Down Down... (End)

[Nako]

How far down the rabbit hole...

can you go....

before it tears you apart?



"Aleah... Stop. You'll feel so terrible for the tree afterwards." Everyone knew the lad's compassion for plantlife. This was most unlike him. It was because of this uncharacteristic behavior that Aisha's voice was most.. extremely... uncharacteristically soft.

With claws sunk in knuckle deep into the tree bark, Aleah physically shuddered in response. His paws were bleeding from the shards of wood that had wedged themselves in from his aggressive blows, and the tree was all but bowing in from the torture being exacted upon it by the infuriated leveret.

"When you look into the looking glass. What do you see, Aisha?"

What? Aisha's brows furrowed with confusion."What are you talkin-"

"Do you know what I see, when I look, Aisha? I see what I -could- be. Not some useless male leveret. I can be more than that. Unlike you, I have to -work- for it."

Oh, now he was just pissing her off. Her brows furrowed dangerously and her eyes narrowed. Brother or not, he was walking on thin ice. "Hey, now you watch yourself. Don't go dragging me down because you're so -screwed up- with your own issues." Reaching out, she wrenched the leveret forcefully from the tree. He did not resist, but he didn't look her in the face. No, his eyes were focused on something else, nothing in this realm, likely. It was usually better not to ask what was on the leveret's mind. Generally one wouldn't want to know. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"-You- are what is wrong, Aisha. You and every other damned rabbit in this warren! Damnit Aisha... You have been stepping on my toes every step of the way. I see it now." With a gritting of the teeth, he turned his eyes on his sister for the first time. It was... odd. He didn't seem sweet, or shy, or submissive at all. It was as if.. nothing of her brother was left at all. "You have oppressed and bullied me -every- step of the way. You were domineering when we were kids, you were a bully when I became an adult... and when I find -someone- who likes me for -me- and doesn't feel like they have to put me down for their own ego.. you get... jealous. What the hell is wrong with me? Hah. I should be asking what the hell is wrong with you."

[Nako]

The little shit had gone too far. With a temper like her father's, one could only keep it under wraps for so long. And if there ever was a safe way to exact ones anger on something, it would be onto a leveret. Years of training allowed her to overtake him in an instant, cramming his head into the dirt with a well placed kick. Standing over him, she stood on his throat, her lips curling into an almost wry smile. "You bring this onto yourself, you know."

Gasping for breath, Aleah could only write beneath her hold. His claws stayed close to his body. With one eye rolling up to look at her, he choked out a strangled laugh. The expression of her face twisting into confusion.. that was priceless. "Here... you are *cough* again... But still you are.. protected. If I so much as.. touched a hair on your head.. *gasp*.. I'd be killed. I'm... I'm not afraid of you.."

Bastard! She pressed down harder on his throat.. but his strangled cries was no source of pleasure to her. He... was right. Abruptly, the foot was lifted and she turned away. Never independent... never able to stand on her own two feet. No power.. whatsoever. None that was her own, anyways.

Bitch. Shaky, but certainly not allowing her to notice, he ran the blunt end of his claws over his mussed up mane, pulling away some of the leaves and bark that had found their way into it. Aleah coughed roughly.

"I guess it's really happening, huh?"

*cough*... "What, growing up?"

"... Yeah."

There was a moment of silence. Neither of them really found it awkward, though. They just sat there thinking and mulling over their own thoughts. It was soothing, actually. It was the first time Aleah was able to stand in the Doe's company with a moderately peaceful state of coexisting. The heat of the moment was dying down, thankfully. After it was all said and done and the adrenaline had left their systems... it all seemed to make more sense.

[Nako]

"So you're actually going to turn into a Jack for that leveret?" Surprisingly enough, Aisha was able to get the question out without the scorn in her tone. Turning her head, the adolescent looked to her brother with a certain wistful curiosity.

It was odd to think of it that way. Aleah shifted uncomfortably where he sat, unable to really feel truly relaxed after all the tension. "I'd like to think I'm doing it more for myself than anything. I don't like what I am right now. I need to change myself."

That makes two of us... But there really was nothing Aisha could do to change. One really couldn't think of going back to being a leveret. She'd never heard of such a thing happening. Life would be so much easier as a Jack. Aisha certainly understood her brother's logic. "Hm." The sound wasn't really critical; more of a neutral response. "So I guess we're at that age where being brother and sister doesn't matter any more. It's all.. Jacks and Does and Leverets."

How screwed up it was.. but it was a very true situation. Had their mother not been Hisstor, and perhaps had there been more litters to deal with, they would have grown up with that distance already established. Growing up.. they were all they had. Brothers and sisters.. playmates and best friends. Even the teachings of the way things were couldn't break that bond at that age.

But now.. it was all coming apart.

"It's how things are, I suppose. Always was. I guess we were a little behind on the notion." His jaw popped as he gave a loud yawn. Immediately Aisha wondered how he'd been sleeping. She wouldn't know. They all had stopped sleeping in the same area during early childhood. She could still remember though, how he tossed and turned.

"I shouldn't have hurt the tree" Suddenly Aleah sounded most aggrieved. "He didn't deserve it at all."

"And why do you assume it's a he?" Suddenly Aisha's tone went back to it's usual severeness, cocking a brow at her brother. It was the typical snotty challenge, though without its usual potency.

[Nako]

It was that shit eating grin on his face that was the first clue that he probably had a good answer for it. Aisha gave a mental groan. She hated it when he got the better of her. Perhaps she -was- too hard on him. Well, truly she was. But wasn't she granted that much? She'd certainly not be allowed such a luxury when she was traded.

"It's a dimorphic species. This one is specifically male." He ignored the rolling of his sister's eyes. She'd never understand stuff like this anyhow. It wasn't as if they'd have much longer to deal with it anyways. He might as well roll with the punches. The leveret wasn't sure whether he should be relieved.. or saddened by this.

That actually brought him to an interesting question; Did he.. love his sister? She'd been nothing but a pain in the ass all his life.. his support yet his downfall. This coming to terms with their growing up made things complicated. Did it belittle their relationship as children? Did that relationship mean anything at all? Would he forget about his sisters and the love for his family when he became a Jack? It felt as if it was fading from him even now. His love felt like a lie, cast aside and battered by the reality that was coming upon them. They were separating into different directions, into two different worlds even as they lived under the same roof.

Even though it was never uttered, the two siblings could very much agree that the rabbit world as a whole is nothing but one big, sick joke.

[Nako]

"Leverts have sex."

Aisha did a double take at her brother's back, a look of horror coming over her face. "Ugh.. gross! Why would you tell me that!? You freak.." Honestly, sometimes her brother just wasn't quite in the head. But honestly.. what the hell brought that up?

Aleah gave a snort. "How do you think -I- feel? I just found out -today-! And I agree. It's.. very gross. Heike just gave me a what-for on the matter. Not my fault he's never explained these things. No doubt the Does explained things a bit better to you."

Aisha was turning red. The entire conversation was wholly inappropriate. "Well, -that- is most certainly none of your business!" The nerve! At the same time, she was disgusted with herself. She used to be able to tell her siblings anything.... Talk about anything and meet cards out in the outskirts of the warren's lands. Dangerous hobbies... and dangerous topics of conversation that were becoming less appropriate by the day as she neared maturity.

Still though.. This might be the last talk she'd have with her brother of this nature. "It really never got mentioned?"

"Nope. The leveret's nose wrinkled with disgust once more. It was really... low of Heike not to inform him of these things. "I guess I was supposed to figure it out for myself, you know? And I can't say that I'm interested either. No.. Not at all. Too tired to be interested. I just never expected to actually.. fall in love. I just looked at everyone as brother and sister."

This was really going into the realm of 'too much information'. Aisha had to keep her face from contorting into one of discomfort as the leveret spoke. She scoffed just a little though, at what he had to say about love. "You won't love her like that when you're a Jack, you know. I don't know what leverets feel exactly.. but I know that with Jacks.. Does are property.. to be traded when they get bored. How can you love something you'd willingly trade for another?"

That anger was welling up inside again.. that rage. Still, Aleah could not find himself able to dispute her. He'd seen it happen with his own eyes. Perhaps.. it was the relationship between his parents that gave him hope. Their bond seemed strong enough. Ashta was not as young as some of the other Does in the warren but she always seemed to be.. the favorite. Rarely if ever was Ashta offered to accompany other visiting Jacks. "I... Think that I could still love her as a Jack. She'd be precious to me, like Ashta is to the Czar."

He really believed it, didn't he? Aisha looked at him oddly for a moment, gauging the hope and insecurities within those oddly blue eyes. Finally, she shrugged. This certainly was a conversation she wished she could brush off, anyways. "For your sake.. I hope you are right, brother. I have to go. Mother wanted to speak to me before dinner." Poor boy. Leveret or Jack, they were always a little bit oblivious. He probably hadn't a clue whether the leveret would return his affections. Typical mindset. Perhaps he could become a Jack yet.