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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:13 am
Not far from the swamp, in case Amadet was near enough to waltz on by on her own now, the goddess rested herself low in a tree. She had a good view of the area surrounding her. She could call Amadet to her, but confrontation so close to 'home' might be less than pleasant. No, instead she summoned the great soul in the little being who had agreed to help her. She called for Kiongozi.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:32 am
It wasn't long before she felt an inexplicably urge to go ahead, like something was pulling her forward. It was strange and barely on a conscious level of thought. The only thing that made her wonder was how she flew on by Amadet without a worry about leaving the lioness behind. And it made a little more sense when, after a bit of flying, she spotted something bright in the trees. Glancing over her shoulder, Kiongozi saw no obvious sign of Amadet anymore, though she knew which way she'd come from.
Now she didn't need any guidance, and she flew right to the tree with the bright yellow lioness in it.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:47 am
Mtima watched the skies carefully, knowing the small bird might be hard to pick out even with the extra bit of vision Mtima had on her side for it. However, the goddess herself was rather bright and easy to pick out amongst the trees, and she did have the fact she was bringing the bird to her. Shortly the bird came into view, and soon perched right before the goddess.
"Kiongozi," she greeted with a small smile, "It's good to see you again."
The bird made a big deal out a short bow, a smile in her red eyes and a greeting-click from her beak. Ruffling her feathers and making herself a bit more comfortable on the branch, the looked up at the lioness.
"Mtima'safi," she replied, "It's lucky you've finally shown up! Amadet is heading in this direction, to the swamps- she mentioned it to a lion she met along the way."
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:13 pm
"So you've kept up with her," Mtima commented, sounding both somewhat surprised and rather impressed about this. She'd expected Kiongozi to try, but there were many possible complications that could have arisen. It was very clear that the honeyguide bird was very dedicated- which wasn't too surprising, Mtima had only to think now of a suitable reward. She knew very well that was what Kiongozi was after in this situation.
"She was telling the truth," the goddess added, "I have met my grandson, though his five sisters have been sent away from the swamps on a pride ritual. They've been deceived as well, another lion acts as their father- I cannot be certain that he isn't in on this, but I need to deal with Amadet. I need you to take me to her."
Kiongozi puffed up proudly despite the surprise in the goddess' voice. She had done a very good job keeping up, and Mtima was very right to expect she was in it for whatever reward may come. But of course, as time had passed her own distaste for the brown lioness had grown and she was certain that helping bring the crazy thing to some sort of justice was not a bad way to spend some of her time.
And the look Kunda would have on his face when she told him.. well, that might also be worth it.
The little bird started when Mtima mentioned how Amadet had six cubs. Six! And she'd left them all behind without a mother. That was as far from a lie as it could get, really. There was smaller difference between say no cubs and one cub than no cubs and six!
"She's back this way, not far," the bird said, and hopped down from the branch and took to the air once more, turning to make sure the goddess was going to follow.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:54 pm
Amadet had been running along, and she had in fact noticed when Kiongozi had darted ahead. She didn't know what it meant, but she was more determined than ever to get where she was going. She kept running, though, hoping to get where she was going and hoping she could still make it in time. Her worst fears, however, were confirmed when she looked up and saw a yellow form in the sky nearing her. Mtima'safi had found them, she'd found them in the Swamps! It was impossible, but now Amadet only had herself to worry about. Skidding to a stop, she looked around for some immediate place to hide.
Her only option was to run. Not towards the goddess, but away from her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:23 pm
Mtima'safi followed after Kiongozi until she spotted the lioness herself, then she no longer needed the guidance. She hurried ahead, especially when she realized they'd been spotted and Amadet ran off in a different direction. She was running away, knew she'd been beaten. But she wouldn't get away, there was no avoiding the goddess now. They were a safe distance from the pride, and Amadet could not get away if Mtima wished to keep her there. Landing on the ground and following after Amadet, she slowed down carefully.
"Amadet," she called, "You can't run now!"
Kiongozi swirled through the air when Mtima went ahead of her, following Amadet off to the side in hopes of catching her front the front and stopping her. It wasn't too hard to catch up, just as Mtima called out for the lioness, the honeyguide got very near Amadet's nose and barely managed to stop herself from running right into her. With a shrill cry, she stopped short but still used the lioness to push herself back a bit to maintain her position in the air.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:34 pm
Amadet did her best to skid to stop when suddenly the damned bird was headed right for her eyes, and indeed did stick it's claws right on her nose to propel itself backwards a bit. The brown lioness had no where to go but to the ground, tumbling and immediately pulling herself back to her feet. Mtima'safi was right, now she was caught. Turning around with a growl, she stared off at the goddess.
"What have you done?" she called back.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:44 pm
The goddess paid no attention to when the lioness fell, walking closer to continue their little chat more personally. She had one small plan in mind, she wasn't entirely sure how easily it would be managed but it was her best option. She wished to keep Amadet away from the cubs, keep her from trying to guilt them into believing her, from lying to and hurting them any more than she already had. And it would be a place where she would be forced to strive towards bettering herself, bettering her soul in hopes that in the next life she might be more like what she desires.
"I've done nothing but tell the truth," she answered calmly, stopping a few feet from the growling lioness, "I spoke to Pepo, your son. Funny that he should be given that name when you are so angry with us. He stood up for you, but came to accept the truth."
Kiongozi would have gone and perched upon the goddess boldly, had she not been worried that this time the confrontation might turn physical, especially when the goddess made it sound as though she had in fact turned Amadet's cubs against her. The lioness would have nothing to lose by deciding to attack the goddess. With that in mind, the avian was ready to go in and help. She was not strong, but she could easily be annoying during a fight and help to lean it in favor of the goddess. She never once questioned what the lioness deserved or did not deserve, Amadet seemed like a lunatic and Mtima'safi was the more powerful of the two, the better ally to have.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:54 pm
Amadet froze, a scowl on her face, as Mtima calmly, so calmly, explained what she had done. How she had spoken to Pepo, her poor boy.. he'd stood up for her, her boy. But then the goddess had swayed him, changed his mind, turned him against her. Kiongozi was very right to believe she didn't have anything to lose, for that was exactly what Amadet felt. She had no chance of getting to her babies again if she just stood here, she had to find a way to get away from the goddess. Jumping suddenly, she aimed to dart around the goddess desperately.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:07 pm
Unsurprised by the move, though unable to guess which way the lioness would take, the goddess had a delayed reaction when Amadet jumped. With a slight snarl and a leap of her own, she managed to block off the escape. Shaking her head, her wings remained spread out to make her look more intimidating.
"You can't run now," she said, "You have to deal with what you've done, do you really feel no remorse for what you've done? If not to Wahabu, then think of your cubs! You used them."
Kiongozi gave a shrill cry of surprise when Amadet moved, and just about went after her as well but stopped instinctively when the goddess moved to block her. There wasn't much for the avian to do now but wait and watch.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:19 pm
Amadet was being taunted, and Mtima'safi was doing a much better job about it than she ever had. She'd put herself in this situation, and thinking about her cubs was only making her angrier, making her more desperate. She had to get away, had to find a way to get by Mtima'safi and get to her babies, get to the pride. Her only option was to get Mtima out of her way and to somehow make it so she couldn't come after her so easily- and that only way to do that was to attack. In her desperation, Amadet saw no other option. With a growl, she leaped forward, aiming directly for the goddess.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:42 pm
Rather surprised that Amadet really was desperate enough to try to attack, the goddess tumbled to the ground with the brown lioness on top of her. The golden ring around her neck made it difficult for her to move her neck properly, but her immediate reaction was to protect her neck. Tucking her head in, she rolled in an attempt to throw Amadet's balance off and so it would be easier to throw her off.
With a shrill cry, Kiongozi hesitated only a second before diving into the midst of the fight. Chirping incessantly, she stayed around Amadet's face, flapping around and clawing at her nose and eyes with her feet in an effort to further throw off the lioness. She was not entirely careful to avoid danger herself, but she was doing her best.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:58 pm
With a snarl, Amadet dug her claws in and did her best to cling onto to goddess despite the rolling. She moved around her head to try to bite, but it was made very difficult by the stupid bird flapping and scratching at her face. With a quick, frustrated snap at the bird, she buried her face into the goddess' side in an effort to both attack and escape the stupid bird. An awkward snap directed at the goddess' neck had her catch the gold necklace with her teeth, making for a very unpleasant sensation that made her pull her head away in pain.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:27 pm
Mtima growled as she felt the claws dig into her fur, though it wasn't much more than minor scratching through the fur. The bird calls and fluttering were distracting to Mtima as well, but she wasted no time getting over it when she realized it was in her favor. With an uncomfortable twist of her neck at the snap aimed there, she put all her strength into kicking off the startled lioness.
Kiongozi's tactics were working, and while she was trying to be careful she wasn't careful enough. When Amadet threw back her head after biting the necklace, Kiongozi got brushed back. Losing her balance a bit, she ended up falling back and away from the lions.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:16 pm
It didn't take much effort on the part of the goddess to get the lioness thrown off of her. Amadet landed on her side, and momentarily disoriented, she stumbled to her feet once again. Frustrated, and unable to aim anything else, she swatted to for the falling bird as hard as she could, though her orange eyes stayed on the goddess.
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