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 Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:42 am
 Her family was gone. No matter where she looked or flew, Mneme could find no sign of her siblings nor her parents. It was as if they had simply vanished, taken from her without notice. She had searched until her body grew weary, and hope turned to despair within her chest. Wherever they had gone, well… they either didn’t want to be found, or were somewhere she could not go herself.
The journey had taken her to the desert, and there, she paused for rest. What was she going to do? With no mother and father to rely on, and no siblings for companionship… she had no one. No one in the world would know who she was, without them there. Hanging her head, Mneme allowed herself a moment of sorrow. It turned, with time, to despair, and the goddess found herself sobbing; lost in the desert, and alone, with not a soul in sight.
When her crying finally gave way, Mneme considered her next course of action. She could continue searching, but what if she never found them? Her existence would waste away, pouring over the lands in search of a family that might not be there. It seemed a tad silly, when she thought about it that way. But then, what was there to do?
Without anyone who knew her, Mneme was a blank slate. No ties bound her, and she was free to do what she would with her life. It seemed the best idea, if only her memories wouldn’t haunt her.
…OH! Oh, goddesses, of course! The solution was so simple. Looking around once more, Mneme bit at her lower lip in thought, considering her new solution.
So long as no one disturbed her body, or hurt her, this could work. She just needed the time to weave the spell, and all of her memories would be gone- no hurt, no pain, just a new, fresh existence. Steeling her nerves, Mneme set to work on her preparations, wondering for only a moment if she would be missed.
It didn’t matter now.
The illusion spell settled over her body, giving it new form, and Mneme lowered herself to the ground. Yes, she would sleep all of this off. Her new self would likely be… very confused, poor thing, but she was doing herself a favor. It was better this way, for the both of them- whether her new self would realize it or not. Closing her eyes, Mneme drew several deep breaths, and found herself drifting off into nothingness.
---
Some time had passed in the desert, and Mneme had remained in her state of rest. To passer-bys, she would appear as nothing more than a decayed elephant carcass. But to someone with the care to inspect the rot closer, the illusion would give way to what she truly was: a tiny goddess, slumbering alone in the desert.
Shifting in her sleep, Mneme’s wings fluttered slightly, coating the goddess in some of her own dust. She mumbled softly, the words unintelligible, as she continued to dream… and wait.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:54 am
The desert was kind enough to one bearing a sandy pelt color. While prey was scarce and small, it had trouble seeing Awemu until it was far too late. Water was harder to find, but with his seer ability, not by much. So it was that the tall, lean lion was relatively unconcerned as he traveled through the desert, careful to skirt around lands that belonged to other prides. He had no wish to encounter a pride like the Firekin, after all. Even had he been interested in joining them--and he wasn't--he was entirely the wrong color to do so. Such thoughts wandered idly through his mind as his eyes scanned the sands around him, passing an elephant carcass--and then returning to it.
An elephant? Out here?
Awemu frowned. Elephants were usually far from stupid, and it would be stupid indeed for such a large beast to go where there was not nearly enough forage or water to sustain it. Curious, he padded closer...although he'd already resolved not to touch the meat. The thing might have been crazed from sickness.
Almost upon it...and suddenly it was very much not a dead elephant at all. The lioness--the winged lioness--might end up as dead as her illusion if she kept sleeping out in this heat, however.
So he poked her cautiously with one extended claw. "You alright there?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:15 pm
As soon as the other lion touched her, Mneme’s eyes shot open. She sat up quickly, scanning the nearby area for trouble, and found herself face to face with… well, someone she didn’t know. Blinking a few times, she looked the stranger over (though to him, it would seem as if her empty gaze was fixed on his face), and finally gave him a soft smile.
“I’m quite alright, thank you,” She said, allowing herself to relax a bit. Anyone asking to her condition had to be friendly, she was certain; nobody who wanted to harm you would be asking if you were well. Tucking her wings against herself, Mneme did her best to recall why she was here, and if she’d met this lion before. Digging into her memory, she found…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“I realize how peculiar this is going to sound,” Mneme started, turning to look about the area once more, “but where are we? I seem to have no recollection of this land’s name, sadly. Which is going to make navigating it quite difficult!” She laughed lightly, looking to the stranger once more. Yes, he seemed friendly enough- surely they must have been friends for him to be so kind to her.
Oh, if only she could remember.
“And to add to the strangeness of your advent, I must ask… what is your name, kind stranger? Have we met before?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:30 pm
Awemu raised a skeptical brow. A winged lioness--a goddess, for she could be only that--who had no idea of where she was? It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that she simply didn't care for such things, except she had just neatly proved the opposite. Strange...and stranger still that she seemed to have no idea whether she had met him before or not, while he was quite certain he would have remembered her. As such, he shook his head. "My name is Awemu, and this is the first time I've ever seen you. We...are in a desert, but I am not familiar with the name of it. I am familiar, however, with the knowledge that laying out here too long can bake your brain right to a crisp." If it hadn't already...
The frown deepened. "Speaking of, how long have you been out here?" Getting her to shelter could very well be a high priority.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:46 pm
“Awemu,” she repeated softly, smiling as she spoke. “What an absolutely lovely name. Does it mean anything?” Mneme asked, tilting her head slightly to one side. It seemed odd that a complete stranger would be so kind to her- when he had little to nothing to gain from his actions. Perhaps lions were just a kind species, anymore. Not that she had much comparison to go by- there was a brother, in her memories, but he was nothing more than a fog to her.
At the comment to her brain being burnt to a crisp, and how long she’d been out here, Mneme frowned. Yes, that… was a good question, wasn’t it? It didn’t seem to be amongst the things she remembered, unfortunately. There was very little to go on in her memories at all, and the goddess looked away in embarrassment.
“This… this is terribly embarrassing, but I can’t seem to recall. It seems to be one of the things I erased, during my rest,” she commented, the last to herself more than Awemu. Mneme turned back to him after a moment, frowning slightly.
“I can tell you this much- I am Mneme, Goddess of Forgetfulness. I have a brother, somewhere.” She drew a breath, as if to continue on with these statements.
“…And that’s about it, really. I’m sorry it’s not terribly helpful, but… I seem to have cleared my own memories, for some reason. I couldn’t tell you why, though.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:12 pm
"None that I remember," Awemu replied, one shoulder lifting and falling in a half-shrug. His brow furrowed slightly as she admitted she didn't remember how long she'd been there...and smoothed again as she admitted exactly who she was. If her very domain was the lack of memory, it was hardly surprising if she didn't remember a thing or two. More surprising if she managed to retain anything at all, actually. "You are what you are," he told her. "If you're in control of forgetting, then it's more of a wonder if you remember anything." A small frown. "Although if I were to guess at an outside cause...maybe some sort of trauma? Something you wanted to forget?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:32 pm
“A traumatic event seems very reasonable,” Mneme agreed, nodding slightly. Looking down, she inspected herself. There didn’t seem to be any physical injuries that she could note… She stood and spun, inspecting her entire form in an attempt to check for harm. Her tail was in order, as were her legs and paws… wings were just fine…
“How very curious,” she murmured, righting herself once more. “There doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with me, so… I suppose I wasn’t in any sort of fight. It must’ve been an emotional hurt.” But what could it have been? She didn’t think herself a cruel goddess, so it couldn’t have been an action taken by her. Maybe someone had hurt her?
“I can make anyone forget anything,” Mneme told him softly, a weak smile taking her features. “The dust that falls from my wings makes any creature that inhales it instantly forget what they were doing, and… I can take memories, as well.” Here, she paused to sigh.
“But once it’s gone, it’s gone. Recovering memories… is something up to the creature itself. Or the other gods. It’s beyond my power.” She gave a bit of a sad little laugh, then shook her head.
“Apparently even for myself. ...But let’s not dwell on such things!” She interjected quickly, hoping to banish the melancholy she was bringing onto herself.
“You must be terribly thirsty, out here after all this time. Would you accompany me to water, Awemu?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:08 pm
It was at this point that Awemu regarded the goddess with something of a new wariness, noting to keep well away from any dust clouds she might raise up somehow. He didn't have anything against her, far from it, but he preferred his mind untampered with, thank you very much. "Well, if it was enough to make you forget it, then you don't need to remember it," he noted, trying to distract himself from the fact that just a bit of dust could be somewhat (mentally) dangerous around this lioness. He practically pounced on her suggestion. "You probably need water worse than I do, so let's do just that."
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:44 pm
“I suppose so,” Mneme conceded, nodding once more in agreement. When Awemu agreed to her suggestion of finding water, she smiled more earnestly and stood up. The area, sadly, jogged nothing in her memory- Awemu would have to take the lead and serve as her guide, for the duration of this trip. For a moment, she contemplated asking him to stay for a while. He was kind enough, and… sure, they were strangers, but she barely knew herself at the moment. There didn’t seem to be any real harm in the idea, that she could see anyway.
Perhaps, when they knew how they got along, she would ask him.
“Could you perhaps lead the way? I’m still a bit hazy, and don’t entirely trust my navigational skills quite yet.” She admitted, tone a bit sheepish.
“If you grow weary or tired, I can provide a breeze with my wings,” Mneme added, lifting them in demonstration. “They’re a bit dusty now from my sleep, but I can manage how much dust they produce. I promise! No amnesia for you today, I swear it.” The wings shook a little bit at this, as if to demonstrate; a considerably smaller amount of dust fell from them than before.
“Give me some time to fully get my bearings, and they’ll be completely dust-free.”
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