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 Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:39 am
The day was warm, a feature that was always present in the peaceful lands of the Pridelanders. Lately, Palesa was finding herself summoned by the winds, as if her journey was not yet complete. Always she felt that by living in the pridelands, she had a new home, and yet now the winds were calling elsewhere, asking her to move north even to a new land.
The adult would have jumped to the occasion of traveling once more, feeling the breeze across her pelt and even dancing through the grasses of the lands. However, three young figures were holding her back, as well as an adult who needed her protection from his deepest of fears. Her cubs were young, and the peace kept them safe from devil himself. The lands were their home, and while she waned to be selfish, Palesa forced herself to stay.
Because the winds were growing more restless, the lioness seemed to grow cold to those around her, and curl back near the protective rock of the lands. There, the winds were unable to taunt her, unable to call out and demand she answer. There, she was free from their torment, though she sacrificed her freedom and energy instead.
Letting out a deep sigh, the adult shifted again in the dead air of her cave, looking out to the sunlight and wishing she could spend a day running across the lands once again, going wherever her senses demanded.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:51 am
Ivie stirred from where she had been curled up tight in the den, wakening only to the sound of a sigh. Her mother's sigh. Ivie had always been a light sleeper and it didn't take much to wake her - possibly because she was jumpy and afraid of being approached.
Being careful not to disturb anyone else who might have been asleep in the gloom the little cub crept up to lay alongside her mother. Ears folded back and expression somewhat sad. It was obvious something was bothering her.
"Mummy..." Her small voice sounded squeaky and for a moment it looked like she might have drawn closer to the pale green lioness. The two looked so similar but in truth they were quite different inside.
Where Palesa craved adventure, to roam free and tied down to nothing, all Ivie wanted was to be settled and secure. She cared nothing for the outside world, only for staying here with her family and the couple of friends she had made.
"What are you thinking?" She asked, letting her eyes trail up to her mother's thoughtful face.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:01 am
Ear flickering at the movement of her youngest, Palesa just glanced out of the corner of her eye to her daughter before looking back out into the sunlight once more. It was still early, though most of the lions liked sleeping in until well into the day. However, she was different, and already her rogue soul craved to be out in the light and breating in the breeze.
Turning her head as soon as the first words were said, she just blinked with her soft brown eyes and did nothing else. It was very much apparent that her youngest detested the feel of others on her pelt, though Palesa had no idea why. Not one to recoil from the actions, she saw that in the soft green eyes of her daughter still was a love that shone strong without words or movements.
"I am thinking about my past Ivie, my past well before my settlement here and my meeting of your father..." Speaking in a soft, breeze-like tone that she was known for, Palesa trailed off and decided not to worry her daughter over her own personal needs. At the moment, all she had to worry about was her cubs, and raising them to become strong just as she, and pure just as Na-be.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:05 am
She smiled softly up at her mother, blinking her emerald eyes that shone like newly polished gems. "Your past?" Ivie didn't know much about her mother or her father, in fact they seemed not to talk about the past that much.
She knew they both must have had stories to tell but she also knew that perhaps some of them brought sadness.
"Are you sad here mummy?" She asked. Her father seemed sad too...was everyone unhappy?
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:16 am
Nodding at the question, Palesa shifted again until her head was resting on her paws, a lot like a dog might do when he was resting. Yet again, a sigh escaped from her maw and she just closed her eyes, a serene action of pure relaxation in the hear, though it did little to sooth her senses.
"..." She opened her eyes slowly at the second question, before raising her head and looking directly to her daughter with slight surprise lacing her brown eyes, "It is difficult to say, my dear."
Softly, mumbling it out, Palesa contained her vocie dispite the fact that it always was soft, "You see, there are many things in this world that make me happy, and yet many that make me sad. I have lived in a place of peace, and made a very close friend with your father, and yet dispite the peace darkness has also fallen across the scape and proven that the sheild is growing weak."
"You must not worry about that, " She added quickly, though smiled still, "Dispite the darkness, I gained three shimmering rays of love and hope, that have helped me build through the shadows and drive them away. You my daughter, are one of the three, along with your siblings. As long as you three are close to my side and safe in these lands, there is no darkness that can make it to my heart."
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:27 am
Ivie listened to her mother's words, her ears turning to focus upon her mother. The lioness always came across as wise and knowledgable about everything, she was definately one to talk to about anything and everything.
"I'll never leave you!" Ivie chirped, shuffling a little closer. Thougts of life without her parents made her desperately unhappy and there was no way she wanted to live without them. "I like it here and I don't want to leave. I'd only leave if you and daddy did."
She nodded firmly and swished her golden-tipped tail to curl about her.
"There's something else I want to ask...about daddy." Her eyes flickered back and forth. "About daddy being a seer..." She sniffed. "Are you a seer too mummy?" She desperately hoped that Palesa wasn't, though why she wasn't sure, maybe because she knew it brought sadness and she didn't wish that upon the lioness who had birthed her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:37 am
Chuckling softly, Palesa just smiled lightly and nodded, "Yes, I know you will try and make sure you won't leave...but this world has grown dark and I fear always for your safety, just as any mother should. It just shows how much I indeed love you, my dearest Ivie."
Seeing her come closer still, Palesa hid the pain well with the knowlage that she couldn't touch her daughter, knowing that it brought the young one pain as well. Looking to the side, she closed her eyes a second before taking a deep breath and setting in a firm smile once more. She would push away all thoughts of pulling her daughter close, for as long as she could see the soft pelt, she would happy.
Turning at the second part, she nodded, "Feel free to ask me anything, Ivie, for I am here to help you learn and understand, and I will never scorn your questions or push you away," Brightening her smile at that true statement, she figured the other would ask why Na-be was so silly, or forgetful, or just plan cub-ish. The male was a perfect father in her opinion, someone to go to when in need of a friend, or a warm figure to go to. While she had her smarts from travels, Na-be had his warmth from love.
"A...seer?" She echoed softly, stunned by the question dispite her words, and yet her face smoothed over not a second later and the same warm smile crossed her maw, "You must be speaking of your father's dreams, his visions. Yes, Na-be is a seer in that sense, he sees things that no one else can, and odds are it is because of his father who passed that down to him."
Figureing it out suddenly with the akwardness of her daughters posture, Palesa let out a soothing purr, "I take it you heard about his dreams, and his gift. Your father has visions of the future, the past, and events that spiral around the present. When I first met him, he saw our rock as being endouced in flames, though I knew it were not true. I think that most of what he sees is false, because he has yet to perfect his skill, and yet he has seen truth. It is a gift with downsides and upsides, and depending on how one looks at it through their life, it can be a curse or a blessing. Your father has chosen for it to be a blessing, though he has yet to accep the the gift, he has learned to live with it."
Turning to the second question, she let out a laugh at that, "And no, I am not a seer. What gave you that idea?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:45 am
"I'm going to keep out of the dark!" Ivie chirped happily, "the sun is much better anyway!"
However as her mother began to explain about her father Ivie fell quiet again, a solemn expression on her face as she listened. She was so glad that her mother would tell her anything she wanted and felt guilty again about being angry at her for keeping secrets.
Her ears drooped a little with shame but she still paid great attention to what her mother was saying. "Yes...I met someone who knew daddy, they told me he was a seer. I didn't believe it at first but..." She sniffed, "mummy...I got that dark gift from daddy. Do...do you think he could take it away? Or maybe his daddy could?" She knew it was oubtful, but if there was any scrap of hope left she wanted it.
She wanted to be able to cuddle up with her mother not stand with a barrier between them. "I don't want to be blessed mummy, I want to be normal." She paused only to let a small sob pass and then gave her mother a watery smile.
"Well cos you're so wise! You know everything!" There was clear admiration in Ivie'lingwa's tone.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:55 am
Listening and thinking over the idea of someone who knew Na-be, Palesa got the strange feeling that Mrost had to do with it, and was suddenly thankful that all of her family was located in the safety of pride rock. As long as they were on the rock, there was no way for the god to harm them, as it was proven the last time she faced the monster. He couldn't get Red on the rock, and he couldn't harm her as well, though he tried so hard to.
She still felt the pain of his armor slamming into her skull.
Yet, when Ivie said that she got the gift, Palesa just looked onward towards the light, still listening to every word and yet letting the youth let it all out. She thought it was dark, thought already that it was a curse, though Palesa had a different idea in mind.
"What is normal anyway?" Palesa asked darkly, "We are not normal Ivie, we are not golden like the rest of the pride, we are pale green and royal blue, those are not normal colors. And yet, people don't hate us for it, they envy us, they envy our skills of hiding in the brush that is green, or near the royal blue waters. We are not normal, and yet we are skilled and survive. There is little normal left in this world, and yet, I would rather be green, or pink, or bright purple instead of normal anyday."
"And you know why?" She asked softly, "Because than I know, I know that all around me lion are different and unique, their personalities that are hidden under pelts shine through. While each lion is different, some have hid their personalities under a pelt, and yet we show it off as we should, so people know. We are different, and yet, we are accepted."
Moving closer, her fur almost brushed her daughter's, and yet she did nothing to pull back, she understood.
"Remember what I said, Ivie, remember that I said it is up to you to make your gift a blessing or a curse. There is no way to get rid of the sight, but there is a way to live with it. All around these lands, there are prides who have special rankings for seers, for they are seen as the highest, they are seen as the direct advisors to the gods. A gift like that is something I would never pass up, for as I listen to winds, I don't hear the gods. But you do, and I envy you for that my daughter. I want to be like you."
Pausing, she lowered her voice and her eyes, "I think I understand now why you shy away so much, but I want you to know, I want you to understand that you cannot be afraid any longer. As long as we are together, I will help you through this, I will help you understand." And with that, she moved her paw and pulled her daughter close, her eyes laced with tears as she let out a soft purr.
"I am sorry..."
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:05 am
And listening to her mother's words Ivie found herself becoming stronger and more hopeful than ever before.
A brilliant love swelled within her chest until she thought it would burst and her eyes filled with tears of terrific relief.
She was right, ever so right! "I'm proud of my pelt mummy because I take after you. Everywhere we go they'll all know that I'm your daughter. I'm glad we stand out, I'm glad we aren't like normal pridelanders."
In her excitement she did not notice that her mother brushed closer and to be honest she probably wouldn't have cared. She felt on top of the world right now, so light and care-free. She nodded again at her mother's words, her eyes locked upon the elder lioness' ones.
"But I don't know any Gods mummy! How can I be a proper seer if I don't know any to talk to?"
She sniffed then and felt the gap between them close and with a small squeak she was embraced by her mother. The gesture was so loving and so happy and with the contact there came no pain and no suffering. No, instead there was joy and the fleetest of happy visions fluttered through the back of her mind. She paid it no heed however, all she knew was her mother's touch and the feeling of finally being safe and sound.
"It's okay mummy." She wiped her face against her mother's fur to rid her eyes of tears. "I love you.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:12 am
Laughing lightly at her daughters confessions of her pelt, Palesa decided not to say it was a metaphore, and just let it go with a nod, "Yes, and I am proud to share my pelt with you, there is no one else I would want to help more than my children, and to pass down my pelt onto them is a blessing itself, and Na-be feels the same way with his darling Vitashki."
Palesa wasn't one to miss things, for she knew that the other siblings had issues as well, little ones that could easily grow. Kikore felt unloved by both of his sisters, with Vit being a bit of a cold girl and Ivie not wanting to touch anyone. Vit herself probably felt left out with the strange pelt that matched her grandfather's, something Palesa feared much more than anything.
"I am glad too, I am glad we are a family and can live together with eachother, though always remember, you are accepted in your home, and accepted by your family. Please don't forget." And with that, she purred and pulled her cub closer, happy she didn't pull away at all.
"Ivie, there is no need for you to feel that you are not proper, it is your pace which you learn from. You are still young, and still getting used to your powers in search to control them. Just go at your own pace, and you will make it through. Rushing only makes things worse, and ultimatly slower."
Settling her head down next to her daughter's, she lightly licked the small cheek and smiled with shimmering brown eyes, "I love you too, I will always love you, even if we part, you will always be in my heart and I will always accept you when you return. Your have a home with me, with your family."
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