[PRP] Snowy Ledges (Tesbel x Junius)

[CaliWolfe]

Shavings of white, crisp and fresh powdery snow fluttered downwards from the sky, and Tesbel shook his coat to free himself from the pounds of it that clung to his fur. He normally did not mind the cold biting through his pelt but today the breeze was extra chilly and made him wish to have an extra layer for his coat.

He was on his morning rounds. His mid-morning rounds that is, and had stopped for a brief moment near a particular ledge that stretched over the side of the mountain. Now he was sitting in the snow, gazing over with his crimson eyes to look and view the world below him.

Thankfully it was not windy, or else he would risk falling off. Although he wasn't one to hold a fear of heights, he knew a drop from up here meant sudden and painful death.  

[Tanakako]

Tail flicking with irritation the blood-red female stalked along the narrow pathway, headed towards one of the more secluded spots on the mountainside. The idiots had been talking again, watching her with hard eyes as she emerged from her den near the shrine. What the heck they thought they could accomplish with their glares and harsh whispers she had no idea.. Other than raising her ire of course. Finally she had made a dash at them, claws extended and fangs bared. They had scattered like the gutless fools they were.

"Fools." She growled aloud as she padded through the thick snow, ignoring the coat of it forming across her shoulders and back. She might be the High Priest now, but she had been a guard and on course for promotion to Captain. It gave her a fierce kind of pleasure to occasionally remind them that she still had skills outside of her accursed seer power.

Rounding the corner she didn't spot the black and white male right away and was already stepping out onto the ledge when she spotted him through the swirling flakes. His patchy coat providing the perfect camouflage. Gritting her teeth she sighed inwardly. She wanted to be alone, bu she was here now and no way was she turning tail and running away. So, head held high and eyes fixed ahead, the infamous ex-guard stalked out to the very edge of the ledge and gazed out at the world spread out far below them.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Tesbel's sight was still fixate on the bottom of the mountain. Where the plains far out of his own sight range dealt with each passing day without snow to cover it. He frowned, having remembered that he had come from such a place.

He loved the cold. Even now as he hoped he would have remembered to bring a cover of some kind for himself he basked in the glory of the glistening snowdrops with pleasure. The snow was indeed cold, but then again so was he.

He watched as the famous pride seer glided past him and stood at the edge of the ledge where he held no doubts the snow was weakest. A wrong step would cause it to break and down the priestess would go, tumbling to the bottom of the mountain. Maybe that was his problem Tesbel decided. He didn't care. He felt no true concern for being out where it was dangerous nor did he seem concerned over the fate of the other standing with him.

"Careful." He told her when from the corner of his eye he spotted the snow beginning to crack. He could have been wrong about the ledge. Maybe it did extend to where the high priest was standing...

Tanakako

 

[Tanakako]

For a few blissful moments there was nothing but the sound of the wind whistling high above them as it danced about the mountain’s crest. She preferred this muted silence over almost everything else. Even when she had been a guard, the stark white landscape had given her the most pleasure. Untouched by paw or hoof, pure and pristine. Sadly such beauty never lasted, and nor, it seemed, did the silence.

Heaving a sigh as he spoke she glanced down, staring at the cracks that had started to form. Idly she wondered what it would be like, to go dropping down through the icy air. But she had no desire to die. Not only would it delight those in the pride that didn’t think she deserved her power, unwanted though it was, she also was not particularly interested in taking the easy way out. She may hate her job, but she had loved life once… and who was to say a more powerful seer might not come along and then she could hand over her ridiculous role and return to her true calling.

Finally she stepped back onto more solid ground, tail flicking across the deep snow. With a slight smile she knocked a nearby rock forwards, watching as it rolled heavily over the cracks and hovered on the very edge of the snow sheet. With a quiet sigh the ledge gave way and slid gracefully down into the valley, leaving behind a delicate curtain of ice crystals that slowly dispersed.

It had been a game for her, when she had been a guard, to monitor the snow layers and do exactly as she just had, setting off smaller falls to prevent the large build-up that resulted in more destructive avalanches. Sadly, one leopard was no match for an entire mountain however…. She still wondered if she could have prevented the catastrophe that had killed so many. Despite Elisheba’s assurances that nothing could have helped… Still, perhaps if she had sent more leopards out to do her old work, or actually sought a vision… Something!

Growling low at her own thoughts she sighed again, head lifting to gaze out at the view. “Not enough snow…” She sounded almost wistful, or sad… It was such an unusual emotion to hear from the sharp-tempered High Priestess that it was impossible to tell the difference.

CaliWolfe

So so sorry! I forgot about this!!

 

[CaliWolfe]

'Not enough snow?' Tesbel thought for a moment. Yes. He could see how there was not enough. The winds did not chill his bones as much as he preferred to delight. The ledges where the snow had built grew weak and collapsed under the mere weight of a paw... No. There was not enough. The avalanche that most of the colony was devastated by proved this. The snow was not strong, it required many numbers of snowflakes to remain still, frozen, lifeless but hardy. Similar to a pride itself, he thought.

Then again, catastrophe or no catastrophe the splotchy leopard didn't mind seeing the bodies of his kin, his "friends", his fellow guards buried knee deep frozen in the snow. As troubling as it was he found it no trouble at all, his lack of empathy, that was.

Tesbel stepped towards where the newly formed edge for their little overhanging mount of rock and ice was. "Yes. Not enough." He decided to agree with her. If the snow was able to bury him alive, then it would prove enough. Then and only then. That was his thinking process.

Tanakako

 

[Tanakako]

Junius glanced over at the black and white male near by, more white than black now with the snow falling in a steady curtain. Honestly, she had briefly forgotten he was there at all, her attention drifting away on the flakes that had spilled so gracefully down the mountainside.

Now however, she wasn’t sure how to get rid of him so she could have the ledge to herself. Since even she wasn’t rude enough to just tell him to go away… at least not until he was rude to her and annoyingly, so far, he had been perfectly quiet. Which she preferred, but it left her with the problem of sharing the area with him.

All of a sudden a stabbing pain pierced her head, making her take an unsteady step to the side. Turning her head away from him to hide her grimace of pain she grit her teeth so hard her jaw cracked, the effort of holding in her cry of agony almost as painful as the attack itself.

The vision struck as if it had a real, physical weight. Her eyes blinded by a snowstorm only she could feel, her skin prickling as if it were freezing despite her thick fur. ‘Vision’ was such a weak word for what she experienced during it. For her, they were not simply things to watch and report, but full body experiences that almost always brought pain and agony with little real information.

As suddenly as the attack had come upon her, it fled, leaving her weak and dizzy. Her sides heaved with relief as the sharp drilling torment in her head eased, slowly fading away to nothing. The vice-like grip on her body, which locked up her muscles, eased. And the blindness of swirling snow cleared from her gaze.

Drawing a deep, ragged breath in, trying to be as quiet as she could despite the lingering ghost pain that nipped at her organs like fire ants, she desperately hoped Tesbel hadn’t noticed the fit.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Tesbel had noticed, and he was slightly curious. He knew that as she was the high priestess she was also a seer. Not necessarily a trait one needed to posses for the rank as far as he knew, but it certainly did give her a slight bonus for rising the ranks even further then she had been.

His eyes had drifted from watching the snow to looking at the leopard beside him. Her whole body looked tense, and he figured that having a sudden vision would do such. He was glad in that moment that he had not been born a seer. He was blessed to not live with the "gifts" of having a god parent or relative provided.

Once she finished her little fit, he turned away in disinterest. She had not gone plummeting off the ledge, although she certainly had taken a step near the edge of the one they shared currently. This wasn't to say Tesbel actually wished ill harm on anyone let alone Junius, he often didn't care enough about others to think such thoughts. H simply found trouble intriguing and interesting, the one thing he actually minded or felt the need to act upon was the sight of something or someone in distress.

When his prey showed fear he would take glee in attacking, when leopards stepped too close to the ledge he... Felt the need to help? Maybe, he felt concern at the very least and could muster a small amount of emotion that resembled happiness knowing that to be true.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, somewhat curious for her answer.

Tanakako

 

[Tanakako]

His voice pierced the strangly muffled yet over-loud effect of the attack which always seemed to follow, making her hearing both dull and yet somehow hyper-sensative. So his voice seemed to her, to be shouted, and yet she could barely make out his question.

After a moment she bent her head, turning to look over at him, hoping she did not look as dreadful as she felt. "Quiet well." She answered in return, knowing it was an outright lie but not about to let anyone know just how bad her attacks could be. The pride may cry and moan about having an ex-guard as their High priestess, but it they knew just how terrible such a 'gift' could be, they would probably sing an entirely different tune.

The worse part was, she knew another worse one was on the way. Her visions usually came in pairs, one merely a warning, the second would be the full-blown experience. And she needed to get herself someplace safe and hidden as soon as she could.

With a reluctant last look down the moutain she turned away from the view, knowing she needed to ready herself for the second, far more horrid, experience to come.

"Shan Furen be with you." She offered, pausing briefly. After all, she was a priestess, and that always seemed like the kind of farewell she was suposed to give these days...

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"And with you." Tesbel offered in return. He supposed that was a farewell expected of him to issue. After all it would be rather rude to leave without so much as a goodbye.

The male had determined that now was as good a time as any to return to patrolling the mountain. He would be checking for weak ledges and ensuring no lions were trying to sneak their way up to where they currently stood. Without so much as a blink or a sigh the splotchy leopard turned and began to walk away from where he had been standing, no longer wanting or needed to share the ledge. The priestess could have it all to herself now, if she wanted, or if she rather she could abandon it too. Tesbel had gone back to not caring and was disinterested in her final decision regarding the ledge.

His coat was still covered, and in fact became even more covered, with a layer of snow that made him look merely speckled with black spots on his fur. He shook himself free from this cold blanket and embraced the wind that riled his fur and made him even squint in order to see.

It was a nice day out, he decided. This weather was something he liked.

Tanakako