Named by Forces

When Hu’osh asked why she wasn’t called for during her wounded father’s last breaths, no one had anything to say. Even the proper elders, who muttered sacred names, bestowed by the earth itself, had only vacant stares to offer. As if the last of their voice was used up when they muttered into the ground so that it could swallow her father’s corpse whole. Their silences melded so that Hu’osh, too, was swallowed by languor.

Their silence did little to surprise her. The Encorous people regarded her with suspicion and fear, all at once. Hu'osh had been regarded as the cursed child since she was born. Storm winds had whispered her name to her father, early the day she was born. That same storm, whose winds whipped and destroyed whole rooms of their sacred ruins, decimated their consecrated groves, and even claimed the life of her mother all on the same day. A fungal rot had thrived and devoured what was once a holy place. The day and its tragedies were forever linked to her.

Ku’uoki had been the only one who treated her with kindness. He, who had managed to bring the mortally wounded king back to his throne room, spared just as many words as were necessary to task her with retrieving silk from the caves. Ku’oki, like her father, held the forces’ four names. Why couldn’t he properly defend him? Hu’osh didn’t dare to speak on the matter. As someone who only held their birthname, Hu’osh was capable of even less and knew so, like everyone did.

As she made her way towards the caves, the purple sunset sky tinted her squinting gray eyes. She traced a path from one star cluster to the next, as if following along an invisible line in the infinite starscape above. Her eyes stopped at their usual place, a violet pink cluster of stars. Its vibrant hues radiated outward in an ineffable splendor that blended with the sky between the dark clouds. Having known it well, she could be sure it never escaped her seeking eyes. What were those worlds like? Did its forces pester the world's children with names, too? Hu’osh had never heard the wind’s voice for herself, never heard the names it may have for her.

She busied herself with her usual daydreams as she made her way to the silk caves where they boil water, submerge the cocoons, and eventually transform them into a wondrous thread. It was a rarity to be entrusted with a task, as inopportune as it was. Hu’osh felt a bittersweet gratitude for a chance to contribute. Silk was needed to ready the royal vestments for the throne’s heir. She knew Ku’uoki meant her brother, Hu’rurh. Named of the wind, he had heard his name first hand. Not only was hearing the voice of an element a great honor, it was great power for those who achieved an earnest connection.

Every single hair on Hu’osh’s body stood on end when a silk worm fell onto her and began crawling on her skin. It must have somehow escaped the leaf-filled baskets and roamed around waiting for her arrival it seemed. Hu’osh fought every urge to whip her hand wildly and placed the worm back into its proper basket. With silk in her bag, she darted from the caves. Merely remembering the encounter would rouse goosebumps and cause the tiny hairs on her body push up against her dress, making it look like a swarm of insects had invaded.

At the mouth of the cave, rubbing her arms, Hu’osh stopped mid-step, having heard the howl of approaching winds. Standing still, she listened, concentrating, waiting to hear something. One day, she’d hope to finally hear the wind’s words. After all, she was named by its whispers, but never channeled its might nor a mere draft. The treetops swayed and creaked as gusts rushed through the surrounding glades. Suddenly, it smelled of petrichor. Eventually the gusts became but a breeze. Extending her palms, she outstretched her fingers. Storm soon she thought.

Clouds began crowding the sky, as Hu’osh hurried back to the village in hopes of returning before the sun set completely. A torrential downpour stopped her when she was about halfway there. Hu’osh hurried towards nearby overhanging rock cliffs to take cover. Drenched and soaking, a second wave of panic inundated her as a realization set in. Her gathered silk! Not again, she thought. With closed eyes, she muttered a prayer to her ancestors. Please! Ku’uoki will have my head if I ruined another bundle… Opening her eyes, she carefully loosened her bag’s draw string, coaxing the opening wider until she saw the wet and ruined bundle. Tears flowed in rivulets as the pang of failure flashed through her body.

Thunder cracked loudly, nearly deafening her. The only reason she knew she could hear was because she heard someone shout, she thought. Rushing hand over mouth, she silenced her gasp. Raucous thunder had always made her body quake. This, she figured, lent to her paranoia. Still, her eyes remained alert, searching between the trees. It wasn’t the kind of thing she could shrug off, especially after the O’Houl murdered her father. The O’Houl people had been lingering in the surrounding areas as of late, some had said. They would recount seeing how their eyes lingered and just seemed… empty.

Under the cover of an overhanging cliff, she set her muddied bag atop a rock shelf that bulged out from the rock wall. Thunder roared once more, lightning cutting through the clouds like the rupturing ice of a frozen lake. Her eyes darted between the trees while she rung the water out of her hair. Her heart nearly stopped – someone was definitely here.

“Hu’oooooosh!” a familiar voice called from between the trees. “Hu’osh! You’re going to ruin the silk again!” Ku’uoki. His locks, weighed down with the rainwater, dampened the familiar clack of the colored beads in his ashen locks. Ku’uoki laughed mirthfully, his face wrinkling, as if making way for his big smile. “You should’ve seen your face!” He placed his hand over his own mouth now, eyes nearly bulging out of his face “Oh! I’m so scared!”

Ku’uoki typically knew how to lift someone from whatever may be bogging them down, but today she learned there were exceptions. “Oh, what’s that? Did the wind say something?” He cupped his ear, crouching, pretending to intently listen.

“Alright, alright. Too far.” Hu’osh said, pushing him slightly. “What are you doing out here? I... was just thinking about you.”

“Oh? I wonder why.” he said. Thunder rumbled, as if it was listening. “When were you going to tell me the silk was ruined?”

Hu’osh’s eyes drifted towards her bag which sat in a shallow dirty water puddle of its own making. She shut her eyes and turned away. Her crying built towards a wail, screaming as she fell to her knees. Ku’uoki took a step back. “Wasn’t it enough that I was a motherless child?” she sobbed. “My father is gone now, too. And… no one even called for me!”

“...Hu’osh…” Ku’uoki muttered.

“The cursed child, who did nothing but be born into this life. Everything I touch turns to ruin. I live to see everything I love and care for perish and wither. What they say is right! I really am the cursed child!” she was screaming. Thunder boomed as if in response, louder, and louder. Hu’osh, unaffected by its ominous chorus, continued sobbing loudly. Lightning lit up the skies, and the rains intensified.

“Girl! We must leave now, it is no longer safe to stay here.” Ku’uoki’s voice trembled enough to momentarily dispel Hu’osh’s dismay.

“What does it matter?! Just leave me here!” she retorted, collapsing so that now her hands barely supported her. She whimpered.

“We leave. Now!”

“No!” Hu’osh shrieked. Her voice carried, shaking water off of the treetops. Hu’osh could feel her hairs raise when lightning sundered the sky. Thunder pealed, and crashed as bolts arced from the treetops, to boulder, rock, ground, puddles, engulfing all that they could see, and rendering them both unconscious.

Ku’uoki and Hu’osh’s bodies drifted weightlessly as the waters continued to rise, their faces pointed towards the heavens. Hu’osh dreamt that she was on a planet from her favorite violet purple star cluster, where the people, too, were violet, pink, and purple. The waters rose considerably, waking her up when water got into her nose and choked her out of her dream. She coughed herself awake as the waters receded around her, gently dropping her and Ku’uoki off at the top of the cliff that had been overhead. Ku’uoki grabbed a dizzied Hu’osh’s hand and led her away from the edges of the cliff. She dragged her feet, feeling too weak to go on. Her vision blurred. Knees buckled, she tumbled, her body finally falling limp.

Hu’osh’s snoring had startled her awake.

“Huh?” She mumbled. Hu’osh heard the crackling of a fire nearby, its warmth tightening her skin. Her body had dried in its heat. Ku’uoki stood over the fire, fetching leaf-bound pouches that were suspended masterfully over the fire. The glow of the fire made Ku’uoki’s shadow dance around the encircling cliff walls, jumping from behind him to above him.

“How convenient. You wake when the food’s ready!”

“Where-- what…” Hu’osh tried to find the words.

“I decided I’d make some food while you snored and dried off.” he said. Steam billowed from the grains as he unfolded the bound leaves that housed them. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.” He placed the bundle before her, the warm steam carried the herbs’ aroma, stoking her hunger.

“What happened?” Hu’osh finally asked.

“Seems like a storm made water come from every direction, and flooded the entire forest, caves, and anything else below the cliff where we washed up. I think we have the trees to thank for holding back the raging waters.”

“The people… Do you think they’re okay?”

“Well, the only things that were at the bottom of the mountain were the ruins, and, well, that should be fine enough. Since the people live within the cliffwalls, they should be doing just fine. Maybe a little worried about us, but it’ll teach them to have a bit more faith in the both of us, huh?”

“Uhm, hmm…” she agreed.

“Many years ago, when your father was just a kid, your father and I…” his voice trailed. He looked to her, and, seeing in her eyes that she wanted to hear more, continued. “We used to come to this place.”

“What? Really..? How?” Hu’osh asked. Ku’uoki smiled.

“I’ve been waiting to have this conversation with you since the day you were born, and it just so happened the universe must’ve thought it was due time, to have all of these things happen the way it did…”

She blinked, and hung her head.

“It’s going to be okay, Hu’osh. Your father, he was a great man. There was much you didn’t know about him. You were too young. And now, you were forced to grow so quickly.”

“Is this where he heard the forces speak to him?” she asked. Ku’uoki’s eyebrows raised.

“Yes, actually. I want to show you. We will just have to weather the storm once again. At least you know we’ll come back to this warm, dry spot when we’re done. That sound okay to you?” She nodded.

Around the corner from where they had settled for the night, there was an opening that, when they walked up and out of, revealed the backside of the mountain. Hu'osh could not believe her eyes when she spotted the teal lake. Its luminscent waters stretched far back as she could see, countless drops of rain turning into an infinite expanse of teal stars popping in and out of existence.

"Here is where your father was named Kulutalulu when he trickled down from the heavens and made quite a show exactly like you see here" he said. "At only seven, he had already done what not even his elders, could."

"Really? Did dad rub it in their faces?" Hu'osh asked. She smirked, looking onto the blue universe before her, thinking about her father teasing the elders of his time.

"Yes. Your father, was told, like we all were, that we could only expect to hear the call once, by a singular force. That hearing more than one was a myth, an unheard of exagerration of what could happen. They never spoke of how he would be able to become the water itself. I never knew for sure if they even knew it was possible. If he were the kind of man to wait for others to tell him where to look, he would've never been named by the four forces."

They continued to walk alongside the lake, and Hu'osh began to wonder if maybe it was water who would finally speak to her.

"Ku'lu'talu'lu," she said quietly, attempting to mimic Ku'uoki's rhythmic pronounciation.

The waves of the lake lapped quietly. Hu'osh stood still, trying to find the patience to continue to listen to elements who seemed to have abandoned her entirely.

"There were legends and myths that turned out to be true, Hu'osh. Things that were better left unsaid to those unprepared to hear it."

"Because they were too young? Like me?" she asked.

"Partly. And in part because the reality of it was too much to bear. Too much magic was no good in the wrong hands. Because of fear, they kept it secret. They called it myth." Ku'uoki sounded bitter. "Let's keep walking. You'll get your turn one day. I just know it." He laid his hand on her shoulder, patting gently.

After a few moments, they came across a clearing. "Wait here." he said. He turned around when the brush had nearly engulfed him. She could see him smile behind the tall grass.

"Ke'ro'o'fum" he said. Embers replaced the tops of the brush, leaving burnt ashen remains of the stalks, consuming them with a famished desperation. Columns of vibrant red and orange flames stained the air with billowing smoke all around him. Hu'osh screamed in terror, but could still see the whites of his teeth in the raging wildfire. His hair spun and jumped as he did. He carried on dancing and moving as if stirring something within, and the blazes rolled in kind. They were one and the same. He continued chanting, his form giving way to the inferno's dominating force.

"Here, in the fire, Sistetkle, and I ...Ke'ro'o'fum!.. We merged with the flames. Losing and finding ourselves again. Tell me, Hu'osh. Do you hear its yearning call?" It all collapsed into cinders that sent off smoky plumes, the embers somehow still glowing in the persisting rain. Hu'osh stood silently. "Ke'ro'o'fum" she imitated him. She sighed. Nothing.

Ke'ro'o'fum growled his name. Smoldering cinders caught alight. An unbridled conflagration radiated, crackling, igniting and subsuming all that was caught in its wake. And yet no voice spoke through. "Fuo’uo’shi’hui. Your father's third name." Ku'oki said from somewhere inside. Hu'osh could hear, but not see him. "Ki'ir'sh!" he hissed. His locks flailed as gusts dispersed the fire around him, smoke rising and mixing with the gusts, revealing the surrounding cinder pits glowing brightly. The winds picked up, the fire climbing and swirling around him.