April Marathon - 6. Family
Apr. 6th, 2026 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormandozoneSit, sit little Leyna. Let me tell you a tale while we protect you from the Thing That Waits.
Once upon a time there was a girl. She was clever, and cautious, and all things that her people were supposed to be. She had no mother but the midnight sky; no father but the deep shadows in the woodlands. She was kin to all, and beholden to none.
One autumn, she went a-roving, far from her forest home. She went to the south, where the jungles were haunted by the spirits of beasts turned into something grander, worshiped by her cousins. She went to the west, over the waters, and saw lands her kind had never known. She went north, where spires of gold pushed against the crown of the world.
And there, she tasted what power really was.
But though they were so similar, the powerful kin in the tall towers would have nothing to do with their sister from the earth. No matter how she tried, she could not scale to the heavens the way they did.
Stop fidgeting, or the bleeding will be worse, Leyna!
In the streets, she showed them her skills. In the grand halls, she shared with them her knowings. In the towers, she revealed the secrets she had stolen from all other kin. She wanted the power they drank like water, she wanted the wealth they spent freely. No matter how she tried to placate, to pander, to cajole, they would not see her. She was mud on their streets, and they sent her to their own dark corners.
Aggrieved, spurned, she turned her back on the city and its gold and majesty. No kin of hers, she said, would ever look down on her again.
Hush! Hush. You are done for now, It cannot find you.
Once upon a time there was a girl. She was clever, and cautious, and all things that her people were supposed to be. She had no mother but the midnight sky; no father but the deep shadows in the woodlands. She was kin to all, and beholden to none.
One autumn, she went a-roving, far from her forest home. She went to the south, where the jungles were haunted by the spirits of beasts turned into something grander, worshiped by her cousins. She went to the west, over the waters, and saw lands her kind had never known. She went north, where spires of gold pushed against the crown of the world.
And there, she tasted what power really was.
But though they were so similar, the powerful kin in the tall towers would have nothing to do with their sister from the earth. No matter how she tried, she could not scale to the heavens the way they did.
Stop fidgeting, or the bleeding will be worse, Leyna!
In the streets, she showed them her skills. In the grand halls, she shared with them her knowings. In the towers, she revealed the secrets she had stolen from all other kin. She wanted the power they drank like water, she wanted the wealth they spent freely. No matter how she tried to placate, to pander, to cajole, they would not see her. She was mud on their streets, and they sent her to their own dark corners.
Aggrieved, spurned, she turned her back on the city and its gold and majesty. No kin of hers, she said, would ever look down on her again.
Hush! Hush. You are done for now, It cannot find you.
