[center][b][h2]Genesis[/h2][/b][/center] [center][b]I[/b][/center] Birburelli walked [i]a lot[/i]. To any normal person, travelling on foot like so for such a long time would’ve been mind numbingly dull. Genesis, thankfully, wasn’t a normal person. As minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days, the Sylphi girl kept finding new things to examine and play with. Things such as oddly shaped pebbles, a new kind of dirt or a special soil, new species of living beings or even smells or colours other than green would immediately grab her attention and she would practically beg Birburelli to tell her everything he knew about those things. His answers often varied between in-depth explanations that only drove her curiosity further, or a laugh, a pat, and the admission that he did not know. Just in the last hour, she had asked about a handful of new tree species, as well as what she had come to know as a Sahkura - a type of big-eyed flying squirrel made of plant matter much like Genesis herself. She had also gotten to know the names of several types of insects. Some of them were really tasty too, a little fact that she had only come to realize and experience thanks to Birburelli’s guidance. The ascetic seemed quite proficient at making food out of near enough anything - at one point he even made an odd mud mixture which he used as a dip for the assortment of bugs he cooked. She preferred them raw and while the strange dip tasted good when paired with the snacks, she soon learned that eating anything but insects and meat would make her tummy hurt. A day ago she had learned that she didn’t really have to walk either. Birburelli had finally gotten through to her with his talk of meditation and the long periods he would spend in the evening just sat doing nothing. When he taught her the breathing techniques involved, his soothing voice almost lifting her mind from her body, Genesis had figured out that if she focused her inner energy into her limbs she could easily levitate and move at a decent pace. Birburelli had watched her rise from the ground with equally rising eyebrows. “Well,” he breathed, “that’s something.” Lukluk brayed loudly beside him, surely alarmed that such a lovely morsel was flying off. This newfound skill only served to help her reach more difficult spots to aid in her obsessive curiosity. She soon found her upper half completely immersed in the thick canopy of one of the lush trees on the outskirts of the jungles of Muraymuna, staring at two male Barkbeetles chasing after each other while loudly clicking their massive brown jaws. They both had green markings on their backs resembling painted leaves, but one of the beetles had darker markings and was slightly larger. The smaller male froze in place when yet another beetle easily twice its size flew onto the branch. This one had no markings, and from the sheer size alone Genesis knew that it had to be a female. In the split second of the smaller male’s mesmerization by the beauty before it, the larger male caught up with it and grabbed it with its jaws. A high-pitched whirr from the smaller male was cut short in a (tiny) explosion of gore as he was torn in half by the sheer mandibular strength displayed by the superior male. Genesis watched on, leaves rustling in her excitement at having watched the epic battle unfold, and while the surviving male seemed to be recovering its stamina, Genesis placed her sweet-smelling hand, palm up, next to the female and marvelled with a nearly inaudible squeal of joy at how quickly the Barkbeetle female hopped onto it. Not to be left behind, the male forced a burst of energy out of itself and hopped onto the girl’s hand as well, and then immediately mounted the large female in a set of awkward movements, not really helped by the uneven and shaky surface that was Genesis’ hand. Genesis, gasping at the display unfolding in front of her eyes and literally on her palms, flew down as hard as she could to meet up with Birburelli, with stars in her eyes and a massive grin in her face. [color=tomato]“Look Birburelli, they’re dancing! I didn’t know insects could dance like the humans back in Mirmehti!”[/color] She said giddily as the pair of bugs jerked around on her palm, tiny ‘knuck’ sounds repeating rhythmically as uneven exoskeletons bumped into one another. He looked down at the beetles and scratched his scraggly beard. “Well, that’s a dance fair enough,” he agreed, “most animals dance just for this. But what they’re actually doing, [i]emkura[/i] is mating. Soon the female will fly off and at some point or another give birth to new Barkbeetles. This is how they propagate and survive. And when the Barkbeetle dies its little soul leaves its body and is born elsewhere anew - every thing with a soul is born again into this world, see? We must suffer, toil, mate, and die again and again until we can achieve release from the cycle of life and death.” [color=tomato]”Cycle of life and death, huh…?”[/color] Genesis scrunched up her nose at the beetles in her hand, watching them spread their massive wings and then flying off. [color=tomato]”That didn’t last long… Couldn’t the two males have taken turns? Instead of killing each other I mean. Insects are weird… Tasty, but weird.”[/color] Birburelli smiled. “Each male wants his progeny to survive, so it’s quite difficult to get them to share. Perhaps a few females could share a male - but I don’t think beetles could do that. Humans though, it happens.” He paused in thought, “and if you travel far far into the mountains, you might even find a woman who shares a few brothers. The world is big and full of wonders.” [color=tomato]“Really? So many things to see and learn… It’s kind of overwhelming.”[/color] She sighed and rubbed her palms on the bark of a nearby tree before allowing the group to resume the journey. [color=tomato]“So, things come back to life after dying? How do you know something’s come back to life or is still dead, and is there a way to speak to someone that died not too long ago?”[/color] The ascetic stroked his scraggly beard in thought. “There are some people who remember their past lives, so with them it is just a matter of asking them who they were. Others - and that is the great majority of people - don’t. But one learned in these things can look into them and know who they were. Souls can speak, after all, and those who know how to listen can hear what they say. As for those recently dead, perhaps there are ways of communing with them - but these things are all in the hands of the great god Ahthaaruhs, master over death, paradise, release from the cycle of life and death, and teacher of the ways of [i]whih[/i].” Genesis stared blankly at Birburelli, blinked, nodded and then flew over to Lukluk and dropped herself over the faithful companion’s back. After a moment, she groaned. [color=tomato]”There’s so many names... I feel like my head’s going all woozy and swirly. How do you remember all of that? Are you actually like a spirit of knowledge? How long until we get to Muraymuna?”[/color] She asked, absentmindedly nibbling on Lukluk’s fur inbetween questions. [color=tomato]“Do you think that the emkuras there have fangs as sharp as mine, or that they’re as flexible as me? Did I tell you that I found out I can put my feet behind my head?”[/color] “Ah, you can do that now can you?” Birburelli said with a small grin, “I hear that makes it difficult to walk.” [color=tomato]“I do it while sitting down, mostly.”[/color] “I hear that makes it [i]very[/i] difficult to walk,” he chortled, followed by a quiet giggle from Genesis. They continued into the slowly thickening jungle. “As far as Muraymuna goes, we’re more or less here now. The large town of Randjet isn’t too far off. We’ll be there before evening.” He glanced at her with parted lips. “You don’t need to remember that name.” When they did reach Randjet, however, it was very quiet and the days-old smell of burnt wood and ashes gave the wandering ascetic and his companion pause. “Well, things don’t seem quite right.” He muttered, pausing by a great edifice of burnt wood. Genesis came to look but he turned her away. “No no, there’s nothing to see.” He caught her by the hips and lifted her up with a laugh. “Curious little [i]emkura[/i].” He murmured affectionately, to which the girl responded by chuckling and ceasing her half-hearted attempt at sneaking peeks. It did smell very [i]odd[/i] near the burnt wood. The most striking thing about the town of Randjet was the great temple that towered like a mountain at its heart - or what was once its heart, for all the buildings had been burned to the ground. [color=tomato]“You mentioned nomads before. Do humans burn their homes when moving? Seems weird, what would the trees they used to make those homes think? That’s not very thoughtful. I guess at least one is still standing...”[/color] Genesis commented as she took in the scene. “Ah, my dear.” He intoned sadly, placing a warm, calloused hand on her shoulder. “This was no breaking camp or migration - great towns like this don’t do that. This here was war - man slaying man. It was probably the One-Godders, they are the lords of Muraymuna now.” Genesis stood still as a statue for a painfully long moment as she used her eyes to inspect the rubble and ashen ground over and over again, until she instinctively grabbed onto Birburelli’s arm and spoke. [color=tomato]“... Oh. Okay. But why is that building still intact…?”[/color] He looked down at her for a few moments, gently pressing her hand comfortingly. “That’s because it’s a temple - the One-Godders may be zealous warriors, they may reject the gods of the Ritualists, but they don’t desecrate sacred sites. We can go have a look if you like, I doubt there’ll be any priests to stop us.” He said, to which Genesis nodded after a little bit of hesitation. [color=tomato]“W-We won’t be cursed, right? By walking into an empty town’s abandoned temple? Won’t the gods be angry?”[/color] She asked somewhat shakily. “Oh I doubt that very much - quite the opposite actually, bringing life and worship to an abandoned sacred place probably makes them happy.” [color=tomato]“That makes sense, I guess,”[/color] She bit her lip, then slowly let go of Birburelli’s arm and walked towards the temple, unsure of what to expect--After all, Mirmehti only really had a small set of shrines places in a room in the elder’s hut… It was nothing like this. The two descended down a long stone staircase, down into the earth. As the walls rose up around them images of terrible things with horrorsome faces reared up on the walls around them “This is the journey into life,” the ascetic whispered behind her as she ran her hand across the carvings, “the tumult of souls, the strike of Terrible Things and Faces.” They reached the bottom, and a great stone doorway stood before them, leading into a great chamber, far longer than it was wide. Braziers were still lit all around and inks of light had been applied to various statues and carvings all along the high walls and ceiling. They highlighted voluptuous maidens copulating with muscled youths, drinking and dancing and merrymaking, others aimlessly wandering and drifting, others on beds of death or languishing in poverty; carvings of battles, cruelty, suffering. Genesis lagged behind slightly and Birburelli walked ahead of her, then glanced back. “This,” he said, gesturing to all the carvings across the stone walls, “is life.” He turned around and walked on. “And we must walk through it.” [color=tomato]“Life is scary,”[/color] Genesis said quietly but kept on following Birburelli. At times it felt as if the carvings moved and stared, asking her for the non-existent answers to unheard questions. Muttering, whispering, all the way from the dark shadows, of names that although unrecognizable, sparked things inside her very soul. She didn’t like it, so she stuck closer to Birburelli, since he didn’t seem fazed at all. He glanced back at her, still walking. “Oh life is more than that - see, those two there are making merry,” he pointed out the copulating couple, to which Genesis stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose, “there they are dancing, there singing. There we have the pain and joy of childbirth, there we have the pain and joy of old age. And yes, there is illness there, suffering, people can be cruel - life can be cruel. And yes, it is scary.” He turned his head away, looking towards a rising set of stairs ahead of them. “But we must not fear it. Pain and joy - we must see them for what they are and,” his foot fell upon the first step and he ascended, “we must rise above it.” The stairs led to a door and from their angle they could not see through it. “Even if we can’t always see the path ahead or where our rising is leading us.” Genesis took the first step as well, and eventually began ascending the stairs alongside Birburelli, sighing in relief as they left the turmoil of shadows and faces and shapes behind. [color=tomato]“It’s like an adventure, right? Life, I mean. It’s an adventure. The biggest one! And, you know what my heart has told me ever since I woke up in Mirmehti? It keeps telling me to take one more step, to see what might happen. Over and over and over, just one more step. So…”[/color] The Sylphi girl bounded forward, skipping ahead up a few steps before turning to look down at the ascetic with an uncertain smirk. [color=tomato]“That’s what I’m meant to do? In order to see everything there is to see and experience everything there is to experience, I have to walk, drift, dance, mate… And I have to hurt myself and others, and lose my way and expose myself to the world without being scared? If that’s the case, then I will do all those things--No, I will do more!”[/color] She laughed, [color=tomato]“I want to see, I want to touch, to smell, to taste, to hear--I am here now, and I will suck everything out of life. I am Genesis, the Lifesucker!!!!”[/color] She said proudly, but suddenly deflated and groaned, a light orange blush coming to her cheeks. [color=tomato]“Well, maybe not that title… Just Genesis is okay… Sorry, I got carried away...”[/color] Birburelli chortled at her outburst as they continued upward. “Life has more to be seen than be seen in a hundred lifetims, more to be experienced too. But if you go seeing and experiencing then eventually,” they came to the top of the staircase and the doorway, and what lay beyond it, stood unveiled to them. “You will begin to truly see, and you may gain wisdom. No one is born ready to overcome life - you must live first, walk drift, dance, lose, suffer, gain and joy.” He walked through the door. “And when you’ve done it again and again, you come to see life for what it is.” They were now in a small sanctum, and beautifully carved statues - great things, male and female, with handsome features and serene expressions - lined the four walls of the chamber. They had been painted and dyed, one had green skin which caught the attention of Genesis, some were golden, the red one did not look serene at all but glared furiously, and there were other colours yet. “And when you see life for what it is,” Birburelli breathed, gesturing to the far wall of the sanctum where a small door led into a short, narrow hallway at the end of which was great light, “you can find the way out.” [color=tomato]“What are these people?”[/color] Genesis asked as she skipped over to the one with green painted skin and touched it everywhere she could reach, to see if any of it felt like actual skin. [color=tomato]“Are they gods?”[/color] “Yes, these are some of the gods known as the Thousand Terrible Things and Faces.” He approached the green one. “They were created before the world. First there was only the Serene Lord, then the One Who Laughs emerged, and then the One Who Frowns went chasing after him. And those two created all the Terrible Things and Faces while they warred in the heavens. This one,” he placed a hand on the naked chest of the green, leaf-bound statue, which Genesis imitated almost immediately, “is the creator of your people, Orjarnibapti.” [color=tomato]“Really?! Wow, he’s really tall. I like his fangs. His leaves are shaped differently than mine though… But I don’t mind.”[/color] She hummed, caressing the statue with her eyes closed for a moment before nodding. [color=tomato]“How do I talk to him?”[/color] “I doubt a temple is the right place to speak with the great lord of the forests and nature, the granter of wisdom and patron of outsiders. If you wish to speak with him then you must walk more and longer, you must gather experiences and gain wisdom; perhaps then you will know how to speak to him.” Genesis climbed down from the statue, pouting. [color=tomato]“I wanted to ask where I come from, and if the statue back home is okay. I’m curious, you know? She saved me, and I don’t want to think she died...”[/color] “If you wish to ask about death, then,” he took her by the shoulder and turned her towards another one of the statues, a great being of white and black, forbidding in aspect and holding in his hands a great disc of copper, “it is to Ahthaaruhs that you should turn. I do not know if he will speak to the living, but you can certainly try.” Genesis took a few steps towards the statue of Ahthaaruhs before turning to look at Birburelli, then continuing up until she was in front of the figure. It somehow made her feel small, and so with leaves rustling and a racing heart she placed a hand on the statue and closed her eyes. [color=tomato][i]‘Hello? Ahthaaruhs, I’m Genesis, I wanted to ask if the one who saved me is still alive... Does my home still exist, or is it gone? The light was consuming it, after all...’[/i][/color] At first there was no reply, silence as much could be found in her own mind. Then as a deafening rush although it came without sound, a great eye, staring boundlessly into her as came a rushing cacophony of sound within the bounds of her head. The chirping of birds, the whispers of men and the songs of things found only in the deep oceans. They came together merging into a single voice speaking to her mind. [color=Fuchsia]"Genesis, mortal now, or close enough I can see."[/color] The girl recoiled almost immediately, yelping and covering her ears even as she tripped and fell on her butt with a grunt. [color=tomato][i]‘W-What? Are you- Are you Ahthaaruhs?’[/i][/color] Bitburelli was by her side almost immediately, helping her up and giving her a quizzical look, which she responded to with a scared look of her own. “Careful now,” he said, patting her down before walking towards the small door and staring out of it towards the light at the end of the narrow hallway. Genesis returned her attention to the statue of Ahthaaruhs. The voice came [i]quieter[/i], or more precisely less overwhelming in all manners. [color=Fuchsia]"You knew me by another name once, but that one shall do. I am He, master of death and deity of all dead things."[/color] She quickly turned towards Birburelli, whispering, [color=tomato]“H-He’s talking to me! I-”[/color] She nearly choked on her own spit and coughed. The ascetic turned around, leaning against the stone frame of the door, and watched her curiously, intently. [color=tomato]“Right!”[/color] [color=tomato][i]’I, uh, I actually do not remember meeting you in the past, I’m so sorry! Um, what name did I use to call you? How come I forgot you? I must be the flattest flower in the clearing, sorry!’[/i][/color] [color=Fuchsia]"It matters not. For the name of such times, Ahthaaruhs will suit you much better to remember, I have many. You forgot because you were not ready, for you knew me when you were not you, and now the you-of-now is all that remains of the you-of-old. I can tell looking deep that there is much the you-of-now that knows the you-of-old, even if the essence is diminished and molded to this mortal soul."[/color] [color=tomato][i]’So this is the cycle Birburelli told me about, I must have been really important in my past life, maybe a Queen of Trees or something, to know Ahthaaruhs personally! I have a question for you, though, related to my present life. For as long as I can remember, there was this statue back home… Well, long story short, I don’t think she was a statue in the end, because she saved me by letting me escape home before it was burned. Do you know if she’s alive? I wanted to meet her and… And help her, I guess. She looked in pain...’[/i][/color] The voice did not come as quick as it had previously, but return it did. [color=Fuchsia]"It is not. This is different from what Birburelli has spoken. As I have said, the you-of-now is all that remains, at least distinctly. There was no death as dying is the provenance of mortals, and you speak of what Birburelli knows as Orjarnibapti from what I can discern. The you-of-now is mortal, the you-of-old was not. The you-of-old was a deity, but now they are not apparent in the world, disappeared, diminished or dissolved perhaps, but not dead. In a practical way, the you-of-now is all that remains, spared with the dying flash of the you-of-old, even unprepared as you had came to be."[/color] This time, Genesis sighed and bit her lip. [color=tomato][i]’Oh, okay. She’s gone then, and I’m all that’s left… Thank you for helping me out, Ahthaaruhs. I… Is there anything I can do to repay the favor?’[/i][/color] [color=Fuchsia]"Do not suffer."[/color] Just like that, the presence within her mind disappeared. It was like a fog made of glass was suddenly lifted from her thoughts, and so she exhaled and leaned onto Birburelli, panting and with wobbly legs. [color=tomato]“I thought I was going to die… Having things speak into your head feels so wrong...”[/color] She said quietly, closing her eyes. “I can imagine,” he noted thoughtfully, bending low and placing an arm around her back and the other behind her knees, and picked her up gently. “Let’s get you out of here now, I think you’ve seen and heard enough for today.” He walked the short distance down the final hallway and they found themselves in an even smaller sanctum at the centre of which was a statue greater than all the others. He circled around it and there was a small staircase leading out. He stepped out into the warm night air and eventually found Lukluk. That night, he lit a small fire by one of the razed homes and sang little ditties until Genesis fell asleep. Sitting cross-legged, he watched over her for a while and soon closed his eyes and slept just like that. [indent][list][*][hider=Summary] Some days into Genesis and Birburelli’s journey towards Muraymuna, they stumble onto a town that had been razed and burned to the ground. All of it was destroyed, with the exception of the Sacred Temple in the center. With no survivors and nothing else to do, the two go into the Temple where Birburelli teaches Genesis some of the things he believes about life and death and the pantheon. Here, Genesis takes the opportunity to seek help from the Gods, asking for answers to her questions about where she came from and the status of the one who saved her from death. She is answered by Thaa, who tells her of her divine origin and clears up that the original Genesis is indeed dead. Once the conversation ends, Genesis is left drained by everything she’d learned and so she and Birburelli leave the temple to set up camp nearby, where they rest until the next day, when it’s time to resume their journey. [/hider][/list][/indent]