Author's note: Some of Cauwine's lines are directly taken from The Wandering Inn.
"Take my hand, then. I see the makings of a warrior on you, traveler. I see bloodshed in your past, and in your future. Take my hand and I will show you what I know of battle and triumph. Of loss and defeat."
Cauwine, the Young Huntress made her offer to Ryoka Griffen.
She was refused.
Her two companions were similarly rebuffed.
Their gift was given, taken, and destroyed.
Kagsigna howled in rage, but she was always overdramatic.
Norechl said nothing, but he never did.
The two of them departed in search of another that might take their hand. That might worship them. That might allow them to... 'live' again.
Being dead was a horrible thing. Cauwine constantly hungered. There was a deep gnawing pain at the very core of her that refused to go away. A hole in her existence that refused to be ignored. The souls of the dead eased the pain... a little, but Cauwine often thought that the Gods she'd killed might've been better off.
But, she was still the Goddess of Last Stands.
She would never surrender.
Such a thing was anathema to her very nature.
She could no easier change that aspect of her than she could return to life or stop being a God altogether.
Change... that was ultimately what she had sought. What she still sought. It was why she waged war against both sides. THAT had been a challenge. It had been a thrill beyond even walking amongst the mortals.
If only...
No.
There was no point of wasting what little time she had left. The solstice thinned the veil between the mortal plane and the land of the dead. It was of no help with those who'd lost the very concept of a God. The fundamental law of the world had been changed so that there were only Dead Gods.
Every soul born here knew that. There would be no reaching them.
...But, the souls from elsewhere? Souls like Ryoka Griffen? Those could be touched. They could be spoken too. With luck, they could be swayed.
But... to what end?
She knew what the others wanted, to go back to how things were. To be more powerful than ever. To have worshipers. To consume the fundamental nature of other Gods.
So, Cauwine sat and thought.
The soul of an otherworlder would be a change. That was true. It was also the first real opportunity that they'd had since their fall.
And there were some souls that burned so very bright. The Runner. The Innkeeper. The Emperor. The Singer. The Rower. The Explorer. The Doctor. The Twins. The Student. The Clown.
Some were shielded. They were inside buildings made out of iron, or protected in other ways. Some weren't... compatible with every Dead God.
Kagsigna and Norechl were already searching for others to make an offer to, but Cauwine was more selective.
Ryoka was a fighter. Someone that stood against the tide. A rebel.
Her soul called to Cauwine, but she'd refused that part of herself. Or, the offer might not have been the most eloquent.
She blamed mother for that.
But, there were a different set of otherworlders. Ones that the other Dead Gods hadn't spoken of. Ones that they'd... failed to sense.
The reason was simple, they weren't dead. They weren't lost. They weren't rulers. They weren't spellcasters. They weren't dancers.
They... were warriors.
Their souls called to her, and Cauwine turned her head.
One was close to Emerrhain, another to Kagsigna.
That would make approaching them... difficult. Cauwine wasn't a goddess of knowledge, but she could understand tactics and strategy. She knew a losing scenario when she saw it.
Besides, it was the third soul that shone the brightest. She was a Warrior. A Huntress. A Rebel. The otherworlder that had seen the most combat of them all. Who'd slain more foes than any other.
Really, she was a better choice than Ryoka Griffen ever was, but... Cauwine smiled to herself. The best plans required you to also fool your allies. Others had sought Royka's soul, and so Cauwine had gone with them. To do otherwise would have draw attention.
Now?
Now she was free to approach her true target.
Cauwine stood up, and started walking towards 'Sibby'.
A silly name, for such a deadly warrior.
...
Cauwine approached the ramshackle camp.
Sibby was free, and had freed some of her fellow slaves who were actual [Slaves]. Furthermore, she'd utterly destroyed the place where she'd been held.
Such a blatant display of power would not go unnoticed, but it also didn't look like a slave rebellion. Was that on purpose? The Roshal of the day wasn't as influential as it had been in the past - from what little she could remember. Still, they would investigate.
The night fell deeper as Cauwine pressed through the boundary between the lands of the living and the dead.
Sibby turned to look at her, but stayed seated and stroking the hair of... a body with two souls.
Neither one of them was a glorious soul - [Slaves] rarely were.
The souls were still distinct and separate, but the twin-souled woman was still the closest of all of the other slaves to being a warrior. The dozen or so others that were also there... didn't concern her at all.
"Hail, and well met." Cauwine smiled as she approached the small fire. It was already dwindling from the closeness of Kasignel. The land of the dead greedily drunk in both light and life.
It was nearly as hungry as she was.
"May I join you at your fire?"
Sibby looked at her for a moment. Her yellow eyes were searching. Cauwine wondered exactly what she saw. The young huntress? The warrior without peer? Or a corpse? The dark thing that she'd become?
The black and white woman nodded.
Cauwine sat down and looked at her. What was she? Certainly not a Djinni. Not a human either, unlike all the other people from Earth. A new race?
Cauwine was tired. Hungry. A ghost of herself. But, she could still LOOK.
"I see conflict in your soul. A desire, a need to test yourself in battle. To place yourself against others. You are a warrior. You have fought in battle after battle. Shed the blood of countless foes. An invincible huntress."
Cauwine spoke as she took a good look at Sibby. She was perfect! Old but young. She'd made great and terrible war in the past. She was a huntress that relentlessly tracked her prey! Her soul was...
Bigger.
Powerful.
Ancient.
Cauwine stopped speaking as she took in the full depth of Sibby's might. Sibby, as great a warrior as she was, was but a small fragment. A tiny speck of something... grand.
Young and old.
Sibby was young. She'd existed for less than two decades.
Sibby was old. The power that flowed through her, that gave her form and shape was ancient beyond belief. It was older than Cauwine by magnitudes that she could scarcely fathom, and Cauwine was older than the world itself.
A Glorious Soul.
Pure and soiled. Brilliant yet naive. A good heart that was yet evil as pitch. The peaks defined a soul. The extremes were rare and precious. Sibby's soul was somehow multiple conflicting mountains. An amalgamation of...
A Goddess.
Cauwine stopped breathing as she realized what she was speaking to. A God, but in another form. Something... new!
Change! Freedom! Adventure!
That was what she yearned for. That was what the Young Huntress, the Seeker of Glorious Souls, the Goddess of Last Stands sought. It was why they'd implemented Isthekenous' Grand Design in the first place.
For something new.
Admittedly, being dead was new, and it wasn't great. Cauwine, however, couldn't stop seeking. The other Gods that remained might only want to return to what they were. To grow as they'd done in the past. They feared change. They hated competition. She was different. She wanted more.
She needed to... evolve.
And here was an opportunity. One she hadn't seen coming, but that was the way of great adventures. Of Glorious Last Stands.
She made up her mind in an instant.
How could she not? The concepts that embodied her could only allow for one outcome.
They had to join.
More precisely, SHE had to join the Great Shard.
The Goddess of the Slain Pantheon - the title embodied them both. It was what she would become... if only.
"Sibby, I was born a god, and nothing challenged me, so I despaired. Until I walked among mortals. Until I challenged my own kind. We are the same. I seek to join with you. Even gods can change. I have always wanted to be more. I must become something else, if you would let me."
Her words hung in the air.
Cauwine had to make her offer.
"Let me take your hand and become a part of you."
It was Cauwine that would take the offered hand instead of offering one herself. It was Cauwine that would... become part of something else.
Sibby... smiled.
The black and white avatar of a Foreign God gently placed the twin-souled woman's head on the log they were using for a bed, and stood up. She strolled over to Cauwine... and extended her hand.
The Goddess of War and Youth, the Patron of Glorious Souls, the Huntress of Victory smiled, and then took her hand.