#occula

"Back home, in Silver Tedzhek, where I was born, there was a great, tessellated courtyard in front of the temple of Kantza-Merada, all green and gold. The tiles were glazed and hard as rock. One day, when I was still just a banzi, I was playin' there, waitin' for Zai - my father - an' I saw the green shoot of a plant stickin' up through the pavement. It was a nettle, no stronger than a bit of cloth. It had split the tile. I left it alone. If the goddess wanted to split her tiles - she's always doin' it - that was her business." There was a silence. Then Maia said, "You're a nettle, too, aren't you?" "You attend to your business and I'll attend to mine," replied Occula.