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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 9:04 pm
 With the spring harvests kicking into high gear, there was plenty of work to be found around Kesris, even after the festival's end. Early in the morning, Oduin had done his shift helping out with his parents at one of the farms they had established connections with, and now as the afternoon drew long, he finally found himself free. He hustled his way to the edge of what had been the festival grounds, carefully scouting a spot off the path and sprawling to the ground, arms flung out to either side as he closed his eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun on his face. He had agreed to meet Greicee here to go fishing - something he had only done once or twice in his life. Oduin was hardly an expert but it was an activity and that was all he'd needed before agreeing enthusiastically to the trip. Ponds and lakes dotted this part of Sauti, and finding one of be a short adventure in and of itself. While waiting, he perched his left foot atop his right knee, shut his eyes, and listened to the wind rustling past his ears with a big, bright smile on his face. 1/7 Graceangel Gonna handwave a bit and assume they talked about fishing during their festival meeting!
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 5:38 pm
Greicee had to do some extra turns watching the twins to stockpile enough earned time that everyone else would take her turns. This cleared pretty much the rest of the day. She had gotten into a place she knew her dad kept some of his gear for those days he'd disappear off. Sometimes, she wished he had brought her. Of course, she wasn't at a place in life to appreciate he would have had to probably take both of the girls if that had been the case before the twins. She came strutting down the path opposite of where Oduin was waiting. She arrived with two poles slung over her shoulder and a big brown dripping pouch in hand held over her shoulder dripping down her back. " Hiya! I'm glad you were able to make it out! I brought you a pole!" She moved the dripping bag of bait to her other hand and pulled a pole off of her as she skip-slided over the rest of the way. " Check this out. I found this in my dad's stash of fishing supplies. It's probably great for catching anything!" After passing him a pole, she pulled the other one off for herself, but the hook nabbed on the band holding her big pile of hair together. She gave a yelp. Then, she out of reflex went to move both hands to fix it. The seeping bag dribbled all over her. She kept trying to grab it carefully as to not slice her fingers open and keep it away from her scalp. " Aw geeeezzzz." 1/10
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 9:45 am
"Greicee! Hi!" Oduin sat bolt upright at the sound of her arrival, waving enthusiastically as she came down the path laden with fishing equipment. He was terribly glad they were doing this. Kesris was a great place to be, but it was a lot of work that didn't speak to Oduin as strongly as working around trees did, and he was more than happy to have some measure of distraction. He clambered to his feet and stretched out his hands to help however he might, snagging the second pole as she handed it to him. And then it all seemed to fall apart as the hook snared on Greicee's hairband and fish bait smeared all across her. "Oh yikes!" he said, dropping his pole and springing forward to help try to disentangle her from the fishing hook. "Here, if I do this... I'll be able to see this hook a little better." The last thing they wanted was to start this fishing trip with an injury! 2/7
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 10:26 am
The more the gook ran over her, the more she felt tempted to rub her hands in her face, but she inwardly started self-talking; ' don't rub my eyes, don't rub my eyes, don't rub my eyes'. She had that experience before of rubbing her eyes with stuff on her face or on her hands. She'd more than once ended up with inflamed or infected eyes as a result. That was the worst. When Oduin started to help, she breathed some relief someone was with her. " Thanks so much!" When he had taken the stuff and then helping her with the hook. " I'm so glad you're here. Sometimes when this stuff happens, I'm alone. Does it help if I just stay still?" She tried to not move. " I trust you." She hardly knew him, but that perceptive nature of her gave her a feeling like that was ok. Some Sauti folks were condescending to mixed race in her. Since meeting Oduin at the festival though; he never seemed to display any of that. She didn't see it in his eyes, his body language, or even in tone the way he said anything. It all came off as rather genuine. " Ugh. I really wanna wipe my face with my hands, but I'm trying not to." 2/10
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 11:08 am
"Yea, that might help! I'll have it out in a sec," Oduin said, squinting as he concentrated on working the hook out of Greicee's hair and band. Considering how lightly it seemed to have snagged, it had managed to get itself good and tangled, and he didn't have the most delicate hands for the job. Still, he managed to wiggle it free with what he hoped was a minimal amount of tugging at that lovely purple hair of hers. "I'm glad this didn't happen before you got here," he said with an open laugh. "I'm not sure you would've made it if it had!" He hoped that, with it all worked out, she'd find it as solid an opportunity to share a laugh as he did. She didn't seem like the type to embarrass easily, but Oduin felt like he ought to at least make an effort to ensure she didn't feel remotely bad about the situation. In truth, it had never occurred to him to judge, though certainly many people did. In the years since he'd started traveling with his family, though, Oduin had come to realize that people were people, no matter what they looked like. It was truly the personality underneath that made someone shine, and that in particular was what he looked for in his friends. "Oh! Here, take this," he said, pulling out a small blue handkerchief from his pocket and offering it to her. "It's uh... It's not super clean, but hopefully better than wiping it off with your hands." The grin on his face was sheepish, but genuine all the same. 3/10
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 11:42 am
She winced a little on a few tugs, but this wasn't bad. All her long hair constantly got tangled if she didn't have it braided back which was often for her young life. Her mom or sister would help her untangle sometimes. This wasn't terrible other than being concerned the hook would have cut her scalp. " I appreciate it. Yeah. You're right. I might have accidentally scalped myself to a dangerous degree." When he laughed, she grinned an embarrassed smile of her own. Except, if you didn't know better or see it in her eyes, you might miss it was embarrassment as it seemed like a genuine derisive laugh at yourself chuckle. " That sounds probable. It's ok. That type of thing just happens sometimes. I can't give up everytime and just go home though. I'd never end up going anywhere at that rate. I hope to eventually get out of here one day and go see some places." Hear him say take this, she squinted her eyes at his hand to see what it was. Her hand eagerly taking it and wiping her face carefully even as his apologetic warning was hardly passed his lips. " Thanks so much. You're totally helping me out so much right now." As she cleaned up the parts of her face around her eyes, one of her dirty hands felt around her face for spots that felt especially wet and dirty. " At least I didn't do anything that left scars. I used to like to run around outside barefoot, but over the years, it seems like if there's something to pierce my foot, I seem to always step on it. You'd think being barefoot would make the skin on your feet thick enough to not have that happen too often." As he helped her free, her mood brightened quickly to the enthusiasm she had arrived to begin with. " Yeah. This is my dad's stuff. I kind of raided his supplies. He hasn't gone in a while, so he probably won't miss them." She then took her pole in hand. She liked this one because of how the wooden handle had certain grooves she thought made it easier for her small hands to hold on better if bigger fish pulled a little hard. " I'd love to find some purple paint or dye or something to make this one mine. I wonder if my dad would care. I've been a little shy to ask if that's ok." She looked at Oduin with a moment of absent before an idea settled. " I wonder... if I should make my own? But... I don't really know anything about whittling wood to make something like this." 3/10
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 9:31 am
"Oh, it's worth it, I tell you," Oduin said happily, leaning lightly against his pole as Greicee cleaned up using the handkerchief. "Traveling's not always easy, and you end up saying a lot of goodbyes, but that also means you get to say hello again when you come back to a place you've been!" There was always some sort of silver lining. As bitter as the farewells could be, Oduin had found that it made returning all the sweeter. He dropped into a crouch, waiting for her to finish up, looking the length of the fishing pole up and down as she talked about running around barefoot. The rod's mechanism looked... simple enough, he thought. Maybe with a little bit of trial and error it wouldn't be too difficult to fashion a passable copy. "We all need our own share of little scars," he agreed with a grin, popping back up onto his feet as Greicee shouldered her own pole and they started to walk again. He had only a general sense of where they might find a suitable pond or lake, but he'd been told that it wouldn't be too difficult. Just follow the smell of water. "I was just looking at it, thinking it might not be too hard to make one yourself," he admitted with a chuckle. "You'd need to find some nice, flexible wood for the rod, though. That might be the most difficult part, to be honest. But then again, the trees we have up in Mez aren't exactly meant for activities like fishing, so maybe the willowy ones are more common down here."
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 8:16 pm
Greicee considered this advise about traveling. Her face paled a her eyes looked off to the side at random blades of grass before perking back up when he pointed out about saying hello again. " That sounds great! What you're saying is you basically have friends everywhere then? That's great." A thought crossed her mind after he mentioned everyone having their own scars. " In your travels, have you found that there are a lot more mixed breeds like me?" She really didn't know. It hadn't crossed her mind she already had met quite a few in Kesris just taking most of them to be mostly Sauti. " Do you wanna see one of my crystals?" Her mind drifting back to the fishing pole distracted her from offering tho show her black crystals on her shoulders. "Really?" She grew quite animated and excited once more. " I actually don't know much about wood. Or, chopping wood... or... whittling wood.... " The more she pondered. She just knew you could burn it and turn it into useful things. She knew it came from trees. All other applications were beyond her. Her smile went from her blissful enthusiasm to fumbled charm. She rubbed the tips of her index fingers together. " Do you think....... that you could help me make one if we find the wood?" She would save her not knowing what to look for yet. As they continued journeying to the pond that was a decent size enough to fish a little. It was almost not big enough for a boat. Some used small canoes if they really wanted to fish from the center. She was clearly peeking back and forth at all the trees as they walked. She wondered to herself which were willowy enough to count. Did she know? She pursed her lips to the right a bit as she furrowed her eyebrows wondering how she could tell. 4.10
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 7:33 am
"Sort of, yea," he said, nodding thoughtfully as he thought about all the connections he'd established in each of the settlements he'd visited. Perhaps friendships was a bit much in describing some of them, but they were at the very least good acquaintances whom he felt comfortable contacting. It was like having a very loosely spread support system - it worked, but sometimes he wondered if putting down roots would also be a good alternative. There'd be plenty of time to try that out when he got older though, he suspected. "Oh yea!" Oduin nodded brightly when Greicee mentioned her crystals. With her purple hair, there was no doubting that she wasn't fully Wind Tribe. He'd always wondered what it was like to be mixed, to be part of two different cultures and be able to fit in relatively easily. "I've met a few! More now than a few years ago, I guess, with all the borders opening up. It's been a treat. I think you guys have it pretty great, having two different Tribes to identify with."Given but half a chance, Oduin himself would have loved to be something of a social chameleon, adapting to whatever culture he tried to immerse himself in. "Where are you parents from? Do they like living in Kesris?" Particularly the parent who wasn't from here, he thought. It must be simultaneously terribly difficult and wonderfully exhilarating. "Oh, sure! I can help you. I can show you how to fashion the bottom bit into a nice handle," he said, bobbing his head in the affirmative. A little bit of woodwork was always a great way to the hands working. 5/10
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 7:34 pm
When he said it must be pretty great, she at first started to make a ' not really' face, but as his words marinated a moment. Her natural optimism latched onto that. " Yeah. Maybe you're right. I guess I got caught up on picking up on some of the village folks who give us these ... weird stares. It alwasy feels like they're telling me they have their eye on me. It was kind of making me feel bad for a while, but you're totally right. We have all this other culture we can be learning about." It wasn't like her dad hid any of it from them. He just was waiting for them to ask on their own. Greicee had been content not to know to try and fit in more with the town folk. " My mom is from here actually. My grandparents had a tea farm, and they had a traveling tea stall when the caravans would head north for Zidel. That's actually how they met. My dad came from Yael on a quest to get a raptrix. He traveled with them. They came to accept him I guess. We've always lived here." For the first time ever, she wondered if her dad ever wanted to take them all back home to show his family. It had never dawned on her before that there was a complete lack of his family visiting. Maybe this should be something she rectify. Maybe an adventure one day. When he described the handle, her eyes widened with curiosity. " That's so great! Maybe I can learn a thing or two about that if I watch you!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:33 am
"That's amazing!" Oduin said, growing wide-eyed at the thought. Maybe one day he'd find that kind of acceptance somewhere outside of Sauti too. It wasn't that he didn't like his home, but there was just something special about being accepted by those who weren't your own, a beautiful melding of cultures that he believed could only make people better. Understanding and open minds were key. In more secluded areas, he'd learned, there existed a higher number of people who didn't like this newfound openness across Tendaji and the seas beyond. It was all born out of fear and misunderstanding, he thought. There was nothing quite like traveling to help erase the barriers and divisions in people's minds. "You should see if he'd ever take you to visit Yael," Oduin said with a nod, wondering what it would be like. So many countries in the world that he wanted to see, and so little time to do it in! "It'd be so cool to see the other half of your family's culture. That's such a lovely thing to have."He nodded again, hefting the rod to settle higher on his shoulder. "Sure! It takes some practice, but I think anyone can get a handle on whittling wood. It's a great way to kill time, if you're ever bored and need a project."
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:38 pm
Greicee listened earnestly as she considered his bright and optimistic responses about this topic of her dad, Yael, and all of this. Greicee was usually fairly optimistic and happy herself. His perspective though relieved her. The hope in it almost brought tears to her eyes, and she pivoted and crushingly wrapped her arms around his torso. " Thank you...thank you so much..." She caught herself as the feeling almost rose to a bursting making her almost want to cry, but how silly. Why cry like a big baby in front of someone she hardly knew? She sheeishly and awkwardly reigned it and pulled herself back rubbing her left arm near her elbow. Her eyes lidding upwards in that smile she gave to people whenever being called on to help them. " I guess I got so caught up in how some people look at me; I never stopped to think about it that way. You're so right. I should ask about that; but, even if he didn't take me. I think... I think I'd want to go and see anyways. I think..." She turned to continue walking and clutching the fishing pole tightly in her hands. " I want to go see everything. I think the idea of visiting and getting to know all the cultures of our world sounds amazing. Maybe find out what it is about Yael that made them accepting my dad seem so remarkable. It seems like the other hybrids are accepted more and not given quite the looks. I don't understand what that is. There must be a reason though; right?" At the mention of if she's ever bored and needs a project. " Yeah.... with my little twin siblings and all the time I get stuck taking care of them, I would say I'm bored at least half the week. I'm not even sure I've had a project of my own yet." She fancied to herself random brief daydreams in her eyes of spending her time doing things instead of tending to babies. There she could feel it. That hunger to get out, to see, to make things, feel things. She could feel a call to do more than hang out all day everyday in this wee house, in this farming town. 6/10 MoonRazor Moon approved of impromptu hugging
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:40 am
"Oh!" The word slipped out in surprise as Greicee flung her arms around him and squeezed him in a big hug. The surprise only lasted a minute though, quickly transforming into a grin, and Oduin wrapped both arms around her shoulders to give her a hearty squeeze. "You're welcome!" he said in earnest, releasing her when she drew back. "I'm glad you think so! Especially if going and seeing it will make you happy." The last thing he wanted to do was to push any thoughts or expectations on her, but if she agreed and he'd helped her realize something she hadn't before, then Oduin considered it an honor to have helped. "I think a lot of it must come from old, outdated beliefs," he said after a moment's thought. "It's hard to understand 'other people' when you've never been exposed to them, and I guess a lot of the older generation had much fewer encounters with people unlike themselves than we do now." It didn't excuse any rudeness on anyone's part, but it was a recognition of why some people weren't as welcoming of hybrids as others. With Tendaji opening up, there was plenty of work to be done in teach everyone about the benefits of open borders and cultural exchange. "Well, for a project, you could always start with just whittling a little statue out of wood," he suggested. "You could do whatever you want and just work on practicing the basics."
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:41 pm
She nodded when he said if it'd make her happy. If she wasn't stuck inside, she was happy. His comment on beliefs though. " I suppose you're right. From that point of view, I guess I probably need to get out and learn more about the other cultures myself." Her excitement to leave Kesris and see the world started building up in her. She enthusiastically punched the air with her empty fist. " That's another reason to get out of here!" The hunger to explore and get out ate her up. She nodded at his suggestion for learning to whittle wood. This seemed like it was a skill that could come in handy when going on an adventure when she was ready. She felt close to being ready. " We should be there soon! I hope I catch something good. I wonder if we should look for bugs to use as bait."
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:39 pm
Oduin grinned and nodded. "Yea!" he said with a decisive nod. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and he felt excited on her behalf. He was also waiting for the day when he was old enough to head off without feeling too guilty about leaving his parents behind. The plan was to really milk the nomadic experience for all it was worth while he was still young, before he had to think about settling down. "I'm glad your so eager to see the world. I think it'll be really exciting for you."They continued to walk, and Oduin was happy to babble on about travel or Sauti or anything remotely related, filling the moments with idle chatter. When they neared the pond, his thoughts seemed to shift. "You're right, we do need bait," he said, running a hand absently through his hair as he considered their current situation. "We might be able to dig up some worms by the water. They should work pretty well as bait, right?"He was anything but a prolific fisherman, but he suspected that might be a solution.
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