narrative: Yonca's first pet. Who: Yonca Ghanem, Caretaker (NPC) Where: Tevinter. The Ghanem’s humble abode. When: 9:35 Late Summer Summary: A young Yonca begins to be taught harsher lessons. Rating: G [Talk of death, but beyond that nothing really]
Three days. Five hours. Six minutes. This was how long it had been since Yonca was given her first pet. The tiny rabbit in her arms seemed so peaceful. It was a dirty brown, a simple rabbit that her caretaker had found in the fields near their hut. She rubbed its long ears, a vague smile on her lips as she did. Genitivi. That was his name. She thought it fit the field rabbit well. The girl had always imagined the Ferelden scholar as rather simple and... well.... fieldy.
As Genitivi nibbled at the lettuce Yonca held, she brought her gaze up to look out at the landscape. Long yellow clumps of grass shivered in the breeze. A light layer of pollen was in the atmosphere. Just looking at the soft yellow dots made her want to sneeze, but she refrained. She didn’t want to scare Genitivi.
Her attention was pulled away as she heard footsteps approach from the back door of the hut. She turned to watch as her caretaker came outside. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted. Yonca knew he had been up all night, reading over some texts for a friend that had visited a few days prior. She stood up, off the bench, clutching the rabbit tightly to her chest so it wouldn’t jump away.
“I made breakfast.” She spoke up softly, her eyes wide as she stared up at the tall man. He looked at her before reaching out and placing a hand on top of her head. His mouth opened and before he could speak, a loud yawn left. Yonca smiled happily at the yawn but she instantly got rid of the expression when a stern look appeared on the man’s face.
“Good. Thank you. Let’s go inside. I can’t stand this sun.” As he referred to it, his eyes squinted at the bright light. He turned, retreating back inside the hut. Yonca glanced up at the clear sky, sighing before following quickly. She kept hold of Genitivi. The rabbit wouldn’t want to be left out from breakfast.
As soon as she shut the door, she set Genitivi down. The rabbit hopped away, going to hide under the square wooden table. She smiled, walking over. The girl grabbed a few leaves of lettuce that she had picked earlier and set it beside the rabbit.
Her caretaker flopped onto one of the chairs, the legs creaking from wear. He had a large text in front of him and he flipped it open, staring at one of the pages. Yonca glanced at the decorative writing and designs but didn’t let her gaze linger. She knew he didn’t like her to read over his shoulder. Instead, she busied herself with preparing the plates for them. Even though she had been up an hour or so before him, she had waited to eat with him as she was use to. She arranged the cut fruit and vegetables in a decorative array. In the middle she placed a spoonful of clotted cream. Sliding a plate over to her caretaker, she smiled, “I taught Genitivi a trick this morning.”
Her caretaker grabbed a slice of apple before looking up at the girl. He stared for a moment before sighing as he rested the side of his head against the palm of his hand, “Oh, really?”
Yonca nodded, moving around the table. She stepped a couple feet away. Leaning down, she wiggled her fingers in a gesturing motion. The caretaker frowned when it was clear nothing was happening. Yonca frowned as well before wiggling her fingers even more. Genitivi stayed under the table, nibbling at the lettuce. She let out a frustrated sigh. Her caretaker chewed on another slice of apple before speaking up, “That’s alright. You shouldn’t be teaching the rabbit any tricks anyways.”
Yonca sighed before sitting down on the chair beside her caretaker. She scooted it closer before leaning against the man’s side. The girl felt him sigh before he moved his arm around to side-hug her. Nuzzling against his velvet robes, she smiled at the familiar smell of smoke and copper. She stayed silent as he continued to eat with one hand and hold her with the other one. Occasionally, he would flip the pages of the text.
What are you reading? Yonca wanted to ask after a few minutes, but was hesitant. She wasn’t sure if it was worth asking. Sometimes, her caretaker got so angry at her when she asked questions and she didn’t want to ruin the nice breakfast. Reaching out, she ate a slice of orange. There was an odd feeling against her bare feet. A tickling that made her squirm out of the comfortable position. Her caretaker raised his arm to allow her to move back. Yonca looked down to see Genitivi rubbing up against her toes. She let out a small giggle, reaching down and picking up the rabbit. Petting the animal, she glanced at her caretaker. She really did enjoy having a pet. It was as nice as the texts made it seem it would be.
“Yonca...” Her caretaker’s serious tone made her look up, concerned. Did she do something wrong? She glanced at the text before looking at the man’s expression. She knew that look, he was disappointed... but why? The man stared before sighing loudly again, “Go make me some tea.” He stated, flipping a page of the text. Yonca nodded, setting the bunny on the ground and hurrying over to the stove.
As she boiled the water and tried to find a clean mug, she listened as her caretaker spoke up, “Yonca, could you recite to me the passage of death I taught you the other week?”
The girl paused, holding a ceramic mug in her hands before nodding and beginning, “Let death come to those who surrender, who give up their will, and disregard the natural powers the Old Gods have given them to use.” She continued to recite as she set the mug on the table and went over to watch the water boil, “Let death come to the simple, the foolish, and the arrogant.” She paused, looking over her shoulder at her caretaker. He nodded before speaking up, “Now please recite what I taught you about sacrifices.”
Yonca took a deep breath, fanning the fire at the stovetop, “While true power comes from the direct source of a mage’s mana, the use of sacrifices help push the boundaries. This technique helps open up a wider range of possibilities for what can be done in the natural and fade world. These sacrifices are both necessary and should be treated as one treats any other harsh truths of the world. For sacrificing a simple-minded being in return for the success of a powerful spell should be acceptable through-out Thedas. While, it is true that arbitrary sacrifices should not be chosen, there are plenty of criminals, lesser beings, slaves and people with simple lives that should supply more than enough to make an acceptable market for sacrifices.”
Yonca’s words were cut short when Genitivi suddenly hopped onto her foot. She reached down, picking the rabbit up. The girl frowned, thinking about what she had just said then looking at her caretaker. He was watching her with a fair amount of concentration. A silence suddenly weighed down the room. Between their matched gazes, a conversation was taking place. Yonca’s eyes grew wide and the blue orbs darted side to side, slowly making sense of what she had just said, the caretaker’s expression and the rabbit in her arms. She felt a constriction in her chest and began to breathe quickly through her nose.
“No...” Yonca whispered, feeling a flush arise in her cheeks. Her caretaker continued to stare at her. She ignored the whistling and bubbling of the water on the stove as she clutched the rabbit tighter. She ignored its soft kicking against her robes. The girl shook her head, “No....” She repeated, a bit louder, “No, no no no. I won’t! Not Genitivi!” Feeling tears roll down her cheeks, Yonca began to have trouble breathing.
The legs of the chair screeched as the caretaker stood up. He walked over to the girl, shaking his head. A soft sigh sounded from him, “I... You must have seen this coming, Yonca. Why else do you think I would have collected a rabbit for you?” He reached out, placing a hand on the top of her head.
“No! I won’t have it! Genitivi is my pet! I can’t do it. One isn’t suppose to do that to a pet!” She shook her head, trying to shake away the hand touching her. It didn’t go away, instead slipping down to cup her cheek that was quickly becoming wet with tears.
“Yonca... I...I’m so... You have to. It’s what your father wants and it is a normal sequence of lessons. You do want to stop hurting yourself, don’t you?” Yonca gasped for breath as the man continued to speak, “As Zeitherun writes, simple-minded beings such as rabbits are made for sacrificing. This is their duty in life, Yonca. You can’t deny them of that. That rabbit was made to be sacrificed to the natural world.” The man’s hand left her as it waved in a wide gesture to nothing in particular but the idea in his mind, “Whether eaten by predator in a pained death or shot by hunters, this rabbit is meant to die in a sacrificial way somehow.” He moved his hands back, clasping them on the girl’s trembling shoulders, “Yonca, I need you to understand. This rabbit is so lucky that you have taken such good care of it before it must fulfill its destiny in life. It will be so painless for it and a much better way to die than the previous ways I had mentioned. Yonca.” The man kneeled down on the floor so that he was level to Yonca’s gaze, “Yonca, I need you to look at me and understand what I am telling you.”
The girl tried to control herself, still finding it difficult to gulp in air as she stared at her caretaker. She stared at him for a moment before gasping, “I can’t breathe...”
“Just calm yourself.” The caretaker glanced at the rabbit before looking back at Yonca.
Yonca shook her head violently, her blond locks flipping about, “I... breathe...” It was getting harder and harder. It was as if her lungs were closing up.
The caretaker closed his eyes and a blue light began to glow from his hands. Yonca could feel the warmth sink into her skin, slowly dissolve into her blood and take her over. Her gasping stopped, her face paled, and she felt better. Yonca stared at the man before looking down at the floor, “I’m sorry, so sorry. I didn’t mean to... be... weak.” How disappointed he must be in her, how disappointed would Papa be if he finds out? Yonca tried not to think of such things.
“It’s fine, it’s okay. You’re okay.” He said, grabbing the bunny from Yonca’s now limp grip and setting it on the floor. It hopped away to the lettuce. The man pulled her into a hug against him, “Do you understand what I am saying, Yonca?”
Yonca sniffed. She placed her hands against the man’s chest, feeling an overwhelming security being held in his arms, “Yes, I do.”.