SmackDown: Back to Our Roots

Round 3: The Children of Tin Hinan - @jinnis

The last words of his brother still ring in his ears, a bitter farewell from the last person behind.

"You're betraying your heritage, Atrî. This is our land, this is where the children of Tin Hinan are meant to live and die. During all the centuries of our history, we never left our ways. If it is time to die now, then we should die a proud death with the stars above and the sand below us."

His brother was right. He should have stayed, huddled together with the last of his people trying to survive in an environment turned from friend to enemy.

But Atrî craved hope, life, a way to carry on towards a bright future. He was lured by the promises of a new world, a future between the stars. Didn't his name mean star? Perhaps it was his destiny to carry the heritage of his people into the depth of space.

The recruiters were kind, understanding even. They explained how important it was to bring along different ethnicities, different sets of knowledge to this endeavour. Atrî listened, enraptured by the pictures of the faraway planet meant to be the home of his future offspring, by the possibility of founding a family of his own.

When he finally surfaced from the numbness the death of his people and the loss of their dreams and future had left him in, it was too late. The ship had taken off, and he with it. Earth, the Ahaggar and the endless desert sky were only memories, buried in his fractured heart, to be lost with the inevitable deterioration of his mind.

Slowly, he stands up, gathers his takaykay, ensures his shesh covers his face and follows the call to the meeting area. While he walks the long aisle, his thoughts drift back to the people and the honour he left behind.

He arrives late to the gathering. The speaker, a high officer of the ship, already assigns the tasks for the rescue drill. Atrî silently joins the group to his left. Brown eyes meet his. He remembers the woman with the fiery red hair. He met her on his long, walks during the sleepless night hours in the corridors. A purple badge tells him she belongs to the crew.

The smile on her face seems genuine, and she reaches out a hand.

"Hey. I think we met. I'm Anne."

Atrî is tempted to turn away, sink back into his state of lonesome misery. But like a flood, the last words of his mother surface in his mind. He remembers the faltering comfort of the grip of her hand when he knelt at her deathbed, half a year ago.

"Atrî, don't despair, my son. You were born under the light of a wandering star. Remember that you are meant to travel far and carry the legacy of our people to a new destiny. Don't forget the story of Tin Hinan, the great mother. She came from a faraway place to make this land ours. It may well rest on your shoulders to guide the first steps of another mother of the people on their search for a new home."

The spark in this woman's eyes calls him back to the present. She reminds him of the strong leaders of his people in their desperate war for survival, doomed in a world altered by a changing climate. Her smile is genuine, intriguing, laced with wonder.

Perhaps not all is lost. Atrî reaches for her hand.

"Anne," he says.

3 - Lunja

I'm like a tree. My leaves might change colour, but my roots are the same — Rose Namajunas

~ ~ ~

Lunja picks up her great great-grandmother's diary and lets a thumb run over the worn leather binding. This small book is her dearest possession, a gateway into a world of wonder beyond the strictly regulated schedule of the ship. Whenever she finds the time, she steals away from her job in the nursery to walk the gardens. They are supposed to double as a recreational area, but she seldom meets someone here.