Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 4
I almost didn't recognize my sister. She was taller than anyone I'd ever known. Her girlhood braid was gone, burned away by the heat of Daughter Sun. Like all the other women, her skin was tough and brown but hers was stretched over muscles that flexed when she moved. Even her face had changed. Her nose was longer, her cheekbones more pronounced, and her lips red and full. Her woman claws were longer, too. They clicked on the hard rock when she crossed the terrace.
She was dressed in the strangest clothing. A soft looking green fabric wrapped around her bulging waist and hung to her knees. More strips were wrapped around her breasts and up over one shoulder where it looped several times to make a padded perch for the largest basherter I had ever seen.
Unlike Charles's black feathers, Rosalie's companion had red, gold, and speckled brown feathers. Its beak was big and very pointed. When anyone tried to approach her, it screeched and flapped its huge wings, snapping with a sharp bill. Rosalie said something, and it sprang to the ground. It moved back to the edge of the rocks but continued to pace back and forth, squawking and shaking its head. Then, mother was hugging Rosalie, then the aunties, and then Alice. I hung back, scared and uncomfortable with the changes in my sister, afraid she wouldn't remember me.
Rosalie searched the terrace, her gaze finally settling on me where I peeked from behind a rock. She smiled, but I only frowned, moving to hide more of myself. "Bella, little sister, will you not welcome me home?" she asked as she crouched in front of me.
"You were gone so long," I whispered, "and you got too big."
"I know." She smiled gently. "But it is me, and I've missed you so much!" She opened her arms, and I jumped into them.
I hid my face on her shoulder, ashamed of my behavior. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
"It's all right." She stood up, settling me on her hip. "Would you like to meet my basherter?" she asked. "Its name is Emmett."
Emmett was watching us, great golden eyes darting from face to face. "Is it scared?" I asked.
"No." Rosalie chuckled. "Just very protective of me." She spoke its name, and it slowly approached. When she stood me on the ground facing it, I was surprised to find it almost as tall as I was. "Hold out your hand, Bella."
Timidly, I did as she asked. Emmett cautiously laid its large head in my hand; its feathers were slick and smooth against my rough skin. Then, it slowly stretched its big bill and gently nipped at my palm. It tickled and I giggled. Emmett chirped, then spread its huge wings and flew to Rosalie's shoulder.
Taking my hand, she began to lead us all back into our rock sanctuary. "Let's go find my new home, little sister," she said.
Like the homes of all the other girls who left and returned as women, Rosalie's new home was on the third level above our pond. The cave opened onto a broad walkway that circled the overlook and passed in front of each home. Carved rock stairways connected the levels. I was surprised to find it ready and waiting for her.
Large stuffed seating pillows were grouped around a small table for eating in the gathering room. Two openings led to sleeping rooms. One for the daughters she would eventually have and one for her and her basherter. I peeked into Rosalie's room, trying to imagine her sleeping there with Emmett by her side instead of Alice and me. A large bed, covered in woven fabrics took most of the room. Baskets for storage were waiting in carved niches, but what interested me the most was a woven sling hanging from rock projections on the ceiling.
"What is this," I asked, pulling at the interlocking cords.
"It's where I'll put my baby when she's sleeping." My sister spread the sling open wider. "She'll be safe in here and I can rock her like this." Rosalie gently pushed it back and forth.
"But?" I frowned staring at the small area. "That's too small. Won't she be too big for it?"
"No." She chuckled. "She will fit just fine. Just like you did when you were born."
I stared in shock at my big sister. "You mean I was that small?"
"Yes. So was I, and Alice, and our mother and her mother. We all slept in this sling."
I shook my head. I wasn't exactly sure what a baby was, but I knew nothing could be that small. It didn't take me long to find out, though, as one by one the women whose bellies had swelled began to have their babies.
Alice and I, along with our mother and our aunties, were with Rosalie when she gave birth to her daughter. Alice told me she had watched me being born, but I had never seen a baby and had no idea what to expect.
Rosalie paced the floor, back and forth across the small room. From time to time she would stop, rub her lower back and stomach, and then she would pace again. She didn't appear to be in pain, just very uncomfortable. Alice and I were told to stay out of the way, and Emmett was banished to the corner with us. It was restless, shifting from clawed talon to clawed talon, ruffling its feathers, and chirping sadly from time to time. Alice stroked its feathers, whispered calming words, and it finally settled. Then, with Auntie Charlotte holding her sides, Rosalie knelt over a padded mat on the floor. Mother reached between her legs and caught my sister's baby.
Although everyone seemed very excited and happy about the birth, I was not impressed. It seemed such a scrawny, ugly little thing, covered in blood and goo. Later, after Rosalie and the baby were cleaned and resting in her bed, she called me to her room. She was propped up on pillows, her basherter keeping watch from its perch on the wall. Her baby was wrapped in soft blankets and sleeping soundly in her arms. When Rosalie pulled back the covers from the baby's face and I gazed down at her, my thoughts changed completely.
"Bella, I want you to meet someone."
I reached out and gently ran one finger down the side of her cheek. Her skin was so soft, her head covered with fine, tightly curled, dark hair. "She's beautiful," I whispered.
"Her name is Emma and she'll be lucky to have you and Alice as her aunties."
I grinned at my sister. "I'm an auntie now!"
With Daughter Sun gone, Mother Sun returned to her place in our sky. Grandmother Sun circled the horizon, and life returned to the normal I remembered. The plants and the fish grew at a slower rate. We harvested them and supplemented our meals with stored supplies.
I joined Alice for classes. The seers taught us to read and write, to do numbers, and to recite. We listened to stories of our foremothers and the histories of our world. We learned the Three Prayers, the Three Blessings, and the Three Stages of Womanhood.
After our mid-meal, we left our rock island and journeyed out onto the great sands. There we learned to run, to wrestle, to track, to read the weather, and to know the ways of the animals of our world.
Alice, and the girls her age, were given their own knives and taught how to gut and skin our daily fish. They each selected their own walking staff and spent part of each wake cycle training with the poles. I watched her do all this, eager for the time when I would be old enough.
I spent time with Rosalie and Emma and loved nothing more than to rock her in her sling bed and sing silly songs I made up. As she grew, Alice and I played games with her. After she learned to walk, we took her to look at the fish and the flowers blooming in the pond. When she was weaned and moved into a bed in her sleeping room, Alice and I would sometimes stay over, cuddling her between us while we slept. Emmett was always there, guarding, protecting, and sometimes scolding us when it thought we played too rough.
There were other times when Rosalie, Emma, and Emmett would leave our rock island and wander off into the great sands by themselves. With her basherter soaring in the sky above her, provisions in a pack upon her back, and holding her daughter's hand, Rosalie would lead them across the dunes away from our home. When I asked her why, she said it was to have some time alone as a family and because she wanted to see more of our world. They always came back, Emma babbling about what they had seen and done, and Rosalie happy and contented.
Time passed. We were well-fed and happy. Life was orderly, peaceful, and untroubled. Then Daughter Sun returned.
Having lived through one Anamnesis already, I knew what to expect this time. When Mother Sun went to her sleep and Grandmother Sun graced us with her pale red light, I climbed the stairs to the top of our island with Alice and my mother. Rosalie followed with Emma on her hip. It made me smile to see her, remembering how I had clung to my mother the last time.
Alice and I grabbed Emma's hand, then we ran giggling and laughing to play in the magical light and the ever-shifting shadows. I tried to enjoy myself, but there was a sad part inside that reminded me Alice would be leaving when Daughter Sun rose.
Once again, we ate and drank, chanted the names of our foremothers, and honored those who had left us. Emma and I tossed flowers into the darkened sky. Rosalie drew Alice aside, and she and Mother helped her crush the sweet herbs and inhale their scent. I paid more attention this time, wondering why it was only for the woman and the girls who were ready for their Metanora. Alice shuddered when she drew in the powder and her eyes widened and dilated. A quick glance told me Mother and Rosalie had reacted the same way.
When the ceremony was over, the basherti arrived. They filled the sky with their cries, calling to us as they circled and soared above us. Charles landed on my mother's shoulder, greeting her with a trilling chirp and rubbing her cheek. When it turned to me, it was the same as before, cool feathers on my face and a tiny nip on my earlobe which made me laugh. Then, it flew to Alice's shoulder. As with Rosalie before, it studied Alice's face, then wrapped huge wings around her before singing softly in her ear. I realized Charles understood Alice would soon face her Metanora and was giving support and encouragement.
When the seers came to lead us to our home caves, Alice and I took Emma with us, leaving Rosalie and Emmett, and Mother and Charles, with the other adult women. Once again, I lagged behind, peeking over the top as we descended the stairs. And once again, it seemed to me that the basherti were growing larger and changing shape in the deepening shadows beneath the darkened sky and the shimmering rosy light.
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AN: Thanks for reading. I'm enjoying your thoughts and theories about Bella's world. I've decided to start posting twice a week since I have most of this story written and I see no reason to extend the posting for several months. Special thanks to Sally for making me look good.
It's super cold and snowing again. We're staying in and trying to stay warm. No power cutoffs yet. Take care everyone and stay safe.
