Panna laughed merrily at the grouchy little face of Khaldun as he failed yet again in his attempt at flight.
She was not alone.
Rokopelli broke into light-hearted laughter, patting her son's 'mane' affectionately and giving one of his little blue pinions a gentle tweak. "You look so grumpy." The goddess chimed, flicking her tail from side to side. "Don't worry, Khal. You're still a baby. We will teach you."
The boy glowered. "No. No more teaching. You're terrible at it."
"Now, now." Panna hissed warningly, moving over to comfort the boy. She had not been in the desert lands for long but she was rather familiar with Khaldun and his ways. He was very much the opposite of their mother and they often clashed because of it. Normally she wouldn't get involved in family affairs, but she knew how much it affected Rokopelli and hoped to at least be a buffer for that pain. After all, it was no one's fault. Khaldun was who he was just as Rokopelli was. It had taken Panna a while to understand the ways of the gods, but in the end it had been rather simple. They were embodiments of what they were and what they stood for. Rokopelli was of Confusion and so she spent most of her time being confused and invoking that same feeling in others who spent time with her. Panna was not immune to this and she had to admit she was easily confused by things now which were probably once sharp in her mind. As for Khaldun...
He was frustration in all of its forms and the clash of their personalities often meant that they ended up fighting.
A sad thing indeed, though she could tell that they cared for one another deeply.
"I cannot begin to underssstand what it might be like to learn how to fly. However, godsss you may be, but birdsss you are not. Your lion ssshape probably doesss not make thingsss easy."
Khaldun pouted, snatching his wing away from his mother's paw and sidestepping out of the way.
"Do not feel bad, Khaldun. Your sssissster doesss not yet fly. All it will take isss practissse."
"Panna is right, Khaldun." Rokopelli added. "Just look at us! We still do not fly well after all this time!"
"But I'm not you, Mother." The boy huffed, stomping a paw against the ground. "I'm me and I'm supposed to be good at this stuff." He gave the snake a shove and spared them an annoyed glare before dashing off across the sands. The two watched him go, sharing a moment of mutual silence. The silence spoke bad volumes.
"We are a bad mother." The words burst from Rokopelli without warning and Panna immediately moved to her side, offering comfort.
"No, no, no. I have ssseen a bad mother and you are not one." Actually, this wasn't true. Panna had been blessed with a wonderful mother and she'd never spent any time with anyone else's mother to know. Even still, teh goddess had a good heart and she would do anything for her family. Rokopelli was not a bad mother.
"Really?" The Goddess sniffed, wiping a paw across her snout.
"Really." Panna affirmed. "Would you like me to ssspeak with him?"
"No. No. It's bestest to leave him when he's in a mood like that." Rokopelli replied, shifting her weight on the sand and spreading her wings to case the snake partially into shade. "We try to do what's right but he is not happy. Maybe he will never be happy."
"Nonsssenssse. Khaldun isss happy. I know it. I sssee it in hisss eyesss. He jussst wantsss to grow up too fassst asss all young onesss do. I wasss the sssame. The very sssame. Once he hasss accomplissshed the thingsss he wissshesss, he will be content. Wait until he can fly and chassse hisss own food and then you will sssee an improvement in hisss mood." Panna hoped she was right. After all, if he could do the things he so badly wanted to, it had to be an improvement on his mood, right? Right! "Where isss your daughter?"
"With her father." Rokopelli replied somewhat distantly, her mis-matched eyes focused on the horizon. "Would you like to fly with us?"
"What?"
"Your father used to enjoy it." Rokopelli grinned. "Your mother...did not."
"Yesss, though I can underssstand why if you almossst dropped her."
"We were younger. More foolish." The goddess flushed, pinning back her ears with embarrassment. "We will take care of Nyoka's daughter. We promises."
"Then I will go with you." Panna agreed. "Where will we go?"
"Not sure yet. A surprise." The Goddess stood and her rainbow wings flared brilliantly against the sun. With a small smile, she dipped her head and shoulders and directed the snake up. Panna, following instructions, looped herself like a necklace around the goddess' neck and held on tightly. She was somewhat afraid about the prospect of flying, but invigorated, too. After all, her father had flown around the world with Rokopelli and now she was about to follow; continuing his legacy.
"Not too tight." Rokopelli warned. "We need to breathe!"
"Ssssorry!" The snake hissed, relaxing immediately.
"One. Two. Three!" She leapt on the third count, springing upwards with strong hind legs. A few powerful thrusts of her wings and the pair were aloft, climbing higher and higher. "This is why Khaldun wants to fly." Rokopelli exlaimed, whooping with joy. "And we will show him someday soon!"
Panna tried to speak but the wind tore her words away. The air seemed different and her little lungs worked hard to keep the oxygen circulating. Instead she clung helplessly, casting her eyes down at the golden expanse beneath them.
Rokopelli tipped sideways, angling a wing into a wisp of cloud and cutting it in two. Only then did she start a descent, lowering very slowly in the air. That was when Panna realised landing was going to be a lot scarier than the take-off. The ground loomed in on them and the rainbow wings arched out, capturing the air to slow them. Then they touched down and the goddess was almost bowled forwards, keeping herself upright only by digging her paws in hard and carving up great ditches in the sand.
"Phew! We're getting better!"
Panna slid to the ground, panting. "If I knew you were bad at landingsss, I may not have agreed."
"Which is why we did not tell you." Rokopelli winked, grinning. Then her face grew serious and she beckoned the snake closer, pointing out to a small mound of hard-packed sand. Atop it sat some broken fragments of brown-gold coloured rock.
"What isss thisss place?" Panna asked.
"Seemed right to bring you here." Rokopelli replied. "Here was where we were imprisoned. Trapped in the darkness. This is where we separated and became two. This is where we evolved our domain." The goddess shuddered to think of those days, with only herself as company. "This is where we met your father, when he came to release us."
"He did?"
Rokopelli nodded. "We...we owe him...so much."
"You owe him nothing, Rokopelli. You have helped each other in the passst already. You are friendsss, whether you sssee each other or not. No bitternessss between you now." She paused, leaning in against the goddess. "No bitternessss between you ever again."
/fin.
