One sacrifice to another... err... (Mazi, Nafsi'Takasa)

[Annchen]

Mazi looked at his paws as he walked through the dry grass. Walking without looking might result in silly accidents, but he was too preoccupied by other matters to think about what he might bump into. He watched his purple toes and the fur further up that was the same electric blue as his mother Yuusa's fur. He looked a lot like his mother, everyone said that, and that's why it was so strange that he wasn't a Sacrifice yet. He had listened enough to the minders and his mother to know that bright cubs were marked by the spirits and became the best sacrifices. Everyone but him, apparently. He was the brightest of his siblings but for some reason he wasn't allowed to be a Sacrifice just yet. Mom became very vague if he ever asked her why, and it usually ended up with him feeling stupid for asking. A proper Sacrifice would never ask for the honour to become one.

It was only recently that he had started to really think about this. His mother had taught them to respect and honour the Sacrifices of the pride and he knew much more about religion than the new followers that sometimes had their lessons with the minders. And some day he would be a Sacrifice like Mom, he was sure. All he needed to do was to learn even more about the Spirits and being a Sacrifice. He had snuck away from his mother and brothers and was slowly heading for the minder dens. He would probably get in trouble for disappearing but it might just be worth it. Many of the cubs living in these dens were going to be sacrifices and he just might catch on to something important. But right now he was too busy watching the ground and thinking to notice much of his surroundings.  

[Cajanic]

Nafsi didn’t pass up a chance to slip away from her siblings and have some fun on her own. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brothers and sisters, it was just… it felt like none of them really cared about her. Or one another, for that matter. Half the time it seemed like they were arguing about which one would end up in charge. Yes, she wanted to be queen, but not at the cost of her devotion. Being a sacrifice, a royal sacrifice, brought her closer to the spirits than many would ever get to know. Why wasn’t that as special to her siblings as it was to her? She enjoyed her position. While she would do whatever it took to be the one to look over the pride in the end, she wasn’t going to sacrifice her beliefs or blaspheme against her religion in the process.

She’d show them that it wasn’t their shady dealing that would win the battle, but the spirits seeing who was truly worthy.

Anyway, she was happy to be away from them. If they weren’t plotting their futures, they were engaging in games she felt too good for. Couldn’t she meet someone with more sense than your run-of-the-mill cub?

As she moved over the grass, she noticed a bright lion not too far ahead of her. Unfamiliar with every member of the pride, still learning who was whom and what their rank was, she naturally assumed the bright lion was a sacrifice much like herself, which brightened her spirits considerably. Bouncing forward, she positioned herself in front of the somewhat older male. “Hello!” She said, “tell me your name! I think I would like to talk to you for a while, but I must know it first.”

She wasn’t great at greeting others yet.
 

[Annchen]

The surprise of being approached by someone was replaced by wordless awe as Mazi realised who this cub was. Mother had pointed out the cubs of the recent royal litter to him, and also made sure that he knew the older Royal Sacrifices by sight (if not by name). He was pretty sure this girl must be one of the royal sacrifices, she even had Sakata's chin stripes. But he soon realised that he couldn't stand here and stare, his mother hadn't raised him to be rude.

"Uh... I'm sorry," he started and plopped down in the grass so the younger cub wouldn't have to look up at him, "I'm Mazi, Yuusa's son. I'm sorry I spaced out, I was thinking. Um... What did you want to talk about?"

He tried to remember what this cub was called, since he knew his mother had mentioned the names of the royal litter at some point. Not that he could remember it now. Great... And it felt stupid to ask. Mazi decided to try to smile, and just treat this cub as any of his other friends. Royal Sacrifices were lions too, even if they were a few steps closer to the spirits, and it couldn't be wrong to be friendly, right?  

[Cajanic]

“I don’t know,” the female replied as she took a moment to consider the question. What did she want to talk about with this sacrifice? They had something in common, but she was so much more important than he was! Still, he was someone to be respected to, in his own right. It was probably something that they could share in common for a while, until their days arrived. So… she should find something to talk about with this lion who had something in common with her and needed to be mildly respected.

“I’m Nafsi,” she said, though she hadn’t been asked. Most knew her name, and it annoyed her. Why didn’t she get to introduce herself like anyone else? She hadn’t known his name before coming, but he had probably known hers. That’s why he hadn’t asked!

It was hard being so important… but fun.

“Do you ever hear the spirits?” She asked, though she wasn’t sure this particular lion would have an answer for her. It wasn’t really something anyone had been able to answer so far. The spirits were tricky beings, she was starting to see. Though she longed to hear them directly, for the most part she only felt their influence guiding her.
 

[Annchen]

"Nafsi," he echoed before he finally remembered his manners, "A pleasure to meet you."

The whole encounter felt more and more surreal to him, and he hoped he wouldn't say or do something he wasn't supposed to do. He knew he was supposed to respect the sacrifices, and especially the royal sacrifices since they were much more valuable. Without them the next queen wouldn't be as strong. This girl could be the next queen for all he knew, and that made him feel even more out of place.

"Um..." he said, ears lowering, "No, I guess I don't hear them. Just, you know, read the usual signs like everyone else. Can you hear them?"

The queen did, or at least he was pretty sure she did, so her children might hear them too.  

[Cajanic]

“Not… exactly,” she huffed, her ears flattening against her head in her dismay, “I want to, but so far I only… understand what they want from me. I don’t think I can actually hear anything. I wonder if I’m doing it wrong, or if it’s only the feeling you get to know? Do spirits ACTUALLY talk to us? Can they? I wish to hear them! Their voices! Don’t you?” Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe it was only something the royal sacrifices were concerning themselves with, thanks to that whole ‘becoming the next queen’ thing. She wanted it.

She wanted to queen. But she also wanted to be a worthy queen. She wouldn’t have one without the other, that much she had already decided on her own. Even if it meant giving the position to one of her unsavory kin.

“Will you listen for them with me, Mazi?”

She didn’t know much about his life, or what he needed to be doing at that moment, but she wanted someone to be with and he was there. Clearly he would have to put aside whatever else he was doing to hang out with her.
 

[Annchen]

"It's good that you understand them," Mazi said, and then did his best to answer all the questions. She talked a lot, but she said smart things, "I don't know if you're supposed to hear with your ears or hear with your heart or inside your head. At least I'll hear them properly when... if I'm sacrificed. Yes, I'd like to hear the spirits."

He hadn't even finished before she asked if he would listen with her. Listen? He could do that, he could definitely do that. Hopefully they'd hear something. And while he didn't have any solid plans for the day he would have gladly dropped whatever other task he might have been assigned in favour of helping a Royal Sacrifice. That had to be more important that everything else, right? Well, perhaps not if the Queen or Warlord summoned (as if that would happen to him).

He sat down next to her with a solemn expression on his face, and started listening. His ears moved, and he tried to concentrate on his surroundings. Wind through grass. Cub laughing in the distance. His ear twitched as a fly landed on it.  

[Cajanic]

Nafsi scuttled closer to her new listening buddy, sitting herself directly beside him, almost close enough to have her fur brushing against his, and braced herself for some epic listening. She closed her eyes, listening to the same sounds she knew he was hearing as well. There was a whistle in the wind, probably as it blew through some dying plants, that she found particularly distracting. How was she supposed to hear what the spirits wanted if she couldn’t get past that annoying sound?

Maybe she was just looking for a reason why she couldn’t hear anything.

With her eyes still closed, she focused again, thinking about what he had said. They don’t directly talk? They only influence? Was that what he was trying to say? So then, did she already hear the spirits as well as she was going to? No, she wanted to know more. There had to be stories they could tell. Lessons to teach. How could any of that be heard just from a feeling in the heart? She needed to listen harder.

However, her focus was lost as easily as it had been summoned, the young sacrifice now cross with Mazi for confusing her thoughts. She looked at him, watching him as he listened, and moved closer to his ear, blowing into it without hesitation.
 

[Annchen]

If Nafsi was looking for a reaction, she wouldn't be disappointed. Mazi had almost started to get a hang on the listening thing. As he relaxed the outside noises became less distracting, and he could almost ignore them completely as he tried to listen to the something that was behind it all. And then Nafsi blew in his ear and he jumped up and back from the shock, shaking his head vigorously to get that feeling out of his ear.

"Aaaah!," he yelped and rubbed his ear, "Why did you do that? I think I almost heard something whisper and now it's gone."  

[Cajanic]

Nafsi giggled with delight, bordering on the malicious side, as she watched him jump in fright. Still, she hadn’t really meant to cause him so much shock- she had only been playing with him. It seemed he really had been interested in listening with her, if he had been so distracted that he hadn’t seen her get so close.

That was a good thing to know- at least not everyone was a waste of space like some of her siblings happened to be.

“I don’t see why it should such a problem! You should be able to hear them even with distractions, right? I was only trying to make sure you did it right.” And get a little revenge for the confusing thoughts from earlier, but he didn’t need to know that additional detail. She smiled at him, seemingly unremorseful.

“If you want, you can blow in my ear, too,” she offered teasingly, “that would make things even, right? Not that I feel we should be even.”
 

[Annchen]

Mazi wasn't sure he'd ever be able to hear the spirits with full on distractions, but he didn't say that. Perhaps Nafsi would be able to do it since she was a Royal Sacrifice and much closer to the spirits. She even had blue on her coat so she should be good at the spirit thing. He was just a young spirit and a young lion too. Nafsi might be younger than her if you counted moons and days, but her spirit were obviously much more mature.

Her offer to let him blow in her ear made him a bit embarrassed, but he didn't know if she'd get cross if he refused. He decided he'd better do as she told him and blew in her ear. It was just a quick and not very strong breath of air, and he turned his head away after he'd done it.

"Off course we're not even," he said, "You're a Royal Sacrifice and I'm... not."  

[Cajanic]

Nafsi giggle a bit when he blew in her ear- it was so much softer than what she had done to him, and she knew it! Was he worried that she would be insulted? Haha, normal sacrifices were such dorks. It was kind of fun to mess with them. But she knew that was a poor attitude to have- she was supposed to be a leader at some point. That was her goal.

She would make sure it happened, no matter what.

“That’s true,” she mused, “you’re not a royal sacrifice. But that’s alright- I think you are nice enough, even if you’re not as good as I am. I can teach you many things!” She was being conceited, but that wasn’t exactly surprising given her family.

She knew she was due to learn a hell of a lot more in the coming months. Her pride would teach her everything she needed to learn to be the best sacrifice ever, if she couldn’t be a leader.
 

[Annchen]

Cajanic

Mazi didn't have the courage to tell her that he wasn't really a Sacrifice just yet. He would be some day, and that was what mattered, right? It was all very confusing to him. He knew his mother Yuusa had been raised as a Sacrifice, and yet he wasn't allowed to... It made more sense with his brothers since their coats were mostly darker and duller than his. Oh, it wasn't fair!

"I'd love to learn from you," he said, ears eagerly pointing forward, "It would be an honour."

If she could give him some pointers it would make it easier for him to be a proper Sacrifice when he was finally allowed to become one. And Mazi was very eager to join the ranks of the revered Sacrifices of the pride. He would never be as good as the Royal Sacrifices, obviously, but learning from one might rub off some of the awesomeness on him too.  

[Cajanic]

Annchen

“Good, then it’s settled!” announced Nafsi with a wide smile on her face, “from this moment on, you’re my apprentice! You have to do what I say, and I have to make sure I teach you really good, alright? Yay!” She laughed and jumped about on her paws, very pleased with the idea of having her own little lion to use as a practice for when she was running things. She would show her whole family that she was the one meant for greatness. And she would do it with the help, whether it was willing or unwilling, of the cub before her.

It was a good thing that he also seemed like a nice enough pride member- someone who also cared deeply about the values of the place. She had seen some cubs who were more interested in exploring or playing around.

How silly!

“Come with me, then, and we’ll start our lessons right away! I will show you some of the things my parents have taught me. Not everything, of course, but some of the less super-secret stuff!” She was teasing, but when was she not?
 

[Annchen]

Mazi couldn't believe his luck! Super special lessons from a royal sacrifice! He bounced around with Nafsi, smiling. Wait until he told... Or maybe he wasn't allowed to tell anyone, he'd make sure to check with Nafsi.

"I'll do whatever you say," he promised, "And I won't tell anyone if you say it's a secret."

-fin-