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crack_van2005-01-16 01:56 pm
simplystars.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-01-16 01:56 pm
Farscape/Firefly (R)
Subject: FARSCAPE/FIREFLY (R)
Title: The Walls of the Sky by Hossgal
Pairing: Aeryn Sun, River, Simon
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hossgal
Author Website: n/a
Why this must be read:
I know only the barest facts about Firefly, but this intricate and lyrical crossover by Hossgal is so well-crafted that I didn't have to. I was hooked from the opening paragraphs.
Hossgal uses a fairy-tale motif to tell a gripping story that is evenly balanced between action and characterization. It's a dark tale, full of lost love and betrayal and bloodshed and death... yet its brooding atmosphere never descends into oppressiveness, and the ending--in the tradition of both series--leaves the reader with hope.
The woman who fell through the sky
On the other side of the stars there once was a terrible lord, who was called the Black King by all who knew of him. And once there was a woman who was a warrior, a swordswoman in service to this dark tyrant. This woman was a fierce fighter, with lightning in her eyes and steel in her hands, and she was feared both in the armies of the king and by the armies of the enemies of the king.
The Black King she served held many warriors in his armies and also many magisters and wise men. The magisters studied the movement of the stars and the properties of fire, in order to advise the Black King in his wars and defenses. The woman loved the dance of steel and death, and cared little for the slow creeping through manuscripts and formulas for the secrets treasured by the magisters. Most of all the swordswoman hated and feared the magisters of the dragon men, interlopers from across the sea who held secrets even the magisters of the Black King held to be unholy.
But the Black King valued the words of all magisters and summoned many of them to his castle, to give him council. When the Black King sat in his throne, the swordswoman stood guard and held the Black Spear that was the symbol of the power of the King. And so the swordswoman was often there as the magisters whispered in the ear of the King The woman did not understand the things the magisters said, but she saw the look in the eyes of the magisters, and an answering gleam in the face of the Black King, and her heart grew dry within her. For the woman had given her oath to the King, and forswore to break it.
One day a man came to the woman, a strange man, who spoke in words that twisted around themselves and wove visions in the mind of the listener.
The Black King is mad, the man said, The King is mad and he is infecting all the worlds with his madness. He must be stopped, his power must be broken.
I am a warrior, sworn to the service of the King, said the swordswoman. I am no noble, no wise man to say to the Black King - you must do this, or, you should not do this. I am but a warrior.
Even as she said this, the woman spoke against the trickle of hope in her heart, for she mistrusted the words of the Black King's magisters, and doubted the countenance of the king.
The man smiled then, and said, You are a warrior. You can be more. And though his words were queer and strange, what the outlander man said rang as true as a bell of pure silver. This was a trick of the magisters, which the woman well knew, and the strange man was no friend of her lord, which the woman knew as well. But the woman listened to the man with her heart as well as her ears. She stole away with him, and left behind her oaths, and joined in the outlander's war against the king.
When the Black King found that the swordswoman had gone, he raged furiously, and swore great oaths that made the earth groan to hear them. And the Black King took up the Black Spear, and set it in a rest over his throne, and he said, No one shall hold it in her place, until my swordswoman flees back to me, begging mercy for what she had forsworn.
And the Black King sent word to all his armies, to kill the stranger and to bring the swordswoman back to him.
The woman and the magister - for the strange man was a magister, true enough - won many battles against the king. And in time the magister began to love the swordswoman, to love her for the fierce light in her eyes when she fought, for her steady voice in terrible times, and for the pure hope that flowed in her heart. And the swordswoman began to love the magister for his clever schemes, for his bold risks in times of danger, and for the hope that he caused to flow in her heart. Even in the midst of their war, they found time to share a single cup of joy.
But it came to pass that the forces of the king found a hiding place of the rebels, and the warrior and her magister were forced to flee, carrying only their cloaks. They ran swift as light and secret as darkness, but the men of the king's army pressed close upon their heels.
Finally, when they could run no more, the magister cast a spell, and rent a hole in the sky, and he and the swordswoman fell through the hole to the other side.
The Walls of the Sky
Title: The Walls of the Sky by Hossgal
Pairing: Aeryn Sun, River, Simon
Author on LJ:
hossgalAuthor Website: n/a
Why this must be read:
I know only the barest facts about Firefly, but this intricate and lyrical crossover by Hossgal is so well-crafted that I didn't have to. I was hooked from the opening paragraphs.
Hossgal uses a fairy-tale motif to tell a gripping story that is evenly balanced between action and characterization. It's a dark tale, full of lost love and betrayal and bloodshed and death... yet its brooding atmosphere never descends into oppressiveness, and the ending--in the tradition of both series--leaves the reader with hope.
The woman who fell through the sky
On the other side of the stars there once was a terrible lord, who was called the Black King by all who knew of him. And once there was a woman who was a warrior, a swordswoman in service to this dark tyrant. This woman was a fierce fighter, with lightning in her eyes and steel in her hands, and she was feared both in the armies of the king and by the armies of the enemies of the king.
The Black King she served held many warriors in his armies and also many magisters and wise men. The magisters studied the movement of the stars and the properties of fire, in order to advise the Black King in his wars and defenses. The woman loved the dance of steel and death, and cared little for the slow creeping through manuscripts and formulas for the secrets treasured by the magisters. Most of all the swordswoman hated and feared the magisters of the dragon men, interlopers from across the sea who held secrets even the magisters of the Black King held to be unholy.
But the Black King valued the words of all magisters and summoned many of them to his castle, to give him council. When the Black King sat in his throne, the swordswoman stood guard and held the Black Spear that was the symbol of the power of the King. And so the swordswoman was often there as the magisters whispered in the ear of the King The woman did not understand the things the magisters said, but she saw the look in the eyes of the magisters, and an answering gleam in the face of the Black King, and her heart grew dry within her. For the woman had given her oath to the King, and forswore to break it.
One day a man came to the woman, a strange man, who spoke in words that twisted around themselves and wove visions in the mind of the listener.
The Black King is mad, the man said, The King is mad and he is infecting all the worlds with his madness. He must be stopped, his power must be broken.
I am a warrior, sworn to the service of the King, said the swordswoman. I am no noble, no wise man to say to the Black King - you must do this, or, you should not do this. I am but a warrior.
Even as she said this, the woman spoke against the trickle of hope in her heart, for she mistrusted the words of the Black King's magisters, and doubted the countenance of the king.
The man smiled then, and said, You are a warrior. You can be more. And though his words were queer and strange, what the outlander man said rang as true as a bell of pure silver. This was a trick of the magisters, which the woman well knew, and the strange man was no friend of her lord, which the woman knew as well. But the woman listened to the man with her heart as well as her ears. She stole away with him, and left behind her oaths, and joined in the outlander's war against the king.
When the Black King found that the swordswoman had gone, he raged furiously, and swore great oaths that made the earth groan to hear them. And the Black King took up the Black Spear, and set it in a rest over his throne, and he said, No one shall hold it in her place, until my swordswoman flees back to me, begging mercy for what she had forsworn.
And the Black King sent word to all his armies, to kill the stranger and to bring the swordswoman back to him.
The woman and the magister - for the strange man was a magister, true enough - won many battles against the king. And in time the magister began to love the swordswoman, to love her for the fierce light in her eyes when she fought, for her steady voice in terrible times, and for the pure hope that flowed in her heart. And the swordswoman began to love the magister for his clever schemes, for his bold risks in times of danger, and for the hope that he caused to flow in her heart. Even in the midst of their war, they found time to share a single cup of joy.
But it came to pass that the forces of the king found a hiding place of the rebels, and the warrior and her magister were forced to flee, carrying only their cloaks. They ran swift as light and secret as darkness, but the men of the king's army pressed close upon their heels.
Finally, when they could run no more, the magister cast a spell, and rent a hole in the sky, and he and the swordswoman fell through the hole to the other side.
The Walls of the Sky