déjà vu

there wasn't much open real estate to travel upon niawaki key; most of the island was snarled in jungle or dominated by mountain, and so aditya stuck to the beaches and cliffs until he caught sight of the mainland (or perhaps just another island). either way, the new horizon looked promising enough, and he made quick work of getting there.

but the trees soon faded, giving way to a desert expanse that seemed to go on forever. it wasn't long before aditya—even having the blood for warmer climes!—began to tire, paws aching and desperately thirsty.

on and on. every so often, a vulture overhead. then two. 

are they waiting for me to drop dead? aditya wondered, looking bleakly to the cloudless sky.

he began to pray to his family's gods, though he'd never put much stock in them before. after all, if there was a perfect time to finally buy into divine intervention—

eureka!

palm trees ahead. a small patch of reeds which surrounded. . .

"pani," — water, adi managed, the word coming strangled off a tongue dry as dust. ignoring all else around him, he set upon the small pool and drank, sending droplets flying everywhere in the wake of gluttonous relief.
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I couldn’t resist!

---

 this land was not theirs—she did not behave as such. though she and her people were protected by the Mazoi and their captain, she would not lay claim to The Oasis. soon they would leave—but they still waited for any others that might rise forth from the earth.
 instead, another came forth—she did not know them! but as she approached the water with her attendants, standing across the way. she dipped her head to drink, too, albeit a little slower. she would wait until he slaked his thirst before she spoke to him—
 but a fellahin was quick to feel offended, stepping before her to introduce her and all of her titles. the man might not have even heard it! Toula rose and gave a gentle look to the one with her. “ah, we should let him finish his drink before exhausting him further with formalities,” came her gentle teasing. the fellahin, sensing they had spoken much too soon, bowed their head and stepped backward. Toula moved to continue drinking herself, not expecting the other to regard her—even as the other fellahin then grabbed a comically large frond to cast a cooling shadow over her.

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---

yay!

he was halfway through the longest drink of his life when a voice cut sharply through the reverie—

"halt! you stand before muat-riya isetnofret, goddess of the red serpent, wife to the gods. . ."

aditya quickly lifted his dripping muzzle to stare upon a trio of wolves, one with a palm frond in their mouth, another looking bashful, and a third—

". . .before exhausting him further with formalities."

she was cloaked in gold, though kohl-lined along her back and various points. her eyes were sea-green and full of humor, and she carried herself like a god upon earth.

well, if she's wife to the gods, she must be one herself, aditya reasoned.

“ah, i'm sorry,” he apologized, awkwardly sucking a breath through gritted teeth. “i didn't realize this land was claimed. i'll be on my way; i just needed a drink. . .”
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 as he rose, she got a better look at him. he wore furs reminiscent of the desert they stood within—golds, the rich sienna of the red rocks, and—oh! his gaze bewitched her, twinkling like the most beautiful of the rarest jewel, tsavorite-green… better than that even still, for the feelings she could imagine that would bring them to life!
 “nonsense! you need not go anywhere, not yet at least! this land, it is not claimed by my people. it is only the first we encountered in these lands,” she lifts her head from the waters then, smiling richly, “and you, my first stranger! please, if you still find yourself thirsty…” she gestured to the water in invitation, her voice imbued with joy.

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as she rose again, he got a better look at her, and found himself captivated. not because of her beauty—though it was beyond compare—but something else. a feeling he could not name.

a sense of déjà vu.

“i feel. . .as if i know you,” aditya told her, mouth slightly agape as he racked his brain. “you look familiar. i'm not sure how. but you—”

he laughed, cutting off that serpentine train of thought. “probably just a coincidence,” he reckoned. “i appreciate your hospitality, er. . .'isnofret?' did i hear that correctly?” he tried, aware that he was likely mangling it.

“i'm aditya,” he added, with a smile. “i'm new to these lands, too.”
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 Toula tilted her head as he spoke those first few words, considering. it was not impossible—“perhaps our souls know one another,” if this was not her first life, who was to say it was not now her fifth? though he did not look familiar to her, there was something that called her to him—and perhaps it was this!
 “the Gods work in mysterious ways. I would not put it past them to ensure our paths crossed this day,” she regarded him with more curiosity then, wondering at that. time would reveal what they two immediately could not, she supposed. she laughed as he mispronounced her name, her fellahin correcting him while she did—gently this time, at least!
 “you may call me Pharaoh Toula,” she offers, thinking this easier to pronounce. were her fellahin not here, it might be easier to be less formal—but alas! “where do you hail from, Aditya? were you once a lord?” he had the look of one!

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he smiled, considering it. his mother had said it was possible—that one life led to another, and another, and another, until a soul was realized. he wasn't sure if he believed it himself—at least not until these past few days. things had been so strange!

and his firmly-held beliefs were especially shaken when she uttered the word pharaoh.

so familiar!

he laughed in gentle bemusement, although shutting himself up when her hanger-on butted in with a murmured "isetnofret!"

“oh, no, not at all,” adi replied, shaking his head in reply to her questions. “i come from the coast—my mother was part of a great family, and my father. . .well, of no consequence. she was all i needed, anyway.”

aditya bent in a brief incline in respect to her. “it is very nice to meet you, pharaoh toula,” he intoned.
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 a great family! so, perhaps he was—or could be. “she sounds wonderful,” she answers, eyes bright—because he seemed to love her, and because not having a father seemed to not matter terribly to him in the face of having her.
 he bows, and she smiles—he is well-mannered! she agrees, “it is nice to meet you as well. I am grateful Khonsu has delivered you safely here,” how good He was, to lead this man straight to water when he was so in need! and perhaps her,
too… “now that you find yourself here, what are your own aspirations? should you like to become one?” a curious thought voiced aloud, accompanied by a slow tilt of her head while her gemstone gaze sparkled.
 as Pharaoh, she could make it so!

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“she is,” aditya agreed, eyes lit with pride. was? echoed a small voice in his mind, which he shook away. in another world, he might have lost her by now. . .but as far as he knew, she was alive and well among their kin, even though he'd been on the road for some time.

he was slightly taken aback at her offer, and took one step back from the pool. “become a lord, you mean?” he asked, tilting his head. “i suppose. . .that might be interesting, for sure.”

licking the residual water from his chops, he then moved closer, giving the servants a pleasant smile before returning his gaze to the pharaoh.

“what do i need to do to prove myself?” adi asked. “i'd like to give it a try, at least.”
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