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 Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:33 am
She had settled herself on the outskirts of the land, a short distance from the oasis and for a change she was actually doing something useful. Rokopelli was practising her transformation from Goddess to mortal. Her wings had apparently dissapeared, leaving her with the appearance of a rather well embellished young lioness. She hd reached her juvenile stage and though her body had grown her mind, seemingly, had not.
She wriggled her toes in the sand and glanced back towards the oasis nervously. There was something that drew her to the land but something that held her back. Yes, she might find a home here but she was nervous and she was worried about approaching the King of the clan she had long thought dead.
"Immortals are survivors." She whispered with a nod. "That's what we think."
The snake lying by her paws uncurled himself and raised his head up to glance at the growing lioness. "What are you jabbering on about?" He muttered to her, not expecting a reply. He wasn't even sure why he had remained with this one. He had always had a dislike for furry animals, always hated being around them. He had hidden out of the way in the tallest of trees, emerging from them only when he was hungry.
Yet here he was, miles from the jungle where he had been born, in a place that he considered bland. It was completely unsuitable for his green scales and his hunting efforts had gone without success.
"I don't like it here."
"You don't?" The Goddess blinked her bi-coloured eyes at him, clearly upset that he would think that about a place she had once called home and hoped to call home again. "We were raised here when mother abandoned us...we think." She tipped her head, slightly confused.
~Or maybe she just lost us when we fell out of the nest.~
"Don't talk wordsss in my head." The snake hissed, twitching his tail. "It'sss not normal to put thingsss in my mind when I don't allow it." He flicked his tongue at her, taking amusement as the young one clapped her paws to her mouth.
"Mind speak doesn't come from your mouth." He pointed out. "That'sss the problem."
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:11 pm
Koya had become increasingly saddened over the past few weeks. She had been excited to have located a descendent of herself and to have been able to lend some aid and actually help out for a change. But as her great great granddaughter grew into an adult, the goddess found that she was realizing her own advanced age. It was true, she appeared as young as ever, but in reality she was very old, and only getting older. However, she was attempting to remain in the past by living her youth through Amesi. This denial combined with her realization had caused her to have a very unstable mind recently.
She needed to do something with her life, she had decided, but nothing that she could think of seemed to suit her. At first she had thought that she would make amends by protecting Amesi as she had not been able to protect Masuka, but she soon found that she couldn't even do that. Amesi loved her and looked up to her, but she had better things to look forward to. She was young yet.
Sighing, the goddess looked up to find that her paws had taken her some place strange, or at least some place she had not been in a while. Flicking her tail, she perked her round ears and folded her wings against her sides. They hid immediately, and afterwards the now plain gray lioness continued on. She didn't know who lived here and if they respected the gods, and so she chose to be on the safe side and hide her immortality.
With the thought of looking mortal, she thought about living as a mortal. The idea had crossed her mind before, and she had even seriously considered doing so and creating a niche for herself within a mortal pride. But she would always be self-conscious, she knew, and so she quickly dismissed the idea as foolish. But even as she tried to forget about it, the thought kept crossing her mind.
Shaking her head, as if that would help to chase the idea away, the mortal-looking Koya headed on in a random direction. A few minutes later and she thought she was hearing voices. I must be going mad, she thought to herself, shutting her blue eyes tight for a moment. But when she opened them and listened carefully, she found that she was still hearing someone talking. Looking around, she spotted a small figure some way off to her left.
Squinting her eyes, she suddenly grew happy. "Rokopelli?" she called, changing her direction with a new light in her eyes. She was okay! She had been worried about the cub before, and was all too happy to see that she had managed on her own thus far.
"Rokopelli!" she called again, but a moment later and she noticed that this figure had no wings. Perhaps it had been the distance between them that had made the female's fur color remind her of the goddess cub. "I'm sorry," she began to apologize, yet then she took another look. Her mind was confused, trying to decide if she knew this lioness or not. "I--" she stammered, but growing frustrated. Why couldn't she figure anything out lately? Surely it should be easy to decide if she knew this lioness or not, but there was something preventing her from easy thought.
Damn. She must look like an idiot.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:08 am
"We're sorry Nyoka." Roko's ears dropped sadly. "We didn't even realise that we were doing it! Illusion took our complete concentration." She moved as if she intended to nuzzle the snake when the voice reached her ears. Her name? Someone knew her name? Was it that poofy-haired goddess again? Or maybe the super-speedy-saviour goddess? Rokopelli half turned, her illusion lifting to reveal her rainbow coloured wings. It only took something to distract her focus and her spell was unwoven.
"Someone callses us?" She murmered, turning fully to face whomever spoke. The same voice was sputtering apologies now. But...why? Rokopelli's gaze landed on a grey lioness and this lioness had big, beautiful wings. She was fully grown, beautiful and elegant - or atleast she was in Roko's eyes.
The young Goddess looked up into the female's eyes and recognised only the confusion in them. Confusion was something Rokopelli seemed drawn to, which wasn't surprising really, however it did mean she didn't recognise the Goddess for a long while.
"Confused..." She whispered quietly and then suddenly a memory flashed through her mind and she remembered who it was. "Mummy Koya!" She squealed, bouncing forwards. "Mummy Koya, mummy Koya, mummy Koya! It's us, remember?" She beamed.
Nyoka, utterly confused, curled himself up and flicked his tongue into the air, tasting the smell of the lioness on the currents. Another Goddess? Well...this sure didn't bode well. Either way, he felt compelled to remain with the little one, and slowly he slithered out across the sand, following in Roko's shadow.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:36 pm
Koya remained confused all up until the smaller goddess' illusion fell to reveal her rainbow-colored wings. It still took a few seconds, but soon her confusion faded away and she smiled warmly at the juvenile. Her wings spread out and extended towards Roko as she came bounding forward.
"I remember, now," she chuckled slightly, sitting down as she lowered her head to lick at the top of the girl's head. She was taller than she had remembered. Grinning, she looked down with shining blue eyes. "You've grown since we last saw each other, haven't you?" she asked, pawing at the smaller goddess gently.'
Sitting back for a moment, Koya checked over the other female. She looked relatively healthy, and she didn't appear to have any injuries that were bothering her or hindering her.
"How have you been?" she asked like a true mother. Being around younger lions seemed to do that to her. And, thinking about that, she again thought of her life situation and how she wasn't happy with it. Lost in her thoughts, she frowned outwardly and her eyes dulled for a moment. What was she going to do with her life? She needed to figure it out before it drove her insane. And with her being on the track that she was, it seemed she wasn't far from losing her sanity.
Shaking her depressing thoughts, however, she smiled slightly at Roko. "I hope everything has been well."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 5:28 am
"Yay! She remembers us!" Roko squealed, purring as she came to stand in front of the elder goddess. It had seemed a long time since she had met Koya. A very long time. In fact she couldn't even remember where she had met her. Some place pretty...though she couldn't remember how to get there either.
"We've grown?" Roko tilted her head and then glanced at herself to see if she'd noticed a difference. "Really?" As far as she could see, not much about her had changed, though when she turned to the grey, she had to admit Koya looked less large than she had before. Maybe she really was growing up. "Does that mean we'll be all grown up soon?" She bounced. "Though we like staying small...we can hide easier and others think I'm cuter."
Koya sat and Rokopelli met her studying eyes with her bi-coloured ones. "We've been very goodses!" She squeaked. "Nyoka is friend again, see?" She side-stepped to reveal the snake standing behind her. "And now we're here!" Oh she had so much to tell Koya!
The juvenile swept her eyes back up to that kindly face, noticing suddenly that Koya's eyes looked different. She looked almost...sad. Rokopelli wasn't very good with words but she could read emotions very well. She'd experienced sadness, fear and pain and she knew exactly what they felt and looked like. With a small, whimpering sound she reached up to put her forepaws on Koya's chest and gave a small mew.
"Mummy Koya okay?" She blinked.
Nyoka, utterly confused by the goings on of this conversation simply dipped his head in greeting. His black, forked tongue flicked outwards, picking up the lioness's scent.
He knew for a fact that this Koya couldn't be Rokopelli's mother. For one thing, what he had heard, her mother was a horrible creature who had tormented her own cub. Nyoka was cold-hearted but even his heart would have reached out to his children.
No, so who was this female? Someone Rokopelli had adopted, obviously.
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Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:53 pm
Koya smiled at Roko as she came closer. It seemed as if years had gone by since she had last seen the smaller goddess. It was back in the realm of the gods, she remembered, when they had first met, and it seemed almost surreal now. Roko had been very different then, and she was glad to see the positive change in her now.
Nodding, she chuckled slightly. "That you have. I remember last time I saw you I had to bend farther down in order to lick the top of your head." When asked if she was growing up, the gray goddess thought for a moment. "Well," she considered, "you still have a ways to go I think. You'll be grown up eventually, but you'll be small for a while yet."
"And you're still cute," she assured her, smiling.
When the other stepped aside, her blue eyes trailed down towards the snake. She had remembered vaguely that the last time she had seen Rokopelli, she had spoken about someone who had been mad at her or some such thing. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone, and that she had some sort of companion. A snake, though...
At the sound of Roko's voice, Koya's round ears perked and she attempted to dismiss her thoughts. But her problems remained, and she found it rather difficult to hide them. "I'm.. fine, Roko," she bluffed, the smile on her maw obviously forced. But she didn't want to worry Roko.
"I'm just tired, is all. I've been wandering around for a long time now." In her head, she scolded herself for lying. She wasn't tired at all, she was contemplating giving up her immortality to live a normal life as a mortal. But she couldn't tell that to Roko. What would she think?
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:44 am
"That's good." She smiled. "We like being small very much." Rokopelli bounced and curled her tail up. And cute. She liked being cute too. She wanted people to like her and others tended to like those who looked sweet.
As for Nyoka...well Nyoka had always been there. He had been the one to awaken her and they had stuck together since then. Yes they had their ups and downs, and definately far more downs. But somehow Nyoka put up with Roko's childishness. He didn't really consider them friends but had long given up trying to tell Roko that. She was blissfully unaware that her behaviour irritated the snake. As far as she was concerned, she was his best friend.
"Is mummy Koya very sure?" Roko queried, not quite sure whether Koya would be hiding the truth from her. She hoped nothing was wrong. Koya was a good mummy and she didn't deserve to be unhappy. She was tempted to steal into her thoughts but was both terrified and disgusted with herself for such an idea. No, she had made herself a promise. No more looking into another's mind...except for Nyoka's. But Nyoka didn't count. "If yous is tired, yous should stay here with us!" Rokopelli chirped. "We found our old home here." She waved a paw behind her. "See? Desert where we used to live before other mummy trapped us. The lions here are back so we want to start over. Mummy Koya can stay as long as she wants!" She flicked her wings to her sides and nodded matter-of-factly.
"You helped us before so now we help you, okay?" She moved behind the larger Goddess and pushed against a hind leg, as if encouraging to walk forwards.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:19 am
Koya couldn't help but smile as she watched the smaller goddess bounce about happily. She wasn't feeling her best, but she simply couldn't remain completely depressed when there was an energetic Rokopelli to cheer her up.
When questioned if she was sure that she was all right, the gray goddess folded her ears back in slight shame. She wished she could tell the other what was really going on, but she didn't think she should trouble Roko with her problems. She probably had enough things to worry about, with her living alone and all.
Well, she shouldn't have thought that Rokopelli was alone. She had that snake, Nyoka. She didn't particularly think that snakes made good companions, but Roko seemed happy enough with the one she had. Besides, if she had some company, what did it matter who it was provided by? Koya was simply content to know that Roko would never truly be alone.
Turning her thoughts back to reality, she frowned and nodded slightly. "I'm... sure, Roko," she spoke quietly. Yet when the goddess with the rainbow wings mentioned that she should stay with her in the desert, her old home, the goddess of the past panicked for a second. There were other lions about, Roko had said, and she instantly worried what might happen if they figured her out to be a goddess. Would they accept the juvenile?
"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively, though she felt that she already knew the answer to that. Rokopelli was sure to be confident that everything would go swimmingly.
When the smaller goddess pushed her legs encouragingly, Koya stumbled and shook her head. "I don't kow if it's such a good idea, Roko," she spoke nervously. "Do the mortals accept gods and goddesses?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:22 am
This was something that Rokopelli had never truly considered. What had the mortals of the past done? She tried to remember but it was vauge and there was no memory that she trusted to be completely correct.
"We...we don't know." She whispered finally. She had never even thought that the lions might not be accepting of her. "We met another couple of Goddesses when we arrived...couple of days ago further out, they said there was pride here. Old home pride. We not been in there yet because we were thinking of what to say."
She focused hard and her wings shimmered away again. "We've been practising our illusion so that we can sneak in like a normal cub." She nodded. "That way we can find the king and ask him if we can stay and look after the land." What if they did turn her down? It hadn't even occurred to her that such a thing could happen.
"Mummy Koya, d'you think that they might say no to me?" She blinked back tears.
"Let me interupt." The snake puffed out his throat and slithered up alongside his charge. "You are both lionessssesss...both goddessesss." His long, hissed words took a while to form. "We decided it bessst that Rokopelli only appearsss to mortalsss in her mortal form. You, an elder, a more experienced deity ssshould have no problem with thisss. Correct?" His slit-pupil eyes narrowed and for a moment he seemed to be sizing Koya up.
He found it amusing that an immortal would fear those below them. "Or are you afraid?" He had seen the tilt of Koya's ears and recognised it as a silent apology. Roko tended to do that when she accidently stepped on him or had done something else that she felt bad about.
"
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:02 pm
If there had been some object, some remenant, that was linked to the past mortals of this place, then the goddess could have looked into the past and seen their thoughts and their beliefs. Looking around, as if she would go about touching everything around her to see if any of it were connected in some way to the mortals, she suddenly felt foolish. Lions changed, mortals in particular. Who was to say the mortals living here now were the same as those in the past?
Frowning, she hoped she hadn't dampened the other's spirits. She hadn't intended to persuade her away; she was merely worried for Roko's safety. Koya's own past experiences with mortals weren't the best. Some lashed out at the immortal, either from passion or jealousy or some other strong feeling.
Yet when Roko said that she had been practicing her illusion and demonstrated, a glimmer of hope sprang up within the gray goddess. Apparently she had done some planning and didn't intend to simply barge into the pride at the first opportunity. She scolded herself for having immediately assumed Roko hadn't planned ahead.
When asked if she thought the mortals might say no to her and upon seeing the other goddess' eyes swell with unshed tears, Koya's heart nearly broke. She wanted desperately to assure Roko that she would get accepted and that everything would go as she wanted it to. But she had seen enough of the past and had lived through enough to know that this wasn't always the case, and that it was actually hardly ever the case. But there really was no telling what would happen. In that moment, frustrated as she was, she wished she had been born the goddess of the future, and not the past.
"Well--" she was about to answer Rokopelli, but was cut short when Nyoka spoke up. She had almost forgotten he was there, and his voice startled her for a moment, but she soon regained herself and listened to the snake's words. She nodded her head in agreement when Nyoka spoke that they had decided it best for Roko to appear as a mortal before mortals, and she also nodded to confirm that she had no problems concealing her true nature. As if reassurance was needed, she blinked and in the next moment her wings were gone and her fur was plain gray all over. Only the black dots under her vibrant blue eyes remained from her previous appearance.
At the challenge that she might be afraid of the mortals, Koya narrowed her eyes and laid her ears back defensively. If she had been violent by nature, she might have stepped on the snake or bitten him. But she kept her cool and merely shook her head. "I'm only cautious. I've had enough dealings with the mortals to know what they are capable of."
Feeling like she had explained herself, she loosened her posture slightly and flicked her plain gray tail as she went back to the original subject. "What do you intend?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:29 am
"Don't be mean to Mummy Koya, Nyoka!" Rokopelli lightly scolded the snake, wagging a paw at him. She seemed oblivious to his sudden angry hissing and seemed not to notice when he slithered away, coiling himself tightly around a rock to catch the sun.
In fact, Koya was right, if the snake hadn't suggest it she probably would have barged straight in, calling out 'hello's and 'how are you's whereever she went. Sometimes she was actually fortunate that she had the little serpent with her. He was cold but he knew how to use his brain.
Rokopelli had never really thought about how mortals of this day might react to her. In her old pride they had seemed humble. Perhaps because she was only a baby rather than a full grown goddess. None of them had tried to force her to do anything, in fact, thinking about it, they had always seemed slightly afraid of her. The little cub had power, and whilst she didn't use it anymore, she had in the days before her entrapment. She could not control it and it had killed. Maybe Koya was right, now that she was a little bigger, maybe they would be even more scared of her. Maybe they'd attack her. What would she do then? Where would she go? Home was her last option. Yes she loved Nyoka but he wasn't a lion. She wanted friends! Her chest heaved with unshed sobs.
So caught up in her thoughts she barely even noticed that Koya had changed, not until she stared at her through the wobbly sheens of her eyes.
"Um...we, we..." She hesitated, sniffing sadly. "We were going to find the king of the land." She continued. "And ask him if we can stay. We'd tell him that we were a goddess but make sure to keep it secret. Nyoka was going to spy to see what kind of lion this king was and if he could be trusted..." Her ears drooped. "But we're worried we won't be able to keep our illusion up and that...someone might find out. Mummy Koya have an idea?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:06 am
Koya frowned and licked the top of the smaller female's head. "It's okay, Rokopelli," she said softly. "He was only worried about you." She still had her doubts about that, but she figured it would do to comfort the juvenile.
Noticing that the topic was upsetting Roko rather than helping her out any, the mortal-looking goddess shook her head and closed the distance between herself and the other, attempting to comfort her in a warm embrace. A soft rumble came from the bottom of her throat as she ran her rough tongue over Roko's head and ears, trying to soothe her.
"Calm down," she spoke quietly, kindly. After hearing her original plan, Koya frowned again. It might have seemed like a solid plan, but after one considered all of the factors that might endanger her, it wasn't so much. A king might be trusted for a while, but then he would always be tempted to reveal her secret in an attempt to better his own status. Having relations with a goddess might make him invincible in his pride. And yet, if there were those in the pride who didn't like the immortal's presence, then she would certainly be in grave danger. And her worry that she wouldn't be able to keep up her illusion was rightly felt. No god or goddess could keep up the illusion forever, even those who used it all the time and had experience.
When asked if she had an idea, she sighed and nodded her head solemnly. "I do," she replied quietly. "I will go with you. I might be able to better keep up my illusion, and I can act as your mother. I will watch over you and protect you against anything that might be a danger to you." It would take her in amongst the mortals far sooner than she had hoped, but she felt it necessary if she was going to protect Rokopelli.
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Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:17 am
Rokopelli was easily upset. She was an emotional sort who had no problems with showing her joy or her sadness or pain. She wasn't good at cooping it up, wasn't good at pretending she was okay. The moment sadness set in her eyes would be brimming with tears and the moment she grew happy, she'd be singing at the top of her lungs.
Her wings drooped and her head was low, but the cub instantly reacted to Koya's comforting gestures. There was nothing that worked more than a hug, to feel warm and safe and wanted. When Koya was here, Roko could forget about all the bad things.
When asked to calm down, Rokopelli could only agree. "Okay mummy." She buried her face into Koya's chest fur and enjoyed the sound of her purr. It was a pleasant sound, a sound of happiness. Nothing was wrong in the world when she could hear that sound.
And at Koya's words, Rokopelli burst into tears, though these ones were born from her happiness. She clung to Koya as if she clung to her very life, rubbing her little nose against the grey's fur. "Yay, mummy staying!" She turned wobbling eyes to the snake, but Nyoka had his head turned away. Was there a hint of jealousy in his eyes?
Roko assumed she had imagined it. "Okay mummy Koya!" Roko broke away then and put on her best smile. "Let's go find the king." Without warning the cub swung round and grbbed Nyoka in her jaws. The snake writhed and swung his body up and around the lionesses' neck. His beady eyes fell on Koya.
"Nyoka ready?" She spread her wings and looked up, her heart filling with hope.
She had a new mummy now. A new mummy and a new pride. How could anything go wrong?
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:39 am
Looking out towards where she knew the mortal pride was, Koya suddenly felt very sick. She seemed to have this irrational fear of being in the presence of too many mortal lions. No wonder she hadn't been able to stick around the Pridelands for very long. Shoving herself back within another pride would cetainly be the ultimate test of her nerves. But she was doing this for Rokopelli. Looking down at the other goddess, her sick feelings melted away. It was for Roko.
When Rokopelli clung to her after she had said that she would go with her and protect her, the gray goddess nearly broke out into tears herself. How long had it been since she had been able to take care of a child, and do it right? Too long, she told herself.
But at Roko's words that they were to go find the king now, her heart dropped into her stomach and she felt sick again. Her illusion faded away and her wings reappeared as she tentatively followed Rokopelli's lead. When the snake was thrown over her neck and his eyes turned on Koya, the lioness flattened her ears against her skull. He didn't look pleased with her. Yet he was merely a snake, and she a full grown goddess. She wouldn't let him intimidate her.
Spreading her wings wide and giving them a few test flaps, Koya smiled at Rokopelli and nodded her head. "Lead the way."
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