.::.A Voice in the Wind.::.
"Come back to us, dear one, come back to us!" Their faces surrounded her, eyes burning into her very soul. She was afraid but she would never let on. She was strong and she was a Goddess, she had nothing to fear! "Return to your homelands. Return to repent for your terrible sins." Then suddenly the sandy lions drew back, like wind buffeting against a sand dune. The Goddess stepped back nervously and she had every right to be, for there before her stood a Goddess she feared more than any other. Nitika. Nitika, that cruel hearted Goddess who dared call her daughter. She was no longer that one's daughter.
"Rokopelli. Rokopelli. What have you done?"
The Goddess lowered, bristled and hissed, but nothing could persuade Nitika to stay away. The large Goddess unfolded her wings and veiled the sun. It grew dark and cold and the little Goddess felt small again. She huddled back against a rock for comfort but the rock hissed angrily.
Rokopelli whipped around to face her new adversary, her eyes landing on one she knew well. A snake, simply named Nyoka. He had been her friend since rebirth but now he bore his fangs at her too. Normally this wasn't unusal but there was a glint in his eye now that portrayed a venomous mind. He would bite and kill her if she let him!
"Noooo!" She screamed and suddenly she was stumbling back against her mother's chest. The large Goddess wrapped her forepaws around the little sandy daughter and squeezed her.
The world span and in the sky a thousand sandy faces swam. Each one chanted in unison and every word they spoke was the same. "Return. Return. Return."
"Mother! No!"
Nitika leant in close, her mouth pressing against her daughter's ear. Then she whispered the words, "Repent for your sins." And all was gone.
The Goddess woke with a start, her eyes wide with fear. She would have been sweating if a lion could, but instead her sides heaved with each panicked pant.
She remembered. She finally remembered what she had been searching for.
Home.
She stood on longer legs and glanced warily about her. Where was Nyoka? She knew he had to be somewhere around here. They never always saw eye to eye but he never left her either. Maybe he'd gone to hunt the little mice she had smelled a while ago.
"Neeeee-ooooo-taaaah!" She called. Wishing that he would come back to her soon. She felt scared and alone and she desperately wanted mummy Koya, though she doubted she'd see the grey for a long time. Koya had been her real mother for a time in her confused state, but then she awoken to the realisation that her mother had trapped her and driven her half mad, and all because of one terrible mistake.
"We should go." Pelli spoke harshly.
"Go? Go where?" Roko's voice quivered with fear. Deep down she knew what her other half was suggesting but she didn't like the idea at all.
"You know where!"
"Nooo. Please." She pressed her paws over her eyes and whimpered softly. She didn't want to go! She didn't! But then...mother had told her to and mothers were always supposed to be right, weren't they? Besides, they weren't far away. In fact they were probably only an hours flight. Maybe secretly, Rokopelli had been preparing to return after all.
"Change of heart?"
"Okay...we go." Her weaker personality was often squashed by the ambitions and perserverence of her stronger half. It was as such on this occasion too. "Let's go." But she would wait for Nyoka first. She couldn't leave without her friend.
As if by magic the snake appeared. He was as green as glass with scales that shimmered like sunlight on water. He was a very handsome snake indeed, full of wisdom and full of venom. He raised his head up and parted his mouth, flexing the two pointed fangs secreted in his dangerous mouth.
"You called?" He gave a hissing laugh. "Whatsss wrong thisss time? Nightmaresss? Argumentsss?" His whole body quivered as he tried to hold back his laughter. He didn't laugh very often but when he did it almost looked like he was dancing.
Rokopelli loved it when he danced. He looked so happy, so carefree and so friendly despite the fact that he could kill a lion with a single bite. She bounced from side to side and then slowly her bi-coloured eyes began to glow. Her snake bangles uncurled themselves from her wrists and raised their bodies up, dancing from side to side in time with Rokopelli's humming.
Apparently in her excitement at being back with her friend she had forgotten all about her nightmare. That was until Pelli decided to remind her.
"What are you doing, foolish girl? Carry the snake and fly!"
Rokopelli's wings snapped open and the little lion squealed. The bangles slithered back into place and within a few seconds the magic was gone. She gave a sniff of sadness and cast her eyes at the snake who eyed her cautiously.
"Nyoka come?" She asked gently.
The snake bobbed his head slowly up and down. "You've ssseperated?" He queried. Whenever Rokopelli spoke with those two voices he knew something was up. Normally, she spoke in unison, the voices merged to create one. Here the tones were different, expressing the tear between them.
"What'sss going on?"
"Going home." Rokopelli replied with drooping wing feathers. She was scared of going back, scared of seeing what had happened to that pride. Had they all died out? Had they completely forgotten her? Well of course they had. She had been a cub when their great, great, great, great grandparents had been alive.
She noticed Nyoka about to say something and Pelli took control, snatching him up in her jaws. The snake writhed, hissing angrily as he wrapped himself around her neck.
Then she spread her wings and took to the sky, enjoying the feel of wind in her fur.
~~~
Below them the land lay stretched out like a patchwork blanket pocketed with trees and waterholes. On the horizon were the jagged points of mountains, like broken lion claws. The sky burned with a beautiful sun, casting sheer, vivid shadows down onto the land below.
Everything looked pristine and perfect.
Then slowly the dried grass gave in to sand, sand that rippled like waves in the wind. It glowed almost orange under the sunlight and filled the air with a strange but beautiful scent. However, this land looked bare, completely and utterly forgotten. Had lions grown so scared they would not enter it? She remembered the time when she would guide pride members through this place, speaking to them with her mind. Oh it had been a brilliant feeling.
To be needed.
Nyoka tightened his grip around her neck as she began her descent and a little voice in her head called to her. She swept up her wings, startled, and looked around.
"Did you hear that?!" She called above the wind, her voices joined once more.
Nyoka didn't respond and she continued on, slower and more hesitantly. Then the wind came again and on the horizon she thought she saw something. Life? Was there still a pride still living here? A gale of wind struck her body, sending her toppling back through the air. She screamed, the world tipping over on itself as she nose-dived towards the sand.
She was going to die!
She snapped out her wings, just in time? No. She hurtled towards the ground, rainbow pinions buckling. And in her last moment of despair she reached in for that bubble of power and searched for the nearest mind.
Telekinesis. A voice in the wind.
~Help me~
