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rainbowfic2022-12-10 09:09 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2022-12-10 09:09 pm
Twilght #6; Colour of the Day 10/12/22 [Starfall]
Name: Feeding the Fish
Story: Starfall
Colors: Colour of the Day – 10th Dec 2022 (cistvaen); Twilight #6 (Piscine)
Supplies and Styles: Canvas + Paint-by-Numbers frombookblather (Feeding the fish)
Word Count: 910
Rating: G
Warnings: Mentions of near-drowning; brief mentions of pregnancy.
Notes: 1293/13??; Laonna Delwin, Marran Delver, Leaira Modelen – flash fic for CotD. (I can't explain the conversation part of this yet; consider it something that might happen. At some point. Or not, possibly. XD)
Summary: Marran Delver’s family have a tradition regarding the fish in Shara’s shrine back home, but they go about it in very different ways…
Laonna could have gone to the shrine in Old Ralston, where they had a large, ancient and beautiful water garden dedicated to Shara, but her foundations were of stone, plain and strong, and she waited until she returned home to Kyholme. Deoh was away on priestly business again, and she often came back to visit her family at those times, even after ten years and more.
Today she knelt in the cavern, close to its entrance, and sprinkled breadcrumbs onto the water – feeding the fish, they called it, although she wasn’t sure there were any left. That done, she whispered her request for a blessing, her hand on her belly. This would be her third child, but no less important for that.
She was about to move away, when she saw a long fish with blue and silver scales rise briefly towards the surface to investigate her gift. She smiled and, in a manner that was not very Kyholme-like, blew it a kiss with her fingers.
It would be all right.
“Where my mother’s family were from they had a cave up in the hills, just above the village – supposed to be the last resting place of Shara, and in this case, it could even be true.”
Leaira laughed. She was sitting on the battered table in the library, enveloped in a thick jumper against the cold. “Do you know how many places make the same claim? I do! One of my predecessors at Starfall made a list from the various Gazetteers, and it was at least forty-nine even then.”
“Yes, and most of them were clustered around the Eister ranges, you don’t need to tell me,” Delver said, holding up a hand against her protests. He grinned. “Anyway, ours is on the shortlist of sites that might be genuine, thank you. There was a casket, sealed inside a stone and wood casing in the centre of the cavern, which is supposed to be where what remained of Shara was placed.”
Leaira raised an eyebrow. “And according to the Vionnic Chronicle, pretty much nothing was left of any of the Powers. They went out into the ether or something. If they ever truly existed.”
“And you an employee of Starfall,” he said, sucking in his breath.
“Are you mocking my professional scepticism?”
“You seem to be mocking my credulity.” He was perched on a chair at the table and leant forwards against it. “Let me tell you my tale – you can make up your own mind. I’d boasted about this to my friends, being a fairly insufferable child – I am, I’m afraid, an eternal disappointment to all my family – and they scoffed, much the same as you now. I said I’d open up the casket and draw whatever was inside to prove it to them.”
Leaira laughed aloud.
“We were eleven; it seemed to make sense to them as well as to me. So, I stole the key from my mother’s cousin who was the one entrusted with it at the time – it’s a very small place, Kyholme, pretty much everyone there is some sort of cousin of my mother – and went up to the pool dedicated to Shara, and into the cavern.”
“And?” She was interested, despite herself.
“The key turned easily enough and I got lid open eventually, and the casket out – a solid iron thing, painted black, about as big as a small loaf.” He indicated the width with his hands. “But I had no way to open the casket itself, so I – well, I may have tried to bash it against the rock.” He coughed, and coloured slightly. “I have at least grown more respectful to the Powers since.”
“Did Shara knock you down with a great wave?”
Delver rested his chin on his hand. “Well, in a way – yes! I was flung right into the pool. It’s pretty deep there – dark, too, and I had all my clothes on. I sank down, probably not as far as it seemed, but I panicked, flailed about, swallowed half the pool – and then just as I thought I’d had it and would be left to feed the fishes in person, I blacked out or something – I don’t know. I saw, for an instant, a woman, and she gave me a shove upwards. Next thing I knew, my brother Karr was dragging me up onto the rock and yelling at me.”
“You think Shara saved you? In person?”
He shifted in the chair. “Of course, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying it was strange. Nothing like that ever happened to me at Shara’s Garden in Old Ralston.”
“I assume you didn’t try to steal a sacred artefact from them, though, so it could hardly be a fair comparison.”
He shrugged. “At any rate, Karr lectured and marched me back to the house, dripping and hiccoughing all the way. Told me I’d come to a bad end – and, you see, he was right.”
“No,” said Leaira firmly. “Not here anyway. Not just yet.” She shook her head. “Can I believe a word of that whole tale?”
Delver smiled. “That’s up to you. I’m only saying: I have seen uncanny things before.”
“What happened to the casket?”
There was rueful amusement in his gaze. “I, er, must have dropped it in the water alongside me. Unlike me, it did not get hauled out, and no one’s ever had any luck in finding it. You’d have to ask the fishes.”
Story: Starfall
Colors: Colour of the Day – 10th Dec 2022 (cistvaen); Twilight #6 (Piscine)
Supplies and Styles: Canvas + Paint-by-Numbers from
bookblather (Feeding the fish)Word Count: 910
Rating: G
Warnings: Mentions of near-drowning; brief mentions of pregnancy.
Notes: 1293/13??; Laonna Delwin, Marran Delver, Leaira Modelen – flash fic for CotD. (I can't explain the conversation part of this yet; consider it something that might happen. At some point. Or not, possibly. XD)
Summary: Marran Delver’s family have a tradition regarding the fish in Shara’s shrine back home, but they go about it in very different ways…
Laonna could have gone to the shrine in Old Ralston, where they had a large, ancient and beautiful water garden dedicated to Shara, but her foundations were of stone, plain and strong, and she waited until she returned home to Kyholme. Deoh was away on priestly business again, and she often came back to visit her family at those times, even after ten years and more.
Today she knelt in the cavern, close to its entrance, and sprinkled breadcrumbs onto the water – feeding the fish, they called it, although she wasn’t sure there were any left. That done, she whispered her request for a blessing, her hand on her belly. This would be her third child, but no less important for that.
She was about to move away, when she saw a long fish with blue and silver scales rise briefly towards the surface to investigate her gift. She smiled and, in a manner that was not very Kyholme-like, blew it a kiss with her fingers.
It would be all right.
“Where my mother’s family were from they had a cave up in the hills, just above the village – supposed to be the last resting place of Shara, and in this case, it could even be true.”
Leaira laughed. She was sitting on the battered table in the library, enveloped in a thick jumper against the cold. “Do you know how many places make the same claim? I do! One of my predecessors at Starfall made a list from the various Gazetteers, and it was at least forty-nine even then.”
“Yes, and most of them were clustered around the Eister ranges, you don’t need to tell me,” Delver said, holding up a hand against her protests. He grinned. “Anyway, ours is on the shortlist of sites that might be genuine, thank you. There was a casket, sealed inside a stone and wood casing in the centre of the cavern, which is supposed to be where what remained of Shara was placed.”
Leaira raised an eyebrow. “And according to the Vionnic Chronicle, pretty much nothing was left of any of the Powers. They went out into the ether or something. If they ever truly existed.”
“And you an employee of Starfall,” he said, sucking in his breath.
“Are you mocking my professional scepticism?”
“You seem to be mocking my credulity.” He was perched on a chair at the table and leant forwards against it. “Let me tell you my tale – you can make up your own mind. I’d boasted about this to my friends, being a fairly insufferable child – I am, I’m afraid, an eternal disappointment to all my family – and they scoffed, much the same as you now. I said I’d open up the casket and draw whatever was inside to prove it to them.”
Leaira laughed aloud.
“We were eleven; it seemed to make sense to them as well as to me. So, I stole the key from my mother’s cousin who was the one entrusted with it at the time – it’s a very small place, Kyholme, pretty much everyone there is some sort of cousin of my mother – and went up to the pool dedicated to Shara, and into the cavern.”
“And?” She was interested, despite herself.
“The key turned easily enough and I got lid open eventually, and the casket out – a solid iron thing, painted black, about as big as a small loaf.” He indicated the width with his hands. “But I had no way to open the casket itself, so I – well, I may have tried to bash it against the rock.” He coughed, and coloured slightly. “I have at least grown more respectful to the Powers since.”
“Did Shara knock you down with a great wave?”
Delver rested his chin on his hand. “Well, in a way – yes! I was flung right into the pool. It’s pretty deep there – dark, too, and I had all my clothes on. I sank down, probably not as far as it seemed, but I panicked, flailed about, swallowed half the pool – and then just as I thought I’d had it and would be left to feed the fishes in person, I blacked out or something – I don’t know. I saw, for an instant, a woman, and she gave me a shove upwards. Next thing I knew, my brother Karr was dragging me up onto the rock and yelling at me.”
“You think Shara saved you? In person?”
He shifted in the chair. “Of course, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying it was strange. Nothing like that ever happened to me at Shara’s Garden in Old Ralston.”
“I assume you didn’t try to steal a sacred artefact from them, though, so it could hardly be a fair comparison.”
He shrugged. “At any rate, Karr lectured and marched me back to the house, dripping and hiccoughing all the way. Told me I’d come to a bad end – and, you see, he was right.”
“No,” said Leaira firmly. “Not here anyway. Not just yet.” She shook her head. “Can I believe a word of that whole tale?”
Delver smiled. “That’s up to you. I’m only saying: I have seen uncanny things before.”
“What happened to the casket?”
There was rueful amusement in his gaze. “I, er, must have dropped it in the water alongside me. Unlike me, it did not get hauled out, and no one’s ever had any luck in finding it. You’d have to ask the fishes.”
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