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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:09 pm
Alone.
It wasn't something Apatheia was used to. Oh, you could say she was solitary enough, but she'd never been truly alone. There had always been her clan, always been pride-sisters in general...there had even always been the males. And now?
Now she was alone, and lost to boot. All she could tell of her surroundings was that it was...definitely not the jungle she had called home. Not a new realization by any means, but the continued unfamiliarity made her uneasy, and kept the fur along her spine slightly raised.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:21 pm
Though Selene laughed at Fuu for suggesting he shouldn't be out on patrol anymore considering the trouble he always managed to find, she couldn't help but worry about him now that he had indeed gone off. Admitting it was hard, it meant admitting she cared about him and she still felt some resentment about that because of how their marriage had been arranged despite her feelings.
Still, Selene was out nearer the borders than normal, hoping to catch up to her mate and see what he was up to. She wasn't expecting to spot a lost, tense looking stranger- and when she did, she hesitated as she thought about how to react. It was only one lioness and they were still near enough the pride so that Selene was safe and the stranger was near trespassing.. so she decided to approach.
"Good day!" she called out, drawing attention to herself and her intention to approach well before it could be a dangerous surprise.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:44 pm
Every muscle tensed for a moment at the voice, until Apatheia caught sight of the stranger--and processed that the call wasn't an aggressive one. Fur smoothing and claws retracting (when had those come out? she needed to get a hold of herself!), she drew a deep breath and approached. Scanning the lioness that her subconscious instantly labeled as 'outsider,' Apatheia noted that she was a little smaller than herself, and similarly dull-colored--she would have been a fellow Shikar-i, at home. And goddess-blessed...although Apatheia couldn't help but wonder if an outsider would know of the goddess, if it truly counted if they didn't. Surely so--disbelieving in her didn't make her not exist, after all.
...How did one greet an outsider lioness when one wasn't even in their own lands? An agonized moment passed as Apatheia debated this, desperately seeking to avoid the shame of addressing this outsider improperly. "Greetings, sister."
Surely greeting her as she would a clan-sister would only grant this outsider honor?
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:54 pm
Selene watched the stranger react to her greeting and look her over with great interest. She did a similar looking over but found little of particular interest- certainly nothing in the way Apatheia was judging her. The greeting caught her by surprise.
"You are passing through the borders of the Mwezi'Johari pride lands," she said, her tone more informative than threatening and her expression cheerful, "My name is Selene."
Her introduction seemed awkward, almost a second thought but Selene felt it was important to explain her approach.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 1:11 pm
"I am Apatheia," she responded in kind, although her mind was racing. Pride lands, but not her own. One she had never heard of--although that wasn't saying much, if one considered the Kunanda's isolationist nature. Outsiders were outsiders...but she was the outsider here, it seemed. And it would be a lie to say she wasn't curious. "I did not know of the Mwezi'Johari. I would like to know of them, I think." Her words were awkward, carefully chosen. She was far out of her depth, so far that the bottom was nowhere in sight. The best she could do was flounder along and hope not to incur too much toh.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 1:25 pm
Hmm, it was hard to tell what Apatheia's status really was. She seemed to be a rogue, wandering as she was, but her tension and curiosity both suggested she might truly be a pride lion. It was no secret to the Mwezi'Johari that some prides had recently been disbanded, she could think of at least two members of other prides that had wound up here.
"Well, the lands here are watched over by the Great Lion," she started with a smile, "He watches us from the sky at night, his eye is known to most as the moon. When his eye is wide and watchful, we are most safe."
It was a simple summary, further details weren't always necessary for passing rogues.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 1:49 pm
"The Great...Lion?" Did outsiders not keep their males in line, that they revered a male? Of course males were necessary for the survival of any pride--a female could not bear cubs alone, and not every male was as sinful as his ancestors--but worthy of this tone of respect...Apatheia struggled to wrap her mind around this. "You speak of him as a protector. This Great Lion--this male--he is your god, or your leader? He is trusted so?" In her bafflement, she didn't consider that what she was saying could be highly offensive. This was not The Way Things Were, and the lioness was having difficulty with the idea that the truths of her life might not apply to everyone.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:04 pm
Apatheia's reaction was surprising to say the least, of all the times she had explained or seen this explained to outsiders, she had never really had any focus so much on the gender of the deity in question.
"Yes, of course," she said, not sure what else to say in regard to the pronoun associated with a deity whose only visible characteristic was his eye.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:41 pm
Outsiders were strange. It sounded as if Selene did not even know that there might be a reason not to trust males, that they could be capable of horrific oppression and dishonor--that they were what females were reborn as if they incurred enough toh that could not be met.
...But...what if there was a reason for that?
The unwelcome thought wormed into Apatheia's mind, and she could not shake it. If these outsiders didn't see males as unworthy, either their males had done nothing to incur such distrust, or...or they wallowed in dishonor with their males. And while the latter was certainly possible, the pale lioness found she wanted to know the truth of it. Ignorance, dishonor, or...something unlike anything she'd heard of? "What is this Great Lion like, then?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:57 pm
Selene opened her mouth, trying to find a good way to lead into the subject of gender- it seemed to be a surprise to her that they might worship a male deity, like it might be a threat to her somehow. Knowing how females were regarded might have helped her opinion.. but how was she supposed to just offer up that information?
The question she was asked next was a tricky one, so much about him was implicitly understood and believed, it could be difficult to put into words.
"The Great Lion is our divine guardian," she said, "His blessing keeps us safe and whole, as a pride and as individuals. Those of us who are most favored must be treated with the most respect so that they may extend their own protection to help those the Great Lion does not watch so carefully- or at all."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:10 pm
"How do you determine who is favored? Do you just know, or is there some way you find out somehow?" Apatheia wasn't sure how to ask the question that gnawed at her--if the Great Lion was male, did he tend to extend more of his favor to his own kind? She decided to opt for a different question, instead. The more of them she asked, the more that seemed to crop up! "And when you know, does he ever change his mind?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:16 pm
"Your blessing is determined by how you are able to catch his attention when you are born," she said, happy to be onto an easier topic, "If you are born under a full moon, it is easy for the midwives and mothers to call his attention and blessing to you. If you are born under a new moon, he simply can't offer any blessing at all."
She smiled.
"For a female, his mind can never be changed," Selene continued, "When a lioness takes a mate, he joins her rank because she is the heart of the family and the one who bears new life. A married male's status is a reflection of his mate."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:37 pm
"So he shares in her favor--or lack of it," Apatheia murmured in an approving tone, her tail swishing idly behind her. At least these outsiders had something right (or at least, somewhat familiar...ish), with the female effectively determining the rank of her partner. "A birth must be an event, then. But what of those who do not know the moon they were born under?" The lioness had thought little of the moon or stars other than pretty lights in the night sky, living among her clan.
...Hmm. Perhaps, if the males were not too insufferable, she would have to stick around, and learn more of this place.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:45 pm
Selene was relieved that Apatheia's tone changed, she still needed practice at properly handling questions and skepticism and she was glad now wasn't one of the worse attempts. It made her curious about where she had come from, though.
"Any outsiders who accept our ways go through an initiation ceremony," she explained, "A special plant is used to induce a sleep under the full moon, when the Great Lion calls you from sleep is when you are considered reborn into the pride."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:56 pm
Apatheia had to pause and think a moment, there. She was intrigued by these outsiders' ways, yes. Interested, even. And as long as males were not allowed to exploit females, she could perhaps get used to the idea of interacting with them past a bare minimum. But she wasn't quite about to jump in head first. "I assume an...outsider...would be educated before that, to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises?"
It was difficult, to apply the term 'outsider' to herself.
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