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 Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 2:37 am
   Participants:Nyctimus Epimetheus Prometheus
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:25 am
"Well that was..." Prometheus trailed off briefly as he searched for a diplomatic word to describe the encounters they had had within the Al-Siq. It had certainly been an experience to say the least.
"Different?" Epimetheus offered. Once he had gotten used to the fact that he was satan incarnate, he had settled. It had taken him a while to adjust to the fact that he was treated with such considerable disrespect, but the company of both his brothers seemed to have tempered some of the worst. In particular, it seemed that Prometheus's willingness to stand beside him had held impressive sway, though neither he or Prometheus understood exactly why. All they had known was that it had something to do with the scourge and that given Prometheus was essentially the polar opposite of the scourge, that it almost cancelled out his apparent ominous presence.
Superstitions were weird.
"Educational," the paler brother concluded as he glanced round. Their elder brother had disappeared again, he'd gone off with several of the guards to negotiate their exist from the pride lands. Not that it mattered, the guards at this border had no idea of what actually lay beyond and that there were other ways to get in and out. Prometheus was confident that if worst came to worse, Nyctimus would be able to lead them all out through another path, after all, he already seemed to possess knowledge that he and Epimetheus had not been privvy to. When they had a moment he was going to need to pick his father's mind in regards to that, he would have liked to understand Destati's motives at the very least. The white lion certainly understood that he had them and rarely acted without cause, but that didn't mean that his son was knowledgeable enough to find out on his own!
"How very diplomatic," Epimetheus shook his head. "The nobles are a disaster and the civilians seem to lack enough critical thinking to realise their entire way of life is a farce."
"Epimetheus..."
"Black lions, touched by the destroyer himself, destined to cause terror and strife. Really? It isn't like I planned to be this colour, I was born this way," the black lion snorted and examined his claws. "And I'm pretty sure that my mother isn't the bloody destroyer," he added, "Nor was she touched by him!"
"Religions are a strange thing, you should know that by now," Prometheus took a seat and coiled his tail around his paws. "It's not like we haven't met weird, religious prides, before," he pointed out and turned his gaze to observe his brother properly. "There's that godkilling one that lives near that beach that mother loves," he began. "Then the one with the crazy lions who like to take that hallucinogenic," he paused thoughtfully. "Then there's that pride that believes in one giant Moon Lion thing," he vaguely remembered Adar-malik explaining that to them as younglings. They hadn't understood something that a passing lion had said in regards to his reasons for retreating from those lands and exploring the outside world, but it seemed to involve slavery and some sort of lion god.
"And the ones that think they're demons," Epimetheus agreed. Perhaps they had encountered more odd lions in their time in this world, but that didn't mean that anything was quite as splintered and divisive as this. Based on Nyctimus's explanation, it seemed that those who had a cub unfortunate enough to be the wrong colour would simply cast them to the side and hope for their death. There was no love lost, no remorse, if it was the wrong colour then it needed to be disposed of and that was that. The black lion wasn't entirely sure he could accept this, it truly hadn't been his will that had made him this way and his mother had positively loved him as a cub - truth be told, she'd been absolutely fascinated with him and had called him a marvel. Granted, his own father had been reserved at his birth, but after a while even he had opened up to him... Epimetheus had now surmised that Destati's misgivings may have been due to the prevalent culture that existed here. Regardless, Epimetheus had little doubt that his father loved him dearly even if his appearance had come as a bit of a surprise.
"Exactly, I think it's safe to say that sometimes those things just don't make any sense, this is just on the extreme end," Prometheus smiled reassuringly.
"Mmm, well I think it's safe to say there's no real love lost between these folks and myself, is there?" Epimetheus waggled both eyebrows.
"I imagine when the truth comes out, you might become a subject of great interest," Nyctimus had returned, and with him, seemed to be a senior member of the guard. "However for now we've been granted permission to leave, sorry that took so long," he added as he waved his paw towards his company. "He swung by at the behest of one of the other Justicars, they got tired of having to confirm who I am so..."
"So...?"
"We're getting presents!" Nyctimus seemed oddly entertained by the prospect and both brothers exchanged glances at their elder sibling's enthusiasm.
"We?" Epimetheus asked finally.
"Well this particular gentleman now knows who we are and while he is sworn to secrecy, he considered it appropriate to allow us to get rid of the ******** paperwork," Nyctimus revelled in the surprise both his brothers showed at his language. The spotted lion had always been jokingly referred to as the serious one, the one without a sense of humour...and the one who had the best manners. What a surprise it was for both of his siblings to realise that he could have a foul mouth when he chose to, and quite frankly, he absolutely loathed obstacles. Getting in and out of this godforsaken pride had been filled with so many bureaucratic hoops to leap through that Nyctimus was confident he probably could have run for the politico and won. He had no intentions of doing so of course, but his straight talking, no nonsense demeanour, had certainly been appreciated by the peacekeepers of the region. He had respected their need to follow process, even if he thought it was ridiculous, and in return they had rewarded him. Well, the Justicar of this particular region seemed to have signed off on it, but it had been at the behest of this particular guard.
"Given we are defacto citizens of this fine land we're actually entitled to the necklaces."
"Which means you can get back in with only a few questions going forward," the guard offered helpfully. "The junior guards will remain unaware of -"
"Wait," Epimetheus interrupted. "What do you mean he knows who we are...?"
"I know who your father is," the guard replied simply and sook his head. "But as per your brother's extensive conversation with us, now is neither the time or the place to discuss your existence," he pointed out. "The pride is already in considerable turmoil and the revelation that you xist would cause far more turmoil than the pride can handle at this juncture."
"Smart man," Prometheus murmured quietly, to which Epimetheus nodded approvingly.
"As he was saying," Nyctimus smiled apologetically at their guest. "The junior guards will continue to quiz you upon entry in regards to who gave you permission to get in and who let you out, who you follow and so forth, but for the most part the major obstacles to entering the Al-Siq have been cleared."
"It should enable you to conduct whatever tasks your father seems to have assigned to you," the guard finished. "As the necklaces are specifically for your father's territory, it should also help to support your explanations," he added.
"Both the yellow and brown justicars have thrown their weight behind us as well, for the time being if we receive any resistance -"
"Of which you shouldn't."
"We can demand that they be contacted, but as mentioned, it should be unlikely based on the evidence that the guards will now be able to see that we possess," Nyctimus concluded.
"So we're good to go then?" Epimetheus asked as he took the amulet and examined it, by lion standards it was beautiful, though to a human it would no doubt be crude in quality. Prometheus appeared to be mirroring his reaction, and was undeniably impressed by what he had been given.
"We are, yes," Nyctimus nodded. "When you're ready of course."
"No time like the present," Prometheus worked to slip the amulet around his mane and smiled towards the guard. "You have our gratitude, you went above and beyond."
"It's been a pleasure," the guard replied. "Give the Justicar my regards and look after yourselves, if everything you've said is true, you'll need luck on your side."
"We have luck on our side," Epimetheus chuckled as he rose to his paws. "Wait until you meet our mother," he advised and began to walk towards the gates, the guard seemed confused but as Nyctimus shook his head, it seemed that it made better sense to dismiss the remark for now. Nevertheless, that wouldn't stop that senior guard from being curious for a considerable amount of time. After all, if the Justicar had found a mate out there in the Outlands, then she must have been special indeed...Words: 1574
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