#ka'da

“Ski’jen says it wasn’t always called ‘the Forbidden City’ but when I asked for the real name, he couldn’t give it to me, only insisting that it had a name somewhere that the elders refused to use. This is not the only thing about history he claims is incomplete nor is it the first time he’s failed to explain himself to me when pressed for information, but overlooking the horizon myself now and seeing the great teeth of the old world twisting in the light of our star, I feel a sense of understanding.

“I understand why it is ‘forbidden’, and I understand why there are some who wonder why something so magnificent would be made as taboo and what it must have been like before the Sin’tju’ulsu when our ancestors could touch the stars and speak with the gods in their world. Perhaps that was why the very stars themselves were cast down upon us so many ages ago.

“We of mortal flesh should never have tried to enter the hall of the immortals and for this act, we were reminded that for all our hunts, all our spirits tamed and dominated, we are not of the gods. It is our children who suffer our parents’ folly, growing weaker and living short lives as the hunts become scarcer. Illnesses we cannot heal have been overtaking the north. Ski’jen, for all his ramblings, has always been keen on knowing what our cousin clans are doing, but I cannot help but worry his search for knowledge will end with him unable to take back his curiosity.

“He does not listen to me like he used to. My thurr’nan, I wish you would return to the village and not meander into lands we do not have claim to! I fear one day there will be no more stories to share and tales to tell. That he will be exiled or worse yet, his spirit will be dominated by and he will know no rest! I cannot lose another bond! I wish for him to come to his senses, but I can only hope for his protection.”