Naida

[Kara Winters]

{:About Naida:}

Name: Naida
Meaning: Sea Nymph
Stage: Surprise

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[Kara Winters]

{:About Guardian:}

Name: Feng Winters
Stage: Teen
Race: Mermaid

About: Feng is the seventh child of Kara Winters (from a long line of adopted children), and she is the twin to her counterpart Ryu Winters. While Feng is highly aware of the fact her older siblings have found mates, she herself never found the need to rush that.

However with her best friend Aliya having a family of her own, she had become a bit wistful at the idea of children. It probably didn't help that Feng began 'nesting' for some odd reason.

Before anyone was the wiser, Feng (it seems) had taken on instincts to nest and hide away the vase. Whether or not Feng knew that the vase was coming is highly questionable, but one does not put it past her to ask for a vase of her own.  

[Kara Winters]

{:About the Family:}

Winters Aunts and Uncles: Feng has a lot of siblings besides her twin brother Ryu Winters. Majority of which are Seconds all through adoption, and the ones that aren't Seconds are also thorugh adoption. Everyone is still waiting on actual blood children.

Cousins: Feng is not the oldest child, nor is she the first to adopt. Technically speaking her brother Triton was the first to adopt, and then Yue... who then in turn had two children of his own. Elnara's family is made up of completely adopted children except her husband Lore.

Kara and Donovan Winters: These would be her grandparents, in otherwords they are Feng's parents. Even though Donovan came around when Feng was a child and Feng still calls him Donovan, he is her father.

Daemon Winters: He would be her great-grandfather, whom she had never met but knows exists. He somehow got himself trapped in a sword, people are still waiting for the day he'll come out.

Lau Clan: They are relations from her grandfather's side of the family, which also include great grandparents.  

[Kara Winters]

{:Naida's Room:}

Naida, technically doesn't have a room, she shares water space with her mother, uncle, and cousin... and the occasional fish.  

[Kara Winters]

{ razz hoto Album:}

 

[Kara Winters]

{:Offering:}

It stood there, glimmering in the sun light on the river bank, the waters of the river sometimes brushing against the bottom. The vase, which looked like the sun filtering through water stood there innocently unaware of anything else around it. Of course, it was a vase, vases didn’t have feelings and the creature within was not yet born. Who this creature was and how it got there was unknown except to the person who created it.

And to the person who requested it to be made.

Deep brown eyes peeked out from under the clear river waters to the vase that stood there, like an offering to the river. Which, in a way it was an offering, but not to the river, but to the figure who watched it before swimming up to the wide rimmed vase. Pale slim arms reached out and plucked it from the river bed, plunging it into the watery depths with it, and then… it was gone. As if the vase had never been there at all.

Somewhere else, in a cavern were crystals grew, a golden tailed mermaid beached herself upon the white sandy beach. She carried to the middle of this hidden cove where a nest of sand and stones surrounded by numerous precious objects a vase. Similar to the one she herself was once born from, but it was blue and silver instead of her fiery red and gold. The mermaid placed it right in the middle of the nest, and seeing her work done curled her body around it, as she clutched two daggers in her hands. She snuggled the vase like it was a long loved plushie, she fell into a light slumber.  

[Kara Winters]

{:First Child Entry!:}

Journal Date August 9th, 2008

My first entry for Naida as a child, I’m so excited! I hope I do a good job like mother. Let’s see… Naida loves to make friends, and it’s a good thing Elnara adopted Jair. Now she won’t be lonely, I know how hard it is to find fellow mers these days. Maybe one day Mother will adopt another mer, well… maybe she should wait until we move to the clan grounds.

She seems to show an interest in music, because she likes to listen to Shiro and hums a lot. I’m not sure what sort of music she would do, maybe singing, since everything else would become waterlogged. Or maybe the flute, that can’t get too waterlogged right? I mean the basic one, not the fancy flute with all those buttons and things.

I need to remember to take Naida to the goddesses to learn the walking spell. I know a mer can be happy in the water, but I want her to play with the children in the Borderlands! I can’t wait to tell Aliya, I think she would love Naida to bits.  

[Kara Winters]

{:Hoshiko:}

The first time Feng brought her daughter Naida with her when she took lessons with Ai, all the women of the Ito clan cooed over the little bundle of joy as they called her. There was rarely a lack of people who would offer to look after the little girl while Feng went about in her training. Even when there wasn’t anyone, Naida was just as happen to be put into one of the garden’s lovely ponds where she would frolic with the koi. No one however expected the little girl to gain attention from anyone important, not when the most unusual students the clan had ever received had been learning for over two years without gaining any attention. It had begun like any other day, Feng dropped Naida off in her favourite pond, with warnings to the little girl to behave while her mother went off to train for a while.

It was that day Hoshiko the masked head of the Ito clan was wandering the outer hallways of the clan compound. Hoshiko had been clan head for as long as anyone could remember, even the grandfathers and grandmothers of the clan would say she had been head when they were young. Of course, no one knew if this was true, she was like any other of the Ito clan. Petite and slim, with long shiny black hair done up in elaborate loops and dressed in fine silks. She could have been anyone in the clan especially since she has always been, for as long as anyone could remember… masked. There were rumours that Hoshiko was not even human, but if she was not then no one had any notion of how she became clan head because the members of the clan were human. As far as anyone could tell that is… Still, regardless whether the clan leader was mortal or immortal, the clan leader was still a person who at times needed to get away from the politics that threatened to stifle her. Hoshiko in this regard was no different, though her servants would at least appreciate if she didn’t suddenly disappear without warning which she was often prone to doing.

The seemly young woman hummed merrily to herself quite aware that her advisors were probably pulling their hair out trying to figure out where she went to. Especially since they were so close to an information deal that needed closing, not that she understood what the big deal was. All the paperwork was already filed away… they just seemed to forget to check first. She chuckled mischievously at the thought, knowing full well the reason why they did not know was because she did her own filing, and she always filed things under the most unusual names that would make sense only to her. Unless however, it was someone who understood her strange brand of humour. Her thoughts and her walk were interrupted as she turned the cornered into one of the pond gardens. The sound of singing filled the air and though it was wordless it was wonderful to hear. It was soft and pure, sort of like a small bell she decided as she searched for the origins of the song. Whoever was singing couldn’t be one of hers, she had heard nearly everyone sing once, and had never heard anything like this.

At first, she nearly missed the cause of the pretty melody. Naida was after all half fish, and with blue scales and pale skin nearly blended in with her watery surroundings as she sat on a rock near a mini waterfall. Hoshiko had to bend down in order to actually see the person who was singing, for child was so small she would have thought the girl a doll. There was, at first glance a bit of disbelieve, but as Hoshiko stayed and listened she could tell her senses were not deceiving her at all. There was indeed a little (very little) mermaid in the clan’s pond, singing a wordless tune. She was so enchanted by the sight, it was as if she was seeing a fairytale come to life. The thought made her chuckle, she was not one to talk about a fairytale in reality.

The music stopped suddenly at her chuckle, and Hoshiko blinked as the little mergirl stared back at her wide eyed at this masked stranger. For a long stretch of silence the two stared at each other not daring to move. Naida because she wasn’t sure what this fancy dressed stranger would and Hoshiko because she didn’t want to frighten the girl off. Finally Hoshiko slowly offered a hand to the child, even though it was a move she thought was better associated with animals than small children.

“Hello there…” she murmured softly, “What’s your name?”
“Naida….” Came the uncertain reply.

A named derived from the water nymphs, well not specifically water, but nymphs tended to invoke the idea of water and in a way the idea of nymphs were often linked to mers. What a fitting name she thought to herself as she looked the girl over. Though unfortunately the child was obviously not one of theirs, which was a pity to Hoshiko. It would have been nice to have someone like her learning music…. The thought sent a light bulb off in her head. Perhaps a way to get a break a bit more often, while hopefully being able to give someone with potential a proper education.

“What a very pretty name for a girl with a pretty voice,” Hoshiko smiled, “Do you like to sing?”
The little girl nodded like a bobblehead doll, “I like to make pretty sounds.”
“Would you like to learn how to make other pretty sounds?”
“What sort of sounds?”

Hoshiko smiled widely, sure that the little girl was not going to dive into the depths of the pond edged closed to the rock to pick her up. It was like picking up one of those realistic dolls, her skin was so pale and her eyes so wide. There was a small urge to dress the child up, but Hoshiko resisted, if her mother allowed there would be plenty of time for that. Cradling Naida in her robes Hoshiko rose from her kneeling position.

“Lovely sounds,” Hoshiko told her, “Come, then later we can find your parents.”
“My Mommy?”
“Yes… your Mommy.”
 

[Kara Winters]

{:Cold Rain:}

The thing about being a mermaid or merman depending on your gender was that one tended to be a bit immune to the cold, of course it went without saying as rivers were naturally cool and water tended to pull heat away from the body. So it was no surprise that when winter arrived, Naida did not notice. Certainly when the leaves began to fall she noticed how they turned red and floated down from the trees. She liked playing with the ones that landed in the waters, poking them from below and even wearing them on her head. Indeed Naida also noticed how on some mornings the grass beside the river and pond would be covered in crispy white stuff, but otherwise it had little meaning to her. The idea that the months were getting colder she didn’t understand, though she understood about the nights getting longer, sometimes she pouted that the sun would not stay out as long as it use to. So when it began to snow, well Naida was in awe.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy!”

Feng moaned a bit and tried to bury herself under the layers of soft plant life that served as her bed. Normally the mermaid slept on top of her plants they made a good bed, but with the birth of Naida they also served as cover for when she didn’t want to get up. This happened to be one of those days she didn’t want to get up.

“Go back to sleep Naida,” the male voice came from a meter or two away.

Ryu, was Feng’s twin brother, the twins had been together since they were Surprises and even now they were not separated. Though days like these he wished he had his own pond, lest he wake up like this every morning. At least Feng from what he recalled did not wake up at ungodly hours of the morning. He turned around and went back to sleep, stirring the sandy ground as he did so.

Naida sped over to Ryu, trying to get him to look at her, “But Uncle Ryuuuu… there’s white stuff coming from the sky!”
There was a pause, “That’s called snow, now go back to bed.”
“But why is it snowing? It’s never snowed before, and why don’t we get any snow in the water? Why? There’s no snow in the river, only on the ground-“
“Feng!”

His sister sat up in her bed and yawned as she stretched, and giggled. Surely her brother she thought must have forgotten how she was, but then again she didn’t ask she went to discover for herself and all the adventures she had doing so. It was amazing that Ryu didn’t have gray hairs by now.

“Naida come here,” she murmured holding her arms out to her little girl.

Obediently the little mergirl did as she was told swimming up to her mother. Then gently like a leaf landed upon her mother’s lap, looking up expectedly for some sort of explanation. While Feng found herself trying to explain a concept even she herself didn’t fully understand. After all things underwater was different than up on land.

“Naida…. You remember how some of your cousins, aunts or uncles tell you that it’s cold outside right?” Feng asked her daughter.
Naida thought about it, tilted her head and finally nodded at this, “Yea! Toshiro was saying that!”
“Yes well…. You and I can’t feel it, but when it gets cold, instead of raining it snows, and the river will ice over too, and I know you’ve seen ice when Miyu brings it out.”
“Why does it get cold?”
“Because… it’s winter.”

Naida blinked blankly at her mother, obviously not getting it. Feng chewed her lower lip and tried to explain this again.

“Well we have seasons, like you were born in late spring, and when it was summer it was hot, and you know how that feels, and in Fall… it doesn’t become hot anymore and the leaves change, and in Winter it becomes really cold and then it snows instead of rains.”
“So that’s just cold rain?” Naida asked innocently.
“Yes, it’s very cold rain.”
“Okay! So it’s just cold rain…”

Naida’s mouth smiled wide before she rushed off to bug Ryu again.

“Uncle Ryu! Uncle Ryu! It’s cold raining!”

There was a groan, it seemed like Ryu wasn’t going to get anymore sleep than he already had, and Feng, well she just laughed.