your mother is a clown car
He loved his children in his own way, perhaps not smothering and doting, but paternal all the same. They were his blood, his kin and though his affection was not outspoken it remained.
"You may come out to play, if you remain within the bamboo." He announced, knowing full well they were listening and likely eager to make their way out into the world.
Maybe he should wait and see what the others did?
The large boy squinted as he approached the den's maw, silently glancing up at the familiar, broad figure of his dad as he noticed his brother, Kaizen, had already ventured outwards. He'd noticed for a little while now that the dewclaws on his front paws were swollen, rather large, and in turn, it made his forepaws ache. He was in a discomforting state, not knowing why his front paws were hurting compared to the back ones, why he had those strange little toes on his back ones, but not his other siblings. Why so.. different? And yet, why the same?
Shinrei hovered at the den's entrance as well, glancing at Kaizen, then back at the siblings who had yet to emerge.
Kina
Kina's hind paw scratched at the little nubbins adorning her head before she rolled onto her feet and snuggled in closer to her mother, enjoying the warmth. She would've been to content to stay there but opportunity beckoned when her father arrived and said they'd be allowed out to explore if they remained close to the bamboo. She could do that! She could definitely do that. She wasn't sure what bamboo was but she'd figure it out.
Kina pounced onto her paws, little tail wagging rapidly. "Yay! Daddy let's play outside!" She bounded past two of her brothers who were hovering around the den's entrance and out into the wide world. She crashed through a puddle, her snow white fur immediately staining with mud. She'd have kept going but she slowed too a stop and stood there blinking in the morning light. "Wow, it's bright out here," she observed, her albino eyes struggling a bit more with the light. She scooted into the shade of tall green somethings. Delicately reaching out a paw she tapped them, noting the hollow sound. "Daddy, are these bamboo?"
It isn't until his father, looming in the doorway, announces that they may go outside, does Jiro actually stir. Giving his sibling one last nudge with his too-large paw, Jiro lazily rolls over onto his side and then up onto his paws until he is casually trotting past his father, Kaizen, and Shinrei. Shooting them a look over his shoulder, he smirks, knowing he probably will break a rule or two before the day is done. Unintentionally, mind you.
Spying Kina off in the shade, Jiro first stops by his albino sister. Plopping himself down onto his rump, he leans his head against her shoulder and rubs his own nubbins against her fur to satiate the itch of them beginning to protrude. "Kina, 'course it's bamboo. It's all dad talks about," Jiro teases, his playful puppy smile being tossed in their father's direction as he brings similar eyes up to the titan. "What's more interestin' is what's hidin' in them," he turns now and moves into a crouched position.
"If ya look close 'nough, you can see the mice runnin' 'round," Jiro murmurs, lowering his body closer to the ground as if he were a cat stalking their prey with his butt maybe a little higher than it should be. He had watched them at night from the doorway, from the inside of the den. Little creatures mama had described as mice that wanted a seed or two to eat. They didn't like the daytime light, but in the shade? That was where they were safe.
With his midnight coat helping him blend into the shadows, he lowered his nose to the ground and tried to sniff out some of these critters.
If Jiro hadn't moved first she likely would've shoved him out of the way as she flipped over, moving from her back to her stomach in one clumsy motion, paws flying this way and that as she scrambled upright. Explore? She wanted in! All she'd ever really seen was glimpses of the outside word from the mouth of their den, always being ushered back in before she could get far enough to really see anything.
But it seemed that was all about to change. Pushing past Kaizen as he hesitated, and even past Shinrei, she sought to trail behind Kina. Jiro's words earned a faint little laugh from Seiko, who moved forward to examine the bamboo more closely. "No way you're fast enough to catch one of 'em," she teased Jiro lightly about his speculation about the mice. Well, it was half jest, half truth - she'd never really seen him move fast persay, not that any of them had ever really been granted that opportunity.
Instead of tapping it with a paw, she rubbed her little horn nubs on the bamboo - half because she wanted to see what would happen, and half because her little growing horns were itchy, and the prospect of something maybe harder than the ground (or her siblings) to scratch them on was a tempting one.
Their companion - a female tabby cat with antlers, named Herajika - is often hanging around.
The world his father and mother had roamed were far bigger than he had realized. He took a few more steps out into the open before moving over to sniff at the bamboo that sheltered them. Each sight, each smell, each new feeling was something he took in slowly. All of this was new, his world to explore and learn. The boy would turn from the bamboo and look for the next new object. Merely a rock, but still it had his interest for the moment as he pressed his paw against the bumpy and rough surface to experience it.
Mochi
Atotsugi
Beginner Fighter (10)
Advanced Hunter (90)
1 Year
Female
123
NachoMumma
Outside. It wasn't as tempting a prospect as one might imagine. The glaring light that came in hurt her eyes and her brothers seemed quite content to linger where they were too, but as one by one bodies moved out, a bit of anxiety snuck into her chest. There was suddenly too much room, the temperature had dropped as each body moved out and Mochi breathed a deep breath in through her nose and sighed. She supposed the decision had been made for her.
Wandering to the doorway, she squinted and scowled. It seemed just as terrible as she had anticipated. Toddling out to find a shady spot, she flopped on the damp, muddy ground and her face screwed up in disgust. Outside was terrible. She decided then and there she hated it.
"speech"Majima was definitely amongst the more hesitant of his siblings, he'd been jostled awake by the commotion of ten other bodies starting their day but as his siblings started to filter out of the den Majima found himself hanging back. As more and more of the young pups trickled into the outside world he finally started to trail afterwards but as he got to the mouth of the den he paused and hesitated. The last thing Majima wanted was to been caught lacking but he couldn't help himself as he glanced back into the den, he wanted the reassurance of his mother honestly. It wasn't that he assumed his father would ever lead them into anything unsafe but well... He was still young. Taking a deep breath he stepped out into the wider world, finding himself with the rest of his siblings who were less eager to go running off. "Speech" |
Art by Dezigre |
"Pfft, just watch!" Jiro chirps, tossing Seiko a look over his shoulder that was a mixture of competitiveness and playfulness. After quickly sticking his tongue out at Seiko, he turns his focus back onto the bamboo. Near one of the bases, there is sign of mice. A few droppings that smelled not particularly recent, but it would at least give him a direction. Their claws hardly made a difference in the dirt and leaf litter that hid their movements. Keeping his nose to the ground, Jiro crawls forward on too large of paws and has trouble keeping his balance in such a way. "You can see where they chew and climb on the bamboo," he calls back to Seiko and Kina (if she were listening) and stuck his nose against one of the stalks that had miniscule claw marks in it.
"They gotta be here somewhere," he murmurs as he moves on to the next stalk.
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1. | your mother is a clown car | Bamboo Maze | 12:35 PM, 01-10-2024 | 10:52 PM, 03-25-2024 |