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 Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:45 pm
Hopefully, she wouldn't have to result to the latter.
Folding her wings tight against her sides--just in case anyone happened by, she'd be able to conjure up an illusion before they got a chance to notice her wings--Koya wandered aimlessly forward. It was quiet, all life fading from the plain as the light was fading from the sky. Dozens of thoughts crowded her mind, some of them concerning her family and others concerning more pressing matters. Where was she? Were there any prides nearby or in the area that wouldn't take well to her being there?
There was always the quick escape of flying, but she really didn't want to have to reveal herself to so many...
What was she worrying about anyways? So far as she could tell, there was no one else about. Koya shook her head and sighed. Too much time on her own had made her paranoid and anxious. Hopefully some rest could help it.
If she could even find a place to rest..
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:01 pm
 Sleep for Mwako was something left for the daytime, the night was when he prowled like a dark shadow through the night hunting something, anything that he could draw sustainence from. To those who knew him in his pride, he was the dear, slightly sentimental shaman, a little too obsessed with blood and the gods but generally pleasant. To the outsiders he could be anything from a passing smirk in the night to death and blood in the shadows. He had only awoke an hour before, cringing away from the still bright sky at that point, his light sensitive eyes feeling as though daggers drove into his brain every time he looked up. Since then the sky had darkened and night began to unfurl her cloak across the sky, stifling the sunlight.
So he moved, despite his age able to slink like a panther, his bone jewellery and decoration clinking as he did so, tail curling behind him at his every step.
He paused, spotting a sillouette not far off, a devillish grin curving across his grizzled features. From here he could not tell if the figure was friend or food, so he tiptoed nearer, grinning out from the cover of the undergrowth.
"Zhar kar Zhar kar
Zhar kar lo
Who goes there
Does the blood god know?" he cackled darkly, the skull on his head skewed slightly. The rhyme was little more than a childish and playful one but he liked the way it sounded. "What's a delicate lady like you doing all alone out here?" he purred, finally identifying the other figure as a female but still unable to see as much as he'd like thanks to the still present daylight.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:13 pm
Round, sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone approaching, then straight after a voice sounding off a little to the left. Her stomach turned slightly as she thought maybe this was some patrol of a pride, but outwardly she remained calm and unafraid as she turned to face the approaching lion.
What met her eyes shocked her silly, but she attempted to school her expression into a polite but perceptive stare. His coat was dark, mixed with a blood red and what looked to be dozens of scathes and scars. But the most noticeable among the other was his accessories: bone spine and ribs resting on his back, a smaller spine and ribs on one of his forelegs, and a bone skull laying peacefully over his head.
Koya's tail flicked in uncertainty, and she angled herself so that she could make her wings disappear, hopefully without him being able to really notice.
"Looking for a place to rest, is all," she replied cooly, though her eyes betrayed her nervousness. She let it slide that he had called her delicate. Being of the Past, she was far from delicate, but she wasn't sure she could hold herself against a determined lion either. Either way, she took great caution and subtly kept a good distance between her and the other.
"And you?" she asked in turn, more out of formality than any sort of curiousity. Something in the way he carried himself set her off, and she was attempting to figure it out quickly before something happened.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:28 pm
His crimson eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement at her slight apprehension, there was nothing he liked more than to make people do a double take at his appearance, that was half the skill to being a shaman, you had to make other lions beleive you had power and knew how to weild it. Really it was all just an act, no matter how much blood he spilled, his own or that of other lions, he'd never heard the voice of the goddess again. The skull he wore on his head had been there when he woke up after his "enlightenment", he had no idea whom it belonged to, merely assumed, since it was leonine, that it was the skull of the blood goddess herself, given up for him.
He had a special kind of respect for females.
"Rest eh? Rest is a hard thing to find in this world, we can sleep but it isn't always rest. I seek that place too, though I doubt it's the work of a single night." a flicker of a wistful smile crossed his features, making him look older than he first appeared. He was far from a young lion, grey for a reason. But the smile was merely fleeting and he resumed that easy, and in his opinion, charming grin.
"But me? I was merely looking for a meal, the night is my daytime and I do so adore the red water of life. Such a pity finding a fountain takes so long. Ah to be able to draw life from oneself." he eyed the scars on the back of his forelegs, recently scabbed. "But alas." a wink "My own lifeblood is not a wise choice of beverage it would seem." He stalked out from the cover of the undergrowth, sitting himself down a little way away from Koya, crimson eyes warm and friendly.
"But I do not have a taste for lion tonight, nor would I mar a pelt as pristine as your own with the dark kiss any night. It is not often I encounter one so confident, so graceful."
"So alone."
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:48 pm
The other lion had spoken or mentioned nothing of anything disappearing from her back, so she felt she was in the clear. To him, she was just another lion wandering around, but she wasn't quite sure whether or not that was a good thing quite yet.
"Indeed," she spoke absently, not interested in his words. What did he want with her?
"But not every sleep needs to be a rest for me. So much as it's enough to renew my energy, I'm fine. Life doesn't have to be overly complicated," she spoke, although she knew that the words she spoke were a lie. Life was the most complex and confusing thing in existance. The past proved that. And if there was one thing she knew better than anything else, it was the past.
His smiles, his grins... his whole look, the silver female couldn't quite figure it out. She had never been good at reading others, and he was the most puzzling she had met thus far. It was hard to see what he was thinking or what he was trying to get at. Hopefully, she'd pass through the night unscathed.
Although, as the seconds ticked by something told her that he wasn't interested in harming her. His words chilled her to the bone, him speaking of drinking his own blood, but at the same time they set her in the notion that he wasn't looking for her blood tonight. And it wasn't just that he had said so, either.
"So you live in the dark? Must be a completely different lifestyle from someone who lives in the light," she mused. She purposely avoided commenting on his talking about blood, or the red water of life as he called it.
When he pointed out that she was alone, Koya became so nervous that the illusion over her wings wavered slightly. Her ears folded flat against her skull as she backed up a step, attempting to regain control of herself.
"Well the pride life is not for everyone, now is it?" she replied, trying again to figure him out. What did he want?
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:12 pm
He listened to what she had to say with an intent look, taking in and mulling over her every word. He took life slowly, savouring every moment as best he could, trying to read other lions, see what they feared, see what they beleived, what shadows lurked in their pasts. He had no idea he stood before a goddess and a link to the past herself. His past he wanted to forget.
"Indeed it is. It's an interesting life, you learn to hear the shadows, spy out the sleeping prides, tiptoe through a world where the day animals sleep and the night ones cry from the treetops. It is a world that was chosen for me." he smirked "I have very sensitive eyes. Not tolerated in the desert where I was born. The night is about all I can stand." he casually fiddled with one of the feathers twined in his fur. "Though I wouldn't mind seeing a sunset, just the once. I hear they are redder than the reddest blood and more grand than the moonlight on water." he cast a glance over her again, seeming to muse on something "What is it like to live in the daytime? The question goes both ways."
He laughed to himself at how startled she became, blinking away the brief impression he got of feathers outlined along her back, attributing it simply to an omen from the blood goddess of this one's purity. "No, pride life is not. Though some of us take pride in helping to oversee the tuition of the little ones, maintain the rituals and to remind the others that the gods will see them right."
Always one for innapropriate gestures, he was overwhelmed by the urge to reach out a paw and to pat Koya on the shoulder, of the opinion that to sense another lion's true motivations, you had to feel their pulse. But he resisted, paw raised and feigned scratching behind an ear. He didn't want scratched for his lack of social boundaries.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:50 pm
Koya's fur itched as she stood there, but she resisted the urge to reach up a paw and chase away the feeling. All she wanted to do was reach out with her wings and simply brush him, opening up his past and his background to her eyes. He was a mortal, at least she thought, and so she could have done so easily. But she was both too afraid to get too close to him and also too polite to break his personal bubble. Besides, her wings were hidden. She had no wings, according to him.
Standing there, she attempted to chase away all thoughts of seeing his past by instead paying attention to his words. Fortunately, it wasn't all that difficult. What he was saying actually caught her interest this time, all that talk of the night life.
"Chosen for you? Well, it doesn't seem like you really object to that lifestyle, if I can guess correctly? It doesn't sound all that bad," she spoke, lacking the proper words. She had never attempted to live solely by night and so naturally she was interested in what it was like.
"The sunset.. it is different colors sometimes. It is never once the same." It was what she loved about the sunset. It was basically the same thing every day, and yet each one was completely different than the one before it, in its own sense.
"What's it like?" she echoed, glancing at him. "The daytime is.. well, it's lighter, for one. You don't have to strain to see anything, it's all lit up for you. The hunting is different too, that's for sure. You have to be stealthy, for there is no cover of darkness to hide you. It is tricky, but not so hard once you get used to it, I suppose. And it's also very hot, with the sun beating down on you all the time." It was a lousy explanation of the day time, but she really didn't know what to say about it. She lived subconsciously through the day and never once stopped to notice details of how the day life worked.
"That is true, there are some things in a pride that one may find satisfying, but for the most part I personally can not seem to find a place in a pride for myself." Thanks to her being a goddess in a mortal world.
Seconds ticked by, and she was becoming more relaxed. Nothing had happened to her thus far, and she felt like nothing was going to after this. So she settled herself down upon her haunches, her tail curling around her lithe form as she peered at him while he scratched idly.
"Oh, I never got your name..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:14 pm
"You learn not to object to what life throws at you, you just pick up the pieces and keep going. But yes, I'm not going to lie on that count, I do love the night time, it's the only time I feel at peace, awake and asleep at once, it's like a dream. You can never really see properly, all black and white and beautiful." he snerked "Not unlike yourself." he grinned deviously "I jest, obviously. I'm getting on a bit to be wooing the ladies."
He listened to her description of the daytime with his eyes closed, trying to imagine a searingly bright world where all was seen, where you were exposed and opened, where the sun glowed overhead like an angry parent scolding it's children. It sounded so foreign to him, and any time he'd tried to investigate it he'd gone through the worst kind of pain he could remember. He only remembered one day where he could actually see, emblazoned on his mind and clung to like driftwood in a storm. He was very very young at the time and the sands surrounded him like an ocean of fire. It was when he was wanted.
He shifted away from those memories to other things. Tilting his head "Ah, not one to meld with others I see. Skeletons in your past or a dislike of other lions?" he laughed, finally daring to bat her on the shoulder in a masculine pat "No need to answer that m'dear, we all have our reasons for what we do, carried in our blood like echoes." His greatest shame was the firekin blood that coursed in his own veins, a traitorous link to the pride that called themselves "Of the blood."
"My name? My name is a bit of a mouthful. Mwako'Kifokando'Damuheri, I don't expect a non pride member to call me that, of course. I'm just Mwako. And your name?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:34 pm
Koya nodded at his words, understanding them far better than he might have suspected. "Ah, now that I know all too well," she spoke, shifting to a more comfortable position. "The past may deal a great blow to us, but we were built to endure, to survive. We lift our heads and carry on." That was how the lions always did it. Whether with the last scrap of their energy or with the most enthusiastic display, they were survivors. She watched them succeed, over and over.
When he commented on her beauty, she looked sternly at him. She was used to manners and politeness, not the forwardness that came from any sort of womanizer or a male who liked to woo. But there was one point that he made that didn't ring true, though he had no way of knowing that. She was far older than him, far older than he could have ever wished to be. So he wasn't so out of it as he thought.
But she remained silent on that topic, and merely chose to move on to other things.
"Nothing of the sort," she replied, although he had said there was no reason for her to answer. But she felt that she had to, otherwise he might go on to imagine the most unthinkable things. "It's all rather complicated. I just don't blend so much with other lions as I'd like to." She shrugged there, acting as if it was of no great concern to her.
But then he touched her and her flight instincts took over, causing her to leap sideways onto her paws. Again, with the rush of anxious feelings, her illusion over her wings faded for a second before she could control herself again. More of her wings were revealed this time, and she hoped with all of her being that he hadn't noticed. It had been far too long since she had had to use her illusional powers, and she was rather rusty in keeping the illusion constant.
"My.. that is a rather long name," she murmured, still trying to recover herself. She must have seemed like the battiest of lions, jumping around at the slightest touch like that. "Mwako, yes Mwako is much easier to pronounce," she laughed, though nervously.
"My name? Oh yes, my name is Koya. Pleasure to meet you, Mwako," she spoke, bowing her head slightly.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:46 pm
Mwako blinked as she flinched at his contact, that knowing grin masking the sting he felt at such a drastic reaction. Even as he reassured himself that there was simply more to this female than met the eye he spotted them. A flicker of wings, unmistakable this time, more clear than before. "I can see why you don't blend so well now." he said sagely. He wasn't as surprised as most lions would be at seeing what appeared to be wings attached to a lone rogue lioness. The way he saw it, he only knew his little corner of the world and the other half, and the daytime could hold all manner of mysteries. With the gods at least he liked to think he knew where he stood. "But it makes little difference to me. You are not Madame of the Blood and therefore I don't have to bow and show the usual traditional graces, I wager?" his smirk broadened.
"But yes, my name is long, I chose it myself, it means "blessed death by blood", a subtle irony on the remnants of my past. A new name, a new life, it's always the way to go. And no, the pleasure is all mine Koya."
With a raised eyebrow he said casually "Oh, and you have my apologies, I did not realise that a touch would be enough to startle you so much. In my pride the pulse is the means to truly feeling another lion, that their heart beats the same as yours does, that they too are alive. I forget that not all other lions appreciate such forwardness."
He laughed again, canines flashing in the dim light. "I did not mean to make you unveil your wings."
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:00 pm
Well there was no point in hiding her feathers this time. Despite all the hoping she had done to have him not spot her wings, it seemed that the second where they had been visible was just enough for them to catch the other's eye. She sighed, though not necessarily with regret, and dropped her veil, letting her tattered gray wings fall with a sort of relief at her side.
"I did not mean to deceive," she explained, in case he thought badly of her for hiding herself. "One simply cannot take chances." Though take chances with what, she wasn't quite sure just yet.
But she noticed that he wasn't surprised, and he wasn't so awed by her as one might have thought. Normally, mortals were amazed by the presence of any god or goddess, and Mwako's reaction made her think that he had met another one before, or perhaps he was familiar with one. Her wings itched again, wanting to touch him to reveal his past. But she resisted once more, and distracted herself.
"No traditional graces," she confirmed, though she hadn't the slightest clue what they were. Different prides had different traditions.
"My, so you chose your own name, did you? I've always wondered at names, thinking of what I would have named myself had I the chance to have done so." But she shook her head, feeling that it was irrelevant what she fleetingly wondered when she was truly bored in her wanderings. "I believe, though, that my name means something along the lines of... 'be happy' or some such. Rather.. odd." The past was, at times, quite the opposite of happiness.
When he apologized for startling her, she shook her head, embarassed. "No, do not worry about that," she spoke, shifting her wings. "I am merely tired, very jumpy you see." At the mention of her wings again, she pulled them in close in a protective sort of way. "No, it's not your fault. I'm untrained with this illusion trick, is all."
"Not your fault at all."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:28 am
He nodded "I understand, we all keep our secrets close, and there are those who would seek to harm your kind, I'd wager. Wherever there are those who fly there are others who seek to break their wings in jealousy." he nodded "The blood of the immortals is said to heal all wounds, I'll never believe it. I believe you are just like us, only forced to live much much longer." he eyed her with a thoughtful smile "What's it like to have a life stretched out so far it's like a wire tying you to times those who live now can only imagine? To see the ones you love grow old?" he looked facinated "Immortality, a distant dream for those who die."
That old grin curved back "Or is that merely an exaggeration too? Another old lie woven by the sharp toungued shamans of the past, the old lions who taught me and the ones who taught them?" he stepped closer, seeming to size her up, very personal in his gaze, prying. "I don't think you are perfect, I think you have the same problems we all do. More. Far more. I knew you were alone."
That soft grin reappeared. "Who do the gods pray to?"
Breaking the stare, he padded away again, leaving the personal space he'd invaded, his tone lighter, less mystical and curious. "But I fear I ask too much, delve too deep. Forgive me my dear Koya, being a shaman of the blood I often know not when to stop prying, blood flows from the heart, I am not accustomed to staying outwith boundaries."
He grinned. "And that's a pretty damn nice "trick", ah to be able to hide what one is from others the way we hide our history."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:50 am
"Yes," she spoke quietly. "That is a mortal's curse now, isn't it? Always wanting more than they get, never satisfied with their own lives. They want it all, want what others have." There were immortals like that too, but she didn't think there were so many of them as there were mortals.
As he spoke on, Koya found herself being scared again. He hit everything straight on, or at least most of it. But most particularly correct was the part when he mentioned watching her loved ones grow older. Not every god or goddess had a mortal family, and so she wondered what made Mwako say such a thing. Was it that obvious to be displayed plainly on her face? She had thought she had better control of her emotions than that.
"It is painful sometimes to be like this, but we are stronger than you, perhaps. We know how to handle the pain." She paused for a moment to send a glance his way.
"And you are only partly right, my friend. I am no different than you other than I have a longer life. But there are some far different. Stronger, more powerful.. they make changes to shake the world. And I.. I am only here to record those changes." It was true, her powers were very weak compared to some others. All she could do was remember the history of the world and see into others' pasts, nothing else. Without wings, she might as well have been a mortal seer of sorts.
As he came closer to her, invading her personal space, her muscles tensed considerably and quite noticeably. "Believe what you want, Mwako," she spoke. "I've no intention to persuade you towards a certain idea."
"No one is perfect. Perfection is a silly dream that some strive for, even though it is impossible. It's like attempting to kill a cloud. I have no problem being imperfect." She raised her head proudly. "Problems? Well, friend, who doesn't have problems? Just because we are immortal does not mean we are excluded from those things. No, it may mean more problems for us in fact. Your lives are free of all worry after they fade away, after you die. But us.. no, we must go on living forever. There is no freedom for us."
Her wings fluffed up and settled back down uncomfortably. This was quite the intelligent conversation she was carrying, but she wasn't so sure she liked it. Her emotions were bubbling and she had no control over them. She'd have to calm down before something happened.
Deep blue eyes watched him as he moved away, leaving her personal space. "You are curious, hungry for knowledge. I cannot blame you or that trait that runs deep in your blood." If she ever did, it would always lead to problems and conflicts.
"It is not a fancy trick, Mwako. I hide who I truly am. Mortals do the same thing when they put on a face or they deceive in some way. It's no different."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:10 am
He derived a giddy thrill from getting a reaction from his words, his master had always said that when someone got defensive and angry at you, you had done well, you had made them think, gotten under their skin. Many lions didn't like to be assessed, studied. He didn't do it out of self interest, only a desperate need to understand who he was, what his place was in the world, he'd never realised that to find himself he should stop looking into others and look a little more into himself.
"We do. We want everything. Want to tear down the sky and wear it as a cape, to own it all, have it all and die in a pool of our own corruption. I'm no better than the others, I just live for blood, in the hope that the little pieces of soul within that blood might help me redeem my own." he laughed bitterly "You say you are stronger? More able to cope? I think you have just had longer to convince yourself that pain is not pain when you see it coming. But who am I to tell the gods how they feel. I know nothing. Only that you look like us. But I guess, even that could be an illusion." His eyes lit up slightly at the mention of the powerful gods who shaped the world, as though he'd been told some dark secret about the inner workings of the universe. He doubted he'd ever meet any of that kin, too irrelevant and fleeting to matter.
"Our problems might fade away when we are gone but so too does our ability to exist. We have nothing left, none of the bad things, true, but none of the good either. Death is not a release, merely a punishment for those of us who fly too high and get our wings burned. We fight with our every breath because that breath might just be our last." he clenched a paw, feeling old emotions rise to the surface in him, remembering all the times he blamed the gods for the problems in his life. "You say there are gods who shape the world?" his voice faltered "Then why do they never listen?"
He shook his head, stepping back a bit "Actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know, knowing why they don't answer for certain would destroy the hope I have that someday they might."
He sighed deeply. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to barrage you with stupid, selfish questions. As you say, you have enough problems, I didn't intend to inflict more upon you. We all hide ourselves, after all, I wear this mask for a reason myself. I'm just a fool in wise man's attire trying to understand a world that's too big for me." he got to his feet and made to walk away.
"I'd be best just leaving you alone again." he grinned wryly "I always end up preaching at people rather than just enjoying the fact that they are there." he paused
"But before I go, could you answer me one thing out of all that I ask? What are you the goddess of?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:53 am
Koya's fur bristled. She definately didn't like this conversation. There were too many opinions, too much feeling in their words. There was no right or wrong, simply the views of different beings. And there were times when the discussion of opinons led to something greatly unwanted, something she'd rather avoid.
"That is only too true. But perhaps, one day, you will change." It was a far hope, but she still believed that one day the blood of mortals would no longer run tainted.
She raised her brows questioningly as he spoke of her strength and how he didn't actually think it was strength at all. "Think what you wish," she said quietly, not wishing to say more on that. "We all have our opinions, we all see the same things differently."
The silver goddess ruffled her feathers again as once more Mwako began to speak. "You say that death is the end, but do you really believe that? Have you ever experienced death? Have you ever spoken to someone who has? How can you know what something is like if you yourself have never tasted it?"
"But I have too much feeling in this. I will merely resign and say again that we all have our opinions."
She stood awkwardly on her paws, watching him cautiously with curious eyes. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to retreat back into the realm of the gods and rest. She wanted to forget the mortal world and just be safe and comfortable again.
"Perhaps they never listen because--" but she cut herself short as he told her that he didn't want her to answer that. "Fair enough."
Still watching him with stern eyes, the goddess remained silent as he said that he should leave her alone. She was beginning to feel anger again, and she really didn't care what he did at that point.
"Do as you wish," she spoke. Then she turned away to leave, but his words caught her again and she forced herself to turn back to him. "The past." Then she turned back around again and began to pad quietly away into the darkness of the night.
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