Okay! That's it for today! Now half of the story is up for whoever stumbles upon it.
Trivia! Vegavis is the genus of a bird that's gone extinct in the dinosaur age.
Disclaimer: There are many things in this world that do not belong to me. Kubera is one of them.
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Courtship of a Phoenix
…
At the end of the Seven Thousand Year War, Vinata and his supporters finally accepted Garuda as their rightful king. For a period of time, though Vinata was respected as the clan's second strongest Nastika, most of his duties were given to Avifauna for fear that he would take advantage of his position. However, the ostracism had not worked as Garuda intended and Vinata appeared content to be with just Kalavinka and Cepphus.
So content, in fact, that soon it was as if he bore no ill will toward Garuda at all. Only a few thousand years after a clash so great their clan almost tore in two, Vinata was slyly grinning beside him as they fended off regenerated gods together.
And Garuda thought for a fleeting moment how easy it was to mistake him for someone of the Ananta Clan.
…
Chapter Nine: The Agreement
N0 - approx. 310000 years
…
Vinata might have told him to talk, but Garuda found it rather hard to for two very obvious reasons. One, Vinata was standing in front of him. Two, Vinata was holding his face.
Maybe the latter was actually a blessing in disguise because otherwise he was sure that the faint blush that formed on his cheeks would give him away, especially because his skin was pale white as opposed to Vinata's creamy caramel.
Vinata seemed to realize this as well because his hands quickly fell to his sides. It was rather strange because the red man was standing on higher ground, both physically and figuratively. Hadn't he loved belittling Garuda at every chance he got? Did something really change?
He couldn't risk getting his hopes high.
"What is there to talk about?" Garuda asked.
What was there ever to talk about between the two of them? No matter what, he just couldn't see the conversation taking a turn to his liking. Three hundred thousand years passed fruitlessly. He was still a man. Vinata was still a man. Obviously two male Nastikas could not mate and start a family, and he was pretty sure Vinata would choose Ananta any day over him anyway. Even if just to create a hundred thousand bird-snake hybrid Rakshasas to bring about his demise.
Vinata reached out another hand to grab his shoulder. Garuda had half a mind to state that his body was off limits if Vinata refused to be with him. The intimate but not really intimate touches were not only bad for his heart but occasionally his health as well.
"I don't know. What about Avifauna's son for example?"
"What about Vegavis?"
"Why don't you tell me. You're the one who almost killed him," replied Vinata. "Good thing I stopped you in time. He's not that bad looking for a spawn of the devil. Pretty damn smart too. Maybe I should mate with him."
Garuda never really liked that Rakshasa much. And now he had a reason.
"Sure," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Why not? It's your body to do as you wish and he's not going to die anytime soon. Feel free to turn female for him whenever you want."
It was hard enough for him to choke out the encouragement, so when Vinata didn't say anything, Garuda suddenly found himself holding back a bitter laugh. Only years of practicing his poise contained it long enough for him to turn and start trudging away. He wanted to take out his wings but his feet suddenly felt like they were glued the ground. And he wasn't going to fly lopsided in front of Vinata to exhibit how hopeless he was. Visnu did say that it'd be several hundred years until he convinced Vinata. Just exactly how many years?
No, Visnu was a completely different matter. In the first place, he didn't even tell Garuda whether he would succeed or not. Could his friend have purposely kept him in the dark to alleviate the pain of an eternally unrequited love?
"You know, it physically hurts me to see how much you're suffering because of me."
He froze in his tracks, unable to believe what he had heard for a moment. Then, when he was certain that it wasn't the wind playing tricks on him, Garuda considered all the possible outcomes of Vinata knowing his deepest secret. Will his lieutenant use it against him now? Knowing Vinata, he would probably suggest something ridiculous like Garuda becoming a female so that he could ascend.
It was one of his deepest regrets and agitations. Hadn't Vinata, as a woman, told Garuda that she would no longer chase after the throne? Yet not a million years had passed by and the words she had said that day—that day he so deeply cherished—meant nothing.
"If it truly bothers you that much then tell me not to do it." He could hear faint footsteps approaching his figure. He was scared of them. "Tell me not to be with Vegavis."
"And then what?" he asked. "If I tell you not to be with Vegavis, would that make you want to turn female for me? Would that make you want to be with me any more? You have already made it clear a long time ago that you do not belong to me."
What came next was slow and cautious. "You're right. I did say that, but things have changed since then. I don't belong to you… However, I would like to."
The statement was as quiet as Garuda's hair was white. Quiet and shy. Intimate. So very unlike Vinata that he turned around and stared into the face of the red man. It hid nothing. He couldn't see a blush through the tanned skin, but Vinata's eyes were shining and they were starkly resolute. He only ever had that look when the red man was genuinely determined about something.
Which was good, too. Garuda wasn't sure he could wait another couple hundred thousand years.
"I recall a certain Nastika telling me that I was a horrible leader."
"I wonder who that could be." Vinata's eyes were twinkling.
"I don't believe that you want me," he replied, and it was true. He so very desperately wanted to believe it, but the fact still remains that how Vinata acted around him for the past hundred thousand years said something completely opposite.
But wait, didn't it change a little? Just a little as the years progressed. A few hundred thousand years ago he couldn't care less if Garuda got blown apart by a Vritra Sura. But then Vinata said he was a decent guy. And Vinata stopped roughing his feathers. And he still did mean things to Garuda but they were more childish, more prank-like, almost like an attempt to get his attention. And hadn't Kalavinka told him that Vinata was tracing pictures of him in the ground during that meeting? When she first said that, Garuda thought he had been drawing all the ways he could clip off Garuda's wings slowly and painfully—or something along those lines.
"If you want to be mine, you'd have turned female by now."
"Oh, I was going to," he chippered, "but—"
But what? Garuda didn't like buts. Buts were bad; they were conditional, and he was not sure he was ready to strike a bargain with his lieutenant. Ever.
"I just didn't feel like it. It didn't feel… right."
And therein laid the root of all his anguish. How many times had he suffered at the hands of Vinata's "just didn't feel like it" mood?
"I wonder if you would ever turn female for me." Vinata had a hand around his chin. He was looking up, as if he were actually imagining it inside his head. "You'd be a beautiful woman."
He could kind of see where Vinata was going with this. It hurt. It hurt a lot to have his feelings trivialized and tossed around by the very person he feared would treat him this way. Vinata meant no harm. Garuda could see that. But Vinata did not share his interests in this relationship. To him, it was just a quick hookup. Garuda was someone he could have fun with for a few hundred thousand years and then leave as soon as it got dull. He was out for excitement, had always been out for excitement. He made that much clear enough when he refused to change genders.
"Forget it," sighed Garuda. "Come back to me when you've made an authentic decision." If you can actually make one, he added mentally to himself.
A hand grabbed at his wrist just as he was about to take off. The grip was strong enough to ground him without a great struggle.
"Wait."
He waited.
"I'm sorry," Vinata murmured, staring into he ground. "I didn't mean to come across as that kind of person to you."
Garuda stared unblinkingly at him. "You've always been that kind of person. I've never complained."
"I know how much you go through to put up with me. Will you believe me this one last time when I tell you I have a reason for stalling?"
Garuda waited, but Vinata was clearly unwilling to delve into the reason.
"How long will I wait?" he asked.
"Um…" Vinata was tugging at his sleeve. "Until either one of us changes gender, I guess. The first one to turn female stays female."
For a second, he wondered if it was Vinata's way of hoodwinking him to relinquish his status as king. He avoided Garuda's gaze, opting to stare at the hard ground instead. The king was not a fool. He knew that there was something off about the suggestion. In a sense, Vinata was asking for his trust, for him to wholeheartedly believe that his lieutenant would not hurt him.
"You know that I have no choice but to agree," he said grudgingly, pulling his arm from the red man's grasp. Truthfully, he only did so because there was no possible way he would turn female as the king of the clan, no matter how Vinata tempted him. There was too much duty and responsibility that weighed upon his shoulders.
"I'm sorry."
"I don't resent you for it." After all, he'd waited his entire life. It could only get easier with reciprocated feelings. Visnu said several hundred thousand years. Somehow, Vinata was going to be his wife before the end of the millennium.
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N0 - approx. 290000 years
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"Will Shuri be joining us to hunt Chandra?"
Garuda spared a glance in the direction of the mountain where he usually met with Gandharva, Shuri and Visnu. Right now, it was completely empty, but Shuri had very eminently expressed her displeasure at the fact that Gandharva and Garuda were more occupied with wooing mates than spending time with their friends. This would be a good opportunity to relive old times.
"Most likely," was the answer that he gave Avifauna. "I'll stay behind to get confirmation with her."
"You do that," he said, spreading two large chocolate-brown wings. "Well then, I'll be going ahead."
Garuda nodded as Avifauna took off, leading a flock of Nastikas, Rakshasas and Upanis that trailed after him. About an eighth of Garuda's clan left for the god hunt every twenty thousand years. Not all of them were there for Chandra. Each Sura had a separate target, but for the most part they would cooperate to take down whichever one god that the hunt was focused on.
As their figures traveled beyond the sky into space, Garuda too, prepared for takeoff. He barely launched himself into the air when all three wings from his right side were shredded, bring him off balance. He had no choice now but to land.
Which he did so in front of a grinning black haired, black eyed man whose right arm was half-transformed into a long, feathered bone with ten sharp, consistently-spaced spikes along it.
"Where are you going, my king?" Cepphus asked.
Garuda raised his sword guardedly. His eyes narrowed at the fiend. He would rather not fight Cepphus since Cepphus was one of Vinata's closest friends, but at the same time he couldn't let this mutinous behavior slip without consequence.
To his surprise, Cepphus lowered his arm. It slammed to the ground with enormous vigor, bringing dust and rocks into the air, as well as echoing a huge bang across the Garuda Clan territory.
Just what I need, the king thought grudgingly, the rest of the clan to be informed of altercations between Nastikas again.
When the dust cleared out, two Nastikas emerged. Cepphus's eyes still had a bloodthirsty glint. But this time, Kalavinka was standing beside him with a mediatory hand around his shoulder. Garuda did not fail to notice that her other arm had also been transformed—a solid limb that parted into three razor sharp feather blades at the tip. When she was male, a long time ago, there had been five and they were significantly larger.
"We can't let you leave unless you promise to become Vinata's wife," chirped Kalavinka. Though they were on different sides of the battle, unlike Cepphus, she bore no enmity towards him.
"Did Vinata put you up to this?"
"Don't worry about it," Cepphus told him, taking one step closer. Kalavinka's arm squeezed warningly on his shoulder.
All in all, it looked like Vinata's friends weren't particularly out to hurt him. Cepphus might have been, but as long as Kalavinka was there, there was no way he'd attack. Garuda could easily fight either one of them solo, but two Nastikas together was a totally different story.
If they thought they could bully him into relinquishing his throne, though, they had another thing coming.
"Okay," he said, surprising the two of them for a second. Garuda dropped his sword and contently seated himself on the softest rock he could find. "I just have to stay here right? It's not a big deal. I can miss out on one god hunt."
Cepphus and Kalavinka looked rather baffled.
"Uh—that is—yeah, sure you can," she finally said, shedding her battle armor.
Cepphus retained his form for a while but eventually transformed back once it became apparent that Garuda wasn't planning to secretly escape in any way.
The other two Nastikas also sat down, eyes trained on him like hawks, noting his every twitch and jerk.
So you want to play dirty, Garuda thought through half-closed eyelids. Then I shall just assume that there are no rules in this game. That brought a pleased smile to his face.
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N0 - approx. 280000 years
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"Shuri, Gandharva."
His three friends were already sitting and drinking when Garuda landed. Gandharva was frowning a little and complaining that Urvasi was giving him a hard time about visiting Menaka too much.
"So the day has come," Visnu remarked with a delighted grin. "See, my friend? I told you that all's well ends well!"
"What's up, Garuda?" Gandharva asked.
"I have a favour to ask of you."
They both gave him their undivided attention. Garuda asking for favours was very unlike him. Something was off, especially since his face was almost scrunched up into a foolish smile.
This all came as no surprise to Visnu. His shirt slipped further down his shoulder as he exclaimed, "I'm surprised you even took this long, Garuda!"
"Is this about Vinata?" asked Shuri, glancing back and forth between Garuda and Visnu.
Garuda had a mischievous smile. "Vinata will turn female for me. We're going to make him."
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N0 - approx. 260000 years
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Three large snakes fell to the ground, writhing in pain. One by one, a huge, flaming bird crushed the life force out of them. The rest of the snake throng had fled, but Vinata wasn't complaining. Three would be enough to sate his hunger for a while yet.
He devoured them quickly, gulping down what large chunks of flesh he could tear with his beak. Whatever food scrappings left on the bones, he let the pack of Yaksha, Gandharva and Garuda Suras finish. Come to think of it, there were a lot more Yaksha and Gandharva Suras tagging along in the last thirty thousand years. He wondered if something happened to his own clan.
Finished and satisfied with his meal, Vinata shrank into human form before crudely wiping the smears blood from his lips. He grinned a toothy grin at his entourage and encouraged them, "you guys can feed all you want now!"
None of them moved.
Vinata raised one red eyebrow. "Come on, everyone!" he urged, inviting them forward with his arms. "Eat! Look at this!" he cried, pointing to the strips of flesh still clinging onto the Ananta Upanis. "It's wasteful!"
Still, they remained frozen.
"Don't make me force food down your throats."
Finally, one purple Yaksha Sura stepped forward very hesitantly. She had been in Sura form for the hunt but transformed into her human form as she approached Vinata. He was a little confused by the unusual behaviour.
"Vinata-nim!" she cried, suddenly latching onto his arm. As a second, almost third stage Rakshasa, she was quite small in size but had an iron grip.
Startled, Vinata took a step back.
"Vinata-nim!" she cried again, staring up with a pout and big, watery innocent eyes. "Please turn female for Garuda-nim! Please!"
Vinata was dumbfounded. "I—uh—"
"Please!" Every other Sura around him started chrousing in unison. "We beg you, Vinata-nim! We love you and Garuda-nim very much and we want both of you to be happy!"
They edged in closer and closer, surrounding and rendering Vinata immobile. Several Suras were already tugging at his body, and more of them giving him pleading eyes and drooping ears.
"We've seen you as a female! You're so lovely! Very beautiful."
"You can have lots of Rakshasa children! And they'll all be as pretty and strong as you, Vinata-nim!"
"Do it! Do it! Garuda-nim will be so surprised! Garuda-nim will be speechless."
"Even Shuri-nim wants you two to be together."
"Gandharva-nim too!"
"PLEASE, VINATA-NIM!" they all cried, pressing closer to his body.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" he cried, struggling to spread his wings and shoot up into the air for a quick escape. "Stop! Stop! If you don't eat now, the Chaos Clan demons will come and steal your food."
He had to shake a clinging Gandharva Sura off his foot and then pry another Garuda Sura from his left wing.
"Vinata."
Garuda, wretched Garuda was floating leisurely in the air just above his head, evidently smirking at the predicament he had been placed in. Vinata scowled and flared his feathers at his king.
All the while, small Gandharva child climbed up his shoulders and was tugging at his hair. The kid saw something white. Curiously, he pulled it out. A feather.
"What's this?"
"Ah!" Vinata cried, quickly snatching it with the slight tint of a blush on his cheeks. "Don't touch that." He stroked the perfect feather, making sure that it hadn't been damaged.
Garuda blinked, secretly elated. "When'd you take that?"
"The day I was pulling feathers from your wings," he admitted meekly. Suddenly, the vicinity raised ten degrees from the heat Vinata was unknowingly emitting in his embarrassment. Dehydrated, the Gandharva Suras shrank back and the Yaksha and Garuda Suras soon followed.
Garuda landed after reaching into the edge of his wing and pulling out a bigger, prettier feather. "If you wanted a feather from me, all you had to do was ask," he told Vinata while presenting it.
"You weren't supposed to know I had that. It makes me look bad," he sighed, bangs lowered as he conceded to take the feather from Garuda's hands.
"You'll be my queen one day, yeah?"
Vinata twirled the stem of the feather in between his index finger and thumb. He looked up at Garuda and smiled. "Keep dreaming, yeah?"
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Um, I think the second turning point is next chapter, if I'm not mistaken. I'll leave it to you however you want to interpret that.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!
-SCND