The Results of a Challenge
Not so long ago, I issued a request for a challenge: http://bluelang.livejournal.com/235161.html and the SquidLord of Operation BSU obliged me. What follows is my response to that challenge. If anyone else wants to throw a similar amalgam challenge at me, I'm still open to submissions.
John and Jack Merryweather - The Dyad
It had been twenty years since the humans had conquered their planet.
John and Jack walked together, as they always must, through the carefully symmetric gardens of the Zilayani Estate.
It had been ten years since nearly all of John and Jack’s people had been systematically exterminated by the humans in their plas-steel suits and with their big guns. But they did not miss their reptilian kin. They had always been outcastes among their own people.
Born co-joined, they were not even given a name by the she-lizard who had birthed them. Called merely “The Dyad”, they were pronounced both blessed and cursed by the gods. The Dyad were proclaimed a harbinger of dark days to come. Their nature meant none of their people would dare attempt harm on them for fear of attracting the wrath of the gods, but neither were the Dyad welcomed by any clan.
So the Dyad wandered the thick vegetation of their world, avoiding the volcanic vents, and learning to survive. They learned that the gods had blessed them with the ability to create - or destroy - things in pairs, an ability that allowed them to both feed and defend themselves - when cleverly applied. And the Dyad was clever - so very, very clever.
The Dyad had avoided destruction when the humans came through that cleverness. They watched the humans, determined which were most likely to show compassion when the paired emotions of fear and hate were destroyed, and they made themselves useful - so very, very useful.
After the warriors, after the destroyers, the builders came. They “reclaimed” the lands from the jungles and the volcanoes. They “reclaimed” the island that the Dyad had made their home, using big machines and terra-forming. The humans called it “New Amsterdam” and the Dyad took the time to learn their tongue. By the time Lord Zilayani came to the island with his two daughters, the Dyad could communicate with the humans using the human’s own crude sound-language.
Lord Zilayani was entertained by the two-headed dinosaur and had the Dyad taken to his estate to amuse his guests. And Lord Zilayani gave them a name: “Merryweather”. It seemed to be some sort of joke to the humans, but the Dyad was grateful to have a name - names had power. Zilayani’s daughters also gave them names, human names: “John” and “Jack”, names that the Dyad had no trouble speaking. And by doing so, the daughters gave them even more power, so much more power.
John and Jack watched and learned from Lord Zilayani and his human guests as they frolicked on New Amsterdam. John and Jack learned to enjoy life on the estate. And John and Jack made themselves useful, so very useful once again. When they learned of the daughters’ love of Earth fruit, John and Jack created paired fruit trees for the girls. John and Jack planted the gardens two-by-two and maintained the house, replacing damaged windows in pairs.
Lord Zilayani’s native amusement slowly, slowly became his trusted servant. Eventually, Lord Zilayani declared Merryweather caretaker of the Estate. The Lord had to travel regularly and would often be gone for months at a time. He called it “following the social season”.
But as the years passed, Zilayani’s visits became less frequent and the girls stopped visiting altogether. But still John and Jack stayed on. They tended the gardens and maintained the manor house. And when they were very, very bored, they would create two little human girls to entertain them.
It had been twenty years since the humans had conquered their planet, but the Dyad was okay, so very okay with that.
John and Jack Merryweather - The Dyad
It had been twenty years since the humans had conquered their planet.
John and Jack walked together, as they always must, through the carefully symmetric gardens of the Zilayani Estate.
It had been ten years since nearly all of John and Jack’s people had been systematically exterminated by the humans in their plas-steel suits and with their big guns. But they did not miss their reptilian kin. They had always been outcastes among their own people.
Born co-joined, they were not even given a name by the she-lizard who had birthed them. Called merely “The Dyad”, they were pronounced both blessed and cursed by the gods. The Dyad were proclaimed a harbinger of dark days to come. Their nature meant none of their people would dare attempt harm on them for fear of attracting the wrath of the gods, but neither were the Dyad welcomed by any clan.
So the Dyad wandered the thick vegetation of their world, avoiding the volcanic vents, and learning to survive. They learned that the gods had blessed them with the ability to create - or destroy - things in pairs, an ability that allowed them to both feed and defend themselves - when cleverly applied. And the Dyad was clever - so very, very clever.
The Dyad had avoided destruction when the humans came through that cleverness. They watched the humans, determined which were most likely to show compassion when the paired emotions of fear and hate were destroyed, and they made themselves useful - so very, very useful.
After the warriors, after the destroyers, the builders came. They “reclaimed” the lands from the jungles and the volcanoes. They “reclaimed” the island that the Dyad had made their home, using big machines and terra-forming. The humans called it “New Amsterdam” and the Dyad took the time to learn their tongue. By the time Lord Zilayani came to the island with his two daughters, the Dyad could communicate with the humans using the human’s own crude sound-language.
Lord Zilayani was entertained by the two-headed dinosaur and had the Dyad taken to his estate to amuse his guests. And Lord Zilayani gave them a name: “Merryweather”. It seemed to be some sort of joke to the humans, but the Dyad was grateful to have a name - names had power. Zilayani’s daughters also gave them names, human names: “John” and “Jack”, names that the Dyad had no trouble speaking. And by doing so, the daughters gave them even more power, so much more power.
John and Jack watched and learned from Lord Zilayani and his human guests as they frolicked on New Amsterdam. John and Jack learned to enjoy life on the estate. And John and Jack made themselves useful, so very useful once again. When they learned of the daughters’ love of Earth fruit, John and Jack created paired fruit trees for the girls. John and Jack planted the gardens two-by-two and maintained the house, replacing damaged windows in pairs.
Lord Zilayani’s native amusement slowly, slowly became his trusted servant. Eventually, Lord Zilayani declared Merryweather caretaker of the Estate. The Lord had to travel regularly and would often be gone for months at a time. He called it “following the social season”.
But as the years passed, Zilayani’s visits became less frequent and the girls stopped visiting altogether. But still John and Jack stayed on. They tended the gardens and maintained the manor house. And when they were very, very bored, they would create two little human girls to entertain them.
It had been twenty years since the humans had conquered their planet, but the Dyad was okay, so very okay with that.