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rainbowfic2014-08-06 07:44 pm
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2014-08-06 07:44 pm
Alien Green #22, Wizard #2
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Myrrosta
Colors: Alien Green #22 (you're moving pretty good for a dead man), Wizard #2 (Hogwarts)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Graffiti (Skindiving)
Word Count: 837
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Jay discovers something upsetting about her friend.
Notes: Follows from this piece. My last Skindiving prompt. Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Jay caught Cray on his knees in the garden, hunched over a little flower that he was, oddly, stroking.
Then another bud opened on the stem, and Jay felt her blood run cold. Looking around--there was no one within sight in the garden, thank the gods--she ran over to him, dropping to her knees and removing his hand from the flower. “Stop that,” she hissed.
Cray blinked at her, like he was coming awake from a dream. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened and he snatched his hand away. “What are you doing here?”
“You’re gifted,” she said, like an accusation. She couldn’t help it. Memories of Maleese filled her head. Maleese and her gift. Maleese and her frailty.
Cray hadn’t gone through the ritual yet. His thirteenth birthday was still a month away.
For a moment, Cray didn’t answer. He looked back and forth as if searching for a distraction or an escape. Finding nothing, he sighed. “Yes, fine. Now you know. I suppose you’re going to tell everyone else.”
“No!” she said, horrified. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Does anyone else know?”
Cray cocked his head at her. “I don’t think so?”
“Good.” She made another grab for his hand, but he yanked it away. “You can’t tell anyone. You especially can’t tell the priestesses. If they knew…” She shuddered and shook her head.
“So what if they know?” said Cray. “They’ll all know soon anyway.”
“You can’t let that happen!” Realizing she was starting to yell, Jay did her best to keep her voice calm. She wasn’t very successful at it. Ala had been looking for a replacement for herself, Jay remembered. Little of that cryptic conversation had made sense to her, but that had been clear. But what of Maleese? Given how the woman had looked, Jay thought they’d soon be searching for a replacement for her, too. Jay wasn’t gifted, but Cray… “Listen to me. I found out things after the ritual. Things about what happens to the gifted. About what happens to people with your gift.”
Cray sighed. “I won’t be let into the Sun Guard, I know that already.”
“Not just that.” Jay felt a pang of guilt, because one of the first rules of having been accepted was that the things she learned were not to be spoken of to those who hadn’t yet gone through the ritual. She was an adult now, allowed to know adult things, and Cray was a child for yet another month. But Cray was her friend, and the thought of him, ragged and pale and forced to slowly drain his very life away just to make sure the gardens were bountiful, made her feel sick. “They’ll keep you here. They’ll trap you inside the old temple.” She wasn’t sure if that was true, but had she ever seen Maleese out among the other priestesses? “They’ll make you use your gift for them until you die of it.”
“That’s not true,” said Cray, but he looked a little frightened.
“I’ve seen what they do,” said Jay. “After my ritual.” And she knew that was what would convince him, because there were so many secrets among their order, secrets they had always known they would never learn until they had been formally accepted as adults by Swyn Matkej. “You have to keep this a secret. Become part of the Sun Guard. Forget you have a gift.”
Cray bit his lip. “But how can I keep it a secret? When I have my ritual the Swyn will see, and She will tell the priestesses.”
Jay sat back on her heels, thinking. “Well, maybe if we can ask the Swyn to keep it to Herself?”
“And how can we do that?” said Cray. “The Swyn speaks to the priestesses, no one else.”
“I don’t know,” Jay admitted. “We have a month to think of something.” She glanced at him. “Or you could run away.”
“Run away where?”
“Back to your family?”
“I don’t know where my family is,” said Cray with a sigh. “And they would just send me back here. I’ve been pledged to the temple since my birth. They would tell me to do my duty.” He swallowed. “The Swyn gave me my gift, and it would be an insult to Her to refuse to use it. And if She sees fit to have me use it to serve the temple, then I can’t say no.”
Jay could think of nothing to say against that. He was right. Swyn Matkej knew the course of all their lives, and if She had put them somewhere, it was not their place to tell Her She was wrong.
But Cray, dying at a young age, wrung dry by the greedy temple--how could she leave him to that fate?
Cray put his hand on her shoulder. “Jay. I trust the Swyn and the priestesses. You should, too.”
“I do,” Jay said.
But she wasn’t sure that was wholly true anymore.
kay_brookeStory: The Myrrosta
Colors: Alien Green #22 (you're moving pretty good for a dead man), Wizard #2 (Hogwarts)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Graffiti (Skindiving)
Word Count: 837
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Jay discovers something upsetting about her friend.
Notes: Follows from this piece. My last Skindiving prompt. Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Jay caught Cray on his knees in the garden, hunched over a little flower that he was, oddly, stroking.
Then another bud opened on the stem, and Jay felt her blood run cold. Looking around--there was no one within sight in the garden, thank the gods--she ran over to him, dropping to her knees and removing his hand from the flower. “Stop that,” she hissed.
Cray blinked at her, like he was coming awake from a dream. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened and he snatched his hand away. “What are you doing here?”
“You’re gifted,” she said, like an accusation. She couldn’t help it. Memories of Maleese filled her head. Maleese and her gift. Maleese and her frailty.
Cray hadn’t gone through the ritual yet. His thirteenth birthday was still a month away.
For a moment, Cray didn’t answer. He looked back and forth as if searching for a distraction or an escape. Finding nothing, he sighed. “Yes, fine. Now you know. I suppose you’re going to tell everyone else.”
“No!” she said, horrified. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Does anyone else know?”
Cray cocked his head at her. “I don’t think so?”
“Good.” She made another grab for his hand, but he yanked it away. “You can’t tell anyone. You especially can’t tell the priestesses. If they knew…” She shuddered and shook her head.
“So what if they know?” said Cray. “They’ll all know soon anyway.”
“You can’t let that happen!” Realizing she was starting to yell, Jay did her best to keep her voice calm. She wasn’t very successful at it. Ala had been looking for a replacement for herself, Jay remembered. Little of that cryptic conversation had made sense to her, but that had been clear. But what of Maleese? Given how the woman had looked, Jay thought they’d soon be searching for a replacement for her, too. Jay wasn’t gifted, but Cray… “Listen to me. I found out things after the ritual. Things about what happens to the gifted. About what happens to people with your gift.”
Cray sighed. “I won’t be let into the Sun Guard, I know that already.”
“Not just that.” Jay felt a pang of guilt, because one of the first rules of having been accepted was that the things she learned were not to be spoken of to those who hadn’t yet gone through the ritual. She was an adult now, allowed to know adult things, and Cray was a child for yet another month. But Cray was her friend, and the thought of him, ragged and pale and forced to slowly drain his very life away just to make sure the gardens were bountiful, made her feel sick. “They’ll keep you here. They’ll trap you inside the old temple.” She wasn’t sure if that was true, but had she ever seen Maleese out among the other priestesses? “They’ll make you use your gift for them until you die of it.”
“That’s not true,” said Cray, but he looked a little frightened.
“I’ve seen what they do,” said Jay. “After my ritual.” And she knew that was what would convince him, because there were so many secrets among their order, secrets they had always known they would never learn until they had been formally accepted as adults by Swyn Matkej. “You have to keep this a secret. Become part of the Sun Guard. Forget you have a gift.”
Cray bit his lip. “But how can I keep it a secret? When I have my ritual the Swyn will see, and She will tell the priestesses.”
Jay sat back on her heels, thinking. “Well, maybe if we can ask the Swyn to keep it to Herself?”
“And how can we do that?” said Cray. “The Swyn speaks to the priestesses, no one else.”
“I don’t know,” Jay admitted. “We have a month to think of something.” She glanced at him. “Or you could run away.”
“Run away where?”
“Back to your family?”
“I don’t know where my family is,” said Cray with a sigh. “And they would just send me back here. I’ve been pledged to the temple since my birth. They would tell me to do my duty.” He swallowed. “The Swyn gave me my gift, and it would be an insult to Her to refuse to use it. And if She sees fit to have me use it to serve the temple, then I can’t say no.”
Jay could think of nothing to say against that. He was right. Swyn Matkej knew the course of all their lives, and if She had put them somewhere, it was not their place to tell Her She was wrong.
But Cray, dying at a young age, wrung dry by the greedy temple--how could she leave him to that fate?
Cray put his hand on her shoulder. “Jay. I trust the Swyn and the priestesses. You should, too.”
“I do,” Jay said.
But she wasn’t sure that was wholly true anymore.