Tother Hand Chapter 2 part 1

Chapter Two

2711 carried his daughter, 9001, back to the yurt applying pressure to the wound so tightly she was unconscious. He grabbed a section of cloth and some wool from the blanket to stuff into the side of her neck as he wrapped her neck and tightened the cloth. He made it snug enough that her throat could move up and down behind the cloth. Her eyes fluttered open and he commanded, Sleep!

And she slept.

She woke up in the middle of the next day. Her father had tied her head with something so that she could not turn her head. She tried to lift her head instinctively and searing pain from the left side of her neck. She cried out and regretted that too, because something inside the back of her throat either clicked or caught on something and she tasted warm buttery copper in the back of her throat.

Her father’s face appeared over her and he lifted his fingers to his lips. This meant, are you thirsty?

She rolled her eyes away and tears formed in the corners. The tears spilled out into her ears and collected in the concha. She could smell the butter tea her father had prepared, however, and couldn’t help feeling a sense of longing and nostalgia for her favourite drink. The unpleasant taste of blood and the pain in her neck distracted her from these feelings, however.

Her father moved over to her so she could see him better. He said, you have made a grave mistake in your training. You have almost cost yourself your life. Then he paused and annoyance replaced the look of concern in his features. He continued, I wanted to teach you a lesson, but perhaps the blade went too far. It cut into your omohyoid but narrowly avoided the arteries and vessels.

She knew the anatomy from her lessons. It was the one lesson she excelled at. She knew he had struck at the first target, number One. Anger bubbled up in her. He raised his hand in front of her face as he saw her reaction. The hand meant, calm down.

He said, I am the one who is angry. Not you. You are the one who is at fault for your training, not me.  I am responsible for your training, but at some point, you must do the learning. I cannot do it for you.

She rolled her eyes to the opposite side so she didn’t have to look at him. More tears welled up from the anger, shame, and even pain. Her ears were getting cold with the saline pools forming in the creases of her pinna. She caught sight of her friend the spider, but he (it was surely a he) moved down the yurt wall below her sightline.

Her father waved his hand over her face to draw her attention back to him. He motioned with a wooden spoon and opened his mouth. She opened her mouth and he dipped the spoon somewhere then brought it to her mouth. The butter tea was thick and delicious, salty and creamy, but it burned like fire. She coughed and sputtered. 2711 wiped at her chin and face with the rough cloth of his sleeve. He opened his mouth again and dipped the spoon to give her more. She grew accustomed to the heat but her throat still caught painfully when she swallowed. The butter tea must have helped clot the interior wound, however, because the taste of coppery blood disappeared.

After she had drunk enough to feel better, her father put down the spoon and made expressive facial motions, widening his eyes and mouth, and moving his ears. This meant, relax and calm down. Listen.

He began, everyone knows the story of the Origin and how we came to the Earth. The first sprit was the air spirit, full of _druj_, or disorder. When I throw water into the air, it spreads and splashes. If I cup a stream in a bowl, it becomes orderly and calm. This is _Ahura_, or wisdom. From the chaos of the air spirits, the water appeared but it was wild and thrown about by the winds and whipped into waves. The angry spirits prevailed.

Beneath the waters, however, formed the earth spirits. The calm and orderly earth rose up from the water and protected the waters from the angry winds. The benevolent earth gave rise to calm lakes and pushed back the angry waters. The fire spirits collected in the sky and collected into the warm sun. The winds were driven by the fire spirits, but could not continue forever. The sun shined down upon the earth and cooled the hot tempers of the air spirits. All four elements were in balance now, earth, water, air, and fire.

Order arose out of the disorder, but _druj_ can still be found here and there. We all know that the number 2 is the first letter of the ancient alphabet. It is the singular number of counting. When something is whole, it has no number. Split it in half and you have two. _Druj_ cannot exist by itself, and _Ahura_ cannot exist without mistakes and learning. Order arises from the chaos, at least at first. The first letter of my name is thus, life. Opposition of forces: fire versus water and air versus earth.

The next number is 4, when the two opposing forces split into two more pieces each. Fire and air versus water and earth. The number 4 is also the letter for death. When all four spirits are combined, they return to one: completely balanced but unmoving and silent. Death. This is where too much wisdom binds the mind and balance has gone too far. Too much peace equals death.

Between life and death, then, is the number 3. It follows 4 as a counterbalance but it is too unstable. Nothing can rest on triangle, like your Iberian training blade. Anything that occurs in threes is unstable and becomes either two or four. Fire spirits enter the water and create vapour air. Too many water spirits smother the fire by separating it from the air it needs. Fire spirits in the air burn and scorch the earth.

Her father continued, let’s jump to the last number, 1. The number 1 does not exist alone in nature. Fire needs air to move and transfer. The earth needs water or it turns to rock. Water needs fire or it freezes into ice. Air needs water or else the world would be a desert without rain. Thus, 1 is _druj_ or disorder. The number 2 is _ahura_, balance and wisdom. Any even number is balanced. Add one more to that number and it results in imbalance. That’s why 2 is the first number and 1 is the last. My name begins with _ahura_ and ends with two _druj_.

2711 looked at his daughter. She knew this story by heart, but it filled her belly with warmth, just as the butter tea always did.

He said, your name ends in _druj_. Disorder, violence, and fury. When you were born, your mother died. She transferred to you an imbalance that I have sought to help. You were always curious, but resistant to learning. You were always active, but without purpose. You have always learned quickly, but forget easily.