[PRP] Oasis This Nice (Nanners / Hel)

[Eight]

Na'ima glanced Hel's way. "We have caught up. You have a job now. That is wonderful news, Hel." That was all the necessary information she needed for 'catching up'. They were done. She would let her horse finish drinking and leave, simple as that.

Seeing Hel had soured her pleasant mood. Na'ima needed to start getting out of this valkyrie's trap.

Lucyal

 

[Lucyal]

"That is not catching uuuuuuup~" Hel grinned, but then just as quickly the grin disappeared. She had a burning question she suddenly remembered she needed answered. She was saving it for Gramps, but who knew when the next time she'd see him was.

"Actually, hey, Na--" Hel moved closer, peering up at the horsewoman. "Where do horsemen babes come from?"

Serious question.

Eight

 

[Eight]

Ugh. Na'ima rolled her eyes. This creature was more annoying by the second.

What she had not been expecting was the question that came up next. Na'ima blinked, slowly looking down at Hel in disbelief. She wasn't serious, was she? Why did such a thing even concern her? It was not as if she could reproduce with a Horseman, could she? It...was not something she had ever actually considered. It just seemed out of the question.

This was nonsense.

"We reproduce similarly to Halloween, though our foals come from baskets and not...pumpkins. It is not unusual for a horseman to decorate their basket or make it in materials significant to their clan." She frowned. "Why?"

Lucyal

 

[Lucyal]

Hel just stared up at Na'ima...incredulously.

She was silent for a long moment, first trying to imagine baskets acting as pumpkins--baskets. Then she tried to imagine Salbei coming from a basket, but that first required her trying to imagine Salbei being young, much less a babe. Hel's brain couldn't compute.

Baskets.

No...

Na'ima had to be pulling her leg.

"So...horseman channel their FEAR into a...basket...and the babe grows in a basket?"

Her tone was skeptical.

Eight

 

[Eight]

What? Did she not like that answer. Na'ima frowned. "Correct. It can be filled with ashes of fallen enemies, or skulls, or a pumpkin if you truly wish it. And then it is not unheard of for a human or two to be sacrificed at an altar in honor or celebration of their foal. I do not know if all still do it, as it is an old tradition, but I know my mother and father sacrificed three humans the day they acquired my basket, and three more for my younger sister. I was able to witness that one, it was fascinating." Her frown was replaced by a look of fondness as she recalled that memory, looking away from Hel to instead gaze off into the distance. Ah, Falair. She needed to bring her back to the tower soon, Halloween didn't suit her.

"You do not believe me." It was less a question and more of an observation. "Is it so strange? Horsemen are older than Halloween. We have our ways, you have yours. Your ways are a simplified idea of ours, all things considered. We put a pumpkin in a basket for its safety, because foals are precious and vulnerable in their earliest stage of life, while those of Halloween leave them exposed to the elements. That seems more unbelievable than a basket. Something so precious, and you risk its safety like this." She shook her head. Halloween, so young and foolish. They could stand to learn more from the horseman, in her opinion.

xLucyal

 

[Lucyal]

Hel's incredulous expression softened as Na went on to list other ways. Well, okay, that seemed better. She was still going to ask Gramps though--

The reaper's incredulous expression faded entirely and she stared up at Na'ima with a sobering look. The more she went on to describe human sacrifices Hel's lips couldn't help but curl with disgust. The way she talked about it...three for own birth and three for her sister's? Despite the pretty light atmosphere earlier, it had faded for her as the extreme differences in beliefs was once more brought to the surface. Human slaughtering...

"That does not sound fascinating." Hel replied, her tone lacking the energy it had earlier. "That sounds like a waste." She found it disgusting that humans were killed simply as a ritual for the horseman before her. Her brow twitched, the assumptions rubbing her wrong. "Also, if you got your head out of your a** and actually observed Halloween, you would note that they do not leave their pumpkins out once they are filled with FEAR. My sister and her husband took their pumpkin home and cherished, nurtured, and protected it until the babe was born."

Candlejack...

"And what exactly is the goal of horsemen anyways?"

Eight

 

[Eight]

Her brow arched as Hel disagreed. Na'ima looked down at her, completely calm and curious on what she had to say. Delicate fingers combed through the mane of her mount, showing the creature affection and appearing completely unbothered by Hel's concern. It was cute. She was the picture of relaxation as she leaned forward to lie against the neck of her horse, a hand coming up to idly play with its ears while she used her other hand as a pillow.

"They will make more, hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of their children are born every day. I am not concerned." She waved a hand dismissively. "We do not do anything they do not do themselves. Death among them is not as easy as yours or mine. We will come back in a few hours, they do not. Despite that, humans have been using each other as sacrifices for thousands of years, dear child. If you think it a waste, tell them that. At least when we do it, it is for a cause. They do it foolishly and selfishly." She shrugged, regarding Hel with quiet amusement. "You are a valkyrie, yes? If I recall correctly, that culture embraced death quite happily for a long time. In fact, they themselves practiced in quite brutal human sacrifices." It was absolutely adorable her reaction to this. She managed to not even bristle much when Hel told her to get her head out of her a**. Instead she moved to lie on her back on her mount, toying with some of her jewelry.

"However, the pumpkin is still exposed. There is nothing to brace it against outside forces, even accidental ones. But I hardly think my opinion on how you raise your pumpkins is where your biggest concern lies, hm?" Na'ima smiled, a smile that only grew when Hel asked her next question.

"For some, survival. For others, godhood. Some simply wish to invoke terror, others just wish to study. We will continue to strike terror in humans for millennia to come, and we will dominate them in doing so." Humming, Na'ima's smile fell slightly. "Not every human responds to parlor tricks such as sound and common household scares. To reach them on a larger scale, you need something that makes an impact on them as a race."

Lucyal

 

[Lucyal]

"I do not need a lecture about human deaths, thank you." Hel sneered. "As you spin a needlessly long description to me, Na'ima, all I hear is similarity, for you too, are foolish and selfish." Her lips twisted briefly as she spoke of valkyries, and then continued on.

Blabbing. Full of high and mighty bull s**t.

"As you speak, you speak of nothing but past and history. Things that have happened a long time ago, and are not relevant to now, and to the future. You speak of valkyries like you know them, but you only define valkyries of the past." Not me. "What of the present and future, hm?"

Eight

 

[Eight]

"I am just selfish," Na'ima corrected in a pleasantly sing-song voice. "It is important to know history, Hel. But not all of this 'happened a long time ago'. Some of them are within the last decade." Shrugging, she made herself more comfortable where she was.

"I do not know much of them, just enough to get by. Do you care to educate me?" She asked with a little smile. "The future is difficult to say. Hopefully it will be pleasant. At the present, we are rebuilding. We took a significant hit when those hunters destroyed our islands, but we will recover from it." Her smile fell. Yes, they would recover, and perhaps they would just eradicate each and every single hunter once and for all to get them completely out of the way.

Lucyal

 

[Lucyal]

Hel just gave her a look that plainly said you are many things. "If you keep your eyes turned towards the past, you can not see what the future brings." She replied flatly.

"No. I do not. If you want an education, than go learn for yourself. Generalizing others is a sign of ignorance." The reaper then lapsed into an uncharacteristic silence as she glared up at the horsewoman. It was like she hoped she'd come to some kind of conclusion the longer she stared at her, but also as she stared at her, she was thinking.

Eight

Finally..../stares off

 

[Eight]

Na'ima remained completely unfazed by Hel's words. "Ah, but we have two eyes, Hel. One to watch the present, while occasionally glancing at the past when necessary, and one for the future." Shrugging again, she then searched around on her person until she found her pipe. It remained unlit as she simply rest it between her lips, her eyes closing as she turned her face up toward the sky.

The silence from Hel was pleasant for Na'ima. She did hate listening to her talk, it was annoying and grating to her ears. She wasn't sure she would ever understand what Salbei found so fascinating about her. "You are upset." It was spoken simply as an observation. It held no sympathy, no apology, not even amusement. Honestly, the views of Halloween baffled her. Was it the human sacrifices that bothered her so much? The goals of horsemen? What?

Children were aggravating.

Lucyal