Ch10 - Butterflies Never Die

Here, you are safe. Here, you can dream. Here, butterflies never die.

Purpura stared quietly at the waterfall cascading into the river.
He sighed and walked to the rocky wall, following it to a cave.
Purpura walked down the cave, until a large cavern appeared.
Inside was a large home, easily two stories tall and rather wide.
How deep it went was hard to tell, since the cave hid most of it.

Purpura walked up to the door, and it opened with minimal effort.
Straight ahead a hall, with a flight of stairs leading upward.
He looked right, to a living room, with an empty fire-place.
To the left was a large kitchen and dining room.
The house was quiet, and meticulously clean.

Purpura walked down the hall, he gently opened a door.
It revealed stairs into a basement.
He'd always been baffled how his mother had built this home into a cave.
Yet no noise came from the basement, so he closed the door and moved on.
He went further down the hall, and opened the next door on the right.
It opened to a library, and he went inside.
The walls were lined with shelves, and full of books.

There were two proper chairs, and a pile of pillows in a corner.
As children his mother would read to them.
Often purchasing new books, and reading them aloud.
He went over and pulled down a book.
He gave it a quick scan, before pulling down another.
After he had a good five books, he turned to leave.

Standing in the doorway was a purple haired neko.
The neko was rather slender, and shorter than Purpura.
The neko's hair was long hanging down their back.
Gently moving, the neko smiled.
"It seems there's a book thief in my library."

Purpura shifted his weight a little, before seeming to sigh.
The neko nodded, "Give your mother a hug"
Purpura seemed to sigh again, before going over and giving the neko a hug.
The neko warmly hugged back, "Oh, why don't you visit more?"
The neko released and walked out, Purpura followed down the hall.
"Don't even think of leaving until you've had a bite to eat."

Purpura froze, having been headed towards the front door.
Sin walked over the the fridge, and examined a moment.
Purpura went over and set the books down.
"Perhaps we should celebrate early.
The chances of you coming back are slim."
Sin looked to Purpura, "Are you gonna be back next week?"
Purpura looked to the neko, and shook his head no.
The ball was next week.

"Aw... I figured as much.
I'll just make your favorite now."
Purpura went over to help.
"No!" the neko exclaimed, blocking him.
"It is your celebration meal...
And you're an awful cook.
Just sit... I'll tell you a story while I cook, like when you were little."

Purpura looked ready to object, but sat down anyway.
There wasn't much he could do to protest his mother.
He barely visited as it was, and all but one sibling had moved out.
The house was no longer bustling with noise.
Siblings didn't run amok.
Meals weren't made for seven, they were made for one.
It was becoming more obvious every visit that Sin was becoming more and more lonely.
So, he sat and indulged his mother.

Sin began busying away with a fish, and other things.
"So... What story to tell you...?
Would you like to hear the story of creation?"

Purpura shrugged, and nodded.
He'd heard the story before.
Yet stories were generally how he'd learned any neko legends.
Sin gave a warm giggle.
"Perfect.
Alright so...

Long ago, when humans were plentiful, and walked the earth.
The world celebrated the god of the hunt.
Enjoying his annual festival.
Many hunters sacrificed offerings.
Leather trade bloomed, and pellets were sold in his honor.
Yet, this year he felt bored.
And his boredom showed as the prey were scarce.
The people believed he wished to challenge them.
Yet no good hunt seemed to please him.
Finally, they decided the most cunning of pray was a human.
But to hunt a hunter, that may anger the god.

So, instead they picked a women.
For women were not hunters.
They choose a women, they found beautiful, yet who whom had rejected their advances.
They kidnapped her, and released her at the edge of the forest.
Saying that if she could evade their hunt till the sunset, she would be spared.
They gave her an hour head start.

So, she ran.
Not long after the hunters tracked her.
They shot her with arrows, she was hit but kept running.
Suddenly, the woman stopped.
For in her way was a large white tiger, with deep blue eyes.
White tigers are rare, and considered the perfect gift to the god of the hunt.

She could run, the hunters would surely chose the tiger.
Yet she didn't, and waved her arms about.
'Run tiger run, there are hunters.
They must not see you!'
Yet the tiger did not move.
She moved towards it, waving her arms frantically.
'Please tiger, you must run.
You are too beautiful to be hunted.'

The tiger stared at her, and spoke.
'You are beautiful, why is my beauty greater than yours?'
She was startled, confused, yet answered.
'I am common.
There are so many women like me.
Yet so few white tigers.
A rare beauty holds so much greater value.'
The tiger spoke again,
'Why is all beauty not considered sacred?'
The woman shook her head,
'If everything beautiful was scared, then it'd never be destroyed.
To appreciate beauty, sometimes it must be threatened.
Otherwise, we would take it for granted.'

The tiger nodded, and just before the woman spoke again.
An arrow pierced her heart, and she collapsed to the ground.
The tiger looked saddened, as the hunters approached.
The hunters spotted the tigers and readied their bows.
The tiger looked to them, and they unleashed their arrows.

Yet, the arrows did not pierce the tiger.
'Recognize me, for I am Nethenko, god of the hunt.
This hunt has displeased me, and your village will suffer for it.
Return home, and begin repenting.'

The hunters ran, if not for recognizing the god, but for a talking tiger.
The tiger encircled the woman.
'Kind woman, I see in you compassion and an appreciation for the natural world.
I am not a god of life, so I cannot restore you as you were.
But I can gift you with my essence.
My essence will carry on thru all your children, marking them as carrying my blessing.'
The tiger's form began fading, transforming into thousands of butterflies.

A multitude of butterflies landed on the woman.
The arrow burst into butterflies, and suddenly the woman gasped with life.
The butterflies fluttered away.
Leaving the woman with white hair like the tiger's pelt.
And bright blue eyes.
The butterflies suddenly turned to the form of a man.

'In exchange for this, I ask that you carry my child.
I am becoming bored of my job, and desire a child to take my place soon.
I will not force you, you are not obligated to-'

'I accept' the woman interrupted.
The god spoke, 'The child will be of the blood of a tiger.
They will possess cat like ears, and tails, as well as other gifts.
I do not suspect he will be rightly accepted by humans.'

The woman thought, 'Then I do not want one.
I want many. So they have each other.'

The god smiled, 'You are more beautiful than I realized.'
The woman blushed, and the man disappeared into thousands of butterflies.
One gently flew over, and landed on the woman's stomach...
Before disappearing."

Sin was quiet a long moment, setting a plate in front of Purpura.
"And thus the nekos were born.
Do you remember the other important thing from the story?"
Purpura nodded, as he began to eat.
"Oh? Really? What?" Sin asked, unsure if Purpura was fibbing about remember.

Purpura waved his hand created a butterfly out of blood.
Sin looked to it, "That's both amazing and a bit scary."
Purpura retracted the blood, returning to eating.
Sin went about cleaning up a bit.
"Butterflies... are souls a drift.
They aren't ready for the afterlife...
So they float around, until they find a beautiful soul.
They land on them, attaching themselves to that person's future children or grandchildren."

Sin was quiet a long moment.
"Are those books gonna give you... everything you need?"
Purpura looked to them, then his mother.
He shook his head no, surely his mother knew things these books didn't.
His mother smiled warmly, "Then what would you like to know?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay in upload.
I changed my mind about what would happen when Purpura went home...
It started as a big feast, with all his siblings, changed to a smaller feast, then no one being home, then having Black show up, then having Sin and Purpura 'discus' neko tradition alone, then siblings bursting in.
Finally I decided to share a... species origin story.

And butterflies... Feel free to look up Butterflies never die on youtube.
I listen to it a lot when writing for Purpura.