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 Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:41 pm
  
Donte’fao was a man of honour. He was determined that if he started something, he would see it through. ‘See’ be the key word. He had had a dream, a surprisingly vivid dream, of a feline of mixed descent. In the Achana, he had seen many hybrids but this feline held a power to her that he hadn’t seen before. She held herself differently. He had seen her talking to strangers, her words echoing around him in an almost dizzying manner. He could almost feel her words echoing around him, caressing his fur, ruffling his mane and sending him slightly crazed.
”What you have is a gift. An honour. Today you stand before me willing to learn, and I, along with many within this walls, are willing to teach. If you will accept us, we will accept you in return. If you learn from us, we will learn from you. Teach us, and we will teach you. Do you understand?” The feline spoke, and her eyes flicked up, a vivid red that struck Donte’fao so intensely that he found himself violently awoken from the dream, her last words echoing around him. “Are you ready?”.
He had felt fevered when he woke, dizzy and unable to move for a few moments. It was not the first intense dream that he had had, but it was the first that he could remember so vividly. Who was the feline? He had no idea. What was she talking about? Similarly, he didn’t have a clue.
There was only one thing that he knew.
A location.
That morning he had struck out early, earlier than he had ever risen before, eager to start to walk towards the mountains. He was desperate to know what was happening. Since the Achana had disbanded, he had been wandering almost endlessly, trying hard to find something, anything to occupy himself. He could not join the wild dogs again, but he was poor at being a cheetah. What was he? Some stupid hybrid.
Maybe the strange hybrid could teach him how to adapt. Maybe that’s what she was teaching?
It took him days of walking to reach the base of the mountains, travelling almost none stop except for sleeping and eating, and the occasional drink when he stumbled upon a pool of water. He was ragged when he reached the valley that he had seen in the dream. It was like an oasis in the dessert to him. The valley mouth opened wide, a broad opening that spread and slowly swept upwards, cocooning the pride in a wall of mountain from all other angles. It felt safe.
In the valley he could see creatures moving about; all sorts. Cheetahs. Leopards. Lions. Everyone, moving in peace. It was like the Achana. A sanctuary.
A pale figure moved towards him, her eyes a crisp blue, a shock of colour in her otherwise empty pelt. She smiled softly as she approached. She stopped a metre from him, bowing her head low to him. “Greetings. Oracle Ishara said you were coming. You must be tired,” she remarked softly, gazing at him with sympathy.
He blinked, realising his mouth was dry, and he took a moment to gather himself enough to speak. “Uh…how..” he murmured, blinking slowly.
“Come,” the young lioness encouraged. “First you need water and some food, then we will speak.” She smiled and waited for him to begin to walk before she led him further into the valley. There was a small spring at the base of the mountain, run-off from the mountains no doubt. She stood to the side as he drank, giggling a little as he practically gulped down all of the water out of a sudden realisation that he was thirsty.
He felt awkward, being so undignified around the feline who was obviously so graceful. He swallowed and raised his head up, shaking off the excess water around his mouth.
“Where am I?” He asked, with what seemed like the most sensible question he had had thus far.
“The Mimi’naona,” a voice behind him replied, and he spun towards the sound. It was the hybrid that he had seen in his dream. He couldn’t mistake her bright blue markings, nor her slightly rounder fighter than most other hybrids he had met. She wasn’t smiling, but she was not aggressive. Her stance was passive, but she did not stand too close to him. Out of respect to him, or fear for herself, he couldn’t help but wonder.
“We are a pride for the gifted,” the pretty lioness remarked from his side, her voice joyful and young. “Oracle Ishara says you’re gifted too.”
“Me?” Donte stuttered. “I’m not special. I’m pretty damn ordinary.”
The leopon before him cracked her first smile, a half one that only really twisted the corner of her mouth upwards. “You wouldn’t be here if you were ordinary. I saw you coming her. I saw your determination. You barely slept. You barely ate. I’m surprised you didn’t die of dehydration. If you were not special, your dream would not have instilled such a passion in you.”
“How did you know I had a dream?” He asked, stunned.
“Because I had a dream of you,” the leopon replied simply.
“Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves,” the lioness interrupted softly. “May I present Oracle Ishara, the Monarch of the Mimi’naona,” the lioness said, motioning to the leopon.
Ishara cracked another high smile and nodded to the lioness. “And this is Seer Mirae, one of our students.”
Mirae smiled gently. “Oracle Ishara had no dream of me, but the father of one of my guardians is her uncle,” she tried to explain but probably confused Donte more. Their species difference was only half a species but it was enough to baffle him.
“What am I doing here?” Donte’fao asked, sounding absolutely confused.
Ishara shrugged her shoulders. “That’s entirely up to you. What do you want to be doing here?” She asked.
He took a moment to answer, staring at the pride milling around them, at all the creatures who seemed to be inhabiting the pride. “I want to learn,” he replied.
Ishara smiled, her smile mirrored by Mirae, only the lioness’ was much broader. “Then you have come to the right place, Donte’fao.”
(WC: 1042)
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:43 pm
Donte had been in the pride for a few days, finding it odd adjusting to pridal life once again. It wasn’t that he disliked it, it was just that it was…odd. He wasn’t used to all this hustle and bustle. Mirae had gotten him settled in one of the spare dens, and had been eager to help him settle in but after a few hours of the lioness showing him around, he was honestly just ready to sleep.
He dreamt again. Fragments of images, nothing concrete. It was a restless sleep, so when he awoke he felt more exhausted than rested. Exiting his den, he realised it was still dark outside. The stars were shining above his head, and he blinked recognising a figure in the distance. She was so very pale, it was hard for her not to stick out like a sore thumb. He moved towards her cautiously, realising as he drew closer that she was humming to herself as she watched the stars.
“Mirae?” He asked, and she startled slightly but seemed unconcerned. She smiled as she turned to face him.
“Oh hi Donte, you’re up late! Or early! Whatever,” she murmured, her voice a melodious thrum.
“I could say the same about you,” he pointed out, taking a seat next to her on the grass.
“Oh, I’m always up this late,” she remarked casually. “I just can’t sleep when the stars are out. If it’s overcast, I sleep like a baby but when they’re twinkling away, well I must be up and present.” She said it so matter of factly, as if it was the most acceptable fact in the world.
Donte didn’t question it further though. It wasn’t really his place to question it, really. “How long have you been in the pride?” He asked instead, honestly curious.
“Not very long. My guardian’s and I were in the rogue lands for a while,” she said with a shrug. “Then Ishara visited my guardian’s Uncle and told him about the place. We all came here together, but my guardians moved on. They’re not gifted, you see, so they felt weird about staying here. We don’t discriminate though, so they could have stayed.”
She was very open and upfront about it all, speaking so calmly and almost in a trance as she continued to watch the stars twinkling above them.
“You call them your guardians?” He prodded just a little.
“Oh yes. I don’t know my parents,” she admitted. “I mean I have Shae. She’s my familiar, but she’s sleeping at the moment. She’s horribly tired of my late nights, and she adores sleeping when it’s cool and dark, so I thought I’d let her sleep tonight.”
Donte nodded, surprised but not wanting to push further. She was very generous with her words but he was afraid of pushing her too far with it all.
“You still have questions?” She asked, still not looking at him.
“Did you see that?” He couldn’t help but ask.
She giggled. “Yes I did. On your face.” She slid him a swideways glance, amusement on her face. “You don’t have to be gifted to see that you’re curious, Donte. You’re not exactly an enigma to read.”
He flushed, a bit embarrassed that he had given himself away so quickly.
“There’s just so many things I don’t know,” Donte admitted.
“Well, were you serious when you spoke to Oracle Ishara earlier?” Mirae asked, smiling up at the stars.
“Earlier?”
”When you said you wanted to learn.” She sighed softly. “If you’re surrounded by unanswered questions, the best thing you can do is start learning. Question by question. You’ve come to the right place too.” She beamed. “We love unanswered questions. Sometimes we’re the only ones who can answer the questions.” She hummed softly. “I think you need to speak to Oracle Ishara again. She’s very good at unanswered questions. She’s probably still awake too. She doesn’t sleep much.” Again, It was said so matter of factly.
“Really? Is it a side-affect of the gift?” Were they all destined to be an insomniac?
Mirae smiled. “No, she just usually gets up and has a night time snack around this time.”
Donte flushed. Man he was so ignorant.
“You’ll learn someday, don’t give up!” Mirae encouraged. “Now shoo, since you got here I haven’t seen a single moving star.”
“Oh!” He rose to his paws. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to your watching.” He said but he felt as if his words fell on deaf ears as she had begun to hum and gaze lovingly at the expansive sky above them. He had to admit, the sky was beautiful but he didn’t see the appeal.
Instead, he began to walk back towards the dens. However, true to Mirae’s words, Ishara was sitting by the spring. Her posture sated, as the empty bone sitting beside her belied her midnight snack. He hesitated but walked towards her. She turned as he approached, her gaze relaxed and unafraid. It made him realise that he had not seen any guards. He wasn’t greeted by any when he approached the pride.
“Where are the guards?” He blurted out.
She raised a brow. “We need them?” She asked.
“Well no, I don’t suppose we do, but what if someone attacks?”
“We have Guardian’s, they protect the pride. Our Commander ensures the safety.”
“I haven’t seen them,” he remarked.
“Would you know if you had? They are not marked as guards, Donte’fao. They are simply guarding us. We are not militarised. We are a pride of learners.”
”Shouldn’t you have a guard, being the Oracle and the Monarch?” He asked, slightly baffled.
She smiled, somewhat self-depreciated. “Oh, who would attack me?” She rolled her eyes. “I am not that important. I am simply what I am, and it has fallen on me to lead. That is all.”
“You don’t see yourself as important?” He was stunned. “You lead this pride.”
“Yes, but I am still learning. I am not above anyone here. I am their equal. I have more burdens on my shoulders but I cannot judge anyone else’s burdens as less valuable than mine,” she remarked, staring down at her paws in a somewhat distracted manner. “You never know another’s story until they are willing to tell you; and even then, you will only know fragments.”
He wanted to poke it more, find out what she meant but he had a feeling that perhaps he shouldn’t. “Have you had any other visions?” He asked instead, curious.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Only small ones. Ones of my family. Of my mother. Of my brother and his mate. Nothing ground breaking,” she said with a half smile. “Oh, and of your death.”
“WHAT?”
She laughed, a deep belly-shaking sound that floored him. It was the first time he had heard her laugh.
“Goodnight, Donte’fao,” she said, unable to hide her smile as she rose to her paws. “You should rest. You have a lot to learn still.” She moved past him without another word, moving back to her den with a relaxed stroll that showed her own amusement.
“Sure if you don’t all give me a heart-attack before I get the chance,” he muttered to himself, irritated but unable to deny that he was slightly amused. He began the walk back to his den, sparing a glance back to the pale figure gazing at the stars nearby, still humming to herself in complete bliss.
Oh, to be so happy.
[WC: 1247)
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:44 pm
[BACKLOG] Iaeratu & Mirae (+Shae): The Discovery
[BACKLOG] Iaeratu & Mirae & Star (+ Shae): The Meeting
[BACKLOG] Iaeratu & Mirae & Star (+Shae): Star-Gazing
[BACKLOG] Iaeratu & Mirae & Star (+Shae) & Dysi: Meeting The Father
[BACKLOG] Dysi, Mirae & Ishara: A New Skill
[BACKLOG] Mirae (+ Shae), Iaeratu & Star: Saying Goodbye
RP Counts:
Mirae: 6RPs
Shae: 5 RPs
Ishara: 1 RP
Dysi: 2 RPs
Iaeratu: 5 RPs
Star: 4 RPs
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:44 pm
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:45 am
 Ishara hated it when her visions came in flashes. They made her nauseated. It was frustrating and despite all her control and breathing exercises, sometimes they were just out of her control. Sometimes, like tonight, they hurt. Not always the way the visions came to her, but sometimes the visions themselves hurt.
Flashes of her mother. Sukanya, the black and blue leopardess, was attempting to sleep. It was night in the vision. It was rare that her solitary mother slept during the night. She was struggling to breathe. Her lungs, damaged from when Ishara’s older brother Makosa was young, were troubling her. Her avian had gone to Makosa, so Sukanya was alone.
All alone and struggling to breathe.
Ishara squeezed her eyes shut but that didn’t stop the vision. The flashes still came to her, but she felt more in control. She tried to focus on her body, pull herself out of the vision. It didn’t work, but she felt safer being able to feel her paws on the ground beneath her, even as the visions swirled before her.
Sukanya was coughing, rolling on to her side and trying to push herself up. Her legs seemed weaker than normal, and she coughed. This time the cough brought up blood, staining the floor beneath her.
Ishara cried out and the vision was broken. She breathed heavily, her eyes wide. Her mother was seriously hurt. Not just normal lung issues, but hurt. What was she going to do? She would have to go after her. She was the leader of the pride though…she couldn’t just leave.
She needed to find someone willing to seek her mother out. Bring her back here.
Forgetting that it was actually dark in the real world too, Ishara stormed out of the den, her head throbbing in pain. Who was she going to ask? She froze just metres from her den, realising that she…had no one she could ask. She knew none of the guardians well enough to demand they find her mother, and the few people she knew and/or cared for would only be put in danger by seeking out a stranger in the rogue lands.
Damn it, what was she going to do?
“Ishara?” A voice called out from the darkness, a bright figure appearing in the darkness. It was actually physically impossible for Mirae to hide in the darkness, her figure was pure white and purely blinding in the moonlight. “What are you doing up?” She sounded cheerful, probably grateful to find a companion. Mirae loved stargazing thanks to one of the early influences in her life – oddly enough it was Ishara’s aunt who was the influence.
“I had a vision,” she said, through gritted teeth. She was trying to keep her dinner down, her fear churning her stomach like nothing else had. Was that a vision of the future, the past or the present? Was her mother dying now or would she be in danger later? Could she get to her? What could she do?
“Woah, you look freaked out, Ishara!” Mirae noted with wide eyes, finally coming close enough to see the black and blue leopon’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I saw my mother,” Ishara admitted. “She was very sick. I have to go to her.”
“You can’t leave! The pride is just starting to grow – you said it yourself, we are still very small,” Mirae protested, her eyes sympathetic. “Can you send someone else?”
“Who can I send?” Ishara protested angrily. “I can’t just command someone to scour the rogue lands for my mother. I may be the Monarch but I won’t throw my weight around. I’ll name someone else Monarch in my absence and I’ll be back as quickly as I can!”
“No one will listen to anyone else,” Mirae pointed out. “Let me go and find her.”
“No, I won’t put you in danger by making you go into the rogue lands,” Ishara said firmly.
“You’re not ‘making’ me do anything, Ishara,” Mirae laughed. “I want to do this. I want to help you like you helped me. You gave me a home, it’s the least I can do to bring your mother back to you.” She smiled warmly. “Let me do this. I’ll take someone else with me, I promise. I’ll be safe. Maybe I’ll even find Uncle Dysi and bring him for a visit! I haven’t seen him in weeks and I know he’d love to see the pride growing.”
“You have to take someone who is strong,” Ishara insisted. “Someone who can defend you, and you cannot take more than one mon cycle or I will send everyone out to find you. I mean it.”
Mirae rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Ishara. I was taught by the best,” she replied cheerfully. The pale lioness placed her paw on Ishara’s paw, and patted it reassuringly. “Your mother will be fine. I’ll find her and I’ll bring her home to you. I promise.”
Ishara sighed, feeling some of the tension leave her body. “Thank you Mirae. You are a true friend.”
Mirae winked. “Maybe you’ll make me a Noble for this,” she mused dreamily. “Imagine that, not having to study or work. Just lazing around all dayyyy, not doing anything, just being all noble. Ah, it’d just be like being a Monarch!”
Ishara snorted and pawed at her, pushing her over. “You wish. You are a student, Mirae and that’s where you’ll stay until you figure out your visions.”
Mirae stayed flopped on the ground, pouting. “Ugh but they give me such migraines afterwards. I think they’ll always hurt.”
“Maybe, but you might be able to lessen the pain in time,” Ishara encouraged, although her visions almost always hurt afterwards. She wondered if that was all that there was to them, but there had to be more.
“I hope so,” Mirae sighed. She rose to her paws, stretching. “Do you have a preference on who I take with me?” She asked, curious.
“Not Ndoto,” Ishara said immediately. “She may poison you…out of love, I’m sure, or simple curiousity.” The little apothecary was worrying at best.
“Well yeah, she wasn’t going to be my first choice,” Mirae admitted with a crinkled nose. “She is a bit…concerning at the best of times. I think she needs supervision.” She giggled. “Maybe I’ll take that new cheetah guy. He’s handsome,” she said with a wink.
“Ugh, this is not a matchmaking journey, Mirae, this is about my mother. Stay focused,” Ishara grumped.
“I know, I know, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have something pretty to look at while we’re travelling,” Mirae said with a pout. “Fine, not him either. I’ll figure someone out. There has to be someone in the pride I can take with me who has muscles.”
“Just be careful. Please.”
“When am I not?” Mirae scoffed as she started to retreat back to her hill to star gaze. The sun was just starting to peak out of the horizon, so her time would soon be up and she wanted to stare at the stars a little longer. As if to contradict her statement, she tripped on a small exposed rock, causing Ishara to laugh.
“Yeah, you’re the picture of grace,” Ishara said laughing. She ignored the tongue that Mirae stuck out at her and began to walk towards the centre of the pride. It was late enough in the morning that there was no point going back to sleep. May as well get started on the day.
It’s ok Mother. Someone’s coming to find you. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too late.
WC: 1260
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