Ota was feeling increasingly uneasy lately. Her visions were less clear and things were beginning to move towards an open conflict, however slowly and however quiet it might start. Ota and Kamia were no longer alone in the rebellion, there was Meshach on the borders and Nyeusi was actively recruiting within the pride but sounded so crazy she was a better distraction than anything for now. But there would be no denying the quiet rebellion forming soon, so the girls were slowly branching out.
Often since the start of her little doomsday cult, Ota and Kamia had been watching Nyeusi and the followers that she was attracting. They were certainly an interesting bunch, but Vesper in particular caught Ota's eye-- so she had been tailing him for the night as he went on a regular patrol, waiting for the opportunity to talk to him.
Because it was dark and she was so pale, she was sure he knew she was there and was just letting her continue to follow him. He didn't seem malicious or it might have worried her.
Vesper was indeed well aware of the fact that he was being followed, but he also recognized the pale lady. He didn't know her personally but he knew she and one of his cousins had been lurking around Nyeusi a lot lately.. and he was almost positive she was related to Uchanjaa. All around he had decided (or hoped) they were not a threat and so he had let them be.. and allowed her to follow him as he went on patrol for the night. But as they put more distance between them and the busier parts of the pride, they were approaching the time to discuss why she was following him.
So finally, he stopped and he turned around.
"OK," he called out, "We're alone now."
Ota was slowly catching up to Vesper as they walked along, anticipating their conversation-- and yet she was still startled when he stopped, turned around and called out to her. Taking a deep breath, she put on a smile and slowly closed the gap between them.
"Vesper," she greeted him, hesitating before going on the assumption that he didn't know her name, "My name is Ota. I just wanted to talk to you, I hope you don't mind."
He didn't know her name and he wasn't surprised that she knew his- or that she wanted to talk to him. He made a face and tilted his head, curious but not sure what to say or do. He knew, which is why he had made a point of saying they were definitely alone now.
"Go on."
"Do you truly believe the things that Nyeusi has been shouting to anybody who will listen?"
Her question was abrupt but it was the best lead in to the conversation that they needed to have. As had been her luck so far, she didn't need to be so careful- she had some idea of where Vesper stood on the political issues around the pride even before talking to him.
Vesper stared at Ota for a moment while he decided how to respond. He didn't think she and Kamia were looking for trouble, but he didn't know that for sure.. and how was he supposed to explain the situation he was in to someone who wasn't really involved?
"She has some good points," he said simply, "But I mostly humor her so that I can keep an eye on her. What she is doing is dangerous and she doesn't seem to care- if she notices at all."
Ota stared back at him thoughtfully, smiling at his answer. She worried about Nyeusi too, that was part of why they kept an eye on her after all. Not to mention how it might draw attention to the quieter rebellion developing within the pride and especially on the border.
"You don't look like you fit in with that little group," she commented with a short chuckle, "But it does look like you have good intentions. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Nyeusi may be the loudest but she's not the only rebel in the pride. Perhaps that makes her position more dangerous but very few know about us yet.. and that's going to change soon, whether we want it or not, so we have to make our own changes before then."
Vesper raised a brow as Ota laughed and then went into a quiet speech that turned out, it seemed, to be an invitation of sorts. Was this why they had been watching them? Were Ota and Kamia rebels? If they were really so few.. he had some serious concerns about how they had been carrying on.
"You and Kamia are rebels?" he asked bluntly, frowning, "Do you realize how obvious you were being, watching us? I hope the rest of you aren't so transparent."
Embarrassed, Ota's ears turned back and she frowned. They had been somewhat careless while they were observing Nyeusi and her group, but they were family and Nyeusi and her friends often convened in public spaces where they could find new recruits.
"Going forward, we will need to be more cautious," she agreed, "But as far as watching you, we didn't see the need to be especially careful. Nyeusi attracts attention and we both have good reason to worry about her. And right now it is primarily just us in the pride, but that's what we're trying to change."
He paused.
"And you're starting with me?" he asked, clearly confused, "Why?"
"Because we need help from the guards," she answered, going on after a short pause, "Because we want to help Nyeusi and believe she could be help to us, but we can't directly or openly connect our groups. Because we trust you."
They were taking a chance, just like they had with Caritas.. but this was different.
Her answer only gave him a dozen new questions, he wasn't sure why they would just decide they trust him if they hadn't actually spoken to him before.. and overall he was still doubtful of their judgement. But her first statement was perhaps the most curious.
"What do you need from the guards?"
"There is an area we need to have patrolled primarily by guards we can trust," she said, "Kamia and I haven't done any recruiting for ourselves within the pride but there is a group of rebels on the borders. We need to try to keep them a secret, and it'll get harder as they grow."
Ota frowned. Meshach's cubs were growing, just having so many around would make it harder to stay a secret.. but there would be more, too.
"You're going to need to talk to Baba'nyota about that, I don't make decisions like that," he answered, hesitating before going on, "I think you could trust him, though. Except that Shangyue is probably already suspicious of him, considering how he was close to all the other recent rulers.."
"That's why another guard should talk to him," Ota said simply, "But changes are coming, we can make it work in our favor but we have to start now."
"How do you know that?"
"We're seers," Ota said, a small smile returning, "Kamia and I. We both have visions of the future, we can see what's going to happen. It can be hard to remember or make sense of the visions, but we know Shangyue won't last- but it's not going to happen on it's own. It's been quiet for so long, Shangyue is going to start testing his power and he's going to slip."
She sighed, taking a seat.
"His mistake will not be fatal but it will get things started," she went on, "We have to get to work or he's going to get ahead of us."
Vesper blinked and stared at her as she explained what vague information she knew and why. Unfortunately for her, he didn't know much about living gods and seers.. but the way she spoke, the confidence in her voice.. it was believable. But almost in the same way that Nyeusi could almost sound convincing if you really listened.
And because of that, he just didn't know what to say.
"This isn't a trick and we're not crazy," she said, as if reading his mind, "Regardless of whether or not you believe what we say we know, you must have faith that the pride can overcome this. You said yourself that Nyeusi had some good points. She's not the only one who believes we have to get rid of the King, and she's not the only one who is sure we can do it if we work together."
She rightly guessed that telling Vesper the whole story, about why she and Kamia were seers and how they knew it, would only make matters worse. He wasn't ready to hear about the gods that existed among mortals. And convincing him of that was not the point.
"You can have time to think about it," she offered.
After a long silence, Vesper finally sighed loudly. He was already in this deep with Nyeusi, whether or not he wanted to be seen as a rebel didn't matter now. At least with Nyeusi they could hide behind their lunacy but if Shangyue did start paying attention, that might not matter. And if he were truthful, he hadn't needed that much convincing that the pride did not need their usurper king.
"No," he said, "I'll talk to Baba'nyota for you. But you'll have to show me what area you mean for us to keep an eye on."
Ota smiled and pushed herself back up to her feet.
"We're already there."
There was a reason tonight was the night she had chosen to follow him.
Fin!