Li Wei:
As promised, if Mauaji followed the wall to where someone, suprisingly a skilled someone, had drawn a few rough studies of birds from crushed clay over the wall, there was a small dip in the cliff that housed a small patch of beach grass that had crept down from the high rise above.
A pale flank rose and fell from the sandy grass. The being it belonged to lay with his back, perhaps foolishly, to the ocean and a paw flopped over his eyes. He was spent. Never had he lifted the blessing, or curse depending on who they were asking, of another god. It was taxing to the fairly untested youth and sleep had been all he'd wanted.
Maua:
Maua padded along the sand, allowing herself to breathe deep, in and out in an attempt to calm her slight anger towards the gypsy king; it’d do no one any good for her to actually lose her s**t so early on. That and she had better things to do. At least for now anyhow. And thus, with that in mind, the lioness padded onward, barely sparing a glance at the lovely drawings (which would likely later make Muhali herself gawk in awe); she had a mission in mind and very little could have swayed her from it.
When the pale hide came into view, she changed the direction in which she walked and made sure to approach him against the wind until she finally came to loom over him, casting a shadow over him, “So,” she drawled as soon as she stopped, her head lowering over him slightly, “Something tells me you bit off more than you could chew,” the way he was flopped on his side, breathing deeply, obviously spent... told her that much. How long had it been since he’d performed his feat, anyhow? Probably around the time her mother had snapped out of it, which was... well, a while ago, actually. Apparently, lifting insanity’s blessing from the lands had not been an easy thing for Li to do, and yes, Maua knew the mortal looking lion before her was none other than the God of Peace himself. She’d have been able to recognise him among millions of other impostors, without her sense of smell.
Almost as an afterthough (though not really), Maua smirked down at him, “Hello. How’ve you been?” even now, with her adolescent body, she was still bigger than he was, which was.... amusing, really, “Pride king tells me you’ve been unsociable. Apparently I’m meant to drag you over there to socialize.”
Li Wei:
The small god stirred and frowned as a shadow fell over his form, blocking out the warm, inviting light of the sun. He blinked and slowly rolled his head back, his soft blue eyes still narrow with sleep. He stared, but could barely make out the new lion's face. the sun was right behind her, casting her features in dark shadows.
Something else tugged at the back of his mind, a small hand reaching through a dull mist that had surrounded his mind. The curse had been a heavy one and while he had given a few blessings in this life, he had never had to lift a curse in order to do so. Insanity was a larger, stronger, older goddess. To undo the work of a master was taxing.
But this one... he knew this one.
Sitting himself up with an unhappy groan he cracked a few kinks from his back. "Maua...." He spoke her name almost as if he didn't entirely believe that it was her. She'd just vanished...
"...w...wait you're back?"
Maua:
“Yeah... guess you could say that,” the smirk was all but gone from her face as she back down on the ground, one forearm reaching to rub behind her neck in a decidedly awkward gesture, “I... I kind of never really meant to go away. It just... it happened. I had some issue to work out before I could come back,” a pause, her paw lowering to the floor as she averted her gaze from him, “I had flashbacks of the past and I just... had to go have a good think,” granted, the thinking hadn’t really helped her all the much. In fact, if anything, it had deeply frustrated her, because Mauaji was not a ‘thinking’ kind of lioness; she was one that would much rather act, rip out someone’s throat and then get to thinking and asking questions.
Her problem had been something she couldn’t physically attack, and it had bothered her that she couldn’t more than she’d have liked to admit, “Have you ever had any.... flashes from the past? At all?” her gaze turned back to him, her head tilting to one side in question; already she was feeling much more mellow just by being there with him. Before, she hadn’t really questioned it; now though, she understood what it was and what it meant, “Or are you memories blocked entirely?” on one hand she hoped they weren’t, because she really didn’t want to explain herself or this... ‘thing’ between them to him, and on the other, she hoped they were, because they’d not lived particularly peaceful lives in the past, to say the least.
Li Wei:
Li sat himself upright and his eyes started to open as he woke from his sleep. His handsome mane cascaded down one shoulder, far too fine and long to be a normal mane. Most lions looked at him askance for it, but it was impossible for him to grow fur where scales belonged properly. Some assumed he was some malnourished little thing. Small, frail, and with a mane that more belonged on a zebra than a lion. Even his tail stood out, something like Mau's but not as thick and full.
The question earned a difficult expression and a shadow over his eyes. The god closed his eyes and pressed his ears back against his mane. "I only remember one thing...", He said quietly. "The earth broke in half... I remember a sound like roaring from the ground.... then I fell... there were...birds."
He shuddered. "They pecked my eyes....then there were lions. Angry.... angry lions. Their fangs were like lightning, their claws....flashing, tearing my flesh away." He shook his head and brought a hand to his forehead. "That's all..."
Maua:
The goddess looked away, her face turning fierce as she snarled in anger, her eyes flashing red for a moment before she closed them and growled. It took her several moments to regain her composure, and had Li not been present with his calming aura, she might have lashed out at the nearest thing. It was clear she was not angry at the male, but rather, angry for him... angry because out of all the things he could have remembered, it was his last death that he recalled vividly.
She remembered that too, though not nearly in as much detail, and not this part; she’d been overpowered and killed before he had; caught by surprise and separated from him, for they’d been young and inexperienced. As far as she could recall, they never really managed to get that far in the ‘experience’ department, and it was probably dumb luck they’d managed to survive to adulthood (or near adulthood in her case).
After a few calming breaths she opened her eyes, her face staring at the sand before her paws before she lifted her gaze up to him, “I’ll do better this time. I promise. I won’t let that happen again. I think I’m ready this time,” the words were serious, and that said, she lowered her head deep into a bow before him, “I won’t fail this time like I did in the past.”
Li wei:
"It wasn't your fault, Maua. This is my task. My burden. I know and understand the risks. I know every time I go into a new pride's territory, I run the risk of losing my life." He bobbed his shoulders and looked over. "We can't look backwards. I find it a blessing that I can't remember everything. Why I remember even that is a mystery. It's not pleasent, but...perhaps to serve as a reminder."
The bow startled him, as did the sincerity of the words that accompanied it. Dipping his nose, he nudged her chin upwards. "Hey now... you chose to protect me. No one made you do it. That's...that's really admirable. You made a good choice, even though your domain would have you do otherwise. You made yourself good"
He smiled a little more. "...I... I'm glad to have you back. I'm not as afraid."
Maua:
Her eyes narrowed a notch when he nudged her head upward and spoke to her; he didn’t remember that tidbit of the story either, did he? This was no choice, or... it was, but it was more of a deal than a choice. She was bound to him; a deal forged long ago, under different circumstances and for entirely different reasons. She hadn’t chosen to protect him out of the goodness of her heart; she’d chosen to do so because he gave her peace of mind. That and because when the time came, his power would be hers. When the time came, she’d consume him; leave nothing behind of him, not a drop of blood.
She’d done it for power.
It had been a deal forged of need and selfishness. And she remembered everything about that pact in vivid detail now; it had been the knowledge of that, and the knowledge of where she’d been heading in this incarnation with her feelings that had made her panic and run away. Unable to face her feelings or the memories, she’d ran, “Hardly,” the single word was murmured softly, her head leaning away from him in what could have been shame, “You just don’t remember the full story. I’m glad you don’t,” no sooner were the words out of her maw that she cringed, apparently not having wanted to voice them out, “I’m sorry. For that. And the running. I just didn’t know what to do.”
Li Wei:
"Perhaps there's a reason that I don't. And perhaps it's a good one." He offered softly. She seemed ashamed, perhaps even a little sad or resistant. But he leaned in closer, refusing to let her just sink away from the conversation or her emotions. It was best she got them out now. Later on...well he didn't know. He had more prides to see. New leaders had emerged within old prides, and there were new lands being cultivated every day.
And any one of those could be his newest grave.
"Well it's in the past. You shouldn't let it trouble you." He reached over again and tipped her chin upwards. "I should be on my feet soon. It's just overwhelming. I didn't know how strong that curse was."
Word Count
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