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 For those that might be new to the Mascot Serial, this is the story of Feldspar and Gypsum, the two identical twins pictured above and on all the pages of this site.  As a serial, the latest episode is shown first.

4/20/2016

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It became immediately apparent that these two citizens of Krakold, at least, were not accustomed to travel. 
Despite the twins' expectations, it took near to an hour before Pyrite and Amethyst were ready to begin the march.  They had no idea how to form their spare clothing into some kind of backpack to carry the rest.
Gypsum showed the girl how to do it with her possessions. He punctuated the work with frequent obvious sighs of impatience.  Feldspar did not hold back while he performed the same task for Pyrite. He grumbled non-stop through the procedure, voicing growls and snarling mutterings without pause. He punctuated his vocalizations with glares focused squarely on Pyrite. The older man grew more uncomfortable by the second. He set all his attention to learning what the younger one was showing him. He did not want to suffer this lesson a second time.
Finally, the four undertook their walk upstream. Because of the delay, there was no chance they would cover near to ten miles. The twins resigned themselves to six at the most.
Six became four. The two from Krakold were not used to walking longer than the distance from one end of their village to the other. They were ready to stop and rub their feet after a little more than two miles, but the brothers forced them to push on.
Amethyst was whining non-stop, allowing no doubt about her physical misery. Pyrite, solicitous of his daughter, demanded that the march be halted for the night.
Feldspar began the march with little patience, and that small amount had trickled away under the constant whining of the girl.  He stood chest-to-chest with the man—a gesture of physical challenge in the Riotori body language—and growled that the lives of the two villagers belonged to the brothers, not the other way around.
Then he wheeled on the girl and quoted a phrase he and Gypsum had heard many times from their father and uncle.
"Gain means pain, shigget!" A shigget is the squirmy white larva of the winged scavenger beetle. The characterization is not a compliment. The villagers gasped. They started to protest; hard looks from both twins silenced them.
The rest of the evening's march was completed in silence.   
  

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Obligations Part 2

4/10/2016

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"So," challenged Pyrite with near contempt, "you will throw away our lives as if we are no more than a hoporil's innards?"
"Not at all, "Gypsum replied. "But we admit that we value our freedom more than your customs."
"And what of us? You will condemn us to lives of no shelter, no food or drink, simply so that you can wander as you please?"
"Yes," Feldspar replied without hesitation.
Gypsum tried to be more helpful.  "Lie. Tell them you saved yourselves and do not mention us at all."
"We cannot do that! It would deny the test the Creator set before us, and your role in that test.  The Great Condawk would punish us," Amethyst nearly wailed.
Gypsum tried to be encouraging. "Then tell the truth and see what happens.  We will wait here.  See if they accept you before you give up."
Pyrite accorded them a dark look. "It is possible the men of Krakold will come here to enforce your observation of our customs."
Feldspar returned the look with a flat stare.  "That would not be a good idea." He pulled his sword from its scabbard for emphasis.
Pyrite stared at him, then turned sharply away and marched with resolute pride toward the bridge.  Amethyst hurried to catch up, then walked beside him. She tried bravely with her carriage to conceal her worry.
Feldspar turned to his twin.  "Why wait here?  We owe them nothing, despite their stupid custom.  We worked hard enough to save them.  We should be on our way. That cannot be the only bridge across this annoying river."
"Brother, there is an obvious solution to this problem. It is not one either of us would choose, but is a decent compromise if the idiots in this village insist on their stupid custom."
Feldspar looked at his brother with narrow-eyed suspicion as he considered the words.  Then he understood.
"No! Why should we inflict these religious nuts upon ourselves?  I have enough to do looking out for you!"
"Because we, you especially, worked so hard to save them. If we do not dedicate a little more effort to them, all that work will be wasted."
Feldspar grumbled but did not argue.  They both took the rare opportunity to relax.
An hour later the two natives of Krakold came trudging back, bearing whatever possessions they could carry.
Riotori cannot cry, but their body language can register the same emotions. Amethyst showed grief and hopelessness with every step.  Her father's steps were short and rigid, and his face registered antagonism...of course, the usual facial expression of a Riotori male registered passive hostility, so the difference was not immediately noticeable.
"They have turned us out, for we are now deemed worthless. Our family was kind enough to allow us to take a few things that they deemed worthless as well, since they were ours."
"What shall we do now?" wailed his daughter. "We have lived all our lives in Krakold.  We will surly starve, or be killed by animals, or freeze when the winter nights come.  Better if you had never saves us!"
The twins had continued to sit on the ground, relaxed and untroubled.  They already knew what would be done.
Feldspar allowed his brother to state their case. "You have said that your lives belong to us. Is that still the case?"
"Yes. But what does it matter? You have discarded our lives as worthless. I can understand for myself, but my daughter is young and hard-working, and will be very pretty in a few years. I do not understand why you would not wish to keep her."
"Calm down, Pyrite. We only hoped you were exaggerating about the expectations of your village. Since your lives are ours, we will make use of them. But not in your village. Where is the next bridge?"
It took the man a minute to understand what Gypsum meant. Then he pointed upstream. "Twenty miles that way."
The brothers stood up and began to gather their belongings.
"Then rig your bundles for travel.  We can make near to half that before nightfall."

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Obligations

4/2/2016

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During the two-mile walk upriver the twins questioned their new acquaintances about other villages and the customs of the area.
"We care not for the customs of other villages," responded Pyrite.  "They are heathen and godless, and refuse to honor The Great Condawk with prayers or sacrifice.  We of Krakold know our good fortune comes from the Will of the Creator, and any misfortune is due to a failure to acknowledge the Creator's blessings."
"How then," Gypsum asked, "do you explain your misfortune of being swept off the bridge into the river?"
Amethyst answered at once.  "It was no misfortune!  The Creator provided you two to save us!  It was only a test.  A test of our devotion and of your courage.  And all of us passed that test."
"And now there will be a great reward for the two of you," continued her father.  "You have saved our lives.  Therefore our lives are yours.  You must stay here and continue your obligation to keep them."
"No we don't," answered Feldspar in his usual blunt manner.  "We are on a journey to other villages beyond this.  We have much to see and many long weeks or even months of journey ahead of us.  We will not be staying in Krakold longer than overnight."
"But sirs," Amethyst replied with distress.  "If you discard our lives, you proclaim them worthless.  No one will sell us food or drink, or allow us under their roof.  Not even my mother and brothers, who probably believe us dead, will welcome us back into our home if you declare our lives worthless."
"That's a load of—"
Gypsum quickly interrupted his brother.  "That goes against the teachings of our village.  In Groakpod, if you were truly grateful you would not force us to stay where we did not wish, and your lives would be clearly worth much, since we worked so hard to save them."
Pyrite's answer was pragmatically grim.  "You are not in Groakpod.  You will be in Krakold, and our customs will rule.  If you cast our lives aside you will be seen as shirkers of your obligations.  That is considered an offense against The Creator, and the punishment may be death.  However, because you saved our lives in the beginning, they will probably only keep you until you agree to stay and fulfill your obligations.  We will be your servants and you will be responsible for our health and safety.  That is the Way of The Creator."
The twins exchanged looks of aggravation and worry.  Feldspar suddenly stopped.  The village was in sight on the other side of the river.  They could see also the precarious bridge that offered unsafe passage across the water.  The others stopped as well.
Feldspar shrugged off his pack and made it clear that he would not travel farther right then.  Gypsum, by habit and calculation, shrugged off his pack as well.
"But our village is just ahead," cried Amethyst.  "Come!  There is a warm meal and shelter!"
"No, there is imprisonment or even perhaps death there," scolded Feldspar.  "What you offer us is far from any kind of gratitude.  We will not enter Krakold under the customs you have described.  You go, return to your homes with our blessings.  We surrender our obligations to your family and your village.  It will up to them to decide what your lives are worth.  We will decide the value our own lives hold for us."
Gypsum stared at his brother with admiration and awe.  Never before had Feldspar put so many words together at one time.  If he had not heard it himself he would not have believed it.


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    The story: This serial is about the "mascot" shown at the top of these pages. There are actually two of them, identical twins, Feldspar and Gypsum.
    The people call themselves Riotori, and their planet is Kylrock. The twins have been journeying for hundreds of miles, across many hazards, in search of mates. Please visit the archives to read their whole story.



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