Word count: 1,331
Natsuki x Takadamu'Jani
Natsuki couldn't understand what had happened- things were... quiet again. Like before she had found enlightenment; before anything had happened. Like... Like when she was a rogue. If the lioness didn't stir, neither did her muse. This troubled her. Greatly. She had come to rely on her muse helping her with her day to day life- finding anything from a sweet flower to sniff, to a gently singing tree, to the proper herb needed to kill pain. None of them spoke- all was silent. On top of that... The world seemed... Gray. Plain and simple- she knew it had to be the same color as always, but it was certainly much more dull and devoid. She was pretty depressed. Karvanis was often busy, and the cubs were all full-grown and moved out. Even Mkin-- No, Taka. She still thought of the boy as a cub, mostly because he still acted like one.
Would she still be able to find the herbs she needed to perform her duties? She had found her muse so long ago... So much time had passed. She really depended on the whispers. Her muzzle- typically bearing an ear-to-ear grin, wore a flat dull expression to match her world as she stepped out of her den.
"What should I do... Where should I go?" she asked herself, thinking at first of replacing some of her older herbs. "Hello grass," she said more directly now, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She looked straight at it expectantly. "HELLO. GRASS." She repeated, brows furrowing in frustration with sharply clipped words.
Silence.
She sighed and before she knew it, her paws were carrying her towards a familiar scent... Familiar indeed.
There, ahead of her, lay a lion on his back, paws swaying lazily in the air with the wind. His color blended quite well, but she could still recognize him as her son, Takadamu'Jani. Her gaze softened and her pace quickened.
Taka had been completely unaffected by the loss of their pride's goddess. Perhaps he was mildly crazy to start with, or perhaps he would have heard voices just as powerfully as ever. Or, perhaps, he was born a normal lion who was particularly susceptible to curses. Still, he lay with his friends all around him. Every single blade of grass had a voice, and they all chattered constantly. No matter what time of day, conversations were going between all of them. And yet, when they spoke to him, their voices were in complete unison. It still made him smile. He knew exactly who spoke to him... His truest mother.
After all... All of this was an illusion. Little more. Yet, somehow, it was tied to reality, that much he was sure of. And the grass had to be someone too... Someone important to him.
He had yet to work out who his "family" in this realm was. Or even if they truly existed at all. Still, since he was caught here, he supposed that he ought to treat them with as much love as he could. So when he heard a soft hello from the familiar voice of his mother, he barely moved.
"Shh, just for a bit," he told the grass. "Alright. But don't be long. We wish to speak with you more. Much love to your mother as well..." it said to him.
She, of course, could hear them too- the grass. Though, not as loud, she said. According to Taka's mother, she heard from all plants, and so the grass was not always the loudest or most clear voice to her. And she had told him that they did not speak in unison. He finally glanced up at his mother to tell that something was wrong. He was mostly unfazed, however. The lion extended a paw and touched it to his mother's nose. "What's wrong with you?" the green lion asked.
It was clear to Natsuki, however, that Taka could still hear his muse's voice. "I thought I might find you here."
"The grass told you?" he asked, though it was too lazy of a statement to be a serious question. "I thought I told you," he said to the green life around him, "not to go ratting me out like that!" he chuckled with the grass, who giggled innocently.
"Er, well... That's why I've come to talk to you," Natsu said. It was partly true- she hadn't set out today with him in mind, with the specific purpose of finding him. However, it was good that she had. He was perhaps the most strongly affected by his muse. Taka had been so affected by such a young age that he had quickly become obsessed with the grass, and spent hours of his days simply existing with it. The way she saw it, he was the most "experienced" with muses, and if anyone might have an answer, it might be him. If not... Well, she knew that Amefungwa had become the Gypsy Queen. She would be speaking to her next. "I can't hear them anymore, Jani. Not even a whisper. Are they mad at me? Are you mad at me?"
Jani rolled over, sapphire eyes searching his mother. "What's wrong with my mother?" he demanded the grass, looking back down at it. "Well... I'm only a part of a whole... She has been claimed by all plants, I am only part of that," said every blade of grass in unison. "Perhaps she has angered one of the other branches of her muse? I can speak with the other muses on her behalf- she has been nothing but kind to me, treading gently on me."
Natsuki did not wait for a response. "So you can still hear your muse? I have heard whispers of our pridemembers, Jani... Many of them cannot hear their muses anymore either... You are very close to your muse, I don't know if you could be separated... I thought I was close to mine, though. Be prepared for the worst... For silence," Natsu warned her son, staring down at him as he listened intently to the grass, only flicking an ear toward her to acknowledge he had heard her words.
"You are mistaken, mother..." Jani said. "The grass said it would speak to the other muses on your behalf, to try to figure out why this has happened to you." he said simply, relaying the message. "But that perhaps you have angered one of the other parts of your muse. The grass and I have decided we will get to the bottom of this as soon as we can." The green lion rolled onto his feet and stood up. He was somewhat lanky, and he stood taller than the darker lioness. He gave her a nuzzle. "I can stop by tonight, but the grass is all atwitter now with hypotheses..." he said to her expectantly... She would understand what he was telling her from that hint.
"Of course," Natsu said with a thin smile. She padded off towards an area where she had last remembered a particular herb being.
Jani watched her go before laying back down in the grass gently. On his side, this time, though... "What does it all mean? Could they have lost something inside of them to make them lose touch...?" he asked, beginning to bounce ideas off the grass, as it suggested some of its own. "Tell me- you're not going to leave me... Are you?
"No, Jani... Never. Promise, so long as there remains a single blade of grass living in the earth, I will always be by your side. I gave you your name, and I am lucky enough to have claimed you. You're different from the others, anyway. You've always known it. You're /special/," the grass cooed to him, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. His muse would not abandon him. For once, he felt strong and confident.
