Fic: Sha'uri's Song
May. 24th, 2003 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galaxysoupFANDOM: Stargate SG-1
RATING: PG
CAEGORY: Angst
SUMMARY: A little snippet from Sha'uri's point of view.
SPOILERS: Stargate the movie, Children of the Gods. A prequel of sorts to Secrets.
SHA'URI'S SONG
The demon slept, and finally, finally, she was free.
In the darkness she slipped from her bed, her servants, and her jailers, and left the palace where the demon king had hidden her away, walking with purpose down the dark night road. Her destination was a cave, half-hidden below a large hill. She had spotted it from the palace yesterday, and out of the desperation of her situation and the loneliness in her heart, her plan had formed.
She strode into the cave, sizing it up with a glance, deciding on an appropriate place almost immediately. She threw down her cloak, brought forth her concealed tools, and set to work.
For an eternity, the cave was filled with the gentle scrape of metal on stone as she wrote in the letters her husband had taught her. With each line she inscribed she imagined she could hear his voice, explaining the meaning and sound of the strange shapes he made with ease. She had loved him, and she had learned, though at times it was hard to make sense of the things he showed her.
"My tale is the tale of a slave woman," she wrote, "whose people toiled under the harsh eye of Ra the false Sun God. It is a story of love and sorrow, and I leave it here in the hopes that it will not be forgotten.
"In the deserts of Abydos my tale was born, when the symbols on the Great Ring lit up like fire bugs and a lake of solid water rose from the air. From across the stars came a band of men who would free my people from their enslavement, and with them came my Danyel of the gentle hands and kind soul, who opened my eyes and taught my heart to sing songs of freedom and joy. The band of warriors slayed the false god and when it was time for them to cross the stars and return home, my Danyel stayed behind, for our hearts were as one and our souls had traded place.
"When the Great Ring spun once more, we welcomed back into our homes the people of my husband Danyel, and for a time our happiness was great. But the Great Ring spun a third time, and this time it brought forth the demon king Apophis, whose heart is filled with deceit. He stole me from my home and fled through the Great Ring before my Danyel could find him and free me once more.
"Through the Great Ring I was possessed by a demon, Amonhet, who is as cruel as she is cowardly. She has done many things against my will, for until I became with child I could not control her actions. I call all the plagues of ages past down upon her and her kind, for they are the worst kind of death-spirit, preying on the people of the stars like carrion birds who desecrate corpses.
"I leave my tale as a warning. Do not trust the false gods, for they act always with deceit. Do not turn your back to them, for they will strike you while you stand unaware.
"I leave my tale as a message. Hear me, my Danyel. My love for you is the voice in the desert wind. It is the flower that springs up suddenly from the sand. It is the light of the stars on the tops of the dunes. My love for you will never die or grow old. It cannot be taken from me. I know in my heart that one day I will be free and we will walk once more together through the streets of Nagada, that one day you will hold me in your arms and this night-terror will end.
"I leave my tale so that someone can bring word of me to my Danyel, and let him know that although I live in captivity and fear I live also in his love. Our hearts are as one and our souls have traded place. One day we will pass through the seven gates and rejoice together forever. I love you, my Danyel.
"I am Sha'uri of Abydos. I bow my head to no demon. I will be free."
Finally, she was done. She set aside her tools, for they would be of no use at the palace. She pulled on her cloak and turned to go, pausing for a moment at the entrance to the cave. She looked back, and wept a few tears for her broken family; for her own lost innocence, for the anguish in her husband's eyes, for the doomed nameless child growing relentlessly in her belly. And then she turned and marched, head held high, back over the hills to her prison.
FINIS
AUTHOR'S NOTE UPON REPOSTING: This is down as one of my favourites mostly because even all these years later I still love the central concept - Sha'uri's form of revenge and bravery and rebellion, in the only way available to her, and then her dignity as she goes back. I also like the idea that maybe one day Daniel will find what she's written.
Reading it again, now that a few years have passed, I think I fell into a few of the classic fantasy/scifi cliches when it came to the language in Sha'uri's story and I kind of want to fix a lot of it. But it remains one of my favourites, both for the concept and the line "I am Sha'uri of Abydos. I bow my head to no demon. I will be free." The Sha're of the series was not as kickass as the one in the movie (and yes, that's why I used the movie spelling), but she was still pretty damn awesome and hell no would either Sha'uri have taken her fate without a fight.
I like Sha'uri, okay? ;-)
RATING: PG
CAEGORY: Angst
SUMMARY: A little snippet from Sha'uri's point of view.
SPOILERS: Stargate the movie, Children of the Gods. A prequel of sorts to Secrets.
SHA'URI'S SONG
The demon slept, and finally, finally, she was free.
In the darkness she slipped from her bed, her servants, and her jailers, and left the palace where the demon king had hidden her away, walking with purpose down the dark night road. Her destination was a cave, half-hidden below a large hill. She had spotted it from the palace yesterday, and out of the desperation of her situation and the loneliness in her heart, her plan had formed.
She strode into the cave, sizing it up with a glance, deciding on an appropriate place almost immediately. She threw down her cloak, brought forth her concealed tools, and set to work.
For an eternity, the cave was filled with the gentle scrape of metal on stone as she wrote in the letters her husband had taught her. With each line she inscribed she imagined she could hear his voice, explaining the meaning and sound of the strange shapes he made with ease. She had loved him, and she had learned, though at times it was hard to make sense of the things he showed her.
"My tale is the tale of a slave woman," she wrote, "whose people toiled under the harsh eye of Ra the false Sun God. It is a story of love and sorrow, and I leave it here in the hopes that it will not be forgotten.
"In the deserts of Abydos my tale was born, when the symbols on the Great Ring lit up like fire bugs and a lake of solid water rose from the air. From across the stars came a band of men who would free my people from their enslavement, and with them came my Danyel of the gentle hands and kind soul, who opened my eyes and taught my heart to sing songs of freedom and joy. The band of warriors slayed the false god and when it was time for them to cross the stars and return home, my Danyel stayed behind, for our hearts were as one and our souls had traded place.
"When the Great Ring spun once more, we welcomed back into our homes the people of my husband Danyel, and for a time our happiness was great. But the Great Ring spun a third time, and this time it brought forth the demon king Apophis, whose heart is filled with deceit. He stole me from my home and fled through the Great Ring before my Danyel could find him and free me once more.
"Through the Great Ring I was possessed by a demon, Amonhet, who is as cruel as she is cowardly. She has done many things against my will, for until I became with child I could not control her actions. I call all the plagues of ages past down upon her and her kind, for they are the worst kind of death-spirit, preying on the people of the stars like carrion birds who desecrate corpses.
"I leave my tale as a warning. Do not trust the false gods, for they act always with deceit. Do not turn your back to them, for they will strike you while you stand unaware.
"I leave my tale as a message. Hear me, my Danyel. My love for you is the voice in the desert wind. It is the flower that springs up suddenly from the sand. It is the light of the stars on the tops of the dunes. My love for you will never die or grow old. It cannot be taken from me. I know in my heart that one day I will be free and we will walk once more together through the streets of Nagada, that one day you will hold me in your arms and this night-terror will end.
"I leave my tale so that someone can bring word of me to my Danyel, and let him know that although I live in captivity and fear I live also in his love. Our hearts are as one and our souls have traded place. One day we will pass through the seven gates and rejoice together forever. I love you, my Danyel.
"I am Sha'uri of Abydos. I bow my head to no demon. I will be free."
Finally, she was done. She set aside her tools, for they would be of no use at the palace. She pulled on her cloak and turned to go, pausing for a moment at the entrance to the cave. She looked back, and wept a few tears for her broken family; for her own lost innocence, for the anguish in her husband's eyes, for the doomed nameless child growing relentlessly in her belly. And then she turned and marched, head held high, back over the hills to her prison.
FINIS
AUTHOR'S NOTE UPON REPOSTING: This is down as one of my favourites mostly because even all these years later I still love the central concept - Sha'uri's form of revenge and bravery and rebellion, in the only way available to her, and then her dignity as she goes back. I also like the idea that maybe one day Daniel will find what she's written.
Reading it again, now that a few years have passed, I think I fell into a few of the classic fantasy/scifi cliches when it came to the language in Sha'uri's story and I kind of want to fix a lot of it. But it remains one of my favourites, both for the concept and the line "I am Sha'uri of Abydos. I bow my head to no demon. I will be free." The Sha're of the series was not as kickass as the one in the movie (and yes, that's why I used the movie spelling), but she was still pretty damn awesome and hell no would either Sha'uri have taken her fate without a fight.
I like Sha'uri, okay? ;-)
