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+---- Thread: Rosewater Oasis hudjefa (/showthread.php?tid=64560)
hudjefa - Akhre - January 17, 2025
Return
A flame returned to the desert, guided by brother serpent until familiar dunes pulled him towards the cenote. He was half-expecting a warm welcome, but as he arrived to peek over the rock's edge not a soul could be seen. "Baba?" he called out, paws sliding in windswept sand as he descended the slope to the twin pools. There was no reply. "Mama?" The air became quieter still the further he ventured into Muat-Riya's blue halls. Tiye's chambers were empty, as was the sesh's medicine room - even the mazoi caves were devoid of life. Worry quickened his steps. "Baba?!" A voice nearby, just around the corner; the boy raced to greet them before realising it had only been an echo of his own naivety. They were gone.
The boy ran as he'd never ran before, paws churning red sand as he flew towards Akashingo in search of answers. They would be there, he told himself, they would all be there. Khusobek, Inji, even Safiya would be waiting to scold him. But as he neared the towering mesa, the scent of wolves was stale. Heart swooping, the boy stepped shakily to where the light disappeared into the catacombes, only to find his path blocked by an impassable rockfall. "No no no.." his paws dug panicked into the rubble, "no!" No matter how fast he moved each stone, another swiftly took its place.
It was in blind terror that he checked every entrance, each one telling a similar story. A crushing weight collapsed his legs beneath him; exhausted, the boy pressed his head to the tomb of Akashingo and cried out in anguish. The restless souls of the dead clawed at his skin, whispering for him to join them. He prayed he could.
Awakening
"Get up, boy." Time was a blur. His ears flicked. Confused, he lifted his head to where the sun peaked through the cloudbank and illuminated the mesa in fiery light. The voice was coming from within.
He could hardly disobey, staggering to his paws in mournful obedience. Ghosts hissed and bit at his feet. "Do not fear. I will guide you." And the boy knew what he must do.
Mud streaked his face from a snowmelt puddle. There were no bodies to embalm and so the boy shovelled sand into the shell of a turtle for Imsety to guard the liver. Half a coconut was next, representing the lungs for which the ape-headed Hapy looked after. A bowl-shaped leaf and a hollow stone for Duamutef and Qebhseneuf were filled with more sand, ensuring safe passage for the lungs and the stomach. His body shook, would this even work?
Finally, the objects were moved to a shallow cave along with gifts of desert mice and herbs to ease their journey. Pebbles were collected, one for each soul that had once called the twin palace's home. And once everything was in place, the boy's haunting cry echoed across the flatlands, calling the dead to their final resting place. He hoped, at last, they would be at peace.
Something shifted within him that night as he slept among the ritual stones. His Ba - Kheti - an invisible twin separated from his mortal frame would remain to tend the dead. His Ka - Akhre, the spirit of Ra - would travel with him.
When the boy awoke it was with renewed strength, emerging into the light to look upon the desert. "Follow the sun," the spirit commanded, and he did.
Arrival
Akhre mirrored the passage of the sun as it moved from east to west, pausing to quench his thirst and rest beneath the stars when night fell upon the world. Hunger was an afterthought (adjusting to life on the surface was hard!), but as the sky bled red on the third day, he found what he was looking for.
He stumbled towards the mirage's glittering water, each step sinking deeper into sand as tiredness crept upon him at last. Whomever would find the spirit would be met with a boy wandering the dunes in delirious prayer, all the while the child within slipped into peaceful dormancy.
this got away from me... @Samirseti
RE: hudjefa - Samirseti - January 17, 2025
samirseti watches from the dunes, eyes of gilded gold narrowed upon the decrepit shadow that wanders through his oasis. another young boy, lost to the sands, seeking purpose beyond himself.
he descends from his perch with the grace of a stalking panther, his dark figure silhouetted against the dying light of Ra’s final rays. sand whispers beneath his paws as he closes the distance, a shadow swallowing the smaller form of the boy.
his voice is like that of Ra's might, yet humble beyond the raw authority which he wields. he is a messenger, divine, sent from above. brought forth to act on behalf of his God. the God-King.
he watches the boy sway, and it is within a moment that samir is at his side, granting him his flank to lean upon; guiding the child further the way to the pool that glitters, where he may drink his fill and rest.
you have been delivered, son of Ra. now drink,samir bids,
live.
RE: hudjefa - Akhre - January 17, 2025
Darkness fell upon him, and the spirit looked up to see a figure silhouetted against the bleeding sky. Someone had come to greet him, but who?
The dark man was unfamiliar, an obsidian giant among the grains of sand at his feet. Akhre was dwarfed beneath his frame, and while the boychild would have felt fear, the spirit swelled only with kinship and recognition. A gasp as he leaned gratefully against his side. To feel the warmth of another; was this what it was to be mortal?
As their steps fell in tandem, it wasn't long before Akhre was deposited at the pool's edge and he could once again lap the lifeblood of the living in great gulps. The son of Ra, delivered. "And who is it that receives Him?" The spirit's voice for the first time was heard by another of his kind.
RE: hudjefa - Samirseti - January 17, 2025
this child, no mere wanderer, carries something profound—a flicker of the divine, perhaps, or simply the mark of Ra’s mercy.
i am samirseti,he speaks, his voice low and measured, rolling like distant thunder over the stillness of the oasis.
pharaoh of vahanet, son of the sun, keeper of harmony and balance.
he steps closer, the gilded sheen of his coat catching the fading light, and tilts his head as he surveys the boy.
and you, child of Ra,his tone sharpens slightly, curiosity threading through his words,
what name has He whispered to you? what purpose does He burn into your spirit?
RE: hudjefa - Akhre - January 17, 2025
The man, Samirseti: a pharaoh. At once, the spirit knew he had come to the right place.
He was touched by Ra, gilded in gold that gleamed richly under the setting sun. Familiarity to that of another existed within Kheti's memory, but Akhre was born anew. Their thoughts and feelings, whispers of the past were separated by an invisible wall - perhaps, for the best.
"Akhre," said the spirit - a child; he very much felt it. Strange as it was to navigate the world for what felt like the very first time. "The spirit of Ra...He is within me." And of his purpose? "I wish to learn, to guide and bring light to those who have lost it."
RE: hudjefa - Samirseti - January 19, 2025
samirseti’s eyes narrow, their gilded fire gleaming in the dimming light as he studies the boy.
the spirit of ra.
the pharaoh’s chin lifts, and with it, his voice—a steady river, flowing deep with authority.
then you have been sent to the sands with purpose, child of the sun. to learn, to guide, to burn bright where the darkness lingers. such a path is no small burden.
he moves closer, his shadow falling over the boy as he bends his neck to meet akhre’s gaze.
you will find here a kingdom worthy of your light, akhre. you will find wolves to guide and wolves to follow. but you must first learn to burn within yourself, for a fire untended cannot illuminate the world.
a deep inhale. a low, sweeping gesture of a scarred foreleg to the oasis before.
this is vahanet.