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 Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 6:55 pm
~.:The Past is the Past:.~ Pale green eyes wary, a lion the color of dust crept down to the watering hole he remembered from his youth, unchanged despite the many things that had changed since he'd last visited it as a free lion.
It wasn't but a moon ago now that he'd been freed from his enslavement, his decorations and home returned to him, and the freedom weighed heavy on his mind, even as his trinkets weighed heavy on his neck and forelegs. When was the last time he'd been able to walk to water without the feel of talons on his back, harrying him to hurry, to finish and be herded back to the shadows of the stones? He could remember the day, though there had been many, many days between that one and this.
Tentative, always wary, he scanned his surroundings on instinct to make sure there was nothing to stop him, no wings over the sky above. Keeping to the protective overhang of the sparse trees when he could, he made his slow, careful way to the precious water, only bending his head to it when he was sure there were no watchful eyes on him.Unfortunately for the lion who wanted nothing more than a peaceful drink, Múscail could not read minds. The seer had always entertained the idea of meeting her Knight in Shining Armor, as all young maidens did when they dreamt of future mates. And it was that thought that had caused her to wander away from her dear sister, into unknown lands. She breathed deep and walked lightly, paws brushing Mother Earth with a certain reverance that only someone else who followed The Goddess could understand. She paused when she came upon the watering hole, the slight jingle of her own adornments breaking the silence that surrounded the water. "Well met, stranger." The dusty male jerked in startlement when a voice sounded near the water, tossing his head up as water dripped from his chin. He licked it up absently as he assessed the strange female with a frown, soft wears back against his mane.
"Who are you?" He called out to her, his voice raspy from long disuse. Homutifu, as his name was, had only recently started to use it again. His captors had not cared for his thoughts and asked only blind obedience from him. Words did not come easily. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" It only occured to him after he asked that she probably wanted the water... its the reason most creatures came to the oasis, the source of life in this dry place.
Realizing his error, he covered it with a dour, forbidding frown, stepping back from the water to let her take her place at it, if that was truly why she'd come here."I am Múscail, and at one point in my life, I represnted The Maiden," Múscail said softly, her eyes studying Homutifu curiously. He was an odd one, she thought as she stepped closer, bending to drink from the watering hole and innocently brushing her side against his... Completely by accident, of course.
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 6:58 pm
Homutifu jerked back as though burned when her side touched his, loosing his composure a little as he scrambled to get out of her reach. He had left her plenty of room, which led him to believe she had touched him on purpose... but the touch he was used to now was not the gentle kind, especially not from someone he had never met before.
Restraining himself from growling at the strange new female, he crept back farther into the safety of a tree's shade, and settled down to sit with his back to the trunk. "Homutifu." He said grudgingly, long-forgotten manners rising to remind himself that a name for a name was polite. Watching her with a patience taught through necessity, he waited for her to finish so he might drink his fill and return to the safety of his den.
Dark it might be, but birds didn't like the overhanging rock, which is exactly why he liked it.
It wasn't long before Múscail had her fill, and she shifted to look at Homutifu, her eyes going to the pendant that hung about his neck. The style was familiar to her, and she couldn't stop herself from loping forward and absently lifting the pendant from his chest with a paw, looking at it more closely with a soft smile.
"This is well-molded gold, Sir Homutifu. The style is from the deserts, where Lord Heru is praised as God on Earth, if I'm not mistaken. Do you also hail from the deserts, or have you merely adopted their culture as your own?"
The dusty male was startled anew when she suddently came to him and reached for his heavy necklace. He jerked his head back before he scowled, pointedly lifting the necklace off her paw and smoothing it down on his chest, his pads carressing the old gold and dull stone. He should polish them... the last time had been Before and they were sore in need of it.
"Thank you." He said stiffly, rather pleased that she appreciated the decorations that were a symbol of his family... of which he was the last of the old line and blood. "I have always lived here, if you must know, as have my ancestors back into mists of the time. My blood is an old one."
Remembering, he frowned again, his voice rough. "What and who I am are of no importance. You are. You are trespassing here, lioness, and thus far, have chosen to ignore my other questions. What are you doing here, and why?"
"I am merely wandering the world, Sir Homutifu. My visions take me to places I would not otherwise find, and lead me to people I would not otherwise meet. Is it wrong to follow them?" Múscail asked lightly, sitting down before the lion and curling her tail around her haunches. This lion was a mystery to her. So gruff and abrasive, but she could tell he had a good heart. What could have happened to cause him to act like this?
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:01 pm
Eyes widening, Homutifu pulled back a little, his jaws snapping shut on any reply he might have had ready for her. Visions? She was a -seer-? That changed things and his thoughts stumbled over themselves, questions and insecurities tying his tongue. It was a long moment before he could make his mind form words... or really, one word.
"Oh..." He said softly, blinking rather fast. He realized that was rather strange for him to say so he struggled to make more words align themselves in the proper order. "No, I um... suppose not."
In his day, Seers were only a step below the gods themselves... that one should choose to talk to a lowly slave, which is how he still thought of himself despite being freed, well.. it was like having a shining goddess deign to step down from the sky and glance his way. Sudden fear gripped him and he let out a strangled sound... and here he was, being rude and suspiscious!
"Are you okay, Sir Homutifu?" Múscail asked softly, reaching forward to touch her paw against his.
And suddenly, everything around her disappeared. She was staring at a younger lion, dusty in color and with his mane just nearing completion. He was surrounded by vultures picking meat off of some kill, and neared them to get some... The birds lashed out violently, pecking at flesh and causing the young lion to flee to a safer location, still under the watchful eye of the vultures eating the meat.
And then the vision faded and she recoiled against the touch, not because of the lion but because of the gruesome look into his past.
"You have been wronged greatly, Sir Homutifu," she said softly, her eyes expressing not pity, but understanding of the suffering he must have gone through.
He jerked back when she touched him, his ears pressed back tightly to his head. What was with this female and her touching? Why did she think it okay to go up to a lion she had never met and knew nothing about and touch them?
The thoughts sort of faded then when he watched her face change, wondering at it before he realized that what he was seeing was the lioness having a vision. It made the fur down his spine raise up and chills run through him. It was... well, frankly creepy. What sort of things was she seeing? Did it hurt? Was she seeing, gods forbid, his death? That part really got to him and he looked away, avoiding her till she spoke again.
Her words startled him. So... she had been looking into the past then? Not a comforting thought... things lurked there that were best left forgotten.
"It is in the past and in the past it should say." He said softly, rough as always.
"Burying the past is no way to overcome it. But you are here today, clad in the gold of your ancestors... So I suppose, perhaps you have already overcome it," Múscail said mysteriously, her eyes glittering as she continued to look at Homutifu. "I hope I have not angered you, for seeing into your past. Sadly, I have no control over my visions."
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:05 pm
Pride lifted his head and calmed his nerves, remembering the history that hung around his neck.
"That past is behind me. I have been freed from it and there is only the future for me now... even if there is little enough to fill it with." He said, still a little miffed over the whole episode. But his ruffled feathers were smoothing down a little, at least.
"It is not something I would wish a lady to see." He murmured, his eyes sliding to her, regarding her for a long moment. "Those things... they are not gentle." Homutifu was thoughtful for a moment, wondering at the ability of a lioness to see things that couldn't be seen, know things that lived only in the mind of those who had lived it.
"I have seen many things in my short life. What I saw of your past is not the worst of it, Sir Homutifu," Múscail said softly, shifting slightly and resisting the urge to reach out and touch his paw again. She could tell he was still not used to being touched.
Homu sighed as he shook his head, the earings in his ear glinting on a stray shaft of light.
"Its still not something I would wish on a lady." He said firmly, his eyes on the soft ground under the tree. He kneeded his paws into it absently, savoring the way it felt beneith him after so long on sand and hard stone.
He found himself glad she didn't try to touch him again, he wasn't sure how much of it he could take right now. The dusty male changed the subject, seeking something else to speak of. "You said a vision brought you here. For what purpose? Is it meerly curiosity?"
"My visions lead me many places for many reasons. Sometimes, there is merely something I need to do somewhere. Other times, it is someone I am supposed to meet," Múscail explained lightly, her tail flicking slightly. "In this case, I'm guessing I was supposed to meet you."
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:06 pm
His gaze darted to her own as he frowned, wondering.
"Why would you need to meet me? Lady, I am only a lowly male. Once a slave, I have only recently tasted freedom again. What possible purpose could there be for someone like you to meet me? Do you need to know my past, to teach others of the evils in the world? Its all I can think of."
Breath puffed from his mouth, his chest expanding before deflating again. His tail flicked behind him, flipping from one side to the other before coming to a rest. Were the gods taking interest in him again? He could only wonder and feel fear clench in his chest. The last time they had taken an interest, his world had shattered around him.
"Who knows? Destiny and my visions are as mysterious to me as they are to anyone else, Sir Homutifu," Múscail said lightly, shifting again and glancing up at the sky. "The Gods work in mysterious ways."
Homutifu shook his head as he sighed, glancing up at the sky himself, though with less reverence and more nervousness. Gods where not something one would want to have focused on them... the attention was rarely a good thing, in his experience. The powerful creatures were fickle, at best, and you could never be sure what their motives were.
"They can work their ways on other mortals, as far as I'm concerned. I'm content to be beneith their notice." He murmured, shaking his dusty mane out to sooth himself.
"Is that so? I'm afraid I wouldn't know about being beneath their notice... My mother was a goddess," Múscail said softly, her eyes falling closed as she breathed the air and stood for a moment. She walked in a circle with her eyes closed, feeling the ground beneath her and listening closely to the sounds that surrounded her. And then, she settled down again, opening her eyes and giving a brilliant smile. "She always watched over me, and made sure I had everything I needed."
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:39 pm
Yet another surprise! This female... unassuming, lovely, seemingly delicate... was half god! It was like the ground had dropped out from under him as he stared at her, watching as she walked a few paces.
"A g-goddess?" He gasped out, his voice strangled. He felt almost paniced now, darting a glance around them at the empty oasis. It was hard for him to comprihend why such a creature would have come to him, of all people... what was here for her? He really didn't understand and what's worse, words had deserted him.
"I don't know who she was, but father always told me she was beautiful," Múscail said wistfully, a dreamy expression on her face. She had always entertained the thought that her mother had been the most beautiful goddess that graced the earth... Someone gentle and loving who just couldn't handle the burden of cubs...
Homutifu shook his head as he eyed the female in a new light, wondering about what hid beneith that soft exterior. His expression said he expected her to sprout wings any moment and fly off into the blueness of the desert sky. He wouldn't have been suprised. She was... strange, to say the least. He'd never had much expirience with females beyond his other and the few friends he'd had before the war. Even now, he still had trouble with them, stuck in that awkward phase where he was learning to deal with the fairer sex.
"If she looked anything like you, I'm sure your father is right." He said softly. He was a little better, but still put off by the whole thing
"She was closer to my sister, I think. I look more like my father than I do my mother," Múscail said lightly, her head tilting curiously as she swished her tail back and forth. "What were your parents like, Sir Homutifu?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:52 pm
The male nodded slowly as he listened, wondering a little about her family, what they might have been like. What kind of a family did a goddess have? Or a seer for that matter? They couldn't be a normal sort of family... could they? It didn't seem possible.
For a moment, he reflected on his family, or the family he had had back Before. "My father was a proud male, protective of my mother and I. I was their first and only child, and they were very much in love." He said softly, remembering. "Mother was a graceful lady, a little like you. I remember her kindness... the way she encouraged me to be as strong as my father." He sighed softly. "Father was killed in the war, trying to save my mother... I never saw what became of her. I was overwhelmed by the vultures despite my newly learned skills of fighting, and taken captive." His voice grew softer as he spoke.
"So you're alone now... I'm lucky to have my twin, Codail. We'e been traveling together ever since our pride died off," Múscail said softly, her smile returning at the type of mother Homutifu had described. "But your mother sounds like a wonderful lioness. I hope I can be a mother like her when I have cubs of my own."
Homutifu nodded as he glanced at the female, his eyes dark from memory. He watched her for a long moment in silence as she spoke of her twin, stirring after a moment. He blinked before shaking himself vigorously, clearing his mind of the thoughts that clouded it. "I didn't have an siblings... but I'm sure when you become a mother, you will be as fine a lioness as my mother was." He conceded, though it was rather grudgingly. He still wasn't all too comfortable around this new female.
He rose final and stretched, a yawn parting his jaws wide to flash bright ivory fangs, his pink tongue curling. "Do you have a place to stay tonight, Muscail? You said you were traveling. Where is this twin of yours?"
"For the moment, I have no place to stay. Although I am content to sleep here if I must. It is a beautiful oasis. I can only imagine how the Goddess must have worked to craft it," Múscail purred, getting to to stretch absently, and then turning to give Homutifu another bright smile.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:06 pm
The male turned to frown at the water and the lush vegitation, suddenly suspicious of the oasis and its soft perfection. "I don't care to wonder. The ways of gods are beyond my perception." He said softly, turning away from the water.
His paws padded lightly back up the way he had came but he stopped for a moment, turning his head back to eye the female. "Its time I returned to the pride...Miss." He said over his shoulder, his tail gently flicking from side to side behind him. "I should think you'll be welcome to stay the night here before traveling on."
"Then stay I shall, and enjoy more time with you, Sir Homutifu, while I still have the pleasure to do so," Múscail said, padding after Homu and looking at him almost playfully. She would have to find a way to help this lion loosen up, even if only a little bit!
The dusty lion started as the pale female padded after him, his ears pressed back into his mane. "I... well now... You can't just..." He growled as he frowned at her, a grumpy expression on his face. This was -not- what he meant.
"I didn't mean with the pride. If you want to stay -there-, you will have to to speak to the king and ask his permission. The oasis is not often visited, besides myself." He managed past the grumble in his throat. Eyeing her, then the oasis behind him, he turned and headed off again, his head low as he grumbled to himself.
"Oh... Forgive me, I didn't realize..." Múscail's voice trailed off and her ears pinned against her head. She felt like a cub again, being scolded by one of the Bards for playing too rough... It had been a long time since anyone had made her feel like this, and shame coiled uncomfortably in her chest.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:07 pm
The meek sound of her voice drew him to slow and finally stop, looking back over his shoulder.
"Well, are you coming then, girl?" He called back gruffly, trying to cover the pang of conscience he got at the sound of her voice. He hadn't really ment to scold her... he just had a hard time talking to her, not sure of what the right thing to say was.
Múscail was silent for a long moment, and then her blue eyes brightened and she felt her heart flutter for a moment before she eagerly trotted after Homutifu. "Of course!" she said, smiling and swaying her tail behind her.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:57 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:01 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:05 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:06 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:08 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:10 pm
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