Aftermath

Two things I noticed here. One, Paw seemed very eager to change the subject off of this mysterious high priest. Two, upon not recalling the proper spelling of Harella-shay's name, once again (this happens nearly every time I write it) I went looking to Namesakes and discovered what was likely a mistake on my part. But on the other hand, this is thousands and thousands of years after the game ended. Languages change, people pronounce names differently. Etc, etc. It has amused me greatly, actually, that her name has changed but Shay-har's has only altered spelling.

Which, oddly, signified the changes amongst Deaths and the power divisions between the male and female gods. More power to the females and all of a sudden Shay-har changed his name for his mate and all that romantic stuff.

The original conversation about the mysterious high priest actually involved more explanation, but once I started writing it, Paw was changing the way it went and the others just went along with it. Paw really does not want anyone to know. But they will, darn it.

Read, Review and Enjoy.




“And that’s how the Whisen line came to be!” Paw said an hour later, “they play a grand role in history, much like the Talens and Una. Every Whisper can trace his blood back to the Whisen line. Well, might not be able to trace it himself, but he is a descendant of the original Whisen. Whose actual name was Whisen, did I mention that?”

“You did,” Durth murmured, glancing at Ayan. The young man folded his arms and glared at Paw, “that didn’t take three days.”

“He didn’t tell it properly,” Ayan said, annoyed.

“The Whisen religion arose as the gods fell, most philosophy and meditation in mainstream populations can be traced back to the Whisen religion. They believe that Whisper is not a person, but a state of being, that anyone can become their own personal Whisper,” Paw bobbed his head and motioned back to the camp, finally letting Raya up from the ground, “Whisen followers teach one another how to deal with inner turmoil. In times when there are no Whispers about, this is a good thing. Any person can solve or fix their inner turmoil, they can fix their own minds and put themselves back together. But like a broken limb, they don’t always put themselves back together cleanly. A Whisper is needed for that.”

“Ah,” was all Durth could say.

“But Whisen followers tend to kill Whispers,” Raya growled, marching off ahead of them, “some of them believe that consuming the flesh of a Whisper will make one all powerful.”

“That’s a stupid belief,” Paw snapped back at Raya, “if eating the flesh of an animal could give one powers, I would be able to fly like a bird and you people would have horns of a cow. Eating the flesh of an animal or plant does not imbibe one with their powers. Except… old time fruit… but that’s an entirely different matter and a people would not survive long enough to use said powers because Sidhe would eat them.”

“Why eat them?”

“Because bastards ate fruit!” Paw said quickly, “tell idiot not to eat fruit and then he eat fruit.”

“It’s like catnip to a cat,” Ayan explained, “Except a lot more affective. The Sidhe can’t exactly help themselves.”

“Idiot,” Paw growled before he launched into Sidhe, just like that. As if Raya and Durth weren’t there, as if the pair of them could speak Sidhe and understand. Or perhaps that was the point, as Ayan took up the conversation, some sort of lively debate that seemed to revolve around Durth.

If Raya’s side long, pitied look was any indication. Wait, Durth glared at Raya, who could only shrug in response. As the little group walking into the camp, Una approached them, eyes narrowing as he looked them over.

“What is this? Ayan, I told you not to wander off. Paw. If you get hurt out here, someone will have me by the balls in under an hour and Raya.” Una looked to Raya, “you’ve duties to attend to.”

“What about me?” Durth asked quickly.

“Until we find out what is going on with you, you haven’t got duties of any kind to attend to,” Una murmured in response, “least you keel over while jacking up a trailer and have it come down on you. Or be bending to put a log on the fire and fall into it. Or-”

“I get the idea,” Durth growled quickly

“I simply want you to understand what I am trying to tell you. No work, not even poking the logs over in the fire or taking out the piss pot. Every time I tell people that they try to do work even though I’ve told them not to.”

Durth shrugged, “does that mean that you’ll be waiting on me, hand and foot?”

“Well,” Una went bright red, “No, I don’t-”

“Maybe you should wait on another part of him,” Paw snickered out.

The look Una shot Paw said it all. The scathing, annoyed glare that said Paw should curl up and die somewhere. It was also a look that Durth had never seen on Una’s face. As if Una had altered his relationship with Durth without informing Durth.

Just like that, Durth slid into that other state of being. More information filtered through. Una was setting up lines, as he hadn’t done before, not to Durth’s knowledge. It was as if Una were saying that wonton sex was no longer allowed.

“Maybe Auhi should mind his own tree’s pests,” Una said finally.

“As if that has ever happened,” Paw snorted, “this one,” he motioned towards Ayan, “says he needs one who speaks to the gods in absolute form.”

“High priest,” Una growled, “are the only ones amongst the people who can be trusted to actually speak to their gods. Mari, Tesht, Rahulet, Lishen, Palo and, of course, Ayato are the current high priests.”

“I know one,” Paw said quickly, shifting his full attention to Ayan, “he’s completely and only a high priest, none of this Whisper, healer, Death business going on. He’s not a member of the people of the god but is only a high priest. Well. He is a member of a people of the god, but that is because, all the people are the people of the god. Doesn’t. Have to be actual people, people, does it?”

“No, not necessarily, but who are you thinking of, if not one of Una’s options?” Ayan asked, obviously entirely and utterly confused by what Paw was saying, “there are only six high priests.”

Paw made a dismissing sound and hand motion, “every religion tries to bring about their own high priest. The Whisens have one, the Aniege have one, those ones that follow Ayato as a god have one. There’s one for mother-”

“Vera, of course,” Una sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“And about four for various other religions,” Paw stretched backward, pushing his shoulders back further than his spine and thusly cracked all the way down his back, “but this one, this one is special, he is the high priest of -” something Durth didn’t quite catch. “he’s good blood, is strong. Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“The. High priest of who now?” Una murmured, stepping closer to Paw.

“Of Hahrehya,” Paw frowned and gave his head a shake, “the only requirement was one be capable of hearing the gods, he can hear them all. So what is this causing a problem for? Really?”

“Who?” Durth asked, “is he talking about Harella-shey?”

“The Sidhe separate who Harella was before she mated Shay and after, they are the same being, the same goddess, but they view Harella-shey as that crazy one who put up with her mate‘s irritable pets,” Una explained quickly, then frowned and twitched, “Since when do you speak fluent Sidhe?”

“Eh?” The confused sound that came from Durth’s mouth ended when he realised that Ayan and Paw were watching him intently, “I. Don’t?”

Paw stepped up to Durth and bent, peering into Durth’s eyes, “is weird, is like nothing happened, nothing going on there. Not even. I don’t,” Paw straightened and looked at Ayan, “what…?”

“Go, star power?”

“Soul power,” Paw snapped back at him, “I keep telling you, it was soul power and their rings made rainbow lights fly out and save the day. Get it right, already.”

“Well maybe Durth’s got soul power,” Ayan responded as if Paw was an idiot.

“Star power wouldn’t be far off,” Una murmured, “Tyz’s soul was gifted a unique power when Shay-har created him. Rumour has it, it was gifted another, unspecified power when Shay-har fell.”

“Did it, did… I?” Durth asked, “get something special? Doesn’t, send any triggers or flash any lights for me.”

“Tyz died shortly,” Una paused and swallowed, “after Shay-har died. Illuva tried to save him but couldn’t. It was Illuva who spawned the rumour.”

“What was the power then?”

“To…” Ayan coughed loudly, trying not to laugh apparently, “turn your own insides into liquid.”

Durth frowned, shifted his weight to Ayan, “like, I, um, Tyz, got squished?”

“By super cosmic energy that Shay-har was trying to,” Ayan’s head jerked to the side suddenly, “gift something to Tyz… and to. Oh,” Ayan looked to Una and then to Paw, “Oh.”

“Oh?” Una said, “care to fill the rest of us in on this nice little-”

“We have to call Rahl-ta down to earth,” Paw said quickly, jabbing a finger at Ayan, “he can read Shay-har’s journal. But we’d have to pay him and you don’t exactly have anything to barter to the guy that already owns your soul.”

“What are they,” Durth looked to Una as Paw and Ayan rushed off, “even going on about?”

“What makes you think that I know?”

“You. Are the immortal who has had dealings with the gods since. Well. Since they arose, aren’t you? Some sort of game keeper, entrusted with the children of the gods, type of thing.”

Una’s face fell, “Shay-har wasn’t the type to gift things out. Was he?”

Durth could only shrug, “maybe,” a memory flickered to the surface and he buried it immediately, because of how quickly he hid away the memory, he changed his wording, “I think. That it’s possible. That what Tyz did to himself wasn’t permanent. Did he. Age, at all?”

Una considered for a very long moment, closed his eyes and sighed, “yes, faster than I age, he did, we thought that, perhaps, he was catching up to me in age.”

“You. Age?” Durth looked Una up and down. The troupe master didn’t look a day over … well, Durth couldn’t really tell how old Una was, but it wasn’t really over forty, definitely not over forty. Or maybe just right around that mark? “No way. You look just as handsome as the first day I laid eyes on you.”

Una smiled, “I can’t tell if you’re lying, or if you’re telling the truth.”

Durth shrugged, “honestly, I can’t tell either.”


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