Veri was on the move for the second night in a row, walking in a slow but constant pace. She wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere, but she had no desire to stop and rest either. Her silent companion would not complain for a while either if she knew him right. He had fed about a week ago and was content to just hang on for the ride and share her body heat. The snake was one of the few creatures the Goddess could tolerate for extended periods of time, and she missed him when he went off to hunt on his own. The feel of a smooth muscular creature hugging her throat or leg had grown to be as familiar as the feel of her fur on her body, or her blood pulsating in her veins. Veri knew that most creatures didn't even reflect on the fact that they had fur on their bodies, or blood moving in their system. They sure missed it when it was gone though.Mortals were too fragile for their own good, really, and she rarely allowed them to follow her for long. She knew that she existed because lions believed in her, but most of the time she preferred the believing to happen some distance away... Some mortals seemed to try to stay close because they were impressed by the mere fact that she was a Goddess, as if it would rub off on them if they managed to stick around long enough. Veri dismissed those as stupid, but luckily it was easy enough to ditch that kind of follower since they didn't know how to fly or teleport. There were times when she allowed a mortal lion or lioness to travel with her, but only after making sure they were not weak. Perhaps she did get lonely sometimes after all, even if she would never admit it.
Gods and goddesses were both easier and harder to get along with. Harder because they were so tightly knit to their own domain that it could make it hard to get through. She was blood embodied and blood was what she was and what she knew. Other gods and goddesses were similarly in tune with their own domains and it could make conversation awkward at times. It could be tiring, but at least they didn't break if you looked at them funny.
And at the same time it was easier to spend time with another god because there were things you didn't have to try to explain. The concept or flight, rebirth, or the consequence of a normal life span instead of the short blink in time a mortal had to be content with. How did they cope, mortals? They seemed to think that their abnormally short lives were normal and didn't seem to notice at what speed they raced towards oblivion. Perhaps she should ask one, sometime, and see what the answer would be.
"That would be something, eh?" she said to her silent companion, "Discussing life and death with a mortal. But I suppose they should know better than anyone else what it means to die and to never come back."
Perhaps she should try to find Rebirth for this discussion, but that wasn't quite what she wanted to talk about. Death perhaps? But few willingly approached Death, neither gods nor mortals. No, as silly as it sounded this might be a conversation best had with an intelligent mortal. There had to be some of those around given the rate mortals made more mortals. They might be in a hurry because they were all going to die soon, but either way some of all those mortals had to be intelligent, if only by pure chance.
She pondered this for a while. It seemed tacky to seek out her daughters to discuss the matter. She was the reason they lived, but since she had mated with their mortal father she was also the reason they would die soon. But if she had mated with a God instead they wouldn't exist, or at least not be who they were now, so perhaps her reasoning was flawed. She was not about to seek them out for a little chat at any rate. Veri did check up on her children now and then, but she usually stayed out of sight. They might get upset if she showed herself, and they had probably forgotten all about her by now anyway. The two of them were better off without her, and they could manage just fine on their own.
Any parent had to let go at some point when their children grew up. She had... ah... done so a bit earlier than most. For their own good of course! And it hadn’t done them any harm, had it? Two strong girls, even if Hoeh seemed to be bothered by her visions. That was also her fault, in a way. Veri sighed and decided to run for a while instead of walking. She loved the way her blood pounded in her ears when she was running really quickly. It blocked out everything else and made her one with the blood, the pulse, the sound.
Being a god it took a fair amount of speed to accomplish this wonderfully meditative state, but she needed it right now. She'd rather have blood than strange thoughts rushing through her head. Walking gave her plenty of time to think, and she would get back to these thoughts later, but for now she would put them out of her mind.
“Hold on now," she said to her snake companion, and she felt his grip tighten slightly. With a grin she sped up even more, holding her wings just so to get them out of the way while she ran. Her claws tore up the ground beneath her and she sent clumps of grass and dirt flying behind her. But she didn't care. She could feel her heart start to pump faster, and the blood start to sing in her ears. It was glorious.
Word count: 1009
