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 Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 2:29 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:42 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:37 pm
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The Family Business
Liira sighed, the snow crunching under her feet. The snow was always high in Zena. Even in the summer it seemed to never really go away. She looked back at the large inn her family owned one more time, seeing what felt like her whole life flash before her eyes before she turned and continued to trudge her way through the snow. She was all bundled up, ready for the next week or two that she would be spending out in the Zenan wilderness. It was time to trap and hunt and skin and do what it was she did best.
She thought back to the inn and what her childhood had been like. Her mother ran the inn herself, her father dealing only with their fur trades. When she was younger, she would follow her mother around everywhere, watching her work, helping peel potatoes and following her while she cleaned, dusting things with her. She enjoyed the time they spent together. But that was when she was five. Once she was old enough to think for herself she knew that holding down the inn wasn’t for her. She hated it. She would rather eat dirt than to dust one more thing to house people she didn’t know. The inn just cooped her up. The walls felt like cages and as naïve as she was at five, she begged her father to get her out of the house. It sounded sweet enough. It wasn’t like Liira would literally beg to be let out, it was more like the pleading of a child who wanted to know what Daddy did. And happy to know that his daughter wanted to spend time with him, he took her out. He fashioned her a small bow and taught her how to shoot. At first she was terrible, but her hands were weak and she was small. Her bow wasn’t built to be good. But she found her knack soon enough. As she grew and her hands learned the way to coax a bow to do what she needed of it, she picked up on the skill.
When she was old enough to realize that her father was grooming her to take over his place, it was too late to own up to her distaste for the sales side of trading furs. Her father owned a renowned fur trade and made good money and a good living for his family. And Liira’s mother was also a provider. Her inn was successful, and between the two of her parents, they could live the rest of their days cushioned without having to work another day. But her father was persistent. The love Liira showed for her bow and shooting had been mistaken as a love of furs and an eye for trading. It was hardly the same thing, this Liira knew without a doubt, but she did what her father asked of her, she couldn’t deny him that. She learned to kill without marring the furs too badly, and then clean them and prep them for sale.
Liira pulled the hood closer to her face, the wind chilling her nose and blowing right through to her bones. It was still early spring in Zena, and that meant that there were still expected storms and the weather wouldn’t warm up for another month yet. She turned her face to the sky and then to the mountain line to the north, trying to feel whether there would be a snowstorm soon. She was already too far away from town to turn back and make it in time. And it wouldn’t be the first time she was out in the snow by herself. She had been doing this for years. She swayed with the wind while she bundled her scarf closer and her hood tighter. She would just trudge on and if the weather turned for the worst, she would find a cave to spend her time in. Hopefully by then she would have some skins to clean to pass the time.
She let herself take the path north towards the mountains, towards the animals. They rarely spent their time so far out in the open, she would have to look to sheltered places to find the roatis and paraks she hunted in Zena. There were others that had lovely fur, but they took more than just a bow to bring down. The weywa would certainly not yield to anything as flimsy as a single arrow, and after the first, they were too hard to fight off by herself. She touched the bottom of the bow strapped to her back through her gloved hand and her thoughts went back to her father and his business. It was a family business now and she was a part of it whether she liked it or not. The lighter side of it was that even though she didn’t enjoy dealing with the people, she did greatly enjoy the solitude of being in the wild and hunting. It was primal and it was secluded and she felt at peace. The feeling of loosing the arrow into a fresh kill was enough to put a smile on her face. She grabbed the bow and brought it forward for just a moment, almost looking lovingly at it before she returned it to its spot and grimaced. It was time to get to work.
The sun was high overhead already and she would need to move fast if she could catch anything before the snow began to fall again. As if almost on cue she saw the first flakes begin to drift to the floor. She held out her hand and let one stick to her cloth glove. It sat for a moment before melting into nothingness and with a shrug she continued to move forward. There were things to do and she could give it maybe two hours before she would have to hole up somewhere. Better to start now than later. Reminiscing was over. Now was the time to let herself feel free.
(Word count: 1,00 cool
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:08 pm
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Guilty Pleasure
Liira scowled. It was something she found herself doing a lot of lately and something she knew she would be doing a lot more of. Since this whole business of the war, things were getting stickier. She sat on the porch of the inn, looking out to the street in front of her, the snow falling lightly to the floor. The people were wandering here and there, going in and out of the shops and picking out the things they needed. Groceries, home things, weapons. It was all purchased from where Liira sat with her face in her hands. This was the first time she was home in over a month, and things had changed. Everyone looked more worried, the sales of weapons had gone up, and the need for warm cloths and furs skyrocketed. Which Liira had predicted. She knew that once the thought of war was implanted into the heads of everyone in Tendaji the weak would be clamoring to get to Zena and be far far away from the trouble. The problem with this was that it meant Liira had to go out and hunt more often – almost needing to meet a quota each time she went out – and now her getaway, her hideout from the world was practically a chore.
Liira scowled at the faces she saw come and go. She could hear the little door chime ringing behind her as people came in and out of the inn. Typically – or at least from what she could tell – more were checking in than out. Her mother had said that business had never been better, but Liira’s life was miserable. And she felt like pouting.
She heard her mother calling to her from inside the inn. Her voice pierced the air and now even her sulking was tainted. She couldn’t have a moment of peace on this earth since the turn out of the first battle. She had missed it. She hated that she missed it, but her father needed her to travel to Zidel for a serious business proposition. It was one of the only times that both her and her father went together to something that didn’t involve actually catching the furs. It was strange, she hadn’t had much to talk about with her father since she began hunting alone, but it was done, and she missed the whole first battle. And they had lost.
She heard her mother call for her again, a shrill keening cry of “Liiiiraaaaa” hanging on the air. Liira pushed to her feet, scooping her hand through her hair before she slammed open the door. ”Coming, Mother!” She called out, her face contorted in irritation. When she reached the kitchen, she could see her mother with her hands on her hips, nearly absorbed by the apron that hung over her. She had that look on her face. That look that Liira was about to do something that she didn’t like. Liira grimaced, already not liking where this was going, but her mother knew her daughter too well.
”Liira: you put that face back to the way Bergchi gave it to you or I’ll give you something to scowl about.” It was something her mother liked to say a lot when Liira was in one of her moods. ”Now take off your jacket. Today you’re with me.” She rolled up her sleeves and sunk her hands into the washing barrel before wiping them on her apron.
Liira huffed and puffed and threw her typical internal tantrum before she wiggled her mouth out of its scowl and tried to put on a neutral… ish face. ”Whatever you say, Mother.” She unclipped her jacket and pulled off her gloves, bunching her jacket around her waist. ”And what kind of fun are we having today?” She sarcastically threw out. Before she realized that she was indeed talking to her mother.
Her mother whipped around so fast Liira shuttered at the thought of what would come next if Liira didn’t shape up and do what her mother wanted. ”What did you just say to me, Young Lady?” Liira immediately lost her aggressive face and stance and shied over to the washing barrel. She dunked her hands in and began to scrub them, slowly assessing how to proceed with her mother. ”What I meant to say was… what is it that you wanted me to help with?” She looked up towards her mother to gauge if she had successfully backed down. Her mom wasn’t one to take any of Liira’s crap and she knew what a good spanking felt like, even at her age.
”That’s more like it.” Her mother nodded before clearing the tabletop and plopping the bucket of flour onto its surface. ”We’re making bread. There are too many guests checking in to be in short supply now.” She grabbed a handful and splashed it onto the tabletop before rubbing it in lightly. ”Now stop stalling and come over here and join me.” That was enough for Liira to know that she was stuck with her mother pretty much the rest of the day. She sighed and dried her hands on a towel nearby before grabbing a large handful of flour and throwing it at the table with a puff. She rubbed it in, readying the table for the sticky dough and then waited on the instruction from her mother. Liira had spent so much time in the forests and mountains and everywhere else with her bow in hand, that she hadn’t ever had the experience of cooking. Surely her mother knew that, and knew that she didn’t know the first thing, but she wasn’t about to back sass her mother again. That would be just plain stupid.
Her mom moved the bucket out of the way and started to bring out the ingredients for the dough. The conversation was long and there was a deceiving amount of work involved in making bread, but by the end of it Liira was covered in flour and bits of dough were stuck under her nails, but it was oddly refreshing. When the dough was all set and they had allowed it to rise and whatnot – Liira can’t say that she really understood the whole of the process, she just was good at doing what she was told – they shoved the doughy balls into the fire oven and Liira wiped the back of her head. It was a strange feeling, but Liira thought that she actually enjoyed cooking. Before she could catch on she found her mother looking at her. ”What?”
Her mother looked at her and patted her on the head. ”You’re smiling.”
Liira grimaced.
(Word count: 1,109)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:39 pm
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Chained Down
Liira had been stuck in Zena for much too long. She felt trapped and cooped up. Her parents were watching her like a hawk. After she had left the last time to fight in the tournament, she returned to her parents’ griping and groaning about her lack of etiquette and that she shouldn’t be running around causing havoc like that. Pfft, havoc. Right. Liira could only roll her eyes at that and moan when they told her she wasn’t to go off fighting in a war that wasn’t hers.
Yeah, easy for them to say way out here in Zena where nobody was dying and things were peaceful, but if they lost it was going to effect them, too. Did they think that Oba was just going to hit the Sauti boarder and go “Whoops! Can’t pass here, it’s Zena.” They were full of it.
And it wasn’t before long that things did start to effect Zena. People from the west were flooding in, bundled and shivering in their thin clothing that they thought was good enough to survive Zena. Her parents' inn was flooded with tenants, most bringing enough cash with them to wait out the year if they had to, and others offering – begging – to be let in if they could only trade for the room. Once the people started to pour in any talk of joining the war went out the window. They needed the extra help here. And Liira lived out her months during the war feeling like a gremlin. She wanted nothing to do with these people and stomped about in a foul mood, avoiding contact wherever she could and snapping at the inn’s tenants when they dared to ask her for something. She was starting to get a reputation around the inn for her bad mood and sulking. Even with the chill of winter approaching rapidly on the horizon, she preferred it outside where she felt like she could actually breath. Not that she got to do that much either.
Liira felt like she was inches away from burning the whole inn down before they got the news. Victory. It was over. She was free. It was a bitter taste in her mouth knowing that she wasn’t there when they won, but whatever, it was over and that was the important part, right? Liira watched with glee as the inn slowly began to lose all of its tenants. It was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. An empty house. The only ones who had stayed at this point where those who belonged in Zena and those who actually had business being in Zena temporarily, intending to leave soon - like they were supposed to. Liira brushed her hand through her hair and couldn’t have been happier to pick up the mess left behind. She spent the next few days scrubbing down the inn from top to bottom with her mother, while her father left to refresh the supplies that the leeches had used up while there. She emptied trash, scrubbed pots and dishes, wiped down counters, furniture, floors. The place was practically steril by the time they had both finished, and her father had barely gotten the essentials by that time. Liira was almost positive her father was deliberately taking his time, not wanting to be in the house any more than Liira did and avoiding any cleaning her mother might drag him into.
When it was finally done, and the last of the tenants were leaving, Liira shot her parents both a look of anger and atitude for making her stay in the inn for so long and without telling them where she was going she picked up her bow and quiver and ran off into the shabby woods of Zena. She would like it much better if they didn’t go looking for her.
(Word count: 644)
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:33 am
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Mahri
Liira picked out a fruit from her bag that she had gotten from a trader on the road. She hadn’t been to the inn in three days, and she felt the brisk air in her lungs and a happiness she thought she wouldn’t feel again. It was impossible for her to think about being indoors for as long as she had during the war. Without being able to go anywhere. She spun in a quick circle, enjoying the way her bag and quiver spun out from her body before bouncing with a thud back into place. She didn’t have anywhere in particular she was wanting to go to but she was heading west, and judging by how long she had been moving, she had to be pretty close to Secer by that point.
As if on cue she could see smoke on the horizon from cooking fires in the distance. It had to be Secer. Liira looked into her pack and pursed her lips when she realized just how little she had left to eat. She would either need to hunt or to actually go into Secer and get food. She shrugged her shoulders, going into the village wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Getting steadily closer to the mountains that seemed to be all directions but behind her, she stopped at a pub in Secer and plopped down on a stool, tossing her bag onto the table. She put her chin in her hands and blew out, waiting for the heat of the building to warm her up and looking around for someone to take her order. Couldn’t they see she was starving? Blowing hair out of her face she lifted her chin and swirled around in her seat, trying to find someone to get her some food. ”Hey. I’m hungry over here. Why don’t you bring me a drink and some mammu meat?” She shouted out to a girl working on cleaning off a recently emptied table. The girl seemed to be startled by the sound of Liira’s voice and jumped up, knocking something over on the table and spilling liquid. Her face red, she gave Liira a quick nod before scurrying off for what Liira could only guess was her food and maybe a mop.
She leaned back on her elbows, using the table for support and waited for the mousy little girl to come back. She actually couldn’t have been that much younger than Liira, if she was younger at all, but her quiet attitude wasn’t something that she wanted to deal with right now. The girl quickly brought out a steaming bowl of some kind of concoction with mammu meat and a mug of some deep brown liquid and Liira sighed. She didn’t know what it was, but it all smelled good. She nodded her head to the girl before spooning out some of the stew and letting it swirl in her mouth before swallowing. Oh jeez it was what she needed right now. She could feel the heat of it warming her from the inside out and her nose clearing right up. Good stuff.
Before long she had finished the stew and drained all of the broth down for good measure and downed what was in the mug with two gulps. It was only after she had finished it off that she realized that the girl had brought her alcohol. It stung down her throat, but definitely completed the warming sensation in her body. She wiped her mouth with her gloved hand and tossed some coins down on the table before standing. She felt the sudden rush of intoxication and smirked. Well, that was a nice surprise. They sure knew how to make drinks in Secer.
She whistled a tune with her hands in her pocket once out of the pub and wandered down the road. She passed bakeries, an dinky inn that her parents’ would put to shame, and another pub before she stopped in her tracks. Maybe it was the alcohol that was getting to her, but she heard the little screeches of something close by and she ducked into a building to her right to check it out. A litter of raptrix pups met her gaze at the sound of the tinkling bell signifying her entrance and began to yap and squawk and howl at her, jumping and fluttering their wings, trying to get out of the box they were being housed in. ”700. 700 and you can take one.” A shady looking guy with stubble on his chin and a missing tooth announced. What was this, the raptrix black market? Liira asked herself with a cocky turn of her head. ”And what makes you think I even want one?” She looked down at the pups and scoffed. She didn’t come here for a new pet.
The guy grinned with his smug missing tooth mouth. ”I can see it in your face. You’re a sucker for these little guys. They’re special you know. Bred to this specific look. You won’t find more like these anytime soon.”
Liira finished her stride to the side of the box and looked down at the pups. They did have some extra fluff and some decorative plumage. Their colors were interesting too. She met the eyes of one in particular. She wasn’t yapping with the rest of them, she seemed to be indifferent. And had this pretty burgundy color to her. The little one looked into her eyes and layed down onto the floor of the box, laying its tiny head down. She shot the man a glare that could shake down the toughest of men before opening her mouth. ”Fine. This one.” She didn’t think she was a sucker, but she couldn’t leave this little one behind. Not with the alcohol warming her blood. She lifted the burgundy colored pup by its scruff and looked it in the eyes once more before petting it awkwardly on the head and resting it in her arms. She puffed out air and handed the guy the 700 coins. ”I can always tell when a sale walks in the door.” She grinned and accepted the money.
”Whatever.” She waved the guy off and left the building, looking down at what she was carrying once she was in the snow, her cheeks still warm. ”Mmmm… I better not regret this.” She whispered to the raptrix pup before trodding off through the snow. She had better pick up supplies before she headed home with her new companion. It would probably get hungry on the way.
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Even though she was still young, Mahri was easy to train. The little pup scooted and hopped over the snow, flitting her wings and hovering for only moments before falling back into the fluffy white lumps around her, leaving a trail wherever she went. She was cute. Liira didn’t think she would have wanted a pet, but Mahri was hard to resist. Even her parents had agreed that it was probably good for her to have something to spend time with, if she wasn’t interested in spending her time with other people.
The raptrix shook the snow out of its fur before turning to Liira. The entire three days back to Coeld had been long with the pup. She didn’t want to walk, didn’t really want to eat, barely drank, Liira was beginning to think that she was going to have to bury it by the time they got back home. Two days in though, Mahri seemed to realize that she couldn’t hold out on food for much longer and caved when Liira offered her some dried meat and water. It was then that the raptrix almost seemed to do a 180 with her attitude and fluttered out of Liira’s arms whenever she could and hopped and bounded in the snow. She seemed to like it.
It had only been a week now that she was back, but the little raptrix already refused to sleep anywhere other than on Liira’s head, snuggled up against her pillow and hair. Liira had to resist the urge to swat her down, even that seemed too cruel to Liira. She picked the little pup back up and towed her inside. What was she going to do with her when she was too big to follow her in? Liira thought with a sigh.
(Word count: 1,392)
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:41 am
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