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 Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:18 pm
This is a private solo-rp done in a story telling format. Don't post.  Devmani | Uwasa
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:19 pm
In the right circumstances a week or even a day could feel like an eternity. For the young feline-like Uwasa, she had been living in the right circumstances for months. She had left her home and her family far behind on a mission that she no longer thought she would be able to help with. The young mare made her way slowly through the dense, green undergrowth keeping her eyes peeled for signs of danger. On her first night alone she had nearly been made a meal of by a rather large leopard. A long run had spared her but it was far too hot to be wasting energy trying to gallop her way through the plant life. It was supposed to be heading into winter but somehow the jungle always felt like the worst of summer days.
After forcing her way past a rather stubborn fern Uwasa took a moment to examine her current surroundings. Perhaps it was just the jungle heat getting to her but Uwasa could have sworn she had been standing here only a few hours ago. Her tail drooped and she unconsciously ran her tongue over lips, both were dry. Today she had put the mission aside in the search of a well-supplied water source. All the afternoon showers and humidity of the air was useless to her, she could hardly get enough to drink from it. She wasn’t in danger of dying from thirst but Uwasa was certain it would make her far more comfortable.
Uwasa took in a deep breath and prepared to head off down a different path when she heard something.
“Aditi, my darling, please, it was only a little bath! You need to be clean for this!”
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:22 pm
Uwasa pulled her head back and scrunched up her face. Whoever had spoken sounded like they were speaking around a bite of apple. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it but she had heard the word “bath” and that filled her with hope. Baths meant water, always, she knew this well because of her family. With some trepidation, Uwasa followed the sounds of the voice trying to coax this ‘Aditi’ out of the tree. From the rich, deep tone she was fairly certain that the speaker was male. As his voice grew louder Uwasa began looking around and before long she noticed the strangest creature bracing himself against a tree.
Uwasa’s jaw dropped. This was who she had been looking for but she was no longer sure she should speak up. He had the tail of a lion that was like her own. He also bore magnificent wings and feathers running down his legs. His mouth resembled that of a bird and where his fore hooves should have been he possessed talons. He was a beautiful golden-brown color like the leopard that had tried to eat her and he had a glorious black mane pulled up like a human might. All over he wore gold and jewels in a way she had never seen and to top off the spectacularly bizarre picture he was crooning to a rather small spotted wild cat sitting on a moss covered branch just out of his reach.
She opened her mouth slowly debating over what to say when he suddenly let his forelegs drop back to the ground. Uwasa flinched seeing the gouges in the trees back where his talons had been resting. She had changed her mind; she would find water on her own. Uwasa was brave but she wasn’t stupid.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:27 pm
She turned sharply to leave and promptly stepped right on a small rodent. As expected the creature let a loud shriek and scurried off the moment Uwasa withdrew her foot. The stallion turned his head curiously at the sound of a startled creature hoping it was not too far off that he might get a meal out of it. What he found was something entirely different: a mare. She was a beautiful creature colored like a delicate flower but patterned like the most ferocious of animals. He smiled at her only to notice that she was quickly running in the opposite direction. He frowned and looked up the tree at Aditi, “I will be back for you later, my pet.” He said before taking off after the mare. The ocelot yawned in reply.
Uwasa moved as quickly as she could to get away from the stallion but she could hear him crashing along through the flora after her. She clenched her jaw and focused her attention entirely on her running like her fathers had taught her. She was so focused on her hooves and her breathing that she barely heard the stallion asking her to stop. Uwasa kept running until she suddenly found herself staring at a large pond connected to a trio of small streams. She wasn’t sure whether she should thank the gods or curse them for this turn of events.
Swallowing what she could out of her dry mouth she made a break for the water and ran over everything her mother had ever taught her about water walking. She focused her thoughts and energy as best as she could and took her first quick steps onto the water. At first she was successful; she was running across the still water, barely three seconds later she was dropping straight into the pool. The stallion watched this amazing feat from the side of a tree. He found himself smiling as he approached the edge of the water. The gods had sent the king a wonderful gift.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:41 pm
When Uwasa’s head popped out of the water the stallion called to her, “You are magnificent, dear. Tell me, what are you called?” Uwasa’s ears flicked back nervously as she observed the stallion. If he really wanted her dead she imagined he would have flown out and attacked her by now, he was hardly hampered by the close trees. All the same she started swimming her way to the opposite side of the shore.
The stallion was beginning to think the girl was deaf. Perhaps she was not as much of a gift as he originally thought. “You know, it is very rude to refuse answering the king!” He tried again walking along the edge of the pond never taking his eyes off the mare. Uwasa glanced at him then turned away when she caught a smile creeping out at the corners of his beak-like mouth. He was pleased, she could definitely hear him. She was only being stubborn much like his Aditi. “Oh yes, I am a king. Now, you name. It would make me very happy to hear your name.”
Uwasa was starting to understand that he was less of a threat and more of a stubborn irritation. Yet, he called himself a king. Her mother had said that a king was like the Emperor from her fathers’ homeland. What was he a king of? She kept glancing at him as she swam; her mind at work. If he was a king than perhaps he would know of those she sought. Even a child king would understand a little and she was quite certain that was the kind he was. A spoiled boy king.
“Uwasa.” She supplied, finally, as she reached the shore and pulled herself out.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 2:12 pm
“Uwasa?” He tilted his head to one side in confusion and then to the other, to better admire the mare as she climbed back onto land. Her dark mane clung to her face and neck and the white fur shawl she wore flattened over her shoulders. The strange skull that she used as a hair ornament bobbed about as though it had life of its own. It sent a chill down his spine but he would have been lying if he claimed it wasn’t a nice one. Uwasa could feel his gaze on her and she fought the urge to glare at the stallion. This was not the first time she’d had to deal with men. It was, however, the first time that she couldn’t just rely on her fathers to beat the male within an inch of his life.
“Yes, my name is Uwasa.” She said shaking herself off. To redirect his attention she added, “You’re a king?
So it had been her name. That made sense. What didn’t make sense was how she said her name with a different inflection than the rest of her words. Was it foreign? He would worry about that later, for now he had questions to address. “Oh yes, I am Devmani, the king of the jungle.” He boasted rustling his feathers and standing with pride. “Do I not look the part?”
Uwasa forced a polite smile. King or not he had quite a swelled head. “You look quite young for a king.”
Devmani took the chance to continue along the water to get closer to Uwasa. “I am quite young for a king, it is true. My father passed on when he was quite young himself so I took on the crown.” He nodded his head to indicate the golden crown seated there. “It is an enormous task but it is one that I was happy to take on.”
Uwasa was too immersed in her own thoughts to notice Devmani getting closer. By the time she noticed he was only a single body-length away and getting any distance would be too obvious. She would just have to endure.
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 2:42 pm
“What exactly is it that a king of the jungle does?” Uwasa questioned taking on a stance that would hopefully keep the stallion at bay.
“Mostly I make sure there is peace.” He replied not failing to notice Uwasa’s change in pose. Did she dislike him even though he was a king? That seemed strange to Devmani. He wondered if perhaps he needed to sell his importance better. “To do this I meet with all of my subjects and solve all of their problems. The people do love me. They tell me everything.” He watched as Uwasa perked up at this new information and he grinned. Devmani took this as a sign that she was starting to like him more. Not wanting to stop there he continued, “I know nearly everyone who lives in this jungle, you know. I even know a clan of monkeys who love to style hair.”
“Do you know about the Mazoku?” Uwasa chimed in suddenly with a determination in her voice that she hadn’t possessed before.
Devmani faltered for a second having been caught in the middle of a lie. He didn’t want to upset her though so he decided to run with it. “I believe I might have heard of them. They’ve never come to me for help though.” He hoped that it was enough to keep her interested and also enough to keep him out of a deeper hole.
“Do you know where they are?” Uwasa pressed. She wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t met them. I he had and what Lorenna had said was true then he would have been killed. “Any clue could help.”
“They...usually move around a lot so I do not know an exact location.” Devmani found that this conversation was taking a very unfortunate turn.
“Anything at all would help.”
“You could try the lakes. A lot of the wandering groups tend to hole up around there.” This was no lie on his part. It wasn’t just wanderers that tended to live near water it was everything.
“I’ll try those places then. Which way are the lakes?” She asked with a twitch of her tail. Uwasa had finally found a lead. This was wonderful.
“One is...” He frowned and looked the mare over carefully. For her determination to find these ‘mazoku’ she didn’t seem happy. “Why do you want to find them anyway?”
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