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 Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:30 pm
Was she getting close? It had been months since Heike had left the city. Maybe even longer than that. It was getting progressively more difficult to tell the time with the canopy getting thicker and thicker above her head. The only thing she knew was when the sun or the moon was the one in the sky. She had always relied on the position of the sun and stars to guide her direction. It could be as likely that she was getting lost out here. It was easy to get turned around, even though she tried to leave herself markers on which direction she should be continuing in when she woke in the morning. Or, what she thought was the morning.
Should have bought a compass in the city. But the thought of dealing with Earthlings made her uncomfortable. Now that she'd had more time to think over this, she wasn't sure why she felt uncomfortable. Were they really so bad? Should she really be judging them all as she had been? It would be unfair for someone to judge her own species like that.
Thoughts like this had been growing and growing every day. Ever since she'd picked up that spear, Heike couldn't stop questioning everything she had known. Of course her mother had thoughts like that. She was an Elaria. They, by nature, were more radical than the rest of them, weren't they?
"Uh. Is this even the direction of the Alkidike villages?"
1/10
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:55 pm
This was such a strange land that Doesina had found herself in. Strange and beautiful! The trees were so tall and, as she went further and further into the jungle, they just seemed to get even taller and bigger! So big, they blocked out the sun. This didn't bother her any. She never was good with directions, could never remember in which direction the sun carved during the day. Though it did mean she couldn't watch the stars at night. It was fun to lay down on her back and draw out images with them until she finally felt tired enough to sleep.
No matter. Once she was done up here, she'd return back to where she could see the sky. Unless her cousin didn't want to. Heike had been lost to the family once before. Doesina wouldn't allow her to be lost, again, even though she knew nothing of her cousin but a physical description. But, really. Finding her here, in the jungles of Jauhar, shouldn't be too difficult. How many Elidae could possibly be here to begin with?
From the latest tip in the last city she had visited, Doesina had picked this direction. With the compass she had traded with some Shifter for, she combed the jungle for months. Until, finally, she spied someone with the blue hair she was looking for. At least, this time she hoped she got it right!
"Hey, hey!" she started shouting, running up to the other girl. As she got closer, she saw that, indeed, she had finally found an Elidae! Doesina was a bit shorter than her, so definitely not an Earthling like last time. If all the other Aishan traits weren't obvious enough. "You wouldn't be Heike, would you?" It was hard to keep the excitement from her voice. She'd wanted to meet her cousin for so long.
1/10
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2022 4:28 pm
Or should she just turn around and go back? The Alkidike might not be very accepting of her. Aishans were always a bit more...Careful then the other races. They had a lot to lose if they weren't. Kill an entire town of Earthlings and there were more to breed more. Destroy a tree and that entire race of Aishan was doomed. It was a bit depressing, but there it was. And her tree was still so young, still growing. She shouldn't be out here. But she couldn't stand to go back. Not just yet.
And where would she even go? She couldn't go live with the Earthlings, in their towns. She was too tall, for one. They were too noisy, for two. And she still couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't trust them. Maybe she never would. That wouldn't be too bad, really. She could make a home surrounded by her own people and never see an Earthling ever, again.
Her thoughts were interrupted by someone calling from behind her. Curiously, Heike turned around, to see an Elaria sprinting towards her. W-what? Not long ago, she'd encountered another Elidae in these very forests. Now she saw one from her mother's tribe. Was a Vandrea going to emerge from behind a tree next week?
"Y...Yes? I am Heike?"
2/10
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2022 5:14 pm
"Huh? Are you not sure?" Uh oh. Maybe the girl was having a bit of memory loss and Doesina was being insensitive. She didn't want to be insensitive, but this had to be her cousin. Seriously, how many other Elidae could be out here? This jungle was so big, the chance of running into more seemed so impossible. Most of them should be back on Kiros. She knew the story of why Heike had left. Or, at least, what she could guess from it. Her aunt had been killed during a physical argument with some Earthlings. Shortly after, witnesses had seen an Elidae fitting the description of Heike's large, stuck up dreads, leaving the island on a ship. She'd already searched through Oba. Her search had led her to Jauhar, which seemed the most fitting place for an Elidae to go.
2/10
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 1:27 pm
Why would she be unsure of her own name? Heike looked hard at this girl, standing before her with a puzzled, and slightly worried, expression on her face. Of course, she was not in the least bit familiar to her. Heike didn't know any Elaria. Barely knew any Elidae, for that matter. Hadn't even tried to know her own tribe. Never wanted to. Maybe all the pressure of being a new tribe and having to stay to protect the growing tree was too much for her to handle, so she allowed herself to be kept away from the rest. She hadn't realized how odd that was until just recently.
This girl seemed confident in a way Heike never felt. The Elidae had always felt a bit awkward around others and unsure in her abilities. At least when she wasn't out on her own, hunting down an animal for supper or collecting herbs and wild vegetables and roots to add to a stew. She felt like everyone was watching her. Judging her. Even by her mother. Kioko had a different agenda than everyone else.
This girl, though, looked to be about Heike's age. The way she stood gave off an impression of being sure of herself. She knew her purpose in life and where she wanted to go.
"No. My name is Heike. I'm just confused....Where did you learn my name?"
3/10
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 1:35 pm
Doesina let out a breath in relief. "Ah, good. I didn't think there would be more Elidae here. How could I have gotten it wrong? Well...There was the one time I mistook an Earthling for one." The Elaria giggled softly at herself, amused by the incident. She didn't know Shifters also came in blue hair. That was exciting to discover. And she had been friendly, to boot. They'd had a nice chat before parting ways, the other one just as curious about herself as she was about the Earthling.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Doesina stepped forward, placing a hand over her heart. "My name is Doesina. "I didn't grow up on Kiros, but I know of you." Her smile widened and she clasped her hands before her in excitement. She'd always wanted a sister, a true sister, but she didn't think her mother was interested in raising anymore daughters. A child of her mother's sister was close enough. "I'm your cousin!"
3/10
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 1:50 pm
This girl was definitely on the daft side. Yes? She was Heike's cousin. All the other tribes were Heike's cousins. She wasn't sure how to handle this situation. Had the other girl been an Earthling, Heike would have said something snide and walked away. Or ran if she persisted on trying to bug the Elidae. But since she wasn't, since she was another Aishan, Heike didn't want to be that rude. Despite her awkwardness with her own people and how unsocialized she was, she still felt a pride in what she was. And that meant not being rude.
Still. Heike couldn't help the frown on her face. It didn't seem to ruin the mood. Doesina still smiled brightly at her, as if they were long lost friends.
"Yes? We are?"
4/10
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:45 pm
Doesina hadn't realized she'd made a mistake in how she'd announced it. Though she'd only just learned she had a cousin, she had been surrounded by family for so long, it was only natural that everyone knew who was related to who. And even if you weren't directly related to someone, everyone was like a giant family anyway. Doesina always felt like she had a ton of mothers and grandmothers, watching over her, even the more radical of the Elaria felt like family to her.
But, judging by the look on Heike's face, she didn't feel the same. She felt a little disappointed. How could any Aishan not feel like that? They weren't as distant to each other as the Earthlings were.
"Don't you--" She cut herself off, realizing how she'd phrased it. Grandma always said she was a bit slow to process things. "Oh! I'm sorry. Yes, we are cousins in that way. But we're also real cousins, too! My mother is your mother's sister. Oh....I'm sorry." In her excitement she'd forgotten the pain that must be in Heike's heart. She shouldn't mention Kioko. If she lost her mother, Doesina wasn't sure what she'd do with herself. Perhaps she'd leave her home, too. Escape all the memories.
4/10
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 4:04 pm
Real family? I mean, of course she had real family. It was so, so many years since Aisha had bloomed her first children, there was not a single Aishan who hadn't great-grandmothers living. But it was something Heike hadn't really thought of, the fact that her own mother had come from another community. All she knew was she had no direct family among the Elidae. At least she didn't think so. It was a strange thing to consider, where she'd come from before she had been forming inside her bloom.
The mention of her mother from someone else made her wince. She'd never heard someone else mention her before. At least not in a positive way. Hadn't even known Kioko had a sister. It seemed there was a lot about herself Heike just didn't know.
Anger bubbled inside her, anger at everything that had been kept back from her and all the emotions she had recently been feeling.
"My family?" Heike lashed out, her hands clinching into fists. "But where were you all?! I only ever had mama!"
5/10
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 12:09 pm
She just seemed to be making more and more of a mess of this. Heike wasn't happy to see her at all. And why should she be? Doesina realized how foolish of an expectation this was, to think she'd get a warm welcome by someone who didn't really know her and who she didn't know. But Heike wasn't an Elaria. Didn't the Eidae treat their own with more freedom and kindness than hers did? She couldn't imagine why one would be so hostile with the others.
"I-I'm very sorry!" she quickly said, bowing at the waist with her hands on her knees, trying to appear as sincere as she felt and sounded. Lowering yourself to another was how animals showed submissive behaviors, maybe it would work here. "I honestly didn't know anything about you until just recently. I think our mothers have some bad blood between them. I really don't know why, honest."
5/10
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:05 pm
But was that even true? Not that Heike could think of any reason why someone would want to lie to her. She didn't know a lot of people to begin with. Certainly hadn't made any enemies. Or, enemies that would get the help of an Elaria. She was sure she'd made enemies of some Earthlings, particularly that Shifter she had dragged into her mess a while back. She bet that one would hate her for a while.
Not that she really cared. It was still amusing to think of her reactions to getting caught up with Heike in that basement.
So maybe she was being a bit unfair here. Didn't she just say she'd start doing better for her Sisters and Cousins? Now might be a good time to start.
Heike sighed, rubbing at her temple. "Look. I'm sorry. This is a lot to take in right now.'
6/10
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:19 pm
"Yes. I understand." Doesina was starting to calm down, though she still bit her lip in nervousness. This one was volatile. She didn't blame the Elidae. After all she had gone through and what was just dropped into her lap, anyone would be a bit emotional. It was clear they'd had much different upbringings. Doesina had been more excited than angry at the fact that a cousin had been kept from her. But she'd also had the love of her mother, grandmother, and other Elaria in her life. Even if she had to keep more quiet the fact she was interested in how the Earthlings lived. Part of the reason she had eagerly requested to be the one to go in search of Heike.
Now that she found her and saw how affected she was by the past, Doesina wasn't sure where to go from here. Or what she had expected to do. Maybe take Heike back to her mother and grandmother? Heike hadn't known she had more family. Or where they were. She was the only Elidae among them. Would she have wanted to meet Chrysa and Mayella? Doesina had interpreted the need to find Heike to mean they wanted her nearer to them.
Maybe all move to Kiros? She didn't want to abandon her tree, tough...
"Why did you come to Jauhar? The Alkidike?" It seemed reasonable for a species as close as the Aishan to gravitate towards each other. Especially when you felt you had nowhere to go as Heike must have.
6/10
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:32 pm
"I....Guess." Heike hadn't thought about where she was going when she left. She had simply wanted to get away from Kiros. The Elaria would have been too painful to look at. As Doesina was a bit painful to see standing before her. Heike wasn't sure, but she thought she might be inventing ways that Doesina looked like her mother. If they were cousins, there would be similarities between them.
The Elidae shook her head, not wanting to keep trying to find them. Pain gripped her heart when she did. She wasn't ready for family.
Not knowing what else to say, Heike stood awkwardly, looking around at the jungle.
7/10
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:27 pm
"I've never seen one outside of home," Doesina admitted. She hadn't been outside Yael, for that matter, always close by to Elaria settlements. Her family stuck by their mother tree as much as they could, always available to go on watch to guard her. There had never been an opportunity to leave until now and she had snatched it as quickly as she could before someone else did. Yes, part of her reason for wanting to go look for Heike was selfish. She just wanted to get out and see more of the world. There were so many different races. It felt a bit...Surreal to be in the rainforests of Jauhar, where the original Aishans lived.
She had no interest in seeing Aisha. At least not enough to go that far into Alkidike territory. She wondered if the thought had crossed Heike's mind. Her cousin was going in the direction of their villages. Whether that was on purpose or mindless wandering, who knew.
"If you're going that way, may I come with you?"
7/10
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:16 am
"I....Guess?" Heike repeated. In all honesty, she didn't think she wanted someone else with her. It was nice being on her own. Gave her lots of time to think and sort herself out. Someone else would just distract her. She was already beginning to feel a bit smothered by the company. But how to say that? Thanks for finding me, but I'd appreciate if you could leave now. I would like some space. It's me, not you. No. However she said it in her head, it came off too rude and blunt. Which wouldn't have been a problem if this was an Earthling.
"I....I'm not going that way for a visit. I just...Have some leftover weapons I thought maybe....Someone there might want." She pointed to the bag of assorted weapons, the points of the daggers showing through the cloth. The way she could think of to answer was just with the truth. Hiding hints for others to take in her words wasn't something Heike was talented in.
8/10
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