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 Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:33 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:07 pm
He entered as quietly as he had left.
Leaping up on to the ledge, Adar'Malik returned from his vantage point and came to a stand still beside Gideon. When placed beside the reclining lion, it was even more apparent that he was large and decidedly weathered, but more importantly he wasn't completely black. He had rather distinct markings, all of which had been hidden in the depths of the caverns where Tethys had proclaimed his 'games' had occurred.
While Tethys wasn't wrong and Adar would acknowledge that he found considerable entertainment in the trials, they certainly weren't a game to him. Suffice to say that each and every one of the trials served a purpose, designed to sift through the weak and allow on the strong to get through. Really, without any formal training, Tethys should have been long dead... But it appeared that the Justicar's blood truly did run deep within his son's veins.
Unsurprisingly he exhibited no remorse despite the younger lion's heightened emotions and simply regarded Gideon in silence. It appeared that on this occasion, Gideon would be the one to lead the conversation. Suffice it to say that Adar'malik wasn't much of a talker, or at least that would be what many of those who met him would claim...Words: 213
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:14 pm
Tethys's reactions were almost immediate and yet Gideon raised his paw to intervene; it was enough for the pale lion to settle once again, though his glare remained fixed on the now revealed 'phantom'.
"Tethys, this is Adar'Malik," Gideon finally introduced the lion who gave a nod of his head in acknowledgement. "He is a Sleeper, one of several that you have met over the course of your expeditions into these lands," he paused to allow this information to sink in and continued. "In fact he is our most elite, he is the only one of us who has managed to successfully install himself into the cult that you are so desperately seeking -"
He paused again as Adar shifted into a more comfortable spot.
"Though he has been absent for some time, he knows far more about their activities than the rest of us combined. Had it not been for your sudden intrusion into an otherwise covert operation, we might have already made sufficient progress to put a stop to some a number of their cells," he raised a brow and slowly shook his head.
"Alas it seems that you cannot be faulted for this, it was your father that raised the alarm when he realised what had occurred. When he realised you had been sighted with him, you were put in a compromising situation...We assumed within your pride you would be safe given their disposition, but we did not anticipate you would be out in the open and away from their watchful eyes quite so often..."Words: 257
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:20 pm
So he was right, the beast was a phantom!
Tethys cast another critical stare towards the lion, one that was met by a neutral one in return. This seemed to be the general reaction to everything he did when it came to these lions...and the more he thought about it, the more he could recall encountering a number of individuals who exhibited the same behaviour. had they really all been a part of this 'sleeper' thing?
"Havase, Suu'marle, Onesimos, Ni'it," he began to list them off and furrowed his brow. They had all had a patience far beyond his comprehension, in fact, he could even place his paw on several others if pressed. "The herbalist, the Bahari king?" He shook his head in astonishment, surely all of them couldn't have been in league with these two lions... And yet Gideon seemed to be implying that they were.
In fact by the sounds of it they had all existed in this peculiar unit for a long time. Moving in the shadows in order to combat an enemy that the vast majority of individuals hadn't known existed until he came along... Until he had started a war.
"So you tried to kill me instead?" he asked. "Why not just tell me to lie low?"Words: 212
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:26 pm
"You do not have the capacity to lie low," Adar's voice was a growl, an indication that it was rarely used. Given the circumstances this made sense, if the phantoms never spoke then he would never had need of it. Yet he did appear to possess the ability to speak even if he sounded grumpy. Voice aside, his observations were correct and he knew as much by the manner in which the young lion had narrowed his eyes at him.
"The intention was not to kill you, but to test you," he paused briefly and curled his tail around his paws. He sat in a rather peculiar fashion, upright and so tense that he would have resembled a statue of Bastet in ancient temples. "Your demise would merely have been a result of your failure," he added. This lacked the usual diplomatic flare that one might have preferred when addressing the individual you had almost killed on more than one occasion, but Adar simply didn't have the ability to express that particular characteristic...he saw no use for it.
"Theoretically, you should have died more than once. Your tenacity is surprising," Adar concluded and raised a brow.
"That aside, the order was issued by the Justicar - you will be familiar with him," Adar seemed to be one for pregnant pauses as he admired his own paw, though what for was anyone's guess. "After all, he is your father."Words: 237
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:35 pm
"Allow me to clarify," Gideon intervened before Adar could sink himself further into a pit of diplomatic doom. "I am sure that you are aware that your father heralds from a different region," he began and waited for the younger lion to acknowledge this fact. "Where he comes from he holds a position of substantial authority, under him are an elite band of agents; Sleepers."
He shot a glance at Adar who had returned to examining his own paws.
"In our homeland our positions are traditionally very simple, we go about our daily lives, installed in particular locations so that we can be deployed at a moment's notice... Given that we formerly lived in a peaceful land, it was expected that we would live in to our old age without much excitement," he smiled wryly, indicating that perhaps this hadn't gone to plan. "Your father is a Justicar, an order compromised of a mere pawful of former Royal Guards, each Justicar has several sleepers under his command, it is the Justicar who essentially wakes us up."
Another pause.
"Generally the Justicars do not stir unless a significance disturbance is detected in our territories, one that would ultimately effect the peace of the realm..."
He pursed his lips as he regarded Tethys, he was so young and would have been completely oblivious to the events that had taken place. Suffice it to say that there was no doubt in his mind that Destati would have kept this information from his children.
"Your father and his fellow Justicars were 'awoken' when one of the more peaceful townships in our region was annihilated, very publicly at that," he grimaced as he recalled the scenes that had been uncovered. "It was the return of what you know as the phantoms, and they had initially assumed that it was isolated to our region...Except that it wasn't, or more accurately it didn't stay that way for long."Words: 321
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:41 pm
"They missed one," Tethys murmured, interrupting Gideon's explanation.
This interruption was met by an exchange of glances between the pair of darker lions and Tethys shook his head. He had recalled some of the vague details that his father had given him. They had been very brief, and yet piece by piece Tethys had managed to put the story together. He'd gained even greater clarity when he had accidentally stumbled upon the identity of the missing quarry. It had been of great surprise to him to discover that his half-brother was the offspring of that quarry... though it hadn't seemed to surprise Solomon at all.
"Their purge was incomplete so they pursued him, and that brought them here," he continued and pursed his lips thoughtfully. He could recall some of the details that his brother had spoken of, even Solomon had failed to give any significant clarity. He could only provide information on his father's erratic behaviour and some of the references he made, if anything, Solomon had only expressed relief that his father had not been insane.
"But when they got here they discovered a land ripe for picking," Tethys closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. "So while they might have been pursuing their quarry they have been targeting select individuals," he paused and regarded both of the lions critically.
"You were sent here to stop them, weren't you?"Words: 231
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:47 pm
"By any means necessary," Adar confirmed with a curt nod.
"Havase, Gideon, Suu'Marle and myself were the original Sleepers," he confirmed some of the names that Tethys had listed. "Onesimos and Ni'it were identified much later," he glanced briefly at Gideon who gave a half smile, apparently the more diplomatic lion appreciated his restraint. "The leopard and the coastal king merely possess their dispositions due to age and experience, they are not aware of who and what we are..."
"Regardless, when your father realised that he had severely compromised his position we were required to make some adjustments to our strategy. This became decidedly more complex when you decided to create an army," his drawl became more pronounced. Suffice it to say that the black lion had no appreciation for large scale wars, he would always be a covert individual, which made sense given his inclination towards the darker arts.
"It would seem that you have quite a bit of charisma -"Words: 161
Total Words (Adar): 611
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 6:57 pm
"When your father realised that you were going to put not just yourself, but a significant number of individuals at risk, he suspended our hunts and has us divert our attention to you," Gideon intervened before Adar could effectively ruin the calm atmosphere. Left to his own devices, Adar would happily lambast the boy for days and that would achieve nothing.
"The vast majority of individuals who seek to become Sleepers are recruited after they have been observed for a significant period of time. For Justicars the position is inherited after an extensive education. Both positions require an enormous amount of training and dedication - you must understand that these positions are a way of life..."
He cleared his throat.
"Yet your father knew better than any of us that if you were to survive, and ensure the survival of your allies, you were going to have to be subjected to the same scrutiny that we are all forced to endure," he shook his head slowly. "You would either sink or swim when you were thrown in to the deep end, but it was the only way to ensure that we could minimise the damage that might be done when you made your decision," Gideon motioned to Adar and then offered an apologetic expression to the younger lion.
"We had to test you first, expose you to everything we possibly could, as quickly as we could. You should have had years of training and we simply didn't have time to provide it. We simply had to identify whether or not you had the qualities necessary to succeed as one of the collective -"
"And you do," Adar interjected gruffly.
"Adar's work is not pleasant but it is thorough. It is generally something only the willing are subjected to. We apologise that you were not consulted but it was your father's orders. We had to see how you operated... And brutal as it might seem, if you had died, then you would have saved many lives that day."
He let this fact sink in for period of time.
"However you have displayed considerable ability and as such we have identified that you do have the capacity to succeed as one of the collective. There will be no more 'games' as you call them, only guidance and training."
Again he paused.
"For all your creativity we are still the only ones who can guarantee your success, but you must be willing to listen to, and trust us, first."Words: 414
Total Words (Gideon): 992
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:13 pm
His father owed him an apology... His father had technically tried to kill him.
...And yet as the pair of lions explained their purpose to him he found that his anger was simply melting away. It was illogical, he should have been furious, but they seemed genuine in their explanations and what they said made sense. Even he had to begrudgingly admit that the lives of many rested upon his shoulders and one wrong move could get them killed. Rather than receiving respect and glory, he could potentially go down as the Captain who led his allies into a blood bath... and then proceeded to kill them all.
These lions spoke with reason, he might not have like all of it, but at least they had provided clarity for a large portion of the paranoia that had been at the back of his mind. In a way he had been played; he had been led along a variety of paths, deliberately drawn away from danger, and he was beginning to suspect that they had caused several misdirections to ensure that he and his bands hadn't uncovered any indication of the phantoms.
For all he knew, they might very well have saved their lives.
"I'm one lion," Tethys finally acknowledged and shook his head. He might want to punch every last one of them for using him as their puppet, but he couldn't ignore what they may have helped him avoid. "I can't take on an army, you said cells -"
"Yes." Adar confirmed.
"So training me won't help anything," Tethys pointed out.
"Which is why it will not just be you that we will be assisting," Gideon stated. "We do not expect perfection," he chose to ignore Adar's critical stare, the Phantom-agent might expect perfection but Gideon was a realist. "But we do expect a level of reasonable success in teaching the basics -"
"At the very least, your army will be able to formulate more appropriate strategies than simply 'hitting them really hard'," Adar remarked snidely, receiving a well deserved kick from the usually reserved Gideon.
"They deserve far more credit than you think," Tethys replied coolly to Adar and gave a slowly, measured nod. "But we do need your expertise, as much as do not appreciate what you have put me through..."
He paused.
"It seems like this is more of a matter to discuss with my father than you," he said finally, receiving a small smile from Gideon... evidently he had said the right thing. "Are we to come to you or -"
"We will find you," Gideon answered him before he had the opportunity to complete his question. "But for now I would strongly suggest you return to your forward camps, you have been away longer than you realise," he pointed out dutifully.
Tethys should have been surprised at how easily he had been dismissed, but this had happened before and much to his annoyance, the elder lion was right.
"How long?" he demanded, receiving a non-committal shrug from Adar. It seemed he would simply have to wait for the arrangements to be made, until the bone was thrown, it seemed he was at an impasse...Words: 527
Total Words (Tethys): 970
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