Chronicler
Tales of Kirenen
In fragments, songs and poems
IV
‟Tea can free you of all your worries”, Po'ñnen assured. ‟For a moment.”
Nou'ñen returned his friend frivolous smile and allowed himself to lower down, his back aching a little bit while doing so. He let out a quiet sigh and realized how tired he’d been, and how greatly needed the meeting with this dear embodiment of kindness had been.
‟You took me by surprise, honestly”, Nou'ñen said more energetically than he thought he’d do, ‟I had no idea you know Hiông-pa-su.”
‟Actually, the herbs are passion of her daughter”, replied Po'ñnen, still occupied with finishing their tea.
‟Chhùng-phu? I could tell. She was interested in taking few lessons from Čolgoro at one point. Sweet Eye… I remember her being so tiny the two or three of her could fit between my paws.” He looked at his worn paw pads, laying lifelessly before him on soft white pelts padding out Po'ñnen’s cave.
‟Best wishes… she said…” said Po'ñnen indistinctly, carrying with his fangs a gourd filled with sweet smelling herbal brew, ‟to whoever you treat my herbs with,” he finished after the gourd was put right where Nou'ñen had imagined small Chhùng-phu’d fit in. ‟How do you find my wit?”
‟Your wit? You catch up with mine, on most occasions, so pretty good, I’d say.”
‟Perfect. Since we both agree you’re the smarter one, I free myself from any responsibilities in regard to the tea I’m treating us with.”
Nou'ñen chuckled.
‟You know the circumstances. Go ahead”, Po'ñnen encouraged. He was large, and with mane twice as shaggy as needed to be called that, yet he laid down with almost flamingo-like grace, his front paws curled somewhere under his thick mane. He didn’t bother to hesitate and soon sips of sweet tea were slipping down his throat.
Nou'ñen lifted his head. Few droplets of tea fell down his wet chin. He couldn’t stop picturing Po'ñnen as someone of great importance, yet here he was, collecting herbs, offering creatures of all kind food, shelter and solace, always smiling. If it wasn’t for avoiding others attention, it’d have been the most noble occupation Son or Daughter of Kirenen could devote themself to, but were all the blue eyes of Kirenenians so sad or that of Po'ñnen only?
‟There’s a matter of great importance I need to talk to you about. I believe it won’t surprise you, if I say it concerns our… or not so our I’rkeye”, Nou'ñen started calmly. His voice remained that way, despite dreadfulness of the stories he decided to told his friend.
III
‟Shouldn’t you be proud of what you’ve achieved?” Chronicler asked harshly, not daring to take his eyes of Nou'ñen and ignoring his lowered ears and head, clear signs of discomfort his words had caused. ‟Shouldn’t you at the very least be content of what your family accomplished? They trive now. Each and every Kirenenian cub’s taken care of and knows no fear of the usurper. The Geese are gone. Oriole’s daughters couldn’t stand Kirenen’s anger… or Wëdra’s claws, if you prefer to be more mundane with me, as you always do… and so will do Oriole’s granddaughters, as long as we grow in wisdom. New generations are taught by you and the most skillful of us how to feed, heal and control both their bellies and souls. I see your smile, and I know I talk no new to you, and that you, in fact, are more than proud of your family. So it worries me greatly.” Chronicler tilted his head a little bit, eyed Nou'ñen with concern. ‟What is that you foresee?”
II
“What are those sad eyes crying about, hm?”
“I’m not crying”, replied Nou'ñen softly.
The calmer he was, the harder the shell in which he had hidden was to break. Hiông-pa-su, leaning along his side, lifted up her head and let her thoughts wander freeely, as the cold rain outside the cave was muttering its evening song to the steady rythm of falling dropplets.
‟If you think it overflows you”, she said after a while, her voice quiter than rain, and tougher than rocks they were lying on, ‟strangle it, like you’d strangle a mad bull alone. Catch with your ear its last hoarsen breath just to be sure it’s done. Don’t let anyone notice your fight. Don’t let yourself believe you’d killed the reason of your struggle. It’s yet to be faced, but without the burden of emotions, which you’d vanquished.”
She took a peak in Nou'ñen’s calm eyes just to run her glance down his chest and paws, up until his claws, barely noticeably scratching the ground.
I
“We hadn’t been hiding forever, love. I still remember chasing Wëdra down the hills, sneaking into our feathered friend hiding place… I haven’t seen him for a while, have you by any… Yo’mi? Yo’mičomo, do you listen?”
“I can’t imagine auntie Wëdra being playful, ma!”, said Yo’mičomo, wiping her nose with back of her paw. “You must’ve fallen really, really hard, when you two were chasing each other down that hills”, she smiled, while Kôłpiónka licked her daughter’s dirty muzzle. “Don’t worry, though. I know she’s a soft gazelle deep in her heart, and I care for her, and I care for you, and I care for…”
“No need to assure.” Kôłpiónka backed a little bit and looked at her daughter appraisingly.
“How can I be of help, though? I feel like I do nothing, nothing, ma, compared to Pu’gu and her sisters”, she confided, her ears flopped.
“Yo’mi, honey, don’t ever think like that again… You are Kirenenian as well as I am, as well as is Wëdra. The best Kirenenian knows what’s the most precious of them, and they build on that.” Looking for subtle changes in her daughter’s expression, Kôłpiónka lowered her head and added with emphasis: “When there were only two of us, me and your grumpy auntie, running away from Oriole’s anger, from our homeland, we started to search for the happiest memories of our cubhood. And you know what they were of? Of uncles, teaching us about herbs, of sisters, telling stories about fallen trees, of mothers, taking care of us at the darkest of nights. The pride, Yo’mičomo, won’t survive without your bravery and wisdom.”
Young lioness brightened a little bit.
“So now” Kôłpiónka continued “you’re free to check on that cub in the forest, Chhùng-phu, I believe, as you called her…”
“Ma-a!” Yo’mičomo’s eyes widened with disbelieve. “I wanted to tell you, it wasn’t suppose to be a secret!”
“I’ll join you later”, replied starshine-eyed lioness, slowly going down the slope with a big smile which couldn’t be seen by her daughter. “No way such a sweet kitten can pass me unnoticed.”
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