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rainbowfic2012-06-01 10:56 am
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2012-06-01 10:56 am
Alice Blue #4, Tyrian Purple #19
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Myrrosta
Colors: Alice Blue #4 (one of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others), Tyrian Purple #19 (pillar of stones)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Pastels toorigfic_bingo card prompt "now and then"
Word Count: 1816
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Elligia's mother tells her the most important story.
Notes: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
"Once, a long time ago," began Kaibben, stroking her daughter's hair, "there was the Araithus."
"The leader," said Elligia. She had heard of the Araithus before, from her grandfather and also from her grandfather's friends. She didn't quite understand what the Araithus had been, the concept of "leader" nestling uncomfortably in her head. She knew of the arain, however, and the Araithus was like them only bigger, and he had been back when the salkiys were just one big village only not really. She didn't think she would ever understand how that was possible, but she liked hearing stories about the Araithus and the old days and so she pretended to understand so that the adults would continue telling them.
"Yes," said Kaibben with a soft sigh. "The leader. He lived in Lenthyn."
"I know that!" said Elligia, and she did. It wasn't hard to understand that the Araithus, who was like an arai only bigger, lived in Lenthyn, which was like a village temple only bigger. That part made sense.
"But he wasn't the only one who lived in Lenthyn," Kaibben continued, unfazed by her daughter's outbursts. "He also lived with . . . well, a whole group of salkiys."
"His friends?"
"Yes, his friends," said Kaibben, nodding. "They called themselves the Circle, and it was their job to help the Araithus lead."
"All right," said Elligia. The story so far wasn't very interesting.
"One day, in the time of Sullas Araithus, a male came to the Circle and told them he had seen into the future. He told them that a young male salkiy named Farras was going to be taken by human barbarians."
Elligia wrinkled her nose. Farras was a name she knew. "Farras Araithus?" she asked, confused. Because there was only one Araithus at a time and her mother had just said this was in the time of Sullas Araithus.
"Yes, but not yet," Kaibben explained. "He was only a child. Sullas Araithus had already chosen him to be the next because Farras was so powerful, but it would be years yet before he would become so. But you see, the Circle couldn't allow barbarians to take Farras away, and Sullas Araithus was not in Lenthyn at the time, so they decided they would have to find some way to stop it from happening."
"What did he See in?" asked Elligia.
"Who?" said Kaibben.
"The male who came to the Circle. Did he see Farras being taken away in the Water or the Fire?"
Her mother was silent for several moments, and then she said, "The Water, of course. That's the best way of looking into the future."
"That's not what Prettor says."
"Well, it doesn't matter what Prettor says," Kaibben admonished. Her voice was so stern that Elligia leaned back and cocked her head up at her mother, confused at the sudden hostility. "The male in this story saw it in the Water."
Elligia shrugged and snuggled back against her mother's side.
"The problem was, no one knew where Farras was, or indeed who he was."
"How could they not know?" demanded Elligia, sitting up again. That was the silliest thing she'd ever heard. Wouldn't Sullas Araithus's friends know who he wanted as his successor?
"That's just how it worked," said Kaibben. "Only Sullas Araithus knew where Farras was, and not even he had met him. Farras was only a child, like I said, and he was not to know yet that he had been chosen as the next Araithus.
"The Circle became worried and panicked when they heard the male's vision, because they only knew the child's name. They knew they had to find him and save him, but they didn't know where he was and they didn't think they had the time to wait for Sullas Araithus to return to tell them. Also they feared to tell the Araithus, because it was strictly forbidden for future Araithun to know their fate before they were adults. If the Circle saved Farras they would have to tell him why he was so important, and that would break a very important law."
"Law" was also something that sat uneasily on the horizon of Elligia's world view like an amorphous, colorless sunset. She understood rules. She understood that some things were done because they had always been done that way. Law was, like everything else in the stories, like that only bigger. Elligia wondered if she would understand better when she was bigger. That's what the adults always told her anyway: she would understand things once she grew up.
"But couldn't they just ignore the law?" said Elligia carefully. She had ignored rules before and it wasn't so bad. She was punished if she was caught, and of course ignoring a law would be bigger than ignoring a rule, but the law seemed unfair. So what if Farras wasn't supposed to know that he was going to be Araithus? He was also going to be taken away by human barbarians (and the human barbarians in these stories were always terrifying figures who killed and ate salkiys and then used their bones to make crude weapons) and she thought breaking a rule, even a big one, was worth saving him from that.
"No," said Kaibben, cutting into her thoughts. The salkiy female's voice was stern again. "Breaking a law was a terrible thing. They would be punished. They would be exiled."
Elligia had been about to ask what was so terrible because the Circle would probably just receive an angry lecture from the Araithus much as Elligia herself did from her mother when she was punished, but at the mention of exile she shut her mouth and buried her face in her mother's shirt. Exile was so much worse than lecturing. Exile was the worse punishment ever. She couldn't even think about it—taken away from her mother and father and grandfather and her friends and her dwelling and everyone and everything she'd ever known and never allowed to see it again forever—without her breath quickening, her heart beating desperately on the inside of her chest like it wanted to escape and find a place to hide.
Kaibben put her arms around Elligia and slowly rocked back and forth, making soothing shhh noises. "None of them were exiled, don't worry. But you can see why breaking laws is such a bad thing and why the Circle feared it."
"Yes," said Elligia, her voice muffled by the smooth cloth of her mother's shirt. She wasn't ready to move away from her mother's side yet, as if she was the one who was in danger of being exiled.
"So the Circle decided to send out salkiys, other arain, to find Farras without Sullas Araithus's knowledge." Kaibben paused, and then said, "Which was of course wrong of them."
"What should they have done?" Elligia felt brave enough to lift her face from her mother's side.
"They should have waited for Sullas Araithus to return," said Kaibben. "They should have asked him what should be done."
"But what if Farras was taken before the Araithus got back?"
"Well, that was what the Circle was afraid of. They talked and argued at length, and finally decided that the future Araithus was more important than themselves. If they rescued Farras and the Araithus found out they had broken the law they would be exiled. But the future Araithus would be safe."
Elligia was so shocked by this that she squeezed her mother's hand, signaling her to stop talking for a moment. Her mouth worked, her thoughts whirling furiously as she tried to put into words what she wanted to ask. Finally she settled on, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would they do that?" said Elligia, still gripping her mother's hand. "Why would they break a law like that to save someone they didn't know?"
"Because part of the point of the Circle was to protect the Araithus. That meant any Araithus, present, past, or future. The Araithus's safety was more important than theirs."
Elligia thought about this for several moments. She tried to imagine herself doing something so bad as to get exiled in order to save her village's arai. She couldn't imagine it. She couldn't think of anything beyond the awful pain and loneliness that exile must mean. She wouldn't save the arai. She wouldn't. She wondered if that meant she was wicked or selfish, but she kept the shameful thoughts to herself rather than ask her mother.
Her mother said, "And they loved the Araithus. They loved him more than they loved anything, save the Goddess."
Elligia closed her eyes against the shame this brought her. Did she love someone that much? Her mother, maybe, though the thought of exile to save even her mother was painful and terrifying. Who else? Her grandfather? She knew she wouldn't save her friends. She wouldn't save Prettor or Garrin or her mother's friend Mynlai. She loved them all, but she didn't think she loved them enough.
She didn't think she would have made a very good member of the Circle. Her mother wouldn't have been the Araithus, and she couldn't imagine loving anyone as much as her family, couldn't conceive that she might be willing to face the ultimate punishment for anyone else, even the leader of all the salkiys.
"Elligia?" Her mother was looking at her, her mouth set in a worried frown. Elligia tried to banish the strange thoughts she was having from her head. Her mother was just telling her a story, same as any other night. She would never have to make those choices: the last Araithus was a thousand years dead. There was no Circle and there never would be again. There were only a few rules that, if broken, could result in exile and Elligia would certainly never break any of those. She would never have to think of this story again after tonight. She wondered if maybe she was getting too old for the stories anyway.
"So what happened?" she asked her mother, trying to sound excited. Kaibben smiled at her and continued the story, while Elligia tried to shake the feeling that she was a horrible ungrateful child who didn't know how to love.
Elligia did forget the story as she grew up, because there were so many other things to learn and experience that had nothing to do with those old dusty history stories. But years later, when she found herself taking the oath that every member of the reformed Circle took and looking into the eyes of Merrus Araithus, her leader and the male she loved more than anything save the Goddess, the memory of the story came to her unbidden, and she had to smile because she finally understood why that Circle had done what it did. And she knew she was more than willing to do the same.
kay_brookeStory: The Myrrosta
Colors: Alice Blue #4 (one of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others), Tyrian Purple #19 (pillar of stones)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Pastels to
origfic_bingo card prompt "now and then"Word Count: 1816
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Elligia's mother tells her the most important story.
Notes: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
"Once, a long time ago," began Kaibben, stroking her daughter's hair, "there was the Araithus."
"The leader," said Elligia. She had heard of the Araithus before, from her grandfather and also from her grandfather's friends. She didn't quite understand what the Araithus had been, the concept of "leader" nestling uncomfortably in her head. She knew of the arain, however, and the Araithus was like them only bigger, and he had been back when the salkiys were just one big village only not really. She didn't think she would ever understand how that was possible, but she liked hearing stories about the Araithus and the old days and so she pretended to understand so that the adults would continue telling them.
"Yes," said Kaibben with a soft sigh. "The leader. He lived in Lenthyn."
"I know that!" said Elligia, and she did. It wasn't hard to understand that the Araithus, who was like an arai only bigger, lived in Lenthyn, which was like a village temple only bigger. That part made sense.
"But he wasn't the only one who lived in Lenthyn," Kaibben continued, unfazed by her daughter's outbursts. "He also lived with . . . well, a whole group of salkiys."
"His friends?"
"Yes, his friends," said Kaibben, nodding. "They called themselves the Circle, and it was their job to help the Araithus lead."
"All right," said Elligia. The story so far wasn't very interesting.
"One day, in the time of Sullas Araithus, a male came to the Circle and told them he had seen into the future. He told them that a young male salkiy named Farras was going to be taken by human barbarians."
Elligia wrinkled her nose. Farras was a name she knew. "Farras Araithus?" she asked, confused. Because there was only one Araithus at a time and her mother had just said this was in the time of Sullas Araithus.
"Yes, but not yet," Kaibben explained. "He was only a child. Sullas Araithus had already chosen him to be the next because Farras was so powerful, but it would be years yet before he would become so. But you see, the Circle couldn't allow barbarians to take Farras away, and Sullas Araithus was not in Lenthyn at the time, so they decided they would have to find some way to stop it from happening."
"What did he See in?" asked Elligia.
"Who?" said Kaibben.
"The male who came to the Circle. Did he see Farras being taken away in the Water or the Fire?"
Her mother was silent for several moments, and then she said, "The Water, of course. That's the best way of looking into the future."
"That's not what Prettor says."
"Well, it doesn't matter what Prettor says," Kaibben admonished. Her voice was so stern that Elligia leaned back and cocked her head up at her mother, confused at the sudden hostility. "The male in this story saw it in the Water."
Elligia shrugged and snuggled back against her mother's side.
"The problem was, no one knew where Farras was, or indeed who he was."
"How could they not know?" demanded Elligia, sitting up again. That was the silliest thing she'd ever heard. Wouldn't Sullas Araithus's friends know who he wanted as his successor?
"That's just how it worked," said Kaibben. "Only Sullas Araithus knew where Farras was, and not even he had met him. Farras was only a child, like I said, and he was not to know yet that he had been chosen as the next Araithus.
"The Circle became worried and panicked when they heard the male's vision, because they only knew the child's name. They knew they had to find him and save him, but they didn't know where he was and they didn't think they had the time to wait for Sullas Araithus to return to tell them. Also they feared to tell the Araithus, because it was strictly forbidden for future Araithun to know their fate before they were adults. If the Circle saved Farras they would have to tell him why he was so important, and that would break a very important law."
"Law" was also something that sat uneasily on the horizon of Elligia's world view like an amorphous, colorless sunset. She understood rules. She understood that some things were done because they had always been done that way. Law was, like everything else in the stories, like that only bigger. Elligia wondered if she would understand better when she was bigger. That's what the adults always told her anyway: she would understand things once she grew up.
"But couldn't they just ignore the law?" said Elligia carefully. She had ignored rules before and it wasn't so bad. She was punished if she was caught, and of course ignoring a law would be bigger than ignoring a rule, but the law seemed unfair. So what if Farras wasn't supposed to know that he was going to be Araithus? He was also going to be taken away by human barbarians (and the human barbarians in these stories were always terrifying figures who killed and ate salkiys and then used their bones to make crude weapons) and she thought breaking a rule, even a big one, was worth saving him from that.
"No," said Kaibben, cutting into her thoughts. The salkiy female's voice was stern again. "Breaking a law was a terrible thing. They would be punished. They would be exiled."
Elligia had been about to ask what was so terrible because the Circle would probably just receive an angry lecture from the Araithus much as Elligia herself did from her mother when she was punished, but at the mention of exile she shut her mouth and buried her face in her mother's shirt. Exile was so much worse than lecturing. Exile was the worse punishment ever. She couldn't even think about it—taken away from her mother and father and grandfather and her friends and her dwelling and everyone and everything she'd ever known and never allowed to see it again forever—without her breath quickening, her heart beating desperately on the inside of her chest like it wanted to escape and find a place to hide.
Kaibben put her arms around Elligia and slowly rocked back and forth, making soothing shhh noises. "None of them were exiled, don't worry. But you can see why breaking laws is such a bad thing and why the Circle feared it."
"Yes," said Elligia, her voice muffled by the smooth cloth of her mother's shirt. She wasn't ready to move away from her mother's side yet, as if she was the one who was in danger of being exiled.
"So the Circle decided to send out salkiys, other arain, to find Farras without Sullas Araithus's knowledge." Kaibben paused, and then said, "Which was of course wrong of them."
"What should they have done?" Elligia felt brave enough to lift her face from her mother's side.
"They should have waited for Sullas Araithus to return," said Kaibben. "They should have asked him what should be done."
"But what if Farras was taken before the Araithus got back?"
"Well, that was what the Circle was afraid of. They talked and argued at length, and finally decided that the future Araithus was more important than themselves. If they rescued Farras and the Araithus found out they had broken the law they would be exiled. But the future Araithus would be safe."
Elligia was so shocked by this that she squeezed her mother's hand, signaling her to stop talking for a moment. Her mouth worked, her thoughts whirling furiously as she tried to put into words what she wanted to ask. Finally she settled on, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would they do that?" said Elligia, still gripping her mother's hand. "Why would they break a law like that to save someone they didn't know?"
"Because part of the point of the Circle was to protect the Araithus. That meant any Araithus, present, past, or future. The Araithus's safety was more important than theirs."
Elligia thought about this for several moments. She tried to imagine herself doing something so bad as to get exiled in order to save her village's arai. She couldn't imagine it. She couldn't think of anything beyond the awful pain and loneliness that exile must mean. She wouldn't save the arai. She wouldn't. She wondered if that meant she was wicked or selfish, but she kept the shameful thoughts to herself rather than ask her mother.
Her mother said, "And they loved the Araithus. They loved him more than they loved anything, save the Goddess."
Elligia closed her eyes against the shame this brought her. Did she love someone that much? Her mother, maybe, though the thought of exile to save even her mother was painful and terrifying. Who else? Her grandfather? She knew she wouldn't save her friends. She wouldn't save Prettor or Garrin or her mother's friend Mynlai. She loved them all, but she didn't think she loved them enough.
She didn't think she would have made a very good member of the Circle. Her mother wouldn't have been the Araithus, and she couldn't imagine loving anyone as much as her family, couldn't conceive that she might be willing to face the ultimate punishment for anyone else, even the leader of all the salkiys.
"Elligia?" Her mother was looking at her, her mouth set in a worried frown. Elligia tried to banish the strange thoughts she was having from her head. Her mother was just telling her a story, same as any other night. She would never have to make those choices: the last Araithus was a thousand years dead. There was no Circle and there never would be again. There were only a few rules that, if broken, could result in exile and Elligia would certainly never break any of those. She would never have to think of this story again after tonight. She wondered if maybe she was getting too old for the stories anyway.
"So what happened?" she asked her mother, trying to sound excited. Kaibben smiled at her and continued the story, while Elligia tried to shake the feeling that she was a horrible ungrateful child who didn't know how to love.
Elligia did forget the story as she grew up, because there were so many other things to learn and experience that had nothing to do with those old dusty history stories. But years later, when she found herself taking the oath that every member of the reformed Circle took and looking into the eyes of Merrus Araithus, her leader and the male she loved more than anything save the Goddess, the memory of the story came to her unbidden, and she had to smile because she finally understood why that Circle had done what it did. And she knew she was more than willing to do the same.
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