Rebirth of the Goddess [Private]

Yama stayed silent and allowed Sazuki's audible thoughts to flow while she seemed to cling to him, he wasn't exactly sure why. He wasn't particularly close to the goddess and by all right Sazuki herself should have been hitting him, "It's too late for what ifs Sazuki. It has happened and we will need to try to make the best of it." He patted her back softly, "And with hope, they should leave you be. No one other than me knows. I hope to keep it like that."

"Her death... should have been permanent." She muttered, keeping her grip on him, hiding her face from sight. "The world is trying to heal itself. If she... I return, then... those gods that betrayed the humans that once worshipped then will be released... I don't to remember. I don't want them to be released. They caused her love's death, in a stupid attempt to get her to side with them. She didn't...."

Yama shook his head, more as a lack of understanding than any I'll intent, when Sazuki asked why it had to be her, "I don't know. I have never been privy to the way reincarnation chooses its hosts." Before he could say anything more she pulled her hand away only to wrap her arms around him. With the moment of surprise over, he too gave a soft hug to offer at least a small degree of comfort to Sazuki.

Sazuki closed her eyes, taking in slow, deep breaths in an effort to calm her racing heart and mind. Blinking quickly, she looked at him when he stood up, staring at the hand he had a hole of. "I don't... understand what is going on." She muttered. "Why does it have to be me?" She shook her head and pulled her hand from his, only to do something unexpected and hugged the man.

Yama picked himself up though stayed kneeling for Sazuki to remain in a more dominant stature, "It is that idea I put forth. Reincarnation and past lives. There was only one of us that could have done what you just did. The reason for the wars and why our world is the way it is." In an effort to hopefully help her calm down, he stood up and took a soft hold of her hand so she could focus on him, "You are the rebirth of life Sazuki. And with hope the world may recover. "

Sazuki looked down at her hands, finding an intense fear welling up in her mind. Turning, she looked down at Yama, her eyes wide, showing her fear that threatened to overwhelm her. "Yama... Why are you doing that?" She reached up and flattened her ears against her skull as she stared at the floor with wide eyes. "What is going on?" She muttered, feeling tears in her eyes.

Yama took to his feet as well when Sazuki planted herself against the wall and nearly jumped at the sharp crack sound. The growing illumination from where Sazuki just was and the doorway that formed shortly after told him exactly who she was. And the idea of who she could have been all those years ago became excessively clear, "If seems that I owe you a phenomenal apology my lady." He bowed in front of her with his forehead to the floor, "I welcome you back to the living world, and I hope our meeting was not unforgivable. "

Sazuki stood to her feet and turned her back towards him, her mind suddenly assaulted by even more fragmented, distorted images. Placing a hand against the rock wall in front of her, she closed her eyes and look in a careful breath. After a moment, there was a sound of rock cracking and she jumped back. A spot appeared in the wall where her hand had been, and she watched in confused fascination as the the crack turned into a doorway, and a new form formed through the rock. Power of creation, of life, was the only thing that could produce such a phenomenon.

Yama in turn offered a slight nod when she answered, "If I may suggest then. Perhaps a reason why you know as much as you do, yet have no understanding why, is that you are a reincarnation of someone from back in that era. Of who exactly, I could not give an accurate answer." He sighed soft maybe thinking that this was because he had isolated himself from the rest of the immortals, "There were many that lost their lives in that era. If that guess is of any consolation to you or not. Or maybe just one pressure off your mind." He hadn't realized it until just now, but his 'home' was rather cramped for two people.

Sazuki looked at him, letting out a soft sigh when he said that he didnt dislike Illiya, for some reason feeling as if a deep pressure had been lifted from her chest. When he asked her if she believed in past lives, she felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck, and she hugged herself once again. "I have no reason to disbelieve such an idea...."

Yama sighed at the notion that she wouldn't eat what he offered, "I don't have much of anything else sadly. I can venture out in a search for edible roots or berries when the hunt dies down." Came the second offer while he slid the box to the side. The name she gave next was almost nostalgic, if it hadn't been for the fact he had only known that name through the conflicts, "I hold no grudge to her if that is what you imply. I do not hold personal grudges aside from those that have maliciously and purposely wronged me." Again, more names that she was too young to know anything about, "Tell me Sazuki. Are you familiar with the idea of past lives?" He asked hoping there could be some idea for her.

Sazuki wanted to hate this man, for what he wanted from her, and how he acted to get it. But there was something deep in her mind that wanted to... apologize? What in the hell was that? Shaking her head, she carefully closed the lid of the box, sliding it back towards him. "I am sorry, but I do not eat anything meat. I can see the entire life of the animal that the meat used to be." She looked down at her hands, feeling... odd. "Do you dislike Illiya as well? Even as she resisted the idea of pulling you and your fellow minor deities into the war?"

Yama merely offered a small nod when Sazuki introduced herself as well as her efforts to conduct herself, "Then it is a pleasure to meet you Sazuki. I wish we could have met under better circumstances." He bowed briefly before Sazuki's question, "If I ever saw or made myself a part of their lives, it would be far too soon. Especially after they pulled me in to fight in a war I had no wish to fight." He spoke in less of an enthusiastic mood though broke that to stand himself up and rummage through some containers, "I don't have much to offer as far as food. Mostly just meats I've dried from hunts or what I buy from the mortals." He set down a small box filled with small strips of preserved meat, "Since you're my guest. It would be rude if I didn't offer something."

Sazuki took in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out slowly, doing this twice more to clear her head. "My name is Sazuki. I have been alone almost since the day I was born. And no, I do not know how I have survived on my own for so long, before you ask." Slowly opening her eyes, she looked back him in silence for a moment before tilting her head to the side slightly. "Do you ever wish you were with the other gods?"

With a slight more irritation, Yama shift to more of a meditative kneeling posture in an effort to calm himself despite the constant reminders from this inari, "Then perhaps there should be some attempt at a distraction. You know my name, Yama. A lesser god of hunters. And what might your name be young inari?" He asked keeping his hands placed on his thighs while keeping his eyes up and focused on hers again.

Sazuki looked at him with anger that was directed at him. "How should I know?!" She hissed, her arms coming up to wrap around herself, an automatic response to protect herself. "I already said before, I don't know about any of this! It won't... stop..." She muttered, shaking her head. "Why won't... it stop?"

Yama stayed silent when Sazuki explained even more about what happened with the world. It was so strange that this young inari somehow knew so much about a time she could have never known, "Yes. Though that was because I lost most of what made me an immortal. Anymore I'm just a human, but I do not die of old age or the elements. Sometimes I wish I could." After his side of the explanation he went in close to her, "I need to know how you've come to know all this. You can't have been born any more than twenty years ago. Yet you seem to know everything. I need to know how."

Sazuki let out an annoyed sigh, looking over at him. "You are the only... immortal I have seen. Many of the old gods are locked behind a barrier, put away for the sins they have committed." She knelt down, using a finger to draw an imaginary shape against she ground. "They caused the death of the one goddess that could save saved them all. They killed her love, and with the erasure of Death, when the Goddess of Life died, they could not win, and the end of the world came...."

Yama looked away when Sazuki told him that she didn't want to talk about anything, "I see." He started feeling the anger welling up in her, "It was kind of funny. You saying I'm no different than a human. You'd be surprised with how true that is with all immortals. No matter how much any of us try to say otherwise." He glanced around trying not to stare directly at her now.

Sazuki pulled on the shirt without a word, her gaze on the floor beneath her feet, her mind finally going clear, before it all came crashing back when he asked her if she had any questions about what she had seen. "No." She looked up at him, her eyes sharp with confused anger. She was mad at someone, but the anger didnt feel like hers. "I don't want to know anything."

Yama was about to lower himself down to check on Sazuki when she started muttering to herself again. This time on something that he was immediately familiar with and it made him shake at the memory of what he had to go through those many years ago, "Yes." He started now breaking contact to move to a small section of the room that held some clothes that looked permanently stained from the years out, "This is one of the cleaner shirt I own." He uttered out trying not to have the memories haunt him again, "Is there anything you wished to know? I figure you saw something when we entered." He set himself down keeping his focus on her eyes lest his wandered while she covered herself.

For some reason, the visions triggered an odd image, and she stared with wide eyes at the floor. "That's... not right...." She muttered, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to ignore the sight she saw in her mind: she was looking through the eyes of someone, as what she could only assume were gods dragged several minor immortals out. "Why do they have to fight? We have more than enough soldiers to fight." She muttered, even as she heard the words in her flash... back? Shaking her head to clear it, she let out a sigh and relaxed, keeping her eyes closed. "I am fine. If you have a large shirt, that should be enough to keep what needs to be covered, covered."

The visions Sazuki saw seemed almost disjointed. Starting with more elaborately dressed immortals grabbing Yama by the arm, images of him being forced to fight in a war he had no reason to fight, him cradling a man as he breathed his last breath, and lastly him struggling to keep standing while he suffered from starvation yet unable to die from such a mortal ailment. All brief moments from his view.

Yama had barely noticed that Sazuki brushed against him as he engaged the lock to the trap door then, in a more relaxed posture, took his walk back. He noticed the suddenly nude woman covering herself with the abundance of hair she thankfully had, "I'd offer you something to wear, but I don't think I have anything in your size sadly." He offered hoping to relieve some of the tension he felt in the more compact space, "You feeling alright?"

Sazuki rushed inside ahead of him, and as she did, one of her tails brushed his arm. Going to the farthest corner away from the stairs, she unfortunately popped back into her humanoid form, using her hair to cover her chest. Looking down at the floor, she tried to make sense of the scenes of war she had seen when she accidentally touched him. What was that?

Yama glanced back and shifted his steps to keep pace and yet see what Sazuki was speaking about, "Resourceful. Our destination is close." He alerted Sazuki when the sound of running water became audible at least in his perspective. Instead of a house in the middle of the woods, he reached down into a cluster of moss and lifted a steel door, heavy for a god to struggle alone, from the ground and waved for her to enter which he would follow and ensure everything was shut properly once they were both inside.