User:Dante the Ghost/Sandbox
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I: Half-Truths
Princess Aurash gazed out into the storm.
Great billowing clouds of helium and methane swirled furiously in a dark sky as winds churned the neon seas, acidic rain pelting the surface with the fury of bullets. Somewhere out there in the midst was an enormous maelstrom twisting about in a vast whirl, tugged by the moons' above, moving with haste across the ocean. Such storms threatened the floating worlds that Fundament's civilizations lived upon, notably the Court of Osmium, Aurash's father's domain.
Ever since she could remember Aurash had been afraid of storms like these. The lightnings could burn out unprotected eyes, the acidic rain melting through unguarded skin; she remembered, barely four days old at the time, seeing a retainer dissolve into a puddle of slush when an unexpected downpour rolled through the Court. Others were just as unfortunate, screaming as they died a quick death. In the midst of all this Taox had gently taken her arm and pulled her into safety before the doors closed.
Inside, Taox had told her that no matter what the krill could do it was inevitable that the weak would die and that the strong survive. Then she, in her usual manner, used this to contrast the krill with the storm. They could not influence the storm's passage, nor alter it; all they could do was endure until danger had passed, for the storms moved mindlessly unaware of what lay before them. There was nothing that could be done. Aurash remembered asking her what could be done about it—surely they were not so helpless as to let themselves be kicked around, otherwise they would have no Court. Taox smiled and took her through her studies, beginning her daily instruction on what could be done during these times of crisis, all part of her education as heir to the Throne.
But the memory of that one man liquefying—out of all the rest—remained, even in her dreams.
Since that time she pushed herself, looking to discover ways to protect her people. With the help of Xi Ro and Sathona and Vinri and Betox, young Aurash facilitated the construction of rain-proof umbrella-like coverings for the general populace. Taox initially disapproved until Aurash pointed out that if another sudden storm escaped the diviners the people should be able to protect themselves until they could reach safety—that way, less would die and more would survive to make the Court stronger. The King thought it was a wonderful idea and had it implemented immediately. Sathona had the additional idea of making "coats" and larger tarpaulins, thus extending the Court about the rest of their continent and allowing for the propagation of their kind. More people meant more knights and Mothers, and more of each would ensure their population's survivability.
Aurash had become something of a celebrity for her innovation, and even Sathona gave her full credit, and she was granted more liberty by the King. As the eldest-born she had already extensive freedom, and this all but ensured she could do whatever she wanted. Naturally this put her far away from Taox and her teachings; and also at odds, for the elderly Mother disapproved of her inattention to her studies and carefreeness. Aurash went abroad to learn more about their world, seeking after lost treasures and fabled legends, all with the blessing of her father.
Now, here at the Tungsten Monoliths—massive pillars jutting out every which way from a barren continent seemingly held into place by underwater currents—Aurash felt for the first time the enormity of reality press upon her. All of what Taox had told her was true—standing here, distantly observing a force of nature, made her feel small; and yet... defiant all the same. Though it might rage and churn out death the storm could not reach her here. Not while her ship remained at dock, and failing that the numerous tunnels found inside the Monoliths.
But there was also another reason why she felt defiance—
"Princess!"
She turned away from her watching. A knight, by name of Karvuk, made his way to her, climbing over scarred rocks and dangerous crevices. At three years of age Karvuk could have been an elder creche-sibling if he hadn't come from lesser nobility. Nonetheless his loyalty to the ruling family was unquestioned, and also was possessed of a bright mind, recommending him well to Aurash who sought for likeminded individuals. When he reached her, Karvuk knelt, his osmium sword—symbol of the Court—clicking on the ground. Tungsten was slightly harder than osmium, and was thus valuable for construction. This was part of the reason for this expedition out to the Monoliths, to mine some of the material before the Court moved again.
"Sir Karvuk," Aurash said formally. "What brings you here?"
"Mi'lady, it is nearly time to depart. The crews have finished their work and the captain is eager to set sail." Karvuk's multiple eyes glinted. "That storm is nearing, our watchers have predicted by the wind movements. We should make haste."
"I know," she answered. "I wanted to observe the storm for a time."
"The longer we linger the greater the danger, mi'lady."
"I know."
"Lady," and here he stood. "It is time that we left. You can watch it from the observatory as we return home. The storm is only one of many, and there is but one of you. I would cut out my center eye before I allowed you to endanger yourself."
"Karvuk, do you know the Timid Truth?"
He was taken aback. "Yes, mi'lady, I do. It is taught to all Osmium-broods from their birth. But what does this—?"
"Can you tell me what it is?" Princess Aurash had returned to staring back at the maelstrom. Distant flickers of lightning appeared around the violent cloud edging. "I would like to hear it from you."
"Certainly, mi'la—"
"And, please, call me Aurash. We're alone, far from the Court, and etiquette is tiring."
"Yes, Aurash," he said; then began: "The Timid Truth is the teachings of our first King, Osmium-shaper. It is said that when we first molded the Court out of lawlessness and strife, and subdued the land into one kingdom, the Timed Truth was realized to guide and protect us. Everything that is larger than us is dangerous, even if it is visibly non-violent, for it often eats us without realizing or caring that we are there. From our engagements with the Bromine, Barium, and Argon Courts—and now Helium—we learned there are other, stronger kingdoms who can destroy us without any effort at all. Thus we learned to burrow into the rock of our homes and hide when we cannot fight back, and wait until the currents have taken the threat from us.
"With the development of the element-fission engines we can control where we go with limited success, able to change direction ever so slightly as to go into another, friendly current that takes us into safety. But even despite this, the Truth says we either hide or fight until we are extinct. This is the Timid Truth, Aurash." Karvuk waited for her response.
Aurash stood quietly, listening to the echoing booms of thunder and lightning cracklings, faint ozonic smells coming to her on a brisk breeze. She was lost in thought. At last she said: "Karvuk, the Timid Truth is a lie."
The knight started. "Wh—What do you mean, Aurash?" Privately he thought it was her solitary walkings as they worked over the past few weeks had rendered her somewhat eccentric, isolated from the contact of fellow sapients.
She waved an arm out across the ocean and to the Monoliths around them. "Out here, for the past few days, I have been thinking a great deal. I have discovered something which has changed my way of looking at the world. The Timid Truth is a lie. Out there, where that storm is, I saw that we were not meant to cower and hide in the face of this hostile world. A world which is larger than what we know."
Karvuk was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked again. "What gave you this insight?"
"I saw a ship—a great ship as large as our Court. It had many lightning sails and thunder instruments all about it, a marvel. It flew into the heart of that storm and never came out."
"Surely they had a death wish."
"No, they did not. I saw them. With these," she indicated a telescope in her hand, "I saw them steering boldly into that fury. They were quite prepared for it too. I saw them change course for it as they appeared, battening down hatches, reefing sails, preparing to go under. Then, almost suicidally, I watched them disappear into it.
"The Timid Truth is a lie and this is because they controlled their own fate, their destiny. They could have avoided that storm, tacked around its edge. They had the means to. Yet they flew in, not out of desperation, or that they lost control because of mutiny, but because they chose to. Whether they live or die I do not know. But what I do know is they have shown me another way of life. One where we can take control of our own destiny and not leave it to fate's whiles. That way is the way of boldness. We bested the Courts of Bromine, Barium, Argon because they were weak and dying, merged their lands into our own, and now we've come up against another, stronger kingdom which demands tribute. We cowardly pay them it.
"But no more. I know that it is not our fate to cower when something stronger comes along; it is our fate to kill it, show it that we are not to be pushed around. Upon the Leviathan of the deep I swear, once my father leaves for the next realm, shall I lead my people to greatness and break out of this cycle."
Karvuk was duly impressed. "You make a fine orator, Aurash. You do our King proud. But the Helium Court is stronger than us—they have more knights, more villeins, more berserkers. They outnumber us, and only by gifting tribute do we avoid subjugation until another current comes along. Then we can fire the engines and flee."
"No, I do not propose that." Aurash turned again to him. "If I am to be the ruling Queen I will not run unless I have to. There are more ways of fighting an enemy than open battle. Court politics have taught me this much, more than Taox's teachings ever have. Now nature has taught me another worthy lesson."
"Dare I ask of you how we can fight?"
"Sir Karvuk, I cannot, for your safety and mine. The Drinkers have certainly seeded our ship with spies, and even idle conversation can kill you." She smiled, then. "This is why I've chosen to walk alone, without guards."
"Do you not trust me?" Karvuk was aggrieved. "After all we have gone through, my brothers and I would die to defend your honor should the vile Drinkers try and claim you."
"I thank you, Karvuk, but paranoia is a royal virtue and a luxury that the common class cannot have. I think better when I am alone."
"Well, mi'lady, it is time that we return to the ship. The captain will be worried that I have not come back with you and will send others, further delaying us." Karvuk extended his hand. "Let's go." Aurash smiled at him, a warm one rarely bestowed, and took it. Lifting the hem of her dress she stepped from off the outcropping she stood and back onto more stabler land.
"Follow me—"
Karvuk choked, and sank down. His sword clanged as it hit the ground. Aurash quickly withdrew from him, a flash of silver disappearing. "I am sorry, Karvuk," she said, with no remorse. "But you have betrayed me."
Coughing up ichor, Karvuk looked at her with hate-filled eyes. "How did you know?"
"Like I said, paranoia is a royal virtue, and I uphold it well," she answered coldly. She wiped her knife upon her dress, thin silk stained dark. "I suspected there were spies, even among my retinue. Traitors. Now—tell me before I kill you: who is your liege?"
"Leviathan take you!" he sputtered, starting to rise. Aurash moved suddenly, a blur; there was a tearing of cloth, a meaty crack, and Karvuk hit the ground with a cry.
She crossed over his spasming legs and picked up the dropped sword. Its osmium blade gleamed. Her dress was torn, the sheer material ripped from her kick, exposing pallid thighs. Looking down with contempt she spoke again. "Who is your liege?"
"I serve no one!"
"Wrong answer." She hefted the blade and cleft apart his left arm below the elbow. As he screamed in agony she repeated, "Who do you serve?"
"Why do you care?" he spat out, ichor draining from the stump. "You have already won, and I am already dead. There is nothing you can gain from it."
"Wrong again." Another slice, and this time the rest of his arm flopped down into the swirling sea. "Tell me and I will spare you further pain."
He spat out a globule of blood towards her, but missed, spattering the tattered remnants of her dress hem.
"You do want to make this harder," she mused. "Whatever happened to the "Timid Truth" you bloviated about?" Twice more she cut him until he was armless, and fast bleeding out. "Now I am growing impatient," she said again. "Tell me—who do you serve? Is it the Drinkers?"
"I spoke true when I told you of my hatred for them," he gritted. "I would never join them, for they would kill me."
"So my father is betrayed by one of his own. Do tell me more."
"I was tasked to eliminate you, for you are a threat. Though it pained me to betray your trust I am loyal to the last. I did this for the Court." Aurash chopped off a foot. "Arrgh! Why are you prolonging this?!"
"Killing me does nothing to help whomever you serve. I have siblings and they are safe at home, even among the traitors. But not for long when I return. They'll know that you failed to kill me." Her voice turned dangerous. "Dare I suggest that you turned coward and feared to raise your blade to me, and instead died to a stormjoy for your hesitance?"
"N—No! Please, no!"
"Then before I strip your honor away completely, do tell me—who do you serve?"
"A—A noble, of your father's inner circle. One of the advisors," Karvuk gasped out. "They told me to kill you for the preservation of the Court. That you were feeding our King's insanity by searching for moon-waves and triangulations instead of becoming a leader we would follow! I did what I had to!"
"Contrary to this noble's assumption, my father's fears are well-founded. He has tracked the moons across the sky and knows for certain they will kill us all. The only thing standing in his way are the Helium Drinkers and their Court, which keep us from moving. I am only helping him by finding soldiers, weapons to destroy our foes."
Aurash bent down, straddling the knight's quivering legs so he could not kick out, and leaned into him. Her face was inches from his own; it was a mark of how weak he was that he didn't even try and spit at her. "Now listen to me," Aurash said softly, "before I end your life—the Timid Truth was not made by the Osmium-shaper, it was fabricated by the Mothers, to keep us afraid of the dark. Our kingdom—and all the others like it—came from one world, one planet like the moons above us, which crashed onto this vast ocean and fragmented completely. How do I know this? That ship out there—it was not crewed by people like us. No, I saw many strange and varied creatures, all different from us, working together in harmony, under law. There is an entirely different world out there. We are not native here. And the Timid Truth is not our lot in life."
She stood; Karvuk's spasms were starting to die down, his breathing harsh and labored.
"You squandered your chance, Sir Karvuk. You could have joined me in renewal of our kingdom—perhaps, once I have partaken of the jelly, even been my consort. You were a bright mind, next to Sathona my sister. But you threw your lot in with a petty bureaucrat, who I will find and kill for their treason. Good bye."
Aurash turned and walked away, the sword held loosely in her hand. "Wait!" Stopping, she looked back. Karvuk was moving, lifting his head. "You promised me a quick death! Please, kill me! It is too late for me to regain my honor, my loyalty, but do not leave me to be eaten."
"I did." A smile danced about her lips. Lifting the sword high up, point facing down, she then said, "But I will let the Leviathan decide your fate." With that she brought the sword down with a thunderous crack—it splintered, the blade shattering in her hands, and the alloyed rock outcropping upon which Karvuk lay began shivering.
"No! Not like this!"
"Good bye, Sir Karvuk."
With an earsplitting crack the shelf detached from the Monolith and fell down, down, down into the deep below. Karvuk's screams were swallowed up in the wind. Aurash looked down, watching until the dark blur faded away. She knew he would fall a long way until he hit the water; she had chosen this spot at the highest point for exactly that reason. All the evidence was gone.
Looking at the broken hilt she held, Aurash contemplated it. The captain would want to know what had happened to Sir Karvuk. Aurash already had an alibi. The bluffs held treacherous footing, and she had nearly fallen, explaining the tattered state of her dress. Valiantly Karvuk had pulled her up, anchoring his sword in a soft patch of metal to stabilize himself. In the process however his sword had broken under the weight and he fell to his death, leaving behind Aurash and his sword.
The dark stain upon her dress would be harder to explain. She had no other option. Lifting the jagged hilt Aurash gritted her teeth and jabbed it into her side, hard. Fresh liquid poured out, covering up the old. She could explain it as cutting herself while being dragged to safety. It would take time to heal, for a lie, but she had time. Time enough that no one home would suspect it. But this would only be the beginning of her troubles.
Standing up from where she had sunken to her knees from the pain, Aurash turned and made her way up the path to where the ship was docked.
On the way, she tossed the hilt, and it flew down to the deep.