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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:25 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:22 pm
Criani fluttered down into the small clearing that was where Avani’s house was. She loved the fact that her friend was within flying distance of her own cave. She landed as gracefully as she could in the small space, looking over the rather large house for a two-legger. She saw smoke coming out of the small pipe thing where she knew Avani cooked her food, and smiled in delight. Perhaps she had some sweet rolls she would care to part with.
She made her way to the large and strange back door and gently tapped the top of the entryway. Seconds later the top half of the door opened into a window into the back door. This amused her greatly every time she saw it, and so it was with a great smile she greeted the orange haired two-legger.
“Good Morning!” Avani said, “Just the khehora I was hoping to meet today.”
Avani shut the top of the door and seconds later she opened the whole door wide so the tall khehora could walk right in. Criani breathed in the smells of breakfast. Sometimes one had to appreciate the two-leggers for finding ways make raw meat very tasty.
“Would you like some breakfast?” Avani said going over to the oven, “I have extra sheron strips and some sweet rolls.”
Criani thanked whatever god created her good fortune for the day and said, “Sure! I’ll have some those!”
Avani placed some on a plate and placed it on the large round table in the middle of the rather large room. She then went over to the doorway that connected it to the living space and yelled out for Honoka and Nix. Criani popped some sweet rolls into her mouth and marveled at how grown up the little two-legger now was. And as she heard Honoka scamper down the stairs and appear into the room, she marveled at how big and grown up the once Orakoi had gotten.
“She’s gotten bigger.” Criani said as she saw the youngling scamper up to the same table Criani sat a, “Hello Honoka!”
Honoka smiled and waved a hand, her tail swishing on the floor behind her.
“Hi Cri!” said the little one. Criani smiled. The little one still had yet to grasp how to say her name.
“Yes. She has.” Avani said. Criani looked over at her friend as she heard something in her voice. It seemed like worry to her, but what would her friend worry about? She placed two plates on the table and “Here you go Honoka, Nix!”
Avani placed a small plate in front of the little fea and a normal plate in front of Honoka. Apparently Avani had given the khehora what the two-legger called “manner lessons”, for the little one didn’t gobble up her food as she used to do. She picked them up with a clawed hand and munched on sheron strips and what Criani guessed was what Avani called “scrambled eggs”. For that the little khehora used her long tongue and a piece of toasted bread. Criani chuckled at the way the little khehora had become used to the two-legger way of life.
“Eat up all you want Honoka.” Avani said smiling. She then turned to Criani, “Can I talk to you when you’re done.”
“Sure!” Criani said putting the last of her food in her mouth. She picked up a bowl of water Avani had gotten for her and used it to wash down the food. She then licked her lips, thanked the gods for the good food, and smiled, “All done now if it suits you.”
Avani laughed and said, “You didn’t have to do that!”
“It’s ok!” Criani reassured her.
She maneuvered around her spot to go back outside, and had to marvel at Avani’s foresight when she built this house to suit khehora’s as well as two leggers. Criani moved outside and turned back to Avani as she closed the backdoor.
Avani smiled at her, Criani noting something that looked something like sadness in her face for a moment. But Avani looked away and rubbed her arms.
“It’s a little hard to ask this Criani,” she said sounding sad. The orderite looked up at Criani and continued, “Mostly because Honoka is my baby and I wish I could teach her the things she needs to know.” She looked down at the ground for a moment and then looked back up, “Would you mind giving her lessons in magic? I mean, I don’t understand how to summon magic except for what my books tell me about orderite magic, but khehora magic is different.” She made a look on her face that looked like she was in pain, “I also don’t know that much about your culture and I want her to know, mostly because I think her father would want her to.” Avani sort of smiled then, “You don’t have to teach her, but I trust you, and I know you would do well by Honoka, just like you would your own hatchlings…”
Criani was speechless.
She moved towards her orderite friend and embraced her in a hug. Well, as much as a khehora could give to a two-legger.
Since the destruction of her clan and family, Criani had been roaming around the continent looking for some place to call home. It seemed that this two-legger accepted her as a part of her small family.
“I’d be honored to.” Criani said pulling away from Avani, “I’d treat her like I would a clan member or even a little sister.”
She watched Avani smile brightly, the smile she had come to associate with the orange haired girl, “Thank you Criani.”
She watched the young woman sigh and look a sight better than she had before this talk. Apparently this had been weighing on her mind for a time.
“When would you like to start her lessons?” Criani asked. Her days were usually spent hunting and flying around looking for more trinkets, so she was free any day.
“How about tomorrow?” Avani said sounding hopeful, “It would give Honoka some time to adjust to going to lessons and being away from me.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then!” Criani said nodding.
Avani smiled and gave Criani a hug, and the big khehora beamed. As Avani let go Criani stepped back and flapped her wings taking off into the air and out of the little patch of forest.
She then went in search of a good place to start her lessons with Honoka.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honoka was scared.
Her mama had told her that during the day, instead of going with her to her work, she was to go with Cri to learn how to use magic and other things.
Ever since she could remember, Honoka had always with her mother, or that her mother was always nearby if she needed her. Even though she felt safe with Cri, Honoka still wanted to be with her mother and Nix.
“Are you ok Honoka?” said Cri. Honoka looked back to the blue khehora and felt a little intimidated.
Honoka tried her best to sink a little lower into the ground. Perhaps if she tried hard enough she would sink right into it.
She heard Cri chuckle and then saw her lower her face right down to her’s. Their noses nearly touched and Honoka almost went cross-eyed.
Then Cri licked her nose.
Honoka couldn’t help but laugh. She backed up and smiled a bit at her friend.
“Why here?” Honoka asked sitting up and curious as to why she was here.
Cri sat up too and smiled back, “Your mother wanted me to teach you how to be a khehora, how to use your magic and teach you draconic. That’s the language we share with our dragon kin."
“Kin? Family?” Honoka said as she tilted her head.
Cri chuckled.
“Perhaps we should begin with the story of how khehora’s came to be.” She said smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honoka sat at the lake edge later in the day when Cri left to get some lunch for the both of them. She sat on her thinking rock, a nice rounded rock that she could lay on and warm herself after swimming. But it was rather too cold for swimming today. Besides, she had a lot to think about.
She sat looking into the water thinking about the story of how khehoras came to be and wondered, if Mama wasn’t a khehora, which she wasn’t of course, where did she come from? Was she made from magic too?
She couldn’t understand it. And what about her papa? Mama said he was as black as night, with a red hue, and eyes the same as Honoka. But he had the softest feathers she’d ever felt, where Honoka didn’t have any. Mama said she always thought Honoka probably took after her papa’s mate.
Honoka sighed. She didn’t know about this magic stuff either. Cri said they would get to that after lunch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“All people in this world are bound to magic.” Cri said.
Honoka watched as Cri closed her eyes and water from the lake came out of it and to her opened hand. Cri opened her eyes as the water formed a sphere levitating her hand, bulging a bit as it moved around. Honoka looked in wonder at it.
“We can call upon it to aid us in many ways.” Cri made the ball of water move from one hand to the other. “Though different magic can do different things. My magic, for example, is water magic, and can heal people as well as harm them.”
Cri then moved the ball of water over the lake and let it fall in with a sploosh. Honoka watched, awed by her manipulation of the element.
“I can magic?" Honoka said looking back at Cri. She was frustrated because she couldn’t ask what she wanted because she didn’t know the words, “I am water?”
Criani chuckled and said, “I do not know what element you are, but that is up to you to find out.”
“How?!”
“You must listen to the magic inside of you and see what it feels like.” Cri leaned down her head and nuzzled her, “You just have to see what it is that feels right to you.”
Honoka nuzzled her friend back, determined now to see what magic she could do!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During her free time during lunch over the next few days, Honoka sat on her thinking rock in deep thought. It was not the thought of words, but the examination of her surroundings. Cri had said that her surroundings would lead her to what magic she could do, so here she was trying to feel them.
Mama had a day off and so did Honoka, so she took off into the woods by herself as she usually did. She wasn’t allowed past the lake, and had no desire to go farther than that, as long as she could be on her thinking rock. She was trying to do as Cri said and not think about anything but the feelings around her. She tried hard, yet there seemed to be a muddle of feelings there, not one thing that felt right.
Honoka spread out on her belly, feeling the warmth of the sun that had infused the rock. She gripped the sides of the rock smiling as she felt the familiar feeling of rightness.
She tilted her head quickly at that thought. The rock felt right. Perhaps that was what she was looking for?
She probed that feeling seeking out something, she wasn’t sure…
And there it was, something familiar, something right, something that she could understand without words. She prodded the feeling mentally a bit, and it seemed to be speaking to her through her feelings… It was saying nice things and wanting to be a friend.
Honoka held out a mental feeling of wanting to be a friend too, and through their emotions she was told what to do to make things work, to bend the Earth to her will.
Honoka opened her eyes and smiled at what was before her. A small clump of forest floor that had not been there before was poking above the fallen leaves.
“Mama! Mama!” Honoka said scrambling from her rock, “Magic! Magic! I did!”
Honoka couldn’t wait to show her Mama what she had done! She also couldn’t wait to learn more about using the magic she had discovered!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date Posted:
Words: 2, 073Criani's words: 1,086
Honoka's words: 987
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:46 pm
Honoka followed Cri up the path. She looked around at the unfamiliar area noting the trees and smells. She wished she could go wander a bit, but she knew her teacher wouldn’t want to waste time.
They had been gone from home for a few days. This was the first time Honoka had slept away from mama and Nix, and she didn’t like it. Though she had Cri near, and on occasion snuggled next to her for comfort, it wasn’t the same as being at home.
“All right Honoka. We’re here.”
Honoka, not looking where she was going, ran into Cri’s hind leg as she didn’t know the adult had stopped. After shaking her head and picking herself up she looked around. They were on the top of a cliff, not too high up, but still rather high, and when Honoka looked below, there was a bank of fresh snow!
“I jump?” Honoka said her tail swishing in excitement.
“We are here so you can learn how to fly.” Cri said smiling, “The goal is not to fall.”
“Oooooh.” Honkoa said softly. Her tail stopped swishing, nervousness replacing excitement.
“First we will begin with the basics of flying.” Cri said spreading out her wings, “How to get one’s self off the ground. Watch me a few times then try yourself.”
Honoka watched as Cri flapped her wings and slowly, but surely, she levitated off the ground and then into the trees. Cri landed in front of Honoka and then raised her eye brows.
“You don’t have to get it on your first try.” She said nuzzling Honoka affectionately. “It takes a while to get it.”
Cri stepped back and began to flap her wings again, and this time Honoka joined her. She flapped them in long strokes just like Cri did, but as Cri rose off the ground, Honoka couldn’t do it! She tried flapping harder, but that just tuckered out her wings.
Honoka fell down in the snow, cold penetrating her. But her wings hurt from all that flapping.
“It will take time.” Cri said as she lowered herself back to the ground. She sat down and nuzzled Honoka, “I’ll go get dinner and we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Cri then took off through silently through the trees. Honoka made her way to one of the large evergreen trees that had branches creating a shelter. She climbed under the branches and cleared away whatever snow was near the base, shoving it outside. The floor was cold, but it was snow free.
She laid down and thought about trying to fly. Placing her head on her front legs, Honoka sighed. It would take a long time before she could do what Criani could. But she could at least start practicing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the next few days, Cri showed Honoka how to glide using her wings, how to land, and exercises to help the wings strengthen up. When Cri went hunting for their meals, Honoka would practice taking off. She couldn’t do it, but she knew she had to keep trying.
After about two weeks at the snowy cliff, and a few snowfalls later, Honoka woke early to begin her exercises. She felt a little more confident about her ability to fly as she had gotten the hang of not falling while gliding off the cliff and actually landing. Well, as best she could. She got tangled in her feet most the time, but Cri said she was good enough and she would improve in time. But the takeoff from standing still and not jumping off a high ledge was still a challenge.
Honoka closed her eyes as she finished her warm ups, stretched her wings, and breathed in deeply the crisp winter air. It felt so good!
Cri was off hunting for breakfast, so she would practice her flapping now.
She closed her eyes, placed her wing out and ready, and started to flap in a steady rhythm like Cri had showed her. Honoka felt the same urge to lift her chest as she flapped, as she had so many other times, so why not do it now?
Honoka lifted her chest and pushed off the ground with her hind legs, her wings hurting, but still flapping. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping she could finally do it!
“Honoka!”
Honoka opened her eyes and saw Cri. She stopped flapping, but the oddest thing… She fell!
Honoka shook her head and sat stunned. How could she fall?
“Honoka!” Cri called again. This time the older khehora was by her side in an instant, “You were flying!”
“I-I did?” Honoka said tilting her head in confusion.
“Yes you did little one!” Cri said nuzzling her. “But you shouldn’t fly with your eyes closed! Let me check you over, that was a pretty long fall.”
Honoka smiled and let Cri check her wings and limbs for breaks. Nothing hurt but her bottom though.
“Now, you still have to practice taking off.” Cri said when she handed Honoka her meal. Cri scrunched her face at it, and wished she could heat up the raw meat. But it was what was available. “Just because you flew once doesn’t mean you know absolutely how.”
“I know.” Honoka said tearing into the raw meat. It wasn’t bad, but she liked the meat mama cooked best.
She heard Cri chuckle and felt her nuzzle her again. Honoka looked up questioningly at her friend.
“I’m so proud.” Cri said with a grin, “Your mama will be too!”
Honoka hadn’t thought about that. Now she was more determined to practice and learn more before going home!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date Posted: January 15, 2015
Words: 935
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