Exalted fanfic! "Old Friends"
Apr. 21st, 2009 03:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eliyesUh -- possibly this is a little weird? Original characters based on the Exalted premise. ^^;
Old Friends
A young man of stocky build climbed a spar of rock. The grunts of his effort were entirely subsumed by the deafening roar of water; the air was heavy with it, saturating his clothing and sticking his hair to his damp brown skin in dark curls. The rock was slick with moisture, slippery, and the wet air hung thick in his lungs as he struggled on his way with a heavy bundle tied to his back, but he would give no thought to giving up.
Some things are worth the effort they demand.
Finally he heaved his way over the top. The vista that spread out before him was beyond breathtaking, a waterfall so huge -- so wide and wildly curved, so tall -- that it defied mortal comprehension. Fortunately, it was no mortal who now beheld it, and the young man laughed a hearty, delighted laugh at such majesty, relieved to find it all familiar. He staggered a little as he set down his burden, then stood with his hands on his hips, grinning as he discerned the shapes of the entities moving inside the greatest of falls.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed a good-natured greeting at the mass of gods and elementals.
"Hoi! Lherapithu! Lherapithu!"
His voice should have been inaudible against the mighty roar of all that water, but somehow it carried clearly. After some moments, he called again.
"Lherapithu!" His voice was jolly, cajoling, and he bounced on his toes with exhilaration, grinning.
A dragon made entirely of water, of fearsome aspect, shot out of the falls towards him, mouth open in a terrible scream.
His grin only widened.
The elemental stopped a spear's throw away, twining around itself in midair as though to express its inutterable frustration at both his intrusion, and the necessities of propriety that forbade consuming him outright. Finally, it swung an impressively bewhiskered head to face him. The eye alone was as tall as his torso.
"What do you want?" it demanded angrily.
"I want to share a drink with the Hero of Penath's Siege," he replied equably.
"Too bad! Go away!"
He crossed his arms, raising his eyebrow pointedly.
"I beg your pardon? Who are you to answer for Lherapithu, my lady?"
The dragon rolled its eyes with another aggravated noise, coiling itself into a complicated knot and then diving straight away.
"Nice try, though!" he called after.
Figuring it wouldn't be long now, the young man set about unpacking the bundle he had brought. Most of it was taken up by a huge jug of liquor, its fired-clay sides painted brightly with images of ripe fruit. There was also a cask of brine-preserved fruit, and a cloth sack of spiced nuts.
He had just arranged these to his satisfaction when a second water dragon shot from the falls like an arrow from a bow, arcing unerringly towards the spar of rock. It dissolved into mist as it came close, until suddenly a man in green-black robes stood at the tip of the rock. His pale skin had the colour and sheen of a fine pearl, and his silver-white hair hung in a long tail at his back.
"Lherapithu!" the young man cried in greeting, spreading his arms in a gesture of welcome.
"I am he," answered the god in an inhumanly deep voice. "How is it that you know me... my prince?"
"Oh! Yes, of course." The young man bowed, face turned up with effortless impudence. He was still grinning. "I am called Randon in this life, but you once knew me as Utbek the Untiring, Exalted of the Sun."
"Oh?" Lherapithu replied faintly.
"'Oh?'" Randon repeated incredulously. "I must admit, I was hoping for a warmer reception from my oldest of friends."
"'Friends'," the god echoed. "My lord Randon --"
"Yes, my lord Lherapithu?" he cut in with exaggerated politeness, surprising the god before him into silence. "What is wrong?" Randon asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Do you not believe me? Then test me, my friend! I have dreamt Utbek's life these many months -- at first I thought I was going mad, but if you are as real as I remember..."
"It is possible," the god said slowly. "It is not unknown for an Exalt to remember previous incarnations in the form of dreams."
"So you believe me?"
"I... may." Lherapithu eyes the immortal before him. "You say you remember Utbek. That was the first incarnation I knew."
"We -- you and he -- fought together against the Primordials."
"Indeed, yes. But what of the incarnations in the lives between? Do you remember them, as well?"
Randon dismissed this with a flick of his hair and an uncomfortable frown.
"Not as such. Perhaps fragments, but nothing clear. It may be that they will come to me in time."
"I would rather they did not," was the soft reply.
"What? Why?"
"Surely you cannot have failed to notice that the Solar Exalted are somewhat out of favour presently? Called Anathema --"
"Yes, of course, but my friend --" Randon spread his arms wide. "I have felt nothing holier than that moment when the Unconquered Sun chose me. I do not feel like a monster!"
"And yet you have been," the god rejoined implacably. "You have in you the power of a monster, for with each return you have been less the man I knew and more the sort of mad tyrant Utbek would have slain without hesitating. You were horrendous, depraved -- and when the Dragon-blooded mutinied, it brought me joy to hear you last First Age incarnation had been executed."
Randon's mouth dropped open.
Lherapithu made a sharp gesture, flapping his sleeve angrily.
"And so? You have come, with the name 'friend' on your lips, to bend me again 'neath the yoke of your mastery?"
"What? No!" Randon closed the space between them with three quick steps and laid his right hand on the god's cool cheek. "No, Lherapithu. I am not your master -- I remember being your comrade. I cannot change what has been done to you, but I only remember Utbek, and how it was between us then."
They stood that way for a long moment, Randon willing the truth of his words to show through, and Lherapithu silent as his memories warred within him.
Finally, the dragon broke the stillness, wrapping a clawed hand around Randon's wrist.
"Why seek me out?"
Randon smiled. "Because, Lherapithu -- I have had a wonderful idea, and I need to share it with someone I trust to tell me honestly if it is completely crazy."
After a considering moment, Lherapithu tugged the Exalt's hand away from his cheek.
"Open the wine. I have the feeling I'll need it."
FIN
There's sort of an illustration in the comments, now. X3 Oh, those Gaia Online character generators...<3
A young man of stocky build climbed a spar of rock. The grunts of his effort were entirely subsumed by the deafening roar of water; the air was heavy with it, saturating his clothing and sticking his hair to his damp brown skin in dark curls. The rock was slick with moisture, slippery, and the wet air hung thick in his lungs as he struggled on his way with a heavy bundle tied to his back, but he would give no thought to giving up.
Some things are worth the effort they demand.
Finally he heaved his way over the top. The vista that spread out before him was beyond breathtaking, a waterfall so huge -- so wide and wildly curved, so tall -- that it defied mortal comprehension. Fortunately, it was no mortal who now beheld it, and the young man laughed a hearty, delighted laugh at such majesty, relieved to find it all familiar. He staggered a little as he set down his burden, then stood with his hands on his hips, grinning as he discerned the shapes of the entities moving inside the greatest of falls.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed a good-natured greeting at the mass of gods and elementals.
"Hoi! Lherapithu! Lherapithu!"
His voice should have been inaudible against the mighty roar of all that water, but somehow it carried clearly. After some moments, he called again.
"Lherapithu!" His voice was jolly, cajoling, and he bounced on his toes with exhilaration, grinning.
A dragon made entirely of water, of fearsome aspect, shot out of the falls towards him, mouth open in a terrible scream.
His grin only widened.
The elemental stopped a spear's throw away, twining around itself in midair as though to express its inutterable frustration at both his intrusion, and the necessities of propriety that forbade consuming him outright. Finally, it swung an impressively bewhiskered head to face him. The eye alone was as tall as his torso.
"What do you want?" it demanded angrily.
"I want to share a drink with the Hero of Penath's Siege," he replied equably.
"Too bad! Go away!"
He crossed his arms, raising his eyebrow pointedly.
"I beg your pardon? Who are you to answer for Lherapithu, my lady?"
The dragon rolled its eyes with another aggravated noise, coiling itself into a complicated knot and then diving straight away.
"Nice try, though!" he called after.
Figuring it wouldn't be long now, the young man set about unpacking the bundle he had brought. Most of it was taken up by a huge jug of liquor, its fired-clay sides painted brightly with images of ripe fruit. There was also a cask of brine-preserved fruit, and a cloth sack of spiced nuts.
He had just arranged these to his satisfaction when a second water dragon shot from the falls like an arrow from a bow, arcing unerringly towards the spar of rock. It dissolved into mist as it came close, until suddenly a man in green-black robes stood at the tip of the rock. His pale skin had the colour and sheen of a fine pearl, and his silver-white hair hung in a long tail at his back.
"Lherapithu!" the young man cried in greeting, spreading his arms in a gesture of welcome.
"I am he," answered the god in an inhumanly deep voice. "How is it that you know me... my prince?"
"Oh! Yes, of course." The young man bowed, face turned up with effortless impudence. He was still grinning. "I am called Randon in this life, but you once knew me as Utbek the Untiring, Exalted of the Sun."
"Oh?" Lherapithu replied faintly.
"'Oh?'" Randon repeated incredulously. "I must admit, I was hoping for a warmer reception from my oldest of friends."
"'Friends'," the god echoed. "My lord Randon --"
"Yes, my lord Lherapithu?" he cut in with exaggerated politeness, surprising the god before him into silence. "What is wrong?" Randon asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Do you not believe me? Then test me, my friend! I have dreamt Utbek's life these many months -- at first I thought I was going mad, but if you are as real as I remember..."
"It is possible," the god said slowly. "It is not unknown for an Exalt to remember previous incarnations in the form of dreams."
"So you believe me?"
"I... may." Lherapithu eyes the immortal before him. "You say you remember Utbek. That was the first incarnation I knew."
"We -- you and he -- fought together against the Primordials."
"Indeed, yes. But what of the incarnations in the lives between? Do you remember them, as well?"
Randon dismissed this with a flick of his hair and an uncomfortable frown.
"Not as such. Perhaps fragments, but nothing clear. It may be that they will come to me in time."
"I would rather they did not," was the soft reply.
"What? Why?"
"Surely you cannot have failed to notice that the Solar Exalted are somewhat out of favour presently? Called Anathema --"
"Yes, of course, but my friend --" Randon spread his arms wide. "I have felt nothing holier than that moment when the Unconquered Sun chose me. I do not feel like a monster!"
"And yet you have been," the god rejoined implacably. "You have in you the power of a monster, for with each return you have been less the man I knew and more the sort of mad tyrant Utbek would have slain without hesitating. You were horrendous, depraved -- and when the Dragon-blooded mutinied, it brought me joy to hear you last First Age incarnation had been executed."
Randon's mouth dropped open.
Lherapithu made a sharp gesture, flapping his sleeve angrily.
"And so? You have come, with the name 'friend' on your lips, to bend me again 'neath the yoke of your mastery?"
"What? No!" Randon closed the space between them with three quick steps and laid his right hand on the god's cool cheek. "No, Lherapithu. I am not your master -- I remember being your comrade. I cannot change what has been done to you, but I only remember Utbek, and how it was between us then."
They stood that way for a long moment, Randon willing the truth of his words to show through, and Lherapithu silent as his memories warred within him.
Finally, the dragon broke the stillness, wrapping a clawed hand around Randon's wrist.
"Why seek me out?"
Randon smiled. "Because, Lherapithu -- I have had a wonderful idea, and I need to share it with someone I trust to tell me honestly if it is completely crazy."
After a considering moment, Lherapithu tugged the Exalt's hand away from his cheek.
"Open the wine. I have the feeling I'll need it."
There's sort of an illustration in the comments, now. X3 Oh, those Gaia Online character generators...<3