Long ago, Anansi went to the Disc of Agê with a smile on his face. He was happy. He had made the disagreeable Luminary Aziza, Obea, proud of him, and he was one step away from securing a legacy as more than the son of a Vodun. It hadn’t been easy, but it also hadn’t been nearly as difficult as it had sounded when Obea first butted into his conversation with his mother and insisted that he bring her four of the most disagreeable Fonlanders of the Discs in order to become the bearer of the Scroll in the Time Chamber on the Disc of Jo. Once he delivered the last Fonlander on the list, the narrative of the Scroll would shift to his perspective and his account of the stories of the Fonlands would become the Scroll. It was fitting, Anansi was a known spinner of tales and had traveled the Discs extensively, and his mother, the Luminary Nyame, was reluctant at first, but then ok with the idea of unburdening herself from the responsibility of the Scroll. This entire arrangement would work out for everyone involved, even Obea, and Anansi could see the finish line before him.
He arrived in the dense forest of the Disc and he wandered for a bit before he encountered a large black wompus that looked like a panther with the long teeth of a sabretooth.
“You are Anansi,” the wompus said in a deep and husky voice. “It is an honor to meet the son of a Vodun…”
“The Vodun of Stories, some might say,” Anansi said, trying to sound humble but not sounding that way at all.
“Truly,” the wompus said, seeming to only agree to move the conversation along. “I have never been lucky enough to watch you spin a tale, though I have heard from many who have been lucky enough to sit in audience of your oratory abilities. I hope to one day be so lucky.”
Anansi was flattered and he offered to tell a story for the wompus right there, but it quickly dawned on him that something was amiss.
“Wait,” he said. “Did you come here looking for me, or was this a chance encounter?” he asked, hoping that he still had a genuine fan and this was not some ambush from the mmoatia who probably knew that he was coming.
“Sorry,” the wompus said. “You are not of this Disc, and you portaled into such close proximity to the young Pristine. You practically landed right on top of everyone that lives for her safety.”
Anansi nodded. “So you’re not a fan, then?”
“Not really, but I am a quick learner. Word around the Discs is that Anansi is abducting Fonlanders. And then he turns up here after the Lead Architect of the builder hornets on Gu’s Disc disappears with half her nest. I wonder what brings you here?”
“You do know a lot,” Anansi said confidently, hiding the fact that he’d been completely blindsided by a very knowledgeable adversary. “But you should know that there is always more than one side to every story. You are listening to half truths and whispers, noble wompus. I am sure that hearing these things from uninformed sources may cause worry to one such as yourself who seemingly has the charge of protecting one as precious as the Pristine, but I want to assure you, that I am not some foul villain hopping Discs and causing trouble. I did take Queen Vespa, as well as King Onin, and Judge Kahn, but what I am here to tell you is that I took them to their salvation on the Disc of Jo. I am not a mighty warrior and I have just named three of the most powerful beings of the Fonlands, not to mention the half of the Queen Vespa’s builders who traveled with her. I could not have taken them by force, surely that is apparent to one as knowledgeable as you are, my new wompus friend.”
Anansi watched as his reason slowly settled over the previously suspicious wompus who had some skill at stealth and subterfuge judging by his initial ambush of Anansi, but knew of the Fonlanders that Anansi had mentioned well enough to know that he could not have subdued and taken them against their will.
“So you have come to secure the Pristine?” the wompus guard asked.
Anansi nodded. “You know that she is important. And to be clear, we are talking about Mmoatia, right?”
“Mmoatia are a kin,” the wompus said with a laugh, “Pultine is the aboatia that we have sworn our lives to here in this forest.”
“Pultine! Yes, that is the one I am to take back to the Luminary Aziza, Obea, on the Disc of Jo.”
“The Luminary Aziza?” the wompus says with reverence and wonder. “I have heard of the Luminaries of Jo’s Disc. They are the embodiment of the good that would be wrought with the Divine Essence. Show me this Luminary and let her tell me her purpose for the Pristine.”
Anansi shrugged and revealed his web portal that he attached to trees in front of the wompus like a movie screen and he cast magic at it with his hand to produce a view of the Luminary Aziza on the roots of the Cotton-Wood that his mother called home.
“What is it?” Obea asked angrily when she saw Anansi through the portal. “Are you sending Pultine through or just staring at me in an unsettling way?”
“This wompus is a guard of the Pristine mmoatia known as Pultine and he will take me to her if he can talk to you. I explained to him that you had me retrieve the Pristine to keep her safe and he will send her willingly if you will explain the same.”
Obea looked at Anansi with suspicion while he talked and by the time he was done, she understood the ruse he hoped she would play along with to expedite his mission. Anansi stood aside so that Obea could repeat verbatim what Anansi had said to the wompus and he bowed and thanked the Luminary Aziza for her time before she closed the portal on her end.
“See,” Anansi said. “Now, take me to Pultine so I can get her on over.”
“Just keep traveling forward, you are bound to encounter her,” the wompus said casually as it began to stroll away.
“Wait, you are her guard, you can just take me straight to her,” Anansi protested, walking after the wompus that had very much moved on and was looking for something else to get into.
“Everything in this forest has sworn its life to the Pristine, so yes, I am in a sense her guard, her protector. But I’m not like a stand outside her tree hollow type guard. The Pristine doesn’t like to be crowded, she moves as she pleases.”
“But you made me think you could take me right to her.”
“I just meant that I wasn’t going to try to kick you out of the forest or eat you or something. Now I know you’re cool, you’re free to roam around and find her. I’ll vouch for you, just tell anyone that Feif says you’re all good.”
“Do you know where I can find her at least?” Anansi asked with annoyance that this would take longer than he wanted it to.
“Here, man, she’s around, geesh,” the wompus said with annoyance. “I’m not the one looking for her. Good luck.” And with that, the wompus sprinted away into the thick bush of the forest.
“Great,” Anansi said and he continued his journey through the thick forest.
PRL Serials 