Makemake had been born with the umbilical cord about his throat, starving his brain of
oxygen and killing much of it. The people of the First World did not know this, they just
thought he had been born stupid.
Makemake never learned to speak, only ever saying one word as a child, one he would
shout when he needed to sit upon the potty and earning himself the nickname, Makemake.
And he didn’t learn to halt the ageing process, as the other immortals did, until he was
quite aged looking. So that though his siblings were young and pretty, he was old and
haggard with a long and wiry grey beard.
Mother had always seen a gentle spirit within her son. In his eyes was such wonder as he
stared day after day into the air around him each morning before starting his daily ritual of
jumping from his bed and showing intense disappointment every time he hit the ground.
Mother knew she could not give Makemake the gift of flight, not yet, and so she entrusted
in him the care of the birds, knowing that that gentle spirit would love those who could.
And so when he stood, rising to his feet, his eyes wide, his cheeks covered in dry mud,
Makemake began to whistle.
He tried various whistles until a sparrow came down from the sky and landed on his
shoulder. From then on Makemake would entertain himself by calling all the birds of This
World to him (sometimes several at a time) and amaze all those, including his siblings,
who had called him dumb or made fun of him. Amazing them especially when he would
call an eagle and then instruct it to attack small animals (something Haumea quickly put a
stop to, of course). Mostly, the birdman, Makemake, would sit with a female Blackcap on
his palm and they would whistle to one another.
Others copied and followed him so that soon, many people could call birds and those
people learned what could be done with them. Some were kept as pets while others were
eaten and later, during the First War, they were used to carry communications.
Makemake did not live to see all of this, however, dying after only a few years in the New
World and becoming its first inhabitant to rejoin Mother. And not long later, that female
Blackcap found herself a mate.
oxygen and killing much of it. The people of the First World did not know this, they just
thought he had been born stupid.
Makemake never learned to speak, only ever saying one word as a child, one he would
shout when he needed to sit upon the potty and earning himself the nickname, Makemake.
And he didn’t learn to halt the ageing process, as the other immortals did, until he was
quite aged looking. So that though his siblings were young and pretty, he was old and
haggard with a long and wiry grey beard.
Mother had always seen a gentle spirit within her son. In his eyes was such wonder as he
stared day after day into the air around him each morning before starting his daily ritual of
jumping from his bed and showing intense disappointment every time he hit the ground.
Mother knew she could not give Makemake the gift of flight, not yet, and so she entrusted
in him the care of the birds, knowing that that gentle spirit would love those who could.
And so when he stood, rising to his feet, his eyes wide, his cheeks covered in dry mud,
Makemake began to whistle.
He tried various whistles until a sparrow came down from the sky and landed on his
shoulder. From then on Makemake would entertain himself by calling all the birds of This
World to him (sometimes several at a time) and amaze all those, including his siblings,
who had called him dumb or made fun of him. Amazing them especially when he would
call an eagle and then instruct it to attack small animals (something Haumea quickly put a
stop to, of course). Mostly, the birdman, Makemake, would sit with a female Blackcap on
his palm and they would whistle to one another.
Others copied and followed him so that soon, many people could call birds and those
people learned what could be done with them. Some were kept as pets while others were
eaten and later, during the First War, they were used to carry communications.
Makemake did not live to see all of this, however, dying after only a few years in the New
World and becoming its first inhabitant to rejoin Mother. And not long later, that female
Blackcap found herself a mate.
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