ꙮ The Temple Infirmary. Yazhn Ravhi has sent for Yazhn Dyu - a human messenger, on foot, found Dyu where he was working in the Temple, and told him that the Yazhn of Yazhn had called for him, at Ardith’s room, as soon as he was able.
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#yazhn ravhi
#dyu
he tells the messenger he will be there at once, but must first stop at his quarters, which is blessedly on the way. He knows full well what the summons is for, and there is something he needs to retrieve for it. From his bedside table, he pulls a rolled up square of fabric; the needlepoint project he has been diligently working on, so that it would be ready for when this day arrived.
ꙮ Right where you left it, the fabric soft in your hands. Straight to the Infirmary after that, then? There’s a Vehru there mother-henning rather severely, and the moment she sees you, she points towards the room, not that you don’t know exactly where it is.
he gives a nod to the Vehru, and goes to his destination, the room of his dear friend, Ardith.
is there, by Ardith’s side. He’s been there for much of the morning, and you can tell by the way the gnosis flows around him that he’s been steadily, constantly channeling healing light, with unbroken devotion. He looks up, when Dyu enters- eye flicking down to the cloth he’s holding, and nods, once.
he returns Ravhi’s nod. “It is time, isn’t it, Teacher?”
nods, once more. His voice is slightly rough; the chants have been near-silent, but he’s been chanting his orisons nonstop. “It is. Will you help Ardith conclude their Work?” It’s a formal phrase, but it’s also, very much, Yazhn Ravhi asking Yazhn Dyu if he is ready, if this is the right moment, and willing to accept either answer.
takes a deep breath, and with as much calm and collectiveness as he can muster, “I am ready. For he has done much in the Work, and is deserving to have his rest.”. He pauses, before holding out the fabric in his hand. “May I give this to him first, Teacher?”
nods. “Of course you may.” And then, softer and more personally: “I know how hard you’ve worked on it.” And, unsaid, yet clear: I know what this means to you. I’m proud of your Work.
softly, “Thank you, Teacher. Ardith taught me what I know, and I wanted to gift him it when this time came.”. He kneels down beside Ardith’s bed, and unfurls the fabric he’s been holding. It is a square of soft fabric, with intricate embroidery, done by Dyu, himself; It contains a ring of knotwork, interspersed with leaves and flowers, surrounding a stylized sun. Beneath it, the words, ‘We Work, For Those That Come After’. He gently places it across Ardith’s lap, and places their hands onto it, covering them with his own. “My friend, I know not if you can hear me, but, this is for you. A token of my devotion and friendship, and appreciation for all that you have taught me over the years.”
ꙮ Their hands, gnarled by nodules of stone, briefly and slightly close around your claws; they’re fairly deeply sedated, between Ravhi’s gnosis and the Vehru medicine, because at this point, it’s the best that can be done - but their hand tightens, first on yours, and then, running fingertips lightly over the cloth, over the texture of the knotwork. In their rest before rest, they smile, ever so slightly.
he takes their hand into his with a gentle squeeze, and touches it to his forehead. “You will be with me, my friend, ever and always. And you have more than earned your rest.”. He returns their hand to where it was, and, as he stands back up, wipes tears from his eyes. He then looks to Ravhi. “Let us guide him to his rest, Teacher.”
stands, then, and nods - briefly places a clawed hand on Dyu’s shoulder, steadying himself as much as anything else. “Maintain their orisons for me, while I walk?” And, with precise and solemn care, he lifts Ardith from their infirmary bed, cradles them in his arms. He’s done this– he never counted how many times. He wouldn’t think to. Enough to be an expert, by now. Softly: “In the God’s Day, we will all greet each other again.” And then he begins walking towards the heart of the Temple.
: “Of course, Teacher.”, and takes over for Ravhi, and follows along as they head towards the Temple, pouring his gnosis into Ardith as they go.
ꙮ And so the two of them walk through the Temple. It’s not far from the Infirmary to the great hall, to make it easier to get people to the Infirmary as fast as possible, but also– to make this just that many steps easier for the Kin whose Work it is to assist the humans in their last acts for the God’s sake. Dyu prays the orisons, and his gnosis flows freely into Ardith, and they do not feel pain; their good eye looks up towards the vaulting of the ceiling, the intricate geometric patterns of the hall leading to the Gallery, into the balconies of the Gallery itself. Before the golden pyramid at the heart of the Gallery, Yazhn Ravhi pauses, bows his head reverently.
: “Nothing given to the Work is ever lost; all things true are kept, counted, and known.”
bows his head as well, repeating softly to himself. “Nothing given to the Work is ever lost; all things true are kept, counted, and known.”
then, looking straight ahead, walks -through- the golden wall of the central pyramid, carrying Ardith with him.
follows behind, keeping in step with his Teacher.
ꙮ Yazhn Dyu steps inside the Holy of Holies. Its walls are gold, its floor is gold, all inscribed with an impossibly complicated, intricate gnosis. At the apex of the pyramid, looking down on the entire thing, all of the channels and inscriptions all converge in a whorl of etchings into the gold, spiraling in towards a central point. Directly below that, rough stone rises out of the golden floor. A dark rock, with shimmering glints of mica or some other sort of inclusion in it; if Dyu had ever seen the night sky full of stars in his life, he might make the comparison. There’s a natural indentation in the stone.
slowly steps forward, and as carefully as he picked Ardith up, he lays them down in the indentation, head bowed, and stays standing on the Rock, and motions for Dyu to join him there.
Takes the briefest of moments to take in the sight of the Holy of Holies, before joining Ravhi, standing beside him.
reaches out his hand, holding it above Ardith, in the path of the line formed by the apex of the pyramid and Ardith’s heart. Softly: “No one who serves the Work is ever lost. We awaken, we Work, and we go to our rest, and in the fullness of days shall we awake renewed to an eternal Day. There is no straight road to the Garden that does not pass through the gates of the heart. Ardith gave that which was theirs to give, in faithful service to the God and the Work. Let them now be blessed with rest, let them be kept in our memory and the God’s. Let them be counted amidst the Gallery, awaiting the God’s Day. Let them be known by all that would remember them as we gather, and our future gathers, and our future’s future gathers, that one day, we might all awake together, beneath eternal light.” And then, he nods, to Dyu, a fraction: “Ardith, we who loved you and cared for you sing you to your peaceful rest.” He closes his eyes, and begins to quietly channel gnosis.
nods back, closing his eyes, and as he channels his gnosis, opens his mind, so that the words of the Song, may come to him, and flow through him in his voice. ⁂
: “We cannot measure His love,*
Like the Cosmos, it grows without bounds.
As the striding of time,
in His brillance and truth, it’s Unending.” ⁂*
: “Rest now, be bathed in His love,*
We continue the Work in your stead.
As the coming of Night,
oh, His Majesty true, Until Morning.” ⁂*
: “In His Holy Name, I tend now to you,*
I hope my devotion shows, for everything I ever do,
is For You.” 🙧*
mouths his own words, quietly, letting Dyu’s voice carry the song, echoing through the chamber. It seems so small, on the inside, so close.
ꙮ For a brief, flickering moment, Yazhn Dyu feels God’s presence, looking backwards from that Day of glory on which He arrives. ⁂
ꙮ Gnosis pours from Dyu and Ravhi’s hands, a bright line of light through the air into Ardith’s body, and for another brief, flickering moment, the three of them are perfectly united in their will to awaken, together, come what may; to see one another again on the God’s day. ⁂
ꙮ The gnosis pools, and their body - dressed in a soft white robe from the Infirmary, and covered by the blanket which Dyu embroidered for them, begins to glow more and more brightly. The nodules in their flesh melt away in the light, they begin to lose form. Yazhn Ravhi -focuses- on the channeled gnosis, the spell worked into the gold - Dyu feels, -understands- the contours of it, his mind, itself, is a key shaped to this lock, and always has been - and the light that was, once, Ardith’s body spills over its own boundaries, spills over the Rock, flows past Dyu and Ravhi’s feet onto the gold floor of the Holy of Holies; wicks up through the engravings of the gold until the two of them are surrounded by that which was once their beloved friend, suffused in that light. ⁂
- You hear — and your Star hears — a song, echoing from the stillness: A Soul At Rest
ꙮ A moment that lasts a breath, and the light reaches the whorl at the apex of the pyramid, and is drawn in, and conducted away, elsewhere - not into the sky or into the earth, not along the axis formed by the apex and Ardith’s heart and the Kin’s waiting hands but along some other vector entirely, and it is gone, and the room is still dim gold again, and a ruby-red crystal about the size of a fist floats up, extricating itself from Ardith’s robes, slowly and steadily, until it’s nestled in Dyu and Ravhi’s outstretched hands. 🙧
stares in awe at the crystal that now rests in his and Ravhi’s hands, the richness of the color, and the warmth of it against his palm. His voice shakes a bit, “Rest well, my friend. We will see each other again one day.”
lets out a breath he’d been holding in; his hand closes around both Dyu’s, and the crystal. “Indeed, we shall.” He smiles, lightly, but wearily. “Perhaps even before that Day, chosen for a festival of Light. Yes?” He closes Dyu’s hands -around- Ardith’s crystal, and lowers himself to pick up the robes and the blanket, and saves any further thoughts until he’s led Dyu through the golden wall of the Holy of Holies and back out into the Gallery.
: “Yes, Teacher.”, he says, following Ravhi into the Gallery, keeping Ardith’s crystal safe in his hands.
leads Dyu over to a stele that Dyu knows contains the crystals of others of Ardith’s cohort, by now, reaches out a hand, and it smoothly starts rising higher and higher into the air, revealing row after row of little cubbyholes, almost all of them at first containing red crystals and golden nameplates. As the stele rises, eventually there’s some empty spaces for crystals to be placed, and at a certain one, Ravhi stops the stele, and places the nameplate, Ardith’s name carefully engraved, and steps aside, for Dyu.
steps up to the stele, and pauses for a moment, whispering to the crystal in his hands, “Goodnight…my dearest friend. I shall see you in the Morning.”, before placing Ardith gently into the space that is theirs.
bows his head, and- again, and he does not care if anyone browsing the Gallery thinks it strange, gently places his hand on Dyu’s shoulder, as the stele sinks back into the ground.
is thankful for the hand on his shoulder, and takes a breath, which is admittedly a bit ragged, as he watches the stele disappear into the ground.
says, in almost a whisper. “You did well, Dyu.” And then, even softer: “May the Work be done.” And then the stele’s level with the ground, and Ravhi’s nictitating membranes blink tears from his eyes, and only after a few moments does he ask: “Do you think Ardith would have wished for you to hold on to the gift you made for them, or give it to the Infirmary to give comfort unto others?”
softly, his voice trembling a bit, “May the Work be done.”. He takes a breath, to regain his composure, and thinks a moment. “Ardith was…always one to help others. So if it can bring someone else a modicum of comfort while they are in the Infirmary, I think he would be happy with that.”. a bit of a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.
nods, again, and– that can come later. He motions, gently, and walks with Dyu out of the Gallery, head bowed - a few humans and Kin paying their respects recognise the Yazhn and bow their heads in respect, knowing what business they would have been here on - down the hallway, a quick cut through the Great Hall, without a word spoken, and then their sacristy, which is their space if it’s anyone’s. Ravhi holds the door open, for Dyu.
gives a respectful nod as he enters the sacristy, and, once inside, takes a seat.
closes the door, almost as soon as Dyu is inside, and sits by Dyu’s side without saying a word.
feeling Ravhi beside him, and in their space, he finally lets it all in; the loss, the sadness, the -Grief-. It crashes over him like a tidal wave that he had been keeping at bay with both hands. It starts with his hands clasping the fabric of his robe in his lap…to his shoulders starting to tremble and quake…until it all washes over him, and he begins to sob. Wailing, guttural cries wrack him, filling the room. Tears, hot and stinging, pour down his cheeks, collecting under his chin before falling onto his robes. His dearest friend is gone, and he did everything he could to ease his pain. But was it -enough-?
, for the moment, and the time being – he remembers his own emotions, the first time he ushered a human to their last Work. Like Ardith, she had been a friend who’d taught him much. Like Dyu, he’d struggled. Even knowing, fully, that he would see her again– he swallows a lump in his own throat, and does what his own Yazhn could not have done, what he himself could not have done, a scant week ago, and remains silent for the time being, and curls one arm around Dyu’s shoulders, a comforting -presence-, free of any judgement.
leans into the embrace, pressing his face into Ravhi’s shoulder, as the cries continue to come, the tears continue to flow. Without thinking he puts his arms around Ravhi, letting the emotions move over and through him. With time, the sobs slow, as do the tears, until he is able to breathe without gasping between cries. As he surfaces from his grief, he wipes his face on the corner of his sleeve, a move he knows is not dignified, but, he’s sure he’ll be forgiven.
does not move away, even when Dyu leans in and buries his face into his shoulder - this is their space, and even if it were not, Ravhi is suddenly certain that he would not care. His hand strokes Dyu’s shoulder, comfortingly, and as Dyu’s sobs weaken, he hums a soft, gentle creche-song, and that he could never do, were this not their space, but it is, and he can, and he does.
hearing the song Ravhi hums, and the warmth of his comfort, he is finally able to stop the sobs from coming, his breathing returning to a normal rhythm. When he feels he is able, he sits more upright. “Thank you…for that, Teacher. That was…I needed that. More than I think I knew.”
nods, and then finally, softly, speaks “Even as we know that the God’s day will come, that we will meet those we loved again… we are here, now, awake, and those whom we loved are at rest. We must endure their absence while we still wake. There is never any shame in feeling that loss, Dyu. If the world brightens when new people are awakened, it must therefore dim when they return to their rest, and we must await the Light of all who have ever lived while, ourselves, continuing in the half-light left by those lights by which we steered our steps.”
nods, and says softly, “When the God’s day comes, we will walk in the Light with all those who came before us, that they know our love, and we know theirs.”
: “And all those whom we have yet to meet. Who shall awaken in the days after we, ourselves, go to our rest.” …and he gently squeezes Dyu’s shoulder. “And in -this- day, we have each other, and we are ourselves Light by which others might navigate. Yes? I’m told you’re developing quite a reputation as a Teacher, already.”
: “Yes, Teacher, we are a Light to guide those in their Work.” you can see a bit of color creep across his scales at the praise. “I…am??”.
grins, out of the corner of his mouth. “So I’ve heard from our visitors from afar. Soon you’ll be packing your own jars for the Jar Game.” And then a quiet beat. It’s been a while, but on– not a hunch, of course, because he had the jar prepared, he would have had to have done. “Speaking of which. Would you like to play the Jar Game with me, Dyu?”
his scales flush more, hearing the Travelers From Afar speak of him so. He takes a deep breath and nods. “Yes, Teacher, I would gladly play the Jar Game.” It will give him something to re-center himself, ground him again in the present.
nods, and turns slightly to the side, and pulls from a shelf in the sacristy, which he’d already prepared, a plate with a single dried date on it, and a heavy clay sealed jar, and moves aside just enough to place the plate and the jar between the two of them, and because it is part of the game, even though they have played it the God knows how many times already, even though Dyu learnt it from the Vehru in creche before he ever met Ravhi, he says: “Yazhn Dyu. You may take either the jar alone, or the jar and the plate. If I believe you will have taken the jar alone, I will have filled it with delicious figs and dates and all of your favourite things. If I believe you will have taken both the jar and the plate, I will have filled the jar with Desert’s sand and weights, and none of your favourite things whatsoever.” The closest thing to a playful smile Dyu sees on his face. “Which do you choose?”
he looks back and forth between the Jar, and the plate, pondering for a few moments, even though he is sure Ravhi already knows what he would choose anyway. “I would choose the Jar alone, Teacher.”, a bit of a playful smile on his own face.
lets the smile play out, and gently shoves the heavy jar closer towards Yazhn Dyu, while reaching out to pluck the date off the golden plate and consume it himself. “Go ahead, crack it open, then. Carefully, now.”
moves the Jar closer to himself, and slowly, carefully breaks the seal and lifts the lid.
ꙮ There are some people - mostly humans, but some Rohsu and Gorhn, and even the occasional Yazhn and Zvahr, and Yazhn Ravhi will go to his rest without ever admitting if he was one of this sort of person - who, upon taking the jar in the Jar Game, will merrily smash the clay with abandon to get at what’s inside; the jars are designed to be effectively one-use for this very reason. But Dyu is patient, and Dyu is careful, and Dyu is a little proud of the perfection with which he works his claw into the seal and breaks it and pries the lid off to reveal a truly alarmingly tightly-packed trove of dried fruits and candied curls of citrus peel.
his eyes sparkle at the sight of the bounty held within the clay jar, taking in a deep sniff of the sweet scent wafting out of it. He reaches in and takes a beautiful dried fig, looking at it almost lovingly before popping it into his mouth. A happy rumble comes unbidden as he chews the delicious treat.
smiles, to himself, still savoring the flavour of the date that he’d snatched from the unclaimed plate. It’s always a joy. Even when someone takes both, and gets the clay jar of sand and weights - as vanishingly rare as he has occasion to pack a jar full of something OTHER than figs and dates, and he’s never once been wrong - there is a playful joy to that, and they still get to enjoy the single date, after all. Softly, because it is still a ritual, and still must be observed, “And as I know your will the God will know us, and His Day will be ours in the Garden to come.”
smiles warmly at his mentor, and says softly, “His Day will be ours in the Garden to come.”
leans back on the bench, slightly, and tilts his head to the side. “By the way. If you wish to follow Qarina and our traveler friends– and spend some time getting to know them better, away from. Well, away from me and the City, you’ve my blessing to do so. Qarina took them to the sietch, I imagine, for them to be gone this long?”
thinks for a moment. “Knowing her, yes, that’s probably correct. And yes, I think I will. It would do me well to get out of the Temple for a bit, and get to know our guests better, besides!”
nods, and pauses, and opens his mouth to speak, and then closes it, and then impulsively opens it again. “Tell Wolf I send my regards?” And then a beat, and then: “Actually, if you could- come and find me, before you head out into the desert. I’ll have a letter for you.” His scales have gone dark around his horns.
notices that Ravhi’s horns turned that color the last time he spoke of Wolf, and grins playfully. “Well, I can do both things, Teacher.” He chuckles softly. “I shall come and find you before I set out, of course.”
bows his head, in gratitude, and if Dyu can cry in his presence, he can be flustered about their honored guest. “Thank you, Dyu.”
bows his head in gratitude in return. “It is my honor, Teacher. And…thank you. For everything today.”