Andranis
The time was coming. Not for cubs, on goodness not for cubs! But Emera had been whispering to her beloveds about it. Things were about to change, for reasons she didn't know why, but they were going to change. Blind eyes looked around her, and to the north, as she carefully traversed the jungle she called home. Katiti and Wamblee were out hunting, taking their turn, leaving the blind lioness to her own devices. Usually she'd stay in the den, where she would be assured safety, but she had no desire to do so today. She would not be contained, and she would not be silent any longer. Emera had to tell SOMEBODY. She didn't much care WHO that somebody would be, but it would be SOMEBODY. Her whiskers twitched, catching vibrations here and there, allowing her to navigate like the best lion who wasn't visually impaired. Her ears, seemingly comically large in comparison to others, also moved, picking up sounds. Somebody was near by... But who? "I know you're there, you're far too large to be a small animal, and I hear that you have paws, so you cannot possibly be an antelope of any sort." There was no accusation in her words, though - If one thought about it, they could almost hear her smile, that she was delighted to find somebody else.KitsuneMistressNyoko
More often than not these days, Firestar often found his gut leading him to the jungle. It seemed those that fate wanted him to meet either didn't frequent the common areas of the pride, or for some inane reason he wasn't supposed to meet them there. It was mildly inconvenient - he wasn't exactly built to be wandering around the jungle so often, after all. He was a large lion, thanks in part to his paternal lineage. But he'd been out here often enough that he moved through the dense trees and foliage more nimbly than most smaller non-natives, although he doubted he could quite match the ease a more petite lion born to the jungles could navigate them with.
Regardless of his ease moving through the jungle, it didn't change the fact that he was here. And he wasn't alone either. He spotted a lioness not too far away just a few moments before she called out to him, and he chuckled as he approached her more directly. "You've caught me! I'm absolutely terrible at being stealthy, but then again I wasn't particularly trying to be either."
Andranis
Emera smiled, tilting her head. Being blind meant that she didn't know everybody by sight - She wouldn't know who was a twin, who was a triplet, who was a lion, a leopard, or a hyena, but she knew their scents and their voices. "Hello, Firestar! It's a fine day, isn't it?" She paused, face tilting to the sky, her unseeing eyes staring up at it. "Or I'm pretty sure it's day, I think I feel the sun on my back." She then glanced in his direction, whiskers twitching and feeling the vibrations of his heartbeat. It made the image the feedback gave her stronger around his chest, but otherwise he was mostly fuzzy detail from it. It gave her at least enough sense of his size. "I have this feeling fate brought us together, friend. Something is coming, change is coming... But I don't know when." Her head tilted, "Are you familiar with the muses?"
KitsuneMistressNyoko
While Emera couldn't see his polite nod, Firestar knew that the lioness was far more perceptive than most gave her credit for. There were senses that were only mild input for him, an addition to his sight that gave him further information, that she relied on as her primary source of knowledge of the world around her. It was only natural she could sense things that perhaps would have escaped his notice if he had his eyes closed, so while he endeavored to give her as much to respond to as possible, he didn't feel it necessary to go out of his way to treat her like she was completely helpless. It would be an insult to her to do so anyway.
"Fate has a funny way of leading me to others when I need to see them most," he agreed, his lips twitching up into an easy smile. Although his expression shifted at her question, turning a bit more considerate. He let out a mild hum of thought before he replied properly. "To a certain extent. I've never visited the cave myself, but I know my mother met my blood father while under their influence."
"Fate has a funny way of leading me to others when I need to see them most," he agreed, his lips twitching up into an easy smile. Although his expression shifted at her question, turning a bit more considerate. He let out a mild hum of thought before he replied properly. "To a certain extent. I've never visited the cave myself, but I know my mother met my blood father while under their influence."
Andranis
The pale lioness hummed at that, thinking. "I've spoken to Ulimwengu..." She paused. "To Aurora, about when the pride had muses, how they were wide-spread. Not... Not insanity, like Riddlemouth called it." How did she word it correctly? She took a seat, tilting her head back again, more in thought than to stare at the sky, though. "Like a little voice, to inspire one to sing or tell stories." Emera shook her head, "But my point is... I get visions, when I sleep. And sometimes when I'm awake. And I keep seeing that the muses are coming back, to the whole pride. I don't know when, though, or how." She never knew the when part. That was always the tricky part. She'd known Wamblee would be coming when she was living in her birth pride, but she hadn't known when he would show up. It could have been within a day or a few hours of the first vision dream, or even several days, weeks, months... Not that she understood time the same as others did, being unable to see the passage of the sun and moon.
KitsuneMistressNyoko
There was another mild hum from Firestar at the mention of Riddlemouth's interpretation of the muses. He had been born long after they had disappeared, and while he knew as much about the cave as most others in the pride did, he'd never really agreed with the way Dreamers had been treated. There had been such a heavy emphasis on keeping them in their cave, supposedly for protective but he'd always suspected a good deal of it came from shame. They were treated like some dirty secret, kept away from visiting allies and not spoken of except around fellow pride members. And if the return of the muses as a whole meant acceptance for the Dreamers... Well, Firestar would wholeheartedly embrace his own muse, whatever it was.
"Perhaps their return is a good thing. I know under Riddlemouth's leadership the Kizingo'zaa have strayed far from their roots, although I wasn't really alive to see the pride as it was before." He wasn't exactly barely into his mane anymore, but he wasn't really that old either. An awkward inbetween where some looked to him as an example and others still saw him as too young to know better. But he couldn't help but get a bit sidetracked from the mention of muses, latching instead on something else Emera had mentioned. "I didn't know you had visions, though! It's always nice to meet someone else who shares that, although I don't think I've ever met two lions who experience them exactly the same."
"Perhaps their return is a good thing. I know under Riddlemouth's leadership the Kizingo'zaa have strayed far from their roots, although I wasn't really alive to see the pride as it was before." He wasn't exactly barely into his mane anymore, but he wasn't really that old either. An awkward inbetween where some looked to him as an example and others still saw him as too young to know better. But he couldn't help but get a bit sidetracked from the mention of muses, latching instead on something else Emera had mentioned. "I didn't know you had visions, though! It's always nice to meet someone else who shares that, although I don't think I've ever met two lions who experience them exactly the same."
Andranis
"I know from talking to Aurora that they were common, everybody had a muse... And the Dreamers weren't hidden away. Protected, yes, but not HIDDEN." She sighed, then blinked at Firestar. "Oh, you get visions as well?" Her face lit up, smiling broadly. "I only know of Kum--" Another deep breath. "Soothsayer, who gets them. But she has no god parent, so hers are randomly occuring." And born from touch, something she knew the lioness warned others about. Emera made sure to not touch her, even when they walked together. "I think I have mine, and my brother and sisters do, too, because our father is a god."
KitsuneMistressNyoko
"If everyone had muses, I imagine their concept of a Dreamer must have been very different." Firestar commented mildly, shaking his head fondly. He had heard that there were seers out there whose visions consumed them so wholly they couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what was their sight. He imagined it must be something like that. But the topic had shifted rather fully to talk of sight, and at the mention of a god parent, Firestar couldn't help but get a tiny bit excited. "Goodness, we have a lot in common, then! My blood father is a god as well! I'm told I get my wings both from him and my uncle. They're actually where I got my name from, you know."
Andranis
Emera only seemed to perk more at that. "What a small world! I don't know what he looks like, though, only that I got my markings and coloration from him." She shifted, turning her blind eyes to her back. "Wamblee-- Alabastor says that I have gold wing markings and gold marks on my face, but I really don't know what they look like." She shifted again, humming. "It's a fascinating similarity to have, actually..." Blinking, Emera looked back toward Firestar, "Apparently I even have stars in my pelt..." How many of her sisters had the same, actually? Oh, what she would give to be able to see right now!
KitsuneMistressNyoko
"It's really quite amazing who you can just bump into!" Firestar laughed, shaking his head and glancing over her markings with a considerate hum. She was hardly the first lion he'd met with star markings, and he knew there were plenty of lines completely unrelated to his uncle's that had them. But somehow, his gut was pushing him to mention it more specifically. He couldn't say why - the stars he and his similarly colored siblings carried on their pelts were their only real traits from his uncle, and he hadn't ever met him to know precisely what he looked like. And yet... "My father said I should actually be careful about taking too much interest in any lions with starry pelts, since there would always be a chance we might be rather closely related. Apparently Uncle Primitus gets around just as much as he does."
Andranis
Well THAT got Emera's attention! "You said Primitus?" She wiggled where she sat, excitement vibrating off her. "We're cousins! He's my father! My mother was Bokoboko, I don't imagine you're related to her, but!" Then she giggled, "Even if we were unrelated, though! I have mates already and Wamblee doesn't share with other males so well!" But oh, this was so delightful! She couldn't wait to tell Katiti and Wamblee all about it! "A small world, indeed!"
KitsuneMistressNyoko
It was difficult to hide the triumphant look on Firestar's face. His gut certainly hadn't steered him wrong on that assumption, and he laughed in earnest both at the happy coincidence and Emera's excitement. "I did! My father, Daimaishi, is his brother!" How long ago had Emera come to the pride? Had it been before or after his birth? Goodness, he had so many questions now. So much to talk about with her, and he doubted she'd want to do it all in the jungle. "Oh I wouldn't dream of trying to come between you and your mates. In fact, you have to tell me all about them. I think as your cousin, I'm rather obligated to stick my nose into your business now, aren't I?"
Andranis
Giggling, Emera said, "Of course! But maybe not here, the path is prone to becoming woefully crowded." She nodded her head back in the direction she'd come from, "Perhaps back at our den? Then we can spend all the time in the world chatting!"
KitsuneMistressNyoko
"That sounds, perfect!" Firestar agreed, quite easily falling into step alongside and just slightly behind Emera. "Lead the way, cousin."