religion,

@Akhtar

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 first, the altar of Khonsu—then Osiris, his then near the Oasis. a pool of water so beautiful it could be but some of the tears of Iset, who rejoiced in her favored daughters survival.
 altars here, though she would see temples made for their Gods when home was found!

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Everytime he thought himself settled, he’d catch glimpse of himself in the crystalline waters, and stare all over again. He was so young now, with curling fur to his neck where he’d once had none, and an arching, fur covered tail rather than the one he had held. His eyes were still honey, though, and he twisted his head back and forth to observe them. He was quite the handsome creature, wasn’t he?

Paws swirling against the sand made him look away from himself to the golden fur of their goddess given flesh. Akhtar was quick to smile.

“Pharoah.” He rose in sibilant purr, tail tucked into the curve of his hip as he sat beside the crystalline waters.
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 he looked changed, and yet she knew him still! her voice was fond as she greeted him, saying warmly, “my dear Hem! do you think this space suitable to build an altar for Osiris?”
 and then, “should you continue to walk this path with me, we can work to build him the grandest of temples where we shall find our home,” she dreamt of it, and smiled as she settled nearer to him.

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Akhtar’s laugh rose like a trill, in a way he hadn’t heard in some time. It would never cease to amaze him, until he started to go grey again. Maybe then it would stop. But that would not be for a while yet. He looked to his Pharoah with a quirk to his brow and his smile, and stretched his paw out to hover over the water.

“When I was following Bast, I met someone who believed were he to enter deep, still water, he would fall straight through into the lands of his dead.” Ever a dramatic, he paused, leg held aloft, before he folded it back to his chest.

“I wouldn’t dream of stepping away from our path, my goddess. Osiris will be pleased to see an altar here, and we will assemble Him the finest of temples when home shows its face.” And home would show itself soon, whispers on the winds told him. He would just have to practice patience and wait.
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 even after death, into this new life!, would the Hem follow her. “you honor me,” Toula murmured. what was a Goddess without Their priests, Their priestesses? but Akhtar was important to her. he had followed her father before her, and with all that he knew he still remained.
 she was pleased to hear him speak of what they would build. with their tributes, the Gods would surely restore their empire swiftly. “then let us begin the building of the one that shall remain here,” she determines, smiling. she wondered, though, looking to the priest, “did Bast lead you into the stillwaters, or around them?” for there was the potential that they lived on in the glorious land of Reeds—but she did not think so! something in her bones told her they lived, still, but that everything that she had ever known had changed.

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He wasn’t much more than a lowly priest. But Toula, the dear creature, had always been kind to him.

“She did not.” He told, using the nail of one paw to scrape into the sand.

“She led me into the deepest of deserts. It was only Her wisdom that kept me from becoming a husk beneath Ra’s eye. She led me to Him.” Honey eyes caught a reflection of the sun off the water, and he shuddered through a breath. That burning power, that great eye, turned upon him.

“She led me to Ra Himself. She named me Irimaatenbast. And I woke beneath the sand, same as you.” His grin turned sharply amused.

“Although, perhaps not exactly the same. I wore these colors when I was naught but your age. The grey came on quickly.”
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 “She will have a grand temple as well,” as it was in their homeland. she missed Bast in Her corporeal form, but saw Her in visions as well. the Goddess had chosen Akhtar to devote himself to Her, and also to continue to protect. she was glad! “so, priest of Bast, will you preside over Her own? keep it cleansed and purified? fill it with prayer and offerings?” her bright eyes were warm. it was an important duty!
 “another gift. ah, She has offered me more years with you!” Toula realized with a laugh, and, grinning, asked, “can you bear it?!” before she searched for stones around the waters to begin to build her offering for Osiris. something she could stack to make it large, so that any passerby could understand its import.

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His Pharoah surprised him again and again, offering to him the temple of Bast to preside over. And wasn’t that an idea? An image came to him, of the sunswept side of the throne, of the vizier in priest paint, and he shivered to think of it, hauling in a short breath.

“I am Her hand. Her will. I carry Her justice and her order. I will watch Her temple.” And from there, perhaps that ladder would come down to him one day.

He swept along at Toula’s side, scooping rocks out of the sand and placing them to one side to sort. He remembered doing this once before with Rameses, some distant part of him also remembered the odd flutter of hated love in his heart. He never quite got that feeling, but the man was gone now, and Akhtar remained.

“Can you?” He rose in a tease, shooting a wiggle of an eyebrow over one of his shoulders.

“I hope to be around as long as you are, Pharoah.” It was all he could ask for. To watch over the royal line until the day his last breath was drawn from his chest, and his heart no longer beat.
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