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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:53 pm
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 11:14 pm
Even as the air grew cooler, the blue skies giving way to the gray, dull colors of winter, there was a warmth in the air. The scent of spices, and sweet meats hovering in the air about the Brennan house. This time of year was anything but the traditional Thanksgiving, at least here. Though this is what happens when one grows up in an Indian household, rather than a more traditional home. That is what Sitara enjoyed the most. Her family was anything but normal.
She sat in the living room, her sari wrapped about her in a shining mass of gold and orange. These were he favorite colors, the warmth of them always making her smile. Next to her was and older woman, a matching garment in deep brown and gold wrapped about her. This woman had a feeling to her, one of authority and wisdom, but at the sand time there was a comforting aura in the air, like the feeling of a warm blanket, fresh from the wash. This was Gran, and even as Sitara nestled up beside her, listening to the sound of her heartbeat, this wonderful woman told tales of exotic lands.
"The dark king stole the Princess away and his her in his palace away from the eyes of any that would search for her. Even from the longing eyes of her beloved prince that would take her for his bride." The woman wrapped one arm around her granddaughter, she smiling down at her with those aged eyes.
"But the heroic prince gathered his friends and at out on a quest to save his beloved from the evil demon king!" Sitara grinned, her eyes shining bright as she helped her along. "Mama said the food should be done soon, we should get ready, Gran." The young woman inched herself out of the other's grasp, she having to adjust the bit of fabric that fell from her shoulder before helping the other woman to her feet. It was more the blind leading the blind as Sitara was not known to be the most steady herself, but as they both managed to stay upright the pair laughed.
The laughter was short lived as another woman, this one younger and exerting authority like it oozed from her blood, entered the room. There was humor in her eyes but she hid it as she glance at the pair. "Mother, honestly, you will only keep Sitara's head in the clouds with all those stories. She needs to focus on her studies. As for today, I need her help adding the finishing touches to the meal and setting the table."
There was a soft sigh of sadness as Sitara's expression fell. She did so enjoy acting out the stories, but she knew her mother needed the help. "I will set the table first, Momma. Then Gran can sit and talk while we finish cooking." She winked at the older woman, she only returning it seconds later when she was certain her daughter was not watching.
"I will make certain that no one slips in anything that ought not be there. You know your grandfather, he will try anything once." She moved with her shaking legs toward the dining room, Sitara bouncing on by moments after her. She stopped for a moment to offer a gentle kiss to her mother's cheek before seeing to her work.
The table itself was covered in a fine, crimson, tablecloth. The centerpiece a large, golden statue of Ganesha surrounded by roses, mums, and other elegant, yet season appropriate flowers. Each chair was covered with a cloth to match the table, and a stack of fine, ivory-toned dishes sat off to one end.
Sitara moved to that pile of dishes, her fingers feeling for the edges, making certain she had a firm grip of them before lifting them into her arms. She placed one plate at each of the for sides of the table, making certain they were all straight and not about to fall. She nodded to herself once she was satisfied. "Not bad, but there should be more plates."
She lowered her head and pouted for a moment at the thought of her father not being there for another holiday. It had been years since he had last joined them, but every year, Sitara hoped to see him at the door.
She wiped way a stray tear and set to placing the silverware. Place settings were one of the first things she had been taught as a child, and she enjoyed it. Entertaining friends always meant good cheer, and oh how Sitara loved to smile.
Once the table was set, the young woman moved to the kitchen. It was what was there when she entered that made her nearly drop to her knees. She had been expecting food, expected seeing her mother near the stove, but what she has not expected was to see the tall, dark-skinned, form of her father, sitting there at the bar, waiting for her.
Tears welled in her eyes as she near fell the the floor, the tall man the in seconds to catch her as her mother gasped in surprise. "Sitara!" She moved to help her daughter stand, but once seeing her in the arms of her ex she knew she was alright. "Don't scare me like that!"
The man's deep voice, rumbled from his chest as he chuckled. "I did surprise her a bit, I don't blame her. " he looked down at his daughter, hugging her close before letting Sitara down to regain her footing."we thought it was about time I came for dinner. Your half brothers are still cooking for their mother, so I thought I could stop in for some spicy curry."
Sitara's mother just shook her head, grinning at the man as she adjusted her apron. "Go set yourself a place at the table. Sitara, darling, I need to to watch this so that it doesn't over thicken or burn."
Sitara smiled, a new sorting in her step as she moved to her mother's side, she having a towel to cover her clothing. "Thank you." She whispered to her mother, taking her hand and hugging it. "We needed him here."
The pair worked together for what seemed, to them, forever. Each of them toiling over getting the food just right before seeing it aside and working on the next dish. Sitara loved these moments with her mother, treasured them. Her mother was always so busy, tending to work, tending to home, that Sitara barely ever got to see her. When they were in the kitchen together, it was like their own little world.
Sitara preferred baking over cooking. Some of her most believed memories were at this time of year, rolling out cookies, making cakes, and stringing popcorn for holiday garland. Every year they would spend hours together. Every year they would goof around, and more often than not, return covered on flour and colored icing.
"Sitara, nothing brings me more joy than to see a smile on your face. You came into this world smiling, starting up into my eyes, and to see the sadness the when he could not attend, broke my heart." She moved away from the stove, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a tight, embracing, hug. She kissed the top of her head before looking at her once more with tear filled eyes. "He and I agreed, even if we no longer love each other, we are friends, and he and his are just as welcome here as you have been with them. "
Sitara's eyes lit up, she clinging to her mother with all her might as she hugged her. "Momma, you know that I don't expect it. I like or time together, just you and me." There was the beginnings of fear in her voice. Change was scary, and even she asked she had gotten use to things as they were.
"Dear one, we will have it. He is not moving in, I wouldn't have it. We will have each other, us against the world! After all, if I didn't have you, who could I have flour fights with, hm?" She giggled as she flipped a piece of almond at her daughter. The pair of them breaking out into tears and laughter as they stood there, mother and daughter, clinging to the one true rock the both of them had, each other.
(Word Count: 1402)
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 2:35 pm
Quote: Order Characters: You might have felt something different, something weird in your recent patrol. You can't quite place it, but something felt very… off. You can't tell what it was or where it came from, but for a single moment it prickled at your conscience, like a nagging thought you just couldn’t shake. Like a voice in the back of your mind, calling to you. Loud enough to echo, but too quiet to make out clearly. Something was different. Something wasn't right. But you don't have enough time to figure out just what it was, because the sensation was only there for a moment. Even when it was gone, a faint sense of dread lingered. But what could it have been? Prompt reply in progress
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:00 pm
Saturday, January 23, 2016
The night before had been nothing but taxing. Though, even as Sitara climbed from her bed that morning she knew that she had embarrassed herself in front of those that would be her peers. "Glorious move Sitara! Break down into tears in the middle of a meeting! Break down and cry over an attack that was suppose to make you stronger, not weaker."
She cursed herself lightly, cursing the fear that had run through her. She had always been a delicate soul, always felt for the pain of others and yet now, she felt her own fear stronger than anything else.
She had no taken one of the crystals that night, had not taken that which she feared would cause more harm than good, yet, now that she stood there she began to wonder, What if she had made the wrong choice in the end? What if this crystal was the answer to the end of this battle that she was thrust into, and so being the answer to her life becoming, once more, normal?
She pondered these thoughts as she dressed for the day. It was a small blessing that it was a weekend, and that she was not forced to leave the house for school. This meant that not only did she have time to think about the proposition, but she also had time to get advice on the subject from the one person she trusted most; Her mom.
Seeing as it was Saturday, it was grocery day. She and her mother would spend the day out and about and in the end, would come home with the week's groceries. Sitara had always enjoyed this day of the week the most, mainly because it was one of the few days she could wear one of her dress sari's out on the town.
Her mother, of course, encouraged this in her young daughter, always pleased to see her take pride in her heritage rather than shunning it. Her mother would do much the same as she, though wearing a much less formal version of a sari. She had grown too old as of late to worry so much about showing off for others.
The young woman pulled out a sari made of the more delicate golden fabric. The embroidery in a pale off white against the edges. She had received this sari from her grandmother upon her return from her last trip to India, and that alone made it a treasure to Sitara.
Sitara had never been in India herself, and dreamed that one day she would be able to visit the land that her Mother and Grandmother remembered so very well. They always made it sound so beautiful, and full of exotic spices. just the thought warmed the girl and made some of her fears wash away.
"Focus, Sitara. You need to get ready or mom is going to leave without you..." It was almost like a warning, and just in time as well, for as Sitara worked on pulling on the garments that would form the foundation for her sari, she heard a familiar voice from her door.
"Sita! Sita dear! hurry up! I have been ready for an hour, darling!" The voice of her mother seemed to carry through the door almost as if she were standing right at the young girl's side.
Sitara smiled and poked her head out from around the door frame, she giggling as her hair hung in a mess about her head. "I slept in, I'm sorry. I was studying late last night and I forgot to watch the time." She pulled a face and winked before she darted her head back into her room, adjusting the sari around her body and making sure it was well fixed into place. She then turned about to look at herself in her mirror. She a bit disheartened at the look of her hair. "I look a fright!!!" She almost squealed it at the door.
It only took a moment for her mother to take the cue. A cry for help like that was more than obvious when it came to her daughter. That, and she knew far too well how much Sitara loved to have her hair brushed and styled in just the right way.
She moved into the room, seeing her daughter already sitting there on her bed. She did not look as terrible as she let on, but this was her chance to poke at Sita, and if nothing else, she knew it would get her to laugh. "You look like a demon troll. Honestly child do you sleep on your head?"
She moved to sit at her side, grabbing a brush from the nearby vanity. It was a special comb, one that would not break the long and silken hair. Sitara had always insisted on growing her hair, and woe be it to her mother when it came time to trim it.
With a gentle hand she moved some of the less snarled bits aside, starting to work on the lower layers first and working her way to the top. "We will have this mop set to perfection in short order."
There was a look of hurt on Sita's face at first, but catching the tone in her mother's voice she pulled a face at her and giggled. "A very lovely troll, thank you very much. And I cannot see half the snarls, so it is would be a terrible thing for me to only be half done." She rested her body a bit, tilting her head back as her mother took to working the brush through her hair. It was one of her most favorite feelings, and one that she only let a select few actually do.
As she let her mind slip away, she was once again confronted with those fears and questions from the night before. She visibly biting her lip as she tried not to think too hard.
That small action was enough to draw her mother's eye. She cocking her head and lightly yanking the girl's hair. "You are thinking about something, my dear. Out with it. There is worry on you face and that will certainly bring on wrinkles, I will not have that, not yet." She winked, trying to lighten the mood.
Sita cursed in her mind and then nodded to herself, the action adding pressure to her hair and making her squeak softly. "I...well.." She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her mother sitting there with a look of concern behind her. "Have you ever had a time when you were faced with making a choice, but you were not certain you knew what choice was right?" She ran one hand along her upper arm, she feeling a chill for a moment. "Like, you know that you could never do something, or that you were raised a certain way, but yet there was another half of you that wanted to know if there was more to you that just that?" She knew she sounded crazy, and her mother would more than likely think she so, but all the same, it felt better to have it out.
The woman blinked. That was certainly not the sort of question that she had been expecting, and certainly not from you little girl. Though she took it in stride, first thinking to herself what it all might have meant, and then moving on to actually answering her. "Though I do not know to what this pertains, Sita, and I do hope that you can find it in you tell me, I have always been a firm believer in being true to yourself, and holding strong to what you believe is right. You are strong, my dear, and every bit a smart young woman. What you believe matters, and if you heart is not comfortable with the choice you have to make, then it is not the right one for you."
Sitara smiled, she nodding gently, she looking out the window for a moment toward that hill where they had all gathered only hours ago. Caedus had seemed like he was a good man, he had seemed wise and hurting. Perhaps, what he had offered them was more than just a way inside...perhaps...it was a way to fix the pain of Chaos. A way to heal the world without bringing more pain into it.
She turned her eyes back to the mirror, noting that she had been staring off into space. She sighed and nodded once. "It is, just something that was mentioned in school. a way the other kids tend to place school second, and fun first. They tell me I can too good to join them, and that I am a teacher's pet." She wrinkled her nose, it was a half truth, but it worked for this. Her mother did not need to know she was going out and battling evil by night. "I just...I guess I wanted to know that I was ok to tell them that I would rather study...and get somewhere with my life."
Her mother chuckled, nodding and petting Sita's head. "My dear one, if the others are pressuring you so very much about foolish things like that, then I am blessed that it is nothing more. For if it were drugs or anything else I do think I would be most concerned." She kissed her cheek, rising from the bed and fixing her skirt. "Finish getting ready now my dear. Remember, you always need to be true to your heart, and trust that you heart will lead you where it is you need to go."
With one final kiss, she left the room. She closing it to a crack before setting off to do her own makeup for the day ahead.
(Word Count: 1637)
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 6:27 pm
Reserved for Graduation Solo
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