He couldn't have been more wrong.
No amount of poking and prodding, twisting and pulling, would undo the box.
Nothing would bloody give, and the mercenary was almost convinced it was a mere wooden block with carvings and a couple decorations strewn on its surface.
Vye tried as well, but to no avail, and the Bluepine chortled to themselves, throwing the occasional encouragement.
Finally, late past the Sun's descent, did they pass it back to the severed Shol.
Lockes barely spared the box a glance, from where they were bathing in the warmth of the fire, before snickering, "Maybe you should try being warmer if you want it to open up to you."
That was just in poor taste. Having spent an entire evening fraying his nerves with the bloody thing, Zeal snapped out, "It's a wooden contraption."
He snorted in exasperation, tossing it to Vye and storming off. The Bluepine stared after him calmly.
Even Vye seemed a little ruffled and was sulking by the fire, eyeing the puzzle in his hands.
But Lockes, unperturbed, simply chuckled, "Keep at it, boys." and went back to licking a particularly messy tangle of plumes.
"Bloody Shol." Zeal grumbled under his breath, pacing the length of the room before sighing and settling beside Vye.
Small grabby hands reached for him and he let the young Shol have his way, clambering into his lap where he then went about inspecting the box, only to find it just the same as all the countless Times before.
It was as Vye turned it over in his hands by the fire, and he heard the creaking, that it clicked.
"Maybe you should try being warmer if you want it to open up to you."
That bloody shol.
Zeal snarled and snatched the Enigma and thrust it towards the crackling flames in the pit, ignoring Vye's alarm.
"Zeal don't!" Vye didn't know much of Sholian culture, but it wasn't difficult to tell how lovingly each piece was crafted, and their priceless value as both a wealth of knowledge and sentimental piece. He tugged at the Reaper in dismay, but to Vye's surprise Lockes simply stared on in interest, seemingly indifferent to the commotion and distress.
And then there was a long creak and a sharp clacking sound, and they watched in awed silence as the oddly patterned gears overlaying the box shifted.
With a slow realization, Zeal realized the gear with the tree resembled... the world?
The voices of both Lockes and Vye echoed in his ear.
In Sholian lore, the Yggdrasill is the one from which all came, and around the first Fairy Ring, from which he arose did a plethora of green burgeon. Amongst them the daunting bramble that would forever protect first Ring, the Briar Patch.
The Yggdrasill, from which all arose, meant the world to the Shols. The picks were not simply the teeth of a gear as he presumed, they were thorns, the fine branches of the tree entwining along the edges of the gear, was bramble.
The world is turning.
They waited, and the decorative hourglass slowly swiveled, so that the sand once below, now sat above.
"Time is... up."
Had that been intentional? From the sly smile the severed Shol was sporting, yes, yes it had been.
A finger traced the hourglass, before with sudden confidence, he grasped the wooden piece and pressed down.
Would've, but the thing didn't budge.
"You must be joking." Zeal growled, contemplating flinging the Enigma into the hearty fire with all due seriousness this Time.
There was a jovial laugh, a sharp contrast from Zeal's sour mood, "Come now Reaper, have some patience! You're almost there!"
Zeal begged to differ. He had spent 6 hours worth of patience on this bloody contraption.
Ohhh---They were so close! There was but one mechanism left, and the Bluepine watched with bated breath, a giddy and child-like grin stretching cheek to cheek.
But.
This was a Reaper, not a Shol, and Lockes hesitated. Would a Reaper be able to read the final chapter?
Any Shol would've been able to unlock this box in a Heartseed.
Well, most Shols anyhow. The severed gave a sidelong glance at Vye who remained blissfully ignorant of the fact.
The Enigmas were reserved for Shols who had reached maturation. Vye was still far too young to understand and truly participate.
Yet the Times had changed, and circumstances withstanding, the Bluepine would see that the torch holding all they knew, would be passed unto the young Coty, that it too may light his way. For there was not the luxury of Time as they had in the past to take one's Time with self discovery and maturation. Unfortunate that Vye could not experience the same moment of joy that the wonder and joy the Shols before him had, but such was the Times.
Zeal stared hard at the box. Something about all this seemed oddly familiar.
And then it struck him.
Bloody. Shols. How he despised their inconvenient roundabout ways of riddles and mischief.
The Bluepine had given them the answer long ago.
The polished surface of the gear depicting the Earth rotated before his eyes. Beside it, the needle of a compass now pointed accusingly at the other gear.
For the Earth that's ever turning.
His dark eyes traveled to the mechanism triggered.
... and we can but mark its passing.
Suddenly, and with startling finality, the hourglass clicked, a subtle shift in its rotation. And kept clicking, accompanied by a minute shift each Time.
The hourglass is turned, And the sands of Time now fall.
Zeal started as the countdown began.
Time's up. They had until the hourglass turned a full circle.
His mind raced, searching for clues.
Yet never must we let, The panic to appall.
Letting out a slow breath, he turned to the Bluepine, "Lockes. What was that poem you recited earlier?"
The dark Shol perked at their name, rousing from their thoughts. They stared at him, and with a small smile, began the recitation.
Like the rise of golden sun, And the moon that's too soon setting.
11 sharp... 3 blunt... 2 missing... For the Earth that's ever turning.
3 sharp... 2 blunt... 2 missing And we can but mark its passing.
1 sharp... 1 blunt... 1 missing... 2 blunt... 1 missing... 3 blunt... 1 missing... 4 blunt... The hourglass is turned, And the sands of Time now fall. Yet never must we let, The panic to appall.
It all matched.
The thorns and teeth of the gear he had assumed to have been jagged in poor craftsmanship, were in fact a code. Where there were empty spaces, there were stops, two indicated a break and the start of a new sentence. The quantity of large teeth following indicated the stanza, while the smaller teeth, a line within the verse. If there were consecutive lines of the same stanza, it was indicated by a break (missing tooth), and then a blunt.
And so it continued.
The story here began much the same as the poem had, but soon strewn the recited piece in a darker light.
Vye had fallen into a despondent silence, staring at the Enigma.
It wasn't as if he hadn't witnessed the Circle of Life. How, when the Time had come, a Shol would pick out a location of fond attachment--where could be found sunbathing most, a favored nook, or a soft patch in the shade, and the like.
They would rest there, surrounded by all they so cherished and loved, and doze off in a final slumber. To return to the Earth and become one, a forest new, that they could never know.
It was the last farewell, the final parting gift of a Shol, to leave unto the Circle the flora they had so cultivated the span of their natural lives.
That they too may taste the fruits and nectar, and remember that which once was, and still is.
To extend to their progeny a greater abundance wherever they inhabited, extending the Verdance and returning to their predecessor.
A distant memory flitted behind glazed eyes.
Of the meek morning sun, filtering between tender leaves, to a soft patch of blackberry sitting inconspicuously at the base of the old, groaning, oak. And he could almost still see the Shol curled up against the gnarled knotted roots. Sometimes, he swore he could.
But that was then, and this was now. The hourglass was ticking still.
And suddenly, he knew what needed to be done.
"What are you--"
Reaching from where he was, hanging on Zeal's shoulder, Vye pointed at the gears, "Zeal, the hourglass is turning towards the right, and it's making the sun set."
His brow quirked and he stared at the Enigma.
"Clever little Coty." Lockes whispered, smiling behind their hand. Finally the pieces were falling into place.
The hourglass was turning clockwise, as was typical of sundial instruments that marked the passing of Time. Yet by doing so it turned the compass counterclockwise, thus allowing the sun to travel in its great arc from East to West, and in the same breath, turned the final gear, the Yggdrasill, such that it was read as it should be--in the clockwise direction. In the correct passage of Time.
"Curl your fingers and tap it with your palm when and where the sun 'sets'." Vye made the gesture, "It's a sign we make to symbolize Life, it's how we greet Coties that nudge through the Fairy Ring, and how we send off those who become the forest."
Zeal looked to have some doubts. If Vye was wrong, Time would be up, likely resetting the mechanisms.
But he gave his silent consent, mimicking the gesture, and Vye nodded his approval.
And they waited. Tick by tick, until the carved sun, descended behind the carved bramble.
With a firm smack, a sharp clacking sound reverberated in the box, and the two turned to look at one another.
They tried the lid, and it came off.
The den exploded with cheers and smiles as Vye eagerly turned the lid over to gaze at the inner workings of the Enigma that had so confounded them, and began clamoring at once, "Zeal it was a metal bar! The heat made it expand and it displaced this... is magnetic! Look, there's a small magnetic ball in here that was keeping the lid from budging... "
The Reaper, unlike his curious charge, was content to lay back, more relieved than anything else. Though there was a certain smugness to his droopy gaze, the Bluepine noted. A small flicker of pride and accomplishment.
It was a simple, but an elegant design that told much of Shols.
And they had figured it out.
How strange Life could be. That a Reaper should find such amusement and triumph in solving a Sholian contraption, one of many a Shol would have to overcome in their rite of passage.
The long forgotten sands of the hourglass on the low table had finally finished flowing, and Lockes plucked it up, holding up a hand to hide the genuine smile that threatened to stretch cheek to cheek.
The scene of the two by the fire was almost one they found endearing.
But the trial was now over, and though they were reluctant to break the cheer, the Bluepine would impress upon them its significance.
"Impressive, the both of you!" They laughed, and joined the two by the firelight, "And now, you will each receive your own Time."
At this, Zeal looked to Vye for an explanation, but the young Shol seemed just as lost as he was.
It all matched.
The thorns and teeth of the gear he had assumed to have been jagged in poor craftsmanship, were in fact a code. Where there were empty spaces, there were stops, two indicated a break and the start of a new sentence. The quantity of large teeth following indicated the stanza, while the smaller teeth, a line within the verse. If there were consecutive lines of the same stanza, it was indicated by a break (missing tooth), and then a blunt.
The story here began much the same as the poem had, but soon strewn the recited piece in a darker light.
For the Earth that's ever turning. And we can but mark its passing.
The hourglass is turned, And the sands of Time now fall. Yet never must we let, The panic to appall.
No honor to be gained, Nor name of eternal fame. For our progeny to come,
Yet nothing of the future, Bestowed with precious lore, That can only be but messy.
To you of now do I beseech, That which we all should already know.
Of a never ending quest to be, Because only from within, Do we find what truly we need.
Yet by all must we remember, We are equal, all the same. That one day we too will be but memories, To guide you--and the world you mold.
And return to Earth we must, Like the rise of golden sun, In all its blazen glory.
For we have seen our last. Of a forest we wont know. That we hope will one day grow.Zeal finished, and was at a loss. The hourglass had almost finished its full circle.
It wasn't as if he hadn't witnessed the Circle of Life. How, when the Time had come, a Shol would pick out a location of fond attachment--where could be found sunbathing most, a favored nook, or a soft patch in the shade, and the like.
They would rest there, surrounded by all they so cherished and loved, and doze off in a final slumber. To return to the Earth and become one, a forest new, that they could never know.
It was the last farewell, the final parting gift of a Shol, to leave unto the Circle the flora they had so cultivated the span of their natural lives.
That they too may taste the fruits and nectar, and remember that which once was, and still is.
A distant memory flitted behind glazed eyes.
Of the meek morning sun, filtering between tender leaves, to a soft patch of blackberry sitting inconspicuously at the base of the old, groaning, oak. And he could almost still see the Shol curled up against the gnarled knotted roots. Sometimes, he swore he could.
But that was then, and this was now. The hourglass was ticking still.
And suddenly, he knew what needed to be done.
"What are you--"
Reaching from where he was, hanging on Zeal's shoulder, Vye pointed at the gears, "Zeal, the hourglass is turning towards the right, and it's making the sun set."
His brow quirked and he stared at the Enigma.
"Clever little Coty." Lockes whispered, smiling behind their hand. Finally the pieces were falling into place.
The hourglass was turning clockwise, as was typical of sundial instruments that marked the passing of Time. Yet by doing so it turned the compass counterclockwise, thus allowing the sun to travel in its great arc from East to West, and in the same breath, turned the final gear, the Yggdrasill, such that it was read as it should be--in the clockwise direction. In the correct passage of Time.
"Curl your fingers and tap it with your palm when and where the sun 'sets'." Vye made the gesture, "It's a sign we make to symbolize Life, it's how we greet Coties that nudge through the Fairy Ring, and how we send off those who become the forest."
Zeal looked to have some doubts. If Vye was wrong, Time would be up, likely resetting the mechanisms.
But he gave his silent consent, mimicking the gesture, and Vye nodded his approval.
And they waited. Tick by tick, until the carved sun, descended behind the carved bramble.
With a firm smack, a sharp clacking sound reverberated in the box, and the two turned to look at one another.
They tried the lid, and it came off.
The den exploded with cheers and smiles as Vye eagerly turned the lid over to gaze at the inner workings of the Enigma that had so confounded them, and began clamoring at once, "Zeal it was a metal bar! The heat made it expand and it displaced this... is magnetic! Look, there's a small magnetic ball in here that was keeping the lid from budging... "
The Reaper, unlike his curious charge, was content to lay back, more relieved than anything else. Though there was a certain smugness to his droopy gaze, the Bluepine noted. A small flicker of pride and accomplishment.
It was a simple, but an elegant design that told much of Shols.
And they had figured it out.
The long forgotten sands of the hourglass on the low table had finally finished flowing, and Lockes plucked it up, holding up a hand to hide the genuine smile that threatened to stretch cheek to cheek.
The scene of the two by the fire was almost one they found endearing.
But the trial was now over, and though they were reluctant to break the cheer, the Bluepine would impress upon them its significance.
"Impressive, the both of you!" They laughed, and joined the two by the firelight, "And now, you will each receive your own Time."
At this, Zeal looked to Vye for an explanation, but the young Shol seemed just as lost as he was.
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