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 Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 6:33 pm
day 6-7
picking up where I left off before in chapter 1
"I'll be out in a minute ok," he called out as he sat up, there was no way those two were going to let him get anymore rest. Truth be told though Shukri was excited about getting a gift, he'd always been sort of materialistic and wasn't ashamed of that fact.
As the girls giggled and shuffled away Shukri rolled his eyes and stood, letting his blanket fall off of him and onto the sleeping mat. He stood there, in the middle of his tent for a moment one hand slowly rubbing the crust out of the corners of his eyes and the other detangling his strawberry blonde hair. It always took him a moment after getting up to center himself and focus.
Once his head was cleared Shukri set about making himself look presentable while thinking about who would be waiting for him outside once he was ready.
As he slipped a simple thin sleeveless shirt on he mused over the fact that Isra had still been within the family circle of tents. Clearly she and their brother Yasir had been granted permission to miss today's youngling lessons so they could help Shukri celebrate his recent promotion. The young man flushes a little feeling a bit bad that he'd been wasting their time by sleeping in.
Isra wouldn't mind much though, she was the youngest of the three sibling and usually all chubby cheeked smiles and big green eyes staring up at him.Isra would probbaly rather be at home doing nothing than be attending lessons which she increasingly claimed were boring especially when she had to work with numbers.
Then there was Yasir his younger brother and the middle child of the family. It surprised Shukri a little that the younger male hadn't been the one to bother him into getting up. Yasir was at the age where he had boundless energy and little patience, someone or something had clearly been keeping him distracted while Shukri indulged in dozing.
His parents of course would also be out there, each released from their day's duties as well but probably more understanding on his reluctance to get up before he had to having gone through this before several times each. They were nice enough parents and Shukri had never really had any complaints growing up wit them or their rules, he was certainly better off in that regard than some of his peers.
Last but not not least was Faiza who was his best friend. Though there were several years between them Shukri simply found that he got along better with faiza than he did the rest of his peers. The young grey eyed girl had the same desire he did to ferret secrets out of people and collect random information and gossip that might be useful later. Younglings had more freedom to wander unnoticed in the camp than someone like shukri so faiza often offered him information she'd picked up while being ignored in return for recollections of his adventures outside the camp, somewhere she was not permitted to go.
Eventually Shukri found himself dressed and his sleep tangled hair tamed into something passable for public viewing. He pushed aside one of the front flaps of his tend and walked blinking out into the late morning sunlight soaked world. It took a moment for his pale blues eyes to adjust to the light difference but soon he could see his family and Faiza sitting over by the remains of the family fire pit where some embers still flowed a faint red , the remnants of a breakfast cook fire no doubt.
The young man grinned and strode over towards the small group[ that had gathered just to celebrate with him.
(620)
( missing scene of parent gifts and sibling ones goes here. explain wind tribe nomad stuff/ usefullness.)
Once Shukri was done with the gifts from his family and had stowed them safely away in his tent he began to follow Faiza through the camp towards whatever surprise she had in store for him. It had to be pretty big or heavy if she hadn't just brought it herself, although why she hadn't though to have her parents do it then he didn't know.
The current camp lay upon plain open plain protected alone it's borders defined by guard outpost tents and the presence of sentries themselves. Group of family tents were scattered about in a pre determined pattern towards the center of the camp was the elder's council tent, the healer's and the study tent where the camps younglings received general lessons as a group and then were split up into small batches to be given more individual lessons as appropriate.
At this hour the camp was fairly quiet, hunters had already left for the day, Prentices were off on their assigned tasks, the younglings were listening to their current lecture and most of the craftspeople within the tribe didn't make a lot of noise in their work. People were settled at their various work stations or moving about quietly, giving the camp a calm but productive feel to it.
As they neared the northeastern perimeter of the camp Shukri suddenly had an idea of what was about to happen. Faiza's father was one of the camp shepard and partially responsible for the herd of capramels the band kept. The cloven hoofed beasts were slightly larger than the mountain felines that tended to hunt them. they had ridged horns that circled back on their heads and a hump in the middle of their backs. They could be ridden by an adult wind tribe member but were more commonly used as mounts for younglings and to carry heavy loads or pull carts when the band was traveling from one camp location to the next. Capramels also provided meat, hides and milk for the band to use and were fairly easy to care for. They were the only livestock in Sauti that could be raised on the move, a necessity for most of the wind tribe.
Shukri's parent's owned a pair of Capramel, they were kept with the rest of the herd when not being used for travel purposes. With limited money of his own Shukri had never been able to purchase one of the animals and he had always wanted one. for someone as adventurous and fond of collecting things as he was it'd be nice to have a pack animals to go with him and alow him to bring back more things to keep, trade or sell. it looked as though he'd be getting his wish.
Glad as he was of that Shukri remained a bit confused on just how all of this made sense. Faiza had even less money than he did and capramels were not cheap. a section of the herd were considered band animals, general purpose capramels owned the everyone as a whole and utilized as the elders saw fit. of course as the herd had increased in size individuals had been able to purchase offspring for their own uses and people like faiza's fathered who tended to them were given some animals as part of their pay.
Still there were only perhaps 60 or so of the creatures in the herd at a time, it was all the various lands they moved to could sustain, and that made each one valuable. If you lost one to old age or something even adults might have to wait a season or two before there was a kid available for purchase to replace it and the price was beyond something like Faiza could afford.
Thus it was a quite bewildered Shukri who followed after the young girl who's every step held a bit of bounce to it. the reached the area where the herd was grazing and began to wade through the mass of animals towards where Faiza's father was waving at them. Kaelan was a tall for a wind tribe member and some suggested he had a bit of ice tribe in his background somewhere. He towered over the creatures he tended and was quite intimidating looking with grey eyes just a shade darker than Faiza's and a full head of wavy salt and pepper hair that betrayed his age. Like most shepard's Kaelan was physically fit and had a physique that showed the result of hours spent walking back and forth across fields, breaking up fights and restraining animals so they could be marked or treated by healers.
It was only after getting to know the man through his friendship with faiza that Shukri stopped feeling overwhelmed in his presence.
" Morning Shukri, I see Faiza got bored of waiting for you to wake up." Kaelan called out jovially, the man's gaze shifting between the two children and the section of the herd he was keeping an eye on.
" I didn't realize I was making people wait for me," Shukri murmured apologetically. He hated having his own time wasted and felt guilty about doing the same thing to others, especially people who were working today like Kaelan.
The older male shrugged and gave a soft laugh. "Most of us like to sleep in on day's like today, it's practically tradition."
" I'm not going to sleep in" Faiza boasted although she was looking at neither male, instead her eyes seemed to be scanning the herd for something in particular.
Kaelan rolled his eyes at his daughter " you're not going to sleep for a whole week after knowing you." There was quite a bit of fondness evident in the man's voice as he teased his child.
Faiza stuck her tongue out at her father before giving an excited squeal and darting off into the middle of the herd startling some of the younger animals , but with most of the older ones continuing to graze unphased. They like shukri had become used to Faiza's sudden bursts of energy over the years.
It only took a moment before the young girl was making her way back to the men leading a young capramel by the marked leather collar around it's neck. The creature's hide was covered in sandy brown hair and it had the tiniest nubbly beginnings of horns starting to sprout from the stop of it's head.
(break tbc
words 1699)
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:37 pm
day7
dream, talk with mizura, explain ,mystic. travel to chibale, explain that and aiha, talk with aisha, get only comfort. determined to figure out wtf is going on.
interlude 2 finding tahira.
Interlude 1
Kadriye tossed and turned in her sleep, she had had strange dreams before but nothing like this. The young mystic was trapped in her dream and unable to awaken despite her awareness of the situation. Though she could move of her own volition Kadriye was stuck, mute and unable to find a way out of the chamber of strange images that surrounded her.
If she moved left her large black eyes took in a series of strange symbols carved into the walls of odd metal caves. She saw an unfamiliar riverbank, a waterfall and then the sea? That didn't make sense. Then again nothing made sense here, she could hear and smell and practically feel to sea spray if she got close enough to the dream vision and the metals carvings felt cold to her touch. This was unusual for her dreams and Kadriye was a mystic, one of the alkidike chosen by aisha to lead their people, she was no stranger to seeing things in her sleep that held meaning.
There was no voice of aisha guiding her here though, no warm fragrent presence in the back of her mind showing her what she must do to to help her tribe. here there was only the all to real real images and sensations that kept her caged unable to awaken and discuss the strangeness with another.
Things were no less confusing for kadriye if she moved off to her right. Here she saw what appeared to be a looping sequence of a wind tribe boy and a strange flying reptile running along a purple cliff edge and then jumping. What happened to them she did not know and why they were important she couldn't be sure. Kadria could feel their fear those and when she gazed deeply into the images the soles of hr feet aches while her heart beat wildly in her chest.
There was another thing to the right a space that if she walked into it was cold and filled with a bright white light that made her blind. There was something in there, in this part of her dream, a foreign presence that called to her and yet Kadriye could not convince herself to move more than a few steps into the cold bright space without backing out again.
Kadriye had no clue what to do,her greatest assets, her magic and her keen intuition were of no use when she was locked within her own mind.
Suddenly it felt like she was being yanked up and away from her dream , the images grew fuzzy and distance until Kadriye opened her eyes to find herself staring into the equally dark eyes of one of her sisters. While those like the shifters or the earthlings might miss it Kadriye could see the concern in those dark depths.
"Kadriye what's wrong, you were making unusual noises in your sleep, you sounded scared." Mizura asked. the older female was a warrior like most of her kin and had a passion for battle. Things like nightmares distressed her because you couldn't fight your own mind.
Kadriye sat up and let her eyes adjust to the the semi light of the inside of the home tree. The hollowed out massive tree was lit from the inside by small clusters of mushrooms that gave off a florescent glow. "I had a strange dream Mizura, i think it was a vision but not one from aisha." Kadriye's antennae twitched in irritation at that, she was a vessel for her goddess and no one else. No other spirit but the great mother should be allowed to use her connection with magic to send messages. Especially not messages she couldn't decipher.
" I will speak with Eshe in the morning and if she cannot help me figure this out then I must hope that aisha will grant me clarity."
Unlike many of the other inhabitants of Tendaji the alkidike could speak to their diety. The great mother took the form of a large tree on their home island of chibale. The lotus each alkidike was born from came from her and it was once a year that any alkidike could return to the islands and plead their case to Aisha to give them lotus born child of their own to raise. Mystics like her Kadriye were granted passage onto the islands from jauhar anytime they needed to be closer to aisha or to return to the islands to preform sacred rites.
If need be Kadirye could make the trip and hope that the great mother would explain the strange invasive dream and unwelcome dream. Eshe however was the current oldest mystics and the de facto leader of the tribe. it might yet be that Kadriye simply needed her guidance to get through this, after all eshe knew and had seen much more than she had in her short lifetime thus far.
Mystics were recognized at birth for their unique powers and potential. While being strong and capable was a trademark of the alkidike people, mystics were raised from early on to be more in tune with their magic. Kadriye had been studying under eshe for some time time know but the older female was many seasons her senior and had secrets that kadriye would not be ready for for some time. It stood to reason then that it would be best to ask her first if anything in the strange dream made sense to her.
***
Several hours later morning dawned and Kadriye walked out of the home tree into the warm dark embrace of jaguar's rainforest. Here and there weak streams of sunlight had made it through the tick canopy overhead and cast pale golden beams of light upon the forest floor. much like inside the tree however the majority of light came from florescent mushrooms, they and crystals that sprouted up everywhere in Jauhar as if they too were plants cast all the light an alikidike needed to live adequately. Large eyes like those sported by the many insects that called the rainforest home allowed Kadriye and her kin to see in less than perfect conditions. It was why they were as at home on the forest floor as they were up in the canopy where the shifters they reluctantly shared the territory with lived.
Though Kadriye had never left Jauhar she had heard from those who had been on the expedition to see other lands. Aisha had given the alkidike all the lands but here , close to her was their home and Kadriye felt it suited her best. though one day she wished to see the great mountains of sauti and the wide open grassy plains of tale neither could compare to the beauty of Jauhar with it;s abundance of flora and fauna that came in all sorts of strange and wonderful colours and sizes.
Of course the forest wasn't without it's problems, she mused as she began her short walk towards the small clearing she knew Eshe preferred to meditate in during the mornings. Well not problems so much as dangers like the menzuri. large arachnids with crystalline bodies that had hallucinogenic venom and webs sticky and strong enough to trap a person. There were also deadly plants like the choking creeper a sentient vine that would land in way strew about a branch overhead and sudden drop down sections of it self if something walked underneath. If the prey could not free themselves from the vines choking grasp they would perish.
That mildly unpleasant thought faded from kadirye's mind ad she rounded a band in the well worn path and spotted Eshe, already up and sitting eyes closes in her chosen spot. The older mystic looked peaceful and serene, her antennae swinging a little in the slight breeze that moved through the clearing. Kadriye felt a bit bad about bothering her but this was important.
"Welcome sister, what troubles you, you're not due for your lessons until after the midday meal?" Though, Eshe's head turned in Kadriye's direction she did not open her eyes.
The young woman sighed softly as she moved closer and sat down across from her mentor. For the first time since she'd been a youngling kadriye reached up fiddle with the ends of her traditionally dread locked black hair as she spoke. It was difficult to explain everything she had seen and felt in a coherent way, to separate the experience and make it so eshe understood what had happened without being influenced by the way it had overwhelmed her student.
Eventually Eshe opened her eyes and shook her head "I don't know anything about the places or people you speak of. The symbols you describe make no sense and there is nothing I can recall in aisha's teachings that would tie any of this togeather." Concern was evident in the older mystics voice . " if what you felt was true and there was something in the cold space, perhaps it was Bergchi the icy goddess of the mountains that the wind and ice tribes follow. Though what she would want with you I do not know.
"Perhaps her people need aid only the alkidike can provide, and we are the true children of this place, the firstborn who should tend to it. it would be our responsibility in in way." Kadriye mused. While there were some who had begun to doubt their people's claims to superiority Kadriye had always been a champion of the traditional alkidike way of thinking. This would only help cement those feelings for her, bergchi did not even speak to her own people but she would speak to one of aisha's children.
" That could be although we cannot be sure and it is too soon to make such grand assumptions kadriye. if our aid is called for we will send it but until then it is best not to march onto the other territories lest we start another war."
As it was the shifter and alkidike tribes had an uneasy truce that often fell apart and was only restored after both had lost people in battle. Kadriye supposed it might be a bad idea to split off a large group of blades and have them march from the heart of Jauhar to somewhere in Sauti or Zena and declare themselves diety sent saviors even if it was true.
"Should i return to chibale to ask aisha for clarity?" the young woman asked.
Eshe shook her head slowly " the great mother made us resourceful, only once we have exhausted all options and investigated everything should we ask for her guidance in this matter. or if the dreams become more frequent and change, then it may be necessary for you to go to her sooner.."
Kadriye nodded, " As you will eshe, with your permission i will go and see if anyone has heard of strange news coming from the sea or from sauti and Zena."
Eshe nodded and tilted her head back towards where the path had lead into the clearing " it is best if you start that soon, you are still expected to be back here on time for your lesson today."
Kadriye smiled, comforted for the moment about having a plan of action for the future. " I look forward to it." she replied before heading back towards the path and hopefully towards answers for her many questions.
( blah blah talk with eshe, no clue talk with aisha. describe jauhar, a little )
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Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:00 pm
Day 8
even more chapter 1.
"Pava had twins and dad said I could give this one to you." Faiza declared gleefully and she pulled the fluffy and non enthused looking kid up, front and center, to be presented before Shukri.
" That, .. its a wonderful gift Faiza, , um, thank you." Shukri was still in a bit of shock. He knew Pava was one of the female capramels born a few years back that Kaelan owned, she was, one Faiza could spot on site due to a bit of her left ear missing and was the young girl's favourite in the flock. It made sense then that she'd want Shukri to have one of her kids but for kaelan to allow it,!
Twins weren't particularly common among the species and when they were born they were usually sold for a tidy profit. This kid was too young yet to have been available for sale as it was common practice to wait until they were old enough to be weaned for that in case the purchaser wanted them separated from the flock for some reason or they were to be sold to members of another band met during their travels.
" Faiza insisted she be allowed to get you something special and this was the best gift she could think of. You've been a good friend to her so it's good to see you happy." There was no regret or resignation in Kaelan's voice when he spoke, clearly he had no problem with giving the kid up to Shukri. It was nice, to be approved of like this, he'd always known her parents had minded him hanging out with Faiza but they'd never made any special effort to express any special sentiment about it. Much like the pride he'd felt at being promoted this made Shukri feel oddly warm and pleased about himself in a way he couldn't quite describe.
"She's too small to be away from Pava for long" Faiza warned as she rubbed the spot between the kids' horn nubs making the little beasts tiny stub of a tail wiggle back and forth with pleasure. "And you have to be nice to her and not make her carry too much heavy stuff when she's bigger and you can;t give her a weird name."
Shukri nodded along as Faiza spoke, he had no issues with the rules and was amused by the amount of care and attention she'd put into this. He'd made an excellent choice in friends . " Hmm is ridwan an acceptable name to you?" he had always wanted to give that name to a female pet if he could ever afford to care for a companion animal.
Faiza scrunched up her face in her "I'm thinking' way for a minute before nodding. " Yeah Ridwan is okay and I'll show you have to brush her and train her when she's bigger. For now you mostly just get to cuddle her sometimes."
Shukri launched and crouched down to be on the right level to easily pet the young capramel and give it a quick huge for Faiza's sake. It wasn't that he didn't believe in giving animals affection but Ridwan looked like she was more than ready to head back to her mother soon for a meal and a nap, she probably wouldn't appreciate him clinging to her or smothering her. In his own defense Shukri didn't like it either and also didn't want to risk being bit regardless of how young she was.
Ridwan was easily the most impressive gift he had gotten today and while it would be some time before he could put her to proper use Shukri didn't mind waiting. Besides he had a feeling that training her himself .. well along with Faiza would only make the time pass more quickly and memorably.
The day wasn't even half over yet, Shukri was still fresh from being a Prentice and already his life was looking better and better with each passing moment.
(chapter 1 end)
(Bits and pieces of stuff bah can't focus tonight))
Shukri lay curled up on his side unable to sleep, he had a big journey of him starting the next day but his mind would not quiet enough for weary body to surrender into oblivion. Instead he found himself tossing and turning, picking at his nails and on occasion grinding his teeth until he noticed and stopped himself.
At the moment his mind was preoccupied with mulling over the people he might meet on his journey. Those who had been part of expedition to Sauti and who had become friends to him. There was of course no guarantee he'd see any of them but the chance was there and he couldn't help but think about what might happen then.
Since he had to pass through Tale on his way to Jauhar it would be Jacinthus of the leaf tribe that he might run into first. He'd met the older male not that long ago when he'd been digging fossils out of a cliff side near his band's old camp. They'd sort of bonded over the amusement of having younger siblings. Shukri had explained to him the joys of of nomadic life and the philosophy and practicality of such a lifestyle in Sauti. It seemed to have resonated with the other man even if he had seemed disinclined fully give up the idea of a permanent home and land one could call their own.
Like most he'd met leaf tribesman had been a fighter of sorts preferring a bow and arrows as his weapon. Shukri had not had the chance to see him use it and perhaps if he met up with Jacinthus again an opportunity would arise. We he supposed he might have seen the older male use his bow during the battle with the great beast of legend but Shukri had been focused less on what others were doing and more on staying alive at that point. In any case Jacinthus would be interesting to run into again and Shukri doubted he'd have any problems developing a further friendship should it happen.
For some reason Shukri had simply met no one else from Tale during the time the expedition had been near him. Jauhar on the other hand held several people he might run into and enjoy doing so with. Of course if his map was correct Jauhar was huge and finding any of the shifter or alkidike settlements could be difficult.
First was Takoda, a member of the shifter tribe and a healer he was tender hearted and perhaps more open and trusting than was safe. Shukri had approved of the other's curiosity though and was himself curious to have a chance to possible see his or another shifter's skin change. On top of that the pale haired boy trusted Takoda to be honest and helpful while respecting his boundaries if he became standoffish. It wasn't that he wanted to lie or misuse Takoda's trust but he'd feel less bad about it since it was for the greater good.
There was also the possibility of seeing Takoda at work as a healer. Shukri had no desire to be up close and personal with anyone's gaping wounds or leaking bodily fluids but he did want to observe some things. He knew the shifter tribe used different healing magic, poultices and wraps than his people and he wondered what sorts of solutions they had for varous ailments and if any of them could be brought back to help in Sauti. His band's healers were more than competent but it never hurt to have multiple solutions to a problem.
Last but not least he was curious to see if Takoda's fear of bugs had lessened any since he'd last seen him. Given that he'd now get to see Jauhar's supposedly enormous and intimidating bugs up close it would be interesting. Of course if they truly were as scary as he'd been warned of he'd have to apologize.. in a casual way mind you.
Also located somewhere in Jauhar in one of the shifter tribes was chalcedony Shukri remembered him as a sort of quiet but strong type, the sort that fortunately for him defended strangers who'd pissed off the local wildlife. Running into him wouldn't provide much in the conversation department but he'd love to see the large family the other man had mentioned several times. families living in houses in trees of all things were still a thing of fantasy to Shukri. It simply wasn't going to settle properly in his mind until his saw these massive trees strong enough to support not only sustained climbing but also whole homes worth of people.
Last but certainly not least on his list of people to look out for was Maya. She was the only Alikidike he had gotten to know well and the only one he trusted. Not enough to tell her the true purpose of his visit of course but he felt he could comfortably spend time around her and not have her try to ferret information out of him or coerce him into anything he didn't want to do. It wasn't that he didn't respect other Alkidike just that the all female warrior race was intimidating and their dominant personalities made him uncomfortable for the most part.
He was not a fighter he was,a collector, a hunter of rare treasures, a tiny bit of an artisan and a moderate trader. none of his skills would be highly prized by the assertive and highly athletic alkidike who already towered above him and had strength he couldn't contend with.
No matter who he ran into though Shukri would have a limited amount of time to spend with them, he mused as sleep finally began to win the war against his mind's stubborn wakefulness. His main mission must be to find and investigate the place on the map then report back as soon as possible to the elders. Still, it would be nice if the entire journey wasn't undertaken solo for the most part interspersed with mandatory attempts at interaction and setting up trade agreements to help his cover story.
Perhaps, if Bergchi blessed him there would be some companionship along the way.
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