Countdown: five!

I have to go back and change all my "Transcendency"s to "Transcendental"s.

I'm putting a backstory of Avifauna and Robin in the author's note at the end of the chapter because I probably won't find a way to integrate it and I quite like having backstories for OCs. It makes them quirky and real.

Kestrel is a type of falcon.

Disclaimer: There are many things in this world that do not belong to me. Kubera is one of them.

S-C-N-D

Courtship of a Phoenix

…

The forest was his haven. Five hundred years ago, he'd found this hiding place, one of very few habitable planets made from a Nastika's unique Transcendental. But it was long abandoned by the Nastika who created it and he, Kestrel, established dominance.

Not a single Sura left this planet since the day he came. No one was supposed to know of its existence. So how did he, the master of stealth, get caught?

The other Rakshasa said nothing. Brown hair, brown eyes, a yellow headband and maroon cape, he looked exactly as Kestrel's wife described.

"Are you here to kill me, son of Avifauna?"

"I am a messenger, not a fighter."

"You look… hostile for a messenger," Kestrel said carefully. "I've been living too long in the shadow of my mother's wrath to distinguish friend from foe yet I can still sense your pent up anger. Is it because I am the son of the Nastika who helped kill your father, or is it because I married the only living Sura to which you are related by blood?"

…

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Catalyst
N0 - approx. 280 years

…

Instead of searching for a single nest, Vinata figured he could just level the entire forest. But because that particular decision would yield less than satisfactory results, he was stuck with the nitty-gritty. How reminiscent of the long and distant memory of searching for Menaka on Willarv. The only difference is that then, he actually knew what he was doing.

Sort of.

With only a slight inkling as to whom the green Rakshasa's mate was, he set out in the rough direction. Northwest, the Rakshasa had told him, which narrowed it down to two thousand trees out of about twenty four thousand.

If not for the fact that there was literally no one else alive in the universe Vinata could confide in, he wouldn't even be searching for Myna in the first place. The idea of Vegavis's cantankerous daughter settling down and becoming domesticated… well it was very foreign to say the least.

It was far from his forte, but nonetheless, Vinata attempted to write a message in fire. Some Suras, like Shess, could arrange elements into the human alphabet expertly. His attempt failed and quickly smothered with a quick puff of smoke.

"Vinata-nim?"

Ah, she must have seen the smoke.

Vinata convinced himself that he knew Myna too long to fall for her dramatics. Not only did she hug him, she brashly tackled him with her whole body. Thank god he had a sturdy masculine build because otherwise their feathers would have been at the mercy of some sharp plant that'd conveniently break their fall.

"I had seventeen Suras searching on five different planets. Thank god I finally found you! I was so scared you were heading to the Chaos Clan's territory for revenge."

Vinata pressed his lips together. Scared that I would die or scared that our clan would lose another Nastika?

Garuda's affair with Kali practically shone a spotlight on their clan's predicament. Never mind searching for Vinata, Garuda Suras were probably out there making any alliance they could, just in case.

"Don't think I'll play so readily into her hands," Vinata said, "even if he chose to ally with the one woman I could never hope to compete with."

He'd forced his mind from the topic, but now Vinata had to acknowledge that strategically speaking, Garuda's plan did have some merit. One could not underestimate the power of a name, and Kali had plenty of them.

Except they were all unusable.

"We rely on chance," he gritted through his teeth, prying off Myna's hands.

"Huh?" she asked, oblivious to his internal dialogue.

"Nothing, just pointlessly pondering useless things that I am no longer a part of."

"Garuda-nim?"

He snorted. "I am not that transparent, am I?"

Myna kept her fists tightly gripped at her sides. She knew she needn't be so defensive in the presence of Vinata, but every instinct told her not to speak an honest opinion in front of a Nastika. It was never wise to take the original lieutenant of the Garuda clan, and a former wrecker of the stars, too lightly.

"Well, whenever you're distressed, it's always because of him." She coughed nervously. "But despite this, I still think you should go back."

"Why?" challenged Vinata fiercely, making Myna shrink back.

"Because—" Myna squeaked before she could stop herself. It would be treason to tell Vinata he owed something to Garuda for the trouble he'd caused near the beginning of the universe. And it was out of the question to suggest that he had a duty to his clan, after seeing nightmare-inducing images of Vinata covered in Sura blood. "I-I don't want you to live the rest of your life bitter like grandfather and Robin-nim," Myna improvised quickly.

To her surprise, several tears ran from the corner of Vinata's eyes. Neither Sura made any sign of acknowledging them.

"Bitter? The happy days are over, Myna. They ended when Cepphus died."

He died of his own accord, Myna thought and then mentally slapped herself for the uncalled treachery. "It's okay," she told Vinata awkwardly, "sometimes the people we love have to leave. That's just the way it is."

But the empty words fooled no one, and Vinata gave Myna a tight smile. She didn't show it openly, but she was terrified of him inside. He realized now what he should have realized a long time ago—that there was no possibility of a friendship between them with the gaping unbalance of power.

"The Rakshasa," Vinata changed the subject. "Why did you marry him? This is the first time I've crossed a relationship between Suras of different ranks, although in terms of likelihood, Upani-Rakshasa marriages would be most common."

Myna sighed. "I suppose you're wondering why Kestrel would ever marry someone like me. I mean, it's obvious I married him for power, but you'd be surprised. He's not that strong, even for a Rakshasa." She averted her eyes to stare off into the distance. "When he hunts, he relies on the element of surprise. We don't kill together, we don't eat together, and I'm often away with dad doing clan related things.

"But imagine him growing up hiding, with no allies or strong Transcendentals, not to mention a mother who wants nothing more than slicing his guts open. Well if it were me, I'd be glad to have anyone tell me what's going on out there while I'm hiding in my safe little nest, be it an Upani, Mara, or even an Ananta Sura. If he wants to marry me for that, who am I to refuse?"

And in a few thousand years, I will regret ever agreeing to this were the words that hung in the air, but neither Sura claimed them. Vinata retained his tight smile and Myna attempted to hide her discomfort.

"Well," he finally broke the silence. "I suppose it just goes to show that there's more than one kind of power."

Not that it mattered because regardless of its form, either you had it or you didn't.

S-C-N-D

N0 - approx. 270 years

S-C-N-D

"Garuda-nim, he cannot stay here."

Indeed, he is a monster, Garuda thought, looking down at the boy with red blood dripping from his mouth. The kid's eyes were still black and had yet to return to their normal state. He held out a hand, wondering if Kali's child was capable of even a little self control.

The Chaos kid snapped his jaws together like an alligator. His teeth pierced through Garuda's flesh.

"I see," the king commented.

Kali had given him a "savior" in the guise of a monster. Maybe vice versa. Maybe just a monster and if so, then it would be his fault for walking straight into her trap. But, he thought, smacking the child away, only time will tell.

"You don't see at all," the Nastika hissed vehemently.

"If Vinata was here, he'd never allow this… thing to stay in the clan."

"What will you do?" he asked them solemnly. "Vinata is not here. Do you plan on bringing him back? Are any of you going to search the universe for him?"

The Nastikas quieted and Maruna, seeing his cue, rushed to usher his now sane brother away from the tension. Garuda waited for another tirade of "if Vinata was still here"s, but the Nastikas adamantly avoided eye contact with their king.

"Yes," he said, turning his back. "I thought so."

S-C-N-D

N0 - approx. 230 years

S-C-N-D

Vinata dipped the three longest fingers of his left hand into clear water. "I think I am ready," he stated, staring straight into the reflection of his own eyes.

Menaka, in the middle of braiding a flower, stopped and furrowed her brows worriedly. "Are you? You can stay as long as you like! I don't want you to force yourself to do anything."

He lifted his fingers from the water. From his fingertips, smoke climbed up his arm, shrinking his figure and changing his body shape. Vinata stared into the water again, this time seeing a woman. She dragged a nail though it, disrupting the image.

"I miss Maruna… and Garuda," she admitted grudgingly, "even though I am still angry at him. For some reason, I can't think of what I expected to happen after I left. He was never going to follow me. He didn't do it once and he wouldn't do it the second time. I can stay angry at him forever, and we could go down the same path that Avifauna and Robin did, but I don't want that."

Menaka smiled and slid forward. With both hands, she pressed a bundle of flowers onto Vinata's heart. "You won't. As long as you still hold love for him here, that can never happen."

Vinata laughed at her naïve ideology, but decided to play along, just for once.

"Of course," she agreed, covering Menaka's hands with her own. "Love conquers all. How silly of me to forget."

S-C-N-D

You can skip to the last two lines if you're not interested in my OC backstory. Here, I'll even put a mini line break as indication.

...

Ohohohoho, where to begin? For those who are interested, Avifauna and Robin served as the precedent of personal alliances in the Garuda Clan. They were both very philosophical back in the day and befriended each other immediately after their creation. The belief that held them together was that "there is nothing important more than our sole existence," meaning the concept of being immortal and Nastikas themselves rendered all other aspects of life meaningless.

But then one day Robin found her very strong female form (she's middle ranked in her male) and all the other Nastikas began to clamor for her attention since she was the strongest female in the clan. Initially, she was okay with courting them and as the other Nastikas began to share ideas, she began to find flaws in their creed.

By the time the suitors became annoying, she no longer had a good relationship with Avifauna. She tried to save their friendship but he only annoyed her with his self centered, narcissistic belief. So basically, yes, Avifauna gave the last push to her berserk button and Robin stopped believing in men. (Also, she thought the male form brainwashed Nastikas and suppressed all self-realization.)

What was the reason for their fight?

Genders.

Tired of dealing with Vinata, Avifauna went to bother his old friend Robin. Even though she adamantly insisted she was female, he always believed she was male at heart and only took the form for power. So he tried to convince her to reassume male form. Big mistake.

But meanwhile Robin was also trying to convince him to take female form because she believed that by doing that, he would realize how stupid his creed was. Even after she isolated herself, she infinitesimally hoped he would turn female out of curiosity but end up seeing sense and staying female, thus rekindling their friendship. To be fair, Avifauna did turn female once. Nothing happened. His creed is deeply rooted in him, irregardless of gender, but sadly, Robin never realized that. (Man, they were probably intense enemies in the past universe.)

Cue fight scene.

Avifauna kills Robin but he himself runs out of vigor. And along comes Ravana and oh, is this a fatally injured Garuda Nastika. Well let me speed up the process and put him out of his misery.

But if Robin hates men then why did she father Kestrel?

Serious lapse of judgement due to temporary infatuation, aka why she hates her son and ex wife. But stories will vary depending on which Sura you ask.

And now I will stop before this takes up more space than the main plot.

...

Hoping to finish this before the end of the year!

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!

-SCND