Post by Trish on Nov 30, 2016 19:16:08 GMT -5
Above-and-Below
Out in New Mexico is a particular patch of desert. It’s halfway from Piñon to Seven Rivers; it’s as far above Queen as it is below Hope. It’s about as far away from people as one can get in the States, and there’s nothing there to draw them in, so through antiquity it’s been a rather peaceful place to the sort of creature that calls such a place home. If you don’t mind the scorching days and freezing nights, if the dry air and rough sand don’t bother your nose, and if you’re not so citified as to want to eat every single day, you can count on being left alone in this particular patch of desert.
Desert folk enjoy a certain predictability in life; when there’s nothing around, nothing changes. They also know, though, that nothing is to be taken for granted, and when things change in the desert, sir, they change hard! The story of Above and Below doesn’t begin with a dust storm or a flash flood, but with a tide of darkness that washed up from the old river beds of New Mexico.
Black Spiral Dancers broke the surface of the sand and had a look around. It’s a little ironic that where men, and even Garou and Baster and their kin, would see nothingness, it was the Spirals who saw unspoiled splendor of Gaia in all its pristine glory. It’s too bad this wasn’t so appreciated by someone who wasn’t out to destroy it.
This area is home to Mokole kin by the handful; scary little lizards designed to be left alone in a place no one ever goes had up until now been a great place to store that ancient Shifter spark. The Unktehi that dwelled here could drag themselves about in the open if they felt the need to be somewhere and could dream in the sun if they were already in the right place. How many of the lizards were born true was unknown, but the spirals intended to find out. They combed the desert, grabbing lizards; killing ones that were no threat and doing their best to capture the ones that were; dragging the dreaming dinosaurs back to their Hive for purposes unknown. The monsters sought the company of monsters – and beaded lizards.
The local monsters were not a social bunch, and there was little communication of the oncoming tide until it had already washed over an area. Oblivious to the approaching threat, a particular female lizard lay on a hot rock in the sun. With a belly full of bird eggs and a comfortable, quiet spot, the little lizard closed her eyes and had herself a sleep. She dreamt.
She dreamt of a beautiful creature, blazing with glory. A creature that lived on its belly, like herself, and had a dazzling hide like hers, but with more colors than her own eyes had ever seen. It was a serpent, covered in rainbows, held aloft by feathered wings, soaring over lush, green fields with a warm, cozy sun behind it. It was a nice place – but not her place. The dreamscape changed to her familiarity; the grass receded into the ground and the rivers dried up and the sun grew naked and hot. The serpent came to the ground, shedding its wings to drag its belly in the sand. The rainbow scaled grew dark and thick, more like a painted wall of stones than the rainbow – but no less beautiful. The eyes turned black and took on a suspicious glare, and turned upon her, and the dream was over.
The little monster normally only raised her head to swallow, and so she was surprised to awaken with her chin so far above the hot sand. Not only was it off the ground, but far from it! Her eyes were as high as desert birds fly, and her first concern was that one was carrying her off. She tried to turn in the talons, but felt none, and her body moved more freely than it ever had before. She was able to turn her head completely around, and look down at her body. It was a long body, stretching to the ground and pooling upon it; a black body with many splashed and dots of beautiful colors. She turned her head for a second look, and was able to go around fully once again and see herself; nothing had changed. Her tongue found something in her mouth and she opened it; the somethings unfolded into a pair of immense fangs. They tasted of venom, but not the same venom that continued to swell from the dozen fangs in her lower jaw. She could also… see, out of her mouth; strange shifting shapes and patterns that seemed to congregate where the sand was hottest. She puzzled over this, and remembered something she’d never known; she was Mokole.
She put her chin down to hide from the voice that called to her, but it continued. She was Mokole-Mbembe, but she was also Gendasi. She did not know what these things were, and she wanted to be a small monster again – and then she was. The little Gila crawled out of the trench her other body had made, and she climbed back on a pleasant rock, and decided to forget about what had happened. For a monster, problems stop when they are gone, and this was gone, and she felt the need for more sleep. More dreams came, and they were strange, but they did not bother her.
The plan actually worked, for about a week. Seven hot suns brought her peace and seven cold moons found her snug in a burrow. The eight sun called her from her burrow as had the last, but where for seven days had been nothing, there was now, something. A dragon. The dragon looked like her, albeit several times larger. It had the fearsome teeth of a monster, the thick armor, and the dazzling colors. It also had thick black thorns growing from its body, and a trio of sail-like structures upon its back that the sun filtered through. The dragon spoke to her. No one had ever spoken to the little monster before, but she understood.
The creature told her that the Hive was coming to claim Mokole and that she must be taken to safety. She asked what a hive was. The dragon explained that it is a burrow full of evil werewolves. She asked it what a werewolf was. The dragon it explained a werewolf was like them, only it changed between a man and a wolf. The monster asked what a wolf was. The dragon explained it was like a large coyote. This went on for some time.
Time was short, and lessons had to be simple. The dragon boiled it down for the monster. She was Mokole, and she must flee. However, she would not flee forever, and would someday return to fight this evil, for she was a Rising Sun – a fierce warrior. More suns burned her back and with each one new lessons and old memories burned into her mind. She was taught how to become the serpent again – a dragon, a dragon that startled even the other dragon. She was also taught to become a man – well, a woman – which she found most unpleasant. She learned to fight, more than just latching onto an enemy until it learned its lesson, she learned to evade and to strike vulnerable parts and to turn her thickest skin against an attack. She learned to remember doing things she had never done and use those memories to do them again, for the first time. She learned to speak from her monster mouth as a dragon or man, or to scream from it and strike fear into all enemies. She also learned to see past skins, and spot those who might not be what they appeared; those like the dragon. Those like herself.
The dragon, who was named Sun-Sails-to-Victory, gave her a name of her own. The monster had venom in her lower jaw, and now in the top as well. She was the smallest of her people the dragon had ever seen, but also the largest. She spent her days in the sun and he nights in the ground. For these, and other meanings, he named the monster Above-and-Below.
Sails explained to Above-and-Below that she had a brother, who was a man. Above-and-Below was confused as to how this could be, but given recent events willing to accept it. She was told this brother of hers would take her away from the desert, so that she would be safe from the large coyotes. Sails would remain and fight and hope to fend off the evil before Above-and-Below matured into a proper warrior. Above-and-Below hoped there would be a nice rock where she was going.
The dragon left her, and a man came. He was different from the few men the monster had seen; darker colors, longer hair, more confidence in the desert. He spoke to her, and she spoke back. He gave her an egg, and she swallowed it, and became comforted that this man was a source of eggs and therefore could be trusted. He put her in a small, dark bag. It was like her burrow, but the inside was soft and smooth against her belly. She stayed in the bag for a long time, feeling it move and not knowing where it moved to. The new places were slightly colder and much noisier than the desert. She heard a woman ask if there was anything to be declared, and Above-and-Below declared that she was a fierce warrior. The bag moved very quickly after that.
Strange sensations came through the air around the bag, and strange smells crept through its seams. She felt light, and that lasted for many hours, and then she felt heavy again and also much, much colder than when she had gotten into the bag. She wriggled impatiently and gave a hiss to be released. Her brother poked an egg into the bag, which she ate, and this satisfied her for the next few hours. New noises roused her; strange people talking to her brother, saying strange things. She felt her bag being carried down a ramp, then stopping as her brother spoke to someone else. Her bag was placed down and the seam at the end opened, and out she came as if hatching a second time into a new life. Above-and-Below looked around the River Caern. She thought it looked alright.
Out in New Mexico is a particular patch of desert. It’s halfway from Piñon to Seven Rivers; it’s as far above Queen as it is below Hope. It’s about as far away from people as one can get in the States, and there’s nothing there to draw them in, so through antiquity it’s been a rather peaceful place to the sort of creature that calls such a place home. If you don’t mind the scorching days and freezing nights, if the dry air and rough sand don’t bother your nose, and if you’re not so citified as to want to eat every single day, you can count on being left alone in this particular patch of desert.
Desert folk enjoy a certain predictability in life; when there’s nothing around, nothing changes. They also know, though, that nothing is to be taken for granted, and when things change in the desert, sir, they change hard! The story of Above and Below doesn’t begin with a dust storm or a flash flood, but with a tide of darkness that washed up from the old river beds of New Mexico.
Black Spiral Dancers broke the surface of the sand and had a look around. It’s a little ironic that where men, and even Garou and Baster and their kin, would see nothingness, it was the Spirals who saw unspoiled splendor of Gaia in all its pristine glory. It’s too bad this wasn’t so appreciated by someone who wasn’t out to destroy it.
This area is home to Mokole kin by the handful; scary little lizards designed to be left alone in a place no one ever goes had up until now been a great place to store that ancient Shifter spark. The Unktehi that dwelled here could drag themselves about in the open if they felt the need to be somewhere and could dream in the sun if they were already in the right place. How many of the lizards were born true was unknown, but the spirals intended to find out. They combed the desert, grabbing lizards; killing ones that were no threat and doing their best to capture the ones that were; dragging the dreaming dinosaurs back to their Hive for purposes unknown. The monsters sought the company of monsters – and beaded lizards.
The local monsters were not a social bunch, and there was little communication of the oncoming tide until it had already washed over an area. Oblivious to the approaching threat, a particular female lizard lay on a hot rock in the sun. With a belly full of bird eggs and a comfortable, quiet spot, the little lizard closed her eyes and had herself a sleep. She dreamt.
She dreamt of a beautiful creature, blazing with glory. A creature that lived on its belly, like herself, and had a dazzling hide like hers, but with more colors than her own eyes had ever seen. It was a serpent, covered in rainbows, held aloft by feathered wings, soaring over lush, green fields with a warm, cozy sun behind it. It was a nice place – but not her place. The dreamscape changed to her familiarity; the grass receded into the ground and the rivers dried up and the sun grew naked and hot. The serpent came to the ground, shedding its wings to drag its belly in the sand. The rainbow scaled grew dark and thick, more like a painted wall of stones than the rainbow – but no less beautiful. The eyes turned black and took on a suspicious glare, and turned upon her, and the dream was over.
The little monster normally only raised her head to swallow, and so she was surprised to awaken with her chin so far above the hot sand. Not only was it off the ground, but far from it! Her eyes were as high as desert birds fly, and her first concern was that one was carrying her off. She tried to turn in the talons, but felt none, and her body moved more freely than it ever had before. She was able to turn her head completely around, and look down at her body. It was a long body, stretching to the ground and pooling upon it; a black body with many splashed and dots of beautiful colors. She turned her head for a second look, and was able to go around fully once again and see herself; nothing had changed. Her tongue found something in her mouth and she opened it; the somethings unfolded into a pair of immense fangs. They tasted of venom, but not the same venom that continued to swell from the dozen fangs in her lower jaw. She could also… see, out of her mouth; strange shifting shapes and patterns that seemed to congregate where the sand was hottest. She puzzled over this, and remembered something she’d never known; she was Mokole.
She put her chin down to hide from the voice that called to her, but it continued. She was Mokole-Mbembe, but she was also Gendasi. She did not know what these things were, and she wanted to be a small monster again – and then she was. The little Gila crawled out of the trench her other body had made, and she climbed back on a pleasant rock, and decided to forget about what had happened. For a monster, problems stop when they are gone, and this was gone, and she felt the need for more sleep. More dreams came, and they were strange, but they did not bother her.
The plan actually worked, for about a week. Seven hot suns brought her peace and seven cold moons found her snug in a burrow. The eight sun called her from her burrow as had the last, but where for seven days had been nothing, there was now, something. A dragon. The dragon looked like her, albeit several times larger. It had the fearsome teeth of a monster, the thick armor, and the dazzling colors. It also had thick black thorns growing from its body, and a trio of sail-like structures upon its back that the sun filtered through. The dragon spoke to her. No one had ever spoken to the little monster before, but she understood.
The creature told her that the Hive was coming to claim Mokole and that she must be taken to safety. She asked what a hive was. The dragon explained that it is a burrow full of evil werewolves. She asked it what a werewolf was. The dragon it explained a werewolf was like them, only it changed between a man and a wolf. The monster asked what a wolf was. The dragon explained it was like a large coyote. This went on for some time.
Time was short, and lessons had to be simple. The dragon boiled it down for the monster. She was Mokole, and she must flee. However, she would not flee forever, and would someday return to fight this evil, for she was a Rising Sun – a fierce warrior. More suns burned her back and with each one new lessons and old memories burned into her mind. She was taught how to become the serpent again – a dragon, a dragon that startled even the other dragon. She was also taught to become a man – well, a woman – which she found most unpleasant. She learned to fight, more than just latching onto an enemy until it learned its lesson, she learned to evade and to strike vulnerable parts and to turn her thickest skin against an attack. She learned to remember doing things she had never done and use those memories to do them again, for the first time. She learned to speak from her monster mouth as a dragon or man, or to scream from it and strike fear into all enemies. She also learned to see past skins, and spot those who might not be what they appeared; those like the dragon. Those like herself.
The dragon, who was named Sun-Sails-to-Victory, gave her a name of her own. The monster had venom in her lower jaw, and now in the top as well. She was the smallest of her people the dragon had ever seen, but also the largest. She spent her days in the sun and he nights in the ground. For these, and other meanings, he named the monster Above-and-Below.
Sails explained to Above-and-Below that she had a brother, who was a man. Above-and-Below was confused as to how this could be, but given recent events willing to accept it. She was told this brother of hers would take her away from the desert, so that she would be safe from the large coyotes. Sails would remain and fight and hope to fend off the evil before Above-and-Below matured into a proper warrior. Above-and-Below hoped there would be a nice rock where she was going.
The dragon left her, and a man came. He was different from the few men the monster had seen; darker colors, longer hair, more confidence in the desert. He spoke to her, and she spoke back. He gave her an egg, and she swallowed it, and became comforted that this man was a source of eggs and therefore could be trusted. He put her in a small, dark bag. It was like her burrow, but the inside was soft and smooth against her belly. She stayed in the bag for a long time, feeling it move and not knowing where it moved to. The new places were slightly colder and much noisier than the desert. She heard a woman ask if there was anything to be declared, and Above-and-Below declared that she was a fierce warrior. The bag moved very quickly after that.
Strange sensations came through the air around the bag, and strange smells crept through its seams. She felt light, and that lasted for many hours, and then she felt heavy again and also much, much colder than when she had gotten into the bag. She wriggled impatiently and gave a hiss to be released. Her brother poked an egg into the bag, which she ate, and this satisfied her for the next few hours. New noises roused her; strange people talking to her brother, saying strange things. She felt her bag being carried down a ramp, then stopping as her brother spoke to someone else. Her bag was placed down and the seam at the end opened, and out she came as if hatching a second time into a new life. Above-and-Below looked around the River Caern. She thought it looked alright.