*The rumours of Unreal*

[Kirsui]

Inari flinched slightly at Skell's words. The tiger clearly chose to ignore Tanis completely. To the grey lioness' great surprise, Tanis stepped in between herself and the dark tiger.

"What do you want with Inari?"

Skell grinned at these words, and tht grin caused Inari's ears to flatten.
"What I want?" Skell spoke, his red gaze now at Tanis.
"I want her knowledge... Her knowledge of over 500 years upon these lands!"

Inari rolled her eyes and closed them, taking in a deep breath. She tried to behave as if living for such a long time without aging would be a common thing, even though she well knew it wasn't.
"I already told you, Skell", she said, opening her eyes and glaring at the tiger.
"I can not help you. You are cursed, and only you can find the way of lifting it. Not me, not that winged friend of yours... Only you."

Skell growled, his attention at Inari again.
"Liar!" he snarled at the lioness.
"I never imagined you to be such a fool, Inari... Never imagined you'd lower yourself like this by hiding what you know, and lying that you have no idea!"
If Skell had been alone with the lioness, he would have pounced and attacked her. But she was behind Tanis, and because he didn't know anything of this lion he had to be careful. But he did glare at Inari, with a gaze promising slow and painful death.

[Tamber]

Rhea, about to sneak her blue self farther down to the others, was surprised and haulted by someone...new. A black and white lioness, addressing her by her strange color. In a stumble and shock, Rhea let out a slight squeak, quickly composing herself afterwards. She jerked her head back to see if anyone below had noticed her presence. Seeing that they carried on normally, she jerked back to the newcomer.

"What are you trying to do? Get us both uncovered? Maybe you're alone and carefree, but I'm busy here."

Rhea realized how angry she had become at the new one, but these were tense times. One slip up could hurt either her or the ones she loved. Skell was a fierce opponent with everyone, and it was obvious that he was after Inari.

In an attempt to make it up to the seemingly neutral and friendly lioness, Rhea jerked her head in the direction of the three at the bottom of the hill that lay before them. Still staying in the deep shadows of the trees, Rhea crept along stealthily and quietly until she was significantly closer, with a good view of the scene. Still, she was under dense vegetation, and was hidden well.

Skell was quickly becoming hostile again, but he seemed to be held back by the new guy that stood before Inari, protecting her, in a way. They spoke of curses once more, and Skell was obviously on his anxious toes, which made Rhea nervous.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama nodded, uncaring. She followed the head jerk of the blue lioness and saw a strange lion glaring down at two others. She was a little confused, but unphased. This was tiring, but she couldn't help curiosity.

She continued to gaze down at them. Her heart froze when she saw the glare of the evil-looking lion. He gave the same glare the lions who killed her pride gave, yet it was more evil then imaginable. It was full of hatred and gave the look of a stone heart. The look made her hold her breath until she came back to reality.

She looked to the blue lioness and whispered almost inaudibly, "What exactly is going on?"

[Deleted]

Enaku frowned at Inari. She stepped out of the shadows and took a few steps towards them.

"Thanks Inari. I feel so overly loved right now."

The winged lioness ignored whatever it was Skell was doing and took a couple of steps towards Inari.

"For someone who's lived 500 years it's a wonder you can't remember my name.."

She raised a brow sarcastically at the lioness before looking at Skell. She didn't want to over power her leader. Not if needed, anyway.

[Katari]

Over 500 years upon these lands.... That thought reverberated in Tanis's mind as he considered the implications of Skell's words. Skell. A strange name, for a strange creature. But also a dangerous one.

And Inari...was she truly over 500 years old? That sounded too incredible to be true. But he had heard things before. Strange things. Things that, like this, made absolutely no sense. Could it be that legend was here becoming a reality? You see things in dreams, remember, he thought wryly, and almost smiled. Here he stood, with a vengeful and angry tiger -- whatever that was supposed to be -- and a lioness that was supposed to have lived since long before his ancestors' ancestors.

Tanis just wondered what he was getting into.

"Inari, is what he says true?" That was the first order of business, besides keeping Skell from carrying out the hidden threat in his eyes and words. He braced himself mentally for action, ready for anything. At least, he hoped he was.

[Kirsui]

Inari narrowed her eyes at Enaku, but said nothing to the winged feline. What did need her answer though was Tanis. The grey lioness sighed, turning her deep red eyes at the newly met lion.
"About myself being so old?" she questioned.
"Unfortunately so..."
She turned her head away, as if being ashamed of her age. She certainly didn't look like one who had lived so long. She was still the same she had been on her late adolescence.
"Some might call it a gift."
She snorted un-amusedly.
"I call it a curse. To live through the years without remembering if it is the 10th year of your life, or 500th, perhaps even 1000th. To see others grow old and die around you. To forget the names of those you once considered family."
She turned her gaze back at Tanis, a tortured shine in her eyes.
"I am old, Tanis. I do not even know how old. I stopped counting around 500, seeing as how it was useless."

Her gaze focused on Skell as she caught the dark tiger rolling his eyes at the speech Inari was giving.
"However", she continued, her gaze locked at the tiger, though she spoke to Tanis.
"I do not lie, even though Skell so kindly accuses me of doing such. He is cursed, and I have no more answers to him that I have already given. He refuses to listen to my words, even though he also at the same time seeks my knowledge that I may have gathered during my long life."
She grinned faintly, but the grin never reached her eyes.
"And all this simply becayse he is a fool."

Skell had had enough and suddenly pounced into action - literally. The tiger's claws were extented as he pounced from his place towards Inari, for some reason not using his elemental abilities. The grey lioness gasped and pounced backwards, saved only by her special instinct that warned her about coming dangers. Skell growled, preparing for a second attack at Inari. And for some reason he seemed to have forgotten all about Tanis.

[Tamber]

Rhea hushed the black and white lioness, trying to get as much of the story in her mind as she could.

So Inari was over 500 years old, possibly hundreds more than that, since she had lost count. Wow. I've been spending my time with an ancient being, and I didn't even know it. Rhea could see the pain and hurt in Inari's eyes. She understood, too. Rhea would never want to live to be too old. She wanted her life to be short and sweet. How on Earth could someone stand to live for so long?

And this curse of Skell's. It was still vague, and Rhea couldn't make out how he was cursed or exactly what the curse was.

But her thoughts were interrupted as Skell became defensive an errupted from his clouded platform. He looked as though he was ready to slice Inari in half, ready to kill her...if that was even possible. Teh bllue lioness couldn't sit there and do nothing. Rhea leaped out of the shaded area and straight into the bright moonlight. In her transformation from sane to mentally blinded, Rhea momentarily regretted her move. With the mixture of moonlight and anger, Rhea was unpredictable, and she could end up doing anything. But the power of love kept her moving forward.

The moonlight soaked into Rhea's skin, and her coat became solid blue once again, her eyse and the moon on her shoulder glowing brightly. She mercilessly pounded down upon Skell in fury, roaring ferociously. She clamped her jaw around his neck until he fought her bite off. Gaining power from the moon, she use its gravity to lift Skell from the ground. He hung above them for a moment, then, with a thrust of the moon's energy, Rhea threw Skell as hard as she could. The tiger's body slammed against a huge tree, and Rhea could see his back and neck thrash from the sudden hault of the momentum. The tiger fell to the ground, and Rhea was prepared to stand guard for her dear Inari, no matter what it would take. There was no consulting with her now. While in her transe, Rhea would not speak, she would not negotiate.

[Deleted]

Enaku sat down and started inspecting her claws when Skell pounced for Inari. She would just let him do whatever he had to do without interupting. She looked up at Tanis and gave him an evil glare, and was about to start speaking to him when a lioness jumped out of nowhere. Skell was then thrown against a tree.

"That is it."

The winged lioness mumbled loudly.

"I am so sick of you!"

And with that she walked up to the lioness with her claws extended and took a strike at her face, leaving a mark or two. The impact pushed Rhea a couple of steps back.

"Try that again and i'll strap you down in a dark place where there is no moonlight."

Enaku glared at Rhea and brought her right paw up.

"I hope you remember that i do have the power to paralyze. And next time i'll make sure you can't use your pathetic abilities to heal yourself."

She stood there glaring at Rhea, waiting for a reaction.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama saw the lioness rush down and attack the one on the cloud. She was taken aback and watched silently, unable to move. She realized the lioness must get her powers from the moon, seeing that she had gotten stronger under the lit moon. She watched enthralled.

Suddenly, a winged lioness claw her blue "friend". She felt anger coarse through her vains. Her temper was getting the better of her and she glanced around quickly for something to hurl at the lioness. She hated violence, seeing as she had just escaped it, but the action of the winged lioness took her back to her friend's fight. She shook away the thought quickly, but it was too late for her anger.

She saw a medium sized rock, about the size of her paw. She channeled her anger and picked up the stone. She used it to strike the winged lioness. Her action bringing attention to herself. She didn't want to be attacked immediately. She created three illusions of herself, all of them, including herself, with their lips pulled up into a snarl.

[Tamber]

Rhea stumbled back as the winged lioness struck her face, drawing blood to her blue fur. She only half-listened to the lioness's words, however, as Rhea unintentionally backed into a shaded area.

She blinked furiously as her vission blurred, strange thoughts and sights buzzing around her head. Perhaps the combination of shade and a blow to the head made Rhea extra unstable. But as she recovered her clear vision, she saw the lioness stumble to the ground, a large rock smashing against her. The black and white lioness had emerged, as well.

Jeez, why can't I get my vision back in order?, Rhea thought as she tried to blink off the sight of three different identical lionesses. But she soon relized that there really were three of them. This lioness must have had special powers, as well.

But as she was now of sound mind, Rhea sat still, keeping her temper calm, though she panted heavily from her greatly exerted engery. Skell was now recovering from the hard hit she had given him.

"Peace, friend," she said to the black and white lioness...well...to one of them, at least. Rhea turned to look at the angered Enaku once more, waiting for a possibly enraged reaction.

[Kirsui]

Skell was blown away from his attack so strongly that it knocked the air out of his for a moment. He slid to the ground against the tree and shook his head to get the dizzyness away.

Then he growled. It begun as a low rumble that soon grew louder. It was an odd sound, much louder and deeper than a tiger of his size should have been able to produce. But he did anyway, and as he finally rose to his feet from the ground and lifted his gaze, there was clear death promise written in the depths of the blood red orbs. And his eyes locked on Inari.

The grey lioness stood her ground under the bloodthirsty stare of the tiger. She held her head high, her eyes narrowing slightly as she accepted the challenge from the tiger. She begun to gather her concentration on the small objects scattered around her in the ground - twigs, stones, sand...

But Inari had no time to use her psychic powers before she witnessed a strange thing happen with the tiger. For a moment it seemed that he was glowing, but the glow was not bright. No, it was like a black light flashing around the tiger's form, only that the "light" was more like a shadow in the all ready dark night.

Then all of a sudden everything went dark. Inari blinked, knowing well that blinking her eyes wouldn't make the darkness go away. Suddenly an image flashed in her mind, of herself being pinned down by the dark tiger who...

Inari's eyes widened and she quickly pounced away from where she stood, sending herself to the ground where she rolled for a while before rising to her feet. The darkness had now disappeared and the night evening was normal once again. She prepared her powers, her eyes glowing now bright white as her gaze locked on Skell who stood where she had been standing a moment ago.

Skell indeed had pounced after creating the darkness. He like the others had not seen a thing in the blackness od´f his creation. But he hadn't had to, it was only to distract Inari. He had pounced towards where he had seen her stand, only to remember all too late of her strange ability that warned her of danger.

And now... He could see her gather her psychich power, could already see several small sticks and stones rise to the air on her command, and could see them fly towards him. He had only seconds time to create his cloud in front of him and make it solid enough to protect himself from the flying objects.

And then he pounced again, aiming at Inari once more when she had to stop using her ability in order to remain conscious.

[Deleted]

Enaku felt some pain suddenly as her shoulder was hit with a large rockthat nearly knocked her off her feet. Turning slowly around she saw three lioness's standing there. She stood there for a second or two gazing at the three, realising that something was wrong as they were all identical. Blinking eyes two or three times, they stayed there, not moving.

"That's lovely dear. Go have fun with that somewhere else, can't you see i'm busy."

And with that she turned her attention back to Rhea, who wasn't doing anything, and that was fine with Enaku. So the black winged lioness just stood there. Simply watching Skell and Inari's movements, whilst also keeping an eye on this new black and white lioness that had just jumped onto the scene.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama was surprised at how the new lioness had just shrugged her off. She growled and made her other selves disappear, leaving only herself. She snarled, "Have fun with that?" She walked down, trying to control her temper and heed the black lioness's words.

She finally reached the bottom, practically hissing. "Whats going on here," she demanded. She hefted a huge rock with her powers that was only slightly smaller than her. She let it hover in the air above the winged lioness's head and waited for her answer.


=-=-=-=


A strangely patterned lioness walked calmly along, carrying a conversation, "No I do not think it was a bad decision to leave, Winston. We needed some freedom." The little lizard she had been talking to nodded solemnly, then broke into a smile. She continued, "Besides, I was the only one there with powers. It was too weird being around creatures that just stared. I want to find others like me, Winsty." The lizard nodded once more.

As they came up to a hill and looked down they saw a black and white lioness holding a rather large boulder over the form of another lioness, though this one had wings. She saw a gray lioness also and a blue one. She smiled when she saw they had powers, but frowned when she saw that they seemed to be in a spat, if one could call it that.

She walked down calmly, uncaring of what they thought and spoke, "What are you all doing?"

[Deleted]

Enaku raised her brow at the lioness as she made a huge rock hover over her head.

"My, my. You do have a temper, don't you. And i don't think you would want to let that boulder fall. Because then, my dear, My friend Skell, over there,"

She motioned towards where Skell was standing with Inari.

"... would be sure to make sure you never see another day. And besides. Then you would have no one to explain to you what's going on."

Enaku then heard another voice.

"Oh. great. More company."

She mumbled to herself. The lioness then asked the same question asked a few minutes ago by this other new lioness.

"You're all so curious. You know you might be more likable if you weren't all sticking your noses into other peoples business."

And with that she spread her wings and quickly flew out from under the large rock and hovered in mid air.

[Katari]

Tanis had been surprised by the suddenness of the violence that broke out...but only for an instant. He'd been ready to intervene on Inari's behalf, at least at first, but when she'd shown her willingness to fight for herself, he'd decided it would be more honorable to let her stand on her own, at least so long as it was a fair fight.

To that end, he only watched the proceedings, waiting and curious for an outcome. If Skell won, though, he'd more than likely be coming for Tanis momentarily; that didn't worry him so much, except that he would have preferred to remain neutral while in these strange lands. But that ideal had died quickly after he'd stood up for Inari in the first place. Ah, well. The complications of life.

He turned to watch the other assorted lionesses -- and there were several. Smiling at their sarcasm, he walked over to where they had gathered and just stood looking on. "Anything I can help you with?" he asked innocently. Well, as innocently as he knew how.

[Kirsui]

Inari saw the attack coming, even before her ability warned her about it. But she couldn't move away in time, not with the headache that threatened to break out. The impact was so hard that it sent both Inari and Skell roll on the ground as both of them tried to fight to get on top of the other one.

Skell succeeded in that one. The tiger pinned the grey lioness to the ground with his claws extended and pressed against her skin. He was snarling dangerously at her, apparently fighting with himself. Skell so wanted to break her neck.. but he needed her alive!

His hesitation gave Inari the opportunity to gather her concentration once again and land a blow on the tiger. The tiger was hit by what seemed to be an invisible force and blown away from the lioness, only to find himself hit a tree. Again. Inari struggled with her headache now as she rose to her feet again. She was fighting to keep conscious, the pain in her head was just getting way too much to bare!

Skell grinned as he got up from the ground. He turned his now glowing red eyes at Inari, the wide grin together with the glowing orbs causing him to look devilish. And as if an addition to deepen that image, blue flames burst into life around him, freezing everything they touched except the tiger himself.

He approached Inari, circling around the lioness with slow steps.
"I can't kill you, Inari", he whispered at her.
"But I can make you feel pain you've never felt before..."
He suddenly stopped so that he was standing right in front of Inari.
"Come with me to experience the flames."

Inari's eyes widened when Skell pounced on her again. Her ability warned her that if she would not do something right now, those flames Skell had created would do some serious damage to her. And so with the order from her instincts the grey lioness overcame her headache and concentrated, causing her eyes to glow once again in the purest white. Skell stopped in mid flight, floating on the air as he was held by Inari.
"Inari, you fool!" Skell mocked her.
"Keep this up and you'll faint!"

Inari ignored the tiger's words and merely smiled faintly. Then she closed her eyes momentarily. When she opened them again Skell was blown away with such an increddible force that the tree which he hit now collapsed with a heavy crash. But the crashing sound of the collapsing tree wasn't the only noise heard at that moment.

As soon as Inari had blown Skell away her concentration broke under the pain she was now feeling in her head. She screamed, her glowing eyes wide open as she collapsed to the ground. She held her head with her paws and continued to scream until the glow from her eyes had faded and their normal dark red colour had returned. Her eyes were barely open as she fought to keep the unconsciousness away.

[Tamber]

Rhea watched the scene before her unfold, backing away from them stepo by step. Rhea's cowerdice was showing as she flinched at each hit, each attack, each painful move. Normally Rhea was good at hiding her fear, but for some reason it had changed a bit during the battle. It was unlike anything she had seen before, and she had no idea if she should help or just watch helplessly.

In peralysis, Rhea just sat beneath the trees, making sure to stay out of the monlight. Then again, if she were to step foreward into the light, she might have been able to save Inari from passing out, or even from death. Rhea's blind rages were unpredictable, and she knew for a fac that she became ten times more powerful in them than she normally was.

In a way, Rhea wished she could always be living in those rages, for then, she had no fear.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama let the rock drop as soon as the winged lioness flew away. She was slightly angered but she calmed herself. She knew that she could lose her temper, and that wasn't a very good thing. When angry, she didn't think. This definitely was one of those times to think.

She looked to the new lioness who had asked the same question. She thought to herself about the situation, 'Ok so: This blue lioness and that Inari one and that other lion are all on the same side. That scary looking lion and that winged one are on the same side. Me and that new striped lioness are new and unsure as to which side to go. Ok that about sums it up. I think i might aim to just stick with that Inari one. She seems like shes on the 'good' side. But who knows? Maybe I just walked in on a good time. This is confusing.' She held a paw to her head, trying to make sense of what to do.

After she came out of her thoughts, she saw the Inari laying on the ground, her eyes hardly open. She walked over silently, "What do you need? I'll help."

=-=-=-=

Samara stared as the one called Inari screamed, then fell to the ground. She saw the other black and white lioness walk over and offer assistance. She knew that this must be the 'good' side, but she wasn't sure what exactly they all were. Well she knew they were obviously all somehow a little lion, but still..... She continued to stare, unsure what to do. She decided she just wouldn't speak until it was asked of her.

[Deleted]

Enaku hovered in the air, watching down at the lioness who was controlling the boulder. Soon after flying out from underneath it, she had dropped the boulder, frustrated. Enaku simply smiled and returned to watching the major scene; of Skell and Inari.

The winged lioness watched on for a few minutes, listening to anything she could. She noticed Inari's eyes starting to glow, and Skell was stuck in the air, before thrown overly hard against a tree. Enaku gasped and zoomed straight over to the skeleton patterned tiger, and landed next to him, to aid him.

"Skell, Skell. C'mon Skell! Open your eyes."

She had her paw on his face, shaking it slightly, in attempt to wake him.

"Skell....."

[Kirsui]

The world was blurring in her eyes. She couldn't see properly anymore, and she cursed her headache, her foolish attempt to save herself from Skell with her abilities. She cursed her instincts to protect herself from harm, cursed her life that didn't seem to have an end, and cursed the dark tiger who so foolishly refused to listen what she told him.

"What do you need? I'll help."

Inari blinked her eyes, fighting to keep them open. She didn't have the strength to reply to who ever had come to help her.

---

"Skell, Skell. C'mon Skell! Open your eyes."

Skell growled faintly. He was between unconsciousness and awakeness, and could not recognize the one speaking as Enaku. Images kept flashing in his mind, images of a young tiger with bright orange fur, trapped in the middle of ice blue flames in something that looked like a blizzard. He didn't know how he knew it was blizzard, he didn't know how he knew that somewhere in that flash of images there was a snow white tiger, standing, watching...

But he did know he knew this young tiger, and he knew his name.

"Skell....."


Skell's eyes snapped open.
"No."
He growled, then basically pounced off from the ground, snarling at Enaku without recognizing her.
"It's Avain."

His own eyes widened slightly as that word slipped off from his lips. Avain... It was... the name of that tiger in his flash backs. Suddenly he realized his hostile behaviour and shook his head to snap out of it.
"I'm fine, Enaku."
He growled again, this time at Inari's actions. He glared at the direction where Inari was, seeing the grey lioness lay at the ground, almost unconscious.

His eyes narrowed and he pounced on the move, heading to Inari with a determined expression. When he reached her he growled at the other lioness who previously had been fighting with Enaku. He glared at her, before turning his attention at Inari.
"Who is Avain?"
Inari didn't reply, and so Skell took a step closer, pushing the lioness away from Inari at the process. He took a hold of Inari's head, forcing her to look at him.
"Who is Avain?"

Inari's eyes closed. She was feeling very... odd. As if she had just used all her energy...
"Avain is... you..."
With her eyes closed she failed to see the shock on Skell's face.
"Your memories... are returning... slowly..."
She felt as Skell let go of her head and it fell to the ground softly. Oddly enough Inari's headache didn't seem as bad as it had been a moment ago.
"I can not help you... to move the curse... the memories will... when... they return..."
She wanted to fall asleep, but yet she still kept fighting. It was an odd feeling, as if she deep down she still had to do something before the sleep would come.

[Deleted]

Enaku gasped slightly when Skell growled at her, awakening from his unconcious state. He then stood up and started speaking, before moving over to Inari.

"Avain?"

She muttered to herself. Enaku had no idea what so ever that was meant to mean. She was about to walk over and ask Skell, but thought she better not interupt, so she just slowly followed the tiger and stood beside him, reaching the pair just as they had finished speaking.

[Tamber]

Rhea continued to watch all the happenings. All this talk of curses, of Skell and his memory, of Inari possibly being of some help...Rhea had been listening to it all night, ever since she first evesdropped on the Inari and the two accomplices. And yet, she still had no idea of what was happening. It was starting to bother her. She felt like she was being a pain, in the way, not being of help to her friend. She wanted to help Inari, but she had no idea of how.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Samara watched all the happenings carefully. She assumed that Inari and that bluish lioness and that black and white lioness were all on one side. The other side seemed to be the one called Skell and the winged lioness. She saw Winston crawling about nervously on her shoulder. "Shhh, Winston. No need to be alarmed." she cooed to him softly. She had a soft spot for her little lizard. He calmed down immediatly and looked up at her. She winked at him and he laid down.

She looked back to the scene. She didn't much want to go on the side of Inari and them. She much preferred the look of power that Skell and the winged lioness gave off. She walked over to where the winged one, Inari, and Skell all stood. She waited to see if anyone would tell her anything at all.

[Kirsui]

Skell was shocked into silence when Inari whispered all these things. He had been seeing flashbacks of himself? His name was Avain and not Skell? He... he had looked normal... And yet it all made sense. It sounded impossible, but everything fit, as if the puzzle Skell was had been solved. Almost, anyway. There were still blank places in his memory, but if Inari was right those wouldn't be blank all too long...

Suddenly the grey lioness coughed, her whole body trembling. She opened her eyes wide open and looked at Skell. The dark tiger felt a shiver go down his spine at the look she had in her eyes. He remembered them as shining red pools of someone who had seen more during her long life than others.

Now they were dull, the shine was gone, and for some reason Skell thought Inari couldn't really see him well anymore. Her gaze wandered away from him, to the other felines gathered around her.
"Find Anubris..." she whispered weakly, apparently pointing her words at everyone present.
"Tell him... not to... revenge..."
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes again. She had images flashing in her mind, memories of all those who she had met during her long life. And after all these images she saw only one lioness, purest white in colour with light green eyes.
"I know you..." she whispered, speaking to the image instead of those present.
"Sis..."

Skell lifted an eyebrow at Inari. She wasn't looking at them, she seemed to see something the others couldn't. And when she spoke he had to take a step backwards. Something was wrong in this situation...

Skell's thoughts were proven right when a faint gust of wind blew and a faint glow begun to circle Inari. The dark tiger watched in awe as the lioness let out a deep sigh and smiled while the glow became brighter. The faint gust of wind blew stronger, until it made the grass and trees sway. Then suddenly Inari begun to fade, and when the wind hit her it looked like she had slowly turned into dust that the wind blew away. She kept fading to the wind, but before she was completely gone she opened her eyes. They were shiny once more, and she smiled.

And then she was gone, and as the wind subsided the only thing revealing she had ever existed was her scent.



((OOC: woaaah! now THAT was a hard scene to describe! Not sure if I'm completely happy with the description... *sigh* But Inari is now out of the role play.))

[Tamber]

The blue lioness had become so frusterated, yet so afraid at what was happening. It was still very confusing, yet some main, important details of this "curse" were falling into place. Skell had once been, indeed, normal, and some sort of curse had been put upon him. Rhea was assuming it made him into what he was today. She still didn't understand how Inari fit into all of this, but apparently she knew everything that Skell wished to know. Rhea didn't know what to think. She just wanted to pause time and have Inari explain everything to her clearly, without Skell hearing.

Rhea looked into Inari's eyes as she lay upon the ground. As the minutes passed, they began to dull drastically, seeming to drift off into a different world. Inari then spoke some very faint words...

"Find Anubris...tell him...not to...revenge..."

She seemed to be speaking to all of them, but who exactly was she speaking to? Rhea? Skell? Skell and his accomplice? Or...was she meaning that they had to work together? But what worried her most about Inari's words was that they seemed to indicate that she would not be there with them.

Rhea almost tried to open her mouth to ask a question, feeling that she was running out of time, but she just couldn't interrupt what she was watching. Inari seemed encapsed in a world that only she could see, and while she looked like she was suffering physically, her expression looked happier than Rhea had ever seen her.

Suddenly, Inari began to blow away into the wind and lights that surrounded her. Her body disintigrated as it caught the wind and floated away from them, and the lioness was gone. After 500 years, it looked like Inari had finally drifted into a better place.

While Rhea felt great relief that Inari seemed absolutely on top of the world now, she had so much fear inside of her. Suddenly this burden seemed to be placed upon her shoulders, and she didn't have the slightest clue of what to do. She looked up to the others, the crazed tiger, the loyal and menacing winged lioness, the new lion that she didn't even know, and the black and white lioness with a curious lizard on her shoulder. So much had changed. She came to them the morning before, surrounded by friendly faces, and though she hadn't known them, she felt like they had automatically accepted her, for they were all similar. But now what did she see? Faces she hardly knew, and felt she couldn't know. Whose side was she on? Did she even have a side? Was it her that was meant to carry out this strange mission?

The fear and confusion rushing through Rhea left her feeling woozy, her vision whiting out and her eyes rolling back. She fought to keep herself standing, but in her fluster, she really had no idea of whether she was standing, lying, or falling into a strange, deceptive world. She just looked at the others with narrow pupils, fearing what would happen next.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama was about to ask what was going on, but she stopped suddenly. She didn't want to disrupt Inari, for her eyes seemed to dull. She watched, not hiding any of the wonder she felt, as the grey lioness began to speak and she spoke of a name that Shy had never heard before. 'Anubris?,' she thought, 'Who is Anubris? And why must we find him? Does he want revenge? On who?'

All these thoughts were racing through her head, one right after the other and she was finding it hard to concentrate. It gave her a slight headache and she wanted so badly to understand, but couldn't. She wanted to help, to do whatever she needed to do, but she wasn't quite sure what she needed to do.

She was suddenly brought back into reality when Inari suddenly began to fade. A sudden gust of wind came from no where and began to take her away. She wanted to call out, to ask what she needed to do, but her words caught in her throat. She didn't want to stop the lioness. She finally seemed at peace, she didn't want to do anything that might hinder her for what she was now feeling. She just watched, a small smile playing across her face, as the lioness disappeared from their midst.

=-=-=-=

Samara stepped back suddenly when Inari opened her eyes. They were dull red, and they almost scared her. They seemed all knowing and wise. She spoke of a name, a strange one. Anubris. She had never heard of it, and she wondered who it belonged to. What had she gotten herself into? She had to go seek out a.. a something, for she couldn't be sure it was a lion, and try to tell it not to be vengeful? And when Inari had said that, she seemed to speak to all of them. Was she to work together with lions she hadn't even known for an hour?

She was slightly dizzied by all of this and she looked at Inari once more. The lioness was fading. 'Wait, fading?' she wondered, all of this too crazy for her to understand. The lioness suddenly opened her eyes. They were bright once more and she was smiling. She was fading more and more, and suddenly a gust of wind took her away. She was gone, and she had no idea what to do.

They were all silent, it seemed. She really didn't know what to say. Should she bring up what Inari had said. Winston crawled atop her head and paced. He seemed to be thinking also.

[Deleted]

Enaku watched the scene fold out before her. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, or who Anubris was. She just stood there in awe and watched as Inari dissapeared with the wind. Enaku stood there for a moment or two, still caught up in what had just happened before walking up to Skell.

"Skell.."

The winged lioness started to whisper in his ear.

"What's going on? Who's Anubris?"

She assumed if anyone was to hve the slightest idea of what was going on, it would be Skell.

[Kirsui]

Skell stood in silence, staring at where Inari had been with wide eyes. He felt... crushed. His only hope of finding out more about his apparent memory loss and the curse was now gone with her. He refused to think how hard Inari's life might have been during all the years or even centuries she had been walking on these lands... He refused to understand that maybe she finally had found peace.

The only thing he understood was that there would be no way for him to find out... well, anything! She was gone, and he hadn't killed her... or had he?

"Skell.."

The tiger's ears twiched at Enaku's voice though otherwise he didn't move.

"What's going on? Who's Anubris?"

Now his ears flattened and his tail flickered behind him in slight annoyance. He narrowed his eyes but still refused to turn his head.
"Her 'Guardian'..." he replied on a much louder voice than Enaku had used.
"The master of winds, the 'Warrior Cheetah'. One who she apparently sent away right before I found her..."

The tiger slammed his paw at the ground, growling. He didn't like this situation, not at all. He finally allowed his gaze wander at the other felines present, still growling. He didn't like this... Inari had told them all to look for her cheetah companion, meaning Skell would have to work with this pathetic little group...

I can not help you...
Find Anubris...

Skell stopped growling, tilting his head as he remembered these things Inari had said. He could be understanding the lioness' words wrong... Or he could be trying to solve his problem the wrong way...

He gazed around at the felines present. Would he be able to travel with them in order to find the cheetah? Would they be ready to travel with himself and Enaku?

Skell glanced at the winged feline from his eyecorner. Would she come around to travel with them all...?

The dark tiger sighed and shook his head.
"There's got to be a solution to this..." he muttered, loudly enough for everyone present to hear.

[Tamber]

Rhea began to calm down as the others talked and reacted to what happened. Hearing Skell's explanation of who Anubris was greatly put her at ease. So he was Inari's...guardian, whatever that meant. Rhea was beginning to get used to being confused. Her heart rate slowed down and she began to loosen up a bit, feeling more comfortable now that she knew that Skell might know enough to help Inari.

Again, Rhea wasn't sure why she felt inclined to stick with this group. All she knew was that she considered Inari a friend, no matter how detached the gray lioness had been. Rhea felt that it was her duty to follow along and find out just what was going on in this conflict. Plus, she still had one thought pressing her mind that could be better explored through travel.

One more thing was leaving her weary. Rhea knew now that if she was to find Anubris, she would have to travel with Skell and Enaku, who she had come to greatly distrust. The more she got to know Skell, though, the more she saw why he had become so hostile towards all of them. He had apparently experienced a lot, and now he was left with daunting questions that would never be answered. Still, the short tempered tiger would have to cool his anger and attitude if he were to travel with Rhea.

At Skell's latest statement, Rhea felt confident enough to speak again. With a gulp and a deep breath, and to her slight disbelief, she spoke her mind to the intimidating group. "Of course there is," she said firmly, yet a bit quietly. "If the matter means anything to us, we should be willing to travel together, regardless of our past conflicts with each other." Rhea's words were serious enough to sound sincere, but slightly shy. She then did something she rarely did, especially with the tiger's type, and looked Skell right in the eye. Her voice rose and began to sound more confident the more she spoke. "If you're willing to make peace, explain the situation, and help lead us, it might be more beneficial to travel in a group. But you can't hold grudges or dismiss us for our little knowledge of the situation. I'm willing to work with you, but only because I want to fulfill Inari's wishes."

Rhea sat back, sitting tall and still looking at Skell, finding it hard to take her glace away from him as he listened to her. She awaited his answer, expecting it to be negative and patronizing, since this was the only way he had ever spoken to her.

[Deleted]

Enaku was a tad shocked by Skells reply.

"Her.. her guardian? Why the heck does she have one of those?"

The black winged lioness said and stomped her left paw on the ground.

"I want one."

She huffed to herself. Then she heard Rhea start speaking. Not actually paying any attention what so ever to what she said, Enaku simply turned her head and glared at the lioness.

"If you're willing to make peace, explain the situation, and help lead us, it might be more beneficial to travel in a group."

With this the glare turned into a slight smile, and she turned her head to look at Skell, awaiting his reaction. This 'Rhea' was offering Skell to lead them. That was a good sign, and a good offer.