Starfish

19.2

"...so the two sisters Pele and Namaka fought, and Namaka killed Pele. Pele's body was torn apart and her bones became the mountain Kaiwiopele, but her spirit lives on in the volcano Halema'uma'u as lava and steam."

Ardus leaned back on his arms, listening to Nina with rapt attention. He watched her as she told the story – one she apparently knew by heart – and admired how she made corresponding gestures and facial expressions that breathed further life into the incredible tales of fighting sisters, living mountains, and goddesses of fire and volcanoes. Before his crossed legs sat the picked-over remains of their dinner, from which they occasionally snacked between stories. They had been swapping tales for hours now, and the sky was turning purple above the sheltered cove. Nina pushed some hair out of her face, her story complete. "So that's one story of how Pele left Tahiti and founded Hawaii."

"You are an excellent storyteller," Ardus sat forward and poured them both some kelp tea. "Also, I find it fascinating how much fire plays into the themes of your people."

"Well, fire is one of those things that represents all life." Nina brushed some sand off of her feet before sitting back down. "Water is another theme, and wildlife. Especially flowers," she touched the one beside her ear. "The naupaka flower, for example, is said to be the end result of a love affair between two people who could never see each other again. As a result of the lovers being separated, the flower only grows one half of its petals."

"There is a story," Ardus began, "-which, by the way, is the traditional way of starting Dreen legends – of the goddess and god Omi and Aku. It is the story of why Omi does not show her full face."

"Do tell!" Nina sipped her tea, reaching for a doughy biscuit stuffed with fruit. Shifting to a comfortable position Ardus gestured towards the sky, where a half-moon was visible just above the rocks. "There is a story," he grinned, "of when the stars were new, and Omi traveled among them as the moon to enjoy their light. They shone on her face and gave her warmth in the cold night. But one star shone so bright that Omi had to turn her face away because the light hurt her eyes. This was Aku, taking the form of the most handsome star in the sky, and Omi fell in love with him. But even though Aku's light was bright he was still beautiful and Omi still wanted to see him, so at night while he slept she approached him and looked. Even asleep, he was so handsome that Omi began to blush brightly – so much, in fact, that it woke Aku. Now, Aku had never seen Omi before because as the moon she only went out at night, but now that she'd awakened him he could see her. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he instantly fell in love with her as well. But, they stared at each other for so long that her face burned."

Nina cocked her head. "Like a sunburn?"

"Quite literally – the marks on the moon are the scars from Aku's light burning Omi's face. So, with her face now scarred, Omi fled from Aku. She flew across the sky and hid behind Dreenai, keeping turned away so no one could see her face. But Aku could not forget how beautiful she was, so he went looking for her. He searched everywhere, but he could not find her. The trouble was that he only looked for her during the day when he was awake, so when Omi saw his light she ran and hid behind Dreenai again. Only at night did she move freely. Well, one evening as Aku was settling down to sleep after another long day of searching, he saw a bright light. He sat up and the light vanished, but when he lay back down again it reappeared. It was Omi, of course, and she had been peeking at him while he was asleep."

"Of course," Nina gestured with her cup of tea.

Ardus nodded, "Naturally. However, now that Aku had seen her, he understood why he had not been able to find her. Before she could run away again, he called out to her. Aku apologized for hurting her and begged her to stay, but Omi could not because she is a water goddess and must keep the tides moving. She explained this and Aku, as much as he knew it would break his heart to never see her again, understood. So he proposed a solution: every night before Aku goes to sleep Omi looks out from behind the world of Dreenai and they smile at each other. Now because Omi is still embarrassed about her scarred face, sometimes she only peeks, which is why we only see part of her face some nights."