[SpringsSong]

Rinendra -- Arela -- Vaissa

It was one of the few times that the three sisters had been allowed to leave their home.  True, their mothers were justified in why they were so protective of the three girls, but nevertheless, they could not help but wonder if their mothers were worried over nothing.  After all, they were quite capable of taking care of themselves.  While the three of them were triplets, there was enough difference between them that they could tell who was who, and everyone else could tell who was who.  It seemed as though they were fully intending on enjoying this day out.

"Hey, Rinendra," one of the other two Shineberry Kuhnas asked, and the one who was leading the group turned to face the other two; specifically, the one who had spoken.

"Yeah, Arela?" she asked, and Arela pointed just over Rinendra's shoulder.  Some ways behind them, gathered around a building, were a group of anthro-form Kuhnas: from the looks of it, they were a Reitcon, a SleepyHollow, and a PB&J.

"Oh!" exclaimed the third Shineberry, her eyes widening.  "I've seen all of them before!  In fact, the last time we came here--they held open the door at the restaurant we went to, remember?" she asked.

"Sh, Vaissa!  They're coming this way!" Arela hissed in a whisper as the three other Kuhnas approached them.

[SpringsSong]

Danalnor -- Dyabe -- Medos

"Greetings, ladies," the Reitcon Kuhna said, dipping his head.  "I do not believe that we have ever properly introduced ourselves, yet we have run into each other almost every time that we have seen you in town.  I am Danalnor," he said.  Here, he took Rinendra's paw and kissed it gently, lingering for a moment before repeating the action with both Arela and Vaissa.

"I'm Dyabe," the SleepyHollow said, offering his paw to the three women to shake.  "It's a pleasure to actually get to meet the three of you."

"And I'm Medos," said the PB&J Kuhna.

[SpringsSong]

Rinendra couldn't help but begin to blush when the Reitcon Kuhna kissed her paw.  Arela and Vaissa, however, shook their heads at their sister's reaction, but accepted the handshakes from Dyabe and nodded to Medos.  For a brief moment, the three females looked to the three males, and an almost uncomfortable silence settled over the group.  After a few moments, Danalnor cleared his throat.

"So, uh... what are you three up to on this fine day?" he asked.  After a moment, he added, "...th-that is, if you want to tell us about it.  You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," Rinendra said, chuckling.  Arela and Vaissa tried to grab their sister and silence her, but she waved them off.  "We were just coming into town to spend some time out of the house.  You see, we live with out mothers--"

[SpringsSong]

"Mothers?" Dyabe echoed, tilting his head as he looked to Arela.  "How does that usually work for the three of you?"

"It's wonderful," Arela said.  "We have two other siblings--a Berry Kuhna and a Preluhna--and a cousin of ours lived with us for a time.  We also live with our half-sister, Mirua.  Our mothers... well, they didn't have the best of experiences with men," she added.

"And they're always afraid that we might suffer the same that they did," Vaissa added quickly, while all three male Kuhnas nodded slowly.

"Well, I say to each their own," Medos said.  "I've known many families to have either two males or two females as the parents, and I do not judge.  Although, what you mentioned does have me curious..."

"Well, let's not discuss it out here in the open," Dyabe said.  "I have some friends who run a sweet shop here, with a sister shop in Jawan--maybe we could go there."

"I know of a better place," Rinendra said, nodding her head to the east.  Over in that direction was a small clothing store, and her sisters nodded as they headed over towards that store.

[SpringsSong]

The three male Kuhnas followed after the three Shineberries.  It only took Dyabe one look at his Reitcon friend to tell that he was quiet smitten with the girl who seemed to be the leader--Rinendra, her name was--and he couldn't help but chuckle as he nudged his friend.

"You've taken a shine to her," he said, almost snickering.  "It's almost ironic; she's a Shineberry Kuhna, and you've taken a real shine to h--"

"Dyabe, if you finish that pun, I will set your wings on fire," Danalnor said, and Medos couldn't help but laugh.

"It is a good pun, but let us not," he said.  At this point, he took more notice of the clothing and other items being sold in this little shop, taking a moment to appreciate the craftsmenship.

"Now," Rinendra said, bringing the focus of the male Kuhnas back to the reason they were here.  "What did you want to know?"

[SpringsSong]

"Yes, well, you mentioned that you have two mothers," Dyabe said, speaking before the Reitcon or PB&J Kuhnas could even speak.  "What has it been like, not having a 'father' figure there?"

"Well, given that both of our mothers are present whenever we need them, and they love us as much as any parents could love their children, I'd say that it's the same as having a father figure there," Arela said.

"Even though our father figure is one of our two mothers," Vaissa said, smiling.  "They both love each other very much, and you can tell that they do.  Mama is so much better off with Mother than she was with that bad man that tried to take her when we were little."

"Vaissa, I--" Rinendra began to say, but it was already too late.

"What bad man?" Danalnor asked, the flames on his tails burning a little hotter than before.

[SpringsSong]

"He... he's our mother's nephew," Rinendra said.  "And, once upon a time, Mama was engaged to him--"

"Okay, let me see if I'm following, real fast," Daybe said.  "When you say 'Mother', or 'our mother', you mean one mother, but when you say 'Mama' or 'our Mama'..."

"...then we mean our other mother," Arela said.  "To make it easier for you, we'll call them by their names: Kanika and Aina.  Aina was the one engaged to Kanika's nephew, but she left him because..."

"I understand," Danalnor said, inclining his head.  "This man obviously did not treat Aina with the respect that she deserved, did he?" he asked, and Rinendra shook her head as she idly looked at a necklace.

"No, he didn't," she said.  "And Aina--Mama--has the scars to prove it..."

[SpringsSong]

It was evident in the body language of all three men that they did not approve of the actions against these girls' mother.  Dyabe's tails fluffed out, Medos frowned and began pacing, and Danalnor's tail flames were beginning to form one ball of flame.  After a few moments, Rinendra broke the silence.

"He hasn't been around since we were children," she explained.  "He tried to take the three of us, claiming that we were 'rightfully his children', and then, he attacked Kanika--Mother.  He kept going on about how he stole his sister and his mate from her..."

"Sounds to me like Kanika saved Aina and... uh... his sister," Danalnor said.  "Has anyone ever tried, you know... stopping him?" he asked.

"Tried, yes.  Succeeded?  No," Arela said in a manner-of-factly tone.  "He seems to think that women are nothing more than servants to him, and will stop at nothing to keep that as a reality."