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 Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:42 pm
Was Uquin a bad father if he admitted that Ujana had ways of getting under his skin that he'd never believed existed? As babies, both daughters had been ... well, not easy to deal with, but at least they didn't offer many surprises. As they quickly grew, however, their personalities began to flourish - Padma was sprouting into a creative little thing, while Ujana....
Ujana concerned Uquin. She was fiercely intelligent, playful, and there was no doubt that she cared for her family. But she seemed to revel in mischief, and Uquin couldn't tell if she simply enjoyed ruffling him up specifically or it was simply the way she was. She resembled her mother in many ways - a whirlwind of independence that left him flabbergasted and confused as to how to deal with her.
As a parent, offering discipline and care in the hopes of taking care of your charge, Ujana made things ... difficult. And at times Uquin wondered if she resented him for being the more strict parent. At night, he often had nightmares of Ujana disobeying rules that he'd set on his daughters to keep them safe - of her playing in the trees, and falling, broken, to the ground. Of her sneaking out and being devoured by some wild creature on the forest floor - of her being spirited away as a meal for a beast, or as a pretty token of some cruel Oban slaver.
After his recent talk with Pahana - and her decision to move to Andile, possibly taking one or both of the girls with her, both parents had wanted to spend quality time with the girls, separately, before telling them - and letting them choose who to stay with. And today was Uquin's day to spend with Ujana, while Padma stayed with her mother. 'If only...' he thought with a heavy sigh, standing at the base of their home-tree and staring around helplessly, 'If only she'd not run off.'
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 10:42 pm
Ujana didn't understand why she had to spend the day with her father. She could think of a million better things to do than get followed around and told off for hours, which she just knew was what was going to happen while she was with her dad all day. She huffed from a top of a branch, a wad of fruit clutched firmly in her hand, and gave the top of her father's head a discriminating stare. Was he still waiting for her to climb down the ladder? She stuck her tongue out and chuckled to herself. He really couldn't keep track of things, could he? She shoved the remaining fruit into her mouth, inched herself along the branch, and quickly swung herself into an upside down position.
"HEY! Daddy! Over here!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around. "Betcha can't hang on a branch like this!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:09 pm
Hearing Ujana up in the trees, Uquin finally turned on his heel, peering up into the treeline - only for his heart to hammer as she dangled, upside down, from a branch impossibly high up in the air. More scenarios flashed before his eyes of gravity taking its hold on her - he did what he could, face angled up and not paying attention to where he stepped, to position himself roughly under her, narrowing his eyes as he appraised her position.
"I suppose I'd look pretty ridiculous, trying to do that." Uquin admitted, his lip quirking into a small smile. "You climb well, I'll give you that - but I half think you're doing it just to scare me! Come down, Ujana."
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 5:45 pm
Ujana's expression became contemplative before a raspberry was blown down to Uquin below. She wouldn't be coming down just yet, it was more fun up here! All sorts of things lived up in the trees, things that were more interesting than whatever her dad might have up his sleeves for the day. For all she knew, he could want to match socks in the house instead of doing anything fun. She'd stay put here until he proved her otherwise!
"Me, want to scare you? You're so silly daddy!" She exclaimed, making a series of faces at him as she swung herself back into a seated position on the branch again. "You know what? You should come up here and sit with me! It's much more fun up here than down there! Besides, you could use the upper body exer-exer... Work out!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:33 pm
What, and fall for her dare? Please. Uquin crossed his arms, biting the inside of his cheek in thought as he gazed up at Ujana. He did, however, release a sigh of quiet relief when she righted herself on the branch, relaxing into an easier stance. The last thing he needed to do was startle her, or make her feel she should stay in the trees any longer than necessary - which ruled out the strong urge to order her out of the tree, or try and sweep her from the branches with a burst of magical wind (which would do the trick, but possibly send her careening to the ground, which in and of itself was OPPOSITE of what he wanted to do.)
"What a kind thing to say about your father, darling daughter." Uquin said dryly, with a roll of his eyes. Ujana, he felt, wasn't especially fond of him - but no more than any adventurous child who felt coddled by a parent. He tried not to take such jibes seriously, even if a more fragile part of him actually contemplated following her up - if only to prove to her he COULD.
A small part that was getting bolder, and bigger, as he found his eyes dropping to instead look over the tree - knotted with sturdy rivets and graceful creases that would make such a climb easy, though not very comfortable. "If I do that, will you come down with me afterwards?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:22 pm
What? What did she say? She arched her head back and furrowed her brows. Was it about him needing exercise? That was the truth! Healers never lifted a muscle, as far as she knew, and needed to coaxed into working out. It was a simple fact of life. She nodded to herself and peered down to her father again.
"Yep! You just need to come up here!" She exclaimed, wiggling back and forth on the branch. "If you do that, I'll come down and do whatever you want for the rest of the day! Warrior's promise!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:49 pm
It wasn't very responsible to be making deals of this nature with his child, but that was probably one of the first things Uquin learned about having children - you had to fight your battles. Heaving a sigh, the healer knelt down and unstrapped his sandals, leaving them in the sandy brush at the base of the tree. He had climbed plenty of trees in his time, though it had been a while - not since Pahana was pregnant and he'd undertaken a massive overhaul on the house, repairing the dilapidated building until it was safe and secure for children.
So while it was definitely a fight to heave himself up the gnarled wood of the tree, it wasn't impossible - there was no scrabbling or cursing as he shimmied up, but instead he climbed with deliberate motions, each motion sure as he pulled himself up the tree, fingertips securely gripping each rivet and knot of wood, toes doing the same. Finally, with only a slight flush to his face from exertion, Uquin tugged himself upwards into the tree, and settled at the base of the limb, where it was more solidly connected to the trunk, casting a look at his daughter half expectantly. "So, little one - what do you find so amusing up here that you wanted to share with me?" He asked teasingly, reaching to ruffle her hair.
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:06 pm
Ujana's mouth gaped as she watched Uquin climb. He was actually climbing? This was amazing! She'd gotten him to climb up a tree! It was almost too good to be true! She shuffled closer toward him as he made his ascent, wiggling anxiously, and enveloped him in a hug as he reached out to her. He did it! He did it! This was amazing! She almost couldn't contain herself!
"See! I knew you could do it, daddy!" She exclaimed, brimming with pride. "You should do that every day so you get big and strong! We should climb together every day!"
She nodded to herself, before plopping down next to her father and arching an eyebrow. What was there to share? He really didn't mean that, did he? He wasn't that far gone, was he? She heaved a sigh and shook her head. Oh, boooyyy... Healers really didn't know very much as they thought they did.
"Daaadddyy, just look around! You can see the whole village from up here!" She exclaimed, exasperated. "You can't see that from our front door so that makes it special! But, if you go even higher, you can see all sorts of other stuff too!"
She stood and shuffled towards the opposite trunk, her eyes gazing upwards.
"Like that big bird nest, and those super neat vines!" She added, pointing them out. "You miss all of this cool stuff by staying on the ground! That's what's so amoo-Ahmu-... Amusing!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:38 pm
Oh please, him climbing a tree couldn't be THAT much of a surprise, could it? He was just as much a leaf earthling as she was, after all - he could attest to that fact! But, more than that, Uquin felt embarrassed by how pleased Ujana was that he'd come up at all. Most of the time she didn't seem to like him, so having her hug him was a welcome change! Squeezing her back with a ready smile, Uquin smiled - only to pause when she mentioned climbing every day.
Listening to Ujana go on about all the sights up here, Uquin sat and leaned against the tree, watching her. Pahana had mentioned telling the girls about the move - but they hadn't made their decisions yet. Even so, he was pretty sure which one Ujana would choose - she would go with Pahana. It was in her personality - adventure, leaving home to go somewhere new, somewhere exciting - Jauhar was exciting. More monsters, there with her Uncle Yaholo and cousins, but still with her mother.
He should have been prepared for this. If he and Pahana were romantically involved, maybe it would have been easy to decide to go with them. But as it was, he felt he'd had enough of Jauhar, from the war and from traveling every few weeks to get more herbs, to last him a lifetime.
"You'll have to be careful up in the trees in Jauhar, you know - it's not just bird nests and vines in those trees."
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:58 pm
Ujana paused, her hand resting against the bark of the trunk. Oh, yeah, right... She wasn't going to be living here for very much longer, was she? Her mother wanted to go to Andile to be closer to uncle Yaholo and aunt Tahigwa, and Ujana wanted to go along. But, he dad didn't, and Padma didn't, they didn't want to go... She turned her face toward the trunk so Uquin wouldn't see her frowning and sighed. There was a big part of her that didn't want to leave, but she didn't want to admit that. It was a weak side, an ugly little part of her that wanted to beg her daddy to come with them and never leave. She hated that part of herself, honestly, she was usually ready for everything, but this side made her not want to move at all. She found herself sitting down again and pinning herself against the trunk, her gaze moving towards the trees on the other side of the village.
"... Maybe... Maybe mama will change her mind." She said, the words sliding out like pebbles onto the sand. "Then we could still climb every day and..." She glanced to the ground and up to Uquin. "Stay together."
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:20 pm
Even if Uquin couldn't see her face, Ujana's body language had turned fragile. She was an open book - all broad shoulders and broad, flowing motions - to suddenly crowd herself against the tree and block herself in screamed out her sadness. Uquin kicked himself for bringing it up in the first place at all.
When she finally spoke, the words were soft, almost muffled as she finally looked at him with eyes so big he felt they were shattering his heart just looking at him. Before he could think, Uquin reached for her and plucked up his daughter with ease, sitting her on his knee, which crooked against the limb of the tree for support, and hugged her, kissing the top of her head sweetly. "I'll visit you both, I promise. How about this - you climb with your cousins, every day, and I'll climb the biggest tree I can find near here. We'll still climb together - and when we see eachother you can tell me all about all those trees you climbed and what you see out there."
He had to close his eyes, tightly, and kiss her hair again to keep his voice steady. Parenthood had come unexpected, but having the confirmation that she was going with Pahana was a kick to the gut that he'd thought he was prepared for.
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:40 pm
Ujana curled up in her father's lap as he scooped her up. He was so warm and cozy, just like her mother... Why couldn't they stay up here like this forever? The bigger part of herself fought against tears as he spoke and forced her eyes to gaze straight forward, in hopes that avoiding eye contact with her father would stop her from wanting to break into a sob. However, being the child that she was, her raw emotions won over in the end, and her face was soon buried in her father's chest.
"Okay, I will! I promise!" She exclaimed, rubbing furiously at her eyes. "I'll beat Sammy and Kenny up the biggest trees in the forest and I'll wave to you! And... And... I'll bring you back big jewels and stuff! Like treasure! You can use treasure for healing things, right? Right?"
She whined and puffed out her cheeks, her hands moving to cover her eyes. She hated crying so much! It made her face all puffy and red, and wet! Why was crying even a thing people did? It was so weird and ugly, and gross! She sniffled, wiggled, and flopped defeatedly against Uquin.
"Will you write to me, too, and tell me all about stuff?" She asked. "I wanna know if the bad guys come back to Yera when uncle Yaho isn't around so I can tell him, okay?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:28 am
Uquin felt his heart break when the tiny girl finally gave in to her tears. Hitching a breath, the healer nodded and gently ruffled her hair, holding her close to his chest and swaying her as soothingly as he dare, since they were still sitting on a limb in a tree. "You know, I'm not sure about treasure, Ujana." He admitted with a soft chuckle, still petting her hair out of her tear-streaked face. Her hands covered her eyes, ashamed of her tears, but bits of hair still tickled her wet cheeks where her rubbing hands had spread moisture.
Logically, of course, sending a letter to ask for aid would defeat the purpose - but he wasn't about to tell that to his daughter. Besides that, her faith in her uncle was endearing. "Hmm should I write you about all the boring things as well, or just the exciting ones?" He teased, attempting to lighten the mood. Carefully he leaned down and curled his fingers to tickle at her ribs, cracking a smile that was half-hearted, but simply trying to help her recover from her tears.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:47 pm
Ujana gave a tiny pout. No to treasure? That was silly, but, then again, her dad didn't always make sense to her anyway. She continued to rub at her eyes until she was sure they were dry enough for her liking and nuzzled into Uquin's chest, fully intent on snuggling him for as long as she damn well pleased. She didn't know the next time she'd see him and, admittedly, was afraid she'd forget how he felt and smelled. She let out a huff against him and nodded.
"Write to me about everything!" She exclaimed. "I wanna hear about all the people you heal and what Padma's doing! I just... I wanna make sure she gets her exercise and... and..."
She paused, her cheeks flushing.
"I wanna know if she'll miss me, too."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:55 pm
Uquin found his fond smile falling into a smirk of amusement at Ujana's apparent confusion on his 'no treasure' policy. "Even the healing? Wow!" Uquin playfully responded, taking in the bittersweet moment of holding his daughter. Possibly it would be a long time since they all saw eachother again - Uquin visited Jauhar frequently, but not Andile - and he doubted he could just meander into an Alkidike town without risking Padma.
It could be years. Squeezing her at the thought, Uquin sighed softly and pushed some of her messy hair behind her ear, chuckling softly. "Of course she'll miss you, you're her sister. But I'll do my best to tell you all about it, I promise. Just write me back, okay?"
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