Welcome to Gaia! ::

Khanda didn't mind traveling. At least, not when they stayed in the caves. The caves were good. Safe. She could hear the storms in the caves, and they told her that it was okay to forget - so she did. They told her it was safe to talk, even if she couldn't really talk anymore. The beating of rain and the rumble of thunder followed her in the caves, drowning out all the bad things until she was herself but not. And she didn't have to worry about being lonely ever again. Mama and Papa were gone, and so was the pretty purple lady who'd cared for her when she'd been hurt, but there were others now and they were safe and kind and warm.

She liked them.

But Bessy hadn't brought them to a cave in a long time, and she couldn't hear the rain or the thunder anymore. She couldn't forget anymore. She couldn't talk and thinking was so hard when the world was so noisy without the storms to drown it out. She couldn't sleep very well without the storms either, not anymore. The chirp chirp of bugs and the caw caw of birds kept making her jump awake and then she couldn't sleep anymore at all, because once you were awake you were supposed to stay awake. So she was tired. And grumpy. And didn't at all feel like staying in one spot even if Bessy wanted her to, but she would because he'd asked nicely.

She just wanted to hear the storms again. And surely he'd bring her back to them soon, right? He'd led her to them in the first place, after all.

Xipil was a bit on edge lately, it had been ages since she'd been around some fire and it was beginning to get to her. She could hear the voices in her head urging her to start a fire of her own. But she knew the others wouldn't like her silly dances, especially in such close quarters. Perhaps once they finally reached their destination she would be reunited with her passion? She could only hope, she believed in every word that Bessy spoke. Though right now, she couldn't help but give in to the nagging feeling in her head, something wasn't right. But what was it that wasn't right? She just couldn't figure it out.

Glancing around, she saw both of her companions standing in formation just as she was. She shot a very pitiful glance at Khanda. The poor thing hadn't been able to speak in quite some time. Which was quite a shame, Khanda was a real sweetheart. The worry and pain in her eyes was eating away at Xipil's soul, and so she leaned over and gave the lioness a gentle, reassuring nuzzle.

"Don't worry Khanda, Besnik will bring our muses back soon enough. Just hang in there girly."

Khanda lay down, and that was Mircea's cue. He exhaled through his nose as he eased himself to the ground. Ah, that felt good. The Voice was saying something. Mircea tried very, very hard to focus just on Xipil. If his expression was intense (trying to ignore the Voice was pretty tough), his actual words softened it, "He said we were going to the home of the Muses. Where they all came from."

That's what 'home' means, moron, the Voice growled, Pretty sure they were listening when Besnik explained it. Any other useless information you'd like to convey? Mircea shook his head, quickly. No good. What little wind that got didn't have the same soothing, not-quite-decipherable voice to it. He had a thought; one that he couldn't decide if it was the Voice's or his. What if his muse never came back? That awful, soul-sucking, ribs-crushing depression brushed up against his mind. What if he'd never had a muse at all? What if he was just crazy? He had an impulse to to hurt himself. Or scream. Or cry. Maybe all three at once.

He looked at Khanda. Mircea's brow furrowed. She'd had it rough from day one, and she was 'hanging in there' as Xipil put it. He could do this. Mircea could do this. You're the weakest, the Voice said, They're only taking you along out of pity. Mircea grit his teeth. He hated being pitied. Wrong, he thought back at the Voice, You're wrong. And the others weren't weak. They'd all been through a lot; they'd all made it through a lot. Except you, the Voice said, And you broke.

Mircea jolted, and felt himself bump something. Someone. Khanda! He lept to his feet and backed away, ears and eyes down. His whole being exuded apologetic submission. "Sorry!" he said quickly, then lowered his voice, "Very sorry. I didn't mean to bump you, Khanda." In his haste, he then backed into Xipil. "Sorry," he winced, backing away from both lionesses. Mircea, mortified, lowered himself to the ground, ears back and eyes down.

Besnik slowed down to an easy trot, a hard look in his eyes. His followers weren't the only one affected by the loss of their muses. The male was feeling antsy, on edge. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that he was a step behind, late. Any other lion would have blamed their sense of worry for such thoughts. But Besnik was no other lion. He knew when the muses were trying to whisper to him. However, they were not in a cave, and the male could not hear them clearly. Besnik was left to interpret them as best he could. And right now, that interpretation was that the time to back their existence known was close to being upon them. He had half a mind to just nab the group and rush them into the pride, but that would probably cause them to panic. They were a fragile group, and rightly so. The dark world had done great harm to them. If only everyone had a muse. How much more peaceful would the world be? His fellow children would not suffer such awful afflictions, Besnik was sure.
He switched to a fast, powerful walk when the group came into sight. Three hares dangled from his mouth by their ears. Besnik had gone to scout the border a little more and hunted on his way back. The three needed to get their strength back. He dropped them in front of his followers, watching fall to the sand. "Eat, children. We must stay strong." One for each of them. Besnik turned and leapt up on onto a large flat rock, waiting for his followers to start eating before he spoke. He expected questions as well, at least from Xipil and Mircea. It pained him that Khanda had not spoken in so long. She was always so lively in the cave with her muse. He felt bad for depriving them of the caves for so long. If it hadn't been necessary, Besnik wouldn't have done it.

It was as if Xipil's words were a sort of summons for their leader, as soon after she spoke them he appeared. And with him came dinner! Xipil could hear her stomach begin to grumble as the hares flopped easily from side to side in his jaws. They all looked so wonderful ... and the smell! The smell was enough to make the young lioness drool with delight. Though she would wait her turn, as she always did, she allowed Khanda to eat first. She worried heavily for the girl's well being, especially when things became this stressful. In these times where the muses were out of contact, Khanda was only a touch away from losing what sanity she did have.

Once Khanda had chosen her hare, Xipil stepped forward and grabbed the first one she came across. She wasn't a terribly picky eater ... except that she preferred her meals to be cooked by the fire. Sadly though, that wasn't an option, and she was forced to eat the raw meat. All the while dreaming of getting back to a cave and spending some time with her muse once again.

As she nibbled upon her dinner, and thought of the muse she was missing so dearly, she couldn't help but question Besnik's actions.

"What's going on Besnik? Why are we stopped here? When we could be travelling to a cave. Poor Khanda needs her muse, Mircea needs him muse ... and I ... well I just miss mine!

When are we going to see them again?"

Mircea had been aware of what had been going on the past few minutes, but only partially. When the Voice had hold of his mind. And it was gleefully tearing him to bits about upsetting Khanda- the strong, sweet, but sensitive lioness. Xipil's quick dismissal of Mircea's mistake made it hard for the Voice to guilt him over that, but it was trying.

Besnik's use of his name brought him back to (mostly) full awareness. His eyes sharpened and fixed on their leader. For a moment, Mircea met Besnik's gaze. He quickly lowered his eyes. Where Mircea had come from, extended eye-contact between a leader and a lesser male showed impudence, or even a challenge. But... Besnik was different. He never treated Mircea like a potential threat (the Voice laughed at this) or a punching bag to establish dominance over. Besnik was... safety. Yeah; that was the best word for it.

Hare. Food. "R-right. Thank you, Besnik," Mircea said, sincerely. He stretched forward to pick up the last hare, then settled back down. Xipil was right; he and Khanda desperately needed their muses. Next to Besnik, Xipil was the most well-adjusted. Mirca supposed that was why she was his second-in-command, of sorts.

When Besnik got to the part about the muses being gone from the nearby pride for years, Mircea literally choked. Years? Years? The crushing feeling in his ribs returned, and he bit back a wail.
But Besnik and the others could bring them back. And Mircea could help!
"We have to go now!" Mircea said, leaping to his feet, after Besnik had finished. A small part of him may have registered that he'd forgotten his place, or that he might be speaking too loud for Khanda's comfort. He softened his voice. "They- to have muses- gone-" he stuttered, trying to speak and collect his thoughts at the same time.

His head was swimming. What if some of them had Voices? Mircea remembered the lengths he'd gone to trying silence his own. He was shaking, hyperventilating, the world was spinning, and he was going to lose the hare he'd eaten. "We have to stop them..."
He could not finish that sentence. He shut his eyes tight, fighting- and losing- to force the images of his failed attempt out of his mind. But this pride had been without their muses for years.
They're already dead.

She couldn't lie, she felt almost as ecstatic on the inside as Mircea felt on the outside. But she knew to hold it in, going crazy on the group would only cause chaos, and that was something this ragtag group definitely did not need. Instead she sat quietly, thinking about this pride, and how they were coping. Being away from their muses for a few days was driving all of them mad! So how well was this pride fairing? Being separated for years? She couldn't even imagine not being near fire for anywhere near that long!

Xipil's ears fell back against her head at the loud, dominant tone in Besnik's voice. It was completely uncalled for, though she supposed there wasn't much else that was going to get his point across. A quick look at Khanda, she knew Besnik's choice had been a bad but necessary one. They were just going to have to take the good with the bad, there was no way around it.

"But we are strangers to these lions ... what will happen if they reject us?" Xipil's normally happy and vibrant voice was little more than a whisper as she spoke above the now upset leader.

"How will we get in? We can't simply show up and be turned away can we? They ... they wouldn't do that to us ... right Besnik?