oft it whispered in her ears, soft it felt as the rose under her paw lay perfectly still. A white rose, singular, perfect to every shred. Fei had scanned the field of roses for hours, she had left nothing unturned, visibly turned the leaves to check them for chew marks of little pests, made sure they had no imperfections... Not for her, not for the goddess herself. Fei knew what she deserved and she knew that giving her something short of perfect wouldn't do, not ever in this world.

She had selected it carefully and picked it with her mouth, hurt herself in the process, but careful to not bleed on the rose itself. She had softly carried it to the den area, but stayed clear of her noisy siblings. She had never been like them, she had never been youthful or playful, never roamed like they did, she had sat still and she had listened. Took her studies seriously, listened to the preaches of the priests and priestess, not once did she falter from faith, not even after the incident with Thetis. She had pushed it in the back of her mind, she didn't want to think that this was white - this was not god, it was. Imperfection in the making of perfection.

They had returned from war and the gods had left their land, hollow and empty Fei had patiently waited for their return, and she knew it had been days now, she knew Anamelech soon would visit, soon she would seek them, she didn't understand that they were mere playthings, but she understood they were important to her.

But - like this, she would have to share attention with her siblings. She looked at them from afar and then at her rose. Did she dare? She picked it up again and then left the den area. She would seek out her own gods, and find her own answers. She was such a faithful pupil, ready and eager to learn and every turn of the world, and today was not different. She didn't know exactly where to find her, but she relied on her nose for hours, and then - luck.

She found her.

She was by a small stream of water and Fei stood dead in her tracks, standing perfectly still for some time before finally taking some soft steps toward the goddess Gigantea. She came up next to her and bowed her head and put the perfect white rose next to her and tried to make eye contact. She didn't say anything, though she wanted to, she was gleeing and beaming hoping Anamelech would pay her attention, hoping she would give praise for her hard work in picking the rose. Maybe even hoped she had heard of her hard work in the studies and would praise her for that too?

Silly girl didn't know roses weren't meant to be touched.