[PRP] Trials of love (Naani, Ebere, Isiike)

[Annchen]

Ebere had lost his nerve and changed his mind at least 50 times since yesterday. The catacombs were forbidden. Sacred. As a cub he had traded scray stories about the catacomb monsters with his siblings and playmates. He wondered if Naani remembered those stories. He wondered if she’d come. The sky was overcast, obscuring moonlight and starlight. Ebere thought his heart might beat right out of his ribcage.

But forbidden or not, childhood monsters or not, there was one big reason to why he stood here watching the pitch dark opening further ahead. If he didn’t do this, if he lost Naani forever... Well, he might just save everyone some time and crawl to his place in the catacombs to die.  

[MangoMeow]

She wasn't sure what she was doing here. For as much as she'd called him brainless earlier, she didn't think he was stupid enough to actually do this. No one was that desperate... right? Right!

... right...?

Shaking her head, Naani slunk further into the shadows. She'd calmed back down after her previous meltdown, though her heart still stung whenever she thought back on what their argument had been about, and now... No, she wasn't feeling guilty! What did she have to be guilty about? If he WAS stupid enough to do this, then, then.... Well, she didn't know, but she just... she wanted to see if he would go through with it. Either he was a coward and she was right to spit on his proposal, or he wasn't and.... hopefully he's a lucky idiot.

She ignored the twinge of guilt - there was nothing to be guilty about! - and worry that this was forbidden. The punishment would be severe if he got caught. So there was no way he would be foolish enough to do this.

Her thoughts derailed when she saw him standing ahead of her, staring at the entrance to the catacombs. He wasn't... he wasn't seriously going to do this, was he? Was he crazy!? She... she'd just wanted him to stop.... just wanted something to actually remind her of her parents.

In the end, she just curled her claws into the ground, not willing to stop him but having a sinking feeling that this...

... this was a mistake.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Ebere had tried his best to figure out what entrance to the catacombs was the least used one, and asked Naani to meet him there. Not that there would be anyone in there at this time of night. Probably. Hopefully. Except the bones, and absolutely no monsters whatsoever. Still, better be careful.

A movement in the corner of his eye nearly made him jump out of his skin. His body reacted before his mind could process that it was Naani. She’d come. He was embarrassed he’d acted like a scaredy cat and he slowly rose from his impulsive crouch.

He wasn’t sure what to say or if hus voice would even hold, so he met her eyes and nodded before slinking into the deeper darkness of the catacombs.

”See you,” he said, but it came out a whisper and he wasn’t sure she’d hear him.

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

Her ears flattened against her head as he turned towards her. She could see him muttering something to her - at least, she assumed it was to her - but he was too far away and it was said too quietly. The feeling of dread returned then, making her take a step forward to say something, do something...

But in the end, her voice caught in her throat. What did she care what he did with his life? What did she care if he was foolish enough to do something like this? It was his choice, his folly. He shouldn't have said all those things before so callously.

So why did she feel horror creeping up in her chest?

Finally, she'd opened her mouth to try and... and... well, she didn't know what she was going to say. But then it was too late. Naani watched him disappear into the catacombs.

Withering into herself, the lioness watched with wide eyes for a moment, before the sound of a nearby vulture cawing had her jumping in place. She didn't want to be here anymore. She didn't want to see if he came out of this alive. He'd... he'd come looking for her if he did anyway. And if he didn't.... She didn't want anyone to know she was involved.

Shivering, Naani gave one last small whine at the swallowing darkness of the catacombs, before turning tail and running.

Annchen

Naani out~

 

[Annchen]

Ebere was standing a few steps in, in the catacombs, staring into the deeper darkness. He didn't have much of a plan beyond "get in". No deity had struck him down for his insolence so he was probably ok for now. He didn't dare to relax, however. After counting heartbeats for a while he realised this was as good his night vision would get. He could see a couple strides ahead of him, but the only light source was what came in through the opening. From what he could see there was two darker areas that must be openings to chambers or corridors. Further in he wouldn't have any use of his eyes at all. He took a deep shaky breath, taking in the dry and old scent of the catacombs and slowly inched further in, picking the opening to the right.

After nearly walking face first into the wall where there was a turn in the corridor he slowed down even more. Only his whiskers had saved him from a flat nose. After what felt like forever he could feel a change in the air, and he somehow knew that he had entered a chamber of sorts. His surroundings just felt bigger somehow.

He sniffed the floor, getting a fat lot of nothing. He knew all families were supposed to have their own areas in the catacombs, but since being Amusu hadn't been a career choice he hadn't paid much attention beyond that. There would probably be some kind of mark for the area belonging to Uju, but even if it was right in front of him he wouldn't be able to see it. And even if it had been bright as day he wouldn't be able to make sense of any markings. The hopelessness of Ebere's mission hit him like a rockslide.

He nudged something with his foot and lowered his nose to investigate. A small bone, maybe? He crouched gingerly, patting the ground around the place where he'd found the small bone. He felt what could be a skeleton and the fur on his back rose. He very, very carefully kept feeling around, trying hard not to move the bones for now. He backed away slowly, trying to think. The last few bits had felt very much like pieces of a skull, so it couldn't be one of Naanis parents.

After patting the ground carefully to make sure he wasn't sitting on anyone he sat down to think. Naani's parents had their skulls on the family shrine, right? Why on earth would she need any more pieces of them again? Or had their souls left and he just hadn't kept up? His head spun, but he was here now, already breaking the law. What if he just borrowed a few bones from this fellow here... He or she was already departed. The skull was smashed, the soul was gone. Naani wouldn't know the difference, right?  

[Pearlyblue]

Isiike had completely lost track of time. Again. He realised this as he came around a bend and the deep darkness of the caves did NOT get just slightly brighter up ahead. It must already be night outside. This always happened when he was sorting bones: the hours just flew by. And today he'd had a particularly vexing time of it. One of the younger Amusu had MIXED UP three different skeletons, and he had let the useless waste of pelt know it. Then he had spent precious time that he COULD have used clearing out more rocks to sort the sacred bones out, AND an inordinately long time looking for a toe bone that had rattled away and fallen into a small crevasse.

He was really tired. Maybe he should just sleep in the catacombs tonight...

His ear twitched and suddenly his paws were rooted to the ground. He knew every sound and sigh around here, so the presence of something that did not belong felt like a claw in his gut. He stopped breathing, ears swiveling around. There it was again: a faint scuffle, shuffle... someone living was moving around in the chamber to the left of him. Another Amusu, doing some late-night work? No, it couldn't be. One, no one else was that dutiful, and two, that chamber was in perfect order.

Something darker than the deepest darkness of the caves stirred within him. It couldn't possibly be...?

He turned and sniffed the air. Yes. It was a lion. A living lion. And no, it wasn't any of the other Amusu.

He didn't even growl. The anger, the INSULT, was so thick that it caught in his throat and choked him. He just turned and softly but swiftly padded over to the chamber. He didn't need his eyes in here. Isiike was the unchallenged master of these caves, and he could pick out the size, position and even stance of the interloper just by his ears, nose and the general feeling in the air. The young lion in front of him seemed much more stumped by the darkness, he hadn't even noticed him yet. Just sat there, turned towards, but obviously not seeing, one of the skeletons. What. The. Hell. Was. He. Trying. To. Do?

Still silent as a vengeful ghost, he walked into the chamber, blocking the only exit with his tall, thin frame. He was just a tail's length away from the brat when he finally found his voice:

"You are trespassing on holy ground, whelp!" He growled quietly (in respect of the deceased in the room), and to punctuate his statement, he leveled a swing at the trespasser's head, intending to knock him over if he could. Isiike wasn't a young lion anymore, but his paws still had reach, and he probably had the element of surprise.  

[Annchen]

Ebere was still deep in thought and oblivious to the other living being stalking closer in the catacombs. Just as he had decided to just snag a bone and get out of there something caught his attention. He turned his head before grabbing Naanis token, trying to make sense of what he’d heard or maybe felt in the air. At that moment a voice erupted from the dead silence and he froze in place. A heartbeat later he took a blow to the side of his head and stumbled back, scared and confused.

He didn’t immediately realise who (or what) had hit him. His body screamed at him to flee, but he was disorientedand with no escape route he just froze again.

Pearlyblue

 

[Pearlyblue]

Isiike enjoyed the feel of a proper impact against his paw, but this was only the beginning for the trespasser. He heard by the way the other lion pulled in his breath, rather than saw, how young the interloper was, and something about that filled him with even more outrage.

"So this is how much respect we have for the resting dead these days, hm?" he growled, taking his time as he closed in on the boy. "You young pups don't care a whit about the ones that went before you, apparently." He aimed another swipe at the boy's head, this time from the other direction. "Or for traditions, rituals or any sodding RESPECT!"

He put a paw down heavily on what he hoped was the boy's shoulder, intending to pin him to the ground with his superior weight. His voice dropped to a dangerously velvety murmur. "Tell me, little brat. What were you going to do with those sacred bones, eh?"  

[Annchen]

Ebere's heart was beating so hard he thought it would burst, and he could somehow hear the blood rushing through his body. The sensation made him light headed and the thoughts that came to him were filled with horrible crypt monsters all the cubs used to tell scary tales about when he was little. It took an eternity before he could process what was happening and he was still frozen in indecision between fighting (how?) and fleeing (where?!). Wait. It wasn't a monster growling, it was one of the Amoosu. Oh, s**t. s**t s**t s**t. He was pretty sure they could magically see in the dark somehow, so he couldn't run or hide. Besides, he had no clue where walls or exits were located so he was out of luck either way. Even thinking of trying to fight made him feel ill at ease. Death would probably strike him down if he as much as looked at one of his priests wrong. This was way worse news than any crypt monster.

His ears were ringing and his mouth felt dry. When a heavy paw connected with his neck near the shoulder he just kind of... folded over. A dangerous voice whispered into his ear and every hair of his body prickled. Not answering was not an option, so he went with the standard answer of young creatures everywhere.

"Nothing," he wheezed.

Pearlyblue

Sorry for hibernating forever!