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 Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:29 pm
 Kia padded serenely along the savannah, savoring each breath of fresh air. Her recent imprisonment within the Earth's crust had not been kind to her lungs, and she was still readjusting herself to the light and open sky. She found upon regaining awareness that she must have slept for quite some time: long enough for any mortal that knew her personally had died. Saddened by the thought, but heartened by her own newfound liveliness, Kia had set out to meander her way through Africa until she found something to search for.
She wasn't disguised--there was really no need, since she didn't have wings--although she did make herself appear smaller so that she wouldn't so alarm the locals. And although she had no idea whatsoever of where she was headed, she wanted to venture out into the open determinedly.
Her followers had been in shambles when she awoke, but she hoped with time they would rebuild themselves, and maybe she could help. However, until an opportunity arose, she may as well wander around the outside world and try to familiarize herself with its population. With this goal in mind, Kia paused to sniff the air, searching for the time-trusted scent of company.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:22 pm
When it was safe, he let out a big breath and panted to fill some fresh air in his lungs. Of all the ways to die, THAT was not one way he would want to be remembered after he passed away, but enough about that. He was still young and fresh, and death to a god cub was far from his mind. The sun was high, the grass rusting, and he had a full day of nothing to fill up.
He went to trot, a mix of a skip and a walk that he pulled off from learning how to hop from klipspringers from the God of Prey’s herd. He was getting rather good at it, and smiling, he looked ahead to spot a dark moving shape. The lack of wings and small size told Khuluma it was a mortal and quick to catch himself, he removed his wings. It was the only thing he ever took away. He refused to remove his mane! It was shiny and he loved it dearly to part without his golden locks for even a moment. Thinking himself set, he walked more slowly.
Mortals….were a tricky subject for Khuluma. He was still rather hesitant to meet them, but he was trying to push himself to meet the creatures he was here to serve (or at least help a bit). Breathing in, he made for a slow and measure walk. He was a cub to mortals after all and this lion, as he could tell from the shape, might be hostile. Deciding to play it safe, he hummed, wondering if he would either get a lion that turned around and chased him off, or one that would say hello. A bit impatient, he made sure his humming was very loud.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 3:37 pm
Sure enough, Kia thought she could smell a creature not far off, and a moment later her ears confirmed the hunch. Turning to face the noise, she spotted the bright cub and a smile lit her face: at last, a conversation!
"Hello," she called cheerily, before approaching the cub somewhat more jauntily than she ordinarily would. When she came near enough to see the cub in minute detail, she was struck by his unusually long mane. She hadn't seen a mortal in quite some time, but she found it difficult to believe that their developmental patterns had changed so significantly that cubs possessed such full manes. All the same, she knew it best not to judge... but he was just a cub.
"What are you doing out here alone, young one?" might have been her question on any other day, but today she felt compelled to instead ask, with a twinkle in her eyes, "How are you today?"
Kia did not have a different name she used with mortals. She had never needed one, since she had lived a relatively secluded life with only friends and family already aware of her identity. And at this moment, she decided it would be nothing but a hassle to create one. Thus, her next words were:
"Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kia'Moyo, and I'm... not acquainted with this landscape. In fact," the goddess paused in contemplation of how much she could say. Throwing caution to the gust of wind that conveniently blew past at that very moment, Kia continued, "I'm from very far away, and I'm not heading in any particular direction. You could call it wanderlust; traveling thus far has been awfully boring. I admit I expected quite a bit more excitement." She glanced towards the sky. What Kia didn't mention that she had been walking for a grand total of two days.
She beamed at the cub with her liquid gold eyes, wondering why she felt pressed to speak. Shifting the weight of the conversation back to the spotted cub, she asked, with a unnoticeable hint of cynicism that she was unaccustomed in implementing, "Are you from hereabouts, or are you meandering across the continent as well?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:41 pm
Khuluma was overjoyed to find that the mortal was 1.) not going to eat him and 2.) wanted to talk. It was the recipe for a very nice day, and he smiled as she introduced herself. First to take a lioness in, he took noticed of her dark pelt and white markings with splotches and dabs of pale purple that even was in her hair. What caught his eyes was her jewelry, as they often did catch his attention. She wore a golden necklace with purple crystals that dangled against her white chest, and looking about, he noticed it matched her bracelets and the circlet on her forehead. Overall, she was relaxed and held herself in a welcoming manner that Khuluma found as just that. Welcoming
“I’m doing very well. It’s a nice day out, and I have yet to find anyone to cause me any unwanted trouble.” Trouble in the way of fighting or having monkeys throwing fruit at him. He always managed to pick the trees to rest under that THEY claimed.
When asked where he was from, he had to think of why a normal, mortal cub would be wandering about. The fact she didn’t know her way around meant she might need directions, and Khuluma was only meandering the landscape himself. He couldn’t say he FLEW here. That option would have given him away as a god, and he hadn’t yet formed his speech about how to introduce himself to mortals just yet. He had to go for a vague answer. “My name is Khu……” he had to catch himself from his full name, wondering if giving even his god name would be the right thing to do. But…Khu sounded like such a injustice to his own name! “…luma. Khuluma. I’m the..” He had to stop from saying he was the God of Rhetoric. It was so ingrained in him that he had to snap his mouth shut. “I’m just walking around myself. My…brother! Yes. He’s around and let me walk the lands while he’s….hunting.” Good. Good Khuluma. You’re amazing with this. You could do with less pausing. Even you know that speaking that way makes you look unsure of yourself. Come on now!
“I’ve been traveling a while. I suppose I have wanderlust too. On most days, I get very bored too, but that just makes meeting new faces all that more exciting. I don’t suppose you are looking for something or have any direction in mind, do you? If not, then not knowing your way really doesn’t matter.” It made sense to him.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:35 pm
Kia just nodded to his first statement, as she generally agreed and had nothing further to add. He had quite a vocabulary for such a young lion, and the lioness thought there was something off about the way he held himself--in comparison to the cubs she had known, but that was so long ago, and maybe her mind had decided it would play tricks on her.
When introducing herself, Kia rarely mentioned her domain, because what it would always change the way the strangers looked at her--something she (due partly to that very domain) detested. She had no wings, and looked fairly plain: why some would change their attitudes towards her so much so that she could not carry on a thoughtful conversation with them bothered her to the extreme. So... she called herself by her name and not her work, because even though her work was her life, she'd prefer if it stayed separate from her conversation.
All the same, when the cub haltingly introduced himself, Kia could not help but to smile and raise an eyebrow. He appeared to have difficulty forming a complete sentence for a moment, which was odd, considering his previous eloquence.
"Your brother let you walk around alone for days? That is a long hunt; I hope he returns with a decent amount of meat to make up for it," she chuckled, before sobering her face and adding, "I'm not looking for anything other than a journey, but I suppose I would like to find some purpose for the trip." She was completely unperturbed by the fact the cub had been wondering about, now that she had received an explanation, however shaky it may be. Who was she to judge the social architecture of his family?
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:50 pm
He mentally breathed out that she had not pushed the subject that his brother must be gone for days. Who was he to know that cubs usually stayed away from their siblings for only a short time. Not being one with family, he assumed it was like how he left Palahala’s herd for days on end and returned on his own leisure. He should really invest some time in figuring out what mortal cubs did so that he would not be caught in a lie or a sticky situation that would require some fast explaining.
“Yes! He’ll bring plenty of meat, I’m sure. He..always does. My brother is a very good hunter.” He had to go on with his lie, and worked with it. Khuluma didn’t even eat meat! As long as she didn’t talk about the taste of meat, he’d be fine. Aside from that, he found pretending he had a brother was rather nice. He could already imagine a larger version of Khuluma, older, with a bushy, gold mane like his and a charming smile. He'd have a nice voice, and be good at all the things brothers were good at.
“My brother goes off like this all the time, and he knows I an well on my own. I know how to look after myself.” This was at least a bit true, and he breathed out, feeling more relaxed when he had to lie less. Working out a fake history and life was something new to him, but he'd have to start if he was to fool other mortals that he was anything but normal and non-divine. Hard, but he was sure he could manage it.
“Well, if your looking for purpose to a journey, I can’t very well give you one. It’s for you to decide after all, and the journey is what you make of it. I have no idea what you find makes a journey worth it in the end. I find that when I walk about, finding others to talk to just makes the entire trip. Sometimes it takes a long time and sometimes it doesn’t take a few hours. What is it that you are after?” He was curious as to what mortals wanted to look for when going on journeys? Food? Water? Other lions? Did they want or need anything else?
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:38 pm
"Oh well, then that's good," Kia said cheerily when the cub assured her that he would have plenty to eat. He seemed like a nice kid, albeit nervous in all his starts and stops in speech. She hoped she didn't seem too intimidating. Momentarily forgetting to think, she made herself appear ever so slightly smaller. A mortal would probably just blink their eyes in confusion anyway; they would never jump to the conclusion that they saw something godly.
"You do seem to be very responsible," Kia nodded encouragingly, "and it's good that you have a such a kind brother. I think I had a brother, he wasn't quite so... understanding though. I think we argued a lot..." It felt odd to speak of her life before sleeping, it was literally lifetimes ago, and a lot of the details were fuzzy. Hopefully, though, she thought, revealing a less than sensational experience would put Khuluma more at ease by allowing him to realize that he was to someone who could empathize with him. More than he knew.
"I know I can't expect a"--she barely avoided saying mortal--"cub to give me a purpose for my trek. I just wondered... what you might have to say." She smiled sadly. She knew what she wanted: life for the pride that had existed before she accidently abandoned them. The guilt overwhelmed her at times, and she would do anything to repent and receive the forgiveness of those souls. Maybe she could find new members to replenish the blood, but that seemed like a stretch... and something she certainly could not admit to Khuluma. Due to this impossibility, she just said, "I suppose I ought to seek out some family that I haven't seen in some time, but chatting is educational, too."
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:50 pm
It was generally confusing to say that a cub would not know how to give purpose, but he guessed this was because this was one of those things that adult mortals worked through and that someone his age would not know of yet. He spoke with the Goddess of Femininity who said he would learn more when he grew up. He hated the wait, but he liked the idea of knowing more through age, even though it was basically a given anyways. If he didn’t learn anything from now to when he was older, he must have not been doing much of anything.
Deciding not to poke around, he chalked it up to the category of ‘adult things’ and left it at that. Time would give him his answers.
“You have family?” Of course. She was mortal. All mortals had family. “Who do you have? I don’t have family – eh, aside from my brother. Do you have a big family?” Khuluma always wanted a big family. One that had every position of the family tree filled three times over and everyone talked and visited each other. It was a desire and wish he had for a long time.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:17 pm
Kia was relieved that the cub didn't push the matter of purpose--she feared he would find it condescending, and she had no way to defend the statement that she did not mean to make in the first place. Now that that was through though, focused on the present.
"I think my brother's my only family as well--I mean, I think he was my brother, it would make sense--" she caught herself late, her resolve in hiding her identity dissipating slowly. The character stirring in her memory was Apathy, although she couldn't quite be sure of his identity. She knew she knew him, but was unsure of the exact distance of that relationship. "What I meant to say, is that I haven't seen my brother in quite some time, so it seems at times as though he no longer exists." Then she realized that, as a mortal, she ought to have parents, but instead of awkwardly interjecting this information as an afterthought, she returned, "If we had parents to speak of, they abandoned us and don't deserve the honor of being included in conversation. And you? Surely you must have a mother, and if she abandoned you or died, then did your brother at least describe her to you?" The last sentence sounded harsher than she intended it, since it had ben asked out of curiosity and a persisting suspicion that this was one unusual kid.
A strange awkwardness pervaded the air, as they both tried to talk their ways through their lies, while neither caught onto the other's. They played a game of conversation, in which the goal was to keep the responsibility of speech on the other player in the hope of reducing stress.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:34 pm
It seemed he would not be getting a happy story to cling to when she spoke. It was another tale of a family broken up and one that did not keep in touch. Every time he heard this story, he wished he didn’t bring up the subject at all. She wasn’t the first one to say she was no connected to her family and had not seen them in a very long time. He wondered why? Why did the families he hear about seem in shambles and most of the time, didn’t seem motivated to get back together once more. It made him think of what family he might or might not have. Did they feel no need for think of him, and if so, did they only think of a vague image or idea of what their son or sibling might be? Here he was working hard in his mind to think of who he might be related to, but he was sure if he at least knew, he would not let that memory fade.
At the mention of his mother possibly leaving him or dieing, his ears went back and he looked to the side, his gaze for once breaking to look at the savannah. “I don’t know. She could be alive, or dead, or never been around at all. I..don’t really know. My brother…” The sudden topic of families touched too close for him to lie. “..he’s more of an adoptive brother. He hasn’t heard about her either. ” It didn’t seem that anyone knew of who had given life to Khuluma, but seeing as he was a cub with no recollection of the time before the God Haven, he wondered if that meant he never had one. The thought always crushed him with a renewed force, and he felt himself go quite as the subject moved to darker waters.
An eye for a eye then.
“Why did you stop seeing your brother? Don’t you love him?” How could anyone leave their family!
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:13 pm
Seeing the cub tear up forced Kia's eyes to water as well. Not now, not now!
"I'm so sorry, that's terrible. I didn't mean to stress your heart. Relax now. I could never imagine how that must feel..." she faded. But she could, all too well. Not only were his emotions resonating in her, but they also brought back her own sentiments about the possibility of being created by mere belief. She decided to change the subject by making another observation.
"Your brother sounds so darling though, reaching out and helping a complete stranger like that. It always seems that a healthy friendship, not blood, makes a family." Kia sighed heavily. The child's emotions were deeper than most his age, and they affected her all the more because of it.
Kia tried to hold a dignified face as she began to speak about her brother. The beast ignited anger, not sorrow, within her, but her emotions in the present were at the command of the cub.
"If you must know, I stopped seeing my brother because he was a terrible creature, and he ruined everything I attempted to...," she paused to swallow, influenced by the cubs verity to tell her own truth, "he destroyed everything I had set up, I suspect on purpose, and once he shot it with his poison arrow it all collapsed in on itself. I couldn't bear it, so I... slept--left--for a long time, and when I awoke--that is to say, came back--he was gone. I haven't seen him since, and I can't say I want to." She had let him in, but it was he that made the villagers apathetic to the outside world: he had made them paranoid and hateful and damaging. Her peaceful people grew ignorant and self-serving in his presence. It would take time before the effects could be reversed.
Oh dear! She couldn't believe that she just said that to a cub! She didn't aim to scar him--"I'm sorry, that was out of line. Forget you heard it if you can," rushed the goddess. Not only did her tale describe an immoral hate of family that she ought not to teach younglings, it also obviously hinted at a life that was far from normal. "My brother was just a bad bad lion, that's all..." and now he may have indirectly scarred a kid through the telling of his story. Fantaaaastic.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:24 am
The cub nodded, his heart evening out as they talked of friends being family. It was a new belief he had picked up and one he now held on to. In the dark of seeing that he might not have any relatives at all, the hope of simply adopting his own was one he greedily took hold of. Palahala had been his first family member and had taken him under his wing and into his herd. There was no way to express, even in Khuluma’s vast vocabulary, how much it had meant to the little cub. It was always a place he could return back to, call home, and know there was at least someone who would be upset if he vanished completely. As much as Khuluma existed now, he felt more solid knowing other people were thinking of him.
“Your brother…” He knew it was something she probably would not want to talk about, but the only way he could find out what things she would not talk about was through asking. “….if he did you wrong, why did you leave? You say you suspect he did this on purpose, which means you are not sure. Maybe he has a reason for what he did what he did? I can’t say what family is or should act, but I know if I have a sibling, I would want to see their side of the story before keeping them out of my life. It’s…just sad that you call him a bad lion. Was he always bad to you?” Was is a good thing that she could see past family for what her brother was, or just downright heartbreaking that she could no longer see her brother as a good lion.
“You do not have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m just curious. ” It seemed that forgetting what he heard was not something Khuluma was going to do. Once he heard something, he felt that it had needed to be said, and what needed to be said, had to be listened to.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:23 pm
The lioness glanced warily at the cub, calculating her chances of avoiding revealing her identity. They weren't good... at all, but she couldn't refuse the innocent question of the cub. At the same time, however, she did not want to establish a precedent for discriminating "good" from "bad."
"It's okay, I should answer. You've been honest with me, so I should be the same with you." Well, partially honest, at least. "My brother was an odd case: he was born with a tendency to behave poorly when interacting with others. That is to say, he had difficulty relating with and understanding the importance of emotion, as well as neglecting the wishes of others. Worse yet, his attitude seemed especially contagious, and those around him often forgot their care for care in pursuit of their own desires. I understand that was the... personality that came into existence with him, but I also think he aimed to end my happiness, disregarding the happiness of those close to me. If friends are family, then he was a stranger that killed my family.
"There was nothing I could do... he was stronger than me, and I didn't realize what had happened until it was over..." Kia lamented. She thought she remembered... had she actually helped him while under his influence? Yes, unintentionally. She let that diseased leopard in that killed her mortal mate and most of his relatives. Apathy, she thought, probably bribed the leopardess into service, fully aware that Kia's domain would force her into allowing the cat entry. That all happened long ago, however, and Kia tried to let the past be, since she could hardly remember it anyway.
"You're right, though, maybe I should give him another chance... maybe he has a reason, though I doubt anything could reasonably explain away what he did. But the choices remaining are either learn to accept our differences or fight each other forever, right?" Oh wait. Mortals died, hence the name. "I mean, like, fight until we die, because, as you know, no one lives forever, that would be just... different, which... uh, I'm not." Shoot, and to think she had kept her cover successfully for so long only to tear it away with one fumbling comment.
A small voice in the rear-most part of her mind told her that she was not hiding her identity by appearance so much as words, and that she really had no reason to do so, and therefore she probably wasn't doing it by chance, meaning that there was some reason for her strange desire to conceal her identity that was somewhere and somehow mirrored in a creature nearby, from whom her empathetic powers tended to draw their behavioral ideas from.
Kia had long ago learned to ignore that voice. It always whined insistently when she had company, and often detracted from her conversations. So, like always, Kia felt that she she remained the only one with reservations in the conversation, when this was quite rarely the case.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:39 pm
It was such a tale, and one he didn’t expect. Her brother had managed to KILL people, especially Kia’Moyo’s family, which mean that her brother had committed a crime in killing his own family, correct? Either way, he felt he should say something, but caught himself. Palahala protected prey animals, yet his brother killed them. To say to this lioness that killing was unforgivable was something on the way on how you looked at it. Still, it was a war he had no place in fighting, as she didn’t know all the circumstances, and he knew even less. He just…didn’t think killing your family was right? He knew he would fight to keep his family alive, if they were alive, and that he would be devastated to have a sibling kill them.
“No wonder you are angry. Someone you trusted did something like that. I’m very sorry for what has happened, but I want to thank you for telling me. ” There was no point in being sorry for asking. He had wanted to know, and now he knew a bit more. You couldn’t even trust siblings in the end. What a sad world this place was.
”I know I don’t know enough about it. I’m still young and don’t have siblings. I just know, if I had one, I would want to try and see about keeping them. I suppose not having family can sometimes be a blessing, even if just a little.” To not have a brother who would do such things as something he wondered if he would want if it meant having family. It came with a heavy price, and she seemed to be having a hard time with it.
“I’m sorry for making you upset. Um.. I know I don’t have anything special to help, but I can give you a hug if you want. I really hope you don’t have any problems in the future that can’t be handled. You seem to have been through a lot. ” He wondered what she would be doing now, that she was alone and wondering about her brother. As a god, could it be his duty to make her feel better? He was here to help mortals, but he didn’t have any special powers at all. All he knew how to do right now was to speak well.
“If you want, maybe I can speak to him for you? I’m very good at it, and it’s sort of my specialty. A mortal like you should worry about yourself, and you could get hurt. Maybe I could find out the story and relate it back to you? You see…” And this is where Khuluma went closer and tried to whisper into her ear. “…I’m very special. ”
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:20 pm
"Ah, see, but that's the problem, I tend to trust everyone," Kia exhaled. Evidence: the current conversation. "Yes, no harm in asking, or answering... it was so long ago. But I don't really think that the fact that he's my brother was the reason for his inhospitality. It just worked out that way... but blood means little."
When the cub offered a hug, she mumbled something like, "That's so sweet," but wanted to let him finish speaking. That, and she wasn't quite sure how to answer such an adorable question, or if it was even a real offer or one of those things people say to make someone feel better, but never intend to act on.
Kia had just begun to believe that the cub had not noticed her slip-up, when confirmation came in the most unexpected of ways. After listening to the first few words of the gold cub's next speech, Kia tried to stop him from saying such things by quietly talking over him,
"No, no, I don't think talking to him would be a very good idea at all, and I don't even know where--Wait, what? A mortal like me? You know that has certain implications? I think our prior conversation may not have been as honest as either of us originally intended." That annoying voice prevailed again. Suddenly the bushy mane and gift of intelligence made sense. She paused to quickly process the rest of what Khuluma had said, then added, "Your specialty is Speaking, then, you say? Forgive me thinking you were mortal, it seems this discussion has been muffled on both sides. Then allow me to more properly introduce myself by offering that my specialty is Empathy. Now you must think me ever the more pathetic for being capable of defending my people against my brother."
Despite being completely shocked by the turn of events, and it probably showing in her voice, Kia could not help but smile. There was something comforting in meeting another god, and something equally ironic that in her first episode in the outside world observing the native inhabitants, she would actually not be speaking to one of the natives she expected. On the off-hand chance the cub wasn't actually a god, and instead just a lunatic or kid in a fairytale land, there was no harm in revealing her identity anyhow, because he'd play along either way.
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