Title: Heretic
Author:Tapestry
Email: Shaddow_Cat@hotmail.com
Rating:
Standard Disclaimer Apply
* denotes thought
4/8/02
"Woman was created from the ribs of man
Not from his head to top him
Nor from his feet to be walked upon
She was made from his side to be his equal
From beneath his arms to be protected
From very near his heart to be loved."
--Anonymous--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Earth's history, we know of references to heretics. During the reign
of Queen Mary of England, now also known as Bloody Mary, countless peasants
were executed or burned at the stake. This was because they were labeled as
heretics. People who did not conform to the Catholic way of religion or
did not know the principles of the the religion.
Countries such as Spain and France too went through such black times in
their history.
Such practice was later on abolished. But what is a heretic? What do you
think of when you hear the word heretic?
People say the word refers to those who did not conform to a belief or a
practice. Perhaps.
Now, over a millenia into the future, things have changed and a brutal
practice from our Earth's dark past has returned to reign once again.
But who's to tell you what to believe or not?? What is a heretic??
~ Prologue: Earth, 3025 a.d. ~
Security burst into a quiet apartment downtown at midnight. There were
several snorts of disgust from the security officers as they surveyed the
decor of the apartment.
Pictures of the planets and models of the solar system were strewn
throughout the apartment.
They apprehended one man that night.
"And because of your crime, your belief and desire to go to the stars,
your opposition towards doctrine, you are declared, a heretic."
"Your punishment, death by the incinerator at the public square."
"Do you have any last words, heretic?"
The man with smoky eyes and dark hair merely stared at the High Council
of Earth, his eyes filled with pity.
"The only thing I have to say is, there are people who will always
believe in going to the stars and there is no way you can stop us. Those
of you who sit in the High Council chairs are blind old fools."
There were several gasps of outrage from the crowd watching the trial.
The young woman seated in the front of the crowd with silver white hair
stayed silent.
The Head of the Council frowned at the man.
"You will not repent your crime and return to normal society?"
"Never...there is nothing to return to. I would have my memory wiped. And
I would rather die, than lose my memories of my fascination with the
stars." said the man.
"This heretic is beyond redemption, Tribunal Prime. Sentence him and
be done with it."
"The Council has spoken. Kou Taiki, you have been given the chance to
reform and you have denied. You will die by the incinerator. Your sentence,
will be carried out immediately."
A chorus of shouts and boos were heard from the crowd, as their shouts
rose to the rafters.
"BURN THE HERETIC!! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!" chanted the crowd.
The chant continued to the public square where the young man stood proud
and defiant against the screaming crowd shouting for his blood.
The shouts died as they watched in breathless anticipation of the burning
to come. The young man was shoved into a transparent orb. The man did not
plead, did not cry. He merely stood silently, proud as he turned his face
up to the sky, an almost wistful expression on his face.
Fires leapt up in the orb and still the man did not scream. His face was
still upturned to the heavens as a single tear ran down his cheek.
"I wish...I could have touched the stars.."
The young woman with silver white hair turned away as tears ran down her
face. She hated these burnings. She hated it more that she had known the
man. He was heretic....let the will of the gods, be served.
A far off memory invaded her mind...back when she had only been a child.
~FLASHBACK~
"Papa, why is it no one can go to the stars?" asked a 10 year old girl.
"Because it is doctrine, Serenity..."
"What's doctrine?"
"Doctrine is the will of the heavens."
The little girl stared at her father with wide eyes.
"Papa, has anyone ever been to the stars?"
"Our ancestors, darling."
"What was it like?"
"Desolate...unlivable. No one can live up there."
"But it's so pretty."
The girl's father turned his face up to the sky and smiled a sad smile.
"Yes, it's pretty, baby. But we can never go to the stars. That is the
will of gods when our world was nearly wiped out by plagues and natural
disasters, brought on when our scientists experimented with outer space and
our planet. They made errors that nearly cost this civilization, their
lives...So remember, the stars may be beautiful. But it was because of this
beauty so many people lost their lives, toying with the Earth's orbit."
said the father.
The little girl could only look up at the sky in awe and fascination.
Listening to her father's tales in rapture.
*Papa, I wish I could for one moment, touch the stars...* thought the
little girl, staring up at the night sky.
~END FLASHBACK~
The young woman's mouth twisted wryly.
"Touch the stars, huh?? Naive fools." whispered the woman softly.
Up high in the stars, a ship passes through the dark void of space,
carrying within it, a special individual from a distant star system. He
has no business here except that he is running.
"Cut your engines and prepare to be taken into custody, Your Highness."
echoed the communications system.
"Damn intergalactic bounty hunters."
"We do not wish to damage you, Prince Endymion."
"Then don't follow me. If Kirth even thinks he can blackmail my father
into surrendering, he's off his axis!"
"You and your guards cannot run forever. You do not even have enough fuel
to return to your star system."
"Better than being caught by scum like you."
"Your abilities can be put to better use under Lord Kirth's tutelage."
"Tutelage? Under him?? Only the direct descendent of the Terra royal
family has the ability to sychronize with a planet's spirit. Kirth can
teach me nothing. He was always trying to throw his daughter Kismet at me.
That's what he was doing." snorted Endymion.
The blonde with green-blue eyes chuckled.
"Yes...you are the 10th generation. That is why you have the ability and
your father does not." sneered the voice.
"End the damn signal." snarled Endymion.
"Ended, Endy."
"I don't believe this!! I leave for Sha-Tel for a week and suddenly Kirth
has attacked Terra."
"Sending hunters sure is his style though." smirked Nephrite.
"You leave us no choice, Prince..."
An explosion rocked the vessel as the hunters fired on it.
"Dammit! They've ruptured an engine crystal! We need to set down." cursed
Kunzite as he wrestled for control over the ship.
"Scanning for habitable planets in this system." reported Zoycite, his
hands moving over the surface of a blue orb in the panels.
"Well?"
"One match. Third planet from the sun. A dense population of 16 billion
inhabitants. No spacial faring capabilities but I am detecting the
existence of advanced technology. Nothing as superior as our own though. No
signs of off world colonies."
"Where do we set down?"
"There is a small uninhabited region in the northern hemisphere. Large
enough. Quite secluded. We will need to hide our ship though..."
"Why?" asked Jadeite.
"My scans indicate the race is a very cultural based society. Doctrine
dictate their society due to the effects of a great catastrophe that
happened over a millenia ago. Something to do with their space exploration
programs. It caused a world wide series of earthquakes, floods and other
devastating natural disasters."
"I see...What is their doctrine?"
"They believe going to the stars will cause great damage to their society
as well as being a waste of time. Records indicate they burn the people who
believe in going to the stars. In fact, there was just a tribunal in a
North West hemisphere city this morning. Their mother capital, I believe."
Nephrite frowned.
"Burning? That's barbaric."
"That's terrible."
"We have to set down. The ship cannot take the drain on the energy
reserves. We can only hope Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury will find us."
"It was stupid to get seperated like this." growled Nephrite.
"Set down. And for Gaea's sake, activate the cloak."
"Setting down now. Cloak has been activated, but I fear it only activated
when we reached the lower atmosphere. There is a chance we've been spotted.
Pray there was a cloud that masked us." shuddered Zoycite.
"Alright...we'll scout about and survey the planet. But I think we should
try to steer clear of the locals. I for one, intend to avoid being burned
alive." sighed Endymion as he rose from his seat.
"Zoycite and Kunzite, you guys see if we can repair the engines. I don't
think those hunters will give up so easily. Jadeite and Nephrite will
follow me. We should check to see if anybody noticed our landing."
"Right."
"See you later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be continued...
Review and emails!! What do you think of this story??
Check the summary out at:~
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/5879/heretic.html
11/8/02
Edited: 13/9/02
Author:Tapestry
Email: Shaddow_Cat@hotmail.com
Rating:
Standard Disclaimer Apply
* denotes thought
4/8/02
"Woman was created from the ribs of man
Not from his head to top him
Nor from his feet to be walked upon
She was made from his side to be his equal
From beneath his arms to be protected
From very near his heart to be loved."
--Anonymous--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Earth's history, we know of references to heretics. During the reign
of Queen Mary of England, now also known as Bloody Mary, countless peasants
were executed or burned at the stake. This was because they were labeled as
heretics. People who did not conform to the Catholic way of religion or
did not know the principles of the the religion.
Countries such as Spain and France too went through such black times in
their history.
Such practice was later on abolished. But what is a heretic? What do you
think of when you hear the word heretic?
People say the word refers to those who did not conform to a belief or a
practice. Perhaps.
Now, over a millenia into the future, things have changed and a brutal
practice from our Earth's dark past has returned to reign once again.
But who's to tell you what to believe or not?? What is a heretic??
~ Prologue: Earth, 3025 a.d. ~
Security burst into a quiet apartment downtown at midnight. There were
several snorts of disgust from the security officers as they surveyed the
decor of the apartment.
Pictures of the planets and models of the solar system were strewn
throughout the apartment.
They apprehended one man that night.
"And because of your crime, your belief and desire to go to the stars,
your opposition towards doctrine, you are declared, a heretic."
"Your punishment, death by the incinerator at the public square."
"Do you have any last words, heretic?"
The man with smoky eyes and dark hair merely stared at the High Council
of Earth, his eyes filled with pity.
"The only thing I have to say is, there are people who will always
believe in going to the stars and there is no way you can stop us. Those
of you who sit in the High Council chairs are blind old fools."
There were several gasps of outrage from the crowd watching the trial.
The young woman seated in the front of the crowd with silver white hair
stayed silent.
The Head of the Council frowned at the man.
"You will not repent your crime and return to normal society?"
"Never...there is nothing to return to. I would have my memory wiped. And
I would rather die, than lose my memories of my fascination with the
stars." said the man.
"This heretic is beyond redemption, Tribunal Prime. Sentence him and
be done with it."
"The Council has spoken. Kou Taiki, you have been given the chance to
reform and you have denied. You will die by the incinerator. Your sentence,
will be carried out immediately."
A chorus of shouts and boos were heard from the crowd, as their shouts
rose to the rafters.
"BURN THE HERETIC!! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!" chanted the crowd.
The chant continued to the public square where the young man stood proud
and defiant against the screaming crowd shouting for his blood.
The shouts died as they watched in breathless anticipation of the burning
to come. The young man was shoved into a transparent orb. The man did not
plead, did not cry. He merely stood silently, proud as he turned his face
up to the sky, an almost wistful expression on his face.
Fires leapt up in the orb and still the man did not scream. His face was
still upturned to the heavens as a single tear ran down his cheek.
"I wish...I could have touched the stars.."
The young woman with silver white hair turned away as tears ran down her
face. She hated these burnings. She hated it more that she had known the
man. He was heretic....let the will of the gods, be served.
A far off memory invaded her mind...back when she had only been a child.
~FLASHBACK~
"Papa, why is it no one can go to the stars?" asked a 10 year old girl.
"Because it is doctrine, Serenity..."
"What's doctrine?"
"Doctrine is the will of the heavens."
The little girl stared at her father with wide eyes.
"Papa, has anyone ever been to the stars?"
"Our ancestors, darling."
"What was it like?"
"Desolate...unlivable. No one can live up there."
"But it's so pretty."
The girl's father turned his face up to the sky and smiled a sad smile.
"Yes, it's pretty, baby. But we can never go to the stars. That is the
will of gods when our world was nearly wiped out by plagues and natural
disasters, brought on when our scientists experimented with outer space and
our planet. They made errors that nearly cost this civilization, their
lives...So remember, the stars may be beautiful. But it was because of this
beauty so many people lost their lives, toying with the Earth's orbit."
said the father.
The little girl could only look up at the sky in awe and fascination.
Listening to her father's tales in rapture.
*Papa, I wish I could for one moment, touch the stars...* thought the
little girl, staring up at the night sky.
~END FLASHBACK~
The young woman's mouth twisted wryly.
"Touch the stars, huh?? Naive fools." whispered the woman softly.
Up high in the stars, a ship passes through the dark void of space,
carrying within it, a special individual from a distant star system. He
has no business here except that he is running.
"Cut your engines and prepare to be taken into custody, Your Highness."
echoed the communications system.
"Damn intergalactic bounty hunters."
"We do not wish to damage you, Prince Endymion."
"Then don't follow me. If Kirth even thinks he can blackmail my father
into surrendering, he's off his axis!"
"You and your guards cannot run forever. You do not even have enough fuel
to return to your star system."
"Better than being caught by scum like you."
"Your abilities can be put to better use under Lord Kirth's tutelage."
"Tutelage? Under him?? Only the direct descendent of the Terra royal
family has the ability to sychronize with a planet's spirit. Kirth can
teach me nothing. He was always trying to throw his daughter Kismet at me.
That's what he was doing." snorted Endymion.
The blonde with green-blue eyes chuckled.
"Yes...you are the 10th generation. That is why you have the ability and
your father does not." sneered the voice.
"End the damn signal." snarled Endymion.
"Ended, Endy."
"I don't believe this!! I leave for Sha-Tel for a week and suddenly Kirth
has attacked Terra."
"Sending hunters sure is his style though." smirked Nephrite.
"You leave us no choice, Prince..."
An explosion rocked the vessel as the hunters fired on it.
"Dammit! They've ruptured an engine crystal! We need to set down." cursed
Kunzite as he wrestled for control over the ship.
"Scanning for habitable planets in this system." reported Zoycite, his
hands moving over the surface of a blue orb in the panels.
"Well?"
"One match. Third planet from the sun. A dense population of 16 billion
inhabitants. No spacial faring capabilities but I am detecting the
existence of advanced technology. Nothing as superior as our own though. No
signs of off world colonies."
"Where do we set down?"
"There is a small uninhabited region in the northern hemisphere. Large
enough. Quite secluded. We will need to hide our ship though..."
"Why?" asked Jadeite.
"My scans indicate the race is a very cultural based society. Doctrine
dictate their society due to the effects of a great catastrophe that
happened over a millenia ago. Something to do with their space exploration
programs. It caused a world wide series of earthquakes, floods and other
devastating natural disasters."
"I see...What is their doctrine?"
"They believe going to the stars will cause great damage to their society
as well as being a waste of time. Records indicate they burn the people who
believe in going to the stars. In fact, there was just a tribunal in a
North West hemisphere city this morning. Their mother capital, I believe."
Nephrite frowned.
"Burning? That's barbaric."
"That's terrible."
"We have to set down. The ship cannot take the drain on the energy
reserves. We can only hope Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury will find us."
"It was stupid to get seperated like this." growled Nephrite.
"Set down. And for Gaea's sake, activate the cloak."
"Setting down now. Cloak has been activated, but I fear it only activated
when we reached the lower atmosphere. There is a chance we've been spotted.
Pray there was a cloud that masked us." shuddered Zoycite.
"Alright...we'll scout about and survey the planet. But I think we should
try to steer clear of the locals. I for one, intend to avoid being burned
alive." sighed Endymion as he rose from his seat.
"Zoycite and Kunzite, you guys see if we can repair the engines. I don't
think those hunters will give up so easily. Jadeite and Nephrite will
follow me. We should check to see if anybody noticed our landing."
"Right."
"See you later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be continued...
Review and emails!! What do you think of this story??
Check the summary out at:~
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/5879/heretic.html
11/8/02
Edited: 13/9/02