The last time the shaman had visited the Isle of the Gods had been with Mauja, Indy, and Gossamer. Those had been different times, before the upheaval of the Foothills, before the Ice King had been ousted from his woodland home. The world had changed around the Gods, but Onni's faith within the often demonized deity of the Sun had only grown stronger. While many doubted his kindness, due to the hellish summer that had rained heat like a monsoon. The worse land yet in terms of temperature had been the Throat, but at least the deity had spared his patron land from the terror of fire. The Sun God had an ire that was undeniable, but perhaps it was the shaman who knew best about his kindness.

By the power of his undying light and fire, Onni was able to free others from illness and injuries that would cripple, if not kill, the their bodies. The most recent of her patients, Cera, had touched her heart in such a way that his injury spurned a vengeance she was not used to in her chest. Without the will to breed more hatred into the world, the tobiano was at an impasse. Should she strike more violence by approaching the very stallion that had caused a young colt to nearly lose his life, or would she extend forgiveness to the heartless bay as she had to others?

The conflict waged within her, darkening her normally pure and light spirit. The only source of unwavering light she knew was the Sun. Traveling up the path of colored lava, Onni sought out the comfort of the golden deity, even if it was just the solitude of his shrine. When the familiar surface of stone came in view, the mare slows to a walk, coming to rest before it. Her neck slackens, lowering her pale face toward the shrine, closing her eyes before speaking. "God of the Sun," she begins, voice speaking evenly. "Your fire has saved the lives of many. It has guided my life for many seasons. Let your light guide me now." Let the light of the Sun burn away the impurities formed on the gentle heart of the shaman.
""

[ ooc; Onni just wants some comfort. She's seeking nothing else, so Sun God can appear or not. I just wanted this to happen IC for her. ]

Light flickered from behind her eyelids, and most delighted, Onni raises her head. She had known the Sun deity was a kind hearted soul, not the monster that many painted him as. To answer her calling without fanfare or show as soon as her words were loosed into the air reminded the mare of the image she had kept of the God in her heart. There were times his behavior had been questionable, but knowing her mother's anger had helped the shaman come to terms with this. Kri, the mare she knew better than anyone, perhaps, was not a mean creature in reality. Her heart was big and giving, while her mouth was often venomous. Onni supposed this was a protection for her large heart, like rough armor that kept unnecessary visitors rested. The shaman did not claim any knowledge of the golden god beyond his generous lending of sunfire to heal, but she figured the teeth he bared to others was just a defense of sorts.

There were no beings that were truly evil. One could not shut their hearts from others, try as they might. There was always at least one who would find a path through the wall they built, laying siege to their heartstrings and occupying their very being from that point onward. Those vacancies, filled by the other souls of this world, were thing things that grounded all to compassion - even if such a commodity was reserved for one special individual. Onni did not know if these empty spaces were only found in the hearts of mortals, but she chose to believe that even the Gods could not escape love. Were it not for love, they would never be able to experience such intense hate that the God of the Sun had displayed.

Love and hate, after all, were two sides of the very same coin.

The light intensified, causing Onni's eyes to close once more. She kept them tight lidded until the brightness before her eyelids dims, and when she opens them, it is not the stone of the shrine she sees, but the burning entity who watched over her home, over her family. Bowing her head deeply to the golden deity, the shaman is surprisingly calm for one going face to face with an immortal. Perhaps interaction with them was common place here in Helovia, but the words which Onni wished to speak in praise would not surface to her mouth. The modest healer of the Dragon's Throat was stuck, unsure of which words would please the stallion born of fire and ethereal light. Thankfully, he begins to speak before her gentle white-stained face is lifted to look into brilliant eyes of the finest gold.

There should be a limit to how utterly embarrassed an individual feels, but as the Sun God speaks, Onni can feel all the blood rushing to her face. If you could see through the pale hairs of decorating her visage, an intense blush would have formed. The painted mare had assumed the deities knew the thoughts of all, no matter the subject. Taking a breath, the shaman tries to calm herself. It was no use acting so pathetically helpless in front of the God she had summoned. He was here to visit her out of the kindness in his soul, and standing like a flabbergasted idiot was getting her nowhere. Steeling her nerves, Onni blinks her eyes before gathering her words for speech. "A young boy whom resides within our home, Cera, was brought nearly to death recently by another," the shaman speaks, her voice sweet but troubled, residual anger clinging to the last spoken word. "The innocent should never be harmed so, great Sun God. The poison of the monster has seeped from the body of the young colt and into my heart."

"I am not violent, sir, but I wish to harm this creature who would so easily injure a defenseless child," her voice is quiet, low, and ashamed of the flaws which stain her being. Evil would not undo evil; Onni understood this well enough. Still, the bitter taste on her tongue refused to go away, and the image of Cera convulsing on the crimson floor of the Throat lingered in the back of her mind. "Should I offer him justice through brutality, or struggle to find forgiveness in my heart for the wicked?"
""

The uncertainty on the God's face made Onni's sky blue eyes avert from his golden, perfectly carved face. The sky had no business looking toward the Sun, anyway, it only served as a backdrop for the beautiful light provided by the world's most precious star. It was then the reality of her brash attempt to pull advice from this deity who had important tasks to finish came slamming into her conscious thought like a freight train. Her eyes widen as they stare past the deity, settling for the liquid light that drips from his mane, forming in gentle pools at his cloven hooves, seemingly dipped in gold. Why was she here speaking directly to a God?

This hatred that had crept into her chest was the reason, but did that not make her all the less qualified to stand in the presence of a God symbolizing all of the pure light in the world? She could cower from him now, flee his presence, but the arrogance of her actions was already settled. Shyly, she looks up from behind pure white eyelashes, seeing the soft clench of his Throat just before speaking. Immediately, her attention is usurped by his powerful yet quiet voice. Onni's eyes remain widened as they search this close space for his own bright eyes, a small dark pupil surrounded by swirls of pure, burnished gold. He was helping her. With a smile, Onni reaffirms her belief that behind his cool demeanor and recent violent actions this past Tallsun, he was a kind soul. It was likely a thought the Sun God would scoff at and deny, but he could not fool the Shaman into thinking he was a beautiful creature with a dark, rotten core.

The shaman listens with rapt attention, keeping her eyes upon his face through the entirety of his speech, considering the words heavily. Who could not treat each word from a God as important? When he takes a pause, Onni takes the break of his eyes reaching far distances to gather her wits. She stares at the flickering flames at his wings, which were folded in a calm, elegant manner upon his back. Looking at the light that dances freely, the healer is running over her options. Voltaic had trained her well, and there was no doubt in Onni's mind that she could confidently face this foe in battle, even with his skills of poison. However, the way her heart clenched in her chest when she thought about using the violence that had pushed her here to stand and talk to a God about a foolish, mortal manner, Onni already knows her answer. She would not fight this stallion; she could not, even for the sake of Cera.

When the bright voice of the God calls out to her, she looks back toward his face, the shaman nods. "He truly is clever - poisoning my heart and thoughts in such a way they would match his own," she says quietly, giving the God a peaceful smile. "You are right, however. I should not indulge in the evils of others, unless I am prepared to become a stranger to myself." Bowing her head deeply to the golden figure before her, Onni prepares herself for the departure from the Veins. She had taken too much of the Sun's time already.

"Thank you very much, Father Sun," she says sweetly, quietly, a brush of wind. One last burst of cheeky courage allows for the last inquiry to slide from Onni's mouth, her face calm, despite the waver of her chest as her heartbeat began to race. "May I visit you again?"
""