The God of Failure was tired. He had been padding along for a while now, just walking and not having any real direction or goal in mind. There was something in him that liked to wander, really, because he liked seeing what the mortals were up to, what they were capable of, what they were creating and building. Their prides, their homes, their lives. He liked living among them more than being off with the other gods.
Of course, this often meant he was embarrassing himself and acting like a damned fool all the time. But where was the harm in that? He was not a mean lion, he did not go out of his way to hurt anyone. Just the opposite, in fact. He did his best to make others happy and safe.
It just so happened that his domain demanded something else from him. A bit more… danger than he intended. The God of Failure was naturally awkward and useless, and that meant whatever he tried to do usually went the opposite way. At the moment, he was trying to find some place nice and quiet to rest alone, stretch his wings and laze about without having to hide who he was.
So it only followed that when he found a spot that seemed to fit, he laid down and stretched his wings just like he wanted, that a voice protested.
“You’re sitting on me,” the soft spoken, feminine tone said from somewhere behind him. Under him, it seemed. The large God of Failure leaped up, hovering in the air to completely avoid sitting or stepping on whoever it had been that had the misfortune of being behind him.
“I-I’m so sorry!”
He did not see anyone. Was this some kind of trick? It was dark, of course, and he looked at the shadows in wonder. Then he saw movement, and the shadows seemed to unfold. There was a form there, he realized and he looked surprised. She was a goddess, he could see by her wings, and her markings were what had hidden her from his view. Camouflage. Was she using magic as well, to hide herself? He could not be sure, but he blinked at her as he settled down. It was too difficult to fly in this area with his wings, at least, as they kept hitting tree limbs.
“You really blend in,” he said, looking at her pelt again. Dark greens of different shades, mottled together. He smiled at her warmly, but she did not bring her eyes up to meet his look. He stared quietly, waiting for some sort of reply. When it became very clear that he would not be getting one, he cleared his throat and tried again. “Not that it’s a bad thing, or anything. I think that’s probably a good skill to have.”
Her eyes lifted a little, and her ears perked up. He noticed that she looked very sad, very quiet. He wondered why. She was not exactly incapable of escaping the sad things in this mortal realm, after all. She could fly, for one, and seemed to be able to hide in plain view. Did someone upset her? Or was her sadness more from the fact that no one saw her? Maybe he was thinking too hard about a stranger he had only heard speak once.
He smiled at her again.
“Did I crush your windpipe?”
“No, I am okay,” she said at last, and Tindika looked relieved. He sat down on the grass, facing her. She sat up, and he got a better look at her. Her hat, and the rope that dangled around her shoulders. She had bat like wings, and quiet, soft eyes. He was larger than she was, his wings certainly so. But he was a big lion, even without them.
She took a deep breath.
“I do not speak very much… others say I’m… quiet.”
“I can believe that,” he chuckled, “my name is Tindika. I’m the God of Failure. Who are you?”
“Failure…?”
“We can’t both be Failure.”
“Camouflage,” she amended, nodding her head. “Goddess of Camouflage. I… blend in. I like to watch creatures… others living their lives. I hide, so they do not… get scared.”
Tindika had a hard time thinking that anyone would be scared of her, save startled by her sudden appearances as he had been. She was quiet and she was sweet, or at least that was what it was like so far. She seemed very shy, and was probably that way because she spent so long in the shadows and out of sight. He scratched his side with his foot, shaking out his body and his mane afterwards.
“Well, I’m not scared of you. I am sorry I sat on you, though. That wasn’t really what I wanted to do and probably not the best way to introduce myself, right? But that’s kind of how things go for me. You see, Failure follows me around, of course. But I am used to it, and I use it to my advantage. Or I try to. I mean, look at this! We met, right? So even if it had been a little less than conventional, now I have a new friend to get to know. Unless you don’t want company. I probably should have asked that first.”
He looked dopey. She almost smiled, but not really.
“You can stay here if you would like.”
“Good, because I’m pretty tired. And now I’d like to talk to you a bit.” Or try to, but as it turned out, once he said he was tired, she quieted down completely. She did not want to talk to him and keep him awake, though he did not put that together until about an hour later. And he was still awake. Finally he laid down and looked at her, then closed his eyes and she watched over him, like a guard dog might. At least she did not go anywhere, staying with him until she fell to sleep sitting up.
(Word Count in Word: 100 cool
