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 Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:08 pm
The air smelled familiar. Na'an knew that she hadn't crossed these lands before. The shape of the horizon in the evening light, the distant mountains and the intricacies of the landscape around her, none of it looked familiar. But the air, the air held a scent that made her lip want to curl. It was a something that she felt in the pit of her. It was a weight that was heavy and unyielding and it made the lioness's jaw clench. That feeling, the one one feels when family was near, it wasn't something that was ever forgotten. It was a familiar feeling, but still not necessarily one that was wanted.
It had been a while now since she had crossed paths with her brother. Longer yet since she'd seen her mother. And her sister and father…
Na'an pressed forward, the crease in her brow wearing away to a look of placidity. Who was it, now, that would appear in her path? To question seemed futile. The charity of surprise was one that was often lost in the life of a seer. While she was not particularly close to where the Nergui were at the moment, she was close enough to catch their scent, and Na'an had seen her sister in her dreams(and she was sure the same could be said of her kin's visions). She saw the Nergui, the group she hadn't seen since her visions were nonexistent and the knowledge of her mother and the blood deal that made their existence even less so. She caught herself, once in a while, dreaming in the tongue she had come close to forgetting.
Those dreams. They weren't nightmares, but that was the closest word to describe them.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:09 am
For Rapha, they were daymares.
They clouded her eyesight, took control of her modal functions, and forced her to see. They culminated as fits of emotion, leaving Rapha struggling back tears, or eerie smiles, after their completion. To the superstitious Nergui, it solidified the idea that Graos Oma was strongly channeled through her body.
One of these visions found her now. It began with a tingle in her skin, the feeling of harsh wind hitting against her face. She was walking, towards . . . home? Rapha took in a deep breath, struggled against her mind until she could shift her sight. It swung down a pale coat, and then was flung to the sky, lost.
She knew these visions. They came to play jokes on her, to remind her of the trickery of her birth. Siblings.
But this time, a chance to meet one. A very special one. One who had worked with a god. Yet, Rapha would not take chances. She did not see hostility in her vision, but she would not venture to greet a near-stranger and risk her life.
It didn't take long for quiet whispers to spread through the few that had seen her body shake and her eyes go dark.
"I require an Enforcer," Rapha commanded to the few that were present.
One quickly had presented itself, Oxotl was her name, and she seemed ready and willing to follow orders.
-
Even knowing the exact location of the vision, it took time to locate the pale, pink-dusted form that was supposed to be her sister.
Feeling wariness and dread overtake her, Rapha sent her Enforcer onwards. The Visionary clamored up old, black rock until she could lay on its rough surface and see the fuzzy form of sister and the jogging Enforcer.
Oxotl was breathing heavily through her mouth by the time she reached the traveling individual. She stopped within hearing distance, eyes scrutinizing before she opened her mouth.
"You, there." She waited for the figure to stop. "Xakaav seeks council with you. Refusal is ill advised."
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:42 pm
By the time the lioness had reached her, Na'an had stopped her steps. She stood, waiting, with her eyes half-lidded and a dull expression drawn on her face. Her pale eyes traced over the lioness, examining her uninterestedly. The stranger's words, though, tightened the muscled in her face and made for the slightest pulling of her mouth to the side.
"Xakaav," Na'an repeated under her breath, her gaze drawing upwards towards the faint shape of a figure atop a rock in the distance. It had been a long time since she heard that word in person. She heard it in her dreams and in her faintest memory, and only had a slight recollection of what it meant. Had her sister made a name for herself, then? It was to be expected. Something had to come out of the deal, after all.
Something in Na'an's chest tightened. Was in anxiety? Fear? She couldn't say for certain. As her attention trailed back towards the lioness who had, it seemed, been sent to retrieve her, Na'an set her jaw. Her expression remained a blank as she could keep as she stepped forward, her head level and gaze straight as she addressed the other.
"Lead me," she stated simply, her voice faint and trailing away into the evening winds.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 7:59 pm
Oxotl, feeling tension that came from importance, dipped her head towards the lioness.
It was with a wary eye that she turned on her heel. Both ears remained trained on the footsteps behind her. Oxotl did not trust secret business, but she did as she was told without any hesitation.
-
The figure on the ridge disappeared as the pair moved closer. From their left, a clatter of rocks tumbled down the hillside, shaking bushes.
Rapha's green eyes, sleek body, and pierced skin followed them downwards. Her hair was tossed, coming free of its keeper. Her own jaw clenched as the liquid in her stomach began to churn.
She made her way over, whispering a quiet command to the Enforcer. The grey lioness took a seat nearly between them, surveying both but having no comment.
"I have seen you work with the false-gods." The Nergui tongue, sharp against the roof of her mouth and gutteral from her throat was hurriedly translated by Oxotl. "This is a dangerous place for you. Why are you here?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 8:51 pm
Na'an's eyes stayed steady on the figure of the lioness, familiar only from her dreams, as she emerged from the side. Rapha looked like their mother. Looked like she herself did. Her brow twitched into the faintest crease. The same blood ran through their veins. When they were but kits, a time too far gone to conjure memories, they would have curled near each other at nights. The thought put her stomach in knots.
The lioness's claws raked into the dirt briefly as Rapha spoke. Those sharp-tongued words, she recognized some. More than she liked, really. It was the language she knew from her birth, the one she spoke until it was quickly learned out of her upon leaving the horde. The sound of those words, it was such an unpleasant thing.
The 'false gods'. The ways of the Nergui weren't something she felt she could ever get her head around. At Rapha's words, the lioness held back the urge to give a little smile. What a way to talk about one's mother. How much, Na'an wondered, did her sister know about her mother? About the circumstances of their existence?
"I see you, as you see me." Compared to the guttural tones of the Nergui tongue, Na'an's voice flowed, soft and velvety. "And I have seen your workings, as well. Drawn here, now, by visions. By blood." Her gaze held steady as she spoke, eyes distant and ethereal, though remaining firm on the other's green. "It seems as though we have seen each other long, now. Looking at each other over the distance. Eye to eye, though." Her head tipped to the side, degree by degree, and her dark locks shifted across her brow. "I wonder how long it has been since we have been here, sister." The last word of the sentence was spoken in the Nergui tongue, one of the few words she remembered.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:10 pm
The common-tongue sounded so forceless, boring, weak. It could not hold the drumming heartpound of a warrior.
"Kaar as well, then." She should have known. Graos Oma had reached out to her sister as well as herself. Perhaps her brother, too, shared a gift. Tonight, she would meditate, and see if she could capture a glimpse of his whereabouts. He, however, she would ensure never crossed Nergui bounds.
"Then you will know that I am chosen," she began again, eyes hardening where they fell on Na'an. And, perhaps, she would also know that merely a word could send a force to track her down.
"And if your visions are as strong as you say," her eyes flicked over Na'an's shoulder to the horizon line, "Then you have a valuable connection to Graos Oma which should not be wasted."
But Rapha did not believe that blood alone could bring lions together. No, there was a purpose to Na'an's movements. "If you are here to join us, sister, we will not refuse you." The knowledge that came from serving a false-god must have been immense, and it was certainly invaluable. It was not something Rapha was in a hurry to let escape.
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:23 pm
Her sister’s words hardened Na’an brow. She should have known better than to play this game. Blood or not, Rapha was Nergui, and Nergui intentions weren’t ones she was particularly interested in being a part of. It would have been best to keep her sister—her entire family, perhaps—at a good distance. But who was she kidding? There was something in her intrinsically drawn towards all this. Towards this… this something. Na’an was never one to be aware of her own intentions. Of her wants, her needs, of the path before her. Perhaps the path of the Nergui was something she was meant to follow.
But something about it still left a sour taste in her mouth. Something in her felt unsettled.
“I have no intention to be wasted,” Na’an said simply. Vaguely. As Rapha’s gaze left her the lioness let her own trail, from the garments that adorned her sister’s shoulders, to the land behind her. Her words she had to choose carefully. Na’an wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of being captured, nor trailed and called upon by the Nergui (a door which she admittedly opened by coming here). At the same time, though, the idea of assimilating with the horde wasn’t one she would ever outright pursue. She still, after all, considered herself allied with her mother. She had met enough gods during the time with her mother and had noted their power, their determination (and the folly with which some regarded the Nergui).
Her mouth pressed closed briefly in thought, eyes pulling back to the face of her sister. “I doubt that I am in a position to simply refuse such an offer.” As Na’an spoke, her gaze flicked briefly towards Oxotl. Rapha had power. Resources. If her sister wanted her, there was little Na’an could do against that. She opened her mouth again to speak, but realized there was nothing to be said that would have been wise of her. Instead, she shut her maw once more, eyes hard once more against Rapha, waiting instead for her to speak first.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:58 pm
"No." Rapha agreed, bobbing her head and tilting it to the size. "I can't imagine you would waste it."
No relative of hers was born stupid. It made Na'an entirely too dangerous. Rapha did not like the idea of her slinking outside of the Nergui's gaze.
And now, she was right here. Right in front of her.
"You'd be treated with utmost respect. They would be wary of a Visionary's sister." Afraid to miststep, perhaps, but more wary of her seer powers. Rapha herself was wary of those powers.
"You should stay. A few days. A week. You may find you like it. You can be my guest."
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Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:00 pm
Na'an was silent for a long moment. She was thinking it over. Playing the angles. She couldn't imagine anything terrible coming out of this all. From just delving into the Nergui. Just a little bit. The lioness' jaw set. Her muscles tensed and relaxed, her already extended claws kneaded into the ground.
"Well in that case," her peach-colored eyes set firm into Rapha's, "I see no reason I shouldn't come join you. For a while, at least." Her expression remained stoic, her heart calm.
Her eyes brushed upwards for a moment. Na'an wondered what her mother would think of all of this.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:56 pm
There was a rumbling purr in the back of Rapha's throat. Xaakaav did love to have things go her way.
Bobbing her head, she stretched out, bones popping and necklace clattering with the movement. "Then you shall."
Rapha jerked her head towards Oxotl. The Enforcer quickly took all fours.
"We will escort you."
She waited for Na'an to follow the grey lioness and then she took up the rear. Having Na'an make a run for it would not be a loss she wanted to face.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:27 pm
Na'an paused before following them. She felt closed off, blocked between the two of them, but not particularly worried (should she, she wondered, be worried about that?). She only followed, eyes hard against the grey lioness she followed, staying well aware of the presence at her tail. Na'an was one who, despite never really knowing what she was to do, felt as though she had her life under some semblance of control. While the life of a seer took away the sense of surprise out of much of her life, it did help out in having a sort of controlling hand over everything.
But now? Now Na'an didn't quite know what her future held. It was a strange, strange feeling.Kaelyndra We can probably end this whenever~
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