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 Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 4:57 pm
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:23 pm
.:. Old Caplata .:. Username: Larisha Dragonchaser
Lioness's Name: Sikitiko
Meaning: Grief, regret
Personality: Moody at best and downright cruel at worst, Sikitiko is avoided by many in the Pride not only for her rank, but for her personality as well. Years of torment from her beloved's death and her solitude before hand has twisted her mind into a terrible place. She speaks with purpose, whether that purpose is to harm, ease her own misery or procure something that she requires. Otherwise her aged maw remains closed and her eyes narrowed.
She has always been this way to everyone except for her most wonderful Takis and their daughter. With him, she felt that she could speak without barbs. With him, she felt that maybe, just maybe, there were other things to live for besides her dark arts. She was still far from the romantic, coddling type that you would find in the most naive cub's dreams, but she loved him dearly in her own odd way.
All of that is gone now, of course. All that remains of her is her broken, sardonic shell. Even Lazarus, the only lion she can even remotely call a friend, bears the cruel whip of her tongue from time to time as her moods swing back and forth like the charms that adorn her pelt.
Non-lions can expect much, much worse from her than even the lions. She looks down upon other species, particularly the thin, weak-boned cheetahs, and she will not suffer their taint anywhere near her den.
History: Always considered an outcast by the pride, Sikitiko lived her life without the company of other lions for many of her days. Though she preferred her solitude to the company of others, she eventually became so isolated that she could no longer remember how to act around others. Then a young adolescent, stuck in that awkward stage between cubhood and adulthood, came to her to learn of her ways.
Why would anyone come to see her? Sikitiko, needless to say, was shocked and fairly angry with the appearance of the male. The first few months were hard for the adolescent - never did she ask for his name, or for anything else that may make him feel wanted. Instead she decided to play a game of the darkest sort. Her new 'apprentice' would become her test subject, a plaything for her to toy with in her darkest moods.
Yet through the months of torture, the male remained. The studies that the Caplata permitted were done with the utmost devotion, and he accepted the pain and the tongue lashings and the many other abuses she rained down upon him, some of which are too dark and unmentionable for even Lazarus, her Pèseptè and the apprentice's brother, to know about. As the days passed, Sikitiko's anger began to abate. This lion...why did he stay? Why did he not leave, turn his back on the arts or at least on the female that only wished him ill-will?
Finally, one day, the old Caplata approached him, sitting on her haunches and beckoning him to her side. The apprentice showed no hesitation, approaching and joining her as though she had never hurt him in his short life. And that day, she asked his name, for the first time since they had met.
From then on, the persecution stopped. Sikitiko had relented at last, and accepted the youngling as her apprentice, and a bit more. For his loyalty he was rewarded with her strange, but still precious love. They grew infinitely close as time passed, and soon Sikitiko became pregnant.
This was clearly a problem. The Pride had no love for couples with mismatched ages, and they would surely be persecuted by their fellow lions. Yet the old, sly Caplata had a plan. One that would not only allow her to reclaim her daughter, but to keep her beloved Takis close as well. Everything would work out perfectly with luck and Mawu's blessing.
But their luck had long run out. Takis died, and with him Sikitiko's already brutally corrupt heart. When he died, there was much screaming and anguish. So, so much wailing, piercing enough to make bones shiver and ears bleed. With him she died in every sense except the physical. In her pain she skinned the corpse, handling him as delicately as she could as she stripped pelt from sinew and bone. Her deed complete, she donned her beloved's skin, keeping him close to her forever. And then she hid the corpse, burying it far in the savanna under one of the few living Acacia trees. Here she built a Hounfor from the earth and bones, far from the prying eyes of others. Her love was her own, and no one would have him but her.
Naturally, a second Hounfor was built in a more traditional place for Lazarus. She withdrew after their private ceremony, hiding away in her den as her body accommodated to the new life inside of her. Many nights she stayed awake, communing with her Petro Loas. They were the only company she had for now - at least until she gave birth to Takis's daughter. Her plot still continued as planned, with Lazarus taking the cub out of the pride, hiding her away from the persecutory eyes of the felines within.
For many months after the birth of their daughter, she could not contact Takis's spirit. The mere sight of his true Hounfor was enough to send her back to her den, screaming her sorrows for the next night. She had killed him. She was why he was gone. These thoughts and more tortured her every moment of every day, but they became especially acute when she approached his grave.
After much time had passed, the old Caplata was finally able to approach the eerie, bone-covered Hounfor...
Prompt Number: Three.
Prompt When Takis died, a private funeral was held with only you and Lazarus as atendees. A Hounfor of white rocks was erected for him, with his body buried into the earth beneath. However...Takis is not really buried there. You took his body away and buried it someplace else--someplace only you know. Where is his true burial site? What items do you offer him, and what do you say to his spirit?
Prompt Response:
The Caplata's approach was nearly silent. Only her paws plodded against the cracked earth, for she was alone. At least in the corporeal world. She treaded heavily, and her age was evident in her stride. These past months had not been kind to her body nor to her mind, and a little glint of madness could be seen in her violet eyes. But, for now, she was in her right mind.
Night was falling on the Pepo'porojo lands, and the time for summoning was drawing near. On Sikitiko's back was the pelt of her beloved Takis, the indigo markings near black in the fading light. It was his Loa that she came to confront tonight. No, perhaps confront was too strong of a word - she very dearly missed the male's soul, and the warmth of his body and his soft voice. It was her fault that he was gone, for she had been the one that-
No, no no no!
Sikitiko's gait faultered, and she swiped at her eyes with a paw. How many times had she tried to call him, and failed to even reach the Hounfor? She would not fail tonight. The Caplata steeled her heart and plunged forward into a run, listening to the wind and the blood in her ears. She could not allow herself to think.
In the distance, a tree appeared on the bleeding horizon. A living tree. Yes, this was the spot. She slowed, breathing ragged, as the mound of earth and prey-bones came into view. Immediately her thoughts tore from her grasp, running out of control through the dark, blood-soaked corners of her mind, and her paws shook until she finally sat on her haunches before the grave.
For a moment she could feel the first time she heard his name. She could feel his breath on her shoulder as he spoke, his soft fur. She could see his glamorous eyes and his just sprouting mane. He was such a wonderful boy.
She bowed her head, laying out her offering before her: an ebony rock, one of the many things the Petro Loa they both so loved enjoyed; a tuft of her own fur; and finally a blood-stained gazelle bone, his most treasured food. He had always loved the particularly sinewy meat of the swift-hooved gazelles.
"Come to me, love."
From the grave emanated a few tendrils, almost as though a purple mist were rising from the bones themselves. Soon these tendrils grew, and twisted and clumped into a vaguely feline shape, shifting from black to purple and in between. The spectral being stepped forward, though he floated a small distance from the ground and was not truly walking. And then the Loa took a seat next to his former mate. Had he been living, they would've been close enough to feel each other's warmth.
"You finally came," the voice that carried over from the spirit world was denatured, but still ever-familiar to the female. The spirit's head was turned up at the larger, older female, looking towards her adorned maw.
"Yes. It has been a long time, and we have many things to speak of." Inside her chest, Sikitiko's heart was running amok. A deep panic has set in, though she did not show it. Did he blame her for his death? Clearly not, but the paranoia was already deeply nested in her mind.
"Our child..?"
"A daughter. Our plan has been carried out without a hitch, thus far." Takis peered down towards the earth, or perhaps his paws. The spirit's form lacked eyes, which made it difficult to read him. A harsh, metallic pang ran down the Caplata's spine - she would never see his eyes again. Her own eyes were focused with all their might on his shifting, shadowy face, unblinking.
Sikitiko continued. "Lazarus has coped well. The first few weeks were difficult for him, clearly, but time has healed his wounds as best I can tell. Our daughter has been like a Medsen Fay's strongest salve for him." Takis looked back up towards his teacher and nodded, acknowledging what she had said. Whatever his reaction had been, it was covered by the shadows that comprised of his form.
"Why haven't you come to see me until now?" There was a soft, slightly sad note in the Loa's voice. She could imagine the living him now, peering up into her eyes and nuzzling her shoulder like a lost cub, clearly heart-broken over her apparent betrayal. He would've never made it as a Bokor.
Sikitiko could feel her body stiffen at the question. Should she mention the guilt she felt? Was it possible that he either couldn't remember her involvement in his death or that he was ignoring it? Finally, after a long deliberation, she dropped her gaze to the bones in front of her. "Lazarus has healed well. I have not."
Her beloved followed her gaze. "The Petro Loa...?"
"I still serve them with my utmost strength," She cut him off sharply, glaring his way. Her mood whirled on him like a lion does on his prey. Then, just as quickly, she returned to her prior state. "They were displeased with your..."
"Absence?"
"Yes." By now the sun had long dipped below the horizon, and the stars lit up the sky. Yet the moon did not - it was darkened tonight, a perfect void in the otherwise navy sky. The Petro Loa were surely surly that she had not communed with them on such a dark night, but they would be appeased with a few extra offerings and a long description of the events that had transpired tonight.
"It is getting late..." Takis's voice trailed off, a small tendril beginning to unravel from his form.
"Don't you dare leave me!" The Caplata hissed, her eyes narrowed into slits. All at once the Loa's form stabilized and he fell over onto his side, murmuring a soft apology that appeased his mate's irritation.
The two rested in silence for awhile. The Loa remained on his side, his spectral tail twitched while the living lion stared deep into the pile of bones, as though she were searching for something. Finally the deceased spoke again, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Lay with me..."
Sikitiko drug her gaze from the Hounfor, peering down to the lying shadow. She swiped a paw through his, watching as the shadows didn't even show a hint of disruption. It was her way of showing how futile such an action would be. The male whined again, "We can pretend..."
The Caplata took a deep breath, sighing. Finally she lay beside him, her side pressed where his back would've been. She was here to serve the Loa, no matter how odd their request. Yet as she lay there with the spirit, her heart was slowly tearing itself further apart. This only confirmed her worst fear. No amount of communication with this spirit would ever bring him back to her.
Never.
She lay her head down on her paws, closing her eyes. Her old bones needed rest, as did her soul. When she awoke in the morning, Takis would be gone again. But she would stand and go back to her life, no matter how bleak. The Petro Loa would not stand to lose her as well, and they certainly were not to be crossed. Even as she thought this, the dark despair in her chest seemed to swell, pushing and squeezing her heart as she slipped off into sleep. Tonight, like many other nights, she would dream of Takis and their daughter and the Loa, what could've been and what she wished had been.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:47 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:28 am
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:36 am
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:01 am
I am advertising for the TENTH day!
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:21 am
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:45 am
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:08 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:37 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 2:02 am
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:12 am
I'm advertising for the ELEVENTH day!
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:24 am
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 2:26 pm
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