shadowsong26: (isshiri)
shadowsong26 ([personal profile] shadowsong26) wrote in [community profile] rainbowfic2012-03-18 12:16 am

Sulphur #7, Celestial Blue #6

Name: shadowsong26
Story: Answers
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Sulphur #7. Deceiver, Celestial Blue #6. judge not
Supplies and Materials: brush (fallacious), miniature collection, canvas (the first one), frame (the last one)
Word Count: 271
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Prince Isshiri, Mel Artwick
Warnings: References to amputation, ableism.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always.


People don't usually ask.

Most everyone at court knows why he's incomplete, and it's embarassing. It's like asking 'Lani what she and her favorites do behind closed doors. Some things are 'sposed to stay secret.

So when one of the favorites asks him, Isshiri does't know exactly what to say. "I...um. It was eaten by a lion."

"No, really. What happened to your leg?"

Isshiri stares down at his prosthetic. "It got eaten by a lion," he insists, stubbornly.



Isshiri flushes, and looks away from Mel. Presumably, the guards will give him another prosthetic of some kind later, but right now, his incompleteness was blatantly obvious. He should have expected the question--especially now, when he and Mel have been assigned to the same gate together for the third day in a row. "Snakebite. Got the antivenom too late."

He can feel Mel wince. "Sorry."

Isshiri shrugs. "Not your fault. So, where did you live before coming to Feredar?"

Mel tactfully follows the subject change, and Isshiri is able to relax.



After the war ends, that's what he uses as his excuse. He travels all over the world, and people ask everywhere. Most of the time, they don't mean to be invasive, they just feel awkward and blurt out the first thing they think of. He gives the name of battles he was actually present for, or just brushes against his collar-scar and lets them draw their own conclusions. Sometimes he just stares at them and ignores the question.

The disadvantage to his nomadic life is that he's probably never again going to find someone he can trust with the truth.
bookblather: A picture of Yomiko Readman looking at books with the text "bookgasm." (Default)

[personal profile] bookblather 2012-03-18 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
Ouch, that internalized ableism is a stone-cold bitch. I do like the variety of lies he comes up with, though. Nicely done.
kay_brooke: Side view of a laptop with text "Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum" (writing quote)

[personal profile] kay_brooke 2012-03-18 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Poor Isshiri, feeling like he has to lie. People are curious, but there are times they should just mind their own damn business.
clare_dragonfly: woman with green feathery wings, text: stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories (Default)

[personal profile] clare_dragonfly 2012-03-20 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, poor Isshiri. I like the variety of stories he tells!