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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:20 pm
War could be patient--unfortunately, Shik usually wasn't. And when it came to something as crazy an idea as this? Waiting didn't occur to him.
He was fortunate Shaheen had agreed to visit Medea with him, or really agreed to this whole idea at all. He did not know the political atmosphere as well as she did, nor did he have the experience to navigate it in any way less than a blunt weapon could. Without knowing how Medea had felt about Death being in charge (nor sure whether she was aware he had been one of the voters against her at the time), Shik was facing a lot of unknowns.
Fine. He wasn't afraid of what he didn't know--only that the way the Clans were going now would soften them.
"Are you ready?" he asked Shaheen as they approached the tent Medea had normally resided in. His hands twitched at his sides as if they were anxious to wield weapons.
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:39 pm
To say that Shaheen was more inclined towards politics wouldn't have quite been accurate. She had, however, perhaps spent more time socializing then Shikoba did. She had friends, and acquaintances. She had spent more time talking to them and getting a feeling for who might be on their side in this matter, who definitely wasn't, and who she still considered to be in neutral territory, able to swing either way depending on circumstances. Maybe she was just a little more..observant of the goings on within the lost clans, but she also wasn't the most subtle when it came to conversations, or on voicing her opinions. Or at least, she hadn't been, not until it became obvious that Shik intended to do something about their current position, and their current leader. It wasn't until then, when the idea of an actual mutiny was in the air, or was it an usurpation? A power change, a change in rule. It wasn't until she knew that action would be required that she became more careful of what she said, or who she said it to. This would likely require careful planning... But it had been foolish of her to expect Shikoba to be patient, to appreciate the more subtle necessities of their plan. He had always been one to rush forward into the thick of things, and now didn't seem to be an exception to that rule. He wanted to talk to Medea, and instead of arguing, Shaheen had only studied him for a time, jaw clenching as she mulled over the idea in her head. What could it hurt? Likely a great deal if this decision had been the wrong one. But she had to learn trust, and acceptance of the man she had chosen to throw her lot in with. Fighting between them would get them nowhere. A strong, united front. That's what won wars. She had accepted his more direct and headstrong plan, and accompanied him to Medea's tent without complaint. Gold on black eyes leveled on his when he asked if she was ready, a smirk playing on her lips. "When am I not?" She replied, smoothly, one hand reaching out to hold his larger, clawed one for just an instant, a firm squeeze, one wing extending to brush fingers against his back. Reassurance? An odd gesture from the war chieftain to the man she had once claimed to hate, but there it was. "Medea?" She called out towards the closed tent flap, voice strong, unwavering, not revealing any of the nervousness, the doubt that she indeed still felt quite strongly, partially from her insanity, partially from knowing that what they sought to do was quite dangerous. "Are you in? We would like a word." Or several, if things didn't go badly.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:11 pm
There was a shuffling noise, someone hastily dropping something - a loud clang - and then Medea's voice behind the tent.
"We shall discuss of this, as more time passes." She hissed this, and it was obvious she was not talking to the two arrivals but someone possibly already inside the tent. However, when she opened the tent flap, there was only the High Priestess inside. She was holding a mirror, flat and burnished, dull.
For a long time, she simply gripped the fabric of the tent a little tighter and stared at them suspiciously. "A word requires a listening ear, one of which I have no reason to return at this time." Her fingers clenched the fabric just a little tighter. "Tell me, children once of the Clans, have you simply arrived to ask a favour from me, only to forget your Head Priestess again as time passes?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:30 pm
With a small brush of his wing in return, he slipped his hand from hers as Shaheen called out to the priestess, raising his head to greet Medea. They would have to start on solid footing and not appear weak (though Shik apparently struggled with the concept of deferring to his elders). He heard Medea speaking to someone and frowned when the tent flap revealed only her within.
More secrets? he wondered, passing the chieftain a look.
How lucky for them, though, that she was agitated. Things were already going well: anger had a way of motivating change, of pushing a person into action. Or spelling out hasty doom for him and Shaheen, either or.
"The opposite, my lady," Shik answered, sweeping his wings low to the ground in deference as he bowed, though his eyes remained trained on the high priestess even as he bent. "Perhaps it is time we offered you something in return for your dedication. If you would let us in, we would like to propose something to you--something that we believe would benefit the Clans."
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:57 pm
Their hands separated, but she was grateful for the small show of affection from that simple wing brush, and a glance down to the feather strung around her neck reminded her again that they now stood together on this, as they would all things in future times. If they even had a future to spend together after this, but again, that was not to be thought about. The sound of Medea's voice on the other side of the tent flap was a curious thing, a harried sound, not at all like the cool, calm woman she had spoken with in the past. Who was she speaking to? Shaheen itched to know, wondered if perhaps Deaths lackey, Charon, was present as well. But then the flap opened, and all that was to be revealed was the high death priestess herself, holding a mirror of all things. For a brief instant, Shaheen had to wonder if she had been talking to her own reflection. And then she wiped the thought from her mind, instead, waiting for Shikoba to speak, and adding on a few choice words of her own. "We are hardly children, and we still are of the clans, Medea, as are you." Following Shikoba's example, though it agitated her to have to do so, she bowed her head at the woman, wings sweeping to each side. "But it is as Shik says, that this time it might be that you may receive a favor from us." After this was said, Shaheen took a quick glance around, her eyes flicking left, right, over her head turning to glance behind and then up. Some of this was do to her own rising paranoia, but most of it was just her being cautious. Never knew who might be listening. "I think you should let us in, high priestess. What we have to say just might be worth your while to listen to."
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:22 pm
"As long as time flows, you are still children, not mine perhaps, but your legacy belongs to a path." Just for a brief moment as she spoke there was a flash of her former, proud self, arrogant and composed. Just a moment, and then as she opened the tent flap - a waft of thick incense escaping the inside, she collapsed almost dramatically onto a large pile of exotic cushions off to the side.
There she would stay, holding up the mirror, staring right at her reflection for the longest period of time before she finally looked away. "Speak your mind, dear children."
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:45 pm
Did . . . did he just watch Medea flop dramatically onto her pillows and stare at her mirror longingly? What was she, one of those Amityville adolescents?
Passing Shaheen a look that could read only was what (and a little bit of just let her call us whatever, not like we don't call each other worse), Shik turned and made sure the tent flap was closed, subtly peeking out of the crack to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped upon. "We understand that with Death in charge you've been shunted to the side," he began, turning and moving back to Shaheen's side. "His methods have not settled well with us. Death spits in the face of our tradition," he growled. "He would have us curb our violence for the sake of cattle already overgrown in number!"
His eyes flickered to the mirror Medea carried, belatedly noticing that it was not giving out its usual colors--or maybe the Death Priestess had multiple ones to view her reflection in.
"Surely your Trances have shown you that leaving him in charge will spell ruin for us," he said. "I have seen him converse with those white and gold roaches as though he favors them, and I will not support this gentle method of his much longer."
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:34 am
Shaheen had to grit her teeth to keep herself from responding to the child comment for a second time, remembering her place, her over all station when in comparison to the likes of the High Priestess. Elder though she might well be, she was still much younger then the woman who stood before her, though she had to wonder at said woman's maturity levels when she collapsed to the pillows in a much too dramatic manner. Another look was passed to Shik before she followed him inside, casting just one final glance over her shoulder as she did so. As usual, the inside of Medea's tent was thick with a cloying scent of incense. She watched the other woman with eyebrows slightly raised, wondering at what she could possibly be looking for in the reflection of her mirror, before the other woman called them children again. Shaheen very adamantly bit her tongue, taking the look Shik gave her and simply glaring at him back in response, and waited for him to triple check what she had already checked a thousand times before now before he was back at her side, and then allowed him a chance to say his piece before including. "I have never supported his method to begin with." She cast another glance at Shik, this one showing just how very unimpressed she was with him and the others for voting the man in charge to begin with. "In as much as what Shikoba has already explained. Medea, it is you who has led us since the fall of the isles, you who has found and lent to us the strength in Fear to continue to fight. You who allowed us to continue our harvest on human lands, and on the wretched white coats themselves. You are my leader, not Death."
It was a bold proclamation to make, and one that Shaheen might very well live to regret, but it was better then living like this.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:41 am
"That's nice," Medea said absently, still staring deeply into the mirror. "Will that be all."
That seemed as dismissal as any until- "Wait," the former Head Priestess held up her hand, "It is true I once sought loftier ways, but I am only an individual voice, easily forgotten. Tell me children, what reason do you have to seek my presence? Is it a desire to return to old ways long unretrievable or perhaps something else - a stronger feeling?" She looked a little more like her old self as she smiled shrewdly, "Is it power or Fear or mere childish rebellion?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:11 pm
Hey, Shaheen, how about not insinuating the sensitive stuff like the voting right now, you b***h. Medea was already in an odd mood without bringing unkindly reminders about his worst mistake thus far.
By odd mood, Shik meant the kind that made him want to throttle the life back into the high priestess, consequences be damned.
"Not so easily," he argued, flexing a fist instead of using it to hit something. At least that was the old her starting to talk, but Shik would have appreciated less of the child talk--even if technically part of this was just for the chance to initiate a rebellion. What more could be expected of War in a time of peace?
"Death is derailing the horsemen from their path, and we want him gone. If that is childish, so be it," the executioner harumphed. "There were a number of us who did not listen to his advice when we hunted our clones in the Coats' lands; there is reason to believe we are not the only ones dissatisfied." Or maybe some didn't care; that was still better than having opposition in his eyes.
"Power and domination is what made us who we are, High Priestess; I would be lying if I said neither was my intention," she said. "A year under your rule has brought us closer to grasping at our history. Several months under Death has caused nothing but the horsemen being corralled by Halloween law. The choice seems very clear to me."
He would not speak for Shaheen, even though they had both agreed to this, but he did stop there and looked to her for a continuation.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:30 pm
Her apparent absence of mind, her blatant dismissal of them while still staring at her mirror in what Shaheen thought of as a dream-like state, had her wondering for just an instant why they had bothered. This was not the Medea she had grown to respect as their leader, but somebody else entirely, somebody who just didn't care. If they had to find another way, so be it, but before that happened, Shaheen let herself slip into her more emotionless state of mind, lest she take out a sudden flare of anger on the woman lounging on pillows in front of them. Her face became blank, her eyes giving away no hint of how she was feeling. And then Medea seemed to change, to become slightly more animate, to almost seem to take an interest. "We are horsemen of the apocalypse, Medea, and an apocalypse is what I desire. The promise of retribution, the promise of revenge that you gave us. Fear and Power? Well, that's just part of the package." She allowed herself to smirk in return to the shrewd smile the other woman gave them. "I do not desire to see us weakened by one who sympathizes with mere cattle."
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:32 pm
Those words were enough to stir something in Medea, a little more spark of life as she rose up taller than she did prior, once again a little more full of herself, that pride, that willingness to see things through to the bitter end. "Those words, you seek of rebellion then, of a separate path. They are perilous words for ones so young such as yourselves." Wait a second, how old was Medea? She didn't seem particularly worried about rebellion however, and more excited. "Yes, such rebellion, could be done, perhaps, but I must consult my sister."
And then, for lack of a better word, she pressed her ear against the mirror. It was eccentric at best and for the most part, really awkward. It was like those Halloween students and their strange skellyphones, only it was a mirror and not a skellyphone. A few moments and distinctly nobody actually talking from the other end later, she looked up. "She prides a strong spirit-" Was Medea talking to herself in third person now? - "it is a welcome change from others so willing to cast everything aside and forget themselves. Lesser creatures have completed greater tasks, after all."
The Head Priestess shifted ofter, deeper into her tent and gestured to the two. "Come now, have a seat, my children. We shall begin with a legend."
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:05 pm
Shik was starting to question just how much of herself Medea had lost. He knew the mirror had magical properties, but beyond the Trances he'd been pulled into, it was all just . . . Deathy stuff to him. It definitely had lost its color since the last time he saw it--or Distortion wasn't manifesting at any rate. Probably had something to do with the Tear from earlier.
But a legend, now that was progress.
"Your sister?" he repeated with a raised brow as he settled down, wings folding until they formed a feather cloak behind him. He'd pretend she could hear something from that dusty thing if it meant pushing the high priestess back towards her old self.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:27 pm
Young? Shaheen supposed it was all relative and in comparison, and she would not sit here and argue age, especially not now that they appeared to be getting somewhere. Pride was something that Shaheen could understand, shattered pride that was regained something she could closely relate to. As Medea came to take on more of her past mannerisms, Shaheen began to feel a little more comfortable in their decision to do this. She still gave her best impassive face, awaiting what she had to say, watching with curiosity her performance and actions with a mirror that Shaheen could only assume was producing some kind of effect only Medea was attuned to, either that or the woman was playing them both for ignorant fools. Settling down next to Shik, her own wings folding comfortably behind her, she waited for story time to begin, with only an, "Of course, Head Priestess." Thrown in for good measure.
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Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:57 am
They had thankfully chosen the right words. Medea stood instead, pacing before rekindling the incense in the pyre, so that it now sizzled a deep red. "Indeed, sisters, for there were three." As she spoke, the smoke from the pyre began to weave idly through her fingers and paint images. Shapes. "There was the oldest, who's spells were unrivaled, who governed over the domain of magic. The second, known for her enchantments and guile, who could take any memory from lesser mortals and make them her own. And the last, the youngest sister, one who could conmune with the spirits and guide those down their rightful paths." The smoke continued to move the vague shapes. "They were supported by their patron god, one who promised them a little bit of everything. And thus after having gained all, the three became divided, their paths manipulated and twisted. The patron god played them for fools and they fell not because they were powerless but because they did not wish to fight."
Medea paused, the smoke wisps scattering again. "Tell me children, how do you kill Death itself?"
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