[PRP] This is Mine Now [END]

[LadyPipen]

It was a perfectly respectable evening- Matope could be found out and about in the early morning, certainly, but she was in her element best at night, with little wonder.

When the great rumbling had shaken the ground that afternoon, well... The Big Momma was a heavy sleeper and a snorer besides, and somewhere between dream and conciousness the old lioness' mind had decided that the only logical thought was a well-thought 'Did I do that?' before returning to sounding like a rhino with a hangnail rampaging through the jungle in blissful unawares.

Once she actually awoke, though, and with her two eldest ready to near about chatter her ear off with the news, she was none too happy- not happy with the idea of drugging a neighbor pride for somethin' that had nothing to do with the Kizi, not happy with the news of the alliance breaking and certainly not happy with the new geological feature(Though the half-remembered dream of snoring causing earthquakes now made a right lick of sense).

So, as her children and most the pride nestled into their nests, Matope made her way to the new fissure, huffing by the time she got there- it was a crack aight, wasn't it? Wider than any lion could possibly jump and disappeared well into the jungle- looking towards the coast, if she craned her neck out dangerously, she could see the coast's horizon in the distance. Right between the Kizi and the Bahari. Matope snorted at that, pale eyes turning upward where the first few stars were beginning to appear, twinkling merrily.

"Yeah, yer right proud of yourselves, ain'tcha?" Matope remarked dryly, arching a brow, "Can't say I blame ya. These younguns' are getting outta paw, yous was right to separate em. I just heard of their squabblin' and hells, I'm already tired of it," back when Misae was queen, now, that's when lions had some sense. Now it was sanity this, insanity that, dreamer's coves, in-names and out-names- though she had least trouble with that last one, seeing as she already had a nickname good as any- still, she saw little and less sense in having two names. It was hard enough to remember one per face. Hell, even when their little babies, near and dear as if Momma's own nieces and nephews, took the crown- they at least had the sense to listen to counsel. Matope couldn't help but wonder if the king had stopped to consult, or if he just ran any which way as his sweet little heart desired...

It was just about that moment when Matope's ear twitched, becoming aware she was not quite alone- no, there on a convenient outcrop of rock, a young leopardess sat, surveying the same disaster Matope was. A familiar leopard- Matope knew she was Kizi and knew she wasn't particularly new, but at the same time.... Realized that's just about all she knew. She was'n born in the Kizi, that much was for sure, but there was a great liklihood of Matope adopting joining rogues, as well... It was Chi's great need of her, Matope decided in the end, that caused this breach, heaven bless that poor child's soul.

The realization that suddenly hit- that Chi was, in all honesty, well and fine and ready to move on with her life- like a ton of rock and twisted something melancholy in Matope's heart. Oh, she did not mourn- no, it was a happy thing, when sweet babies grew up and branched out and found lives and made sweet babies of their own, but Matope had never handled an empty nest very well.

Which is why, quite frankly, she decided it was about time Chi had a sister and Matope's family got a little bit larger. She had no lion in her life, and it'd be a while yet before Adaeze popped, so there was only one thing left to do, that was as sure as Matope's path, hopping none too delicately up the rock pile, and that was to right an old, grievous wrong- ignoring this sweet little leopardess.

"It's occurred to me, just now," Matope began, letting down beside the little blue thing with a great huff before carelessly throwing her arm over her shoulders, "That I've done you a disservice in ignoring you for a few many years, which is a right crime, since you look so lonely up here. What's your name, sugar, and what's your story? I can't imagine with a look like that, you're any prouder of this mess than I am," she barreled on, gesturing at the great crack in the ground with her free paw.

"I do believe the muses must be as tired of all this newness as I am- as I'm sure most the old families are by now, by right," despite her picking, Matope's face had lit up around the- apparently- younger female, though she didn't expect her to follow too far- she was still, comparatively, new- old enough to remember Shandor, of course, pity upon the young thing... Matope was certain had she known the scoundrel for his own... Well, that was another gripe altogether, and one could hardly hiss at the end results of that particular.... particular. She didn't remember Kizi's glory days when Matope's sweet Nili, or darling Misae ruled, and that was right sure, "And saw fit to put an end right as soon as the squabbling began and I, for one... I'm glad of it. I suppose it got too close to putting actions to anger.... Oh, dear, I hope you'll humor a chatty old lady a little more, but your mane is quite atrocious- not your fault, the sea wind will do it to you, buuut.."

Matope's last word drew out before she craned her neck, grooming the poor little thing she'd firmly taken under her wing as if cleanliness and fur order was an ancient art and serious business, at that- yet, at the same time, she was gentle as an owl's feather, a deep rumble starting up in her chest before long- her purr was rough, and rusty, but a loving mother's purr all the same.

Daffupanda

 

[Daffupanda]

It was a mess. Everything had essentially gone to s**t, and Muhali had no idea what to do or how to fix it. She didn't know what should be done; too many years of just watching, rather than interacting, she figured. As a goddess, it was usually her job to sit by the sidelines and watch, never quite interfering except with gentle pokes here and there. This was, after all, the mortal's realm, not her kind's, and at the end of the day... they were at the mortal's service, no matter what some of the older gods thought.

The mortals were the ones with the power here. With a simple thought... they could vanish a domain - it was thanks to them and their energy that gods were even gods at all, and that, Muhali thought, was what counted in the end. As such, when she'd awoken from her domain's pull and had noticed the turmoil her children were under... she'd infiltrated the pride and watched from the side lines until she hadn't anymore. She'd approached Shandor, the 'false' king, and she'd talked with him. She'd befriended him, always in the knowledge that she knew more than he did. He had no way of knowing just who he'd bedded that night either, interestingly enough, and now, with Shandor gone, and her own Son on the throne, things were still going downhill fast.

All the years she'd known the Children of the Sands... they had never felt the need to scuffle with anyone on their borders. Her blessing had kept them safe from attacks, as it had forced anyone that dared set foot within the border to conform to their set of values and traditions as it were. With that gone, many had turned violent, skittish or otherwise antisocial - there was little trace of her Children of the Sands among these lions that no longer believed in Muses. These lions and their Brew were not her children anymore, and Muhali was deeply inconsolable over it.

She sat at the edge of the crack, looking down into the darkness as she sniffed quietly. Not even Sumu had stayed with her, the snake retreating into the darkness of the jungle to give his bonded time to think.

Perhaps... it was just simply time to move on. Leave this land. Start anew? Try again. She had time after all. She could do this all over again. And yet the idea felt like what it was; a replacement, and try as one might, one could never replace a child. Not truly anyways. Not in the ways that really mattered.

As such, the tiny goddess sat and sniffled and mourned for the death of an ideal, her child, her baby, and would have remain like that for some time still if a heavy arm had not slung and flopped itself over her hunched shoulders, making the leopardess startle. Her head snapped to her left, her eyes wide still with unshed tears as she looked at the large, bulky lioness that had deemed it right to talk to her. It was interesting how most pride members stayed away from her; Muhali had no doubt it was less to do with her chosen mortal form and more to do with the general vibe around her. On some baser level, their instincts told them there was something off about her.

This one, however, seemed to ignore all of that, "I uhm..." it was strange how usually words flowed with ease, and yet all the poor goddess could manage was a startled babble as Matope rattled on. Muhali, after all, recognized this one. This one... was one of the older ones; this was one of her children. One of very few, surviving ones, at that, and it was that notion that made her tear up once more in earnest; perhaps her pride was gone, but some of the whispers, ideals from long ago survived in ones like this lioness. She tried to reply, but the tightening of her throat prevented it, and rather than intelligible speech, a mildly strangled moan emerged from her throat.

The sound cut short, cracked and continued as the large lioness' tongue ran over her hair, her face and her neck, like that of a mother, smoothing out pelt that really honestly... hardly needed it. It was such a gentle ministration that Muhali couldn't help herself, she turned her head to face the large lioness' chest and buried it there; it had been so long since she'd been offered genuine comfort and kindness by another that it was too much to take. Not that she'd been treated unkindly, granted, but the closeness offered by Matope as her tongue kept on going through her pelt was her undoing, and she cried into the brown pelt like a cub would have, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen..." she spoke between broken sobs, "I tried to fix it! I tried, I swear, but I can't! It just... I just... it keeps breaking and I don't know what to do!"

The babble was likely difficult to understand, if only because given the current conversation, it made no sense, and yet it was clear that the sadness the tiny leopardess was feeling was near crippling. So much so, in fact, that after a particularly long lick from the lioness along her shoulder blades, the illusion she'd been holding over her wings... dropped, and suddenly Matope found herself licking through feathers, rather than fur. Not that Muhali even noticed, in her distress.  

[LadyPipen]

Whatever Matope had been expecting from the little leopardess, it certainly hadn't been blubbering like a cub who discovered thorns for the first time- and about what, Matope had no earthly clue, however... She knew one thing for certain, and it was that the little thing was utterly distressed, and the only way to properly cure distress was nothing less than time and affection and loving attention.

"There ain't nothin for you to do about it, love," Big Momma's voice had taken on a strange, rumbling tone as her comforting purrs grew ever louder- there was something special in a good, loving purr, something healing of all wrongs and comforting. Why the poor thing thought she had anything to-do with it, Matope had no idea. Younguns, thought they alone had to shoulder the blame of the entire world....

Still, the distress was distressing when it was entirely unnecessary, and Matope's grooming became just the smallest bit more insistent, not stopping the moment she was suitably satisfied with the little leopardess' hair, but continuing down the little lady's neck as Matope pulled her close in a tight, secure hug- if there was one thing that Matope was good at giving, it was security.

She might have paused, might have opened her maw to speak again to the poor little creature to find out just why she put so much weight on herself, after she decided she was good and satisfied with the attention she gave- she did not, however, get the opportunity. Rather, she had barely begun to groom between the little thing's shoulder blades, neck craning uncomfortably, when there were suddenly feathers in place of fur, and two great wings to follow with it.

It was that moment- the first in her long life, she was certain of it- that Matope let herself be distracted from comforting her little charge. Tongue left mid-lick comically, Matope's eyes darted left, and then right, head moving not an inch as she confirmed the presence of these wings, and then....

Then things started to inch towards sense, ever so slightly.

Resuming her attention, Matope gave a few more swift licks- pressing ruffled feathers and fur alike back into place, before speaking again. "No-one ever means for these things to happen, dearie, no more than you can make them happen when you mean to. Did your paws pull the earth apart? Because honey, I'm willing to bet that particular mark was made by claws a little bit larger than yours," There was no malice or sarcasm in Matope's voice- a hint of humor, at the end, to keep things light- there was no need for gloom or doom in the situation.

So, Matope's paw came up to pat the goddess' head, "The secret about lions is that they never truly grow out of being cubs- they'll always think they knew better than their elders and you just got to let them figure that out for themselves," She said gently, petting that wild white mane all the while, before leaning back and taking that sad little goddess' head in her paws, leaning forward so that pale green eyes met blue, "You're too old to be foolin' yourself any different, dear. If my dusty old memory serves," Matope sniffed, "I don't believe you were the one who asked for the blessing to change. I don't believe you made silly cubhood nicknames mandatory in adulthood, or a good deal other senseless laws, neither, and I know for true fact that you certainly hadn't decided to give the Bahari'Moto a good ole poke with the sharpest stick you could lay your eyes on."

"So tell me, child," Firm though her tone was- Matope's hold and eyes were still ever gentle and encouraging, still quietly purring as she wiped and nuzzled tears from a goddess' face- hoo boy, could she choose em- "What makes you think a single lick of this is your fault?"  

[Daffupanda]

The small goddess was so distressed that it took her several moments to realize her wings had materialized without her expressed consent, and yet most of what she could do was continue to sob into the lioness' pelt. Matope, whom had likely managed to get a mouthful of feathers for her efforts, did not startle, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Muhali made sure to make note to thank her for that later; for offering comfort when she so desperately needed it. The most physical contact she'd had within recent times had been from Shandor himself, and he'd never been a particularly touchy feely type; Muhali hadn't realized how much she'd needed this until the lioness' tongue was running over her shoulder blades, down her neck, over her face... as if she were a mere child.

Perhaps, in that moment in time, she was. It'd been a long, hard, trying time since she'd been a real cub, and her mind could not even stretch out that far to try to remember her mother's own tongue on her skin, "I did this... I did this though..." came the reply to the first words, even if not entirely true; she hadn't physically caused the trauma that had split her pride down the middle like a gaping, aching wound, but she'd had the power to stop it, and hadn't. She could have blessed the pride - she could still do it right now, but something had stilled her paws. That had been her first instinct after all; she'd been ready to plunge everything back to Status Quo and yet... Shandor's words when she'd met him had stilled her paw.

Perhaps there had been some truth in what he'd said, or perhaps there had been no truth at all. She would never know, for she was here and he was not. Still, as time passed, the more she realized that the lion had vastly exaggerated the amount of lions that 'despised' the muses and what they stood for. There were many nowadays that didn't understand them, true, but that was more a product of uneducated ignorance and how knowing them personally; those that remembered them... yearned from them.

The lioness' words cut through the haze of her mind, and Muhali looked down at her tiny paws before she sniffed inelegantly and offered Matope a small, upset frown - at least the near devastating, crippling sadness was beginning slowly to seep away from her, and rather than a blabbering cub, the small goddess at least stared to look like there was some sort of light upstairs. She did turn to look at the rift, the wound on the earth that seemed to taunt her, like a physical manifestation of the hurt her pride was suffering, "No..." she admitted, "I guess not. My powers don't deal with earth shakes..." she did not sound entirely convinced, but at least Muhali seemed to be following along.

A snort, albeit a watery one, was issued at the large, brown lioness' explanation. For someone that often used to masquerade as a cub, it was almost ironic, in a way, "I... no longer think that's a good idea. I tried that. I tried to let them go and let them do their thing and now...now..." the tightness in her throat returned briefly, and the goddess had to make a conscious effort not to start crying again. Her voice broke slightly and she had to take several calming breaths, her gaze drifting away and back to the rift, "Now we have tension thick enough to claw through. I should've done something sooner. Should've used a less subtle approach."

Should've, could've, would've. Wasn't that the story of hindsight though?

Her eyes slid back to Matope again, and somewhere to the side of her mind, in those tiny places not dedicated at present moment into not having a panic attack of sorts, Muhali had to wonder how she was managing to hold up so easily; a literal goddess had been dropped on her paws, and she seemed to be coping rather nicely with the gained knowledge. A small snort blew through her nose as Muhali shook her head, "I told him that was a stupid idea... gypsy names. I didn't get it then, still don't know, though I did feel the name Paradox was a good one - slipped myself right under his nose, I did," she murmured, "He told me he'd never dance with insanity ever again. I took that as a challenge."

Her smile was brief, and it never reached her eyes, but it was, at least, there now, and it was a start. The way the mortal held her face and then nuzzled her caused a purr of her own to finally slip through her throat, "Well, for starters, my son did apparently do some feather ruffling.... so that's on me," her head turned, still in Matope's paws, and she looked for the first time, beyond the rift, into the neighboring territory.

Perhaps it was less about whose fault any of this was, but rather, what to do about the mess.  

[LadyPipen]

Matope's mind had been firmly made- this was a goddess, yes, but also her newest cub- physical ages non-withstanding, and so the topic of the conversation ruffled her no more than comforting Chi, or any of her other children who have made a mistake and oh, so dramatically had come running back to Momma declaring it the end of the world...

Well, Momma was right old enough to know that even in this case, there was no use ruffling feathers- literally. Should the goddess have spoken up sooner? Perhaps, but what was that about hindsight? "Hindsight is always perfect, love," Matope offered gently, and it was true. "You're our goddess, and I don't rightly think you'd've done nothin' outta maliciousness. Trouble started cuz of Shandor- you came back, and- and I 'spose the dreamer's cove was you, then?" that would have made sense- a great deal of sense for what little sense it stood for.

"I'm like to believe that old hack had you believin' no one wanted you back and you've been livin' under the impression- I've no love for the lion, 's true, but there's a good deal difference between causin' harm for the fun of it and causin' it out of good intentions," Shandor being the former and Muhali the latter- Matope had never liked the former king, she'd always been a traditionalist and an old kingdom lioness at heart, and perhaps that had something more to do with old attachments and a love of Misae than anything Shandor might or might not have done

She snorted at the thought of dancing with insanity, though, right before giving a loud, raspy laugh, "Aight, you did at that, didn't'cha? And the silly blind thing couldn't see 'nsanity herself starin' 'im straight in the eye, could he?" She cackled- that might just have been enough for Matope to tolerate the stupid creature back in her pride, alright, to see the look on his face to know that lil secret, and the mirth didn't quite leave her face, even when Muhali went on, glancing across the border and the rift between their former friends.

Matope's own gaze followed- judging the new distance severely before she continued on the original point, "The matter of the fact is what you do now, child, not what you could have done then," Matope stood, taking a good, long and leisurely stretch, old bones crackling as she twisted, "From what my little 'uns say, young Shui broke the alliance. So- as I'm sure you know- when little ones cause a mess, it's up to their mommas to fix it."

With that, Matope glanced back at Muhali, "Now, child, we start with Shui. Your boy'll be here when we get back, but I'm sure the Bahari'moto will be none too happy and with Puzzle's bull-headed stunt this afternoon I'm sure there's a fit big enough for war on the other side 'o that gap," Big Momma paused to consider- in her hey day she wouldn't have been able to make that jump- much less now, well out of her prime, "I 'spose we best get walkin', then- I don't know how far this crack goes."  

[Daffupanda]

A small, pathetic little whine escaped the small goddess' throat as she looked up at Matope. Yes, the Dreamers' Cove had, in fact, been her. She'd tried so hard to cater to both fields; give everyone what they wanted. Let the ones that wished so, to remain museless, while allowing those that wanted the Muses back... a space for themselves.

The plan had backfired spectacularly, and the only reason Muhali hadn't attempted to erase the cove from existence was the fact some of the lions that lived there seemed to genuinely need the comforting presence of her powers to remain lucid, ironically enough. She'd seen Khanda's struggles, but had frowned upon the way the poor Dreamers had been relegated to becoming something akin second class citizens within the pride, unable to even take an actual rank. The whine intensified slightly, becoming high pitched before it finally died a gurgling death as the goddess hid her face in her paws, "I tried to make everyone happy! I didn't know what else to do!" She should have listened to Sumu and her own gut feeling. The snake had told her the Dreamers' Cove was a terrible idea, but she'd plowed through, hadn't listened to the serpent's hissing, sound advice.

At the end of the day, it was plain for all to see that she couldn't keep everyone happy, and that doing that was a great disservice upon all. Sometimes, the middle ground was not the best ground at all; she should either stay and try to do something, or leave entirely, take with her all traces of her magic, the cove included.

Another whine escaped her at the lioness' claim, more out of embarrassment than anything else; she was right, though to be fair, she wasn't entirely certain Shandor hadn't also believed his own claim. It seemed to her that he was so desperate to rid himself of his mental issues, that he'd managed to convince himself that was what the pride needed, ultimately. Muhali had always wondered if he'd been lost in her domain to a crippling degree before Peace had awoken him. She did not begrudge the young Li Wei at all for what he'd done, for in blessing the land, she'd also accidentally granted her actual mental stability too, nor could she begrudge Shandor's new peace of mind either. Still, she did not correct the lioness.

There was no real need to.

An eye peeked over the rim of her paw, and a small, albeit amused smirk did touch her maw, if briefly, "I did," she said in an almost conspiratorial whisper, "I have the cubs to prove it," she'd tried to reason with the bullheaded lion; tried talking sense at him, as ironic as that might have been, and yet as far as she could remember, there'd been less talk and a lot more sass coming out of her during those time. She'd pushed his buttons good, and had always been content in the knowledge that between the two of them, and for all his secrets... she knew more than he did about matters of the pride.

Still, his words had weighted over her heart, and she'd messed up.

A sigh followed her words, and the goddess dropped her paws back to the ground, the little trinkets adorning her body jingling as she looked at the distance. Matope was right; it was less about past, and more about the here and the now. Fix s**t now, mope later.

Her eyes focused back on the stretching lioness, blinking slightly as she spoke. She was right. All of what she said was right, "No need," she breathed, and suddenly, the goddess' small form grew in size, her wings shaking open, almost as if in disuse - dear her... she'd spent way too much time under her disguise for sure, "I got this," and that said, the goddess, now easily larger than Matope spread her wings and in an awkward maneuver grabbed the other female's body within her arms as best she could which... wasn't all that good a job, really. Acceptable, probably, but not 'good' by any stretch of the word.

That done, the goddess and her passenger started flying over the rift on the ground.

- END -