Ithil'etheil - -_Wish of the Goddess_-
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Hakuna'jina - Das Tor
Hakuna had started remembering more. Things were still fractured, and she still couldn't match names to all the faces, and some of the faces were blurry and uncertain...but she was starting to get some things. Like the fact she'd had something inside her, another presence, in her life Before. That she'd been a mother to many cubs. But...she only had seen a few faces, and not all of them were clear. Just one was clear...but she didn't know the name yet. Only that the lioness, the cub, had been important to her. Sighing, the goddess stretched on her rocky perch in the sun, wings fanning out to absorb the heat as well. She also knew that she'd once been solely a creature of the night...but that was hard to be nowadays. After all...she was tugged in odd directions at all hours of the day, and Prim wasn't exactly a night-dwelling god.
In the shade of the swamps, many had been tugged one way or another. In the case of this day, however, a young pale-eyed lioness had taken to roam instead of being drawn to her usual hunting grounds just outside the swamplands. Her dark mane fell in her eyes, golden pawpads pressing into the laand as she strode for the edges of the swamp. Curiousity was overtaking young Ithil'ethiel, as she hunted down the source of a rustling sound. A piece of prey rushed in front of her, and within a moment, she was off. Chasing, hunting down the creature with every last ounce of her will. Ithil was not one to give up on quarry once spotted, and her determination to make a catch spurred her onwards and outwards. "Come back here..."
Hakuna heard the sound of a hunt...and felt a slight tug to it as well. The goddess opened a blue eye, looking in the direction of the swamps the started not far from where she was. Now what was going on the-
And the prey rushed past her rock, the goddess having to pull the wing on that side in to avoid having it run into. What in the Hells?! She was on her paws quickly, tail lashing angrily behind her. "Watch it, mealtime!" And then the large goddess turned to look towards whoever was pursuing the prey animal. A lioness...not surprising. Well...mostly not surprising. The surprising part to the crimson female was that there were obvious signs she'd come from the SWAMPS. Lions could live in swamps?
Just before she could catch it, Ithil growled. The prey had shot far past where she was technically allowed to go. She'd been so CLOSE! So damn close, and the idiotic thing just had to keep going straight. Even a slight turn on its part, and she would have caught the thing in her jaws. Of course...that was when the young adult finally noticed a hint of red in her vision. Red that....wasn't a color she recognized. Turning her pale eyes to face it, the lioness found herself wondering...who was this female..? "Hello...-" And then...something NEW. Wings. How in the names of the-....The only way for a lioness to have wings was if she was...OH! "Hello..." Ithil lowered her head almost instantly. This female must be a goddess! She'd heard that the gods were winged...that they were somehow different....And this female definitely was. That scent was so strange...
Hakuna looked the girl over carefully. "Hello. Did ya come from there?" She motioned to the swamps, the confusion and curiosity clear on her scarred face. There was something...almost-familiar about the female before her. Not in coloring, or markings...but in form and the way she moved. She couldn't place it, though. Couldn't place it at all as anything but 'familiar'.
Ithil slowly sat up, her paws placing her in a very elegant manner before the Goddess. "I did, Great Lady. I live within the Swamps. In the Jini-msemi. I have grown up there my entire life." The Goddess seemed so...confused. Almost as if she had no idea that lions were capable of living in such a place. "Surely you knew that already....?"
The...Jini-msemi. The name sounded half-familiar, as if she'd spoken about it or heard about it before. But...she didn't recall such a thing, really. Huh. And...wait. Did the girl seriously call her 'great lady'? Uh...nope. That wouldn't do. "No, ah didn't. And ah'm no 'great lady'. Cub, ah'm an old fighter. Ah'm tactless, blunt, and all manner of NOT a 'lady', let alone a 'great' one."
Ithil blinked. "...But...you are a Goddess, are you not? You have the wings of one of those who watch over us." She was obviously a fighter....someone strong and worthy of respect. "And....I am Ithil'ethiel, if you were wondering....Daughter of Vigo'tamort and Daima'tii'mlei..." She was a very formal young one, always. Respectful to say the least.
"Ah'm a goddess, yes. But ah'm not a 'Great Lady'. Ah'm jus'...Hakuna'jina." It wouldn't be a name familiar to the other lioness, just as the names the other gave were not familiar to the goddess, but might as well be...sort-of polite. The kind of polite that actually made sense to her. "So...if yer from in there, ah take it yer prey brought ya out here?"
"A pleasure, Hakuna." Came her response. "And yes. I am a Huntress. It is my job to catch prey, and bring it back for my Pride. However, my luck has run sour lately. It is beginning to get rather....sad." Her chest heaved in a soft sigh, as she stared wistfully after the creature she'd been going for.
Sour huh? "Bad luck eventually passes. Keep at it, 'n' ya'll be fine." She hopped down from her perch, not bothering to shrink her size. "Have ya been doin' anythin' different than usual? A change in routine can throw ya off if it's not somethin' yer familiar with."
Ithil sighed. "I've been...distracted lately, it is true. Memories and dreams can draw a mind to things other than the hunt, and mine have been fraught with oddities." Her dreams had been spinning insanely over the last few days, but she was still able to push them aside enough to keep her head clear. "I've had a few catches, thanks to my abilities, but..."
Huh..."Perhaps ya should try sortin' that out. Find out why yer mind is bein' such an a**." Distractions were never good, internal and external. "Ah can help ya this once. Gettin' a kill, ah mean." She had no issues hunting at all...few prey beasts expected a winged lion from above.
The female blinked. "You would...help me? That is kind of you, Hakuna'jina. I would appreciate any tips you migh have for me as well.....I am willing to listen, Hakuna'jina." She really had been needing to learn new methods to hunt since her return from her Name quest.
Hakuna nodded. "Yup. Ah'll help ya. What ah'm about t' do isn't somethin' ya can do...but it'll get ya yer kill." And without another word, she launched herself into the air. A few moments later, she divebombed a waterbuck, quickly killing it before dragging it back to Ithil. (That part of the female's name struck an odd cord in her. She recognized THAT part on some level...but not associated with the orange lioness. It felt...smaller.) "'Ere ya go."
She smiled kindly, leaning down, and gently biting it, and pulling it close. "Thank you, Lady Hakuna. I greatly appreciate it. Perhaps I will have better luck. I can certainly say that I will not give up hope that my luck shall turn!" She was persistant, that was for sure, and more than ready to keep trying until she managed to get to be the best.
Hakuna nodded. "Good." Once she was sure Ithil would be able to take the kill back, she shifted her stance. "Ah need t'be goin'. Keep yer chin up, 'n' everythin' will be fine." With that, she took a few steps and was back in the air. She felt her job was done, for now. Maybe that's why she'd ended up picking that spot to sun...
