Yejide

Yejide is the name that LordObi's given to the Uzoman panther that's been stalking him since he left Amber. It's a tongue in cheek naming as in Uzoman it means "image of the mother". Obi has several theories on the mystery that is Yejide including, but not limited to, a guardian sent by his mother, a ghede or spirit guide, or perhaps just a Shadow of himself in his role as a psychopomp in Uzoman culture. None have been confirmed or disproven.

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From DontYouForgetAboutMe

He catches sight of it, peering back at him behind some brush that is entirely wrong for the farm country he just came from. It hisses softly at him while watching him intently with those large feline eyes.

It lacks the tribal markings that some Weir carry even in animal shape; but that doesn't mean that it's unfamiliar to the Messenger. They are believed to have mystical significance where he's seen them before; psychopomps moving between 'different worlds', that is between the quick and the dead, not shadow and substance.

It's a large black panther- not unlike those that inhabit the wilds of Uzoma.

"One of the Ghede," he addresses the panther in Uzoman. "You're not Eric's creature at all." His eyes narrow in appraisal. "But Faiellan black suits you, I fear."

"Who do you guide to Orun, to Amber? Or has someone set you seeking a lost soul?" Obi asks rhetorically, no tremor in his voice.

"Tell your mistress, the soul is found and I will guide his path back into life," the Messenger declares. "You are not needed here."

The panther nevertheless starts into motion. Slowly and unhurriedly sashaying its way towards him, each shoulder rolling with every almost casual step. Parting the grass in it's wake, the panther gets right close to him, and pushing the side of its face into his pant leg as it walks around him, counterclockwise, just once. Her long tail curls to give him a final caress.

Looking over her shoulder once, she blinks at him with big yellow eyes as if to say, 'You coming?'

"All you women are the same, just a smile, a caress, and some big bright eyes and you expect me to follow you to Ygg and back," he chuckles even as he begins to follow. "Perhaps it's me, perhaps I'm the lost soul and you're leading me?"

She leads him at a relaxed pace over a hill, turning right once at a tree, and over and under shadow till together they are in a different place yet again. Then she strolls up to a small pool surrounded by a small glade of trees. The panther glances down in the pool once, and then back at Obi in a meaningful gesture. She sits down on her hindquarters once and waits for him to come join her. She lifts her black velvet face to stare right into his eyes, and then with clearly sentient intent she peers down into the pool again.

'Look' her actions tell him. 'See for yourself.'

When Obi peers into the pool he sees only his own face peering back at him. His face and his face alone, for she doesn't cast a reflection.

But she waits next to him still. Whatever reason she has come, part the reason lies with him.

"Thousands of Uzoman Tales and always the animals speak, but I can't be that lucky, can I?" The messenger watches the spirit panther closely, for reactions to any of his questions. He is convinced that sometimes actions speak louder than words.

She watches him talk. Her expression is hard to read, like that of a sphinx. She's definitely aware that he's making noise. Whether she understands a word of it, her face does not betray one way or another. Though she does sit after a moment.

Obi examines his own reflection in the pool closer, looking for any inconsistancies. "Are you me, brother?" he asks, amused that he might be confronting a Shadow of himself as surely as Dina's had to here.

The image in the pool of water is him alright, as near as Obi can tell. "Are you me, brother?" it asks of him in unison.

"Is Uzoma in need?" He looks about the surrounding Shadow, for hints that he's someplace near a Uzoma analog, the slightest suggestion... the color of the water, the smell of the grasses, the line of the horizon. "Yours? Mine?"

The only thing of Uzoma present at the moment is a black panther lifting her head up to survey the trees. Perhaps looking for a branch to snooze in, and disappointed that these trees are not so well suited to napping. She keeps one eye on Obi however as he addresses the Cosmos.

"Or are you just telling me my role in this, or more appropriately the role my mother's assigned me? To get Corwin home."

Alas, Obi is left to draw his own conclusions as to what this, or anything else, really means. The panther begins to see to her own grooming.

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From ThanksForTheBackupCoz

"That's it," he says slapping his thigh. "Yejide, that's what I'll call her."

Dina's eyebrows go up. "Call who? The baby you're making with the new girlfriend? Is she nice, by the way, or am I going to have to kick her ass to prove she needs to be nice?"

"The ghede," he answers with a little frown. "The panther. Strong, beautiful, tied to Uzoma, and dresses in black. I think 'image of the mother' suits her wonderfully."

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