10. It's raining frogs! Gross.

After a refreshing night, Utako found himself traveling at a decent pace with the hyena Iyubi by his side. After he had kept her safe, she had been a tad nicer to him, referring to him usually by his name instead of pack mule. Even when they slept he found her snuggling up close to him. The morning though he was determined to hurry back to Kotone. He had his fun with Iyubi but Kotone was his responsibility and she would hate being stuck alone for too long.

“I was just kidding about you being slow.” Iyubi muttered as she drudged behind Utako. She glared as he continued at his pace. They had been traveling almost all morning without stopping. At least when she was in a hurry she let him take multiple rests, she thought bitterly. “Your cheetah will be fiiiine. I travel this area alone all the time and nobody bothers me.”

“We were attacked yesterday by a group of lions. Imagine if they found her instead. I just need to make sure she is safe.” He said, glancing back at Iyubi. “But now you are also my responsibility and I need to keep you safe. If I abandoned you and something was to harm you, I am pretty sure that Kotone wouldn’t speak to me for a while.”

Utako slowed down his pace for the hyena.

Suddenly a loud thump noise caught his attention. His gaze shifted from Iyubi to the noise. What he saw was a very confused looking frog. He frowned and looked for anything else that was out of the ordinary. Then another thud happened, this time next to Iyubi. She let out a howl of surprise. Next to her was a different frog, one that did not seem to be in good shape.

Iyubi looked up and gasped. “Oh no.”

Utako looked to see what the problem was and he saw it. A down pour of frogs, all heading toward them. “Lets hurry and find shelter.” He ordered as the frogs started to hit the ground more and more. One landed right on his face. He growled as he shook it off.

The two darted, toward the nearest hill, doing their best not to get pelted. There was no way this was normal, Utako thought to himself as he stopped behind a rock. It wasn’t perfect as there were frogs hopping and croaking next to them, but at the very least they would not be pelted anymore.

An out of breath Iyubi collapsed to the ground.

“What kind of god curse did you put on us.” She muttered, pushing away some frogs that were getting close to her. Iyubi looked at him and glared. “Did you do this so we would have to hurry up?”

“What? No. I had nothing to do with this. I have no powers over frogs. And even if I did I wouldn’t waste it on pelting us with them. This is something else.” He grumbled. It was insulting to be accused of something like this. If anything it wasn’t making the journey quicker but delaying it.

“Well you must have done something. You are the only god I see around here.” Iyubi responded.

“Maybe one of the things you took was cursed. Did you think about that?”

Iyubi rolled her eyes. “Alright let’s just assume neither of us is at fault. What are we going to do about it? The frogs don’t seem to be slowing down.” She said the last part slowly, on the verge of bursting out laughing. It really was an odd sentence but it was a strange occurrences. She wasn’t even sure if she could share the event with her friends without being laughed at.

“I guess I could change my form and use my wings to shield you from the frogs.” He said. At least one of them would be protected, though he did not like the idea of being pelted by the frogs. He peaked his head around the rock to see how the downpour was doing. The once deserted area was now covered in frogs. Other animals were darting around, looking for shelter. He could only imagine how Kotone was doing. Her reaction to things were always difficult to pin down.

He looked over at his hyena companion who was making an annoyed look at him. “What?”

“Could you change into a giant hyena with wings? When you look like a lion you look so… gross.” Iyubi said, making a face. “OR better yet we can just wait it out for a little bit. There can’t be THAT many frogs in the sky. It will end in a moment. Your little cheetah will be fine. I’m sure that we can figure out something to pass the time.”

Utako frowned when she said that he looked gross. He never really understood the dislike between some hyenas and lions. But he just shrugged it off. It wasn’t the most important thing right now. He looked back at the raining frogs. It hasn’t let up. The frogs would slow him down no matter what, even if he tried to fly.

‘Perhaps a little rest won’t be too bad,’ he thought. ‘As soon as the frogs stop I could fly straight to where Kotone is and make sure she is alright.’

“You have a point.” Utako said. “There isn’t much point in my running out there and dealing with those frogs. For now we’ll just wait. Perhaps you can tell me a story to pass the time?”

Iyubi gave him a quizzical look. “A story? Like one I would tell a cub?”

“Hm no I was thinking maybe a story about your home? I enjoy hearing about prides from time to time.” Utako explained. “I always travel around looking for prides I have never been to and to hear different stories. It is fascinating to see how they grow and change over time.”

Iyubi snorted. “So you’re telling me that you could make anyone you come across scared to death by your god abilities but all you do is travel around and listen to stories? Don’t get me wrong, I like that you aren’t demanding me to worship your or anything, but if I were in your place, I would be demanding sacrifices from everyone I see. I would never have to go treasure hunting myself. I could force others to do it for me! What a life.”

“Wouldn’t you miss the adventure of actually seeking out the treasure for yourself?” Utako asked curiously.

Iyubi just shrugged. “If I got bored I would go look for myself. But I would bring my subjects with me to carry all my findings. It would be a glorious life.” She said gleefully. Utako decided to mention that even now as a mortal being she wasn’t expected to carry her treasure since she was making him do it.

“I found that it draws too much unwanted attention when I am in my normal form. It is harder to talk to others when they are constantly looking up to you. I have a friend who always expects me to be the best version of myself because I am a god. She says that mortals need me to be a mold for them to follow.” Utako said, thinking of Tsillah. There were so many thing that he had done to disappoint her. Their friendship was something manageable for him before she found out he was a god. “It is easier to just pass as a mortal and get to know others on a personal level.”

“It isn’t your responsibility to be a role model for others. How I see it is that you have this grand opportunity and you might as well make the most of it. If you don’t you are just letting your godhood go to waste.” Iyubi responded.

It was an interesting argument, Utako thought. He would have to think more about it. As he was about to continue the discussion, something caught his attention. A lack of noise. Without a word he looked around the rock. It was still raining frogs but it had almost died down. He looked back at Iyubi. “We’re in luck! It is clear again. I’m going to fly ahead and meet you there!”

Before she could get a word in, Utako bounded off, his shape shifting to a larger form and flew off. Iyubi watched with amusement and anger. It was still such a strange sight to see. However the a*****e god left her alone to walk the rest of the way AND he took her bag of treasure. Enraged, she followed below. When she caught up to him she was going to tell him off.

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