The young woman wore a gray baggy shirt and pants with several worn holes in them, mainly at the knees and heels, as they were once worn too long. She was unfamiliar to the two of them, a stranger confident enough to look them in the eyes without hesitation.
And yet, human.
"If you can't tell by my sunny disposition, I work with the Goddess of Life," Haq remarked, a grin freshly planted on his face to greet the newcomer. He hooked his thumb toward Abana. "Hers is just as obvious considering her frown."
The words only made Abana's frown grow, a huff of a breath exhaled as she crossed her arms.
It was a well-known idea that the immortal woman with world-changing powers was the perfect image of good. Someone righteous and fair is what was believed, though nobody truly knew her personality nor her thoughts. However, the conclusion that was aided by the greenery surrounding her presence was partly how she became known as the Goddess of Life.
Someone, once, had stumbled across The Valley. The epicenter of destruction had two sides. One, a grassy haven of flowers and starshine. It was there that they spotted her, the woman in a green dress, with long flowing hair of brown, barefoot on the land. It was as if plants grew at the touch of her skin, surrounding her in a hug of life itself. The other side had more shadows, a mountain cutting off the light. Rocks and sparse plant life, it was somewhere most would not desire to live out their days. And that, of stone and darkness, was the home of her counterpart.
As was known and told in legend and story, the one defying her and standing in her path lived in the shadows, unable to stand long in the light. A man known to cling to the shadows, to hide himself from sight on the other side of The Valley, where they often clashed. Long ago, someone had caught a glimpse of him, of his monstrous size and large build high upon a cliff. They saw how his body glinted of metal and skin fused together. He became known as the God of Death, the one who was evil, wielding powers capable of destroying the planet itself.
Nobody knew when the two gods had arrived in the world or how they came to be. Not one person knew their true names and origins. Those who knew little didn't dare rise up in rebellion to take them down. An ordinary human stood no chance against someone that powerful, let alone two of them.
The world simply continued as it was, changing in different ways with each star-set they fought. There were few who knew the reason behind the anger that displayed itself violently every few hundred years. Some believed it was simply fate or destiny.
This young woman, in hearing those words, year after year, had become fed up with the tales of destruction. The time was nearing, at least, that's what she assumed after finding the records of old battles. If there was one thing she would do, successful or not, it was to put a stop to the fighting that destroyed far more with each passing century.
Abana rolled her eyes at Haq's words.
"Thanks for the introduction," she snapped sarcastically before meeting the eyes of the stranger. "I'm Abana." Hooking her thumb toward Haq, she smirked. "His name isn't important."
As Haq opened his mouth to refute her words and declare his own name, Abana spoke again.
"Usually people don't stick around after introductions. Who are you?"
"She's right," Haq admitted, his head tilting in curiosity. "And it's Haq. My name. Haq."
Gaze and shoulders holding the weight of thousands, of those she knew, and those that she never would meet in life, the young woman's eyes dipped down to look at the grass. Though occasionally trampled, it rose again. The world was not yet broken completely. There was still time to turn things around, to change the trajectory of the planet and its people.
Her sight shifted slowly back up to the two of them waiting patiently on a reply.
"I want to stop them," she started softly, her voice becoming stronger as she put her beliefs into words. "Life and Death. The Goddess and the God. The so-called immortal beings."
"Stop them?"
"Why?"
It was a stretch, thinking and hoping such a thing was possible, bu she couldn't just sit around. She had no family, few to call friend, but she'd had a community who raised her, people she wanted a better life for, to be free of a a burden of tension that filled everyone of fear in waiting when the next disaster would occur.
"Their battles are destroying lives," she said, the pain clearly written in her gaze.
Though not from her lifetime, she'd heard the stories, the legends passed down. The names of towns nearly forgotten once vanishing from the map in horrific moments that were anything but natural. If those two beings stomped hard enough on the ground, a shockwave could travel across the entire planet. That was the strength of their destruction.
And it had to end.
"Why should the little people have to suffer at the whim of gods? It's for no good reason."
Haq and Abana froze, only moving to exchange a look with one another. As much as they didn't know of the situation, there were things they'd heard, things that no regular human would know of.
"In no way am I excusing their actions, but..." Haq started, but his words trailed off, unable to complete the sentence aloud.
"But, there is a reason," Abana finished for him.
"Is it one worth the number of lives it has already cost? The ones of the past and ones that will fall victim to it in the future?"
Silence fell between them, each retreating to their thoughts momentarily.
With hearing those two impassioned questions, something stirred in Haq. From intuition alone, he understood the nature of the rising feelings inside him, but it was harder to place the significance behind them. Like a heavy oppressive cloud of some secret he didn't know, a disconsolate and melancholic remorse permeated within his mind. It had no footing, no memory of old to cling to, and yet, perhaps it did. Guilt at his own inaction crawled to the forefront of his mind.
Even so, he knew her idea of fixing it, this woman charging into the unknown to save everyone, wasn't going to work. Her sacrifice, in Haq's eyes, would amount to nothing in the end when it failed.
"People have tried to set the story straight," he told her, hoping for her to reconsider what she planned to do. "It didn't work."
"When was the last time anyone tried?" she countered. "Hm? How many times in your lifespan so far?"
It was quiet again. The distant chattering of birds filled the silence before the flock took flight, heading to a distant area.
"None."
"The last was before our time," Abana clarified.
"Complacency is accepting the trampling of others. I don't care if I'm the only one. Dying trying means at least I tried. I'll make them listen."
With a resolute turn, realizing that the two of them didn't intend to help her, but resolved to divert her mind away from change, the young woman left, striding away without a faltering step on the uneven terrain.
Haq, actively ignoring his inner turmoil, stood silently next to Abana, watching her grow smaller with each step she took.
"Bold," Abana stated, a small smile rising on her face. It wasn't often that anyone spoke of Life and Death with such passion and honesty. "I like her."
"She's gonna die." Haq shook his head with a grimace, crossing his arms as they watched her leave. "Definitely."
Abana reached out and picked up her hefty axe, resting it on her shoulder with ease. She began walking after the woman as if to catch up. Haq, once she was ten paces away, dropped his arms to his sides, startled by a realization.
"Where are you going?"
Abana paused, turning back to meet his gaze, a grin playing at her lips. "I'm going to help her."
In shock, he stood there, watching her go. She fell into step alongside the brave newcomer, the two of them continuing on their way.
"They're crazy," Haq muttered. "They're both crazy."
He looked between the two of them for a quiet moment before his gaze settled on blue, on Abana's animated expression as she spoke to the other woman.
Glancing at the highly unique axe settled on her shoulder, he noticed, maybe for the first time, that the handle was nearly the same height as her. The blade itself was taller than her head and the butt of it resembled a hammer. Haq had picked it up once. That one time was all he had needed in order to appreciate the crazy physical strength it took to wield her chosen weapon as she did. Swinging it around as though it were a feather made it clear what ability she was born with. Though despite the mildly toned muscles, her appearance didn't truly show it.
His hands curled into loose fists.
They paused in the distance, Haq's breath halting at the sight of the woman turning to look back his way with wide eyes and raised brows. Abana, not bothering to do the same, waved a hand dismissively and started them onward again.
Haq scoffed at the sight.
"That's uncalled for."
With a defeated sigh, the first step of many were taken. From the movement of one foot to two, into a brisk walk and then a jog, he quickly shortened the distance between them, placing himself opposite Abana, on the other side of crazy.
"You know," he said with a smile as they both stopped upon his arrival. "You never told us your name."
The young woman held out a hand, lips upturned in a light grin.
"Nadia. My name is Nadia."