Watching her feet determinedly as she walked, Myq muttered incessantly under her breath, and occasionally would shake her head as if disagreeing with herself. There was no one to see her behave this way, and hadn't been since she'd been forced to leave her home and find her new name. But though she'd been isolated for months now, hunting down this elusive quest, she didn't feel alone. She could never be alone.
She hadn't even bothered to keep track of her path; the spirits would get her home when it was time to go back. They were a little less forthcoming about the location of her name, though, or what it even might be. "Look, my paws are getting sore," she grumbled to the empty air. "I've never walked this much in my life. Stop being playful and speak sense. Which way?" She listened for a moment, then snorted. "That's not helping."
Pya had left the lands of the voodoo pride to explore the lands around him, it was nice to get away every once in awhile but he didn't want to leave Coryth for to long. The couple were still in a glorious honeymoon stage but he knew their feelings for each other were real, and now now they were trying for cubs.. they were trying to be a family. It was a weird notion for him to think that he was going to be a family man, perhaps that was why he had left the pride today... just to make sure that he was still himself.
Pya had not excpected to see much of anything out in the barren lands that he had coisen to venture through today, he didn't expect to encounter anything, not even a dead body. So e found himself very startled wen he heard a noise, another presense, someone talking.
"Look, we've come all this way, and now we're in the middle of nowhere." Myq gestured dramatically to her invisible audience, as if they couldn't already see the barren terrain. "There's nothing here at all, no trees, no water, especially not a name. See, look." She walked over to the only scruff of vegetation nearby, a little bush, and peered down into it. "Hello, is there a name in there? No? Oh, there's nothing in there. See? Nothing."
She scowled and swatted at the air, her ears going flat in annoyance. "Hey, don't tease me, this is all your fault." Growling, she leapt up and batted at empty spots, whirling in place, before she lost her footing and went tumbling down. Sneezing in the dirt, suddenly she realized from her upside down perspective she could see something large and brown. Turning over, she realized it was another lion! She bolted up in shock. "You can't eat me, I 've seen Gods!" she babbled, backing away defensively.
Pya followed the voice as it swas still talkig, talking incisively he might add. It wasn't long before he came up over a small hill to see a young lioness yelling at a bush... the large brown lion was confused, greatly confused.
"I did not plan on eating you." he said gruffly, Pya was never one to really make a good first impresseion he was a grouchy old thing really... he wondered how well he would be able to handle being a father, but when he was with Coryth anything felt possible, he could do anything with her, specially if it made her happy.
Myq didn't take the male at his word... the outside world was full of strange, terrible beasts that would eat you, that's what the legends said. Sure, occasionally rogue lions mated into the pride and seemed alright, but they were the exception. She looked him over warily. He didn't look particularly dangerous, but how could you tell? He could be an evil spirit in disguise. What would a normal lion be doing out here?
"Well, whatever you were planning, I'll have no truck with it, so you can just walk on..." she blinked distractedly over her shoulder. "...So you can just... hang on." She turned around. "No, I don't care what his markings look like. Shut up. Wait. What? You sure? Okay, fine, let me talk to him." She turned back, looking at him curiously now. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a name lying around anywhere? I've misplaced mine."
Pya was utterly confused by this creature, he found himself beyond words suddenly, she didn't appear to be talking to him or herself at times, it was like there was someone else there... he was unsure of what to say or do... he knew that she was no danger to him, but could she be a danger to the pride, it wasn't to far from here and with Coryth at home there Pya felt a need to protect her and her happiness. In truth Pya was more concerned however that this young lioness might be harmful to herself.
"A name... lieing about?" he asked he was confused even further by her questions about names lieing about, names did not lie about they were not tangible things but something one was given at birth. "My you are a confused little thing aren't you." He didnt make any attempts to get closer to the lioness as she seemed as if she was unpredictable, and he kenw it would not be in his best interest to go home with any scratches on him, Coryth wouldn't like that.
"I'm not confused, I'm lost," she corrected, scowling. "Well, I'm not technically lost. My name is lost." Why was he finding this so difficult to understand? She glanced at the little spirits hovering about her, sparkling brightly like fireflies. They had followed her loyally all this way, and now they insisted this male would be able to help her. One of them flicked in and out of his tail fur playfully, but he didn't seem to notice.
She sighed. Usually at home they didn't seem to mind that she talked to things that they couldn't see. She'd never told anyone she thought the spirits were vijini, unsure of how they'd react. But here was a foreigner. He'd probably never even heard of spirits. She'd best be civil. "My name was Myq. I'm on my naming quest. Who're you?"
Pya tried to hide the look on his face, a wave of confussion passed over him though.... "My name is Pya." he answered her amazed that he had been able to even answer that part of her question. He wondered however what she could possibly mean by she was on her naming quest... you did not quest for your name it was just given to you.
He sighed not really sure waht to say to this girl.... she was clearly a lost cause... not really something he wanted to see on his day that he was suppose to be relaxing. "I am not sure how it is that I could help you... you have already told me that your name is Myq...." he trailed off wondering where he was going with that thought... or if anything he said would matter at all.
"My name was Myq," she corrected again, ignoring how the spirits were laughing at him. "But that was my child name. I'm going to be an adult soon, I can't have a child name anymore, so I need a new one. I'm not allowed to go home until I find it. And I've been walking for so long."
She sat down wearily, and looked him over. "I guess your people don't have naming quests, then." That sounded like an appealing option. She'd liked being Myq, it was short and simple. And no naming quest meant no long boring treks into the unknown wilds. But the idea of joining a different pride never crossed her mind. The swamps were home, to her and to the spirits.
Pya cocked his head to one side and then the other trying to understand all that the younger one had told him, Pya was shocked that someone younger then him had confused him so much.. he made a mental note to give the younger generations more credit then he had in the past. "Well no we don't have naming quests... I can't say that I have heard of a naming quest before." he was trying to perhaps be a little more polite that he had in the begininng of the encounter.
"Well if you are on a naming quest I do believe you are not looking for a physical name that you will find laying about but instead a mental epiphany." He looked at the young lioness before him to see if she understood.
"Epi..." Myq blinked vaguely at the word she didn't recognize. She turned to the spirits for clarification. As usual they were just as mysterious, but seemed to whisper something about the male holding the key. Ah, and he seemed to know something she didn't, about this epi-thing.
She got up eagerly and crept towards him. Maybe he could give her the answer? And she could get her name, and go home today! This very second even! "Mental epinomy. Right. Where do I get that? Do you have one? Could I look at it?" She got up eagerly and came closer to him, too eager to be nervous any longer.
Pya couldn't hold back the laughs and he found the earlier respect for the younger one drifting away just slightly. "No my dear epiphany. It is not osmething anyone can give you but instead a sudden realization that you yourself have. I don't know how your pride works or your naming quest.. but ifyou are trying to find you adult name then it must be something that comes from with in you." he swallowed and hoped that he was getting this right.. he didn't want to lead the young one astray if she ahd already been walking for so long and was so far from home.
"Its... well its like magic I suppose" he said drawing on his knowledge of the magic the voodo priests in his pride used.
"One moment the second it will suddenly be known to you when the moment before you did not know it. And it will fit." he looked to the young one to see if he was making any sese at all to her.
Myq felt a sinking feeling as the male spoke, as his response was not even close to what she'd expected. "Wait, so... all this time I could've just picked a new name and gone straight home? But that's so... easy! There's got to be more to it than that!" Was this naming quest thing all a trick, to get the adolescents out of the pride for awhile? Is that why they hadn't told her how to find her name, so that she wouldn't come back until someone pointed out the obvious? How sneaky!
She perked up at his mention of magic, though. Oh, there was a thought. Maybe finding a name was like talking to the spirits. She did that better than most already; they never stopped talking, really. Maybe she could 'talk' to her name, if she focused. "You're very helpful, for a foreigner, Pya. Thank you. I shall think on this, and then... I'll go home."
"Why didn't you stop me before I made a fool of myself!" she hissed at a nearby spirit as she trotted away, as soon as she was out of hearing range.
