A N Y A'S . S T O R Y
Growth Solo: Religious Ideals
Words:2187
Description
This is a cross roads of sorts. Anya has been struggling with religion ever since the Matron lead the extremists to war. She has come to believe the Mystics are all liars and false. That they don’t really hear Aisha.. if Aisha ever really speaks. She has come to believe that Aisha is not a goddess; or at least not the only one. This quest is her being shown that no the Mystics are not false; they are only mortals receiving messages from Aisha and it is up to them to understand and interpret it. The quest is basically her resolving her questioning of Aisha and religion; a decision to stick with some Alkidike ideals instead of completely separating herself from the Alkkidikes.
Anya, over her trip to Oba, had many thoughts. Tumbled and all over the place her mind had tried to come to terms with what she had seen and heard. But always at the back of her mind as she’d been more focused on getting here…. and now that she was here she had nothing to really keep her mind occupied with and it turned back to the jumbled thoughts. And tonight it was keeping her awake. She sighed and got out of the bed and went to stare out the window. She was in Kayo’s ranch house; a large and rather gaudy place if you asked her! Pretty but large for just the one man. It wasn’t like his workers lived here.. they had their own homes scattered across the ranch and nearby farm.
She swung herself out the window and clambered onto the roof top. She sighed and sprawled on it, looking out over the ranch in the darkness lit by a full moon. The beauty of the scene distracted her from her thoughts for a bit. The pale silver light glinting off the sands and rocks, dark shadows swaying about as the breeze blew through the scraggly thin trees and ruffled her dreds.
The trees reminded her slightly of lesser forms of Aisha and she frowned at that thought. Aisha had always been a goddess to her. Everyone called her that as well as “Mother.” She had as well. They said she was all powerful, that she had made this world and the things in it. That as her direct daughters born from her Alkidikes were obviously superior to others. That had always sat wrong with her. And the rest began to sound like lies. Aisha was all powerful? What about the earthling Gods? They had them and they weren’t some form of Aisha misinterpreted! It wasn’t that Aisha made earthlings long ago and left them to live like the rest of the animals while she tended to her beloved daughters… Anya couldn’t believe that story that she’d been told: not anymore! Why would she do something like that? And if she’d done so then why did all the earthlings believe in different things and all have different stories on how they came to be?
Her village’s leaders had always said that Aisha meant the world to be for them; Anya hadn’t liked that. And after the recent war she liked it even less! Earthlings were people! They had family, feelings, culture, history.. everything that the Alkidikes had! And somehow the words of a tree meant that the Alkidikes could just take away land that they wanted from those who lived there? She hated it; hated the idea that her people were somehow better than others because they were born from a flower unlike every other single creature or person out there!
No; Aisha was not the all powerful mother of the world. Aisha did not control the world, did not make all things grow and be born. Anya could not believe it, could not make herself believe it. Aisha was a tree, how could Aisha even reach out to affect the world? Her roots didn’t extend everywhere! She thought of the people in the jungles of Juahur sending prayers to Aisha… all asking her for guidance or help. Had any come? No! No voice had told them what to do, no word from the mystics or help sent by them once Aisha relayed the requests to them.
Mystics! Her mouth curled in disgust. Those frauds! Lying to her people! All of them! THey all claimed to hear Aisha’s voice and that made them automatically leaders and the power of a goddess in their hands. The past event with the Matron saying one thing and Eshe another while the two younger mystics did nothing or caused the issue (like why was a mystic gone from her holist mother’s celebration?) made her think these thoughts. They were just Alkidikes who could do magic! They weren’t any leader or holy voice of Aisha! They were just a bunch of liars using the tree that birthed them to twist the Alkidike tribe about their fingers and be figures of power! How was claiming to hear the voice of Aisha a good sign that they could be leaders of the tribe? The ones that got banished showed just how wrong that was!
Everything was a lie! And Anya wanted none of it! In her youthful teenage arrogance she thought she knew everything, that she knew more than the adults. To her these thoughts were logical and true; despite the fact that they would put her against her entire culture and she was cutting herself off from her people. She felt like her actions were right, that others would understand and if they didn’t they’d be wrong and stupid. She did not understand all the consequences she was setting herself up for; she thought she did but in reality she was grandstanding and acting rashly.
She hopped down from her perch and scaled the wall of the building to go stalk off into the night; going towards the small pond that Kayo kept on his farm. She was going to get rid of her dreds! Show the world what she thought of the arrogance of the elders! They all said it was a sign of Alkidike strength and superiority… but Obans had it! And it was just a stupid hair style! Yes this was a grand idea! And one she intended to do now; but in secret so she could see how it looked on her before she let others see the non dreds.
At the pond though was another alkidike much to her surprise. An older one, with dirt worn feet and bags. Next to her lay a bow and pack. She was also, to Anya’s surprise, bald. With tattoos mingling with her natural markings.
“Oh? Another of us is out here ehh? Enjoying Oba at all?” She heard and started.
“Uhh… yeah.” Anya, her mind still filled with thoughts of rebellion and acts of rashness, was thrown for a loop. Here was one that she was thinkign of cutting herself off from. Older war like Alkidike, one who oozed confidence and (to Anya) arrogance.
The older woman cocked her head and stared at the girl with a wry smile. “Are you out here because you cannot return home or out here like I am, for fun and to enjoy the scenes?”
Anya pulled herself up and crossed her arms;
“I’m here on my own! I left them all because they are all stupid and obsessed with a tree that’s not a Goddess!”She was expecting anger, intended to have it in fact; she needed some sort of reinforcement for the action she was about to do. What she got, however, was laughter.
“Oh!” The older woman lay back and took a deep breath to calm her cackling. “Oh dear! Little dear all upset the Mystics aren’t all knowing or on the same side?” She snorted and laughed some more.
Anya stood offended; this was not how it was supposed to go! They were supposed react… differently. Try to stop her, not laugh at her. She waited a bit before responding in a sulky tone.
“Why’d you say something like that? How do you know thats why?”
“You are out here, so soon after the Matron and Eshe have such different views on what to do and what Aisha said… and claim that we are all obsessed with a tree that might not even talk.” She sounded amused. “What else would I think?” She chuckled and laughed softly. “Ahh youth! The ability to be rash and blind and so certain! I miss it somedays.”
“You aren’t going to like… stop me or tell me I’m wrong?” She sounded almost plaintive and it sent the older woman into more gales of laughter.
“We all walk our own path, kid. Some of us leave Aisha and only see her once a year. Others never leave her side. Some think the mystics are the voice of Aisha and tell only the truth. Others think they lie and keep the messages hidden or twist it to suit them.” She shrugged. “To each their own. I would advise more thought and introspection before you decide to completely cut ties with Aisha and your family. Think about what you are losing versus what you will win by doing this.”
Anya was mystified; this one was a lot more open minded than she expected! She decided to see just how open minded… and maybe get some advice. Because now that he was thinking about it; it was a huge thing. Easy to do in the heat of the moment but…. there was a lot she would lost.
“What about me not thinking Aisha is the only goddess?”“You and every other earthling.” Was the wry response. “They know we have our Goddess… but they have their own ones silly girl. You don’t have to think her the all powerful to love her. You don’t have to think Aisha is the best and still follow her. Some of us Alkidikes view her more as a mother than a goddess. Why does she have to be one or the other? Your mother is not right all the time.. why must our beloved Mother be any different?”
This was.. new. Anya hadn’t considered that; to her she’d always thought of Aisha as Goddess. All knowing… the recent events had shaken that belief badly… but this explanation.. this made sense. Her mother’s weren’t always right; often they knew better than her but that didn’t mean they were never wrong! And maybe Aisha was a mother and a goddess… not the all knowing one, not the all powerful creator of the world but rather the one who just made her people. Just reached part of the world. Maybe some changes… but not the type of power that could reach out and solve all your problems. That had been another issue she’d had; Aisha never did anything for people that she saw… if you wanted it done you had to do it yourself. Maybe the tree restricts how far she can access?
“But what about what just happened?” She asked, curious and no longer pouting. It felt.. like a huge relief. A weight off her back. She didn’t have to abandon everything, she could still go home.
“Mystics are only people.” The older woman shrugged. “They don’t talk about the messages; not really. Not unless you happen to be on the council! My guess is that they got some vague image and three different mystics had different ideas. It had to do with Suati somehow. Which is why the youngest went to explore, the oldest saw a chance for conquest and the middle two merely saw something different. Maybe a sign of alliance, a second chance? I don’t know. I didn’t see it. But when one person looks at something, they have different thoughts on what it is and what it means than other people. Some would take offense at you calling Aisha a tree as if she was a simple plant and not a goddess. Others find it amusing and a sign of youthful rebellion. And others would agree with you.” She stood up and stretched. “I’m headed out… nice chat! Just think before you do anything too rash kid. Give it a good long thought the bigger the action. Sometimes spontaneous action is fine. But always be prepared for the consequences.”
She left quickly; vanishing into the night with an ease Anya envied. I didn’t even get to know her name. Anya realized as she stood there and watched the darkness. She picked up one of her dreds and rolled it in her hands. That had made a lot of sense… and alot of it just sounded… right. It matched what she thought in some ways… but not completely.
That woman was just able to accept that the Mystics might not be telling the truth, but still follows them. She thinks of Aisha as a Mother and still returns to her side at the end of the day. And that, Anya felt, was fine. She could do that. Cutting off her dreds and her ties to her people seemed really rash now. Rash and a bit silly. Why should she never plead for a child because she didn’t like the msytics and the fact that she couldn’t tell if they were lying or telling the truth?
I don’t have to actually cut ties. She realized, I can live elsewhere and return once a year like that lady said. Return on our celebration of Aisha and just live my life as I want elsewhere. That way I don’t have to cut ties completely but also not deal with the idiots and their zealous beliefs and actions. She smiled and patted her dreds as she turned around and headed back to her room. That sort of action sat better with her than just leaving and never going back. The best of both worlds!
