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 Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:12 pm
Hopefully she could stand to leave again, once she'd seen him.
It had come as a bit of a surprise to realize that Habu had moved out of his father's den, for Mtima had disguised herself and tried to keep an eye out for him near there.. but the only time he'd come by, in her day or two of watching, he'd only stayed for a short time and left. She'd made sure to watch the direction he'd gone in, so she could try to find him when she got up the nerve again. She was a bit put off at the sight of Kizamaji's new family, some small amount of jealousy building up in her, but she'd had to ignore it. He had moved on, it was a good thing. He had a family with someone like him.
A couple days after that, Mtima finally went off in the direction Habu had gone to try and find him. Her wings were not disguised for the majority of her walk, though she kept her eyes open for Kizamaji so she could avoid him if she had to. Her time disguised near his den had been tiring enough, not to mention against her desire to be just who she was, and not hide it unecessarily.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:26 pm
He hardly expected to see a very familiar shade of yellow heading in the same direction as him, not too far ahead of him either. He'd come to associated pale yellow mostly with just Riko and Mira, but the bright white and brown on the back of this visitor.. why, there was no mistaking it.
"Mama?" he said, stopping and staring after the walking goddess. He was sure that he couldn't have been heard for there was too much distance between them. Wahabu was stunned, he was confused.. but he wasn't about to let her go without talking to her.. if it really was her. So after a moment of staring, he suddenly started to run towards her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:37 pm
The goddess was very focused on where she was going, but she was not completely oblivious to her surroundings. After all, she hoped to avoid Kizamaji, perhaps keep an eye out for Kubwa and his son, and she was looking in a general area for Wahabu. So when suddenly she could hear very poorly hidden paw-steps coming for her somewhere off to the far-side of her.. she turned around to take a look.
What she saw was unmistakable, just as she had been to him. He was much larger, and fuzzier, but Wahabu was running towards her. Mtima came to a stop, tensing a bit despite the fact that it did not appear as though Wahabu was angry.
"Wahabu!" she called as he got nearer.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:01 pm
Much like when Riko had shown up at Habu's den and pounced him furiously, Habu didn't have any real thought put into what he was doing and he just ran. Except he did not pounce her, because he was not angry.. not that kind of angry, anyway. He merely ran right to her, barely skidding to a halt before nuzzling against her. Wahabu could be as angry as he wanted, but he always had been a mama's boy, and it was very likely that he always would be.
"You came back," he mumbled.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:52 pm
"For a visit," Mtima managed to add on without stammering, though she was very much taken by surprise as her son nuzzled into her. She was so surprised, it took her a second to micmic the gesture. She was glad that he didn't hate her, though part of her knew he couldn't do it.. though she expected more resentment, more questioning, and overall a less warm welcome. Smiling, the goddess stepped away from her son to get a complete look at him.
"Let me see you," she said. Her smile widened as she really realized that his mane was the same color as her fur, that he had one more quality that made him look that much more like her. He was a very handsome boy, she thought (not without biased, though).
"You've grown so much."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:56 pm
Wahabu couldn't help but feel a bit put down that she was only there for a visit, but the he decided he was lucky to see her now. She'd left without telling him, she could have just avoided the Pridelands forever if she wanted to.. However, he was almost reluctant to let her move away, but he did- and he stood with his head high as she got a look at how much he'd grown since she left.
"Of course," he muttered, looking at her with a small frown, "You've been gone a long time. W-why did you leave?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:08 pm
Of course, Mtima realized, the nice welcome couldn't last. Of course he would have questions, even if he could act like he had forgiven her. She sighed, unable to hide a frown. The goddess had had forever to figure out the right answer to this one, and no matter what she'd comne up with before she couldn't think of exactly the right thing so say to him now that she was faced with him again. She would simply have to be honest, though she would do her best to leave out her fears of living with a family that would die.
"I'm a goddess," she started simply, maintaining eye contact with her son, "I'm not very good with disguising myself, the longer I stayed here, the longer I hid who I was.. the more tired I became, the less myself I was. I have a job to do, and a proper place.."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:29 pm
Listening carefully to her explanation, Wahabu couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the idea that she had a more proper place somewhere far away from her family. He wasn't too impressed with her explanation, but he understood. He wanted to believe that she could just stay with him, but.. if she came to visit, she still cared, she would be here if she could, right?
"You'll always have a place here with me," he replied pointedly, almost defiantly, then added the next question with a rather sad tone, "Why didn't you say goodbye to me?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:39 pm
Wahabu's first remark made the goddess smile, but the question made her ears droop and her smile disappear. He was working his way through the questions she knew he would ask, and his reaction to the last explanation told her that very little would be a good excuse for what she had done. However, she reminded herself that she simply had to be strong. She couldn't waver now, she had to be proud of who she was, what she did and not go back to the mess she had been before leaving. And that was hard to explain without giving him the whole story.
"I couldn't say goodbye to you," she said finally, a touch of sadness in her own voice, "I love you, Habu, I couldn't stand to say goodbye to you, I never could have made it away."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:50 pm
Habu frowned. He didn't like her answer, but he almost knew it to be true. He wouldn't have wanted her to go, would have begged her to stay or to take him with her.. but if it was because she had to attend to things as a goddess, he surely couldn't have gone with her, and he understood that now, much better than he would have back then.
"At least," he murmured slowly, carefully trying to work out exactly how he felt, "At least you came back to visit. I've missed you, a lot."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:12 pm
"I've missed you a lot too," she replied, stepping closer and giving him a gentle nudge, "You should show me where you live now, I was hoping I'd figure it out, but you found me first. You can tell me how you've been while we walk."
Mtima purposefully avoided the subject of how she had found out that Habu did not live with his father anymore, but she did want to know. If she came to visit again, knowing exactly where to go would be very useful. And she was indeed curious about whatever stories he might wish to tell her, just like when he was little and told her stories of his adventures around the Pridelands. She also wasn't sure how to bring up Amadet, and if she'd been around.. perhaps she might come up in conversation.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:00 pm
He managed to smile again when she nudged him, and then he nodded to show that they could head off to his little den. It didn't even cross his mind that Intombi would be there, he mind was much too into the fact that his mother was here with him again. So he started to lead the way, starting with what seemed most logical.
"When you left, dad and I got really quiet, distanced," he started quietly before getting a bit louder telling the story, "It went on for a long time, dad couldn't really stay around me so much.. I got so mad, before I left.. but everything changed so suddenly, Sheshe moved in and she was the one who had to tell me what it really meant, neither of them talked to me much about when Mira showed up."
He trailed off a moment, glancing over when he realized how this conversation might make his mother uncomfortable. He didn't mean it, but he had to say something.
"He moved on, and I just hadn't," he said, trying to drive the point away from how Kizamaji had another family to how it made him feel, "So I left."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:08 pm
Mtima smiled at Habu when he nodded and started leading the way home, she was more than happy to listen- and when his story suddenly turned to his father's new family.. she had to do her very best to stay focused on what it would have meant for him. She could only frown when he described how his father had finally moved on, but he hadn't been able to. It made her very sad to imagine that her son had spent so long clinging to what they used to have as a family.
"I'm very sorry about that," she apologized, walking at his side, "But you've moved out now, you seem perfectly happy and healthy to me." At this, she smiled. She could see each creature's soul, and if she knew the soul previously she might observe changes to it.. Habu certainly did not look like he'd spent all this time sulking, like he could never be cheerful or anything.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:44 pm
Habu nodded carefully, he had moved on now, though he really hadn't done a great deal. He'd gotten through his insomniac phase, he was happier and healthier now, and he had Intombi living with him.. he supposed that constituted having moved on nicely.
"Yeah, everything is OK now," he agreed, "Shortly after you left, though, my visions went pretty crazy. It got so bad I really couldn't sleep, when I did it wasn't very restful.. not much of it made much sense, and I couldn't get it to stop. I wanted you to come back, wanted you to help me, but I wasn't sure if you'd come or if you'd even hear me."
He trailed off a moment, hoping not to offend his mother but also hoping she might tell him if he could call for her if he needed her. K'A said he could, why wouldn't his mother?
"I called for K'A, he helped me," he continued, "Helped me talk through realizing how I hadn't moved on while everyone else had, and gave me a way to try to get more sleep. The feather he gave me was what did it."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:10 pm
As Habu described this problem he'd had, Mtima was rather surprised and almost hurt when he mentioned how he wasn't sure if she would come. Of course she would come if he called to her, she wouldn't be able to stay away if she knew that he needed her that badly. But in the end, it sounded like he'd worked it out well enough in the end. She'd never really heard about seer abilities going so crazy, but then she didn't know too much about seers.
"Of course you can call for me if you need me, I wouldn't abandon you when you really need me," she reassured him first, realizing the irony of what she said. But he had made it just fine, there wasn't any question about that. "I'm glad you worked it all out, have you managed to get much control over it now?"
Was he at risk of going through something that awful again? She certainly hoped now, and she paused in their little stroll to turn and pull a feather from one of her wings. It wasn't much, but if she had been giving them away before and somehow K'A's feather helped him.. why shouldn't she offer one of her own? With that, she jogged up around him and carefully tucked the feather by his ear with the other.
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