The Sparrow and Audhild

> *"Because it is winter, dear little thief.”*
>
>

The Sparrow and Audhild is one of the many stories that involve the Chonobi deity, Audhild. Explaining why birds migrate when it gets colder. The story is written as of how it has appeared in the IC of the roleplay. The post can be found here.

## The Story

**"Audhild is a very, very nice goddess. She is very caring!"**

Turning the book, Irene would flip the page.

**"We start by trying to understand what Audhild’s basket resembles."** Irene read in a slow pace, a frown appearing on her brow. She quickly turned to Meilin, softly whispering something in Chonobi.

**"Go on. It is fine, Aoi will understand it. I will try to explain those words later."** Meilin replied in Taika, nodding for emphasis that it was all fine.

Irene tried to continue but she kept stuttering and pronouncing various words wrong, trying to correct herself.

**"The goddess is one that doesn’t have any militant influence. She seems to be an odd egg as there seems to be little that resembles the warrior nature that the Chonobi have. Some argue that the Goddess is an ‘offspring’ from God. This, however, is not a theory that is far from approved by the Chonobi and some more less open minded faithful."**

Irene slowly stopped as she threw a confused look at the book. Slowly realising that this wasn’t a story about Audhild’s basket or anything she imagined. Irene was close to whimpering as Meilin would close the book.

**"I don’t think they have the stories here, Irene. How about,"** Meilin shot a look at Aoi, **"You try to tell the story in your own way? Though, watch your voice. We need to be a bit silent."**

Irene seemed disappointed, staring at the book. When Meilin made her suggestion, Irene shot a sideways look at Meilin before turning to Aoi

Aoi gave Irene a thankful nod as the girl decided she was capable of pulling out the chairs without help and took her seat quickly as Irene began to settle into her own seat. She watched with interest at how Irene placed the book down and use her only arm to work the pages, it was more than a little impressive how the girl had adjusted so well to her circumstances. Aoi listened intently as the girl began to read to her, her mind that only knew Taika easily filling in the blanks and correcting Irene’s words in her mind without a second thought making it far easier to understand what was being said then if she could only hear and comprehend the words Irene said only. When the girl seemed upset with the book it became apparent why when Meilin informed her that it wasn’t the story itself, but rather it seemed to be some scholarly piece on the Gods and Goddesses if Aoi had to guess.

Irene seemed as if she was going to begin crying again and Aoi wanted anything but for her heart to finally shatter. She breathed a sigh of relief as Meilin suggested she recite it from memory, and when Irene turned to her as if asking permission she gave the girl a happy little nod, **“Go on then, I’m sure your version will be better than some books anyway.”**

Irene seemed to cheer up when Aoi made her comment. Licking her lips, Irene wanted to start. She, however, seemed to ponder for a second. Then she nodded as if she verified that she was ready to go.

**"Okay, the goddess Audhild. She is the goddess that likes parties and families coming together. I prayed and placed sweets so that she would make sure that Meilin came home."** There was a certain pride swelling up in Irene’s voice.

**"But she has this basket that provides the sweetest of fruit and vegetables. One day, she was walking through her garden to collect her fruit. And a small sparrow landed as, wooooooosh!"** The small girl used her hand to try to mimic the sparrow, landing down on the book.

**"He asked her,"** Irene’s face became focused as she tried to make herself a bit smaller. **"Do you also have a carrot for me?"**

Then Irene shook her head as she tried to make her voice different.

**"No, little bird. I need to save this."**

Irene once more shook her head, this time she seemed a bit angrier.

**"But, but I am hungry! Can’t I have a little bite?"**

Once more Irene shook her head, this time calmer and slower.

**"No little bird. You can not. Now, please, fly away."**

Irene raised her hand as she made a soft sound.

**"And the little sparrow flew away. But he wasn’t happy on how Audhild had been greedy. So he came with a scheme. He decided to wait for the night to fall and then sneak into her garden."**

She was more than a little surprised when Irene talked about how she had offered sweets up to this Audhild in hopes of a safe return for Meilin. It was touching she was so concerned for her older sister, and it made her wonder if Miko was every afraid for his big sister as well. She shook her head softly and forced the depressing thought far off and away as she tuned back in to listen along to Irene. She couldn’t help but wonder about the Chonobi and the amazingly large difference in their faith versus her own. Multiple Gods and Goddesses were beyond her comprehension for something that she could really understand or ever see herself believing in, but it made a good story as Irene went on she could admit that. Aoi placed her cheeks in her hands and leaned down to listen intently to the young Cho and watched as her hand flew away when the sparrow was told to leave.

She sat up a little and rose a questioning eyebrow at Irene, **“So the sparrow is going to wrong a Goddess? Surely that can’t end well right?”** she wondered what might have happened in this story were it her God, and she was sure the sparrow would probably be forgiven… But Chonobi Gods seemed far more… prone to violence. Aoi was pretty sure this was a child’s story, from the fact Irene liked it so much and seemed to know it so well, so she settled on the possibility that the bird would be spared at the end. “**Well what comes next?”** she asked eagerly as she eyed Irene and bounced slightly up and down in her seat.

Irene had waited, keeping her eyes locked on Aoi. It was something that Meilin also did, the small girl remembered. Why? She wasn’t entirely certain though. When Aoi seemed intrigued, Irene flashed the widest smile as she barely could hold her own excitement to continue the story.

**"Maybe!”** The girl gave as answer to the question if it wouldn’t end well.

**"When night came, the sparrow decided that he had some right to Audhild’s fruits. Waiting for Audhild to fall asleep, he would land in the garden. And start to pick little bites from the vegetables and fruits. Little bites, as in super little. When the sun was coming up, he would quickly fly away.”**

Meilin was leaning slightly back, her arms crossed out front of her chest. She was amused on how Aoi and Irene interacted. Even feeling quite peaceful about it.

**"Time went past as Audhild seemed to not notice the small bites of the Sparrow. He was super glad cause now he could just feed himself at night. Only when winter was coming, the Sparrow noticed that there was less and less and less food he could steal from Audhild’s garden.”**

Irene paused for a moment as she clearly came to her favourite part. The twinkling in her eyes gave that much away.

**"Growing hungry at night, the Sparrow would wait for Audhild to come to attend to her garden. Asking,”** Irene once more set up the voice she had for the Sparrow. **"Oh Audhild, why is your garden so empty?”**

The child changed her tone to that of before, the one she gave Audhild.

**"Because it is winter, dear little thief.”**

Irene leaned a bit closer to Aoi.

**"If you want to know where to get more food, then you will have to sing me your most beautiful song. Then I might tell you where to get more food.”**

Irene then shifted her voice back to normal.

**"So the sparrow song. He did his best to make the best out of it. It made Audhild smile and eventually, she decided to not punish the little thief. Instead she would help him, teaching him to survive the winter. And so more birds came to Audhild’s garden to learn how to survive the cold of winter. Until spring would arrive.”**

Once the girl concluded her story, she threw a glance at her older sister. Meilin subtly nodded, a sign of approval. Irene clenched her hand into a fist and trembled slightly for a second, out of sheer joy. Turning to Aoi, Irene almost stuttered when she asked her question.

**"Did you like it, miss?”**