Child's Play

by **Ayatah** on October 20th, 2014, 9:06 pm

Child's Play

|| 17th Fall 514AV || Fearson Home || Tenth Bell

Ayatah gripped the wooden axe tightly as she strode through Zeltiva. Of course a few passing individuals gave her strange looks, some even wary. She was, after all, a Myrian wielding a weapon - even if it was only a toy axe - and images of bloodthirst and cannibalism would no doubt be flashing through the minds of those who she strode past.

Fortunately, Aya was not preparing for battle, though she looked stressed, worried even. Her steps were long and hurried, and she darted through the milling crowd as she once dodged her way through the overhanging vines of the jungle.

She was in a rush.

The orphanage loomed up ahead, and Aya finally slowed down her stride. Outside the entry doors, she paused and straightened her hair and clothes. It didn't truly matter what she looked like, but she nevertheless wanted to make a good impression. With a final excited little shimmy of her shoulders, she opened the door.

And was greeted by a small boy lunging at her, as fast as any Myrian warrior in training. She laughed aloud, all worries of the world - the past, present and the future - sliding off her shoulders. "How did you know it was me opening the door? You could have attacked anyone."

The young boy shrugged, itched feverously behind his ear before answered. "Not many people come here. And I knew it was you." Her shrugged again, the simplicity of his answer making Ayatah strangely proud.

This would be their third meeting in six days. A whirlwind relationship indeed, but it all felt natural, like their sudden friendship was not sudden at all but a lifelong one.

But it wasn't just a friendship; there was a stronger bond between herself and Kuame. Ayatah had felt similar bonds before; with her childhood friend Tinnok - the two were both half-breeds, united in the shared experience as abomination. And of course, with Razkar. Their romantic relationship had been so sudden and intense that it taken Aya's breath away just how much the Myrian male had meant to her.

Both relationships paled in comparison to what she felt for Kuame.

She didn't just love him - she adored the boy. Aya wanted to turn the world upside down for him, to whisk him away into the family that he so deserved. The need to protect him and care for him was so strong that it made her eyes water, and long nights alone in her cottage were spent wondering whether Kuame was sleeping, whether he needed another blanket.

"I have bought you something." Ayatah said, extending the wooden axe towards Kuame, who’s instantly eyes went wide with excitement. "It is a wooden axe, like the one the children in my home play with."

He took the toy carefully, turning it in his hands as he inspecting the carving. Once again, Aya felt a glimmer of pride - and for what? Her imagination flurried wildly, and she pictured Kuame inspecting other toy weapons and only selecting the finest. Only the best for Warrior Kuame.

"I love it!" He exclaimed delightedly, giving the axe a feeble swing. His black eyes shot up to Aya sheepishly. "I don't know how to use it."

She panicked. The toy was a gift, for him to play with, not to feel self conscious about! Ignoring the feeling of guilt that grew in the put of her stomach, Aya smiled reassuringly. "That doesn't matter, Kuame. Play with it as you wish. You don't need to use it. Just play."

The boy seemed unsure about that final word, but he swung the axe a few more times. Still not satisfied, he twisted around to Aya. "Can you teach me?"

How to play? She considered his request. Myrian children played by fighting; their games actually military training in disguise.

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by **Ayatah** on October 23rd, 2014, 6:38 pm

It was a challenge Ayatah could not deny, so she eventually smiled and nodded. "Of course I will, Kuame."

But first they needed to leave the Orphanage, and Aya liked to check with Madame Thea so the older women knew of Kuame's whereabouts. The matriarch of the Orphanage had demanded no answers when initially Ayatah approached her to discuss her spending more time with the young lad. Instead, Madame Thea had only smiled knowingly and agreed to the idea.

The two stepped out of the Orphanage and into the cool autumn air. Ayatah noticed, with relief, that Kuame wore a rough leather coat. It was far too long for his short arms, but better than nothing. She would not want to return Kuame to Madame Thea shivering and blue.

He ran off ahead of her, swinging his toy axe happily before pausing to make sure she was following. Ayatah smiled. It was a habit of his that Aya noticed on their first outing. Myrian children would scurry away from their parents like ants, disappearing into the jungle and racing their elders back to the clan home. Kuame, however, did not seem to want to journey far from her. It was touching, really... if she didn't think too deeply as to why he lacked such confidence.

The boy pranced on ahead, paused, waited, and then ran off some more. The distance between them yawned open and close as they travelled the same way Ayatah had come. After ten or so chimes, they walked through the front door of her cottage. Kuame danced across the room and greeted Kiwi, who peered at the boy with bright black eyes and chirped pleasantly in response.

Ayatah had already prepared her home for him; lying out a great tiger pelt that almost covered the entire floor and setting pillows on the chair and bed to make them as comfortable as possible. The tiger fur beneath Aya's now bare feet bought back the memories of how she acquired the skin. She smiled at them fondly. "Perhaps we should start with a story?" Kaume liked her tales of the jungle, and this time Aya knew exactly which one she would tell.

The boy nodded excitedly, dropping to the fur and sitting down, legs crossed. The wooden axe sat across his lap, and Aya perched herself on the corner of her bed.

I am a Myrian matriarch telling my clan a story. She thought with a smirk, glancing from Kiwi to Kuame and back again.

"You see this tiger pelt?" She reached down to touch it, and Kaume copied her, "it belonged to a huge jungle tiger - different to the Myrian tigers ridden by my people - but no less fierce. An old friend of mine asked if I would accompany him to kill the tiger." The story paused for dramatic effect. "A member of his clan was a magic woman, and she used bones to--" Now she thought of it, Ayatah had never been sure of what the power of Bones actually achieves (ironic, given our clan name). She bushed this detail off, "--to do stuff.

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by **Ayatah** on October 25th, 2014, 9:29 pm

”Magic stuff?”Kuame’s eyes were wide, and when she glanced to Kiwi’s cage, she smiled when the parakeet also seemed entranced by her story.

Aya nodded. ”Yep, magic stuff. And she needed a whole tiger skeleton for her magic, and so we went early in the morning, all the way to the Kandukta Basin – do you remember that from my other story?”

The boy nodded hurriedly, and Aya continued her tale: ”We chose the Basin because the tiger’s would come there to drink and swim. But it still took a while – a few bells in fact until we found one. Or rather,” her voice dropped, dramatic and low, for the next bit: ”[i]he found us!”

Kuame gasped and leant forwards. His axe was abandoned now, strewn at his side like a warrior distracted by a butterfly.

”He was a huge beast, clearly an old Tiger than had prowled the jungles for years and years—“

”Older than you?” The idea was ridiculous, clearly.

Aya allowed her mouth to drop in feigned insult. ”Yes older than me! I’m young, thank-you-very-much!” With her arms on her hips, she continued the story, giving the boy a pointed look until he giggled and dropped his eyes coyly. Kiwi, she heard, was clicking his beak impatiently. She continued. ”My friend—“ How strange it was to refer to the man who had been her lover as a mere ‘friend’; the gesture was almost blasphemous. ”- and I started flying arrows at the tiger, and we got a couple of good shots in, but he wasn’t going down easy. We eventually had to move in on hand and foot. But I was younger than, a bit clumsy. I ended up with this…” Her cotton top was hitched up and Ayatah showed Kuame the three claw marks that slashed across her abdomen. They were long faded, ”the tiger didn’t appreciate us trying to get at his bones. Which is fair enough, I suppose.” It would not strike Ayatah how openly she had discussed death and killing in front of Kuame until long after she had returned him to the orphanage later that evening. It was norm to be so open with Myrian children, but those raised in the city always seemed a little… protected against such matters. Kuame, however, did not seem fazed, which was why it wouldn’t cross Ayatah’s mind until some bells later.

”We eventually managed to get him down, and after some preparations, we carried the beast back.” In reality, those ‘preparations’ had included carnal relationships in the sticky bloodied mud, right there in the middle of the jungle. She and Razkar had often enjoyed such moments with only each other and nature. That, however, was a detail that Kuame did not need to know. ”And when the tiger was skinned and the bones taken, my friend gifted me with this skin. It’s very precious to me.” Her toes rolled and squeezed the tufts of fur, still soft despite the years. The bright tiger orange had faded somewhat, having been exposed to the direct sunlight since leaving the canopy of the jungle. The tiger skin was one of two things Aya had insisted on bringing from the jungle with her; the other was a small vial of Eypharian perfume, one that had never been opened by Ayatah since she took it from the body of an Eypharian woman long, long ago. Both were precious for her; fragments from the jungle and desert that represented her dual heritage.

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