This was history within the making and yet so few creatures could possibly understand what it meant. Those humans that dominated certain regions had been overcome, defeated and utterly destroyed by the very essence of nature itself. In their place stood only haunted and desolate ruins, battered and ground to pieces by the unforgiving and relentless gaze of the elements. Suffice to say that this leopard in particular found the entire idea positively fascinating.
It would have come at no surprise to anyone who knew Eremerus that he had spent months attempting to reach this destination. A simple murmuring, a quiet rumour and that was all he had needed to pack his metaphorical bags and make his move. It had been well worth the effort too, as he had never seen anything quite as spectacular as this - to think that humans had once lived here and even more importantly, that they had been driven away as well.
...The one thing that most animals within this world couldn't do.
So how had they done it?
So absorbed in his work was he that Eremerus was completely oblivious to the approaching lioness in the distance. This wouldn't have been so surprising if she hadn't had the gait of an elephant - yes, the lioness probably couldn't have gone unnoticed to anyone except for this particular leopard. It was just as well that he was reasonably good at defending himself in close quarters, otherwise things were bound to be a touch awkward...
Fortunately for Eremerus, the lioness in question was not an individual who expressed violent intentions. Mrengo, was about as dangerous as a baby hare and as such, he had nothing to be concerned about. In fact, the only valid question that probably could have come from his mouth was why she was here - a question which she didn't actually have an answer to.
When push came to shove, Mrengo was not a lioness who ever planned ahead, she'd just picked a direction and walked in it. When her paws wanted a change then she did - it had resulted in her stumbling into a number of awkward encounters but that hadn't dulled her spirit. She rolled with the punches and moved on, right up to the point that she had finally found herself at the top of a mountain...smack bang in the middle of what could only be described as 'strangely formed rocks'.
Eremerus was right when he assumed that no one other than him understood their significance.
Nevertheless, unlike Eremerus this particular lioness was not adverse to making her presence known or for ignoring another's presence and as soon as she saw the leopard...
"Ooooh, you look just like me!" she announced with a gasp, admiring the dark green coat on the leopard. "You know you're awesome when you look like me," she continued and drew to a halt beside him, pursing her lips as she didn't receive an immediate response.
Was he deaf?
It was unlikely and she had seen his ears flick back in recognition of her voice, but for the time being he remained silent. Without any further introductions to be had, Mrengo instead elected to follow his gaze and turned her own to the fallen ruins in front of her - why were they staring at rocks?
"...So, what are we doing?" she enquired slowly and tilted her head to the side. "Are we waiting for -"
"Did you know that the two-legged, hairless beasts used to live here?" Eremerus enquired softly and finally shifted his gaze towards Mrengo.
"I don't know what those are," Mrengo replied, her lips pursing. Suffice to say she had been very lucky in that respect, humans were a distant concept to her and hopefully things would remain that way.
"That would be a no then," Eremerus continued and shook his head. "They used to be barbarians, they tore the skin from innocent creatures to wear on their own hairless bodies," he explained darkly and motioned towards the buildings. "They were so weak and vulnerable in many respects that they had to hide in strange caves like these and yet... even there they weren't safe from the wrath of the gods."
"You mean that the gods did this?"
"It would seem so," Eremerus remarked as he regarded some of the strange 'scratched pictures' on the walls. He would never be able to read or understand them, but they were there for him to try and decipher at his leisure. "But to walk in here at the height of their legacy would have been suicide," he continued and glanced back towards Mrengo who had fallen silent and regarding the pictures with some form of curiosity herself.
"Because they would have stolen our coats?" she murmured and shook her head, "It would have required great courage to take them on..."
"Historically, some animals were required to," Eremerus rose to his paws and walked away from one building towards another, Mrengo electing to follow suit. She'd never had a history lesson before and the entire concept was fascinating to her, even if she didn't know exactly what creature he was talking about. "Some survived and caused these beings to die in agony, others were not so lucky..."
"What did the ones who survived do?"
"Warned their families, maybe?" Eremerus shrugged his shoulders loosely and glanced at another ruin. "Or maybe prayed to the god to place their wrath upon the barbarians," he remarked. Either idea was plausible even if he didn't know if either was correct.
"I'd buy mine time," Mrengo remarked after a few moments of consideration and shook her head. She wasn't much of a fighter, but even she knew that if she turned tail and ran then they could follow and that would be bad. I'd yell for someone else to pass on the message, but I wouldn't let them get passed me...
"Then you are one of those who would fall into that courageous category, there are few who are bred to have that level of selflessness," Eremerus pointed out softly.
"I wouldn't know, my mother is pretty awesome but I've never met my father..."
"Avichayil," Eremerus mused as a small smile flicked up onto his lips, he wasn't completely unaware of her predicament though in truth, he was the opposite, he'd never known his mother.
"Huh?" Mrengo wasn't one for foreign languages.
"May your father be courage," Eremerus translated smoothly and returned his gaze back to the drawings on the wall, lifting a paw to brush away some of the dust that had been blown into the grooves. "Que sea la joya de su corona..." he added and then chuckled at her equally confused expression, evidently the female was not one for languages, history or explanation. "And may that be the jewel in your crown," he pointed out gently, indicating that she shouldn't be ashamed that she didn't know a part of her heritage.
"Avichayil..." Mrengo repeated thoughtfully, her tail coiling around her leg in thought. There was a certain ring to that and it caused the very hair on the back of her neck to rise - was that somehow significant?
"Avichayil'corona..." she continued and then frowned, it didn't have quite the same ring to it now.
"Cayla," Eremerus corrected without looking round.
"Huh?"
"Cayla means 'crown' in the same language as Avichayil," he explained and released a sigh, padding his way behind the wall while Mrengo was left to her own devices and thoughts.
"Avichayil'cayla?" she voiced and then froze. Like a jolt of lightning every hair rose and her spine became ramrod straight - this was her name, a pride in one's heritage regardless of how much you were aware of. A pride in oneself, ones talents and what they could do that set them apart... That was who she was and unbeknownst to Eremerus, he had shown her that.
"Hm?" Eremerus asked as he poked his head around the wall.
"Wow," she murmured quietly and then shook her head. "Are you always this insightful?" she asked curiously and tilted her head to the side, only then beginning to giggle at his otherwise puzzled expression. "What's your name?" she asked at last and he rolled his shoulders.
"Eremerus," he replied smoothly and disappeared behind the wall again, "Yours?"
"It was Mrengo," the lioness replied as she got up and followed after him.
"But it changed?" he sounded mildly curious and glanced over his shoulder to observe the lioness.
"Mhm, I believe it's now 'Avichayil'cayla'," she remarked and gave a giggle as she stopped to peer at some of the drawings. "It's got a ring to it, right?"
"Well...I can't say no to that," Eremerus replied softly, though he was somewhat confused by her sudden switch in names. That being said, if she was going to be around him for much longer he would have plenty of time to ask her and at the moment, she seemed to have every intention of following him.
Suffice to say that his assumption was correct as the lioness's curiosity was piqued and she would remain here for the time being to receive the unique history lesson - when she was done, it would be time to go home...