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 Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:12 pm
The past few days still felt completely unreal and instead like a nightmare. Pitsiark was still having a very hard time coming to terms with what had happened. The dead concreted that this had all happened. Lifes were claimed and few were spared. Among those that were claimed was the lionesses entire family. Mother, father, grand parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. All of their bodies had been left and looked as if they did in life. But they were shells. They were among the dead and life had to go on. The fact that Pitsiark was spared such a fate was still a mystery to the lioness. She had never thought of her self as some one worthy to be spared and part of her wished that another had gotten the sparing apart from her.
Asking her self why me wasn't going to solve the current issue at hand. Sorting the dead was what needed to be done and after she could ponder why she was spared. Already the pride was digging out more and more to be sorted from the wreckage. Some had gone missing entirely. And that was why the lioness now messily dug at wreckage in hopes of maybe finding a survivor in stead of a body.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:25 pm
The clouds had given troubling messages in their forms once more. It had been weeks past when the lion had looked up to the heavenly bodies passing through the endless blue. They generally held vague or common messages such as what weather to expect and where the birds were migrating to but on occasion, they told of greater things. Sometimes troubling, sometimes joyful, but in all things significant. The clouds had foretold the destruction of his pride and of a hero that he'd still failed to locate. The clouds had also guided him away from danger and to lands swollen with game and fresh water. There was a reason for it all though he couldn't yet fathom it. Reason was something to be seen in hindsight.
That day had shown a great stormcloud rising out of the sea of blue, a terrible beast with flames and a dark core had risen up. Smaller shapes in the sky had been shattered under the beast and those that had managed to avoid its great paws had been scattered to the winds. Another pride, it seemed, had met an unfortunate end...
The tidings had been troubling but there was little to be done. That was, of course, until he regarded the sky just two days ago. A small sprout rose out of charred ground. Still full of life, its leaves struggling for the sunlight. The wisps had moved seaward. The same wisps had spared his life and protected his footsteps, so it was in that direction that he moved in.
His faithful companion flew ahead, circling high above him with a pair of watchful eyes. If there was danger to be had, he always had an early alert to it and was able to avoid it if needed. That day, however, Adain's call was a confused one. Trouble?
He frowned and picked up his pace.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:35 pm
She had to take a break from sorting the dead or she was going to fall in to dark thoughts of sorrow. Grieving could be dealt with after the dead were tended to. But she was only mortal and there was only so much a heart could take. Carrying a dead cubs lifeless body to a mound of bodies was what made her stray away from her duties, if but a moment, to gather her self and breath. The stench of dead bodies had yet to happen. It was up to the pride to clean up before that stench happened.
Still. The prides members were mortals. A heart could only take so much before the cracks began to give way to tears. And this is where Pitsiark found her self. Alone, silently letting her tears fall down her cheek as she felt the weight of her cracks give way just slightly to this pressure.
This was real. This had happened. She had survived. She was lucky. But if given the chance she'd give her life to protect those fallen. Those cubs did not deserve to have life taken from them before they even knew what life was. And here she was, privileged to have already experienced more life then those cubs... there was no way she would forget this memory. But this was not the time for tears. Still, they fell hot and wet , over her cheek.
Finally she gave a sigh and turned to return to sorting the remains.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:45 pm
Adain cried out as he swept downwards, his companion hot on his tailfeathers as he flew over the landscape the way a cloud would drift through a valley. He was an older lion but his body was still strongly planted within the prime of life. Solitude had made him strong and caution had kept him from danger. His bird had been a dear friend and companion, one of many that he hoped to one day keep in his company. Of all creatures, he could relate best to the avian race. They were free spirits but terribly clever when they had to be.
He slowed as he came upon the smell of flame and carnage. Much of the land had been blackened by fire. What might have been proud structures had been reduced to shambles, laying in puddles of rainwater. The devastation was terrible but not unlike the scene he had returned to a few years prior.
Adain cried again, snapping him from his thoughts once more. Gathering himself up the lion proceeded with caution, his eyes leery. His winged companion had perched itself on the remains of a tree, barely a blackened skeleton now, and tipped his head downwards. Confusion turned into shock. Someone had survived!
A lone lioness with the lifeless body of a young cub moved to a growing pile of the dead, grief making her eyes distant and fatigue weighing down on her shoulders.
He remained silent for a few long moments, eyes drifting from one departed lion to the next. Some bore a striking resemblance to the lioness tending to their remains... this must have been her family.
"...what happened here?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:03 pm
The voice nearly made her drop the dead body. She managed to gently put the lifeless cubs little body down gently before turning to face the owner of the voice. You would think the birds call would have tipped her off she had visitors but it hadn't.
The lioness took a few bold steps toward the male.
"We've been punished by the gods. This is the result" She motioned with her head to the pile of growing bodies, "Our lands have been stripped from us and many of our lives have been taken." There was a deep sigh. "But nows not the time to talk about it. I need to prepare them for the leaving .. " She slowly walked back to the small cubs body and began to carry it to the pile.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:12 pm
Another wrathful god? He wondered, quietly, if it was the same god that had devastated his pride so long ago... it was possible but it wasn't a good time to ask after it. She had a duty to attend to, one that had been denied to the members of his pride. With a grimace he stepped forward and touched the shoulder of one of the fallen lions.
"I...do not know your ways, but I can help bear the dead. If you'll permit me."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:17 pm
She had just laid the little cubs body down before she looked over her shoulder at the male. He was offering to help? Her expression softened quite a bit.
"That... would be greatly appriciated. " She admitted, "Right now we need to get them all together so that we sort them after. I believe some bodies are still trapped in places." The instructions were simple enough she thought. "I .. am having trouble dragging males if you think you can drag their bodies for me. A lot of them out weigh me a great deal..."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:22 pm
What a grim task...
The male nodded his head and lifted his eyes up to his winged companion. "Adian, fly the charred grounds and find the unfortunate fallen... remember them well and guide me to them once we have the males taken to the others."
The bird gave a short nod and opened his crimson wings. In a powerful upward spring and a few flaps of his wings, the little falcon was airborn and well on his way through the pride's territory.
The male bent down and seized one of the fallen males by the scruff. The creature was a sturdy one, not a species of lion he was familiar with, but he managed to drag the fallen to lay beside his brothers and sisters. It was grim work but he managed it in respectful silence. It took the pair well until sunset to gather up those could be salvaged. As the last was laid beside his companions, Durian's strength was about spent.
"I believe that's the last of them..."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:29 pm
Pitsiark was looking the work the two had done. Her energy was spent for the most part and she felt incredibly lucky to have this male help her with her dead.
"I don't think any of us have the strength to really do much else right now. " She looked to the male and gave him a small sad smile. "Thank you. Not many would do what you did for me. In fact I m sure many would take advantage of the fact of how weak I am right now." She took a seat and really gave the male a look over.
"Its unfortunate that the cradle of the gods was destroyed. We can't rightfully preform the leaving with out it. But we can do our best to put these souls to rest as respectfully as we can. At least now they are together and not left behind under rubble." It was the best that could be done given the disaster of the whole thing. So many lives did not need to be taken. But now that could not be helped.
It was easier to keep tears from falling now that this stranger was here to distract her some from her grief.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:32 pm
"I understand well the grief you feel." He said simply, his tone gentle. "It wasn't long ago that I returned to my home in such a state...but by the time I came my loved ones were beyond recognition and there was no honor in their burial... I could not stand by and do nothing."
He sighed and glanced over. "My name is Durian. We've not properly introduced ourselves. My winged friend up there-" He nodded towards the re-occupied tree branch, "Is Adian."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:36 pm
Pitsiark felt her ears and head lower some hearing that they shared a similar past. It made her heart sink deep in her chest. What was she to say? She was sorry? That wasn't going to bring them back but she did manage a sympathetic look. A glint in her eyes that let him know she understood deeply.
"Pitsiark's my name... This used to be my pride but ... " There was a sigh. She looked up at the bird Adian and managed a small smile, "This isn't the end of my story or my peoples."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:41 pm
"Some stories have tragic beginnings, Pitsiark. The greatest honor we can give to the fallen is to live and carry their stories with us." He offered a small smile and turned his head skywards. The clouds were just beginning to paint themselves with the colors of the sunset. Golds, reds, oranges, and violets in every shade imaginable. The sky... a lovely contrast to the grim reality of the earth. Especially now.
"I have no home to call mine, nor a pride to belong to. I am traveling in hopes of finding a place. You are more than welcome to join me. I can hunt and I never have trouble finding fresh water."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:45 pm
The female nodded her head in agreement. Her eyes closed and a tear ran down her cheek. It was going to be tough but she could not let her self turn in to a walking empty shell because of this. She could not let her blessing be her curse. She'd been spared and there was no way she was about to waste it living like the dead.
"Your right," Pitsiark's voice was small. "And thats .. thats ..." Her head lifted and she stared at the male to see if he was serious. "I.. I would love that more then anything!" Joy burst through her words for a moment. For that moment in her excitement she'd nearly forgotten her sorrow. It was quick to find her though.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:48 pm
"Oh don't say that, I have a terrible sense of direction." He offered a short smirk at his own attempt to insert some humor into their situation. "More often than not Adian does the navigating. When my head's out of the clouds that is."
He got himself up to his paws and glanced skyward again. "There's a place not far from here... a good little spot beside a stream. It has cold water and there are preybeasts that frequent the area. I'd say that's a good place to wash up and ready ourselves for what's to come."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:50 pm
He did manage to get a small chuckle from Pitsiark despite the grim situation.
"Theres nothing more for us here. We've done the best we could," She looked back at the dead with a frown. "So.. We should get going," The lioness gave him a nod. This was a place of sorrow now. It was not fitting for the living to linger much longer then they had already.
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