.~Edelsteine~. Zhijian's Journal by Meepfur

[Meepfur]

Shop(ping) RP: God of Light my...
Seppa and Illumin
880

Meepfur

The wingzelle strolled casually through the marketplace, but she wasn't shopping...not anymore, anyway, because she'd already found something she was quite taken with, despite the terribly unfair price the vendor had insisted on extracting from her. The pouch that hung around her neck was noticably lighter than it had been when she arrived, but the metal mage put it easily from her mind, focusing instead on her purchase with a satisfied purr.

Hanging in the air a few inches in front of her was a scarab made of some strange metal, just the right size to fit comfortably in someone's palm (not that Seppa had any herself). This floating scarab was the source of pleasant preoccupation for the pard, who willed it to spin and turn this way and that so she could look at it from different angles and best let the light catch on the object and its fanciful engravings.

Fortunately for her, the market wasn't exceptionally crowded today, and on top of that it was hard not to notice such an impressively-sized feline; people tended to get out of her way.

Sosiqui

Most people, perhaps, but not Illumin. However, this oversight was not because of divine status, but because even gods sometimes don't look where they are going.

Especially when they feel as though they have been combing through shops for days on end (even if it's only been two hours) and found absolutely nothing like what they were looking for (even if they didn't know exactly what that was).

Hence, Illumin, who was walking and looking mainly in windows of shops, a cloak drawn about him to conceal his wings and light so as to avoid unpleasant questions, stepped directly on the pard's tail.

Meepfur

If it had just been a bump, she would have stepped to the side and kept on her way...but no, someone had to step on her tail. The reaction was automatic, and though Seppa was wickedly intelligent and nearly the size of a horse, she was still a cat, and in that moment she acted no differently than one.

With a pained yowl, she dropped her weight back onto her haunches and pivoted, one huge paw raised and claws unsheathed; however, for all that she looked like she was about ready to strike, she didn't...she was a civilized being, after all.

But that didn't mean she couldn't yell, in her way. Right into the man's mind. "Watch out!"

Much of her dark blue fur stood on end, while her coppery wings flared out in agitation. The scarab she'd been so carefully inspecting, loosed from her hold by the lapse in concentration, dropped to the ground with a clatter.

Sosiqui

Illumin, totally distracted, didn't notice something was wrong until he felt something move under his foot... then flip away, sending him off-balance...

And then, a voice intruding in his mind, which sent him the rest of the way down as the shocked deity forgot to regain his balance. "OUCH! Who said that?!" he yelped, grunting as he hit the ground and all the bruises he'd gotten from Ea immediately started complaining.

Then, he looked up into the eyes of a very, very large... predator. Oh... my. "If you spoke to me - I am sorry I trod on you, but is that any way to behave?!" Illumin burst out, embarassed at being caught off his guard, moreso at being flung to the ground, and exceedingly irritated that something had violated the sanctity of his thoughts.

Meepfur

With the weight off her tail, and therefore the immediate pain, Seppa composed herself somewhat, lowering her raised forepaw. But oh, it did ache something awful now. That throbbing, insistently aggravating sort of ache.

Sitting gingerly, tail curling around herself, she gave this two-legger who'd stepped on her a brief looking-over with bright green eyes. "You startled me."

Her ears, each pierced with three hoops, fell back slightly, and her gruff mind-voice was tinged with sheepishness. "Sorry, it was reflex."

Sosiqui

Illumin just stared for a minute. "Really... can't you talk normally? That's very... intrusive," he complained, rubbing at the side of his head. It felt wrong to have a... a voice in there that wasn't his host. "What are you, anyway?"

Meepfur

"Nope," she replied simply, unapologetic...that was just how things were. "I haven't got the right sort of vocal chords for it."

"And I'm a pard, a wingzelle to be exact." Seppa leaned forward some, sniffing. "And what are you? You smell...different from anyone I've ever met. Strange, but not unpleasant."

Sosiqui

Illumin rolled his eyes. "Fine, then," he said, grumpily, and stood up, feeling every ache on the way. All his bruises and muscle strains from his practice had been reawakened, it seemed. Wonderful.

"A pard, huh? Never heard of you," he said, though with more curiosity than dismissal. "As for me, I am Illumin, God of Light." He smirked.

Meepfur

"Not been around long?" she nosed curiously. "There are quite a few of us here. I'm surprised you've never even heard of us." A little pride to this cat, maybe...but then, that wasn't exactly unusual.

"A god, are you?" Seppa tilted her head, giving him a long, appraising look that turned incredulous. "Hmmm."

Sosiqui

"I do not normally go out," Illumin admitted. "Until recently, our temple home provided all we required, before it became fouled, but you do not need to know about that." And I will be damned to fade again if I explain that one. more. time, he added, mentally.

"And yes, a god," Illumin repeated, a bit peeved at the creature's reaction. "Not yet fully ascended, but a god nevertheless."

Meepfur

"And I'm not interested in knowing, and so we are both spared that explanation." So maybe she was a little curious, but if he was going to be condescending, she didn't have to indulge him.

With her tail flicking curiously behind her, Seppa stood and padded closer - close enough that he might feel his personal space was being invaded - bright eyes staring into his as she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent again and wrinkling her nose. "Maybe you are a god, maybe not. You are a strange one, that's for certain."

Sosiqui

Illumin scowled. "What do you mean, maybe not? Feh... such ignorance and insolence," the god huffed. Illumin's glow increased in response to his irritation, shining through the cloth of his cloak and haloing his face in the overflow. "If you come to the Edelsteine shop, you will see many, many gods, all clawing towards the ascension that belongs to them and them alone, and we will topple your false lords," he added, a spark of pride in his bright gaze.

Meepfur

"And how am I to know?" Seppa retorted. "So you glow, so you have the arrogance, but that doesn't make you anything at all."

"You would have me seek gods in a shop? Do you enchant trinkents, then, for the easily awed?" Her wings bristled, then resettled themselves. "I'm a practical cat...Illumin. And being practical means being skeptical, not gullible. I would not be so stupid as to fall under the spell of a false lord."

Sosiqui

"Of course not," Illumin huffed. "Our Lord Harmodius, the Twin Crown of Creation and Destruction, offers forth jewels to those who feel drawn to His presence. When... the gods faded long ago, our Lord enclosed their essence within gems so that all glory would not go from the world, and now given the body and will of a host we can be reborn. Even so," and he tapped the gem embedded into the flesh on the left side of his neck. "If you don't believe me, go and see, and then tell me whether your skepticism holds."

As much as Illumin didn't like Destruction, after all - he had to admit that this aspect of the Twin Crown was uniquely imposing, and that while the shop's lower floors were not to his taste, they were more sepulcheral and temple-like than previously.

Meepfur

"Your story seems credible, at least...it doesn't have the ring of some concocted tale." Her eyes narrowed, wrinkling her furred brow as she considered. "But regardless, potential higher powers aren't my concern."

She swished her tail in a sort of shrug. "Bowing to some distant being's glory doesn't interest this smith, particularly if they can't even be bothered to notice when they're stepping on someone."

Sosiqui

"Then your life will surely be cold and dark," Illumin said, bluntly. "I have apologized for the accident, and I owe you nothing more - though I do hope the rest of your race aren't as foolish. Good day to you."

With that, Illumin turned with a swirl of cloak and stalked back into the crowds, blending in quickly - though a small card dropped from where he had been standing. It bore the name, and address, of the shop.

Meepfur

To that, Seppa didn't deign to reply...although one benefit of mindspeech was that she could probably yell at him rather well despite his losing himself in the crowd. Of course, it might spill over into the crowd...part of the reason she didn't do it, depite a certain amount of vindictiveness.

As for the card, she did give it a curious look-over, but she didn't actually take it. She could have skewered it with a claw, maybe, then carried it in her mouth, but she didn't care that much. Since when did gods have business cards, anyway?

What she did care about was her scarab. Where had that blasted thing gone?

[Meepfur]

1351

A few days after her abrupt meeting with Illumin, who called himself God of Light, Seppa had retreated inside Sabah's vast home, disconcerted and frustrated by the unnaturally darkened sky. It was afternoon for crying out loud, but there wasn't any afternoon light to be had.

Nor, as a matter of fact, had there been any morning light, and she was doubting there'd be much in the way of twilight either. Normally, the pard's concerns tended to be on the mundane side of things, but when you started messing with things like day and night and the color of the sky, she wanted to know why; and she also wanted to know what or who was behind it, so that she could give them a piece of her mind.

And a piece of Seppa's mind could be a fearsome thing indeed. Her tail lashed behind her as she padded down a long corridor, the dark wood of the floor covered down the center by a dark red carpet. The hall was lit by a series of fantastically-styled lamps, emitting dim light without bulb or flame. Such dramatic setting wasn't really to her personal taste, but at least it wasn't tasteless...and hey, it was home.

Coming to the door at the end, she raised a paw and brought it down on the handle, her weight pushing the door open enough that she had time to use that same paw to hit it all the way open. The door swung slowly, so she didn't even have to hurry to keep it from closing on her tail. Most of the doors in this house had been designed that way purposely, as Seppa was far from the only pard who lived here or came in and out, and while she could open just about any door with a metal handle or knob, the rest of the small pride didn't have that particular capability.

Oh, so maybe metal as a specialty didn't sound terribly exciting or impressive, didn't carry with it the imagery of something like storms or dreams, but unlike those, at least it was conventionally useful on a day-to-day, waking basis - the door thing, for example, and being able to handle money despite having no hands. Being a practical sort, she appreciated the advantages of such a dull-sounding calling as being a metal mage.

The room she'd entered was a little better lit than the corridor, and in additioned to more of the enchanted wall sconces, there was an actual fire here, contained to a fireplace of darkly-swirled marble - Louis XV in style apparently, not that Sep particularly cared. It was just something someone had said, and it'd stuck in her head.

Slightly to the left of the room, which was just barely rectangle instead of square, sat a heavy, paw-footed table that had only one chair to go with it. In that chair was Sabah, her...employer, of sorts. It was difficult to find a word that quite fit what the heavily-robed woman was to Seppa: a little bit employer, a little bit colleague, a little bit benefactor. The wingzelle had long since stopped making the effort to explain it, even to herself. The sorceress simply...was what she was.

Underneath the dark, subtly patterned robes was a woman relatively small in stature, and frail in body. Pale blue eyes were set in a thin face, framed by whispy strands of long, white-blonde hair. Her hands were pale, and her fingers long and thin, ending in long and brittle nails; except for the smallest finger of her left hand, which ended just before where the first knuckle should have been. Just how Sabah had lost it, Seppa didn't know...nor did she really care to ask.

"Ah, Seppa, there you are." Her voice almost didn't fit her body, strong and smooth as it was; but it fit her eyes, sharp and full knowledge, and it fit Sabah. She smiled, dark lips curving at the corners; she didn't have any dimples. "Have you seen Albion? I believe he's been looking for you."

"No, I haven't," The mage's mind-voice was edged with faint annoyance. It wasn't that she had anything against Albion himself, he was a nice enough pard, but he insisted on being in love with her, and Seppa didn't do love.

"Well, you might see if you can find him," Sabah replied, knowing full well what the situation between the two was. "It looked as though he had something for you."

"Wonderful." Although it was anything but, in her opinion. Gifts from her admirer were nothing but awkward. "Well, maybe I'll run into him." No way she was actually going to go looking for him...that might give him entirely the wrong impression. "But if you'll excuse me, I've got something I want to take a closer look at."

Sabah nodded, and Sep trotted past her, headed for yet another door. On her way across the room, she nodded a greeting to Hiljaisuus, a fellow pard of the more standard winged variety. The big male was resting in his usual spot, situated comfortably on a very large and very pretty pillow, its designs faintly oriental.

It was usually a safe bet that wherever Sabah was, 'Suus would be as well. A pard of no magic and very few words, he was fiercely loyal to the woman; for some reason neither of the two ever disclosed, he felt he owed her a debt, and so he stayed with her, maybe to wait for his chance to repay her. Whatever the reason, he'd willingly become a sort of body servant to her.

'Suus returned her nod, and Seppa opened the door, leaving the warm room behind her. She had the scarab to inspect, still.

After passing through another room, Seppa emerged into an inner courtyard of sorts, open to the air. She looked up with a grimace at the still-dark sky and shook her head, padding on down the center path, around a small, lion-guarded fountain.

Unfortunately for her, there was someone else on the other side, a brown-and-white wingzelle called Ashoka. She was just...standing there.

"Oh...hello, 'Oka," Seppa said, friendly enough, but sounding preoccuppied, and looking like she was in a hurry to get somewhere, even continuing on past her. So she wasn't, really, but the less time she spent around the prophet, the happier she'd be. Ashoka was, well...strange, to say the least. So maybe it wasn't her fault, given her gift and all, but knowing that didn't make being around her any more comfortable.

Besides, the last thing Sep wanted was -

"Smith." The tone of that single word was enough to make Seppa hesitate, and that was long enough for Ashoka to get started. "How do you forge a god?"

"Uh...no clue, sorry." The mage turned her head to see the other wingzelle staring at her through unfocused bi-colored eyes. She didn't like that look, not at all, but it froze her where she was, kept her eyes on the skewbald pard.

"I can tell you," the other offered, and with no wait she continued on, voice choppy and quick, "Heat it, hammer it, cool it on the water."

"What, the god?" It was out before Sep could quite help it.

"No." 'Of course not' was left hanging in the air, unspoken. "The soul."

"Oh..right..." This was making less and less sense as it went on; which was saying something, because it hadn't made sense to begin with. Very carefully, and quickly, Seppa started to move backwards. "Look, Ashoka, it was really nice talking to you, but I've...got something to do." And with that, she turned and fled as quickly as a walk could take her.

She'd just reached the next door by the time Ashoka called her name, sing-song. Laying her ears back, Seppa put paw to handle.

"Seppa~!" Again. And then "Beware the Long King."

Seppa pushed the door open and started down the hall at a run, but she couldn't quite run fast enough to escape the prophet's laughter.

[Meepfur]

Seppa

This is turning out to be one of those weeks when I should have just stayed in my room. Maybe I will, for the rest of it. Then I could just be in peace and quiet and not have to deal with anyone, or look up at the damn sky.

First, there was that glowing, arrogant piece of work in the marketplace who stepped on my tail and nearly made me lose my scarab (and after I spent what I did on it!). I'll be perfectly glad if I never see him again. Honestly, can't anyone look where they're going? Especially someone who makes such a big deal out of being a god. If he is, all the more reason he'd better learn to pay more attention!

Really, I'm still not sure whether to believe him or not. What sort of gods live a shop and have business cards, anyway?

Well, I doubt I'll be seeing him again, so it's nothing worth continuing to brood over.

Another benefit to holing up in my room is that maybe, just maybe, I can avoid Albion for awhile. Apparently he's got something for me. I really wish he'd stop giving me things and looking so hopeful. It's awkward.

And Ashoka. Dammit. Sometimes she's perfectly good company, other times she's just plain weird, and that's not even when she's spouting off about something. And even when she is, at least usually it makes some kind of sense, and it's nothing really important, either...okay, so she was right about Amsi and Donovan and spawn, but that was pleasant.

What she said yesterday, though...that was different. It was creepy, and it made some of the least sense I've ever heard. If you're going to try and give someone a warning, coherence would be a plus. Honestly. I guess I'll just be extra careful next time I run into a long king, whatever the hell that is.

I know I shouldn't hold it against her, because she can't help her gift, but i's still frustrating. And it...bothers me the way it's made her, not that I've known her any other way. I don't like that it's probably what's made her crazy.

I'm damn glad it's not me, though.

[Meepfur]

539

Stupid. Sky.

Two days later and she was absolutely, heartily sick of it. She wanted it to be DONE with already. She wanted a blue sky again, with sunshine streaming through fluffy white clouds. Not...this.

With a heavy sigh, Seppa kept walking, on her way back to the house from the stables. One of the locks had needed fixing again, because it seemed the siirae took some kind of pleasure in breaking them just to give her more work to do.

While she brooded under the dark sky, tail brushing the drying grass behind her as she walked, someone else was coming in the opposite direction. She didn't notice at first, but Albion and his bright yellow wings were hard to miss for long.

He'd spotted her long before she'd spotted him, however, and had already angled his path to intercept her...and now that she'd clearly seen him, she couldn't just take off and pretend she hadn't. Damn.

The winged pard approached with a spring in his step and a mouth full of something that hampered his bright smile. When he was close enoguh to speak, he set the object down gently, taking great care with it.

"Seppa," he greeted her fondly, beaming, his blue eyes lingering over her form in unmasked adoration.

Seppa shifted her weight from one forepaw to the other, uncomofrtable already. "Hello, Albion."

Though her voice was strained, Albi took absolutely no notice of it, and proceeded with a rather inappropriate, "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Albion, have you even looked looked at the sky lately?"

"What?" He blinked, then ducked his head sheepishly. "Oh, that. Yes, of course. I just meant that, umm...well, with you here, it's hard to look at anything else," he fumbled.

Ears tilting back in embarassment, more for him than for herself, Seppa didn't reply, just looked away a little.

"Well, I can see you're busy, so I'll just leave this here for you." Albion nudged the hard, greenish object with one paw. "I found it the other day, and I thought you might like it." After taking a moment to look proud of himself, and mumbling an anxious 'goodbye,' he rushed off, continuing on his way to wherever he'd been going in the first place.

Once he was out of earshot, Seppa sighed with relief. He was so painfully awkward in his sincerity, and he really seemed to have no idea whatsoever that she wasn't interested in him.

And now she had another gift to add to her growing collection of trinkets from him. Stepping forward, she bent her head to inspect it, genuinely curious. It was stone of some sort, intricately carved in the shape of an Eastern-style dragon, and in its coils it clutched another stone, this one round, swirled with white, green, and brown.

With only a slight twinge of guilt, Seppa rolled it fastidiously in the dry grass for a minute, in an effort to make sure she wouldn't be sharing Albi's saliva. That done, she took it up in her own mouth. It fit well enough in her jaws, but it was uncomfortable with all of its uneven edges.

The sooner she got back and put this thing down, the better.

[Meepfur]

1048

Somehow, it seemed like the longer she carried it, the more uncomfortable having the gem in her mouth became, like the dragon was slowly digging its claws into the roof of her mouth. This went on for the whole walk back, until uncomfortable finally became painful.

Shaking her head, she spat the stone out onto the grass - or would have, but all she spat out was blood. Even as her eyes widened in shock, the gradual increase in discomfort ceased to be gradual, as suddenly there was an unbearable pressure against the roof of her mouth, which then actually gave way as the stone sank into it.

Seppa could feel it sink into the tissue, anchor itself and meld there. With a muffled, gasping cry of disbelief and pain, she told herself she was imagining things, tried again to spit out the gem. But it was lodged there, the dragon's mane scraping and cutting her tongue.

She reeled back, stumbled and fell. Whatever this was, whatever was happening, it couldn't be happening. It couldn't it couldn't it COULDN'T.

Desperate for the pain to stop, for this to stop, the pard clawed at her own muzzle for a delirious moment until she realized what she was doing and stopped, falling utterly still except for her heaving sides and panting tongue. As coppery blood trickled from her mouth, Seppa felt a surge of fear that not even the darkened sky had been able to draw from her.

For nearly ten minutes, Seppa simply lay there, until her shaking died down and her panting calmed, and the pain in her mouth became a throbbing ache. Her senses came back to her then, and she stood slowly, swaying.

Maybe she just hadn't being paying attention...maybe she'd just closed her mouth around it too hard, lodged the stone in her mouth. It was possible, wasn't it? But if that wasn't the case...

With a shake of her head, which she immediately regretted, she started towards the house again, slowly at first; once her steps were sure, she broke into a quick lope up the path to the door. She had to see Sabah.

Once inside, the part practically barreled through the corridors, taking the familiar way to the sorceress faster than she ever had before - luckily for her, there was no one walking the halls to run into.

Her paw connected hard with the door handle, her momentum flinging the door open into the room with the fireplace. Sabah was there, in her her chair as usual, but isntead of Hiljaisuus, there was Narasingh, the seer. They'd been discussing something, Narasingh bent over his tablet, writing his half of the exchange.

Both looked up at the mage's abrupt entrance, and Sabah frowned, blue eyes narrowing in question. Something very clearly wasn't right with the wingzelle, whose blue muzzle was bloodied. When Seppa glanced at Narasingh, uneasily, Sabah noticed. "Narasingh, go. Please."

His silver gaze lingered on Seppa, but after a moment, he nodded and did as the woman had requested, leaving through the other door. It wasn't as though he couldn't See what went on if he wanted to (and probably would), but it was the principle of the matter, and the two didn't get along in the first place.

With Narasingh gone, Seppa approached and sat close in front of her friend, ears cast back in an expression of quiet distress.

Gently, Sabah reached out, placing her hands to either side of Sep's face. Her thumbs stroked the soft fur of the pard's cheeks, soothing. "Tell me what it is, my friend."

"It's..." she hesitated, unsure of how to explain, but with an encouraging look from Sabah, she continued anyway. "The stone that...that Albi gave me. It's..it's stuck. In my mouth."

"May I see?"

With a slight nod, Seppa tilted her head up and opened her mouth as Sabah slipped on hand under her jaw. The other came up to feel gingerly at her mouth, running over the stone and feeling the edges of where it had sunken in.

Even the gentle inspection made Seppa wince. Mind-voice heavy, she asked, "It wasn't just an accident wasn't? I didn't just hold it too tightly."

"It doesn't seem so, I'm afraid." Sabah frowned, finally leaving off her inspection and letting Seppa close her mouth again.

"Do you have any idea what is, then? And how to get it out?" There was a glimmer of hope, even a little of pleading, in those green eyes. It hurt so much.

"I have...a suspicion." The woman sighed, gentle hands encouraging Seppa to rest her head in her lap, which the tired pard did, allowing deft fingers to sink into her fur and stroke her. "That is more than some pretty carving; it holds a kind of power in it that I can feel, and it's a kind of power I haven't felt in...a very long time indeed."

Fingers slid up to scratch at the base of Seppa's ears. "I can't be sure, but this seems to fit something I have heard whispers of, particularly of late."

"Tell me, my smith," her voice was fond, almost a little sad, "have you ever heard of the Edelsteine?"

"No," she replied almost automatically, but then she paused. The man who'd stepped on her tail, and dropped the card.. "Wait, yes..I have. I met someone the other day, he dropped a card with that name on it. It's a shop, isn't it?"

"It's called that, yes. Do you know where it is?"

"It was on the card.." Seppa wrinkled her brow, trying to recall what it had said. "Yes, I think so. Why?"

"You should go there." One hand stroked the top of her head. "You might find the answer to this there."

"You think so?"

"It is possible, and if nothing else, it is a start." A pat, soft and fond. "Oh, and Seppa...in the meantime, whatever you do, don't try to remove the stone."

"Alright.." She was curious as to why, but she trusted Sabah's judgement, and it rang true. Besides, as much as the stone had hurt going in, and as much as it hurt right now...she didn't want to think what it would feel like coming out.

[Meepfur]

Shop RP: Not who I wanted to see, not what I wanted to hear.
Seppa/Zhiji and Illumin
over 1k

Meepfur

It had taken a little longer to find the place than she'd expected, as she seemed to have remembered the name of the street wrong, but eventually, Seppa did find the shop...and that frustrating delay had given her time to think more; and, consequently, get more and more frustrated.

Partly because her mouth still hurt, even if she was slowly starting to get used to it, but also because of something she'd remembered on her way here. That something was frightening, and being frightened was one thing Seppa sincerely hated and tried to deny being.

But she couldn't shake it, not this time. Although Sabah had told her to come here, that she might find something out...she hadn't connected it right away to what the man had said the other day. About gods' essences in gems, given a host...and the jewel embedded in his neck.

As she willed the handle on the door to turn and pushed it open, she felt faintly sick.

Sosiqui

Illumin was, amazingly enough, downstairs. Since the sky had changed and twilight descended, his large windows were now much more disquieting than comforting. Eibhilin was up there now fitting massive damask curtains to the formerly never-covered windows, and when she was On A Task there was no getting in her way. Even the gods must stay well clear.

Not that downstairs was a whole lot better, but at least he couldn't see the sky very well. Still, the god was very fidgety, pacing back and forth in the entryway, staying away from the dais area. He looked up quickly when the door opened... and then, when he saw who it was, blinked and started to laugh. "I didn't think you'd come here," he said, with a toss of his hair. "Come to investigate? I warn you, some of the gods will bite back worse than I..." He watched with chill amusement in his eyes. This should be most interesting.

Meepfur

That...was the last person she wanted to see. Tail lashing behind her, she laid her ears back testily. And he had the nerve to laugh.

Seppa bristled and hissed, opened mouth revealing a tongue cut and bleeding. "Come to find out what the hell is going on."

Sosiqui

Illumin stopped pacing and leaned against the bannister of the stairs that led up to the second floor, and raised one eyebrow at the pard. "Calm down," he said, indolently. "The only goddess capable of healing isn't here. Is that all you wanted? Perhaps you should try a veterinarian."

Meepfur

"If I wanted a healer, I'd go to my own kind." Seppa paced forward, stifling a frustrated growl. "I want answers. I want to know what this damn rock is doing in my mouth, and I want it gone."

Calm was a hard thing to do, at the moment.

Sosiqui

Okay, now Illumin was confused. "I have no idea what you mean," he said, bluntly. "If you can possibly explain yourself clearly, please do so - the world is bad enough as it is without my getting yelled at by large cats. What rock?"

Meepfur

At first, his confusion was frustrating too, but finally she shook herself mentally, realizing she was getting nowhere. Her fur smoothed somewhat, and she looked up at him desperation in her bright eyes.

"It's carved, it looks like a dragon, holding another stone. And it's stuck." She didn't know how else to explain it, other than show him. Shaking her head, she moved closer and opened her jaws wide, tilting her head back. Half-buried in the roof of her mouth was what she'd described, at an unfortunate angle that meant the dragon's horns and a fair bit of its mane would scrape against her tongue.

Sosiqui

Illumin stared... then started to laugh again, though not unkindly this time. "Who told you to come here? It looks like it might have been a good idea that you did - where did you get that gem?"

It was rather delicious irony, but now that the pard seemed placed firmly in 'host' territory, Illumin's vague diplomacy kicked in. In fact, didn't it make him even MORE noble to be kind to someone who was nasty to him? Surely so.

Meepfur

"It's not funny," she muttered gruffly into his mind. "It hurts." Her ears canted back again in half-hearted annoyance.

"A friend of mine told me to, Sabah." Paws shuffling, Seppa sat back on her haunches. "And Albion gave it to me, I don't know where he found it. But he was carrying it around for days and didn't have a problem."

Sosiqui

"Unless I miss my mark..." Illumin reached forward, then hesitated. "May I touch the gem? That way, I will know for sure."

Meepfur

After a moment, Seppa shrugged her wings. There wasn't any reason not to let him, and if it meant knowing for certain.. "Go for it, then."

She opened her mouth again, tail swishing slowly back and forth over the floor behind her. "I won't bite, promise."

Sosiqui

Illumin cautiously reached for the pard's mouth, being extremely careful not to touch the tongue, and placed the tip of one finger on the gem. Immediately, he was aware of an unmistakable sense of power similar to his own, in a way. How could anyone not notice this?

Then again, many mortals seemed able to miss it. Perhaps it was something only other gods could reliably detect. He withdrew his hand and nodded to Seppa. "It is as I thought. The gem is an Edelsteine jewel, the remains of a god awaiting rebirth, and it seems to have chosen you as its host..." He wondered what god it was. It was hard to tell anything from its appearance alone, with it so inset into the pard's flesh, especially in that particular location.

Meepfur

Closing her mouth again, Seppa shut her eyes and hung her head. "What does that mean for me, and can I...can it be taken out?"

She seemed to have calmed for now, tired and clinging to a stubborn hope.

Sosiqui

Illumin shook his head. "It cannot," he said, the tone of his voice unreadable. After all, it wouldn't do to seem inordinately amused at the creature's fate, even if he was. The irony was wonderful.

They call their perfect hosts, and then eat them up. Chomp, chomp... The memory rang through his mind for a moment.

"The deity you now bear will... take you. Everything - body, mind, and eventually soul - as fuel for a glorious rebirth and return to their former state of power. It is a gradual change, but it cannot be stopped once it has begun," Illumin explained, carefully, watching for the pard's reaction. "As for why this did not happen to the others who came in contact with the stone, the deity chooses his or her perfect host..."

Meepfur

"No.." Seppa raised her head, eyes wide...horrified, disgusted, denying. "NO!"

What calm she might have had for that short while was gone, replaced with anger, despair. With a violent shake of her head, she yowled, loud and ragged, claws coming unsheathed and dragging across the floor in front of her. "You call this glorious?!"

"To take, to steal what isn't yours? To murder and worse, and without so much as a by your leave?!"

Sosiqui

Illumin frowned at her. "Don't get angry at me. I asked my host. She was fully aware of what it meant. Blame the god who took without asking, if you like, but leave me out of it."

Meepfur

Panting, Seppa sagged to the floor, lips curled in a silent snarl, head bent so that her nose touched ashy ground. "But I don't want to die, Illumin."

Sosiqui

Inside, Illumin softened a bit. This was enough penance - let it never be said that he was an unjust and wholly unforgiving god. He gave her a sympathetic look. "It is not... death... not exactly, and perhaps the god within will set apart a place for you as I did for my host, before she decided to fully merge of her own free will." He did not mention other circumstances - Morpheus, Panacea... where things had gone differently. Why scare the creature more?

"It is something you must speak with your deity about," he said, more gently. "Whoever it is, is alive within the jewel." He hesitated. "If you like, I could try to speak with them, though I would need to touch the gem again. Or you yourself could try to focus on the mind within. I assure you, there is one." Something inside Illumin squirmed, though. This was close, too close, to what he'd done with Memi, and it brough up all kinds of conflicted feelings about the rightness of that act.

Meepfur

She lifted her head, twitching away the ash that clung to her whiskers. Her ears dropped to the sides, and a shudder ran through the antlered cat, taking the immediate burn of anger with it and leaving her with the bitter aftertaste.

"I don't...want to talk to him." Him? Well, whatever, it didn't matter. But she didn't want to talk to him. She wanted the god to stay nameless, silent, easier to be angry with. Easier to hate. "Not now."

Sosiqui

Illumin shrugged. "Then don't. Though I suggest you do so eventually, but it makes no difference to me. You'll want to come back here more often though, of course. To be among your own kind." He grinned at her, and there was something wild in the expression. "The world is changing, I'm sure you've noticed."

Meepfur

"Thank you, for the...help." It was nearly a whisper, and a grudging one at that, but it was nonetheless sincere. "My...own kind? Oh. Right."

"The sky's gone all wrong. Everything's...gone all wrong." Her ears flicked forward, curious. "You know what's happening?"

Sosiqui

"It is Destruction's taint... the Twin Crown of Creation and Destruction dwells here." Illumin made a sweeping gesture towards the flame-backed throne, visible at the other end of the shop's first story. "When I came here, Creation held sway, but the Creator of All also bears a second aspect. Most gods do - there are two of Love, holding sway over different aspects of their element. I myself have... had... a sister Light, who commands it in a different way. But within Lord Harmodius, both aspects are combined... usually."

Illumin sighed. "I will not explain the whole thing, you can look it up in the library or somesuch," he muttered. "But, in short, something pushed our Lord over to the Destruction side of the spectrum, and now his power is complete and he is making himself known to all mortals."

Meepfur

"Taint's a good word for it," Seppa agreed, following Illumin's gesture with her eyes. Ash and flame in here, a changed sky outside. Would the ash and flame work their way outside, as well? She hoped not. And whatever happened, she hoped her friends would be alright. Surely Sabah would be able to take care of them.

"Not exactly subtle, is he?" The humor was dry and halfhearted, but it was an improvement.

Sosiqui

"No, not particularly." Illumin sighed. "We are seeking to return balance to our Lord - one among us is out searching for the solution even as we speak - but it is an arduous task. If it helps, I don't like this any more than you do." The god looked pensive, and twitchy. "Light and Destruction are not friends."

Meepfur

At least they were trying to do something about it...that gave them a few points in Seppa's book, at least, despite her feelings about the whole affair. "I'd think not, since he seems to have gotten rid of most of it."

There was actually a fleeting look of sympathy in her expression. If she was uncomfortable with the lack of real daylight...

Sosiqui

"Perhaps the deity you bear will be able to help," Illumin said, finally, his wings rustling lightly. "Once you have discovered his or her nature, you may know more. There is an excellent library upstairs for research." Oh, how he hoped this newly awakened one was something that could assist.

Meepfur

"Perhaps." Could something good possibly come from all this? Or was the way he'd taken her an indication of what he was like?

At his mention of the library and research, Seppa's lips curled in a sort of grin, and she lifted a paw. "I'm afraid I'm not much good at turning pages. I've never quite figured out how to do it without crinkling them terribly."

Sosiqui

"Ah... of course." Illumin inclined his head in a vaguely apologetic gesture. "Well, there is Gianfar, Knowledge. He is the library's keeper, and I'm sure he would be delighted to assist you."

He peered curiously at the pard's mouth, again, as if looking right past her to the gem within. "Are you sure you don't want to try to talk to it? Find out something?" Ugh, this was maddening. Illumin really, really wanted to know who this was, now.

Meepfur

"A god turning pages for a cat?" Something about that was faintly amusing. She might just have to see about it.

Pushing herself up into a sit again, Seppa shuffled her forepaws. She was gradually feeling more sensible, and realized exactly why she didn't want to talk to whoever this was...and just how childish and stupid that was.

"...Alright."

Sosiqui

"Very well, then... do you want to try and, er, talk to it... with your thoughts, and all, or should I try it? I'll have to touch the jewel again, but you are quite obviously already touching it," Illumin added.

Meepfur

"You, please. If you don't mind." The god really had wound up in a very awkward and inconvenient place. She wondered if they'd realized. "I know it's not the first place most people would want to put their hand."

She'd talk to him herself eventually, maybe...but she knew her own temper, and right now she didn't trust it. If Illumin agreed, she'd open her mouth again for him.

Sosiqui

"Very well... I will need to touch it a bit more than before, though. Be careful, I'm attached to my hand," he added, wryly. Illumin stepped up to the pard and pushed back the translucent fabric from one arm, then waited for her.

Meepfur

"Nothing to worry about, I've never had a taste for them." Tilting her head back, she opened her mouth, tail flicking patiently behind her. "They're much too bony to bother with."

Sosiqui

"How reassuring," Illumin said dryly, then reached in, feeling for the smooth surface of the gem, surprised at the roughness of whatever was twined around it. Then, he concentrated, much as he had with Panacea's jewel.

Greetings... whoever you may be? I am Illumin, God of Light. And you are?

Meepfur

"I try." She quieted then, letting him do whatever it was he was doing.

Something stirred, slowly. Who..? Light? There was a fuzziness to the voice, almost like a yawn. Hello, Illumin.

I am Zhijian, Ying Long, Fangbridle. The dragon sounded pleasant enough, if...sleepy.

Sosiqui

Illumin jumped a bit, startled, then gave Seppa an apologetic look, hoping he hadn't inadvertantly bumped a sore spot. "A male god... Zhijian? He calls himself.... Ying Long..."

Illumin's gaze flicked to the dragon statues. Are you a dragon king, Ying Long? Your chosen host is somewhat displeased with your choice of fusing location, I daresay...

Meepfur

The pard winced a little, but she was careful to keep her mouth open. "Ying...Long?" That last was familiar, it was...what had Ashoka said? "The Long King.."

Yes. He was quiet for a moment, then, puzzled. I didn't...choose. I felt her, and took my chance. Where is it that I've put myself?

Sosiqui

"Ying Long," Illumin repeated, feeling a little disoriented by having not one but two voices in his head. "He is a Dragon King... one of Lord Harmodius' nine must favored and special princes..."

She is a... er... very large hunting cat, Zhijian, Illumin tried to explain. Her only means of lifting objects is through her mouth, and it is there you have fused, to the roof. The gem abrades her tongue and gums, it seems.

Meepfur

"A favored prince, is he? A Dragon King...he doesn't sound like an ordinary god." Not titled with a domain or influence...so just what did that make him?

A hunting cat? He gave a faint, amused chuckle. She is a strange cat, then...there is some kind of power in her I'm not familiar with.

His amusement faded, though, to a certain amount of sheepishness. Have I? I sound...painful. I do not mean to be.

Sosiqui

"No... no, he isn't. The Dragon Kings hold power second only to Our Lord... and they serve him," Illumin said, almost reluctantly. So the Dragon Kings were awakening... would they support Destruction's rise, oppose their attempt to bring back balance? Or would they help? It was an uncomfortable wild card. "This one titles himself Fangbridle, though I'm not sure what that means."

It seems you are. She bleeds some, Illumin admitted to the dragon. Aloud, he said, "He seems sorry for the pain he has caused you, that his gem rests in an inconvinient place. This one seems a thoughtful god. You should do well."

Meepfur

"Powerful servants.." Seppa mused, thoughtful. So, this Zhijian was actually higher in the hierarchy of things than Light? Hmm. "Fangbridle...I can't say I know what it means, either."

I will have to apologize. I have felt she is angry, though, and she has fought me even without knowing she does so. It is why I haven't tried to speak with her, he admitted, I would prefer to do so when my lady's ire has cooled somehwat.

"He wasn't particularly thoughtful about this whole business to begin with," she griped, nose wrinkling.

"I'm sorry, Illumin, but I don't know how much longer I can keep my mouth open." It was getting dry and rather uncomfortable.

Sosiqui

"It's okay, I'm sure he will speak with you in due time," Illumin said. I will leave you, now. Thank you, Fangbridle - I hope to meet with you in better circumstances.

Without waiting for a reply, Illumin released the gem, and stepped back away from the pard. "There's water in the kitchen if you need some," he said, putting both hands up to his temples and rubbing. All this talking with thoughts was making his head hurt.

Meepfur

When Illumin had withdrawn, Zhijian fell back into a fitful drowse, quiet.

With the god' hand no longer in any 'danger,' Seppa closed her mouth, tongue working uncomfortably against the gem as she tried to get some saliva going again. She didn't fail to notice him rubbing at his head, though. "I'm sorry if that was troublesome."

Sosiqui

Illumin shrugged. " I wanted to know as well... and now I do, at the price of a headache." Indeed, her mental voice was only making it worse. "I believe I will retire to my chambers... there are some upstairs, you know, if you need a place to stay. Lord Harmodius grants them, though now they are somewhat less exciting than they once were." He turned and started up the stairs, then quickly looked back. "He seemed kind," Illumin repeated. "You are fortunate, whether you believe that or not."

Meepfur

"Thank you, Illumin." Seppa nodded, understanding. "Fortunate in my misfortune...perhaps." She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't believe I ever told you, but..I'm Seppa. And I'm sorry for earlier." With that, she turned to find the kitchen...sinks, at least, were something she could manage, and hopefully no one would mind her putting her paws on the countertop...and if they did, well, what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

Sosiqui

Illumin paused, surprised. "Seppa, then... thank you."

With that, he turned and continued up the stairs to his chamber, lost in thought. Hopefully, Eibhilin would have finished the curtains by now.

[Meepfur]

949

RP with UK/Yschadeh

[Meepfur]

727

Seppa was very, very careful to avoid notice when she got home, somewhere around midnight. The mage went in through the back door - the one closest to her room. She still felt a need to be quiet, though; Ixchel's room was just across the hall, and the winged pard was a light sleeper. Not that Izzy was likely to pay all that much attention to someone stirring in the night, but it would be just Sep's luck that for once that wouldn't be the case. Quiet was the way to go.

Much to her relief, she made it inside, down the hall, and into her room without so much as a hitch. With a heavy sigh, she got into her raised bed and settled herself amongst the many pillows, resting her head on a comfortably feather-stuffed one. There was one worry gone at least, or to be more accurate, delayed.

Oh, she'd have to face up to what was happening soon enough, but that could wait until morning. It would better then, she kept telling herself, easier, but she knew it wasn't really true. No matter how long she waited, it was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done.

How did you tell someone you were dying? How could you look them in the eye and face their pain? Watch them break without breaking too?

If only there were another way; if only this wasn't how her death would be. Death...Seppa was beginning to think that it was one thing that would be better without warning. There would be no waiting, no agonizing, no denying and raging against the inevitable. All the useless, fruitless struggling and pain.

Everything would be all for nothing. She could not stop it, slow it, or hurry it. All she could do was know, and wait, and hurt...and watch the ones she loved do the same.

For once in her warm life, Seppa wanted to be alone - truly alone, without friend or family. Alone, she could break; with others around her, she wouldn't be able to allow herself that shattering, for fear that the shards lodge and do them harm.

Seppa would make sure she was the only one who bled.

--

It was two hours after her return home, and Seppa still hadn't fallen asleep, despite feeling worn to her very core. If it was possible to be so tired you couldn't sleep at all, she had reached that point; but that was just some fancy thought, she was sure. Her problem was a mind that couldn't - wouldn't? - be quiet and rest.

She was long past thinking in words. Instead, all her anxiety and despair had whirled itself into a wordless flow, turning her mind into a churning rapid made of everything the past days had been and everything the coming days might be.

Frustrated by the busy silence and her inability to sleep, she shoved her head underneath a pillow, a faint growl forming in her throat. If nothing else, please, just let me sleep! she railed at the confusion in her head. All she wanted was that fleeting, temporary peace.

I am sorry. The voice came faintly, but there was a depth of tone to the far-off words, and an accompanying twinge of guilt.

Maybe if she hadn't been so tired, Seppa would have been startled and angry about being that way. There was anger, true, but it was nothing but a warm ember compared to the flame it might have been. You.

Yes, Lady, it is I. His confession carried with it a sense of reluctance to admit to such a thing; for in admitting it, he was admitting that it had been he to cause her such harm and pain.. That it was he who would one day take her life.

What do you want? So, so tired, and with one more thing to deal with.

To speak with you, if you would countenance such a thing.

No, actually, I wouldn't, she returned, mustering a little of the thorniness she was capable of. Not now, not yet...Zhijian, isn't it? I'm not..ready yet.

There were no words to his reply, but there was a sense of regret; but there was concession also. It would come when the lady was ready, and not before.

You'll know when I am.

[Meepfur]

720

When Seppa finally woke, she blinked bleary eyes at the clock on the wall. It read 4:10, but whether it was AM or PM, she had absolutely no idea. She felt like she'd slept forever and yet not at all, so for all the pard knew, it could just as easily be one or the other.

Rising from her bed with a grown, she stepped down onto the floor and shuffled to the window. She nosed at the part in the curtains and peeked her head through, only to see darkness on the other side of the glass. Destruction. She knew now what the cause of the darkness was, and the name curled her lips.

There were other, more immediate concerns, however, and so she drew back and left the grim view behind her. She still didn't know if it was morning or afternoon, and that in itself prickled at her annoyingly.

Seppa let herself dwell on that annoyance rather than what was to come and what she had to do; but still it pushed down like a weight on her back, unavoidable and impossible to forget.

With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, she opened the door to a blessedly empty hallway. Sabah would be first, provided she didn't run into anyone else on the way.

And thankfully, she found as she padded the halls and rooms, every one she passed through was empty, until she came to the room with the fireplace. There on his pillow was Hiljaisuus, who looked up as the mage entered, and in her chair was Sabah.

No one else. It was a small blessing, at least.

"Seppa. I had wondered when you'd wake." The woman's smile was as fond as ever, but there was a knowing sadness in her voice. "And you stayed away for longer than I thought you would."

"It was only a couple of days," the pard defended with halfhearted grumpiness, walking over to sit with her friend.

There she found a ready hand to stroke her head and help to fend off the sheer ache of it all. "And did you find your answers?"

"Answers I didn't want to hear," she admitted, head bowing under the sorceress' touch. "About a fate I don't want to be mine."

"You knew when you sent me, didn't you?"

"Yes, I knew," Sabah confirmed. "But I will not apologize for sending you to discover for yourself. Can you blame me for not wanting to be the one to tell you such a thing?"

"No, I can't. If anything, I'm glad you weren't the one who told me."

"It would have...tainted things between us, I believe."

"I would never blame you for this!" Seppa protested.

"I know you would not, my friend." She patted the furry head in her lap soothingly. "But the memory would have been a stain."

The pard was about to grumble further, but Sabah headed her off with another question. "What will you do now?"

"I...I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. First I have to tell everyone, but I don't want to. I don't want to say it, or see what it does to them."

"Perhaps you do not have to."

Seppa looked up, green eyes puzzled. "What do you mean? They'll have to know sooner or later, and sooner is probably best."

"I am not saying leave them in the dark. But rather than confront them all with the news, one by one or even all at once, you could simply let it carry. Tell one, and the others will know soon enough."

"It wouldn't spare you speaking to them of it eventually, as I'm sure they would seek you out, but at least they would already know."

"And that's...that's something." It merited serious consideration. "That's definitely something."

"Now then, is there anything else that weighs on you?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it a weight, but I'm...I'm hungry. It hurts so much to try and eat, though." Damn that stone and all its many edges.

"I'll find Satu, then, and send her to you. She may be able to do something about the pain. I'll see that you're given something suitable to eat, as well."

"Thank you." The promise of relief for both hunger and hurt was a great comfort to the weary pard.

[Meepfur]

804

The soft knocking of a paw against her door woke Seppa from the doze she'd fallen into shortly after returning to her room. It took her a few moments to realize who it must be - Satu, whom Sabah had said she would send.

Slowly lifting herself, allowing a moment of stillness so that her head could stop spinning, she went to the door and opened it to allow the healer in, "Hello, Satu."

"Seppa," the fae pard acknowledged as she stepped into the room, soft green eyes narrowing as she wasted no time in scrutinizing the antlered mage. Though Satu was a quiet sort, she was also intent, intense, and all business; she left the bright countenance and cheerful words to her brother. "She said you had need of me." Then, without waiting for a response, "You haven't been eating or sleeping well, have you?"

"No," Seppa answered with some reluctance, not liking to admit when she wasn't feeling well, even to a healer, "I haven't."

"Why is that? Do you know?" Satu continued to eye her patient - what exactly she was seeing or looking for, Sep had no idea.

"I have..." How was she supposed to put it in the first place? "Something lodged in the roof of my mouth, a stone that can't come out."

"So you would like me to remove it?"

"Not that simple - it has to stay, no matter what. I just need help with the pain so I can eat." Very quickly, gone as soon as it had come, a pleading look flitted through Seppa's eyes. She was so tired of it hurting.

"It has to stay?" Satu turned an incredulous eye on the other pard. "Explain, please."

Seppa sighed. She'd been hoping to get away without having to explain. Sabah's words from earlier in the day came back to her, though; it would start here, with Satu, the truth of what was to be Seppa's fate. "The stone holds a god seeking rebirth...rebirth through me. He's fused himself to me, literally; and as I understand it, he'll do the same to my mind and soul. For all I know, he...he's already started. This...process can't be undone, or reversed."

"It will kill me, in the end," she finished, the words laced with bitterness and the faintest trace of resignation.

Satu's brow was wrinkled with thought, and she allowed the story several moments to sink in and be mulled over, before asking simply, "You are certain?"

"Yes." How she hated that is was so! "It has been...confirmed."

"I will see what I can do for you," Satu promised, a flare in her green eyes. Though she would not show or say it, being faced with someone she had no chance of saving twisted like a knife in her core. She was a healer, she was supposed to be able to do this; yet she had been told all she could do was ease the pain. Ease the passing. "Open your mouth, let me see."

It was a request Seppa was quickly becoming used to, and she obeyed it without a word, letting the healer see the source of all that ailed her: the dragon twining around an earthy stone, half-buried in the ridges of tissue that made up the roof of her mouth, the sharp waves of its mane having cut her tongue again and again.

Satu surveyed the damage quietly and carefully. "I can heal the cuts, and the inflammation, but I can't stop the damage from reoccurring. You'll have to come to me, once a day preferably, and I'll heal it. I can also make you numb to the pain there, I think, but that too is someting you'll need to keep coming to me for. Your food should be soft, nothing that requires much in the way of chewing. Understood?"

Seppa nodded. The healer's instructions were perfectly clear, and she was willing to follow them, if it would relieve the physical pains.

"Very good." Satu then went quiet, and an expression of utmost concentration settled on her face as she went about the work of healing Seppa's mouth, coaxing the inflammation down and binding and sealing the many cuts.

When she finished that with a final deep breath, a funny tingling, almost an itch, came to Seppa's mouth, making her blink and twitch her whiskers before she sneezed. She could feel the dragon's mane against her tongue, but there was no answering sting of pain. Whatever Satu had done, it worked. "Thank you."

The fae pard nodded, the ghost of a sad smile on her muzzle. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." With that, she let herself out of the room, and left Seppa to wait for her dinner, which she now had a hope of being able to eat.

[Meepfur]

759

RP with Sarah