Categories > Original > Fantasy > Exiled: The Tale of Sheln- A DarkCrystal fic

Pick up The Bones

by AnarchicQ 0 reviews

The night after "It's Dark". Sheln returns to the castle...

Category: Fantasy - Rating: G - Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fantasy - Warnings: [V] - Published: 2005-05-16 - Updated: 2005-05-16 - 1288 words

1Original
NOTE: The Lyrics are from Alice Cooper's song Pick up the Bones, from the Brutal Planet album.

Gelfling, Garthem, Skeksis, and all that belong to the late Jim Henson, however, Sheln and Kyrie belong to me. Do not use them without my permission.

I double checked the info for this from Rockheads Dark Crystal page. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/6407/darkcrystal.html

Pick Up the Bones

A tale of Sheln

A Dark Crystal Fanfic

I knew it was not my fault. I knew it was not my fault. We were expecting the Garthim, I just never knew it would look like this.

Part of me was relieved to see so few corpses, no more then a dozen, until I realized that she others must have been taken to the Castle of the Dark Crystal as slaves.

The smell of blood permeated the air, glistening in the light of two of the three suns. It soaked the stone floor, still wet from the night before, crimson, sweet.

Collecting pieces of my family In an old pillow case
This one has a skull But it don't have a face
These look like the arms of father so strong
And the ring on this finger Means my Grandma is gone

But that is nothing compared to the bodies. To my right, is a well respected healer, struck down while tending to a dying daughter, a deep gash in her back. Her face frozen in terror and pain. To my left, a young gelfling boy rests peacefully, curled in a little ball, head almost completely severed from his body. Others, gone.All gone.

I feel sick. Closing my eyes to block it out, I fall to my knees. I should have died with them. I should have been here.

Why am I here? Why am I alive? Not only that, but why am I at this place? Why did I come here? What was I hoping to find?

WHY??

"WHY!?" I keen in pain to the Suns, grasping my skull, head thrown back, eyes closed to keep out the sunlight, to keep in the tears. "WHY??"

I fall forward, forehead resting against the cold, stone ground, I sob, shivering and holding myself.

I've never felt so alone.

Here's some legs in a pile where my sister once played
Here's some mud made of blood And these teeth are decayed
The ear of my brother, The hand of a friend
And I just can't Put them back together again


The one sun is setting by the time I pull myself together. Sitting up, I inhale and wipe the tears from my cheeks. Something inside me detaches, and I just do what must be done.

I gather the bodies, looking about the ruins and rubble for discarded bits of gelfling. I swallow down waves of sickness. It had to be done. Maybe that's why I was spared, to give them peace enough to go into the Next World.

I go all though the castle, gathering any bit of anyone I can find and bringing it to the throne room. I have scoured this place, every crevice, why do I feel my work is not complete?

"Sheln.."

I jolt, my silver eyes wide, my good ear perked and swivelling, listening for any sign of life. Slowly rising to my feet, I pad through the halls of our castle.

I find myself out in our gardens again. nothing is living even here. The Garthem carved up the soil and uprooted every plant, burned every tree. A few stumps continued to smolder, and the air still hung with acrid smoke.

Pick up the bones And set them on fire
Follow the smoke going higher and higher
Pick up the bones And wish them goodnight
Pray them a prayer and turn out the light

"Sheln..."

Again I jolt. I know what I heard. I run to a small pile of fallen shrubberies, and fall to my knees, quickly, but cautiously, dissecting the pile.

I uncover a slender, fair skinned hand, three fingers and a thumb, twitching slightly.

Throwing off another bush, I gasp when I find-

"Kyrie.."

Kyrie. My closest friend in life. She always understood me, even when I myself could not. She stood by me through my every hardship. Begged the Queen to reconsider my Exile. My confidant, my partner.

She smiles her rose coloured lips at me weakly. "Sheln...I knew you'd come back...."

There are stains on the floor Where kitchen once stood
There are ribs on the fire place Mixed with the wood
There are forces in the air Ghosts in the wind
Some bullets in the back And some scars on the skin

My mouth agape, I turn my eyes to her chest, to find her soft blue dress soaked in blood, a deep gash in her stomach. Her wings lay about her, twisted awkwardly, the gossamer membrane slashed to ribbons. "Kyrie..."

"I know it looks bad, Sheln...but it's alright now."

"No..no...this cannot be happening." My eyes meet her deep brown ones sternly. "I will heal you."

"Sheln," Weakly, she placed her cream coloured hand on my dark grey one, squeezing softly. "This is why you were banished...you were meant to survive. To give us all proper ceremonies. Please Sheln. You've always seen the beauty in passing to the next world...please..you were meant to give us peace." Kyrie smiled warmly, eyes lidding partially. I could feel her mind link with me weaken. She did not have much longer.

Letting a tear snake down my cheek, I sniffled and nodded. I had to. I could never deprive my one true friend of her last wish.

"It...was good to see you again, Sheln. We will meet again, in the next life....I know it." Her smile seemed to broaden as her mocha eyes drifted closed, and I felt her mind drift away from mine, forever.

"....Goodbye, Kyrie....I will miss you." Caring not for the blood, I held her to me.

There were demons with guns Who marched through this place
Killing everything that breathed They're an inhuman race
There are holes in the walls Bloody hair on the bricks
And the smell of this hell Is making me sick

~~~~

All the deceased were piled in the banquet hall, for that is where we all met each day to feast. Kyrie was placed at the top of the pile, arms crossed peacefully over her chest. With Tears in my eyes. I lit the mound aflame.

As I watched the flames dance upon the lost, my lone voice sang a funeral song, to guide the new travellers to the Next World.

Pick up the bones And set them on fire
Follow the smoke going higher and higher
Pick up the bones And wish them goodnight
Pray them a prayer and turn out the light


I let the flames grow, and engulf the banquet hall, then the garden, the fire working its way completely through the castle, purifying the place, burning away the evil that took place here.

~~~~

Now maybe someday The suns gonna shine
Flowers will bloom And all will be fine


In my burrow, far from the Lost Castle, I sat at my cauldron, letting its flames light my surroundings. With a few large tablets of soft stone before me, and a chisel, I began to scribe down the evenings events in song and picture.

All records in the Castle were destroyed. Mayhap Kyrie was correct. Maybe the Creator choose me to live, so that the world will not forget.

The world Cannot forget.

But nothing will grow On this burnt curse-ed ground
Cuz the breath of the death Is the only sound




Oct 26th 3:01am
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