Revision [1963]
This is an old revision of ShesuAshari made by JonahPetri on 2008-09-22 19:00:52.
Name: Shesu
Metahuman, with power over plants
Last Earth Priest of TheAshari
Born: 1982, near N'Djamena, Chad. Believed still alive.
Shesu was born in 1982 to a different name, in a makeshift hut on the arid savannah near N'Djamena, Chad. His parents were goat herders, and wandered the plains, following the seasonal grasses as they grew. They were poor, but managed to scrape by, and loved their new child very much. He grew up moving along the plains with his family. However, in 1988, tragedy struck. He and his family were driving their small herd of goats towards richer pastures to the west of the capital, when they unknowingly wandered into a minefield, and his father stepped on a land mine. He fell to the ground, bleeding from what was left of his leg. His mother ran across the minefield to help him, and he lifted his hand to stop her, but it was too late, and she was gone in a flash. The child could see that she was dead, and his father collapsed in a heap, and he knew that he could do nothing for them. He left the herd and ran, tears streaming down his cheeks. He ran until he collapsed, exhausted.
When he awoke, there was a man standing over him, speaking at him in a tongue that he did not understand. The man took him to his nearby hut, and fed him, and gave him a straw bed and a blanket to sleep on. The next day, the man took him to a nearby police station, where the child found someone who could speak French. He explained to the policeman about his parents, and the policemen talked amongst themselves for a while before dropping him in an orphanage. He was in Nigeria, having run across the border from Chad. He waited in the orphanage for nearly 3 months, before a strangely dressed man calling himself TuraloOso Oso came in and pointed at him. He was 6 years old.
The child cried as the strange man pulled him out of the orphanage. Though his life there had be hard and cruel, he had made a few friends among the other children, and this new man frightened him. The man took the child to a small tent, nearby, and gave him some fruit to eat. The child was hungry, as the orphanage did not have enough food to go around, and he gingerly bit into the delicate fruit. "How do you like it?" the man asked, smiling. The child's eyes grew wide, as the explosion of sweet juice wet his mouth. He took another bite, less cautiously now, and then another. He chewed and swallowed, and then turned to the man, smiled, and exclaimed, "That was so good! Is there more?"
The man laughed, "Ah! But there is always more, if you know where to look! Come." He stood, and beckoned for the child to follow. He led the child to the edge of the clearing, and then into the jungle, deftly moving between vines and over logs. The child followed in his every footstep, mimicking the practiced motions of this mysterious man. "Look, here," the man said, as he lifted a large leaf to reveal a cluster of fruits underneath it. The child came closer, and picked one of the fruit off of the stem. He bit into it, and smiled a goofy grin as some of the seeds ran down his chin. "The forest can offer you anything that you would wish to have. You must only learn how to ask it the right questions. I can teach you this knowledge, but it will take a long, long time, and will require much sacrifice from you. Do you wish to learn?" The child considered for only a moment before nodding his assent. The man's face broke into a grin. "Good! Then you shall come with me to my village, and you shall be my student. It is many weeks away. We start in the morning."
The next day, the man woke the child early. He gave him the last of the fruits from the day before, and they started walking immediately. For the most part, they took the paths that existed, but at times they seemed to veer off into the untamed jungle, only to emerge onto another path. The man spent some of the time pointing out interesting plants, or spotting jungle animals, and quizzing the child on what he had taught him so far. The child was an adept learner, and enthusiastically recited what he was taught.
One evening, as they were eating the last of a forest bird that Oso had roastsed, he turned to the child. "Do you remember, when I asked you if you wanted me to be your teacher, that I told you of sacrifices which you would need to make?" The child nodded somberly, sensing the seriousness of the moment. The man continued, "The first sacrifice you must make has come. We have two rules about new people in our village. The first rule is that you must leave your old name behind. I have not asked for your name, and you must not tell anyone. If you can, allow yourself to forget it. It is a thing of the past, and you are starting anew. Do you understand?" The child nodded, and the man continued. "Good. There is another sacrifice that you must make. This one will not be easy, but it is our law, and you must respect it. Once you enter the village, you may not speak. You must live in complete silence, for a full year. Do not be afraid, though. I will be there with you, to help you though this time. Only after a full year has passed, will you be a member of our family. Do you understand?" The child nodded again. "Good. We will come to the village tomorrow. Remember what I have told you."
And so, the child came to TheAshariVillage the Ashari Village, and was welcomed by the tribe. He kept his vows, and lived in silence for a full year. Oso was also true to his word, and was like a father to the child. He taught the child many things, and guided him as he grew, and the child came to love him as a son loves a father. The two of them would spend their time wandering the forest around the village, and the child came to know the jungle, and all of its creatures. Oso showed him how all of its life was interconnected, from the insects to the trees to the largest of the animals. The child learned all of it eagerly. The year passed quickly for both of them.
On the final day of the year of silence, Oso and the child spent the whole day in the forest, searching in vain for a particular root that made a useful medicine. Once evening came, they headed back to the village, and Oso led the child to the main village hut, where they found the whole tribe assembled around a huge fire. The tribe was silent, as Oso brought the child forward. The child felt the eyes of the whole village upon him, and he looked around at them. They had all dressed in their finest ceremonial clothes, with colorful feathers adorning their heads and arms. Some wore armor made from some dark wood, which was covered with paintings of the animals and plants of the forest. Some carried large spears, tipped with lethally sharp blades of a strange metal which the child had never seen before. All stared back at him, in total silence. Oso brought him into the circle, and addressed the tribe in his deep, velvet voice. "I am Turalo Oso of the Ashari. I am known to all of you, and you are known to me. I bring before you a child, who has come to our village of his own will. He has borne the sacrifices which have been asked of him. He has shed his name, and lived in silence for a full year, as our law requires. It is our law that he shall now be one of the Ashari, one of the Blessed of the Earth. It is also our law that he be bound to us forever with a new name: his spirit name." He turned to the child, and in a booming voice proclaimed, "Child, I name you Shesu." Oso turned back to the gathered tribe, and shouted, "Now, I call on all of you to recognize him, the newest child of our tribe. Call out his name, so all will know that he is forever Ashari! Shesu! Shesu! Shesu!" And, as the voices of the entire village joined Oso's, the child left his past behind forever, and looked over the faces of his new tribe. At that moment, he became Shesu of the Ashari, and he knew that he belonged. He was seven years old.
NeedsWork: oh man does it ever.
Affiliations: TheAshari
Belongs to categories: AllCharacters
