smile tugging on his lips. It never seemed to be more than the faintest of smiles, but it was there. K'yohko had made strides of progress in his tolerance of Xha'li's presence. He had long since stopped wanting to kill the man, and even admitted to himself he had been erroneous in his judgment at first. He had let his grief for his daughter's exile cloud his mind, but he accepted now that it was wrong to judge Xha'li for a thing he was uninvolved with.

 

Yohko thought to perhaps splash the outsider with another wave, but something else caught his attention. K'yohko turned at the sound of running feet, curious to what was running towards him so quickly. The flaming red hair caught his attention first as K'ile launched himself with a cry at the nunh. Yohko was hit with a loud 'oof' although K'ile would find himself tackling K'yohko's front side rather than his back.

 

At first K'yohko was unsure what hit his face, but it left a stinging sensation and dazed him as his body was throw below the water. He blinked a few times as he was submerged, feeling pinned down by a weight atop his own body. The vaguely recognized the out of focus face and red hair, but allowed the other to hold him down for the moment. He was still trying to figure out if K'ile's head had collided with his own or not.

 

K'iara frowned to K'ile, happy she'd knocked him into the water rather than herself. To avoid any further splashing, the huntress yelped and quickly scrambled back over behind K'nahli and the cards. She peered over the carts, surprised to catch the tail end of K'ile's successful tackling of the nunh.

 

Like K'iara, K'luha was a bit surprised to see K'ile tackle K'yohko. She however, was simply happy he'd come to the water. She chuckled lightly and splashed towards Tahj and K'zhumi again.

[Twinflame]

K'ile Tia's face hurt inexplicably, and he hadn't expected to find himself pinning K'yohko face-up. He wasn't going to let himself pause in confusion, however. He needed to secure his advantage while his still had it. The much smaller Tia stradled K'yohko's waist, pinning the man's large legs with his feet, pushing his wrists down in the water. K'yohko could maybe sit up far enough to breathe, but the need to do so would help K'ile keep him pinned. Hopefully.

[Lyraciilee]

The difference in their size was almost amusing. K'yohko wasn't a miq'ote to judge the on the size of a person but, K'ile could barely stretch himself the length of K'yohko's body. The nunh watched with a vague interest. Just what was K'ile trying to do anyway? He couldn't understand it.

 

K'yohko remained still, allowing the other to pin him down completely, but did not struggle or try to breath. His eyes shimmered in a surprisingly pretty way, the color of the water making them shine more brightly than they ever had before.

 

It was sort of strange. His lungs ached for breath, and although it was a mere movement away, he didn't move for it immediately. There was a odd serenity about feeling the water's across all of his skin. In a way, it almost felt like a warm embrace. His eyes closed for a moment, taking in the moment even as his lungs burned. Yohko lingered beneath the water, longer than he ought to. And for a moment, his face slipped an earnest smile.

 

Without warning, K'yohko sat up abruptly and pushed his face above the water to gasp for breath. His eyes opened again and he shook his head off a little bit, raising an ear and a tail at K'ile.

[Twinflame]

K'ile kept K'yohko pinned at his hips and all four limbs, bending down so his face was close to the Nunh's face. He smiled broadly, and tried to speak in a tone of fake confidence, knowing every else could hear. "Just saving you from being the center of attention. Thought that might be a bit much for shy little Yohko. It's nice to see you out playing the water with the other kids for a change, though."

[Lyraciilee]

Yohko snorted lightly, letting his other brow raise at K'ile's rather strange behavior. It had been a very long time since he'd been shy in such a way. Although, he supposed he never really stopped being shy. Simply, now he preferred to be alone or with his grandmother. Few others had anything worthwhile to say, and he found K'ile's usual hatred of him tiresome. K'nahli's too, for that matter. Everyone's constant judgment and hatred grew tiresome, and there was refuge to be found alone or with K'takka at least.

 

Violet eyes glanced back up towards K'ile, glimmering quietly in the afternoon sun. He held a quiet expression that matched his eyes, although the expression was somehow different than his usual one. Yohko pushed his head forward, pushing his forehead to press against K'ile's until their faces were uncomfortably close. Incredibly uncomfortably closer particularly in the lip region.

 

"Hey." Yohko murmured in a light whisper, his ears flicking a bit. He was banking on the fact that this was an uncomfortable position for both of them to get K'ile to move.

[Twinflame]

K'ile knew this game. He'd plaid it once or twice on Yohko when they were kids, back in the one or two years of his life when K'ile had actually been bigger than Yohko. Of course, usually it was just K'ile pinning Yohko down and forcing the shy kid to tolerate someone else in his personal space. Yohko would always go crying back to his mother, and then K'ile would get scolded. But not here. This was Yohko trying to outplay him.

 

"Hey, where'd shy little Yohko go? You aren't going to beat me, you know?" K'ile's smile stretched. One of his ears twitched to free some water droplets from his fur. He turned his face sideways and leaned forward, so their cheeks were along side of each other, so his breath was brushing the side of K'yohko's head. "But if you want," He extended himself over K'yohko's body, so he could speak directly into the Nunh's ear. "After I beat you in the challenge in a few days," His tail lifted and swung back and forth above them. He dropped his voice low, so low, so maybe even Yohko wouldn't even be able to hear it.

 

"I can be your Nunh, and you can be one of my women..."

[Clover]

From a certain distance, a pink haired miqo'te had been observing the joyful scene. Her father was playing in the water, leaving some of the weights he'd been carrying behind. It was a very unusual, yet very beautiful sight. K'ile's intervention didn't feel as nice, however; it erased K'mih's smile and made her heart pound faster. Was K'ile planning to drown the Nunh? Why wasn't her father coming out of the water yet...?

 

After seconds that felt like ages, the sensation of relief when her father's face emerged to breathe still left her weak. She wanted to think that K'yohko'd had everything under control, that he'd simply allowed K'ile to do as he pleased in order to humour him. The Nunh was still stronger, wasn't he?

 

K'mih smiled again, albeit lightly, and approached the lone figure of her sister. K'nahli had been observing the scene as well, apparently.

 

"K'nahli..." she called her, warmly as she always did. Her sister had been too serious from the moving; perhaps she needed to relax like her father was doing. "Why don't we bathe with them too?"

 

There'd been a brush of shyness in that last sentence. K'mih's unhealthy weakness for the Nunh wasn't easy to hide. That had been, in fact, the main reason why she preferred her elder sister to come with her.

 

Before K'nahli had any chance to reply, something else demanded K'mih's full attention. Her eyes grew wider at the sight of K'ile and K'yohko moving in too close, closer than it was safe. Closer than she'd ever been. Unconsciously, she tightened her fist.

 

Ah...

 

What was that feeling twitching in her stomach...?

 

[...............]

 

K'rahto Tia had been a bit too far from the springs to get wet. He did hear the splashes, the laugher, and the complaints. For a miqo'te who enjoyed the peace of silence and who had so much difficulty in the art of having fun, all the ruckus was nothing short of an annoyance. The only good side was that, judging from her angry yell, he knew K'nahli wasn't planning to get into those damn springs. The mere thought of another Tia looking at her was maddening, and there was no way K'rahto could even approach the place without raising questions about his true intentions.

[Lyraciilee]

Yohko was faintly irked at the lack of intended response. K'ile was supposed to back off, not get closer. The nunh's eyes followed K'ile's form as he leaned over lightly, pressing their cheeks uncomfortably together. Really, the feeling wasn't that foreign to K'yohko but it was a little strange coming from K'ile. Not to mention his hot breath was faintly irritating K'yohko's head until he wanted to scratch at it. Ah, really. It was itchy now.

 

K'yohko's ears twitched lightly as K'ile tried to whisper into them. The content of the whispers earned a genuine snort from K'yohko. And also a screech from K'luha.

 

"WHAT?!" K'luha had notoriously obnoxiously good hearing. All she needed to hear was the first part of the whisper to get angry. She was going to punch K'ile the second he got close enough to her do to so. He wasn't worth breaking her hip again, again.

 

K'yohko on the other hand, took the comment in stride. He flicked his ear, glancing past K'ile when he heard a familiar screech.

 

"Some people might be jealous of that offer." K'yohko sighed softly. He twitched his gaze back to K'ile and abruptly threw his massive weight to the right, rolling them both over until K'yohko had K'ile pinned to the ground instead. This sort of thing stopped being embarrassing a very long time ago after all. K'yohko had more experience with it than K'ile had after all. But it was still a cute attempt to fluster the Nunh. While flipping them both over, it was an excellent moment to exact a bit of revenge while their heads were underwater and no one could see it. Yohko pressed his figure and his head forward, letting his lips meet the other's for a brief moment before biting down lightly on the other's bottom lip and then pulling away to the surface all together.

 

K'yohko sat up on K'ile's lap, this time straddling the other before pushing back his longer hair from his face.

 

"If that's what you were so upset about all this time, my tent is always open." K'yohko retorted quietly, but flatly before he stood up from K'ile entirely and shook out his hair.

 

K'luha looked entirely pissed and somewhat upset over the entire venture, but looked to Tahj instead and opened her arms as if she wanted her niece to hug her.

[Twinflame]

K'ile lay dazed in the water. His body was still heavy with the weight of K'yohko's body slamming down on him, reeling with the disorientation of being thrown over and submerged. His body ached in the various places that Yohko had grabbed and held him, not the least of which being his hips. That particular ache went all the way through to his tail, with shivered in the water. He sat up by necessity, so that he wouldn't drown, but stared straight down at the water in front of him. His body was more alive with remembrances of Yohko's skin than it was with the feeling of his own movement.

 

That was not the reaction he had expected. At all. Damn Yohko. K'ile bit his bottom lip to try and overwhelm the lingering sensation of Yohko's teeth. Maybe K'ile should've kissed him first, so it couldn't be turned around on him, but it was too late for that. Yohko had won. This time.

 

K'ile sat silent, defeated. And he was even more wet now. His ears twitched above his head.

[Izmina]

K'tahjha grins as she watched the two males romping in the springs. She was briefly concerned when her father was under the water and frankly astonished and wide eyed as the got closer than most people would find comfortable. Her attention was drawn away from the play fighting males by her aunt's asking for a hug, which Tahj easily and happily obliged. Soaked to the skin but the most relaxed and happy she could remember being since she lost her mother, Tahj snuggles into K'luha's arms.

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li sat off to the side as he watched the antics of K'ile and K'yohko, thoughts drifting back to his village and his twin Xha'to.  As his thoughts drifted his tail swayed to his left, the tip twitching around as if looking for something, while the joy that had been on his face moments before became less pronounced, tempered by a deep seeded loneliness, "I wonder how your doing my twin, do you miss me as much as I miss you?"  he whispered softly.

[K'nahli]

K'nahli's gaze flicked over to K'iara as she hurried her way past her and took refuge behind a nearby cart. Had she not noted her interaction with K'ile moments earlier then she may have been suspicious of her presence there, but for now she decided it best to ignore it. Instead, her eyes averted back to the commotion that had now been occurring between K'ile Tia and her father. Her stare widened once again as she witnessed a behaviour from her father that was almost totally alien to the personality of the man she thought she knew.... or perhaps, maybe it wasn't that unusual. Could it simply be that maybe she had unconsciously allowed her earlier memories to fade over the course of the past five years? It certainly would have explained a number of other things too - and despite that tingling feeling of spite and anger that continued to burn at the pit of her stomach, the girl couldn't help but hope that it really was in her father's nature to have such a playful side in him. Though, better yet, this only just proved it. K'rahto, or rather K'iara, was mistaken. K'ile may be behaving a little competitively right now, but there was simply no way that he had plans to challenge anyone. That wasn't in K'ile's nature. While there was no question that the two weren't the best of friends at any point that she can remember, K'ile would not dare to seek a title that he had no pleasure in obtaining beyond besting her father in combat. Once again, a thought that bore the girl a light sense of comfort, though one that was deeply subdued by more prominent and powerful concerns that never failed to escape her mind for very long.

 

K'nahli gingerly crossed one of her arms across her stomach to loosely grip the other's elbow as she continued to watch the scene noisily taking place ahead of her. A feeling of doubt once again made it's presence known with the trickling sensation of a running droplet, slowly creeping it's way down from the base of her neck along the youth's, slender back. If she had the nerve to approach him now, how would he behave? Would it match a reaction he'd likely give to K'mih under the same circumstances? The girl's brow furrowed ever so slightly in thought as she pondered the question. After all, wouldn't a good humoured reaction like that matter more than the one from when his mood was soured on their final day before departing? K'nahli blinked slowly as a wistful look crossed her features. Her tensed posture began to soften as she withdrew deeper into her thoughts. Watching her father with such conflicting emotions was a tiring task and yet tearing her eyes away from him would do her no favours. She didn't understand what she was supposed to feel, what she even wanted to feel. Trying to bring about her own happiness and satisfaction through any kind of reasoning just didn't feel sincere enough to her. Succumbing to that would only feel like she were trying to make things easier on herself - but even so, wouldn't that be okay? The blue-haired girl continued to watch the males from a distance that felt too far away to ever be noticed but close enough that she need only have a fleeting thought of positivity to take a chance and for once assume that perhaps she was wrong.

 

 

"....."

 

Another slow blink announced the beginning of a new thought and a decision made. The huntress's rear leg slowly grew weightless as it prepared to take a reluctant, single step forward, the girl's chin turning up decisively as her mind had all but been made up....... that was, until, a familiar yet grossly, undesired voice suddenly forced it's way into her skull.

 

 

"K'nahli... why don't we bathe with them too?"

 

It was the last voice that the girl wanted to hear at this moment. It's softness grated on her nerves as though it were a shard of shale rock grinding against the fragile tissue that lined the inside of her ears... and the sweet affection that coated every syllable that slipped past the young girl's, soft lips left the most bitter of tastes in K'nahli's mouth. She struggled hard not to frown too deeply but preventing it entirely was an impossibility. Her skin began to crawl with disgust and loathing as nothing short of negative thoughts emerged from every corner of her mind like burrowed insects forced out of hiding by an unsuspected disturbance. The unique vibrance that was key to the girl's piercing glare grew even more fervent as her lips parted with an irritated quiver, her words taking only a second to force their way out over her moistened lips without restraint.

 

"If you want to bathe then go do so by yourself."

 

The coldness of her response was powerful enough to overcome even the sweltering heat of the desert climate as it immediately killed off any warmth that was there for K'mih to find in the atmosphere between them. The words themselves came almost too quickly given the unexpectedness of K'mih's presence, almost as if they had been rehearsed and delivered prematurely by an eager mind - and though none of that were true, it still only emphasised on the sudden and great distance that had stretched out between the two siblings in that moment. K'nahli had been too concerned with loathing the situation as a whole and plainly avoiding all contact that she hadn't even considered what she'd say should a situation like this arise - and yet her mind formulated one so quickly and easily. Her defence mechanism, the wall built up around herself for the past five years was quite the formidable foe it would seem, once again proving itself worthy of preserving the 'present K'nahli' and slowly destroying any hope's for a future one.

 

Despite K'nahli's prior vigilance, the younger sister had approached from an angle that had left her out of the older's vision up to the moment she spoke, and so did she continue to remain. K'nahli, stubborn as she was in her ways, continued to face out ahead of herself toward the two male's that were indeed becoming uncomfortably close with each other. Under normal circumstances, the girl might have blushed heavily, embarrassed by her father's absurd behaviour with not just another person, but with another male. Now, however, she struggled to pay much focus to it and merely delivered little beyond a displeased squint upon beholding it. Comfort abandoned her and instead a crawling feeling consumed the girl as she eagerly awaited K'mih's departure. She didn't want to be near something so precious and perfect right now.

 

It's funny that it only crossed her mind now; that K'nahli must seem so despisable by contrast when having been around her sister.

[Twinflame]

K'ile rose after some time, turning his back on Yohko. He considered that entire business finished. As was the last "bath" he ever planned on taking in his life. He turned his back on Yohko and trudged towards the shallower end of the pool, intent on exiting the springs as far as he could get from everyone else. As he went, he passed Xha'li, K'zhuzu's somewhat more useful child. K'ile muttered, unable to disguise the sense of disappointment in his voice. "Hey, what're you whispering all quiet and sad for? I thought people were having fun."

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li sighed glumly and looked up at K'ile, and softly with a hint of regret in his voice, "It just that for the first time since I got exiled for having even the potential to be a mage nearly a cycle-and-a-half ago I've never really felt at home anywhere until these past few suns traveling with the tribe."  Sighing again Li looked down as his ears drooped and his tail curled around him, "Then seeing you and K'yohko wrestling around like that reminded me of how I used to wrestle and play with my older twin when we were younger kits.  I guess until now I've never really realized how much I've missed him and my mom, or even having a family."  Shaking his head he continued even softer, his voice dinged with a mixture of anger and resignation, "Not that I miss our older brother or many of the other members who were followed that evil Garuda-spawned bat of a Matriarch and acted like I was never even born, never mind that I was still a kit then, and will be for several more moons yet.  As far as I'm concerned the lot of them died that day."  Looking up towards K'ile Li wiped as his eyes, "Not that I expect you to care all that much, its just you're the only family I really have that has acknowledged me."

[Twinflame]

"Oh. Uhm. Sheesh." K'ile's ears fell down. He hadn't been expecting any kind of openness from the kid, much less some Outsider's sob story about matriarchs and twins. He tried to cobble together a response that was more than incoherently blathered syllables. "I'm pretty sure Yohko and I weren't wrestling like you and your twin. That was totally diff-... Uhm. Hey, you know, just... Uhm." His tail flipped aout in the water behind him, and a moment later, he swung it to splash a bit of water in the Xha'li's face. "Stop pouting. Remember the good stuff and forget the bad stuff. Family's important, so you're lucky you had more to go looking for. Not all exiles get a second place to go to."

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li was shaken out his mood by getting splashed in the face, and chuckled though it wasn't as open or genuine as earlier, "You and Yohko were doing some sort of dominance thing weren't you?"  He asked with a bit of curiosity, though his distraction was still clear,"And I know I'm lucky to have family here I could find, even if I  only found out about my dad this past Starlight Celebration when I finally pestered my former Conjury Master into telling me as he was there when my parents met."  As he mentioned his master a contented smile appeared on his face, "Still not used to the fact that my mom's old adventuring party who aren't even Miqo'te have treated me more like family then my own older brother."