Muri The Lightning Primordial

Chapter 6 [ Weight of the Morning]

Chapter Six

Weight of the Morning

The silence in the village square stretched so long that Muri began to wonder if he had also lost his hearing with his sight. He stood with his shoulders squared and his chin tilted at the defiant, slightly bored angle he had perfected over nineteen years of being the village disappointment.

He couldn't see the expressions on his clansmen's faces, the way their jaws hung loose and their eyes tracked Venit like she was a spirit that had wandered into the waking world—but he could hear the way their breathing had synchronized into a single, stunned rhythm.

Venit—for her part, stood as if she had been carved from starlight and could not be bothered to notice the mortals gawking at her. She slowly examined her nails with theatrical disinterest.

Muri cleared his throat loudly. "Everyone," he announced, his voice was filled with the perfected cheerfulness of a man who was absolutely making this up as he went.

"This is Venit. She's a traveling nomad. She took a nasty fall off the north ridge during the storm and my mother has been kind enough to patch her up…" He paused, letting the words settle.

The silence did not break.

‘ Are they even breathing?!?!’

"She's going to be staying with us for a little while," he continued, injecting a note of forced warmth.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd extend the usual clan hospitality. She's... a bit unusual, and talks weird, but she's a friend. Please make her feel welcome, and overlook her gibberish." He smirks as he glanced to his side where she stood.

Venit leaned in close, her breath warm against his ear.

" ‘Unusual'??? Cheeky brat, I am literally a cosmic entity. You're making me sound like I have a strange sickness, like a syndrome or something."

"You do have a syndrome" he muttered back through a fixed smile.

"You keep claiming to be a god. That's weird."

"It's accurate!! " She snaps harshly with a whisper, ignoring the shocked stares from the still standing clan.

"It's weird."

She made a small, offended sound. "You wound me."

"I haven't even started yet." He chuckles

From somewhere to his front, he heard his eldest brother Kaelen shift his weight, the soft ground creaking under his massive frame.

"Muri…" Kaelen said slowly, his voice thick with suspicion, "…where exactly did you find her?"

"In the jungle," Muri said evenly.

"—Bleeding. Unconscious. Would you like me to draw you a map?"

"I would like you to explain why she looks… different "

Venit stepped forward, her voice lifting to carry across the entire square. "I have very good skin care, thank you. It's a family secret. Involves molten lava and the tears of my enemies."

Someone in the crowd choked.

“ Ahhhh… that's what Muri meant by gibberish…” someone added.

Muri grabbed her arm. "Right. We're going now. Tour time!! Everyone, go back on with your business. Nothing to see here except a very tired blind man and his very loud annoying guest."

He pulled her away and towards the center of the camp, navigating by the familiar sounds of the clan's morning rhythm.

Behind them, he heard the murmur of conversations restarting, though they were lower than usual, more cautious.

"You're terrible at introductions." Venit snorts, rolling her eyes and then pause realizing he could not see her actions.

"I did my very best under circumstances that I never asked for."

"You did not tell them my full title."

"Because you never told me your full title, just the name Venit."

"I'm sure I did!!! Anyways I am Venit, the Unbounded. Ruler of the skies, Faster than anything and everything. Welder of the Spear of Levin, The Last Primordial, Being above Lightning, Strongest force of Nature, Hardest and Fastest Striker, the Heaven's Unruly Daughter, the—"

‘ Hardest and Fastest Strike?!?! What the hell???…’

"The woman who nearly died in a mud last night." Muri interrupted with a deadpan expression.

"…That's your title here. Keep it humble." He muttered with a sigh.

She elbowed him.

Not hard, but pointedly.

"You insufferable cheeky brat!!"

They reached the playground, a wide clearing where children were chasing each other with sticks, role playing and screaming at volumes that seemed unnecessary.

Muri stopped and gestured vaguely.

"This is the playground. Where small humans attempt to injure themselves." He explains vaguely

Venit surveyed the chaos with an expression of mild horror that Muri could only sense through the way her posture stiffened.

"This is not a playground. This is a battlefield rehearsal. Do your children not have structured activities?? Supervised games???Educational components???"

‘ Supervised games?!? The hell...!!!’

"They have rocks, sticks, and a very wild imagination. It works just fine." He shrugged.

"It's anarchy. " She whispered, flinching a a raw yell from a kid playing knight.

"It's called childhood. There's a difference."

One of the smaller children, a girl named Taren— who Muri recognized by her high-pitched shriek, ran directly into Venit's legs and bounced back off like she had hit a wall.

The girl sat down hard, blinked up at Venit, and then burst into tears.

Venit looked down at the crying child in shock and then at Muri.

"What did I do???" She whispered in a panicked tone

“ I don't know, what did you do??”

"I didn't do anything!! You saw her run into be like a battering ram!! "

Taren's wails increased a notch that she began to attract the attention of the other kids.

“ Help me fix this!!! ” she whispers to Muri.

"I can't fix crying. I'm blind, not a miracle worker."

"You're useless." She snaps

"I'm blind there's a difference."

Venit crouched down.

“ You better not claim to strike her with lightning ” Muri whispers harshly to her.

“ Goodness gracious Muri she's a little human!!” Venit groaned as she glared at him hard enough her felt goosebumps.

‘ And you have a syndrome...’

Them she turned to Taren and Muri heard her voice soften into something he hadn't heard before—gentle, almost tender.

" Hey Little one. Stop crying. I am not a monster. I am simply tall and confusing."

The girl sniffled and paused staring at her. "Your hair is weird."

"Yes, I know. It's a burden to take care of also. Now go play before I decide to demonstrate what actual lightning looks like."

‘ I knew she would threaten her with lightning ’

The girl scrambled away, shrieking again, but this time with laughter instead of fear.

Muri raised an eyebrow. "Threatening a child with lightning. Very divine of you."

" Well it worked, didn't it?… Besides who gave me the idea..."

"It's a low, even for you."

They moved on to the farms. The grain swayed in the breeze, and Muri could hear the workers in the distance, their hoes striking the earth in steady rhythms. He stopped at the edge of the field and turned toward Venit.

"These are the farms. We grow food here. You know, sustenance. The thing we mortals need to survive."

Venit sniffed. "I'm familiar with the concept."

"Are you? Because you said you'd never eaten before."

"I said I rarely eat. There's a difference. I've tasted things. I simply don't require them." She reply

"So you're a picky eater."

"I am selective."

" It's literally the same thing." He shrugs

"It is absolutely not the same thing." She counters

They walked along the edge of the field, and Muri could feel the workers' eyes on them. He ignored it, focusing instead on the way Venit's footsteps seemed to make the grass wilt and then recover in a strange, rhythmic pattern.

"You're doing the thing again." he mutters

"What thing?" She turns to him cluelessly.

"The light thing. The air thing. The 'I am not quite mortal' thing."

"I can't help it. I am not quite mortal." She smiled with a sense of pride.

" Yeah right. Well, can you try? You're making the sheep nervous." He scoffs.

Venit paused, and he heard her turn toward the ranch where the sheep were indeed bleating in a panicked, irregular chorus. "Their bleating sounds off-key. It's physically painful to listen to."

‘ How the hell does she know a sheep that sounds on-key?!?’

"They're sheep! They don't have pitch!" He sighs exasperated

"They could… with the right training." She added innocently.

"I am absolutely not letting you start a sheep choir. I have enough problems." He snaps

"You have no vision." She scoffs.

"I also don't have eyes, so yeah I lack vision. Literally!! "

She laughed—a real, unguarded laugh that sounded like wind through dry leaves. "You're quick, I'll give you that."

"I have to be cause you're exhausting."

"You love it." She cooed bumping into his shoulders.

"I tolerate it. There's a difference."

They walked past the ranch and toward the edge of the village, where the jungle began to thicken. The sounds of the clan faded behind them, replaced by the rustle of leaves and the distant call of birds.

Muri felt the familiar weight of the jungle pressing in around him, and for the first time that morning, he relaxed.

"This is the boundary," he said. "Past here, it's the wild. Territory belonging to predators and the clan Hunters."

"I know. I crashed through it last night." She grimaced.

"Right. Sorry. You probably remember it differently."

"I remember warmth, and mud, and a very stubborn blind man who refused to leave me to die."

"That's me. Stubborn and blind. It's my brand."

"It's a good brand. Needs work on the marketing."

They stood in silence for a moment, the jungle breathing around them. Then Muri heard footsteps approaching—light, familiar, purposeful.

His mother.

"You two aren't back yet," Sena said, her voice carrying that particular mix of amusement and authority that only mothers could manage. "I figured you'd gotten lost or killed each other."

"Not yet," Muri said.

"Give it time though."

"We're bonding," Venit added with a smile.

"He's learning to appreciate my greatness."

"He's learning to tolerate your volume and syndrome." Muri corrected.

Sena laughed softly. "Well, bonding or tolerating, I need you to make yourselves useful. The northern traps haven't been checked since before the storm. If there's anything caught, it'll be spoiled by morning."

She pressed a heavy satchel into Muri's hands. He felt the familiar weight of leather loops and steel stakes.

"Traps," he said. "Right."

"You know where they are?" Venit asked in shocked staring at him.

"I know where everything is." Muri smiles fixing his white films at her.

"That's not true…" Venit retorts. "You walked into a tree yesterday."

"It was a very stealthy tree."

"It was a tree!!" She turned to Sena. "He walked into a tree. Broad daylight. Unassisted. It was a clean predicted move!"

"And you nearly died of a cliff fall," Muri shot back. "So I think we're even."

Sena's laughter followed them as they turned toward the jungle. "Bring back something for dinner! Try not to kill each other!"

"No promises!" Venit called back.

Muri shook his head, gripping the satchel tightly as he stepped into the shadow of the trees. The jungle wrapped around him like an old friend, familiar and constant.

Beside him, Venit walked in silence for a moment before speaking.

"So…Traps."

"Traps."

"Do you actually know how to check them, or are we going to wander around until we find a dead animal by accident?"

"I know how to check them." He replied with a edge.

" Hey no fuzzy. I'm just asking because you walked into a tree."

"That was one time!!"

"It was yesterday." She smirks

"And you're never going to let it go, are you?" He sighs in frustration.

"Never."

Muri sighed, but there was a smile hidden somewhere in his voice. "Fine. Follow me. And try not to set anything on fire."

"I make no promises."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

They disappeared into the green, their bickering fading into the sound of the jungle, two unlikely companions bound together by circumstance and the stubborn refusal to admit that they were beginning to enjoy each other's company.