Post by Therdde on May 17, 2010 14:59:48 GMT -5
Characters:
Skelaghe - Elder Female Wolf
Toyo - Juvenile Male Cougar
Paoro - Female Cougar Spirit
- Lone Crabapple Tree -
At least the weather is starting to warm. Skelaghe's fur has continued to thin, much too soon in the winter season, allowing the still-frozen ground to draw much of her warmth from her. The elderly wolf is uncomfortable as she lies on the ground, her head covered by her thin forelegs. Despite that lack of comfort, she is sleeping, though it's anyone's guess as to how deeply. Her ears flick regularly, and she responds to gusts of wind by moving slightly. Of course, given that it has been months since hunger started to prevent her from sleeping too well, this is really nothing new, and her eyes never open even if she might not be sleeping very deeply.
There is a source of warmth for the old wolf, though, in the form of a young cougar just showing the first hints of gangly growth that no doubt will erupt come springtime. He's curled up against Skelaghe, appearing to be sleeping as she is, though he is clearly dreaming with the restless twitch of whiskers, ears, and toes and even the occasional tap of his tail. After a long story about his kind, the not-so-much-a-kitten dosed off, and he hasn't moved since.
Dreams are often strange and funny things, varying from the happiest of wonderlands to the most terrifying of nightmares, and sometimes incomprehensible puzzles carrying hidden messages within them. This one is no different; perhaps even more unusual as it appears to be identical to the sleeping pair's waking state -- the leafless and fruitless crabapple tree nearby, the frost blanketing the ground, and both wolf and cougar present in what appears to be a uniquely shared dream. Even with the dream appearing to mirror reality, however, something is different...something as yet intangible, unseen, incomprehensible...at least until the shimmering figure approaching from the horizon draws closer, coming into focus as it draws nearer the two, taking the shape of a mature female mountain lion.
Skelaghe might have remained where she was for hours. Certainly, upon "waking", Skelaghe feels no better rested, and she finds her movements more sluggish than she would expect. They consist of little more than her lifting her head as something comes into sight even before she believes she has opened her eyes. It makes sense to her that the creature seems blurry, at first, but as it forms into a full-grown cougaress, she takes notice, and in her mind, if no where else, she pulls herself to her feet.
Even if the she-wolf doesn't physically stir, in the dream-world Toyo becomes aware of movement, and slowly his eyes open. For all he grows, his eyes remain those of a kitten, blue rimmed only in the faintest adult amber. However, as he squints and regards the area, the faint itch at the back of his neck gives him pause. It's that nagging realization that this isn't normal, and to Toyo who's felt it many a'times, also familiar. He raises up his gaze to the elder wolf and then to the approaching figure, and there's an expression of worry in his eyes. Slowly, he rises up onto his paws, hackling bristling as he shies behind Skelaghe. "...are we dead?" He mutters to her, eyes fixating on the approaching cougar.
As the cougaress closes the distance between herself and the resting pair, certain features can be noticed a bit more clearly...at least as well as her ethereal form can be defined, the spirit's shape flickering and occasionally shifting towards a translucent state, emphasizing the dream-like nature of the situation. There is a marking on her shoulder, a red swirling figure, and a pair of crimson splotches on her forehead and chest, but aside from these distinctions, she is otherwise unmarred by scars or other blemishes. Her expression is a soft one, the ghost clearly not a wrathful one, and she turns her smiling gaze towards first Skelaghe, who may recognize the old cougaress, and then the young boy when he utters his fearful question. "No, you are not." Her answer is simple, and she doesn't bother to explain that she /is/ - there are more important matters to discuss. "I am Paoro. Skelaghe may remember me from times of old. You, however, may learn more of me and my kind yet, Toyo." Glancing to the elder wolf and back again, she inquires: "Tell me, young one, have you been told of the Amaranth, the mountain tribe?"
The young cougar's question gives Skelaghe pause. More than enough pause that Paoro, thankfully, answers the question for Skelaghe, since the old wolf clearly didn't have the answer. For all she knew, they were dead, though this would not have been quite what she would have expected to find, in death. She remembers Paoro well enough, in a foggy sort of way, and she has no doubt that, while she and Toyo may still be alive... the cougaress is not, and that, more than anything else, keeps Skelaghe from jumping in to answer the question that was not directed toward her.
"Oh." Toyo responds simply as his fur flattens, looking relieved. "I dream a lot of dead ones, but, never been here with someone who was still alive." He mumbles as he briefly nudges his head gently into the shoulder of Skelaghe as if reassuring himself she's still there, at least for a short while longer. His expression then turns back to Paoro, an ear twitching as he takes in the name and her words. "I heard of them." He answers the spirit, though his voice sounds uncertain. "Not alot. They're a long way away from here, and... I don't /think/ my mamma knew about them. I don't remember her saying anything." And there's a brief glance passed beyond Paoro, ears cautiously cupping forward, his eyes searching for something that he knows isn't there. "...she wouln't come, will she? She never does."
Paoro simply smiles at the juvenile's response, the ageless shamaness not finding the statement odd in the slightest. Listening to the rest of Toyo's words before she responds, her pleasant expression saddened somewhat by the young boy's question and self-answer. "I must admit I am not familiar with your mother, young one. But I come with the promise of a new family..." she pauses, glancing over to Skelaghe for a poignant moment before continuing, "...a family of your own kind. Other cougars who would understand, appreciate, and encourage your special links to the spiritual realm." Not that Ute does not, of course, but the shamaness naturally means no offense. She stops again, looking around for a brief moment as though having just remembered something. "But this message is not just for you, Toyo. The one known as Ashen carries Amaranth blood within him, though he was lost to us while just a cub. Both of you belong there."
What Paoro says hurts more than Skelaghe would have expected it to. Given that here, in this place, she has been untroubled by hunger and aging joints, the pain that she /does/ feel is just that much sharper. Not for Toyo, so much. It was not long ago that she told Survivor that they could not further hobble the boy by expecting him to behave as a wolf would. Rather, for Ashen, who, so far as Skelaghe is concerned, has never been meant for Amaranth. Indeed, Skelaghe would never believe it, were it not for the nature of the one telling her. Even with her willingness to believe it, now, she cannot help but put up some token resistance. "We have been Ashen's sanctuary from Amaranth. More than once, I have risked myself against Amaranth cougars to keep him safe." And she will yet. Though she can hardly fight against a dead cougar, she would keep herself in the way of Ashen learning what has been said. That is not what she really wants, though. Despite her pain and anger, she /wants/ to know Ashen
will be cared for, once she passes.
Toyo looks perplexed as he regards Paoro, his tail jerking side to side in his restlessness. No doubt he has questions, they're plain on his face, but his eyes turn to Skelaghe first. He knows of Ashen's injuries, but never how he got to be that way, and Toyo never saw need to ask. There was always the sense it wasn't a story willing to be told. "...I can look after him." He says with the simple honesty of the young. "He's helped me. I can help him." He looks then to Paoro, "Who are you, anyway? You said you're from Amaranth? How can they help me?"
"I have no doubt that you have raised the boy well since he found his way here, Skelaghe...indeed, how you raised the both of them, motherless and alone and in need of guidance. Truly, you were just as much their mother as their own, regardless of your fundamental differences." Paoro's reply is calm, her peaceful demeanor unruffled by the she-wolf's protests. "Even so. Amaranth is a sanctuary in its own right, and while mistakes have been made and grievances been endured, as with any other pack or tribe or herd, it remains such nonetheless. It is Ashen's home, and it calls to him. A kindred spirit awaits him there, one he knows well from his earliest of days, even if he cannot recall her now. Perhaps he shall finally find solace there." Paoro's mystically obscured words are in fact referring to the reincarnated soul of his deceased mother; the cougaress then turns her pupil-less focus back to Toyo at his questions. "I am Paoro, founding mother and shamaness of the Amaranth tribe, and grandmother of Nayeli, the current matron. As for how they can help you..." The cougaress pauses once more, a faintly amused smile appearing on her maw before she finishes: "Well, perhaps you can help /them/."
If it were in Skelaghe's mind to truly fight, what Paoro said would not have mattered at all. Since, however, what she wanted was reassurance, and especially reassurance from someone she could trust... Tired, even here, where she shouldn't be, Skelaghe sits beside Toyo and says to him, quietly, "You will both have my blessing, Toyo." She will not tell them they /have/ to go. She can't, for her own sorrows. If she were to be honest, though, she is surprised by how the beleif that Ashen, at least, /should/ go. After all, what will be left here for him, once she dies? Especially if Toyo is to leave?
Toyo remains beside Skelaghe, resisting the urge to lean against the frail old wolf like he would not long ago, not just because he could topple her but also because he's hardly a little kitten anymore. Instead, he just lays his tail across her's, a touch meant to reassure and offer quiet thanks for her support. "Me? Help /them/?" The young cougar asks, sounding incredulous despite his conscious effort to remain polite in the face of such an important presence. When he continues, it's not without a bit of adopted titles, no doubt an influence from time spent with Siwa. "Mistress Paoro.... I... I don't understand. What can I do for a whole tribe?"
Paoro continues to smile, the saged shamaness aware of the usual responses to her tendency to talk in mystical riddles. "Only the wisest spirits know that, young Toyo, and only time will tell. But unless you try, you will never know what you are capable of." The ghostly figure shifts her weightless body out of old habit, her wispy tail curling around her frame. "Both you and Ashen should reunite with your own kind," the cougaress repeats, reemphasizing her earlier words.
Toyo lets out a long breath, familiar with the frustrating nature of departed spirits. Either shockingly forward or frustratingly elusive, none can ever seem to just be normal and straight-forward. And he knows better than to try and argue with them. "Alright. I'll go. I guess Ashen will know the way." He remarks as he regards Paoro, his mind wandering to the unknown lands of the Amaranth and what he might find. Might he hope to discover something of his own history? Is there even anything to find? "...should I look for anyone there?"
Paoro continues to smile while Toyo speaks, patiently waiting with only the slightest flickering movements of her undefined frame. "I think you will discover who you are meant to meet," she answers afterwards, no less vague than any of her answers before. "When you both are ready, you will know the way to go." With that, the dream-spirit shifts effortlessly onto her paws, not quite touching the ground even as she does so. "Farewell, my friends." With a final bow to the pair, Paoro turns towards the horizon, padding off some distance before her already shimmering form becomes even fuzzier, and then fades away entirely.
Skahla does not attempt to interupt the form of Paoro. The most she does, for a long while, is listen to and watch Toyo and the now-fading form of Paoro. Before the silence has a chance to grow uncomfortable, her eyes flick open for a second time as she wakes once more. As she finds herself suddenly lying down again, she has to narrow her eyes in order to convince herself that there is no remnant of the cougaress in the distance.
Toyo only nods to Paoro's words, knowing no more direct answer is forthcoming except for actually going on the journey itself. Even as he watches the shamaness' spirit pass into the unfocused distance, he feels the familiar weight of the real world, that heavy, warm wet blanket that shuts out the visions and makes him aware of things like his own heartbeat and breath. Slowly he opens his eyes, his real eyes, and raises up his eyes to Skelaghe. What he says is simple enough, but weighted with the upcoming changes. "I guess I have some folks to talk to."
Skelaghe - Elder Female Wolf
Toyo - Juvenile Male Cougar
Paoro - Female Cougar Spirit
- Lone Crabapple Tree -
At least the weather is starting to warm. Skelaghe's fur has continued to thin, much too soon in the winter season, allowing the still-frozen ground to draw much of her warmth from her. The elderly wolf is uncomfortable as she lies on the ground, her head covered by her thin forelegs. Despite that lack of comfort, she is sleeping, though it's anyone's guess as to how deeply. Her ears flick regularly, and she responds to gusts of wind by moving slightly. Of course, given that it has been months since hunger started to prevent her from sleeping too well, this is really nothing new, and her eyes never open even if she might not be sleeping very deeply.
There is a source of warmth for the old wolf, though, in the form of a young cougar just showing the first hints of gangly growth that no doubt will erupt come springtime. He's curled up against Skelaghe, appearing to be sleeping as she is, though he is clearly dreaming with the restless twitch of whiskers, ears, and toes and even the occasional tap of his tail. After a long story about his kind, the not-so-much-a-kitten dosed off, and he hasn't moved since.
Dreams are often strange and funny things, varying from the happiest of wonderlands to the most terrifying of nightmares, and sometimes incomprehensible puzzles carrying hidden messages within them. This one is no different; perhaps even more unusual as it appears to be identical to the sleeping pair's waking state -- the leafless and fruitless crabapple tree nearby, the frost blanketing the ground, and both wolf and cougar present in what appears to be a uniquely shared dream. Even with the dream appearing to mirror reality, however, something is different...something as yet intangible, unseen, incomprehensible...at least until the shimmering figure approaching from the horizon draws closer, coming into focus as it draws nearer the two, taking the shape of a mature female mountain lion.
Skelaghe might have remained where she was for hours. Certainly, upon "waking", Skelaghe feels no better rested, and she finds her movements more sluggish than she would expect. They consist of little more than her lifting her head as something comes into sight even before she believes she has opened her eyes. It makes sense to her that the creature seems blurry, at first, but as it forms into a full-grown cougaress, she takes notice, and in her mind, if no where else, she pulls herself to her feet.
Even if the she-wolf doesn't physically stir, in the dream-world Toyo becomes aware of movement, and slowly his eyes open. For all he grows, his eyes remain those of a kitten, blue rimmed only in the faintest adult amber. However, as he squints and regards the area, the faint itch at the back of his neck gives him pause. It's that nagging realization that this isn't normal, and to Toyo who's felt it many a'times, also familiar. He raises up his gaze to the elder wolf and then to the approaching figure, and there's an expression of worry in his eyes. Slowly, he rises up onto his paws, hackling bristling as he shies behind Skelaghe. "...are we dead?" He mutters to her, eyes fixating on the approaching cougar.
As the cougaress closes the distance between herself and the resting pair, certain features can be noticed a bit more clearly...at least as well as her ethereal form can be defined, the spirit's shape flickering and occasionally shifting towards a translucent state, emphasizing the dream-like nature of the situation. There is a marking on her shoulder, a red swirling figure, and a pair of crimson splotches on her forehead and chest, but aside from these distinctions, she is otherwise unmarred by scars or other blemishes. Her expression is a soft one, the ghost clearly not a wrathful one, and she turns her smiling gaze towards first Skelaghe, who may recognize the old cougaress, and then the young boy when he utters his fearful question. "No, you are not." Her answer is simple, and she doesn't bother to explain that she /is/ - there are more important matters to discuss. "I am Paoro. Skelaghe may remember me from times of old. You, however, may learn more of me and my kind yet, Toyo." Glancing to the elder wolf and back again, she inquires: "Tell me, young one, have you been told of the Amaranth, the mountain tribe?"
The young cougar's question gives Skelaghe pause. More than enough pause that Paoro, thankfully, answers the question for Skelaghe, since the old wolf clearly didn't have the answer. For all she knew, they were dead, though this would not have been quite what she would have expected to find, in death. She remembers Paoro well enough, in a foggy sort of way, and she has no doubt that, while she and Toyo may still be alive... the cougaress is not, and that, more than anything else, keeps Skelaghe from jumping in to answer the question that was not directed toward her.
"Oh." Toyo responds simply as his fur flattens, looking relieved. "I dream a lot of dead ones, but, never been here with someone who was still alive." He mumbles as he briefly nudges his head gently into the shoulder of Skelaghe as if reassuring himself she's still there, at least for a short while longer. His expression then turns back to Paoro, an ear twitching as he takes in the name and her words. "I heard of them." He answers the spirit, though his voice sounds uncertain. "Not alot. They're a long way away from here, and... I don't /think/ my mamma knew about them. I don't remember her saying anything." And there's a brief glance passed beyond Paoro, ears cautiously cupping forward, his eyes searching for something that he knows isn't there. "...she wouln't come, will she? She never does."
Paoro simply smiles at the juvenile's response, the ageless shamaness not finding the statement odd in the slightest. Listening to the rest of Toyo's words before she responds, her pleasant expression saddened somewhat by the young boy's question and self-answer. "I must admit I am not familiar with your mother, young one. But I come with the promise of a new family..." she pauses, glancing over to Skelaghe for a poignant moment before continuing, "...a family of your own kind. Other cougars who would understand, appreciate, and encourage your special links to the spiritual realm." Not that Ute does not, of course, but the shamaness naturally means no offense. She stops again, looking around for a brief moment as though having just remembered something. "But this message is not just for you, Toyo. The one known as Ashen carries Amaranth blood within him, though he was lost to us while just a cub. Both of you belong there."
What Paoro says hurts more than Skelaghe would have expected it to. Given that here, in this place, she has been untroubled by hunger and aging joints, the pain that she /does/ feel is just that much sharper. Not for Toyo, so much. It was not long ago that she told Survivor that they could not further hobble the boy by expecting him to behave as a wolf would. Rather, for Ashen, who, so far as Skelaghe is concerned, has never been meant for Amaranth. Indeed, Skelaghe would never believe it, were it not for the nature of the one telling her. Even with her willingness to believe it, now, she cannot help but put up some token resistance. "We have been Ashen's sanctuary from Amaranth. More than once, I have risked myself against Amaranth cougars to keep him safe." And she will yet. Though she can hardly fight against a dead cougar, she would keep herself in the way of Ashen learning what has been said. That is not what she really wants, though. Despite her pain and anger, she /wants/ to know Ashen
will be cared for, once she passes.
Toyo looks perplexed as he regards Paoro, his tail jerking side to side in his restlessness. No doubt he has questions, they're plain on his face, but his eyes turn to Skelaghe first. He knows of Ashen's injuries, but never how he got to be that way, and Toyo never saw need to ask. There was always the sense it wasn't a story willing to be told. "...I can look after him." He says with the simple honesty of the young. "He's helped me. I can help him." He looks then to Paoro, "Who are you, anyway? You said you're from Amaranth? How can they help me?"
"I have no doubt that you have raised the boy well since he found his way here, Skelaghe...indeed, how you raised the both of them, motherless and alone and in need of guidance. Truly, you were just as much their mother as their own, regardless of your fundamental differences." Paoro's reply is calm, her peaceful demeanor unruffled by the she-wolf's protests. "Even so. Amaranth is a sanctuary in its own right, and while mistakes have been made and grievances been endured, as with any other pack or tribe or herd, it remains such nonetheless. It is Ashen's home, and it calls to him. A kindred spirit awaits him there, one he knows well from his earliest of days, even if he cannot recall her now. Perhaps he shall finally find solace there." Paoro's mystically obscured words are in fact referring to the reincarnated soul of his deceased mother; the cougaress then turns her pupil-less focus back to Toyo at his questions. "I am Paoro, founding mother and shamaness of the Amaranth tribe, and grandmother of Nayeli, the current matron. As for how they can help you..." The cougaress pauses once more, a faintly amused smile appearing on her maw before she finishes: "Well, perhaps you can help /them/."
If it were in Skelaghe's mind to truly fight, what Paoro said would not have mattered at all. Since, however, what she wanted was reassurance, and especially reassurance from someone she could trust... Tired, even here, where she shouldn't be, Skelaghe sits beside Toyo and says to him, quietly, "You will both have my blessing, Toyo." She will not tell them they /have/ to go. She can't, for her own sorrows. If she were to be honest, though, she is surprised by how the beleif that Ashen, at least, /should/ go. After all, what will be left here for him, once she dies? Especially if Toyo is to leave?
Toyo remains beside Skelaghe, resisting the urge to lean against the frail old wolf like he would not long ago, not just because he could topple her but also because he's hardly a little kitten anymore. Instead, he just lays his tail across her's, a touch meant to reassure and offer quiet thanks for her support. "Me? Help /them/?" The young cougar asks, sounding incredulous despite his conscious effort to remain polite in the face of such an important presence. When he continues, it's not without a bit of adopted titles, no doubt an influence from time spent with Siwa. "Mistress Paoro.... I... I don't understand. What can I do for a whole tribe?"
Paoro continues to smile, the saged shamaness aware of the usual responses to her tendency to talk in mystical riddles. "Only the wisest spirits know that, young Toyo, and only time will tell. But unless you try, you will never know what you are capable of." The ghostly figure shifts her weightless body out of old habit, her wispy tail curling around her frame. "Both you and Ashen should reunite with your own kind," the cougaress repeats, reemphasizing her earlier words.
Toyo lets out a long breath, familiar with the frustrating nature of departed spirits. Either shockingly forward or frustratingly elusive, none can ever seem to just be normal and straight-forward. And he knows better than to try and argue with them. "Alright. I'll go. I guess Ashen will know the way." He remarks as he regards Paoro, his mind wandering to the unknown lands of the Amaranth and what he might find. Might he hope to discover something of his own history? Is there even anything to find? "...should I look for anyone there?"
Paoro continues to smile while Toyo speaks, patiently waiting with only the slightest flickering movements of her undefined frame. "I think you will discover who you are meant to meet," she answers afterwards, no less vague than any of her answers before. "When you both are ready, you will know the way to go." With that, the dream-spirit shifts effortlessly onto her paws, not quite touching the ground even as she does so. "Farewell, my friends." With a final bow to the pair, Paoro turns towards the horizon, padding off some distance before her already shimmering form becomes even fuzzier, and then fades away entirely.
Skahla does not attempt to interupt the form of Paoro. The most she does, for a long while, is listen to and watch Toyo and the now-fading form of Paoro. Before the silence has a chance to grow uncomfortable, her eyes flick open for a second time as she wakes once more. As she finds herself suddenly lying down again, she has to narrow her eyes in order to convince herself that there is no remnant of the cougaress in the distance.
Toyo only nods to Paoro's words, knowing no more direct answer is forthcoming except for actually going on the journey itself. Even as he watches the shamaness' spirit pass into the unfocused distance, he feels the familiar weight of the real world, that heavy, warm wet blanket that shuts out the visions and makes him aware of things like his own heartbeat and breath. Slowly he opens his eyes, his real eyes, and raises up his eyes to Skelaghe. What he says is simple enough, but weighted with the upcoming changes. "I guess I have some folks to talk to."