Where Angels Dare to Trod

[unfallen]

Islington is walking along the ship.  It is a steady pace.  But slow.  If people didn't know better, It would like like It was floating or gliding.  If you run, It will walk.  If you stop, It will continue Its pace.  Never changing, never pausing.  As if by walking, it can change something about this place.

It's garments seem to be made of light itself.  As It goes along, It is humming an ancient tune: The Lyke Wake Dirge (As sung by Benedict Cumberbatch)

And that's the interesting thing about this particular Angel: It seeks neither to offer help nor the counsel of others. It is simply walking.  Perhaps It is measuring the ship, perhaps It is weighing the integrity of the people gathered.  Whatever the reason, It continues on Its journey.  Simply walking....

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

Out of all the things he'd said so far, Minoru understood that part of healing the best. He'd often found himself in similar situations. Though his healing abilities were a little more unusual (and actually involved snakebites).

"...So what makes an angel different from a normal person? Just that you're from heaven?"

[unfallen]

"While we too are created, we are not born. And of course, there is our ability to communicate with our Creator."

And the wings and everything else... bygones, not enough room to expand them here.

[itmeanstruth]

Created, not born... It was a fascinating concept, and one that sparked a great deal of curiosity.

From the Great Snake Lord Elders, he'd developed a view of the universe that was infinite - like a snake swallowing its own tail. That certainly seemed to apply to physical space, to dimensions, and the cycles of rebirth and reincarnation suggested it applied to living things too. Was there someone or something that set that cycle in motion? Even the Great Snake Lord Elders had their gods, and he'd trained under one for a few very harsh years, but Jazirian wasn't a creator...

"What is your creator like?" He asked. "What do you guys talk about?"

[unfallen]

"You don't have a creator in your universe? Not even a myth or legend of a creator?"

This could prove to be difficult to explain without a frame of reference.

[itmeanstruth]

"Well, there's the legend of the shinju, the divine tree that bore the fruit eaten by Princess Kaguya, the first human to wield chakra." He scratched his head. But that wasn't quite the same thing.

His world revolved around chakra, though, and the teachings of Kaguya's son, the Sage of Six Paths. They didn't worship a creator god, as most humans were born with powers many would ascribe to gods. Minoru could breathe fire. He could shed his skin like a snake to heal himself from otherwise fatal injuries. He could inject his chakra into others to give them energy.

"The Sage of Six Paths knew jutsu that could create form out of nothing. Or so the legends say."

[unfallen]

"That's... not quite the same thing."

It pauses in thought.

"In my experience, there is a being, we call God. It is the Creator of everything. God has always existed in Its own right. Everything else is creation. There are myths, of course, but they only condense the reality into simple terms that simple humans can understand."

It then describes the First Story of Creation (God created the heavens and Earth in Seven Days).

"But, that's just a myth. The reality is that it took hundreds of thousands of years for that all to come about."

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru listened thoughtfully. A creator of everything... even the shinju. A being that planted the seed for what would one day become, at least in Minoru's understanding of it, the tree of universes that branch from one another. It was kind of like how Kaguya's chakra branched and spread through countless generations of shinobi.

It almost begged the circular question, 'what created this God?' but the angel said it always existed. Minoru thought the universe always existed. Did one create the other? Did they both create each other in a cycle throughout time?

The more he thought, the more he started fidgeting. (He wasn't uncomfortable. It was just that sitting still was never his strong suit, especially when he had to concentrate on something.)

"What does God talk about?"

[unfallen]

The more movement Minoru makes, the more still the angel becomes. That's just the way of It.

These creatures are so strange. Not accepting, always questioning everything. And the questions this one asks...

"I do not understand the question. What does anyone talk about? God is not any different."

[itmeanstruth]

Well, the questions may not always be the most intelligent ones, but hearing that answer did make him smile. He even laughed a little.

"Makes me think of my chats with The Great Snake Lord Elders." Those were his teachers, his mentors. They were a lot like this God in that respect. Snakes were masters of immortality, and Minoru had spent a great deal of time pondering the mysteries of death and subsequent rebirth. But he never really asked if they had a beginning.

"What a valuable perspective this God must have on things."

[unfallen]

"I do not know of these Elders of whom you speak. But God's perspective is beyond anything humans and most angels can imagine."

Except for It. Which is why It thinks It would be fantastic at taking over the whole operation.

[itmeanstruth]

"Perspective is an incredible thing." he smiled. Again, his mind went to his own mentors, who he often consulted with in times of need. "When you lost your city, I'm sure it was comforting to be able to talk to your God about it."

[unfallen]

"I make no claims about what is or isn't comforting to me."

Because that was an easier response to give than to explain how It was punished for the loss.