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 Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 2:13 am
It seemed the sky was in mourning, with dark grey clouds covering every speck of blue there was, when Snake woke up on the assigned day. Although, perhaps it was an overstatement to say "assigned"; chosen would be more proper. He chose the day only last evening, after all. The white male stretched his limbs, making the blood run through his muscles, and yawned. He had a hunt planned for today. --- He had been tracking this buck for a week, for he was exceptionally big. Snake had carefully scrutinized every single member of the small herd and finally decided that this particular one would be good enough for the goddess. It took a carefully planned jump to take him down, but Snake was not harmed by his sharp horns, and considered it one of his finest hunts. Now began the lion's long and difficult trek up the mountain. --- Fresh snow crunched under his feet as he finally dragged the lifeless and heavy body onto his mountain's peak. It was his mountain because no one else lived here but the mountain goats. No one had for years. Only Snake, although it wasn't his real name. He had a name, once. A proper, wonderful name that sounded like the sweetest thing in the world coming from someone else's lips. But there was no one to call his name anymore, so what was the point of a name? He forgot it, so that it wouldn't drive him insane. Now, he was Snake, because he dimly remembered that was the creature his marking reminded everyone of. He trusted them, as he had never seen a snake before. He had never seen anything other than the goats and his pride. Unless you count the snow, the sky, and the vastness of colors beyond. And the landslide, of course. The one that had wiped out his whole pride, and, with it, his name. The one that had brought loneliness. But it didn't matter now. He would chase the loneliness away, now. He slashed the buck's body cleanly, and the blood came gushing out, the bright red in stark contrast to the pure white snow. Great goddess Uuni, hear my plea and grant me the gift of your presence, for I wish to make a pact with you. Let this blood be an offering for your favor.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 2:40 pm
The_Great_Book_Wyrm (( I apologize for the super-long delay! I had finals, and then a road trip where I had no computer. All my responses in the future should be very quick. ))
No, she was too busy fighting down the nagging feeling of familiarity. She knew those mountains, the thick drifts of snow. The cool air, the harsh breezes; it was beautiful in the sunset.
A head, adorned with spiraling, skull-encompassing horns tilted to track the trail of coagulated blood up the snow front. It had matted the body of a goat, its eyes open wide and tongue lulled out. It had been a handsome beast.
But the apparent raised brows, the slight opening of the mouth, and the still quiet of surprise had nothing to do with scenes of gruesome sacraficial offerings. Uuni's heart had taken a second, steady pounding beat for quite another reason.
She focused in on the one called 'Snake', clicking her tongue against her mouth. "I know you," she told him before she said anything else. Certainly he knew her; he'd used an old ritual technique that she had not seen in a few decades.
Hastily, she went searching through her mind, bringing up old memories. Uuni had been to this place before; it had been apart of another deal.
"Where are the rest of you?" There had been more. Many more.
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:30 am
Snake gasped in awe as the Goddess appeared with a great crack, for she was a magnificent sight to behold. After his second of rudeness and shock, he bowed his head, not wanting to disrespect the deity, and waited, dutifully, for her to speak. He answered the first question slowly, his tongue lolling around his mouth, his mouth remembering how to speak, his voice hoarse from disuse. "You know me, Goddess, but I remember you only barely. I was just a cub when the elders called upon your might." The second question was a painful one, and Snake had to swallow a painful lump in his throat to answer. "Dead, great goddess. We have prospered on this mountain, under it's silent protection, where no others could harm us by your kind boon. But our mistress was a fickle one, and one day she decided that several winters of happiness were enough for our pride. Her anger came crashing on us in the night, burying all, and sparing no one. No one except me. I was out on a hunt that night, against my mother's wishes." The lion laughed bitterly. "If only I had listened to her..." "I have been alone on this mountain for several winters. The mountain's fury left me stranded here, forever safe and forever alone. I can not stay like this for another winter. My mind will forsake me." The lion bowed his whole body in a silent plea. "I beg you, Great Goddess Uuni, grant me my wish. Save me from my loneliness."
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:48 pm
Mortals grew up so quickly. It was almost unreasonable, the speed at which they procreated, grew, and died. They were a forever growing mass of problems.
Uuni listened, her ears trained on Snake even as her eyes continued to wander. The snows had already fallen again, lumping over the trails of an avalanche and hiding it from view. A pity, really, they had been a nice group, an interesting group, but they would have died eventually from inbreeding or overeating resources.
'If I only I had listened to her . . . ' caught the goddess' attention. Those pale eyes flicked back to rest on a laughing mouth. "Then, you'd be dead," she stated, quite bluntly. "But since you are not dead," she began to muse, "Then you do not want to be." There were cliffs, the winter would come; he did not need her if he wanted a sudden end.
Save him? That was her responsibility this time? The air grew still as she narrowed her eyes at him. The silence stayed; she did not move while she thought. "I can give you choice," she spoke again. "Just as I gave your forefathers. But I will not save you."
"There are two conditions. Are you prepared to hear them?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:17 am
The lion straightened up a bit while listening to the deity. He waited for his fate to be decided patiently. If there was a thing he learned in the past winters, it was patience. Patience and silence. He breathed out quietly as the goddess started upon her verdict, and bowed deeply in gratitude once again as she asked him a question. "I am prepared to hear any conditions you have, Goddess, and grateful you have agreed to allow me a choice," Kaelyndra (( I apologize for the short response, but there wasn't anything I really had to write! ))
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:05 pm
Well, he was polite. She had to give him that. She supposed living by onself on a barren mountaintop didn't give you much to do but work on the self. It worked out for him. Maybe he'd be better off remaining here after all.
But that was his choice.
"You must leave here," she explained to him. "But you cannot see what exists outside." An easily solved conundrum, but not necessarily a pleasant one.
"When you have lost your sight, the rest will happen."
It was a fair trade, but she felt a necessity to mention another option. She had been fond of his family, after all. "You may also risk the path down. But it is for mountain goats." And good luck convincing those to help him after one lay bloody at his feet. "You might die. You may also live." Uuni did not think she needed to add that he may also still be lonely.
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