U Kai
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
~George Bernard Shaw
My life as U Kai was the antithesis of that of Li Shou. As Shou, I had been bound by duty, unable to enjoy life and let go. As U Kai, I went the opposite direction. I indulged, I took time, and let myself frolic about like a kitten, as I had not done before. Now, that may sound like perfection, but there is more to it than that. I became hard, no longer did I care for others, I was selfish and unkind. I directed all my efforts inwards unlike the absolute selflessness of my previous life. Looking back at it now, I am ashamed.
Early on in my life as U Kai, the deities like myself still wandered among the wilds of the world freely as we wished. Often, we would encounter men, and we would observe their peculiarities. Men were the only creatures to get together and tell stories built from the imagination. They were the only ones who complemented things outside of the natural. They were looking to the future unlike most creatures, who learned from the past, but lived only for the present. They would gather in a group to dance and sing, to tell stories and whisper dreams of the future. It was enchanting to watch.
Then one day, about halfway through my life as U Kai, long after that of Li Shou, my fellow deities decided that we should do something similar. They wanted to be like men, to have a time set aside for merriment and exhibition. So, one day, they had U Pyrthat, who lived in the sky, bang on his drums to summon us together. We came from all around the world, called together by the great thundering drums of Pyrthat, to talk and caper about with one another as long-lost friends. We meet at Salar de Uyuni so that those of the sky could join it the merriment with those of us bound to the ground. There, the stars of the sky reflected off the ground like drops of silver on the earth. We stayed there many days. During the day, we would tell stories of our travels, each new speaker attempting to outdo the one before. The stories grew more fantastical with each new tale built upon one another. Every word became a breath of the soul, every sentence embellished with the narrator's passion. Foolish as I was at the time, I deemed it below me to join in on the gaiety. I was selfish. To me, my stories were for myself and no one else. There was only one thing from this gathering that I allowed myself to participate in, and even then only once.
As the sun set, it cast tongues of fire across the ground. This was a signal that we waited all day for. Just as the sun set beneath the horizon, we gathered together in a circle, each one eager to bring forth their art for one another to enjoy. We would play music so beautiful not a single eye would be dry. Tunes that struck the soul, not only in sadness, but in joy and celebration. Beings would get up and dance to the tunes. Despite my longing to join, I held myself back, still too arrogant and selfish to give into my private delight. The final day, though we did not know it then, I finally gave in to my longing. I grabbed my sword, a gift from the unknown, and took to the floor.
I let my body sway to the rhythm. I let myself be caught up in its enchanting beat. I could feel the eyes on me as I glided across the ground. I was fierce yet ethereal, harsh yet delicate, savage yet contained. I let myself go and gave no heed to my appearance completely caught up in the moment. Starlight glistened off my sword as it dripped with liquid moonlight. When the song ended, I slowed and saw my fellows staring. Embarrassed, I sat back down on the ground.
Eventually, as daybreak loomed on the horizon, U Pyrthat approached me. He asked to borrow my sword for a dance of his own. I was reluctant. It was mine, a gift. And Pyrthat was known to keep things that he had borrowed. The others saw this and began to jeer at me. Some were angry that I had refused the host and that I had refused to join in on the fun. Confronted by this opposition I gave in, and lent Pyrthat my sword, dread filling my gut. He began to dance, but in contrast to mine, it was a savage brutal thing. He had no control and his power began to leak out of him. Fearful, the deities fled, afraid of being caught up in his fervor and slaughtered. I ran with them leaving my precious gift in his hands. Pyrthat returned to the skies.
From then on, every time he banged on his drum he would practice with the weapon, making thunder and lightning arc across the clouds. One day as he was dancing in the heavens, men were dancing in the forests below. Lightning struck a dry tree near them as they danced, catching it alight. It is because of this and other similar incidents that man came to have fire. My fellow deities and I watched as men mastered this chaotic element and used it to shape and forge things for their own use. We stood by terrified for what it might mean.
We were right to be. Because of fire, man could thrive. They made tools that allowed them to make the land yield produce for them. They could hunt animals and build wondrous objects of dirt and stone. I watched for many more years as U Kai as man began to thrive.
Banner Image: Salar de Uyuni salt flat from Wikimedia Commons
Image: "Solforge-Neranika" by RUshN on Deviant Art
Bibliography: "What Makes the Lightning" from Folktales of the Khasis by Mrs. K. U. Rafy
Music Recommendation: "The Dream Snatcher" by Peter Gundry
Author's Note- Okay, the point of this story was to show how our cat has begun to change and to explain a major step in the history of humanity. Without fire, humanity would be unable to function beyond the baser instincts. That is not to say we cannot survive without it. Fish, berries and roots were part of human diet long before red meats. Cooking food is what allows our body to absorb excess nutriments, which in turn allow our brains to function. Fire allows us to form the weapons and tools that allows us to overcome the limits of ourselves and those of nature. I wanted to write a story that reflected that but at the same time I did not want to compromise the story to do so. This conflict gave way to this tale. Much of it is based of the original. It is a story from the Khasi people of India. In it U Kai is a lynx, hence the cat connection. In the story the animals see men having a party and decide to copy it. During the animals' party, U Kai does dance with his sword. He then lends it to Pyrthat who scares off the animals with his display. The difference is that man does not get fire in the original, just lightning. When I read the story the first time, it jumped out to me that a popular theory for man discovering fire is that they got it from lightning striking something flammable, and thus my story was born. I chose Salar De Uyuni as the setting because it is a real place. It is a salt flat so large and smooth that it reflects the sky, and thought it an interesting place for such a mythical tale.