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Kimaria33 (18:00:37): Yuma was walking alone. He always walked alone. He didn't have much in common with the felines, felt nothing really for them at all. The only lion he had come to respect was Muroki, though in fairness the King was the only lion he had really taken the time to speak with.
He liked Kainda, but he hadn't seen the wolf for a long time and he was starting to wonder if he'd made the right decision coming here.
But, when he thought back to the life he had led before now, he knew this had been a good change. Yes, he had no other jackals around but he'd never had other jackals around. He was used to it, though he didn't like it.
He gave a gruff sound, paused in his path to give a low, short howl to the sun.
Tahja Estes (18:08:31): Unlike others, Kirara could remember a time when Jackals had been commonplace in these lands, at least as much as the wolves and the birds. She had watched, horror struck, as her parents, friends, and littermates died one by one, disbanded, or were picked off by the vultures that had once held a respctful place in their circle of life. She had vowed to get back at them after seeing how they disrespected the lands, leaving corpses all over as they stuffed themselves full and left the remains to rot. As a pup she had been just another member of the pride, but as time wore on she began to familiarize herself with the duties of a priest(ess) of death, feeling that someone needed to carry on the old ways and give the dead some form of respect.
Tahja Estes (18:08:32):
Somehow she managed to evade the black demons. They had a poorer sense of smell than she did, much, and were unable to track her scent through the halls of the temple. That was how she had been moving about for months now. She'd see the slaves, bring them food where she could, offer some hope, offer companionship to the grieving mothers of those cubs that had been killed, but recently things outside had become more interesting. She spent more and more time learning of the outsiders. Today was no exception, and as the howl sounded, she hesitated briefly before returning it with one of her own. Who was out there, she wondered?
Kimaria33 (18:12:30): His ears pricked up. A howl? A jackal howl? He turned back towards the direction of the temple, shuddered as he thought of those hideous birds now inhabiting it. They were probably watching him now, preparing to let loose his talons if he moved too close.
But a jackal. One of his own....they were there, maybe injured. He hesitated, whined and shifted uneasily from paw to paw.
No, he should go back, find Muroki. But what could Muroki do? He was large, slower. Yuma prided himself on being small and agile. He would have a better chance at out-running them...being carried off in their talons, dropped, broken on the desert rocks.
He shook his head, let his ears droop. What to do? He raised his head again. Gave a howl with a message only a jackal could understand. ~Where are you?~
Tahja Estes (18:17:12): Kirara heard the answer, and being uninjured as she was, she took the chance to move closer now that she was sure of what she'd heard. Rather than answer back with a howl again she focused on drawing nearer for a look at this stranger, maybe a lost member had returned!!
But as she crested one of the small mounds of sand and saw the unfamiliar figure in the distance, her heart dropped a little. It was still good to see another, but she had been hoping it was someone she knew as well.
Still, seeing another of her kind after all this time -did- stir emotions of relief in her that hadn't been touched for weeks.
Kimaria33 (18:21:13): And as she crested the dune he saw her. Her fur looked gold under the sunlight. She could have been an angel rising from the cursed temple. He stepped towards her, momentarily forgetting the danger. His brush of a tail wagged behind him.
One of his own. How long had it been since he had seen another jackal?
He was about to give a yip, remembering just in time that he should keep quiet. His eyes checked the skies for those haunted shapes. Nothing. Odd, perhaps, but Yuma was just glad that they had gone when he needed them to be gone.
He took another few, shaky steps forward, wished he had some way to communicate with her silently.
"I was beginning to think I'd never see another Jackal again." She spoke first, her voice quiet and almost flat, but with a hint of relief to it as she closed the final distance between them herself. "Are you with the others?" She inquired curiously, barely shifting the tones of her voice to do so. One could guess that she was the type of person that didn't get easily emotionally stirred.
Kimaria33 (18:49:41): He didn't know what to say. A lump was in his throat. He was trorn between joy and fear, not knowing if this might be the last time he saw another jackal again. He opened his mouth, let his tail do the speaking for him.
"There are others." He replied, finally. "No jackals, but lions, many lions." His tail fell still. "How long have you been...here?" He glanced to the temple with his eyes.
His hackles bristled nervously, his ears swivelled as if trying to hear from all directions at once.
"They will be coming to win back their temple."
Tahja Estes (19:04:27): "This is good news..." She sighed, with the first hints of noticeable joy. Her own tail finally twitched into a small wag, and she moved past him to lead him from the temple as it obviously made him uneasy. "I come and go as I please, which is more than I can say for those that the vultures keep." She growled a bit, a little rattling snarl. "... They've yet to notice me, stupid beasts that they are, they can't catch me and they can't even hope to track me. Thankfully they haven't noticed me yet, or I might be in trouble."
They could always sick one of the lions on her after all, with threat of punishment for disobedience. They had lost enough young, no more should have to suffer and live in fear.
Kimaria33 (19:07:03): He followed her, eagerly, glad to be rid of the temple's shadow. Even with the pride preparing to attack, Yuma wasn't sure he'd ever feel comfortable there. It was unnatural, odd, a place he had a feeling that lions shouldn't keep. However, they seemed intent on fighting for it and he would not stand in their way.
Hell, he'd even agreed to help them! Maybe he'd just wanted to vent some anger on those he could call his foes, get rid of some frustration through physical pain.
He glanced her from the corner of his eye and nodded slowly. "None could outsmart a jackal." He replied. "We were crafted with wits and swift paws."
He let his tail wag softly again. "I am Yuma."
Tahja Estes (19:47:40): "Kirara." She smirked, appreciating that he clearly shared her views on their kin. "That we were. At times I wish we had been gifted a bit more size, though." Not that she'd -really- change anything if she could. Her eyes cast towards the oasis string, curious as she settled down to sit once a good distance from the temple. "Yuma, did you travel here with them?"
Two jackals, was that really all that remained of their kind here? Would none return home? She tried to keep these thoughts from surfacing too much at the time, not one to display emotional shortcomings and doubt, but it was difficult.
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