[AW] shopping and shipping

[Kibou]

It had taken a long time for Kibou to grow accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the markets and for his mother to even allow him to venture down there on his own. But Kibou was a year old now. In fact, today was his birthday. He had hoped to awaken to a five course breakfast of his favorite foods and a warm embrace by his mother, but Katniss had left early. His mother had left without even saying good morning to the birthday boy and it had hurt Kibou in a way he had not realized.

Saki, the vervet monkey perched on Kibou’s withers, had assured him that today was hard on his mother, but that she loved him very much. Today was a terrible remembrance of the birth of her son without the support of his father. It was a reminder to Katniss that she was very much alone. Kibou tried to understand what Saki was saying, but he just was too young to understand. He simply didn’t understand just how much his mother loved his father and just how much pain his mother went through when he died.

Kibou had entered the markets that morning in a bit of a sour mood. He was upset his mother had not been there to wish him a happy birthday. Saki tried her best to make him smile, but there was only so much a caramel apple and some hot cocoa could do.

As he meandered the streets, he looked through the stalls of the venders, looking for something he could buy himself as a birthday gift. It was a rarity that he actually bought things that he could not eat, but today seemed like a pretty good occasion.

But as as he looked for the perfect birthday gift for himself, he heard a commotion just ahead. He paused his browsing and turned to look at Aspara as she nearly collided with an individual he did not recognize. He slowly began to lope forward, coming to make sure his friend (or he hoped she was his friend) was okay. “Are you guys okay?” His voice was soft and tender, a little unsure if he was welcome to join them. In the end, he didn’t care. He needed to make sure that everyone as alright.

It was then that he realized the strangers were nearly exact images of one another. Twins, he had to guess. Now he really felt out of place. Aspara was a twin, they were twins, and here he was…a lonely singleton colt on his birthday.

@Erd @Ard @Aspara