ORIGIN

A Great Purge seemed to have swept over the Origin Cave. Whereas before, Macawi had seen many faces, all different, all exciting, now there was only silence along the paths she walked. To be a Fortune Teller, and to have no one’s fortune to tell… that was a hard existence. Macawi, who thrived on both the Light and the Dark, who walked the balance and was Touched by each Side, who could endure a lifetime alone if she wanted — found that she was lonely. A few fresh scents scattered here and there along the wind, but they seemed few and far between, like ghosts, haunting her and taunting her. She craved the company of another Gembound like herself. Tangakwunu, her little Rainbow Spinner companion, was good company. She had grown so very fond of the creature. But he was a lesser creature. He could only give her so much.

The loud, boisterous, joyful coyote had grown more somber with age. She could not decide if such a change was caused by the aging itself, or because of the stillness of the Caves, or if it was a mixture of the two. She wanted to believe it was only the fault of the absence of Gembounds. She wanted to believe that age had not made her boring and dull. Yet, even as she thought this, she contradicted herself. This new side to her personality, the Darker side (which was not necessarily evil), was a welcome change, despite being so confusing sometimes. Tangak was also affected by the change. He now peeped where before he would have sung cheerfully. Macawi was not depressed, or even sad. Not really. But where she had once chosen to remain at a distance from others when she wanted to, now she was forced into her solitude, and it was… difficult.

And yet now here she was, in Eridanus, again. And look, a Gembound was being born! Yet she could not summon the same kind of enthusiasm she once had. She merely approached quietly, and smiled. She said nothing, allowing the creature to take in the world around it without her input. Her own silence startled her. She remembered her younger days (not that she was old), and how she would laugh at nearly everything a Gembound said. She experienced the world through joyous emotion. And now her joy was less a roaring flame and more an ember. It warmed her through, but she did not now feel the need to spread it to others with so much gusto. Let the creature greet her or not — on its own.

She sat upon her haunches, and Tangak, who had once been so shy as to flitter away upon sighting another Gembound, now sat contentedly upon her head, inside the circle her headdress made. He cooed softly, curiously. Macawi remained silent.

"Speech"

Macawi watched with a smile as the — very… interesting… creature emerged from its den. She remembered fondly her own birth so long ago — that boundless energy she’d once had that now seemed so far away. The coyote focused again on the baby, making sure to remain still and calm so as not to frighten it. Its large eye in the center of its chest had just a slit for a pupil, and it watched her intently. Maybe it was already scared of her. Oh, bother. But then after a moment, it spoke. The word was said with some uncertainty, stumbling and slow, but Macawi smiled all the same.

“Hello, little one,” she replied, and from atop her head, Tangak gave a peep to show he was interested in the baby as well. “Do not worry,” Macawi continued. “Coyote will not harm you. What is your name? Macawi’s name is Macawi.” She looked over the gemling fondly, studying its beautiful fur and feathers — a deep blue in color — and the interesting face that… didn’t seem to ever change expression. Maybe… it wasn’t a face? After all, there seemed to be a mouth under it, and the mouth on the face wasn’t changing while the one under it had moved to speak. What an odd child. A good odd, of course, but still odd.

Not that Macawi of all Gembounds was one to judge. She was as crazy as they came, after all.

"Speech"

Macawi never really replied to anything the gemling said as he babbled about. She just sat and watched him with a smile on her face, silently encouraging him to explore the words he was saying. She only vaguely remembered her own birth, meeting Czernobog, and having some difficulty speaking. And she was very aware of the fact that she spoke differently than everyone else. But anytime she tried to speak “normally” it just didn’t feel right in her mouth, and it confused her. She hoped others didn’t mind too much, since… it really would be difficult for her to change her speech at this point.

Her ears perked when the creature told her his name. “Salethyr,” she repeated, tail wagging behind her. “That is a very nice name, Little One!” She studied his masked face, his lolling blue tongue, and his large blue eye, and wondered what he was, though she would never ask. There was no point when the creature was so young, and it would perhaps never know what it was. But Macawi had certainly never seen a creature like it before. On her head, the little Rainbow Spinner peeped quietly as he looked down at the creature. He too wanted to know what it was…


"Speech"

“Does Macawi live here?” the coyote repeated. “Oh, no, no, no, no! Macawi does not live anywhere! She is nomadic, This One sees. That means she travels from place to place all the time. Coyote could never live in one place. That would be far too boring!” Macawi tilted her head this way and that as she looked at the creature. She could tell he was still trying to figure the world out, which was completely understandable. He was a newborn, after all! She sat and waited patiently, and Tangak began to snooze on her head. Her tail wagged lightly behind her.

The Gemling’s next question made her laugh out loud, tilting her head back, and disrupting Tangak’s nap. The Rainbow Spinner peeped loudly, very disgruntled, and ruffled his feathers in annoyance. She waited for him to settle back down before speaking to Salethyr. “Macawi doesn’t have a clue where This One’s mother is, but she certainly isn’t it. Macawi can help Salethyr look for her, maybe? Yes?” Macawi had no idea why that question had been so funny. Maybe it was because the idea of having a mom in the first place was odd to her, as she’d had no parents when she was growing up. The idea of a mother was just… very strange.


"Speech"

“Macawi does not mind!” the coyote said with a grin, trying to show that she was genuine. “Maybe it’ll be fun! Right, Tangak?” She lifted her eyes to her forehead, trying and failing to see the bird who was sitting on her head. He gave a peep of confirmation all the same and Macawi laughed. “Now…” She sat still for a moment, lifting her nose into the air and smelling Salethyr from where she was. She filed his scent away into her mind and then used it to smell for similar scents in the air around them. If the boy’s mother was a good one, she probably wouldn’t be far from them.

She smelled a new smell on the wind — one that was all over Salethyr, but wasn’t his actual scent. That must be his mother. The problem was that the mother’s scent was everywhere here. “Hmm… Finding This One’s mother may be more difficult than Macawi thought. She seems to wander Eridanus often, so her scent trails are getting all mixed up together…” Macawi felt bad that she couldn’t differentiate one trail from the next, or tell which one was fresher. “Perhaps Macawi and Salethyr should stay by the den, yes? In case your mother returns?”

"Speech"