(no subject)
The light of the fire in the Gate had dimmed down to a mere glow, throwing the entire room into a dull purple twilight. Sakti sat on her perch, head pulled up against her shoulders in her sleep as her keeper lay in his bed, also asleep. All was quiet in the room, save for the odd snuffle Strahan made as he breathed.
Now Ihlini do not snore when they are asleep. Like their brother race they are silent when they rest, as making too much noise during one's slumber is enough to attract an enemy to you when you are at your most vulnerable.
But Strahan no longer had a body, which meant he was no longer entirely silent in his sleep.
And now and then he would mumble something incoherant before resuming the soft snores he now made when asleep.
The cat he now identified as a cheetah stood before him. Although he had tried in vain to send the creature on its way, to convince it that it was mistaken when it came to him to be his lir as lir come to every Cheysuli warrior throughout time immemorial had done. It is all a matter of finding one another they say, but this had to be a mistake. He was certain of it, even when the shar tahls told him otherwise; that he was truly priviledged to be the first of his people to claim such an animal as a lir.
He was certain of it when he sat before the leader of the clan and accepted the lir-gold that every warrior wears when he receives his lir. He accepted the earring with the slim cat-figure dangling from it as well as the lir-bands that held the fleet, running form of a cheetah inscribed into them along with the rune bands that bordered it from his shu'maii, but he was still convinced that all this was a mistake.
"I am Tynstar's son!" he cried out in his sleep. "I am the Ihlini!" And the dream changed.
He stood inside his room, watching himself in cheetah-shape trying to avoid the fire that issued from the Gate before being rescued by his god. He watched and cursed himself quite vociferously for being a fool that day even though no one in the room save himself could hear him.
"Fool! You could have asked him for help to make it easier but you in your insufferable stubborness chose to defy him!" he cried out at his animal-shaped self. And again the dream changed.
He was outside on a winter's day, standing next to a man all bundled up in furs and wool, surveying a landscape he was largely unfamiliar with. He watched as the man became a cat, and he watched as it ran in search of shelter from the oppressive chill.
He saw it meet up with the Seker while still a cat. He saw it head off into a cave with a woman named Amanda. Amanda kept him warm with a fire while they sat inside a cave. The Seker - in a woman's body - explained to his follower when he'd taken up the adoption of a female shape, and why he was burning a thin stick of paper and herb in his mouth.
He turned in his sleep, saying nothing at all to the dream-figures he saw.
He was sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book. And a familiar figure with a familiar face and smile came to him, offering him company. And beyond that stood the Seker, still in female shape. Smiling a knowing smile.
"No!"
The Seker's smile only broadened. Strahan might be oblivious - deliberately or otherwise - but the god was not blind. He saw and he knew.
"NO!" he blurted out, and this time he woke up, with only the face of his god in his mind, smiling that ever-patient, ever-understanding smile he smiled in the dream.
He stared at the hawk, who was looking about the room for the source of the noise.
"Come Sakti; it is time we went downstairs..."
Now Ihlini do not snore when they are asleep. Like their brother race they are silent when they rest, as making too much noise during one's slumber is enough to attract an enemy to you when you are at your most vulnerable.
But Strahan no longer had a body, which meant he was no longer entirely silent in his sleep.
And now and then he would mumble something incoherant before resuming the soft snores he now made when asleep.
The cat he now identified as a cheetah stood before him. Although he had tried in vain to send the creature on its way, to convince it that it was mistaken when it came to him to be his lir as lir come to every Cheysuli warrior throughout time immemorial had done. It is all a matter of finding one another they say, but this had to be a mistake. He was certain of it, even when the shar tahls told him otherwise; that he was truly priviledged to be the first of his people to claim such an animal as a lir.
He was certain of it when he sat before the leader of the clan and accepted the lir-gold that every warrior wears when he receives his lir. He accepted the earring with the slim cat-figure dangling from it as well as the lir-bands that held the fleet, running form of a cheetah inscribed into them along with the rune bands that bordered it from his shu'maii, but he was still convinced that all this was a mistake.
"I am Tynstar's son!" he cried out in his sleep. "I am the Ihlini!" And the dream changed.
He stood inside his room, watching himself in cheetah-shape trying to avoid the fire that issued from the Gate before being rescued by his god. He watched and cursed himself quite vociferously for being a fool that day even though no one in the room save himself could hear him.
"Fool! You could have asked him for help to make it easier but you in your insufferable stubborness chose to defy him!" he cried out at his animal-shaped self. And again the dream changed.
He was outside on a winter's day, standing next to a man all bundled up in furs and wool, surveying a landscape he was largely unfamiliar with. He watched as the man became a cat, and he watched as it ran in search of shelter from the oppressive chill.
He saw it meet up with the Seker while still a cat. He saw it head off into a cave with a woman named Amanda. Amanda kept him warm with a fire while they sat inside a cave. The Seker - in a woman's body - explained to his follower when he'd taken up the adoption of a female shape, and why he was burning a thin stick of paper and herb in his mouth.
He turned in his sleep, saying nothing at all to the dream-figures he saw.
He was sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book. And a familiar figure with a familiar face and smile came to him, offering him company. And beyond that stood the Seker, still in female shape. Smiling a knowing smile.
"No!"
The Seker's smile only broadened. Strahan might be oblivious - deliberately or otherwise - but the god was not blind. He saw and he knew.
"NO!" he blurted out, and this time he woke up, with only the face of his god in his mind, smiling that ever-patient, ever-understanding smile he smiled in the dream.
He stared at the hawk, who was looking about the room for the source of the noise.
"Come Sakti; it is time we went downstairs..."