[ORP] Enter the Priest of Death

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"No debt, Yuma. Just come sing with me sometimes - while I love my lion friends, none of them appreciate the music." Kainda chuckled, though she was quite touched at the jackals words.

"There will be another wolf soon enough, but jackals we'll need to look for."

*

Muroki lay on the edge of the Clan's temporary home in the Oasis, great head on his paws, and eyes on the lions around him. He'd made sure to learn all their names, though he needed to meet a few properly and spend more time with some. He didn't intend to be a distant ruler.

One he couldn't see about was Kainda, and it niggled him a bit. She was barely pup-heavy, so she couldn't be after looking for a den-site already? If anything happened to her...  

[Kimaria]

Yuma nodded, though deep down he knew he would try to return the favour to her someday. Just how he was not quite sure, but he would think of something eventually. "I will." He would never turn down the chance of a howling duet. If that was one thing he did miss about his family it was the singing. He craved to hear the songs again and he would do everything in his power to get jackals to come here.

"Then my quest begins here."

He followed Kainda for what seemed a long time, finding that the ground had begun to even out a little beneath his pads. In fact as he wandered he noticed the terrain around him beginning to change. Dry shrubs were growing up from the ground and the dunes had flattened out so that the ground was far more stable to walk.

Then on the horizon he spotted something more beautiful and precious than he had ever seen in his life. Just seeing it revived his spirit, purified him and gave him hope. His spirits soared.

An oasis.

"Kainda..." He began, but couldn't continue. He was lost for words. In fact he was so entranced he didn't even see the great lion lying beside it.  

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"Lovely, isn't it? It's not really our home, just a resting stop, and outpost. But until we win back the Temple, it's a pleasant place. My king calls it a jewel of the desert."

She fell back into step with him, walking alongside her jackal friend for the last bit of their journey. Often she'd end up ahead of others simply because of her long stride and her perchant for following interesting scents. However, she wanted to make sure she and Yuma got on. The only two canines in the entire Clan as yet. Besides, he was her hope for the future now. High Priest of Death, once the secrets were his.

"The Temple's sacred lake is far better in it's way, then there's the flood plain by the river Chione, though I do like how wild it is here..."

*

"Wild and beautiful, as is most of our desert." Muroki stood up, a sandy figure emerging from the sand. He padded over with a soft smile.  

[Kimaria]

Yuma nodded. He tried to imagine the beauty of the landscape and how wild and free it could be. He wanted to see it all! He wanted to walk every inch of this beautiful land. Strange to think that something which looked so empty was now so rich and wonderful.

He breathed in deeply and let his lungs fill with this new air. "If this is only the beginning of the beauty I daren't even try to imagine how beautiful the rest of it must be."

And then the lion moved and Yuma's eyes fell on the huge male. He held an aura of kindly respect that had the jackal's eyes widening. Suddenly he felt very small and his tail and head lowered submissively, though not too submissively.

He glanced up at Kainda and then back to the lion again. The cat was smiling. Everything was okay. He gave a slow wag of his tail and came to a halt a few strides from the lion, pawing tentatively at the ground. Not knowing what much else to say, the jackal introduced himself with a tip of his head. It seemed he assumed bowing was the way here.

"I am Yuma."  

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"It's good to meet you, Yuma." Muroki didn't bow anymore. He'd lost the habit, since Kainda had berated him for it and it seemed to confuse some creatures. But his stance was friendly and a bit curious, and there was that smile. Though he quickly turned his golden eyes to his bonded wolf, and suggested rather than commanded her.

"Sorry to break you up, since you're obviously talking, but you're needed at the middle pool, Kainda dear?" She'd forgotton, obviously, and spent too long at those ruins.

"See you later Yuma."

He nudged her shoulder affectionately as she passed. She returned the gesture as she went. Then, memory jogged, she turned mid-stride and bowed her head respectfully to the jackal to say goodbye. But the brown wolf was confident they'd see each other soon enough. Now! All eyes on their jackal visitor once more!

"I'm Muroki, the heir to the Clan. Welcome to our Oasis."  

[Kimaria]

Yuma hesitated. He wasn't sure how to act around lions. It was going to be very strange at first, speaking to other species. He had tried to avoid them up until now, but here he was, trying to live alongide them.

Besides, he'd never met a king before either, he wasn't sure how to act around one. Should he be bowing, looking at his paws? He had no idea. He glanced to Kainda and was amazed at how relaxed she was around him. They must have known each other for a long time. Either way, this Muroki seemed like a nice sort...for a lion.

However, when Kainda left, Yuma felt panic set in. What was he supposed to do and say? He cast an awkward glance up into the lion's face and wondered what would be said.

"It is good to meet you, Muroki. Should you be referred to as King?" He thought he should ask rather than assume and look stupid. "Kainda said there may be a possiblity of me joining." He bowed his head and folded back his ears submissively.  

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"I won't consider myself a king until we're all safe, and our Temple won, but everyone calls me that now." He chuckled, shrugging slightly. He was good natured about it. Really though he was just an heir in his own eyes until he could stand on the sacred isle and be a true King.

Even though he wasn't used to jackals, Muroki was used to his wolf, so while the canine body language was very different from his native feline...he could understand it. Yuma seemed nervous and sort of unsure of himself. Couldn't blame him really, could you?

"So...what's brings you here, lord jackal?"  

[Kimaria]

(( whoops, sorry for putting the speech in italics. I must have just been RPing in Shaoilin woods when I did that *uses italics for wolf speech* I'll go edit that in a mo. ))

Honesty and bluntness, those were two things this jackal definately was. He glanced up into the King's face and drew in a deep breath. "Kainda says you are in need of help. She says that the pride...clan here is in need of a jackal and...I suppose I'm here to offer." He wagged his tail a couple of times. "Don't ask me why, but when I left my family I had a feeling there was something greater out there waiting for me. I have a feeling this is my purpose in life. To help this land...your land."

He bowed his head again. "I offer my services to help you in whatever task you deem worthy for me."  

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"Kainda speaks the truth. Perhaps the gods have guided you here to us."

Now, as a priest of Death, and the only one they had... - Muroki wasn't sure of the etiquette and the courtly style was new to him, but that ranked a bow back from the king-cat. Respectful. And his smile was so happy.

"I'd, we'd be honored. We'll teach you all we know for now, and help you get to the jacka tunnels when we can so you may claim their secrets. The god of death usually wears a jackal's form, so it's only fitting one of your kind has the knowledge."  

[Kimaria]

"I....I would be honoured." The jackal's ears twitched with embarrasment and he bowed again, tail wagging furiously. What had he gotten himself into? It seemed he was involved in a huge task, the task of his life. This was what he had been searching for. He knew it now.

Regrets of leaving his family were gone and slowly Yuma was beginning to realise that in fact, he was going to be doing something greater than he had imagined.

He raised his head, puffed out his chest and felt a new confidence swell within him. "Where shall I go first, King? Is there a place I must be until we are ready to free what is rightly...ours."  

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"Firstly, I'll show you what hospitality this Oasis has to offer and introduce you to the others?" He suggested, gesturing for his priest to follow. Well, priest-to-be, and so a new but important member of the group.

"The lands the way you've come, if you met Kainda at her little ruin, are near barren... but it's quite refreshing near the water and I'm sure there'll be meat about if you're hungered."

(Shall we wrap this meeting up for now? ^^)  

[Kimaria]

(( yep seems a good place to stop <3 ))

"That would be greatly appreciated." Yuma was nervous about meeting others but excited too. This was just the beginning. What was to follow would be dangerous and tough but if he survived through it the prospects were brighter than even the sun.

So he followed his new king, trotting at his flank with his tail held high. And why not? He was proud of himself and walking into a life that he was sure would be wonferful.