She’s gotten used to the idea that she can’t spend every second in her mother’s shadow, but she still doesn’t like it. Dawn is a busy woman with a lot on her mind, and even though she’s technically a princess, Austra holds no interest in her mind for politics and alliances and enemies and whatever else her mother feels like talking about that day. Isilme is a lot more adventurous and outgoing than her younger twin, and she feels like one day, Issy is just going to disappear from the Cove without a backward glance. She loves her twin and her mother, she knows, but Isilme is going to be an adventurer.
The petite cremello lion cub is alone today, or so she thinks. She is crouched in her lion form, preparing to pounce on a particularly crackly leaf, when a rumbling growl echoes from the nearby bushes. Startled, she sits bolt upright, barely holding onto her lion form as she turns to face the sound. “Hello?” she calls hesitantly, taking a single step towards the noise before her courage falters. A peculiar noise comes from the bushes next – a chuff, she’ll later find out – and the creature within emerges, and Austra falls back on her haunches in shock.
The animal is like her – feline, young – in some aspects, but there the similarities end. The newcomer’s fur is longer and a rich orange, marred by obsidian stripes. The orange fades to white on her face, chest, and underbelly and she is making that weird noise again. She’s bigger than little Austra as well, and the girl shrinks into herself as she watches the young tiger pad forward and sit before her.
Do not be afraid, Austra. The words echo in her mind and she fixes the tigress with a hard stare. Is that coming from her?
It is, comes the voice again, followed by a chuckle. My name is Cybil.
“What do you want, Cybil? And how can you talk in my mind?” Austra asks, more curious now than frightened. Just as your father before you was blessed with a companion, as are you, Cybil says into her mind, voice faltering just a bit. I can speak with you like this because we have a strong, unbreakable bond. I cannot hold the telepathic communications for long, but it will grow with the years. You’ll see.
Amazed, Austra bounds to her feet, leaping excitedly at Cybil. “Let’s play, then!” she yells happily, colliding with the other feline with a tangle of paws and fur.
austra*********
if our grave was watered by the rain,
*************would roses bloom?
@[isilme]
