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 Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:36 am
The winged lioness sat on the large rock, black eyes scanning the fields around her. The grass was tall and thick, but even as she sat there it started to turn a darker brown, turning dry and brittle, to the point that the slightest breeze blew it over. Posca sighed softly, shifting until she was laying on her stomach, basking in the heat that radiated from the dark rock. She watched the grass around her rot away, leaving the ground bare... It was hard for her to see, to watch nature fade away because of her... But if she stayed till the end, at least it would grow healthier again quicker, with the old plants to fertilize it.
Nzambi was wandering... as she had done for the past little while - she couldn't even recall how long anymore. Part of her mind was still in a disbelieving fog - remembering her pack, her family ... her mate... her pups. All gone now. From time to time, she thought that she saw their shadows stretching on the ground before her, or off to the side. But when she turned her head to look for them, they weren't there. Why hadn't she died with them? Why didn't she have the courage even now... to join them? It wouldn't even be that hard. Find a cliff, jump into a fast river... wander up to a hostile pride of lions...
But she couldn't do it. Something stopped her, and she didn't know what - and that was what made it even more frustrating.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice when the grass beneath her paws went from green to brown, eyes distant and face blank.
The goddess noticed the approaching figure quickly. It was hard not too, as the grass grew shorter and thinner, and hyenas were not the smallest creatures...
Posca stood slowly, so as to not startle the other female. Mortals always made her anxious and nervious... They reminded her too much of him, and what she had done long ago...
Her wings slowly stretched out, blocking out the sun around her with their length. She beat them once, and moved to take off and leave the mortal world behind.
At that, however, Nzambi jumped and looked up - eyes widening. Wings..? She made a sort of startled yelping noise - and then, realizing the goddess (for that -must- be what she was!) was about to leave, she bounded forward.
"Don't go! Take me with you! I want it all to just END!" she yelled, not even caring that she might sound rather insane.
The goddess paused in mid leap, her wings beats a couple of times slowly to keep her almost floating above the ground. She settled back down onto the rock, her empty eyes turning to settle on the other female. She frowned gently, her expression a bit lost and sad. She was still anxious, but the emotion that the hyena spoke of moved her enough to speak.
"End... And what makes you think I am capable, mortal...?" Her voice was soft and gentle, the sound of a mother, her breath making the scent of decay and rot carry on the wind.
Nzambi stopped at that, looking almost as if she was frozen in place for a moment. Then she kind of shuffled forward, head bowed. "I ... you are a goddess," she said, glancing up - suddenly almost reluctant. "And you... look as they did. Before they were gone."
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:47 am
"They?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her wings settled back against her back, now folded closed. She looked over the hyena with a frown, looking a little confused and sympathetic.
"It is not my way to go around killing mortals, dear one..."
"Yes, they," she replied in a flat, almost emotionless voice. She turned blank eyes to the goddess and nodded slightly. "My family... my pups... they rotted away..."
Posca frowned deeper, her ears tilted back slightly. There was a long moment of heavy silence that passed between them, then she glanced away. "That was not my doing... I do not rot the living... That was the Plauge's doing, not mine... I cannot bring them back, nor can I take you to them, child..." She spoke child gently, with concern, as if she were speaking to her own spawn.
Nzambi stared, and then kind of shivered slightly, ears going back as well. "I ... I ... then what.. .do I do now?" she asked - sounding rather like a lost child. She had at least -heard- of this goddess, but Plague... she had no idea if she would be able to find that one.
She shook her head slightly, then frowned at her still for a moment, silence falling again until she spoke.
"I do not know... That is for you to decide. Bet content that your children helped fuel the beauty of this world, and that they now rest in peace with your ancestors..." A large wing extended towards her, a few feather tips brushing against Nzambi's cheek, a soft caress.
Nzambi stiffened for a moment, and then her eyes lidded - feeling the touch of that wing. Something within her... changed, somehow, at that moment. She really wasn't any -more- sane than she had been. But she felt... as if she had a purpose. "What do you mean...?" she asked softly - looking up at the goddess.
Posca withdrew her wing, letting it drag the ground now as she settled down again, to be at better talking angle. Now the two creatures were closer to eye level with each other. The goddess continued, decayed oil dripping from her chin, only distorting her voice a bit, making it sound wetter and a little choked.
"There are gates beyond mortal reach. Gods and goddesses can see it, but we cannot go through... Even we are not blessed enough to go to paradise... But you are. That is your gift... Death is not something to be shunned or feared... It is a release from this world, into something eternal and... truely beautiful. No decay and illness lingers there... Perhaps that is why I will never see it."
"I..." Nzambi started, and then shook herself quickly. "I wanted to go there... too," she said quietly. "But... I lack the courage..." This, in a whisper, just the barest bit of sound.
It was almost as if a part of her had known that, that they had gone somewhere better, when they left this world. Left her. And now, she really had... very little to live for.
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:50 am
"It is not your time, dear one... The smell of death is not upon you. And trust me, you will never see your children again if you force death to take you. As I said... it is a gift only... Not something to be stolen before it is due. Do not rush it... Enjoy your life while it is here..." She continued to frown at her, trying to make her voice true.. Even though she herself, a goddess, didn't take her own advice.
"I don't know how..." she replied to that, quickly - looking up at the goddess again. To Nzambi now, Posca seemed infinitely wise. Even if she didn't completely understand, the goddess was giving her answers... things to think about.
And that was more than anyone had been able to do in months. Including herself.
"If you do not know how to do something, you must learn." She said gently, if rather bluntly. Her void like eyes seemed to soften, and she tried to smile encouragingly.
"I... I will try," she said softly then, ducking her head. And she decided, all on her own....that she would follow this goddess and watch her - as part of that learning.
"I'm sure you will suceed, dear one..." She watched her, looking satisfied... Then she pushed herself back up, as if to stand and move away. "My name is Posca. You may call me that, if you like. I am the Goddess of Decay... As I believe you know."
"I ... I am Nzambi," she replied with a little bob of her head. And then she really didn't know what else to say... but when Posca moved, the hyena blinked, and moved as if to follow, watching the other closely.
Posca... blinked, looking over her, looking a bit suprised when she moved to follow. She hopped off the rock and looked over at her almost cautiously now. "Nzambi... You wish to follow me?"
"If ... I may?" she asked, head tilting. Of course, she was likely to follow even without permission... at a bit greater distance. But she hoped that Posca would say it was all right.
Her ears flattened, and she looked worried for a moment. "I... do not usually keep the company of mortals for very long...." She shifted anxiously, glancing away. She could always disapear, of course, fly off... but that seemed terribly rude!
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:52 am
"But ... will you forbid me?" she asked quietly. "I won't bother you... I just ... I want to learn."
She thought about that for a moment, frowning. "I... am not so sure what I could teach you, dear one. I am not mortal, and watching my life would not teach you how to live as one, happily..."
Nzambi shook her head. "I don't care," she said - rather firmly. "I ... something is telling me to follow. I can't explain it." And so long as the goddess didn't do something so that she -couldn't- do so... that's exactly what the hyena intended.
Posca seemed to see the determination in the hyena's eyes... It made her ears droop more, and she took a slight step back from her... She didn't want to accidentally hurt the mortal... Then again... She had come a long way since he was killed... She was old now, and knew her powers well. Perhaps one lonely soul would not do any harm? Still, looking Nzambi in the eye... she couldn't turn her away...
She finally sighed softly, looking down... then back at her. "There are times I do wish to be alone... You may follow me, so long as there is that understanding that I may leave... But I will come back to you."
Nzambi's face lit up at that, and her tail actually wagged just a bit... nodding at the other. "I ... I understand," she said - trusting. Goddesses did not lie... at least not those whos domain did not have to do with such. "I will leave you alone ... when you ask."
She nodded, satisfied that the hyena seemed to understand and respect her wishes. "Good... I hope that some day you will return to your own kind, though..." Her wings flickered a little, and she glanced off, her black eyes seeming... not quite as empty for a moment. It had been so long since she had had company.
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