![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
freosanSo I guess I have DEATH on the brain, or something (promise I'm not angsting!). No wonder Hosi is screwed up.
Hosi, others, 772 words.
Warnings: ANGST and badly-translated fake languages.
On the trip out, Hosi stands in the bow and prays, head held high. Kali is silent, for once; paradoxically, these prayers are better left unanswered. For three days and nights, as the ship sways, she does not move from her post. Lirael and Sakli stand behind her, backs to her, keeping the profane from her as she readies herself.
Elsewhere on the ship, sailors talk in whispers rather than drown out the sound of her voice. Sailing is smooth, though the clouds promise a storm, and Irvine and Mahabra belowdecks can hear only the creak of the timbers, the splash of the waves, and the high, hoarse chanting in a language they can’t understand.
~
Kaa, Syaan, Maguen, Dasyoth, houka isoul, lensye isoul, thalye isoul, hyasen isoul, yaaler kath reth. Yaaler kath sunthe, houaal, leshuen, demoun syeth dalyen isoual. Yaaler kath gueryin thus isoual.
~
When the ship docks, Hosi steps out first, cloaked in three layers of wool and a heavy hood. Her clothing is white; her hands are white; her hair is white; and these are the only things that can be seen. Yohko, Lirael, and Ryoko stand near her, ready to press the spectators aside, but it is not necessary. The crowd parts before her like the sea below an oar.
~
Source, Peace, Circle, Absolute, one most pure, one most true, one most holy, one most high, save us. Save those whose souls are free of sky, sea, flame, and stone. Save those whose voices cannot be heard.
~
The first day is earth, and she digs a shallow hole in the ground and allows herself to be covered completely in soil. Unable to see or hear, with earth in her mouth, she prays to Kali and to Mearlek. She does not move at all until sunset, when she sits up
The second day is fire, and she lights thirty-six white candles in a close circle around her. Surrounded by steady flames, she prays to Kali and to Laeson. When a strand of her hair catches fire, she makes no move to put it out, and the flame goes on burning until the last candle finally burns out at sunset.
The third day is water, and she dives from the docks into the sea. Floating in the water, she prays to Kali and to Koreul. When she is retrieved, she refuses help, and resumes her prayers soaking wet and shivering.
The fourth day is wind, and she strips naked standing on the roof of the bell tower. With nothing to protect her or keep her from falling, she prays to Kali and to Devern. She steps back down only at sunset, accepting the white robes of death without a word.
~
The acolytes of Kali perform a death rite peculiar in its sympathetic nature. …
Of note is the manner in which the priestess to perform the rite prepares herself. For days before the rite, the priestess will neither eat nor sleep. … During the period of fasting, the priestess symbolically prepares herself for death, purifying herself with earth, fire, water, and wind.
- from Followers of the Four White Ladies, Feyuli, Lunesi 16.
~
The land where the Academy once stood is barren, grey ash on glass-black stone. Above, the sky is pre-dawn grey, stretching into infinity. Hosi stands at the edge of the former grounds and cannot breathe, her voice catching in her throat.
Though hundreds, maybe thousands, stand in a circle around the land, when she walks out she walks alone. It is only her, the sky, and the ashes of what used to be her home.
~
Sakel kath mafol idensal. Sakel kath densal mensyel lyenrek ikath taun. Geluer reth ril fuaner syer kath guern, len, lyenrek: yaaler kath reth.
~
This was the library; this, the lecture hall. After eight years living on this land, Hosi needs no walls or doors to tell her where she is. She tries not to step where she knows someone has died, but there were so many dead. In her mind – she can’t speak – she asks their ghosts forgiveness.
Standing in the spiritual centre of the inner sanctuary, she turns to the South; to the North; to the West; to the East. She bows four times and four times more. As the sun rises, she begins the final prayers, her voice small and scared and carried away by the wind.
~
Lead your daughters who have lost their way. Lead your daughters to join your soul.
By the voices and the minds and the souls you have given us, we call upon you: save us.
Hosi, others, 772 words.
Warnings: ANGST and badly-translated fake languages.
On the trip out, Hosi stands in the bow and prays, head held high. Kali is silent, for once; paradoxically, these prayers are better left unanswered. For three days and nights, as the ship sways, she does not move from her post. Lirael and Sakli stand behind her, backs to her, keeping the profane from her as she readies herself.
Elsewhere on the ship, sailors talk in whispers rather than drown out the sound of her voice. Sailing is smooth, though the clouds promise a storm, and Irvine and Mahabra belowdecks can hear only the creak of the timbers, the splash of the waves, and the high, hoarse chanting in a language they can’t understand.
~
Kaa, Syaan, Maguen, Dasyoth, houka isoul, lensye isoul, thalye isoul, hyasen isoul, yaaler kath reth. Yaaler kath sunthe, houaal, leshuen, demoun syeth dalyen isoual. Yaaler kath gueryin thus isoual.
~
When the ship docks, Hosi steps out first, cloaked in three layers of wool and a heavy hood. Her clothing is white; her hands are white; her hair is white; and these are the only things that can be seen. Yohko, Lirael, and Ryoko stand near her, ready to press the spectators aside, but it is not necessary. The crowd parts before her like the sea below an oar.
~
Source, Peace, Circle, Absolute, one most pure, one most true, one most holy, one most high, save us. Save those whose souls are free of sky, sea, flame, and stone. Save those whose voices cannot be heard.
~
The first day is earth, and she digs a shallow hole in the ground and allows herself to be covered completely in soil. Unable to see or hear, with earth in her mouth, she prays to Kali and to Mearlek. She does not move at all until sunset, when she sits up
The second day is fire, and she lights thirty-six white candles in a close circle around her. Surrounded by steady flames, she prays to Kali and to Laeson. When a strand of her hair catches fire, she makes no move to put it out, and the flame goes on burning until the last candle finally burns out at sunset.
The third day is water, and she dives from the docks into the sea. Floating in the water, she prays to Kali and to Koreul. When she is retrieved, she refuses help, and resumes her prayers soaking wet and shivering.
The fourth day is wind, and she strips naked standing on the roof of the bell tower. With nothing to protect her or keep her from falling, she prays to Kali and to Devern. She steps back down only at sunset, accepting the white robes of death without a word.
~
The acolytes of Kali perform a death rite peculiar in its sympathetic nature. …
Of note is the manner in which the priestess to perform the rite prepares herself. For days before the rite, the priestess will neither eat nor sleep. … During the period of fasting, the priestess symbolically prepares herself for death, purifying herself with earth, fire, water, and wind.
- from Followers of the Four White Ladies, Feyuli, Lunesi 16.
~
The land where the Academy once stood is barren, grey ash on glass-black stone. Above, the sky is pre-dawn grey, stretching into infinity. Hosi stands at the edge of the former grounds and cannot breathe, her voice catching in her throat.
Though hundreds, maybe thousands, stand in a circle around the land, when she walks out she walks alone. It is only her, the sky, and the ashes of what used to be her home.
~
Sakel kath mafol idensal. Sakel kath densal mensyel lyenrek ikath taun. Geluer reth ril fuaner syer kath guern, len, lyenrek: yaaler kath reth.
~
This was the library; this, the lecture hall. After eight years living on this land, Hosi needs no walls or doors to tell her where she is. She tries not to step where she knows someone has died, but there were so many dead. In her mind – she can’t speak – she asks their ghosts forgiveness.
Standing in the spiritual centre of the inner sanctuary, she turns to the South; to the North; to the West; to the East. She bows four times and four times more. As the sun rises, she begins the final prayers, her voice small and scared and carried away by the wind.
~
Lead your daughters who have lost their way. Lead your daughters to join your soul.
By the voices and the minds and the souls you have given us, we call upon you: save us.