Welcome to Gaia! ::

Life was... surprisingly good, actually.

The sun warmed Muhali's coat as she lay sprawled on a rather low branch, keeping her warm and content, while the sea breeze rustled her fur every so often, keeping the small goddess from overheating. The juxtaposition of warm and cold was perfect, allowing her to purr softly under her breath, her head laying comfortably over the single paw she'd stretched out over the branch in order to cushion it.

Granted, there were still many questions she would have liked to have answers to, but... answers could wait, she supposed. For now, Muhali figured would do her no harm to simply kick back and enjoy herself for once. It had been a very long time since she'd had a clear enough mind to do such a thing, and it'd been weighing much more heavily on her spirit than she had realized. The pride itself seemed to be fairing rather well, and though the current leader, Shandor, ruffled her feather more than she wanted to admit, there seemed to be a surprisingly low level of chaos after Peace had lifted her Insanity blessing.

When she'd gotten to Kizingo'zaa, she'd had half a mind to recast her spell; this was her pride, her domain. But after interacting with the pride members, getting to know some of them and simply bickering with Shandor, she'd come to think that perhaps the pride was better off as it was. She was more than strong enough to re-cast the spell, given that she was much older than poor Li, whom had worn himself out by breaking her spell, but... she'd been stopped in her track by just how well off the pride seemed to be.

She'd reserve her judgement till she'd seen more, and for now, seeing more simply meant fitting in and well, given that she'd already sorted out the kinks about her joining the pride and she'd dealt with her appearance accordingly (she now looked like any other pridal member! Albeit a smallish one with a bushy tail), a nap was in order. She merely peeked an eye open when Dhoru approached her, figuring he'd be on his way soon enough. No one seemed keen to bother her except that blasted king, after all.

An almost Cheshire like grin spread upon the goddess' maw as she looked down upon lion who had, apparently, decided her luck was up, forcing her into social interaction. Granted, she was a bit rusty with her social skills (casting an insanity curse upon yourself that lasted generations... tended to do that to one's mind), but she still remembered the gist of it, "And aren't you just a ray of sunshine yourself," she chuckled as he bowed, "Mali," she offered after he told her his name, "Or you may call me Paradox if you wish; I respond to both," and many other names, she thought quietly to herself; keeping track of another two to add to the list wouldn't be that hard.

"Unfortunately, I believe you're right, hon. I don't believe we've met, though I wouldn't blame either of us for that," she chuckled again, lifting her head from the branch and taking the chance to stretch herself out on the branch, ridding her limbs and tail of any left over kinks from her cat nap, "I've been away for a while now. Got caught up in quite a mess, actually, and couldn't quite call for help back home, where I was," she looked away from him and took a leap off the branch, landing neatly, almost soundlessly on the ground (ahhh... the benefits of having wings, even if they were currently cloaked with magic and entirely invisible to the lion).

Now that she was on the ground, it was pretty obvious she was smaller than average, though then again, that could have been rationalized by Dhoru thinking she was a leopon, given her bushy tail, "Basically... I was away," she grinned at him playfully, "What's your excuse?" after all, she didn't know him either, but then again... she didn't know a lot of the newer members, and most of the ones she'd known had apparently left. Such a pity.

"Ahhh," she smirked as she sat herself down the ground, then offered him a sly, knowing smirk, "I dunno you, but where I come from, they say size ain't exactly all that matters. Gotta know how to use it, mate," she lifted her paw and gave it a few short licks before grinning up at him. The irony of the situation, of course, being the fact that while Muhali to adopt a smaller-than-average size, she could, in fact, grow in size. Her godly nature allowed her to appear as a behemoth of a lioness at will, but... all her years of life experience had taught her not to flaunt it. That usually, those that tended to flaunt it had a terribly low sense of self worth, or a terribly skewed view on the world and what was really important.

But then again, who was she to judge? She was Insanity, after all. Something told her if she tried to voice her opinions, it'd cause more than one snort. She hadn't technically been created to be wise.

"The lifting?" a pause, "S'that what you've been calling it?" her demeanor changed somewhat, her eyes gaining a nostalgic look as she turned to glance at the distant sea, "How'd it happen, exactly? I'm afraid my previous rank of Story Seeker didn't really allow me to be here for the ordeal. Woke up one day and everything'd changed..." however, just as soon as the sadness washed over, it seemed to pass and she offered him another smile, though smaller this time, "You're not involved with your muse any more then?" her own, real name from his lips was like a sharp stab at her heart, but the goddess hid it well, merely twitching an ear upon it's mention, "At all? Why's that?" her smile, which had been soft, nostalgic, grew as the lion teased her back; this was why she'd wanted to come here under a mortal guise. There were just some things one could not replicate or drag out of others if they were under the misconception that they were bellow you, "Oh, really? I wonder if you'll be able to live up to that claim o' yours, mate," she paused and blinked, "Oh, uhm, well... dropped my previous rank. Don't much feel like leaving again or gathering any more stories, letmetellyou," she motioned down the beach, towards Shandor's den, "Still trying to decide what to do with me, he is. I think I'll be a mummer."

As the lion laughed, glanced to his side, and then laughed again, Muhali tilted her head slightly, smiling lightly; something told her she'd missed some sort of joke that only the male was privy to, but then again, since usually she was on the other side of such situations, she didn't mind it when the joke was literally on her. At the end of the day, those that were unable to laugh at themselves and their own mistakes, were usually miserable for it.

"Ahhh..." her gaze lowered to the ground, her ears flopping to the side of her head in obvious sadness, and for a long, strange moment, the lioness remain that way, within self reflection, as if pondering something or other, "Never thought of it as a curse. Wasn't meant to be one, really..." she cringed inwardly and then shook her head, "Hasi?" she lifted her head and then looked to the side, where the lion had previously glance and suddenly, that particular piece of the puzzle slid neatly and nicely right into it's intended slot, "Ooooh..." she nodded in a clear 'I see, I see' sort of way, as if she understood perfectly and... given her domain, she did. She understood exactly where he was coming from and what he'd been through, "I don't really think your storms are refusing to talk to you though. I just think you're on a different wave length. Just gotta find a wavelength you can use now, post-lifting, s'all," she grinned up at him and then turned to the sky, "I like the sky myself. Doesn't have much to say in the way of words, but I think it talks in other ways."

As Dhoru glanced off in the direction of Shandor's den, the petite goddess frowned and couldn't help from grimacing, then sticking out her tongue, as if she'd somehow eaten something particularly foul tasting, "He's rude," was all she said, "And cocky! So cocky. c**k of the walk. Seen better in my travels, I have, hmph!" she turned her head skyward, her nose in the air in a pose that made her look much like a petulant child for a moment or two; it was a good indication of just how much the male ruffled her feathers. Her ears, which had flattened back, perked back up as he spoke of Nema, and her head tilted to the side before sadness washed over her features, "Afraid not, but that's not really her fault. Been away for quite a while. I was... forcefully retained by someone, and didn't manage to escape on my own, till my daughter helped me. Couldn't quite call for help either; couldn't send a message. Safety of the pride first and all that," Muhali paused and stared longingly at the sea, "When I came here, while I was story seeker, I didn't get to stay long. Came, left the load of information, parted again. It seemed like a good life until I realized how much I missed my home."