Post by Kris11 on Sept 6, 2013 11:25:54 GMT 10
Title: As the Eagle Fetching a Lyre
Rating: G
Prompt: "Dog Days" (#91)
Summary: Tris meets Niko on the wall for some lessons on the stars. Tris doesn't want to be there for lessons. Tris doesn't want to be near anyone at all. Not on this day.
Notes: The bits on the constellations and stars are pulled from the internet and modified a bit, here and there, to have some of the canon gods included. In the actual tale, it is Zeus, not the Tharian goddess of entertainment, who sent an eagle to fetch the lyre.
Tris let out one last, harsh exhale as she reached the top of the stone steps leading up onto the wall of Winding Circle. Her fists, bunched in the fabric of her skirt above the knee, released their grip and the skirt fell back down around her ankles. Looking down at the soft, embroidered purple-grey material, she smoothed a hand over it reverentially, with a soft smile. Realising what she was doing, she looked up around at the wall, but no one was close enough to have seen her silliness in the darkness of dusk. She gave her skirt a brisk shake and set off down the narrow walkway in search of Niko, and more practical things than new clothes made by meddling nobles with too much time on their hands and the inability to listen to a ‘no’ when they got it in their heads to do a ‘good deed’.
As she walked the wall – ignored by guards used to seeing her atop them, and familiar enough with her temper not to bother her while she was – she wiped sweat from her forehead and tried not to grumble. It was hot, and worse than that, it was humid. Her short hair curled around her forehead and seemed to be doing its best to escape her head entirely, with no encouragement from her magic. She hated it. Worse than the winter rains, and worse now that her hair was shorn.
She had herself in a right temper by the time she rounded her second corner and found her teacher. He had set down a cushion and cloth to sit upon, and she was irritable enough that the vanity of him not wanting to allow his clothes to touch ground annoyed her. She sat down heavily beside him, stubbornly choosing the warm stone instead of the cloth he had ready for her. Niko looked over at her, she could see, even though she kept her eyes stubbornly fixed on the dark stretching out in front of them. It was too far into dusk to see beyond the wall, but she could hear the sea crashing against the coast, could feel the pull of the waves. Even here, the breeze off the water was tepid and sluggish, as exhausted by the extended heat wave as Winding Circle’s residents were.
Tris bit her lip and crossed her arms across her chest, staring off into the darkness.
It would be as warm in Capchen, but dryer heat. At this time of the evening, as it wandered into proper night, the streets would be full of vendors lighting lanterns to illuminate the goods they still had to sell. Incense was always burned, and mixed in the street in a cacophony of scents as everyone opened their windows for the movement of night air. Her parents’ house –
Tris exhaled sharply, fists clenching against the stone.
“Ah,” Niko breathed beside her, “there it is.”
Startled – she had forgotten where she was in the assault of memories – Tris followed his pointing finger to the first star appearing at the horizon.
“That is Altair, from the Aquila constellation.” It was almost true dark now, and Niko was a shadowy shape beside her, his calm, low-pitched voice merging with the sound of the waves on the shore. Tris felt the muscles in her shoulders relax, and allowed her hands to loosen and rest on her lap. “We’ll see the rest of the summer triangle shortly,” Niko continued, “one of the brightest formations in the night sky. The third star in that triangle – Vega – is part of the constellation Lyra. In Tharios, they said that after the death of a great musician, the goddess Deiina was so heart-broken at the loss, that she sent an eagle to retrieve the lyre, and, when the eagle flew into the sky, the constellation was born.” While he was speaking, and without looking away from the darkening sky, Niko adjusted the cloth beside him. Tris shuffled over, settling herself on it, and leaned tentatively onto his shoulder, relaxing only when he accepted the weight without stopping his lesson.
This day, two years previous, was the last time she had seen her parents, as they gave her up to the Living Circle temples as insane. Sitting in the starlight with Niko’s soft voice describing the constellations and their stories, Tris let one more piece of it go.
Rating: G
Prompt: "Dog Days" (#91)
Summary: Tris meets Niko on the wall for some lessons on the stars. Tris doesn't want to be there for lessons. Tris doesn't want to be near anyone at all. Not on this day.
Notes: The bits on the constellations and stars are pulled from the internet and modified a bit, here and there, to have some of the canon gods included. In the actual tale, it is Zeus, not the Tharian goddess of entertainment, who sent an eagle to fetch the lyre.
Tris let out one last, harsh exhale as she reached the top of the stone steps leading up onto the wall of Winding Circle. Her fists, bunched in the fabric of her skirt above the knee, released their grip and the skirt fell back down around her ankles. Looking down at the soft, embroidered purple-grey material, she smoothed a hand over it reverentially, with a soft smile. Realising what she was doing, she looked up around at the wall, but no one was close enough to have seen her silliness in the darkness of dusk. She gave her skirt a brisk shake and set off down the narrow walkway in search of Niko, and more practical things than new clothes made by meddling nobles with too much time on their hands and the inability to listen to a ‘no’ when they got it in their heads to do a ‘good deed’.
As she walked the wall – ignored by guards used to seeing her atop them, and familiar enough with her temper not to bother her while she was – she wiped sweat from her forehead and tried not to grumble. It was hot, and worse than that, it was humid. Her short hair curled around her forehead and seemed to be doing its best to escape her head entirely, with no encouragement from her magic. She hated it. Worse than the winter rains, and worse now that her hair was shorn.
She had herself in a right temper by the time she rounded her second corner and found her teacher. He had set down a cushion and cloth to sit upon, and she was irritable enough that the vanity of him not wanting to allow his clothes to touch ground annoyed her. She sat down heavily beside him, stubbornly choosing the warm stone instead of the cloth he had ready for her. Niko looked over at her, she could see, even though she kept her eyes stubbornly fixed on the dark stretching out in front of them. It was too far into dusk to see beyond the wall, but she could hear the sea crashing against the coast, could feel the pull of the waves. Even here, the breeze off the water was tepid and sluggish, as exhausted by the extended heat wave as Winding Circle’s residents were.
Tris bit her lip and crossed her arms across her chest, staring off into the darkness.
It would be as warm in Capchen, but dryer heat. At this time of the evening, as it wandered into proper night, the streets would be full of vendors lighting lanterns to illuminate the goods they still had to sell. Incense was always burned, and mixed in the street in a cacophony of scents as everyone opened their windows for the movement of night air. Her parents’ house –
Tris exhaled sharply, fists clenching against the stone.
“Ah,” Niko breathed beside her, “there it is.”
Startled – she had forgotten where she was in the assault of memories – Tris followed his pointing finger to the first star appearing at the horizon.
“That is Altair, from the Aquila constellation.” It was almost true dark now, and Niko was a shadowy shape beside her, his calm, low-pitched voice merging with the sound of the waves on the shore. Tris felt the muscles in her shoulders relax, and allowed her hands to loosen and rest on her lap. “We’ll see the rest of the summer triangle shortly,” Niko continued, “one of the brightest formations in the night sky. The third star in that triangle – Vega – is part of the constellation Lyra. In Tharios, they said that after the death of a great musician, the goddess Deiina was so heart-broken at the loss, that she sent an eagle to retrieve the lyre, and, when the eagle flew into the sky, the constellation was born.” While he was speaking, and without looking away from the darkening sky, Niko adjusted the cloth beside him. Tris shuffled over, settling herself on it, and leaned tentatively onto his shoulder, relaxing only when he accepted the weight without stopping his lesson.
This day, two years previous, was the last time she had seen her parents, as they gave her up to the Living Circle temples as insane. Sitting in the starlight with Niko’s soft voice describing the constellations and their stories, Tris let one more piece of it go.
The two of them bonding over star-gazing and astronomy is sweet, and definitely something there should be more fic of! (Hint hint 
)
