DIVA: Tales of the Holy Mountain #2

[deucexm]

I have a few remaining ideas for this series, but I think I'll let them gestate 
just a bit longer.  I still have Royals to finish, after all; I haven't 
forgotten about that one - it's actually been weighing on me a bit.  But Tales 
is fun and simple, and greases the gears in addition to having value of its own.

TALES OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN: A DiVerse Alpha Chronicle 
by Colin Stokes 

02 - A petting zoo

Before the goddesses arrived, the holy mountain was no more than a barren spear of
rock; tall enough to touch the clouds, true, but with little else of significance.

When Kurogami ascended to the peak and became one with the mountain, she tapped
into the wellspring of life hidden deep within it - and brought it to the surface,
turning black and gray to brown, then to green.  Flora grew, flourishing as it
could nowhere else, and the barren mountain slowly became supernaturally vibrant
with nature's glory, a thick forest covering most of it and a permanent shifting
mist wreathing its summit.

It was a long process, though, and Shirogami was lonely when she awoke each day. 
Thus she ventured out into the nearby lands to discover animals worthy of bringing
back to populate the holy mountain; and of these she selected some small few to
become guardian beasts, and some to become fierce and nightmarish monsters, each
according to the desire of its heart.

Kurogami separated herself from the mountain when her manipulations were complete,
and found the little White God at the treeline, astride a massive black serpent
with bright green eyes and forked lightning markings in crimson all down its back.

"What have you wrought, my dear?" she asked, bemused.

"Too many things to list all at once," Shirogami replied matter-of-factly, as was
her wont, "and yet not enough to satisfy.  But this one is Wrantaile, who eschews
venom in favor of paralyzing shocks and incinerating thunderbolts."

Kurogami nodded thoughtfully, and reached out to stroke the serpent's head.  "But
why such a design?  She sounds like a weapon - a beautiful one, though..."

"The mountain is ours now, and I intend to keep it that way - wild and untamed and
even deadly if it must be, to ward off jealousy and avarice.  If I am to be feared
instead of loved, I may as well have company for it."

The Black God lifted Shirogami off of her mount immediately, embracing her tightly
and resting a hand on her head.  "You will /always/ be loved," she murmured softly.
"I have left you alone for too long once again, I think."

True to her word, Kurogami remained at the summit to shape the shrine that would be
their new home; neither merging with the mountain again, nor allowing herself to be
absorbed too fully in her work, but always making herself available.

The guardian beasts and terrible monsters roamed the mountain, each according to
the desire of its heart; and Wrantaile danced in joyful helices that lit up the
night with crackling blue, always cherishing that she had been called beautiful.