Wind had been dragged yet again across the lands, though it seemed like her element couldn't quite decide where to set her down. She was growing frusterated at this. First, a storm that had thrown her sense of direction off, and then she couldn't seem to land anywhere! With a huff, she decided to just stop where she was, and figure it all out later after she let her temper settle.
Where she had landed, she did not recognize. A tree stump laid before her, odd with it's immense look of age, and seeming to represent something that the goddess had no idea about.
Where was she? Her green eyes glanced around, but all her ears could discover was silence.
In the Hearth, time rarely showed evidence of passing, save for the change in age of the two to come, and eventually a change in those two. However, a complete stranger was rare. An immortal stranger yet more so.
Though never a brave soul, among her own kind Kita'mauti was not afraid to show her face, and looked upon the goddess from her shadowy home.
"H-how did you get h-here," she called out, pearly eyes drinking in the sight of one who would not fear her.
Wind was startled at the fact that something spoke at her, especially from the darkness of the cave. Her eyes grew wide for a moment, then thinned out as they tried to catch just what was speaking.
Another God? It seemed like it. Her bitterness at her own element seemed so far away now, as she stared at another that she did not recognize.
"I grew angry at the wind, and ended up here when I demanded it to let me go," she explained, though with the slight studdering of the other, she thought it was more from surprise than anything.
"Am I trespassing?"
"I... I don't kn-know."
Was it trespassing for another god to walk on the sacred soil? It was a place of communion between Kita'mauti and the Akidas, but never had she heard tales of other immortals wandering the grounds. She was not sure whether it were allowed or no.
"It's the s-sacred place of m-my people. Akida's c-come here to d-die."
And to talk to her. But mostly, it was their place of rest.
The Wind Goddess could not understand why she seemed so nervous. Perhaps that was just the way she spoke? If indeed it was, there would only be harm in pointing it out. So she would keep her thoughts to it inside, and merely try to understand the indecision she could almost feel in the air.
"You...do not know?" Perhaps she was given these lands from another god to guard, and thus didn't know her own laws? Mana could see it as a possibility.
"Aaah, sacred ground?" The goddess lifted up a paw as she asked, peering down at the ground. Maybe she really shouldn't be standing on these lands so casually, but she...really didn't have another place to stand. "I apologize, then. But do...you live here alone?" It seemed like such a large place to be living in alone, even if she was a goddess.
This goddess seemed so sure, this wind-traveller. Was she not born from the horrors of death? Were other gods born a different way from herself? It was something to think on, that. Perhaps Kita'mauti was the only god the mortals would fear or hate.
However, there were words to be said, and the goddess of the shadow cocked her head at that last question.
"In a w-way. My A-Akida comes here to p-pray. I listen t-to him."
Why would she not live alone, Kita wondered. It was the way of life, were you not a mortal and blessed, then, with family.
Mana listened to the goddess again. Well, at least she wasn't alone, but in a way, she still seemed to be. Mana herself mingled often with mortals, and so she never felt any need to worry about never having anyone to speak to. But if all this goddess did was listen to prayers from her 'Akida', then wouldn't she be lonely?
"Can I ask you one thing?" she asked quietly. Perhaps the nervousness of the other started to sink into Mana herself. "Are you...scared of me? Or of me just being here?" She couldn't tell, but as far as she knew, Mana had never struck fear into anyone.
Scared of her? Of an immortal? No. Kita'mauti could never fear her own kind, as they had no reason to fear her. It was that that held the goddess back from the mortals, the ones she loved to watch- the knowledge they would fear her, should they know her birthright.
"N-no. You don't s-scare me. You're a g-goddess."
Alright. So she didn't scare her. If she did, then Mana was going to do some soul searching of herself. She let her tail flick behind her, taking one small step forwards to try to get a better look at the goddess. She did want to ask her about her speech, but thought better of it.
"Well, good," she sighed, verbalizing her relief on that. "For merely being Wind, I would have been filled with guilt if I ever scared any that did no deserve it."
She paused for a moment. "May I ask of your domain?" She didn't expect it, she expected a bit of resistance.
That guilt rang a bell, bit into Kita'mauti with a force she was still surprised at. Shaking her head to loosen the feelings rushing about, the goddess focused instead on the question.
"I am of Th-The Shadow."
It sounded so much simpler than it was, her domain. It spoke of the darkness she strode in, but not it's cause. Perhaps a good thing, that.
"The Shadow?" repeated Mana, though it was a little unnecessary. It was a broad answer, but certainly explained her appearance, and perhaps even a bit of her mannerisms. The Shadow felt of something dark, at least to a goddess that wore the colour gold so brightly, but the goddess before her didn't actually feel dark, in an emotional sense.
"Well, I guess that can explain some things." She still felt pity for the goddess seeming to be lonely, even though she didn't seem to admit so. Maybe she actually wasn't alone, not with these Akidas she mentioned now and again.
"Though, perhaps that shouldn't be taken in a terrible way. I just have not crossed paths with another immortal in a very long time, generations if you want to compare to mortal time."
A certain sad smile graced Kita'mauti's features at this. Yes, it explained some things, but not nearly enough. It was only a name, not a story to be told.
She, too, was a stranger to meetings with her own kind. Never in her time had she seen another, and it was a strange idea indeed that there may be so many in the world, she but one of many. Perhaps it was time for Kita'mauti to use her wings.
"I h-have not met another im-immortal before. Are... are there m-many of us?"
The gold goddess shook her head. she let her eyes linger on the floor, then towards the body of the dark goddess.
"I am not sure," she began slowly. "The last I have met was my sister, Earth, but that was a long time ago, before the mortal realm was as populated as it is in these days. I have heard of other mortals mentioning other immortals, other gods, some good, and some bad. But as far as I have seen, not many."
These words took a few moments to take in. Mortals spoke of immortals? Had met them? What lucky gods those must be, to happily converse with their subjects. She would like to meet such others, ask of them what it was like.
Looking over the golden figure before her, Kita'mauti bowed her head a little, smiling hesitantly.
"Th-thank you. Thank y-you for telling me."
Mana blinked at the other before her, a bit taken aback by the giving of thanks, but nonetheless accepted it, even though she was unsure just what she might of helped with. She smiled warmly, nodding her own head slightly. "Of course."
She took another look at her paws on the ground, the ground that was supposidly sacred. If this goddess believed so, though, then perhaps she shouldn't spend too much time more on this ground. "So, I probably shouldn't be standing on this sacred ground of yours much longer," she acknowledged the shadowy goddess with another nod, "should I? That is alright, at least my anger with my own element has passed on. So I thank you for that."
A part of the goddess wanted to ask the other to stay on, to continue on and talk with her. She wanted to hear of other lands, of other mortals, and other immortals. She had rarely seen beyond the borders of the Mteo'nyungu, of this small piece of the earth into which they, and she, had hemmed themselves.
But she did not have it in her to ask it of the stranger, and knew she would have to discover all these wonders for herself. Except, perhaps, the mortals.
"I w-will not hold you h-here. But I a-am glad th-that you came."
These words she spoke truthfully, and her smile grew a little more courageous. Perhaps she, Kita'mauti, could follow the wind for a while, find something to see.
The goddess of Wind smiled again, though more warmly than the first time. The Shadow seemed sweet, and she regretted her initial displeasure with anything she had done. It was obvious to Mana that she had judged before she had learned, and to this, she was sorry.
"Well, perhaps if you are glad, then I will return for another visit one day, if that is alright with you?" She loosened her wings from her side, but still waited to hear a reply from the other.
At this, that initial smile grew wider, and Kita'mauti nodded her assent. Yes, this goddess was kind, and as a fellow immortal, would not fear her, for her soul was safe, her life-blood did not need to be let to avoid horrors. The goddess of the shadow, perhaps a friend to one someday? It was an exciting thought.
"I w-would appreciate that. I ha-have enjoyed t-talking to you."
It was a thought to buoy the mind, that. More conversations, more real conversations!
She had begun to face away from the other, looking over her shoulder for one last glance, one last smile. "As have I. I shall return, then, and hope to share more conversations with you."
She flared out her wings, giving them a hard flap before summoning the winds to help push her up with minimal effort. It could be seen as lazy, but when you controlled the powers that aided flight, why waste the energy?
She took one more peek down at the area where she had left, the lands and shadow-y areas. It was hard to tell where the other goddess was, since Mana was high enough up, but she knew that she was down there, and hopefully she would still be down there when Wind would return.
Watching the other fly away, Kita'mauti turned her head to catch a glimpse of her own wings, dark things, almost never used. She would have to change that. Yes, she would.
It was final in her own mind, the goddess was going to follow in the footsteps of her own kind. She would see the world, even if only from the shadows of strange places.
