The Goblin Nation - 87 Spring Festival

After waking up after a good night’s rest, Sun was met by his tribesmen, urging him to start the celebrations. What these celebrations are to Sun are unknown. They erected a small podium, and the women and men stood on opposite sides while facing the Chief. Sun pulled Shuja towards him. Due to her injuries, Shuja lost her footing and landed on Sun’s chest. When she got up, only a fraction of the air separated their lips, and their eyes locked in place. Shuja pushed herself off, “Sorry I didn’t mean to,” Both of them talked at the same time.

“Ok, let’s just move on.” Sun scratched the back of his head. He could not believe he got flustered from getting near a woman, and a goblin no less. “I just wanted to ask what they mean about celebration. Unless they’re talking about handing out our rations.”

“Oh, its spring, so its time for the women to be married to the men. And, you know.”

“What? I’m in charge of that. Why can’t they just get together themselves?”

“They can, yes. But mass weddings are held in the spring so the women with no courters can get married and start a family.”

“Or more like to give the men to scared to ask a woman’s hand the chance to marry. Can’t they just do in their free time? I bet they could find someone for them.”

Dawn overheard the two and decided to add her opinions on the matter, “Sun, there is another reason why this is done. Most women, after winter experiencing winter, avoid marriage. I know Shuja avoided the marriage ceremonies a lot in previous years. She used Lite as her excuse for not getting married, always telling everyone that Lite was courting her.”

“Why?”

“It was just an excuse,” Shuja uttered. “Lite, and I didn’t really have that kind of relationship.”

“No, I meant, why do the women not want to get married?”

“Oh,” Shuja cheeks turned redder than her skin, “I didn’t really want to have a family yet. I still had other things I wanted to do. But that’s my take. I don’t know about the others.”

“Alright, I think I get it now. I don’t really want to do mass marriages, and their still our mission to take over the Razin tribe. What’s the other celebration I have to lead?”

“The naming of the children!” Dawn said eagerly.

The Chief had the authority of naming the children at the beginning of every season. Sun and his brothers received their names during the first week of winter. But there was also another requirement, and that they reach an age in which they could say their name. The brother’s supernatural growth rate meant that they could say their name within two days, so they were given their names. It’s a weird custom that Sun could not understand despite its simplicity due to the hidden complexity beneath it. For instance, Mabel’s son has no name because they were not married in a mass ceremony.

There were other rules like, could the baby crawl for a certain amount of minutes or did it suckle on another mother’s breast. These arbitrary rules were very strange and just made it harder for anyone to grasp what’s going on during the ceremony. But Sun guessed that it was a way for Cala to control his subject by making them do unreasonable things for him or to stop anyone he disliked from benefitting in the tribe.

But now Sun is the leader, and he could make new rules. “Alright, how about this, I’ll give every child a name, and that’s that.” Sun got up and faced an eager audience, or at least half of the audience were eager. The men were excited to get married, and the woman just wanted the day to end. Alas, the men could not get married, and this broke their hearts. “Sorry about that. We can’t afford to, you know. We still have a future battle with the enemy tribe, and we need all the help we could get.” The crowd dispersed, letting the goblins with family space for the naming ceremony. “But I will be doing the naming ceremony, so everyone with a child, bring them forward. It doesn’t matter if they can’t speak, we’ll give them a name regardless.” The crowd cheered. Shuja walked up next to Sun to give pointers on what to do during the ceremony.

The first one to come up to the podium was Spat and his son, “Bow to the Chief,” Spat told his boy.

“You may raise your heads. How is Mabel, is she doing ok?” Spat and his son raised their head gave a resounding yes. “That’s good. Now, do you have any suggestions as to what name your son gets?”

“Excuse me? You want me to suggest a name.”

“Yes,” Sun realized that the Cala would just give the children names out of whim. Cala named him Sun just because his eyes were closed while his head was facing the sky. Not a single careful consideration was given. “Hey, everyone, may I have your attention, please!” He yelled at the crowd lining up behind Spat. “I would love it if you all think of names you want your child to have, so once you stand up here, you can suggest it to me.” He then turns his attention to Spat. “Sorry, I should have said that earlier. If you want, you can come back later. Give yourself some time to think about a name you want to give your son.”

“No, it’s ok, I think I have a name I want to give my boy.” He placed his hands on his boy’s shoulders, “Apple, I’d like to name him Apple. It sounds like Mable and the appletrees were one of the first trees we saw when we left the cave.”

“Then his name Apple,” Shuja showed Sun how to bestow the name. He placed his thumb on Apple’s forehead. Draw a circle then announced his name to the tribe. “This one is Apple,” He yelled. “Just like that?” He whispered to Shuja, who gave a thumbs up.

Spat lifted his son and carried him around the square, introducing him to everyone. Apple couldn’t help but laugh while his dad carries him on his shoulders. Next to come up was Dawn and Rock. She dragged Rock along with her. He looked embarrassed, being in the center of attention, which was odd. “So what name would you like to give to your baby.”

“Well, your brother said boulder. Because he is going to big as he is, my as well have a fitting name for him.”

“I was just joking,” Rock said. “And you never told me it was a girl. In fact, I could have sworn your baby was a boy.”

Dawn giggled, “I was hiding it. And you know the reason why. Anyway, I have a name I want to give her. I want her name to be Snow because snow is gentle and soft.”

Sun placed his thumb on the baby and announced the tribe the baby’s name, “This one is Snow.” And the crowd cheered. Sun continued giving out names until there was no one left, except for a few orphans watching the ceremony far away from the crowd. “Hey!” Sun yelled out to them, “Come up here already. I don’t have all day!”

“You’re giving them names?” Shuja asked.

“Yeah, why? Should I not?”

“Well, they are orphans so they can’t have names. Not unless they prove their worth. They need to do something first that warrants giving them a name. Something outstanding that the tribe will remember them by. That’s how I got my name, at least.”

“You were an orphan?” Sun asked in shock.

“Yeah,”

“Well, rewarding people’s merit is great. But I didn’t do anything besides cry, and I got a name. I don’t think it’s fair.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope. If everyone got a name, why shouldn’t they?” Sun could not help but think about his brother, who is now an orphan. “They deserve something, especially now. Hey! Didn’t I yell for you guys to come here.” The orphans watching got scared and rushed over so as not to anger the Cheif.

With no parents to suggest a name for them, Sun asked Shuja for advice. The two brainstormed together, thinking of unique names the children would like. Some were happy to receive any name, while a few were picky. Sun and Shuja had fun giving the orphans names and getting to know them. Likewise, the orphans started to like the new Chief even more. Before, he was like a god that they must venerate, but now he was like a doting father. And the woman next to him was like a doting mother. Eventually, all of them got their names. “Alright, go out there and play you little brats,” Sun said while rubbing one of them on the head. Sun watched the orphans run back to the other kids playing, eager to share them their new names. “Those are some good kids, right?” Shuja looked at him and started giggling. “What?”

“Nothing,” Shuja couldn’t help but giggle. Sun sounded too much like her late dad and that made Shuja feel bubbly inside.

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