The Urbem (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Feels Like Jealousy

 (Nephele)

The ocean was beautiful. It far surpassed the lake and for my first time seeing such a wonderful expanse of water, I was enthralled. The way the waves would lap lazily against the the pebbles, their white foam breaking at the top of the wave then falling forward, reaching to touch ground, almost there, but then being cruelly pulled back by an unknown force... It was almost as though it reflected me, as if I was the wave trying to break free of my old life and reach the shore, but there was something small holding me back, something I wasn't quite sure of. I shook my head and tried to think of other things. Reflecting in self-pity wasn't good for me.

So, on a different note, I think it was safe to say that Imara loved this new camp, although, despite the ocean, I wasn't so keen. I liked the water and the ground houses, but it was all too... Open. Too easy to spot, you know? Also, the people here seemed nice enough, despite many avoiding me. I wasn't sure if it was because they knew I wasn't an exiled Uxor or because I had a liger that looked like it could kill them all with one swipe, but, either way, as usual, I only had Lexio to deal with. 

'Come on, stop being so grumpy. Enjoy the water. We are.'  I huffed at Imara, who was bounding about in the waves and kicked the pebbly ground. I couldn't blame him for spending less time with me... After all, he'd got shot by that horrid Stella girl because of me... And, besides, he was enjoying his time with his mate, Rya. I wanted to get to know her, but she was afraid of humans and rightly so; man had lost touch with nature a long time ago.

I couldn't be exact on how long it would be before she had her cubs and I knew that when she did, I'd see even less of Imara. After all, he'd have fatherly duties to attend to. I would never tell him, but I think I was feeling jealous... Never before had I needed to share him. Suddenly a soaking wet Imara came out of the waves and sat himself beside me, Rya following nervously behind. '

Please stop moping, you're destroying the mood.' 

'Sorry.' I fumed, folding my arms across my chest. 

'If you want to get to know Rya, she prefers it when we talk out loud. At least that way she can hear our conversation and doesn't feel left out. I'll make the link between Rya and I stronger so you can hear her.'  I thought for a moment. If talking out loud meant that Rya may like me some more, then... Well, I suppose I should give it a shot.

"Hi, Rya..." I said, feeling stupid. "I'm Nephele and uh..."

'And you are a heartless Uxor,'  growled her voice. It was faint and echoey, but still loud enough for me to hear and to feel the malice and fear there. I also noticed how much softer it was; not in harshness, but in tone. I had become so used to only hearing Imara's deep voice that having a female voice in my head threw me off a little.  

"I'm not going to hurt you." 

'Ha!' she laughed harshly. 'Isn't that what they all say before they stab us in the back? Destroy our homes? Murder our families?' 

I didn't really know how to answer that. Her words were true enough; even before The Divide relations between animals and humans was only getting progressively worse. We were hunting them, not even for natural causes like food... We were hunting them for fun, for fashion, and I think deep down just to keep hold of power. This was the first time a thought like this crossed my mind, and the first time I actually felt sorry for the sins of the past... How could we kill such creatures out of fear and get away with it? 

"Rya," I said, carefully. "I am not asking you to trust me or to even like me. I just wanted to speak to you, the one Imara wanted to mother his children. In my mind, for him to choose you, you must be very special to him and he to you. I'm not hear to ruin what you have, just to understand it."