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 Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:32 pm
It was another cool morning by the temple. Evey woke up early to travel there through the morning mists and dewy grasses of the forest. Each dew droplet gave her a renewed energy, a feeling of pride in her God of the Seas. Yes, it is true that dew and sea water are not the same, but near the desert, oasis even, there is little sea water. The nearest sea is miles away closest.
As she reached the marble steps leading to the main entrance, she stopped and stretched her wings. They were still stiff against her back from not being used for many hours. Looking to the sky she could see the moon still just over the canopy of the trees to the west. There was little action outside the temple, only one malu passed her as she stood at the base of the steps, and none as she began to make her way up the stairway.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:40 pm
Kamin had always been an early riser, and when he had moved to the Temple he had decided to put that time in the dawn to good use. Since his arrival, he had traveled to the temple every morning to pray, and left the shrine around midday to socialize. This day was just as usual, as he was just coming off the path in front of the great stone steps. A minnow hung from the side of his mouth, a meager sacrafice for his god. Kamin could only hope the god of oceans would be understanding of the lack of saltwater fish in the area, and would accept the minnow as a gift.
The grey Malu made his way up the steps, catching a female in the corner of his eye. There were few other creatures about at that early hour, and Kamin couldn't resist the conversation on the way to the shrine. Tossing the minnow into the air, he caught it on the top of his skull, balancing it with ease. It was a trick he had perfected in his childhood when he'd be given the job of carrying fish from the seaside to the den. When he was almost beside her, the male spoke quietly as to not cause her to jump. "Good morning, ma'am."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:50 pm
Evey acknowledged the presence of this male with a nod of her head and a quiet word, "Good day." She then paused, inspecting what he transported on his head.
"Ah, an offering?" She started walking next to him as he reached her side. "Are you a follower of the God of Rivers? Or maybe fish?" She took a few guesses. He had the coloring of one who may following either of those, and a fish offering would imply one of those. His mainly grey and white coat was clean and gleamed even in this early morning light. She remembered leaving her offering at home this morning, and immediately wanted to throw herself down the stairs of the temple. She had forgotten two mornings in a row to bring something.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:00 pm
Kamin began to nod his head, but stopped himself quickly for fear of loosing the small fish. "Yup, the little guy's an offering." He took time to stride up a few more steps before answering the latter of the questions. "Wrong with both. I follow the God of Oceans." His voice was quite matter of fact, as if it was common knowledge. Out of the corner of his eye, he took a moment to examine her rather intricate coat. Although one can't always go by the color of a Malu's coat, Kamin gave it a shot anyway. The grey and aqua were quite nice together, and the varying shades of blues suggested either some type of water or sky. The wings also went for the sky, so he opted for both. "And what about you? I would say God of the Skies or possibley God of Fountains."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:20 pm
She was surprised by his following of the God of Oceans, most around here did not follow such a God becuase of the distance from an ocean or sea. "You too, my fellow malu, are wrong with both. Follower of the God of Seas." She gave him a smile, and added "I'm Evey. It's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask your name?" She was surprised to meet a malu with such similar beliefs as hers, and wanted ot get to know him as well as she could, as soon as she could. It was not often that one found another with the same interests and she wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:30 pm
Kamin's eyes widened significantly at those words. He had not thought he would find a Malu that followed anything relative to saltwater. If he was to find one of the water gods here, he had assumed it would be rivers or fountains or something with freshwater. No Malu here would understand the tides like he did, know and love the scent of saltwater in the early morning like he. But apparently, he was wrong. "Nice to meet you, Evey. I'm Kamin." He almost nodded, but once again stopped himself. He'd never realised how much of a habit he had of nodding his head during conversation until now. "Our gods are practically brothers." He couldn't really get over the irony of it. "May I ask what drew you to the God of Seas?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:41 pm
Evey thought for a moment. "Well, you see," She paused. "I was born during a strong storm that came in from the sea. My parents believed that the Devil and God were raging over our heads as I was being born and were astonished when I survived the night of hard rain and winds that chilled to the bone. When I was old enough, they told me this story and that is what led me to follow the God. I thought it was the will of the God of Seas that I survive and continue my life." She paused. "I will pose the same question to you, how did you choose the God of Oceans? Is there any story behind it?" She had left out a few little facts about her past, but that was of no matter. Unimportant facts were not of interest to those around her most often.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:58 pm
Kamin almost nodded again, third time! He walked in silence for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. "Well, Evey, I lived by the ocean. I only recently moved here from the southeast, you see, where my pack lived on the beach. Most of us down there folow some sort of sea god, be it God of Fish, God of the Tide... You get it." He paused, giving the other a glance as if to confirm she followed. "When I was young, I spent all of my time in the water. When I was old enough to choose a god to follow, I came to the conclusion that the only one I could find fit was God of Oceans. As I grew up in the water, I would swim out deeper and deeper into the ocean, finding more and more creatures that called the place their home. They were my friends, as I was the only young one in the pack. I figure that the God of Oceans gave me a childhood that I couldn't have had, and then provided me with my food when I was older. The ocean is everything to me." He finished, feeling slightly embarrassed. He'd never really gone that far in to why he was so strong in his beleifs with another Malu before. It was... refreshing.
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Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:32 pm
Evey looked over at him and nodded. She found it interesting, his past. That he grew up right on and in the ocean. She had never spent much time at the ocean. "You have a very interesting past, you know." She replied. She wasn't really sure what to say. She was surprised that someone she barely knew would come out and tell her so much about their past like that, but she found it interesting that they would. It was quite comforting to know that there were people out there that embraced friendship and meeting new people. She wished she had some type of history like that, not just some silly storm that she was born during.
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Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:43 pm
Kamin looked down slightly, making sure to balance the fish on his head at the same time. He hadn't thought his past was interesting at all. In fact, compared to the colorful life of the Temple, he found it quite boring in comparison. For someone to grow up in the Temple and be a native to such a wonderful place must be... great. Simpley great. Now, that doesn't mean he would trade his life away for another, of course. He was fond of what he had had back at the beach, no matter how bland it seemed now that he lived at the oasis. "But you follow your god on faith. I follow mine out of fascination. You have something I can never have." He looked slightly sad for a moment, then. He did have some faith, oh yes, but he had seen the ocean work its magic before, and he was completely astounded by what it did everyday. And that's why he followed his god; he thought he was incredible. But to follow a god when you've never seen their true power... That was something else entirely, and something to be treasured.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:10 pm
Evey slowed her pace, and looked at him, almost stopping. Faith vs. Fascination? She pondered what he meant for a moment. She did follow her god because of faith, but what led her to follow was the fascination of others. She wanted to return his comment, elaborating slightly on the faith and fascination remark, but she didn't. She realized she had stopped and quickly caught up with Kamin.
"But you also have something I'll bever have." She spoke almost inaudibly. "You have fascination with your god. You have a whole past filled with memories and countless moments embracing your god in raw power and tangible being. I have none of that. I have only my moments in the temple. And the stories of my youngest days to base my follwoing around." She was somewhat saddened by her realization of this fact. She rustled her wings as they continued walking, her light-heartedness that was established earlier had evaporated and left a somewhat lead-like feeling in her chest.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:36 pm
Kamin gave Evey a moment of silence, which he lapped up as well. It was true; he had seen the glory of his god in his lifetime, and would forever be a devoted follower because of it. She, on the other hand, had never witnessed the power he had, for what he had seen in his youth was both sea and ocean. Their gods were brothers in some respects, connected to eachother. The difference was only the size, for an ocean tends to be much larger than a sea. And yet, their religous reasoning was quite different. It was apparent that they both longed for what the other had, and dwelling would never help either. "You could always travel to the sea, you know. Go see it, go swim in it for all its worth." He smiled at her, attempting to give her a better outlook on things.
For a few more moments, he walked in silence, reviewing a few ideas he had in his mind. Since his move to the Temple, he had not spoken much of his god or anything about religon, really, as the Malu he had met up until this point had differed so greatly with who they followed in life. It was nice to speak of the ocean with someone whom at least understood some of what he meant. "May I ask... What do you use for offerings?" This had been something he had argued at length about with himself, seeing as there were no saltwater fish in the vicinity of the Temple, and no truely tropical fruits such as coconuts or bananas.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:51 pm
She knew she could always go visit the ocean. She knew she could always go swim in the sea. She just hadn't, the trek was so long. Also, she ahd some doubt in her visiting. The sea's wrath had once spared her, who's to say it would do it again? Not that she didn't have faith in what she believed, it was that she feared the power, the openess.
She nodded, acknowledging his suggestion nonetheless. Even if she was afraid, to some extent, it was not right to leave her fellow malu without a word.
"Personally, I've often used the small fish from the rivers and lakes in the forest and such." She really had not done much with offerings lately. "I've also made small things that remind me of the sea out of twigs, rocks, dried grass.. you know. That kind of stuff." She hoped what she offered did not sound childish. Arts and crafts were not what she wanted ot imply she offered. "The other week I made a dream catcher with a fish in the middle, hung it above the statue while I prayed, and when I was done, I set it ablaze in a large stone bowl at the foot of the statue." She still felt somewhat childish about her offering. "There's really not much else around here that I have ever found as a suitable offering. But with my homemade trinkets, one must be careful the fire does not burn out of control..." She laughed quietly, knowing that was rare to happen.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:18 pm
Kamin almost nodded, again, but caught himself before dropping the small minnow on his head. "Yes, I've fallen in to the pattern of bringing the meager fish from the streams and brooks near the Nature Pack." He gestured up towards the top of his head, where the dead, flappy thing hung about limply. "I'm not really artistic, so I never make anything for my god. The God of Seas must be proud to have such personal offerings set before him." The grey male smiled, almost embarrassed that he offered such impersonal things. Though, he had done some decorating to his previously bare alter. "The most I've done is some rearranging. I have a few aquatic plants in a bowl off to the left and a bowl with a live fish in it to the right. Hopefull, I can go home someday and bring back a tropical fish for the shrine." He looked away for a moment, considering the journey it would mean. The path was about two days of consitant walking, and it offerred little protection from the sun. During the winter, even, it was warm, and at night it was below freezing. Not a quest for those who were delicate. "I place fruits and fish on the alter, usually, and dispose of them in different ways."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:36 pm
Evey though about decorating her shrine now. "Decorations are a good idea, Kamin. I may have to use that sometime." She thought about how she could decorate her shrine, but then added, "If it's alright with you, of course."
She then realized something else he said. "Oh, and if you do make a trip back to the ocean, would you mind horribly if I joined? Or tagged along? Or something? I know I'd never be able to make the terribly hard journey alone. And even for the more rugged types, like yourself, it's probably still a difficult journey. I'm sure two malu would make it easier." She hated imposing herself on him like that, and she hated having to rely on someone else.
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