Ad Astra - 8th Chapter: Saga of the Five Kings
Title: Saga of the Five Kings
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: A quick look at the early history of the floating worlds.
Saga of the Five Kings
Once upon a time there was a kingdom and five wise kings who ruled over it. The kingdoms flourished and grew and their people never went hungry, all had a home and though the winter nights were long, no one sat outside in the cold. The kings rejoiced and decided that they would meet up once every hundred years, dine together and discuss as such royalty is wont to do, amuse themselves with stories, good ale and each other's company.
But the first time that they met their five kingdoms had been shattered, and instead the kings sat on their thrones and wept. One said:
“Rarely have I been sadder, but let us not be so weighed down that we let what little is left fall to ruin.”
A second one said:
“This is wisely spoken. Come, let us save what we can.”
The third one said nothing. He merely stared at his knees and nodded.
The fifth spoke up:
“What is it then that that you think could be done?”
The fourth one that had sat quietly until now replied:
“Well fuck if I know.”
The second time that they met their kingdoms were still shattered, but each of them had meticulously collected and stored everything there was left of their past. They sat on their thrones sadly, for it was very little they now held in their hands. The second king said:
“I wish to cry more, for my people are few and my wealth all gone. How will I keep them alive?”
The third king replied:
“Join me n' mine, let's throw our lots together. S'not much but it's something.”
The first king agreed:
“This plan sounds good, and I shall gladly join with the fifth king myself.”
Now the fourth king looked up and he was most wroth:
“Some plan - are you morons really going to leave me on my own?”
The first king sighed:
“Have you ever thought to wonder why that is? Your attitude's frankly unbearable.”
“I shall show you some of it shall I”, spoke the fourth king, “I would like to see how long you'll stand!”
The second king stood up from his throne and his voice was low and calm although he showed some worry:
“Fighting among ourselves really isn't the answer here. Why willingly destroy everything that we're trying to hard to keep alive? But I suggest we all five join together and share the ruling between ourselves so that the fourth shall rule over all of us, while the rest of us govern our own groups separately and in pairs.”
“I shan't -”
“Yes, you too will if you don't want to see your people all die out.”
The second and the third king might have gone on bickering much longer if the fifth hadn't spoken then:
“It sounds acceptable. It's not for forever, just until we get over the worst. I've been ruled over by the fourth once already and he's a king that gives many liberties when asked for, but if all aren't as happy with that I suggest the fourth and the third take turns in ruling. Let each of us be autonomic when it comes to decisions of our own people, but under their protection when it comes to the groups as a whole; and once our lands are livable once again we'll separate them anew.”
This they all thought well spoken.
The third time they met was a happier time. Much had been accomplished. The first king spoke:
“Things are vastly better for me and mine. We're inventing gravitational devices so that people can once again fly the skies despite the changes.”
The second one said:
“So it is for me and my people too. We've managed to breed the fish more so that they once again populate the lakes that are left on these worlds.”
The third one added:
“Animals too. We've tried t' keep the ecosystem as whole as possible.”
The fourth one was beaming:
“Having all those wind powered plants for electricity has helped a great deal, yeah! No lack of wind up here, definitely not!”
The fifth seemed mostly satisfied but something weighed on his mind. He said:
“There's one problem though: the first king lost his oil sources so there can be no things that would run on it. There can be no plastic either.”
The third shrugged:
“We'll use wood. T'grows all around these worlds now.”
But this time the fifth king stood all alone in the throne room. Dust was piling in the corners and the thrones were not sat on except for the shadows that still seemed to linger on them. Only the fifth, his own throne, was fully empty. He turned to the shadow of the first king.
“What did we agree on that day?”
The shadow replied:
“Your memory has turned awful hasn't it? You really should have written all the important things down.”
The fifth king sighed. Well, what had he expected? He turned to the second throne and asked:
“What did we agree on that day?”
The second shadow looked at him warmly.
“We decided that no matter what, we would keep our people and each other alive, but our people before each other.”
“What else?” asked the fifth king, but shadows only give one answer each so there was no reply. He presented the same question to the third shadow.
“We decided that everyone should be responsible for th' ones below them, us and the humans, everyone taking care of those as were weaker n' em. We decided t' keep control and teach it t' the people 'cause of food being a bit scarce, din't want 'em rebelling. We decided t' make considering others before one's self everyone's first priority.”
It fell quiet. For the third it had certainly spoken surprisingly much already. The fifth king turned towards the fourth shadow and asked his final question:
“Was there anything else?”
The fourth answered in a somber tone very unusual to it:
“Yes. That the reward of failure should be death.”
All the shadows had now fallen quiet. They seemed to be posing him a question of some kind in turn, but the fifth could not understand it no matter how much as he racked his brain. Eventually he shouted:
“What kind of a fucking stupid logic was that?! What good was that supposed to do?!”
The shadows turned, one by one, to look at the empty, fifth throne and the king knew within his heart that it was now his turn to answer.
9th Chapter: A Water-Sailing Ship.
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: A quick look at the early history of the floating worlds.
Saga of the Five Kings
Once upon a time there was a kingdom and five wise kings who ruled over it. The kingdoms flourished and grew and their people never went hungry, all had a home and though the winter nights were long, no one sat outside in the cold. The kings rejoiced and decided that they would meet up once every hundred years, dine together and discuss as such royalty is wont to do, amuse themselves with stories, good ale and each other's company.
But the first time that they met their five kingdoms had been shattered, and instead the kings sat on their thrones and wept. One said:
“Rarely have I been sadder, but let us not be so weighed down that we let what little is left fall to ruin.”
A second one said:
“This is wisely spoken. Come, let us save what we can.”
The third one said nothing. He merely stared at his knees and nodded.
The fifth spoke up:
“What is it then that that you think could be done?”
The fourth one that had sat quietly until now replied:
“Well fuck if I know.”
The second time that they met their kingdoms were still shattered, but each of them had meticulously collected and stored everything there was left of their past. They sat on their thrones sadly, for it was very little they now held in their hands. The second king said:
“I wish to cry more, for my people are few and my wealth all gone. How will I keep them alive?”
The third king replied:
“Join me n' mine, let's throw our lots together. S'not much but it's something.”
The first king agreed:
“This plan sounds good, and I shall gladly join with the fifth king myself.”
Now the fourth king looked up and he was most wroth:
“Some plan - are you morons really going to leave me on my own?”
The first king sighed:
“Have you ever thought to wonder why that is? Your attitude's frankly unbearable.”
“I shall show you some of it shall I”, spoke the fourth king, “I would like to see how long you'll stand!”
The second king stood up from his throne and his voice was low and calm although he showed some worry:
“Fighting among ourselves really isn't the answer here. Why willingly destroy everything that we're trying to hard to keep alive? But I suggest we all five join together and share the ruling between ourselves so that the fourth shall rule over all of us, while the rest of us govern our own groups separately and in pairs.”
“I shan't -”
“Yes, you too will if you don't want to see your people all die out.”
The second and the third king might have gone on bickering much longer if the fifth hadn't spoken then:
“It sounds acceptable. It's not for forever, just until we get over the worst. I've been ruled over by the fourth once already and he's a king that gives many liberties when asked for, but if all aren't as happy with that I suggest the fourth and the third take turns in ruling. Let each of us be autonomic when it comes to decisions of our own people, but under their protection when it comes to the groups as a whole; and once our lands are livable once again we'll separate them anew.”
This they all thought well spoken.
The third time they met was a happier time. Much had been accomplished. The first king spoke:
“Things are vastly better for me and mine. We're inventing gravitational devices so that people can once again fly the skies despite the changes.”
The second one said:
“So it is for me and my people too. We've managed to breed the fish more so that they once again populate the lakes that are left on these worlds.”
The third one added:
“Animals too. We've tried t' keep the ecosystem as whole as possible.”
The fourth one was beaming:
“Having all those wind powered plants for electricity has helped a great deal, yeah! No lack of wind up here, definitely not!”
The fifth seemed mostly satisfied but something weighed on his mind. He said:
“There's one problem though: the first king lost his oil sources so there can be no things that would run on it. There can be no plastic either.”
The third shrugged:
“We'll use wood. T'grows all around these worlds now.”
But this time the fifth king stood all alone in the throne room. Dust was piling in the corners and the thrones were not sat on except for the shadows that still seemed to linger on them. Only the fifth, his own throne, was fully empty. He turned to the shadow of the first king.
“What did we agree on that day?”
The shadow replied:
“Your memory has turned awful hasn't it? You really should have written all the important things down.”
The fifth king sighed. Well, what had he expected? He turned to the second throne and asked:
“What did we agree on that day?”
The second shadow looked at him warmly.
“We decided that no matter what, we would keep our people and each other alive, but our people before each other.”
“What else?” asked the fifth king, but shadows only give one answer each so there was no reply. He presented the same question to the third shadow.
“We decided that everyone should be responsible for th' ones below them, us and the humans, everyone taking care of those as were weaker n' em. We decided t' keep control and teach it t' the people 'cause of food being a bit scarce, din't want 'em rebelling. We decided t' make considering others before one's self everyone's first priority.”
It fell quiet. For the third it had certainly spoken surprisingly much already. The fifth king turned towards the fourth shadow and asked his final question:
“Was there anything else?”
The fourth answered in a somber tone very unusual to it:
“Yes. That the reward of failure should be death.”
All the shadows had now fallen quiet. They seemed to be posing him a question of some kind in turn, but the fifth could not understand it no matter how much as he racked his brain. Eventually he shouted:
“What kind of a fucking stupid logic was that?! What good was that supposed to do?!”
The shadows turned, one by one, to look at the empty, fifth throne and the king knew within his heart that it was now his turn to answer.
9th Chapter: A Water-Sailing Ship.