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 Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:58 pm
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:24 pm
Saying Goodbyes
Neued | Rogue
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Elka stood beside her bed, looking down at the two dresses spread out on it. Both were unworn, bought years ago during one of her weak moments. She could take both with her to Matori. Both were still in fashion, even if it had been so long ago since said fashion had been new. Trends usually didn't last very long. Not even a year, in most cases. She still liked their designs, despite never wearing them. But that was a habit from her high class lifestyle back in Zena. Buy things on a whim and stuff them in your closet among your hundreds of other dresses and accessories, never to see the light ever, again. To think that she still did it here, when she only had this small room to call her own and not even a dozen dresses to her name. How spoiled she had been. She liked to think she had moved on, at least a little bit, from thinking like that. The fact she was standing here, considering what to do with them proofed it to her. Past her would have packed them both up and taken them. Present her was trying to decide which one to give as a parting gift to Grett, the only co-worker she liked. They were about the same size, give or take a few pounds.
But which one?
After several long minutes of silent discussion with herself, picking up each one, inspecting them, holding them against her body before a mirror, Elka decided to take the dark blue one with her and leave the green for Grett. But before she left with it, she reached underneath her bed and pulled out a closed bag. Inside it, she pulled out some wrapping paper to close the dress into, tying it neatly at the top with a little knot. Satisfied with her work, she took it and left to go in search of the Shifter.
She found Grett sitting in the break room, munching slowly on a pastry. An empty bowl beside her told Elka that she didn't have much left of her break and she would need to do this quickly. Awkwardly, she approached from the side, clearing her throat as she stopped. The older woman looked up and smiled, her eyes glancing curiously once at the bundle in the Ice woman's arms.
"I hear you're leaving in two days. Matori sounds beautiful. I'd love to go one day myself." She took another bite of her pastry, chewing slowly as she watched and waited for Elka to speak.
"Yes...I am." She stood there silently for far too long, looking in all directions as Grett finished her pastry. Why was being nice so difficult? Kayde made it look so effortless, but she was so embarrassed. Had Grett been one of her friends back home, she'd have had no problem doing this. Her friend group used to share clothes all the time or buy each other things. But than, she'd had the funds to support that type of life.
Taking a deep breath, Elka tried once more.
"Grett?" When the Shifter looked up at her, pale eyes more curious than before, the Ice woman held out the bundle towards her. "I wanted to give this to you before I go." The pale eyes of the other woman went wide, as she slowly raised her arms up to take the package. She placed it on the table, looking unsure what to do with it. Elka had never before given any of the girls anything. This was as strange for them as it was for herself. "Here. I...I think it'll suit you." Than she turned on her heel and left the room. Not before she heard a faint "Thank you" as she closed the door. The deed done, she went back to her room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Carefully, she folded more dresses and stuffed them gently into a bag, the sounds of the main dinning room loud in her ears. The place was only slightly full, the only two women on duty being the innkeeper and Grett. Elka's room wasn't too far from the break room and she could hear when Grett left to continue her shift, but not before she took a detour to her own room, to presumably put the package away where no one could see it. Like Elka, Grett also lived here, having escaped from an awful family who lived in another town in Jauhar. Elka had never asked for many details on it. Others lives were rarely of interest to her. Still were of no interest to her.
After a while of work, one bag stood full to the brim with her clothes. Zipping it up, she left it at the end of the bed, on the floor. When the time came for the move, Kayde would come by the inn with a cart to pile her things into. He had it all planned out, he said.
There was just one more thing left for her to do.
Leaving her room, Elka went in search of the innkeeper, finding her standing behind the counter cleaning a glass. She went behind the counter, hands gripping her skirts in nervousness.
"Hey," she said awkwardly.
"Hello, dear, All packed for your trip?"
"Almost. I-I just wanted to say thank you for helping me all those years ago. I was also wondering...Why did you? I've not been the best employee."
Entaria slowly rubbed the cloth over the glass, her concentration on her task. Finally, she looked up.
"You remind me of myself at your age. I took me a while, too, to start getting my life in order." Than, while Elka was caught off guard by the words, Entaria put down her glass and brought the Ice woman into a hug. "Have a good trip, Elka."
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Wordcount: 974
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:50 pm
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:51 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:20 pm
Here You Are
Matori | Dancer
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The sea air does wonders for the body and soul.
Elka stood outside the small house she and Kayde now called home, watching the waves crash against the shore, pushing the sand up into little waves of its own. She loved the smell of the ocean, the sound of the birds in the air, the feel of the cool breeze off the water. It reminded her of vacations here as a child, how drastic the climate had felt to her own home the first time the family had come here. She had never before seen sand before, or even a land without a layering of snow. At least not in person. Around the manor house, her mother had hung pictures depicting warmer seasons in other countries around the house. The mist of Yael with the sun streaking through between the trees laden with fruit. The desert of Oba, a small town in the distance and empty vastness all around it. The colorful grasses of Tale. The tall, tall trees in Jauhar, complete with Menzuri webs dangling down from the branches. All paintings she had seen countless times walking down the hallways of her parents' home. All lively and bright with colors and sunshine. As if her mother was trying to capture what she couldn't get by walking outside her own door.
Now she was living those vacations every day and her mother was stuck up in the snow. Bit of poetic justice. Her parents had thought to trap her in some political marriage to help their own social standing. Now who was the one stuck? Not she. They didn't even know she was down here. Probably thought she'd come to some terrible fate up in Zena all those years ago when she'd disappeared. Elka had considered this fact when she'd suggested Matori to move to. Had made sure to pick an area her parents might not visit on their trips so they never did recognize her in the future. But what could they even do if they discovered her? She was a woman grown. Besides, it wasn't really in her father's style to do much of anything. Maybe he'd disown her. As if she hadn't already done that herself when she'd run away from Zena. No, it didn't really matter anymore if they knew she was here, did it? She would make a name for herself. They could keep their fortunes and cold weather. She'd make sure they heard her name spoken from other's lips as one of the best dancers of the time.
But to reach that goal, there were a few things she needed to do. Starting with furnishing the small, but lovely, home Kayde had found for them. It was still missing a few things. Since they had lived in rented rooms while in Jauhar, they didn't have much in the way of furniture themselves. The beds and dressers they both had used had come with their rooms, so they had to be left behind. Most of everything had been left behind, in fact. It had been an uncomfortable first few nights with no decent mattress even to sleep on. Over time, thanks to Kayde's ability to find work, they slowly built up the money and were able to begin filling up their house with everything they would need. First came the bedroom essentials, than comfortable chairs for the living room, and now it was time for the kitchen. Elka had an appointment in town with a carpenter to commission a table and matching set of chairs while Kayde was off doing odd jobs for the locals.
Taking one more deep inhale of the sweet, sweet sea air, the Zenan locked the door behind her and tucked the key away in a secret pocket underneath her skirt, just beyond the large slit that snaked up her leg to the thigh. That was another thing about Matori she enjoyed, the light clothing. The key was heavy, but the skirts she had worn before heavier. Layers of cloth covering her from waist to feet. Not so easy to dance in, but beautiful to look at. She still had them, tucked away in the house in her closet. One day, she would take them out and update them, use the extra materials from the skirt to make more outfits for herself. That was one thing she was grateful to have learned while trapped in Neued. The ability to take second-hand clothing and sew it into something else.
The crowds in town were larger than she had expected, tourists from all over mixing with the blues and greens of the Matori. She hadn't been here long enough to know of the different festivals or shows that might be drawing this kind of a crowd. Surely this amount of people was no coincidence, they must all be congregating here for some reason or another. Maybe on her way back she'd stop by the large clearing with the stage, see if there was anything being set up that she could tell Kayde about, so they could go to it when it opened. It'd be nice to relax with some entertainment after all the work they'd been doing trying to fix up the home. Elka was sure she'd never cleaned the inn nearly as much as she was cleaning her own home. Entaria would be proud to see her so hard at work, using all the skills she had learned while trying to get out of her work back in Neued. What a selfish girl she had been. Owning her own home had opened her eyes up to her own mistakes.
Dodging around a Geian looking through a shop window at some cakes on display, Elka entered the shop of a small carpentry business, owned by a local family. She'd asked around and been told they were the best and could produce the quality of furniture she expected, with the fine details that she had in mind. Some lovely rectangular lattice work on the backs of the chairs and rim of the table. As she waited for her turn to commission something, she looked around at the woodwork on display. Beautifully worked chairs sitting on display stands. A small scale of a pillar ringed with trees loaded down with hard fruits. From what she was seeing, she really had gone to the right place to get the job done. Oh, wouldn't Kayde be surprised when their set was done, if these pieces were anything to go off of. Just the thought of it made her feel like royalty.
There was only one other person in the store with her, another Zenan she barely paid any attention to. He had his back to her, his tall frame bending over a display of tiny sculptured animals. It wasn't like other Zenan were a rare occurrence in Matori. She'd seen her fair share over in Jauhar, too. Usually the adventurous sort, off to see the world beyond the snowy mountains. She felt like she'd had her fair share of adventure to do her for a lifetime. She was ready to settle down, make a home for her and Kayde. See where life took them.
So it was without a second thought to this man that she left the main room and walked back to one of the offices when a worker appeared at the counter. Tourists were a dime a dozen everywhere. especially in the warmer climates.
By the time she left the office and returned to the main floor, the man was gone, to look for more souvenirs to take back home, she assumed. How wrong she was. The woman left the store and looked around, locking eyes with another Zenan, wearing the same color shirt as the one who had been in the store. But that wasn't all that looked familiar to her, now that she could see his face. Though his skin was a shade darker than her own, the hair that fell across his forehead and to the tips of his ears was the same color of dark blue as her own. Which wasn't unusually in itself, except....His face. Eyes that looked too familiar and were also looking at her the same way she was probably looking at him. His mouth was open, the full lips slightly parted.
"No....No...." He said this over and over, as he stared at her with wide golden eyes. While she did the same. They looked like mirror images of each other, with their identical expressions. "Can't be. We thought you....You look just like my sister."
Elka made a strange sound in her throat, one not even she understood. Somewhere between a gasp and a squeak. Her eyes instantly overflowed with tears. He might be doubting if he was really seeing what he was seeing, but she was sure she wasn't. He had been a man when last she had seen him, his shoulders already heavy with the duty of running the business one day. His looks hadn't changed in all the years since. Hers, yes. She had only been a teenager when she'd left, still so fresh to the world. "Deric?"
"Yes?" he said automatically, his voice almost too quiet to hear. He moved a single step closer to her and her heart tightened in her chest, waiting for the moment when they would be fully reunited. But the spell broke when someone angrily shoved her out of the way, for she had been standing directly in front of the door, lost to the rest of the world in her memories. With a lurch and a gasp, Elka was moved. Her head whipped around to give the other person a piece of her mind for the rudeness. They had already entered the store. Instead, she gave a huff, stomping her foot a little bit on the sidewalk. Laughter brought her back around to stare at the Zenan man once more.
"Ah. That is a reaction I still remember." The man finally moved, crossing all the remaining distance between them and took her face in both his hands, staring deep into the lines of her features. Up close, she could see the tears glistening in his own eyes. "It really is you, isn't it? My lost little sister." Than, without much warning, he was hugging her, his arms tight around her shoulders. "I looked everywhere for you," he said softly, his voice choked with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry," came Elka's muffled reply. It was true. Though she didn't feel even the slightest bit guilty for leaving her parents or most of her siblings behind, she did about leaving without a word to Deric. Out of all of them, he had been the nicest to her, even when she had been anything but kind back. She never knew where he learned it from. It made her feel like a little girl, again, running to her brother with a bruise.
Deric pushed her away from him, reaching her with a hand to brush away at the tears shining on her cheeks, even as ones of his own ran down his. "We were all so worried. We thought you'd been taken." At a look from her, the man quickly adopted a sheepish grin. Sure, everyone was totally worried about her. About losing one daughter they could pawn off to another family. Ever loyal to their parents, Deric choose not to reply to the change in her expression, simply hugged her once more before finally stepping back and lowering his hands to his sides. "Where did you go? Uh...Maybe we should find somewhere else," he added quickly, glancing around them at all the people standing around close by or walking around them to reach somewhere else. Biting his lower lip, he looked around a bit before he seemed to settle on something. Turning towards her with a smile, he took her hand to lead her towards a small park and sat her down on a bench. "What happened to you?" he asked again, sitting down next to her.
Elka pursed her lips. What did she even tell him? Not a lie, of course, but...It was still embarrassing to think about what she had done. As well as the repercussions her impulsive decision might have affected the rest of her family. Her younger sister most definitely would have gotten the worst of it. Probably had to go everywhere with a guarded escort, with guards patrolling the grounds late into the night to ensure no one else decided to run away.
Maybe just start with the simple truth.
"I, uh...Met a guy."
Deric's eyes went wide, clearly a bit surprised by the reveal. Though his golden eyes betrayed that the feeling wasn't as strong as it might be for some others. "And you thought you'd just...Leave with him?"
Overcome by all the emotions she had been feeling since seeing her brother after so many years, Elka finally broke down, flinging her arms around his shoulders and burrowing her head in his arm. Ever dramatic. "I know it's stupid!" Raising her head, she caught the expression on his face and shook her head speaking again before he had a chance to even open his mouth. "Look, it...It all worked out in the end! We're even still together." Her brother raised an eyebrow at her. Once more she continued before he could have a chance to say anything. "No. It's not what you're thinking! He's a really good man...He..." She sighed, flinging her arms up into the air in more dramatics. "I'm fine now. I don't even regret it. You know what it's like, living with mother. I couldn't do it anymore..."
"Mm. She would have married you off as soon as a good offer came in," the man agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully. "That still doesn't excuse you running off like you did. We could have found a way. When I took over---"
"You know there was no time," Elka interrupted, straightening back up in her seat, conscious of some of the people around them staring at her. Squaring her shoulders, she put on her best noble's stance, sitting up straight with her shoulders back and her hands in her lap. "I was already getting kind of old. It would be time soon." Looking over at Deric, she caught his expression and gave him a small smile. "Really. It's fine. I'm happy. It was...It was all a very hard lesson to learn, to be sure, but I'm fine." She put more emphasis on that last word, to try and push home that she truly did feel content and happy where she was in life. She had no desire to return home, to be pawned off on whatever Zenan man showed interest in her. "What is also important is why are you here?" A realization hit her, than, and her eyes grew very wide and frightened. She looked around her quickly, as if expecting an ambush. "They didn't pick a different spot for a vacation after all this time, did they?"
Deric's laugh was quick. Even after all this time, Elka could easily tell it wasn't a nervous laugh, but one out of amusement. So they likely didn't. Good. Wouldn't that have been just the thing. She finally moved out of Jauhar only to run right into her family.
"No. They still have the same beach house as before." As Elka breathed sighs of relief, one hand placed over her beating heart, the man leaned a little towards her, staring intently in her face as if searching for something. "You sure you're okay? I went over so many tragedies in my head when you disappeared."
Touched by his concern, she put a hand over his own, squeezing his fingers. "Yes. I am fine. The Gods must have smiled on me, because very little truly bad happened to me between then and now." The worst was being stranded in Neued for years by herself, but even that hadn't been as bad as it could have been. She'd still had a room of her own and a job with a woman who was willing to forgive everything she did, it seemed. She should really find and send a gift back to Entaria, to let her know that she had made it here safely. Instead of disappearing on yet another person. "He truly is a good man. I would love for you to meet him."
"And I would love to meet the person who has captured your interest so." Elka couldn't help giving a modest blush. It was true. Back in Zena, she had been a bit, okay maybe a lot, of a boy chaser. She both couldn't wait to find her future husband and have a fantastic wedding, but she also enjoyed flirting with as many handsome boys as she could when she went to fancy parties. Until those traveling entertainers came to the city and she met Kayde. That was the end of her wild life, even during the years they were apart. She'd completely lost all interest in other guys. Was that what it was like when fate found you?
"I'm sure he would be delighted. He does enjoy meeting new people." Much more than she did. "Give me a few days to let him know and prepare him." Not that he would really need all that much preparing. Kayde was always prepared for everything, it felt like. He even sometimes took jobs to help out with subduing dangerous creatures, though he was never in the groups that wielded the weapons against them. Of that she was always glad. "But please! Tell me of all that you have been up to! It seems as if you have taken over for father?"
"A little," her brother responded. "He has given me more responsibilities, that's for sure. In fact, I am here on business and will be visiting Matori off and on for many, many years to come."
This news delighted Elka and she sat with Deric for many hours, discussing their childhoods and telling each other of everything they had missed in each other's lives. Before long, it had started to grow late and they had to part ways. But not before making arrangements to meet once more.
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Wordcount: 3041
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:12 pm
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 6:11 pm
A Chance Meetingwith Shadiya
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2023 3:28 pm
Feather Fallingwith Kayde
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:54 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2023 7:34 pm
Under Moonlightwith Kayde
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:31 pm
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2023 4:27 pm
Like Lightningwith Kayde
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 6:02 pm
Easing of Tensionswith Kayde & Elias
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2024 11:35 am
Forgivenesswith Kayde
Matori | Dancer----------------------------------------
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