Their trip west wards had been wonderful, but Asherah and co were heading back now. As was her custom, the matriarch of the group’d broken away during one sunny afternoon, when they were having a day off from actually travelling. Ewan’d groomed her feminine mini-mane tenderly, wished her a fun run, and promptly found a warm spot to nap in. Meanwhile his much more athletic mate had sprinted away, enjoying her speed.
In doing so, she crossed the Pridelander border unknowingly. It was only as she noticed the great rock closer to than she expected and more ions about did she slow to a gentle jog. Huh. Not been here in a long long while!
*
Despite the warm, nice afternoon-- some could say the sky was spotless; hardly any clouds in sight. Yet, somehow, a thunderclap crackled loudly through the air, and even more strangely, perhaps, is that it didn't sound like others, comming from the.. sky, persay. All in all, it sounded like it was on the
ground, making it perhaps louder.
The explanation was simple, though not most would probably get it. In fact, this was due to a god. A young god, who'd probably get in trouble by making a racket when there should clearly be no thunder present. But he was Thunder; he was present.
The young god was currently simply a normal-looking black cub with.. horns. He'd hidden his wings, but today, for some reason, had decided to leave his horns visible. He was just practicing hiding stuff, afterall! He didn't
need to. It was just good to know he
could. Y'know, just in case. Besides, it was HILARIOUS when he met others, looking like a normal cub, and then roaring like a fully-grown male! Hah! Being thunder had its up-sides.
And so, the god ran around, sometimes leaping and seeming to soar far, after all, the wings were unseen, but not inexistant. Raiden was a creature that loved attention, and what other way to get it than be loud and.. strange?
*
Well now. That was interesting! Asherah had jumped slightly at the unexpected thunder, but as no electricity crackled in dark clouds over head – and she had no knowledge of things like sonic booms, which this wasn’t in any case – she’d become curious. Nothing wrong with her ears, she’d followed the way the sound had seemed to come from. And ‘lo, there was nothing to cause it. Just a black cub, like you’d expect to see wanering ‘round the Pridelands, it being heavily populated. There was always a cub or to about.
This one, however had horns. Ash tilted her head at the sight and knowing of gods, couldn’t resist going over. Mayhaps this was a godling? She kept her stance friendly, but couldn’t help but betray her curiousness a bit.
*
Strangely enough, despite himself, Rai did seem to catch sight of Asherah. Perhaps because she was black, almost like Nix, with white and all. But it wasn't her. The cub stopped in his tracks, tilting his head and folding an ear back for a moment.
"Hello! " And despite the distance still between them, his voice was easy to hear, whereas a cub wouldn't usually have such a strong voice without stressing their vocal cords far too much.
*
“Hello there.” She replied, as any female might to a cub in their pride. Not that she was in this pride. She’d probably just missed running into one of the old guards whosenamesshe’dutterlyforgottonit’dbeensolong and not realized. Still! Ash was hardly a threat. And besides…
“This will seem silly, but are you a god? Just you have horns. No mortal lion has those, and they don’t look to be fake.” It did seem odd and ridiculous to just ask. He was so young! But she was curious plain and simple. Besides, she wasn’t a devious kind of lioness o try to trick or win the information. Best to just ask a simple question and have done with it.
*
Rai blinked, trotting right up to her and looking at the lioness, neither frowning or smiling. He was rather unreadable right now. He twitched his tail tip, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Maybe. " He wouldn't answer her just yet. "Who are you, first? "
Of course he could have some fun first, right?
*
“My name is Asherah.” Straight forward reply to a straight forward question! Pity she hadn’t got one in response to her on question. But Asherah was persistant and didn’t mind telling to cub who she was anyway. She wanted to know who, and what, he was after all! Only fair.
“I’m a traveler. Met all sorts, me.”
*
"assshheeerah. " He took his time pronouncing the name, looking at her for a while, examining her a bit. Hm, well.. "Fairs fair. I tell you who I am now! " The boy grinned cheekily, and with a crackle, suddenly his wings were there, spreading out at his sides, tattered almost as if his mother, Lightning, had struck them. Strangely, they seemed to have simply grown that way. Yet his flying skills were just as good.
"I'm Raiden, god of thunder! "
*
Asherah didn’t bow, but she did bob her head. Respectful but not overly so. God of Thunder, hmm? Well now, that explained that thundecrack from earlier! He was just like any other cub, this godling, but when he was mischievous he had Thunder to play with. Ash was thankful her boys hadn’t had the same!
“Thunder, well now. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You wouldn’t happen to know Nix, the goddess of Lighting, would you? She was the first Goddess I ever met. Though I suppose I can’t assume Thunder and Lighting go together when you’re incarnate…” she trailed off, wondering if their domains did link the lion-gods or not.
*
He blinked, ooh, so this one had met her.. Fun! He chuckled. "You're blind, lady. " The boy turned around, sitting to show off the stripes along the back of his neck. "If ya met her, how cant'cha tell the similarity? " He snorted, shaking his head. Silly, silly lioness!
"Yah, Nix is my mom, " He folded his wings against his body. "And I have four more siblings. "
*
“Mmm. You do have similar markings, but that doesn’t always mean you’re related.”
“And that’s goodl! If there’s a goddess I bother thinking off, it’s you mother. Was wondefully quick way back when.” It was oddly comforting to hear Nix had had god cubs rather than one of the more….unsavourary gods Asherah had met.
“Must be nice for you too, having brothers and sisters.”
*
"Naah, Daemonasscus is quite annoying. " He waved a paw. "Grumpy! And my sister doesn't like loud sounds. " He folded his ear back. How could someone
possible not like something as nice as a thudnerclap?!
"What brings ya over here? You don't look really pridelander-ish. "
*
“Says a black Pridelander to a black rogue.” Ash was obviously amused by that comment. Maybe when her grandmother was younger Pridelanders had a similar sort of look about them, but nowadays it was a free-for-all mixed bag. “Pridelanders come all hues, shapes and sizes these days.”
“I just wandered in when I as racin’ the wind. Running for fun that is. I didn’t notice the border, was going o fast to notice it.”
*
*
"I didn't mean colors, " Rai stuck his tongue out, shaking his ehad, though mostly because his mane tuft had settled in an awkward position. "You just dun look.. or smell like us, much. " He nodded, though perhaps he, Rai, shouldn't call himself a pridelander.. exactly. He wa sin the pride, but he was much more god than pridelander. Moreso.. nothing pridelander, yeah.
"I 'member when pridelanders were only yellow and tan, " He stetched, yawning.
*
“Really? I know I don’t smell pridal, but most cubs don’t pick up on things like that.” She let the looks slide. She knew full well there were two dark lionesses, unless they’d moved on, who looked very very similar to her around here.
“ That’s odd, when I was as young as you, the Pridelanders were already all mixed up. I guess its an immortal thing, huh?”
*
He would have commented on what she had said first, but then decided to wait as she spoke again. "Yeah, it is. " He shrugged. "We don't die. Not the way you do, " He shrugged. "I'm Raiden, and I wasn't "born" that long ago. But thunder has always been around, so "I" have existed as long as it has! When I "die", I'm just reborn. "
He shrugged. It was perhaps odd to hear a cub talk this way, especially such a childish guy lke Rai. It was like some odd sort of wisdom. "I remember a bit from my past life. Lived a long time, I think. But not too much. " It'd be rather unnerving, especially if he knew his own name. It'd be uncomfortable and awkward, to be called Raiden while knowing that in your past life, your name should be such-and-such.
All in all, though, the cub found a bit of comfort in this immortality. Mortals could stay awake at night, wondering what would happen to them after they died. But he knew exactly what would go on when he died; he'd just come again. What unnerved him about death was the idea that he wouldn't remember his current life.
Yes, Rai was smart, despite appearances. "Thats why I remember when pridelands were small and they were just yellow 'n tan. "
*
“Ahhh. That’s interesting.” Asherah pondered the idea for a while and inevitably thought up many many questions about how this worked. Did they die then come back? So they knew what death was like? Did they glimpse the afterlife? Was there an afterlife at all? Did mortals come back too? Did they always remember stuff? How did families work? Did they always get born to the same parents, with the same siblings? Or could you come back as your own brother or as your own neice or something utterly odd? Or to comeplete strangers!
Hmm. She couldn’t just babble all this at him, and he’s a cub! Would seem odd asking all this of him. Besides, Ash wasn’t sure she really wanted to know about death and beyond, come to think of it. She was so gloriously alive and her children…they were her immortality.
“You must have been alive around in some form when my grandmother was young. As a lion, I mean.”
*
"Yup, probably, " He shrugged. "I probably existed before lions did, too. Thunder doesn't seem young, " He said, looking to the-- rather annoyingly-- clear sky. He didn't seem to catch that perhaps it was odd to say thunder didn't "seem young".
"But I only remember a bit from my last life. I think I was pretty grumpy. " He grinned cheekily, Raiden was FAR from grumpy now. Perhaps one of the oddest things to think of as that.. he'd probably been a girl before.
*
/”Asherah?”/ A voice called, obviously not worried but insistant. Ewan. He called again, from the nearby border, and Ash’s ear pricked up at the sound of his voice more than they did her name. She’d forgotton what it was like to talk to a god. She quite longed for Ewan and the normalcy of travel. Obviously they were on the move again to and while she could always catch up…
“Well, as you can hear – I have a grump of my own. If I might be so bold, once I’m a little ways away could you make a huge thundeclap, pleae? I’ve always loved storms and I’d love to see my mate jump out of his fur at thunder on such a clear afternoon.”
/”Aaaash?”/
*
He blinked, for someone used to hearing loud things, Rai sure had no trouble listening to the faint call of the linoess' mate. He frowned, just when they'd started to have fun!
Ah well, it couldn't be helped. He did, however, smerk at the idea of scaring this unknown lion out of his pelt. "Deal! Just.. prepare your ears, " Rai winked playfully, jumping up on a nearby rock. Once Ash left, and was far enough, she was guaranteed an almost ear-splitting crackle, like some sort of gunshot fired right next to your ear. Pity he wouldn't be able to see the guy's face!
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