|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 4:37 pm
 |
|
|
 |
It was surreal. It had been so long, lifetimes beyond counting, since she had first heard the voice of the ink-black god in her mind, a whisper seeping through unbidden. She didn't remember it clearly, not after so long, but the feeling had stayed with her, and came rushing back each time she heard him. She couldn't say how many times she'd heard the story, the plea, the plan, but she had no doubt that he remembered. Would he answer, if she asked, or evade the question, or laugh? Did he laugh? Probably not. Now and then, she'd gotten an impression of something like amusement, but never laughter. Not that she'd have felt much like laughing herself, were she in his position.
It struck her that very soon, she could be. If this went wrong, the possibilities for what could happen to them all were dire. Flung down and made mortal; killed, if not erased from existence entirely; imprisoned for the rest of eternity. And those were only the most obvious ones...perhaps a more creative fate would await them if someone screwed up. Aharu'kai was certain, at the very least, that it wouldn't be her. She could steal anything from anyone, her conviction in promising that had never wavered from one life to the next. But it was in this life that she would make good on that promise. She just hoped that it wouldn't be the last thing she ever did.
Thieves lay in shadow, a fair distance from her aunt and others as they prepared, and waited. Soon, now. Very soon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:01 pm
|
|
|
|
Time was a peculiar thing. It could be neither measured nor contained and it represented something different from soul to soul, from mortal to immortal. For Na'Ira it seemed both quick and endless, blinking by but stretching into eternity as far as she could fathom. She felt as if she had been waiting centuries, millennia, for her oldest alley to give her some sign that the time was upon them. Though she had never claimed patience as one of her virtues, she had been patient in this, if only for him. What he wanted to accomplish and the goals he had whispered quietly into her mind, year after year, would change everything for her.
Everything.
Of course, she had not exactly expected their call to action when she was carrying a litter of a mortal's get. It was an amusing bit of symbolism, she thought, or maybe just some great joke on his behalf. Did he makes jokes? She wasn't even certain, actually. She had known him from the beginning of her own existence and yet it seemed she knew nothing of him at all.
These thoughts and more swirled through her mind as she paced to and fro, back and forth, aimless but grounded as they worked. Her belly was swollen and growing by the day but her face was pensive, lacking its usual impish glow. Perhaps it was the impending motherhood or the gathering of gods that surrounded her but she seemed for once, thankfully, to have sobered while they lay their final plans. Even if she would have normally preferred to run off and taunt some unsuspecting soul, the goddess of Rebirth knew her place in this. She had been given her entire life to play meaningless games.
It was time to give her games meaning.
It was luck, mostly, that had her slinking through the shadows and running right into the trickster - one moment her eyes were focused on the ground as a torrent of thoughts whipped through her mind and the next they swung up to meet a golden pair, as if she had only just realized there was another being so close.
"Do you feel ready?" the words came, bold and sudden, as her brilliant sapphire eyes fixed on the mask that stared back from the shadows.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 6:31 am
|
|
|
|
It had been odd, meeting everyone officially, as allies. Their dealings with the dark guardian of the Gates had mostly been individual up until now, their involvement separate and secret. Even if they'd met before, in their current lives or past ones, they hadn't known each other for allies in this. It had been a shock to Aharu'kai to see her pale aunt among them, and deeply amusing to think that, for once, they were on the same side; not that they were enemies, not really...stealing might be 'wrong,' but it was not the sort of mortal sin Justice usually concerned herself with. To pursue thieves would be a waste of time when there were far worse criminals to focus on. Once the initial surprise and laughter had passed, she had to admit that her kin's involvement made sense. Their goal was to right the oldest of wrongs, after all...among other things.
As for her, she couldn't claim that her involvement was so fully selfless and noble. The challenge of it was at least half the reason she had agreed to this in the first place, and kept agreeing to it. If she could pull this off - when she pulled it off - it would be the greatest heist in history.
Aharu'kai lifted her head and blinked up at the red-orange goddess as she drew near. "Yes," she answered after a moment, pointedly surveying the other's condition. "Are you?"
Or would this be their weak point?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 6:55 pm
|
|
|
|
If Na'ira had been a different goddess perhaps she would have found Aharu's distrust offensive. Yet as she stood there next to the masked female and looked out at those that were gathered around them, whispering quietly among themselves with bent heads, she knew what she looked like. If the roles had been reversed and she had been presented with a pregnant ally at such a crucial moment in their plans, she too would have questioned their ability to contribute. Luckily, Na'ira never let much ever get her down.
"He does have an odd sense of timing, doesn't he?"
A weak smile pulled at her maw, caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance, before she sat next to the other and eased some of the weight off of her bones. It would not be long before the cubs were born and she knew where to find the father, at least. He seemed the sort of lion to stay rooted to his homelands.
"At this very moment, no, I am clearly not ready." Her eyes roved across the gods beyond them, some she knew and others she didn't, some that she could guess at having known in their former life. Being friends among gods was such a peculiar thing. "But I will be, by the time he needs me. These cubs do not mean so much as what we are trying to do, bless their souls."
A shrug rolled her shoulders at the sentence but it was every bit the truth she felt. Mortals were impermanent - their life would be a blink next to his machinations.
"Besides," her eyes swiveled back, two bright, impish blue pools that seemed to sparkle above her suddenly amused smile, "the grand opening feat is all in your paws, is it not?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:32 pm
|
|
|
|
"I wonder how much of a sense of time he has at all," she mused, gaze sweeping away into the distance again. That did beg the question of what made now the time to move, but what did she or any of them know? Precious little, which was doubtless by design. It was safer that way.
The way her fellow goddess spoke about her cubs was curious, though, and Aharu flicked an ear. Bless their souls, indeed. "They're mortal, I take it?"
There was no judgement in the question and assumed answer, as she'd had a litter of mortal children herself. Some time ago, now. To the question she received, she shrugged. "I suppose it is. Guess I'd better not ******** it up, huh?"
Felyn only...a million years later... sweatdrop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 1:28 pm
|
|
|
|
"Mmm, yes. Stormborn, I believe, is what their father called the pride. I'll find him once they're here." Would she have liked to raise them? Yes. Did she think she could afford such trivial wants? No. Vidar was a good enough male to take care of them on his own, though she would warn him, at least.
The blunt answer from Aharu made her laugh. She brought deep blue eyes back to the goddess, studying her and the nonchalant way she viewed such an important, universe-altering task. In the end, perhaps it was just that she had confidence in herself because she was the personification of her goals. Her own powers, existence, was crippled enough to leave her wondering what that must have felt like.
"Well, the rest of us will be there to help, or distract. Whichever."
Meepfur Now quiiiiite that long. Not quite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
