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 Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:19 pm
"Do you know how hard you are to track down?"
The voice had come from a goat, picking its way along a cliff-face above a quiet valley. The air was hot and muggy as lakewater evaporated and never made it out of the steep sided hollow.
Uuni hopped from her precipice to a small rock jutting out from the edge of the lake. She perched herself on it, tail waggling from side to side.
Her attention was focused on a certain someone's daughter, who had clearly been pausing at this location to drink. The mountains were a segway between the desert and the plainsland. It was really a perfect spot to camp out - hidden, but not too far away.
It was an impossible passage during the winter months, but a hot, stifling summer made travel relatively easy.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:27 pm
The area was hidden, but Hari didn't have much to hide from. Throughout a life of manipulating those around her, she had managed to keep her number of enemies to a minimum. The key was patience. Walk with sure, but slow strides, and you too could get your way without a knife in your back.
When Nishan finally died, Hari went on vacation, freed from her grudge and a once necessary union with two lionesses she couldn't trust: one was too smart, one was too vicious. She didn't fear her enemies, but her friends she did. Neither would care enough to hunt her down, but if she ran into them, trouble was sure to follow. Xi had that horde of disgusting hyenas at her disposal and Ohahira was more adept at physical violence.
All she needed to do was to be patient and keep away from them. Nishan had went and died. The final loose ends in her scheme would too.
Until then, she enjoyed her reclusive spot. Anyone who thought she'd be disappointed it wasn't her to destroy her brother was mistaken. A dead Nishan was a dead Nishan. Mwokoti hurt for it, and wasn't that all she'd ever really wanted?
Hari was notoriously high-strung when not playing pretend. She'd probably never been happy a day in her life until now. This was, at least, the first time Uuni had ever seen her relaxed. She raised her head from the water and stared, puzzled, at the unfamiliar creature.
"Yes," she replied. "I didn't want to be found. If I had, my mother would be here."
She suspected this thing was a God, but which, she wasn't yet sure.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:38 pm
It was official. Mwokoti's entire family had a terrible habit of staring.
An oval slit for an iris stared right back, and Uuni's goat feet pattered on the rock as she shifted her weight to and fro. The rock was barely large enough to pose her four-cloved feet upon, and so she hopped to a second.
By the third hop, she was on the shoreline and obviously no longer a goat.
"I can't promise she won't be." Uuni shook herself down, clearly unconcerned with the idea of Mwokoti's presence. It was highly unlikely that Mwokoti had tracked her through all of the ins and outs it had taken Uuni to get here. Teleporting had its advantages.
"She's in a bad mood." That was probably pertinent information. However, Uuni hadn't known Mwokoti to ever be in a particularly happy mood. Certainly, she'd never been offered flowers and kisses when they'd come in contact.
"Do the names Hasana and Ohahira ring a bell?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:47 pm
Hari stared for a reason, thank you. Taking your eyes off a God could be hazardous to your health. She was more inclined to blink when she determined which it was.
"I can't promise she won't be."
Hari could almost assure it. Mwokoti had to leave her preferred duties for her obligated ones. She had no choice. Some stupid cheetah had probably wandered too far away and beckoned her. If Mwokoti could have been there, Hari believed she would have been.
(They were both right.)
"She's in a bad mood."
"I should think so," Hari said, sympathetic. "Such a tragedy, losing my brother." She wasn't so delighted with this conversation when it took a turn into Ohahira territory. The twitchy frown she restrained from becoming a smile was authentic now. "What of her?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:02 pm
Uuni could tell Hari was just crippled about the news. What a lovely family. Everyone should have aspired to be just like them.
Uuni cleared her throat. The goddess thought about it, and then swallowed one thought after another.
"She's on the great list of my community service projects." Whatever the ******** that meant. She'd figure it out as she went.
"I've got this funny, tickling feeling she doesn't want to be helped." Uuni's mouth closed into a thin line as her eyes carefully swept over Hari's form. "Your mother seems to know something she's not sharing."
And, let's face it, she didn't have the balls to dive into this without picking up all the egg-shells first.
"Basically, I'd love to know what pile mortal s**t I've stepped in this time. And since causing s**t seems to be your area of expertise, well. . ." Uuni was certain Hari was smart enough to put two and two together.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:13 pm
"She's on the great list of my community service projects."
Hari's thoughts on the matter: I don't care.
""I've got this funny, tickling feeling she doesn't want to be helped."
Hari's reaction: I don't care.
"Basically, I'd love to know what pile mortal s**t I've stepped in this time. And since causing s**t seems to be your area of expertise, well. . ."
Okay, that she had to grin at. Not too wide, not too smug, and not for very long, but her poker face broke its oath and betrayed her. The most disturbing thing about it was the expression did not appear wicked. Put it on the face of another lioness and it could have passed for reacting to the antics of a cub.
There was just so much to smile about these days... Uuni had to come and ruin it. Gods were unanimously good at that. Hari had always tread carefully when conspiring with them.
"We have that in common," she noted. "You like deals, I'll make you one... I'll tell you what you need to know and you leave me out of the rest."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:22 pm
Uuni could not have cared if Hari had frowned through the whole thing. She was here for information, and then she'd be out.
Hari's offer could not have been anymore perfect if Uuni had come up with it herself. While the lioness may have been smart, Hari also had that well-muscled look of a lion that used her brute force. Given enough time, and enough information, Uuni was sure Hari could do a number on the goddess; at the very least, become a permanent nuisance. No thank you.
"Done." Hari wouldn't even have to hear a wink of it. As far as Uuni was concerned, after this, they'd never spoken, never met, and never would have to again. Though that was always hoping for a lot. Things never played out smoothly.
"Let's hear it."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:31 pm
Hari could do damage, yes. She could also be damaged. Mwokoti was not the poster child for the strength of a God, something she had learned when crossing her mother's dear friend once and only once in her youth. Uuni was less of a threat than him, than many other Gods, but her status was not to be overlooked. The ones most unexpected you should watch the closest.
Ohahira was an example of that from what Hari knew, and she'd have told Uuni that if she asked.
"Tell you what? You didn't ask me anything."
Hari wasn't about to give her start-to-finish information. That was too risky.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:36 pm
Intelligent mortals were annoying.
Most of the time, they were terribly easy to outsmart. They were so busy overthinking, that they completely missed the obvious. Or, Uuni could tell them everything, and they dug their own graves.
But when, those few times her life, Uuni got to do something without dangerous pacts, and without strings attached, they were entirely too suspicious.
And Uuni hated asking questions. It was much easier when they prattled on for hours, dumping information off their tongues which they didn't even know was valuable.
"How about something easy. What is her history with your mother?" Mwokoti really had been in an awfully bad mood.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:41 pm
"My mother sold her to a Firekin," Hari replied promptly. "Before they let all their slaves go and started... doing whatever it is they're doing now."
Oops. Did she say sold? She meant gave away to keep her brother safe. Anyone could slip up on those little details. Such a shame her Mwokoti may be looked down upon for it.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:06 pm
"Lovely."
No wonder the old lioness looked like she was going to cut Mwokoti open with her eyes. What a sick little b***h. Ah, but she was a goddess. What one of them wasn't?
"How old was she when she was enslaved?" There was a more important question, which Uuni hastily added afterwards. "And what, exactly, did Ohahira do when she was let go?"
Uuni couldn't imagine that Mwokoti was pleased, but that was a story for another time. If it was that important to Mwokoti, she could damn well fill her in.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:28 pm
One of Hari's eyes squinted and she did her family proud for once via a record stare at Uuni. What did she look like, a therapist? She was cautious, which called for details, but some things just weren't important (to her). "Oh, I don't know... When she was an adult, I think. Close to that. It's my understanding she spawned not long after. Her favorite pastime is trying to murder her sister, so I'd think she busied herself with that mostly when she was freed." Hari frowned. "Very upsetting when siblings argue like that."
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:38 pm
"Don't look at me like that." Uuni's face contorted into an incredulous look. Honestly, if she didn't want to be asked weird questions, she shouldn't have given Uuni the opportunity! It was really very simple.
Welp.
This was a productive, enlightening visit. She had a crazy, who'd probably been horribly abused on top of it, and if she didn't want to kill every god in sight after that, Uuni didn't know who would.
"Last question." Probably. "Where was she last?" There was the clicking sound of her tongue hitting the roof of her mouth. "Well, I guess one more. Do you know if anyone's with her?" The last thing she needed was a mob waiting for her. Those never went well.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:57 pm
Better for her Uuni get ambushed and killed. The less Gods, the better, and how could she blame Hari if she was reborn and came back? She didn't know there were others, honest! The only problem was Ohahira was a solitary creature and if she wanted to bet on the winning waterbuck, Hari would have to guess the truth was she was alone.
But all opportunity was not lost...
"Last I saw her, she was with three others. It never fails to astound me how much madness there is in this world, and it's like misery. You know what they say about misery and company..." Hari shrugged, seeming detached. All in her best interest, like everything. "I'd bring back-up if you're looking for her. Other Gods, without question."
She figured Ohahira would panic, and in doing so, force Uuni or her back-up to retaliate. If Hari was lucky, she could be celebrating two deaths soon.
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:04 pm
"To what, enslave her again?"
Uuni cast Hari a sidelong look. Concern, or something else? "You know what, never mind." It didn't matter. Uuni wasn't very good at taking advice, anyway. It wasn't going to crush Hari if things didn't go smoothly, because she was never going to know.
Not unless she went digging, but that seemed like a whole lot of work for something the lioness had requested to be let out of.
"I'll see you around, Hari." Or, not. The second would be nice, the first was far more likely.
The goddess took a quick glance at the sky and then melded herself into the form of a large carrion-eating bird. She stretched out one wing, took a few running hops, and then made for the air.
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