Letters to Unghaahi: Reflections

The four giants returned from their short hunt, carrying their fresh kills over their shoulders. Unghaahi had wrapped the many carcasses of the deer between two of the cleaned pelts and Otenohi and Rautu had generously given Obhantaa their pelts to that he may in turn give them to his mate. Though Obhantaa had not killed the animal or skinned the pelt, or even cured the hide himself, the assistance and partnership of his hangaara cat was enough by Amghari law to name him the victor of the hunt.  

The Den Asaan flouted Otenohi in vicious tenor for having impeded his winning of the event and scowled the entirety of the path returning to Obhantaa's home but he resolved that to see the inquisitor smiling in his wily way once again after he had exhibited so much pain and agitation was his consolation. He had reluctantly lost due to the unfair nature of his failure to win yet gave over his pelt unreservedly. He suspected that the gentle white giant would rarely use the knife of the Endari he had imparted but agreed that it was a fitting offer for the price of seeing his brother's name restored and his position among them taken.

When they reached Obhantaa's newfound home, his mate had come to greet him with open arms. Obhantaa responded in kind yet when he knelt to catch her as she neared his large feet were assaulted by the presence of many small kittens bounding out from the stone home. He looked down and smiled at them, and though his hangaara walked away to keep herself far from the pathetic creatures, the white colossus happily knelt and collected them into his arms. The kittened tumbled over his overbearing might and meowed for someone to feed them. Before Obhantaa could beg his hangaara to do so, Tyira offered her help and took the kittens to the temple where they would be given a mixture given to young Mivaari to aid in their growth. As Tyira hurried off with the kittens, Obhantaa waved his goodbyes to them and their tiny cries told him that they would return after a much needed meal.

Unghaahi smiled as he noticed Tyira's leaving was followed by Ghodhina's and he remarked to Otenohi how pleased he was to see the chief informant so taken with someone, enough to follow her everywhere she went. Otenohi made a comment about how Amghari should not want to have life mates of any kind that gained him a fiendish look from Rautu just as he had planned.

The Den Asaan grumbled for his brother's determined annoyances and took the carcasses from Unghaahi to have them prepared. He slowed his gait to the provisionary and was forced to think of his mate waiting for his arrival in Frewyn. He looked down at the peeled carcasses suspended in the pelt between his hands and he felt the ache of missing her. Though he did not wish to leave his honoured brothers so suddenly, his sense of adulation and attachment had only grown since he parted with her and he took solace in believing he could return to the outpost whenever he liked now that he knew he could. He gave pause to his conjured thoughts of Alasdair. Though he seldom thought anything of the king or thought of him in general, he quietly admitted that perhaps Alasdair was being charitable to his case by allowing him to leave his position at the keep. He knew better than to admit this sentiment to anyone and hurried along to the Mhojhudenri where the carcasses would be seasoned and roasted to a lesser quality than the one his mate could create.  

Unghaahi watched Rautu hurry away, thinking that his brother had his own insatiable hunger in mind. "He is pleased to see you," Unghaahi said to Otenohi with a contended nod.

"He is," Otenohi grinned, "I can tell."

Unghaahi laughed and shook his head, leaning to press his massive arm against his brother with a knowing glance. The two Amhadhri watched as Obhantaa caressed his mate and realized the newly formed Ataas Traala had not performed the sacred act within their new home as they ought to have. Otenohi thought perhaps his brother only needed encouragement or permission to do so now that he no longer would be made to live in temples. He quietly took his brother aside and reminded him that his duty at Khopra was no longer to be performed within the aegis of the temple and he was permitted to take his mate whenever he liked and as well whenever she wished.

Obhantaa smiled and leaped with happiness. He was so pleased with the day that he had forgotten the regulation in place for Ataas Traala in regards to Khopra and he instantly asked Rhodhira if she would honour him while they wait for the meal of the Endari to be prepared. His mate agreed and he carried her into their new home prepared to fulfill his obligation.

Unghaahi and Otenohi walked away from the home, decided on a match at Hophsaas while their brother was otherwise engaged. They heard the many telling sounds of a woman being pleased and the numerous cries of her elated exhalations. The two Amhadhri exchanged a smile and both remarked on how each of them in their own manner taught their brother well. They returned to the garden where Otenohi enjoyed being beaten into the short grass by his colossal grey opponent, enjoying his namesake as One who is Weak at the expense of losing to the One who is Feared. He felt contended and well, and the sickening ache he incurred, although still present, was lessened. His pleasure at seeing two of his brothers discover their immense happiness and position was consoling and as the inquisitor lay on the ground from being thrown by Unghaahi's strength, he sighed with grace to feel that things were in that moment as they should be. All of them Amghari, most of them with mates, all of them training and celebrating amongst their Anonnaa, this was what Otenohi had hoped their lives on Sanhedhran would have been like, with of course the opportunities presented to drop Rautu down holes and kick him out of trees for his amusement. His eye caught a glimmer of Anjhali tending to her duties in the garden and he thought of the sadness she much be hiding from them.

She had concealed it well, this boring ache of loss and loneliness. The garden keeper was soothed by the fragrance of the ever-present flora surrounding her throughout the day but there were moments in which she could not help but sigh for the pining pain within her mind. Anjhali primped and watered and hummed to the flowers under her care all day and was only consoled by their vibrant and silent presence. Her bearing was high and her appearance cheerful as expected but her light eyes were dimmed and glossed with omnipresent tears of sorrow to think of her mate ever lost to her. She sincerely hoped Otenohi would find his missing half for she understood the discomfort and the ache of loss and she did not wish such an unbearable consequence upon anyone. Although she felt Unghaahi had been kind in offering her motivation of discovering another that she may prefer in time, she understood herself and acknowledged that to feel again and rid herself of the unshakable deadening of defeat would not be a task easily done. At one time, before her bond was made, she would have considered Obhantaa for a mate. The white giant was young then but she recognized a tenderness and care within him that she much admired. As he was not an Ambesari for some time and even after would be Amghari, their union was not one of providence and she reconciled that they were to remain honoured friends and caretakers of one another.         

Obhantaa had often admired Anjhali when being made to sit in the gardens for his punishments of exclusion while on Sanhedhran but his disciplinary teachings had become more pleasurable when he began to seek them if only to see her. They had spent much time together and was pleased that she was always there for his relief, and he thought of her now always with gratitude and a smile in his gentle heart. The white giant lay on his enormous back with his mate upon his chest and his thick fingers grazed the budding roots of her hair. He felt the vibrations of her voice upon him as she spoke and though he listened and responded to every word she had to say he could not hear for the worry growing in his settling mind. His Ethnaahi would leave tomorrow and he knew not when he would return. Correspondence was something he had never done before but he resolved to ask his brothers to show him how to write in the ways of the Asaan so that he may tell him of his life unguarded and untroubled that his brother's dealings would be discovered. His worry continued when his thoughts fell to his Dhirghena and Dhenidha. He did not wish to be seen as selfish but he wanted his brothers with him always and although he could conceive to bear the loss of one with the presence of the other two his misplacement of all three would be a difficult situation for him to endure. He did have his mate, his hangaara, Tyira, Anjhali and the khaasta for company but he would be made to train at the barracks with those he did not know and though they were all Onaasa and Ashan and Asaan as well, he felt he would be beginning again without his brothers beside him for comfort. He began to fear for their absence and he gripped his mate tightly to think of who would train with him, who would teach him and befriend him. The lack of the familiar and beloved was much for his gentle mind but he was soon calmed by the sound of his brothers returning to share his first feast of the Endari with him and his mate.