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 Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:35 am
The golden-brown lioness had seen no visitors today. Walking long distances to search out visitors was tiring for her, so she usually waited at the borders of the pride, patiently scanning the horizon. The day was drawing to a close now, though, and she had seen no one. Pumzi turned away from her vigil and began heading in towards the pride.
Tonight, instead of heading towards her den, she found her paws taking her towards the shrines. A little meditation would do her good. She hadn't spent much time at the shrines herself in a good while.
Approaching the shrine of Souls, Pumzi slowed. She knew its keeper, Sutala, but not well. "Good evening, Keeper Sutala," she called softly, not wishing to surprise the shy wild dog.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:42 am
It was rare for Sutala to leave her shrine. To those that didn't know her well, it would seem that she was but a dedicated Keeper, one who spent all her spare time at the shrine of Souls. Though that was a small part of the reason Sutala kept to herself, and to her shrine, Sutala really just felt more comfortable here. She was painfully shy, terribly skittish and very soft-spoken. It was hard for her to interact with... well, the living.
Speaking to the Souls that visited the shrine was much easier, much simpler. She knew they were there and she knew they often visited the small shrine that Sutala looked after. The wild dog firmly believed she could both see and hear the Souls around her, and that was the biggest reason why she came to the pride that watched after the shrines.
When she heard the soft voice, she knew who it was and so Sutala didn't feel anxious about talking to a stranger. The voice belonged to Guide Pumzi, and though Sutala didn't know the lioness well, she did feel comfortable enough to speak to her. "Guide Pumzi. What brings you to the shrine of Souls?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:51 am
Pumzi didn't know Sutala well, but she felt comfortable around her. The quiet, reclusive wild dog didn't expect anything of Pumzi. Sometimes talking to the more ... normal pride members exhausted Pumzi. She had difficulty following their trains of thought, and they hers.
"I've come to pay my respects," Pumzi said, going to sit before the shrine, focusing on it. Many knew that she liked to spend time meditating by the shrines, but not all knew why. Since this was the shrine of souls, though, perhaps Sutala would understand. "I'm waiting for my soul to return to me," Pumzi added, as though this were a perfectly normal statement.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:56 am
Sutala went to sit next to Pumzi, her pale eyes focusing on the shrine as well. She listened carefully to what the golden lioness said. It took Sutala a few moments to decide how she wanted to respond. "You must be patient. If it was through no fault of your own that your soul departed your body, it will return." Sutala closed those eerie eyes of hers, exhaling softly. "Sometimes they get lost," she murmured, trying to comfort the lioness.
"Your soul, why did it leave?" Sutala was confident that her own soul was still intact, and she felt a bit sorry for Pumzi. Such a nice lioness she was, one of the few that Sutala had had a conversation with. It wasn't commonplace to lose ones soul, and Sutala wasn't exactly sure what to make of it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:03 pm
It was nice to be able to have a serious conversation about souls. It didn't much matter to Pumzi if someone thought her strange or stupid, but it was refreshing to have someone who understood about souls. They were real things, tangible things, and although Pumzi herself couldn't see them she knew without a doubt that hers had been lost somewhere.
She shrugged in response to Sutala's question. "I drowned. My soul and my breath left me." She didn't often talk about the incident that had crippled her in mind and body, not out of any trauma but because her memories of that time were so distorted and strange. That had been before her mind had started to heal itself. "My breath came back, my soul didn't." She cast a sidelong glance at Sutala. "Do you see many souls here?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:25 pm
That was a sad story. Sutala had never heard such a thing. Most of the time, the souls that Sutala had met were those of the deceased. In fact, she had yet to meet a soul that had a still-living body. Sutala supposed that made sense; you didn't tend to many creatures that had a trauma in their life like Pumzi did.
"Many, many souls." Sutala loved talking about the souls she met on a daily basis. "All different colors, ages, species. They are all beautiful. Some are happy, some are sad. Some are lost." She shrugged a bit, turning to gaze at Pumzi. It was nice to be able to just talk to someone without feeling the need to bolt away. Sutala liked Pumzi, she decided. Perhaps they could be friends. "There are none here now," she added.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:37 pm
Pumzi could tell that Sutala liked talking about her work. She listened calmly, her gaze focused on the shrine once more. The golden-brown lioness nodded as Sutala described the souls. It was interesting to know that the wild dog could tell what species they were, who they had belonged to. Having never seen a soul herself, Pumzi didn't know what they looked like. She had no reason to doubt Sutala's words; being the Keeper of Souls, Sutala was certainly an expert.
"I don't know if I would like to be able to see souls," Pumzi said slowly. "They must be very sad, the lost ones." As far as Pumzi knew, people lost their souls all the time. The world was a dangerous place. Perhaps you could even lose your soul in your sleep. It could go its dreaming way and before it got back - poof! You had woken up and walked away, leaving the soul to wander. It was all quite a lot to think about. "I pray that all the souls find their way back to themselves before their bodies pass on," Pumzi said. It was a morbid thought, perhaps, but she didn't think how Sutala might take it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:45 pm
"I enjoy it," Sutala whispered, a little hint of a smile on her muzzle. "It can be sad, but then you just have to pray harder that they find their way. It helps." Sutala knew it helped. Why wouldn't it? Believing otherwise would be a sad thing. It wouldn't help anything to believe that souls, once lost, could never find their way.
"I pray often," Sutala mumbled, relaxing more around the blue-eyed lioness. It was obvious that the wild dog took her duties quite seriously. "There are sad ones at times, but often the ones that visit here are the happy ones. They are always smiling, and they have the prettiest colors. I... I don't know what happens to the mean souls. I have never met one," she confessed.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:08 pm
Pumzi found herself relaxing a bit. It was nice to know that someone as knowledgeable as Sutala thought there was hope for all souls, even the lost ones. She supposed it would be nice to see happy souls.
The thought of mean souls brought a slightly surprised expression to the lioness's face. "I have never even thought of wicked souls," she said, frowning a bit. Encountering a mean soul would be much more upsetting than a lost soul. "Whatever happens to them, I do not want to know," she said firmly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:32 pm
"I do not care to know either," Sutala said softly, shaking her head. "I am glad they do not come here. I can't imagine they would be nice to look at, or nice to speak with." She reached forward a paw to straighten a bit of something on the shrine before her, sending a sideways glance towards Pumzi.
"It must be nice to meet strangers?" The question was forced as if Sutala could not comprehend such a terrible task. She almost sounded deathly frightened at the prospect, but a little interested at the same time.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:21 pm
No, mean spirits would most certainly not be nice to speak with. Pumzi didn't much care for nasty people in the physical world; the idea of dealing with them in the other world was a little alarming.
Pumzi didn't know why Sutala sounded so afraid as she asked her question, but Pumzi wasn't one to pry. People all had their own secrets and strangeness, it wasn't her place to ask why. She shrugged. "It's not bad. It's my way of serving the Gods. I don't think strangers understand me, usually ... but that's not bad either." Another shrug. "They come and go."
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:33 pm
Fff. The way Pumzi shrugged as if she didn't care what others thought about her brought a pang of anger to Sutala's chest. Pumzi was so nice, and not hard to understand at all. Without thinking, Sutala lifted a small paw to rest it gently against Pumzi's shoulder. "I understand you." She nodded once, a curt movement, before removing her paw from the others shoulder and turning back to face the small shrine that sat before them.
The friendly gesture was likely the most sociable that Sutala had ever been in her life.
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:41 pm
Pumzi and Sutala both kept to themselves, so Pumzi had never interacted with the Keeper much before. She didn't know how monumental the paw-touch was for the shy wild dog. Almost all of the pride was friendly to Pumzi (and usually the visitors as well), but she was touched by Sutala's declaration that she understood Pumzi. Most people weren't interested in her problems. It had never bothered Pumzi, because she wasn't one to mope and cry to others, but Sutala's acceptance was a pleasant surprise.
"Thank you," Pumzi said, smiling gently at the wild dog. "You are a good friend, Keeper Sutala." She hadn't outright called anyone her friend before now, but it didn't seem strange. The tan lioness stood, stretching her aching forelimbs as she readied herself to go. "I should go get some food. Thank you for your company."
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Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:47 pm
Sutala nodded, a genuine smile breaking across her muzzle. It happened slowly as if she couldn't quite remember how to make her muscles work properly. "You are a good friend, too, Guide Pumzi." She wouldn't say that Pumzi was her only friend, or her first friend. Somehow she didn't think that it was normal to not have any friends, and she was hesitant to mention it.
"Please come back soon," she whispered, the sound soft and thready, rife with something close to desperation, as if she was begging Pumzi to come back so they could talk again.
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