Well, the end is here at last. Thanks to all of you who've read the whole thing through and written me reviews—I really appreciate it:) I'm still working on the sequel, and I haven't decided yet whether to start posting the chapters.
Disclaimer: FB does not belong to me, nor does anything else you recognize. Also, the book "The Flame Trees of Thika" belongs to Elspeth Huxley's estate (I only used the title—the plot of this fanfic is totally unrelated to the book).
Epilogue
Four days later, the funeral of Shoma Asheno closed with a private service for intimate family members, as tradition required. Asheno's elaborately carved coffin rested upon a table placed on the dais in his parlor. The chaise had been removed elsewhere. The drapes were drawn closed across the great bay window. Rhena had lit candles in the wall holders, and the golden flames provided the only light in the room. As befit the last cursed Dzuni god, the thirteen Dzuni animals adorned Asheno's coffin.
The servants had placed ten rows of chairs facing the dais. The young Dzuni occupied the first two, and the former Dzuni, their spouses, and some of their children took the rest. Hatsuharu and Haku, his left arm heavily bandaged and wrapped in a sling, sat in the center seats in the front row. Ashitare, much improved, was still recuperating at the hospital.
Only Shehure was willing to deliver any sort of eulogy for Asheno, and its brevity made it memorable: "He was a pathetic human being, and for his sake I hope his life in the next world is better." A long silence ensued, during which most of the attendees glared at the coffin. Finally Lhoru's strangled sobs broke the tense quiet, and the sobs triggered an outbreak of grieving, for the children murdered by Asheno. Sometime, Haku began singing:
Hatharu hel mhane khe aha,
(Spring is still far away,)
Su nalu rhizano ghobere,
(And within the cold ground,)
Shedal thathu lesim surokha ashu
(Starved seeds await warm sun)
Su dho mhedosh han.
(And fresh silvery rain.)
Hatsuharu, who'd been standing stone-faced, looked at Haku in shock. He couldn't believe that Haku was singing the very song that had tormented him so many times in his visions, and for Asheno of all people. Breaking off briefly, Haku glanced at Hatsuharu, who saw the tears standing in the wolf's eyes. The cow understood then—Haku was singing it for his parents and all the other victims of Asheno's madness. Hatsuharu started the song again by picking up the second verse. One by one, the Dzunis joined in, followed by their older predecessors.
Shomithu lana lhunose
(Bereft of any leaves,)
Shum hararalor aha humumu
(Yet still standing although)
Nhozalor thithu hare karin
(Cruel mountain winds whip them,)
Thikazi lhahemithu shuru.
(The flame trees of Thika.)
Hatharu hel mhane khe aha,
(Spring is still far away,)
Su nalu rhizano ghobere,
(And within the cold ground,)
Atharalor eshusumal thathu
(Forgotten and stray seeds)
Hisukam su hiri.
(Begin to awaken.)
Surozi shomathu dzosisalor,
(Hundreds of years ago,)
Dzinuthu thumathu menare,
(Blossoms of fire open'd,)
Aleren lhorene lhosusu
(Bringing hope and color)
Fu Thika hitoremare.
(To forbidding Thika.)
Hatharu hel mhane khe aha,
(Spring is still far away,)
Su nalu rhizano ghobere,
(And within the cold ground,)
Fulanalor elerenalor lheshothu
(Deep and ancient roots)
Kheriza shahesu dhemi fusoro.
(Struggle to convey life upwards.)
Shomathu dzirosura emiros
(Will the flowers flourish)
Thiri shune ze li mahos ghobirime?
(To spite endless winter, or be swallowed by ice?)
Thikazi lhahemithu shuru
(The flame trees of Thika.)
Thi zhula faramazal, "Dziral
("Spring," whispered a rogue wind)
Hatharu hureno su neno
(will return without fail,)
Lhahemithumon lerenalor
(And with it, the trees that)
Ahami fu Hothizuna."
(Bring beauty to Hoth.")
Thikazi lhahemithu shuru
(The flame trees of Thika)
Thikazi lhahemithu shuru
(The flame trees of Thika)
When the song ended, Rhosu noted with relief that Haku's cheeks were tear-stained.
Family heads were always buried in the northeast corner of the gardens, and Asheno joined his predecessors after the service ended. None of the family attended his burial, though. Rhena had laid out a modest buffet, and everyone gathered to eat and talk. The ex-Dzuni did not waste this opportunity to speak more with their grandchildren. Already some of the teenagers, particularly Khosure, Shuro, and Lhurone, planned to move in with their newfound relatives as soon as possible. In a sunny corner of the house's main parlor, Khosure chatted eagerly with Ahame and Mhine about new clothes—he lacked clothes that properly fit his unusually tall frame.
Some of the elders, such as Huki and Hanadzima, were still carefully wooing their more difficult grandchildren. Ashiri's natural distrust of people proved to be as hard to scale as Rhena prophesied, but over time, Ashiri's wall crumbled. Hiro and Khisa, the former sheep and tiger of the curse, had to deal with Hatsumi's discomfort at the thought of leaving the estate, which had guaranteed him shelter and safety. Shidora, enthusiastic about living with her real family, finally persuaded Hatsumi to agree to the move.
Then there were the Dzunis who felt fine with getting away from the main house, but nonetheless approached their relatives cautiously. Lhurone forcefully pulled Hatsuharu from his funereal obligations as family head to sit with Rin and Haru. For the last few days, Hatsuharu had avoided them because he couldn't think of anything to say. Now, with skillful prompting from Lhurone, he finally talked to them in a natural manner.
Rhosu and Laren first met Nharu the day before, and Rhosu still struggled to decode Nharu's thickly accented Hothan.
"R'osu," asked Nharu benevolently, "do you spaik Mougoth?" The silvery strands mixed in among his blonde hair made it gleam in the light. He petted Laren, who was very pleased with Nharu's progress since the curse's end.
"Er…I'm sorry, but can you please repeat that?" Rhosu felt the heat in her cheeks rise. Nharu was obviously a kind and good-hearted man, and asking him to repeat everything was so awkward.
"He asked if you speak any Mougoth—Gogothan," translated Laren. Instead of being offended, Nharu laughed gaily.
"Oh, well, I don't, I'm sorry, Nhar—Grandfa…Nha…"
"Cail me Grandpa, plaise," said Nharu. He tried to speak more slowly so that Rhosu could better comprehend his mangled Hothan. "And doun' woiry aboot spaiking Mougoth. Ay'm aboot to retaire, aneiway, and Ay'll move back to L'asa."
"No, Grandpa, don't trouble yourself so much—" protested Rhosu.
"Nou, nou," insisted Nharu, brushing Rhosu's objections with brisk gestures. "Ay 'ave nou real family in Eirenrang. My weife is dead feive years, and my fellow Dzuni aire all in 'Oth, most in L'asa. And eit will be better for you to stay in 'Oth, w'ere you knou the langouge and 'aive all your friends. Ay spaik 'Othan, and you doun't spaik Mougoth. Eit makes sense." Nharu smiled reassuringly at Rhosu. "And eif you didn't understind me, Ay'm sure Laren will eixplain. Ayverything will be fine, and Ay'll woirk on my 'Othan."
Hathori, Karan, and one of their younger sons stood in a group with Hotohori near the buffet table. "I thought so," sighed Hathori, overhearing Rhosu's exchange with Nharu, "Nharu's still as impossible to understand as ever."
"Shush, Hathori," said Karan. She turned back to Hotohori, who nervously fingered a mug of hot chocolate. "Hotohori, dear, why don't we sit on that couch? Then perhaps you can tell us more about yourself." Nearby, a zealous Khagura smothered an intimidated Khezuke with her maternal instincts, and her husband had little success reining her in. He whispered an apology to Khezuke, while Khagura chattered excitedly about cleaning up a room for Khezuke on their house's second floor. A similar dynamic established itself between Lhoru, Lhadoman, and Dhizero.
After the service, Rhena had accompanied Rhishu, the former monkey, and his wife Mhita to Akam Shu Hospital to meet Ashitare. It would be their first meeting, and all three were very nervous. Their mutual nervousness, however, proved to be the key to forming a close familial bond.
"There's our grandchild at last, Mahalina! It's about time, Haku—we were beginning to feel deprived, what with every other Dzuni connecting with their grandparents."
Shehure's jovial voice broke Haku out of his reverie. He sat on the little stone bench near Old Blood, in the garden's northwest section. For an unknown reason, Haku no longer feared the bizarre flame tree any longer. Perhaps because he now knew that his parents were buried in this section, the song had given him some closure, and Asheno was now gone—any one of those might be a contributing factor. His arm started to throb slightly, and Haku decided that he would take more pain medication once he returned to the house.
"Hello," Haku said as the couple approached him, gingerly picking their way through the bushy growth.
"Were you trying to hide from us?" asked Mahalina in the sarcastic tone Haku knew well from the visions. "I wasn't aware such a wilderness existed here, Shehure. Haku, do you come here often?"
Haku chuckled sardonically. "I've only learned to like it very recently. This week, actually."
"I'm still as terrified of this place as I was when I was a child," admitted Shehure.
Mahalina nodded ponderously in agreement, taking in the northwest corner's panorama. "Haku, it's freezing out here. Why don't you come inside with us?" She wrapped her coat around her more tightly. "All right, it's not as cold as it could be, but we're old, so cut us some slack. Now come on."
"Okay," said Haku. "I need more medication for my arm anyway." He heaved himself off the bench, and led Mahalina and Shehure through the clearest path in the undergrowth.
"Have you seen Dzin-E recently?" Shehure asked, untangling his coat button from a bush.
"No. I expect I won't see her for a while. She was pretty upset when she bit me," said Haku. "I get the feeling she won't be as big a problem now that Asheno's dead."
"I'm relieved to hear that," admitted Mahalina.
"So am I," chirped Haku.
They continued through the gardens, discussing a timetable for Haku's move to Shehure's house, and when Haku could meet their older daughters. Many unanswered questions still remained, such as the Dzunis' origin and relationship with the spiritual world. Such hefty issues blew away with the chilly wind on the day of Asheno's burial, as the young Dzuni instead focused on their immediate lives. Old Blood, on the other hand, bided its time for when the Dzuni would be complete again—which would occur in a relatively short time.
