[WC5C] Lt. Cmdrs. Saveron, Moonsong, & DeVeau - “Cultural Comparisons” Part III (No Tags)

[Amanda Nordstrom]

*

((W Cygni 5 C, Camp))


DeVeau: So Izanagi and Izanami perched upon the heavenly bridge and
studied the world beneath them. ::The side of one hand pressed against
her forehead, as if shielding her eyes from the brightness of the sun so
she could see further.:: They peered into the writhing, inchoate mass
beneath, uncertain of how they should start. Where should they begin?
All was chaos, how could they tame such wildness? The two deliberated
with each other, and finally decided to attempt to mix the chaos with
the spear.


::Saavok watched the pantomime with a mixture of confusion and interest.
He didn’t understand why Alora’s story required actions when the others
had not, but perhaps he would find out. It was still a story and a
fascinating insight into an alien culture, and the boy’s grey eyes never
left the pair.::


::Another stick was taken, the longest in the pile, though it wasn’t
quite the length of a spear. Maybe if one squinted. This she thrust
into the hands of the Vulcan, then grinned at him expectantly as she
continued the tale.::


oO Ah. Oo ::As Alora passed Saveron the stick he thought he understood
what she wanted from him, if not her desire to play the story out.
Impromptu acting was not an activity that he found agreeable, but he
chose not to embarrass her by refusing to play along. Taking the stick,
he made a show of peering into the middle distance, then poked the
ground a couple of times with the stick.::


DeVeau: So they did so, and as the spear was retrieved, lifted from the
mass, a drop fell from its point and from that the island of Onogoro was
formed. So pleased they were with it, Izanagi and Izanami decided to
claim this as their home and it was there their built the Eight Measure
palace, in the very center of which stood the Heavenly August Pillar.


::More sticks were drafted. Four were placed into the shape of a square
about ten feet apart and a fifth stood in the very center.::


DeVeau: The couple moved in and decided to start a family.


::Poor Saveron. Alora fairly dragged him over to the stick that
remained in the center of those four corners.::


::Wait, what? Saveron found himself grabbed again and hauled over to the
next set of sticks.::


DeVeau: They circled the Heavenly August Pillar, Izanagi bearing to the
left while Izanami bore to the right. ::Thus Alora did as she
described. At least she wasn’t trying to get the Vulcan to sing and
dance.:: They met each other on the other side and there Izanami
declared, “What a fine young man!” while Izanagi exclaimed in response,
“What a fine young woman!”. ::At that point Alora indicated Saveron with
both hands in the hopes that he would actually say it.::


::Having walked about the stick as directed, Saveron found himself face
to face with Alora again, who looked up at him with a hopefully
expression.::


Saveron: Glae-vhor naeh-feh marrow-khosu thu. ::He said in his native
language, without intonation or expression.::


::It was the closest he could parse in Nel Gathic Vulcan, and translated
roughly as ‘I see that you are a woman of good quality’.::


::Saavok watched this with interest. Was this how Terrans celebrated a
bonding?::


::Raissa sat with her hand tight over her mouth. It was taking a massive
amount of self control to the point of pain to restrain herself. Her
dark eyes glittering with tears of mirth.::


DeVeau: Not long after, Izanumi gave birth to a son, Hiruko.
Unfortunately, he was born without limbs or bones, a leech child, and
was placed on a boat of reeds, then floated away, abandoned.


::Alora pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, the other
clutched at her heart.::


DeVeau: A second time they had a baby, a floating island, but were
unsatisfied with their second child. Unhappy with their failure, the
couple sought advice from the gods who told them that because it was the
woman who spoke first after the two had circled around the pillar that
they were unsuccessful. So, Izanagi and Izanami returned to the
Heavenly Pillar.


::At that, Alora grabbed his hand and put Saveron back into place as
before and began to circle the pillar once again.::


DeVeau: Once they came around, Izanagi spoke first by saying, “What a
fine young woman!”. ::Once again, Alora motioned to Saveron in the
hopes he would participate.::


Saveron: Glae-vhor naeh-feh marrow-khosu thu. ::He said again.::


DeVeau: Once he did, Izanami replied, “What a fine young man!” Soon
after, Izanami had more children and birthed the islands of Awaji,
Shikoku, Oki, Kyushu, Tsushima, and finally the largest island of
Honshu. To this land, they gave the name Oyashimakumi which means the
Land of Eight Great Islands. After that, she gave birth to the islands
that lay outside of their larger siblings.


::The story didn’t make a lot of sense to Saavok. People didn’t give
birth to land masses. But then these were not mortal people but first
beings, and in truth his father’s stories never specified howthey made
the lands and the life upon it.::


DeVeau: Once Izanami gave birth to the land, she then gave birth to the
kami, or spirits as you would call them, that would shape the earth.
Her children were the sea, the wind, the trees, the mountains, all
that is in nature which you see are her children. Then, she gave birth
to the kami of fire, Kagutsuchi, which was her undoing, for she was
burned to death despite her husband’s attempts to save her. From this,
more kami were born, for Death and Sorrow entered the world upon her
passing.


::As she spoke, Alora returned the back of her hand to her forehead,
then ‘fainted’ next to the fire. Even then, she continued to tell the
story.::

Moonsong: ::Raissa whispered to Saavok before illogic gave the child a
stroke.:: Remember, this is expressed as a metaphor.

DeVeau: Izanagi wept with grief. ::A single eye opened and peered over
at the Vulcan. Of course not, but that was okay, she was still
amused.:: He cried, and he cried, and he cried, and his tears gave
birth to more kami. Out of anger, he swung his sword and cut off
Kagutsuchi’s head, and from his blood, more spirits sprang to life. For
a long time, Izanagi grieved for his beloved, then came to a decision.
He would get her back!


::At this, Alora sprang back to her feet and hurried over to Saveron.::


DeVeau: He would travel to the Land of the Dead, Yomi, and so he set out
on a long and perilous journey.


::Once more, the scientist grabbed the Vulcan’s hand, and that time she
tugged him in a big circle around the fire and their audience. They
arrived at what had once been the palace of the two gods, but now was
suddenly another structure.::


DeVeau: Finally, he arrived at an enormous mansion which was guarded by
fearsome and powerful demons in the front. He concluded that the most
logical course of action was to go in the back door. So he did! ::That
time, they circled a smaller area from the ‘front’ of the square to the
‘back’.::


DeVeau: He crept in, and just inside the door, he found his wife. Both
were overjoyed and Izanagi begged Izanami to return with him.
Unfortunately, she had eaten of the food of Yomi and was bound to stay
there. Izanagi didn’t give up and kept pleading with her to return.
Finally, she agreed to ask if she could go back, but told him he could
not go any further into the mansion. She got him to promise not to.
::She whirled to Saveron.::


DeVeau: Promise!


Saveron: Affirmative. DeVeau: Izanami disappeared deeper into the
mansion while Izanagi stayed. He waited and waited and waited, and
finally, after an entire day, he could bear it no longer and, taking a
tooth of his comb to use as a torch, he crept further into the mansion
to look for her. ::Alora gently guided Saveron forward.::


DeVeau: After a long time, he finally found her, but was horrified for
what he found was her body as a rotten, decaying corpse to which
thunder-kami were still attached. The sight so frightened and repulsed
him that he feld, only to be pursued not only by his wife, but by the
thunder kami, an army of warriors, and the hag of the House of the Dead.


DeVeau: With his sword, ::At this, Alora pulled up the stick that had
been the pillar and thrust it into Saveron’s hands before she grabbed
another one for herself so she could ‘attack him’.::, he fought off his
foes and managed to imprison Izanami in the House of the dead by rolling
a massive boulder to block the entrance. Now Izanami remains in Yomi
and she became known as Yomotsu-o-kami, Goddess of the Dead.


::The ‘sword’ was dropped and Alora clutched her throat with hands
crossed over her neck, then stuck out her tongue, once again in dramatic
fashion. Then she straightened up and announced.::


DeVeau: The end!


::Saveron watched Alora’s final performance impassively, completely lost
as to its necessity. It would have been far easier to focus on the
content of the story without it.::


::Discombobulated, he let his stick drop.::


::Raissa leaned forward, covering her face with her hands, her shoulders
shaking from suppressed laughter. There was nothing more painful to
watch than a bewildered Vulcan. When she was finally able to speak she
straightened.::


Moonsong: We really need to work on your storytelling skills, Alora. I
do believe it would have been much more effective with less… pantomime.


DeVeau: Bah! This was way more fun and you know it.


::Alora crossed over to Raissa and extended her hand toward her friend.::


DeVeau: I do believe you owe me payment.


::Raissa arched an eyebrow.::


Moonsong: I wonder if you deserve it…


::She opened her bag and took out a foil pouch. From that she withdrew a
chocolate bar with nuts and placed it in her friend’s hand. She closed
the pouch on the rest of the chocolate and then closed her bag.::


DeVeau: Thank you!::Alora accepted the bar and hugged it to her before
skipping back to the place where she and Saveron had perched before the
story began. After she settled, she patted the place beside her to to
indicate Saveron should rejoin her.::


::After a moment he did so, pulling up the collar of his robe and
tucking his hands into his sleeves against the cooling
temperature.::Saveron: One would suggest that it would aid focus on the
story if one were to dispense with the acting. ::He suggested blandly.::


DeVeau: I had fun, though.::Alora snapped a piece of the chocolate off.
Normally, she would offer her friends some, but Raissa didn’t like it
and giving chocolate to a Vulcan was a Very Bad Thing (™), so she just
decided to keep it to herself. She munched quietly upon it as Raissa
turned her attention to Saavok.::


Moonsong: You will note there are several common aspects in all the
creation stories.


Saavok: Affirmative. There is again the concept of the misdeed and the
punishment, as well as the first beings creating the world.


Moonsong: ::Raissa nodded her approval.:: True.


Saveron: One would query Izanagi’s fate, once he left the House of the
Dead. ::What had happened to the character he’d been assigned?:: Also
that of Hiruko, the leech-child.


::What about the other lives involved?::


DeVeau: I have no idea. I’ve never heard any stories that involve them
further. They are simply legends in Japanese mythology.


::The part where the baby was sent off was one that hadn’t ever settled
well with her, but Alora knew it was part of the story.::


Moonsong: Often such stories do not have a sequel, so to speak. Though
at one time the tales might have been longer or held more depth. Many
such myths come to us by way of oral traditions and as such are often
open to revision and personal interpretation.


::That was true, even his people’s stories were open to interpretation
by the teller - including himself - and who could tell what might have
been lost before modern mental discipline?::


Saveron: Even written records come to us coloured with the perceptions
of the author. ::He allowed.::


Moonsong: A phrase I have heard oft repeated: History is written by the
victor.


DeVeau: In ancient Egypt on Terra, it was not uncommon for Pharaohs to
not record any battles they lost, for they only wanted to keep records
of those they had won.


::Which meant how much of history had been washed away due to the pride
of men?::


Moonsong: ::smiles slightly.:: I think that is enough history for the
night. ::nods to Saavok:: Unless you have additional questions?


Saavok: Not at this point. ::He would need to think about and probably
meditate on what he had heard and learned.:: I appreciate the stories,
they were interesting. As was your discussion of them, Raissa. ::He said
gravely.::


Moonsong: You are welcome, Saavok.


::She viciously suppressed the ‘hug-the-cute-kid’ reflex.::


Saveron: Perhaps this is an appropriate time to adjourn. ::He
suggested.:: Saavok and I appreciate both your company and your stories.


::He had also learned a lot this evening, though perhaps not the same
things as his son.::


DeVeau: Heading to bed?::Alora was devouring the chocolate at a rapid
pace. At least Vulcans didn’t get tipsy on the smell. Did they? She
eyed Saveron carefully to make sure he was in his right mind.::


Saveron: Affirmative. DeVeau: I’ll walk with you.


::Raissa watched the three of them rise. Nights on the little moon
tended to be cool so she understood their need for warmth. And
considering the hour, sleep.::


Moonsong: I shall remain here. Rest well.

DeVeau: Don’t stay up too late, Ris. I’ll see you in our tent.


::With that, Alora popped the last bit of chocolate in her mouth before
slipping one arm through Saveron’s.::


::Raissa watched them leave, the smile fading from her lips as they
disappeared into the darkness. Then her eyes dropped to the flames of
the campfire.::


END

=====


Lt Cmdr Saveron

SO and CMO

USS Invicta

R238802S10


&


Lt. Commander Alora DeVeau

Chief of Science

USS Invicta

M239008AD0


&


Lt. Commander Raissa Moonsong

Chief of Counseling

USS Invicta

G239107RM0*