Chapter FourTale of the Children of the Barren Otter
Some time during the Age of Men
Long ago, when Ishku was still an otter, and not a janaav, she strolled the Ganga River without fear. Elephants trumpeted water over her, as three years ago she returned a lost calf to their parade. The oxen knelt in humility, as Ishku once negotiated with a tiger on their behalf. Tigers purred and leopards turned the other way, for the charms of Ishku were so endearing predators could not come to make her a meal. Even water spirits swam with her for company. The Ashtadash favored Ishku the otter.
During the rainy season, when the Ganga River overflowed, a human girl screamed and took Ishku from her idleness. Other animals fled, afraid of man. However, overcome with grief at the cries, Ishku headed toward the girl.
The girl stood off to the side on a rock. Ishku went up to the girl and chittered in otter. The little girl said, "My big brother fell into the Ganga. If you can understand me, please help."
Ishku raced down the Ganga until she arrived at a split. She dove down the path to Ruent Falls and saw a woman clinging to a rock. Ishku fetched some vines and pulled them out to the woman. When the woman saw, she said, "Thank you, but my husband already went over the falls. My path is to be by his side. I’m waiting for the courage to let go. Ashtadash smile upon you in your next reincarnation."
Ishku did not understand, nor was she going to waste more time. Ishku went back upstream and took the other path. She prayed, Ashtadash be vigilant, that the boy was still alive.
She found the boy, so the otter tied vines around him and water spirits helped her swim with the nearly dead child to the woman clinging to the rock. She could at least save the boy before dying. When the woman saw the purple faced boy, she said, "That's my boy, and I have my daughter. I can’t orphan my children."
Ishku skittered off into the jungle, but the woman chased the otter and said, "I am Ghita, a priestess of the Well of Ghuma. You saved my life twice—when you brought me out of the river and when you showed me my son. Come, drink out of the Well so you can become janaav." Out of the water, drying off, Ishku noticed the decorations on Ghita. She had a piercing on her nose and several up her ear. They were each a small loop, and as she spoke to Ishku, she connected a gold chain to them. The decoration was beautiful, and Ishku found herself compelled to follow.
The city of Jaya was overwhelming. Structures of stone reached the height of trees, and in some areas the trees were cleared until they could see the sky. Unblinking stone animals perched on pillars which lined the streets. Ishku went to a statue and asked, "You sit here long enough that dirt turned to stone and moss feeds off it. Why would you stand guard over this place?"
Ghita laughed, able to understand the otter's squeals. "Poor otter. Those are not creatures, but man's depiction of creatures. It is a great compliment to the sculptors you thought them real."
Fur stood on end from embarrassment.
Wood shacks created crooked lines along the streets. Some of them were cut into the trunks of trees in such a way the tree was allowed to live and grow around them. Occupants stood in front of the stalls and shouted about items the otter wasn’t familiar with, from tools to dyed clothing. Men and women approached and traded shiny coins for the merchandise.
The world fell away as they stood in front of a shrine. Two guards saluted Ghita, and she said, "I bring an otter who saved the life of my boy and myself. Let her drink and be blessed." The guards moved away, and Ghita led Ishku through the stone shrine to a dirt path which wound around a lake three times. At the summit, as the lake was held in a depression in a hill, there was another temple. Snakes, great cats, and other predators lounged in the front room, which put Ishku on edge. She bristled and hissed until Ghita pet her. "Calm. They are already blessed or here to receive blessings. They will not harm you."
Past the temple a large stone platform overlooked the lake. Animals walked off the platform and into the water. Men and women greeted them on the other side. Each animal shifted into a man or woman with a unique trait revealing their animal ancestry. Ishku panicked. She did not want to become a woman. Again, Ghita said, "Calm. Watch them." And one by one, the former animals shifted back into a beast form, then a person form, with the guidance of priests on the other side of the lake where a larger temple stood three stories tall.
Ishku went into the Well of Ghuma, her heart clenching as she wondered what she would look like. The water was sweet on her tongue, as it filled her stomach. Coolness spread through her veins, into her limbs. Then her skin stretched, and she thought it would tear. Fur receded, though she kept her tail.
Once through to the other side of the lake, she was naked and a human woman. For the first time, she blushed at her nakedness.
A man with gentle eyes said, "Shift back to an otter and come with me. I will guide you to understand what it is to be janaav."
With effort, Ishku remembered her otter body and shifted back, where her nakedness didn't bother her.
"Shift for me, please." So Ishku became a woman. The priest draped robes over
