The Eyes of Horus: The Eye of Thunder
Chapter Two: Village of the Monks
It did not take long to find the village that Raiden was talking about. After relocating the path they took to the clearing where they encountered the angry lioness god Sekhmet. It was only a minute before they reached the village. By the time they arrived, Bastet immediately shed the shock she had for finding out her sister was and replaced it with excitement.
"Is that a village?" Bastet asked, hardly hiding her excitement. The cat goddess had an added skip in her step and she was pushing ahead of Raiden, ready to burst into a run. "I can't wait to see the Earthrealm mortals! The other gods always say such odd stories about them."
Raiden couldn't help but smile at Bastet's cheerful curiosity. Never in his life had he seen someone so excited to meet people of Earthrealm. The cat goddess' eyes glowed with such enthusiasm it was almost overwhelming.
"May I ask why you are so excited to meet the humans of Earthrealm?" Raiden asked for really no good reason.
Bastet looked back at him and smiled. He could hear a purr come from her. He knew that the feline warrior was not going to answer his question. The thunder god looked on ahead. The many villagers were out on this lovely afternoon, enjoying the sun and doing what had to be done around the village. Children ran through the streets, playing their own version of "Liu Kang vs. Shao Khan". Elderly humans sat by their homes and told stories of what had occurred the previous evening in their abodes. Everything was very serene among that village and Raiden couldn't help but stare at it.
"Lord Raiden?" Bastet spoke his name, breaking him from his trance.
He shook his head and looked at the cat goddess. "All is fine."
"Good because I was about to run on ahead without you," Bastet responded before marching back down the path to the village.
Raiden let out a sigh and followed after Bastet. As the two approached, many of the villagers noticed their arrival, especially that of Lord Raiden's. The villagers, upon hearing Raiden's coming, ran to the village entrance to great the protector of Earthrealm. When Raiden and Bastet made it to the entrance, they were met with cheers and bows of respect. Raiden knew that these bows and signs of respect were directed towards him but he saw no hard feelings being shown from Bastet. In fact, she seemed more enjoying the company of humans than anything and was cheering along with them. Soon, the crowd parted down the middle and the famed Earthrealm warrior, Liu Kang, made his way down to greet the thunder god. He had a smile on his face as he came closer to the two gods.
"Greetings Lord Raiden," Liu Kang greeted politely, bowing his head respectfully to the thunder god.
Raiden returned the greeting in the same manner. Liu Kang looked over to see Bastet. Bastet stared back at him with a smile, her green eyes glowing with cheerfulness.
"And who must this be?" Liu Kang prompted, looking back at Raiden.
"This warrior is Bastet," Raiden answered. "She is goddess of cats and is my companion at the moment."
Liu Kang turned to Bastet and held his hand out, the Earthrealm way of greeting someone new. But Bastet did not know this. She stared at his hand and cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy. She looked over at Raiden to get some sort of clue of what this gesture meant. Raiden just simply stared back and nodded, thinking that the cat goddess knew that Liu Kang only wanted a simple handshake. Instead of reaching out her own hand, Bastet ducked down and rubbed her head against his hand, letting out a friendly purr as she did so. Raiden let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head at Bastet's action. Luckily, Liu Kang found the cat goddess' gesture in good humor and laughed, rubbing his hand against her head.
"Please excuse her," Raiden mumbled. "She has never been to Earthrealm before and is not used to the customs here."
"All is well," Liu Kang replied. "There is no harm being done."
At this point and being in such a content state, Bastet had reverted to her feline form. She pressed her head into Liu Kang's hand and purred even louder. Raiden watched Bastet, comparing her actions to that of a kitten. But, he could not blame her. She was not used to the customs of Earthrealm and she seemed very happy with the attention she was receiving. Raiden watched as several children came up to Bastet, curious to meet the cat goddess. Bastet stopped her rubbing against Liu Kang and stared at the approaching children. Even in her cat form she towered over the children. Raiden was afraid of how she would react to children or "kits" as she'd call them. Bastet lowered her head and stared at the children with no clear emotion written on her face. Then one of the children walked closer to Bastet, a little girl holding a purple flower in her hand. Bastet looked at the little girl, then at the flower, and then again at the little girl. Bastet took a step closer and sniffed the top of the little girl's head. She then sniffed the flower.
"Master Raiden," Liu Kang spoke quietly. "Your companion is a bit…odd. Is she safe around children?"
"I sure hope she is…" Raiden muttered.
Bastet arched her back, looking like she'd pounced on the little girl. Liu Kang and Raiden jumped forward, ready to intervene if the cat goddess were to attack. The villagers also gasped in shock. But Bastet did not lunge at the little girl. Instead, the feline padded to the child, bowed her head and winked at the girl. The little child let out a giggle and placed the flower behind the cat goddess' right ear. Bastet purred loudly and licked the girl's hand. Relief flooded over Raiden like a wave but felt a little afraid for the feline as the other children began to jump and crawl on the cat goddess.
"Uh, Lord Raiden," Liu Kang spoke up, interrupting Raiden from watching the spectacle between Bastet and her new friends unfold. "May I ask why you have made your may here?"
"I can, but may we do in a place a bit more private?" Raiden asked.
"Of course we can," Liu Kang answered. "Does your companion wish to come with?"
"I'd like to," Bastet spoke up for herself, despite one determined child trying to crawl up her neck. "But I think I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment. And I-Ow! Stop pulling on my ear!"
Bastet got up as quickly as she could and ran away from the group kids. Thinking that it was a game, the children pursued after the feline, running through the village's streets. Liu Kang turned to look at Raiden and chuckled nervously.
"Kids…they meet a cat that's bigger than them and they have to show their superiority by picking on it. I hope she won't be too mad later."
"She'll get over it eventually," Raiden responded. "Shall we go?"
"Yes, allow me to lead the way."
"So, why exactly are you traveling with the goddess of cats?" Liu Kang asked.
They had arrived to Liu Kang's home and were sitting on the wooden porch that looked out at a small pond. Lily pads and other flowers bobbed at the surface. Beautiful, golden fish made their home in the clear water and swam around aimlessly in the liquid. The afternoon sun hit the water's surface, making it shine radiantly. The pool, with the forest background, was a very tranquil sight to behold.
"I am traveling with the goddess Bastet because the Elder Gods have given us a task," Raiden answered. "We are to locate the missing sun god Ra."
"Ra…" Liu Kang repeated the name of the god. The Shaolin Monk looked very confused. "I have never heard of this god before."
"Not many have," Raiden replied. "Most of the gods do not remember him very clearly as well."
"What has happened to this sun god Ra?"
"No one knows. He disappeared without a trace and has never returned back to his home in the heavens. I have reason to believe he might be in one of the realms."
"And what of the cat goddess? Why is she traveling with you?"
"She is a daughter of Ra. The Elder Gods felt that she'd be of help on this journey. So far, we only found her sister, the lioness Sekhmet."
"You have seen the lioness as well?" Liu Kang stood up and stared at the thunder god.
"You know of her?" Raiden asked, his face giving a puzzled expression.
"Yes, she has been stalking our villagers lately and killing off most of the animals in the forest. We had to instate a curfew at night in fear that she would attack. We guessed that it was an angry spirit of a dead warrior. Never would we have thought that it was a god."
"Sekhmet has changed since her disappearance from her home. We encountered her in the forest and she tried to challenge us, claiming that the Elder Gods have forsaken her. She then ran away into the forest. We all thought that she had died years ago. Bastet was astonished to see her alive…"
Raiden's voice trailed off, remembering the emotion Bastet had seeing her sister alive. Bastet had truly thought her sister was gone forever. Sekhmet was changed, no longer the sister that Bastet had once knew. She was probably aligned with the dark forces now and the next conflict with her could be a deadly one.
"Lord Raiden?" Liu Kang asked, placing a hand on Raiden's shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
Raiden shook his head and looked at Liu Kang and reassured him. "Yes, everything is all right."
"Great…now that everything is all right and dandy, hide me from these kits before they play "Mortal Kombat" with me!" Bastet's cat form streaked across the porch and jumped behind Liu Kang. The cat goddess seemed very peeved, her grey fur sticking up on end. "I do not want to be this 'Shao Khan' person again."
Internet Red: It's okay that you know little about Egyptian mythology. I just hope the story is exciting for you.
Paritheikae: I think I'll continue with fun facts at the end, just to help clear up confusion and prevent people from searching these things on their own time. And yay! I hope this chapter does you justice.
SuperSaiyanMario9000: Thank you for your kind words.
A/N: Another boring chapter, but I promise the next one will be interesting. And now, time for another history lesson. This time, about the actual cat goddess Bastet. Now, Bastet is indeed a cat goddess, but she also goddess of sexuality, music, good fortune and protector of women and children. She, when she first made her appearance had the head of a lion, but later her appearance became more of a house cat's head than a lion (Sekhmet was given the lion head). Many sources say that she is a goddess of the sun and many other sources say that she is a moon goddess. Her main symbol, obviously, is a cat. This goddess is much more docile and joyful, as compared to her fierce and anger-driven twin Sekhmet.
There is your history lesson for the evening. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, as always, constructive criticism is always welcomed. Thank you for the read and support! Stay thirsty my friends.