Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Captivation (formerly The Spoils of War) ❯ Chapter One: History Lesson ( Chapter 1 )

He was light in build, wired with sinew and muscle, yet still exceptionally soft in the face, body and jaw. Long, soft-pink hair was braided tightly down a strong narrow back and secured with a black leather tie. Incredibly fair skin accompanied strong, yet beautiful facial features, for which he and his twin sister were always being confused. It wasn't until he spoke that his masculinity could show through his feminine qualities, and once hearing him speak it was easier for the listener to classify his beauty. His family were descendants of the Ashnae Porta, or “Jeweled Folk”, who centuries ago had been held in amazement across the known world for their strange, jewel colored hair and eyes, as well as for their stunning, ethereal beauty. Men and women both were jealously sought after by the higher echelons of society as wives and husbands, or to be the staring center pieces in richly decorated harems. Mistresses and lovers for centuries, the race grew exceedingly skilled in the sexual arts, yet also became overbearingly arrogant and deceitful. It was because of this arrogance, and this deceit it is said, that the gods struck them down from their place in the mountains of Shar with a mighty shaking of the earth. Their entire population --save those who had left to serve, love, or live elsewhere-- was destroyed, buried beneath mile upon mile of rock.

Many generations passed and interbreeding with common people diluted the races distinctive features. And the Ashnae Porta all but vanished.

Every now and again, as it was with Shuichi and his sister, things would match up favorably in the womb, and children with Ashnae features, would be born, usually to the great surprise of the parents. Children really were a confounding and miraculous mystery.

 

At first glance, Shuichi (or Shu as he was more commonly known) appeared to be around fifteen, perhaps sixteen, though his actual age was much closer to twenty. He had always looked much younger than the other boys his age, and his mother said it was because of his heritage, that his ancestors had been a race blessed with seemingly eternal youth. He had always despised this fact as the other boys always picked on him for looking like a little girl. It wasn't until he grew older and the young women of the village started to pay more attention to him than to the other boys, did he get satisfaction from his looks. Not that he really appreciated the attention as he was quite shy and reserved around women, but he always played along when those that had teased him as a child were around. Truth be told be wasn't very interested in the village girls. Much too giggly for his tastes.

 

Some nineteen years the violet eyed youth had lived a life contrary to that of his ancient ancestors. They had spent their lives lounging about on great pillows of velvet, eating decadently rich foods, attending fine parties and performing lewd sexual acts like over privileged, oversexed house cats. But not him. Shu had lived the life he had been born to live. Tilling the fields with his family, ridding his horses and enjoying a quiet, simple life in the village of Palmere.

 

Located a brisk two days journey northeast of the capital city of Anjeu, Palmere was as common as villages came in the southern tip of the country. Tucked in tightly against the base of The Green Mountains, and flanked to the east by the steep cliffs of Merg that plummeted down into the churning blue-black froth of the Anjeuvian Sea, the people of Palmere went about their lives as they had for hundreds of years. Most were completely oblivious to the warring in the Northern provinces, and those that had heard word from the Capital of civil unrest held fast to the hope that things would settle before the conflict reached them in the south.

There, things carried on in the usual fashion as they had for generations. Pretty girls carried baskets of vegetables, fruit, and flowers along the roads leading from the fields, while young lads rode past on their glistening mounts and offered kind complements to the day, if nothing, but to make idle chatter with the ladies they hoped one day to woo. Most families worked the fields to one end or another, several ranching livestock alongside their crops. A few, like Shu's family, dedicated themselves to the breeding of fine horses. Some were bred to have sturdy frames and strong backs, so they could be used for plowing fields or hauling huge cuts of felled timber from the ancient forests. A few were bred for swiftness, eagerness and stamina, the best of which were destined to be mail carriers, to pull carriages, or to be raced in Anjeu's Great Games. Others still were bred simply for their fine featured beauty, serving no other purpose than to be the shining, dainty footed mounts of the noblemen in the Capital, and to draw to those noblemen, the envied glances of their peers.

Besides the farmers and ranchers, there were several families who tended the villages various amenities; The Arnithe's, crafters of metal who made and mended tools and who serviced the feet of the towns horses, operated the forge; The Shar-yii family ran the tavern and the Inn, a place were most went to gather gossip and news from the city once the sun had gone down.

The Chison's were newer to the village, only having been there two generations. They had traveled far from the north west and were skilled potters, who's services were well and widely used.

Most families had known each other for generations, and more than a few were related by blood or through marriage.

Weddings were frequent in the summer months and taken to with unstinted exuberance. No expense of time or resources was withheld and it was one such extravagant wedding, or rather, an overly exuberant mother-of-the-bride, that had sent Shu scrambling deep into the forest for some peace and quiet.

His twin sister Maiko was betrothed to the middle son of the Arnithe family and the happy pair were to be wed in less than a fortnight at Shuichi's family home. Shu was very happy for his sister, to that anyone would agree, but his mother's constant fretting and rushing about had begun to wear on his nerves. So early that morning, after he had tended to his chores, he had packed his leather satchel with some food and a book he was enjoying then set out on a quest for solitude.

 

Nall Creek was half a days walk from his families farm, but on the back of one of his favorite horses, it took him not even half the morning to reach it. He tethered his tawny coated mare, Artha, to a picket under a large willow so that she could rest and graze on the wild grains and long grasses that grew there. Shu slung his satchel over his back as he headed towards the gurgling noises coming from the thicket of yearling poplars that surrounded the creek.

Picking his way cleanly over a path he had walked a hundred times before, he started to hum the tune to his favorite childhood song; a ballad written ages ago about a hero facing off against a ferocious golden dragon all in the name of true love. It was a weathered story, but one that had began as truth, somewhere, long ago. It had always been the one Shuichi had requested to hear when he was a small boy and one he still liked to listen in on, when the youngsters were getting a story.

Not that I still believe in dragons, he thought whimsically to himself as he continued his trek.

 

When he finally reached the creek, a great sense of relief and comfort washed over his body, leaving in it's wake a wonderful, lingering calm.

It's been too long since I last came here, he decided as he set to getting comfortable against the trunk of a majestic and ancient oak.

He removed his brown traveling cloak and spread it out over the ground at the base of the tree, then positioned himself on it. His back rested against the tall sturdy frame of the tree which had, he assumed, been there long before he had been born, and would be long after he was dead and gone. There was a gentle peace in the thought of things staying exactly as they were meant to stay. This brought him to thoughts of the war.

He had heard mention of the war that was going on in the northern provinces, and that boys far younger than himself were being sent into battles they didn't even understand, battles that had been brewing long before they had even been conceived. The thought that somewhere out there were men who could rip boys away from their mothers arms and force them to kill others, perhaps others the same age as themselves, sickened his heart.

But, he conceded, the war was far off in the distance and even though the countries capital was located very close to his own village, no word of disruption had yet reached them. For this he was glad, because he was certainly no warrior and would most likely be killed on a battle field before he'd even seen a full night and day there.

 

Most of the common people and even some of the war lords were afraid to traverse The Green Mountains to get to the capital, and it was certainly not for lack of a sure path. Over two hundred years ago Lord Mael, Founder of Anjeu and the first Nobleman to see any promise in the lands to the south, had forced countless slaves, and captives of the great war, to work day and night, hewing out a passage through the twisting, jagged rocks. It was then that the mountains had taken on a new name, for when they began striking and blasting away at the rocks near the center of the mountains, they unleashed billowing clouds of fetid green gases from deep within the earth. Gases that were deadly to breath in for even a few minutes. Thousands of people were killed, including Lord Mael's only son, Anjeu, in memory of whom he named his newly-founded city.

 

Despite their horrid history, the mountains hadn't spewed gases for over a century and people traveled through the passage all the time. Not because they wanted to, but because they had no other option. Other than taking a ship down the coast, as most of the wealthier merchants and families did, taking The Dead Pass, as people called it, was the only way to reach the Capital City. It was because of this that Anjeu was made the Capital in the first place; for in it's location, it was well fortified, easily accessed by merchant ships and virtually impenetrable from anywhere but the sea.

 

Shuichi sighed and, setting thoughts of local history aside, the fair haired youth set to his relaxation with gusto. Little did he know that this would be the last time he ever sat by his favorite creek.

 

~*~*~

Yes I know a short intro to what I'm sure you will find to be a very entertaining story. But that's the way it has to be for now I'm afraid. I have plenty more to write and to add, It just felt necessary to end the first chapter here. Expect much longer chapters in the future, probably double this length.