He'd made it up the cliffs without much of a problem. Of course, he knew them by heart.. and always had, since he was small. On the top he thought of the day they'd all found a small cub up here. Orifiel had said he came from a pride far away... maybe he'd fit in there. Panu--Tau--Panu... he couldn't decide. Whoever he was, he turned from the cliff to wander off into the woods.
Life.. wasn't easy outside of the pride, however. Weeks later he was completely lost, and he'd lost what fat had remained on his body. pre-teen had turned into full blown teenager, and his mane was coming in with far more swiftness than it had before. His body was stronger and more sleek that it had ever been.... but his heart. Oh no, his heart was cracking.
A storm rolled through the Savannah that night, and he hid from it in a small, cramped den under some rocks. Its old inhabitants were now occupying Tau's stomach, and he kept himself busy trying not to think. Yes.. that was the best idea, there... not thinking.
It wasn't as easy as it sounded, however. Nothing ever was, he'd come to learn.
She'd been watching him.
From the day the fight had rolled through the beach, waking her from her nap, Muhali had watched. She'd followed after the larger of the two brothers, whom she knew from observation, was the more likely of the two to do something rash.
Weeks had gone by and still she watched him; she did not come to him right away, but rather, allowed the rogue lands settle around around him. The goddess followed a short distance away, always watching him, her bright blue eyes trained on his form, allowing him to have a taste of what he'd always longed for.
She watched his heart crack; she watched it break and long and she was reminded of past times, long gone, long vanished.
As the storm settled, the goddess lowered herself from the sky, and looking off towards the distance for a moment, began her work. She closed her eyes, and reached out to the cub, tapping into his mind, distorting reality around him, around them.
Another form lingered near hers. Though he did not come close... not just yet, he knew her plan. The large, dark form of a god stretched his wings ontop of his perch.. but beyond that he did not move. He was a dark gargoyle in the stormy sky.
Not too far away, Tau's eyes closed as his sight began to swim. He blamed it on sleepiness and tried to sleep.. Only it seemed to him that he'd been climbing for such a long time. He hadn't thought the cliffs above his home were this high...
That wasn't right. Was it? He hadn't been climbing, he'd been.. been... it sure was foggy up this high. Tau rose to his feet and peered out of the cave into the stormy night. It was raining, but there was this strange fog covering everything. Like... clouds.
For one, Muhali did not turn to Uka; she knew he was there, like always. They rarely parted ways now a days, for some reason. He was always by her side, when she needed him and when she did not, but for once, the small cub-like goddess had not asked him for help.
She'd set off after Panu on her own, with Denial's form trailing just behind her, and as she'd watched the cub (for cub he was, in her mind), she felt him watch her in turn, waiting for his turn.
It was her turn now though, and she delved deeper into Panu's mind, creating a different reality around them; one that was... and wasn't, all at the same time, and her expression remain grim, serious, for the first time ever. The cub-like expression was gone from her face, a serious expression so unlike her own replacing it.
And then, she was no longer a cub, but a giant; she was larger than a mountain, larger than anything possible, within this reality, for such was the power of Irrationalities illusions, "Come," she cooed at the small cave, "Come."
Holy... WHAT. The male cowered down in the cave when the voice boomed above him. 'cooing', sure, but when she was so big.. yet it did not deafen him, only startle. Somehow that seemed to make sense, though the sight of a giant lioness never should have. "c-come? come where?" He asked, voice both softer and deeper than it'd once been.
Being on his own had already changed him enough. It'd taught him the things he never could have learned back in his home pride--patience, humility... confidence and self worth. Had Nili only listened to him, he might have seen what his brother was trying to tell him--Tau had only ever thought the worst of himself, as much as he'd lived in denail of it.
Yet there was still that darkness in his heart. The voice that whispered and told him how vile he still was. How much he deserved being alone and unloved. He truly was a wretched little creature, selfish and base...
Tau crawled from the cave, doing as commanded. Who would argue with a giant?
"Come," she repeated again, "Come with me... come to me," she told him, her tail sweeping against the clouds, swishing this way and that, almost as if she belonged there, as if her home were those clouds, and he were in it, invited, "Come, I'll give you food," she told him, and she smiled, and then, food appeared around. Foods of all types and sizes, some which were recognizable, and some which were not, "Come, I'll give you rest, and I'll protect you," she cooed again.
Then the food vanished, as if it'd never been there and the large female was waiting for him to come.
That... made sense. Somehow it made sense. He stopped trying to think about it and just followed along after her. "o-okay. thank you ma'am."
"Good," she told him and waited for him to catch up, lowering her head to nuzzle him, and then, she lay down and somehow, despite her large size, she was able to groom him.
It should have been impossible, needless to say, and yet, it was doable. Somehow. She groomed his pelt and nuzzled him as if he were her child, and then, the goddess turned her head slightly, just barely so she could peek over her shoulder, and waited.
Denial knew that she could see him, just as she could see the 'real' world about them, though Tau could not. He shook his head. "You might want to try talking to the boy," He replied, "Otherwise this is going to be utter nonsense to him."
The god's words alone were lost on Tau, for the illusion covered them up. That, or they made so little sense in the long run of things that his mind filtered them out. Either was entirely probable, and he merely lazed against the giant's side.
Someone touching him, acknowledging that he existed was better than anything he could have imagined. He didn't know that the storm was drenching him, for his mind had forgotten there was a storm, nor did he think of the mud he way laying in. Instead, he only knew the giantess around him, holding him. Some part of him yet understood. "i'm sorry," He whispered, before the dam broke. Tau cried.
"I don't know," she murmured, "I don't think I'm the one that should do the talking," of course, in a way, the boy could not hear her, and could, but it would not be important, "I was certain the other boy would come."
This said she turned to gaze down at Tau, still somehow cradled against her form, then she nuzzled him again and cooed, "You are sad," it was not a question for Tau, but rather, a truth, "Because you left. This world is lovely; filled with colors, and filled with food. It's filled with love, if you can find it, but.... is this what you want? Is this where you want to be?"
"... i don't know," He replied with a soft crack in his voice. "i don't know.. i don't deserve to go home. You shouldn't be helping me, I'm not worth it."
So, he'd learned half the lesson, not the full lesson, she noticed, then settled her head against his, "You know? We are what we make ourselves to be," the words were whispered softly, fondly, as if she were talking to her baby, a child... and in a way, maybe she was, "If you really think that of yourself... it'll become true. If you want to go back, you should. If you want to be happy, you should."
Tau sighed. "I don't know what i want."
"You should," retreating her head from him, Muhali looked down at the cub, still shrouded in the illusion she'd created, "I once told someone, that I'd had to break him... so I could pick up the pieces, and recreate him again. His heart had been broken... and I shattered it, so I could rebuild it," another lick, "Yours was cracked."
".. .. it hurts.." He replied weakly. It wasn't that he was ungrateful, mearly stating the truth. "Mother--"
Ukata raised his head. Well.. it seemed the boy wasn't as stupid as people thought he was. Still, that was more than enough of this, Ukata thought and suddenly the ground seemed to shake beneath Tau's body.
Of course, the ground didn't really shake, but Tau didn't know that. The teenager got to his feet in between shaking, looking around for the source. Out of the fog, a shape even bigger than Muhali's current one appeared. It was black as pitch, so that all that was really distinguishable was a silhouette and glowing yellow eyes.
"Do you deny where your heart belongs?" Ukata bellowed, though somehow his voice never broke above a sinister whisper. It was time for the boy to choose--mere denial, or total irrationality? Somehow, it seemed as if the more extreme of the two was the safer choice.
"I know," she told him, and the smile danced within her eyes at the singl word he'd uttered; she'd never thought him dumb. In fact, she just thought him to be what he was; a child, learning his way around the world.
She allowed the figure to appear behind her, but did not acknowledge it, instead looking down at Tau, "You know, deep down. The pain will go away."
Boom.. boom.. every step of the dark one was like chaos and death, and his mother whispered to him--sweet and loving mother. A different face flashed before his eyes, though, one that made his heart weep to think of her. his mother!
"No!" he shouted at the silhouette and his mother both. He didn't want the pain to go away... not if.. not if the pain meant he still belonged there, on those shores of his home.
Finally it dawned on him, what he had not seen all this time. "NO." He shouted again, but it was a statement, to Ukata.
"Then go." The male growled, and it was as if his voice were the voice of the very heavens above.
Tau ran. Through the clouds and, in his mind, he saw himself down the edge of a cliff, leaving the clouds and all their wonders behind. When he woke the next morning, he'd be back in his cave and clean, though he wouldn't know how he'd gotten there. All he'd know was that he was out of the cliffs... and he knew where he was going from there.
