Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2004 June
2004 April
2004 March
2003 December
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
|
| Rei’s Unearthing |
| 03.17.04 (10:31 am) [edit] |
Many seasons ago, in a province far from our own, was born a child, to a father and mother, who named her Rei. Both of Rei’s parents lacked any nobility in their blood. Rei’s father was but a simple woods crafter, and as such, lived with his family deep in their nation’s mountainous forests. Rei’s father had built an adequately sized house for his wife in preparation for their expected child. Rei’s mother was a medicine woman and many came from afar to seek her help, however her foremost concern was to care for Rei’s health and spirit.
Rei lived a happy childhood, sheltered from the hardships of the spoiled world outside the restrictions of her home. By the time she had grown to the age of about sixty moon cycles, or five seasons she had grown accustomed to spending many hours of her day exploring the woods around her house. She looked forward each and every night to being told fantastic stories of beasts and noble heroes saving maidens in distress by her father. She greatly enjoyed hearing these stories, as most who heard them would. Rei’s father was an excellent storyteller, and much like Rei, had an over active imagination.
The night before the sixty-seventh moon cycle anniversary of Rei’s birth; her father told Rei an ancient story that had been passed down from generation to generation. He started this story as he starts all his stories…
“A long time ago, there lived in the land an order of lords. These lords were not born however of our people. They were decedents of the creators. They came with decree to our lands to better our people. And as such, these lords were good lords, and they were good to our people. Our people returned our love for them, by bestowing them with many gifts and Labors. Nevertheless many of their subjects feared them, not because they were cruel tempered, but rather because they looked so very different. The order ruled over us for many generations and all was fine, but then there came a plague upon the land. Most of the lords died in the first few hours of the horrific outbreak. What caused the plague and why it only affected the lords remains unknown to us. However one of the lords did not die in the plague. To protect himself he wore a mask upon his face at all times to ward away the evil demons of the plague. He became the first great king of our people. He led us from the metropolis of the old lords and helped us to learn how to build our own homes and costumes. However, the great king began to grow very lonesome in his solitude with none of his own kind left. He began spending many nights alone, atop his castle, watching the night sky, longing to return to his people. Every night as he watched the stars so distant in the night sky, he would wish for them to send him a friend, to console him in his isolation. As the king grew older he grew more tired and lonesome. He spent many years of his life watching the night sky, calling to it, but his wish was never answered. One night when the king had grown to be exceptionally old and sick, our people were preparing themselves for his passing. To our beloved king who taught us to be self sufficient, the stars of the night sent; a star creature. As it came closer and closer to the king’s castle, it lit up the sky with a golden glow. As it came even closer, the stars true form became much more visible. It was a serpent, aflame, with a golden hue, and a very long tail. Upon landing on the rooftop of the castle, the magnificent star creature opened his mouth and exited three men. They slowly approached the dying monarch. They told him that his people had been listening to his wishes every night and had been watching how well he had been treating our people. They were sorry that they had not answered his calls before, and did not want to take such a great king from our people, but now that the king was in his last days, they wanted to take him to their realm where he would live forever as their friend. So it was then that the star creator took the great king back with him to the night sky and the people rejoiced that the king who gave them so much would finally be at peace, with his own kin again. It is said that star creatures can be seen from time to time checking on the progression of the old king’s domain. Sometimes making new friends and bringing them back with them to live among the stars.”
This story captured little Rei’s imagination and she very much wanted to meet one of these star creatures. Rei went to sleep that night more peacefully than most. The following morning her father left shortly after the family had a healthy breakfast. Before he could leave, Rei and her mother caught him on the front steps of their home. He turned and did as he always did, he kissed Rei and her mother on the forehead while telling Rei, “Do what your mother tells you, and don’t cause her too much trouble.”
He then proceeded down the winding dirt path that exited their home and ventured deep into the dark woods. Rei watched her father walk away as long as she could still manage a glimpse of him through the bare patches in the forest.
Rei’s mother went back into the house to brew a medicine made from roots for a women dying of a rare ailment in the village. Rei now left to be by herself, wandered a short distance into the surrounding woods and approached the trunk of an extraordinarily large tree. The trunk was cracked and dry, as if it were a thousand cycles old.
“You’re looking sad today,” Rei told the old tree.
Rei’s father had built Rei a sturdy platform on the lower levels of the tree, after noticing what a good climber she was. It had become quickly one of Rei’s favorite places to play. He had also fashioned a very firm rope ladder, by precisely weaving together a very common, but strong red moss that grows on the roots of many of the trees in the woods around their house, for her to climb up in order to reach the platform. Rei took a hold of one of the rungs of this ladder and pulled her-self up onto it. It left a rusty colored residue on her hands as she made her way up to the platform with great concentration. After some effort she made her way to the peak of the ladder and heaved her-self onto the platform. This platform seemed extremely high to little Rei, but in fact Rei’s father had purposely built it lower then his eye level to help ensure Rei would not in the unlikely event she should fall injure herself too badly. Despite the low elevation of the platform, Rei still could get a good view of the valley beyond and the sky above her due to the positioning of the tree. The tree was chosen because it was located atop a bare hill which Rei’s father had cleared when building their house. This resulted in there being little to obstruct Rei’s view.
“Mr. Tree, will you help me look for a star creature to be our friend today? I would awfully much like to meet one,” Rei asked the old tree.
Of course the tree gave no verbal response to Rei, as trees seldom do. But Rei felt quite confident that day that the old tree had heard and understood her and would notify her if the tree did notice a star creature. She would probably dispute it too, if you told her otherwise.
Rei spent the first few hours of that day talking to her old friend the tree, watching the sky for the expected star creature, until shortly before midday. Rei was about to climb back down to the ground and go home for her lunch, when she first witnessed it.
“Look Mr. Tree, do you see it, too? We’re so lucky,” exclaimed Rei, pointing her finger in the direction of the light in the sky, while carelessly hanging from the side of the platform in an attempt to get closer to it. The scorching orb streaked across the sky, trailed by a long almost indigo tail.
“It’s a star creature,” Rei proclaimed.
The star creature continued to soar through the air quickly getting closer and closer to the forest below until it descended behind the trees into the valley below, gracefully with out a sound. It was shortly there after followed by a blast of wind that’s effect could be seen on the forest landscape below her.
“Rei, you better come in for lunch now” Rei’s mother called out.
Rei decided while climbing down the rope ladder, making her way toward her house, that after lunch she would walk down into the valley and try to find and befriend the star creature. For poor excited Rei, her lunch seemingly lasted forever. Her mother had made pea soup for lunch, which didn’t help her cause of getting lunch over quickly so she could return to the woods. She procrastinated instead, spooning around her food in an attempt to make it seem as though she had eaten a portion of it.
“Rei if you don’t finish your soup you’re going to have to stay indoors until your father gets home, and have a word with him”, warned Rei’s mother. The thought of upsetting her father motivated Rei to demolish the soup in several large gulps. The soup tasted like grass to young Rei and she did not understand her mother’s determination that she eat such a thing. Finally, after an agonizing hour of procrastination, Rei returned to the outdoors. She started walking down the winding dirt path that her father had previously walked down that morning. She took discretion to be quiet as she did this, knowing her mother would get very cross if she found out about her plans to go wandering deep into the woods alone. Rei knew from day walks into town with her mother and father in the past, that it took around an hour going down the hill before the first valley would be reached.
Once Rei had made her way into the valley where she observed the star creature touch the earth she daringly made her way off the path and ventured into the looming woods. Of course, it wasn’t long before Rei had become hopelessly lost. She began to grow very hungry after what seemed a very long time and presumed that she must be missing her supper. By this point both her parents would have notice her missing and would be frantically searching the woods, very cross with her indeed. Because she was lost anyway, Rei had little choice but to continue her search for the star creature.
As yet more time passed day began to pass into night and Rei became fearful that she would never find either the star creature or her way back home again. She fell onto the moist ground below her and began to cry. She cried for a very heartfelt duration of time, until she noticed a very faint and distant light shrouded in the trees. Rei held back her tears with delight as her hopes of finding the star creature were rekindled. Rei lifted herself back onto her feet and now eagerly made her way through the forest towards the adored light.
As she got closer to the light she began to have more difficulty making her way, as many broken trees littered the forest floor and created obstacles for her. The light was sawing back and forth through the woods, casting the most fascinating of shadows throughout the woods. As the light came even closer to her its brightness began to blind her. Rei stopped walking towards the light, her eyes now being rendered useless, yet radiance continued getting closer to her. This began to frighten her and she gave out a cry of fear. The light was lowered to the ground and two very large and equally strange creatures emerged.
“Hello there, little one, didn’t mean to give you a fright!” Spoke the first of the two creatures.
“What’s a little girl like you doing all the way out here, all by her self?” asked the other. The two creatures came closer to startled Rei. They did this with caution though, as not to make her anymore alarmed. Rei could now get a much closer look at the two figures. They appeared to have very smooth gray skin with white feet and finger tips. On closer inspection Rei noticed a window on their faces, reveling a strange pink face within and what looked like a very dirty mop atop it. It occurred to Rei that what she had previously perceived to be skin was a garment actually.
“My name is Joe, what’s yours?” asked the first creature. Rei said nothing, only giving the two creatures a blank stare.
“And I’m Tom”, uncomfortably chimed in the second one, after a long pause.
“I’m Rei” she so quietly answered that the two creatures had to ask her to repeat her self. “I’m Rei” Rei repeated a little bit louder and more confidently than before.
“Rei, where are your parents?” Joe asked.
“I was looking for the star creature that I think I saw, and err… um, I came here, and ah… are you star people?” Rei mumbled.
“Where are you’re parents?” Joe calmly interrupted.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think they’re at home, but they might be in the woods looking for me by now”, Rei said with tears now starting to form in her eyes.
“Don’t worry Rei, we’ll help you find your way home”, Tom insisted. Joe and Tom beckoned Rei to follow them through the woods with hand motions. Rei reluctantly began to follow them through the gloomy forest. After a short while of walking Tom and Joe lead Rei into a large clearing in the center of the forest. The clearing glowed and a magnificent amber shine resonated from the most elegant of beasts. Rei rubbed her large lustrous eyes with her coarse palms in disbelief. It could only be what she had been so passionate for since the telling of her father’s story, but the night before. It was a star creature. It had a long smooth body and an even longer blue tail. Its eyes loomed dark and black above its gaping mouth. A long tong protruded out of its mouth that reached the same cold soil that it’s four legs firmly stood upon.
“That’s our ship Rei, we can fly you home in it, you’ll have to wait here though, well we get you a suit, so you won’t contaminate the air. You’ll also have to go through the air lock alone, ” Tom informed Rei. Most of it fell on deaf ears though; Rei only understood that she would need to wait out side the creature for a while. Tom and Joe left, passing into the star creatures mouth. A sort while later, Joe reemerged from the belly of the creature carrying in hand a folded garment resembling the one that Joe was wearing.
“I’m sorry if this doesn’t fit too well, this suit is really designed for a human child, not a little laborite, like yourself, it was the smallest one we could find though”. Rei looked at it blankly.
“I’m afraid you will have to change into it before we can let you on our ship and take you home” Joe paused for a moment and then continued to hold out the garment waiting for Rei to take it and change. “What you waiting for? I assure you there’s no other way”. Rei, frustrated, stamped her foot and instructed Joe to leave momentarily so that she could change alone. Joe realizing his folly tossed the garment on the ground and hid himself from view. Rei changed into the grossly over sized outfight with difficultly, but eventually conquered it and called out to Joe to return.
Joe led an exasperated Rei to the mouth and up the tongue of the star creature. At the end of the tongue there was a door. Joe showed Rei in, the door closed behind her. Now Rei was all by herself, in a strange white room. A grinding and creaking noise vibrated in the walls of the room. Rei was having difficulty seeing what was going on around her due to the awkwardness of her hood that sagged over her head, with only a small window for her to peer out of. A thick white steam suddenly burst into the room with a piercing hissing noise, but it quickly subsided and Rei was comforted when she discovered the steam wasn’t searing, but luke warm. The second door opened and revealed Tom now with his face, arms, and hands exposed.
“Come with me, Rei to the observation deck and point out your home to me so we can drop you off”, Tom beaconed. Rei and Tom walked down many illuminated corridors until they finally came upon the observation deck. It had two large windows, several chairs and pictures all a round that glowed. Rei walked over to the window and peered out. She gazed as she saw the ground below her grow smaller, and then smaller.
“Tom, look over there, I can see my house from here”.
“That’s great”, Tom said, “I’ll place us right beside your house, over there”; Rei felt a shutter through out the ship as it began to accelerate and within moments they had tracked the distance it had taken Rei more then an hour to cover earlier.
“We’re landing now, go back to the air lock Rei, Joe will meet you down there?” Rei hurried back down the corridors, trying desperately to remember the way she had come previously. Before too long Rei found her way to the funny door that let her enter the star creature. As Tom had said, Joe was they’re waiting for little Rei. Joe motioned for Rei to go first and she passed once more through the unpleasant mouth of the star creature.
As Rei walked down the tongue of the star creature, she distinguished first her mother, then her father emerging from the woods ecstatic at the site of their previously missing one. Rei met them at the bottom of the tongue, and embraced her father and mother.
“Rei we saw the star creature in the sky heading towards our home, and we came running as fast as we could. I was so worried, but everything’s all right now.” Rei’s frantic father sobbed. Joe stepped forward from behind the reunited family.
“Oh, mother, father this is the star man, who saved me”, announced Rei.
Joe cheerfully introduced himself “my name is Joe”.
“We are forever grateful to you, Joe.” Rei’s father replied to Joe “So the story really is true, are your people the same as those who saved our first great king” Rei’s father asked.
Joe tried to explain his connection to the ancient story, but it was unfortunately beyond the comprehension of the small laborite family. He tried to explain that the virus had only affected those living on earth, and the planet had been placed on quarantine to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. This was all in vain though, as Rei’s family had no place of reference to understand what had really happened so long ago.
“Hm... well err... once again I must thank you for the return of our only child, it is a blessing.” Rei’s confused father responded. Rei’s father bowed, and began to lead his family towards their home.
Joe hesitated, and then said “you shouldn’t thank me for that, we just needed her to guide us to her parents so we could capture them and study their physiology to find out why the virus doesn’t affect laborite’s”. Now paralyzed with terror Rei and her family froze as they in unison noticed Tom crouching behind a tree aiming a weapon at them. Tom pulled a triggering device on the weapon and a streak of blue light bolted forth and struck Rei and her family. They fell with out effort to the ground from the blast of the stun ray; and in her final moments Rei looked up at the ominous craft above her, and thought quietly to her self that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
