Book 2 - Moon
Part 2
This thread is intended to be paired with The Hourglass (2.2)
CW: Anxiety
Tuesday, February 7th, 2023
Yaatiin, Dabaab 19th, 412
Yufraan had to say, getting dressed up in a borrowed suit to attend a banquet had not been what they were expecting when they had planned their swashbuckling revolutionary desert escapade, but they figured they might as well roll with it.
“Thanks for letting me borrow this, Raaj,” Yufraan said, talking to the soldier who had been guarding them previously.
“No problem, Mutj. Hey, I wasn’t using it for anything anyways.”
“You can just call me Yufraan, you know.”
“Yeah, but, that’s more syllables,” the young guard says with a smirk, eliciting a laugh from Yufraan.
“I guess you’re right.” There’s a pause before Raaj speaks again.
"So, you really hear the voice of Ildarra in your head? That’s quite the feat.
“I suppose so. Believe it or not, though, she’s actually quite… spirited.”
“Well, the deities did make us in their image.” He thinks for a second. “You know, you’re really not what I expected from the Mutadiit. I guess Ildarra isn’t the only one who’s surprisingly down-to-earth.”
“Oh really? What did you expect from me?” Raaj shrugs.
“I don’t know. Some wizened old man who speaks in riddles and doesn’t talk to common folk. Suleiman.”
“Well, Suleiman wasn’t exactly as he was taught in schools. Yes, he was a hermit near the end of his life, but he was old and too frail to go out and talk to people. It was one of his bigger regrets, actually.” Yufraan sighs. “Aldaari people have never been particularly regal, regardless of social status. The only Mutadiit who even really portrayed themselves as high class was Ismaat, and he lived during a time of general opulence for the Republic. Plus, he gets a pass imo for being by far the poorest to start his life.”
“But that isn’t what the textbooks would have us believe.”
“No. No it isn’t. Which is why we need to win this, and free our people.” All of a sudden, the young Mutadiit notices Raaj looking askance. “What is it?”
“Well… Colonel Hawk is known for his inaction, is all. But I’m sure he realizes what’s at stake, otherwise he wouldn’t be our leader.” Yufraan is about to ask for clarification when they hear Omar’s voice coming loudly from down the hall.
“Faara? The banquet starts in 10 minutes. We wouldn’t want to be late, now would we?” Yufraan rolls their eyes and gives Raaj a knowing nod, before going to join her father.
As they enter the dining hall, the first thing Yufraan notices is how many people there are. They haven’t had a chance yet to get a good sense of how big Alkhatawf’s bunker is, but it’s clearly large enough to host a thousand people, maybe more - in other words, absolutely massive, although Yufraan has no clue -
Pekuur Zakaar’s journals. Perhaps they have a clue? Pekuur’s writings were mad. At best they’re insane, and at worst they’re incoherent nonsense. Oh, and building a massive bunker in a country that’s never gone to war isn’t insane? Fair point, Ildarra. Fair point. But Yufraan would have to do more digging later, because right now there was music, food, and dancing to be had. But first things first, business. They grabbed Omar by the hand and led him over to the table at the head, where Saarkis Hawk and some other older revolutionaries were sitting.
“Colonel. I offer gracious thanks for the invitation to the night’s festivities.” The duo bows, and Hawk responds with a curt nod.
“The feeling is reciprocated, Mutadiit Alaalahiiya. Please, enjoy yourself.” With another small dip, Yufraan is off to see what kind of food they have, because as everyone knows the main point of a banquet is to eat free food. As Yufraan looked around, they realized that most of it was fish. Are you surprised? Literally the entire thing Sayaduun is known for is fish. Shut it. Yufraan picked up some shad, cooked in a qaliiya sauce, and was looking around for something a little less fishy. To your right, 19 degrees - what is that? Yufraan looked. Oh, that’s jello. Good eye. The label read date, which was good, because the heartiness of the date jello would balance the relatively light textures of the shad and the qaliiya. What is jello? Um… I’m not sure… wait, you don’t know what jello is? Okay, I was sort of gone for 180 years, so pity me. Okay, well, it’s basically… you know what gelatine is? Of course. Well, basically it’s just that with added flavors and sugar, made into a dessert. That… sounds… amazing! I need you to eat some. I mean, I was planning on it. But why? So I can recreate it for myself. Wait, you mean… you can eat? Of course I can, if I choose to. Having a physical form is optional for me, but you sapients do such fun things. Okay, that is… my mind is blown. That is just wild. I guess, the more you know from being a prophet? Yeah, yeah, you’re not that special. There’s quite a few Akuan brewmasters who know. Right. Yufraan grabbed some iced hibiscus tea and sat, contemplating the whole religion they were kinda sorta the head of. Spirits, once they were done with this whole revolution thing, they’d need to be a religious leader.
Yufraan spent about the next hour dining on the (actually quite good) fish courses, listening to a literal god go on and on about jello (Did you know the brand that makes it is a portmanteu of gelatine and love? Yes), and dancing with random soldiers and workers who didn’t know who Yufraan was, or if they did had embraced the Aldaari tradition of not really caring about class when it came to social interactions. They caught sight of Omar a few times, who had mostly retreated to a corner table with a few other old people. They did one slow song, like at most parties (because honestly, “banquet” had just been Hawk calling for a party in that weird formal way of his), and Yufraan danced with Raaj - the song was “One Good Cry” by top Aldaari band Delta Rae, which is actually more of a sad song but people didn’t seem to mind. But after that, the music cut out, and Saarkis Hawk stood up.
“Aten-tion!” he said with the force of a military commander. At once, the lively banquet hall went silent and turned to face him with a salute. “At ease. As you may know, our Mutadiit Alaalahiiya has given us the great honor of their presence for the past days, bringing the spirit of Ildarra with them. Truly, we have been blessed by the spirits.” To this, there was some minor clapping which quickly quieted. “However, that was not the only purpose of the Mutadiit’s visit. The reason that I am here, the reason that all of us are here, is to stand up against WEGEC and Zakyn Petrol. Those in Mukarras have already broken free at least partially to reestablish the Aldaari state in all of the glory from two centuries ago, under the Mutadiit themselves. However, WEGEC is still a threat. While Aldaar in its current state may be powerful enough to hold onto their land, they came to us for extra help. The Mutadiit Alaalahiiya pleaded their case, and I have made my decision.” Colonel Saarkis Hawk paused for a few seconds, but to Yufraan it felt like an hour as the apprehension built in their gut. “Here is my answer. I will not put Sayaduuni lives at risk for a conflict we may not win. Mutadiit Alaalahiiya, I am sorry, but you will not find any support from Alkhatawf.” There was an audible gasp from the majority of the crowd, as small conversations sprung up here and there, slowly becoming a gentle rumbling in the previously quiet room.
“Please, if you would -” one of the other older leaders began, but nobody was listening to him. He was cut off by a young woman who stood up on a table and began to shout, temporarily quieting the room.
“What is the point of this? I’ve given twenty years here, training, praying for the day the revolution will come and we will be able to free our people! And now that day has arrived, and you want us to do nothing? What kind of a revolutionary are you, Saarkis!?” And with that, she threw her beret to the ground and stormed out, with several other soldiers following behind, the vast majority still in a state of shock. With a small sigh, Saarkis Hawk stood up and went through a back door, where Yufraan could just barely see his assistant from yesterday gesticulating wildly. Slowly, the disheartened crowd began to disperse, as Yufraan stood in the middle of the room with a bottomless pit in their gut. Raaj said something, but they didn’t hear it. Their body went numb, and they could hardly breathe. Everything was going wrong. The entire thing was falling apart at the seams. They felt Omar’s hand on their shoulder, guiding them to a nearby chair, where they sat down and began to cry in the now empty room, with nobody else around to see the leader of the nation break down.