Unexpectedly quick, Birdsong had arrived and the frozen desert had turned back into an unstable one once again. Once more the grains could be taken from the unfrosted dunes by the wind to create the golden haze on the horizon she had become so familiar with. With winter disappearing, it had taken so many things with it; including her heartache and apathy, her terrible, but only momentarily homesickness. Her old home in the cold, white mountains of Deneb did not mean anything to her anymore. It held nothing she desired, nowhere to belong.
It was good like this.
With Birdsong arriving she had something to celebrate, after all, for she had made it a whole year in Helovia; A whole year of new history and encounters made, wisdom and understandings achieved. She had ascended and grown, bloomed like the roses beneath the holy Oak tree in the Gardens.
But the thing the winter hadn’t taken from her was the loneliness of her job.
Now, she did not mind loneliness. A traveler’s life was, after all, a lonely one. A scholar, befriended with Knowledge and Wisdom, had most of the time enough to talk about with just them, anyway. So it wasn’t truly for herself that she felt lonely. Faith felt lonely. Amani was her only Apostle and yet they had barely spoken about the holy purpose of their crownless-ness, their belief in religion, ascension. Hell, she didn’t even entirely know the structure of the girl’s belief or what its source was! And with that she promised herself she would soon look for her.
Maren the priestess swallowed dust as she continued to watch her herd from a distance. She was watching them with a certain concentration in her eyes, framed by a thoughtful frown. Hanging behind her tiger striped derriere, an ivory tail flung from side to side as if it was the one spinning the invisible wires that formed the tough speculations in her brain. In front of her, a little distance away, the oasis looked very appealing in this almost mid-day sunlight. But the Diviner was looking at the crowds, the groups and individuals; They were there, in the hot-spot of their herdland, minding their own business.
As Diviner it was her job to aid those in need for enlightenment with her council. And yet, no one seemed to need such from her. Meaning that there was no one she could pour her bucket (filled with her endless lust for advising and knowing-it-all-better) over for mental relief.
No one was —and after a year, she perhaps thought that no one would ever be. Still, faith was lonely.
Her gaze turned to the ground where she saw a rock and a tiny stick. She ducked down and put the salty rock on the top of her head and then picked up the stick with her feathery fingers. (Since they were so small they had very steady bones in them enough to hold small things.)
Without a second thought the priestess crusaded into the crowds; those silly groups and individuals, simplistic minds; and began turning her head around, seeking attention as if she was selling vegetables on a busy marketplace. “Good mid-day everyone! Good mid-day! Such pleasant sunshine there is despite the recent terrors,” she called while she started to tap the rock between her ears with the stick, creating a drum for dramatic effect. “Our wounds bubble and pop, bleed; but we are still here.” She bore the boils on her burned skin but she had almost forgotten about its itching as she spoke on in her outlandish, female tunes. “The world takes us on a ride as it goes and goes. But safety, friendship… love; it is what pushes us to take the ride in the first place: We are responsible. Nevertheless — even though we see, we lack sight. Even though we are wise, we lack knowledge. We sail the wind and the waters, but we still cannot touch the edges of our land... —as we have noticed,” she added with bitterness in her voice. “The world spins in shadow and light and thus both good as well as bad will befall on us.” With her eyes serious and silent, she stopped her pacing.
She let go of the stick and casually let it fall to the ground with a soundless plop.
“Therefore, it is of the most importance that we try to be aware of the signs; belief in our wisdom and trust in our faith.” She inserted a pause, perhaps to let the message sink in. “I am willing to offer a ‘Communicating with the God 101’ for those who are interested. Beware, achieving understanding and sailing the seas of enlightenment is not for the weak!” But then her eyes softened and the priestess lowered her neck that had been so stiffly curled all this time. “If you do dare, come with me and we will ask the sacred fire for its guidance together,” she concluded. And, with the drummer’s stone still resting on the top of her head and her long ivory tail swinging from side to side behind her tiger striped derriere, she (lonesome warrior priestess) marched back to the Diviner’s Fire.
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[O] For what it's worth, I'm still here [Fire watching, open for all interested!]
