One body with two souls lazily paced its way through the sands, path lit only by the stars on this moonless night. The great volcano could be seen in the distance, guarding the land with a fiery wrath. One soul remembered clearly a time when said volcano was angered. It had claimed the life of Zahir's first alphess and set in motion a chain of events which would later claim the life of its second. Well, it had claimed Alya's physical life at least. Her soul was still clinging to this earth with all its might.
"Must you always dwell so heavily on the past?"
The voice that spoke was the true owner of the lanky, red furred body. Irirangi had put up with Alya's soul sharing custody of her form for an unspeakable amount of time. They bickered and argued constantly, and Iri would never quite shake the feeling of being used, but despite it all they did have some semblance of a friendship. They had been through war together, one's body fulfilling what the other's soul desired. They may not have been the one to destroy Ardemu, thus quenching Alya's revenge (and freeing her soul from this life), but the death of Sloth had weakened the Knave band's brute force and any life they'd managed to take helped ever so slightly to repay the deaths of Alya and Ithyph. And they'd been united in one body for so long that they had learned the idiosyncrasies of each others mind. Alya tended to obsess over her failure to properly take care of the pack when she was silent. Quite frankly, it drove Irirangi nuts.
"We can't learn from the past if we don't examine it," the authoritative voice of Alya snapped back. She was a perfectionist by nature, and if she wanted to perfect the running of Zahir before she finally accepted her death then she would dwell on every little mistake she'd made in her life in order to plan out how not to repeat such failures. The next time the volcano erupted, if it erupted for a second time, she would try to steer the pack towards one of their allied neighbors instead of again running to the free lands. There they would be able to seek sanctuary and regroup while being spared the risk of running into another set of deadly rogues.
Iri rolled her eyes at the constant plotting and re-planning of the Iranian spirit. "And I can't have a moment's peace when your thoughts are louder than your voice."
It was lucky they were alone right now, for neither was bothering with the courtesy of silence. It was much easier to argue out loud, even if it was one set of vocal folds making two distinct voices. While their pack mates had adjusted well to the strange arguments of the pair, it was still often hard for outsiders to accept. They were a strange sight to behold even when they weren't arguing.
The Maned body came to a stop as the soul of the deceased seized muscle control. With nothing much going on in within the Occasus lately, Irirangi and Alya had been at each others throats more often than not. There was little to distract them from each others thoughts with the exception of sleep and the occasional hunt. Tensions ran high. What happened next had been a long time in coming. Maybe the two of them even expected it.
"You want peace?" Alya snapped, holding the body in place as she glared into the distance. "You're not the one with a mummified corpse for a body. You're not the failure that ran this pack into the ground. You're not the one who can't do anything to fix it because all you are is a shadow of your former self! You think I like roaming about in your body, forced to go wherever you do and never having a private moment to myself? Think again, puppet. I'm just as miserable like this as you are!"
Irirangi growled as she fought to reclaim her body, spinning them around and narrowing Alya's already in place glare. "Then get out!" she barked angrily. "You invited yourself in. It's your decision to leave! Even if you don't want to cross over, you can still give me back my damn body! Ardemu is dead. You have nothing left to physically fight for. If you want your peace of mind as much as I do, then get out!" She was snarling by the time she fell silent, but the words had sparked something within Alya.
The ghost had not realized that leaving Irirangi's body did not mean she would also leave the earth. Her greatest fear was to cross over into whatever afterlife was out there for her before she felt her duties to her pack had been fulfilled. If relinquishing her hold on Iri meant she could again have her freedom without worrying about moving on unexpectedly... The thought caused a smile to curve up their shared muzzle.
"Alright then."
Moments after the two words were uttered, a strange sensation began to take over the pair. Iri and Alya could feel their souls tugging at one another as they set about untangling themselves. Their eyes flashed brightly, and as quickly as the possession had taken place all those months ago their bond was severed.
Irirangi blinked as before her stood the petite form of the former alphess. So that was it. It was over. They were separate again, two entities. It felt nice to be able to stretch out within her own body again, her secrets kept completely to herself and thoughts again sacred. Tentatively she shook out her pelt, pushing herself forward in a stretch that left her feeling reborn. She was herself again, one hundred percent Irirangi and only Irirangi. As selfish as the thought was, it was nice to finally have full control.
Staring at her parasitic friend, she almost couldn't believe it as she spoke. "So that's it then?"
Alya was grinning back at her, not quite pleased with again being deprived of her sense of touch but happy enough to have her thoughts to herself. "That's it, puppet," she echoed. She'd forgotten what it was like to be her own entity, to have full control over everything she did. She had been battling Iri for control for far too long. It was freeing to have her life all to herself, even if it wasn't quite a life. The Maned femme's body may have been convenient, but now she realized it was a convenience she did not require twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. "For now."
The promise brought a smile to Irirangi's own maw. She could live with Alya inside her for limited periods of time. Should the former alphess ever need her body again, the lanky female could share. She just hoped the next time wouldn't last for so long. "Don't do anything stupid." She was still smiling as she turned to leave, pausing only long enough to look back over her shoulder at the spirit. "See you later, Alya."
Alya continued to grin, ready to enjoy her new found independence for a little while. "Farewell for now, puppet." And with that she too turned and disappeared into the distance, relishing in the much needed alone time.
Last Edit: Aug 27, 2010 15:10:54 GMT -5 by irirangi