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 Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:27 pm
Posting from email with Annchen's permission.
Just some days ago she would have been overjoyed by the prospect of patrolling the borders closest to Mizimu, but the recent disappearance of their queen had put a damper on her spirits. Where could she have gone? She couldn't have left them, right? Skugga wasn't sure how, but she was certain her disappearance could be blamed on the Mizimu'Tungika somehow.
But she couldn't let their loss dull her mind and make her less careful. Out here she might very well encounter Mizimu hunters or scouts, and she couldn't count on the luck she had last time she saw an enemy. Nothing and no one would sneak past on her watch. In her mind, this assignment proved that she was a good Dhati warrior now, not just the weak Sacrifice she had been.
Skugga moved as silently as she could, and stayed low in the grass as much as possible. If you see your enemy first, you will have an advantage. She had rolled in the dung from prey animals before moving out. If they feel your scent, you wil get closer before they notice you. But nothing could prepare her, nothing...
What was that? A flash of white in the distance. Her heart seemed to constrict in a very painful and completely unexpected way and she bared her teeth. It couldn't be... Yuusa?
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:29 pm
Once again, she was out here, once again, she had slipped away from her guards and come out here, out to the borders. Once again she was putting herself in unreasonable danger, and acting against her own better judgement.
But this time, her reason was different. She had done a lot of thinking since her run-in with the striped lion who had been wearing the skin of her murdered cub - or, in any case, the circumstances of the encounter had been on constant repeat in her mind, in almost every waking moment and sometimes even when she was sleeping. Something had come of it. Something had changed. She wasn't entirely sure exactly what it was that had changed, just yet, but she knew that she had discovered parts of herself that she had only barely been aware of before. And gained a new perspective.
And then this... this cubnapping. The absolutely unthinkable had happened - a royal sacrifice had disappeared, right out of the Queen's cave, for all that anyone knew. Of course everyone were terribly upset and talking about the Dhati... but Yuusa just couldn't shake the horrible, nagging feeling that somehow... it was all just too much like THAT time. And even though she wasn't at all sure that it was not just all inside her own head, she could have sworn that the security around herself had grown more vigilant again. And weren't some people looking at her a bit funny, lately?
What if... She was far from sure, and, infact, didn't really have anything but previous experience and a bad gut feeling to go on, but what if... What if Skugga had had something to do with the cubnapping?
She had to know.
Wise from her earlier experiences, Yuusa was even more careful this time. Every step was calculated, every inch that she snuck deeper into the unsafe borderlands meticulously scouted out through eyes and nose before she advanced. And still, when her gaze - following the flicker of a movement somewhere to the side - finally fell on Skugga, she found that her sister had already spotted her.
A million things happened in that brief split-second when Yuusa finally laid eyes on her twin again, after all this time. Her body tensed, her heart clenched. Part of her still wanted to run up to Skugga and cuddle her, groom all that dirt and dust out of her fur and jokingly berate her for letting that pretty fur become so smudged up. But the other part of her, the one that she had only recently found, noted her sister's crouching stance and bared fangs, and a strangely serene coolness descended on her mind and body.
She knew her sister. She knew that it was more than possible that Skugga would strike, rather than talk, and judging by her sister's well-trained physique... well, Yuusa found to her own detached surprise that she was already well prepared for the worst. She had come here knowing that this encounter could be their last.
But before that, she had to know. The calm stillness within her kept her gaze and body rock-steady as she turned to face her sister head-on, and even her voice was remarkably cool, even gently authoritative as she broke the tense silence:
"Skugga..."
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:30 pm
Skugga was mentally prepared to meet Mizimu lions, and she was trained to deal with them if necessary, but this didn't make sense. It was Yuusa, but what was she doing here, so far from Mizimu'Tungika? Sacrifices didn't venture this far out on their own. There could be only one explanation, right? All her warrior training, all those months with the Dhati, nothing could have prepared her for this. Skugga's body was prepared, but her mind wasn't.
And then she was running towards her sister in a slight daze. All her training seemed to have evaporated, and she wasn't even running like a warrior anymore. She was running like a cub running to its mother, or a lioness running to her lover, or a sister... to her sister.
"You came," she said shyly as she finally came to a halt next to Yuusa. Closer than what was wise, the warrior inside her lectured, but she dismissed that voice. Everything was as it was supposed to be. Everything was fine.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:31 pm
A cub.
From the smile on her face to the bounce in her step, there was an innocence about Skugga that was belied only by the power of her body. For Yuusa, it was still for a moment hard to tell the difference between the energetic little runt that her sister had once been, and the grown lioness that now came running towards her.
A cubmurderer, but nothing but a cub herself.
The thought slid across the surface of the bubble of stillness that enveloped her, however, and made no more impression on her calm than any of the conflicting feelings of nostalgia, happiness, sadness, shame and anger that all tried to come at her at once, raging just out of reach from her cool center. Yuusa felt more focussed, and at the same time less tense, than she had possibly ever felt before. Still, her eyes widened a bit at Skugga's words, and she tilted her head very slightly to the side.
"Were you expecting me?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:33 pm
"Of course, I've waited," Skugga all but sang as she danced around her long lost sister. "You've come to join us. I told them you would. I can't wait to show you everything now."
Outwardly she appeared to be just like the adolescent lioness who once left Mizimu'Tungika. Young, innocent, not a worry in the world. But someting was decidedly off about her behaviour. Her tone was friendly and extremely cheerful, but her eyes... Too bright, almost feverish and with a vacant quality that suggested that she wasn't there, not completely.
"You have to meet the king," she said, and in her eagerness she talked so quickly it would almost be difficult to catch it all, "And the queen is so nice and pretty, do you remember Ufahami'tatuka? She is really nice, you'll like her. Are you hungry? Antelope? I've learned to hunt and fight so we will always have food, and nothing can hurt you as long as I'm here. I'll kill anyone who might have followed you. Kahiga showed me how."
She looked around, eagerly, hopefully, as if it would be the ultimate gift for her sister if she could only find someone to kill.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:55 pm
She thinks I've... In spite of her detatchment, Yuusa felt a sickening chill slowly seep into her paws. She had had such hopes about her sister, she had tried to tell herself that Skugga could be, would be fine living on her own.
But this... this empty-eyed, grinning apparition... Yuusa closed her eyes for a brief moment and acknowledged that she had known that her sister would have come to this. Or at least feared it. Yes, ever since that horrible night, she had known the path that Skugga had gone down. She had tried her best to convince herself otherwise, but... she had known.
Did I do this to you, Skugga? A new wave of resolve pushed back the encroaching nausea, and Yuusa opened her eyes again and gave her fever-eyed twin a warm smile.
"Skugga, there's something I have to ask you. And I need to know that you are telling me the truth. Okay?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:44 pm
"And Mazimwi," she added, "You'll like him too, you have to like him. He's very likeable, Mazi. We take care of each other."
Her rushed monologue stopped at Yuusa's gentle question and her left ear twitched. Once, twice, stop. As if an invisible fly was bothering her.
"Anything," she said, and mirrored her sisters smile. And there was that ear twitch again. Once, twice. "Why would I lie to you?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:04 pm
Yuusa opted not to answer her sister's question, merely widened her smile for a moment, before settling her face into a carefully concerned frown. Not for a moment looking away from Skugga - as much to catch any sort of tell-tale reaction to her carefully-worded question as to make sure that she would be ready in case her sister's mood would make a sudden turn. This "conversation" felt as though she was treading on a very flimsy bridge over a very, very deep chasm.
"You see... I'm a little worried. Recently, a Royal Sacrifice was stolen, right out of the Queen's cave, and everyone in the Mizimu are pointing at the Dhati." She took a deep, silent breath before taking a small step towards her sister, lowering her head and sleeking back her ears submissively, as she silently, gently continued: "It's just a small cub, Skugga. Do you... know what has happened to it?"
Hopefully, Skugga wouldn't notice her claws slowly unsheathing. But she could not keep them hidden any longer. Too much depended on her sister's answer right now.
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:32 pm
A look of confusion flashed across Skuggas face as Yuusa started to talk about the missing Royal Sacrifice as if it took some time for the question to register. Her ear twitched one last time before she finally broke the uncomfortable silence.
"One of the Royal Sacrifices?" Skugga echoed.
The twists and turns of Mizimu politics usually reached the Dhati sooner rather than later from information gathered by spies or from deserting pride members, so the existence of a royal litter shouldn't be a surprise to her. Skugga had heard about it, but filed the fact away as unimportant. So the royal b***h had spawned. Big deal. She was more fun back when the entire Dhati giggled about her lack of fertility.
"That's good, isn't it," Skugga said uncertainly, "He can't be sacrificed if he's with the Dhati, right? But it seems stupid to take anyone younger than an adolescent."
She stopped to think about this, and conflicting emotions seemed to flicker across her face as she did. It was harder to keep uncomfortable thoughts at bay if you stopped to think about things.
"But I haven't seen any cubs lately," she finally stated, "Wouldn't I have seen him if he's with us?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:49 am
Yuusa watched her sister's face carefully, and though many things flickered across it as she pondered Yuusa's question, there were nothing to imply that the dark lioness lied when she said she hadn't seen the cub. Yuusa felt a slow breath whisper out through her nostrils as her claws sank back into her paws.
Thank goodness.
But if Skugga wasn't involved, then... maybe... a train of thought that she would never have followed, had it not been for this remarkable detatchment, began to unfold. She remained low, in posture and in voice, as she tested the ground for her new idea.
"Yes, it's just a little cub, not even an adolescent. It won't be able to fight for the Dhati's cause or anything, and I can't help but worry..." She paused for only a second. "I have been thinking about coming with you, lately... but I don't want to leave the Mizimu until I know that that lost little cub is safely back with its family. Maybe... maybe you could help me? Would you look for it, if I asked you to?" she tilted her head to the side and gave her sister a small, hopeful smile. "I would really appreciate it."
It was the first time that she had ever outright lied to her sister, and the mere fact that the words slipped so easily from her mouth left a sour taste. But a cub's life was at stake here. And maybe this time, there was something that she could do.
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Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:15 pm
Skuggas confusion had settled and stabilised into a vaguely surreal feeling as she was forced back to a slightly more stable reality. A reality where she was speaking to her sister and where Yuusa all but promised to come back to the Dhati with her. But something didn't match up in her mind. To an outside observer the change in mood was very subtle, but Yuusa would probably sense the difference.
"But..." she protested, "Jinichongo is the family, it will be killed! If we go look for that cub we need to take it somewhere safe, not back to be slaughtered."
Had the queen gone into hiding with the cub to make sure it stayed safe during the inevitable fighting, Skugga wondered. But in her heart she knew that it was just wishful thinking. No one knew where the queen had gone, not even the king. Everyone feared the worst by now, and it was a real possibility that she had been killed by Mizimu spies somehow. But how could they get to her and make her disappear without a trace?
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Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 4:29 am
The very subtle change in Skugga's eyes did not pass by unnoticed, and a shadow of tension passed like an echo through Yuusa's body. Had Skugga seen through the lie already? But though her sister's protest told her that no, Skugga was not quite there yet, it stirred something else inside the bright twin, which threatened her bubble of calm.
Are you trying to tell me that you care about what happens to this cub?
She pulled in a slow breath through her nose and quelled the anger. It would not help her right now. She gave Skugga a slight frown and straightened up a bit.
"Not yet, it won't." She realised that arguing that the cub would be sacrificed, not slaughtered and trying to ascertain the difference would probably not be the best move right now. "And there is going to be a war soon, isn't there? It's already started. Where would a Royal Sacrifice be better protected than in its mother's cave, behind the power of Sakata the Warleader?" She made herself smile again, and found the slight resistance to the action worrisome. "It will be much safer back with its mother, right now. At least until the fighting stops."
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Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:26 pm
Yuusa always had a way with words, but all Skugga could see this time was a plan filled with flaws. In the past she might have followed her lead anyway, but not now. Not here. Too much was at stake. They were at war, and she couldn't afford to get distracted from her true purpose. There was no mistaking Skugga for a cub now, and while her stance was still relaxed it was clearly the stance of a warrior.
"Mizimu won't be safe much longer," Skugga said grimly, and there was a hidden warning in her voice. "And how do you suppose the cub would get back with the increased security the cubnapping must have caused? Sakata is strong, but he is only one lion and we have ways to deal with him."
Sakata fighting against almost any of the Dhati warriors would most likely mean a Dhati defeat, Skugga was sure of that, but she was sure he could not be invincible. He was a lion, and lions could be killed. They had explored different ways to do so while sparring, almost all of them involving more than one Dhati warrior and different forms of trickery.
"I won't lie to you," she said and turned her head to gaze at the horizon, "I will try, but if I keep getting assigned border duty I will not have much time to look for the lost cub. My first priority is to protect our pride. And even if I find the cub among the Dhati there's not much I can do about it at the moment. If one of my comrades took the cub they must have had a good reason, and it should be as safe here as it would be somewhere else."
Skugga couldn't help but being a bit proud about her speech, even if she doubted it would change Yuusa's mind. It was a strange situation. Yuusa was her sister, she had been (or was?) was part of the enemy, and now she might finally turn her back to the Mizimu. But Skugga didn't dare to hope too much just yet. Yuusa had a hard time letting go of feelings and beliefs and could be as stubborn as they came when she got something in her head. She glanced at her front paws and quickly looked back up again.
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Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 4:16 pm
Yuusa felt her bubble waver a little bit more from Skugga's confident words. It annoyed her that she had misjudged how spaced out her sister really was, and that she had failed at keeping the war as a properly distant thing. She hadn't expected Skugga to be so clear on her purpose to defeat the Mizimu. Also, it was indeed a worrying thought that even the mighty Warleader could possibly be in danger - the possibility hadn't really entered her mind until now.
For a moment, a shade of relief restabilised her equilibrium as Skugga agreed to look for the cub anyway, but when she followed her sister's brief gaze... it all vanished. The cool bubble burst, and evaporated right along with any worries or qualms.
She had been too focused, too caught up in the tension of the moment, and Skugga had been so dirty... she hadn't noticed it - that patch of black, orange-patterned fur around her twin's leg.
Skugga wore it.
Not only that lion, the one who had admitted to helping... Skugga, too, wore her own sister's son like a trophy.
A wave of rage burst through her chest and threatened to wipe out everything - every thought, every concern. Yuusa wanted blood. But one thought stopped her from roaring in rage, made her force her claws to remain hidden.
Her cub was dead. Another might not be, and if it were - even remotely - within her power to save it...
Yuusa quickly rearranged her face and smiled into the face of her sister. Her son's murderer. And this time, the lies came quite effortlessly.
"That's why I'll stay in the Mizimu until the cub is returned, of course. If they believe I'm still one of them, we don't have to sneak past any security. I'll just come out here and pick the cub up, then go with it right up to Sakata and say that I found it. Or that some Dhati who is planning to defect helped me return it. They'd never suspect a thing." She took one step closer to her twin and almost coyly offered to touch her nose to Skugga's.
"It's so good to know that I can always count on you," she whispered.
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:05 am
Yuusa might not have realised it, but Skugga saw. She saw the facade break for just a moment as her twin's eyes fell on the bracelet. It wasn't common for her level headed sister to show much emotion over anything at all so Skugga was too surprised to call her out on it. Why she had been so attached to that cub was a mystery to Skugga. Mating with a Sacrifice was just another sick way for Mizimu lions to boost their standing with the Spirits, everyone knew that. And as far as Skugga was concerned it wasn't much better than rape, and it made her sick to think that someone had used her sister like that. It must have been a big disappointment for the male that the cub wasn't even Sacrifice material, but that thought didn't bring any comfort.
She knew she had done the right thing to sever the unnatural connection to that Mizimu male, but it broke her heart that Yuusa was still hung up over it. The flash of pain had been replaced by a smile, but the crack had showed Skugga that everything wasn't what it appeared to be. What it meant, she didn't know yet.
"Yes, you know me," Skuga said, with a ghost of a smile and a heavy heart as she allowed their noses to touch. She didn't think Yuusa's plan was very well thought out, but they could argue about that later. "But this is dangerous. It means that you are in danger from both the Mizimu and the Dhati from now on."
She scanned her surroundings, making sure she hadn't missed anything while talking to her sister. It wouldn't do to neglect her duties, not even for Yuusas sake. When she returned home this time she wouldn't tell anyone that her sister was coming. How could she know that it was for real?
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