The Pride Days (IC): Hurt

Var followed Kyra, and the rest of the group followed him. Everyone was completely silent, and even still so after they left the camp. Var had a certain feeling within his heart that leaked a deep feeling of sadness throughout his body. He padded through the grasses, unable to think straight. He looked at Kyra, but didn't know what to say. He knew this was very hard for her, and he only wanted it all to go away. Angry, he looked back at his paws. It was as though he could hear Dalmaa's malefic laugh within his head. It was almost as if the Aura was reaching out and strangling him right then and there, and Var couldn't do anything about it. He looked at the others, noting that they would somehow, someway just have to pull through.

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"Kavis!" Zalika shouted from behind, just as the two approached the crevice that separated the Fields from the world. Kavis came to a halt and looked at her.

"I have to go!"

Zalika stopped. "Kavis, be careful... And make us proud... Make us proud. But be careful." Kavis nodded and bounded over the creek.

Var only looked at Kyra, after watching the vision. He was unable to imagine how hard it must have been, being so young. He wondered why this had to happen, and he wondered about the war between the prides. What could have created a rivalry so deep that every heart was spilled across the earth, only left to spoil and turn sour and become one with it.

The same cold feeling sunk down on his shoulders, and he knew he had heard a whisper in his ear, yet it wasn't there. He sped up in step with Kyra. He didn't know if he should talk about it, or be silent. He didn't know what would hurt her or what would better her in a situation as delicate as this. At this moment, Var was clueless. There was so many things that were stirring his mind around. He was beginning to wonder how he himself was keeping his sanity. So much confusion, so much conflict. It all poured into one large cornucopia of enigmas that he couldn't quite comprehend. But what troubled him was Dalmaa's doing. What kind of evil creature would do something like this? Not only to force a young lioness to relive her darkest visions, but to make others experience them as well. Var wondered how deep this rivalry was. Was Dalmaa so evil, so bent on being the opposite if Protheus, that he had to conjure such a putrid concoction. Var then went to the fact that Dalmaa was responsible for the event in its entirety. He introduced sin. Var blamed him for all of these murders.

"Kyra," he finally got out. He was trying to find something to say. "I'm sorry." It was all he could manage to pull out from his throat. Everything was just... trapped.

Var shook his head. "Kyra, we didn't expect that of you. We all know you can't share everything with everyone, and some things really are better of a secret. It would have shocked us either way." He was silent for a moment, watching the tall grasses of the fields push past. A melancholy sensation pushed over him, as countless flowers passed. He quickly looked up when he saw something jump out in front of him, but nothing was there.

As the group went on, Var began to get a dizzy feeling in his head and the world around him seemed to move in slow-motion. This seemed to affect a few of the others as well. Eventually, Var's vision blurred. As it cleared, he found himself laying on his back, on a large stone-rock. He couldn't get up, almost like he was pinned down. All he saw was the trees shooting upwards and what looked like the moon shining down on him, but colored red. He began screaming as he noticed he was covered in blood. Not his own. It was matted and staining his fur. He felt a horrid cold wind blow directly into his face. The slender, black form of Dalmaa materialized before him, looking down at him and a malefic laugh escaping his maw.

Var let out a long scream, trying to get up. Dalmaa somehow appeared on the other side of Var and gave him a quick swipe to the face. Although Var didn't see Dalmaa move his paws, he merely felt something sharp scrape his face. He turned his head to the other side, seeing what looked like more human bones, only attaching themselves to each other and reaching out at him. They then somehow morphed, much in a writhing way and molded in a smoky fashion. Blending with new colors they seemed to take the form of bats that fluttered up and immediately flew around Dalmaa. He opened his mouth and they fluttered up into his mouth and down his throat. His tongue somehow transformed ink a snaky forked tongue, which then slithered out from his lips and stuck Var in the shoulder. He then saw that it had morphed into a snake and gave out shout, just to have it combust into smoke.

Dalmaa tossed Var to the side and quickly dug his paws into the stone. His paws were soaked in the blood and began carving into the stone, they formed markings that Var had never seen before. Each mark seemed to radiate some energy that one would often see rising just above fire. A distorting field that made the layers behind it shift and dance around. Var breathed heavily, finally gaining control over his paws and clenching the hard, stony soil. He shouted something at Dalmaa, which may have been mumbles. Dalmaa disintegrated into an array of black light that then escaped into the tree lines. Var got up and walked over to the stone, to see the strange symbols.

That was when he found himself back in the field. He was laying on his side. Saber and Scar were also unconscious. Var scrambled to his feet, noticing that Ramla had been trying to wake him. "What happened?" he asked, seemingly frightened and deeply distraught.

"You three just went out cold! What happened?" Ramla asked.

"I---"

His speech was interrupted as his vision then changed to something else. He was looking up at the sky, which was full of stars. Oddly though, the black color that filled the spaces in between was colored a dark red an black clouds were swirling near the center. Var saw a flash of lightning come down somewhere in the horizon and some strange rumbling sound in his ears that overrode all the other sounds. Things flashed back again and he was looking at the ground. Scar and Saber were awake and staring at him. He looked at the others.

"We need to get out of here... now."

Something tripped Kyra along the way and caused her to stumble. It appeared to be a large tree that hadn't been there before, as she was running up. Var also struck it as he was running, ramming right into it. At this point, somehow, trees were everywhere and Var couldn't see the rest of the group. It appeared as though Dalmaa cut him and Kyra off from everyone else. Var nudged Kyra to stand, "come on, we... we have to keep going!"

Suddenly, something changed in the environment. Everything grew dark and the stars in the sky above were a strange purple color, as were the clouds. The flowers in the area had dimmed to an indigo color. Var looked to his right, finding a wall of ferns built next to him. As he peeled them back, he saw a wide clearing in which the moonlight shone directly down on, rays of white light cascading down. There was something solemn and sad about the area. It became apparent when Var saw Kavis push out of the bushes and come into the clearing. He was smelling the air, looking for Var it seemed, but his nose wrinkled with the stench of something else.

Var smelled the air, tasting the scents of unfamiliar lions. Lions that didn't seen to be from around their area and perhaps from distant lands. Kavis cringed, his entire face wrinkling. "Not now, not now. Focus," he said. Somehow though, something dark seemed to overtake his face. His head shook rapidly, almost as if freezing cold and his body began to rumble in the same way. Finally he sprang forth and slashed at the dirt, roaring loudly and tearing the bark off the trees around him in a fit of anger. He clawed at the brush, tearing weeds and limbs everywhere and giving out a roar of hatred and anger.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Kavks shouted. "I thought you were my friend! Is this new prophecy so important to you that you must use it to torture me?!"

"Use your suffering to fuel your anger. Look around you, Kavis."

Kavis, for several moments, could only see things in shades of red and things were blurred to him. Suddenly this changed and it all cleared up. He then spotted Var and Kyra, hiding in the ferns. He growled and unsheathed his claws.

Var began moving along with her, putting his back to Kavis. As he did this, he failed to see the black-furred lion's body twitch and flash out, pounding the dirt with his paws. He lunged quickly, roaring and tackling Var before he could walk away. The two rolled down a small slope, pushing through thorny bushes and weeds. Finally, Kavis landed on top of Var, pinning him against the forest floor. Kavis had many cuts in his face from their previous fight just a few hours ago. They had mainly sealed up, but still looked terrible. Var grumbled, gritting his teeth. "Kavis," he uttered.

"NO! JUST SHUT UP!" Kavis shouted at the top of his lungs, to the point that his voice cracked and it seemed as though he was shredding his vocal cords. Kavis' eyes watered up, but they did not release tears. "YOU DON'T KNOW!" he roared. He then closed his eyes tightly and opened them. "You don't how how long I have worked for this! I am not going to let you take it from me!"

"It's over!" Var said, struggling to break out of Kavis' intense grip. Finally Var got a paw loose and gave quick swipe to Kavis' forehead, forcing blood down his face. The black warrior growled, holding his face with the pads of his paws as Var wriggled free. Var for a moment almost felt sad for Kavis. It had not been long ago that Kavis was extremely intelligent, smart, cunning even. Now he just seemed desperate. So desperate that it cut away everything else about him. Var looked at him. "Is completing your prophecy that important?" Var asked hotly.

Kavis looked up at him, or attempted to, from the blood that was blinding him. "You don't get it, you disgusting creature. I was promised my moment so long ago. I lived half my life learning how to be a king!"

"And what about the other half?" Var asked. Kavis' eyes shut tightly. He covered his ears with his paws quickly and let out a strange moan, as if he were in pain. Var noticed a sudden change in the environment. The trees had grown darker and were a bit more barren. Many had dead leaves. It was then obvious that it was autumn. Var's nose wrinkled as the fresh scent of something familiar came into his nostrils. The lyingly sweet scent of Deathberries, that Var had trained his nose to smell as sour. The scent was so thick that it seemed to give Var a headache. He looked around, seeing the berries growing in every little inch of the world around him. He looked at Kyra worriedly, and then a strange sound entered his ears. The sound of swarming flies, as if swarming a carcass. Var turned around to look at Kavis, who immediately began to scream. A large swarm of flies buzzed around Kavis' head, trying to get at his eyes and ears and up his nose. He covered his face with his paws, his muffled scream growing louder and louder.

Suddenly, it all stopped. The flies were gone. The scent had disappeared, and the berries had been replaced by small yellow flowers. Kavis shaking, removed his paws from his face and opened his eyes, revealing that they were bleeding. His entire body trembled. Var felt slightly sorry for him, and slowly approached. "Kavis, you don't have to do this. You can end this. Just... just get away from Dalmaa."

"N-n-no..." Kavis murmured, spitting on the ground. His saliva, as it fell, seemed to contain several strange worms that were alien to Var, not being any sort of maggot or internal parasite that he knew of.

"Why did you do this?" Var asked.

Kavis' body seemed to slightly spasm and pulse as he tensed up. His voice was low and nearly incomprehensible. "You c-can't take back, w-what b-becomes you..." Kavis said, hacking up a collection of digested blood. He stood up and looked at Kyra and Var. "P-please... P-please... Please g-give me the Stone." He looked at Var in a way that almost made Var want to hand the shiny object over, but he knew he couldn't. Var hid the Stone behind him. He simply shook his head at Kavis.

"Kavis, go home," Var said.

"...They'll kill me... Var, you must understand that I have no choice... If I don't do this..."

"You'll die," Var said. "I know. But I can't let Dalmaa win. I'm sorry, Kavis."

Kavis finally made an angry face. "If you do this, it's not going to do anything! Even if you successfully bring that Stone to the Pawmark, it isn't going to banish Dalmaa from his own world!" Kavis growled.

"What? How do you know?" Var asked.

"He showed me in a dream. Do you honestly think that he'd be bested by something as simple and meaningless as a shiny rock? The rock isn't going to do anything, trust me. He'll only rise up with his army, kill you, and then perform mass bloodshed of all of Africa. Do you honestly know what the New Prophecy is?" he asked.

Var looked at him and shook his head. Kavis continued. "It's extinction. To end the countless fighting between him and Protheus, he is going to kill off every last living thing on Earth and bring them to life as spirits in his army. He plans to use those massive numbers to take down Protheus. Since Auras can't die, as far as we know, Dalmaa's going to lock him up, freeze him, and reduce him to almost nothing, keeping him that way. Dalmaa's creations will then flood the earth, giving a new age... But that's an age I don't want to live in..."

Var had a puzzled look. "I thought that Dalmaa's creations were all beautiful."

"They were at first," Kavis said. But Protheus got jealous. He kept trying to make his creations better than Dalmaa's. It eventually got to the point that Dalmaa was fed up and started making violent things that sought to destroy Protheus' creations. Things just got worse and worse from there on out..."

"So, Protheus didn't go after Dalmaa first?" asked Var. Kavis shook his head. Var then looked back at Kyra, a bit shockingly. "He lied to you."

Kavis' eyes narrowed and he stood firmly, glaring at Kyra. "The Sodaki doesn't matter any more, according to the prophecy, but something is telling me that there a new intentions Dalmaa has for it," Kavis grumbled. He then looked her in the eye. "I might suffer a bit, sometimes heavily, here and there, but..." Kavis trailed off. "I know he's got something in mind for me, in the end. Unlike you. But from what Zalika told me, I may become a leader among the dark army that is to follow. And no doubt, I hate Dalmaa with so much of my being... Yet in some ways, I feel like I still love him. He delivered me from so much pain in the past, and I feel like he only punishes me on days like this to remind me. To let me know what I came through, and inevitably, where I am heading." He looked at both of them.

"I would rather jump off River Pride's cliff than follow you..." he then turned around, coughing up a bit more specks of blood and walking past the brush.

Var took the Sodaki, walking on with a lot on his mind. As the visions of the field shifted, Var and Kyra found themselves in the field again. The group was with them once more. Although Subira didn't look too good. Her head was low, her eyes bloodshot, and she was panting. Her fur was soaked with sweat and it was obvious that something was wrong. Ramla looked at her, and it was apparent that once again Ramla could see. Ramla gave a worried look to Var as he glanced back at them. He stopped and laid the Stone down.

"Subira? Are you okay?" He slid the Stone over to her, hoping she might feel comforted by its presence. Obviously she was having an episode, being back in the field again. She touched it, giving a short sigh of relief. She nodded, signaling she could go on. Var scooped up the Stone and began walking next to Kyra again. 

"You know," he said out out of the sides of his snout, "I think there's something wrong with Kavis. I mean, there's always been something wrong with him, but... Well, it's hard to explain. Before today, he never showed the slightest trace of emotion. And now it's all pouring down at once, and he's trying to keep it from doing that. I can see somebody behind those psychotic eyes, for once. I feel like there's a person there, but where is an entirely different question."

Var would have spoken, but his thoughts were interrupted by something strange. Several cubs of lion form came rushing from the tall grasses as quickly as their small paws could take them. They finally collapsed as they made their way out. It looked as though their fur was a natural red, as it was soaked in the color almost completely. The stench of blood made Var's nose wrinkle. He watched as a third cub emerged from the grasses, pulling a fourth cub out. The fourth had fallen. Still breathing, but fading. Their side adorned with the teeth marks of an adult.

The cubs looked up at the group, their big eyes begging. "Please! Help! Mommy... she..." the cub said, looking back in the ferns. Var suspected that they were too young to know that their mother was dead, although at the same time he was sure that they knew. They just couldn't face the reality of it. It was something that they didn't know. Something that just didn't happen.

Var had an enormous urge to say something, he had to literally bite his tongue to keep his mouth shut. But he cringed, walking forward heavily. Subira made her way up to him and Kyra. "Don't look back..." she told them as she nudged them on. "Just look forward..."

"Wait! Help! Please!" the cubs cried as the group began to walk past. Var could still hear their cries from behind. The scary part was that they did not know where they were. They did not understand what had happened to them, nor who they had fallen victim to. For Dalmaa's name was just a name that floats away. Obscure, without many to know about him. But for those that do, they can recognize not only that he breaks hearts, but he himself is heartbroken.

Var pondered this. He began to tell himself again that Dalmaa isn't heartbroken. But sometimes it just seemed that way. The spirit leopard was either sad or angry. Not anything else. He was beginning to wonder if what Kavis had said was even true. But it seemed likely that it was. But something wasn't adding up. Kavis lied when he said the Stone didn't matter. Why else did Kavis ask to take it? Something was wrong. Var wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Who's fault was this all? Who was to blame?