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 Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:17 pm
 This was even more exciting than Ashoka had anticipated, having a job to do, being important, doing things that mattered...well, so far they had mostly talked about doing things, but soon they would start doing them! And if Zhiji's favorite brother took too long, she would bother him about it if she had to. They needed to know things, and the sooner the better!
In the meantime, though, she wasn't completely without things to do. That strange spider-centaur of Harmodius' had seen to that by giving them god-gems to find hosts for. The pard had rather wanted to take all of the shiny new gods and help them find their new lives, but had agreed to taking only one. Their loss! She suspected she would be better at host-finding, but she couldn't begrudge the others for wanting to help...she'd just find hers the fastest! Ha. Not that there was much finding to be done, she just had to sit and wait for him to come here, drawn in by the pull of the god within the jewel.
Unclothed, as she preferred to be, the Prophet had perched herself on the edge of one of the Pantheon's fountains, and sat with eyes sharp, searching passers-by for the one she wanted. For the one the Hunt wanted.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:07 pm
Among the crowd Ashoka could spy a shorter gentleman patrolling along the Pantheon, hands in his pockets and back straight as he studied the architecture. Occasionally he'd stop and let the people flow around him. Other times he'd run his hands over a column, or sniff at a fruit picked up from the ground, or just close his eyes and take deep, slow breaths.
Isaac Dausat had left the cargo shuttle early today claiming that he was "off to find a photonic translator somewhere on this dirtball, guard the fort while I'm out". Asima had only murmured a farewell as she did whatever AIs did when their ship was on the verge of falling to pieces. Frankly, he was relieved. While he wanted to get their ship back up and running again...he wasn't really ready to actually go yet. Whenever he looked at the sky all he could think of was the empty nothingness that had engulfed them for a week, and shudder.
Besides, he hadn't set a foot on a planet in a long time. So instead of combing the commercial district once again for elusive spaceship parts, Isaac decided to explore a little, see the sights. Hell, when was the last time he'd experienced real weather? Breathed air that hadn't been recycled through lungs and air purifiers a thousand times? Stood under actual sunlight? Too long ago, that's what.
And so he'd wandered over to this Pantheon that everyone seemed to be so interested in. A nice place, he decided, as he plucked a fruit straight from the tree and bit into it (something red and delicious, the name of it just on the tip of his tongue). Peaceful. Very -
And then his gaze lit on the fountain and a very naked lady. He froze, an apple in his mouth and his eyes widening. That was...not expected.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:21 pm
Aha, there he was! Ashoka had just spotted him, and was about to hop off the fountain-edge to bounce on over when he noticed her. Humans could be so very touchy about clothes or lack thereof! They could be pretty, she'd give them that, but they were terribly inconvenient for a shifter like herself - and besides, she had fur! Nothing like all that bare skin, which she was sure would get cold very quickly. So who needed clothes when you had fur, unless it was extra-cold out?
"There you are! You look very funny that way, you know. What if your face gets stuck like that?" Having quite a giggle at his expense, the woman slid off her perch to greet him. The fingers of her left hand were curled closed, holding tight the gem she'd been entrusted with.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:04 pm
Isaac took a step back without thinking, eyes flickering to her closed hand and back to her face, but plucked the apple from his mouth and smiled. "Hey, now, I didn't realize I was keeping a lady waiting! I think my invitation got lost in the mail." It was never a good sign when your reputation seemed to precede you. But she seemed friendly enough, and they were out in public, and he couldn't be in too much trouble after just getting here. And...he had a feeling that he should stay.
"Then at least my face would make people laugh," he said with a chuckle. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on hers, with only a faint blush showing exactly how aware he was of her (lack of) dress. "Sorry, I didn't happen to catch your name?" Maybe this was just a cultural thing on this planet - the whole friendly-greetings-from-complete-strangers. Still, his body tensed up a bit, just in case.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 6:21 pm
"Is there mail anymore?" the pardess mused, considering it absently before dismissing it for a later time, by which point it would likely be long forgotten. "No worry, it was nothing written! Only felt."
Her rounded ears flicked forward, and she looked him over with interest, shooing away any flashes of anything but what was right in front of her for now. Perhaps she would look a little more closely later, but for now, there were things to talk about! "I'm Ashoka - or 'Shoka, whichever."
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:19 pm
"Felt...?" A look of confusion passed briefly over Isaac's face before he returned to grinning. "Well, maybe there's you're problem. I get messages a lot better when they're written down." More like typed and transmitted through computer. Same difference. He noticed her look-over, but didn't comment. Anyone who apparently tried to summon him through the power of...thought?...probably wasn't going to mug him in an alley.
"Ah, so - Shoka? - what can I do for you?" He slowly relaxed as they talked, tossing the apple in his hand. Speaking of which, he gestured towards the tree next to them. "Care for a...er, fruit?" Isaac'd given up on trying to remember their name.
Immediately after the words left his mouth, he mentally cursed himself - what were the chances of a feline-looking person eating plants? Smooth move, Isaac.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:28 pm
"I think you got it just fine! You're here, aren't you?" Yes, he was here - but did he know anything about what here was? It occurred to her that she could probably just slap the gem on him, but she wasn't in that much of a hurry, and it would be terribly rude besides. The hosts always took it so much better when they were willing, and she certainly couldn't blame them.
"I already had breakfast, but thank you!" she answered. Ashoka could and did eat fruit, but wasn't hungry at the moment.
"I do have something for you, though, if you want it. But do you know where you are? What this place is?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:01 pm
"Yeah, uh..." Isaac scratched the back of his head and pondered. It was all starting to come together: the friendliness, the lack of clothes, the talk of feelings and messages and gifts? Ashoka was obviously a friendly hippy spreading the good news about living in peace as one or something. Unquestionably. No doubt in his mind.
The bad news was that his AI would no doubt disapprove of his choice of association ("You can't just be buddies with someone you just picked up off the street!"). The good news is that she was back at the ship, he was a free man, and he absolutely loved meeting new people.
So he grinned and held out his hand. "I know this planet is Gaia, and these buildings are called the Pantheon, but not much more than that. I'm pretty new here. Care to show me around? You look like someone who knows what's what. You can tell me about your gift, too." Getting a tour of the town from a friendly stranger? What's not to like?
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:45 pm
Ashoka giggled with delight at being offered his hand - almost no one ever treated her like a lady - and didn't hesitate to take it with her open one. She stilled for a few moments after as the inevitable happened, and little flashes of the man tried to sneak through into her mind and take all her attention, but she pushed them to the back to play there. Go away until I want you!
"I can show you! And tell you about it, too," she affirmed, nodding. "Easier to tell you about here first, then her - otherwise the explaining gets all backwards, from end to beginning, and that's always more confusing."
"So, this is the Pantheon!" She made a sweeping gesture with her closed hand. "Most of it's a garden, but it didn't used to be...but, well, that's not important right now. First thing is, this is where the gods live."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:47 pm
If Isaac knew of her powers of prophecy, he'd be horrified. It's hard to say which would disturb him most - that Ashoka couldn't so much as touch someone else without getting a dose of seerage, or that his future was as open to her as a book.
Thankfully, all he really knew about her was her name.
The spacer tried hard to keep skepticism out of his voice as he said "Gods, huh?" Every so often a story circulates around the space stations of some alien setting up a cargo cult on a backwater planet (not to say Gaia was a backwater...well...not entirely). "They don't mind mortals having the run of the place?" He took a bite out of the half-eaten apple and surveyed the area again. Shining marble, healthy trees... "It's pretty nice," he admitted. "They have good taste."
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:50 am
"'Course not! They need mortals, after all, or else they'd just Fade away again. What's the point in coming back if you don't stay back?" Ashoka nodded in agreement at his assessment of the area. "Well, Harmodius has good taste, anyway, as long as he's Creation. He did all this."
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:39 pm
There were a lot of little details Isaac was trying to absorb. Fade? Harmodius? He'd take it one at a time - otherwise "the explaining gets all backwards", like the pardess said.
"He's a pretty nice guy, then," he said as he wandered over to the fountain. There was something fascinating about flowing water, something clean. "What do they need mortals for, exactly?" He turned to sit on the edge and face Ashoka again. He gestured with his hands to encompass, well, everything. "If they can make something like this, what could we do for them that they can't do for themselves?"
The unspoken question in his mine was do they want mortals (like me) to give them money, in which case they'd live down to his expectations and he'd disappoint theirs. He wasn't exactly a high-roller.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:45 pm
"To believe in them," Ashoka answered matter-of-factly, hopping up to sit beside him on the edge of the fountain, "And to bring them back to life in the first place. That's why she called you here, Isaac." The pardess called him by his name despite his never having told her, and finally opened her hand, revealing the gem she'd been holding. Some mortals might have been worried about holding onto it, just in case, but she wasn't; she knew it wasn't hers.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:32 pm
Isaac didn't realize what Ashoka'd said, not right away. He turned to her with a questioning look. He was about to ask her something concerning these "gods" and their needs when the words fully penetrated his brain and his purple eyes sharpened. As casually as he could, he said "I don't remember telling you - "
Then his eyes dropped to her hand.
The reddish-orage stone seemed to shimmer in his vision. Adrenaline flooded his veins. His eyes widened and his breath paused as his heartbeat pounded in his ears.
The stone felt alive. It just lay there in the pardess' hand but Isaac could swear that it was asleep...but sleeping very, very lightly. Somehow, it made him want to grab it and never see it again at the same time.
"What..." he cleared his throat. "What is that?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:26 pm
If she had needed more confirmation, she had it. The moment he saw the gem, it seemed to fascinate him, in a way it would have no one else...unless they were really, really obsessed with shiny things, maybe.
"A goddess," she answered him, not bothering now to explain how she knew his name, "The Goddess of the Hunt. She wants you - that's why you're here, to bring her back to life and make her whole." Ashoka held the gem out, offering it. "But know that if you take her, her new beginning will be the end of you. That is the cost of a god: your life, your soul, to bring them back to the world."
"The choice is yours, but know that if you refuse, she will never stop calling you, until the day you die." Or, more likely, until the day someone forced the gem on him, but she left that part out.
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