Afon had slipped away from her mother in the dusky hours of evening, before the moon rose but after the sun set, and had made way to the borders of the pridal land, eyes focuses ahead as she curled her tail round about her paws patiently and sudied the slowly darkening sky, squining against the last vestiges of light tendrilling their way across the sky in the sun's last desperate attempt to seize the night for it's own, and sighed. Afon loved her mother, she truly did, but the young demon knew, just as Izanagi did, that eyes were often on her for stepping on a line between pale and dark; night and day much as dusk itself. Much as the twilight realm Izanagi whispered herself from; a realm of death and dark and spirit, and Afon sighed, shaking her head. As much as Izanagi claimed to be a mother of demons, Afon was a mother of none, and settled to stare out across the roguelands before her in silent contemplatiuon. The only indication of movement from her was the flicking of her tail's tip, or perhaps the movement of her breath, however her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of lions on the horizon, and rose to her paws. Visitors weren't unknown, but the small party seemed composed of five lions, and Afon took a deep breth, bracing in case the group tried to attack as she guaged the grouping warily. Three seemed properly dark, deep and rich pelts that blended in, possibly far better than her own, but two stood out as bright and stark, one almost a pale monster, and one made her give cause to pause. It reminded her of her grandfather, and one paw raised in surprise before one female in a deep night blue seemed to address her group before approaching the lioness.
The night sky lioness with brilliant wings was larger than Afon, but approached with steps that bore no hostility, instead the gold-eyed female bowing her head once before the lioness as she smiled gently, sitting patiently.
"Hello." The stranger greeted. Afon remained standing and swallowed, suddenly all self concious of her toe-dancing fur, and nodded slowly.
"Hello. What do you want?" She asked, trying to sound vicious. It came out as a mere squeak, and Afon pinned her ears back at her own voice, the dark lioness remaining somber.
"We seek shelter and to aid some in your pride." The female nodded to her group.
"My name is Accendo Nox Nictus. My companions are Rigel, Mwezi'mpya, Miira, and Masago." Accendo drawled. "My father is Primitus."
Afon paused, blinking then. While it was known Primitus had travelled, even fathered a lion's share of litters, his cubs hadn't come to the pride, and she studied Accendo appraisingly, one ear flicking. She matched the god's wings, though some markings weren't of any known female's, and breifly she considered if it had to do with why the god often seemed melancholy, before shaking her head and looking to Accendo in the eyes.
Accendo remained ever-patient, nodding to Afon before seeming to sense the female was thinking long and hard on the matter, and Accendo turned, looking to the group.
"My father had... Business to attend to I need to speak with Moricorm or Hakunas'jina about." She murmured. "Some of us are searching for a dark and white lion. But one of us needs to be here." Accendo frowned softly. "That one - that would be Miira. She has family here."
Afon blinked, and leaned to peer at the pale female before sighing, nodding and looking to Accendo.
"Perhaps. But why come here now? Why do you need them?"
Accendo motioned, tail waving like grass in the breeze, and she turned to look in concern.
"Rigel has no recollection of his past, and Mwezi'mpya helps. As for Masago... Aaahhhh..." Accendo coughed. "He just kind of follows her around."
Golden eyes turned back towards the party, and she sighed, shaking her head at the indignant pale male before she turned back to Afon.
Admittedly, the smaller female wasn't what she expected when approaching the demons. This one was toe-stepping, or incredibly fortunate, and Accendo was careful to study her calmly, assessing her body language. The deep, cold shroud came up as night began devouring the tendrils of the sun's light and Accendo studied the demon in through, looking for a facial expression to read before licking her maw in thought, ears pinning a bit in concern, blinking at the female, and she moved, nosing the small lioness reassuringly.
"We don't mean to intrude." Accendo said quietly. Afon blinked, looking up with a start before shaking her head, looking away nervously as she tured to move away, frowning a bit as she thought. Accendo blinked, sitting once again to watch Afon try to process how to respond. The smaller lioness seemed anxious and shy, fidgeting before looking down and Accendo wondered what was wrong before nosing Afon again, the lioness jumping and moving back as she snapped back to reality, eyes wide in surprise.
Accendo had to wonder why the female was weighted by thought, watching her seem to flare her chest as it making some grande decision after looking back, presumably to her pride, and Accendo began worrying she upset her somehow. Was the female a pale sador or slave?
Afon breathed slowly, shutting her eyes before looking towards Accendo's group, and nodded once more to herself, looking to Accendo as firmly as possible.
"You may come in." Afon said quietly. "But you will cause no trouble. We've enough with the Nats."
And Meenah, if Aile her cousin was to be believed. She turned an expectant look to Accendo, and frowned, eyes flashing dangerously.
"You will let others know you are here.... See to your business if needed. Otherwise, do as you will and know outsiders are watched. Don't need more rogue troubles."
A snort, and Afon tried to look intimidating, the demon-lioness scowling as best able, and Accendo bowed her head respectfully.
This lioness was off, but Accendo couldn't See why in any capacity, and Accendo wondered if her visions simply ignored the female for some reason, the god-sired seer offering a half-smile.
"You will have no trouble from us, hopefully." Accendo tried reassuring. Afon responded with a grunt, and turned, moving inward with a tail motion indicating they follow quickly, and Accendo looked to her travel companions, nodding before they rose, the small band of weary travelling lions moving into the Aegnor'hini lands with a sense of releif for their weary paws as they were led into the inner lands of the demon pride.
