Long ago, the bush of the Disc of Agê was extremely annoying to Anansi as he made his way through. The density of it made it just as difficult to climb above the ground as it was to move along it. And it was very humid, so much so that it looked as though he was sweating when in actuality, he was not the type of Fonlander that was capable of sweating. He wore a long shirt and pant sleeves made of very light weight fabric that became heavy with moisture the longer he waded through the thick, humid bush.
Eventually, he came to a steady stream of water that moved lazy through the low grass as he emerged from the trees. There were many Fonlanders at the water, some drinking, others filling containers. Anansi approached the Fonlander that he came to first as he walked to the stream’s edge, a large abada that drank from the stream. Anansi looked up at the large horse-like creature with its two horns on the bridge of its large nose, and its four large legs that were taller than he was.
“Greetings, your majesty,” Anansi said with a salute of one of his hands and a short bow.
“Hello,” the abada said with a skeptical look on its face. “Why are you being reverential when we have never met?”
“I always encounter new Fonlanders with the utmost respect because all kin of the Fonlands are blessed creatures of the Mother-Father. I will be more casual if this is off-putting.”
“Definitely off-putting, so you will understand why I will choose to end this interaction as soon as possible. Goodbye,” the abada said and began to leave the stream, but he stopped, obviously hesitant, when Anansi continues.
“Wait,” he said, “I was just going to have someone point me in the direction of Pultine.”
“I know who you are, word travels fast in these parts. I can’t help you. Pultine knows that you are looking for her and you will find her when she wants you to. In the meantime, I would just hang tight and try not to be annoying.”
“Is there anything interesting to do around here while I wait,” Anansi called after the abada, who was already walking away and wasn’t interested in turning back to respond.
“What do you want from me?” Anansi heard behind him and he startled, then turned. He cowered away from the adolescent female who stood with her fists on her hips and her large, black feathered wings high at her back.
“Are you Pultine?” Anansi asked.
“Yes. What do you want to make you stop annoying my friends?”
“But you’re just a little girl…” Anansi said and then Pultine flicked the air to shoot a ball of light at his face that exploded and left dark dust on his skin. “That was very immature.”
“I am not a little girl. I am Pultine of the Large Flower, protector of these parts. Why have you come here, annoying everyone with your questions about me? I do not know you, stranger with too many arms and legs, I don’t care how good your stories are, I will never go anywhere with you. So leave the forest now or I will explode a lot of light around you and it will hurt this time.”
Pultine frowned up at Anansi who wanted to laugh at the audacity of this adorable little dark-skinned girl with wings, but he was honestly too intimidated, afraid that if he patronized her, she would inundate him with the fireworks that popped off of her fists at her side.
“I’m sorry, Pultine, but I was sent here by a friend of my mother and by the way she described you, I didn’t imagine that I would be encountering a child, which means that I would be a fool to underestimate your power despite your age. I don’t mean to insult you, I would just ask that you do me the favor of coming to meet someone on the Disc of Jo, the Luminary Aziza, who has asked for your audience. You are not a little girl, you are the sovereign of this land and it is incumbent on sovereigns to sometimes meet with other beings of their stature to discuss important things. Do you know what I mean?”
Pultine looked confused but tried not to show it, and she crossed her arms at her chest, fireworks still popping at her fists and falling down at her side.
“Of course I know what you mean, but I have no business with anyone like that at the moment. And I don’t know you so whoever sent you is of no interest to me.”
“What if I offered you a gift?” Anansi asked, desperate to find something to keep the girl’s attention.
Pultine looked intrigued. “Bring a gift to my tree house,” Pultine said, pointing to the largest tree in the area, “by the setting of the light above us. If it pleases me, then I will go with you where you are asking me to go. But I will kill you if I don’t like the gift. And if I do like the gift, and you take me somewhere that I don’t like, I will kill you. If I don’t see you when the light is leaving, I will assume that you have left this forest.”
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