In his dreams the mist had come back again. There had been the returned feeling of intent. There was a new feeling of malice as well. This had the bronze male on edge and mistrusting of the early morning mist. That was how it had started before. All natural until slowly it took over everything and then caused pride members to go missing.

He wasn't looking to have that happen all over again. He didn't want more to go missing when things felt to have settled. He was expecting cubs on the way. He didn't want this to be the first thing they would experience.

That was why he was patrolling the borders. He was looking for any hint of unnatural mist. He had to be certain that it wasn't returning.

Eskel had never had a dream quite like the one he had so recently endured. He had never felt a sense of terror- not since growing past his cub years. A master of secrets, a dealer of spies... he was accustomed to the darkness of the world, at the paws of his father... but this was a different kind of terror. Terror that drove him from his den, forcing him to pace the borders as if his dreams can somehow warn him that something is coming- and gods be damned- he had come to like this little pride.

What could he do? How could he stand against the might of such terrible powers?

Maybe he had eaten some bad prey?

So he paces, only halting when he nears the scent of another of the brook. It is a friendly chuff he offers, if the noise is a little distant and cold- well, the nightmare is to blame.

@Caligula

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A tenseness that wasn't normally present within the bronze male showed as he quickly cast his gaze towards the chuffing call. There was only a slight relaxation as he recognized the other male as being a Brook member. A dip of his head was offered in greeting as he continues his pacing of the borders.

This eventually brought him near enough to the other male to be able to speak without shouting. "What do you make of it?" He asked as he swiftly yanked up a paw from the mist that swirled around it. The appendage easily came free and he couldn't help the look of relief that came with it. There had been concern there that he was about to be snatched up as others had been before.

@Eskel

His brow is furrowed, his head beginning to throb from the concentrated expression, as he stalks around- his movements only halted by the presence of the other male. 'What do you make of it?' Eskel can do nothing but shake his head, a soft sigh leaving him. "I make nothing good of it." He rumbles. "Spirits and lore were always beyond me, beyond my own areas of expertise." He admits.

"I saw two lionesses doing a ritual not too long ago... perhaps they conjured this?" He asks- he had no knowledge of the land's deities, not when the male was focused only on the physical realm of shadows and secrets. "What do you make of it?" The question is returned to him.

@Caligula

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"I don't really know much about spirits either. I have a friend who knows all about this stuff though." And even though he wasn't well versed in cleric craft he had been able to meet with spirits before. "I've seen Maua." Of course he had. He had cubs granted by the deity. But this didn't feel anything Maua related to him.

Could this have been conjured? He supposed it was possible. He didn't really know how all of that worked. "I don't like it. It feels like last time when the mist came and started stealing away pride members." Had the other been around to encounter that mist? Would he even know what it was that he was talking about. "It feels like there is intention. Not necessarily good intention either."

@Eskel

Eskel nodded thoughtfully, as @Caligula spoke. He didn't know much about spirits either. "Maua is the diety of this land, yes?" Eskel questions. "I'm not from here, but I'm pretty sure that's what I've heard. I haven't seen her." He clarifies. "The mist stole lions?" Eskel asked, his voice becoming horrified. How could something not tangible physically steal pride-mates? He felt a shiver work down his spine, as he stared out over the border, his claws flexing into the earth.

"How did you fight it?" He asked. "I've... never experienced anything like this before. It's... way out of my league, much as I hate to admit." He sighs softly.

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"Don't worry, I'm not from here either. I've just been here for awhile is all. Maua is a them and they are the deity of this place. I have already been blessed with one litter by them and have another on the way." Which would explain exactly how he had met Maua. Though he'd had a conversation with the deity before then, soon enough after he had first came to this place.

Caligula nodded his head when the mist was being discussed. "Yes, it was odd. They would just disappear into the mist an then the mist would harden into an impenetrable wall. I'm not sure exactly where they went but we went looking for them. Found other lions and eventually the pride members returned from the mist. There wasn't really much that we could do about the mist. That is what made it all so terrifying. There wasn't a way to stop it." And that was why he was so worried about it coming back and happening again. There was nothing that could be done to stop the mist. All they could do was search and hope to get the pride members back once more.

@Eskel

Eskel listens carefully, as @Caligula explains the mist to him, and his ears train forward attentively as he considers who and what this Maua could be to him. So the deity had the power to bless those with children who were physically unable to create them? They were surely a benevolent deity then? "Congratulations, are in order then," gentle rumbling words, with a small smile. Even if Eskel didn't rightly understand it, he could still understand that the male before him was to be a father- and that was something to be celebrated.

As Caligula explained the mist, Eskel felt a sense of terror and concern. He immediately, wanted to seek out Charax and ensure she was safe- that the nightmare hadn't broached her territory, that somehow they had been spared, and yet- that wasn't their bond, that wasn't their agreement. He would only seek her out like that for information shares and in times of absolute emergencies- but he hadn't seen her as of late at challenges, or events- and that worried him.

Maybe the mist was back. Maybe she was already gone?

"What if it's back already?" He asks, staring out into the night. "How would we know until we witnessed someone being taken?" He queries. The mist sounded terrifying, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

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"Thank you. I can't wait to meet them." Caligula was happy and excited to have been blessed with another litter. He absolutely adored children. He was that supportive parent that believed their kid could be anything at all that they wanted to be and would push them to pursue their dreams. It didn't always have to align with his own views, he would support them regardless.

Caligula frowned at the thought that the mist could have returned again. "You will know. This mist doesn't act like normal mist. There is a feeling of intention behind it. A feeling of intelligence in the way it moves and lingers. Then there is the invisible wall that refuses to allow you to walk through it. You can't touch the mist but the mist can touch you." That was the simplest way to explain what it was that had been experienced previously. Once you encounter it it was something that you could never forget.

@Eskel

Though Eskel himself has not been blessed with having children, he supposes that one day- he wouldn't be opposed to being a father- though he worries that the world would never be a place he felt he could raise them in. With the nightmare... that worry was somehow deepened. Yet, he smiles fondly towards the other male- not willing to bring the darkness into his proud moment. "May they be healthy, happy, and strong," Eskel says, with a warm wish into the night.

His ears are trained on @Caligula as he speaks of the mist and he works to imagine a mist that seems to have some sort of intelligence- a mist that can touch you, though you cannot touch it... a shiver of dread runs down his spine at the thought and he cannot help but wonder... "How did you survive it?" He whispers, staring at the male with a sense of awe. "How did you not go mad? All of you, to not know if you would be taken, or if who you loved would be the next?" How did they not lose their sanity? He felt like he would, being chased by an entity that made no sense. "Did lions really come back?" He paused. "Were... they the same?"

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