Lion Head Mesa cartouche

making assumptions!

the day that kynareth had announced the departure of the saints was the selfsame day that ramesses had told to @Satsu that they would depart.
since that time, the pair had met a half-dozen wanderers and learned small bites here and there. aware that their path led between the caldera and brecheliant, ramesses drew upon the court's training to navigate.
"ah," he said to her when they had come to the flatter land. 
before them, a huge pinnacle of redstone, and the pale man moved toward it eagerly.

they traveled a day apart from the saints.
a day, and many miles.
the path unfolded before them as they left the strath and became sprawling, majestic, leaving satsu breathless on many occasions as the pair made their way. when finally they diverged from the path of the saints satsu was glad;
she was also forgetful, lost to the shifting of her whims as she took in the beauty of the valley.
with pharaoh as her companion satsu did not dwell so much upon their navigation.
upon crossing to a region ripe with sand and scrub, flatter than the low valley but also somehow higher, the view again took her breath away. from the way the golden man gasped, it did the same for him.

satsu and her oasis-water gaze came with ramesses, and he climbed to the promontories, silent, focused upon each roughened step beneath his paws.
at last, he came to the top of the lion's-head, and grinned openly, handsome features gilded with a true and open pleasure. the flatlands stretched on and on into the horizon that rose in mountainous spires.
for a long moment, pharaoh was only silent; then he leant slyly toward satsu. "what shall we tell the divine ones when we have answered their ... summoning?" ramesses smirked, though his eyes remained upon the powerful sight before them both.

the mesa's immense slab was wider than it was tall, with steep sides that trailed west to a desolate hillside, and otherwise terminated along its cliffed radius. from where they stood overlooking the valley below, satsu could spy neighboring buttes that stood taller than the red-rock plateau; they were thin and layered, looking striated even from a great distance.
whatever had eroded this landform was long gone. there was no obvious water source that could account for it; perhaps upon further study the pair could find a nicer place to camp, with a winding river snaking through the dusty pits, or a hidden oasis.
there was time.
such things filled satsu with an immense feeling that she could not name — and she choked on that feeling a moment, reminded by the man that they had made a deal for their freedom.
i would rather forget about them. she proclaimed foolishly, knowing it was impossible to ignore kyn-dono.
i do not know.

ramesses scoffed. "you yourself blurted out we would return — ah, not me, but you. appointing yourself emissary before i was able to speak for us." but in his chastisement was teasing; he too felt the feeling of being rather unchained from the rest of the world.
but it was not pragmatic to remain in that world. 
"i will go to see what stirs in the canyon, satsu," pharaoh assured, shifting his weight to one hip with a polished expression. it smoothed to serious planes, and he looked at her with the cool objectivity of a courtier who had spent time upon the field of battle.
"they will not move to war without us. i believe that this — reconciliation — is only for us to return as foot-soldiers." ramesses' expression became more severe. "if you would care to escape that fate, then we must present them with findings that will interest their tastes."
he smiled.
"you must learn another sort of dance now, not the one you have known. or the one i suggested." lazuli eyes held her own as long as satsu might permit, but ramesses did not intend to cast aside his gaze first. "the steps of a royal court, for that is what kynareth and nyra think themselves to be: gods."

satsu slants a look his way following his comment, but says nothing.
in her haste to cut the tension during their meeting, she had let her anxiety speak for her; now here they were, beholden to the barbarian lord. it seemed right at the time, only now that they were separated from the saints did satsu wish she had held her tongue.
without that promise they would likely not have been granted their freedom, though.

pharaoh speaks of the coming war and the dancer listens, only because she is beside him and cannot avoid his voice. as he moves on to speak of other things she feels tension coiling in her body.
she thinks he is about to say something crass, to get under her skin. something to make her blush and react. instead he speaks of a royal court and satsu blinks owlishly at him, but holds his gaze.

here i thought this would be your kingdom.

oh, a barb!
"a hawk's eyes and a ferret's tongue," ramesses quipped swiftly in retort, though he felt himself shimmer with a brief fascination, to have been so disarmed.
his eyes were upon her once more, the lapis of them almost a caress;
in jest or in surety; for once ramesses did not know, for both sensations had suddenly been thrown over the edge of the other.
"this will be my kingdom, once we have been properly liberated. there is far too much we have not yet seen."
the inches of space between them spare; pharaoh heldfast in the breath of Amun for a rare moment.

he seemed amused.
it was hard to tell sometimes; he so often looked outrightly bored during their travel to this point, and took little fascination with the surrounding landscape, at least not in the open manner that satsu showcased.
what would they need to do for proper liberation? and would they ever be truly liberated, knowing the likes of kynareth or nyra, who wanted to take hold of the throat of the world only to shake the life out of it?
then let us go and see, she huffed, finally turning away from him in the manner of a petulant child. it wasn't petulance exactly, but annoyance, knowing it was her own fault they were beholden still.
besides, the view was much better here than in that damned valley.

satsu wove away from him, and ramesses followed. "ursus. did either of them ever tell you where this ursus was?" he inquired, padding beside the dancer with a sharp countenance trailing over each detail passed by the pair. 
the ruddy soil clung to the underside of his paws; ramesses grimaced.
"and the lands between which we passed. do you know the name of those packs?" it did not truly matter, for if this place suited them, the word of heathen peasantry would not change pharaoh from his conquering.

satsu shakes her head.
they spoke of war so often, but i was too busy learning about the han as it was. besides, i have never been important enough to include in such affairs.

she was not suited to spywork. at least the kind that pitted her against hungry giants.

this is the farthest i have been across this place. satsu went on to admit, feeling less and less equipped for what must be done. she did not know this land or its people any better than she knew the saints, and if there were more daimyo out there with the temperment of the warlord, she would not know what to do.

poor satsu, so little of the world she had seen! ramesses pitied her with a bit of cruel glee, then left off that to consider how misused she had been among the saints. "look. our bower," he jested with a crow of laughter, gesturing to a natural stonewood arch above a sodden little cave. 
"and our courtyard," to the orange-glow grains below;
"your throne," ramesses said last, climbing into the cupped palm of the small outcropping next to the first, slinging himself across it as if he were a sheaf of raw linen.
"and here you will be brought into my declarations of war," another chuckle, a sigh.

following his direction, satsu's gaze alights upon the archway. it reminds her of the stonework that would welcome passage to-and-from the strathwood. it is immense, made to look more impressive by the backdrop of bright sky behind it.
the fields were dry and dead; but perhaps something could be found among them, satsu things as she blinks and sweeps her gaze away, to where the man has sprawled across a series of slabs.
he could blend in well with the hillside. should he have sons, they would thrive here as hunters.
satsu finds amusement in the sound of his laughter this time, drawing closer.
would you go to war for this place? it is dust and sky. her eyes lift to the expanse overhead, where not even a cloud could be seen. the blue of her iris seemed more vibrant because of it.
we should seek water. perhaps there is something hidden from view - a cave, or some such. an aquifer that only they could access. or they could travel beyond the mesa, seek the serpentine river beyond.

"for this place? no," ramesses sighed, descending from his stone couch to stand alongside satsu once more. "but it is a good outpost. a strong beginning." bereft, secluded, a redstone watchtower from which the flatlands might be best examined.
"lead us to this water," he purled, stepping back with a dip of his head. ramesses would follow, wondering what sort of scout satsu might make in the dry and rock-reach area.

she gave him a pointed look, not pleased with being told what to do, but it was not serious. a shine in her eye, nothing more.
as satsu slunk around his sprawled figure, he came to his feet and drew up alongside her. it was odd to have him follow; it was not like with kynareth, with his wandering eyes which made her burn with uncertainty.
she tried not to think about it at any rate.

across the expanse of red rock, to where the stones became a rudimentary staircase. she peered over the edge and felt a sway to her knees as vertigo swept up her spine, and hurried back a step - then up again, along another angle of the rocks.
there were nooks and crannies pitting the mesa, most importantly beneath a series of archways, with one wide enough for her to wedge her head and then shoulders inside.
the air inside was humid. as she withdrew, satsu sighed.
perhaps there is another way in.

"do you mean to drown us in a tomb of rock?" pharaoh demanded, though, as before, it was only a jest, only a joke, the hard words between them. and again, he wondered if satsu truly meant her ire. 
having inspected the area in the same manner, the royal began to cast about for this mentioned entrance, scuffling over rock roundnesses set against the ground.
"perhaps here," he offered in a smooth voice, using alabaster muzzle to push back the heavy fronds of a large fern. beyond, the looming darkness of a tunnel-way, and the scent of water upon the cooler air.
ramesses waited only a moment before he entered, shoulders brushing at once against the narrow walls.

she looked one way, he another. it felt good to have a goal for a change, and soon satsu was engrossed in the hunt for that muggy scent of wet stone; though it was the man who found the dark gap first, slipping inside with barely a word.
satsu was alone for a minute as she traced his route and then slipped in to the dark, finding it much cooler upon her silver coat.

at least we have a place to hide if kynareth seeks us out in anger. he would not fit in here.
it was a narrow passage that forked in to the cliffside. some distance ahead of her stood pharaoh and his silhouette was only barely visible. the scent of water was stronger though, and soon the earth tapered downward, leading them both along.
as the passage curved it opened up to reveal crevices and widened gaps, slick with water. the deepest points held the most, though it was standing water, and smelled strongly of copper.

a shout of amusement from below the mesa;
"you were right to lead us here," pharaoh commented, a rare praise for one who did not share his golden plinth. "Khum blesses us with His bounty. even here."
he had not thought it possible to squeeze water from a mountain, and yet here they were, in the mazes beneath the redrock spire, and the sounds above muted, filtered down through a smoothing echo.
"the trail forks, there," he muttered, halting. splitting into two paths, with a solid wall of stone beginning between the opposing curves.
"i do not think we should be parted. who knows what sort of monstrous beasts dwell in this place."

in the confined space his braying could have split stone, leaving behind a ringing in satsu's ears. when next the man indicated a fork in the path, satsu sped to overtake his position and danced fluidly around him, as if this place was well known to her; silver grazing against gold.
then i will choose the path, and let any beasts find my teeth first. since i am the warrior between us. despite the confinement satsu felt giddy, excited to be exploring and equally amused with her company, insufferable as he could be - in this instance she chose humor.
onward she went, down one path and ignoring the other. the path was harder to follow the dimmer the light became, until the end, at which point the wall gave way to rubble along the leading edge and a triangular shaft of rock which she could narrowly climb up.
not shadow; a shaft of light.
to reach the glowing segment she would need to be taller, and struggled even to balance with her forepaws against the wall, reaching as much as she could to peek over the ledge. it would have been no problem for the taller pharaoh.

ramesses did not ignore the glitter that passed through him at their touch. he had always wanted satsu, and that was why he had always tried her with his brazenness. 
but nor did pharaoh dwell upon it, for theirs had become for now this hour a partnership of exploration. indulging the sensation would only make him some fellahin seeking to rut in a dark alley, and he was not this sort of individual.
he was the step between god and simple folk.
he allowed satsu to struggle, noting how very short she was. "in my father's land we worship Bes. He protects our young. though His legs are very small, and He is low to the ground, He is still quite fierce."
a snicker, and then ramesses rolled his eyes. "let me," the royal insisted, shouldering gently beyond satsu and near stepping over both she and the ledge. 
narrow, gilded in pools of Ra's glory ahead.
"shall i pull you up?" pharaoh grinned down toward her. "it will unfortunately be rather undignified."

the tale came from the dark. satsu was busy trying to climb the ledge and only heard it in pieces, taking greater note of the bemused tone that pharaoh employed.
he moved around her and easily ascended.
shall i pull you up? a thin light caught his smile while satsu huffed, not dignifying him with an answer.
it took some stretching and then kicking for the dancer to hoist herself on to the first lip of stone, then the next. the clambor of her chest against the dirt was overshadowed by the puffing of her breath and then the scratch of claws as she finally righted herself.
as she shook the grit from her coat she leveled a glare towards the smug man, but said nothing.
satsu was more interested in what they had found in the space beyond him.

he watched with amusement as she rose, then stepped back along the plinth. "you first," the airy voice.
ramesses would follow. he glanced down at the darkened sinkpath from which they had come, then turned his lapis gaze to the sunbelt shimmer flowing downward from the mesa's spire.
"do you suppose anyone has lived here before?" the royal inquired after a moment, matching his steps with that of satsu.

he gave up the lead so easily. satsu felt a thrum of pride in herself sourced from her triumph over the ledge.

i can't imagine it is appealing to many, quick-stepping through motes of dust that seem to drift but go nowhere, shifting with the slightest movement of the air. she pauses to think, surveying the area as best she can.

it is a hidden gem. there have been no sign of others, so that tells me that we will be safe in our solitude. that alone is a blessing to satsu, who would rather live secretly among the red-rock towers than face the likes of kynareth, or any barbarian horde, again.

she was correct. even in his peripheral estimation he had seen no evidence of others.
"we will make it ours," pharaoh chose to say.
he wet his lips. "shall we return to the surface realm, dancer?" the man droned. these lovely puzzles of sandstone and river below the mesa intrigued him, but it was a taste to which he was not truly accustomed — yet.

she breathes the stale air and then nods, only to make an accepting sound at the back of her throat instead. the light here was dim in many places and satsu was much darker in complexion than he was, making her hard to see, or so she presumed.
as they made their way back along the shelf and then down, to wind among the rocks together, satsu wondered aloud.
if this is to be our home, i suppose that means it is time to seek out the daimyo and tell him. it will make a good outpost - or a kingdom, if we find our fortunes here.

satsu blended with shadow and pallor.
he did not speak until they came up out of the mesa, and stood in the blinding sunlight. pharaoh blinked against the might of Ra and sighed a great sound.
"you will have to fight if i am gone and someone should threaten our land," he warned. "and i will be gone for some time."
would she raise then her teeth to dance?