*Sil

"Soul" in Dovahzul.

[1 Year]
Another newcomer. Another gift.
…she comes alone, eye alight and fur afire.
She does not introduce herself, only asks a single question: "Where is Ofan?"
If Azarasti is bewildered, it does not show on his regal features. He points his muzzle in the direction of the strange Seer and watches as the two young lionesses reunite.


[1 year, 3 months]
Sil turns to her sister, leans close as she speaks softly into the Seer's ear. "Do you suppose he is really a god?"
She's been in the pride long enough now to understand its most basic workings. She has watched the king come and go. He seems like a normal lion to her. But sometimes he turns and she thinks… she recognizes that light in his eyes.
Ofan smiles knowingly at her sister, nudges her cheek gently with her nose, then rises to her paws.
"What do you think?" They ask one another in unison.


[1 year, 6 months]
Sil is the louder of the two siblings. Still, she is quiet and speaks very little. And when she does? It is often for her sister's ears only. Today she leans toward Ofan, eyes on the night sky, the buzz of locusts in her ears. "Dark times, sister. Has he arrived yet?"

Ofan turns to her sister, eyes lidded in calm. "He has."


[1 year, 9 months]
Sil sits next to her sister, cheek-to-cheek with the white lioness. Their glistening eyes stare in unison at the stars, as if they are one being. "I see the Harbinger," Sil whispers.

"It is strange," Ofan murmurs. Her sister nods agreement. "A demon," Ofan continues, "and rebel. We can trust the Harbinger."


[2 years]
Sil turns to Ofan one evening, the light in her eyes unusually dim. "Do you ever miss the old pride?"

Ofan turns to her sister, gentle. She does not speak. Does not need to. She nuzzles her sister's cheek, then presses forward, though she looks back. When at last her maw parts, she speaks slowly, "This has always been my home."

Sil flinches. She tries to understand. Her sister has grown stranger and stranger with each passing month. She cannot tell if it is this pride or… something else. But the Ofan she knew as a child is disappearing.


[2 years, 5 months]
It hurts. Every time her sister looks at her with distant, unfamiliar eyes… Sil can hardly approach Ofan. But approach she does, as if nothing has changed. She tells her sister of the events of the day, and how the stars were exceptional the night before, but… where was Ofan?

As always, Ofan listens with a patient smile.


[2 years, 11 months]
Sil meshes well with the rest of the pride. She is gracious and kind, burning bright amidst her adopted family. When she gives birth to her first litter, Ofan comes to see her. Her sister's lip twists, concerned, as she looked down at the pair of squirming cubs.

Sil knows that look. Something is wrong.

Ofan's eyes dim and she smiles, nuzzling her sister gently to assure her. "This one is different," she murmurs, indicating one cub with her nose. The girlcub mewls under her aunt's watchful gaze. Ofan leaves before Sil can ask her to elaborate.

"Ofan!? What do you mean 'different?'"

She cannot leave her nursing cubs, and Ofan does not return.


[3 Years]
The girlcub died. Is that what Ofan meant? Had her sister foreseen this?


[7 Years]
…Ofan grows more and more distant. Sometimes, Sil is certain she is not Ofan at all. Still, even when the Other Lioness is there instead, Ofan—or whoever inhabits her being now—is kind, offering a supportive shoulder, even when she does not know Sil's name.

One evening, as Sil lays under the stars on her own, Ofan approaches her. Her eyes glow in the night, and as she settles beside her sister there is a calming silence. When Ofan-who-is-not-Ofan leans closer to gently lick Sil's ear, she whispers, "I am sorry. I am not who you expected. I know. But you will not be forgotten. I promise."

Sil shakes her head, as if a fly had irritated her, but she looks kindly at the stranger beside her. "She is not coming back this time, is she?"

Ofan's head shakes slowly. She remains beside Sil all that night, talking softly of the stars and the spirits among them until Sil drifts off to sleep.


[9 Years]
Vul Nil is strange. She arrived after Ofan and Sil, a blighted creature, hollow and thin. She melded with the pride, vanishing into its midst somehow, in spite of her strange mannerisms. Of late, the creature has been… fidgety. Sil approaches the hollow one quietly one evening and sits beside her as she never has before.

By now, Sil is used to the loneliness and loss. The way Vul Nil reeks of it, even after all these years in the pride, is unsettling. "You watch her," Sils states simply, eyes on the horizon.

Vul Nil's head cocks, but she does not look at the one beside her. "So do you." Her tail sweeps in finality and she rises to rid herself of Sil's company.

Sil, however, is not finished. "You have since you came, but we watch for different reasons. Whatever you're looking for, you will not find it in her, any more than I will."

Vul Nil's pelt twitches and she tosses one last, careless glance at Sil before leaving.