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The sound of rustling feathers and pounding feet was all that heralded the rush of two other creatures over a short rise. The first was a tall, long-legged blue raptor, wings spread as he darted out of the way of his pursuer, who was the second individual, a huge lioness white of pelt with rainbows fading up her legs, under her eyes, and a curious symbol on one shoulder, her blonde mane curling out of her eyes.
Tarishi had taken to hiding her godliness, since it had gotten her into trouble in the past. Well, perhaps not trouble, but awkward situations. It was hard for mortals to understand sometimes, so it was easier to just start things off on a light, even foot.

Hermes had gotten a head-start on her, but there wasn't a soul in existence that could match her for speed when she pushed, but for some of the other gods, of course. But then, she would have caught him anyway, for he had skidded to a halt just moments before she tackled him and sent them both crashing into the water. Had there once been a time when she'd hated mud and dirtying her fur? Probably, but it was conveniently forgotten.

"Babe, we've got company!" Hermes hissed in her ear as he struggled to right himself. A moment to register the words and she turned her head, blinking up at the other lioness from where she lay on her back in the water.
"Ohgoodgods, I'm terribly sorry!" She was up in an instant, backing out of the pond and ultimately putting some distance between herself and the stranger. Heavens, she must look a mess! She could just feel the mud on her back and no doubt in her mane. What a terrible way to make a first impression!

"Gracious me, no, no you didn't interrupt, I caught him after all and we were just playing, oh dear, I'm rambling," Tari rushed, smoothing some of her wayward mane out of her face. Oh, another goddess, well it seemed poor form for her to stay in her mortal guise. Only kept it up for non-gods, after all.
A small shake and her wings added themselves to her visage, the only things that had really been missing. Her mortal coloring never changed in the roguelands, didn't matter out here. Only prides seemed to have sticks up their rears when it came to what you looked like. Silly, that.

"I really am very sorry for having splashed you, I didn't really look before I leapt, bad habit. I'm Tarishi, by the way, and this is Herm- Oh dear..." She trailed off with a snort as she turned her attention to faithful companion, who was currently giving his goddess a half-glare, his wings drooping and feathers dripping.
"Thanks, babe. I needed a bath." He muttered something under his breath, something about holes in his head, etc. etc. Tari snorted at his indignation and smiled.
"No problem," she replied and returned her attention to the other goddess, "Hermes. Don't mind him, he's only pretending to be cranky."

She glanced around the area. Well, it seemed a pleasant place, but she'd seen better.
"I didn't interrupt you, did I?"

Tari sat down and started trying to make some order out of her mane and fur, though her attention remained on the other goddess. Ah, Nquma, that was a pretty name. Nquma seemed to be a bit stuffy, or what is shy? Either way, it was something Tari was more or less used to by now, though usually it came from mortals who caught her in all her glory. No matter, she was glad to finally run into another deity, besides Tafari she hadn't run into another god since she was litter.

"I'm glad to meet you as well, Nquma," she replied and couldn't resist voicing her thoughts, "I've met so few other gods, I'm always ecstatic to meet a new face!"
Well, except some of the darker domains. She didn't think she would care all that much for them.
"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I love your horns. They're absolutely gorgeous." Like the ice that sometimes formed higher up her son's mountain home. And her mane was so nice, too, Sometimes Tari wished her mane wasn't so curly. Culs and waves were prone to tangling and wild floofing. But manes were tricky things, she knew that. Have curls, want straight; have straight, want curls. Would be silly to bring it up.

Hermes cleared his throat softly.
"I'm going to hunt," he told Tari, while still trying to lightly shake the water out of his feathers. It would probably do him good, help dry him off.
"Okay, I'll wait here for you." The raptor nodded his head before turning to Nquma, bowing deeply to her.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Goddess Nquma," Hermes said, straightened, and took to the air.

"Absolutely, they remind me of the ice that I sometimes see on mountains!" Was she a bit over-enthusiastic? Bothersome, Tari really needed to tone it down a bit, that wasn't how one acted with someone that was shy. It was just so difficult, she hadn't seen another goddess since she was young. And an over-talkative nature, well, it sort of came with the territory, now didn't it?

"Oh?" Tari glanced back at her wings briefly, before returning her attention to the other goddess with a smile. "Thank you. They look pretty, but believe me, they're terribly difficult upkeep. I'm not sure how I'd manage without Hermes. Frankly, I seem to have them concealed more often than not these days. Too many mortals just don't seem to know how to deal with us."
She thought about her story of one male bowing to her and asking for boons, and then the one about the male who'd tried to capture her as a mate and how uncomfortable she'd made his father. Ah, but now wasn't the time for stories. Unless the other goddess brought up stories...
It did make her wonder though, Nquma didn't have wings, could she fly? No, that was a terrible question and she wouldn't bring it up.

Her smile broadened even more, her eyes crinkling slightly at the edges.
"I do hope you're not put off by my yammering. My domain is messengers and I'm afraid talking is something of a compulsion. Or perhaps it's just my nature. My son says that if Hermes wasn't with me, I'd probably talk to rocks or trees."

Tari giggled, feeling younger than she had in a long while. Clearly she needed girl-talk more often.
"No, but they're certainly neat. I... I think I saw a glacier once, snow and ice, high up in the mountains is so different from down here. Absolutely wonderful!" She did tilt her head a bit over the rocks and trees comment. Oh, the poor thing, she really did seem to have trouble talking to others. That wasn't fair at all! She seemed a good enough conversationalist, but then that could just be that Tari liked talking to most people in general.
Well, except those two young gods she met when she was little. Those two... That was just mean.

"Tell me about it. I've never had one get scared of me, but there was a young male that tried to take me as one of his mates. Can you imagine? His father was a king and was very unhappy that I was in their lands. Respectful, but unhappy. Haven't gone back there since," she replied with a shake of her head. "And then there are the ones that want blessings. It's flattering and all, but it isn't like we should hand them out willy-nilly, and I'm pretty sure a lot of us are pretty specific in what we can do, right? Some mortals just don't get that my blessings only work on messengers."

But then there were always other things she could do. Bringing word to families about their relatives, gifting a feather or two like her father, just being friendly. Helping someone escape a terrible life. The wayward thought wrapped around her throat like a vice before she set it aside. Even gods made mistakes and she was forever fixing hers. But she was fixing them.

"I can't figure out why anyone would get mad at you, though. You seem too nice, if a little... shy?" Oh, she hoped the other goddess didn't mind her honesty. Tari had the most terrible habit of wanting to help others when she could and boosting Nquma's confidence seemed like a worthy pursuit. True, the other goddess seemed to lack a warmth at times, but it didn't seem like dispassion, rather trying to stay in the middle ground. Be polite and calm. Nothing wrong with that, in fact Tari needed to work on that a bit more, for when she met with other gods and pridal leaders. But that was beside the point.

"You helped a pride after an avalanche? That is far more impressive than handing out blessings!" It was... She wondered if the pride still thought of Nquma. Only a couple of prides knew about her. Oh, there were individuals in prides that did, but... Now that she thought about it, probably only the pride she'd been raised in really knew about her, personally, since that one king didn't take well to goddesses.
Anyway, it must have been very heroic of Nquma, she should be proud.

She listened, nodding her head every so often as Nquma explained. She could see that, especially with mortals.
"They expect more of us," Tari replied with a small shrug. "I have mortal children, occasionally I discuss my nature with one of my sons. He's told me that some mortals he's met see us as... Well, that we know everything and don't make mistakes."
That certainly brought a laugh from her. Her sons and daughters - wherever the rest of them were - were proof that the gods were indeed quite fallible.
"Pfft, we're supposed to be perfect, Mkodi forbid we're ever shy or get scared! Surely the world would end!" Silly mortals.

Tari's smile showed her age. She was still a young goddess by most accounts, but her cubs were full-grown. She had given up the chance to raise them in adolescent fright, but in time had raised her son's messenger, Altair (With Hermes' help, of course). In truth, she hoped to be a grandmother someday soon.
It was a sweet, motherly smile.
"Absolutely! Please, if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know. I adore helping others when I can."

"I can't imagine even trying for perfection. Seems like it would be far too much work and absurdly stressful. Life can be a mess of stress even without trying too hard," Tari replied with a small shake of her head. Sure, a god of perfection probably had it easy and could maybe even make it easy for others, but... Well, flaws made life interesting. Maybe not in the best of ways, but sometimes. If everyone was perfect, they'd all be the same, wouldn't they?

"I think most mortals go through their entire lives not meeting one of us. Some don't even believe we exist. So I guess that lends itself to making up all kinds of crazy stories. I bet we even get blamed for things we didn't have a paw in at all, tsk." Oh, but she was rambling again. Her head tilted to one side, considering how she interacted with mortals.

"I was raised by mortals, so I probably had more experience with it than normal. But that was a pride that raised gods, so they didn't see me as anything but a little extra special. Now, mortals that don't believe... No, most just can't handle us, I think. I've started to just stick with my no-wings self when I'm traveling." She smiled and looked a bit sheepish. "Frankly I'd say just talk how you would with anyone, but that can take practice if you're not used to it, or shy. I guess... the best advice I can think of is, well, we're goddesses. When it all comes down to it, if we really screw up a conversation, we can always just disappear if we want. And if your screw up, it's okay, there's always a next time and we get better learning from mistakes. I tend to like weather and places I've been for conversation topics."