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 Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:47 pm
AIM LOG: Light Atago & _ p a o cx Night had fallen and she was, and usual, relaxing nearby the borders of her new home. Sira was growing more and more fond of this place, but some part of her still liked to see the vastness of the roguelands. It reminded her constantly how small a part she played in life, and it helped to humble her occasionally arrogant spirit. Jasira was lying on her side, emerald eyes staring out into the open, not really paying attention to anything particular, but rather simply enjoying the view. It was a peaceful scene, slow moving clouds with the pale moonlight showing through, dotting plots of land here and there. She sighed contentedly, a small smile spreading itself on her maw.
It'd been a while since she was as lax as this, the last time being back when she was still in her parents' den. Those were hard, but fun, days. Things were different now, and though her mother had planned for a different life for her Sira realized that her dreams didn't parallel the older lioness's and that she had to search for it all on her own. Still, she prided herself in the skills she was taught as a growing lioness. It was the only thing she had, at this point, now that she thought about it. A depressing thought, but very true. No friend had followed her to this pride, and her closest sibling had parted ways with her when they were still in the Pridelands, choosing to find his own path as well. "Vu.." she murmured with a small frown. "I doubt we'd cross paths at this point in our lives, but I hope he's doing well." Absorbed in her own thoughts, the lioness didn't notice that someone was approaching.Tasuki had been meandering for weeks, in search of the priestess and the goddess that typically guarded them. He'd found one of them, and even heard back from her! He just knew she'd remember, even remember wasn't what she did. She only believed him, and now she had a deal to upkeep with him! Heck, he could probably tell her that in her last life she owed his bandit group a few lifetimes of favors and she might buy it.
He had thought about it, but decided not to push his luck. A smirk was spread across his muzzle in complete happiness. Now all that was left was a priestess, to reunite with the goddess once she had been found, and to go back to the mountain.
"Not bad work," Tasuki said to himself, wondering in the back of his mind how the bandits were doing, anyway. He had no idea of what had happened since he had left... And in this instance, ignorance was bliss.
He noticed a form in the distance.... Female. While Tasuki was not always fond of women himself, (well, only when they were pushy,) he did need to find a priestess. He started to saunter over to interrogate. Besides that, he... couldn't say he was entirely certain of his location. And the scent of water nearby was a bit disturbing to the typically mountain-bound lion...
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to be able to give a stranger an idea of where he is, would ya?" Tasuki asked with a smirk.The lioness was jerked out of her own thoughts by a peculiar voice, though even if it wasn't familiar she didn't tense up as she normally would have. It was his tone of voice that kept her from going on the alert, so she blinked once at the rogue and rolled onto her stomach, head tilted off to the side. "That would be the Jini-msemi," she answered. "A pride situated among these swamplands. It's hard to see it all in the dark though." Her ears flicked as she took a seat, watching the others. "You talk kinda funny," she said without really thinking. "I've never heard anyone talk like you before, so I'm gonna guess that you're not from around here." Sira narrowed her eyes at the stranger, scrutinizing his markings and everything else about him. Once she determined that there was nothing more she could tell about him, she dismissed it all with a shrug.
"This would be the borders of the pride, though I'm not entirely sure if rogues are welcome.." She extended a paw and attempted to poke him. "You're not a dream, right? I had a dream once while I was still a wanderer, and I met a lion and we talked for a while. It was really weird, kinda like now.." Sira rambled on for a while before finally stopping. "Anyway, so who are you?"Tasuki returned scrutiny with scrutiny, observing her from top to bottom. He wasn't entirely sure where she was from either. He huffed a bit- there was nothing physically speaking that would prevent this lioness from being able to take up the position. Nor personality-wise, so far. Though, there was nothing that qualified her, either.
"Well, uh, I'm not sure whether that's an insult or a simple observation, but I'll treat it like an observation," Tasuki said with regards to his voice. He didn't sound that weird, did he? Nah. He gave her one more quick glance before being content with his "investigation." "S-swamps, you said?" He said with a nervous smirk. He knew swimming was supposed to be instinctual, and he could probably do it if he needed to, but he'd never tried. And as a lion who had never swum in his life, Tasuki had decided that he didn't ever want to try it out. Swamps could be deep. "I wouldn't worry, I don't plan on going in," Tasuki said. One of the last things he wanted was to deal with border guards of any pride right now.
The poke came solidly to his front paw, right on his character. "Now whatchya pokin' at me for!?" Tasuki asked, louder than intended. "I'm real, see?" He said, poking right back. "The name's Tasuki, how 'bout yours?"Sira nodded absent-mindedly as the other gave his replies. After he poked her she was a bit more sure about him being real, as he had claimed, and she nodded. "I see," she answered, though still sounding rather skeptical about the whole conversation. Ever since that funny dream she'd been strange around wandering lions despite having been one not too long ago. "Jasira, or just Sira is fine too. Don't bother remembering the name, it'll change after a while. I'm not gonna go into the details, in case you're curious." The lioness huffed, eyes narrowed curiously at this Tasuki. She tried to poke him once more.
"You know, my dream also said that he was real. We even had a conversation about where he's been and what he'd done with his life. It was really cool, but really weird at the same time. I remember it so clearly, like it happened just yesterday." The lioness spoke slowly, as though the lion would have a hard time understanding what she meant. She wasn't speaking in riddles though.. just about a dream. "I'm not entirely convinced you're real, Tasuki, but there isn't much you can do to convince me otherwise. If I'm sleeping and dreaming you up, my dream world would be just as real as the real world, so I'd feel it if you poked me since I dreamt it and it's all in my head. Then, if you are real, well then obviously I'd feel it if you poked me. A conundrum, no?" She'd always been one to ramble..
"Anyway, since we've established that you can't prove whether you're real or not let's just move on. You know you were looking at me funny earlier. It was kind of rude." Sira narrowed her eyes at the other, suspicious thoughts coming to mind.
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:49 pm
"Changing your name, huh? That's not that weird." He was poked once more. "I thought I told ya not to poke at me!" He demanded, though he didn't move at all. "This is why I don't like girls," the lion muttered quietly.
He listened to her talk, head tilting slowly as she continued. He stopped paying attention half-way through and started thinking to himself. She was kinda strange... Though, to say he had never run into someone who woke up in a weird stupor would be a lie. Still, to determine if she could be the priestess he was looking for, he would need to find out a few... personal things. I've got it! he exclaimed in his head. If it seems like she'll do, get her to come along. Find out after befriending her if she's ever had a mate or a litter- if yes, she'll be a slave. If no, she'll be a candidate for priestess! That's.... if she seems like she could be the priestess anyway. She was in too much of a dazed state for him to be able to judge her character at all. "And no matter what you think, I ain't a dream!" She continued, and he dropped that topic too.
"You were looking at me pretty funny too, just returning the favor!" Tasuki explained with a confident shrug. "And besides, I'm hardly a gentleman. I'm not evil either, but I'm not exactly Mr. Manners."
"Mr. Manners," she repeated with a smirk. "I like that, that's what I'll call you. Mr. Manners, I don't deny that I was looking at you funny, but the whole time I was watching you because I thought I was dreaming. I still do, or at least part of me thinks that I'm in a dream. But we've since moved on from that topic." She nodded, still smiling, before lying back down. "I was watching the scenery," she said suddenly, skipping onto another topic entirely. He didn't seem the type to just shrug her off, else he already would have. Ever since becoming a wanderer she found that keeping the loneliness at bay sometimes meant talking to herself. She doesn't do it as much now, but she picked up a habit of rambling on about nothing..
"It's nice, don't you think? Though I noticed that it's nicer if you're not in the middle of it all. I like being part of a pride, that way I can lie down here comfortably and without fear of someone randomly hunting me down. You should try it, joining a pride. It's different from being born into one, like I was originally. What do you think, Mr. Manners? Are you curious about this pride within the swamplands?"
"My name's not Mr. Manners!!!" Tasuki spazzed. "Geez, at this rate you're gonna ruin my reputation," he said, tilting his head the other way before finally sitting down. Never again would he suggest a strange nickname to a girl, even when it had not been intended for a nickname at all. "If I have to be Mr. Manners, you can be Miss Dreams."
At the change of topic into the scenery, Tasuki glanced over his shoulder to see roguelands- where he'd come from. "I guess it's nice," he said. Girls liked that kinda stuff. It was nice for him- Tasuki had always viewed the roguelands as a source of idiots who would wander into their pride's lands to be stolen from.... Without those idiots his way of life was not possible, so he supposed the roguelands were a beautiful thing.
"I'm kinda-sorta... The boss of my own pride. Yeah, we're kinda far away, in... that direction," he had taken a moment for pondering, but eventually pointed to the direction of his mountain. "I'm looking for a girl to bring back with me, to take up an important position in our pride. The last one kinda... got old and died. It happens, I didn't know her too well, but we need someone for the position. And our goddess kinda ran out on us at about the same time, soooo.... Yeah, couldn't let that situation keep on much longer," he said, returning his gaze to the lioness before him. "Got the goddess, need the girl," he concluded. "But if its swampy in there, I'm not goin'." He concluded with certainty.
Sira listened to him, mouth closed and eyes focused on the lion as he spoke. She'd always been a good listener. It was a skill her mother had taught her, and despite her newly formed habit of talking too much if given the chance to, when it wasn't her turn to speak her mouth was shut. A lesson learned the hard way back home, but well worth it now that she was out of the den and on her own. Emerald orbs followed her paw toward the mountains where his pride apparently resided, and she tilted her head curiously. Once he was done speaking she "hmm'd" and was quiet, thoughtful.
"I don't mind being Miss Dreams, Mr. Manners," she answered, going back to their topic before he started discussing his pride. "As for your pride, that's a rather unfortunate situation. Hopefully you find this lioness soon. If you're the boss of your pride, who knows what will happen if finding this girl takes too long. I'd help, but the swamps are my home now. It's a lot nicer than you'd think, since I had the same thoughts when I first got here." Sira nodded, glancing back toward the swamps. "If you don't wanna go in though, I'm not gonna make you. Plus you've already got a pride." She nodded again. "Going back to your pride, by the way, you said goddess?"
Her lack of annoyance at being called "Miss Dreams" bugged him. Any normal girl would be annoyed, right? She had taken care of this question for him- she didn't want to leave, and the pride was in no shape to be making enemies for kidnapping or anything. Not that he had been considering it, but he certainly wasn't going to make her go. No, she wasn't the priestess he was looking for. He couldn't help but be mildly surprised, too, at how quiet she'd gotten. He never would have pegged her as a good listener.
"Yeah, I'm worried that it's been too long as it is. I've gotta find her fast, but wherever she is, she's hiding." He sighed at the thought. Though, he doubted anything bad would have happened yet. It was taking longer than expected, but not that long. He didn't know just how wrong he was thinking that.
"Hmm? Yeah," he wondered if there could be any harm in discussing her openly. Probably not. "Yeah, the goddess of gravity hangs out at our mountain all the time- kind of a guardian deity for us. I guess she just likes our rough-around-the-edges traits!" he said- it would seem weird to him that any goddess would enjoy their presence, but according to what the old boss said, Din did.
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:51 pm
"Hmm.." she mused thoughtfully, thinking on the gods and goddesses of the Jini-msemi's history. "Personally I think gods and goddesses are significantly stranger than any of us," she said with a slight shrug. "I'd regard them with respect, of course, but as far as interests and things like that go, they have strange tastes. It's a personal opinion though." Sira had never met any god of goddesses, though she knew she was being trained by her parents so that she could well serve the god of war when she was of age. Of course, that never came about, but the belief in gods and higher beings was instilled when she was still very young.
"I'll hope for the best for your pride, Tasuki," she said, suddenly dropping the nickname and speaking in all seriousness. "And for your search for the lioness. I'm sure she's right under your nose though. We tend to miss the most obvious things when our minds are completely focused on one thing. Who knows, maybe if you stop actively searching you'll happen upon this lioness of yours."
"I'll say they're weird!" Tasuki agreed loudly. "Din-tei kept acting like I didn't know what I was talking about, then she got really mad, then almost got in a fight with me, demanded I was wrong, ran off for a day, came back and said I was right, had her familiar trailing me the whole time, and I think she still is..." he said, turning around to see if he could see those eyes peeking through some grass. If she was trailing him right now, she was a great hider. As it was, though, it was more likely she was tracking him down at the moment, not yet caught up. Din seemed to like to send that maned wolf after him so she could track him down again- after all, the scent of her familiar was more well-known to her than his scent was. And besides, the wolf would know that she was being sought and they probably had some dig-a-small-hole-now-and-then system worked out for easy tracking. That was his hypothesis. "They're weird, but good to have around. And Din's not all bad, she's coming around."
Her seriousness was another surprise. Though, he didn't mind. "Maybe you're right," he said thoughtfully. "That was how I found Din- I was looking for the girl and ran smack dab into her." Something to consider, but what would he go looking for instead? He wasn't sure... Perhaps some other guys to bring back.
Sira grinned, a little amused with what had happened between him and this Din-tei. "Strange but good to have around, that sounds about right. At least for the most part. I've heard sometimes even having them around isn't all that great." Another shrug, then a sigh, and then the lioness stood up. She kept herself from yawning, though she did stretch out a little bit before looking back at Tasuki. "Well," she started again, the serious look on her face now gone. "Mr. Manners, I think it's about I head back in. It's gotten a little bit darker, and I don't want to get lost on the way."
The lioness glanced in the direction she'd be going. "I'm going that way. I think it's alright if rogues stick around the borders at this time of night, but if you do want to head in it'd be better if you wait until the sun comes back up. Wouldn't wanna get lost, Mr. Manners, and take even longer with your search." With that she turned and started heading home. "I'll be back in the morning, if you're still around. Good night," and she was off.
"Mmmk. I'll think about spending the night here- still not sure. A little rest at least, we'll see when I wake up. No guarentees, though." Tasuki had gotten into the schedule of sleeping in the daytime and traveling at night. Stopping to spend the night here would get him out of that schedule, but he wasn't sure he minded one way or another.
"My name's NOT Mr. Manners!" He called out after her, but he had the smallest smirk on his face. Nah, she wasn't the priestess, but as far as he was concerned, she was a friend.
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