A/N: Hooo boy, this one was a long time coming. A very, very, *very* long time ago, Lynn S. M. wrote a fic called The Lingering Night. Almost immediately, I felt an urge to write a response-fic of sorts; a companion piece, if you will. I got so far along and then fell into a plot hole and couldn't climb out. Finally, yesterday, I was leafing through some old WIPs and came across this. I managed to plow through the sticky bit and polish the rest, and now, here it finally is! I hope y'all enjoy it.The Great DawnJake smiled, dodging a shrieking, giggling herd of youngsters that ran past him as he made his way to the Story-Telling field. His sister's dog yipped after them, not having a clue where they were going but wanting to come along anyway. The sun was just low enough to bathe all of the huts in a warm, golden glow; beads glittered in the light as people danced, and strings glittered as his nephew attempted to play music. The couple at the center of the festivities seemed to particularly shine. Jake basked in the view for a moment before cupping his hands around his mouth.
“Okay, everyone, gather 'round! It's time!”
The same group of children that had just gone by now reversed direction and flocked towards him, the yipping dog still trailing behind. Other family members broke off conversations or ended songs mid-note and came to take their places in the ever-expanding circle. The younger ones scooted forward, trying to get the best possible view. Jake grinned at them. Children just couldn't seem to get enough of stories, even if it was one they'd heard many times before.
A few of the little ones turned to look inquisitively at the old man seated just beyond the edge of the newly formed ring of people. “Isn't Pops going to tell it?” someone asked.
“As the father of the groom, I will be telling the story today,” Jake replied. There were repeats of congratulations, and a few cousins reached over to slap his oldest son on the back. The boy's new bride smiled nervously. She was a nice enough girl, as far as outsiders went, though she was still unused to their traditions.
“And I will be making sure he tells it right,” called Pops from the back. As the oldest living member of the clan, he told the story every year, save for a few special occasions. This would be Jake's first retelling. He hoped he could do it justice.
“Is everybody ready?” Jake called. At the round of nods, he continued. “Okay. A long, long time ago, the world was very different. There were millions and millions of buildings, and people taller than the trees.”
A smattering of laughter broke out among the crowd. “Other way around, Jake,” said Pops.
Jake cleared his throat. “I was just...making sure everyone was paying attention,” he replied. “So yeah, millions of people and buildings taller than trees. Most of these people were strangers to each other.
“One of them was different from all of the rest,” Jake continued. Many of the listeners began to smile at this part. “This was our ancestor, Clark Kent. He was from a distant star; a far away place called Krypton. He was sent to Earth when he was only a tiny baby, but nobody knows why.” He paused. “What we do know is that he was gifted with all sorts of powers that the rest of the people on Earth did not have. He was stronger and faster than anyone else, and no weapon could hurt him. The hardest rocks would bounce off of him, and the sharpest knives would break against his skin. He could melt iron by staring at it, and put out huge fires with his breath. Because of this--”
“You forgot the flying,” Pops interrupted.
“And he could fly,” Jake amended. “Because of th--”
“And the senses,” added Pops.
“He had sharper senses too,” said Jake. “Because of--”
“Jake!” snapped Pops.
Jake sighed. “Really, Pops, do we have to go through the whole”-- he saw the look Pops was giving him and immediately went back to the story. “He could see and hear farther than anyone else, see smaller things that no one else could see, and look through walls. Anything else I'm forgetting?”
“Super ventriloquism,” said Pops.
Jake blinked. “What?”
Pops grinned, and a few of the relatives started laughing. “Just messing with you, Kid. Go on, you're doing fine.”
Jake sighed and resumed the story. “Because of this, the people called him Superman, not knowing that he was really Clark Kent, for he kept his true identity a secret. He used his unique gifts to help the people of the world. The people loved him.”
“One day, the people found out that a huge rock was going to fall from the sky and crush the Earth, killing everyone. They asked their Superman to help them. He flew off to stop the rock, even though he knew he might die.”
Some of the children gasped.
“He smashed the rock!” Jake yelled, striking his fist across his palm in a way that made a few of the younger ones jump a little. “But, it was so big that it threw him back down to the Earth and he lost all his memories! He couldn't remember who he was. He couldn't remember his family, or his friends. He couldn't remember that he had great powers. And, the rock was so big that a chunk of it was still falling towards the Earth.” He paused again, savoring the tension in the room. The best stories, he thought, were the ones that still made you feel tense even when you knew the ending.
“Luckily, one of his friends found him: the beautiful Lois Lane. She was the bravest and cleverest woman in the entire world,” Jake recited, “yet even she did not know that Clark Kent was Superman. She thought that she had only found her friend Clark, and that he was injured and alone. So, they decided to wait for the end of the world together.
“The piece of rock hit the Earth,” Jake went on. “Nearly everyone died. But because Superman had broken the rock first, a few were able to survive. Some survived by hiding under the ground. One of these was Wicked Lex.” Most of the relatives shivered at this name. “Wicked Lex was a man who only wanted power. He hated Superman because he could not control him. Instead of trying to help Superman save the world, Wicked Lex chose to hide in his fortress with only his friends, so that after the world ended, he could be a king. Many of the outsiders are descended from his people.”
“What about Clark and Lois Lane?” a small cousin asked.
Jake smiled. “As for Clark and Lois, they held onto each other tightly when the rock hit, thinking that they too were going to die. But, because Clark Kent was secretly Superman, he was not hurt at all. And most amazingly of all”– Jake spread his arms out for dramatic effect –“because he was holding Lois so closely, she was protected from the worst of the damage!
“When she awoke, they both realized that Clark was Superman,” said Jake. “She understood that he had saved her life, and that they truly loved each other. And the most important thing,” he recited, “ the one part of the story that we all must remember and pass down from generation to generation is that nobody yelled hysterically at anybody.
“For many days,” he continued, “the sky was dark, and neither the sun nor the stars would shine. The air was choked with dust, and nothing would grow. Because Clark's powers were strengthened by the sun, they soon began to fade. For a long time, life was difficult. But, they had each other, and they did their best with the remains of all that their people had built. Always remember, children, that your true strength comes from the people with you, and your life from the people who have gone before.”
Pops nodded approvingly.
Jake went on. “Soon, Lois became pregnant with their first child: a daughter. Shortly before the girl's birth, the darkness in the sky finally broke, and the sun rose again for the first time! With the sun, some of Clark's strength began to return. He found some of the people who were beginning to come up from under the earth. Some of them were 'survivalists', and had many supplies; some were scientists, and could make useful things and keep the knowledge from the old world alive. Some of these people joined Lois and Clark. Two years after the old world was destroyed, Lois and Clark led their people to the place that would become our homeland. Since that day, the story has been handed down from generation to generation of how our ancestors survived the lingering night and finally saw the Great Dawn.”
As the relatives surrounding him applauded, Jake gave a little bow. He was never sure how much of the old myth was true; maybe it was only a “just so” story to explain why odd giftings tended to pop up in their bloodline, and why they lived so far apart from other people. But it was a good story, and in the end, maybe that was all that really mattered.
