Yokheved:Yokheved looked out over the water, smiling softly. It was so calm, so beautiful, the skies blue and the water bluer. The sweet-tempered lioness was just about to settle down for a rest when the world turned dark.
Clouds rolled in, dark and bloated, blocking out the sun. The waters of the sea started to thrash, frightening her from her place on the banks. The sound of thunder crashed around her, over and over, accompanied by strange noises she had never heard before.
She ran, running and running, but the darkness followed her. It was going to catch and consume her.
Right before it did, a light broke through and she was scooped up, as if she was nothing more than a cub. She closed her eyes as a feeling of calm and peace overtook her, and when she opened the again she was in a place she had never seen before. She had been set down on the edge of a cliff, water spilling over it beside her on her left, and in several places farther in that direction. It was much like home, though there was no darkness here. Only light. She felt drawn to this place.
As she looked down, she saw cubs playing at the water's edge. They looked up at her and smiled, calling her name cheerfully. She knew on sight that they were of her pride.
"You'll be safe here," a voice said behind her and she turned around to see who it was.
'Heve awoke with a start, her eyes wide as she sat up, breathing more heavy than usual. Tamar was up in a tree, sound asleep. There was no one else around her in the early morning hours. As her dream began to slowly slip away from her, she franticly drew images in the dirt, images of her home and the darkness, of the falls and the lake of Light. She needed someone to see this, someone to understand what was coming, what she had been shown.
Li Wei:Early morning was his favorite time. The sun had barely pulled over the horizon line and the morning fog had slowly begun to lift. The mist veiled his form, cooled his face and sides, and allowed him to walk about in his true form without drawing attention. The birds were just beginning their groggy morning songs. Soon as the mist lifted, the cubs would wake to join their nannies, the warriors to their posts, and the huntresses out to gather dinner for that afternoon.
Lehvi, as he'd introduced himself as, was normally nothing to bat an eye at. He never joined the pride for dinner, though most assumed that he'd already filled himself off bugs or scraps from the meal before. He'd never illuded to anything otherwise. The only real trait that would stand out at all was the strangely long patch of blonde that grew down his neck towards his shoulders- even then, it didn't seem overly out of place.
That morning, however, he traveled in his true form. Small for a god, no larger than a mortal of his age, he was almost a joke. Unable to touch blood, unable to tolerate the sight or smell of it, he was rather pathetic. Not that he knew that... he'd not encountered any of the others, perhaps why he was still somewhat unaware of the gravity of his position.
He sighed as his paws touched the edge of the spring. The waterfall crashed nearby, adding to the thick mist surrounding the spring. Another night of nightmares... angry roars, bleeding claws, and dark skies.
Yokheved:
Not able to rouse Tamar for fear of knocking the monkey from the tree, 'Heve had fled in something of a panic, searching for someone with a better memory than she. In theory, she shouldn't be upset over this, but deep down in her heart she knew that this was probably the most important dream she had ever had in her life and the longer she went without "telling" someone about it, the fuzzier and more fragmented it became.
Already, she had forgotten about the strange sounds amid the thunder, though she had marked a symbol to remind herself of it. She just hoped nothing disturbed her drawings before she could find-
She came to an abrupt stop as she straightened after having ducked to avoid a low branch. There was a... He looked like a young lion probably on the verge of adolescence, but not one she had ever seen before. There were small blue scales along his back and his tail was strange and he had hooves instead of paws on his hind legs and he had a... it looked like a branch coming from his head, like the horn of an antelope, but only one. His mane looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.
She opened her mouth, trying to form words, inwardly cursing when none came out. Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she desperately wished she could call out to this strange male for help and yet was completely unable to.
Li Wei:
He had dipped his head down to the water, careful not to touch the surface with his growing horn. Unfortunately for him, the sounds of the crashing water nearby along with his sleepy haze had masked the lioness' approach.
He drank for a time, then sat back and began splashing water onto his face using his front paws- not exactly lion-like behavior, but he didn't know otherwise. "Brrrppppffhhhaaah."
Once he'd dried his face and straightened his mane, he turned himself about. Only then did he note that he wasn't alone. He jumped nearly three feet into the air as he whirled himself about to face her fully. When he came to a stand again, his back legs were nearly submerged in water, his tail now sopping wet, and his backside wet from the small splash he'd created.
"...uh....", he looked around slowly, stood up on his back hooves, and began waving his paws around in the air, "This is an illuuuuuussioonnnn. Go back to sleeeep~"
Yokheved:
She might have been amused at the poor young male if this wasn't a matter of urgency. What had the place looked like? The lioness grit her teeth.
'Heve frowned at him, totally not believing him for one minute. She certainly knew the difference between dreams, come-true-dreams, and reality. And this was definitely reality.
She opened her mouth once, shut it, opened it again, then clapped it shut even harder, stamping a paw as she looked away in frustration. How could she get him to follow her?
She looked back at him, pleading in her eyes before turning back towards where she had been sleeping. But she didn't start walking. Instead, she looked over her shoulder at him and jerked her head in a motion for him to follow her.
Li Wei:
He froze in mid-air. A forced, almost pleading grin, his paws still in the air, and much of his long mane now very much drenched in the disrupted water swirling around his small form.
Busted...
His long, pointed ears rolled downwards as he dropped to all fours and plodded from the water. For a moment, he assumed the lioness had turned to be on her way. he watched her back, then winced as she faced him once more with a silent plea.
"...you...want me to go with you?"
Yokheved:
'Heve nodded so hard she started to get a headache. Or was that from trying to remember?
Either way, she was relieved that he understood. She turned and took a few steps in the right direction before pausing to see if he followed. He seemed like a nice young male, very agitated over her having seen him. Perhaps... for all she knew, he could be a god. No, that had to be the answer. But what was a god doing in their lands? Lewe was the only one who had ever come to them, and he... He had been gone for a long time.
And why would he be so nervous around her?
Li Wei:
"Oohh... alright hold on." He offered her a quick smile before planting himself on the ground to give himself a good shake-out. While he was unable to free himself of all the water clinging to his mane and tail, it was enough to where he could stand to walk again.
After tossing his mane back to rest against his scales -it was that or have it drag in the dirt behind him- he padded over to the female and nodded forward for her to lead.
Yokheved:
'Heve finally managed to smile, finding the action adorable. She really did like kids.
She nodded as he approached, noting how he had to keep his mane over his back. It must be quite the inconvenience to keep clean, at least in her mind.
She led him at a brisk pace back to where she had been sleeping, pausing to look up into the tree above her drawings. Tamar was gone, no doubt in search of breakfast and eventually for her, but she had this male to look at her "notes", so it was okay that her totem had left.
She stopped beside the little drawings, frowning a bit as she reminded herself of the dream. Glancing over at him, she nodded at the scratches in the dirt. There was one that looked kind of like the waterfall on their lands, but she had rubbed her paw over and scratched her claws through it, to remind her of her fright. And then there was the other place, and there was lines all around it, reminding her of its draw and how it had felt... right.
She had been unable to recreate the thunder and strange sounds in the drawings, and she had since forgotten about them.
'Heve looked over at the other lion, hoping he might understand, some of it at least.
*at least, and ask her the right questions.
