Backlogged name quest
The sun crept up over the grass, staining it with gold and the clouds with scarlet. The lioness yawned, her own crimson eyes blinking in the light that she'd grown to dislike. It wasn't something she felt, not really. She could hardly feel a thing, which was safest. It was too much, so warm and dry. A far cry for the sweet humidity of the swamps she'd left behind.
Perhaps that was as close to homesick as Imbali was going to come. She didn't feel anything for the people she had left behind, the dead parents and the aunt who'd once claimed to be her mother. Her sister and brother had already left for their quests, there was nothing for her there. Her name was somewhere out here and, spirits willing, she would find it. That was all that mattered now...and she wasn't even sure if she cared about that anymore.
Pacing back and forth in the rut he'd been digging since the middle of the night, Eiszapfen muttered unceasingly to himself, eyes turned inward and seeing nothing. He'd been awoken from his sleep with another headsplitting vision, pictures and places all jumbled together until they made nothing but noise and nonsense in his mind. They never made sense, not ever, but it was his duty to solve them.
This one had been of cubs, a couple of them and all with his eyes, standing near a female shape that he couldn't quite see. There had been an intense urgency in his dream. The feeling that said "now, now, NOW". As his prophecies went, this one was at least more sensical than the one about the zebras and wildebeest. Or the giant rock. But did it really mean what he thought? Was he supposed to find a female, and give her cubs?
Imbali's ears flicked towards a faint sound, and she slowed in her walking as she searched for the low sound. Someone...talking? Far away or very quietly...? It didn't take her long to spot the pale shape that moved back and forth in a distinctly agitated manner. But, though she looked and listened, she could neither see nor hear any one for him to be talking to. Puzzled, and perhaps a bit intrigued, she padded towards him, studying him curiously.
"To whom are you speaking?" the lioness asked finally when she'd drawn near. He wasn't looking in a direction, and she still didn't see anyone who might be near enough to hear him. Aside from herself that was.
"Urgent, but completely incomprehensible as always," Eiszapfen grumbled as he moved back and forth, not noticing that he was being observed, "But the need is always great, have to do it all for the cause, never get time for myself noo, that would be too easy. Whole world standing on the brink and it's up to the blue one with the splitting headaches. Should've given this horrible gift to the monkey, it would do a better job."
But at the sound of another voice, he whipped around startled, and blinked in sheer astonishment at the female that was nearby. For a long moment he simply gaped, then glanced at the heavens above. "That was quick, for once, thank you mysterious signs. I guess she's it, then. I'll do what I can."
Imbali just stared at him as he suddenly turned to stare at her, tensing slightly as the moment wore on with his silent attention on her. She didn't feel threatened, as though he would attack, but it was still an odd reaction. Very odd. And still, though he didn't seem to address her directly, she still saw no one he could be... wait.
"Signs?" the lioness asked hesitantly. "What do you mean by that?" She'd met someone who spoke of gods, another who thought that the earth was a mother and needed guarding and tending, and many others. Not everyone believed in spirits, but most believed in something, and often enough those 'somethings' were quite similar to what spirits were. He certainly thought he was talking to someone, this strange stranger. Spirits weren't easy to see, or at least, Imbali had never seen one. Felt them, once upon a time, when she was a cub and still innocent. But now...? No longer. But they must be there still, somewhere.
Chewing his lip, Eiszapfen tried to figure out what to say to this white lioness. He wasn't the best conversationalist, and the topics he talked about only made it worse, so people tended to shun him. He couldn't blame them, he was aware enough to realize how he must sound. But the prophecy had been made clear to him, surprisingly clear, so now he had to act on it. And somehow, convince her to do the same.
He grinned in what he hoped might be a charming fashion, and stepped out of his rut. "Hello there, I'm Eiszapfen. Sorry if I was acting strange, I... erm, I get visions sometimes, so I was just talking to the spirits about them." He chuckled nervously, and brushed a paw through his fur awkwardly. "I don't suppose you believe in that sort of stuff do you? What's your name, by the way?"
...Spirits?
He really did mean spirits?
"Of course I do," she replied, frowning faintly as she looked around, as though hoping the spirits he'd been talking to where here still. She needed her name! She had to have a name if she wanted to go back, and she rather thought she'd like to choose whether she stayed or went... "I don't have my name yet," the lioness admitted finally when it seemed that, if the spirits had been there, they weren't speaking to her. Still, she hadn't heard from them or felt them in years and...still...no answer. "They haven't shown it to me. But my mother called me Imbali, you may do the same if you wish."
Eiszapfen blinked several times in confusion at that. She... didn't have a name? He glowered at the slowly brightening scenery around him. Fate was playing silly tricks with him. Was this a real lioness, then, or a sort of ghost creature? She was certainly white enough to pass for a ghost. Was he supposed to make ghost babies? She seemed solid enough though, so maybe she wasn't a ghost at all, just strange. Like him.
"Well... Imbali, it's very nice to meet you." He cast around in his minds for ideas on how to flirt with her, to catch her attention. "Meeting a... um, as pretty a lioness such as yourself has brightened up my whole day." Yes, that sounded like something you were supposed to say. "Do you live near here, lovely lady? I'm not intruding on your pride's territory, am I?"
"It's nice to meet you too," she added, remembering that it was only polite. He'd seemed confused by her name, or rather, her lack thereof. Perhaps...perhaps he'd thought she was too old to still be seeking it. His name was certainly about too long to be a child's name after all, She didn't like the idea of not being considered adult...
Pride territory?
"No, I'm far from home," she told him, "I'm still seeking my name, I must find it before I can return."
"Ah, you're on a quest!" He perked up at that. A sort of naming quest then, that made sense. And it was something he could relate to. "I'm also on a quest, though not for a name. I follow signs given to me, and I perform rituals to prevent chaos and destruction." That sounded benign enough. Afterall, he didn't want to scare her by adding 'and if I don't do them, the world will end forever.'
"What sort of place would you look for your name, then?" he asked, and hesitantly stepped closer to her, trying to make himself seem friendly. "Maybe I could help you search for it? I'd be happy to help in any way I can." Where would one look for a name, anyway?
He was on a quest as well? To do...rituals and such? Well, it made more sense to her than the lion who dug up plants for growing in the wrong place. Plants grew where they liked, it seemed strange to think of a plant as growing where it shouldn't...
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I've been told I will know it when I find it." Imbali hesitated when he stepped forward to offer his aid. "I...I'm not sure if you could help..." But he knew about the spirits too. "Perhaps...if you can still talk to the spirits...perhaps they might help me now?"
Not that they'd ever helped her before. Or her parents. What sort of spirits were these, letting her mother and father fall prey to a murderer before she and her brother and sister had even opened their eyes? Maybe she didn't want their help...oh, no, she didn't mean that at all. She wanted her name, wanted to be an adult, wanted the option to return to her pride...if she so chose.
Eiszapfen nodded sympathetically at her comments. He'd had those times when he'd 'know it when he found it'. They always took the longest to find, like that blue boulder by the charred tree shaped like a cross that had to be dragged to the nearest water to the west. That had taken months to finish.
"The spirits don't really talk directly to me, not as such," he explained. "I get pictures in my head, telling me what I need to do. I talk to the air sometimes, hoping they're listening, but whether they are or not I can't tell." He glanced at her curiously out of the corner of his eyes. "They did mention you, though. That's why I was talking to myself when you showed up, actually. They said you were coming."
He didn't know if he should mention the cubs or not. Not yet, at least. He didn't want to give a bad impression. "I could try talking to them, if you wish."
Imbali nodded resignedly when he said he couldn't talk to them the way he'd seemed to. "I used to try that, when I was little," she agreed. But she didn't think they listened to her. She never saw pictures. She used to have feelings when she was younger, but they'd gone away now.
"They did?" the lioness blinked. "Truly?" she asked, more than a little intrigued. And maybe...maybe she might feel...just a little...tiny bit...hopeful. Maybe. It was a really big maybe. "What...what did they say?"
He shrugged awkwardly, not really wanting to let her know that it had been as specific as 'knock up this woman'. That could probably lead to him getting smacked around a bit. "They said I would be meeting you, and that you were important. I didn't realize I would be meeting you quite so soon, though. Maybe they want me to help you with your naming quest. Which I would certainly be willing to do."
That might actually be it, maybe that was how he was supposed to win her interest. Clever annoying spirits. He put on an earnest expression, though he felt bad about this subterfuge. She seemed like a nice lioness, and it wasn't fair she was being used by fate like this. "It seems as if our quests have crossed for the moment. So if there's anything I can do to help you in your goals, I will do it, you have only to ask."
Imbali watched him, her cold eyes curious. He seemed to be so willing to help her, in a world where no one truly cared. Perhaps it really was the will of the spirits, though she wasn't sure if they worked like that. "Perhaps we were meant to meet," she agreed, "Perhaps in aiding one another we will find what we seek."
But what did she seek? Her name was the obvious answer, but she found it difficult to keep focused on that. It was mostly just going through the motions now, she wanted it because that was what one did at her age. But...that was her only reason to seek it. If she and this male's fates had been intertwined by the spirits, then she couldn't see why. Her fate had never seemed of consequence to them before.
"What is it that you need from me?" Imbali asked, he'd been too eager to offer her help to not want something in return.
Yikes, and there came the distrust. It was late, usually others got that skeptical look in their eyes after they heard the part about signs and rituals. But he shook his head fervently. "No, it's not like that. The signs say my quest is you, so your quest is also mine now, until you complete it. And I am nothing if not duty bound to my quest."
The sun was well and risen by this point, so he took a few steps towards where he knew there was a stream in the distance, and nodded his head to encourage her to come along. "Why don't we try hunting down some breakfast together, and I'll try talking to the signs while we eat? Maybe they'll send me a vision today of where we can find your name." He struck a gentle smile and gestured invitingly with a paw.
Imbali nodded. It seemed like something that would make enough sense, his words were different than she'd come to expect but hardly the strangest she'd heard of late. A stranger he might be, but he hardly seemed the murderous type, not that one could ever tell apparently. No one had expected her parents' killer to be so. But did it matter even if he was?
No. No it did not. If the spirits still guided her, than things would work out eventually. But if they had truly abandoned her, as it sometimes seemed they had, then it didn't matter if they didn't.
"Very well," she agreed calmly, "Perhaps you should lead, I am unfamiliar with these territories." Her mind may have been made up, but, still, Imbali couldn't help but wonder, as she followed this pale blue lion, if he might truly help her find her name at last.
...but was that all she was looking for?
FIN
