Immaculate

The boys continue cycling between javelin throws, although Alunya tires of sitting still and starts serving as the runner announcing the distance. That is, until Reia calls out to them.

“Alunya, Antares! C’mon, the feast will start soon and there’s something we have to do first.” Reia announces.

Alunya looks over at her with a frown. “Awww! Can’t we go a little bit longer?”

Reia looks back towards the center doubtfully. “...I don’t know if there’s time, the feast won’t be in too long. But alright.”

Reia lets them go on a single other round of javelin throwing, and then, despite Alunya’s protests, takes her two sons back down to the monument in the center of the village, where the preparations for the feast are almost all done. Tables have been covered in food, which Alunya stares at salivating, until Reia pulls him along. “Don’t worry, my little ‘lunya. It’ll be time to eat soon enough. Here, I have something for you.” Reia states, kneeling down and opening the satchel she carries with her. Alunya watches curiously as she withdraws a small lantern, hanging on a cord, which she places in his hands. Alunya looks up at Reia, both excited and a little confused.

“Go on! You can place the family's lantern on the monument this year!” Reia cheers, and Alunya’s eyes widen in excitement.

“Really? Me?” Alunya asks in an awed tone. Reia smiles, ruffles his hair, and nods in confirmation, so Alunya bolts up, and scurries off to the massive statue.

But instead of placing it near the base like Reia had planned, he immediately scurries straight up the statue, pulling himself up by every nook and cranny while Reia goes white in sudden fear.

“A-Alunya!” She shouts out, “Get down from there!”

But Alunya is already on the way up, and won’t be stopped now. He leaps up to a higher handhold, one of the ‘tendrils’ that came off from the central orb, pulling himself up to stand precariously on top of it. Looking down at his mother from above, he wonders what has her all worked up, but just shrugs it off; he can figure that out after he finishes placing the lantern!

So, once he reaches the top of the statue, he places the lantern, haphazardly balanced way up on top of the orb itself, before scurrying back down the statue head-first, pausing near the bottom before hopping to the ground while Reia rushes over to him.

“By Hylicia, Alunya, never scare me like that again!” Reia scolds, wrapping her arms tightly around Alunya protectively.

Alunya frowns in confusion. “Huh? What did I do wrong? I just placed it on the statue, like you asked!” He protests.

“I meant just place the lantern on the base, I didn’t mean for you to put yourself in such danger! If you fell, I’d never be able to forgive myself!” Reia admonishes, squeezing Alunya tightly.

“Mom- stop- can’t- breathe-” Alunya forces out. After a long moment, Reia reluctantly lets him go, and he takes a deep breath in.

“Never do something like that again, ok?” Reia lectures, staring at the boy with disapproval .

“Um, yeah, ok…” Alunya mumbles, looking down at his feet. He still doesn’t really get what he’d done wrong, but he doesn’t like being lectured like that.

But before Reia can continue her tirade, the conversation is cut off by the ringing of a bell. Alunya perks up immediately, jumping up. “Yay! Feast time! Feast time!”

Reia looks frustrated, but relents after a worried look at Alunya, and takes her two boys’ hands in hers as she walks toward the tables where the food is piled up.

Reia and her sons are quick to the buffet line, given that they were already standing near the middle of the festival grounds, but even so they are not the first to reach the tables where food is laid out. Alunya hops from foot to foot, impatiently, looking around the festival grounds. Just then, he spots Yuvia, one of the family's neighbors, already with a full plate of food—she must have started dishing it up before the feast bell even rang, allowing her to beat the crowds.

And of more interest to Alunya, on her plate is a helping of guanaco ribs. Without warning, Alunya takes off to go see them. “Alunya!” Reia calls, but Alunya is already gone. “Ugh, not this again... Antares, can you go fetch him? I need to keep our place in the line.” Reia asks. Antares looks over at Alunya, nods, and heads off.

“So? So so so? What do you think of the ribs?” Alunya asks, beaming at Yuvia with an eager expression.

“Huh? Um, they’re about as good as they can be considering how old the animal was, I guess.” Yuvia replies, clearly a bit confused as she pauses eating.

Alunya beams up at her even more, leaning forwards against the table. “I made it! Mommy was busy with packing up the other meat so I got to cook the ribs! Did I do a good job?” Alunya prompts.

“Oh, you did, huh?” Yuvia smiles at the boy endearingly. “Well then, yes, you did a very good job.” Yuvia wipes off her hands, before reaching forward to gently pat Alunya’s head. “What a good boy, already helping your mother with chores at such a young age.” Alunya giggles in response and leans into Yuvia’s hand.

By now Antares has caught up, and listens in on the end of the conversation. “Um, I helped too!” Antares offers. “I helped slaughter the guanaco and roast the ribs...” Antares leans forward, a little bashfully, lowering his head slightly to put it in Yuvia’s reach.

But before there can be any response, Vekt— Yuvia’s son, a boy two years older than Antares, only very slightly taller but significantly broader in build— snickers at him. “Oh, great job, Ant. I’m sure you’ll make a fine mother one day.”

Antares blinks at him in confusion, taken aback. “Wh-whuh?”

“Guess that’s what happens when a boy doesn’t have a father. You get to do all the girl’s chores.” Vekt teases, before Yuvia interrupts him.

“Vekt!” Yuvia frowns, narrowing her eyes at him. “Be nice! What an awful thing to say to someone.”

“But, dad says-“ Vekt starts, before Yuvia covers his mouth.

“I don’t care what your father says, he isn’t here right now.” Yuvia states, looking mortified. “I expect better of you.” Yuvia sighs, turning her attention to the two boys “I’m sorry, both of you. You should go get back to your mother. I’ll talk to Vekt.”

Antares cringes in shame, but happy to have an escape from the mocking, takes Alunya’s hand. “C’mon, Alunya, you have to stop running off. Mom sent me to collect you.” This triggers a fresh fit of snickering from Vekt, and Antares storms away, red up to his ears, dragging Alunya with him.

“Ant!” Alunya complains. “C’mon, wait up!” Alunya jogs to keep up with Antares’s fast walking pace. “What’s it matter what Vekt says? We did a great job on the ribs!” Alunya puffs out his chest, proudly. But Antares just shakes his head, and dully states “Let’s just go meet up with Mom.”

After navigating the crowd of people around the buffet tables, Alunya and Antares manage to meet up with their mother, just in time to start dishing up their own food after Reia hands them both their plates. The diversity of food is shocking to the two boys, who usually live almost exclusively on cornmeal and potatoes. There are yam’s, cornbread, berries, cheese, dishes made of some mixture of various cooked vegetables together, and of course, meat! Alunya makes sure to get a nice big rib from their old guanaco. Antares, on the other hand, avoids it.

Soon enough, the family of three is marching along its way back to the tables. The seating arrangements mirror the placement of everyone's homes, so Reia and her boys are positioned at the edge of the plaza, far away from the center, with only Yuvia and a couple other families nearby. Antares avoids looking at Vekt while he passes by his table, Vekt sticks his tongue out at him, and Alunya glares over at him.

“Antares, come on!” Alunya prods while he sits down with his brother, on the opposite side from their mother, edging up right next to him. “You shouldn’t let him get to you! Mom says people who say things like that are just jealous!”

“Yeah, jealous of not having a father. How enviable.” Antares mumble-replies sarcastically.

Reia leans over to look at her two boys, frowning. “What are you two talking about? Who's jealous of who?”

Alunya puffs out his chest, looking proud. “I was showing off our cooking, but some boy was-“

“We don’t have to talk about that.” Antares hastily cuts Alunya off, squirming.

Alunya frowns and stops, but Reia crosses her arms. “...Well? What did he say?”

Alunya shakes his head. “If Ari doesn’t want me to say, I guess I can’t say.” he mumbles, stubbornly.

Reia groans in frustration and sighs, placing her head in her hands. “Honestly, you two...”

There is a long moment of silence, before Antares finally pipes up. “Can I eat yet..?”

“Not yet, honey, not until the sacrifice is done.” Reia replies.

As if right on cue, the bell rings once again from the middle of the festival grounds, drawing everyone's attention to the plinth above the bonfire. The high priest of the village, a withered old man named Rallic, is standing on the raised platform that the statue of Hylicia is placed upon. A few parents silence their children’s chatter, while Rallic prepares to address the crowd.

“We stand here on this joyous occasion, on the 1593rd anniversary since Hylicia took us under her protection. As ever, we offer our thanks for our salvation and protection, by means of sacrifice!” Rallic gestures, and a sedated yak is carried forward on a palanquin by a squadron of adolescents, before being placed before the old priest.

With a flourish somewhat diminished by his lack of flexibility and age, Rallic draws forth a long blade, one with an oddly bright sheen that more resembles the statue behind him rather than copper. Alunya gasps as he sees it, eyes wide open. The blade is longer than any knife, maybe half again as long as his forearm. It could only be…

“With the sword of our ancestor, noble Talith, I offer this sacrifice to you, Hylicia!” Swiftly, Rallic puts the blade against the throat of the yak, and draws it back. The cry of the yak is cut off almost as abruptly as it started, the blood trailing down into the ground beneath the statue. Lifting the palanquin once again, the yak is placed somewhat haphazardly into the bonfire. As the flame catches at its hide, Alunya could swear that the statue glimmers.

“Eat now, while I tell you a tale of our noble ancestor, back in our ancient past, before our people found our great protector...” The priest starts. What follows is a long story, barely audible over the sounds of eating and crackling of the bonfire, telling of the adventures of that ancient hero in foreign lands. Of the journeys of the villagers' ancestors, of the hardships they faced in the wider world. Alunya and Antares pay rapt attention, straining to listen in despite missing just about every other word.

“Mommy, when will I get to go out on adventures just like Talith? Maybe I’ll get to fight a dragon!” Alunya asks Reia, tugging on her sleeve from across Antares with his eyes shining.

“Oh, sweetie. We don’t need to go on adventures anymore! We have Hylicia to protect us. As long as we stay here, we’ll always be safe.” Reia says, in a tone meant to sound reassuring. But Alunya only visibly wilts, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting.

“Quiet, you two, I’m trying to listen to the story!” Antares interrupts, as he stuffs his face with another bite of vegetable-stuffed cornbread.

The three of them settle into silence at Antares’s urging, and eventually the story finishes, along with the meal. Reia takes up place on the other side of the table, and begins socializing with her neighbors, including Yuvia. Most of it is dreadfully boring to the two boys, talk of crop yields, of the almost certainly exaggerated size of the biggest fish another family caught, gossip and rumors from around the village.

“My husband swears he saw something in the forest out back behind the pastures. Something big, black, and flying.” One of the women gossips, in a hushed tone. Alunya’s ears start straining to pick up the conversation; this is something interesting, now!

“Oh, I’m sure it was just a big raven or something. Nothing worse than that gets past Hylicia’s barrier. We’re all safe in this village.” Yuvia responds.

The first gossiper glances over at Alunya, flinching away once she sees he is staring back at her. “Then how do you explain Him?” She gestures. “That hair and eyes of his aren’t natural. And look what he did to his brother!” Reia scoots in front of Alunya, shielding him from vision. But at the mention of him, Antares’s attention is caught as well, and he glances over at the group of women, furrowing his brow in confusion. Just what did they mean by that..?

“He just was born... Special. If there is something wrong with him, Hylicia wouldn’t have let him be born, would they have?” Reia says protectively. “Maybe it’s a blessing.”

The other women scoff, rolling their eyes. “More like a stigmata for a sinner...”

Reia clenches her jaw further and glares at the other women. “I told you already, he’s not a bastard.”

“If you’re not having an affair, then why won’t you just get remarried? Are you scared having a man around would make your girl’s act properly? I know you’re teaching them to cook, and just look at Alunya’s hair. It’s like you’re trying to raise daughters instead of sons.”

“I’ve tried to cut it, but he always struggles too much and I don’t want to cut him.” Reia replies, defensively. “Besides, it’s none of your business-“

Reia is cut off by Alunya himself climbing up onto the table, placing his hands on his hips and glaring down at the other women fiercely. “I keep my hair nice and long myself thankyou, and mom has nothing to do with my cooking! I just wanted to help!”

Reia looks like she’s about to die, as she goes stark red and stands up. “Alunya, I have it under control, please just go back to eating. This conversation isn’t for you.” The other women freeze in stark discomfort at the boy’s presence, but Alunya refuses to leave, instead crossing his arms and putting on a surprisingly fierce look for such a young child. As young as he is, he already is the equal of most of these women’s heights, and from his vantage point on top of the table, towers over the lot of them.

“No! What’s so wrong with helping you cook? Someone has to do it!” Alunya pronounces, raising his head proudly. Both Antares and Reia look mortified, but Alunya won’t back down. “And I like my hair! Antares told me it looks cute and pretty while he helped me brush it! Didn’t you, Ari?” Alunya calls out, but Antares is busy hiding his face and cringing.

The women all exchange looks and murmurs of unease at the white-haired boy’s presence, leaning away as if the bare centimeters of extra distance between them would make a difference. A couple make signs of warding with their hands. “Reia, get your son under control. And try to teach them some proper behavior while you’re at it.” The oldest present demands, talking right past Alunya to his mother behind him.

Alunya clenches his fist and scowls, but before he can do anything more Reia picks him up, removing him from the table. “Come on, Antares, feast's over, we’re going home.” Reia pronounces. Antares needs no further prompting and, eager to escape further embarrassment, he runs along after Reia while Alunya sticks his tongue out at the group behind them.

It is a fine enough time to leave, anyways; the bonfire has started to die down, and several others are already departing. Besides, the last ones there are the ones stuck with cleaning up the festival grounds.

“Hylicia, Alunya, don’t interrupt me when I’m talking with other adults.” Reia pronounces, highly annoyed as she rounds on the boy.

“But you were talking about me!” Alunya protests defiantly.

Reia just shakes her head. “You didn’t help. I had it handled, you just embarrassed us all.” Reia lectures. Alunya stops in his tracks, wrenching his hand free from his mothers firm grip.

“That’s not fair! I was just standing up for me and Ari!” Alunya stamps his foot as if to accentuate the point.

Antares shakes his head. “No, mom’s right… Please don’t do that again, Alunya.” Antares sounds mortified. Alunya stares at the two of them agape with a betrayed expression.

“Ugh, I’ll deal with this in the morning. For now, both of you to your rooms. It's late.” Reia orders, tersely. Alunya casts a look to the side and grumbles, but it is indeed late, and even Alunya is somewhat tired after all the antics of the day.

So, somewhat reluctantly, Alunya stalks off to his and his brother's room, climbing up to the top bunk, pulling the blankets over himself, and laying down on his side facing the room's sole window.

I don’t really see what I did wrong… Alunya thinks to himself, watching the dying torchlight towards the village center just barely visible from the angle he is viewing the outside from. I was just standing up for us. Isn’t that what family is supposed to do?

Alunya sighs, and turns over onto his back, looking up at the thatch roofing above. Reia is gone now, and the door is shut, so he is a little tempted to try to talk to Antares, but he can hear from the sound of his brother's breathing that the older boy has already fallen asleep, worn out from the day's escapades.

And so, despite all the fun that had been had that day, and all the good memories he had made, the day ultimately ends on a sour note for Alunya, as he finally closes his eyes and allows sleep to take him.