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 Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 5:37 pm
Niabi bit her lower lip as she scurried away from her sisters. She was always nervous when she snuck away like this. She darted around a large tree and looked back only to make sure that she couldn't see her village anymore. Niabi lived in a very large Alkidike community; one with at least 50 others, and it was hard enough leaving without anyone else seeing you. The only upside being that no one was usually paying her any attention to begin with.
She calmed her shaking nerves and continued on into the forest. Now that the hard part was over with, she could just continue on her way. Be confident, she told herself. Even if anyone else saw her, at least if she looked confident they might not think anything of it.
Truth be told, she should be with the others learning how to hold weapons and starting to decide which one she should choose for herself. She winced at the idea. She hated fighting.
When she thought that she was far enough away from the others, she found a small brook that she liked to sit beside and picked a comfortable spot with her feet in the water.
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:12 pm
Zuri had made many new friends, of all kinds of races, while living in Jahaur. Where she once would have believe the rumors of the Alkidike being killers and not caring about anything, she had met some of their sisters and they had been nice enough. She had also met a male Alkidike, well he was half Alkidike. But still, that had to count for something.
"Belle, where did you go?" Zuri called as she walked about, following the sounds of Belle's bells. Her little roati had wandered off, which was VERY unlike her. However from what Zuri understood she was probably hungry or thirsty and had found something to either eat or drink, all was well then.
Belle indeed was thirsty, and had wandered to the very same brook that Niabi had put her feet into the water. She stood frozen at the other side of the brook, not wanting to move or make a sound.
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Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 3:28 pm
Niabi heard bells approaching and winced at the sound. Someone had found her? But who would be looking all the way out here, and she didn't recognize bells. No one she knew wore bells in the village. She furtively looked around and jumped back when she saw the creature come out of the brush.
The fish that had settled around her feet dashed off from her nervous response, but Niabi sighed in relief. She didn't know what this creature was and it didn't seem suited to Jauhar but it wasn't one of her sisters come to take her back to practice.
"Well hello little one, what brings you all the way out here to this part of the forest? Thirsty I bet." She looked back into the water and let her hair fall in front of her face. The water settled and the fish began to return. She would let the little animal do what it pleased, she found no threat in it and therefore no need to move yet.
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Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 6:49 pm
Niabi jumping back startled Belle, and she let out a small bleat before backing up a little. But the Alkidike spoke calm words to her so she calmed down and moved back to the brook to drink a little of the water, never taking her eyes off Niabi.
Zuri on the other hand made it to the brook just as Belle started to drink. Seeing the Alkidike she frowned slightly. "Oh I'm sorry if Belle interrupted you." she said with a slight frown on her face as she looked from her companion to Niabi. There was just something about the other woman that made Zuri believe that she wanted to be left alone. She felt rude interrupting her, even though she really hadn't done anything wrong.
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 11:58 am
She had settled herself after the entrance of the little creature, but with the earthling girl's entrance she was out of sorts all over again. She jumped and whipped her head in the direction of Zuri. "Oh- I- uh... It's- it's alright."
Niabi could feel a blush slowly starting across her face. Oh this was embarrassing. She had jumped not once but twice in the course of five minutes. She chewed on her lip as she replayed the last few minutes in her head over and over again. Stupid. She was so stupid.
She opened her mouth as if to speak to the earthling, but then closed it again. Hrmmm... what to say. "I... um- would you... uh- Belle is... curious." Ack, so stupid! Niabi was intenally wincing at her own lame opening line. How was she ever going to make friends like this? She cleared her throat. "If... if you don't mind me asking, what is she?"
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:26 pm
Zuri felt bad for startling the girl. She should have made more noise walking up, or something to let the girl know she was coming. "I'm sorry if I startled you." she said with a small frown on her face. She really had to be more careful. When the girl said that Belle was curious she smiled. "Yes it's a new trait in her, she was once scared of her own shadow, but I think being around people more has slowly brought her out of her shell." she said with a nod. She liked how this woman talked about Belle, as if she was another being and not just some animal.
When Niabi asked what Belle was she nodded. She wasn't from around here, so most didn't know what she was. "She is what is known as a Roati. They are actually pretty common in Zena. However I found her when I was here actually. She was just walking around, I assumed she was someones pet because of the bells on her, but no one has claimed her and she's been with me every since." she said looking at Belle fondly. She was her contention to back home, one she was glad to have.
"I'm sorry you must think me rude. My name is Zuri." she offered with a smile. She just kept messing up today.
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 3:36 pm
Zena, huh? Niabi had never left Jauhar, so Zena was a place that wasn't even talked about often enough for Niabi to know about. It was so far away, with something called snow? Was Zuri from Zena? Niabi eyed Zuri's looks. She didn't quite look shifter... but she mostly did. It was hard to tell.
She smiled at Zuri and nodded. "It's alright. I... tend to scare easy. I shouldn't exactly be here right now." She looked around quickly as she said it. She was still nervous one of her sisters would come and find her and drag her back to training. But then she started to over think her answer. What would Zuri think about her answer and that she shouldn't be here? Would she think she had done something wrong? Oh, Niabi felt so stupid sometimes. She was going to mess this up for sure.
She decided that introducing herself was the least of her worries at this point. "It's... nice to meet you Zuri. I'm Niabi." She smiled back to Zuri and gestured to the water. "Y-you're welcome to join me... if you want to, that is."
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Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 9:32 pm
Zuri smiled. Shouldn't be here? "Ah, you have a job or something that you should be doing? Me too, I should be gathering food for tonight but I wanted a little time to relax. It can be our little secret" she said with a shrug. She wasn't sure if the way that Niabi meant it was the same, but oh well.
When Niabi gave her name and invited her to sit she smiled. "I would like that." she said happily before moving to cross the brook and sit besides Niabi. "So do you come here often? When you don't to be doing what you should? It's a beautiful place." she commented as she looked around. She loved being in the forest, it was different to her still, but none the less it was beautiful, plus it always seemed more alive then the landscape back in Zena.
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 12:34 pm
Niabi sighed when Zuri answered. Oh good, she was just over thinking everything like usual. Zuri had taken her comment well enough and seemed to be interested in conversation! Niabi relaxed a little and nudged the water she was sitting beside with her foot. "I-I don't usually disappear when I'm not supposed to very often... but I do like to come here in my spare time." She smiled at her own lame joke.
She looked around at the scenery around her and her smile widened a little. "Yes, it it beautiful, though... I don't have much else to compare it to." Niabi had never left these forests. She'd been to Chibale every year like she was supposed to, but that was the only other places she had ever been to besides home. She really hadn't even ventured out much into the other settlements around here. It was a miracle she even knew Yaholo.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 9:24 pm
Zuri smiled. She seemed nice, and for some reason Niabi reminded her of her adopted brother back home in Zena. Sweet, yet kind of timid. However if it were Alek talking to a complete stranger then she doubted that he brother would be able to even say three or four words. "It's very relaxing." she said nodding. She wondered what Alkidike's did with most of their time. Training most likely, though the two sisters she had met didn't seem to be all that battle hard. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you should be doing?"
So she hadn't traveled. Well that was also common, though she had heard of a few Alkidike's traveling, even so far as to Zena. "You've never gone anywhere? Do you want to?" she asked curiously. Not everyone liked to travel, it was very possible that Niabi just didn't like the thought of traveling.
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Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 7:28 am
Niabi was surprised at the interest Zuri was showing in her. She really wasn't all that interesting to be honest. She looked down at the water and gently kicked her feet before looking back to Zuri.
"Well, I-I... should be training." She blushed at her own incompetence. How was she supposed to explain to someone that there was actually an Alkidike that hated fighting? But she knew that she would have to regardless of what she wanted. It was what was expected of her as a Sister and something she was bound to do to help her people. "I... um... don't particularly... l-like it." She winced at the last words as if Zuri would laugh at her for it.
She had never really given thought to whether she wanted to travel or not... she had just never really gone too far from home. "I've... never been anywhere. I've never really though about whether I... wanted to or not..." She thought about Yaholo and how he always traveled back and forth between Tale and Jauhar, making all sorts of new friends. "I think I should though." She said the last part quietly, like she wasn't quite sure she was allowed to think about it. Her mothers would certainly not approve.
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Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:39 am
Zuri nodded. She remembered on her travels hearing that the Alkidikes were fierce, and that they were always practicing. From what she was hearing it seemed to be true. "Is there not something else you could do? Another path? I met an Alkidike once, Dyakida I believe her name was, that from the sounds of it made weapons. Can't you guys choose to do something other then fight? Surely there are enough Alkidike warriors?" she asked curiously. Yeah she chose a path that involved fighting. But that was her choice. No one pushed her to do it.
Zuri smiled. It was strange to her how many others didn't see traveling as an option, or had never done soon. It seemed everywhere she went that was how people thought. Though that was slowly changing, or at least Zuri thought it was from what she had seen. "Traveling is fun, it allows you to learn more about our world, and you learn more about yourself also while doing it.". She smiled, for a second there she sounded like her father.
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:10 am
Niabi lifted her hand to twist one of her dreads. Of course she wouldn't understand. Earthlings had so many choices given to them. She frowned slightly. "I've heard of Dyakida, but she didn't turn down training by choice..." She let her voice trail off. A lot of Alkidike had heard of Dyakida's accident. It was unfortunate really, and something that was pushed onto her. She hoped that Dyakida came to accept and like what she did, but for a healthy Alkidike prentice there was no option. She sighed, Kadriye was lucky. She was training to by a mystic and wouldn't have to battle either. Oh well though, she straightened herself up and shrugged her shoulders. "I-I'll do.. what I need to do to help my sisters..." She tried to sound confident, but her voice faltered and she could tell it wasn't fooling anyone. It wouldn't have fooled a spitorog.
She let the conversation take on a lighter tone and hopefully Zuri wouldn't push too much further about her lack of options in her life. "I... definitely have a lot to learn about the world and my-myself." She tried to laugh lightly at her own joke, but the tone sounded wrong. Niabi was trying to hard and wanted to kick herself for doing it. Why couldn't conversation just come naturally to her? She wanted to pinch herself into submission of her own thoughts, but she knew it wouldn't help even if she did.
"M-maybe I should travel... and meet more people..." She trailed off in contemplation. It could be nice, who knew. She might need help getting there though. Maybe the next time Yaholo comes through Jauhar Niabi could tag along with him. "Do you... travel alone?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 9:23 pm
Not by choice? Yes she had that impression, she was pretty sure that Dyakida was blind. However she was unsure, it was just certain movements she made that didn't seem to fit. Plus, she had once seen a blind man in Zena who had cloudy eyes, and although they didn't look exactly like Dyakida's eyes, they did look very similar. Watching Niabi she found herself wanting to hug the younger girl. She seemed so unsure of herself, of what she was saying. "I'm sure you will make all of your sisters very proud." she reassured Niabi. She almost moved to hug the girl, but then decided against it, she didn't want to scare her, and instead just put her own hand over Niabi's and gave her most reassuring smile. She could tell the path for Niabi wouldn't be an easy one, but she also knew that anyone could do anything if they put their mind to it.
Zuri smiled at the other girl when she laughed, even though it seemed forced. Had she made the conversation awkward by asking about her choices? It seemed like it was something that Niabi wasn't happy about, and maybe that was what was causing her to be uncomfortable. Well at least now Zuri knew to stay away from that topic. "I've never met anyone who didn't have a lot to learn about themselves, and the world. Even the most traveled travelers find out new things every day." she said with a nod.
Zuri nodded. Yes! Traveling was good. Especailly if she didn't want to train like her sisters right away. That would give her time to get away, clear her head, and then maybe realize that she was more like a warrior then she thought. "I've never really traveled alone. I came her with a group of merchants, and before that I really hadn't traveled all that much. I'm sure you could travel alone if you'd like. However things are always more enjoyable with you have friends with you."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:37 pm
Niabi blushed at Zuri's words of encouragement and the touch of her hand. She had never had someone reassure her like this. Maybe earthlings could be more sympathetic to a situation that they could never possibly be in. Even if it were only for the fact that all the other Alkidike she had met were ready and waiting to pick up weapons and defend the Sisters and were very unlikely to even understand a tiny fraction of what Niabi felt. Maybe traveling would be very good for her...
She smiled at Zuri's nod; travel seemed like something completely unlike anything she had thought of doing before, but why not? Maybe she just needed to spread her wings and leave home, even if for a little while, just to see what is out there and meet people to boost her confidence. It could be possible. Even for someone as skittish as Niabi... probably difficult, but possible.
She was listening intently to Zuri's stories of her trip here. Her antennae twitched at the mention of friends. Something in short supply for Niabi at the moment. Again, her thoughts turned to Yaholo. "I'm sure it is more enjoyable with friends..." Her words came out soft and like a slight sigh, probably revealing more than Niabi wanted to about her situation. The other Alkidike weren't too interested in befriending a Sister who didn't want to practice with them.
"Y-you just left with those merchants? D-did you know them? You wouldn't have left... with strangers would you?" Both of her antennae lifted slightly at the thought of the danger that could bring. What if they weren't trustworthy? Zuri was lucky to even be here right now.
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