[center][b][h3]Saries’ Sirele
&
Liute[/h3][/b][/center]

[center][b]I[/b][/center]

Liute had spent the time taking in all his surroundings, the aspects here or there, the world itself and all the plants therein. He listened to birdsong in the distance, the differences in warnings and greetings, the differences in warbles between each creature. He listened to the scrambling of creatures in the greater distance. He felt the tree-bark with fingertips, and the knotted tree, and the light leaf. He felt the foliage all underneath. The god smelled each plant, too, and though he knew none of their names - nor that whatever had so created them had even given them names - he knew that each had a different smell, a different type. There was so much [i]life[/i] there, so much to keep and know and create, and in this small way, the god felt fulfilled. Some small part of him knew that the whole of the world had not seen such detail before, not known such little aspects as Liute could see now. It was curious, so very curious.

And so, when the greater bird came down to dispense a mortal being, Liute was listening, and knew. He stared, hands clasped before him as the flap of its wings caused his cloak to flap about him, and listened to her words. Clearly, this pair had been sent by the godsblood he wished to counsel with, and clearly that godsblood acted through others. 

The greater bird hovered over the ground long enough to drop the young woman onto the ground, then landed and started preening its feathers. The woman, on the other hand, groaned and wobbled as she did her best to get up. Her hair was disheveled and knotted, her gown of leaves and vines and obsidian was damaged in some places and just gone in others, in general she looked like she’d been through an entire typhoon.

It took her some moments and a few ungraceful sounds, but eventually she found her feet and had fixed her appearance enough to stand before Liute.

“I am Sirele of the Boulder, Tongue of Saries, Mother of All. Know that she speaks through me, and through me you may speak to her.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest and bowed her head slightly. “Saries feels curious about you, you smell new but call for her still. Why? You’ve created a beautiful thing, this Sun has revealed the beauty of Saries’ Progeny, so she wants to be your friend.” 

With that said, Sirele approached the Tormenta and removed a roughly hewn bag from its chest, the bag wriggled slightly, but Sirele held it tight and close to her own chest regardless.

“So, would you accept a gift from her?”

That there was a gift was…curious, curious enough. When he spoke, though, some part of his mind gave leave for that mask to drop. His words were laced with fire, crackling with each pause. Sirele held her breath and clutched the bag protectively.

“I am Liute. I am the Sun.” He looked up at the great foliage above, the leaves and the canopy, the great green where his glory shone through them to cast dim light below,  and considered. That godsblood wished to be his friend. They wished to give a gift, of something of life which was theirs to grant, and it seemed as though it was genuine. “In the name of kinship with this godsblood Saries, I would accept that gift. But there is work to be done, speaker. My creation has been bloody. I desire…correction. I seek the godsblood Saries’s help in this.”

“Correction!” Sirele laughed, but was quick to gasp and hold her tongue, “Sorry about that – Saries, well, she doesn’t believe that any correction is necessary. The current state of things may be unnatural and undesired but Life will adapt as it always does.” The greater Tormenta waddled up to Sirele’s side and bumped her slightly with its head, prompting her to pet it. “Sarai here is an example of that.”

Liute cocked his head at this response, eyes narrowing. There seemed to be a great misunderstanding, that the correction was in the sole benefit for nature itself, yet then…yet then the godsblood was of nature. It made sense that the concern would center around that. And yet, he held his tongue about the issue. It seemed that the speaker did not speak, in some way, solely by the authority of the godsblood. Curious, curious. He waited, watched, hands still clasped before him.

After a moment, Sirele stopped petting Sarai and turned fully towards Liute. She took as many steps as she needed to get within arm’s reach of him, and removed whatever was inside the bag from it.

It was a pup, curled up into itself and no bigger than a coconut. It had thick, soft, blond fur that shone very faintly of starlight – or perhaps sunlight – and a troubled expression on its face. It had its eyes closed, and yet it frowned and tossed and turned in Sirele’s arms. She looked at it like one would look at one’s own child, she stroked its tiny head and played a little with its ears, and the pup calmed down.

Then, she extended her arms to offer the pup to Liute. 

“This is one of Saries’ newborns. This is the reason she hasn’t come here herself, she is busy caring for the others. This one came out looking like sunshine, so Jiva convinced her that it was a sign it must be cared for by you.”

The view of that pup lit a fire in Liute’s heart, and a smile grew against his face. This was the gift, a descendent of another godsblood, given by the merest of fates for it searched for the sun. It had been drawn to him, and in that, fate had indeed spoken. He took the pup in his own arms, gingerly with both at first, before the urge grew against him. The god stroked it, about the head and about the ears, and the smile continued. His voice yet crackled with the embers of a fire.

“This…this is a worthy gift. One to be cherished. This one searched for me, and it should know me.” He could feel the power in his arms, in his hands, and the thought grew against him. Liute knew that this…these would be his, his chosen sign, and as the pup looked up with him the god began that imbuement. He knew that the sun was no place for any mortal creature, any normal creature, and yet the idea still grew against him. There was much that could be done, against the whole of the thing. He gave that gift, of strength from the sun, of the greatest immunity from its heat, that it might play against the sun’s surface, and as the fire began to crackle about his hair and singe against his grass cloak, the pup’s fur turned golden.

Absentmindedly, Liute ran a hand along the pup’s muzzle, scratching behind the ear, as he looked back up to the speaker. There was still the issue with which he had first approached the forest, and this issue would not be tolerated. Not in Liute’s mind. “Yet, there is work to be done. Nature may yet wait, and grow slowly, and be used to my hand. The mortals will not be so lucky. I yet seek to lessen that disaster.”

Sirele stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her chest once more. She looked up at the canopies and, after a moment, spoke. “I think that would be good, yes. I am one of the Blessed, so I don’t suffer the pollen or the diseases as much as the others, but… Yes, I think it will be good to ‘correct’ things, as the Sun has said. What kind of help do you want from Saries?”

The god cocked his head, as the pup curled up within his arms. The pollen. This was a problem he had not known of before. And yet, it seemed like such a thing was beyond his issuance. It would need to be corrected by another. He kept his eyes on the speaker, as he crackled out words. “I wish the godsblood’s help, that the plants may yet thrive against me, and not burn away. That the crops some have made will not die, unused to as they are against me. I would give what help I can in this task.”

Sirele blinked, then crossed her arms, then uncrossed them and tapped her chin with a thumb. “Um, the issue seems to be the strength of the light? And the days are very long too. Maybe things could be fixed by moving the Sun further away for some time? The mundane things cannot survive the presence of the great Sun for long, so perhaps limiting its closest approach to a few weeks at a time might be good.”

Sirele played with one of the tight curls framing her face, stretching it and letting it bounce back into shape over and over. “Saries has no ideas to offer here, she seems content because of the explosion of life. But I see your point.”

Liute kept that pose, though his hand had been stilled in petting the pup. That the godsblood was unwilling to provide aid was poor, though the speaker seemed to provide a good enough solution to the issue itself. Perhaps that was the solution to the whole of it. Perhaps, perhaps. It was something which deserved reward of its own, at the very least, as a concept. What was there to give, that the god had about him? He thought on the thing.

“That may be, speaker. Thank you.” One hand reached for a strand of grass about his cloak, and Liute plucked it away. Considering the piece for a moment, for it was indeed the light of the sun remade into a form suitable for the mortal, for the mortal world, he thought better than to hand such a thing away. It would be a poor gift, that which may burst away in the midst of the forest of all that life. That he had nothing to give in return was a poor thing, a poor thing indeed, and Liute frowned. The pup had stirred again, and looked about before reaching out to bite at the not-grass. As it chewed away, Liute frowned still. “I am sorry, speaker, but I have no gift for such a thought. But, yet…thank you.”

Sirele smiled a lopsided smile, “I don’t need a gift now, but well… I will one day have children of my own, and they will have children, and on and on. So I want to ask you to bless them. Please make it so that you will grace them with your light when they need it the most. Let it lead them out of dark places and into safe places, and give them warmth when they are cold and let them see when you are asleep.”

The god looked down again at the pup, considering the rather…extensive request. It was something he knew might grow into more, truly more…and that was a thought. As the farmers planted, that they might have a crop in that seen future, this was a thought that could be applied thus. Perhaps. “There is always a path, Sirele of the Boulder. Know that your children, and their children, shall find that path when most needed. Let them know my warmth when they most need it. Let them know, even when I sleep. Yet, I ask this, Sirele of the Boulder. Let them know me, and not forget me, even alongside the godsblood Saries.”

“I will make sure they know you and that they know you are the Sun. The people of the Boulder do not forget their friends.” Sirele nodded and placed a hand on Sarai the Tormenta. “Now, Sarai will take me home to Saries, but you should know that I and Sarai are marked by her. You should be familiar with that mark by now, so it should be easy to track us down if you need to speak to us again. You are welcome to visit any time, as long as you allow Saries to see her child when you do so. She acts tough, but a mother’s a mother.”

“Agreed, Sirele of the Boulder. Go well.” And, with that, the god disappeared.

[hider=Summary]
Liute explores the forest and studies its creatures until a great bird arrives carrying Sirele, one of Saries’ Tongues. She offers him one of Saries’ newborn pups as  a gift of friendship, explaining that Saries cannot come because she is caring for her other newborns. Liute accepts the pup, blesses it with the power to withstand the Sun, and then asks for help fixing the harm his light has caused to plants and mortals. Sirele suggests moving the Sun farther away at times, since Saries has no strong opinion on the matter. Liute has no gift to repay her idea, so Sirele instead asks him to bless her future descendants so they may find light and safety when they need it. He agrees, asking only that they remember him. Sirele departs on the great bird, and Liute leaves as well.
[/hider] 
[hider=Actions/Summary]
Conviction Expenditures:
Saries:
0 Conviction spent (Lucid action) to give birth to a litter of pups. These are almost entirely mortal, with the only things they truly inherited from Saries being a faint glow of starlight and good health that makes them resilient to disease and grants them a long life.

Liute:
1 Conviction spent (Hazy action) - Liute imbues a given pup with the power to gain strength from the sun and resist its heat.
0 Conviction spent (Lucid action) - Liuete blesses the descendants of Sirele to have light when needed, resistance to cold, and better vision in the night.
[/hider]