He studied the surface thoughtfully. Should he? No, it was far too dangerous. So said his once-upon-a-time father, who was blissfully bonded and completely happy. What did he have to lose? At this point, his young and foolish mind told him, absolutely nothing. Why not take a peek and see exactly what his people missed out on in their blind ignorance of the rest of the world? It was forbidden…And he liked forbidden things. So, it was time to break the rules.
Carefully the strapping young male propelled himself towards the warmer, sunlit waters. He was cautious, although he couldn’t really see any signs of dangerous boats nearby. In any case, he figured it would be safest to avoid the shallows this first bout of exploration. Finally, after hesitating for a long moment, he broke the surface and took his first, pain-filled breath of pure, unadulterated oxygen. Immediately, his lungs burst into flames in protest and he sank back to a more appropriate level.
A clear lid slipped over his eyes protectively so that they wouldn’t dry out. He’d rarely had use for the protective lids in the past, although now he was wondering if his people had once visited the surface far more often. Noise and color attacked his senses and he nearly retreated under the surface once more. His mother cradled him, although he no longer felt as completely connected to her as he usually did. Was this how those-what was the word? Ah yes-two legged people felt? Disconnected from their mother?
Maybe that was why little cousins were dying off, why the Great Mother had been poisoned. In fact, she was still being poisoned, constantly. The Icy Sisters were fading away, disappearing into the Great Mother, which they had never done before. Everything in his world had gone wrong due to the disconnection that such…barbarians had. His father called him savages due to their disrespect to all things sacred.
There remained a problem, though. How could he claim his far distant relatives to be savages if he had never seen them? His outrage was replaced by curiosity and he wheeled, searching for the nearest Sister Mother mass. Once he located it, he judged the distance to determine how fast he should move in order to reach his destination. His best guess was several Singer lengths. Not too bad of a distance, not at all.
Sinking back into the Great Mother’s welcoming embrace, he used one of her gentle guiding paths to push him even faster in his chosen direction. It did not take him long at all. In fact, the burning globe in the sky had not lowered at all. That in itself was a great wonder to him, since his home was so deep in the depths of the Great Mother that he’d never run across anything like it. Right now, that was not his focus. He wanted to see the savages his father so despised.
Echoes of movement reached him and he turned in the general direction of them. It was not long before he found many things he’d never run across before. They were strangely colored and moved separately of one another, although two were each attached to the same form. He daren’t move closer for fear of being discovered. So, he carefully surfaced once more, making sure not to push himself too far out of the water, not after his fist, painful experience.
Louder noise attacked him, washing over him in a fashion he’d not encountered in a very long time. This noise was different from the smooth, lovely Singers’ songs. It was jaded and rather harsh to his ears. Yet, it sounded absolutely wonderful compared to everything that he was used to. None of the beings he observed noticed him so he stayed in place, every once in a while sinking below the surface to observe their lower halves moving so very differently than his people’s.
Finally he focused on where the Great Mother pressed against the soft Sister Mother in an erotic display of affection. Little versions of the bigger beings playing in his home sat on the edge of Sister Mother, playing with her soft flesh. They appeared to be making….Some things, though he could figure out exactly what it was they were making. One of the larger beings made the transition from his natural home to her natural home and his mouth formed an ‘o’ of shock. Those…things that had been waving uselessly under the surface. They actually had a function!
What it was she was doing, he had absolutely no idea, but he wanted to do it. Unfortunately, he only had one limb rather than two attached his waist. Which, he guessed, probably meant he couldn’t make a smooth transition from one Mother to the other. How very sad. For, if one ignored the awful noise, the movements of the creatures were rather elegant. Well, at least when they were on Sister Mother, who cradled them lovingly, not that any of them seemed to notice.
As much as they might be savages, Mykdiarn could see the beauty of these beings. As poisonous as they were, they deserved to exist as much as he did. Now, he wanted to understand them better, to move on two limbs instead of being propelled by one. Oh, how very alone he would feel when he returned to his father, who would no doubt be very angry with him and his need to explore what should be left alone.
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