Ghyslaine

Behind the waterfall, there appeared to be a trail. To Ghyslaine, it seemed that the rock itself had given away to leave a permanent scar against the rock- impressions of the lions who had walked here before she had. She knew not, where she roamed as she worked her way inside- her eyes studying the gave as her vision adjusted to the gloomy light.

She did not know that for some this was a spiritual place. She knew, that it was a serene sort of feeling that she felt as she walked further in, as if she could hear whispers of others further within the cavern, but she made no move to seek them out. Instead, her silver and teal gaze was snagged by the vines that grew along the cave, that seemed to lead her to a deep pool.

Perhaps that is what so quickly mesmerized her about this place. It was as if, something larger than she had carved out the space and made it different. She couldn't help the wondered whisper that would leave her, as she spoke aloud to no one in particular.

"What is this place?"

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She had not been awoken in some time. How long, the specter wasn't sure. There was nothing of particular interest that drew the woman out of the spirit world, but for some reason the presence of this stranger had stirred her. Last she remembered in this world, her family had been scrambling in the wake of their losses. But when the ghosts stopped haunting the Mire, Kito's abilities to travel had ended as well. She had a feeling something like that might end up happening, but now the dead woman was stuck in one place she knew so little about herself.

What is this place? The Hodari spirit heard the question before she had even really appeared fully within the grotto. The stony hideaway slowly came into view just as the image of the silver feline would slowly emerge to @Ghyslaine. A few blinks were spared as the translucent woman appeared near the wall of the cavern, a short distance away from its visitor. "Some call it the Hidden Grotto," Kito offered kindly, her voice light and gentle as she took in the sight of the tribal woman. Had she a sense of smell, she might have connected the stranger to the same Mire the maned woman had former haunted, but alas, such was lost on her for now.

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Ghyslaine

She had no expectations when she entered this cavern, following the foot impressions in the stone. However, she hadn't actually expected her question to be answered. Let alone, but a translucent lion. She turned towards the speaker, blinking in disbelief, as she stared hard at them for a moment.

The answer she'd been given, had been perhaps a name of this place. 'Hidden grotto.' She wasn't really focused on that anymore. She studied the translucent lion, unsure what she was... Was she an echo of someone past? Was this grotto something spiritual?

The only question Ghyslaine could think to ask, was a stammered, hushed, "who... what... who..." she stammered, before swallowing nervously. "What or who are you?" She asks, her tone not accusing or too terribly fearful- rather it's curiosity that drives her forward hesitantly.

Manners that had been driven into her throughout her life, caused her to give her own name. Her own greeting. "I'm Ghyslaine Olympe... forgive me, I just... I've never..." She trailed off, her eyes wide as she studied the other.

@Kito

"I am a pretty lady,"

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Despite her intentions to arrive gracefully into the cavern, her gentle approach had still taken the woman by surprise. It wasn't hard to assume that Kito might be @Ghyslaine's first encounter with a spirit of any kind given the way she stammered her words. The silver woman just chuckled lightly to herself as she kept her distance out of respect. Her body language would remain friendly, having no intentions to cause the stranger any sort of fright aside from what her unfinished appearance already seemed to be invoking. "First, we'll start with the who," she smirked while starting to answer the woman's questions. "My name is Kito Hodari." A dip of her maned crown would be offered in kind. "As for the what. I am a lioness, just as you are, dear. I've just been dead for a very long time," she offered with another small chuckle. Sure, death was a sad experience for most, but when one had been as old as Kito had been before she died, and been gone for about eight years already, the grief had managed to dull over time.

Given a little time of her own, it would appear that the tribal woman managed to regain a bit of her own composure and thoughts. An introduction finally made its way out of her lips before then starting to apologize for the initial questioning. "Pleasure to meet you, Ghyslaine. And it's quite alright," Kito brushed off the apology with a brief wave of her paw. "I remember my first interactions with a ghost. It can be a lot to take in."

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Ghyslaine

She had never experienced this- or anything like it. A translucent lioness that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Ghyslaine had no religious affiliations- an afterlife wasn't something she was taught as a youngster. She hadn't even seen death in her short lifetime. So the very idea that this lioness was something other. It made her skin crawl.

The other lioness introduced herself as Kito Hodari. She explained that she was a lioness, even adding a 'dear' in there as if to lessen the blow of the fact that she was dead. Ghyslaine didn't have to look at herself to feel her fur stand on end. What in the world?!

But she seemed so kind, as she brushed off her apology with a wave of a translucent paw. Then Kito gave herself a term that Ghyslaine hadn't heard before, a "ghost." Her heart hammered in her chest, but she forced herself to gather herself and take a deep breath, before politely sitting- even if she felt terrified.

"Kito Hodari." She tested the name, letting it slide from her tongue as she readied herself to ask a follow up question. "A ghost? Is that what you are? Is that... like an echo of life? You died here... in Amaryllis?" She questioned softly. She felt a stab of sympathy at the thought of the lionesses death. But is this what happened after one died? They became a ghost?

@Kito

"I am a pretty lady,"

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Kito was patient as @Ghyslaine took in her presence. It was certainly a far cry from the little spitfire she had been in her own youth. Life and age had a way of mellowing out the Hodari. What could she really do in this state anyway? Eventually, though, the tribal woman seemed to accept the fact that she was speaking with a deceased soul, as well as she could accept it, at least.

The silver woman's own name was repeated to herself, prompting a small nod of her head in return before listening to the mortal's questions. Hm, a ghost. While it was a good general term for the dead souls that lingered around the world, Kito didn't feel like it suited her current status in these lands. It had never been what they used to speak of the spirits before, anyway. "Hm, in a sense, yes, I am a ghost. Though, in my experience with the afterlife, ghosts don't usually have the ability to appear without being called. I suppose I am more of a spectre in these lands, if you want to get technical. A spirit with a little more freedom, yet unable to leave this grotto." Kito hadn't yet worked out the kinks of her predicament, but if her life had taught her anything about the spirits, it was that there could be different levels of strength between the dead. "There are some, though, much stronger than I, who can venture elsewhere in the lands. I once met a man in the mountains who had a much more solid figure than myself, yet was still a deceased soul." It was a shame she hadn't had a chance to speak longer with the man, for he certainly would have been able to answer many of the Hodari's questions when it came to Amaryllis. "And, no, I did not die in these lands. I believe it is my family's presence in Amaryllis, though, that has brought me here." It was the only thing that made sense, after all. Why else would she show up in a land she had never stepped foot into before?

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Ghyslaine had never really given a thought to what happened to one after they died. Calling Kito Hodari a ghost, seemed like the best thing- until the lioness, or er... former lioness spoke and explained that she was more of a spectre, and that she had once encountered ghosts. Even one who had a more physical appearance but was already dead. Ghys was confused and unsure about how she felt about all of this, but as a polite creature- she sank back onto her haunches, to listen carefully and respectfully.

”He was more solid that you?” Ghyslaine echoed. That would be... weird.

Then @Kito mentioned that she hadn’t died here, but that the spirits of her family had brought her here. ”You have family here? Who are they?” She breathed, “Do they come to see you? To talk?” She follows up. Curious now, about that connection. Because Ghyslaine had no family here... if she were to die... would she have any connections to this land or would she merely fade into nothing?

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The maned woman nodded in confirmation. "Yes, as if he was alive, nearly. And he held this strange glow about him." Though Kito held a faint glow of her own, it was nothing in comparison to the guardian she had encountered. The different levels of spirits were much more complicated in these lands than she had experienced before. Perhaps, though, the more she learned about Amaryllis, the more she might come to be able to explore it on her own again.

Now, this was the hard part about being in a land she did not know. While the silver woman knew that her family lived within Amaryllis, she wasn't privy to their friends and foe. Would she be putting them in harm's way if she mentioned who her family was or said too much about them? Just saying their names couldn't hurt, though, right? It wasn't like she hadn't already offered her full name already. It would be easy to assume that any Hodari living in the lands somewhere were her kin. "Yes, a small bit at least. My youngest son and daughter live in Amaryllis with their families. I've yet to meet their children, though, I'm afraid." It was always strange now, to call Dero and Furia her youngest children when they were now nearing their own ninth birthday. To have left them at just a year old only to return when they were already through more than half of their lives was a bittersweet feeling. At least she had been able to come back at all for them. As for visiting, though, the silver spectre simpered with a small shake of her head. "Not yet. I'm not sure if they know I am here now. When I arrived, I had been able to move around more freely and had been living within Ecrosia Mire at the time. But my children are not natives to these lands either, and so I don't know if they are aware that this grotto is their gateway to the spirits," Kito offered truthfully towards @Ghyslaine. It wasn't like back home where it had been a tree that housed their dead. This grotto was a bit more hidden than the tree that had stood in the middle of their lands.

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Ghyslaine

Ghyslaine would listen to @Kito with a wide-eyed sort of rapture as the specter sort of lioness discussed the ghost that she had once met. Ghyslaine couldn't imagine just being out and about and meeting a ghost. At least this grotto.... it kind of fit the the part one would expect. Dark, dreary, damp... She frowned as she considered all of this, and listened further as the lioness spoke of her family- and more.

She listened to all that the friendly spirit said, and then offered thoughtfully. "Would you like me... to find them and tell them you're here?" It truly did seem like the least she could do for the spirit. Kito didn't seem able to leave this place. "I don't mind, really. I can't guarantee I'll find them but I'll try."

If Kito could tell her a bit more about them- and where they may be. "I live in the Mire now," She offered excitedly, as she considered that. "Would they still live there, do you think? Alaric is king there- and I could ask him." She said. She wondered if one of her pride-mates knew the spirit she spoke with now. How crazy would that be?!

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History had a way of repeating itself. It was the same predicament her father had been in when he had appeared in the lands their family last lived within. When Dero did not know of his grandfather's presence within their sacred tree, the spirit had sent a mortal in search of a man. Now, Kito might be doing just the same as @Ghyslaine offered up her services. While the silver woman hadn't a clue as to where her family's loyalties might lie in Amaryllis, the Hodari would be foolish to pass up the chance to let them know she was here now. "Yes... Yes, that would be very kind of you, dear," Kito finally accepted the offer after a moment hesitation spent in thought. How else was she to get in touch with them anyway?

Fate would have it that the very Mire where Kito had first appeared would be this stranger's home now. It was a start, at least, even if the silver woman was unsure if her family would have returned to the swamp. "I don't know. They might, but they were run out by a flood. I think that was why I arrived when I did.... You see..." the maned woman's tone took on a somber tone. "The flood took the life of one of my grandsons as it drove the rest of them out of the Mire. The land had become haunted after that, and that was when I first appeared, while Ecrosia was still unsafe to return to." Would they have gone back once the land recovered and the spirits returned to their chains? Ghyslaine spoke the name of her king, but the name was foreign to the spectre. "Are there any Hodaris that live in Ecrosia?" Their first names need not be known yet while Kito was almost certain that they would all still hold their family name.

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