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 Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:51 am
Lumikani, for the most part, kept silent. She used her body language to direct the girl on where to go and when to pick up pace. It was only when they were all but sprinting, she using the branches and trees to move swiftly while the girl was darting about, that Lumikani brought her focus back on the lessons at hand.
The girl was full of pride, but that was something that Lumikani knew she still needed to learn. Pride was nothing if you didn't have blood, sweat, and tears to back it up. Alkidikes fought for what they wanted, it wasn't easily earned, and this girl needed to fight harder if she wanted to be the future of their race.
Odds were, that this girl would be leading the charge or even defending against the sisters across the sea...who with all their weakness still could kill the banished tribe. Lumikani could see them weak in mind, but they were still sisters blessed by Aisha, and that meant they were strong.
"You are the great future for our tribe..." Lumikani finally spoke up, her breath even as she continued to use her arms and her legs to move them through the brush, "But that is not simply a birthright. Alkidikes have been a strong race because we fight for our power. There is no certainty of you being strong or weak."
A jump over a twig, a shift to the side, "When I bloomed, I was smaller than my sisters. I was seen as weak by my entire tribe. But I was chosen to bloom by Aisha, and so I followed her will and followed her ways. I fought harder than all of my sisters because I had more to prove."
A drift, and a pull to the branches above her to avoid a rock opening.
"Many will see you as different and as weak. You need to prove to everyone your strength, and to do that you cannot skip out on your lessons. The only way you will go strong is by fighting for your strength. If you wish to be a leader of your sisters, of our tribe, you cannot be busy or find conveniences...if you want something, you will need to spend years fighting until you master it."
Suddenly, she jumped in front of Naqenni, skidding to a halt before a sudden drop off to the deep caves below. Standing slowly, she looked down at the Elaria, and nodded to turn around.
"Lead the way home." They had moved well away from the path, and were deep in the woods. It wasn't that far from camp, but this was a path Lumikani felt she was certain the girl had never traveled this path yet. It shouldn't be too difficult, however, to catch the sounds and scents of the camp that was less than a mile away.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:00 am
Naqenni listened as they ran, but the speech felt almost like a backdrop, supplemental atmosphere woven into the network of information that made up the physical environment, and with each drop of her feet to the soil — or tree bark, or stone — her breath sucked or pushed to a steady rhythm. Her place as the future was a birthright. She felt it in her blood. Her mothers reinforced it, and Elzira had sent her first into the world. It had to be so. And in lieu of this, there was certainty in her strength. She would not be, was not weak—but this was because she would not allow it to be any other way.
In the privacy of her own mind, she knew there was some truth in the core concept that Lumikani presented to her: she would not be the strongest if she did not push herself to her full potential. She would not grow strong if she did not build on the template gifted to her by Elzira. She would not lead armies or take anything back from the far shore if she did not exercise due diligence and perseverance to learn and become what she was meant to. But she would, and everyone would see it.
She did not bother voicing her thoughts.
There were other, more receptive ears in the world than her tutor’s.
When Lumikani was suddenly before her, Naqenni scrambled, darting sidelong instinctively as though to avoid an obstacle, but—
The reason for the older woman’s sudden stop became apparent a moment later and Naqenni dropped, anchoring her weight in a crouch that she not topple face-first into the ravine. Her pulse stuttered hard and heavy in her throat. Her posture remained rigid for several long seconds, low to the ground as she listened and watched a smattering of dust and debris topple and skitter-roll down the long sides of the cavern entrance.
In — two, three, four — out — two, three, four.
It took more concentration than it ought to have in order to convince her limbs to move and take her slowly, carefully back from the lip. It wasn’t until after that that Lumikani’s final instruction began to sink in. Naqenni blinked once—twice.
Oh.
Yes, she could do that.
Making sure to put a generous gap of space between herself and the drop off first, Naqenni turned, and studied the path they’d weaved through the brush. They were certainly off the beaten path from where she was permitted to run, but cutting one’s way in the manner they did through brush left its mark. Besides, she had been paying attention. The land was ever a fascinating and useful thing to take note of. Then, as it occurred to her this was the home stretch, she stifled the grin that threatened to give her away.
She broke into a sprint.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 7:29 am
The silence was not something that bothered Lumikani, nor was the thought that the youngling was ignoring her. If the child finished this day without taking any sort of lesson, than it was on her. Lumikani was doing her duty, and she was providing for the cousin in the best way she could. Lumikani had to fight day in and day out to get where she was, and so she would never coddle the child. Naqenni was responsible for her own future, and all Lumikani could do was provide advice and let the child grow.
Afterall, Naqenni was simply a cousin. Her fate was her own, and her responsibilities were there as well. It was up to Naqenni to make her choices, and soon enough she would face whatever consequences came her way. That was the fate of growing up.
When the youngling turned and began to sprint, Lumikani gave her a head start, stretching her arms high above her head as she often would do in the form of a stretch. After a slow count to ten, the elder bent her knees and pushed off, well aware of the youngling's movements based off of the gentle vibrations in the ground.
Yes, Naqenni did well for all of her sass, and so Lumikani would reward her pride by allowing her to pave the path back home. She was close, but she kept far enough back to never overtake the girl.
Sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow. A good sister needed to do well in both roles.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:39 pm
Running was the simplest, most mechanical of exercises, and Naqenni relished in it. Her legs moved to her bidding one in front of the other again, and again, and the landscape around her was part of it all. She knew, realistically, that the woman behind her could have caught up and surpassed her if she wanted. For all her pride, she was still aware of the facts as they were: the woman was older, stronger, more practiced, and built with longer legs—for now. So Naqenni couldn’t hope to truly ‘compete.’
That did not stop her from imagining a competition. A chase, fierce and pushed to its limits.
‘If you slow only for a moment, she’ll catch you.’
She could even imagine a beast on her trail instead of a woman, hungry and pounding after her. It netted similar results, the pads of her bare feet streaking over the jungle floor as quickly as she could spurn them. By the time they reached camp, her heart was a raging, thirsty animal all its own, fighting the confines of her chest, and air rushed heavy and quick through her lungs as she sucked it in greedily and let it out again just as quick. There was a temptation, as she reached the circle of the training grounds they’d left, to bend forward and rest the palms of her hands on her knees.
But that exhibited too much exhaustion, so she resisted with great struggle, swallowing the instinct down and folding her arms behind herself instead as she shut her eyes. And were they done by now? Surely, they were done now. There was a single, flickering moment’s hesitation as she warred between instinct, impulse, attitude, and her newly earned ‘lessons.’ She would have run home—wanted to run home, could run home, right now, of her own devices. Instinct suggested it, impulse re-enforced it — It doesn’t matter what she says, she can’t control me — and the natural inclinations of her personal attitude made that impulse all the more tempting, for she didn’t want to give anyone the impression that they could do any such thing.
But there was a flicker of something else, too. A niggling thought that if she bolted without a word, she would be doing exactly what the older woman expected of her, and be dismissed as all the things she accused her of being. So, just this once, she stayed in the ring of the training field, catching her breath and waiting — with no small amount of impatience — for the official word that she was ‘permitted’ to go.
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 5:00 pm
Lumikani observed the pace of the youngling before her, a small smirk crossing her features. For all the disappointment she had dealt with at the start of it all, the end was quite satisfactory. The child would learn, would grow, and if she put as much force into her studies as she did in her run, she would probably be a strong leader for the next generation.
As they arrived at the training grounds, Lumikani slowed near the entrance, her chest heaving lightly as she took the feeling in. It felt good to run, to explore and to live. It was always nice to escape the demands of a growing camp, and she couldn't help but raise her arms high and let out the deep breath of excitement. Yes, she enjoyed the run, and would probably go off and do another run after this was all over.
She waited another moment, watching the girl before her who still faced away. Lumikani wondered what was going through the girl's mind now that they had no more distractions. The silence was long, and Lumikani was pleased to see that the sass, for the time being, was repressed.
"Make sure to train every day, and do not show up late to waste your instructor's time. Your blood does not permit you to slack off, if anything you must work harder than any of my sisters. You are the beginning of a new generation, and I hope you don't throw that away." Her voice was light, and she shrugged, "Keep this up, and no one will be able to match you."
And with that, Lumikani shook her head and waved her hand in a dismissing manner, despite Naqenni still not facing her, "That's all, you may go."
Spinning on her heel, the earthling-sized Alkidike let her thoughts wander away from the girl, focused on where she needed to go on what she needed to be. The daughters of Elzira had their own path, and she wasn't the one who needed to lead them. Sure, she worked with her tribe, but until she had her own blessing, all she would be is a warrior who would fight on her side, keeping a keen eye out to make sure they did their duty and proved themselves like any other Alkidike. They were young, and had a lot of room for growth. Potential was there, as long as they pushed through and matured to represent the future of them all.
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