How The Ure of Gaia Came To Be
Keeper; Kiarna
Name of Fable; Ure
Gender of Fable; Female
Fable's Story; Jade Rabbit
Origin of Story; China/India
Prompt;
C -- Your Fable had a near death experience, whether it happened to themselves or another poor creature. What is their reaction to this, and why? How will you, as the keeper, deal with this in helping or hindering them?
Crack!
A branch snapped, the sound of a whip; Kiarna tumbled to the earth far, far below.
She hit the ground with a solid thump, then lay still.
"Kiarna!" Ure tossed aside the sandwich she had been nibbling on and ran swiftly toward the motionless lump in the shade of the tree. She was nervous, skittery, eyes full of worry jumping in their sockets. "Wake up! Wake up!" she wailed, shaking Kiarna back and forth almost violently.
The unconcious Kiarna's eyelids fluttered slightly. Ure shook her harder, until Kiarna finally opened her eyes fully, which were crossed unnaturally - a biproduct of Ure's rather primitive method of reviving an unconcious person. She held up a hand: "I'm fine, Ure, seriously. A little dazed, perhaps, but none worse for wear. You can stop rattling my poor old bones now." She even attempted a weak chuckle, to convince the still-concerned Ure she was truly all right.
However, the rabbit-girl's usually starry eyes were dim, clouded. Shadowed by the thoughts swirling in her head. "You're not old, Kiarna."
" - well, fine, I guess I was exaggerating a little - "
"And you almost...you almost..." She broke off, shook her head. "You almost died back there."
Kiarna smiled, but no expression of joy was upon her face; rather, a strange twisted look of wistfullness was upon her features. Ure did not ask her question, nor did she need to. After staring long and hard directly at the sun, Kiarna turned her head back down, and said quietly - almost a whisper: "Let's take a walk, Ure. Just down the valley, for a bit, 'kay?"
Ure nodded her consent, knowing she wouldn't get an answer otherwise.
`
~/~
They had been walking for a while now, and Kiarna had made no move to talk; Ure was getting impatient. But she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to really care. One word kept echoing in the imaginary cave that she envisioned her mind to be: Why? why? why? whywhywhywhywhywhywhy...
And of course, in her fictious 'mind', the wind whistled numerous other things, jumbled together like a books in a library. Who? What? When? Where? How?
Why?
She looked wildly about her, as if trying to find an answer, a beam of sunshine in her 'mind'. And she was quite surprised, when find one - of a sort - she did. Ure had been so intently troubled, that she had not realized where they were going. She had not even registered that they had stopped until, that moment. Kiarna had led them much farther than merely 'down the valley.' She had brought them deep into a forest, until they had reached a clearing, which was mostly dominated by a pond approximately the size of a small table.
Here, so far in the woods, many strange sounds rang, rippling the water and sparkling amongst the leaves. One echoed insistently: Ask her. Ask her. Ask her...
Ure began: "Kiarna, I - "
"Hush."
Confused, Ure stopped. The echoes continued: "Ask her. Ask her."
"I don't - "
"Hush."
"Ask! Ask! Ask!"
Ure let one word drop out of her mouth. "Why?"
Kiarna turned to look at her, a smile on her face.
Ure began to cry. "Why? Why must one die before they are ready? Why must one die by accident, or by sickness? Why must anyone die at any time other than the one they choose? Like me. Like when I chose to feed the beggar-sages. That was my choice. But some times...some times one dies without even knowing they've died! Why? WHY?" She was sobbing by now.
Kiarna hugged her, whispering, "It's the way of life. Things live and things die. Things live so they can die, and they die so they can live. It's a complicated process." Ure blinked. She expected a much more difficult explanation.
"I...understand," she gulped, trying to hold back tears.
"It's all right. Cry, cry all you want. It's good. Cry."
And so Ure cried, cried harder than she ever had in her life.
Name of Fable; Ure
Gender of Fable; Female
Fable's Story; Jade Rabbit
Origin of Story; China/India
Prompt;
C -- Your Fable had a near death experience, whether it happened to themselves or another poor creature. What is their reaction to this, and why? How will you, as the keeper, deal with this in helping or hindering them?
Crack!
A branch snapped, the sound of a whip; Kiarna tumbled to the earth far, far below.
She hit the ground with a solid thump, then lay still.
"Kiarna!" Ure tossed aside the sandwich she had been nibbling on and ran swiftly toward the motionless lump in the shade of the tree. She was nervous, skittery, eyes full of worry jumping in their sockets. "Wake up! Wake up!" she wailed, shaking Kiarna back and forth almost violently.
The unconcious Kiarna's eyelids fluttered slightly. Ure shook her harder, until Kiarna finally opened her eyes fully, which were crossed unnaturally - a biproduct of Ure's rather primitive method of reviving an unconcious person. She held up a hand: "I'm fine, Ure, seriously. A little dazed, perhaps, but none worse for wear. You can stop rattling my poor old bones now." She even attempted a weak chuckle, to convince the still-concerned Ure she was truly all right.
However, the rabbit-girl's usually starry eyes were dim, clouded. Shadowed by the thoughts swirling in her head. "You're not old, Kiarna."
" - well, fine, I guess I was exaggerating a little - "
"And you almost...you almost..." She broke off, shook her head. "You almost died back there."
Kiarna smiled, but no expression of joy was upon her face; rather, a strange twisted look of wistfullness was upon her features. Ure did not ask her question, nor did she need to. After staring long and hard directly at the sun, Kiarna turned her head back down, and said quietly - almost a whisper: "Let's take a walk, Ure. Just down the valley, for a bit, 'kay?"
Ure nodded her consent, knowing she wouldn't get an answer otherwise.
`
~/~
They had been walking for a while now, and Kiarna had made no move to talk; Ure was getting impatient. But she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to really care. One word kept echoing in the imaginary cave that she envisioned her mind to be: Why? why? why? whywhywhywhywhywhywhy...
And of course, in her fictious 'mind', the wind whistled numerous other things, jumbled together like a books in a library. Who? What? When? Where? How?
Why?
She looked wildly about her, as if trying to find an answer, a beam of sunshine in her 'mind'. And she was quite surprised, when find one - of a sort - she did. Ure had been so intently troubled, that she had not realized where they were going. She had not even registered that they had stopped until, that moment. Kiarna had led them much farther than merely 'down the valley.' She had brought them deep into a forest, until they had reached a clearing, which was mostly dominated by a pond approximately the size of a small table.
Here, so far in the woods, many strange sounds rang, rippling the water and sparkling amongst the leaves. One echoed insistently: Ask her. Ask her. Ask her...
Ure began: "Kiarna, I - "
"Hush."
Confused, Ure stopped. The echoes continued: "Ask her. Ask her."
"I don't - "
"Hush."
"Ask! Ask! Ask!"
Ure let one word drop out of her mouth. "Why?"
Kiarna turned to look at her, a smile on her face.
Ure began to cry. "Why? Why must one die before they are ready? Why must one die by accident, or by sickness? Why must anyone die at any time other than the one they choose? Like me. Like when I chose to feed the beggar-sages. That was my choice. But some times...some times one dies without even knowing they've died! Why? WHY?" She was sobbing by now.
Kiarna hugged her, whispering, "It's the way of life. Things live and things die. Things live so they can die, and they die so they can live. It's a complicated process." Ure blinked. She expected a much more difficult explanation.
"I...understand," she gulped, trying to hold back tears.
"It's all right. Cry, cry all you want. It's good. Cry."
And so Ure cried, cried harder than she ever had in her life.
Kiarna jolted from her bed, tears streaming down her usually childishly-bright face. "Ure?" she whispered, images from the dream - it had to be just a dream, right? - flashing black-and-white in her mind.
Imagine her surprise when, as she reported to the mysterious 'Fable', she was handed a clump of rabbit fur taped together.
Ure?
