sixthiterationlogs | So Comes New Life

Nerys isn't squeamish exactly, but it's probably best that she missed the more graphic aspects of the calving, instead arriving after the process is mostly over. The young calf is now merely damp, being licked profusely by her mother, and Margaery looks slightly disheveled but pleased.

Smiling, Nerys quietly waves and wades through the thick grass towards the shade tree where the cows and her friend have settled, out of the heat of the day. "Congratulations," she says, softly, not wanting to disturb the animals.

"Maris did well." It seemed ironic that the first cow to become pregnant was the one she had named 'Maris the Maid,' but perhaps it was fitting? She was the most passive of her sisters. How could she not be desired by the other bulls? "I never witnessed a birth before, but she bore it with more strength and grace than I can imagine any woman might." It was something she would never experience for herself, but she could rejoice in these births with all the joy she would have had for her own.

"We will have milk now." Gods, but it felt like they had received a rare treasure, worth far more than gold. Cheese, butter, so many things she had missed. "It's been near a year since we arrived. It's strange to remember that. Maris bearing a calf is the most glaring reminder of that."

"Maris is such a pretty name," Nerys says, and extends a hand for the cow to sniff before she pets its velvety snout. It's best not to surprise animals, that much she knows, and it seems to be true even for these new ones. "I'm glad she came through, and the calf too. It always seems to be far easier for wild and farm creatures than sentients, giving birth."

It's something to do with brain size, from what she understands. That certainly doesn't make her want to have a baby, by any stretch of the imagination. The thought also leads to a niggling unpleasant concern--it's pretty strange that none of the sentients here, human or otherwise, has gotten pregnant. Even if, as far as she can tell, there isn't as much sex going on as one might expect.

"The milk will be fantastic, Margaery--how long do they gestate, and lactate, do you know?" she asks. "I mean, as you say, we've been here a long time." The milk from one cow won't go incredibly far, but she's sure it'll help with their diet.

"So I understand it." Not that she would ever know for herself. "I imagine it would be all the more difficult in this world. We have no maesters and no means to care for children." Perhaps it was better that there had been no signs of fertility among the human women.

"For a time," she answered. She would need to read more about it, but they at least had a little while before the lactation ended. "When Maris no longer produces milk, the goats should have had their kids. We won't be without milk, so long as we ration it until next Spring."

And perhaps by then, there will be more calves and more kids. Once they had milk again, she didn't want to ever be without it. "It seems strange to reflect on how long we have been here or think ahead to the next Winter and Spring."

"Maesters?" Nerys asks, brow furrowing a little. "Are they like doctors, then? Or priests?" She is always fascinated to hear about Margaery's home, as it's both very like the human cultures she knows but also completely different.

"So we'll have goat milk after this," she muses, thoughtfully. "I guess it would probably be best to make most of it into cheese, if we can find somewhere cool to store it. Something that keeps for a while. Not that I know much more about cheese than that, do you?" After a moment, she adds, slightly less cheerfully, "And there I am, thinking long-term as much as you are. I know what you mean."

She hasn't ever consciously anticipated being here this long. Maybe she's assumed that either she'd be found by Sisko and her colleagues, or that the beings watching them would get bored and send them home, but at the same time, that was hope for its own sake. Deep down, Nerys has always been planning for the next steps of survival. It's in Bajoran DNA, perhaps, or ancestral memory.

"Ah, yes." It was easy to forget sometimes that many in the village would not recognize the term. "They are an order of scholars. Many learned medicine and tend to the ill and infirm. There are others that study the histories of our land, politics and so much else. Each great keep has a maester in their employ. They often deliver the children of the lords."

It was such a relief to have more than water. Milk would be as decadent as the chocolate they had been given. "There are a few basements in our homes, but I don't think they are appropriate for storing food. It might be wise to have a meeting and discuss what to do with the milk and cheese." She glanced in the direction of her bungalow. "I was given a butter churn during the Winter. I learned how to make cheese."

She smiled, "I think it's wise to consider the long-term. If we don't, it will be gone too easily. We need to ration."

"So like professors, then," Nerys says, mostly for her own benefit as the word won't mean much of anything to Margaery. "Somewhat. Each with a specialty, right--though do your, uh, maesters teach? Ours often do." Though they're still cobbling academia back together on Bajor. The Cardassians only permitted their own pet projects during the Occupation, and it makes sense, seeing as they're certainly not stupid when it comes to the value of knowledge. The Bajoran academic community's now spending more than a little time figuring out what they need people to actually study, and all the priorities thereof.

"There may be a cave or two that's suitable, but that's a pretty long distance from here for convenience." Frankly, the evil bugs she saw back in the early spring, and the story Kira had told her, have put Nerys off the caves for the most part. For now, until she can figure out a safe approach. "And you're right, we're not--"

She squeezes her eyes closed, trying to remember the equivalent animal on Earth. "Bears or other hibernators. We can't just eat lots in the summertime and sleep through the winter, unfortunately."

"They have many specialties. They would forge chains to wear, each link representing a subject they mastered. They help birth and teach the children, they help administer the keeps and advise the lords. It is a position we cannot do without." Though there were Maesters that many wished would be sent away, Pycelle among them. The man was far from trustworthy. "They have a great library at the Citadel where they are trained."

"It wouldn't be wise to wait for the Observers to send us what we need. We may have to find the means to make it ourselves." Kate would likely know, as she seemed at home with this technology. "A meeting would be a good idea."

She smiled, "It would be so simple if we could. I should like to sleep through Winter."

"Interesting. Ours mostly just specialize in one or two things, and sometimes people will be a medical doctor and an academic one at the same time, but not quite to that extent." Nerys is looking for the term 'Renaissance man', but she doesn't know it herself and Margaery wouldn't even if she did. Even in the Federation, where many usually have nothing but time and resources to do what they like, such people are rare. The world Margaery comes from, Nerys is fairly sure, must be pretty different.

She clears her throat to clear her head, then nods. "It's foolish to expect anything, I agree. Particularly as gifts around here have a tendency to come back and bite you. Though if they're listening and send stasis pods for us to sleep through the winter months, there'd probably be something nasty at the end of it!"

Really, Nerys has to laugh. It's all one can do.

It was touching on a theory she had since that first feast. The feasts always seemed to herald some catastrophe. The first earthquake and Karen's murder. It was difficult not to look at those feasts or gifts as anything but placation. "I wouldn't trust them if they did bring us something to sleep through winter. I wouldn't know if the village would still be standing at the end of it."

And this coming winter might be better than the last. The hailstorm had left her as isolated and sequestered as the snow had. "We haven't done too poorly from what we've been given." She stared across the expanse of fields, the thought occurring to her as she watched the new calf circled her mother.

"Nearly a year, I think?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't go into stasis here for love or money." It's already an imperfect science back in the Alpha Quadrant (or, well, back in her own galaxy or universe or whatever). Here, it could be writing one's own ticket for nightmares none of them can fully comprehend. "You're right, I wouldn't trust them either. Even if it meant half-freezing and half-starving again."

Even with the warm weather, the specter of winter still hangs over Nerys' memory. Time, it seems, continues to pass, though--and she nods, drawing her thoughts back to the conversation. "Nearly an Earth year," she agrees. "It appears to have been all of the seasons, and it was hot when we arrived. I'm certain someone must be marking days."

"It seems that the weather doesn't simply last for a day, it lasts for more. What will happen when Winter comes again?" She had been snowed in before, how much worse could it be? That was a question they would need to start asking themselves, what would happen during the cold, dark months?

She brushed aside the gloom, shaking her head as she forced a smile back to her lips. "We still have a bit of time before we must worry about the Winter." She would relish the warmer seasons while they lasted. "It seems strange how long it has been." She shivered. This world had become home to her, for all of its strangeness and danger. It was all she had now. "Yet we have no more answers than we did then."

"We could end up in a blizzard that went on for days." Or, for that matter, an avalanche or something--all within the realms of feasibility. "Everything that's happened here is something that could happen on a real planet, just...more so, and with strangely perfect timing. So there are far too many things that are possibilities."

She sighs and reaches out with a long stem of grass to feed a sheep that was wandering close by them. "We have more information, Margaery, but you're right--the details just lead to more and more questions. Everyone has a theory but no one can tell exactly what's going on."

"I feel as though I am overlooking something. There are small things that seem to be connected. The designs of those pods, the images that the lightening created, and the form of these storms. It has to mean something." Or perhaps she was looking for order among the chaos? This world had a way of making her feel out of control, something she would forever struggle with. She needed answers, even if none could be found.

She shook her head, trying to push herself out of the gloom and dark thoughts. "Forgive me. We should be celebrating the new calf. She is the first to be born among my animals. It's not something I should let pass without some sort of meal or celebration." Which might be silly, but it was something in all of this darkness.

"Some philosophers would say that everything's connected in some ways, even when it isn't connected in the ways we think. That how things are built and designed reflect on the people that built them, even if they try to make it as boring or simple as possible." Nerys isn't sure exactly what she thinks of this when it comes to practical application. "The hard part is figuring it all out when you have no other frame of reference."

She clears her throat and shakes her head a little, then clears her throat again. "It's okay, this place has a habit of making dark things light and light things dark. You're right, we should do something to celebrate. Maybe...make a cake or something?" This seems, in her experience, to be what humans do when they are celebrating something. Nerys has had more cakes in her tenure on DS9 than she'd ever had cumulatively before then, even when accounting for Occupation scarcity.

The only reason that Moana stayed back was because she had Itiiti with her. The piglet was good at a lot of things but she wasn't going to test him by letting him near a cow giving birth. She's seen more than a few animals and humans give birth and it was the sort of sight that continued to take her breath away.

She smiled when Margaery beckoned her forward, pausing only to look down at Itiiti and tell the little piglet to stay where he was. He grunted but planted his butt firmly on the ground as Moana stepped forward.

"She's beautiful." Warmth and affection filled Moana's voice. "In my village we'd celebrate births like this." They happened so infrequently, for humans and animals alike. "There would be a fire and the elders would pray to the spirits of our ancestors to protect the new soul."

"Perhaps we should do that as well?" She had seen one of her animals die before. It was a risk with all of them, though there had been no more signs of a wild beast attacking the village since. "We could use a bit of luck." They had very little of it lately.

She stroked Maris' neck, the cow resting beneath the tree, exhausted and rightly so. She murmured words of encouragement and praise, feeling as great a love for the cow as she would for any of her family.

"I need to have a barn constructed. A few of my animals are pregnant as well, two of my goats and a ewe. The animals will be expanding and we need to give them more space to move." But where did they begin with building one? "But I might as well wish for a feather bed and silk covers."

Moana took a seat next to the cow, her lips forming an affectionate smile. Mothers were always the most amazing. "We should. I don't know if there is much in the way of food but I can collect wood for a bond fire and we can cook some fish." It was like a celebration and fire and fish were to things easily found in the village.

Her dark eyes turned from the cow up towards Margaery. She considered the girls request before nodding her head in a decisive downward motion.

"Have you thought of turning one of the empty houses into a barn? It'd be easier to remove parts that it would to build them up and you can create rooms for the different animals, lay grass along the floor or build a fence outside and put smaller animals like bunnies in upstairs rooms with pens across the door frame." You'd have to keep all the windows open in a house like that to keep air flowing threw it but Moana thought that it was possible and much easier than building a barn from the ground up. They only needed the frame.

"Fish and a bonfire, I think that would make for a fine feast. There is wild fruit we could collect as well." She wanted to celebrate. After so many months of watching and worrying over Maris, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. There was new life in the village.

"I don't know if that is possible. I would have to see the ground cleared away. It wouldn't be wise to dismantle some of the houses when there seem to be many arriving to the village. We already are pressed for room as it is. We have begun building a greenhouse, it wouldn't be difficult to build a barn. It's merely a matter of the observers bringing us supplies and tools." But that was asking for too much.

"I will have to ask the men for assistance."

Moana smiled at Margaery. "I think we can manage that." It wouldn't be to hard to catch some fish or to start a fire. The fire alone would draw people over and then they could celebrate the new life to the village.

She momentarily thought about the greenhouse before offering the other woman a shrug. Moana thought that a barn had a simpler construction compared to a green house though Moana didn't know enough about construction to argue. "I guess so." She thought a lot of the houses stood empty though she knew that the Inn was almost full.

"I can help." She wasn't familiar with modern building techniques and construction but Moana had helped with the maintain the homes in her village and she could always learn more.

"I could collect some fruit for us to enjoy as well." If there were only musicians, it would make it a true festival. Such things seemed like a luxury now. It was hard to remember the elaborate celebrations she enjoyed during her marriage to Joffery. It was a distant dream now.

There were a number of men that Margaery intended to speak to about building the barn. While she had come to love her own independence and a lifestyle that women didn't have openly in Westeros, she still found herself slipping back into the mindset she was raised in. Women being able to construct a barn caught her off guard.

"I suppose, though I would place the construction in the hands of others who might know. I thought I would speak to Jon and Robb. I imagine they would be glad for the help."

Fruit sounded good and talking about it was making Moana a little bit hungry. "I can bring my drum." She had made it when she had hosted a dance class. It wasn't anything fancy but a bit of leather stretched over a piece of wood. She had originally used cloth but that had accidentally gotten chewed up by Itiiti.

"I see." Moana didn't think it odd that women helped out though she knew that even in her village, it was usually men who constructed the buildings. "I'd be happy to help them. Robb is a friend of mine." Jon she only knew by name since she'd helped his sister collect arrowheads along the lake.

"I should like to hear you play." Margaery confessed. It seemed so long since she had heard any sort of music. The Sparrows didn't allow such frivolty and she had to give up those earthly pleasures, if only to keep them from suspecting her loyalty and motives. "Someday we should make flutes." Someone had to know how to play them.

She smiled softly, "Robb is a good man." He had balked at her laboring in the fields a year ago. Had his mind changed enough that he would let Moana help build a barn? It would be interesting to see how much his mind had changed. "If he gives you his friendship, he gives it whole heartedly."

"We should!" The flutes wouldn't have a consistent sound but it was worth a try and it was something that she could figure out given the time. Moana smiled brightly at the other girl. "For today I'll bring my drum." Her drums were often made of stone and if Margaery and others were interested in music then Moana might see about eventually making something like that as well.

Assuming she can find tools that let her break apart stone.

"He is." Moana wouldn't let Robb tell her that she couldn't help. She was too head strong and she'd argue that her help was needed. Though things always seemed to fall on Robb's head when they were working on something. "I've noticed. He tries to hard sometimes though." Something else that Moana has noticed.

"We will need to name her." She was running out of heroic names from the Reach. The new calf needed something fitting for the first new birth among her livestock and what she represented for the village. "Are there any women in your legends that represent strength and new life?" The ocean was vitality, who would know better than Moana.

"It is a habit of his." Margaery smiled, pressing a kiss to Maris' head. She smelled of the barn and the grass and all the things Margaery had come to associate with her animals. She shouldn't have gotten attached, but she did. They were as much her family as the Starks had become. "Have you managed to make him smile? That is a challenge."

Moana's whole face lit up when she answered the question. "Yes! Te Fiti! She's the mother goddess and granted life to all the islands." It was one of Moana's favorite legends. When she was younger she used to dream about how it might end. She didn't expect to be a part of it.

She laughed. "Once at least. He was fighting with a curtain when I met him." She settled in as Itiiti approached her side. The little piglet to curious to stay away while also wanting to snuggle with his person. "He was losing against the curtain." Luckily, Moana had been there to help though she remembered the exasperated smile from Robb.

"Does he not smile a lot?" She liked his smile.

"Te Fiti," she caressed the calf gently, brushing her hair from her eyes. They were large and sweet, a deeper brown than she had ever seen before. New life, here it was beneath her hand, stronger and more pure than anything she had ever felt before. Te Fiti would bear many children and would be a saving grace to this village. "It's a perfect name for her."

Margaery grinned, able to picture that image clearly. Was it when they were cleaning town hall? She had seen him there, but missed this epic battle of his. "He must have put up a valiant struggle. I hope you set him right by the end of it?" It certainly seemed to have made an impression for her.

"He does under the right circumstances. A very lovely smile, warm. Most Northerners are serious, they like to appear grim." Which, from the look in her eyes, was clearly a facade. "It's easy to see past that when it comes to Robb."

Moana was happy that Margaery liked the name. It felt like she was able to share a little piece of herself, even if the full significance of the mother goddess was never explained.

"I did. Though I think the curtain would have bested him if he hadn't had help." Moan laughed at the memory. Robb had looked very put out at the time but Moana had enjoyed the encounter. She learned about summer and winter in Robb's home and where it was warmest. It was nice to hear about others homes.

"He has a good heart." She could tell that much.

"You will have to come visit her often." The calf that Moana had named. It was a part of her now, a piece of her home in this village. It might be a small connection, but it was one that had brought Margaery comfort when she had given the other creatures names from the Reach.

"So you rescued him?" She joined her laughter, picturing his frustration and the dust rising in the air as a curtain fell on him. Poor Robb. "He does. He is one of the best men I know." Which wasn't a really high bar to begin with.

"There are many in this village that are so good. We are fortunate."

"I will." Moana agreed with a warm smile. She already felt fond of the calf and it wasn't only because of it's name. Birth was an amazing thing and as difficult as things got, Moana never wanted to forget that. Yes, this place took life but it gave them life as well.

She snickered softly. "I did." She said those two words as if she'd been the daring knight to come to his rescue.

"I think there are a lot of amazing people here. As much as I don't like this village... I'm happy to have gotten the chance to meet everyone." It was an adventure and she'd created bond that she knew would transcend realms.

"For some, this place is home." They were the ones that didn't have a world to return to. She, Ned and Robb seemed to be the only ones to have experienced death before being brought to the village. It seemed pointless to hate the world that gave them a second chance at life. She did understand, however, why others may not like it.

"He must have been grateful for your assistance." If not a bit embarrassed. "I rather wish I had seen it."

She nodded, looking out at the expanse of houses. "So many have come and gone, unique and wonderful people. That is one of the difficulties of being here so long. You start to understand there is no permanency here."

Moana has trouble understanding what Margaery means. She had another life, something that she had to do and people that she had to protect. Perhaps, if she knew what others had been saved from, her opinion might change. For now, she found very few things to like about the village, besides the people who lived there. She wanted to save everyone living with in the Canyon as much as she wanted to save her own village.

"I think so." He was also probably embarrassed.

It felt as if Margaery’s first comment had been given some context. "Do you want to stay here?" She asked in a light curious tone. It wasn’t something she considered but watching Margaery now… Moana wasn’t sure what was best.

Oh but that was a long story and that exhaustion shows on her face. It wasn't so difficult to talk about as it used to be. The manner of her death only unnerving her when the ground shook beneath her feet. Strangely, she felt detached from it all now. This was her home and she felt at peace with that. Perhaps she even loved it, for all of its strangeness.

"I think I do." Which was a surprise to even her.

She smiled sadly. "I have no home to return to, Moana. When I was brought here, I was pulled just after my death. If I were to leave...I wouldn't be returning to life, I would be sent back to death."

Moana thought about Margaery's words for a few silent seconds. She knew what it felt like to face death but she didn't know what she'd do knowing that she was already dead. After a moment Moana reached forward and took the other woman's hand.

"I don't know if we can control where we go... but if we can then you're welcome to come to my world too. Everyone is. You'd be welcome on my island." She smiled softly. "Assuming that we can't stay here." She added with a bit of a sheepish smile. "If you want to, that is."

Moana had made a promise to try and find Jyn. It had been similar and Moana wasn't going to give up. If she could find her way here then she could find her way to other worlds as well, she'll try to save everyone that she can.

It was a kind offer, but she suspected that it wasn't so simple. If they were able to control when and where they were returned to, the means would have been revealed to them before now. She couldn't help but remember Thorfinn who was taken back to his world, only to come back and have forgotten how to speak the common tongue.

She smiled gently. While it was unlikely that she would ever see Moana's island, the gesture was appreciated. "Thank you. I hope someday I will be able to." But so long as her luck held out, she would remain in this world. She had her home, her animals, her friends and Robb. She didn't fear this world, only the potential of being taken away.

"Help me return the animals to the barn?" She got back to her feet, whistling for Gilbert. "I think Maris would like a bit of rest."

[ooc: Wrap?]

Moana’s grin broadened as she rose to her feet. She looked down at Itiiti and gave him a look that translated to, ‘Stay-near-me-or-else’. Itiiti appeared to understand because he snorted once and stepped so that he was in line with Moana’s ankle.

"Yeah." Her attention turned back to the woman and the animals.

[ooc: Sounds good!]

So Comes New Life

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