[META-SRP] An Unavoidable Truth (Thalyssra x Soleil)

[Epine de Rose]

 

[Epine de Rose]

[Any Bahari'mtoto nearby would have overheard this conversation and are free to make what they want of the conversation, though the descriptions remain brief at best in regards to certain subjects!]

"You seem pensive," Soleil was doing her best; it was an attempt to make the best of a bad situation in which there was no real way to deny that something was very wrong. Never in all her days had she seen an exodus like this, and even those much older than her now made reference to it being rather unheard of. While the sea was calm and crystal clear, it seemed that unrest was stirring towards the land, and the safest place for them now was by the very thing that sustained them. Nevertheless it had not been lost on her that some of the outsiders that had come to rest within their lands had experienced a sudden shift in demeanour.

"That would be because I am," Thalyssra replied after a few moments of consideration. She had been reassured that they had been safe here, far from the reaches of the Scourge and yet even she knew what was to come. She had seen him rise from the ashes, a white lion long assumed dead. Spectre had been a vision of pure madness when she had stumbled upon him the first time, and yet as she had watched the Bahari tend to him, she had seen him wake up. He'd been a legend in some circles, with the highest echelons of the Politico aware that this particular lion had been one to flick the dominoes over and start the next war.

It hadn't been his fault, the Scourge had done as they always did and targeted an community that had the lions they identified to be of importance. It had been through fate alone that he had been born as he was, the colour he was, and therefore ripe for harvest. However, somehow he had avoided their culling, it had failed... and he had escaped. What had occurred after that was all too familiar to a pride that saw nothing but an endless cycle of war. The Scourge that had once been quiet began to resurface in greater numbers and within months...the Black Justicar's lands had become devoid of life as the living fled the area and left only an army in their wake to stem the tide of what was to come.

For the longest time she had assumed that the flow had been dammed and held in place by the iron fists of the Black Justicar, unwavering and well used to subjugating and surpressing the scourge each time they resurfaced, they had been extraordinarily quick to act... but it seemed that somehow, the scourge had gotten out. At this particular moment in her life she would have much preferred to be at home and under the scrutiny of the nobles who would rather like to see her dead. After all, a Politico knew how to dodge an assassins knife, but they couldn't combat something they couldn't see.

She'd never seen a phantom, she'd only heard stories; and more often than not these didn't end favourably. She'd seen more dead in her time, more injured in her career, than she had seen successes. To say that she didn't have much confidence in this group of outsiders was an understatement. They might have battled normal foes, but they'd never battled wraiths, and if the Justicars couldn't keep them surrounded then who in the gods' names could?

"We'll be all right," Soleil motioned with her paw towards the guards, as well as the Vikings that were nearby. It seemed that the Vikings in question were in deep discussion with the guards. Grave as their expressions might have been, there was a quiet determination upon each of their faces. Whatever topic had been raised had their complete concentration and while the Bahari were not known for war, Soleil was of the view they could do just fine when they were truly tested. Call it a gut feeling, but the ocean was favourable today and it showed no signs of changing...to the Bahari lioness, that meant that they would be safe.

"I wish I had your confidence," Thalyssra shook her head. "But I am all too aware of what is headed our way and there is nothing that can stop it," she remarked. Soleil lifted a brow and the blue lioness released a small sigh, delicate but still filled with the weight of the world. Tethys might have been vague about what they would face, but this might have been because he simply didn't know how to describe it. The Politico was of the opinion that a nation about to experience the brutality of the scourge should know their opposition.

"The bad lions," Soleil shrugged her shoulders loosely. "These Vikings have been here before and back then they indicated that they were after something dangerous, if they're back... I'd assume that means its here."

"They are here," Thalyssra corrected. "They are known as the Scourge to us, though they refer to themselves as Phantoms. They hail from our land and it is safe to say they are very far from home," she explained. "They are something we have fought for generations, an unending cycle and a desperate attempt to ensure their goals never come to fruition. However their tenacity, their ability to survive, is truly beyond my comprehension," she grimaced. "We have never won a war, not really," she confessed. "Our Justicars have done well to surpress them, to quell and push them back into the depths of their warrens and yet they always find a way to come back... They always have more numbers."

She paused.

"You can't smell them, you can't see them... at least you can't until it's too late. When they come for you, it is absolute, and you will not walk away from it," she uttered. The fear was evident in her voice, she truly had no ability to defend herself and though she was loathe to admit it now, if they ordered her to submit... She might very well find herself kneeling as they came for the pale lioness beside her. Though she wasn't pristine in colour, she could be close enough for them to take note and Thalyssra doubted she had the courage to stop them; not at the expense of her own life.

"If there was no way to stop them, then you wouldn't have stopped them so many times," Soleil pointed out gently.

"That's the point, we have never stopped them," Thalyssra replied. "The Justicars have, and there are no Justicars here," she stated. "Not a single one..." she whispered. "And these lions believe they can face off against something they have never fought before, it is always their arrogance that kills them and proves nothing."

Soleil grimaced. She might have been too young to shoulder the world's burdens, but as she gazed towards the guards of her own home and the heavily scarred forms of the Vikings beside them... she suspected that on this occasion, their protectors weren't going in to this blind. The Bahari might be, but there was something about the demeanour of the Vikings that told a very different story. They had looked these creatures in the eye, and she got the distinct impression they had either won or they'd gotten damn near close.

"Your pride had to start somewhere," Soleil remarked, exhibiting a calmness that impressed even her. "And they managed to survive long enough to figure it out," she added and shook her head. "We'll do the same."

Thalyssra provided her with a long stare.

"Such confidence," she murmured gently.

"The ocean is calm," Soleil replied and turned her gaze back towards Thalssyra. "If we were truly approaching the end of our days, it would look much darker... It won't let us come to harm."

Ah, but the superstitions of other prides.. At any other time Thalyssra would have been fascinated to delve deeper, but she could do nothing more than gaze at the crystal clear and seemingly still ocean. While the waves continued to lap gently against the shore, there was something eerily quiet about where they stood and this really didn't help to settle her nerves. The only thing that would settle them were reassurances that the Bahari'mtoto were safe, and the Scourge had dissipated - but she'd seen these battles before and she knew how they tended to end.

She'd be saying farewells to more than a few fallen forms by the morning, she would put all her wealth on it.

Word Count: 1,412