[JRP] Wondering into a Strange Land - Finished

[Heavenly Snow]

Talutah had grown up into a fine young lioness. Her need for adventure propeled her from the rogue family she grew up with into the strange unknown of the world around her. She had many interesting experiences but the more she roamed the more she realized that she didn't belong anywhere. The sense of not belonging had bothered her as she went from place to place.

One day she arrived in a nice lush forest that bordered a lovely cove. She sniffed the salty air and smiled. It was a nice place to rest. So she curled up at the base of a tree. Her eye lids drooped and soon she was fast a sleep.

A slight breeze ruffled her neck fur, but she did not stir. Suddenly her ears twitched. A faint whispering sound tickled her ears and deep in sleep she felt it was a dream. The sound was soft, faint but it sounded like a...a voice? Who's there? The whispering continued. Who's there?! She gritted her teeth and growled softly in her sleep before jerking awake.

The moon hung high in the night sky as Talutah looked up at it. Another soft breeze came up and brushed against her fur. Something made her look up and there she saw a bright red hibiscus dancing on the breeze. Talu tilted her head at it. She had never seen a flower like that before. How'd it come to be here?  

[wuthering gee]

Voices. Naeem, who’d come to the Kizingo’zaa pride lands as an adolescent in search of his lady heart, was getting used to them. It was not really a difficult transition. As a seer and the son of the Goddess of Truth, he’d experienced similar phenomena of the mind before. His visions were what had led him to this beautiful place, and Naeem had found life as a Fortune Teller very much to his liking. These pride lands were generally very peaceful and serene, despite the degree of insanity a number of its members seemed to possess, and he had made a little home for himself here.

It was on a particularly lovely night, with a gentle breeze whispering through his mane, that he happened upon a lioness resting near a tree. Naeem had not been in the pride’s lands long, but he had grown familiar enough with the faces inside it to guess that she was a stranger.

A mischievous smile played on his face, but he was cautious not to startle her too badly when he poked his head around the base of a tree, directly to the right of the hibiscus, and peered at her through the darkness.

“Hello, there,” This was a warm greeting, a friendly one.  

[Heavenly Snow]

A glow suddenly caught her eye just as a male voice spoke to her from near the red flower. Her blue eyes widen slightly in surprise before registering what was said.

"Ohhh...hello," she said looking a little bit wary. She rose to her feet and moved away as if in invitation for him to come out. "I do not mean to intrude...I was tired and needed to rest."

Was she going to get in trouble for being here? She certainly hoped not. Every since leaving her family out on the plains she was alone. Having to protect herself and her kills she did her best to avoid others for fear of being attacked.

Turning back to look towards the hibiscus plant, a light breeze ruffled along her red pelt and made her shiver. Suddenly her ears twitched with the sounds of whispering more noticable than before. She looked around and then at the male and said,"Is that you doing that?!"  

[wuthering gee]

Naeem responded to the way she pulled away with an easy sort of grace. His had always been an open and playful spirit, and he was hardly shy.

“You’re not intruding,” he assured the stranger kindly, and allowed a comfortable distance to separate them. Naeem was bright and beautiful, newly adult, but also strong and impressive in his size. He was aware of the space that he took up, and worked hard to seem less imposing.

As an adolescent, when he’d been smaller, Naeem had exaggerated his power while trying to seduce Eglantine. This hadn’t worked at all and now, to please her, he was purposefully attempting to downplay the new power that came with his adult frame.

“These are the Kizingo’zaa pride lands, and all lions are welcome-

He was interrupted by her sudden outcry. Eyes widening in surprise, Naeem took in everything about the stranger’s appearance, from her posture to her expression, and he was very confused. She seemed fearful, and he hadn’t done anything to scare her.

Had he?

And then the whispers of insanity were carried to him, too, on the wind and he suddenly understood.

“Ah,” he murmured knowledgeably, and looked her in the eye; “You have come to join us here then, have you? I can hear them too. This is a good thing. Don’t be afraid.”  

[Heavenly Snow]

Talutah narrowed her eyes while her ears lay flat. This wasn't normal...to hear voices. But he heard them too and this is a pride's lands. Kizingo'zaa. Sounded somewhat familiar. Maybe from a passing conversation, or warning.

Her ears lifted up slightly as she observed the male. "Join? I did feel a pull here. Do these....voices, only speak to those in the pride?"

She took a step forward and then looked around her. The breeze was gentle and silent in it's murmurings. She didn't hear them anymore and she visably relaxed. It was getting to the point where she could almost make out a word or words.

"Can you hear them say anything of value?" she inquired, her blue gaze drifting back to him.  

[wuthering gee]

“I am not sure if the voices are limited to those people who live here,” Naeem was speaking honestly. He was also guessing, because he did not know the whole truth. It was probable that no one did. “I do know that I have been many places, and that I have never heard voices quite like the ones that I do here. It seems to be a mostly unique phenomena.”

It was a part of why he had been so happy to make the Kizingo’zaa lands his home. Naeem had always been enchanted by the mysterious and the different. His was a wild imagination, and the ways of this insane pride appealed to him particularly. This was, however, not why he had chosen to stay. These were Eglantine’s home lands, the lady he’d seen in his visions all that time ago, and he lived there now because he wanted to prove to her that he was not a fraud.

“They are not always distinct,” he answered he second question tentatively, because he did not exactly know what to say. Naeem did not hear the voices as often as he saw them.

Living amongst the Kizingo’zaa, in the heart of the insanity, had heightened his abilities as a seer. Visions came to him very often now.

“The voices mean different things for different people. It is your muse talking to you, I imagine.”  

[Heavenly Snow]

Talutah thought over her own travels and found that this was the first time hearing these voices. If what this male said was true then this was unique to here. Though she had yet to visit everywhere...though right now it seemed that wouldn't be happening. The pull she felt to here seemed to have a deep hold on her.

So far these voices where not distinct. She nodded accepting what he said. But something was odd about him. Something she never ran into with other creatures. Tilting her head she studied him with questioning eyes.

"What's a muse?" Not the question she had been thinking but it was important none the less.  

[wuthering gee]

It was good that he was so friendly. A less patient lion would have been daunted by so many questions. But Naeem knew that the answers were important and, as a Fortune Teller, it was his job to provide them. He was used to it.

“Muses are everywhere,” he told her enthusiastically, because this was the sort of thing that he liked. Mystery. Intrigue. The supernatural. Naeem enjoyed them so. “This is a muse.”

Smiling kindly, he gestured at a rock on the ground.

“This is a muse,” he pointed at the red hibiscus with a paw. “In the Kizingo’zaa, they speak to us, and we listen. It is up to you to determine which voice is strongest.”

Naeem had yet to discover his own muse. It was sometimes difficult.  

[Heavenly Snow]

Talutah eyed him again. If he was an example of what the pride was like they where indeed a strange lot. She also got the sense that he wasn't a normal male lion. She made sure to keep an eye on him as she approached the red flower again. Keeping him in her perephrial (sp?) vision, she studied this "muse" this red hibiscus flower.

"I don't see what ma-"

A sudden gust came up off the salty water. It sent her fur on end and causing her to shiver suddenly. She gritted her teeth looking rather startled. The voices had begun again as she watched the hibiscus dance in the wind.

If anything, she was convinced this flower had been speaking to her. But she felt that she must be going out of her mind. Part of her still struggled with the concept. Inanimate objects whether living or not...speaking to her? Or anyone...no...this cant be right.

The wind died back down and she shook her head. A war was starting to brew in her mind. Her blue eyes turned on the strange lion.

"I guess I am joining."  

[wuthering gee]

There was more than just voices on the wind. It brought with it a vision, and with that vision came a message. Naeem’s grey eyes shifted in and out of focus, and he was staring at Talutah, but not really looking at her. His mouth had fallen open, and he seemed very dazed— as though he’d been transported to another world.

For the Fortune Teller, time ceased to exist.

And then the wind shifted, and Naeem came back to himself with a surprised shudder. He blinked, and it was a moment or two before he recalled his surroundings. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“I-uh-

What could he say?

The truth.

“There is friendship in your horizon,” his voice started out very soft, and then grew more and more confident as he continued; “and a forbidden romance in your future.”

He frowned, suddenly uncertain, and seemed to have changed his mind;

“Wait— maybe this romance isn’t as forbidden as it is different. Your love is unlike you.”

The full meaning of these predictions were totally up in the air. Naeem was not speaking fact. It was only intuition. A very particular intuition.  

[Heavenly Snow]

Talutah watched as he seemed to not be himself. She really didn't know how to describe what she saw. It was like the lights went out for a moment. But when he seemed to be himself it seemed like he was uncomfortable and she could merely smile at him with a unsurety.

But what he said made her pause. He really wasn't your typical lion. She was right about that and he confirmed it.

"A friendship? Well...that I can handle...but this romance...I don't think any male will take me. I'm so plain."

This was all crazy. Entering this place has made her life turn upside down. She shook her head and looked down. Well...since she was to join...it was time to let this male at least know her name.

"I'm Talutah," she said quietly.  

[wuthering gee]

Plain. She had called herself plain. Naeem looked at the lioness in front of him sadly, and his heat went out to her. He was a beautiful lion, who had come from a family of beautiful lions, and it would have been lying to say that she was particularly eye-catching. As the son of the Goddess of Truth, it was in Naeem’s nature to be honest.

And the truth was that he thought Talutah was very lovely; sweet in her simplicity, and a pleasant person to talk to.

“Any male would be lucky to have you,” he told her kindly, eyes crinkling upwards. “If you will have him.”

“I am called Naeem,” said Naeem, and he nodded at her, “Welcome to the Kizingo’zaa pride lands. I know that you will find happiness here.”

He had seen it.  

[Heavenly Snow]

"Well Naeem, maybe. If said male places more importance on things that are not appearance I may have a chance."

She walked past him suddenly, following the sandy beach. It felt interesting to walk on sand. It squished between her toes. The breeze ruffled her fur again. And as she paused and looked at him over one shoulder, the breeze tossed some of her fur over one sapphire eye.

"Thank you Naeem." She smiled and it twinkled in the one blue eye that was uncovered. And then she turned away and continued off down the beach.