krickets: (✈ r; a tree as old as me.)
[personal profile] krickets
title; rating: mother's milk; pg
fandom, character; wordcount: lost, dogen; 250
notes: for [livejournal.com profile] that_evening who requested the temple folk at this year's luau.

Dogen remembers feeling alienated -- angry.

Even as a child, it had always been there. It was a trait that his father, a soft-spoken, gentle man, could never understand. His mother, on the other hand, was acutely acquainted with the anger he felt, for it was the same as the bitterness that ran through her veins.

Now, he stands at the temple gates, a bag slung over his shoulder filled with useless frivolities that he knows he will soon discard [save for one]. And it is here, at this place he's traveled so far to see, that Dogen finally understands the images his mother used to brush upon her canvas and the words she often spoke.

Don't ever mistake this, son, she would tell him. Your place is somewhere else.

All his life he's carried with him the only useful thing he'd ever need -- an image of these arches, the tall trees surrounding this jungle fortress, the entrance to what lies beyond it. His mother had painted it, thick and dark, upon her canvas and upon the walls of their home. [Over and over again.] She'd sketched it on napkins, on blank pages of books, on every sheet of paper until there were none left. She'd even drawn it in the palm of his hand once, and she had never once explained what it meant.

Now, all of her sketches, her warnings, her premonitions, become perfectly clear.

Dogen draws a breath.

And then another.

He takes a step forward.

-fin

Date: 2010-07-10 01:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gigglemonster.livejournal.com
This is gorgeous and haunting. Definitely filing it away under my personal canon for this character. Pitch perfect for him.

Date: 2010-07-10 02:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cloudytea.livejournal.com
Oh, wow. Very haunting, but very beautiful. I really love this, it's something I've always wanted to read concerning him, but never really realized it until now.

Date: 2010-07-10 02:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] that-evening.livejournal.com
This was beautiful. I really enjoyed it and you captured Dogen well. Thank you. :)

Date: 2010-07-10 02:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crickets.livejournal.com
Thanks, for reading this! :)

Date: 2010-07-10 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crickets.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! I'm happy to give you something you didn't know you needed, hehe.

Date: 2010-07-10 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crickets.livejournal.com
You're welcome! It definitely took me a while to wrap my head around the character but it was certainly a good experience doing so. So glad you enjoyed!

Date: 2010-07-10 02:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cloudytea.livejournal.com
:333 I just love the Temple people, even though a fair majority of the fandom doesn't.

Date: 2010-07-10 07:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hitlikehammers.livejournal.com
Beautiful, with lingering images and emotions that feel both searing and hollow -- the most haunting and effective kind of rage. Lovely stuff, doll :)

Date: 2010-07-10 08:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crickets.livejournal.com
Thank you so much, hon! ♥!

Date: 2010-07-11 06:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tellshannon815.livejournal.com
Interesting backstory for Dogen here!

Date: 2010-07-11 06:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crickets.livejournal.com
Thanks! ♥!

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