thenearshore | "I Can't Believe My Prayers for Test Answers Were Answered By an African War God?!"

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"I Can't Believe My Prayers for Test Answers Were Answered By an African War God?!"

Who: Wrathion and Kaden
When: December 6th
Where: Ogun's Temple -> the Near Shore
What: Wrathion hears a ~~who~~ prayer and Kaden puts his newfound 'representation of how morality works' status into full effect.

Something was calling him.

Now, Wrathion didn't particularly like the idea of something having space in his mind; his thoughts were his own, and as both a dragon and someone who forged their own fate, he refused to cede what was his without a fight. The murmuring, to its credit, was... quiet, at least. If Wrathion busied himself with other things, it became hard to hear.

He'd asked Yariki as casually as possible if he'd heard the voice as well, but the shinki had just smiled at him and identified the cause--it was a prayer for aid, of course. Wrathion scoffed at the thought and left him to work the forge--he was far, far too busy to go flying to some, some mortal's side to help her with...

... he scowled as he let the words filter into his head a little clearer, glaring at the goat as he lingered in front of Ogun's temple, half-listening to what was being prayed for. Something lost? And that was his concern how? Humans. So short-sighted and sentimental, worried about lost trinkets and things that would fade with time. Hmph.

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Kaden hadn't heard the murmuring himself - being a shinki and all that - but nonetheless he'd felt an odd compulsion to check in on Wrathion, as if there were some niggling feeling that he was needed. He wasn't sure why, especially if Wrathion had another shinki to use, but in case of an emergency he'd not be able to forgive himself if he ignored the nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

Checking in at Ogun's temple was the first step, since if Wrathion wasn't there Kaden would at least know where not to look. He'd never been there before, but it certainly seemed like an interesting place. Very cozy and homey, if he were to be honest! It wasn't as green as Oshun's temple was, but it had a charm all its own.

And chickens, apparently. A whole flock of them. But he had more important things to do.

Sniffing out Wrathion took no time at all with his nose as powerful as it was, and the moment he set eyes on his second god, his ears and tail perked up. "Oh! You're okay! I got a weird feeling, so I thought you were in trouble or something."

The chickens stared at Kaden, as if realizing that their own personal purgatory had arrived for the sins they'd committed in life as chickens. The rooster took great personal offense and took to squawking at Kaden for his existence--but the fox was quickly on his way to find Wrathion. Wrathion, for his part, was looking very imposing and thoughtful... and entirely baffled as to why Kaden had shown up, but.

No reason to look a gift fox in the mouth. That's where all the sharp, implacable teeth were, after all. "I'm perfectly fine, but thank you for your diligence," he said with the barest curl of a smile, hands folded. "I'm just... a touch perturbed today, is all."

The whispering had yet to subside. This one was oddly determined, pleading over and over in small whispers.

Please. It's all I have.

Wrathion frowned into the open air, baring his teeth in frustration as he rubbed at his forehead, as if that'd make the words stop ringing. "Hn. Either I've lost my mind, or Shou was correct about someone praying to me. They're quite persistent."

Edited 2018-06-17 22:58 (UTC)

The chickens were a footnote to be explored once all was sorted out with Wrathion. The instinct to chase and catch was strong, but his will was stronger. And besides, chickens made eggs! If they were all gone, there wouldn't be any more chickens. Really, his restraint was for the best.

The sudden, almost pained look made Kaden cock his head, blinking curiously as he pondered over the problem. It made sense that people would pray to their gods, that was just something that humans did. But if they were being persistent about it...

"Are they asking for something?" he questioned, tail flicking idly behind him. "If they're asking for help, you should help, shouldn't you? I mean, they're asking you specifically, so it's the right thing to do, isn't it? Ignoring that is just kind of rude. What are they even asking for?"

Someday, Kaden would discover the chickens' dark secret and it would all be over for them... but not today. Today, Kaden had a greater purpose--teaching Wrathion not to be a totally selfish shithead all the time.

Wrathion frowned as Kaden took to babbling, lips pursed as the fox ran through a whole pile of questions that Wrathion had increasingly snotty answers for. "I have far more important things to do than--than answer some nobody's pleading for aid. They don't even know my name, I don't know why I'm hearing them so clearly. They seem to be missing some--knick-knack or trinket."

Wrathion is a rude child and also a giant lizard, please forgive him in this time of need.

Luckily for Wrathion, he had Kaden there to be an angel on his shoulder.

The more Wrathion tried to deny it, the more the kitsune's face screwed into a determined expression, ears perked high and tail standing still but straight up behind him. It wasn't a matter of having important things to do. Someone was asking for help. And Wrathion sure didn't seem to be doing anything important right now.

"If they're missing something and they're asking for help finding it, it must be important," Kaden pointed out, flexing his fingers to keep the tips of his claws from poking uncomfortably into his hands. "And you're not even doing anything! You were just standing there when I got here. It's not like it's going to take a long time to find something, anyway - I've got the best sniffer around!"

Wrathion didn't believe in angels. The closest thing his world had was some sort of glowing robed woman with no face and the ability to resurrect a fallen adventurer... eventually.

He also didn't appreciate Kaden's completely called-for calling out right in the face of all of Wrathion's huffy little excuses. He crossed his arms over his chest, teeth grit as he started to argue--he wasn't just standing there, he was thinking about what he needed to do next; Kaden had just caught him between the intricate pieces of his twelve-part ~~college-educated~~ draconically considered plan to... not be here, anymore. It's not working for him.

The sniffer thing throws him off, though. "You have a--what?" Kaden's nose looks... normal. Right? "That's--besides the point. Something like this is beneath us."

Isn't it?

Kaden's chest puffed up proudly. "I've got a good sense of smell! If something is lost, I'll be able to find it in no time."

Wrathion's reasoning made no sense to Kaden, though. No sense at all. Doing something like this was why they were there, wasn't it? The replacement gods were supposed to do what the original gods had done, and if that's what the original gods had been doing...

"I don't see how it's beneath us. I mean, it shouldn't be beneath anyone to help out someone in need. Even if it's just an old lady crossing the street! We've got the ability to help, so we should."

There are a dozen things Wrathion wants to say; that doing such a menial errand is beneath him, that this was what adventurers thrived on for a few gold pieces, that he just didn't want to because he was far too self-important... but Kaden's reasoning was something straightforward and unwavering, especially as Wrathion calculated his current situation. He had no network of dubious allies or loyal sycophants; it was literally himself, Kaden, the shinki working the forge, a goat, and a collection of chickens.

He gave an irritated hiss of a sigh, forcing himself to relax. He wasn't incapable; he'd taken more delicate operations into his own claws before. Perhaps, for now, this would be... a distraction. A way to dig into the workings of this world where no one would notice his talons piercing the delicate heart of the situation. "Very well. We'll try it your way."

Let no one say Wrathion lacked a sense of magnanimity. "Are you prepared to depart, then?"

With the realization that his words were being taken to heart, Kaden grinned, flashing bright and pointed teeth in a clear display of excitement, if the tail behind him wagging steadily was any indication. He hadn't known Wrathion for long, but he'd gotten a distinct impression that he only wanted to do what he wanted to do - and if that was the case, this was a pretty big accomplishment!

"I'm ready whenever you are!" he announced, ears twitching in anticipation of orders. "You've got a shrine, right? Somewhere where the humans live? Maybe we should start there first, to see if we can find out what the guy is missing."

Wrathion was, indeed, only interested in his goals and the means to his ends--but Kaden's passion was... well. Not inspiring, but worthy of consideration. Anyone as passionate about something as he was about this whole 'helping' thing was always worthy of notice of--their passion had to come from something, right? So Wrathion gave Kaden a wane smile, brow quirking as he gestured for Kaden to join him.

"It's a meager shrine, to be certain, but it will do." He closed his eyes, letting his mind go fuzzy on the edges as he sought that fixed point, waiting until Kaden came close enough to transport them to the proper mortal side of things.

... and then the pinging doubled, the plea closer now that they weren't separated by the literal heavens. The sensation was... unnerving, a perplexed furrow touching Wrathion's forehead as he tried to focus on the pleading.

The moment they were on the Near Shore, Kaden's ears perked forward and his tail lifted in attention, the plea all but yelling its way across the short distance between them and the shrine. He could hear it too, of course, and the look on his face became one of extreme concentration, as opposed to the look of absolute delight just moments before.

"Look," he whispered, even though it probably wasn't necessary - the man he was pointing at might not even have been able to see them. But with the way he was kneeling and praying so intently, he might have believed hard enough to see without them having to put in any effort at all.

"That guy... do you think he's the one praying? It feels like it's coming from him. Maybe we should see what he's looking for?"

"Of course he's the one praying," Wrathion murmured, though his voice lacked the sharp, condescending tone of before. The prayer came calling like a clarion in a fogbank, now, clear and the center of Wrathion's focus. His eyes seemed... distant, as if he were staring beyond the man praying at Ogun's humble shrine, fingers pressing against his temple as he moved towards the supplicant, guided along like a toy on a string. The human couldn't see them, of course--and likely for the better, given the way Wrathion loomed over him, eyes slightly out of focus and glittering blood red and genuinely curious.

'... I've looked all over for it, and nobody else is listening--you're a god of metal, right? It's the last thing we have of my dad, after he... please, I just took it off to work in the garden, and then it wasn't on the counter.'

The explanation continued as the man seemed to try and talk himself through his ill-fated days before. Wrathion's eyes narrowed, sharp as he studied the desperate man before him. He dug the points of his teeth into his lip, seeming to consider... or perhaps he was simply full of contempt, being a self-important asshole as he was. "Hm. And you think this is worthy of attention, Kaden?"

The more Kaden listened in, the more he was sure that this was a worthy cause. Something pulled at him, deep and painful in a way he couldn't rightly explain or identify - losing the last memento of a loved one was horrible loss no matter what it was. It could have been a sock or a piece of mail and it still could have been important to someone. Idly, he lifted a hand to his chest, gripping into a tight fist as his ears drooped a little. This poor guy. He must have really loved his dad.

"It's absolutely worthy," he answered, lifting his head to look Wrathion right in the eyes even if the god was still staring at the man before them. "Can't you see how important this is to him? Do you not feel how much he's hurting over losing it? He's praying right to you, not to anyone else. We're the only ones that can fix this."

"It's... a ring. Just a piece of metal, ultimately bound to rust away, or break, or..." There was a frustration in Wrathion's voice, in his mien; his shinki's ache resonated in Wrathion's very core, burning cold despite the molten heat of Wrathion's sense of purpose. He looks away from the man in prayer, truly looking at Kaden--at the set of his mouth, the angle of his ears, the square of his shoulders. His eyes met Kaden's and locked, Kaden's determination clashing against Wrathion's pragmatism.

Wrathion... was not a cruel being, really; he was calculated and cold when he needed to be, and entirely too capable of finding the greater goal and seizing it, even if it left the smaller details trampled beneath his passing. It was hard to think like--like a mortal, like a human. The dragons may have lost their immortality, but their magic--great and terrible as it was--lived on. He would live for thousands of years while kingdoms of mortal men rose and fell, and rose again, the warden of the earth left as unmoving as a mountain--a mountain that would wear down to dust before Wrathion himself did.

Asking him to know someone's pain intrinsically was like asking a man without eyes to argue the importance of a candle. "This truly means that much to you?"

"It does," Kaden replied with conviction, ears perking and brow furrowing. If Wrathion was asking again, it meant that he was really considering it. Maybe, anyway - Kaden liked to think that he was making some difference. Wrathion seemed to think of nothing but his own motivations, but if he could spin this in a way that could make it more appealing...

It wasn't as if he wasn't planning on finding the ring even if Wrathion said no, anyway. But having a god around was better if he ran into ayakashi.

"This guy follows you, you know. Or he will, after you help him, and he'll probably tell a whole bunch of people about you, too! And from what I gather, the strongest gods have the most followers. Whatever your own agenda is, won't more followers and being more powerful help with that?"

There's a moment where Wrathion's shoulders draw back--as if he's about to take umbrage with Kaden's words, eyes narrowing in a quick-flare of temper. He doesn't need to perform tricks for people to follow him--people sought him and begged him for work in return for trinkets! His brows furrowed, mouth opening--

And then he closed his mouth, looking away from Kaden and back to the supplicant. His usual sense of self-importance is... muddled. The supplicant's pain and desire, Kaden's righteous burning--there's just enough conviction that Wrathion's almost reminded of Anduin, and that makes him pause. He... has left his center of command before, when the task couldn't be trusted to anyone else. It was a special occasion, and a particularly grand power...

One follower wasn't quite the same as a thunder god's heart, but. Sometimes small steps were the only ones you could take. "If you insist, then. We'll follow him back to his residence when he scrapes himself off the ground."

The change was almost instantaneous. Kaden's ears perked in a decidedly different manner, tail swishing behind him as it had when he was at his most confident, and his somber and solemn expression shifted to practically beaming. Whether it had been his own encouragement or Wrathion simply changing his mind for his own reasons, it was still an acceptance of fixing the problem, and that was all that mattered.

"Great! I'm glad you decided it's worthwhile! I'll return the favor, I promise." And with the conviction he'd shown before, Kaden really and truly meant it.

Wrathion gave a dismissive little sniff, arms crossing over his chest as he waited for the gloomy man before them to cease his groveling. "Yes, well. I can be as magnanimous as anyone, when I so choose." Because it was Wrathion that created his own destiny. No one else.

... still, he waited a moment and then sent a wave of comfort to wash over the man--a sense of accepting his plight, and a promise for aid. It wasn't long before he rose and began the heavy journey home. Wrathion gave Kaden a look, brows raised, and began to follow.

Giving some form of comfort to the man made a big impact with Kaden. Wrathion didn't have to do anything but wait for him to head back to his home, but the kind gesture made him seem like much more of a caring individual. He knew there was some good beneath that crusty, indifferent exterior!

Not wanting to be left behind, he followed close behind Wrathion, hands behind his back but tail swishing in a generally pleased fashion. "So, I guess we sneak in behind him and look around his house until we find it? If he left it inside, it can't have gone too far."

Well, if Wrathion was going to devote his considerably valuable time to something, he expected to be properly compensated and thanked for it. That's all the divine wash of comfort was for; nothing more, nothing less. Wrathion followed the man with his arms crossed, attempting to look grouchy and imposing for the benefit of... Kaden? Probably?

"Yes, well. I suppose that's a starting point--tell me, do you have any particular talent for tracking metal?" Kaden was a giant fox, right? Could foxes... smell... metal? The mind boggled and then settled down because it just wasn't worth twisting into knots over. The man eventually turned, fussing with his keys for a bit as he approached his house. Wrathion frowned, dourly, glancing back at Kaden. "Also, I'm beginning to suspect he was praying to me because I was the closest shrine." Sniff.

"I mean, he could have," Kaden agreed with a shrug, not even bothering to try to deny the possibility. If the man was truly as desperate as he sounded, he'd probably take any route he could - clearly whatever god he might have tried praying to before just wasn't answering. But good for them that they heard the call!

As the door unlocked, Kaden watched the man intently, taking a good moment to memorize his scent. "Kind of? If he wears it as often as he says he does it'll smell like him, but metal has a definite smell. It depends on the type of metal, too, but if this is an heirloom ring it wouldn't be cheap metal or steel, so I won't get distracted by all this other metal stuff in the house."

"How touching, in that case." Wrathion all but rolled his eyes, waiting with his arms crossed. The man opened the door with a sigh; Wrathion's hand darted out to catch the wooden slab before it could swing shut. He stepped to the side to allow Kaden through before entering himself.

The house was messy--but in a way that was more the casualty of life, instead of filth. Wrathion immediately set to theor task, heading for the kitchen with purpose in his step.

Kaden wasn't far behind, giving the man a glance as he slipped his shoes off and moved into the living room to greet-- his wife? His daughter? Someone with a feminine voice, anyway. But it wasn't as if they could be seen anyway, so their intrusion wasn't even an inconvenience for the people living here.

It was for the household cat, though, apparently. An orange and white tomcat was curled in the sill of the kitchen window, napping and basking in the sunlight, but the moment Kaden and Wrathion entered his attention was directly on them, tail flicking irritably against the wall and ears forward and alert. Kaden paused in the doorway, his own ears perked forward as he regarded the cat with interest - he hadn't known animals could see them, but it made sense in a way, especially since cats seemed to like staring at things that weren't there. "Oh! Some furry help. Aren't we lucky?"

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"I Can't Believe My Prayers for Test Answers Were Answered By an African War God?!"

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