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tamingthemuseTitle: Untitled NaNo 2012
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Caught
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: Excerpt from my 2012 NaNo. For a very long time, Nazca has avoided facing his crimes, but with e world changing around him, it looks like his past is coming to find him.
When they first spotted the settlement, Nazca froze in place, drinking in the sight of the people milling about. Tanis had moved quite a ways away before he realized that Nazca was no longer following. He paused, turned to face him, and waited.
Heart in his throat, Nazca turned his eyes back to Tanis. "Life," he said simply. Tanis nodded and held his hand out to him, waiting. Nazca's eyes went back into the sight of the village. The sky had long ago turned dark and torches lit up the settlement, giving it an ethereal glow that not only brought light to the village, but reflected off the close sky.
"What light is there during the day," Nazca asked. If there was no light because of the two worlds encroaching on the human world, then how did they farm? How did they grow anything?
"It's a balance between the two worlds above. When the angel world is overhead, it's day, and when the demon worlds is over head, it's night."
Nazca's eyes flicked up to the darkness that was the demon world. "It has been days. I have only seen the demon world."
Tanis frowned in confusion, and then lightened. "Oh! The sun only lasts for a day in the desert. I had always wondered why days were never numbered by the planets."
"You have never seen the sun before you came into the desert. I remember you telling me this before. But, how long have the three worlds been one? How long has the sun been away?"
"Since time unknown. There are legends of the sun, and there are legends of a great blue night sun, but most have always accepted them as merely myths."
"The moon."
"Is that what it is called?"
"Where did it come from?" Salima asked from her harness.
"The moon? It came from the Living Mother, of course. When it made the human world, it realized that the other two worlds were much closer in age and likeness than the human world. So it created the moon.
"Where the angel world is white like clouds and the demon world is red like fire, the human world was brown like earth. To give light in the darkness of the middle world, the moon was created to be a beckon of hope in the night. It is said that the moon fell in love with the mountains of the distant north."
Salima's eyes were wide. "What happened?" Then her face lost its wonder. "Is this a true story? Does it end in sadness?"
Nazca smiled sadly. "Yes, it does end in sadness, but because of me. I broke the three worlds, and separated the moon from its love."
She smiled around the sadness in her eyes. "Were they together before, though?"
"They could never touch," Nazca said. "One was here on the surface, and the other was locked into the sky, never to touch the earth."
She made a face. "Do you know any happy stories?"
Nazca thought for a moment. "There is the story of the ocean and the sailor. They fell in love and got to be together."
"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Tanis said, stepping over a fallen log.
Nazca ignored him. "It is said that the sailor first met the ocean when he was but a boy. His mother brought him to the ocean to touch his foot into the cool water. He bathed in the water nightly for a week, and in that time he fell in love with the ocean. He never wanted to leave, but he was still a child, and his mother and father took him home, deep into the land where he could not see the ocean, but he promised to return.
"And he did so, for when his father died, his dying wish was to return to the ocean as well. For his father had once lived on the ocean and had long ago sworn to return there to rest forever in its depths. The boy, now a man in his own right, journeyed to the ocean with his father's body. He arrived at the ocean and set his father's soul into the blue depths. He then stayed on the ocean, learning to read the water and how to sail a vessel upon it until he became a captain of his own ship.
"And he sailed the ocean far and wide, seeing lands exotic and magical, but he always returned to the ocean, for it was his first love."
Salima narrowed her eyes. "That's not the whole story."
"But it is, because you see, he did find a human mate, and they had a son, and they moved away from the ocean. And when their baby became a boy, they took him to the ocean to bathe in the cool waters."
She clapped her hands. "Oh! Then the story begins again!"
"Yes, it does. It is a never ending story, meant to carry on until the ocean dries up."
They camped far enough away from the village not to cause alarm, and approached with the weak light of day, the sun's rays only just reaching this human village on the other side of the mountains.
They paused long enough to make Nazca's hood cover his pointed ears properly.
"Make sure not to let anybody see your ears. We don't want any attention. Who knows what people will do if they realize that you're not human. We are still at war, and humans are suspicious."
Nazca peered up at Tanis from under his hood. "Are humans a threat to me?"
"They can be. We live in a dangerous time. Let's just not bring any attention to ourselves, get our supplies, and rest a day or two before we head back."
Nazca’s thoughts on that must have reflected on his face, because Tanis stopped checking the packs and straps to stare hard at him. “What?”
“It is just, I’ve been thinking about what the Living Mother said. It said to me-“ He closed his eyes to better remember the words that pierced his very soul. “-Reach into the fire and find that life that has been hidden away. Return the heart to the casing. Undo what you have done. Turn back the time, and give me back that which I gifted to you. My children suffer for your ignorance. Fix what you have broken.” He licked his lips, the words nearly burning his mouth, proving as he knew already, that words had power, and these were words of the Living Mother. He blinked his eyes open and gazed in the middle distance toward the village. “It is a riddle. What life is hidden away? Where is the heart; and where is the casing? If I am to find any of this, if I am to ever fix anything that I have broken, I think I will have to go far and wide.” He finally turned his eyes to Tanis. “I do not think I shall see my shelter again.”
There was something in Tanis’ eyes that Nazca was unwilling to put a name to unless if discovered it was something like pity and sorrow. He lowered his gaze to the ground, minding his step as they finally began walking that last distance to the city. “Fear not, Tanis, I have been caught by the Living Mother twice, and twice it has let me go. If it can believe in me to do this, then you should as well.”
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Caught
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: Excerpt from my 2012 NaNo. For a very long time, Nazca has avoided facing his crimes, but with e world changing around him, it looks like his past is coming to find him.
When they first spotted the settlement, Nazca froze in place, drinking in the sight of the people milling about. Tanis had moved quite a ways away before he realized that Nazca was no longer following. He paused, turned to face him, and waited.
Heart in his throat, Nazca turned his eyes back to Tanis. "Life," he said simply. Tanis nodded and held his hand out to him, waiting. Nazca's eyes went back into the sight of the village. The sky had long ago turned dark and torches lit up the settlement, giving it an ethereal glow that not only brought light to the village, but reflected off the close sky.
"What light is there during the day," Nazca asked. If there was no light because of the two worlds encroaching on the human world, then how did they farm? How did they grow anything?
"It's a balance between the two worlds above. When the angel world is overhead, it's day, and when the demon worlds is over head, it's night."
Nazca's eyes flicked up to the darkness that was the demon world. "It has been days. I have only seen the demon world."
Tanis frowned in confusion, and then lightened. "Oh! The sun only lasts for a day in the desert. I had always wondered why days were never numbered by the planets."
"You have never seen the sun before you came into the desert. I remember you telling me this before. But, how long have the three worlds been one? How long has the sun been away?"
"Since time unknown. There are legends of the sun, and there are legends of a great blue night sun, but most have always accepted them as merely myths."
"The moon."
"Is that what it is called?"
"Where did it come from?" Salima asked from her harness.
"The moon? It came from the Living Mother, of course. When it made the human world, it realized that the other two worlds were much closer in age and likeness than the human world. So it created the moon.
"Where the angel world is white like clouds and the demon world is red like fire, the human world was brown like earth. To give light in the darkness of the middle world, the moon was created to be a beckon of hope in the night. It is said that the moon fell in love with the mountains of the distant north."
Salima's eyes were wide. "What happened?" Then her face lost its wonder. "Is this a true story? Does it end in sadness?"
Nazca smiled sadly. "Yes, it does end in sadness, but because of me. I broke the three worlds, and separated the moon from its love."
She smiled around the sadness in her eyes. "Were they together before, though?"
"They could never touch," Nazca said. "One was here on the surface, and the other was locked into the sky, never to touch the earth."
She made a face. "Do you know any happy stories?"
Nazca thought for a moment. "There is the story of the ocean and the sailor. They fell in love and got to be together."
"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Tanis said, stepping over a fallen log.
Nazca ignored him. "It is said that the sailor first met the ocean when he was but a boy. His mother brought him to the ocean to touch his foot into the cool water. He bathed in the water nightly for a week, and in that time he fell in love with the ocean. He never wanted to leave, but he was still a child, and his mother and father took him home, deep into the land where he could not see the ocean, but he promised to return.
"And he did so, for when his father died, his dying wish was to return to the ocean as well. For his father had once lived on the ocean and had long ago sworn to return there to rest forever in its depths. The boy, now a man in his own right, journeyed to the ocean with his father's body. He arrived at the ocean and set his father's soul into the blue depths. He then stayed on the ocean, learning to read the water and how to sail a vessel upon it until he became a captain of his own ship.
"And he sailed the ocean far and wide, seeing lands exotic and magical, but he always returned to the ocean, for it was his first love."
Salima narrowed her eyes. "That's not the whole story."
"But it is, because you see, he did find a human mate, and they had a son, and they moved away from the ocean. And when their baby became a boy, they took him to the ocean to bathe in the cool waters."
She clapped her hands. "Oh! Then the story begins again!"
"Yes, it does. It is a never ending story, meant to carry on until the ocean dries up."
They camped far enough away from the village not to cause alarm, and approached with the weak light of day, the sun's rays only just reaching this human village on the other side of the mountains.
They paused long enough to make Nazca's hood cover his pointed ears properly.
"Make sure not to let anybody see your ears. We don't want any attention. Who knows what people will do if they realize that you're not human. We are still at war, and humans are suspicious."
Nazca peered up at Tanis from under his hood. "Are humans a threat to me?"
"They can be. We live in a dangerous time. Let's just not bring any attention to ourselves, get our supplies, and rest a day or two before we head back."
Nazca’s thoughts on that must have reflected on his face, because Tanis stopped checking the packs and straps to stare hard at him. “What?”
“It is just, I’ve been thinking about what the Living Mother said. It said to me-“ He closed his eyes to better remember the words that pierced his very soul. “-Reach into the fire and find that life that has been hidden away. Return the heart to the casing. Undo what you have done. Turn back the time, and give me back that which I gifted to you. My children suffer for your ignorance. Fix what you have broken.” He licked his lips, the words nearly burning his mouth, proving as he knew already, that words had power, and these were words of the Living Mother. He blinked his eyes open and gazed in the middle distance toward the village. “It is a riddle. What life is hidden away? Where is the heart; and where is the casing? If I am to find any of this, if I am to ever fix anything that I have broken, I think I will have to go far and wide.” He finally turned his eyes to Tanis. “I do not think I shall see my shelter again.”
There was something in Tanis’ eyes that Nazca was unwilling to put a name to unless if discovered it was something like pity and sorrow. He lowered his gaze to the ground, minding his step as they finally began walking that last distance to the city. “Fear not, Tanis, I have been caught by the Living Mother twice, and twice it has let me go. If it can believe in me to do this, then you should as well.”
