Glimpses of the Past (Originally posted February 18th, 2009)
Part 2: A Great Man, A Father, A Ghost
Sui stared at the complete failure he held in his hands. He had made a simple, but disastrous, mistake that resulted in the loss of the fragile jeweling tool and materials. A neophyte mistake he had learned to avoid long ago.
Back in the refugee camps, Sui had befriended a woman who had taught him how to avoid simple crafting mistakes that degraded the end product. Her tutelage had helped him to get to a new level in his crafting abilities, as well as helping him to understand intricate facets to many of the skills he learned in the camps. Sophy had become a pillar to Suibom's life, teaching him much about the mainland and the need for homins to be prepared for their journey. Unfortunately, like his sister Val, Sophy was lost to the kitin invasions on the refugee camps.
Sui reached in his bag and shuffled around until his hand clasped a small hammer. He pulled out the unused jewler tool and began to work on more amber and seed. The amber glinted in the freshly risen sun, sending small reflections in all directions. The slightly acrid smell of fresh seed permeated the air from all the work. Sui was moving automatically, only slightly more than half conscious of what he was doing; burning the intricate, but repetitive, work into muscle memory.
Over time Sui found fewer and fewer refugees that had come to the mainland from his home camps. He began to hear of kitin invasions on refugee camps of other races as well. Each story was more withering than the last. The destruction of the camps was complete, there was nothing left in those areas.
No one had any information about Val or Sophy. Eventually, there were no more stories of the camps at all. Sui lost hope; he had fought kitin with the Dragonblades, he knew the destruction they could cause. He knew the singularity of their focus on the eradication of homins. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to encounter waves of the beasts swarming at him.
The thought brought another memory forward. A dream that his sister had told him about shortly before his departure to the mainland. She told him that she had dreamt of Jena and Ma-Duk, both consuming hominity in their own way. She also dreamt of a man called Elias. She dreamt of her father as well. But her dream ended with the kitin. They had swarmed the planet and destroyed everything in their path. No homin trace was left.
Val's dreams were often difficult to decipher properly, but they were rarely wrong – at least, as far as Sui had ever encountered. The kitin raid on the camps, that one seemed obvious now. Jena and Ma-Duk, Sui had thought that part of the dream was about the coming war he continued to hear rumors about, persisting in the constant static of undertoned conversations that echoed off every surface it seemed; the day of judgment. But he began to think that war would not materialize any time soon, if at all. If Jena and Ma-Duk represented something else, it was not something he could understand yet. Elias, Sui was not sure who that was or what he had to do with the rest of the dream. And then there was her father.
Val's father, Petrov Azini, adopted Sui when he was very young, before Valeriana had been born. The story that Sui had come to learn was that Azini was an honored Matis warrior that helped to forge the Matis refugee camps. He helped to train refugees so that they would better be able to protect themselves when they reintegrated into life on the newly reachable mainlands.
He was also a man with a ferocious temper and the leader of a group of Matis that viciously raided a tribe of renegades who had set up a sprawling camp near the refugee territory.
A refugee scout determined that the renegades were slave traders that had been abducting refugees from the camps. They were preparing to take the abducted refugees to another land and sell them off, or worse. When the news got back to Azini's group, rage flowed through the Matis and they assaulted the renegade encampment with a blazing brutality that took the renegades off guard. The tribe was destroyed swiftly, allowing no mercy for the slave traders. Aside from a handful that escaped, they were all killed in battle or executed.
During a final sweep of the area, searching for any renegade bodies that might still be breating and needing to be separated from their corrupted souls, Azini heard a small, soft sound behind the dangling flap of a tent that was still partially upright. He shifted the flap over with the blade of his sword, his grip tightening and ready to bury the blade into whatever lay beyond.
He was greeted by a small basket covered with soft blankets and tucked gently into the edge of the tent. Small eyes peered into his from inside the basket as a tiny hand reached out to the blade, inquisitively. The Matis baby was mostly quiet, making occasional soft cooing noises and looking around at his surroundings.
Azini looked at the child and his legs wavered, rage flowed away from him like a demon released. He fell to his knees before the small child and gently took the tiny homin into his arms. Holding the baby close, he looked around at the carnage that his group had inflicted on the tribe. He never meant for his skills to end the lives of so many homins in such a simple, quick tailspin of rage and hate; even homins as wicked as these lost souls. Azini claimed the baby as his own, a small sliver of redemption for his personal sin. He rescued Sui from the tribe and adopted him.
When Val was still sucking on the teat of her wet nurse, Azini followed a calling to the mainland to serve for his king, Yrkanis. He left his children in the care of their tutor and nanny. Then, on one very sad day early in his life, Suibom learned that his adoptive father had been killed in battle. He was told that it was a glorious battle and Azini died a hero.
As Sui grew up, he naturally began to ask questions about Azini. As his sister grew from a baby he would tell her fabulous stories of their father and he wanted those stories to be true. However, the leaders of Rosilio, the people that Sui had thought were friends of his father, only quieted him when he asked about their father's journey to the mainland and his heroic battle. Over time they systematically ignored his queries and worked to eradicate Azini's memory. Eventually the name of Azini had disappeared from the camps; their father had become a figment of the mind to most.
The memory continued to lived strong in the two children, though. Sui became resolute that he would find out what happened their father. He would join a guild on the mainland and find out why the elders of his camp tried to erase Azini.
Sui reached absentmindedly into his sack to gather more amber and seeds for another necklace, but his fingers only found the walls of the sack. He was out of materials for the jewelry. The realization crept into his mind enough to forced the weave of memories to unravel like a flower opening to the sun. The first layer to unravel was the memory of childhood and their father. Then Val's dream peeled back. Finally Sui was left on the Streets of Yrkanis, the memories of his time with the Dragonblades and coming to terms with the loss of his sister and friend.
On that day, long ago, Sui decided he would discover what happened to their father. He would find the truth for Valeriana, so that she could rest in peace knowing that her father was a great man to the end.
On this day, enshrouded in daydream memories, Sui broke away enough to decide he needed to gather more materials for his creations. He gathered up his bag, switched his jeweler tool for a harvesting pick, stood up and stretched. The memories still floated in the back of his mind as he soaked in the warmth of the morning sun.
Mornings like this were a blessing and a curse. It helped him to piece together his life, but it absorbed him fully. When the stream of memories stopped bombarding his mind's eye, they would inevitably shrink back into the shadows. It was like trying to hold onto water.
To be continued...
Part 2: A Great Man, A Father, A Ghost
Sui stared at the complete failure he held in his hands. He had made a simple, but disastrous, mistake that resulted in the loss of the fragile jeweling tool and materials. A neophyte mistake he had learned to avoid long ago.
Back in the refugee camps, Sui had befriended a woman who had taught him how to avoid simple crafting mistakes that degraded the end product. Her tutelage had helped him to get to a new level in his crafting abilities, as well as helping him to understand intricate facets to many of the skills he learned in the camps. Sophy had become a pillar to Suibom's life, teaching him much about the mainland and the need for homins to be prepared for their journey. Unfortunately, like his sister Val, Sophy was lost to the kitin invasions on the refugee camps.
Sui reached in his bag and shuffled around until his hand clasped a small hammer. He pulled out the unused jewler tool and began to work on more amber and seed. The amber glinted in the freshly risen sun, sending small reflections in all directions. The slightly acrid smell of fresh seed permeated the air from all the work. Sui was moving automatically, only slightly more than half conscious of what he was doing; burning the intricate, but repetitive, work into muscle memory.
Over time Sui found fewer and fewer refugees that had come to the mainland from his home camps. He began to hear of kitin invasions on refugee camps of other races as well. Each story was more withering than the last. The destruction of the camps was complete, there was nothing left in those areas.
No one had any information about Val or Sophy. Eventually, there were no more stories of the camps at all. Sui lost hope; he had fought kitin with the Dragonblades, he knew the destruction they could cause. He knew the singularity of their focus on the eradication of homins. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to encounter waves of the beasts swarming at him.
The thought brought another memory forward. A dream that his sister had told him about shortly before his departure to the mainland. She told him that she had dreamt of Jena and Ma-Duk, both consuming hominity in their own way. She also dreamt of a man called Elias. She dreamt of her father as well. But her dream ended with the kitin. They had swarmed the planet and destroyed everything in their path. No homin trace was left.
Val's dreams were often difficult to decipher properly, but they were rarely wrong – at least, as far as Sui had ever encountered. The kitin raid on the camps, that one seemed obvious now. Jena and Ma-Duk, Sui had thought that part of the dream was about the coming war he continued to hear rumors about, persisting in the constant static of undertoned conversations that echoed off every surface it seemed; the day of judgment. But he began to think that war would not materialize any time soon, if at all. If Jena and Ma-Duk represented something else, it was not something he could understand yet. Elias, Sui was not sure who that was or what he had to do with the rest of the dream. And then there was her father.
Val's father, Petrov Azini, adopted Sui when he was very young, before Valeriana had been born. The story that Sui had come to learn was that Azini was an honored Matis warrior that helped to forge the Matis refugee camps. He helped to train refugees so that they would better be able to protect themselves when they reintegrated into life on the newly reachable mainlands.
He was also a man with a ferocious temper and the leader of a group of Matis that viciously raided a tribe of renegades who had set up a sprawling camp near the refugee territory.
A refugee scout determined that the renegades were slave traders that had been abducting refugees from the camps. They were preparing to take the abducted refugees to another land and sell them off, or worse. When the news got back to Azini's group, rage flowed through the Matis and they assaulted the renegade encampment with a blazing brutality that took the renegades off guard. The tribe was destroyed swiftly, allowing no mercy for the slave traders. Aside from a handful that escaped, they were all killed in battle or executed.
During a final sweep of the area, searching for any renegade bodies that might still be breating and needing to be separated from their corrupted souls, Azini heard a small, soft sound behind the dangling flap of a tent that was still partially upright. He shifted the flap over with the blade of his sword, his grip tightening and ready to bury the blade into whatever lay beyond.
He was greeted by a small basket covered with soft blankets and tucked gently into the edge of the tent. Small eyes peered into his from inside the basket as a tiny hand reached out to the blade, inquisitively. The Matis baby was mostly quiet, making occasional soft cooing noises and looking around at his surroundings.
Azini looked at the child and his legs wavered, rage flowed away from him like a demon released. He fell to his knees before the small child and gently took the tiny homin into his arms. Holding the baby close, he looked around at the carnage that his group had inflicted on the tribe. He never meant for his skills to end the lives of so many homins in such a simple, quick tailspin of rage and hate; even homins as wicked as these lost souls. Azini claimed the baby as his own, a small sliver of redemption for his personal sin. He rescued Sui from the tribe and adopted him.
When Val was still sucking on the teat of her wet nurse, Azini followed a calling to the mainland to serve for his king, Yrkanis. He left his children in the care of their tutor and nanny. Then, on one very sad day early in his life, Suibom learned that his adoptive father had been killed in battle. He was told that it was a glorious battle and Azini died a hero.
As Sui grew up, he naturally began to ask questions about Azini. As his sister grew from a baby he would tell her fabulous stories of their father and he wanted those stories to be true. However, the leaders of Rosilio, the people that Sui had thought were friends of his father, only quieted him when he asked about their father's journey to the mainland and his heroic battle. Over time they systematically ignored his queries and worked to eradicate Azini's memory. Eventually the name of Azini had disappeared from the camps; their father had become a figment of the mind to most.
The memory continued to lived strong in the two children, though. Sui became resolute that he would find out what happened their father. He would join a guild on the mainland and find out why the elders of his camp tried to erase Azini.
Sui reached absentmindedly into his sack to gather more amber and seeds for another necklace, but his fingers only found the walls of the sack. He was out of materials for the jewelry. The realization crept into his mind enough to forced the weave of memories to unravel like a flower opening to the sun. The first layer to unravel was the memory of childhood and their father. Then Val's dream peeled back. Finally Sui was left on the Streets of Yrkanis, the memories of his time with the Dragonblades and coming to terms with the loss of his sister and friend.
On that day, long ago, Sui decided he would discover what happened to their father. He would find the truth for Valeriana, so that she could rest in peace knowing that her father was a great man to the end.
On this day, enshrouded in daydream memories, Sui broke away enough to decide he needed to gather more materials for his creations. He gathered up his bag, switched his jeweler tool for a harvesting pick, stood up and stretched. The memories still floated in the back of his mind as he soaked in the warmth of the morning sun.
Mornings like this were a blessing and a curse. It helped him to piece together his life, but it absorbed him fully. When the stream of memories stopped bombarding his mind's eye, they would inevitably shrink back into the shadows. It was like trying to hold onto water.
To be continued...