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 Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:09 am
∇ x To Be Free x ∇ Nikora found that she only very rarely wanted for anything. Her fathers were diligent in retrieving everything she might desire, from foods to recreation, or even knowledge over whatever she might inquire from them, and it was only extremely infrequently that at least one of them wasn't at her immediate side. Usually, Pap was never so far as out of her line of sight. It was he who prepared meals, mended clothes, and traded in the market for any goods they might need. He tended to all of her daily needs, and would often drop whatever he was doing if Nikora required his attention.
Her father was the one who most often had to leave home to hunt, forage, or scavenge. He was gone for at least a little while most days, but he frequently returned to their dwelling with a treat for her: a sparkling gem, woven cloth, or a sweet snack.
When Nikora was small, she couldn't imagine hoping for anything else. Pap played games with her, prepared whatever meals she could want, dressed her in fashionable garments, and was always there when she needed him. If she became frustrated with whatever craft he'd put before her to keep her entertained, he directed her attention to something new. If there was something that she wanted that Pap didn't want to give her (if she wanted to wander too far or work with sharp kitchen tools), he distracted her with something else of interest, such as a food that wasn't 'good' for her so she wasn't often allowed to have, or sticky algae that made a mess when played with. Things that weren't dangerous, so much as an inconvenience, that she was allowed to have briefly as a distraction from worse things.
But as Nikora grew to an age where she was able to put a bit more thought into her wants and actions, brief distractions didn't work as well as they once had. When Pap brought her to market with him and she watched children weaving between the stalls, her thoughts weren't simply, 'I want to play,' so much as a more specific, 'I want to run through the market with the other children too.'
She wasn't allowed, of course. Nikora was never allowed to do anything that would separate her from Pap while ought in public.
Anything could happen to her while she was out there, he'd once said as Pap tried to reason with her. It was safer inside their home and by his side. Nikora could play with him, and she'd be just as happy, he was sure of it. She'd gone along with it, of course, but from then on, it had always felt like something was missing...
There was more to see and do beyond her home and her fathers' control. While it may have been easy to distract her when she was small, Nikora felt as though she saw more as she aged. She watched other children play, she listened to scavengers' tales of exploring ruins or journeying to the marshes, she heard of things they'd bring back: rarities like a gem that seemed as though it carried a cloud within it, sweet nectar from trees deep inland, bone of a ferocious swamp beast that when ground up helped hair grow.
She'd been raised pampered and always given whatever she asked for, and Nikora loved things. But some of the things she heard of were too difficult for even her fathers to obtain. She wanted, and they couldn't provide. Someone had claimed them from the marshlands or the dry earth or far upriver, but they were out of her fathers' grasp, and so also out of hers.
That didn't seem right.
Nikora couldn't blame Pap or Father for anything they couldn't do, and she couldn't be upset at them for not handing her something they didn't have. But what she could do was take things for herself. She'd never been lazy or apathetic, she simply hadn't been allowed to handle anything on her own, because of her parents' fear that she would somehow be lost to them.
But she wasn't frightened of danger. Nothing bad had ever happened to her before, so why should it now? So long as she learned what needed to be learned to traverse whatever path she wanted, she could still fulfill her fathers' goal of keeping her safe while enjoying all the things they had never allowed her to enjoy, and Nikora had been allowed to do very little. As Nikora learned to listen and think, her wants only grew, and her realization of how little she was actually permitted sank in quite deeply.
It had never dawned on her how scarcely she was allowed to leave her home. It had never occurred to her that she had no friends because she'd never been permitted to meet anyone. The marshlands were more of a fable than a real place to her because her parents had always painted it as such, and she'd certainly never been allowed to speak to any of the Menehune merchants she may have crossed paths with while in the market.
As it turned out, there was still so much to obtain from just her home: knowledge and camaraderie, but how was she ever to obtain even those things- things most people her age had- while still so solidly beneath her parents' thumbs?
She didn't know, not yet. But Nikora was determined to figure it out.
To Be Free Status ∇ Complete Word Count ∇ 912 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 3
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:12 am
∇ x Into the Wild x ∇ From beneath a flowing drapery of seaweeds, soft moss, and sturdy reeds, Nikora heard a faint and unusual rustling. Her silvery eyes popped open with a quiet start, and she peered from the foliage that served as her bed toward the opening of her room that led out to the family's living quarters. Her home was always so eerily silent in the early mornings. Both her pap and her father were often up and about tending to things or whispering amongst themselves as she fell asleep, so there was at least that bit of noise from their movement. And by the time she woke, Father would've already left to tend to his hunting and harvesting chores while Pap dutifully waited for their daughter to rise, ready to tend to her needs.
But as Nikora squinted through the early morning darkness- very early, apparently- she got the sense that it hadn't even managed to reach that time yet. Neither of her parents were awake. Most of the whole river wasn't awake, and yet there was a rustling.
The currents that washed in through the windows could sometimes cause some of the plant life and some of the clay and stone containers in their home to swish and clatter, but this sound of something rummaging distinctly wasn't that. It could be her father, Nikora reasoned as she glided soundlessly toward the entrance to her room. She supposed it wasn't entirely impossible that he would want to get a very early start, since the winter season made hunting a bit more scarce.
Even though he wasn't usually loud enough to wake her, perhaps the added darkness only made it more difficult for him to prepare silently in. If it was her father, and since she was awake, perhaps she could even ask to join him this morning... Though it would be another thing entirely to convince him to allow that.
She peeked around the corner, peering into their living quarters, as well as the area where Pap prepared all of their food.
And there, with its body half dipped into a large stone bowl of greenery, was- something. Nikora didn't have many experiences with creatures. Sometimes a stray fish crossed her path, or if she looked up, she might be able to see the shadow of a bird fluttering over the surface of the water, but as she had to spend most of her time indoors, there were few opportunities for wild creatures, and she'd never seen one like this before. With a peep of shock, she retreated back around the corner and into her room.
Something had come into their home and was eating their food! Something dull grey and slimy and as large as Nikora's torso! What an ugly little monstrosity, she couldn't help but think, with four spindly little legs and toes for gripping the sides of rocks. An amphibious creature that probably usually hunted on land.
But as she'd said, the season was changing once more, and greenery and prey along the shore was becoming more scarce...
It was an ugly thing, but for any creature to swim into the den of Kahikinians, it must also be quite hungry. And maybe cold and lonely. Nikora wasn't entirely sure how to behave around animals, but if it was hungry, surely all she had to do was feed it. If it was cold, all she had to do was warm it. And if it was lonely, well, she was someone, so she'd just have to be near it! It wasn't huge, and even if it wasn't pleasant to look at, maybe it wasn't even dangerous. There was nothing to be frightened over.
Nikora peeked out again, and it's flat face was swiveled toward her, watching her entryway, likely because of the sound she'd made when she'd first saw it... The thing had large eyes and a disproportionately huge mouth. Maybe it was even funny to look at, if she ignored its hideousness.
And there was nothing to be frightened of.
"Hello," Nikora whispered softly to it from her doorway. I raised its head a bit, and it slowly lifted a front appendage from the bowl to set before it as it slowly turned its body toward her.
Maybe it was frightened too. She'd never seen one before, so it seemed just as likely that it had never seen one of her- or rather, no Kaha'iko. "It's okay!" She encouraged softly, though with a budding excitement in her voice. Something new, and if her fathers heard her, they would wake and likely not be pleased to find an animal in their dwelling. Nikora didn't want it to be kicked out. "I'm not going to her you," she promised.
Another tendrily limb lifted from the bowl, and now its whole body sat on the countertop, fully facing her. "Won't you come here?" Nikora cooed. "I don't want Father to see you," she tried to explain. "It's safer in my room. We can talk more freely and get to know each other. And I could bring a snack."
In the darkness, she could best see the glint of its dark eyes as it watched her. It hadn't moved again once it faced her, so maybe not frightened. It didn't look as though it were trying to flee.
"I'll get that snack, and then we'll just-"
Nikora glided a step forward, just one pace, then two. She had to move slowly, so as not to frighten it. There came two soft clicks, and Nikora had to narrow her eyes to see sharp protrusions at the end of its limbs: claws, clinking against her stone countertop. It was hardly an instant after she identified them (claws, predators had claws) that it lunged.
And it moved as though it were lightning- or rather, as quickly as a sunbeam could cast a shadow, leaping from the countertop and propelling itself over the distance of the living room in one bound, snarling as it did and crashing into Nikora with such force that she didn't even have time to shriek. The wind was knocked from her, as the amphibian-like beast careened into her chest and shoved her back against the wall with a 'thud'. It's nails landed heavily on her shoulders, gripping and stinging, and its mouth that she'd once thought of as 'comical' opened to reveal rows upon rows of glistening teeth.
Pap and Father were close by, just in an adjoining room. If she screamed, they would certainly hear her, and they would certainly help her. If the creature wasn't large to her, they positively dwarfed it. But her wide eyes and thundering heart and closed throat and the weight upon her kept all her sounds trapped inside her.
It hadn't looked like a dangerous creature... Just like a very ugly salamander. How could it have so many teeth? So many teeth stooping down to bite at her...
'Cerrrrunch!'
'Screee!'
And the weight was gone. The stinging of claws formerly in her shoulders intensified, but her breaths came quick and full once more. "P-Pap?" She squeaked, as her pap hovered over her wielding a sharp kitchen stone as a weapon.
Her father was much more hands-on in his approach, using his larger size and greater strength to pin the spindly-limbed creature while he bludgeoned it to stillness with the end of a heavy wooden stick. They were both there... Nikora couldn't remember screaming, she hardly remembered sound at all, but the bowl the amphibian had been digging around in had clattered to the floor when it leapt, and the dull sound of her own thin body hitting stone had reverberated through their small house. Both her parents were there now and fearful, as she'd expected.
Pap's fingers dabbed at the little indents where the creature's claws had been. "Nikora, Nikora," he whispered over and over, a quiet mantra. "It's alright, darling, it's alright. Your Pap is here. You are safe. Oh, my love, she's bleeding. Help! Do something!"
The frantic sound of his voice made her own heart flutter a bit faster. Was it bad? How bad? Her fingers twitched, and she raised an arm to touch the sting. She could move, though, so maybe... Maybe it could've been worse. Pap bundled her close, gently rocking her while Nikora was still too stunned to argue against it. The scent of blood in the air wasn't heavy, but she could only remember a handful of times when she'd received so much as a scratch. Certainly, nothing had ever felt like this. Nothing had ever happened like this.
"She's alright," came her father's softer, more firm assurances. "They aren't deep scratches, and we are lucky that they were only scratches. Another few seconds..."
Yes, the thing had had teeth, and it had been about to... "It... was so small," she whispered. Pap's fingers combed almost frantically through her hair. "Was it really going to eat me? But I'm-I'm bigger than it."
"No, no," Pap assured, as if she'd offended him by suggesting as much. "I would never have let it!"
Nikora's father, though, didn't seem so intent on giving her so firm a reassurance. "You must understand, Nikora," he murmured softly. "The world is very dangerous. Pap and I try so hard to protect you, but if you insist on putting yourself before uncertain things- what if we aren't there? You're so small, yourself, so fragile..."
There was no returning to sleep for any of them, and though Nikora felt shaken, she felt something else, as well: offended.
'Fragile,' they always called her. 'Weak' and 'helpless,' 'unable to care for herself.' Nikora didn't want to be those things. That amphibian creature had been small. Sharp-toothed and -nailed, but small, not so different than she was, herself. Her fathers had feared it in the moment they'd seen it near her, but why couldn't she have handled it?
Obviously at the time, she hadn't known how, and it had clearly caught her off guard, but Pap and Father may not be around next time, and Nikora didn't want to always be stuck as 'fragile.'
Into the Wild Status ∇ Complete Word Count ∇ 1683 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 5
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:17 am
Nikora's blossoming interest in adventure leads her to creep from her home and away from her parents' supervision for one of the very first times so that she may encounter another young Kaha'iko, Tariu.
Out in the Rain Status ∇ Ongoing PRP Post Count ∇ 2 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 0
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:18 am
After her escape attempt, Nikora's parents try to cater to her spirit by making the journey to Noelani. Instead, she manages to squirm away from them and is caught in the current caused by the rains, dropping her directly in front of a Kaha'iko boy named Lalaki.
Swept Away Status ∇ Complete PRP Post Count ∇ 7 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 5
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:19 am
Distraught after the brief and worrisome separation from their daughter, Nikora's parents attempt to confine her indefinitely to the house. She flees with more vigor than ever to the village center, where a group is preparing to try and journey to the ocean.
Beyond the Rivers Status ∇ Complete PRP Post Count ∇ 7 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 5
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Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:17 am
∇ x A Stroke of Fortune x ∇ It had been fortune that granted her a guide to the reef. It wasn't something Nikora would have ever been able to plan or foresee, but as soon as the opportunity was before her, she'd known that she must take it. She had to. If she'd stayed at home, there never would've been any way for her to taste true freedom... If she wanted to get stronger and feel the pulse of adrenaline through her blood and have the power to take anything she wanted, she'd needed to be away from her fathers.
She loved them, and she knew they meant well, but they were so confining, and they seemed to expect that she would be content to live with them indefinitely, to do safe work like knitting from the comfort of their home, to never go outside those walls. She knew her young age meant she wasn't likely to be welcome to perform any egregiously dangerous tasks, but she'd needed to be allowed to do something!
It had led to where she was now.
Here in the reefs, she had anonymity. No one knew her or her fathers. No one would wonder if her controlling parents had allowed her to be out for even a moment, because no one knew she had controlling parents. Here, Nikora could begin to work toward a future that she wanted. She could learn to gather her strength to take down things that opposed her. She could learn the truth of the dangers of the world and learn how to face them, rather than hide from them.
Nikora did worry, though, how her fathers were handling her departure right now... Were they frightened for her? Were they looking for her, even now? Did they somehow know where she'd gone? What would happen if they found her before she possessed the strength to stand up to them?
The precariousness and uncertainty of what was definitely a new situation made Nikora feel as though she had a time limit. Who knew when she would be found, forced back home, and contained again. So even though she'd only just landed in the reef, even though it was a beautiful new place that she wanted to explore and learn of, there wasn't time to give appreciation to the sights. She needed to find a teacher.
Though a teacher of what, she wasn't exactly sure.
It seemed like she couldn't simply walk up to anyone and ask them how to 'face dangers' or 'claim spoils' or 'stand up for herself,' so perhaps she did need to know a little more about Haukea in order to better understand exactly what she was even looking for.
Would anyone here be willing to mentor a young, parentless girl from the riverlands?
Ah, that's right, back home her parents had done everything for her, but she was essentially alone here. She didn't need a mentor in facing dangers, so much as she first needed to learn how to simply sustain herself on her own! No one would bring her food or try to be certain she kept entertained while she was here... She'd need to learn how to hunt and scavenge. She'd have to find someplace suitable to use as shelter. She didn't even know how to barter for materials that she needed.
Nikora floated at the end of the narrow, shallow path that had led them from the river to the sea. She looked upon the outskirts of the village of Kiliwa and wondered what her chances of success truly were. If she were very lucky, she could convince Rewi to stay and guide her for just a bit longer. He was an adult, so surely he had some skills and knowledge.
But... She expected that he wouldn't be very interested in that idea. He'd been ready to leave before they arrived, so at this point, it was all up to her to gather survival skills from the people here.
Though Nikora didn't even have any people skills to speak of, thanks to her seclusion, she couldn't help but think that nothing could be that hard!
A Stroke of Fortune Status ∇ Complete Word Count ∇ 684 Growth Points Awarded ∇ 2
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