Marja didn't really like the sand, but here she was staggering across it as if she were stung by a bee- when in reality it was just that she was distracted by a shiny bug in the sky which sent her rolling and tumbling down a small sand dune to some very weird looking sands. She prods them with a paw, then looks around for a stick, grunting happily when she finds one before she stabs it into the weird ground and watches it... sink?

"Cursed." She declares, before she starts to pray to Gromm to cleanse the area- though post the nightmares, she isn't sure if he even listens. So she throws her head back and yells. "plochoi pesok! gromm ochishchayushchy pesok!" She yelled-prayed to her chosen deity- trying to ignore the tingle in her mind that told her that this probably made scary Kivuli or nice Maua pay more attention to her.

@Idunn

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero

iðunn is unsettled; the dreams ( or are they nightmares? visions? ) leave her feeling restless and wanting. hiraeth, she decides after a long moment. the strange creature she saw with the horns and vines leaves her feeling, decidedly, hiraeth. they hold a tantalizing pull and she can't put them out of her mind even as she flings herself from the shoreline to a very different kind of sand. was this kivuli her vellen in a different skin? was this a test?

or was... vellen a li-no.
her father, her grandmother, would strike her down to even know she thought it.
perhaps her mother would come back to kill her herself. a way to finally be noticed by the great bloodbringer, she muses bitterly.

and she might have fallen into her trap of sullenly brooding if not for the garbled screech of marja. startled, dunn swings her head out towards the sound with priced ears and furrowed brows. the woman is the color of peat and hollers at the sky as the skagosi girl approaches, head held cautiously aloft. are you... alright? she asks tentatively, bobbed tail twitching uncertainly.

Still Marja hollers into the sky, plochoi pesok! gromm ochishchayushchy pesok!! plochoi pesok! gromm ochishchayushchy pesok!!" The need for this sand to be cleansed is immense, and she needs it to be done now! Gromm himself needed to come down and-

Another voice interrupted her chants and prayers, and her head snapped in that direction, and she fixes her stare on a palomino lioness, with a confused frown. "Asking Gromm to cleanse. Sands bad." She explains. "You okay?" She returns to the strangers. "These sands cursed by Kivuli." She has decided. Yep- that makes total sense to her. Bad, cursed sands that are definitely cursed by Kivuli. Maua wouldn't curse sands because everyone said she was nice and Gromm wouldn't either because he wasn't the god of sands- but of storms. Marja squints at her, noting something cool. "No tail!" She exclaims with a wide grin. Thats cool!

@Iðunn

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero

she continues her cries into the sky and iðunn takes a slow step backwards as she realizes this is going to go nowhere good - and fast. but her utterance silences the dark woman and she jerks her head around to peer her way. the sand were... bad? blinking rapidly, the colossal girl tips her head down to peer at the earth underfoot, slowly lifting one massive paw to wrinkle her nose at it. it seems quite fine to her - but who is she to question marja?

nodding as if in agreement, she pulls her head back to the woman, eyes lighting when she mentions that name: kivuli. just the name sends a shiver down her spine and she fluffs up her long fur against the sudden chill.

they... did this? she presses, easing a step closer with an attentiveness that had been missing before. but they - before she can continue, can argue that they didn't seem so malevolent, the woman points out the ( to her ) obvious:

no tail.

she snorts, vaguely amused and vaguely frustrated at the way she's jumping topics already. her tail twitches and she shrugs one broad shoulder. since birth. she murmurs, brows tightening over her stormy gaze.

To Marja, Kivuli must be bad because his voice was scary and she didn't like it. It wasn't kind like Maua. The sand was eating the stick- slowly sucking it down, and she gestures at it with her paw- the slowly sinking bit of wood in a 'look at the stick' sort of way while looking at the other lioness. "Sands bad. Eating sick." She explain. "You have nightmare too?" She asks, her brow furrowing a bit as she tilts her head at the stranger.

"No tail since birth. Huh." Marja states, completely oblivious that this line of talk could be rude for her it is a strange oddity- but it is cool. "You blessed." She says- pointing at the other one. She had to be to be so different from the rest of lions- she had to be blessed. "Blessed by Gromm, or Maua, or Kivuli- No... Kivuli curses no blesses." She shakes her head.

@Iðunn

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero

her eyes slide to the quick sand bit as marja points it out with a quick flash of her paw. understanding dawns, briefly, and then more confusion settles. perhaps the woman had never seen it before? she takes a breath to explain but swallows the words instead. her nose twitches as she regards the pit and then she looks away, deciding she didn't have the time ( or desire, even ) to explain the natural world.

there was fare more interesting things.

nightmares. she agrees, softly, but dunn's tone is far less convinced than marja's. they didn't feel like nightmares. not to her. she worries at the corner of her bottom lip with her fangs, ears pressing gently to her skull. but the swamp witch presses on, declaring iðunn blessed and her lips flash into a swift smile - half hearted and disbelieving. she wouldn't say she's blessed; far the opposite, actually.

and when she says it - kivuli curses - things seem to click into place.

it would make sense that she's cursed; perhaps that's why everyone died, everyone left. why vellen didn't speak to her and why she finds herself offering a cold shoulder. they... are you sure? are you sure it's curses? they don't seem... she trails off, lifting a large paw and gesturing futiley. i think this is their home.

The sand issue is lost to her as the other agrees- nightmares. So she has them as well? Afflicted. Everyone is afflicted by Kivuli and his curses. Everyone have the nightmares. Marja frowns at the thought, as she speaks. "Nightmares spread like plague. Everyone get." Of course, she doesn't know that everyone actually got them- she just assumes that since she's met like four lions who have that naturally everyone else did too. Makes sense.

She doesn't understand this lionesses words, that perhaps Kivuli is not cursing... Marja shakes head confused. "Voice scary and tell us Maua lie. Would Maua lie about finding place for lions here? I not know Maua but the devout of her-them them them" She corrects herself. "Say she would not lie and Maua seem kind. Maua voice does not make spiders skitter down spine- no. Kivuli voice has spiders." She shudders- "Scary mist too." She points out, confused. "You think he nice?" She asks, her head lolling to the side.

@Iðunn

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero

as the battlefield quiets down

the strange woman says everyone gets the nightmares. and she shudders, fur ruffling in her displeasure. what kind of thing did she walk back into? did ofelia know this was happening? was that why grandma had sent her back? @Marja seems frustrated quickly with her pressing and iðunn leans back with her ears slicking to her broad skull. there's uncertainty as she regards the witch, a wariness in her gaze that she usually reserves for more blatantly dangerous folk. but she feels out of her depth with this woman and that, in itself, leaves the skagosi girl suspicious.

kivuli's voice has spiders, hm? she twists her lips as she ponders, but can't connect the feeling with the voice.

it had been angry, sure, with an undercurrent and a threat but iðunn had been raised on anger and violence and threats as much as on milk - it was nothing new. it was nothing frightening. and if there's one thing she's clung to, it's that anger always has a reason. vengeance stems from something

i think he's... angry. she says finally, a shoulder rolling in an apathetic shrug. and sometimes, you deserve to be angry.

I will be the last one standing

code x art x inspo

The spiders in Kivuli's voice had skittered down Marja's back like rain falling from the sky in the wake of a fresh thunder boom. Except, the rain was a comfort and gift from Gromm where-as the voice of Kivuli... did not strike her as such. Marja is in a fit over the thought, her paws working the ground in a frenzy because she doesn't understand- understand. Then the other one, the lioness speaks, stating that she thinks Kivuli is angry, and that makes many senses to Marja.

"Angry maybe but his voice need not have spiders." Marja grumps, her paws still working the ground. "He curse land?" She questions, her resolve of the entity being evil cracking rather easily because it wasn't Gromm that she was being challenged about. It wasn't the only entity in the world that Marja was devoted too.

"You know?" She asks head tilting, tongue lolling back out of her mouth, (like Ed the hyena from the lion king for lack of better descriptions), as she stared at the other lioness. "You doing here anyway?" She questions, suddenly somewhat suspicious. "You god in disguise?" very valid question, if you were Marja. "You angry?" Questions, questions, questions.

@Iðunn

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero