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 Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:54 pm
Quote: Another year has passed in Tendaji, meaning a new opportunity for the residents to accomplish their goals and dreams. Typically, this is a time for setting promises to oneself and others on what to do in the year ahead. There are many different superstitions on how to make a New Year's Wish: some toss their written wishes into the sea, others will burn them at a shrine, and even more will whisper them to representatives of the gods.
No matter how one goes about doing it, all will take the time to ensure that their wishes and promises have the best chance to come true in the New Year.
[ What is your character's promise for the New Year? Go about their practice of setting their goals and dreams in the way they feel is most important. Maybe they go to the shrines, or wish under a star, or honor the god(s) they follow. The goal of this World Event is to make a wish for the next year however your character chooses fit. ]
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:16 pm
The sun had just crested the eastern horizon of Chiume when Xaawo awoke with a sleepy grin. It was the first day of a new year, and she was ready to make some changes. The youngling wasn't usually the type to ascribe meaning to arbitrary dates and events, but the start of a new cycle was a rare exception. Everything was possible today. Everything felt clean and fresh and fun.
She changed out of her sleeping shift as quickly as she could manage, then gathered her supplies and stepped out into the crisp morning air with a wide yawn. It had been a while since she had ventured to their little cave, but it was the perfect place to be alone, at least this early in the day. She had chosen a particular corner as her own long ago, and she brought her things there now, taking a seat and slowly opening her notebook's leather cover. The pages inside were not bound like a tome from the mainland, and they fluttered faintly as a breeze blew into the cave.
Okay. Where to begin? She knew that she actually had to hash out her goals before she could pledge them to anyone, but the blank page now in front of her seemed to taunt her instead. She knew that she wanted change, something more challenging than scampering and playing, but what that entailed was hazy and uncertain. Xaawo chose a thin stick of graphite from her supplies and wrote:
Find out more about Belrea
Chiume wasn't the only tract of land on this side of the world. The mainland was full of people many of her guardians mistrusted—Earthlings. She would decide for herself if they were worthy of her scorn. Xaawo rubbed at her chin, then began to scribble once more.
Ask sisters about work
She wouldn't be expected to protect or provide for Azehra for a good long while, but that didn't mean she shouldn't be prepared for when she was. Xaawo had no idea what it was like to handle anything any more threatening than a brush, and it would do her well to discover all she could about blades and hammers before she was expected to choose a path for her life.
She peered at the page, now decorated with her precise print. Both of these wishes had to do with the pursuit of knowledge, with understanding the world outside of her narrow view, and since that was already the case, she saw no reason not to take her goals a step further. Under her first two declarations, she wrote a simple:
I promise to learn.
Xaawo folded the scrap of paper in on itself until it would no longer bend. She looped a slender bit of twine around its middle, one she had dyed pink and orange like a sunset, then tied it tight with too many knots. There was only one other who would see what she had written, one how already knew the promise she had made. The mother tree.
- - - - -
She would never have buried something as simple as a note at the base of Azehra, but she didn't have to go far to find a place where it could be left. The perfect location presented itself just a few short minutes from the cave. At the center of a patch of untouched grass, a flower marked the spot where she would bury her vow. It was the same shade as one of the mother's lotuses. Surely a good omen, if she were to believe in such things.
Xaawo pulled a spoon out of a satchel at her side and dug it into the ground, eventually pausing when she had a perfect hole, though one that was perhaps a little deeper than it needed to be. The ground here was satisfyingly squishy, and if she lingered on carving into it for longer than she might have otherwise, that was her business. The girl smiled as she dropped in her note, then leaned forward as she filled in the hole.
Work completed, she stood and brushed her hands across her thighs. It was a fine vow she had made, one that could carry her far beyond this year. But for a moment, she wondered what it might mean for her when she had learned all she could from this island.
Once she left, would she ever want to come back?
Xaawo swallowed and turned abruptly, hurrying back to the cave to retrieve her things. She didn't know why these thoughts pricked the hairs at the back of her neck, but she was suddenly thankful for the fact that she was small and wouldn't have to make those sorts of decisions for years to come.
With a muttered apology to Azehra, the girl took a deep breath and turned back toward the main settlement.[ 808 words ]
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