"Guardian deity, you must be looking for the sacrifice!"
"The sacrifice, Aru, is right beside your wing!"
"Please accept the offering!"
The villagers, thrilled to be so close to the Thunderbird, looked up at her with eager eyes, hoping for her protection and blessing.
But when Kapatcir heard their words, she froze. Aru, beside her wing? Why hadn't she noticed?
Puzzled, she lowered her head and saw the burned altar. Among the ashes, she saw a half-burned wooden post, and tied to it, a small body. It had long since lost its human shape, burned to black charcoal.
The moment she saw that small form, Kapatcir's heart lurched. An overwhelming sorrow surged within her.
Why? Why did she feel Aru's presence on that blackened, burned thing?
Not only the post and the body, but on the rain-doused altar sat a small bowl. In the bowl was a thick red liquid. It gave off the smell of blood. It was Aru's smell.
Seeing all this, the Thunderbird's massive body froze in place, as if unable to believe what she was seeing before her.
The rain kept falling. Droplets landed on the villagers' smiling faces, on Kapatcir's enormous body, and in her eyes. Unknowingly, her eyes grew wet with rain.
Why did her heart ache? Why did it hurt so much?
Since the day of her birth, Kapatcir had never known what sorrow was, never known what heartache was, never known what tears were. She only felt a stream flowing from her eyes. It soaked the feathers around her eyes, flowed down her face, dripped from her chin feathers, and fell like a waterfall from the sky to the ground below.
In that moment, her immense body began to tremble uncontrollably. Lightning flickered across her form, as if the next moment Kapatcir would shatter completely and unleash all her power to destroy everything around her.
Overcome with grief, Kapatcir slowly lowered her head, bringing it close to the blackened, charred body bound to the post.
It was Aru's presence, without a doubt.
Aru, wake up. Quickly, sing for me.
Aru, you broke our promise. You didn't fulfill our agreement.
She tried to use her wing to lift Aru's small body from the post. But the moment she touched it, the entire post and Aru's body crumbled to ash and vanished.
Aru's charcoal body had collapsed. In that instant, Kapatcir's last shred of sanity shattered along with it.
With this change, Kapatcir spread her wings and shot into the sky like a bolt of lightning.
On the ground, the villagers stared blankly at what had just happened, completely unable to understand what was going on. Why had the guardian deity wept? Was she angry? Was she dissatisfied with the sacrifice? Or was she punishing them for losing the original offering?
Fearing they had angered the guardian deity, they prostrated themselves once more and cried out.
"Guardian deity, we were wrong! We shouldn't have lost the sacrifice!"
"We have already offered you a new sacrifice!"
"Surely you are satisfied now!"
"Guardian deity, please calm your anger! In the future, we will offer you new sacrifices as well."
They bowed to the ground, begging for Kapatcir's forgiveness.
But the next moment, because of Aru's tragic death, Kapatcir had already flown into a rage. She had already lost her reason. She was about to deliver the cruelest retaliation upon all who had harmed Aru.
The moment Kapatcir flew into the sky, she beat her massive wings, gathering countless bolts of lightning.
In an instant, fierce winds howled and thunder rolled. One after another, bolts of lightning appeared beneath her wings.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One after another, terrifying bolts of lightning, carrying the rainstorm from the sky, struck down upon Tsurumi Island. Even this thunderous assault could not ease the grief in Kapatcir's heart. It could not awaken the dead Aru. It could not bring the maddened Kapatcir back to her senses.
Within minutes, the Thunderbird's lightning covered the entire island of Tsurumi. Aru's tribe, the altar, the flower-covered fields, the cliffs Aru had loved, and even Kapatcir's own resting place—all were ravaged by the endless lightning.
In that moment, the surging lightning covered the entire island of Tsurumi. Whether living creatures or lifeless things, everything was struck by the lightning. This was Kapatcir's wrath.
Under the surging lightning, the villagers were struck down one by one, their bodies shattered. Blood flowed everywhere, mingling with the rain to stain the earth beneath the altar red.
Everything was destroyed. Aru was dead. Kapatcir's heart was broken. Every person in the Tsurumi tribe, every life on the island, would pay the price for Aru's death.
Under Kapatcir's fury, the surging lightning continued for several hours before finally subsiding. When Tsurumi Island had been reduced to ruins and all life had ceased, only then did the maddened Kapatcir slowly come to her senses and see what she had done.
She felt no regret. Because she had already said before that anyone who stood in the way of Aru singing for her was her enemy.
Now, she had destroyed all of her enemies.
But deep within her heart, there was no trace of joy from revenge. Aru was dead. He would never return. Kapatcir would never hear Aru's song again.
In the sky, Kapatcir circled above the altar, still sensing Aru's lingering presence, unwilling to let go of his voice.
Time passed. Weary from the grief and the exhaustion of her power, she took one last look at Tsurumi Island. Through the ruins, she seemed to see Aru's figure still standing on the ruined fields.
Unknowingly, her great eyes grew wet once more.
With one final look at Tsurumi Island, she beat her great wings and left this place that had brought her such sorrow. Kapatcir had lost Aru, and she had lost the purest song she had ever known.
She flew toward Seirai Island.