Something of Importance [Nako]

[carcinoGeneticist]

For reasons Aimili could not quite comprehend, she had returned to the Highlands.

Her feet had taken her there all on their own, it seemed, even if she had only the vaguest of ideas about what she was going to do when she arrived. If her father found her, it was all over. Literally. Everything would crash down and she would be lucky to return to the Capital. She had to make it out alive, for the sake of the lives which were still relying on her. The solution, of course, was for her to avoid seeing her father at all costs. No, she was here to see her brother.

Absently, she smoothed the fur down over her belly, which was protruding significantly more than had ever done in her life. This was truly one of the dumbest ideas she'd ever had (it ranked up there with visiting that creepy Well on the edge of the Highlands...), but there was no chance that she would turn back now.

No, she was on the outskirts of the Warren already. She hesitated for a moment to gather her wits about her once more, then headed in the direction of the gardens. If Aleah was to be found anywhere, that seemed the very most likely. Best of all, her father almost never visited the garden. It was as close to safe as she was going to get in this situation. As quietly as she could manage, the Canine slipped in amongst the vegetation and set about trying to find her brother.

[Nako]

Tired… he was always so damn tired. But even then, Aleah could not always find sleep even with the medication given to him for most of his life. So, like every other night, the leveret found himself roaming the gardens. From time to time, he'd busy himself with trimming the hedges. Of course, that was normally during the bright midday; with the sun slowly setting in the horizon, he wouldn't trust himself not to gap up the hedges. Instead, he took to wandering, pacing the edges of the garden territory for no other reason than absolute boredom.

At least, that was until he heard a sound in the bushes. His body paused, perfectly still save for the slight movement of his ears as they swiveled in to detect where the sound was coming from. His first instinct would be to flee, but for some reason he fought it. If he ever wanted to become a jack, then he needed to stand up for himself and for the warren. Gathering himself, he turned to face the noise. "You'd best show yourself before you end up with a set of claws through your head." Aleah growled, trying to sound as menacing as possible. His hackles rose, very much preparing to fight despite the frantic pounding of his heart.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Perhaps her change from Rabbit to Card had come with a few disadvantages. Her hearing wasn't quite as incredible as it had been before, especially with the way her ears now flopped down at the sides of her head. But her sense of smell was positively phenomenal, and she quickly caught on to the fact that she wasn't alone in the gardens.

The smell wasn't a musty one, like she would expect a Jack to have. Male, certainly, but somehow... different. That made her heart pause a beat, hope filling her to the brim.

Slowly, carefully, Aimili crept closer to the source of the smell, keeping shelter behind the bushes until whoever was there gave something away that would let her be sure. She held her breath, waiting, waiting...

Aleah.

If the voice hadn't been enough, the statement would have filled in the blanks. After all, who else at the Warren had an appropriate set of claws to make such a threat? Her father wouldn't have even bothered with that, he would have just stabbed into the bushes and hoped for the best. "Aleah?[/b]" Her voice came out as a quiet whisper, but it didn't need to be much more. Slowly, she slipped out from behind the bushes, ears perked hopefully, tail wagging frantically from its low position. "Aleah, it's me... M-Mili.[/b]"

Had he heard what had happened to her? She hoped that, regardless of what lies their father might have spread, the truth would have found her brother.

[Nako]

As much as he was prepared to risk his life, Aleah hadn't expected to hear his name come from the bushes. And a voice… so familiar. The tonality and inflection was similar. Almost familial. But deeper. Older than he remembered. His ears flipped back to pin against his head as a form stepped from the bushes. Towering.. cardlike in height. By the white rabbit… it -was- a card.

All his fur stood up on end in a moment of terror. They'd been found out, exposed! he might have cried out had the being not continued to speak. Blue eyes wide, his chin trembled in a stammer. The creature in front of him was bipedal and awkward… scraggly in a way that he'd never seen his sister. But the markings were right. The hair… Down to her bone forearms. He swallowed thickly as he tried to register just what he was seeing. "You were dead… how..?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

The look on her brother's face almost shattered her heart all over again. For a moment, it seemed that all he saw about her was what had changed - not that she could blame him, of course, for she had changed quite a lot. But she was still herself, wasn't she? Beneath it all?

Would Aleah see it?

She slowly moved to kneel, bringing herself closer to the Leveret's level. She had forgotten how big bipedal Cards were, especially when she was fairly small herself. To a Jack, she would still be short, but to her dear brother... She didn't want to frighten him away, not yet.

When the familiarity crept into his expression, her ears perked up, and a smile stretched at her floppy lips. She shook her head rather vehemently. "No. Never dead.[/b]" Of course, she had expected something like this, hadn't she? She licked at her lips nervously. There was so much to tell! How could she explain it all? "Remember that creepy old well? On the outskirts of the Highlands?[/b]"

[Nako]

Eeeach. Her face was canine, but not in the tight lipped, -almost- attractive appearance of a wolf. It was floppy. And saggy. Like an old nanny Doe. He might have wrinkled his nose had he not been in such a shock.

"We were told not to go near that well…" Aleah said almost out of reflex. -Almost- accusatory but not quite. Despite how far back he was leaning to be away from her, he willed his body forward as she knelt down. He tilted his head one way, and then the other. Then hopeful expression in her eyes was obvious, even on a foreign face. Slowly, he brought a paw up, claws folded in and knuckle out, as he would usually do to touch something without using claws. In a bizarre motion, he poked her wet nose, as if to make sure she was real.

"By the White Rabbit's foot!" Aleah hissed out as he recoiled, genuinely spooked. "You're real… you're damned real…."

[carcinoGeneticist]

Rather suddenly, Aimili laughed. Even everything else that had changed - her body, her life, everything else - her brother was still the same as she had remembered him. Ever the stickler for the rules. She reached up with one bony hand, wiping at the moisture that had begun to accumulate at the corners of her eyes. It had been triggered by her laughter, but now there was something else.

She missed her family. It was probably the Hisstor in her, but damn it all, she couldn't help herself. The worst of it was the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to risk a visit to any of the others.

"I know, I know, I just...[/b]" She gave him an awkward shrug and a half smile that, on her homely face, was still somewhat endearing. Her new form said it all: what rumors there were about that place were at least somewhat rooted in reality. "I just wanted a chance, Aleah.[/b]" She knew (or at least hoped) that of anyone else, he would understand.

Her eyes crossed slightly as she watched his white knuckle approach, then returned to look at his face as he cowered away. The odd beating of her tail slowed, then stopped. "I couldn't just... abandon you." There was a hint of sadness in her tone, now. This was difficult for both of them.

[Nako]

The damned sister-beast was laughing at him. His mouth thinned in obvious, impotent annoyance that would be ever so similar to the one that crossed his face during his sister's teasing when they were younger. His eyes rolled ever so slightly, casting a glance her way.

"You talk as if I need some saving…" But his tone wasn't exactly one that was trying to contradict her. He stared at her for a few moments more, as if he were still processing her strange appearance. "Are you… at least happy now?"

He wasn't. He sure as hell wasn't. Every time that damned Jack took the perpetually morose Valeny into his chambers… it killed him a little inside. And the damned Doe never returned his affections. She was horrified by his wanting to change into a Jack. Sometimes he thought her comfort around him was only because he was a neuter, worthless leveret. The leveret she so wished she could be. That had probably been the main reason his desperate attentions expanded to another Doe. Dafina… every visit to her father's warren had been a tentative dance around death, but the Doe genuinely seemed interested in humoring his aspirations. And it was such positive reinforcement the poor male leveret craved.

But perhaps, when he finally succeeded, Valeny would realize how right they were together, and how happy she'd be to have Dafina to chat with. They'd sort out their pecking order as Does do.. and right when they fell into normalcy, he'd mix it up with another Doe! Oh, how delightful it would be. How lively a warren he would own…

"Becoming a Jack is difficult, Mili. And look at you.. changed into a different creature altogether with no effort. Were I not afraid of sprouting a second head I might have had to visit this Well." Hah. A bit of humor.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Her brother had always seemed somewhat more logical and harsh at times. In her youth, it had been often difficult to deal with, but now, it was... Almost reassuring. So much in her life had changed, but her family was exactly as she had remembered them as being. Aleah... he was going to amount to something big, someday.

"Not saving, no,[/b]" she replied quickly, a smile tugging at her lips. "More like some sisterly affection. And I missed you. Missed this.[/b]" There was a time when she'd never thought she would feel that way, but... There was a security to this life that she had always taken for granted. No matter what you were, there was a place for you in Rabbit society. It might not be ideal, but she would have been happy for that kind of comfort in the months before Jak had found her and taken her in.

His question made her pause for a moment, but then she nodded. "I am. If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have felt differently.[/b]" She ran her hands across her swollen belly again, a small smile twitching at her lips. "I have a home, now. A family of sorts. It's not... what I'd imagined it would be, but I love it, all the same. I wish I could show you.[/b]"

Then she fixed him with a level gaze, her tail wagging unconsciously behind her. "Aleah. Don't be so hard on yourself. If anyone can do it without magical help... It's you. You're gonna be the best damn Jack the Highlands have ever seen, I know it.[/b]"

[Nako]

Aleah was still surprised that he was even believing that it was actually her. But it was. The more he talked to her, the more evident it was. His brow furrowed only just slightly when her hint that her life hadn't always been kind, but he didn't pursue it.. but stared down at her stomach. That's right…. she wasn't a leveret any more. Cards didn't have the same limitations to their breeding habits as rabbits did.

He smiled, if only slightly at her vote of confidence. The face was that of a card, but the words were of a true rabbit. He'd find a way to fix her but something told him that it was unlikely his sister wanted to be fixed. It seemed backwards to him, but he couldn't find it in him to judge her. "Glad someone has such confidence in me. I've seen the Czar sharpening his pike and staring me down enough times to know my time is… limited." his ear twitched.

"So… Card… offspring? Or have you turned the hog in a lettuce patch?" A weak joke, at best.