Once he'd thought to visit the priestess of the land, when he was younger...that visit had been delayed too long. Glancing around to see if anyone was about, the dark lion trod down the path leading into the mouth of the priestess' den. The rock walls were lit by the ever flowing lava over the far edge of the cliff. Without thinking he began to hum, tail swishing to the steady goop-goop of the magma.
Abeni was inside, of course. This was where she always was. Now that her cubs were old enough to be on their own most of the time, the priestess devoted all of herself to her duties. Hours and hours she'd spend hoovering over the steaming pools, eyes closed in a deep meditation until the heat made the skin around her eyes raw. Some might say that she was blessed, others might say she is insane... Perhaps a mixture of both. There were the few times her visions proved true, but most of the time she just spent whispering to someone other than herself. Her demon, her companion, her god... It was everything to her.
Sound carried well in these caves. The male's footsteps could be heard not far away, and it slowly drew her out of her meditative state. Her gold eyes opened slowly and she turned her head towards him. The female's pelt was covered in few scars, her fur a mostly untainted inky black, made darker by the dim light. Not many came to her unless it was something important... So she gave him her full attention.
Goop-goop-swish-goop-swish-goop-goop-swish...By the time Hewa spotted Abeni he'd begun to bob his head to the beat, his worries fading as the 'music' swelled...Oh. Better pay attention! He grinned sheepishly when he caught her staring. Well seeing as he'd come to find her he should have been more expectant. He noted that she wasn't exactly what he'd imagined...But then he hadn't really settled on just what a demon priestess would look like, in the end. Something terrible and half-lion, half-demon in appearance? That'd be neat, but he doubted that was what she'd be. He slowed his steps as he neared, hanging back from the edge of the pools.
"Forgive me...The lava distracted me," he explained. It had when he'd come before too, though it had been another lioness to witness it. He frowned, feeling something inside him wiggle uncomfortably. 'Shh, I can't sing here, now...I know you want to, just shh!' He thought to himself, trying to calm whatever it was inside him, a demon or something else entirely. "I'm Mahewa. I wanted to...talk?" He finished lamely. He inwardly chastized himself for not thinking of just what to say before charging right in.
The lioness watched him with a calm curiousity, ears twitching slightly. She'd never met a demon that liked music as much as he seemed too. It seemed to amuse her slightly, as a very small smile spread across her maw. "It is alright." Her voice was deep and slightly accented. "The lava calls to everyone... in different ways. It should hold more power over you than I should." Her tail twitched a bit as she let out a pensive hum herself.
"We shall talk then. I am Abeni, if you did not know." She stood and turned to him, walking out of the steam so they could see each other more easily.
Hewa bobbed his head at her. It was true he should feel inclined to listen to the lava. As she stepped from the mist he slowed and stopped, not wanting to run head on into her. "Abeni," He repeated. From her coloring she could very well have been related to him. He doubted it though, he'd heard the stories of godly parentage. He shook out his mane, unused to the added heat it trapped around his neck. He'd get used to it right enough but for now it was annoying. Except for the sound it made, a nice wooshing swish. Seeming to ignore Abeni for a moment he repeated the gesture. Ahh yes..
"Right, talk." He plopped himself down to sit, tail still swishing idly in perfect time. "I was thinking about the naming ceremony...You probably know I wasn't born here. My demon isn't like others either. I'm...worried, I guess. If my demon is a foreign one to this land, will he give me his name here?"
Her amused look grew into a full smile. She didn't stop him or demand he pay attention to the conversation... He was free to slip in and out of it, if his demon so wished. As he continued a brow perked a bit, though her smile remained. "Foreign, you say? I've never heard someone describe their demon like that. I would not be concerned, Mahewa... Many have not been born here, and they have done fine. I myself only came here months ago, as an adult. Yet my demon has flourished and thrived... It does not matter where you are born. It is your strength and your faith that matters..."
She looks a little curious again, gold eyes reflecting the bit of light that came from the bit of sunlight flowing into the cave. "How do you consider your demon different?"
Hewa didn't notice the patience with which Abeni delt with him. The rythm of the lava was far too distracting. Distantly he wondered if manybe it would have been better to have Abeni come out and meet him...Ah well, it was nice here, even if it was so hot. "Really?" He hadn't known she was so new...probably because he'd been younger when she'd come, and he was less attentive in those days. If she could do it, maybe he could too.
"Well...lots of the demons here like to fight. They think..." Was it really okay to tell the priestess this? What if she attacked him for...for blashphemy or something? He glanced her way...she was smaller than him, by a good bit, though he still wasn't full-sized. He could knock her down, run..."They think demons are better than people without them. At least most of them here say so. If I was born with a demon, I was thinking...maybe it's because he and I came from so far away that he's different. But Bele has one too, and she's so fierce." Maybe it WAS just him. It was now or never..."My demon doesn't tell me to fight. He doesn't tell me to do anything except sing. Like right now, he's so upset because he likes to sing to the lava. It has a special tune that he can hear, and he wants to sing it. Everything has that, a tune, btu the lava is special to him." He hoped he made sense.
Oddly, the priestess didn't look offended or angry at all. Again, she looked somewhat amused. She listened with an open ear, never judging. "I see..." She said somewhat gravely, but merely playfully so. Then she chuckled and shook her head, eyes closing for a moment.
"If your demon tells you to sing... then you must sing." Her eyes opened, her gaze flickering over him slowly. "Demons are much the same as lions, Mahewa... They are all demons, no matter where they come from, just as we are both lions. They all have their place as divine beings... yet there are still differences. My demon does not tell me to fight either. He tells me to serve, and to listen. And that is what I do. I listen, and make myself an open vessel for the god's wishes."
Her head tilted to the side slightly, and her tail twitched behind her, though not in any rythim. "I would not worry about what the elders thing so much... Would you rather anger the gods, or a mortal? Denying yourself is the worst sin you could do, for then you'd be denying your demon."
Hewa listened closely, eager to hear what the priestess had to say. If no one else, he felt he could believe her, if only because of her title and what that meant. Were demons really like lions? Then what made them so special? Was it like the difference between being born a lion or born a hare? He wanted to ask, to know more, but he knew better than to interrupt. Really, if the only difference was what they were, like how hares and lions were different...well he wondered why demons were so special. But then, hares probably thought that of lions too.
"Well that's true..." He hadn't thought of it that way. If his demon told him to do something who was anyone else to tell him he was wrong? Still..."I met a cub from the rogue lands. He told me he knew about demons, but he said mine was defective. I guess I was worried he was right. I want to be able to help the pride." He wanted to help his sister especially, and Kasdeya. Especially Kasdeya. If he was training her to take over, and he himself was 'defective' then it might make things harder for her, not easier.
"Was this cub you met a demon?" She continued curiously, her tone still pleasent and non-accusing. She understood what troubled him... She herself was not like most members of the pride. Violence and blood for honor and to protect the pride was one thing... But to hurt and kill anything and anyone for no reason was vulgar to her. She didn't judge the others for it, but merely prefered not to take part.
Mahewa shuffled uncomfortably. "No...he wasn't a demon..." He'd known about them though. Been part of a pride that housed the mother of a cub who'd become a demon. Hewa had half thought he was joking with the things he said, and had let him go. Now he was starting to wonder if that had been such a wise idea. "He was from a pride near here."
"If he is not a demon, how could he possibly understand our ways? We are unique, and we are different than other lions. I would not take a child's words to heart, Mahewa... You're an adult now, and should know better than to take a child's word over your demon's." For just a moment she had a more stern tone, but it was meant to reassure him, not put him down.
"Well..." hewa felt chastized, and rightly so. Why should he let the cub bother him at all? He hadn't even known what a Firekin was, so how could he know about demons all that much? "I did tell him he was wrong."
He let himself think a moment. Abeni was wise, she'd shown as much. Maybe she'd be able to tell him a bit more. "Abeni...should I call you 'priestess'? Anyway, have you ever heard of demon hunters? Lions who want to get rid of demons?"
"Good." She nodded her approval, satisfied when he didn't linger on the subject too long. It just wouldn't do for him to second guess himself.
At the new topic her ears perked a bit, her smile fading a touch. "I've heard whispers about them... But my duty is to stay here and listen to the gods. Which.. means current events are somewhat lost to me, unless they are of exteme importance... I'm afraid I do not know much about the demon hunters, other than what the gods have thought to warn me."
"Hmm...Well if the gods aren't warning you too much they can't be a big problem. Yet at least. I heard about them while out at the borders. It sounds like some have moved in nearby, but it's a small group so far." That was enough of the truth that he didn't feel bad. He didn't need to mention that the cub that had teased him had been one of them.
"What about travelling? Abeni, how do you feel about how the pride...recruits?" He'd known for a while he wanted to be a Neumar, to go and find more demons. But that was just his restless paws aching again. As for stealing cubs, he wasn't entirely sure. "What if you think you find a demon, but they don't want to come? Should you make them? I mean, if their demon doesn't want to, then they shouldn't right?" He had so many questions.
That... was a different matter. She was quiet for a few moments, her eyes flickering away from the male.. Towards deeper into the caves. Where someone slept silently and unnoticed... Someone she herself had stolen away.
"It is hard to pin down one answer for that question. Different circumstances call for different actions... It is sometimes hard to know if someone is really a demon or not. I do not believe that it is right to steal away innocents without no good reason, if they have duties to attend to in other places." She glanced back to him, her tone and expression quite serious. "If you are completely sure that someone is a demon, and they do not wish to come... Then they should be educated. Some demons sleep inside us until we are ready for them. The vessel must be prepared. There are times that some don't understand their purpose, but once they embrace their demon, I think they will understand and be happy. Do you understand? That is why a Neumar must always be clever and open to the god's will... If you trust them and your demon, I believe they will guide you to do the right thing."
Hewa nodded. He would hate to take a cub from its rightful place, knowing that it wasn't the right thing...but if it was meant to be a demon, what else could he do? Adults were a different thing entirely. They had consciousness, they understood what was happening. She was right. At the very least he could tell them all he knew so that one day they could join the pride of their own will. And the gods' will...
"I met Morifaer," He blurted suddenly, then winced at how loud it had been. He had though, in his younger days. When he'd begun to doubt, to want to leave, Mori had come to him, explained things. "He helped me understand. I had been thinking of leaving..."
Abeni's ears perked a bit at the mention of the demon god. Even she had not met the god in person. She was not jealous though, and smiled again after a moment. "I see... then that proves that the gods want you here. That you are truely a demon. Why else would they seek you out and make sure you stayed? That alone should keep your faith unwavering, Mahewa." Her feet shifted a little, her tail twitching behind her. "I'm sure you will grow even more, and become a wonderful demon."
Hewa nodded with a smile. That'd been what he'd decided. He'd been foolish to doubt, he realized. He didn't need ot worry, the Gods wanted him heere, what more could he ask for? His demon too..."Thank you, Abeni," He shook his mane out and stood, figuring it'd be ebst not to take up too much of the priestess's time. "I'll do my best in the trials...Thanks again."
Fin.