Disclaimer: If people are right about gay marriage leading to a slippery slope where people can marry their dogs and inanimate objects, I may propose to Babylon 5 some day. Until then, sadly, I own nothing and make no money.
Rating: I don't quite know how to warn for this without giving the story away, so I'll just say PG-13 for adult themes. Read at your own risk.
Funeral Feast
By Andraste
The morning of her grandfather's funeral was warm, and although nobody hurried through the ceremony, Na'Toth could sense tension among the adults around her. Nobody wanted the funeral feast to spoil in the sun, and although it had been covered to stop the insects from getting to it there was a cloud of flies hovering above the cloth. The crowd of people chanting, the heat, and hunger from fasting through the previous day and night had combined to make her younger siblings restless, and more than once she had to reach over and poke one of her sisters to make them stay silent.
This was the first family funeral Na'Toth could truly remember attending. When her grandmother had died, she had been no older than her small brother Shu'Lan was now, curled up in her father's lap as he was today. Father had fed her share of the feast with his fingers, although she knew that only by watching what happened at other ceremonies.
The silence in the room when the adults stopped chanting was sudden enough to be startling, and Na'Toth wondered how everyone remembered just how long it was meant to go on. She was glad that she was still young enough that she had ot stay silent, although her sisters didn't seem to be enjoying it. They would not have to try much longer, since the formal part of the ceremony was almost over. Mother had refused to allow a priest to attend, and her father had not pressed her.
The family rose from their seats first, Na'Toth a heartbeat behind her parents, and went to stand in line before the table laden with cooked food. She knew that this was meant to be the moment of greatest sadness, before the joy and renewal that the feast itself would bring, but all Na'Toth had felt since her grandfather had died the day before was relief.
The death that had claimed him had done so slowly, and she could dimly remember a time when he had been able to speak and laugh, when he had been a person instead of an empty shell that had to be fed and cleaned by Na'Toth's father. His life in the past few years had been without dignity or honour, and she was glad that he no longer suffered.
Na'Toth's mother was the only one of her brood still living. She had already been grown and married when the rest of her family went to Hylak 7, and had been spared the destruction that had taken her mother and siblings. There was nobody left to share in the eating of her father's heart, and Na'Toth waited for some time as she cut it up and swallowed it, chewing slowly as was appropriate for the occasion.
Once she had finished, it was time for Na'Toth and her siblings to take their place before the table. Only Na'Toth herself had actually grown tall enough to reach the plate that was theirs by right of relation, and it took her a moment to pick the brain out from among the other organs. Someone had been kind enough to cut it up for her at some stage in the preperations, so her duty as eldest grandchild was limited to handing a segment to each of her sisters and holding out another to her brother where he lay in her father's arms.
She did not expect such a young child to eat all of it – it was only important for the sake of tradition that he taste – but she was shocked when her brother turned his head away and squealed in protest instead of taking the meat.
Her father frowned and hushed Shu'Lan, as Na'Toth sniffed at the food. It did not smell rotten, but when she took a bite it tasted spoiled, filled with the sharp tang of metal. The machine that had rooted itself in her grandfather's brain had not only killed his mind and spirit, it had tainted his very flesh.
Na'Toth froze for a moment, uncertain of what to do. She had often been told never to eat spoiled meat, but now her extended family and all of her grandfather's friends and former colleagues were staring at her. Then her mother touched her shoulder, and when Na'Toth looked up she saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
She had never spoken openly of the pain her grandfather's illness caused her, but Na'Toth knew that she could not add to it by insulting his memory. There was no greater shame than being left to rot instead of taken into the bodies of your family, and her grandfather had done nothing to deserve that. She put the brains into her mouth, swallowing without chewing and trying not to taste anything. Na'Toth was proud to see her sisters follow her, although they made faces afterwards.
All at once, she felt everyone relax, and she moved aside so that others could approach the table. Her grandfather's body would not lie abandoned, and she could see from their smiles that she had pleased her parents.
Tonight, she would ask that she be allowed to take the Shon'Kar against Deathwalker along with the adults. One day she would be a strong warrior, and then she would feed on the flesh of their enemy. She hoped that it would be a meal as sweet as this one had been bitter.
The End
Rating: I don't quite know how to warn for this without giving the story away, so I'll just say PG-13 for adult themes. Read at your own risk.
Funeral Feast
By Andraste
The morning of her grandfather's funeral was warm, and although nobody hurried through the ceremony, Na'Toth could sense tension among the adults around her. Nobody wanted the funeral feast to spoil in the sun, and although it had been covered to stop the insects from getting to it there was a cloud of flies hovering above the cloth. The crowd of people chanting, the heat, and hunger from fasting through the previous day and night had combined to make her younger siblings restless, and more than once she had to reach over and poke one of her sisters to make them stay silent.
This was the first family funeral Na'Toth could truly remember attending. When her grandmother had died, she had been no older than her small brother Shu'Lan was now, curled up in her father's lap as he was today. Father had fed her share of the feast with his fingers, although she knew that only by watching what happened at other ceremonies.
The silence in the room when the adults stopped chanting was sudden enough to be startling, and Na'Toth wondered how everyone remembered just how long it was meant to go on. She was glad that she was still young enough that she had ot stay silent, although her sisters didn't seem to be enjoying it. They would not have to try much longer, since the formal part of the ceremony was almost over. Mother had refused to allow a priest to attend, and her father had not pressed her.
The family rose from their seats first, Na'Toth a heartbeat behind her parents, and went to stand in line before the table laden with cooked food. She knew that this was meant to be the moment of greatest sadness, before the joy and renewal that the feast itself would bring, but all Na'Toth had felt since her grandfather had died the day before was relief.
The death that had claimed him had done so slowly, and she could dimly remember a time when he had been able to speak and laugh, when he had been a person instead of an empty shell that had to be fed and cleaned by Na'Toth's father. His life in the past few years had been without dignity or honour, and she was glad that he no longer suffered.
Na'Toth's mother was the only one of her brood still living. She had already been grown and married when the rest of her family went to Hylak 7, and had been spared the destruction that had taken her mother and siblings. There was nobody left to share in the eating of her father's heart, and Na'Toth waited for some time as she cut it up and swallowed it, chewing slowly as was appropriate for the occasion.
Once she had finished, it was time for Na'Toth and her siblings to take their place before the table. Only Na'Toth herself had actually grown tall enough to reach the plate that was theirs by right of relation, and it took her a moment to pick the brain out from among the other organs. Someone had been kind enough to cut it up for her at some stage in the preperations, so her duty as eldest grandchild was limited to handing a segment to each of her sisters and holding out another to her brother where he lay in her father's arms.
She did not expect such a young child to eat all of it – it was only important for the sake of tradition that he taste – but she was shocked when her brother turned his head away and squealed in protest instead of taking the meat.
Her father frowned and hushed Shu'Lan, as Na'Toth sniffed at the food. It did not smell rotten, but when she took a bite it tasted spoiled, filled with the sharp tang of metal. The machine that had rooted itself in her grandfather's brain had not only killed his mind and spirit, it had tainted his very flesh.
Na'Toth froze for a moment, uncertain of what to do. She had often been told never to eat spoiled meat, but now her extended family and all of her grandfather's friends and former colleagues were staring at her. Then her mother touched her shoulder, and when Na'Toth looked up she saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
She had never spoken openly of the pain her grandfather's illness caused her, but Na'Toth knew that she could not add to it by insulting his memory. There was no greater shame than being left to rot instead of taken into the bodies of your family, and her grandfather had done nothing to deserve that. She put the brains into her mouth, swallowing without chewing and trying not to taste anything. Na'Toth was proud to see her sisters follow her, although they made faces afterwards.
All at once, she felt everyone relax, and she moved aside so that others could approach the table. Her grandfather's body would not lie abandoned, and she could see from their smiles that she had pleased her parents.
Tonight, she would ask that she be allowed to take the Shon'Kar against Deathwalker along with the adults. One day she would be a strong warrior, and then she would feed on the flesh of their enemy. She hoped that it would be a meal as sweet as this one had been bitter.
The End