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It was a deery sort of day, overcast but not quite raining. Cool, but not really cold. In such an in-between day, there was no telling what might happen. Maybe, just maybe... today would be the day.

At least, that was Matsai's hope, as he sat in an out of the way place. He was unlikely to be disturbed here, which was the purpose, and there was little in the way of distractions. A perfect place to practice his abilities, which is what he happened to be doing at the moment. Green eyes closed, sitting upright and steady, he struggled to command his visions to come to him. A fierce frown moved over his face as he concentrated, an ache forming behind his eyes with how hard he worked at it.

"Damn it." He murmured to himself as he sighed and opened his eyes, blinking to try and ease some of the pain. Another failed attempted and another heavy dose of frustration.

The life of a wanderer was often marked by new and curious sights, sounds, and experiences on a daily basis. Atleast for the first lifetime or so, some many years later one becomes acquanted to most things in their known world. Yes, things changed, but really there were rarely new sights or sounds, and experiences merely repeated.

And these were the thoughts that mulled in Rhin's head as she padded rather aimlessly through a markedly deserted piece of the Pridelands. It was for this reason that she missed the distinct smell of a male as she drew closer to his location. Barely out of eyesight the scent finally hit her sensitive nose and she slunk, fluidly, toward the dirt. The black goddess kept her wings tight against her body and padded closer, stomach just nearly scrapping dirt and vegetation. Her dark violet eyes trailed across the horizon untill they found the male she had scented, he appeared to be alone and she perceived him to be mostly harmless.

Instantly she felt a bit silly for her paranoid stalking of what appeared to be just another Pridelander. Pulling herself from her crouched position she took several more footsteps before sitting openly in the grasses some several feet away. Rhin watched the slightly disoriented lion quietly, not sure how to approach others from this area, as she'd only known Zeki.

Matsai sighed as he lifted a white-tipped paw to scrub at his face, brushing over the falling star that rested between his eyes. It was quite a marking, that star... phrophetic, almost. Out of all his siblings, the visions that came with being the child of a god seemed to come to him the most. Ahai, his twin, had no such dreams that he knew of, nor did Mastema, the brother that fit the Pridelands most with his tan pelt. Red Belial was a bit unhinged from the force of his sight, thought it appeared to come more a voices in his head than visions. And then there was Kali, the only daughter... she had never seemed to have visions, but he hadn't seen her since she was a cub, before she'd been stolen away by their uncle. Matsai shook his head as he dropped his paw again, pushing away the thoughts on his strange family.

The sweep of his gaze brushed over a dark form, then snapped back to it, eyes narrowing suspiciously as his face went blank. A black goddess, sitting so innocently a short distance away, her own gaze on him. He'd never had a truly good meeting with any god, not to mention the fact that he passed out whenever he touched one, so it wasn't suprising that he didn't look favorably on this one.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He called as he rose to stand, glad of the larger-than-normal size he'd inherited from his father. His voice was cool, dispassionate, and lacking in anything that might give away how he felt or what he might be thinking.

Rhin's brow rose only the slightest degree as the male stood, she'd become too accompanied to the niceties that most cordial lions in this area exhibited, it once again occured to her that she'd simply been spoiled as of late. Emptiness is one's voice was not something alien to Rhin, in fact it was how she used to speak to most mortals in the times when she didn't feel the need to reveal anything to them.

Leaving an empty silence as she considered her responce, the dark lioness adjected her wings idlely, her demeanor completely calm and what could be construed as a tiny grin upon her features.

"My name would be Rhin-yi, though you may call me Rhin. I call this pride home for the time being, I was simply passing through the area...stumbled upon yourself," her voice was low and the underlying growl that always accompanied her speech was quite audible today. Despite it's lack of feminity there was a warmth and approachability that Rhin's tone carried today, she was in a good mood having found someone particularly interesting on this stroll, "I could ask you the same questions as I don't beleive we'v met."

The mention that this goddess called the Pridelands home brought a shift of his brow into a subtle frown. He'd heard nothing of this and it made him wonder if she usually cloaked herself in illusion, or if everyone just knew who and what she was. Rhin-yi... he didn't know the name either, though he would admit that he didn't know a lot of gods and his father hadn't been exactly forthcoming with names and information. He stood patiently, solid as a stone and with as much emotion, to listen to her, considering his own response carefully.

"I had no idea there were gods among the Pridelanders. I might be reclusive, but I'm surprised I've heard, and seen, nothing." A black ear twitched as he idly checked to see if they were alone, searching for the sound of anyone nearby. He was rather thankful that his twin was occupied today. It kept him out of the way, but he missed his solid prescence. "My name is Matsailema. I was born into the royal line of this pride and spent my childhood here. I've recently returned from some travel in the lands beyond, so perhaps you're just new. As for what I'm doing... I'm practicing." He left it at that, really not feeling to share more if she didn't specifically ask for it. "What's your domain? What do you rule over?"

It hadn't occured to Rhin that living within the area meant having met the locals, she'd hardly seen any other lion since she'd come to the Pridelands, let alone another of the pride aside from Zeki. She tipped her head slightly upward as she thought, ears gently swiveling as they caught the sound of nearby grasses blowing in the wind.

"I don't exactly venture far within the lands and I only know one of the actual pride. I suppose calling the pride my home might be a bit bold. It might be more correct to say the lands are for the time being," Rhin's small grin grew slightly as she listened to his introduction. She'd known, only by Zeki's talks that there was a royalty here, Rhin fond it rather novel to have met one today. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Matsailema, I too am a traveler...though I've been here for some time now."

Her tail curled tightly about herself when asked about her domain, she was weary to tell others. Some wanted tricks, which she didn't always mind doing, but one wore thin of the requests. Others wanted to test themselves against her, another task she did not always mind taking up, but also grew old. There was no reason not to tell the male, but she kept her tail curled quietly beside her, posture stiffening slightly.

"The hunt is the domain over which I rule, I am merely a huntress in most respects," her grin twitched a bit, the slightest of cocky smirks flashed across her features, "I just happen to be particularly good."

Matsai took in her explanations, mulling over them for a moment. So she wasn't an official pridemember then. That made him feel a little better about her.

"So all you can do is hunt better than anyone else?" He said blankly, his tail twitching. "Well, that's... nice." He wasn't sure what else to say about it, though he was relieved again that it wasn't something more... inconvenient. There was little she could do to him unless she decided to touch him or 'hunt' him. "I'm really not much of a traveler. I traveled out of necessity and an effort to broaden my experiences. I think I would much rather have one place to call home and have other come to me."

His mouth twitched in what could be called a smile, for him. "Its easier to control when my future is more stable. When there are less possibilities."

Immediately Rhin stiffened at his lackluster response to her ability, she knew it didn't help that she was somewhat modest about it, but she was a goddess. In the back of her mind she sneered at the almost insult, but instead pushed it aside as just another challenge.

"I find travel to be a nice way to shake away the boredom that tends to come with living somewhere far too long," she was indeed curious at the way in which Matsailma phrased his response, and cocked a brow in question, "Less possibilities?"

The blue lion saw the goddess stiffen, but he brushed it off, ignoring what seemed to be an expression of indignation. It actually rather pleased him, that he could goad her like that, whatever it was he had said. The boredom she spoke of... he knew the feeling better than he would have liked. Despite wanting to settle down, there was something about the Pridelands that repelled that thought from him. Like a plant, he wanted to put down roots and become stable, but just like a plant, he felt like he kneaded the right sort of soil under his paws, the right sort of pride, before he could.

Of course, she picked up right away on what he didn't say. Clever little goddess. "Less varied futures. The less stable my life is, the more different paths my life can take from this point, and the more visions of them plague me." He said, trying to make it as simple as possible. How to explain the sleepless nights, afraid to sleep and dream? Or the nights where he did and they played unending over anything and everything till he woke in the morning? How a simple touch could send him into convulsions as visions threatened to overwhelm his mind... Too much to put into mere words, all the pain and chaos in his mind.

Visions? Rhin's tail curled tighter around her leg as she thought about what the meaning for that could be. Far from wanting to appear anything less that intelligent and, well, godly, before the self-assured mortal the goddess began coming up with ways in which she could ask without actually asking.

Having decided upon a course of action she maintained her polite, if slightly less convincing, grin and took a step forward. Rhin was examining, looking right into the males eyes, "And sort of things do you see...if I may ask."

Her gaze lessened in intensity as she asked the question, sure that she could not see anything odd with either the male's eyes, nor any other visable part of him. It just seemed so odd for one to talk about their vision as if it was a performance being played out for one ahead of time...which it seemed as if that's what we was saying.

The male stiffened visibly as she moved closer, poised to move away should she get too close. He wouldn't let her touch him if he could help it. Green eyes narrowed a little at her question, his mind debating if he should keep it simple, or add some glamor to it like he had been lately. Not knowing what she knew, it was a hard choice, so he felt his way carefully.

"I've seen myself in various futures. Dead, lost, torn from my twin, settled down with a lioness and cubs... raised to glory or torn to nameless shreds. I see myself in places all over, in every pride that exists, and all alone." He listed off a few of the things he'd seen, again, keeping them simple. "I've also seen my past, my cubhood, the time with my family and the places I've been. Sometimes, I see an orange lioness I know from cubhood, grown to be an adult. I knew what she would look like before I even returned to see her again, and she was the same as I'd seen in my vision of her." He said softly, the smallest touch of warmth entering his voice at the mention of Verdad, the Pridelander's nanny.

"Have you never heard of a Seer before, Rhin? I'm surprised. It was a god like you that brought me these visions."

It was an odd thought, thinking about what it must be like to see the outcome of one's decisions before they played out. How much would it haunt someone to see their mistakes and what they could have been instead? But how much easier would some choices be if one knew their potential consequences? Though she had no reason to believe the male she did, we were all capable of planning ahead, she always did as she hunted, predict the outcomes...these people seemed to just see these outcomes with a resolute clarity.

"I've heard of seers, I've yet to really see one or truly hear about what it is they are capable of knowing," her low, graveled voice had an edge of curiosity and unasked questions, "I know nothing of our effect on your own kind, I keep generally out of mortal affairs...that I know of we do not have such abilities ourselves."

The number of questions swirling about her normally clear, focused mind startled her and Rhin knew she must ask some of them or she felt she would lose composure, "This ability...isn't it effected by everything? Would that not mean that each lion or prey you encounter might also alter you're entire scheme? Are the visions so clear that they dictate what choices bring one to a certain end?"

The questions that poured from her grated on his nerves, forcing him to look at the 'gift' that so bothered him throughout his life.

"From what I know, no god has visions. But its obvious enough that they can gift mortals with this ability when they mate with a mortal. All the offspring have these visions, in some form. I'm... lucky that mine are limited to when I sleep and when I touch another living being. What is shown to me through them is not under my control... thus what I was doing when you stumbled on me. I plan on forcing them to obey me so I have some measure of control over the chaos."

He grumbled a little as he said it, frustrated all over again with how little progress he'd made in controlling his visions. They still wouldn't come when he wasn't touching someone, and he still couldn't command them to show him something specific.

Rhin took a certain pride in her birth given ability and the way in which she could control it. Fighting back the snobbery of at least being able to control the gifts she was given, the goddess maintained a neutral and calming expression. Her eyes searched his features, noting his frustration at the situation and perhaps herself.

"Have you considered training your mind for cues to the action," she tilted her head just slightly to the side, the way cubs often do when asking questions they know may annoy their recipient, "not to state the obvious, but if you were touched and connected that with some other physical interaction...like scratching the earth...perhaps you could trigger it a bit."

Though she knew it likely wouldn't work, as the reason that another living beings touch is important to such abilities has little to do with trigger and has more to do with the presence of something alive, it could not upset this lion more to hear the suggestion...at least that was what she had hoped.

Matsai thought over that, finding a sort of sense in it. "Train myself to react to a different trigger..." He murmured as he stared sightlessly ahead of himself. Finally he shook himself, focusing on Rhin again. "Its an idea and one I might pursue in the future." He said dryly, glancing around them to see the clouds breaking up, shafts of sunlight tracing bright paths through the grass.

"I'm surprised you'd think of something like that, when your domain lies so much more in the physical word." He said, offhandedly. A tad insulting maybe, but he had never prided himself on being particularly socially apt. He liked being alone with his twin more than anything. Why bother learning to interact with others?

Safely within the Pridelands Rhin could maintain her composure, far from the smell of death that would often bring her aggression at the slightest disrespect. Here she was far more capable of letting out a soft, growling chuckle, a sound that carried her desire to simply patronize the mortal.

"There is far more to hunting than simply killing. One must be able to lure prey, know when to push or pull; when to chase or retreat. If all my domain meant was that I simply brought death...well, I suppose I'd be the goddess of killing then," it was difficult, but she withheld the cocky grin, as wearing it was a display of pride she no longer needed to feel confident. "The idea may or may not work, but it could atleast serve as practice for your odd gift."

Her eyes drifted from the male to their surroundings, realizing that a lone lion of the pride this far out was not something she'd have expected. Even her companion had always been a short race from the majority of the pride.

"Enjoy the solitude, or is it absolutely necessary for your work?" The question was likely a little nosey, but she felt awkward having come upon him when it was clear he'd gone to lengths to remove himself from others.

Matsai rolled thick, heavy shoulders as he shook his head, her words pouring over him and flowing past without a single ripple in his composure. He was a rock in the river of her philosophy, unmoved and uncaring. But he reconized the difference she illustrated.

"Yes, Killing is different than hunting, even if the two often go step in step." He said softly, following her gaze when she turned it away. This place was quiet, empty... even serene. All that moved here was small prey, even the nearest herd of prey far off in the distance. Well, they would probably see the dark spots he and the goddess made and stayed wisely away.

"I enjoy the solitude. If you know anything of this pride, then you know their... gregarious nature. I'm a loner by nature... having someone I don't know wander up to talk to me is distracting. I come here to be alone and take advantage of the stillness to practice in." His black ears gently flicked as a wind picked up, sifting through it for sounds that didn't belong. "And if there are no others around, then there is no one to touch me who doesn't know or understand the pain and visions it brings me."

Rhin's expression relaxed a bit more, nodding her head in agreement.

"The few I've come in contact with, even when away from others, are generally quite happy go lucky it seems. Ordinarily it's a rather annoying trait in anyone I'd spend time with...however, in small doses there are several that are quite kind here," her gaze remained on the distant horizon and the slight movements here and there of passing prey far off. Her thoughts for the moment were not there, they were elsewhere in the Pridelands.

Her mind slipped back to her current conversation after a moment, violet eyes returning to rest on the male after some pause. "So I suppose when I leave you'll continue your practice, or are there other loner tasks that one must attend to?"

The lion's gaze came back to rest on the dark goddess, watching her impassively as she spoke. "Kind, yes. Friendly, easy going, yes. Boring?" He shook his head. "Very. Nothing changes here, Rhin. Anything new or strange is obsorbed and life goes on like it always has. My grandfather was brutally murdered and leadership passed smoothly to my aunt the same day. Only my mother sought retribution for her father's death... It's like the darker side of things just... slide off. Like a shadow on a sunny day..."

His tail flicked in vague irritation. "Are you jaded, Rhin? Do you long for a life of peace and quiet, perhaps raise a family? Live in bliss and comfort for the rest of your days?" His tone was almost mocking as he questioned her. "You don't strike me as one of those. I'm certainly not and neither is my brother."

"Peace and quiet, perhaps...but change all the same. And while I do not directly cherish the idea of a family, a do nurture a recent desire for occasional company. It is a weakness that has developed with age. There are only so many times one may change their surroundings, the company of others may always bring the hope of an occasional surprise," her tone had become a bit more defensive, and her eyes narrowed a bit. Her recent desires had made her feel weak enough without the introduction of these comments. "All the same, I'll likely be heading back across the lands toward the misties to check upon old acquaintances, I've admittedly been here too long."

After a moments thought she came back to one of the male's comments, "Jaded? I'm simply old my dear, older than any mortal lion would imagine living. Some feel as if they've seen everything before...well, I've come pretty close. I am not jaded, if anything I've grown more willing to stay in the company of others than in my youth," her brow raised a bit at the male, "I am not one to live out my days in a perpetual cycle of repeated imagery and events, I have time though. I may stay as long as I please, I needn't ever be in such a hurry. Besides my dear, there must be more than the inconvenience of your gift that keeps you here?"

Matsai shook his head at her question, his tail flicking. "I only stay here because I've not yet decided where to move on to. I agree that its a desirable thing to have a place to call home, but I would not choose here to settle. I would want a place where I am needed, where I am useful, where there is more going on than the same old thing that happens here." His tail flicked irritably as he struggled to express just why he disliked the Pridelands as a home.

"I will have a vision soon enough to show me where my future lies... and then I'll follow it to where I belong." He said softly. At least... that's how he hoped it would work. And if he never had one...? Well, he supposed he'd eventually get up and just go without... though he disliked having no direction.

"It seems a bit a reliant waiting for a vision you can't exactly control to take you on your way, doesn't it? Besides which, what if your vision only showed you one path...what if there was a better path that you choose not to take because it was unknown. It's a tricky thing throwing stones about relying on other so easily when it seems you have your own pitfalls," her tone was rather neutral, she'd not meant a word to be insulting, but instead to goad the male into perhaps consider making his own decision.

Her eyes now drifted away from the herd that had just passed by, staring determinedly in the opposite direction, wanting to stretch her legs and wander a bit.

"Are you dead set on staying right here, or have ruined the peace of this spot enough to meander elsewhere?"

Matai's expression cooled further at her words, hardening as he folded his hindlegs under him and sat back. "You don't seem to understand how my visions work... its not just one, or even ten. I see a veritable flood when they strike me, hundreds passing in a moment. Why do you think it pains me so much? Every time they come to me, they threaten my vary sanity!" He huffed softly as he flexed his white paws against the ground. "When the vision I am seeking for comes, it will come with a variety of other paths, other choices. I will know the best decision because I will choose it."

He shook his head as his eyes drifted away from her. "I have no desire to go anywhere. But, if you feel the need, feel free to take your leave and seek better places. I won't keep you. It would be best, perhaps, if I got back to my practicing."

The goddess' eyes widened a bit at his outburst, but she kept a cool, calmed expression, remaining always the devil's advocate against even herself should the need arise. "It is horrible that one may become so flooded that they may lose grip with the bank of sanity, even if only briefly. I will not deny that going on a whim, while sometimes more painful, is often far more rewarding than the path that one already knows."

Rhin knew her words would only upset the lion more in his current state, but there were only a handful of rare cases that she felt necessitated telling one something simply because they wanted to hear it.

"Please do not be so offended, you have attempted to unhinge my weaknesses with your logic, there is not harm in me returning the honesty," with those words she turned and rose, her dark eyes focused on the distance and what kind preparations must still be made before she would leave. "Though I have no problem staying and continuing our devil's advocacy toward each other, I have arrangements that should be put in order before I leave. The lands are small, if I've not offended you too much I'm sure I may run into you again. May your practice run smoothly and safe travels."

The blue lion gave the goddess a look, one that clearly said she was stating the obvious, though his face was impassive as ever. "I'm not offended." He stated before letting the matter go, relaxing himself as he sat back.

"I shall keep an eye out for you, if you'll be here for a while. Perhaps we can wax philosophical on other matters next time. You can check to see if I've gone insane yet and I can check to see if you still feel the Pridelands are idyllic." His lips twitched gently, his mood shifting. "Safe travels to you as well, Goddess of the Hunt. May they prove fruitful."

Glancing back Rhin shifted her features to a comfortable grin, "I look forward to it."

With that she picked up speed and slipped through the grasses, body low and growing less and less easily seen despite her conspicuous pelt.