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 Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:04 pm
It was amazing how you could devote yourself to something--or in her case, someone--for so long only to have it crash and burn after one simple session of thought. Alake had never sat down and just thought about Fadhi, about herself, about the two of them. It was a revelation of sorts, you might say, since after it she suddenly saw necessity she hadn't before in making changes for herself, by herself. Those pridelanders had both been jerks, no better than rogues, but they may have had a point. No, actually, they did have a point. Fadhi hadn't given her much information.
Then there was that odd ball of a lion still lingering around that tree waiting for a parent who was never going to show up again. Had she really abandoned him? It sounded like it. Alake couldn't be sure, though, and didn't want to think badly of her soul if she hadn't intentionally left him, and really had planned to come back but had been killed before she could. Just in case there was an after life.
Point was, it got her thinking about Fadhi even more. Had he left her like that on purpose? She remembered promising to meet him again, too. Did he not have any intention of it? It was a crushing blow to think about, but she couldn't help it. The evidence said it was true. True enough, she thought grudgingly, shaking her head with a sharp inhale. Where was she? Some cave in the middle of nowhere?
It wasn't suppose to go like this...
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:29 pm
This had been one of the longest days she could remember in a long time. A long, long time, because she had a lot of decades piling up on her birthday cakes, so to speak. She was too old for this overall, but this body was as young as some mortals out and about. In some cases even younger.
Speaking of youth, she'd led more of them home today than she could remember having to play the follow me game with in a while. A potential record, maybe. After her first life she'd stopped keeping count. After her first life it had stopped being fun and become an obligation. Mortals envied them sometimes for eternal life. If only they knew being cursed to live forever was more horrid a thing than being doomed to die.
Among the numbers had been one of Hasana's sons. She hadn't bothered getting his name for no reason other than she'd forgotten. In time, she'd just forget the name itself, after his death when he was nothing but bones. Hasana had far too many children for anyone to keep up with. That one she would always remember as one of two lions, ever, to get lost intentionally just to see her.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:37 pm
Alake knew of the gods, she believed in them. There was one who watched over her former pride she'd heard stories about. A few had even told of her having children. Gods could do that according to the rumors. Rumors were just words no matter what. Words meant little when weighed against actually seeing one land right in front of you.
She shot up so quickly, if there was a god of speed, he'd have been impressed by the reflex. It wasn't one of terror or hesitation. Quite the contrary. She was ecstatic. "Are you the goddess of love? Or fate maybe? Were you sent to help me?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:41 pm
...This day just kept getting better. First one mortal gets lost on purpose so she has to find him, then the one she rushed away from him for basically tells her she's the wrong god for the job. Fantastic. "I am not," was the stone faced response. Love... That was the last domain she would want to take guardianship of. War, sky, anything but that. Not that hers was any walk in the park with these mortals around. More like a walk through the park, the desert, the jungle and so on. Ugh.
"My name is Mwokoti. I am goddess of the lost. I can assist you to return to wherever your home is, if you simply tell me it's name and your own."
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:45 pm
Wasn't that the question of the century? For a second she actually considered asking Mwokoti what the question of the century was. If anyone would know, it'd be a goddess. They lived forever, didn't they? She was certain, in all seriousness, hers would be in the top ten.
Did Fadhi even care? That'd be in the ranking too. Had he even missed her at all?That one might have been, maybe. She was just rambling within the depths of her own mind. Oh, right. There was someone else here. The goddess of the lost no less.
"I'm not even sure where my home is anymore." It hurt to admit it, but she didn't. "Do you know where the unity walkers land is?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:50 pm
Mwokoti nodded. "I do." She was no empath, but simply being in hearing range of this lioness, she could sense the hurt, the sense of abandonment. It wasn't only her abilities and her domain that granted her this insight; experience did, too. Experience with lionesses who had run from home not because they wanted to get lost, but because they had just needed to get out. Because they were royalty and being forced to marry a prince when they didn't want to. Because they'd lost of their cubs. Because they were mad, furious even, and hated their family for trying to mold them into something they weren't. Their method of rebelling had been to leave, then they lost their way, in more ways than one. These were just a few encounters she'd played a roll in over the years. This would be another one. "If you didn't want to go somewhere, I wouldn't be here."
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:54 pm
The blunt words had Alake's mind reeling yet again. There was truth to them, which haunted her more than anything so far. The problem still remained she wasn't sure where she considered home or where she wanted to go anymore. She sat and thought for a long, long while. More than she'd ever thought over things combined! About Fadhi, her family, her old pride she'd left. The potential futures of doing everything she potentially could. It came down to which was less tragic in the end.
"The Unity Walkers," Alake finally spoke up. "I'd like to return there." It was better to leave Fadhi than to search for him for any longer of her life only to have him abandon her again. Abandon... "But, I have another favor to ask you first."
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:16 pm
Seriously, who did mortals think they were? Mwokoti had more of a soft spot for them than any other god she'd ever know. Not simply because her powers almost entirely revolved around nothing but assisting them, which admittedly did contribute quite a bit to it. She still had that distant but very real love for them, however... Lately, they were coming to expect to much. Running gods created to benefit them ragged and then once they'd done that, asking for more. "Yes?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:18 pm
Her hosility did not go without notice. Normally Alake probably wouldn't have picked it up. Today was different. Along with thoughtful she was more alert. The goddess was annoyed by her request and she could tell. That wasn't what was important, and she couldn't back done. This wasn't about Mwokoti, and, for once, it wasn't about her either. It was about--
"Konja. There's a lion named Konja not too far from here. He's big, but he's thin, almost starving. He's kind of... odd. He won't leave this tree because his mother put him there as a cub and told him to wait. The thing is, he's an adult now, so she's obviously not coming back. If he stays there, he'll probably die. I don't think he's going to listen to me. If you help me, he might. I think you would have a lot of influence on this."
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:35 am
The lives of mortals were plagued with drama and woe she couldn't begin to imagine. Not that she'd never had any herself; there was her mortal mate and children, mostly. The gods still didn't have near as much experience in getting their paws dirty with such matters. She didn't know it because she knew all of them, or even most of them. What she did know is that they had the power to destroy this world. Some may have even by themselves, let alone if personal quarrels made them clash again one another.
Hearing about this silly lion, instinct told her to just keep Alake home and keep walking. There wasn't any reason for her to help a mortal foolish enough to starve himself. Then again...
If his mother had just left him...
"Alright," she agreed with a sigh. Something told her she was going to regret this.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:52 am
Konja hadn't moved from where he'd been when Alake left him. He hadn't moved from where he'd been when all the lions who had met him before Alake had left him. The giant rogue of a male lay on her his back with his legs in the air, not snoring, but close to it. Sometimes he had dreams of his mother, but other than that, his sleep wasn't the slightest bit restless.
Quick to fall asleep, but he wasn't a heavy sleeper. Almost like he could hear their feet touching the ground, Konja's eyes opened and he rolled over. There was a slight bit of disappointment. Not his mother. It was a short bout of it, because he did recognize one of the lionesses! It was that nice lady before.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:02 am
The plan had been an easy one to make, once they'd gotten down to it. Alake liked it. It was simple solution to a simple problem that somehow had become complex only because of the players in the game.
When she reached Konja she smiled warmly at his greeting. Alake had always been a lot of things. Selfish sometimes. Bossy always. Liar? She'd never really been that, dishonest took too much energy. It bothered her to start lying now. "Konja, I've found your mother, and brought her back to you."
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:17 am
Mwokoti could count the time she'd used her illusion ability on one paw. The previous times had been two lives ago. It bothered her to use it, to lie about who she was even more. Tricking someone into thinking she was someone else was worse. She hovered in the air above Alake for a while because by time they'd reached their destination she'd decided not to follow through with this plan.
That is, until she actually saw him. He was one of the largest she'd bared witness to in terms of mortals outside the firekin. But his body was thin. Dangerously so. Alake hadn't been kidding.
Heaving a sigh, she flew back, far enough out of sight. She landed and instantly, her coat matched the brown color of Konja's and her wings were a thing of the past. She could only hope this resembled the mother enough. If it didn't, there was still a good chance of tricking someone who waited under a tree for years...
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:22 am
Konja's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He truly had never doubted that one day his mother would return, and he still couldn't believe she was finally here! He squealed like a joyful cub and ran for her. That was the sound he'd intended to make, anyway. It was more of a grunt than anything, because a male of his age and side didn't make cute cub noises anymore.
"Mama!" He tackled and nuzzled her as if for dear life. No, like he'd been waiting all his life because he had. "I missed you so much! I waited here for so long! I got so lonely! But I waited here the whole time! It's okay because now you're back!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:31 am
Alake almost cried. She'd had experience with heart break in advance. It wasn't just a saying. Your heart could really, really feel that way! The only time she'd even come close was with Fadhi, both when he'd left and when she'd come to accept he didn't care if she came back, that she'd never see him again. She swore it off after that. Maybe she was a liar, already breaking her promise to herself. It felt the same way watching this scene.
"Konja..." Had he even heard her? Just in case, she repeated herself louder. "Konja. Your mother is very busy. She has secret stuff she has to take care of so she can't come back yet. She wants you to stop waiting here, and stay with me, until she's finished."
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