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 Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:42 pm
Anahita adored how the flickering sunlight made the nearby stream glisten like it was full of tiny crystals. She was sitting on her favorite rock, a huge flat boulder that had somehow years ago been washed down the stream from the cliffs that were further along, and for now Anahita was simply enjoying the quiet morning before the daily chaos ensued. Her mama and papa were watching her cousins for a few days and while the girls had just arrived yesterday afternoon the house was already feeling completely different with the added company. They had set up cots and pillows downstairs in the family room around the fireplace and it allowed the girls to talk all night while nestled in furs and heavy quilts that their mother had collected during her years within the forest. The crackling fire had been pleasant and kept them warm against the morning chill of autumn, but now that the sun was rising the youngling was eager to explore the forest around them. Even though Ana had lived here most of her life, minus the few visits to her grandparents in Matori and Oba, the girl was still delighted to see what the forest held for them. It was always so exciting to hear about the stories from the rangers and she was delighted that she could share adventures with her Matori cousins now. Surely they were old enough to venture a bit further into the forest, right? It would be lame if they simply sat around the house all day baking cookies or something. Ana pursed her lips at the thought before moving so that she could retrieve her bow and arrows that she had nestled beneath the boulder. The bow was her pride and joy since she had taken up learning archey from her father and her mother had even designed the bow with intricate vines and given her arm guards that were also specially crafted for her. Ana went everywhere with it and made certain that she was always ready to protect her twin sister in case of trouble while they explored the nearby forest. It was also nice to have something to show off to the older children and the new apprentices that were already working towards becoming rangers themselves.
Seriously though….Ana squinted her aqua gaze and stared down the stone cottage that was nestled by the stream. The house had grown over the years as her parents continued working on it and there was even a swinging walkway that crossed over to the ancient tree standing a few feet behind it, the twisting vines solid and something she had to watch out for whenever she tried sneaking around the back of their home at night. Even this morning she had nearly stumbled while quietly leaving her sleeping family members behind. But it had been almost an hour since she left the house! Where was everyone? The youngling let out a sigh as she settled back on her rock and continued waiting, the remaining piece of bread she had snatched from the kitchen quickly disappearing with every moment. She’d give them five more minutes or until her piece of bread was finished at least.
[Anahita 1]
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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 10:46 am
Nimia hadn't been awake long before she noticed her cousin's disappearance. If it had been up to her she would have stayed in bed until Auntie Kyril or Uncle Jhin showed up to feed them. However, seeing as Anahita was already gone she knew it was going to be an 'eat on the go' type of day.
The little matorian took her time washing her face and getting dressed. She did so with a fair amount of grumbling (quietly, mind you, so as not to wake anyone) and by the time she was slipping her earrings back into her frilled ears she was already out the door. As sweet as Nimia was in her waking hours the morning version of her was not the same girl. When the sunlight hit her face, illuminating the glorious world about her the little girl hissed and seemed to curl up where she stood.
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with a groan and continued onward. Ana wouldn't have gone far without them (at least, she hoped not) so she wasn't eager to move quickly. Instead, Nimia stuck her hand down the full satchel on her side and pulled out a slice of sweet bread. The taste was enough to perk her up a bit and with any luck it might do something about her mood.
Why couldn't she just stay at the house? Nimia loved practicing her baking and getting to dress up with her Aunt! Toddling after Ana was just as exhausting as helping with Papa's animals! Maybe even worse! It could be like practicing with Uncle Jhin!
It took her a while to focus on the fact that her cousin was in sight, but when she did it was when she had a mouthful of bread. When she swallowed, however, Nimia scowled. "Tonight I'm tying your feet to the floor."
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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:02 pm
Zota let out a big yawn and stretched her arms up into the air. After a moment, she grinned and jumped up to look at her cousins and sister with their fun little camp in the family room... only to see one cousin remaining. "Fiadah, wake up," she huffed, reaching over to gently jostle her cousin. Zota wasn't normally one to sleep in, but it had been an exciting time welcoming the cousins and catching up for most of the night!
Now it was a new day though, and it seemed the other two were already off on some sort of venture! She couldn't help pouting a little, wondering what they were getting up to. "Ana and Nimia already got up." Once her cousin was stirring, she scurried off to the bedroom for her morning routine. Guests or not, she liked her routine. Cleaning, brushing, pinning her long locks into place... It all had to be right!
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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:15 pm
Fiadah groaned as she was nudged, waving her hand lightly. "I don't wanna," she murmured around a yawn. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, automatically thinking about her chores for the day. She'd need to go out to the stable, refill the animal food, brush Sandstorm..
A moment later, she remembered she wasn't home. Watching Zota hurry off, her face lit up and she jumped to her feet. Right! They were here with their cousins! No chores! She quickly ran her fingers through her short hair before darting out the door. If Ana and Nimia had gone ahead, she was determined to catch up! Thankfully, they didn't seem to go very far.
"You guys got up early!" she chirped, cheerfully opposite from her big sister.
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Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:21 pm
"Finally." Taunted Ana as she watched Nimia approaching her. The youngling shifted and swung her legs over the rock before jumping down in front of her cousin. "I dare you." She replied with a grin at the scowl. Anahita was horrible at sitting still and hated being challenged to anything. The last time a boy had teased her for long hair that would get in the way the girl had reached up and just taken care of it herself with a dagger and despite the chastising from her mother she still had no regrets. Nothing would hold her back if she set her mind to it and that included someone tying her feet down! If anything she could consider it a test of how quickly she could find her way out of a future trap. The very thought made Ana's lips twitch upwards with amusement as the other two girls finally trudged into view.
"You mean you got up late!" Quipped Ana with a wave towards them both. "Do you always sleep so late in Zena?" She teased playfully as she studied the trio. Ana knew that they had stayed up later than usual talking but she was simply full of too much energy. Once the sun was up the girl was awake and couldn't just lay in bed like that. Now the main question was what did they all do together? Would they even want to explore with her? Ana pursed her lips thoughtfully. She hoped so!
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 12:49 pm
Nimia just pouted at her cousin. There was no point in actually trying it; Ana was stronger than her and if she was awake then she'd pin Nimia instead. Honestly, a wet blanket was stronger than Nimia and she was okay with that! She didn't want to be strong! If she was then people would make her do more things she didn't want to do.
She heard the others before she actually saw them. When Nimia turned to 'greet' them she yawned behind her hand and stepped closer to Zota. As she got closer to her cousin she leaned her head over onto the other girls shoulder and closed her eyes. "No." She murmured. "We have to do chores, but we aren't home so why are we uppppp...."
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:33 pm
While not particularly cheerful or grumpy, Zota joined the other girls with a light step. She seemed to float along the ground toward them, an amused smile on her lips. "You shoulda got me up with you, Ana," she pouted. "I woke up and was almost the last one left!" She smirked and braced herself when her cousin leaned against her. "Don't ask me, silly. You got up before I did!" she crooned playfully as she gave Nimia's hair an affectionate pet. "But since you're up, we can play now!" She looked to Fiadah and Ana hopefully. "It's our first full day together! What should we do first?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:35 pm
Fiadah snorted and shook her head. "Nu-uh! You definitely got up early." She squinted up at the light in the sky with a nod of confirmation. "Yup. Early. We just like sleeping in when we don't have chores!" Giggling at her sister's antics, she brightened up even further with Zota's observation. "Yeah! Something fun! Or we could make breakfast? We coooould.." She looked around at their surroundings. So much different than the snows in Zena. "What's there to do here?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:57 am
"Because the sun is upppp and we shouldn't waste the day." Replied Ana with a pout. Why would they just sleep the whole day away when there was so much that they could do? As much as she enjoyed spending the night together the girl also liked the idea of exploring and didn't think they needed all morning to recover from simply talking a lot. Ana just found herself blinking as she listened to her cousins, her head tilting sideways as she considered everything. Okay, so they didn't have chores today and enjoyed sleeping in...that much she noted even though she didn't understand the concept of sleeping in personally. Didn't she give them a bit more time as well? At least her twin had noticed that!
"I did nab some bread and fruit for snacks." Ana offered as she glanced towards the satchel hanging by her side. "I was thinking maybe we could explore the forest or something?" She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. She had just wanted to explore and didn't really think of some solid plan for the group today. Should they go grab some of the extra training weapons too or was that something that her cousins also didn't like doing?
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Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:38 pm
3/7
Just because she got up before Zota didn't mean she wanted to. Nimia gave a pout as her head was patted and rose up to stand with another yawn, though this one was noticeably smaller than the first. She was waking up, as much as she really didn't want to, and little things were starting to come to her. Such as the fact that she thought she'd put in her earrings that morning and hadn't actually done it...
"Isn't it a bad idea to explore the forest? I thought there were bad guys out there; the one's your dad fights." While the idea of seeing all kinds of pretty plants and rocks might have enticed Nimia the idea of something scary jumping out at her held the child back.
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Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:51 pm
Zota smirked lightly. "There's lots to do here. If there wasn't, Ana and me would be bored all the time." She couldn't remember the last time she had truly been bored! It really only happened when she was trying to avoid doing something. What was there to avoid with her cousins there? She turned to Ana with a grin. "Oh, remember that old tree we found the other day? Let's show that to them. Maybe the owl will be there again!"
Nimia's concerns made Zota frown, but ultimately shake her head. "Daddy's work doesn't come around here. He fights them off in far places!" She didn't know how far away exactly, but in her mind, her father traveled off to distant lands for his battles! So romantic and exciting!
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Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:01 pm
It didn't take much to content the youngling, her eyes lighting up with the thought of food later. Snacks sounded so much tastier than plain food, too! "Snacks, snacks, snacks~" Fiadah hummed, spinning on her toes semi-gracefully. ..Managing to not fall over was graceful enough for her.
"Oooh, I wanna see the owl!" she chirped, tugging on Nimia's sleeve eagerly. "I bet Uncle Jhin already took care of the bad guys around here. They'll be too scared to come close!" She gasped sharply and looked to her cousins. "Right? I bet he beat them aaaaaaall up already! I wanna learn to fight them like him!"
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 7:13 am
Ana felt herself bristle a bit even though her cousin was right. Her father did fight baddies but surely that meant they could hold their own ground too! She had been training so that she could do the same one day after all. "This area is protected, the baddies are further out." She managed with a frown towards Nimia. "Don't you want to do something exciting for once?" The youngling was thankful that her sister echoed her own thoughts, a small smile of appreciation crossing her lips for Zota's help, but she was fairly puzzled by Nimia. Was it that thrilling just staying inside all day and doing things like baking? She much preferred the rush of the wind as she raced through the woods or the excitement of whatever surprise they would encounter within the woods. It was hard to get those types of reactions since they knew everything in their home unless they had relatives bringing in new gifts or unless their mother was showing them a new project from her studio.
Fiadah's excitement made Ana nod happily. "Okay, okay. We can go see the owl and maybe we can practice some fighting moves later if you want." She beamed before gesturing for her cousins and sister to follow her away from the rock and up the stream, away from the edges of the rangers' village and towards the deeper woods. It would be darker here with the crystal leaves growing in tighter clusters but sunlight would still flicker in to guide them along the path that Ana knew by heart. Just around that corner there should be the tree... The large old knobby thing that stretched above many of the other trees, its foliage almost a mix of vines and leaves with how much had grown across its limbs during the year. It was a good climbing tree and also would be the one to host an owl if they were lucky!
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 7:57 am
Learn to fight? Nimia's eyebrows rose and she took her sister's hand in hers. "Just for protecting yourself, right?" There were plenty of people on both sides of their family that fought in various ways, but none of them did so on a regular basis quite like Uncle Jhin. At least, as far as she knew. The thought of her younger sister growing up like that put new worries in Nimia's heart.
Still, with the way Ana was bristling Nimia furrowed her brows and set her mouth into a scowl. "I do plenty of exciting things." Her cousin wasn't complaining when she tucked herself in under fresh blankets or stuffed her face with cookies she made. So, why was she making such of a fuss of it now? Oh, that's right, because she wanted to look so cool and brave.
Without much of a choice, Nimia huffed and went along with things. At least if she was there then she could keep an eye on the younger girls and make sure everyone was okay.
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:39 am
Looking among the other girls, Zota just found herself giggling lightly. Everyone was so different! It was sure to keep things interesting. It also tended to complicate matters a little. Surely they could find a little something for everyone. "Don't worry, Nimia. Papa always makes sure we know we use fighting only for self defense." Her eyes slid over to her sister and a playful grin rose. "Or when Ana is being really annoying," she teased.
Reaching the tree, she brushed her hands and tapped on the side. "Owl! You home?" she cooed with a smirk. It wasn't as though the owl would answer, but she didn't want to just climb up and poke her head in without announcing herself!
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