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Entry tags:
Challenge 024
Story title: Order from Chaos
Author: Ingvild
Word count: 467
Rating and warnings: Safe for everyone, I think
Characters and/or pairing: Quatre, Maguanacs
Summary: Locked in by a sandstorm in an old temple.
”Where are we?” Quatre asked, gratefully accepting the water flask Auda handed him and drinking deeply.
Rashid frowned over the map. “It looks like we’ve crossed into Egypt-that-was. This is the easternmost border.”
Quatre looked up at the roof of the tiny stone shelter they’d crammed into to seek refuge from the storm. The mobile suits were outside, covered by protective tarmac to keep sand from getting into the engines.
“What’s this?” he asked curiously. “A shepherd’s hut?”
“No,” Rashid answered, looking up. “According to this map, it’s what remains of a temple devoted to Set.”
Auda looked up. “Impossible. No-one’s worshipped the old gods for millennia. A part of a temple still stands here, outside normal tourist routes? Who’s been maintaining it?”
“No idea,” Rashid responded. “There is a note here that it’s a curiosity for just that reason – it doesn’t collapse, no matter how many sandstorms hit it.”
“What sort of map do you have anyway?” Abdul asked. “You sound like a guidebook.”
“Um, Rashid? Everyone? I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I was just wondering, who is Set?” Quatre asked timidly. He still felt a little out of place here among these hardened desert warriors.
Rashid turned to look at him. Respectful as the older man always was, Quatre still felt a little intimidated by him.
“Set, Master Quatre, was one of the ancient Egyptian gods. The god of the deserts, in fact.”
“Maybe that’s why the temple still stands,” Quatre muttered, and clapped both hands over his mouth as he realised that he’d spoken out loud.
Rashid grinned at him. “Perhaps. He was also the god of storms, and foreigners. Some also say he was the god of chaos.”
“Sounds like my kind of god, actually,” Quatre said. “I’m a foreigner here, and I kick up a storm in my Sandrock. And I’m here to spread chaos.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but the others grew very quiet.
“You shouldn’t joke about that sort of thing, Master Quatre,” Auda said at last. “Set wasn’t a very nice god. He killed the wise ruler Osiris, for one thing, and poked out Horus’ eye.”
“Why do you all know so much about this?” Quatre asked, both honestly puzzled and trying to change the subject.
“Oh, I studied comparative religion before I became a revolutionary,” Auda said brightly, and Quatre boggled at him.
“Really?”
“He likes to regale us with stories from mythology every time we’re stuck in somewhere,” Abdul said brightly. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Quatre shook his head in amazement and settled down as Auda began to regale them with stories about Set.
They emerged 6 hours later, when the storm ended, laughing and joking, Quatre among them. Being locked in by a storm does wonders for getting to know one another.
Author: Ingvild
Word count: 467
Rating and warnings: Safe for everyone, I think
Characters and/or pairing: Quatre, Maguanacs
Summary: Locked in by a sandstorm in an old temple.
”Where are we?” Quatre asked, gratefully accepting the water flask Auda handed him and drinking deeply.
Rashid frowned over the map. “It looks like we’ve crossed into Egypt-that-was. This is the easternmost border.”
Quatre looked up at the roof of the tiny stone shelter they’d crammed into to seek refuge from the storm. The mobile suits were outside, covered by protective tarmac to keep sand from getting into the engines.
“What’s this?” he asked curiously. “A shepherd’s hut?”
“No,” Rashid answered, looking up. “According to this map, it’s what remains of a temple devoted to Set.”
Auda looked up. “Impossible. No-one’s worshipped the old gods for millennia. A part of a temple still stands here, outside normal tourist routes? Who’s been maintaining it?”
“No idea,” Rashid responded. “There is a note here that it’s a curiosity for just that reason – it doesn’t collapse, no matter how many sandstorms hit it.”
“What sort of map do you have anyway?” Abdul asked. “You sound like a guidebook.”
“Um, Rashid? Everyone? I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I was just wondering, who is Set?” Quatre asked timidly. He still felt a little out of place here among these hardened desert warriors.
Rashid turned to look at him. Respectful as the older man always was, Quatre still felt a little intimidated by him.
“Set, Master Quatre, was one of the ancient Egyptian gods. The god of the deserts, in fact.”
“Maybe that’s why the temple still stands,” Quatre muttered, and clapped both hands over his mouth as he realised that he’d spoken out loud.
Rashid grinned at him. “Perhaps. He was also the god of storms, and foreigners. Some also say he was the god of chaos.”
“Sounds like my kind of god, actually,” Quatre said. “I’m a foreigner here, and I kick up a storm in my Sandrock. And I’m here to spread chaos.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but the others grew very quiet.
“You shouldn’t joke about that sort of thing, Master Quatre,” Auda said at last. “Set wasn’t a very nice god. He killed the wise ruler Osiris, for one thing, and poked out Horus’ eye.”
“Why do you all know so much about this?” Quatre asked, both honestly puzzled and trying to change the subject.
“Oh, I studied comparative religion before I became a revolutionary,” Auda said brightly, and Quatre boggled at him.
“Really?”
“He likes to regale us with stories from mythology every time we’re stuck in somewhere,” Abdul said brightly. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Quatre shook his head in amazement and settled down as Auda began to regale them with stories about Set.
They emerged 6 hours later, when the storm ended, laughing and joking, Quatre among them. Being locked in by a storm does wonders for getting to know one another.
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And Egyptian mythology! <333
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(Anonymous) 2012-03-08 11:22 am (UTC)(link)