Just a quick note that the blog is on hold until after the first of the year…with the holidays and my health, things have spiraled a little and time has passed too fast. So, a little break and we will return again after the first of the year…and hopefully the new chapter will be ready and posted by then, but it may have to be postponed and posted on February 1st instead. We will See. I wish all of you many happy wishes during the holidays.
Cherry
I had mentioned a while back that the noise and smell was horrible. I spoke too soon. Much too soon. I had not accounted for a storm.
Take the sound of animals and humans and add moaning and retching of women getting sick to the sounds along with the crashing waves. The pounding rain and the booming thunder and the snapping lightning. Then you have the sounds that are occurring here.
Yet, as bad as the sounds are…the smells have to be worse by a thousand-fold. The urine, feces, the bile, the sweat, and the stench of fear. The seawater with the sea life dying in it, the women's soaked belongings, and the waterlogged crates and barrels. Oh, and do not forget the very wood itself. It lends the most…intriguing aroma to the mix.
We have no window's to open, we cannot open the hatch above the steps. We are virtual prisoners down here. The swaying of the hammocks are unbearable, yet the only other alternative is to sit or lay on the waterlogged floor. We have not seen hide nor hair of the captain or any of the crew since the storm begain. If we could not hear the occasional shout or boot thudding on the wood above us over the din of the storm, I would begin to wonder if we had been abandoned.
It has been only a day--or has it been two?--but it feels much longer than that. Already several of the women are showing signs of fever…and one is even showing symptoms of madness. I am beginning to fear for these women…and in reality, we have barely begun our journey.
I have to wonder, just how much worse this is going to get…and I am not talking of the storm--not with this…
~Shashanna
I supposed you wonder where Allorana's father is in all of this. I have yet to mention him.
Allorana knows nothing of him, other than our joining was in part to try to unite the islands of Atlantis and Lemuria, and in part to try to create a child. We succeeded on one account and we had thought that we had succeeded on the second as well.
That was the first, and only, time I had gone to Atlantis. I had lived with her father for a few months as we performed the sacred magics.
During that time, I came to care for him, he was a very charming man, strong and yet tender. A warrior, yet also not afraid to show his feelings. His feelings that I believe were stronger for me than mine were for him. For I did care for him, but I did not love him.
He wished for me to forsake my vows as a priestess and my pledges to both our people to stay with him. This I could not do. I believe I hurt him more than I intended the day I left. It was on my journey home that I found I was child…his child. I arrived back home with only a few months left to prepare for the birth.
When Allorana was born, I did send a letter to him, but I also told him that neither of us would, or could, join him. That our place was with the Lemurians. Our duty was to serve them, and that I hoped that our pledges to his people would hold, that I did not break trust with them. Nor did I intend to--I sent a letter to his king of that part as well--and that one day I hoped he could come to Lemuria to meet his daughter, for that is what he had, and I told him her name.
I had no idea this was the way that they would one day meet, that she would be taken there. I do not know if he has a part in it or not, I hope he does not…
~Shashanna
I thought I was used to the smell and the noise, living in a village with animals kept very close to home—although none are kept at the temple.
However, nothing prepared me for living onboard a ship with so many animals packed alongside so many humans. The heat of the bodies make the smell worse and the noise is unceasing. It goes night and day. The stench permeates everything—what we eat, what we drink, and of course, the air we breath. You can taste it on the back of your tongue like a fur. No matter how often you swallow, how often you drink, or where you go onboard the ship…it stays with you. Not even the ocean breezes and winds can wipe it away. It lingers like the most unpleasant spirit.
Add that to the noise of the animals…their calls, their shifting feet…and the noise of the humans…the sooner I am off this ship and with my daughter, the sooner we make the return trip home…the better. I never want to be on a ship again! The minute I am home again, my feet will never again leave dry soil.
Never.
~Shashanna
Drifting in this ship while the storm tosses us around, I have nothing to do but think back…well, not think back so much as wish things were how they were a few years back. When Allorana was more innocent, before her gifts started manifesting. I am exceedingly proud of her. of how she is blossoming, and how she is discovering her power…but I miss my little girl, and her innocence. She was so sweet—she still is—but she was not in the notice of other people’s powers when she was not in her power. She was more carefree. I miss my little girl, from then, and now. I wonder if she had never started coming into her powers if things would be different now, or if she would still be taken as a power-play for other purposes. the gods move in strange ways and things still play out even when we think the key elements have been changed. the chances are she would still be taken, but there is a chance she would not. If I could, I might change the fact of her powers. Then again…I might not. She would not be the being she is if it were not for her powers. I just don’t know anything any more. I never thought I would doubt anything the way I have since I woke with that clouded vision. If only this storm would pass so we know where we stand, so we can get our bearings and get to Atlantis…My entries will becoming more sporadic as our journey gets further underway and we become busier. I will enter them as I can.
~Shashanna
a storm is coming. The water is getting rough. the dolphins and Orca’s are up playing, they seem to enjoy it, but they are keeping a safe distance from the ship. The waves have whitecaps on them.
The night was so dark. darker than it should have been. Clouds moved in. It was really rough going. Several of the women got sick down below. it really made things worse.
It is no wonder I tended to stay on firm ground, unless I have a choice. That is, except for the spirit. I have never seen seen these seas so rough. The seas around Atlanits, yes…I have heard they get particularly rough…but it is pretty unusual for these to get this rough. They can, but it is rare.
I would battle my way through the gods and demons if I had to, to get to Allorana. And, I just may have to. This storm can’t be completely natural.
The captain is asking everyone to secure themselves again…it looks like it is going to be really bad…
~Shashanna
I do. I miss Allorana. I hate that she was virtually ripped form my arms. I haven’t even taken time to really cry. I can’t afford to. maybe when I can find time to truly be alone, I can let myself. but not right now. Now I have to be strong.
I hope they are treating her well. I hope they are being kind to her. Do they even know how to treat a child of her caliber? I doubt it.
There is nothing worse than having your child taken from you. nothing worse than a mother being separated from her child. I know all of the mother’s out there will know what I am talking about. The Atlantean’s should know better than this. They know our children are precious. theirs are just as precious. why do this. why not wait until she is older and ask her to go to them if that is what they seek? Give her the chance to make her own decision, instead of ripping her from what she knows and loves? From what is familiar?
I want my daughter back
~Shashanna
some of the travelers from other places, from other civilizations that stop through our village for trade and rest often ask what the difference between the Atlantean and Lemurian cultures are. We are both highly advanced and are the centers of the world. We are what the other civilizations look to for their guidance. Yet, for the most part, Lemuria is more peaceful and spiritual, and Atlantis is more power hungry. They ask what makes us so different. especially as Lemuria is so much older.
the main difference, the one that separates us and keeps us from harmony is the fact that they practically worship science and have virtually disregarded their gods. they still have their gods, and worship them accordingly, but they also place their science equal to them.
Whereas the Lemurian’s have taken the call of the gods and placed spirituality above all. we place the guidance of the spirit as the main importance, to the point that our children are schooled well into their twenties and even into their thirties if they wish to become full citizens.
The Lemurian’s teach to work with nature to live and survive. whereas the Atlantean’s force nature to give them what they want…going so far as to tear the resources out of the belly of Earth, mining deep inside her until there are deep gashes. For our crystals and other minerals, we have found ways that Earth gently gives them to us, brings them to her surface so we do not have to rip and tear. the only wounds we give her is in the sowing of the seeds, and then we gently heal her each time.
We teach to live in harmony unless there is no other way. The Atlantean’s teach to rule and conquer.
I must run. There is danger. I will return as soon as I can…
~Shashanna
I have to distract myself from the thoughts of Allorana or I will go mad…I think I am half-there already. If not, I am making great strides at it. Maybe it is a punishment from the gods. Aimed straight at me. But not the Lemurian gods…it would have to be the Atlantean’s.
Working with the gods is not an easy path. It leads to jealousy, even among my kindred spirits, the other priests and priestesses. And it also leads to jealousy among the gods. If I work with one above the others, the others get jealous. It is a delicate balance to tread.
Imagine it.
With the peers: especially if you are at a meeting with them, there is always the risk of treason, of treachery, of possibly even death. Yes, even us loving and kind Chimu, or Children of Lemuria, can murder each other if the reason is good enough…and some think power is a good enough reason. no one is immune to power.
or, with your subjects: they get jealous of the power you hold, and want it for themselves, not realizing that they cannot hold or understand that power.
Or with other nations, other cultures, other civilizations. They took my daughter, didn’t they?
Now the gods, they are the most jealous of them all. Even the gods outside of the pantheon that you work with. The see you working with a single one, or many, and they get jealous and want you for their own—or inside of the pantheon that you are working in—and so they do whatever it takes. again, I believe that this is part of the reason that they allowed Allorana to be taken. I don’t know if it is my own gods, or some others…perhaps the Atlantean gods, or some other culture entirely.
Regardless, whoever it is, I will stop them, even if it does take my sanity, even if it takes my last breath. I will stop this. even if it sacrifices every last one of the Chimu. I will stop this, as long as my daughter is saved from them. I will not stop. Now if that is not a vow, I don’t know what is, and I will adhere to this vow, you have my word. Call me power hungry, call me vengeful, call me what you will. I am a mother determined to rescue and see my daughter safe and the world will crumble until she is.
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