*Enoch caught the flash of movement in a store's window while exploring, and followed the energetic explorer at a slower pace, keeping calm and and a careful eye out to keep the trail. Despite meeting a talking pony and a troll so far, he still can't shake the instinct that a non-human, non-angel must be a demon. So he wants to make sure. When the explorer stops, he does as well and addresses him.*
You're very acrobatic.
*Of course, he has no idea this is the creature he met before, when he was trapped as a swan.*
*"Two Cane's wife"... So the Shekinah was acting separately from God? She is associated with the moon, but...there's something really unsettling about all this, something entirely unnatural to his senses and he can't figure out what.*
*Never mind that it sounds a little like the human name Rebecca, Enoch can't figure out why the Shekinah would choose such a name. Or why she would choose a cat as a form... But far be it from him to question something like that. It happened, or will happen, whatever "it" is that makes the sun fall from the sky.*
...A cat. That's what the creature is called.
*It's really all he can think to say. To think that something like this could lie in the future...*
*Illustrations? He has to wonder. But all that skepticism gets pushed aside in a heartbeat for the sake of praise.* Absolutely. There is little more amazing than creation itself.
[He smiles a bit, nodding. Every ribika knew the creation story, even Asato. He remembers his mother telling it to him when he was only a kitten. He doesn't mind sharing it, either.]
The story says that Ribika laid a rainbow egg, and out of that came all the living things. And then she woke up their spirits with her Song. That's why poets are so special. They have the song inside them. It's an amazing story.
*Oh. Not the same. Oh well, it isn't as if Enoch hasn't encountered people that believe in other deities. He's long since figured out that direct proselytizing only makes him unwelcome, no matter how much better he knows it.*
...Oh, I see. Our people worship two different deities altogether. The Lord I serve created everything out of the nothingness of the universe in seven days.
*...to this day, he hasn't learned whether that was seven Earth days or seven Heaven days.*
[Still, Asato listens, curious to hear Enoch's version of the story. His mother had told him these stories as a kitten, so the memories are fond ones, and he wants to hear more, learn more, even if it's something from a different culture or different world altogether.]
Seven days...That's not a long time at all. Whoever that Lord is, he must be amazing too. Do the creatures your Lord serve have songs? They must...right?
*That prompts a pause for thought as Enoch wrestles with the edge of a memory buried in time.*
They...must, I can't imagine a world without music. But the human idea of music must be very different from the angels' knowledge of it. I remember I had to teach an angel to sing the way we do. It was a very long time ago, though...I don't remember it very well. If I asked in return whether angels had music, I don't remember.
It's different for everyone. You make poetry and music with it, you talk to nature with it. But the most important part is that you use it to lift up other people. People who can do that are special. Ashraf told me it's like love. It might be. I'm not sure.
[His tail sways slowly, easily. He doesn't think he's a part of that. He wants to be, but he's not, and he's accepted that.]
Love is important. I hope I can have that some day. [He whispers it, as if divulging a secret he shouldn't be sharing. But he trusts Enoch, so he gradually reveals that part of himself. The lonely part, the part that yearns for friendship and mutual understanding.]
You're very acrobatic.
*Of course, he has no idea this is the creature he met before, when he was trapped as a swan.*
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*"Two Cane's wife"... So the Shekinah was acting separately from God? She is associated with the moon, but...there's something really unsettling about all this, something entirely unnatural to his senses and he can't figure out what.*
And your kind was named after her?
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[His tail curls and twitches lazily.]
Yes. We see her picture in Two Cane's books...she came to earth as a small creature with ears and tails, like we have. That's why we're called ribika.
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...A cat. That's what the creature is called.
*It's really all he can think to say. To think that something like this could lie in the future...*
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We can't read Two Cane's writing. But we have pictures. The things Two Cane did were incredible.
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The story says that Ribika laid a rainbow egg, and out of that came all the living things. And then she woke up their spirits with her Song. That's why poets are so special. They have the song inside them. It's an amazing story.
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...Oh, I see. Our people worship two different deities altogether. The Lord I serve created everything out of the nothingness of the universe in seven days.
*...to this day, he hasn't learned whether that was seven Earth days or seven Heaven days.*
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Seven days...That's not a long time at all. Whoever that Lord is, he must be amazing too. Do the creatures your Lord serve have songs? They must...right?
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They...must, I can't imagine a world without music. But the human idea of music must be very different from the angels' knowledge of it. I remember I had to teach an angel to sing the way we do. It was a very long time ago, though...I don't remember it very well. If I asked in return whether angels had music, I don't remember.
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It seems to me like Enoch has it. Very much so.
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[His tail sways slowly, easily. He doesn't think he's a part of that. He wants to be, but he's not, and he's accepted that.]
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Love is important. I hope I can have that some day. [He whispers it, as if divulging a secret he shouldn't be sharing. But he trusts Enoch, so he gradually reveals that part of himself. The lonely part, the part that yearns for friendship and mutual understanding.]
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