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 Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 11:29 am
It was most likely that the sprite would not want the kind of attention that Bhima was willing to give it at this point. A hand was as good a bug swatter as any!
"I have only ever been to the Isles for festivals and ceremonies," the young Alkidike admitted. She wasn't ashamed of it, but she knew that she would rather see the homeland of her people more often than she did. It just seemed as if her mother had lost interest in travel. "Some day I'll visit just to visit, meet my sisters on the Isles. Do you trade in Andile often? I don't believe I've seen you before."
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 3:45 pm
"No, this is my first trading trip. The last time I was in Andile, it was..." she hesitated a moment, "It was a while ago" she said carefully. The last time she had visited Andile properly it was on her way to find a suitable home tree for herself and her friends. She wished that she had remembered more than a vague visual memory of Andile, but she supposed that at the time she had thought she didn't need much more than that. The incident with the predator had come later.
"I recently was given an official rank. Not exactly that of a blade... Though..." she smiled mildly, "I do make them." It wasn't a bad joke from someone who didn't usually make jokes, and she knew it.
"Then, I was only passing through Andile on my way to Ekene, and then later, on my way back to Emeka. I thought that this time I should spend some quality time in the settlement. Hopefully I still can."
If they let me and Peyla back she thought, almost guiltily. It wasn't her fault exactly, but Peyla was her sprite, and thus her responsibility.
DRASTIC. MEASURES.
The little sprite flittered away from view, giving them both a dour look. They would see! She would not be ignored!
She didn't have a plan but she soon would. It involved... uh...
She hit upon something with a chime. Nuts! They were right here in front of her! She picked a few from a tree branch and kept thinking. Nuts and... what else?
Ooo! Slippery fruit. She hovered around a nearby one. But how was she going to hold it with the nuts?
Easy!
She dropped a few nuts into a tree and made short work of the soft innards of the slippery fruit, leaving it's long peel. This made it lighter (and it was tasty)
She picked up her nuts and the peel with a wicked look on her face. She would not be ignored!
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:12 pm
Bhima allowed the blind sister a courtesy laugh, but that was all. She had never really been one for puns, and laughing was still awkward for her. At least she'd tried, right? The conversation, however, was still interesting.
"Well, where do I come when I need my weapons, then? Emeka?" she said cordially, and then leaned in a bit closer to whisper to Dyakida. She did not turn to test her theory, but she had ears, damnit.
"Also, your sprite just went suspiciously silent."
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:51 am
The chuckle wasn't much, but it was something, at least. She didn't make many jokes, so Dyakida was just happy the stupid phrase hadn't fallen completely flat.
As for the silence... She had noticed it too, and didn't like it.
"The business of my Sisters is always appreciated." she said out loud, equally cordially. If Emeka wasn't itself too far to travel for weapons.
She lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Let us hope it means she is sulking somewhere. If not." she grimaced, "We may want to be additionally vigilant." Keep an eye out, as it were. Metaphorically of course.
Please, please, please just be sulking... She really didn't want to have to apologize for more of Peyla's antics.
Peyla slipped by the path again, as quietly as she could.
They were still there, arm and arm! That woman was still stealing her job!
Peyla growled. HOW DARE THEY. HOW DARE SHE.
Hmph!
She flew on ahead, her 'packages' clasped in her hands.
Finding a nice stretch of path, she grinned and began dropping the rolly little nuts onto the ground, placing the peel at the end. She frowned.
She needed more nuts!
She retrieved them and put a few more down before looking proudly at her handiwork.
Yesssss this would show them! She chimed gleefully before biting her tongue and looking around warily. She couldn't tip them off! That would ruin it.
She fluttered into the bushes to hide.
Her prank was especially haphazard and dangerous because other people were on the road, not just the people she wanted to trip... Nuts and fruit peels, apparently, were a recipe for trouble.
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:10 pm
It was Bhima's foot that found the "prank" first. She stepped on a hard nut and winced, kicking it off the road before she realized that there were more. She patted her companion's arm and motioned for a sister with a cart to stop.
"This may seem a bit odd, but does your sprite enjoy endangering the lives of others? There seems to be a profusion if fruit in the road." Of course, she could just be jumping to conclusions. Maybe all of the zero fruit-bearing trees on the sides of the path had suddenly decided to over-ripen and drop? "Regardless, we'd better work on this. Or... I will. Hold on a twitch."
She set out into the road to begin cleaning, and the sister she had stopped crouched to help, but several others were not so lucky.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:19 am
Dyakida stopped at the signal, dreading whatever was in front of her.
"Not normally, no?" she said, frowining. Peyla had never been seriously harmfully destructive before. Minorly destructive, sure, like breaking things, but...
"Fruit. In the road." Dyakida tried to picture it, but overripe melons in the road was the closest she could come to the two descriptions- they were fruit in the road and harmful if done wrong. "All right" she said, waiting patiently. She tapped out with her staff curiously, feeling something small and hard roll away. What was that...?
She crouched down to investigate. Were these nuts...? What the heck were they doing on the road?
Other sister's pitched in to clean up the road. It was obvious something was odd, so few fell for the trap. A few had brief fumbles of balance on the round nuts, but most were able to avoid serious tumbles.
Except for one. She was cleaning the road when she slipped on one of the peels that had been hidden by mud. With a yelp, she fell on her rear, getting covered with mud.
Dyakida heard the cry. She wasn't sure if it was Bhima, her current guide, but she wasn't going to stand there while a sister was in trouble.
"Are you all right?" she asked, heading towards the sound. she thought she was being careful, but obviously not careful enough because suddenly the ground under her foot slipped wetly as she trod on a peel that others would have seen. She fell forward, dropping her staff to catch herself with her hands. She pushed herself upright, stunned. Her hands and sides hurt from the fall and also from the little hard balls that were still scattered. She might have bruises later, but she was otherwise unharmed. It was just taking a while to process she was on the ground. Suddenly.
Peyla wasn't happy that her prank was discovered. It had been so well thought out too! But that INTRUDER had seen it and hadn't fallen for it. Peyla crooned unhappily, but she was soon mollified by someone, at least slipping. People falling down were funny.
Until it happened to her Alkidike. She should have known- in fact she had wanted it to happen. But actually seeing it happen made her realize that she could have hurt her Alkidike! She cried out from her hiding spot and, horrified, put her little hands over her mouth. [Oh no oh no are you all right?!] she called out in an urgent chime, peeking out for a better look.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:26 am
Bhima heard the melodic laughter of the sprite and could only glare. Each new stumble worried her, but the sister splashing in mud was of higher concern. She rushed first to the fallen sister, trying to assist her, when she heard Dyakida call out. There was only enough time to make a slight sound before she went down too, and Bhima could only wonder how much more terrifying falling was when you couldn't see the ground.
"Ah, s**t. Are you alright? Don't move, how are your wrists? Your legs? Did you hit your head?"
The other sister, startled but unharmed, stood and tried to brush the mud from her clothes. She gave an annoyed roar, stomping in the direction of the sprite.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:08 pm
It took a while, but she finally managed to calm her panicked survival instincts down. She was no longer falling. It hadn't been far. She was on solid ground.
Probably covered in mud, but not falling anymore.
She then did an injury check, trying to slip into a meditative state and calm herself. She really wanted to scream for Peyla to get her fluttery a** right here right now and clean this mess up. But screams had done nothing.
Had she hit her head...? No. She was just startled and a little... scared. That was all.
"I'm... Fine." she said, taking a deep breath, "I think so, anyway."
Peyla ignored the other woman, zipping straight up from her hiding place before darting over to Dyakida and chattering near her face.
Was she okay? Was she okay? Peyla was sorry! Peyla didn't mea for her alkidike to get hurt.
Well she HAD but she was sorry now!
Dyakida heard the chiming and, in a movement that surprised even her, she snapped out with a hand towards the sprite and- even more surprising managed to snatch her from the air. She was still a little winded, so she didn't know what to do with the sprite, but she knew she was pissed. She just needed a bit longer to catch her breath from the fear of that sudden fall...
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 1:08 pm
If Dyakida hadn't done it, Bhima would have. She would have at least tried. Peya seemed like a child, but one of those really annoying children who didn't know what consequences were. She needed to be told that what she did was wrong, maybe a hundred times, and perhaps shaken a little as she had put an entire group of Alkidike in danger twice today. Honestly, aside from the guidance, she couldn't understand why Dyakida kept her around.
...love, probably.
The young woman nodded then and turned to the muddy Alkidike beside them who grabbed her tailbone and winced. Ouch.
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Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:29 am
No no nooo let her go!
Peyla strugged against her Alkidike's grasp, flailing at her fingers. No! She'd apologized, right? So everything was fine, right? Let her gooooo!
Dyakida let herself calm down before she thought. She listened to the other alkidike recovering and cursing and generally being unhappy about what her sprite had done. Dyakida knew she had to make it clear to Peyla that this was not okay. That she couldn't DO this to people- to Dyakida.
But how? Shouting had failed, threats of Amadi had failed, and she couldn't hold the sprite forever. A leash might work, but knowing the sprite, she could probably figure out a way out.
"Oh Peyla..." She said softly, bringing the sprite to her face (out of reach of anything important of course) "What do I do with you..."
Forgive her?
She couldn't just threaten, and she couldn't just punish at home, because by then Peyla would have forgotten what she had done wrong. The sprite had a terrible memory for many things. She'd have to do something now, while Peyla was still contrite.
she reached for a bag, one of the small pouches that she had with her sometimes. It was currently empty and had a sturdy closing clasp.
"Peyla, I love you, my guide. But this- and before- was unacceptable." she said quietly, opening the bag with one hand, "I hope you understand." she said, stuffing the sprite in and closing it quickly and securely. "I'm sorry."
Peyla chimed in protest! No no no! Why was she in the bag? It smelled of metal and leather and it was dark! Whyyyyy? Whyyyyyy? She chimed loudly, crying. She was sorry right? Let her out? Please let Peyla out?
it didn't take an expert to know what those sounds meant. "In due time..." she said, feeling horrible as she put the pouch somewhere where it wouldn't be too jostled.
"I am terribly sorry about this." she said aloud to the general group, "What can I do to help?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:19 am
As was the way of intelligent life, the other sisters glared at Dyakida as if she had somehow been responsible. Punishing the sprite would not undo what had been done, and that was the only acceptable situation to garner forgiveness. Most were beginning to move on, the sister covered in mud joining the woman with the cart and heading off. Bhima just sighed. She was guilty by association, she guessed.
"The road is clean, and I feel as if the damage has been done," she admitted, "I think the best we can do is continue on our journey and set you on the proper course. I won't be able to accompany you to the Isles myself, but we'll make sure you have a respectable guide when we get to the shore. They won't know what the screechy one had done, anyway." Her eyes traveled to the bag, now shaking and shrieking violently. She had no pity for that creature. Such actions had consequences, and even the weak could not be free of punishment.
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:19 pm
Dyakida might not have seen the way her sister's looked at her, but she knew. She knew. It was what she had always expected from them. Not because of Peyla but because she couldn't be like them.
She had thought things had changed after Yansa had acknowledged her, but in the end people didn't change.
She knew. She might not see their looks and she could pretend that the angry mutters were just the leaves in the trees. But she knew.
"... I would appreciate that." she said, feeling deflated. "So long as I don't mention it. Or she does not somehow cause more mischief..." she mumured, her voice slightly and uncharacteristically bitter. This was supposed to be a fun day at the market.
"Anyway, I guess we should get going, then." she said, reaching out to touch Bhima's arm. "Whether I receive any commissions after this or not, I'm not sure. But the people who I owe these weapons to should at least receive them."
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Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:14 pm
"Well, of course," Bhima agreed. There were some conditionals to the arrangement. She would have assured the sister that nobody would remember her as the specific guardian of the sprite, but there were not many blind sisters. At least she hoped that their kin would forgive the woman who had no say in Peyla's actions.
Maybe not. People were fierce.
"I like to think that you wouldn't be denied payment because a naturally mischievous creature went... a little overboard. Maybe she'll learn," she said, and then sighed as she looked to the shrieking bag. "Maybe."
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:25 am
"Yeeessss..." Being paid would be very nice. "I hope she does. Otherwise I... well." She realized she wasn't sure what she would do if Peyla was too badly behaved to use as a guide, "I just hope she listens next time"
Peyla kept shrieking for a while. It was dark! It was smelly! She was sorry! She was sorry!
They began moving- she could feel it through the bag. Were they ignoring her? How could they ignore her? Her Alkidike was going to get lost without her! Let her out!
The shrieking turned into something more like chiming sobs. She was Peyla and she was sorry and people shouldn't ignore her! Pay attention! To her! Please?
By the time she was able to smell the salt of the sea through the leather-smell and the metal-smell, fear for her alkidike had devolved to sullen, silent anger. She had apologized! She was sorry! It wasn't fair! She curled up against the bottom of the bag, occasionally muttering to herself like some kind of large blue wasp. She was not happy. Not at all.
Dyakida heard the soft sound of waves before the briny air assaulted her nose and mouth. She took a deep breath.
"I take it we've reached the coast..." she said, smiling slightly. She had loved the coast as a child, with it's crags and treasures hidden in unlikely places. Watching sunsets off of the isles had been a wonderful treat.
Now, she still appreciated the treasures the coastline offered, but was more aware of the sounds and tactile sensations there than she had been before: the rhythmic sound of the waves, the softness of the sand, the occasional hard shell, and the silken yet gritty feel of sand in the water.
Yes, she still loved the coast, and the isles.
"Are there sister's here with boats, or did we catch them at a bad time?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:40 am
Bhima was beginning to get used to playing as a guide. It was easier to help the blind sister around specific rocks and patches of mud when they reached the shore, and she brought her through to the boats while she replied.
"No, we're just in time," Bhima nodded. "Some of the boats have taken off, it looks like, but they'll be back. Here, though. let me help--"
They approached one sister in particular, a quiet type with a mysterious nick in her left antennae.
"Dyakida, this is Shiita, she's a family friend."
There came no response from the woman.
"Shiita, could you take my friend here to the Isles? She has a delivery to make, or a few. I have to go to the market for Mother. She can't see, now. It'll be a little extra work."
"Aye."
Bhima turned to Dyakida again and smiled. Could she hear her expression in her words, she wondered?
"There. So you and Peyla can go and get paid," she nodded, and then passed a few coins into Shiita's palm, which the sister pocketed silently. "It was a pleasure to meet you. Come and visit if you're ever in the area again. If the sprite'll let you."
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