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 Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 2:14 am
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:07 am
He was back...finally.
The hare had promptly deposited his new found companions in the company of other members of the Bahari and had made his way towards his own home. It was of no surprise to him that Peregrine was otherwise absent for now, but the hare had managed to locate both Chessa and her patient. Even now Durama could see that the white lion had made considerable progress in the time he was away. Everything about Spectre's demeanour had relaxed, his speech patterns had settled, and he had even begun to recount tales of a life that he used to live. Alas, as Durama drew nearer and heard several of the phrases, he realised that Peregrine's suspicions had been accurate - what Spectre thought had happened, where he thought he came from... none of it seemed to be right. Granted, it wasn't wrong either, but the tales that had been provided to him by both the Justicar and the peculiar black lioness had confirmed that this particular lion had once been very different.
"Well...?" Peregrine had finally appeared from wherever he had been - no doubt tending to his own patient. Fortunately Organa seemed to have the capacity for independence and the clouded lion had seemed more than happy with her progress to allow her to wander freely. Thus, with Organa left to her own devices, Peregrine had made his way back to their (arguably) more interesting patient and in doing so, he had caught sight of his once wayward hare. Durama had ended up being away for much more time than any of them had anticipated, but it seemed by the grace of the gods themselves this hadn't necessarily been a bad thing.
"I found it," Durama replied, turning around briefly as he waited for the lion to join him. When they were both in step he continued to walk towards the matriarch and her patient, though the hare and his companion paced themselves so they could discuss his adventures. "Actually I found a lot of things, but I think I found exactly what you were looking for," the hare held up the battered and very fragile necklace. "This came from where he lived, according to the one who helped me, it's from the den he lived in so its definitely his," he added.
"You met others who knew him?" Peregrine seemed intrigued.
"Sort of?" Durama shook his head. "She seemed to know exactly who he was but she wasn't exactly forthcoming with information," he confessed and carefully wrapped the necklace around his ears again; it was an action that caused one ear to flop under the weight, but it wasn't the end of the world. "But she said if anything material would make him remember, it was likely to be this so..."
"I was honestly expecting you to find nothing," Peregrine admitted as they finally drew within earshot of his mother. "Anything is worth a shot, you know my mother will be delighted with the discovery," he pointed out with a wry smile.
It was a remark that was greeted by his mother with a turn of her head to acknowledge both parties had entered the vicinity. It took her a further few moments to realise that Durama had also returned, and what that meant, by extension. Unsurprisingly her expression positively lit up at the prospect of a successful outing. Spectre's response was more nuanced as he turned his head to inspect the returning hare and his companion. At first it didn't seem that the ethereal lion had much of a reaction at all, but after a moment or two he seemed relieved... evidently, it simply took him more time to register who a person was and what significance they may have had towards him.
"You're back!" she spoke at last as she rose to her paws and made her way towards the hare.
"Aye, little bit of an adventure," Durama confessed and gave her a gentle pat on the nose as she leaned down to inspect him for injury. Fortunately he had come out largely unscathed from his adventure and the only thing left was weariness. After all was said and done, the little hare was going to be in need of some serious sleep.
"Just a touch," she agreed as she allowed the hair to bounce passed her and move towards Spectre. "So you found something?" She hazarded.
"I did," Durama replied as he turned round again to smile at Chessa in a moment that would expose the necklace to Spectre. If the lion's reactions had been nuanced before, they certainly weren't now. The larger lion's eyes had widened in to saucers and he seemed positively entranced by the jewellery that adorned the hare's ears. "I found this," Durama continued, oblivious to Spectre's reaction as he gently removed the necklace from his ears and held it out in his paws with a proud smile. "I found lots of things actually but this one seemed really important, the lioness who helped me said it was," he added and shook his head. "We need to be careful though, it's really delicate..."
"Broken," Spectre stated faintly as he swiped a paw forward and abruptly snatched it from the hare's paws. The action was something the hare was completely unprepared for and he did release a small squeal of horror as he spun round. Oh but something that quick would have caused it to break, surely it would have!
...Except it hadn't.
Spectre had already lifted the necklace to his maw and was carefully examining it; though his expression with largely neutral there was a familiarity within his eyes that seemed to confirm all that the black lioness had said. She had told Durama that Spectre would know what it was, if there was one thing that could stir him like Peregrine had thought it would, then it would be that. She had of course wished him luck, indicating that she thought the damage might be too extensive, but she hadn't said it was a completely lost cause.
Now there was a thought, how had she even known about the damage?
"Do you know what that is?" Chessa asked slowly as she observed him; he quietly nodded, though he provided no further response to what it might be. Unsurprisingly Chessa turned hr gaze towards Durama and raised a brow, he'd already returned to Peregrine's side, it no longer seemed necessary to be near Spectre. "What is it...?" she asked softly.
"It's his," Durama replied in a low voice. "It's from where he used to live, long before he ended up out here."
"Long before he seemed to forget who he was," Peregrine surmised as he kept his gaze fixed on Spectre. "Did any of the denizens provide any other information on him?"
"They couldn't," Durama paused as Chessa and Peregrine glanced at him. "They were all dead," he finished faintly, it was a rare moment in which Peregrine and Chessa both exchanged glances of concern.
...Perhaps there was something to Spectre's paranoia after all.Words: 1173
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