Kiwano's Pearl

Estimated time of occurrence: 560 BM

Mariani exits his cave and walks onto the barren wasteland that stretches before him. Yet another day of trying to survive in this harsh reality. He walks along the dark, rocky landscape, not an inch of saturation or color to be seen. The dark clouds float high above, dense and barren of personality, permanently blocking out the sun. Nearby, a small settlement resides, composed of crude rock structures and small caves built into rocky hillsides. Others shamble, going about their miserable lives. Mariani stumbles through the settlement and to the small marketplace. He stares at the food stall, drool slowly dripping from his mouth, his mind swarming of the thought of food. Bugs....dead grass....human flesh....oh how he wishes to have a taste. Mariani approaches the stall, and reaches for a bug, but is stopped as the shop keep grabs his arm.

"What will trade for bug?" The shop keep says.

"O- oh. I...have none..." Mariani looks solemnly downwards. He had already used the last of his tradable items for food a while ago.

"Hm." The shopkeeper goes. "Arm fetch nice price, hm?" The shopkeeper eyes Mariani's arm, a small bit of drool leaking from his mouth.

"N-no. That okay." Mariani pulls his arm away and quickly leaves the settlement in search for food. He begins to wonder how long it has been since he last ate. There is no aspect of time, no telling how long it has been, only the assumption it has been a good while. Mariani wanders the lifeless world until finally giving into his weakness and collapsing onto the ground. No strength to stand. No strength to live.

"Why..." he mutters to himself quietly. "Food... there must be food... anything... please..." Suddenly there is a crack of lightning nearby. Mariani weakly recoils and looks towards where the lightning struck. Standing before him at 7'8" is a burly man wielding a hammer around the same size. Kiwano.

"Food...?" Kiwano says.

"Y-yes. Do you have?" Mariani asks, still kneeling on the ground. Kiwano looks out at the barren environment around him and thinks for a long moment, then finally says, "If it is food you desire, then it is food you shall receive." Kiwano's hand begins to glow as he extends it towards Mariani. He opens his hand, and resting in his palm is a bright, shiny, white pearl. Mariani looks in awe and gently takes it.

"Keep this pearl safe with you for three days. At the end of the third day I will return for it. If it is in your possession, you shall receive what you desire. If it is no longer with you, there will be consequences."

Mariani stares up at Kiwano. "Days...? What..those?"

"...just wait until I return." And with that, Kiwano vanishes with a crack of lightning.

Mariani continues to wander the rocky terrain, hiking back to his cave. With nearly no strength remaining, he just makes it back and collapses onto the ground once again. He stares at the pearl in his hand as his stomach grumbles and pain shoots through his body. "..days.." he mutters. With no concept of time, Mariani passes out.

Mariani wakes to the sound of his stomach grumbling. Nearby, he sees something scurrying by. A bug. Food. He quickly lunges and traps it under his hand, but as he pulls his hand away, he realizes it was never there. These hallucinations continue for some time, as Mariani thinks of eating and food accompanied by more drooling and his rumbling stomach. After more waiting, Mariani stares at the pearl again. "...food...trade..able?" He tries to push the thought out of his head, remembering Kiwano's words, but they are overrun by his extreme hunger and growling stomach. Slowly, Mariani shambles to the settlement and to the food stall. The shopkeep looks at him. [

"Arm trade? Yeah?" He goes.

"No. Tradable." Mariani holds out the pearl. It gleams from light that does not exist, shining from nothing. Everyone turns and stares at the spectacle. The shopkeep's eyes widen.

"What want? Anything for white rock."

As Marini begins grabbing as much food he can eat and carry, he hands over the pearl. And as he does so, the shine fades until it is a dull grey.

Mariani happily walks back to his cave, his belly full of food and his arms full of more. The thoughts no longer consuming him, his hunger sated. As he turns to enter his cave, he drops all the food he was carrying at the sight of Kiwano standing before him. Mariani quivers in fear, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Ah... l-look.... food... no need... to wait.." Mariani gestures towards the food now splayed on the ground. Kiwano slowly begins to walk towards Mariani as Mariani begins to slowly back away, trembling with fear at the sight of this titan towering over him.

Kiwano simply stares at Mariani, then finally says, "you traded the pearl?"

Mariani takes a trembling gulp, and barely is able squeak out a, "yes." Kiwano stares at Mariani for a while longer, then sighs and finally says "...well, that sucks." Kiwano turns around and walks back into the cave. He waves his hand and the ground begins to tremble as a stone chair rises from it and Kiwano takes a seat. Mariani, still fueled with adrenaline and fear goes "Y- you not mad?"

"What? Nah not really. Not even sure how I got that pearl to be honest. I just gave it to you and made you wait so I could come up with some way to get you guys some food. I mean who knew you mortals had to eat? I thought you just lived on breathing or something. Sorry about that, kinda new to this god thing." Mariani simply stares in shock at Kiwano.

"So...no...punishment? Will get...more food?"

"What? Oh, yeah no, you're totally going to get punished. I'm not going to punish the rest of humanity for your greed, that would be silly. Why should everyone have to suffer over your mistakes? Nah, however yeah it's going to be pretty bad. Sorry. Reputations and all that. Gotta keep a stern face, you know? People fearing you and all that, kinda gets things moving a bit smoother and such."

Mariani begins backing away slowly before attempting to bolt out of the cave. Kiwano waves his hand as the ground trembles and a wall appears before Mariani, sealing the cave.

"What did I just say? Appearances. Can't have you telling people about this. I don't want to risk someone writing this whole encounter down or telling it to others as a story, alright? It's just between us. Now then." Kiwano stands. "For that whole food situation, I'll get right on that." Mariani continues to tremble in fear as Kiwano grabs his hammer. Kiwano notices this and walks to Mariani, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, listen. Think of it this way. If it wasn't for you, your compatriots might not have gotten food today. Who knows how long it would have been before I noticed this problem. It was all thanks to your plea and me just to happening to hear it at the right time, okay. You're going to die somewhat of a hero. Okay. I'd say see you soon, but unfortunately for your actions you're probably not making it to Reveri. Plus, I'm way backlogged on people I need to judge, it's a whole mess. Really should get someone else to do that.....anyway, have a good one! Hope you can swim!"

Kiwano pats Maraini on the back before vanishing into a strike of lightning. Kiwano teleports high into the sky and begins to free fall. People stare in awe as this titanous being pulls out a giant hammer and slams it into the earth, sending shockwaves of unimaginable proportions in every direction. The ground trembles as it begins to crack and shift, raising nearby areas of land. Nearby mountains crumble and are crushed so severely they turn into a fine powder, all accumulating into large mounds of gritty sand. Kiwano then raises his hammer and points it at the sky. Lightning strikes violently in the clouds above and a harsh rain begins to fall.

"For six days rain shall fall, and once it ceases, you will have life!" Kiwano shouts in a thunderous voice that vibrates the land. Then, in a crack of lightning, Kiwano vanishes. Over the next six days, the ocean filled as the inhabitants of the area fled to the crumbled mountains, now islands in the great sea. All except for Mariani, who was trapped in a cave as it was slowly engulfed.. And once everything calmed, the clouds parted and the world was exposed to the sun for the very first time.

Legends say the pearl is still somewhere out there, lost to time, along with the only mortal known to go against Kiwano's direct word. The sea was later named The Pearl Sea, based on this tale.

Writen' by Unknown