Chapter 3: Chapter Three – What Hands Find to Do

In the process of time, Salubrious fell in love with his eldest brother’s seventh daughter, for in those days, there were no other people in the world. Moreover, because there were so many years between the oldest and youngest brother, the niece of Salubrious was actually almost a year older than he.

Her name was Beauteous, and it was said that she was the loveliest woman in all of Riven. Only Vitalitous herself was more beautiful, but beyond this, Beauteous was also calm-tempered and kindhearted, and for this reason, she was a perfect match for the gentle Salubrious.

Not long after, Salubrious and Beauteous were betrothed, and so the mild-mannered twin began to prepare for their wedding after the customs of the Ancients. This involved the husband weaving a swathe for his future wife which matched his own.

In accord with their customs, Salubrious was expected to gather and make everything needed for this task. The only thing he was allowed to receive from another’s hands were the seeds he would plant. These had been given to him by his eldest brother and future father-in-law.

Thus, Salubrious set out upon his quest, and though Calamitous could not help him, he accompanied him as he went. So it was that Salubrious sought and found a small meadow nestled within the vast forested valley of Serenity, and there he began to prepare the land for planting.

He started by fashioning a stone hoe from a rock of just the right shape which he tied to a shaft of wood. Thus, with a sweaty brow, he worked to loosen the rich dark-red earth, and after only a few days, he was ready to sow the seeds his eldest brother had given him. However, because flaxseed is so small and easily blown away, he was forced to wait until there came a windless day.

To ensure he would not miss his chance to sow, Salubrious slept under the trees just outside the meadow, and every morning, he arose before dawn to test the wind. While he waited, he worked on creating the tools he would need to weave the swathe, and so the two brothers went about within the forest and along the nearby river. In this way, Salubrious gathered the clay and wood he would need.

Again, Calamitous was not allowed to give his brother any aid. In fact, he could not even help him carry the things he had gathered, and this was beginning to chafe upon the mind of Calamitous, for he did not like feeling useless. However, he said nothing about this to his twin.

When they returned to the field, the day was well spent, and so Salubrious found a place where the moss grew thick, and there he quickly fell into a deep slumber.

For a long while, Calamitous sat with his back against a tree watching his brother sleep. His idle mind lingered upon the unfulfilled task he was promised to accomplish – the destruction of the Tree of Deepshadows, and thus his mood grew darker still.

The next morning, the breeze was still blowing, and so Salubrious took out the clay he had gathered from the river. Unwrapping it from the large leaves he had used to keep it moist, he started to mold the clay into six large pots. This took most of the day, and when he had finished, he left the vessels in an open place where the sun could dry them.

Again, Salubrious awoke with the rising of the sun, but this day also proved to be too windy, and so he began putting together his loom. He started by searching for a limb or log that had grown straight.

Now, in those early days, the Ancients did not know the art of flint knapping. Instead, they shaped and formed wood by pounding the bark away and scraping it with rough stones. This method made working wood difficult and time consuming, but the patience of the Ancients was great, and their lives were long.

Thus, building his loom took several weeks, and every morning, he started his day by checking the wind. During this time, Calamitous grew more and more restless, until finally, Salubrious could see by the darkness in his eyes that something was wrong.

“Why are your eyes indigo?” Salubrious asked as he slowly shaped the wood with a rough stone. “What troubles you?”

Calamitous sighed and gazed irritably at his idle hands. “I feel useless sitting here watching you work.”

The mild-mannered twin pondered this silently for a moment and then offered a solution. “The custom says you cannot help me with the making of my bride’s swathe, yes?”

Calamitous nodded miserably, and his eyes seemed to grow even darker.

“But,” Salubrious offered with a grin as he raised a finger. “There is no rule that says you cannot gather food and water for me so that I need not leave my labor to nourish myself.”

His brother’s mouth dropped open, his eyes brightened, and then he let out a laugh. “What food do you desire?”

Salubrious tapped his thin youthful beard. “To tell you the truth, I have been craving hazelnuts for days now, but I have no time to spend gathering and cracking them.”

Calamitous leapt to his feet and announced with a smile, “I shall return with a feast of hazelnuts for us both!”

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With that, he happily slung his cloth bag over his shoulder and rushed away. Following his nose, it was not long before Calamitous found a grove of hazelnut trees, for the Ancients could discern smells from a great distance.

Because the climate within the land of Serenity was almost always mild and warm, the hazelnut trees he found produced their fruit year-round. For this reason, their limbs were heavily laden with nuts at different stages of ripeness, and so Calamitous was careful to pick only those that were fully mature.

Once he had filled his bag with nuts, he started to make his way back to his brother’s field. On the way, he came to a river, and there, he found a smooth gray stone about the size of his fist. He started using it to crack open the hazelnuts he had gathered, and it was working well until he became distracted by a brightly colored bird flying through the forest canopy. In that moment, he accidentally brought the stone down upon one of his fingers as he held a nut ready to crack.

Instantly, the pain provoked his anger, and so Calamitous threw the stone as hard as he could. Flying through the air, it hit a large bolder that lay nearby.

Before the rock had fully left his hand, the young Ancient regretted throwing it. With remorse, he went over to see if it had been damaged, and thus he found it broken. But strangely, instead of breaking into smaller pieces of a similar shape, the stone had shattered into shards. Moreover, it was revealed by its breaking that the inside of the gray rock was as black as coal.

This was something he had not expected, and with a note of surprise, he picked up one of the obsidian shards. While he examined it closer, he held it in front of the sun, and so he noticed that the light came through from the other side.

As he continued studying the sharp flake of rock, he turned it in his hand, and with this movement, it happened to gash his palm deeply.

Issuing a gasp of surprise, Calamitous dropped the shard of stone and gazed at his hand as his blood quickly began to seal the wound shut, for the Ancients healed much faster than Common-men.

Carefully picking up the fragment of stone, he hurried back to his brother’s field. “Look at this stone!” he called to his twin. “I broke it, and it became so sharp that it cut my palm.”

Rushing over to him with a look of concern, Salubrious ignored the rock. Instead, he took his brothers hand and examined the wound now fully scabbed over. “Are you well? Does it still hurt?”

“No, it is nothing.” Calamitous shook his head dismissively. “Now, look at this stone.”

Salubrious distractedly glanced at the large shard. “It looks very sharp,” he grumbled uneasily.

Calamitous smiled with excitement dancing in his now gold-colored eyes. “Try it on the wood you are shaping.”

Skeptically, Salubrious took the shard of stone and drew its razor-like edge across the wood he was working. To his surprise, it easily removed the bark he had been struggling with.

“But I am not permitted to use a tool someone else made!” Salubrious suddenly exclaimed as he quickly handed the stone back to his brother.

Calamitous shrugged. “Then come, and I will show you how I made it so that you can make one for yourself.”

Salubrious agreed to this, and the twins hurried back to the riverside. It was not long before Calamitous found another stone like the first, but this time, he was more purposeful. Examining the rock closely, he carefully struck it with another stone and broke off a small flake. He continued to do this until he had made a tool that perfectly fit in his hand. This new tool was shaped something like a closed clam with the sharp end being where a clam would open.

Salubrious watched his brother closely and then searched for a similar stone. After finding a smooth bluish-gray rock, he set to work in the same manner that his twin had shown him. Thus, when he was done, he had a tool just like his twin’s except it was a pale blue color.

Calamitous nodded approvingly.

With this new tool, Salubrious worked the wood he had gathered with greater ease, so that he was able to put together his loom in half the time.

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