[Shadow]

((Oh Zu'hai! Sorry I've left you without a reply for so long. I've been so busy between school and preparing for preformances that I haven't been able to get online much. D: There shouldn't be too much delay now, I hope. xD;;))

"Hmm," Sunstorm responded. It really was cruel of whoever had tried to bring Igleh's self-confidence down, and hurt her emotionally. "Maybe. It definitely wouldn't hurt to say a prayer." Maybe the Holy Spirit was guiding them right now, and maybe it was why they had met. Maybe it would help to heal Igleh's spirit, emotionally.

He lead the way up the slopes towards the shrine. It was close enough now; they were almost there. It seemed like just a few more steps, and they would be at the door, ready to open it, and enter. It would still be cold inside the shrine, but at least there would be no wind chill, and no snow.

Huh? Wait, she'd asked him why he'd come here? He wasn't too sure to be honest. Why had he come here of all places, when he had the day to do whatever he liked?

"I guess, something was calling me here. I haven't been here in a long time, so I guess I felt that it was time to say a prayer at the shrine," he answered, shrugging slightly, casually.

[Dawnhawk]

(Yays!)
Igleh looked up at the Shrine; it was magnificent, and rather intimidating. Then she puffed up her fur and stood a little straighter, exchanging a look with her companion.
"If you've been called here, then it must be important, right? We should be ready for whatever gets thrown our way."
With the prospect of speaking directly to the gods so close at hand, the Kuhna's skin was crawling. There was something charging the air, like a storm or an electric current, and it spoke to her of great change to come.
But she was wary of change. She did not know the gods feelings for her, truly, but her life so far had given no hints at her being a favorite.
"Sunstorm... Let's go."

sorry it's short.. omo

[Shadow]

Sunstorm nodded, mentally preparing himself for anything. "Ready?" He asked. He leaned against the door of the shrine to open it, and it seemed as though there was a breeze, as though the air was trying to sort itself. It was a familliar sensation to be felt at a door.

Inside, it was a bit warmer, and the designs were absolutely magnificent, and mesmerising. There were many different pathways inside, and a system that seemed to capture melting snow and channel it to.. somewhere. He had expected it to be warmer inside, since the inside of the shrine was protected by walls, but the design of the shrine was always mesmerising, and a little bit eerie. He stepped in, holding himself against the edge of the door so that it would stay open for Igleh.

((Sorry my post is short too. D:))

[Dawnhawk]

Igleh smiled and walked through the wooden door, thanking her companion for holding it open for her.
"All of a sudden... Things are very different."
She cast half-frightened golden eyes about her, searching for the source of the change. There was no smell aside from wood, ice and snow; nothing astonishing appeared to her slanted feline eyes. A feeling of unease swam through Igleh's veins, cooling her from the inside out. Suddenly, she was reminded of the loves that she had lost, and it sucked the life from her eyes like nothing else.
She felt wholly empty once more. Her body was all that was left, lain wide, up for sale.
It was as if someone had replaced all of her joints with jelly without warning. The Kuhna didn't feel disgusted, though, as she might if a doctor had taken her under the scalpel without permission. She felt more like she had lost a certain amount of control over her actions, and was helpless as she was pulled, step after step, toward a tall, featureless statue shrouded in the shadows of a far corner...

[Shadow]

"How so?" Sunstorm asked gently, curious. He wasn't sure how she meant it-- did she mean that the atmosphere was different, that there was less wind, or maybe, something in her personal life? Something between them was different?

He felt different too after a minute, and understood what she meant. His sensation was different, a tingling crept through him. It started at his toes, and crept up through his legs, his body, and eventually lodged itself in his brain. It was a difficult feeling to describe, somewhere between weakness and, maybe, excitement? Nah, that couldn't be it; what was there to be excited about in a place like this?

"This is a strange place," he concluded, stating what may have been a little bit obvious. He followed her towards the statue, waiting for something to happen. Most likely, there wouldn't be anything too eventful today, but you never knew...

[Dawnhawk]

"I think... that we should pray."

Igleh's black-and-orange fur was puffed out as far as it could go, the strange, intense feeling she'd had ever since stepping foot into the place manifesting itself there. She closed her eyes and, ever so slowly, eased herself into a prayer position.

"Masters... I do not know if I would consider myself an unfalteringly religious being, but I do not know where else to turn. I do not wish to disrespect you at all, but I prefer to solve my own problems instead of begging of someone else to do it for me. I realize that you, as gods, will be above that; I only wanted to make clear that you are not my last resort. No. You are far above that. My suicide."

The Kuhna's voice had been altered dramatically. It was as if she did not realize that she was speaking out loud; she mewed like a kit, high-pitched and endearing. But there was also something else present, like a loss of hope. Altogether, it was broken down, abandoned.

"There is still fight enough in me to live on. But, please, take some of the sorrow from my life. Make me forget it so that I can start anew. Those of the Basantha Shrine, listen to me, please. I have lost the one who was to be my husband; I do not know what could possibly have happened to him. He just disappeared, and never came back. I have lost the Kuhna who was my best friend, the one who stuck by me through thick and thin. He left when it was decided that I was to be married to Nagori. Or... perhaps I drove him away. It broke my heart, left me with a stone in its place. And, just when I needed them the most, those who also live with my Dawnhawk chose to turn their backs on me, too. They ridicule me, demean me, treat me like the slave, the child whose better was money. I do not know my parents, and all of those who were my friends are either dead or gone. Please, please let me be rid of it! Take it away!"

And she fell to sobbing quietly, motionless body seemingly dead upon the floor. She hadn't moved the entire time; her eyelids hadn't fluttered and her mouth had remained closed. One might think that nothing had happened, unless they spotted the faint, unearthly glow that began to appear around the SleepyHollow, pulsing like a separate heartbeat.

[Shadow]

Sunstorm nodded, and bowed his head while Igleh prayed. Mentally, he thanked the gods for everything he'd been blessed with, and prayed that Igleh be helped with what was troubling her.

Her voice had changed; something was different. It seemed wrong, as though something unnatural was happening. A faint glow encased her, and Sunstorm thought that maybe the gods were intervening; they'd heard Igleh's prayer, and they had favoured her. Still not speaking aloud, Sunstorm prayed for her, that she would be alright, and that the gods will have given her new hope, and a new outlook on life.

"Igleh?" He asked uncertainly.

((Bleh, sorry for the short post.))