[LOG] Return to malice

[Sergeant Sargent]

The sun was just beginning to set and Lhach’s family had settled in to a new camp for the night. They were always traveling. With each mile they passed, Wahadi felt closer to Lhach and her family. At first Wahadi only planned to stay with them for a few days. A name quest should be a personal adventure after all, something you did on your own, but now he found it hard to leave them.

Weeks had passed since he joined Lhach’s traveling family. His mane was completely grown in now, but Wahadi was hardly bigger than when he started out on his journey. He was slightly smaller than the average teenage male and he still felt like a teenager, too. As the sun drifted closer to the horizon, Wahadi set out by himself to survey his new surroundings. He was restless and brooding again and needed some time to himself. Lhach was respectful of his needs and left him alone during this time.

Between his visits here and there, Neltharion had continued his hunt for the assorted different flavors of hatred he'd scented on the winds of the mortal world from the moment he'd awoken. Several he'd already had the pleasure of sampling firstpaw, but there was another, drawing nearer, that he'd yet to taste. He paused in his slow, lumbering pace, and took a deep breath. Ahh...the tormented youth.

In a smooth leap he was airborn high above the earth. Peering down, he scoured the countryside for the source he'd sensed...Soon enough he spotted the lion below, off a ways from a slightly larger group. The tasty festering he'd smelled was oozing from the young adult like a river...He grinned, sensing subtleties about the brand of hate...murder...loss...mmmm...

Now he'd just take a little peek into the boy's mind, see what would upset him most...  

[Sergeant Sargent]

The face of the murderer who took away his family was forever ingrained in Wahadi’s memory: Mysmyr, a seemingly innocent lion with a mate and a family in the swamp, white in body and pink of mane with light blue eyes. Thanks to Mysmyr, Wahadi had no memory of his mother. He murdered her in her birthing den before Wahadi and his siblings had even opened their eyes. They should have been tainted, he and his siblings, for in his pride it was a grave sin for a male to see a female and her cubs before their naming ceremony. Thankfully, Mama Bwana made allowances for circumstances out of the pride’s control, so Wahadi and his siblings were spared the taint.

Unus, his father, was the final victim of the murderer. Wahadi only saw him once at his funeral, when he was already dead. He was so shocked by the ordeal that he could only bare to look at his father for a second before he buried his face in Kabusha’s fur. It was so unfair. He didn’t understand why the murderer had to single out his family. He heard that he even lost an uncle and a few cousins because of the killer, though he never met them either.

Being around Lhach’s family reminded him of what might have been. His aunt Kabu had been a wonderful surrogate mother. Indeed, he still called her mother even though he knew she was his aunt. But she could never replace the real parents that he had lost. Wahadi was filled with contempt for her new mate, Ila, who he saw as nothing more than a male whore who would likely leave Kabu as soon as he had the chance, for he had done so before. He longed for a perfect family like Lhach had. As much as he loved their company, he needed to get away from them sometimes to clear his head. Spotting a small watering hole near by, he started toward it, hoping to satisfy his thirst and take in the relaxing sound of frogs and insects which reminded him of home.

Mmm...what delicious memories...Of course the image presented to Nel filled him wit ha twisted excitement. This would be all too easy. Often times when a child lost a parent they came to hate the world at large; when there was a specific target of that hate it became all too easy. Knowing now what he would do, he slipped silently back to earth, making it to the watering hole well before the youth. There he hid in the bushes, watching the lad draw near.

One of the benefits of being a god was that he could disguise himself. Normally he didn't bother, but in this case...well he knew one face that would serve him to wear very, very well. He felt himself ripple and shrink in size...he couldn't feel all the changes, but he knew well enough he'd assumed this Mysmyr's form nearly perfectly.

Now he just had to wait for the opportune moment to 'reveal' himself.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

A group of frogs sitting on the edge of the watering hole jumped into the pond as Wahadi approached. He leapt forward and tried in vain to catch one under his paw. In the fading light, he watched their shadows drift toward the muddy bottom. Wahadi let out a snort. The last time he saw Mysmyr, he was turned into a frog by Mama Asali and devoured by the goddess. It seemed so unfair that she was the one to kill Mysmyr when so many others had been hurt by him. He wished he had been allowed to bite off the head of that filthy amphibian.

Mmm, perhaps now was the time. The boy seemed distracted chasing frogs (with an unusual about of malice behind the action, he noted. He'd never met someone who hated FROGS before...) and it was a perfect time for him to slink, silent and unnoticed, from the bushes. He stopped exactly half-way around the watering hole from the lion and bent to drink from the waters; his lapping tongue the first sound he'd made since landing.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

As Wahadi bent to drink he noticed ripples coming towards him from the other side of the pond. He hesitated at first, smelling lion, but thirst overwhelmed his suspicions and he began to drink. The first thing he saw as he lifted his head was the reflection of a pale lion wobbling on the surface of the watering hole. Wahadi felt the fur prickle all the way down his back. Something wasn’t right here. When he finally got a good look at the lion standing so close to him on the near side of the watering hole, the sight of that contemptible face turned Wahadi’s body to cold stone. His chest felt heavy and tight. It was hard to breathe and even harder to speak. No, it couldn’t be….

Ohhh yes. That was the look he wanted to see on the male's face. He pretended not to notice...He bent to take another drink, casually ruffling his mane...He wasn't used to one that went all the way around again.This time he did look at the boy...and such a look he gave him. 'Oh yes, I see you. I KNOW you...and you know me.' Ohh this was going to be FUN.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Finally Wahadi’s muscles responded and he stepped back with flattened ears. He still could not believe what he was seeing. Mysmyr – that strange white male – gave him a look as if he knew. As if he knew! But how could that be so? Wahadi had seen him from a distance a few times in the swamps, but they had never met face to face before. And besides that, Mysmyr was supposed to be dead! He saw him die with his own eyes!

Hadn’t he?

Wahadi shook his head and tried to look away. The moment he did, something inside him screamed to never take his eyes off the white lion, for he was a murderer. He stared at the white lion, disbelieving.

Mmm, that was right, boy. Believe what you see...He was nearly trembling, so delicious was the hatred rolling off the child. This had been a GREAT idea...He slowly licked his lips, savouring the water...the anger...

"Hello, whelp..." He sneered and licked a paw beefore brushing it through his mane nonchalantly. "All alone? Oh, yes...you would be..." He lashed his tail and rose to his feet. "I suppose you're enjoying your time away from your little...home...yes? It's not like you have anyone waiting for you back home..."  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Wahadi nearly jumped when the white male spoke. Suddenly he was struck by a vision of his mother lying in the birthing den, her body curled around three small balls of fluff soaked in blood. His mouth tasted like metal. It was like a nightmare, though he had never felt more awake. He furiously shook his head. Get out! Get out of my head, goddamnit! “Shut up! I don’t know you! You’re just… just some freak!” he spat, backing away.

He tried to look away but he couldn’t stop himself, even though every time he looked into the white lion’s eyes he saw his mother’s bloody corpse and his siblings soaked in blood. When he looked at the white lion – at Mysmyr – his whole body felt as though it was on fire. He did not want to believe what he was seeing. And yet, some part of him did.

Wasn’t this what he wanted? Hadn’t he wished to be the one who destroyed Mysmyr?

This couldn’t be happening.

Heh heh heh...This was going to be FUN. Ohhh yes.

"But I think you DO know me, whelp...you look familiar...Hm..Ahhh I know what's missing!" He swatted at the water's surface, splashing the boy. "Your fur's all fluffy, not matted down...and not red...yes, I remember it being red..."

He let out an evil sort of cackle and then suddenly went silent, his gaze smouldering, eyes burning from their normal color to raging hot...With a final HUMPH of seething disgust he slapped the water, the (unnatural) heat of his paw making it erupt into steam...In the chaos, he leapts away into the air, leaving just empty space where he'd been before.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

The cool water hit his face like the hoof of a zebra. He shook his sopping face, dizzied by all that he heard and saw, and when he lifted he head he swore Mysmyr’s eyes were blazing like the sun run over with blood. But he didn’t have time to have a good look.

“Ahhh!” Wahadi screamed and jumped back as the water suddenly turned to hot steam. When he finally came to his senses, Mysmyr had vanished. Wahadi whirled around, breathing in shallow, mad gasps as he scanned the watering hole for any sign of the white lion.

Was it all just a dream? No, the fur on his chin was still dripping water.

He needed to get back to camp. That was the only thing to do now, just get back to camp while he still had a slight grasp on his sanity. Wahadi turned and fled, heart hammering against his ribs.

((Fin~))