OC thoughts go brrr.
So you MAY have seen Lissele, but you definitely haven't even heard of Umala.
Despite her being a really really crucial person in Lissele's life and subsequently the literal fate of the world?? I haven't actually commited that much to building her up. I know she was young when she and Lissele met. Maybe even a teen. I know she was kind and brave. Even reckless, maybe.
Despite being scared, she took Lissele in. A creature she didn't know the origin of, never seen before and didn't know the nature of. She knew nothing about Lissele, yet offered kindness and help first. Questions came (months) later.
Umala, who - in offering help and kindness - helped shape the history of humankind that came after. It was the deciding event in Lissele's life. That was the point, where she realised what she was meant to do. Yes, she was created for taking care of and protecting humans, but it hadn't really clicked up to that point. This was what pushed the correct cogs into the correct places.
I can't help but think about Umala growing older, while Lissele stays exactly the same... I wonder what she was thinking, as Lissele stayed unchanging like the rise and fall of the sun, while her own hair began graying. As her joints began to ache and her skin sagged while Liss kept frolicking about like a baby deer.
I don't think she was angry. I think she felt sorry for Lissele. She knew what would happen. That she would be gone soon and leave Lissele behind. That everybody would be gone one day, but Lissele will stay to bear the burden of all their deaths. Forever.
I think that's one of the reasons she insisted on staying with Liss until the end. To give her at least a few decades of loyal friendship with a person who's been there since the start. She knew how important it would be. I think Umala felt responsible for Lissele in a way. She was the one who found her, after all. Who knows what would've happened if it was somebody else, who found Lissele. Maybe she would've become a villain instead...
How one girl from a village on the edge of a forest can shape the rest of history by offering kindness and help....
