Clatru and Sarleera (part 1 of 3)

[Linksquest]

This is a story i wrote just now for 3 hours straight! I hope you like
it! I couldnt think of a good title but it will make sense once you
reach the end. This is one of the longest stories i have ever
completed so im VERY VERY excited! I was determined that i would
finish a story, so i did!

~Any comments welcome!

Clatru and Sarleera by Linksquest

The towering clock tower boomed out twelve gongs as the moon slowly
took its place straight upward in the night sky. Cold winds rustled
the crisp, dead leaves of deciduous trees. The haunting echo of an owl
slowly made itself heard being the increasing whistle of the wind.
The village was silent. A small boy walked slowly towards the door
next to the clock tower. He yawned slowly and shut the wooden door
behind him. The moon continued to make it way across the sky as the
sun began to slowly rise up from behind Misty Mountain.
A tall, gaunt figure made its way down from Ethereal Mountain as the
moon disappeared behind the mountain. The man's head was downcast. His
shoulders slumped as did the rest of his body, as if he had been
walking like this for months. The man slowly lifted his head then
jolted to a stop. His blue hair slowly rustled in the soft breeze as
he gazed with wonder upon the awakening town. A small purple crystal
around is neck dangled restlessly in the wind.
The small, quiet village was beginning to show some activity. Men and
women awoke from their slumber and began their daily routines. The men
got up first to go to the fields to till the soil, to feed the
chickens, to milk the cows. The women got up and began to fry
wonderful smelling things in their kitchen. Sudden rasps of, "get up!
Come on get up its nine o'clock already!" emanated from each house,
maybe in different wordings and volumes, but the meaning remained the
same.
"I am Clatru Malray," the blue-haired man thought to himself as he
slowly began to walk down towards the village once more. He had been
standing near the bottom of Ethereal Mountain for more than two hours.
"I am Clatru Malray" he thought to himself once more.
In the center of the village there was the church and clock tower.
The clock tower was the tallest building in the whole village, on top
of the clock jutted a wooden spire towards the sky like a knife into a
blueberry pie. Clatru stopped before the church and knelt in
reverence. He wrinkled his forehead as he gazed at the cross on top of
the church steeple as of he was remembering something from a long time
ago.
"Get away from there!" and old man, his beard twice as long as the
hair on his head, exclaimed in agitated fury. "Where did you come
from?" The old man was less agitated and more curious now that he had
gotten a better look at Clatru— a better look at his blue hair.
Clatru stared at him blankly. The old man stared back. "I haven't
seen you in these parts before, and if my name aint Carl Sandburgh, I
have met every man, woman, and child that has ever crossed these
parts! You," the old man came closer and jabbed Clatru on the
shoulder, "Are a stranger!" Clatru continued to look confused while
the old man regained his enthusiasm, "That's right! You are a
foreigner! Gonna take all the land, and women and kill all the men
hay? That's what you're gonna do aint it? Well… aint it?!"
The blue-haired man put his head in his hands and began to vibrate.
The old man was astonished. Was this foreigner crying? "Now stop your
blubberen you invader of privacy you! I'm going to talk to the
sheriff, that right! The sheriff. You must be at least thirty-five.
Land sakes. You're almost old enough to have grandkids! What are you
doin cryin like an infant? Huh?!"
The old man had begun to walk towards an official looking building
which lay a few yards left of the church and clock tower. He had
turned around to find that the blue-haired man had collapsed. The old
man ran to his side. "Foreigner! Mr. Foreigner can you hear me?!"
Clatru's blue eyes slowly rolled back into his head as darkness
overcame his vision.

********

Clatru could hear muffled voices above him. But they were all
garbled. "Like it really makes a difference." Clatru thought to
himself, "What was that old man saying? It's a language I've never
heard before."
Slowly Clatru opened his eyes and they became accustomed to the dim
lighting. He slowly peered around from behind mostly closed lids. "I
don't want them to know I'm awake yet." He saw the old man that had
knelt down beside him when right before he had passed out. He also saw
two other people: a man and a woman. The man was much younger than the
old man. He had two, clear circles of glass bound together by some
sort of wire which he peered through.
"What are those I wonder?" Clatru thought. The woman was also young.
She had eyes the color of the soil. "I never knew people could have
eyes that color."
"He's awake. Sarah, get his vitals."
"He's stabilizing… but something not right. Tom, you might want to
look at this."
"What is it?" Tom asked as he began tightening a cord around Clatru's
right arm. He put the needle down that he had been filling with red
liquid. "Sarah. What is it." Tom was aggravated. "I need to do a blood
transfusion. He doesn't have enough to sustain him now. I didn't see
any wounds but the readings say he only has five pints of…" He stopped
mid-sentence as Sarah showed him a slip of paper. "Are these readings
cor.. correct," he stuttered. He looked from the paper to the
blue-haired man, then back to the paper again.
"We'll have to do something… it's only a matter of time before he
gets up and begins to walk around again." The old man who had been
watching this scene from the corner of the room slowly began to
chuckle. "See… I told you he was a foreigner. So what did ya find out
about him? Has he got a third leg? A tail perhaps? I wouldn't be
surprised if he had a second brain. I always knew he was an alien!"
"What are you talking about Carl?" Sarah sighed. "There are no such
things as aliens and you know that. So stop your prattling. What we
have now is series. This man is dying from Cala-Friastomliosis."
"What's that in English?"
"His heart is pumping eight times the speed that its supposed to.
That's because all the blood in his major arteries are slowly
freezing."
"What?!" The old man's eye grew wide in astonishment. "I have never
heard tell of such a thing as that! What are you talking about woman…
is she right Tom, or is she pullin my leg again."
Tom slowly looked at the old man, "No, Carl. I wish that this time
she was. I have only heard of one other case like this. I read it in a
case-study we had to read for college. A woman named Rala died from
Cala-Friastomliosis seven years ago. She had been walking the desert
all night, and for some unknown reason her blood began to internally
freeze. She was the only case known to exist. The most the doctors
could do was name the disease after she died. They know nothing about
what caused it or how to cure it. It was the only case known in
existence until now."
Clatru still kept his lids mostly shut as he listened to their
jabber. "I can't understand a single word... but I need to get to some
water. Some ice. I'm burning up… I'm so hot. Why can't I understand?
Why haven't I ever been able to talk to anyone. Why have I always been
alone. I can't even remember my mother! My mother… I remember her
presence… a faint fragrance of sweetness and light… if light had a
scent. And then… And then…"
"But how do you know it's a disease? Maybe it was only that her blood
froze from being outside so long."
"It was a disease," said Sarah slowly chocking back tears. "I read
that report too Tom. It's required reading now in all the Med Schools.
I just never thought… It's a painful death. And we can't do anything.
We're not sure if it's catching or not so we may have the disease
flowing through our veins this very instant."
Carl, the old man, jumped up from his chair and began to make his way
to the door as Tom quickly shut it and stood before it. We can't
contaminate the village! I have already contacted the Mayor and we
both agreed that the death of three villagers is better than the death
of two hundred people.
Clatru opened his eyes a little wider as sweat began to bead on his
forehead above his blue eyebrows, "I'm too hot… getting too hot… need
water, ice… I need to get to water… Fire… burning. Explosions. Mom!
Don't go near the fire! The firemen ill get you! The firemen will get
you!"
"What is that blamed foreigner mumbling? Evil incantations most
likely. Look at that blue hair of his. Obviously dyed. Probably part
of a heathen sacrifice," The old man was standing next to Clatru,
eyeing him suspiciously.
"Tom! He's saying something… but its not English…" Clara said, her
eyes full of anguish as she looked at Tom who stood rigidly next to
the window that led to the outside world.
He turned away from the window and slowly made his way towards her,
"Let's see if we can translate, I do know more than twelve different
languages."
Clatru shivered from head to foot. Sweat was now streaming from his
face. His eyes yanked open as he slowly mumbled, "Flammel… Flamel…
Summel, Flamel Carakrada…"
"What is he sayen Tom… is he worshipen the devil? I know he be
worshipen the devil!"
"I don't know… he's not speaking any language I've ever heard of.
"Dodesh Crallaka mortay! Mortay Summel! Suumel flamel craalesh omer
Lak rid Sii!" Clatru bolted upright, panting for breath. He began
pleading with the startled people around him. "Agrast Morniesh il
laithe! Plep aral Vincorthe! Vincorthe frililil! Vincorthe alad rit
vii sarlli nartru!"

[Linksquest]

They stared at him blankley. They stared at him as he had stared at
the old man when he had tried to communicate. "They can't understand
me! Why can't they understand me? I need water… I need ice. I need a
drink of cold water. A drink of water that is freezing to the lowest
degree! I am burning up! Fire… fire…" Clatru slumped over on the
medical table, his eyes rolling once more into the back of his head.
"What did you inject him with Tom?" Sarah looked at the almost empty
syringe and then at the small puncture on the blue-haired man's right
arm. Her eyes grew wide with horror. "You didn't…. you didn't give him
Arvedaline?! You gave him a raise in blood temperature… why?! He is
not an experiment… and 12 mL of it? You could have killed him. Only
1/110th of that is ever used on patients with the cold virus to kill
the virus and you know that!"
Tom looked out the window again— at the children playing soccer,
hopscotch, basketball. "I thought I could cure it."
"You can't just perform random procedures and go on impulse like that!
What happens when ice is heated too quickly Tom? Answer me that?! It
cracks!"
Clatru was no longer in the small medical facility in the village. He
slowly opened his eyes to the familiar nightmare. He saw himself in
third person, a small toddler, barely three cycles old. "I don't want
to see it. Take this nightmare away!" but as in all dreams, we cannot
choose what we will or will not see.
He felt the presence of his mother as he felt a force turn his head
away. He could not look at her face, as much as he strained his neck
to see her. He couldn't. She began singing to his smaller self, the
toddler who was busy playing with small blocks of wood. He saw her
slender arms take him up and embrace him. He saw the flowing blue-hued
trails of her dress flow on the floor as if made from pure water. It
was much finer and flowed more smoothly than the finest silk.
She the toddler Clatru down and as she turned, Clatru felt the force
on his neck dissipate. He quickly turned around and saw her long red
hair flow down her back. "These are the Golden days eh Matru?" He
heard a pure clear voice floating in from the other room.
"It must be her voice," he thought.
"Yes it is Ristial," a strong booming, but pleasant voice returned.
"My father?" but… I never knew...
The small toddler slowly began to crawl out of the room, and Clatru
felt himself being pulled along behind it. The toddler got up on its
wobbly legs and slowly ambled towards its smiling parents. Clatru
could see their smiling lips, but could not see above that.
"Here is our darling son, and peace between Broteh and Summel is a
golden star that will long outlive our reign. It will continue in the
reign of our son." The booming was was strong and comforting. The man,
who Clatru was convinced was his father, let out such a mirthful laugh
that it echoed across the horizon.
As the two turned, their little son between them Clatru again felt the
pressure dissipate and was able to look at both of his parents figures
without any hindrance. His father was tall and built strongly. His
mother was thin like he was, but of a more healthy weight. "My
father's hair is blue," he whispered. "My mother's hair is red."
"He is the Sumtehbrok that the legends tell of my queen," his father
said gently to Clatru's mother.
"He is my king. And such a one to look as handsome as his father and
rule this land into its golden ages. Broteh teh Summel. Ice and Fire.
Plep teh Klak. Drop and Spark. Frililil teh Flamel. Water and Flame.
Thus is the legend my dear king.
"I hope he gets some of your redness in his hair. He needs your good
sense my lady!"
They both laughed and then embraced. His mother laughed again. "I
didn't know what to expect with him. The prophecy said nothing about
what he would look like. I was almost expecting checkered blue and red
hair!"
"Fire and Water… makes steam." His father chuckled, "And what a little
whisp of smoke his is."
Clatru looked at the small wisp of blue hair that had only recently
begun to grow on the toddlers head.
"Maybe he will only have the powers of water… the prophecy said
nothing about his holding both spectrums of elements." His father was
getting serious now.
His mother pulled away from his embrace. "But it only makes sense that
he would have both. Hair color doesn't mean much. Look at Terra…"
"Terra is different. She has the third element, and you know that. Her
brown hair matches earth. What are you talking about?" his father
exclaimed, starting to get back in a humorous mood.
"Her hair isn't brown… it's blue… she died it that color to match her
element… she wasn't born like that… I thought you knew."
"I thought you knew…. I …… thought…. You….. knew….." his mothers voice
began to echo as darkness overcame the scene. "Look out!" someone
screamed. "Save the child!"

*****

Clatru awoke in a pouring sweat. The sheets were soaked and on either
side of him dosed the man and woman from before. The old man was awake
in the corner, a shotgun in his hand.
"Don't you try nothen youngster. I have a notion to blow you to
kingdom come if you even try to get up. You may have fooled them," you
motioned with the gun, "But you havn't fooled me. I know you're an
alien from outer space. That you came here to take over the planet. I
know you can understand every single word that I'm sayen. So don't you
dare give me that blank look or I'll fill you full of holes!"
"Holes..." Clatru repeated silently. It reminded him of something. But
what was it?
"That's right mr. Alien… pretend not to understand… and you WILL be
full of holes!"
"Holes," Clatru repeated once more. He began to get up when the old
man ramped the gun into his chest, his hand twitching to pull the
trigger.
"Make my day," the old man snarled, a faint smile growing across his lips.
"Hollos… hollows cara… cara. Ness...."
But he wasn't able to finish. The explosion from the shotgun woke both
Tom and Sarah in time for them to see the old man drop the gun in
horror. They jumped back as they stared on with the old man at the
glowing wound coming from the blue-haired man's chest. Pure heat
seemed to emanate from the wound as the rifle turned red and sunk
inside Clatru's chest.
Clatru was screaming as he ran through the glass window. The window
had melted away as if it had been hot butter. The medical ward was on
fire, and Tom quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher. "Go after him!" he
yelled at the old man. "He'll surely set the whole village ablaze!"
The old man just stared at the spot where the blue-haired man had been
resting only seconds ago. His hands were shaking, his eyes bulging.
"No, I'll go!" Yelled Sarah as she opened the door next to the gaping
hole in the window that had not been there before.
Sarah saw the glow rush into the woods that lead up Misty Mountain.
The moon was up and the stars were blazing in all their glory. She ran
after him, up into the thickness of the woods. She smelled smoke and
stopped in her tracks as she saw a wall of fire come down. She felt
cold hands grab her as she blacked out.

*****

[Linksquest]

Sarah slowly opened her eyes to what she thought was a nightmare.
Everywhere around her she saw charred trees and smoldering embers on
the ground. It looked like the aftermath of a Volcanic eruption, not
anything like the Misty Woods she knew as a little girl.
"Who saved me?" She remembered vividly the wall of flames that almost
fell on her, smothering her to her death. She slowly turned to see
the blue-haired man hunched over, quivering. Was he crying, she
wondered.
Clatru turned around and gestured gently to the small fern that was
still green. He had tears in his eyes. He turned back and hunched over
it whispering, "Crada Moeren brad ka le thodia! I will protect you,
child of the trees!"
It was so tragic and pathetic that Sarah began to cry too. She slowly
walked over to him, and gestured that she wanted to see it too. She
slowly took some untarnished soil around and mounded it next to the
fern. "This will hold it in place. This will keep it from dying."
"I didn't mean to. I never wanted to harm anything!" Clatru said
silently in his mind, because he knew that he would only be wasting
his breath to try and say anything outloud. They spoke two different
languages.
After she had mounded the dirt around the little fern Clatru cupped
his hands together and slowly began to recite from memory: "Hollows
Cara Ness.... frililil plep gra trig thodia brantada."
Sarah looked at him quizzically. The sun was out now, and as she
looked from the sun back to the blue-haired man's cupped hands she saw
it reflect off a pure, clear liquid. It was water? It seemed to pour
out from this man's very soul. It was coming from nowhere.
It went against everything that Sarah had ever learned in science
class. "Matter cannot be created or destroyed." But here it was. This
man was creating water out of nothing! The clear water formed swirling
pools around the fern. Sarah touched the pool with her index finger
when suddenly out of the swirling pool a burst of water sprayed the
forest around them.
Green vegetation began to grow where black had been once. It was a
slow process but there it was, growing right before there eyes! Water
continued to splash up out of the pool like a fountain. One large
splash flew against Clatru's head. Some of the blue washed away. His
hair was both red and blue.
"This is just too much! What is going on! I should be horrified but
for some reason I feel like dancing for joy!"
Suddenly Clatru remembered something:
"Terra is different. She has the third element, and you know that. Her
brown hair matches earth." His father had said in his dream. A third
element? What were elements? What was it? He looked at the small
purple crystal that still dangled from the thin rope around his neck.
He suddenly had the urge to dip it in the pool as well.
He broke the rope in one quick, deliberate "snap." He tossed it into
the pool. Suddenly both he and Sarah were surrounded by blackness.

*****

They were sitting on the floor of this blackness as one illuminated
figure slowly approached them, her brown hair flowing in the breeze.
Her eyes looked above them, as if she couldn't see them sitting right
there in front of her.
Chosen one of the prophecies. You are hearing this message because of
a great flow of energy pouring over in a sacred place. I am Terra. I
am the first holder of the earth element, and I fear, the last. All of
our people are gone. Have been killed. It wasn't as we had thought at
all. It wasn't an invasion by an outside force. The death of our great
society was brought about by an internal unrest.
Just as the internal fires of the Summel'kiri must be kept balanced
and the internal ices of the Broteh'kiri must be kept balanced so did
the unions of these two great peoples have to be kept in balance.
There was civil unrest. A revolution of sorts. They killed the king
and queen and all the royal members in line to the throne. After they
went so did the morals in which we had so greatly put our trust. Our
trust was in ourselves, when we should have put our trust in the
Maker. The Maker is the ordainer of all great, good things. The
absence of Him is death, evil, and sin.
The absence was brought by our turning our backs on him, and turning
ourselves towards our own strengths, our own powers. The son of the
king and queen disappeared and I know not to where he has disappeared.
My husband and a few band of others are the only ones left in this
world. All of the Broteh'maen and Summel'maen have died. We have
discovered the reason we have lived. We were impervious to the flames
and ice because we all are the third element. Humagra: Earth. We, the
Humagra'maen are the sole survivors of this planet."
Sarah and Clatru looked at each other as the illuminated figure
vanished. They were once again captivated when an older version of the
same illuminated figure appeared.
"Many years have past. The young ones have renamed the planet. The
name that must be forgotten and never spoken again. We have forgotten
that first name. It is too painful to remember. This new name, the
name of our element: Earth. The young ones have also changed the name
of our race. As toddlers they could not pronounce Humagra or even more
importantly Humagra'maen. It was much more simple for them to convert
the five syllables to two syllables. This being our new name. 'Human"
The illuminated figure vanished as the Misty Woods reappeared in their
vision. "So that's where humans came from? Humagra'maen?!" Sarah
exclaimed.
"How could you have understood that? Carah marta sial Drodei leshesh?"
exclaimed Clatru.
"Kirri mrato lelle ata… I don't know."
"You can speak my language? How… how can this be?" Clatru was excited
beyond belief.
"Because," Sarah smiled as she took the crystal up from the pool, as
it glowed red, blue, and brown. "Ai traisks meteeh theenoo. The legend
had told. I remember it now! I remember." Sarah laughed as she touched
Clatru's palm with hers.
"What are you doing?"
"Just hold on…"

****

The green forest around them quickly faded away. Clatru was once more
in the room of his nightmare… Where the figure of himself as a toddler
had always played with the wooden blocks. But this time, the room was
empty. Sarah walked with ease through the corridors and pointed to two
small children playing. One of them was Clatru, but as an even younger
infant. Playing next to him was a girl with the eyes of soil. The same
color as Sarah's.
She then took the puzzled Clatru by hand and pointed to a thick book
opened on a small pedestal. "Do you want to read it?"
He cleared his throat, "Misadel ata iriel Summel, Broteh, Cariastee
tridesh marleraes tere mawe te vaa tokroa plep morkis sardea Krithhe.
The Fire, Ice, and third element, all make the Prophecy to be. Two
joined in element, one to see. Being the life and hope of the future
they shall hearken the light into the Golden age forever."
"Your parents thought that their union of two elements would create
the prophetic child," said Sarah in an excited tone, "they thought
that you, a double elemental— Sumtehbrok, would be that child. One
thing. We were married at the time we were born. We were separated
when the Revolution came. Don't you remember? It has all back to me…
is it coming back to you?"
Clatru tried to remember but it was all a blur. "I can't remember!
But… what you say is true, I can feel it! we were married, I remember
that faintest glimpse of that wedding… but so faint… I'm losing it
Sarah."
"Call me Sarleera, my true name. I just remembered it. Isn't that
funny? But what 'te vaa tokroa plep morkis sardea Krithhe,' means,
'Two joined in element, one to see,' is that WE are the prophecy. You
and I. Both of us. The prophetic child is both of us joined together
in marriage! We make the prophecy!
The room once again faded away, the Misty Woods reappeared, flowing
with life. It was green and blue and brown everywhere. There was no
longer any trace of the black charred forest that once was.
"This, then must be the benediction of a golden age on the Earth."
Said Clatru, blushing a little because he had had found Sarah very
beautiful before he knew he was married to her, and now she was his
and he was hers.
"Yes," she smiled back as she led him through the forest and into the
clearing. The village was peaceful and the hole that Clatru had made
in the Medical Ward was now mended. "Let us begin this age of
prosperity, but keep our eyes always on the Maker, lest another
Revolution of Elements occur as the last. They both jumped as the Moon
rose into the sky.
Clatru and Sarleera, smiled at one another as they dangled their feet
from their thrones on the moon, looking on the Earth, as each of them,
Elemental and double Elemental held hands to begin the Golden years of
Earth.

[Photosoph]

I can tell there is an allegory here but I can't understand all of it. ^_^ Not a bad thing; sometimes it can take two or three readings to understand it all.
Very interesting! It really kept my attention throughout; lots of cool ideas and imagery, as well as interesting characters. Well done; it may have taken a lot of writing to tell this story, but you told it very well.

[Linksquest]

Hahah! Yeah there are some but i dont think i understand them all yet myself! Thanks bunches!

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Clatru Malray

i know theres a special meaning to that...

[Photosoph]

There is? *blink*

[Linksquest]

Im as confused as you are... Smartypants... you feelin ok?