Manda
He'd been wandering for gods knew how long ... starting years ago when his brother had nearly killed him. Verge had driven him away, hurt him terribly in body and spirit... and Te had known when he wasn't -wanted-. He had lain in the hot sun for days, almost wishing that he had died, that he -could- die. But something in him refused him that release and finally he dragged himself up to his paws and simply ... started walking. When the healers found him, he was lost in waking fever dreams and stumbling about - dehydrated and starving. They'd taken him into their group, worked to cleanse his wounds and get him to drink and eat. Luckily he was too out of it by that point to fight them. Else he probably would have refused their help.

But he had healed ... and eventually he had left them to wander alone. Since it seemed like that was how things were supposed to be, now. Not that he -wanted- them to be that way, but there was nothing he could do.

Then, Te started hearing rumors of a pride of demons, off to the south somewhere. And he started to wonder. Was his brother there? Though he knew ... knew it could only end in more pain ... he started to seek out that pride - following whispers on the wind. Until he stood on a small rise and eyed the volcano in the distance... wondering... what the hell was he supposed to do -now-.


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
Verge'lian had more than once questioned if he was fit to lead this pride any longer. Despite his talks with the ever-lovely goddess of sin, his conscience was still in a dismal, dark place...and so that led to one most downcast Aran'shale. Thus he had begun to moodily roam the edges of his lands...having had not even so much as a brush with Iartuupe to set him seething of late. Those little spats always seemed to refresh him, anger a better salve than to dwell in his misery. Even Hakuna, his companion and conspirator of old had a new litter of cubs to keep her busy, her own life, and any tendrils of warmth that Verge had managed to scrape for himself were swiftly being ripped away. He'd even caused one of his sons to hate him...brother, father, lover...he'd failed dismally at all of those.

There was a gentle wind blowing in today, and Verge lifted his head, eyes lidding, in order to catch the subtle scents from it as his mane stirred about him. Solitude, perhaps, was better...and when he was confident, when he was no longer needed...then he would step down. In that knowledge, there was perhaps a little peace. Even if he was to rot in failure, perhaps his legacy would not be remembered wholly as such.


Manda
Sighing softly, Te shook his head a bit and headed down off of that rise - toward the volcano in the distance. He didn't know what he might find there, nor did he ... particularly care at this point. The large red male just wanted... things to go back to how they used to be. But he knew that such wasn't possible. Wandering down toward where the pridelands actually started... Te honestly wasn't paying all that much attention to his surroundings, or trying to hide. Maybe if someone challenged him, a good fight would actually let him -feel- something again.


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
It was then that he caught the other's scent...a familiar, terribly familiar smell that brought back a rush of emotions into the darkness and apathy that Verge had been sinking into. With a low rumble, his eyes snapped open...to see red and silver coming towards him. Oh gods...but it couldn't be. The other was dead...not only dead, but Verge'lian had killed him. Something that the elder had never been able to truly forgive himself for, even in those times when he'd boasted of no remorse, tried to justify it as his mind scrabbled for an explanation in those days before he'd met Morifaer again and truly understood.

"Te..." It was just a whisper, almost strangled and more than he could manage, but it was there. Surely he had not gone so far that he was seeing ghosts...but yet, this could not be his brother. So was it insanity? Perhaps, gods knew he'd dabbled in it more than once in his long life.


Manda
That sound caused the red lion to look up ... and he -froze-, staring at the other for a moment. Good gods... he ... hadn't expected to see his brother as soon as he walked into the lands. Still, Te drew himself up a bit and eyed the other - wondering ... would Verge attack him now, attempt to drive him off? Or try to kill him again. "So you are here," he half-muttered, paying no attention to the other's look of shock for the moment.


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
"I...yes..." Thrown completely off-kilter, he didn't know how to react. Surely his brother, his only brother, his twin...had to hate him. Obviously this was Telemakhos...and not some figment of his imagination. "I am..." But what that meant, he was no longer certain...the other would likely try to have his head, would want his revenge. That his twin wasn't dead made him somehow happy, and if Verge's fate was to die now, at the hands of the brother that he still cared for...still loved. Then so be it.


Manda
Te eyed the other for a moment or two more, then snorted softly. "So. What was it? Why did you try to kill me, hm? Just so things would be clear for you to ... move on in life? Find a mate, start a family?" His tone was demanding... accusatory ... but there was pain there too. He -still- didn't understand the why of this whole thing. They'd... loved one another, he thought.


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
Verge's ears lay back against his head, hiding amongst silver. "I...no..." It was a whisper, "I thought that I had killed you, and I've never hated myself more. I've never been able to forgive myself for that, 'Te..." He growled quietly in frustration, the sound not at all directed at the other, "It...I didn't try to kill you out of any personal motivation I was...compelled to." It was agonizing, to admit that loss of control, that he'd been used. But there was no other way.


Manda
Blue eyes narrowed at that, muscles tensed in Te's shoulders ... as he didn't know -what- to believe anymore. "How am I supposed to trust you now?" he asked finally - putting that feeling into words. "I thought ... thought that you -loved- me. But you proved that wrong real fast didn't you? And now you want to try and tell me you didn't -mean- to? What the hell, Verge."


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
The large male lowered his head, eyes shut tightly, "I've always loved you, Te..." It was painful, to admit suchly. Even now, when he was older and supposedly wiser, he still couldn't put together the words needed to explain himself properly. "Back then, I didn't know why I'd hurt you, I tried to justify it, to tell myself it was what I'd wanted...but then Morifaer came, and I realize why it had happened. He'd wanted you out of the way...to use me." It was almost hoarse with emotion, the most emotion he'd shown in years. There was only ever one person he'd truly been able to open up to, and that was his twin.


Manda
Te blinked at that ... still ... not sure if he could trust the other. But ... the emotion in his twin's voice was very real - he'd always been able to read the other where most couldn't. And now... there was some part of him that knew... he still loved Verge as well. He wasn't willing to start another senseless fight. "I've always loved you too," he finally replied, softly - venom gone from his voice.


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
Slowly he raised his head blinking numbly at the other for a moment. That he hadn't expected...to be hurt again, attacked perhaps, but not believed. He didn't think after all this time that his twin could feel anything for him. But what did that mean? Was there any hope left for them after all of this time? Hesitantly, he took a step forward, words stolen away.


Manda
There was a soft rumble at that - not an angry noise, more uncertain than anything else. And Te mirrored that step forward... then it turned into more, until he was right in front of his brother, his twin. "I never... stopped loving you. But I thought that you hated me," he murmured, almost a whisper. "So I stayed away..."


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
"I wish you hadn't..." he breathed softly, lifting his head to oh so carefully touch noses with his twin. "I thought all this time, that I'd killed you. And I lost my purpose...I've lived hollowly since then, Te..." Oh gods please...let the other give him just the slightest inch, the tiniest chance. They were older, stronger now, and his brother had grown more wondrous still in the elder's eyes. They might have been both passionate and foolish then, but with age had come knowledge. The passion, however, lingered on, a glowing ember in Verge'lian's heart.


Manda
Te sighed softly at that, tilting his head just so to nuzzle at the other a bit. "How was I supposed to know you wouldn't just... try to kill me again? I -wanted- to die back then," he confessed quietly, eyes lidding. But ... he was back now, and he'd found out the truth. Maybe they could start over...


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
Ears flattening again, he bumped his muzzle gently against his brother. This was the side that he could only show to Te...a vulnerable side. And it had been years since he'd shown himself to anyone...bereft of walls and fortifications. "I'm sorry...I'm relieved and happy, however, to find you alive and well. I thought I was seeing things...when I first saw you, brother mine." A ghost come to haunt him, and likely a vengeful one at that.


Manda
Te smiled faintly at that, letting out a soft purr. "Yea... I could tell," he murmured - thinking back to the look on the other's face. And he winced slightly, hoping that -he- was never the cause of such a look again. Sitting back just a little, he glanced around and then tilted head. "So ... the pride got re-started somehow, huh?"


o0 Sephiros Immortal 0o
Nodding, the elder followed his twin's gaze. "It did...mostly by the efforts of myself, and one Iartuupe." There was a slight sneer of disdain at that last, "But he is Morifaer's toy, not I. I am long ago free of such taint." There was a slight sigh, "Morifaer seems to adore the insane, dark ones...whilst our father calls to him the noble, intelligent creatures. It is something of a mess, albeit an organized one. We're strong...even if only in our ever-increasing numbers." Slipping into the royal we was all too easy now.


Manda
Te wrinkled his nose just slightly at that. "Oh lovely. So Mori's still around sticking his nose into everything... sometimes I think... " he trailed off, though - not wanting said god to overhear such things if he happened to be 'listening in'. Which could possibly have been the cause of that earlier fight between the two of them. Te had long thought that perhaps they should try to find some way to get -rid- of Mori - so that their father was the sole patron god of the pride. But yea. So much for that.