“Just so. This man waved and shouted to my father, yelling at him to get back up the rocks to the safety of the road. My father could not understand - surely this Worker saw the boat, too, and would not want to leave the others alone! He yelled up at the man that while he was only a priest, and knew nothing of the water, he was still young and had strong arms and a good back - he thought he could be of help. But the man shouted back to him not to go any further, and clambered down to catch my father’s arms in his rough old hands, and hauled him back up to the road.” Delenn smiled a little. “My father was never a man overly concerned with his personal dignity, but he I believe he was most insulted that night. But it was a good thing that he was only a novice priest who would not dare openly argue with an elder, even of another caste. The light below, the fisher explained once they were safely on the road again, was no boat, no crew of stranded fisherman - it was an ard’sha, a death light, waiting for just such an opportunity to lure some unwary creature down to the shoreline with its light, and grab on with all its many arms, and pull that poor creature into the mouth that waited beneath the surface. If that fisherman had not come by when he did and seen my father down on the rocks, he would surely have died.”
John stared blankly at her. “Delenn... why are you telling me this? That’s horrible, but... why...”
“I looked at your Human calendar. Is it not the holiday you call Halloween? The computer said it was traditionally celebrated with costumes and the telling of fortunes, and of frightening stories.”
“Ghost stories, yeah, but...” John’s brow furrowed, then relaxed, and he laughed a little. “Then that story was just made up! Something you came up with to scare me.”
Delenn tilted her head. “No, it happened to my father, just as I told you. Why, is the story not supposed to be a true one?”
“No, but... that thing, the, the death light. You made it up, right? There’s no such thing as... big scary fish-things with lights that wait on the beach for people.”
“Of course they do not wait on the beach, John. They wait under the water, and hold their lights up above the surface to be seen. But they are very real, very much so. You must always be very careful walking near water here, John, and never go toward any such light that you might see. People try to keep them away from settlements, but it does not always work.”
John Sheridan thought of all the pleasant night walks on beaches that he’d taken on Earth, and immediately banished any vague thoughts of doing the same on Minbar, with his lovely wife. “Delenn, sweetheart... Is everything on your planet really trying to kill people?”
“Mostly, why?”
He shook his head. “Just thinking that I’d better stick to the city. No nature walks for me. At least not unless you’re along. And possibly an honor guard of six Rangers, just to make sure.”
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part 2!
Date: 2011-11-01 04:32 am (UTC)John stared blankly at her. “Delenn... why are you telling me this? That’s horrible, but... why...”
“I looked at your Human calendar. Is it not the holiday you call Halloween? The computer said it was traditionally celebrated with costumes and the telling of fortunes, and of frightening stories.”
“Ghost stories, yeah, but...” John’s brow furrowed, then relaxed, and he laughed a little. “Then that story was just made up! Something you came up with to scare me.”
Delenn tilted her head. “No, it happened to my father, just as I told you. Why, is the story not supposed to be a true one?”
“No, but... that thing, the, the death light. You made it up, right? There’s no such thing as... big scary fish-things with lights that wait on the beach for people.”
“Of course they do not wait on the beach, John. They wait under the water, and hold their lights up above the surface to be seen. But they are very real, very much so. You must always be very careful walking near water here, John, and never go toward any such light that you might see. People try to keep them away from settlements, but it does not always work.”
John Sheridan thought of all the pleasant night walks on beaches that he’d taken on Earth, and immediately banished any vague thoughts of doing the same on Minbar, with his lovely wife. “Delenn, sweetheart... Is everything on your planet really trying to kill people?”
“Mostly, why?”
He shook his head. “Just thinking that I’d better stick to the city. No nature walks for me. At least not unless you’re along. And possibly an honor guard of six Rangers, just to make sure.”
“That might be wise.”
“You’re not even joking about that, are you?”