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 Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:19 pm
Nadiya was bouncing along quite happily. So far in her travels she had met many people and gathered many stories. Even new musical styles had filtered into her range of previous music since every region seemed to have something new and fascinating to learn. Sauti by far though had held one of her more favorite stories. It was that story which was moving her to leave the area once more and head back to Jauhar. After all what type of heroic rogue would she be if she ignored a poor damsel's request to spread a trail of lies?
Smirking, the girl paused to hop off of the caravan she had managed to sneak into and darted away from the main roads. She had enough of sneaking along with that group and was ready for some change. "Perhaps though I should freshen up a bit before I go barge into the next town..." Running a hand through her hair the girl nodded before heading towards where she hoped to find a stream.
A good bath would be nice...
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:22 pm
Mnyiri placed her palm over her open mouth to hide a well deserved yawn. She hadn't slept in well over a day and a half thanks to her current obsession. Earthling ears. Why was it that so many earthlings possessed different ears? Some were longer, with superior auditory skills like the alkidike while others seemed smaller, with little rounded edges. Naturally once the ear worm had buried itself in deep Mnyiri hadn't been able to stop herself from performing research. Surveys, experiments, queries: that had been days ago, and still, she was no closer to an answer.
And, outside of the realm of pure bloods, what determined the ear structure for hybrids? Were there any defining conditions that pre-determined one shape over the other?
It was enough to drive her insane!
Murmuring, Mnyiri leaned back against the base of a rather large indigo tree. Her legs were stretched out in front of her, free from the boots that normally kept them trapped. For once her hair was free of it's baubles and piled high on her head in a haphazard bun. Scattered all around her were scrolls, quills, and journals; even some sketch pads, if one dug down far enough. Stretched out across her lap was an old, worn tome that she'd managed to 'borrow' from a Shifter. In it was detailed medical records about various ear injuries, but so far she hadn't been able to find what she needed...
Fed up with their mistress, Mnyiri's familiars had made themselves at home in the stream not ten feet away from her. Mvua was standing in the shallows, waiting for his chance to nab a fresh fish while Jioni had settled into the cool muck on it's bank.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:32 pm
Nadiya always had a knack for remembering faces. Even familiars were easily recognizable by the girl so when she happened to spot figures in the nearby stream Nadiya had to pause. Who else was going to be here today? It wasn't often that a radaku..."Wait a second..." Frowning thoughtfully, Nadiya pursed her lips and peered forward with a narrowed gaze. Was that? "Mvau!"
Bouncing up and down on the tips of her feet, Nadiya surveyed the area. If Mvua was here then didn't that mean a certain lady was as well? Perhaps if she was very quiet...smirking Nadiya moved forward. She almost appeared like a little mischievous sprite as she darted in between the trees. Then ever so quietly the Matori started to tip-toe her way down the ravine.
Just a few more steps and she could see the figure in the sprawling mess. She just had to twist behind a tree before she was spotted! Swallowing her laughter, Nadiya wiggled around some of the trees before managing to get to the side of Mnyiri. Crossing her fingers for good luck -plus it would be silly to be caught like this right?- Nadiya let out a happy laugh as she dove from the trees and towards the lap of the Alkidike, "Mnyiriiiiiiiiiii~!!!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:50 pm
Mvua rotated his head, cocking his ears to and fro before catching sight of the bubbly Matorian. For a moment he seemed to find her presence worth his attention before returning to his fishing. It seemed that whatever threat to his personal space Nadiya provided was outweighed by the radaku's empty stomach.
For her part, Mnyiri didn't notice a thing. She was far too wrapped up in her studies to pay attention to her surroundings. Besides, that's why she had Mvua. If he sensed a threat then she could take up her spear and fight; until then, everything else might as well have been white noise.
Calloused, painted fingers flipped to a new page in her tome while the reader gave a faint murmur. If she didn't know any better she would think these were evolutionary traits to help the earthlings acclimate to their environments-
Mnyiri shrieked, throwing her head back against the tree trunk as something came flying at her. The tome on her lap was far too large and cumbersome to move, which left it as the one thing that wasn't shuffled around in the surprise embrace. Of course she wasn't expecting anyone to come diving at her, let alone to land head first in her breasts!
For a moment she was too stunned to move, but it didn't take Mnyiri long to recognize the figure of her tiny friend. "Nadiya! You could always take me on a date first." She laughed.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:09 pm
So maybe they were a funny sight to behold.
Still, the petite Matori gave no mind to her raised skirt as she wiggled her way back into open air and glanced up at her friend. "I suppose, but what's the fun in that?" She winked teasingly before scooting back just a bit. She didn't want to crush the books and papers after all!
"I was just so happy to see you that I want a surprise hug." Nadiya beamed up at Mnyiri, "And it looked like you were dying here. What is all this?" She raised an eyebrow as she stared around at all the strange papers. Studies?
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:41 am
"Dying?" Mnyiri blinked her large, buglike eyes before Nadiya's words made sense. She opened her mouth in a perfect 'o', turning her head this way and that to inspect her research before giving in to a little laugh. "What, this? Notes mostly, some Shifter research, a little bit of Oban lore..." Mnyiri set the larger tome to the side and shifted onto her right hip so that when she stretched she could grasp her sketch book. When she pulled it back the alkidike flipped through the pages and held one up for Nadiya to inspect.
The drawings were rough at best, with more notes on the page than any actual artwork, and all depicted earthling ears. "I'm trying to make sure I get everything right so that when I put it down in my journals my sisters will know. Although-" Craning her head, the alkidike focused in on her friend's very unique ears. "-I don't have any like yours in my notes yet."
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 6:18 pm
Nadiya pouted, "That's a lot of notes....for a little bit of this and that." Seemed like a lot of work to her honestly. Yet, that was coming from the girl who used to study charts upon charts of trade goods and currency. Just the thought was enough to make her stomach curl. Now that had been a load of parchment! Even then and now she preferred to just memorize what she could without worrying about the scattered mess.
Though she had to admit as her fingers trailed over the page of notes the girl found it interest, "Who knew?" She mused out loud before glancing back over her friend, "Why ears? Is that an important trait for you and your sisters?" She teased lightly, "Are ears an attractive feature? Then I have the best to show ya~" The Matori reached up to pull back some of her hair so that the fins showed brightly in the sunlight, "As long as they stay attached and aren't poked and prodded too badly I suppose I can show ya."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:51 pm
Mnyiri simply shrugged her shoulders. To her this wasn't nearly enough notes, but how could she possibly explain that? There was a need inside of her to get to the bottom of this; a need that dug at her spirit like a ravenous beast. Until she found what made earthling ears differ from one another she likely would think of little else, so, the more notes the better.
She picked up a tome that rested against her left hip and hoisted it onto her thigh. It was bound in dark leather with the barest of gold to outline it's spine. "Ears are a very, very important piece of the body, earthling and alkidike alike, that so many seem to overlook. Breasts, hips, pecs, a pretty face; all talked about, all studied. But ears? Uncharted ground." She moved the larger tome to her right so as to sit among it's brothers before bringing her sketch pad into better position.
Mnyiri leaned in, grinning from ear to ear (pardoning the phrase) as she reached up to lightly outline Nadiya's ears with her finger. "They are magnificent. Keep them exposed, just like that; I want to draw them." Picking up a quill, Mnyiri quickly dabbed the pen point into her ink and began to sketch.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 7:29 pm
"I suppose that makes sense." Nadiya pursed her lips in interest, "I would be pretty sad if I didn't have any ears to listen to music with after all." Who knew that someone could value ears as something to study like this? Nadiya smirked. She definitely learned something new every day, especially with Mnyiri involved.
"Glad to hear that?" Nadiya laughed at the compliment, "I'll try my hardest." Keeping her head tilted at that angle, however, took a lot of dedication and almost halfway through the process the Matori found her feet twitching. "I don't know how much longer I can do this." She moaned playfully before kicking her feet against the ground. "Warning...warning...are you almost done?"
The energetic woman leaned backwards while keeping her ears revealed, "Is this still a good pose? I really can't keep that same position anymore." Nadiya placed a hand behind her ear to push it out slightly, "How about that? You can see in the sunlight better this way..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 7:45 pm
Occasionally the alkidike would reach up to tilt Nadiya's ear this way and that, studying it's cartilage structure in the light. It was amazing, really, just how closely it resembled other ears the closer it came to her skull and yet the rest was entirely fin.
As she worked Mnyiri would occasionally tuck a dread lock or two behind her ear. Her bells would chime a bit, just enough to remind the warrior that there were other things in the world beyond what was happening inside of her head. She was unconsciously sticking her tongue out just enough for it to be visible against her bottom lip while she worked. "Hang on, just hold it for a few more minutes."
She worked a little faster then, first lightly outlining the body part before adding details. "Okay, you can drop it now, I think I've got it!" Mnyiri added the finish touches before lifting the sketchbook to show off her design. Like the others it was basic in design, with at least half a dozen notes scrawled quickly into the margins.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:24 pm
Nadiya had to bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. That- that tickles! Still, for the name of science the girl had to keep still the best she could rather than flailing every time the Alkidike touched her. It was odd how intense the other girl could focus on ears, but Nadiya had to give it to her - at least she was dedicated to getting every detail that she could.
"Finally." Teased Nadiya playfully with a sigh of relief. Letting go of her ear the girl stretched out her arms before twisting back around, "Oh?" Glancing forward the Matori looked at the sketch, "Wow! You really are on top of things." Nadiya flushed lightly, "I never really thought about what a Matori ears must seem like to others. That's interesting." She smiled up towards the other girl, "So are ears your biggest focus then only?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:34 pm
At the most random of times Mnyiri could prove herself as a dedicated scholar. It wasn't often that her attention would become so enraptured that she would forget the world around her but when it happened the event as a marvelous thing!
"If I don't mark everything down I'll end up skimming over it. I want every detail; it's just not accurate if they're not all there." She grinned. Mnyiri waved her hand over the ink to aid the drying process. "Not the biggest, just the latest. All of those bags over there -" The alkidike pointed towards her satchels, which were just as numerous as any Sauti nomads, "-are filled with artifacts and notebooks just like this one. I love studying things like this, but my sisters don't find it as fascinating as I do. I'm afraid of leaving my things where one of them might find them. Goddess only knows what would happen then." It wasn't as if it would be the most embarrassing thing she'd done. Mnyiri was just worried about an elder coming across them and setting an 'example' for the others by setting them to the flame.
"One day I'm going to have a giant house of my own and I'm going to fill it FULL of books, trinkets, weapons, dyes, dresses- whatever I want! And there's nothing they can do about it."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:39 pm
Nadiya's gaze widened as she noticed the bags that Mnyiri pointed out, "That's definitely a lot of notes." She grinned, "I suppose compared to that these scattered about really are nothing." Though hearing about the Alkidike did cause the Matori to frown, "I suppose they really aren't scholars then." From what she had heard and seen the girl could easily believe that. Always about fighting and never much about sitting and learning.
"Sounds lovely." The Matori smiled, "I would love to have a giant place to stick all the ballads I write...perhaps we should just go in and find a place together." She winked playfully, "Just leave me a shelf okay?"
Sheesh, it was rather toasty today. The thought reminded the girl of her original intent and she glanced over to the alkidike shyly, "So are you up to anything else or are you still note taking for the rest of the day?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:59 pm
"They aren't exactly opposed to what I have to say about all of this, but they aren't really that receptive either. One day they'll see! I just have to present them with enough useful evidence. That way, they'll know more about the earthlings and we can teach the earthlings about us and we'll have less to fight about, you know? Common knowledge; that's key."
Mnyiri slammed her notes down and so far forward she was nearly in Nadiya's face. "But we COULD TOTALLY DO IT. We could get a place together! You like to travel, but you could keep your things there. I don't get out as much so we could make it work!" Looking back down at her notes, which were now hopelessly scattered, Mnyiri quirked her head, "...I could do something else if you had an idea in mind."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:12 pm
Nadiya nodded intently, "I agree completely." She laced her fingers together almost as if in prayer, "It would be nice if we could just come together and learn more about each other rather than fight. Sure it makes a good story now and then, but I think peace would be more beneficial than any tale." She could only think of the horrors she had heard of the wars and battles that had only happened in more recent years. What if they had just tried to learn about each other rather than fighting all the time? That...would be nice.
"I would definitely let me study my body if I could study an Alkidikes." Teased Nadiya lightly, "I've always loved your eyes and antenna - they're just so intriguing." She glanced towards Mnyiri wistfully, "A gal could get lost in those dark orbs."
Her friend's sudden enthusiasm made Nadiya jump before she too got caught up into it, "You think it's really possible? We could just store things there and visit and have girl talk about our adventures when we do meet up there!" Her gaze glimmered with excitement, "Where would it be though? What place? Jauhar you think? In the trees? Or under? Or over?" She laughed, "There's a lot of options if we did do such a thing!"
"An idea in mind?" Nadiya flushed as the question was raised, "I don't mind talking, but I did notice the stream. I was coming here to bathe so I was going to ask if you wanted to cool off a bit as well." She shrugged, "If not no big deal~"
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