It had been quite some time since Bhaltair had run into anyone else. He'd traveled with Tiifu for a while, but eventually they had gone their seperate ways, so since then, he'd been alone again. He still hunted for his wayward sister, and the other one. But the brown cheetah was starting to wonder if he would ever find them. Perhaps they had both died out here, or were in one of the large groups that he could not enter because they disliked strangers.
And if he didn't find them... could he really go back home with a tale of failure? He sighed softly. No ... more likely, he would simply wander like this ... for the rest of his days. And he'd do it alone, because he didn't really know how to do anything else.
Another beautiful day, another night passed in good company, and another moment to revel in it all. Elua hummed as she trotted back to where her odd little family was, belly full. She did hate killing but...well, one needed to in order to eat. And she made sure to thank the spirits of those she ate. She giggled. It was likely Cassiel would think her silly for such a sentiment...but there was a great deal about her Cassi didn't understand. One day...one day, he might though. She took a deep breath and stopped. Oh? She sniffed the air again. Oh! Company! She quickly made sure her muzzle was clean...then trotted towards the scent she'd caught.
And blinked. Hm? He looked a bit like Eisheth. How odd...perhaps a son Eisheth had parted ways with? Well...one way to find out! "Good morning, stranger! Beautiful, isn't it?"
Bhaltair jumped at the sudden voice - having been lost in his own thoughts. Then he froze ... blinking at the other. No ... it couldn't be. After all of this time, he'd FOUND her? Giving himself a little shake, the cheetah crouched slightly and growled. "You. Where is my sister? Is she with you?"
Elua blinked and tilted her head. "Sister?" Perhaps...was this a family member her cousin had left behind? She perked up. "Do you mean Eisheth? If so, I can take you to her!" She turned in the direction of the group. "She's over this way! So you're a cousin of mine as well? It's very nice to meet you! My name is Elua!"
"Why are you so happy!?" he asked. Surely ... surely she knew what he was here to do. His sister would know... were she here. Some part of him balked at killing his own cousin but she was ... unnatural. An abomination. So said anyone who knew things! And they must be right... mustn't they?
Elua smiled. "Because it's a beautiful day! Another day that I am alive, that I have family, that I can meet new creatures!" She laughed good-naturedly. "What is there to not be happy about?" If her cousin had told her anything bad about the cheetah before her, she did not remember. To Elua, he was simply more family to meet and maybe travel with.
Bhaltair simply stared at her for a moment or two. Good gods. Was she stupid? "Do you remember ... anything at all from when you were young?" he asked, frowning at her. He couldn't ... very well kill her without at least explaining things.
Elua shrugged. "Do you mean when I was very young? Only Mother's face. And even that is vague." She smiled calmly. "Most of my memories are of the one who raised me."
Bhaltair growled, flexing his claws into the dirt. "Your mother was something that should not have existed," he said, voice low. "The mixing of cheetah blood with other species is impure and evil. And you carry her taint."
"Why should she have not existed?" She was not smiling anymore, but there was no frown on her face either. Just simple curiosity. "What is so wrong about existing? About being there to love? To cherish others? There's so little love in this world...why should a creature that can love be considered evil?"
Bhaltair opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. What she said made a certain kind of sense, but ... still! "Love or no love, it doesn't matter! The blood shouldn't be tainted with that of other species! Everyone knows that."
Elua shook her head. "I didn't. Leru doesn't. My little cousins don't. Sairin and my son don't." She could list names until she was blue in the face...but she would stick with those she knew closest. "Love is love. It doesn't matter species, or gender, or age...love as thou wilt!" It was the charge given to the coalition Leru had once belonged to by Elua's namesake. And it was one Elua would embody as long as she lived.
"Love as thou..." Bhaltair started, mouth hanging open as he trailed off. -Where- had she gotten such strange ideas! "Who told you such a thing?" he demanded, stepping closer. Some part of him remembered the time he had spent with Tiifu... and wondered.
Elua smiled again. "Leru, the one who raised me. And she was raised with it. And I raised my son with it, and Eisheth raises my little cousins by it...both this litter, and the first litter she had." She sat, wrapping her tail around her feet. "It's an old belief...far older than the oldest mortal alive!" She remembered the stories Leru had told her...how long ago the first Elua had wandered, lost and alone and forsaken but loving all he came across nonetheless.
Bhaltair frowned. "And ... what does that even -mean-?" he asked, not quite sure he understood.
"It means that you love as you want. As your heart wills you to." She didn't mind when others didn't understand. She could explain it. "That if you love boys, you love boys. If you love girls, you love girls. That you can love a single creature...or open your heart to all the creatures out there!" At the last bit, she moved her tail back and leaned back, spreading her front legs open. And leaned a little too far back, ending up on her back giggling. "Oops. Too far."
More staring. He STILL wasnt' sure he understood all of this correctly. Someone had told her ... that it was okay to love anyone? Anyone and everyone, no matter the species, gender, or ... or anything? "But ... wouldn't that create chaos after a while?" he asked, confused. "If everyone just did what they wanted and there was no way to ... to have pure blood or to prevent... things..."
Elua looked up at him, bright smile on her face. "Well first off, rape is a BIG no-no. That violates the other person's 'love as thou wilt'. And...well, it's all a matter of knowing what's right and what's wrong. I stop flirting if the other creature is uncomfortable or asks me to stop. Then I just share friendship with them. And what's so great about pure blood?" She rolled over and stood up, shaking the dirt from her fur. "What good is pure blood when there's no love involved?"
"I ... " Bhaltair started, and stopped again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Why ... why did she make him think about these things? There was a part of him that screamed it was something to do with the taint of her blood. But he had been away from home a long time. He'd seen and met plenty of other creatures. Talked to them, learned of them... not all other species aside from cheetahs were bad - he had never thought that. And if they weren't bad... what made it so bad to ... mix blood with them. "I need to ... to think," he said finally.
Elua nodded. "Then think." She trotted up to him, and tapped his chest with an earthy paw. "But don't forget to feel too. Forgetting about your heart is what causes a lot of the problems you see in the world."
Feeling almost as if he was in a daze, Bhaltair nodded, already wandering off ... back the way he had come. He'd never ... expected something like this to happen. But she had made him question himself, and the beliefs he'd grown up with. He needed to take another look ... at his mission, and his life.
Elua watched, curious. Had she done something wrong? No...he just needed time to himself. "Once you're done thinking...at least come see Eisheth! I think it will make her smile to see you!" And she liked when her family smiled, very much. Those words said, she started back to her family...completely unaware of the fate she dodged just by being her.
