You Are The Sunlight In My Growing (Seodai)

[Seodai]

Seodai needed no further prompting than that simple 'come', and was quickly on his feet to follow Syllke towards the promise of cleansing waters. The heat of it made Seodai recall the night he had kissed beautiful Lysander on the beach, and he had remembered too. He'd nearly frozen until the sunsinger had dragged him into a tub of warm water, too. Seodai was a comfort to Syllke that Caelum had not been to him, though, with long limbs eager to entangle and coddle and protect. He held Syllke as close as he could without squeezing too hard, and nodded his understanding. He had wanted to forget, too. Sometimes he still did. Sometimes Melchior represented such bitterness and hatred and a whole score of other emotions that Seodai was just not suited for, and it made his soul feel weary. He understood that. And he'd never deny Syllke an offer to tell him a story, because Seodai loved them all so very much. "Yes, of course. Please, Syllke. Tell me your story." Seodai lazily cupped warm water and smoothed it across the part of Syllke's chest that wasn't exposed, again and again, as he settled in and prepared to listen. He'd yet to hear a story from Syllke that wasn't positively captivating and he was eager for a bit of healing himself. The balm of his lovers words would certainly be welcome.

[Syllke Skyglow]

Syllke smiled, still sad and feeling very much messed about internally, but glad to have something to try to take him away from thoughts he did not wish to have. He felt the gently lapping water against his chest, and settled back a bit more, against the warm core of this man who had grown to be so very much to him – more than he could have ever realized that he would even need. His voice, when he spoke, took on that rhythmic quality that was part of the story telling process. “Long ago, in the south of Morwen’s lands, there was a hold of hunters, who ranged in the great forests of spruce and pine, harvesting the animals placed there by Caiyha for man to take his sustenance from. In this hold, lived a beautiful maiden, the only child of a woman whose husband had died long before, in the death hug of a great brown bear. The woman loved her daughter more than life itself, and doted on her. But the girl was not spoiled and was sweet and loving to all. Now it came to pass, that when the girl reached that time when she passes into womanhood, her beauty caught the eye of the shaman of the hold – their healer and religious leader. This man came to desire her, with every fiber of his being, even though he was old and ugly. He went to the girl’s mother and asked for her hand in marriage, but the mother, of course, put him off – for she loved her child and did not wish such a match upon her, despite the shaman’s importance. She told him no many times over, in gentle and courteous ways, for the shaman was a powerful man. She said her daughter was too young and that, as it was her only child, she wished to keep the girl by her side for a while longer. In this way, she put off the shaman, though she worried what was to happen when he would no longer take no for an answer. Now it happened that in a neighboring hold, also of great hunters, there lived a handsome, strong young hunter. It came to pass that at a potlatch celebration, he came to lay eyes on the maiden and fell instantly in love with her. She had seen him too, and thought he was the most beautiful young man she had ever seen. Discretely, they met from time to time, but always with her mother’s knowledge and approval, for she greatly desired this young hunter to be her son-in-law and provide well for her and her daughter. But she could not very well allow him to marry the girl, not yet – for what would the shaman say? So the mother told the same story – that the girl was too young yet and she wanted to keep her at home a while longer. The girl and the hunter were very much in love, but patiently they waited until the day when they could wed. Several years passed and many times, at the beginning of each new season, the shaman would ask again for permission from the old woman to marry the beautiful young girl. Each time the mother replied in the same way. Finally, the shaman grew tired of waiting, and rumors came to his ears. He heard that the girl was being courted by a handsome hunter from the neighboring hold. Enraged and alarmed that he would lose his much coveted prize, the evil shaman kidnapped the maiden and took her deep, deep into the woods. There he worked an evil spell on her and transformed her into an enchanted snow goose, so that she would be his and his alone and her mother would never be able to marry her off to the hunter Her poor mother! The woman was so distraught that she wandered out onto the tundra looking for her. She walked for many, many miles and found her way into the forest. Still she walked, searching and calling for her lost child. Finally, she collapsed, and she began to cry crystalline tears, hot and steaming as they hit the frozen ground. She cried and cried and cried. She cried so much, that her tears formed a lake and her daughter, now a goose, sailed over her head and around and around but the mother did not know her for who she really was. The goose, honking sadly, settled to live on the lake, despairing that she would ever be with her mother or lover again. One day, as fate would have it, the young hunter was in the forest, and happened to stumble upon the magic lake. He was amazed, for he could not recall there being a lake there before. Still, he was a hunter, so he took his bow from his shoulder and began to search for his dinner. Suddenly a snow goose appeared, circling about his head. Of course, it was his former lover, and she, seeing the handsome young man, was trying frantically to get his attention, calling to him in her plaintive, haunting way. The hunter was dumbfounded. He had never seen a goose act like this before – it seemed that it wished to be taken by his arrow. He raised his bow, and aimed – an easy shot. But he hesitated, he was so taken by the bird’s great beauty. He slung his bow back on his shoulder and sat down, watching the bird, which had come to land on the water, so close to him he could have reached out and touched her. And as he sat and watched the bird, watching him, the waters, formed of the mother’s tears, rippled in the wind and the reeds that grew out of the magic waters sang to him, telling him of the evil one’s spell and that the goose was really the girl that he so loved, who had been lost all those months ago. The hunter called the goose to him and when he looked in her eye, he saw that what the water and the wind told him was true. But alas, he had no power to break the shaman’s spell. The two lovers were a pitiful sight indeed. But the hunter vowed to his love that he would find a way to break the spell, or die trying, for he could not live without her, having now found her again, and in such a pitiful state. Sadly, the hunter returned to his hold and consulted with his own shaman about what could be done. This shaman consulted the stars and told the hunter that the only way to break the spell was to vow his undying love to the maiden in front of all the people of both holds, and to never then break that vow, or she would then revert to her goose form forever. So the hunter arranged for a huge potlatch to be held, and he invited everyone from both his hold and the maiden’s – to celebrate his marriage to his one true love, he told the people. Of course, the evil shaman became very suspicious of what the hunter might be up to. He followed the young man as he made his way back to the lake, to tell his lover what he had done and that she must not be afraid and come to the celebration, so that he could vow his eternal love for her in front of all their people. The evil shaman was furious. He built a woman out of mud and sticks and rocks, and cast a spell on it so that it took the form of the lovely maiden. When the big dinner got underway, the enchanted mud woman appeared at the edge of the huge bonfire, and the hunter ran forward, thinking somehow the spell was already broken. In front of all, he declared his eternal love for the mud woman, just as the goose arrived, circling overhead and honking plaintively. But it was no use – she was too late. Before his horrified eyes, the one he thought was the lovely maiden transformed into a pile of mud and sticks and rocks, and too late the hunter saw the goose, as she flew off back to her lake. In despair, he ran after her. Just as he arrived at the edge of the lake, he saw the goose dive down into the frigid water, for she could not bear to live as a goose, without her lover. He too could not face the future without his real love by his side, and he threw himself into the lake, to drown.” Syllke paused for a long moment, his fingers tightening in Seodai’s. His voice dropped to little more than a whisper. “But . . . out of the lake rose the two lovers, the maiden returned to her true form. They ascended into the night sky and there they remain, for all eternity, forever wrapped in each other’s embrace – the snow goose and the hunter*.” His voice caught on the last thought, as if he might release a sob. His head turned so that his cheek, now chilled from the cooling water, rested against Seo’s collar bone. “So you see? Even evil can not conquer love.” He turned further still to press his lips against Seo’s shoulder. “And in love we find our true selves.” *the Vantha name of one of the constellations

[Seodai]

There was a magic in Syllke's voice, in his story, and Seodai had always been enthralled with it. From the very first day when Syllke had woven a story for them around a crackling fire. Now was no exception, though perhaps the deep fondness he had developed for the Vantha in his arms made him all the more susceptible. And this story wasn't a random one, either. It was a story meant to matter, meant to make a point, and that point was well made. The young farmer's throat felt tight as he listened, still gently and lazily bringing hands full of water up over the pale flesh resting against him. When Syllke was finished, Seodai nodded, his curls damp from the water they were in. He tried to smile, but found that he couldn't. The moment was too dense with meaning and importance and so he simply waited until those colorful eyes met his own and he nodded solemnly. "Yes," he spoke at last, vocalizing his understanding. "Our true selves," he echoed. "And so, no matter what happens, you will be my anchor, Syllke Skyglow." Seo lifted his wet hands to cup the angular face hovering before him, his thumbs spreading moisture back along those high cheek bones. "You'll bring me back to myself, remind me who I really am and what really matters. And when you lose yourself, I'll remind you, too..." With that, Seo dipped his head to press an almost holy kiss to lips he so often coveted. It was a firm, passionate kiss that bespoke emotion as much as anything physical, and Seodai held on far longer than he should. When he did release the Vantha, it was only so that he could crush him into his strong arms, tugged into a chest where his heart was pounding the truth of his words.