Chapter 6 #2
“Okay. Er...” She blew out a breath through her lips as she cast her mind around. Her eyes went along with it, as though she might find a question written on the wall. It was fascinating and adorable to watch. “Oh! I got one. Is there some kind of religion on Turv?”
“Religion?”
“Yeah. You guys are always referencing ancestors. Is that part of your religion? Like, do you pray to them or something?”
“Ah. You are referring to deities. There are no religions on Turv.”
“None?”
“We never had reason to develop them.”
Her head cocked curiously so he explained himself.
“Religions are a very ubiquitous concept through the universe.
That's because of the need they fill. Most species, when they initially begin seeking to explain things they can't understand, will attribute it to powers beyond their ability to comprehend.
Gods, spirits, magic. Fire burns because the spirits of flame dance.
Storms rage because the gods weep. Things like that.
“But my people, well, we are not fanciful like that.
My people did not initially seek to understand the natural world.
Mine is a warring species. We crave combat and, in combat, often the one who is most innovative and creative and adaptable is the winner.
My ancestors did not care why fire burned.
They only cared that it could be used as a weapon, to craft more weapons, to craft armor.
They didn't care why an object would fly, only that some did so better than others and that, if you put something sharp on the end, you could use it to kill.
“Innovation came before understanding for my people. And because it did, we learned to manipulate our world without bothering to understand why it is the way it is. It is actually a fairly rare phenomenon among sapient species.”
“So, you call to your ancestors, because they're the ones who came before you and explained all those things,” Holly summarized, smiling. “That's fascinating. So, you don't have any myths or legends?”
“We have those aplenty. They just are not about gods. They are about domini. Extraordinary domini that earned their story's place in our history.”
“Can you tell me one?” She asked, eager to hear more. Her discomfort was quite gone, and he was only too happy to cast his mind back for a story to tell.
“Well, there is the story of the moon scars.”
“The moon scars?” Her eyes brightened, excited.
“Yes. Nowadays, of course, we know that the larger moon appears heavily scarred because it protected the smaller moon and Turv from asteroid impacts by taking them on itself. However, one of our older legends was a bit more creative. It is that way because of drift and exaggeration of the original tale, but it is the closest thing we have to a world creation myth.”
“Tell me,” she said, eagerly turning in her lounge to face him fully.
“Well, I am not a good storyteller, but I shall do my best.” He cleared his throat as he tried to remember how the great orators told it.
Performing stories was a job of the scholars, but he had never been very good at performance.
“Many, many generations ago, there was a great warrior named Ha-Ta. Ha-Ta was chief of his tribe, and it is said that there was no skill he could not master. His people named him Dominani to honor his accomplishments.”
“The first First Domini?”
He chuckled. “That's right. It's not at all similar to what role Atem fills now. Nor is it an unbroken chain. The First Domini today is a revived, adapted title based on Ha-Ta. He was a great chief. It was said that, while he led, he never lost a battle. He made many enemies, but he was honorable. He gave them every opportunity to challenge him. At any contest. His only stipulation was that he be given three days beforehand to prepare. And in those three days, whoever challenged him, no matter how much of an enemy, would be treated as a brother of the tribe. Through this, he was considered a master of all crafts, skills, and weapons.”
“Just like the modern dominani!” She chirped eagerly.
“That's right.” He couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.
It was strange but fun to tell this familiar story to someone who had never heard it.
“So it went for many years. Until one day, a female came into his village.
He saw her and instantly knew her for his mate.
But before he could try to claim her, she challenged him. To a race.
“Now, Ha-Ta was fast. He was confident he could catch her.
So, he asked for his prize to be for her to become his adassi when he won.
She agreed and, during the three days he had to prepare, he challenged the guardian she picked for the right to claim her.
He courted her. He wooed her. Then, on the morning of the third day, she told him the rules of their race.
“There was no destination. Instead, his task was to catch her. And just as he had three days to prepare, she gave him three days to succeed. If he hadn't caught her by sunset of the third day, then she was the victor and she would refuse to take him as her domin.”
“She can do that?” Holly interrupted, surprised. “She would just tell him no?”
Romival chuckled. “He would have become her adassi instead.
A role he was definitely not fit to fill.
But he agreed. It was an unusual claiming challenge, but he accepted it.
On the morning of the third day, they began.
She started running. And she was fast. It's said that she could run on the wind itself.”
Holly started laughing, lifting her feet up onto her lounge and wrapping her arms around her legs. “And I thought you said your people weren't fanciful.”
“I also warned you the story is highly exaggerated,” he chuckled. “The first day, he chased her all across the plains. Across the beaches of the far sea. She never lost him, but he didn't catch her either. And that night, when they stopped to rest, he had to stare at her longingly from afar.
“The next day, she began again. But this time, she was swimming away. She swam across a river. Then swam across a lake. All the while, he followed. And once again, he never gained ground on her. That night, they fell asleep and this time he saw her gazing back at him.
“He had one more day to catch her and he was determined not to lose.
And when the sun rose, they started again.
Only this time, she ran into a forest and began to climb.
She climbed the tallest tree she could find.
And when she got to the top, she walked the branches until she found an even taller one, then climbed that.
Again and again, constantly finding taller trees.
“All the while, Ha-Ta kept up with her. He chased her up each tree. Refusing to fall behind, but never closing the distance. The day was coming to an end, and he knew that if he didn't catch her now, he would lose.
“So, in desperation, he began throwing his weapons up at the moon. They cut the surface, then came back down with a shower of stone that fell upon the trees. They tripped Ha-Ta's mate, slowed her down, forced her to stop climbing so that she wouldn't be hit by the stones.
“And she was so amazed by the feat of strength and aim that she became distracted and slowed enough that Ha-Ta was able to capture her.
Driven near mad by lust and the need to claim his mate, he couldn't take her all the way back to his village. He dragged her into a den hastily made in the hollow of a tree, offered her a feast that he hunted from the canopy, then claimed her there.”
Holly let out a soft sigh, surprising him. Her eyes had gone all soft and dewy. “That's so romantic.”
“Seems rather feral to me,” he admitted, wondering at the romance of forcing your adassi into a subpar den, offering a hastily caught feast, and not even letting her have a proper nest.
“Did they make it back to his village?” She asked, eager for more.
“No. They spent many days in the tree den. So long that his village came looking for him. And when they found him, they decided to make their homes in the trees around him.”
Holly frowned, her head cocking. “Wait... Are you talking about this forest? As in, Calvitorum?”
“The very same. Uritii Krukiin. The Home Forest.”
“Wow. He's the city founder? No wonder he's a legend.”
“No. He is not legend for that. He is legend for the Seven Victories.”
“Seven Victories?” She hesitated only a second before asking, just like he hoped, “What is the Seven Victories?”
Romival resisted the urge to grin, pleased because she was getting more comfortable with him. “Well, shortly after his village arrived, they were attacked. The Uritii Krukiin was not uninhabited. It was already home to seven other tribes. And they did not appreciate another moving in.”
“I can't imagine they did,” she laughed gently. The sound was beautiful and distracted him just long enough that he had to scramble to remember the rest of the story.
“Er, yeah. They definitely did not. They weren't allies with each other, but they didn't want someone else to move into their territory.
So, they all decided to attack. They refused to work together, but they were going to descend on the new tribe with the fury of their seven forces over the course of a single day.
They were absolutely sure that Ha-Ta couldn't defeat them all.”
“And could he?” She asked, eyes wide. Genuinely not knowing the answer. And that alone was strange enough to make him laugh.
“More than, Vakara. He was unmatched in skill.
Every wave of warriors that came against him was met with furious and powerful defeat.
But he was also a skilled negotiator and charming diplomat.
The warriors he captured gave their loyalty because of his fair treatment.
In a single day, he defeated seven other tribes.
By the next year, what remained of them had all joined his tribe.
A day of victory, then a year of victory.
“And one day, every year, we celebrate the Day of Seven Victories. It is a large festival that the whole of Turv celebrates. Not just to honor Ha-Ta and his victories, but also as a celebration of us as one people, of our personal victories big and small, and everything you would do for your mate in order to claim her.”
They were words he had spoken many times.
Often, when teaching younglings the importance of the Day of Seven Victories beyond simply the day that they got seven presents for completing seven tasks for their parents.
But for the first time, that final reason, the dedication to claiming one's mate, rang true to him in a way it hadn't before.
It ached in his chest with a deep truth that he had never experienced when thinking of that aspect of the holiday.
“When is the Day of Seven Victories?” Holly asked, pulling him from his surprise.
“It is coming in the next two turns of the greater moon. Though, the exact date is never the same. It is always held when the greater moon shows through the clouds and the scars Ha-Ta left are fully visible, which only happens a few times during the rainy season.”
Holly's face suddenly fell, and he frowned as she nibbled on her lower lip. What thought had put that uncertain look on her face?
She lifted her eyes and caught him looking at her. She flashed him a quick, nervous, smile before asking, “So, it's a celebration of being one tribe? One big, domini family?”
That was an odd way to ask that. Why would she-
“Ah,” he said, understanding dawning. “You are concerned that, as a human, you won't be welcome to celebrate the holiday.”
She grimaced. “I mean, I'm not a domini, so...”
“You are not, but you are family. Atem took you as his sister. That has real meaning. You were made a full citizen of Turv through that claim. Your species may not be domini, but Turv is your planet now just as much as your Earth.”
Holly looked surprised. “Wait... Seriously? That's not just him being nice? There are actual legal protections that come with that claim?”
“Of course. Why would there not be?”