How Far We've Come [PK]

[KeiLynx 61]

 

Yhl’Keidha Eittitica, one of the three leading Aelkos of the Sanctuary of Eittitica, looks from his bed out the far-off window. The ocean is particularly calm today. The waters seem inviting. His journey to Aevos had been the Kha’s third time crossing the sea’s vast expanse, the fourth continent his feet had stepped upon. He thought of the first again, the land of his birth, a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of dangers and disasters. Was it still there? Had this great body of water swallowed it all up by now? Could all the horrors that plagued his earliest memories be cleansed so easily? The Leparda would never know…

He pushed himself from the soft bed, the vigor of his muscles greatly diminished by his advanced age. Another came barging in to assist him. Keidha’s ever faithful Cheetrah companion, Do’Ahzahna, urged her oldest friend to lay back down to rest. He would not. This was not a condition one could merely sleep away. He knew deep down that the next time he was off those feet, he would never rise again, though he kept the grim reality of his situation to himself for now. Keidha stands in the center of the room, as tall and as proudly as was still possible for him, using the back of a chair to support his weight. There was not much it had to do. The Leparda was gaunt and withered in body at this point. His fur was thin and even lighter in its sandy color than it was in his youth. His cold hands and feet barely had the strength to keep him there. And yet, they would, for a little while longer at least.

Ahzahna must have looked on her friend with anxious solicitude. She stood guard over him without fail for most of his life, witnessing without any ability to help as age caused her fellow Kharajyr to waste away to this skeletal state. When Keidha asked that he be dressed in his ceremonial white robes once again, the strange request only exacerbated her worry. The old Kha was still as devious as ever and the Cheetrah knew her friend was plotting something. Yet, she obeyed. His hand shook as it came up to wipe a single tear from her eye, one perhaps she had not wanted him to see. Yet, he could only smile in his typical warm manner as he spoke for the first time in weeks,
 

[Translated from the Keidha-ese accent] 
“Ahzahna. Dearest friend to this one’s heart. 

Even after a century passed does this one still regret the time he treated you with such cruelty.
This one sought power over death, to be its master,
to join the mages of the dead and learn their magics.

But this one never admits this until now… Here, with you...
This one hides the truth instead, and with it, truth of why this one could not walk that path.

You were with this one in the Attenlund. You were with this one when he lost Xiuh and Tletl.
The comfort you gave this one got him through that expedition when this one was the most broken he could ever be.
Ahzahna was there every day since,
and that still did not stop this one from nearly shredding your flesh over some stupid pebble. It is this one’s greatest shame.

Ahzahna still never loses faith. This one was shown that day the evil he walked towards.
You were Keidha’s test, one he was proud to fail. If sacrificing you was needed for this power to be gained, this one is better to be without it.
It is the lesson all Kha should know. Life is to be lived. Those that make life great are to be cherished.

Keidha never thanked Ahzahna for teaching this lesson. It is the wisdom that has carried him all through these long decades.
Through our flight from Urguan. Through our finding and repairing of our Pyramid Eittitica. Through the invasion of the Orcs.
Even through coming here and establishing the Kha's new home. Mul’ta, Maun’na.”

 

The elderly Kha embraced his dear friend with as much strength as he could still muster. He knew in his heart that there would little opportunity to do so again. They held each other for some time, the heat of the Cheetrah’s body warming Keidha to his bones as he purred weakly. However, like all good things, this long hug could not last forever. Before they separated again, Keidha tasked Ahzahna with summoning his fellow Kharajyr to this room. There was more to be said and more to be done before he departed this world for good. She could hear him coughing violently as she takes the lift to exit.

The elder Yhl’Keidha Eittitica would succumb at last before the day ended…

When he died, he did so comfortably in his bed, surrounded by many others of his kind. Keidha’s final wisdom would be passed on to all. The Kharajyr were stronger than everything the world could throw at them, but only when they stood together. In life, he had taken up the mantle with steadfast devotion to unite his wayward kin in Almaris. Now in Aevos, as he saw them and their descendants gathered all around, the Leparda knew his efforts were validated. Keidha’s mind was further eased that his mission would outlast him with the successor to his position in the Sanctuary named personally. Perhaps with time and with generations of Kharajyr just like these, another great empire could rise again, like the one that left behind the ruins he observed in old Khalenwyr. 

His last breath was spent calling for his Muuna, the goddess Metztli, who he would now join in death. Keidha never said goodbye to those that attended him in his final moments. He did not need to.

Death was not the end, and he would be with each of them again one day…

Tehua chihua choctli.                                                    You are crying.
Telpochtli Kha. Telpochtli Kha.                          Little cub. Little cub.
Tehua cochimiqui.                                                       You need to rest.
Telpochtli Kha. Telpochtli Kha.                           Little cub. Little cub.

Aocmo tlaocoya.                                                             Do not be sad.
Macamo xitequipacho.                                                    Do not worry.
Tehua yollotitlan Muuna.                    You are in your mother's heart.

Telpochtli Kha. Telpochtli Kha.                          Little cub. Little cub.
 

[AlaricGrimgold 398]

Reserved

[Tigergiri 2867]

Leika, with her tanned skin, slowly opened her golden eyes. As she gazed upon the gates, her lashes were dark, watching behind sunlit eyes. A silhouette of a goddess she had only ever heard of, on the other side, extended a hand to welcome a new soul. Like always, Leika's gaze surpassed the gates and clouds, recognizing familiar features ears & coat.

Lips inched up in a soft smile, and in a reminiscing voice, she called out beyond the gates, wondering if he could even hear her? 

 

"Finally used up your last life, Keidha of Ettitica? Or have the pyramids finally touched the sky, just as you dreamed?"

 

Her wispy brown and gold hair danced gently in an ethereal breeze as she reminisced about the day, they had clasped hands and forged a bond of friendship. Leika wondered if that had been his first life, or perhaps his ninth. Time, she knew, flowed differently in the seven skies, and the memories of their shared past felt both distant and ever-present.

 

"Rest peacefully, knowing that the generations we've nurtured will carry your legacy forward, surpassing even our highest dreams."

[Periphonics 369]

Yhl'Kabuki, the great Tigrasi Aelkos of the Sanctuary of Eittitica, their leader of SOUL, could have never prepared himself for the sorrow that came with the loss of his first friend.
Kabuki was not born to a family of people to look up to, his patta had not been a man of wisdom, but rather one of physical demand. While this had meant the young Tigrasi was born and raised to be an apt combatant, it was never what he felt in his heart was the path for him. When the first Pyramid of Eittitca was erected in his home city, the wise Keidha stood to be all of the things Kabuki wished to see himself become. A leader who guided and shared the culture of Kha. For a whitewashed kharajyr such as himself, it was incredible to see someone of what his culture could be. 
Alongside his patta as general, Kabuki came to become a Tlapana, a warrior, of the former Eittitica pyramid. There he would begin to learn both his kinds language and ways through Keidha's events. Fondly, he recalls the time himself and Keidha stood at the highest point of the pyramid and spoke of Metztli, where he first learned of her importance to their kind. He met new kha's, including his second ever friend, Yaotl, and from there he knew this was the way he wanted to live. Kabuki knew that he dreamed to see a pyramid in which his kind could come together safely and share their culture together, to give home to the scattered kha across the continent.
 

It was during the attack of the Mori, and Yaotl's allyship with the Mali'Ker, did Kabuki strike up a way to see all of their dreams come together. Eittitca, meaning Trio, was always meant to have three leaders, Keidha had told him. Together, the three Kha, Leaparda, Pantera, and Tigrasi, would ally themselves as MIND, BODY, AND SOUL. When their paws touched the new continent of Aevos, they began construction of their new pyramid. 
They held events together, and grew their community. Keidha was Kabuki's first friend, and first mentor. He took the place of a patta when his own failed to do so. It was their meeting that has ever been the most meaningful to the massive kha. The two would never hold the same bond that Keidha and Azhanna did, he didn't care regardless. Perhaps the elder kha never even knew the place he held within Kabuki's heart, that thought alone was enough to bring him to tears. His own patta abandoned him twice, and openly loved his younger sister moreso. His own father taught him only how to fight, and to be strong. It was Keidha who taught him to lead, to become a person others could look up to themselves. 


In their final moments together, Kabuki was incapable of finding words for himself. He knew when he had been summoned what was to come, he knew the reason that his fellow Aelkos had been seldom leaving their shared tower. But he simply couldn't bring himself to admit it. Keidha could, Keidha was strong enough to speak the truth that these would be his last moments.
"This one has been of such pride to be getting to be of seeing Yhl'Keidha's dreams be coming true. Keidha... Was this ones first perta. This one would stand not where he does without you, without all you have been done. This one... Wishes Keidha could be seeing all that khas will come to being. This one wishes we could have been having more times together. To have known each other with more, to have shared but... Just one more drink, one more ceremony."

When the elder kha's final breath was drawn, and his serene song finished, Kabuki could do nothing more than break down to tears. Nearly a century had passed with the two knowing one another, a century of viewing the leaparda as a mentor and ally. Nearly a century, and it had drawn to a close. Regret swept him, of all the words he hadn't gotten the chance to say, all the glory they had not seen together.

The tigrasi wept, the kha known for his stoicism and might, broke to tears as sorrow and grief overcame him. He swore to continue to see Keidha's dream come to fruition. His paw came to rest on his Aelkos' forearm, despite the protestant hissing of Azh, and he whispered for just himself and Keidha to hear:
"machtia, pehua. Achcauhtuan, pertuan, ma xipatinemi huecauhtica. Mocehuia ica Muuna Metztli. Mocehuia, auh axiltia ti aocmo huecauh. Mul'ta ti chihua ye, pattuan. Yhl'Keidha.]

[To teach, to triumph. My leader, my friend, farewell for only a while. Rest with our mother Metztli. Rest, and we will join you soon. Thank you for all you've done, my father. Yhl'Keidha.]

 

Spoiler

I cannot give enough thanks to Ace. To no fault of his own given circumstances and absence, many of you newer kha players wont know that he is the very foundation our present community is laid upon.
Kabuki exists still in only thanks to Ace and Keidha, and the opportunities i was offered back on our last map. Eittitica is the product of his own will and imagination, and i've been so thankful to get the privilege of uptaking the duty of maintaining his creation. Keidha has always been a character i've enjoyed interactions with, his wisdom and dry humour was such a charm. I still remember being back in Vikela and playing Kabuki without any real goal in mind. In the events held there i could feel your passion for both your own character and what the community could come to be, and it totally drew me in. To even play one of your tlapana was a privilege, and when i had mentioned interest in shamanism and lore, and you approached me regarding taking the position of Soul in your trio i was thrilled to accept. I had no idea the snowball effect that would have, to see now that the Kha have a dedicated space with an influx of new players is incredible, and i hope that myself, Cherry and Kudos can continue to see your vision. 
Bell, your musin, will always be welcome to join us and our fellow musin denizens in the sanctuary, and if a day comes in which you find yourself wishing to play a new kha, we'll be happy to accept with open arms
Keidha will wholeheartedly be missed, as Kabuki's first ever friend, and the rock foundation that was needed to see a rejuvenation in the kha race. Thank you Ace.
From your pal,
Periphonics.