I know It's several days into December now...
Author: amberthetired
Prompt #: originally it was prompt 20, but I don't know if I can really call it a response to that anymore. It's more like "I want to have finished SOMETHING"
Warnings: none
Wordcount: 1235
Danna wiggled into her bed as her sister danced in and out of the bathroom, trying to see how far she could get from the door and still get back in time to make it out before the door slid shut. She froze when their mother entered the room and put her hands on her hips.
“Dexra, brush your teeth and get into bed,” she couldn’t hide her smile completely. Dexra dutifully brushed her teeth and climbed into her bed across from Danna’s, identical except for the colour or the quilt; Danna’s was a light sky blue, Dexra’s was a deep purple. Their mother bent over first Danna, and then Dexra, pulling the covers up to their chins and kissing them on the forehead. As she began to move away from Dexra the little girl asked,
“Mommy, can you get me a glass of water? I forgot.” Myrna put up her hands in mock exasperation. “If you continue to be so forgetful, the Wraith will come and take you away!”
She retrieved a glass of water and set it beside Dexra’s bed, ruffling the girl’s hair as she did so.
“Mommy?” Danna’s voice was quiet; she was much shier than Dexra.
“Yes, Danna?” Myrna sat down on the side of Danna’s bed.
“Did the Wraith ever really exist?”
Myrna absently readjusted the quilt around Danna. “Well,” she said, reaching up to smooth a piece of hair off Danna’s forehead, “Some people do not think so. Some people think they are just a story to scare children.”
“But what do you think?”
“I believe they once existed, and hunted our kind.”
“What happened to them?” Dexra was staring at her intently from the other bed.
Myrna smiled and nodded her head at Dexra. “Do you want me to tell the story?” Both girls nodded eagerly from their pillows.
“Long ago, our people were scattered throughout the galaxy. Some of us could reach each other through the star gates, but we had no way of fighting the Wraith. Each time we began to grow strong, the Wraith would come in great numbers and destroy us. We lived in constant fear, until one day; there was a beacon of hope. A man has come, with his crew, to inhabit the lost city of our Ancestors, the Ancients. They claimed to have also descended from the Ancients, but in a galaxy far away. The man had come to lead our people in the fight against the Wraith, and help us defeat them once and for all. We called him, - “
“The Shepherd,” Dexra whispered. Myrna smiled down at her.
“Yes, the Shepherd. His people were proud warriors. They started their war with the Wraith as soon as they got here. There were casualties on both sides, but the Shepherd was destroying many Wraith hives.”
“How did he do that?” asked Danna. It was what the children listening were supposed to ask when they heard this story.
“There were many battles. The Shepherd had some powerful weapons, and some ships. But sometimes he used cunning instead of force, and snuck on board the Wraith hives to destroy them from the inside out, only narrowly escaping each time. He also managed to befriend one Wraith, and with his help turned some of the Wraith against each other, so they would fight each other instead of the Shepherd’s people, and also be distracted while the Shepherd mounted more attacks. He even put his scientists to work, to see if the Wraith could be cured, and turned into humans, but the results...did not make them hopeful.
“The Wraith were many, but the Shepherd never gave up, he always kept fighting. He knew that
the galaxy would never be safe as long as the Wraith were allowed to run free. Then, one day, the Wraith thought they had figured out how to defeat the Shepherd. They had discovered the location of the Shepherd’s home world, Terra. It is in a galaxy far from this one, one the Wraith had not been able to get to before now.”
“How come they could get there now?” asked Dexra, her eyes wide.
“They had stolen a powerful energy source from the Shepherd’s friends, and could fly their ships much further than before. The Shepherd had no choice but to fly the city to save his world, as there were many more people there than there were in this entire galaxy.”
“How come there were so many people there?” Myrna moved over to Danna’s bed to answer her question.
“Because they had lived hidden from the Wraith for thousands of years. No one wanted the Shepherd to leave, but they knew it to be the right decisions. The Shepherd promised to return, to finish the fight with the Wraith once and for all. And so we waited.”
Myrna paused for dramatic effect. Both girls were as riveted as if they had never heard this story before.
“A year went by, and still the Shepherd had not returned. The Wraith had noticed how undefended we were, and began to cull us in greater numbers. We thought we would all surely perish.”
Myrna paused, waiting for one of the girls to ask the question they asked every time she told them this story. Dexra obliged.
“How did we survive?”
“In our darkest hour, the Shepherd appeared! And he brought with him not only the city of the Ancients, but several more ships than he had had before. A culling had just begun on the planet they arrived at. The Shepherd destroyed the Wraith hives and also went to the surface of the planet to stop all the Wraith that were on the planet to feed. The people rejoiced, for their leader had returned.”
Danna clapped her hands. “And then he killed all the Wraith?” Myrna smiled.
“Yes. It took him many months, but eventually he hunted down and defeated all the Wraith hives. He then sought out all of their scientific facilities and destroyed those as well. Lastly, he sought out nests of the Iratus bug and destroyed those as well, for it had been them that created the DNA to make Wraith, and the Shepherd did not want them to ever return to plague out galaxy again.”
“What did the Shepherd to then?” asked Dexra.
“Many thought he would return to Terra once the Wraith were defeated, but he decided to stay here, with the city of the Ancients. He said it felt more like his home now than Terra ever had. And he said he would feel safer if someone was here to look after the galaxy, should the Wraith pose any further threat, or should a new threat arise. So with the Shepherd here, and the city of the Ancients, the galaxy began a new era, one of peace and prosperity that has lasted to this day.”
Myrna finished the story and looked down at the girls. They both had their eyes half closed. Dexra yawned. Myrna re-tucked the blankets of both girls up around their chins and kissed each on the forehead once more.
“And now it is time for sleep, little ones.”
Dexra snuggled down into her bed and mumbled sleepily, “So the Wraith will never come take me away?”
“Never,” said Myrna softly as she turned off the light and left the room, the door hissing softly as it slid shut behind her.
Note: I imagine in this future society there would be more stories that were about specific battles and stuff, but this is like, the main story, you know?
Prompt #: originally it was prompt 20, but I don't know if I can really call it a response to that anymore. It's more like "I want to have finished SOMETHING"
Warnings: none
Wordcount: 1235
Danna wiggled into her bed as her sister danced in and out of the bathroom, trying to see how far she could get from the door and still get back in time to make it out before the door slid shut. She froze when their mother entered the room and put her hands on her hips.
“Dexra, brush your teeth and get into bed,” she couldn’t hide her smile completely. Dexra dutifully brushed her teeth and climbed into her bed across from Danna’s, identical except for the colour or the quilt; Danna’s was a light sky blue, Dexra’s was a deep purple. Their mother bent over first Danna, and then Dexra, pulling the covers up to their chins and kissing them on the forehead. As she began to move away from Dexra the little girl asked,
“Mommy, can you get me a glass of water? I forgot.” Myrna put up her hands in mock exasperation. “If you continue to be so forgetful, the Wraith will come and take you away!”
She retrieved a glass of water and set it beside Dexra’s bed, ruffling the girl’s hair as she did so.
“Mommy?” Danna’s voice was quiet; she was much shier than Dexra.
“Yes, Danna?” Myrna sat down on the side of Danna’s bed.
“Did the Wraith ever really exist?”
Myrna absently readjusted the quilt around Danna. “Well,” she said, reaching up to smooth a piece of hair off Danna’s forehead, “Some people do not think so. Some people think they are just a story to scare children.”
“But what do you think?”
“I believe they once existed, and hunted our kind.”
“What happened to them?” Dexra was staring at her intently from the other bed.
Myrna smiled and nodded her head at Dexra. “Do you want me to tell the story?” Both girls nodded eagerly from their pillows.
“Long ago, our people were scattered throughout the galaxy. Some of us could reach each other through the star gates, but we had no way of fighting the Wraith. Each time we began to grow strong, the Wraith would come in great numbers and destroy us. We lived in constant fear, until one day; there was a beacon of hope. A man has come, with his crew, to inhabit the lost city of our Ancestors, the Ancients. They claimed to have also descended from the Ancients, but in a galaxy far away. The man had come to lead our people in the fight against the Wraith, and help us defeat them once and for all. We called him, - “
“The Shepherd,” Dexra whispered. Myrna smiled down at her.
“Yes, the Shepherd. His people were proud warriors. They started their war with the Wraith as soon as they got here. There were casualties on both sides, but the Shepherd was destroying many Wraith hives.”
“How did he do that?” asked Danna. It was what the children listening were supposed to ask when they heard this story.
“There were many battles. The Shepherd had some powerful weapons, and some ships. But sometimes he used cunning instead of force, and snuck on board the Wraith hives to destroy them from the inside out, only narrowly escaping each time. He also managed to befriend one Wraith, and with his help turned some of the Wraith against each other, so they would fight each other instead of the Shepherd’s people, and also be distracted while the Shepherd mounted more attacks. He even put his scientists to work, to see if the Wraith could be cured, and turned into humans, but the results...did not make them hopeful.
“The Wraith were many, but the Shepherd never gave up, he always kept fighting. He knew that
the galaxy would never be safe as long as the Wraith were allowed to run free. Then, one day, the Wraith thought they had figured out how to defeat the Shepherd. They had discovered the location of the Shepherd’s home world, Terra. It is in a galaxy far from this one, one the Wraith had not been able to get to before now.”
“How come they could get there now?” asked Dexra, her eyes wide.
“They had stolen a powerful energy source from the Shepherd’s friends, and could fly their ships much further than before. The Shepherd had no choice but to fly the city to save his world, as there were many more people there than there were in this entire galaxy.”
“How come there were so many people there?” Myrna moved over to Danna’s bed to answer her question.
“Because they had lived hidden from the Wraith for thousands of years. No one wanted the Shepherd to leave, but they knew it to be the right decisions. The Shepherd promised to return, to finish the fight with the Wraith once and for all. And so we waited.”
Myrna paused for dramatic effect. Both girls were as riveted as if they had never heard this story before.
“A year went by, and still the Shepherd had not returned. The Wraith had noticed how undefended we were, and began to cull us in greater numbers. We thought we would all surely perish.”
Myrna paused, waiting for one of the girls to ask the question they asked every time she told them this story. Dexra obliged.
“How did we survive?”
“In our darkest hour, the Shepherd appeared! And he brought with him not only the city of the Ancients, but several more ships than he had had before. A culling had just begun on the planet they arrived at. The Shepherd destroyed the Wraith hives and also went to the surface of the planet to stop all the Wraith that were on the planet to feed. The people rejoiced, for their leader had returned.”
Danna clapped her hands. “And then he killed all the Wraith?” Myrna smiled.
“Yes. It took him many months, but eventually he hunted down and defeated all the Wraith hives. He then sought out all of their scientific facilities and destroyed those as well. Lastly, he sought out nests of the Iratus bug and destroyed those as well, for it had been them that created the DNA to make Wraith, and the Shepherd did not want them to ever return to plague out galaxy again.”
“What did the Shepherd to then?” asked Dexra.
“Many thought he would return to Terra once the Wraith were defeated, but he decided to stay here, with the city of the Ancients. He said it felt more like his home now than Terra ever had. And he said he would feel safer if someone was here to look after the galaxy, should the Wraith pose any further threat, or should a new threat arise. So with the Shepherd here, and the city of the Ancients, the galaxy began a new era, one of peace and prosperity that has lasted to this day.”
Myrna finished the story and looked down at the girls. They both had their eyes half closed. Dexra yawned. Myrna re-tucked the blankets of both girls up around their chins and kissed each on the forehead once more.
“And now it is time for sleep, little ones.”
Dexra snuggled down into her bed and mumbled sleepily, “So the Wraith will never come take me away?”
“Never,” said Myrna softly as she turned off the light and left the room, the door hissing softly as it slid shut behind her.
Note: I imagine in this future society there would be more stories that were about specific battles and stuff, but this is like, the main story, you know?