Closed Joining the Family (Naiya, Shahar)

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 63rd Day of Fall, 515 AV


Seirei felt a rising excitement within her as she watched the sun rise. Today was the day that she would get her windmarks. It was a big decision, choosing what one wanted their windmarks to be. The decision would be a permanent one, so it was important to choose something that she would like for the rest of her life. Something that had a great deal of meaning to her.

It had taken Seirei a little over a month to decide what she wanted her windmarks to be. She had been thinking about it ever since she had asked her friends how you were supposed to decide what you wanted for your windmarks. They had answered her questions patiently, and given her a gift that still left her reeling with awe and amazement even now. Seirei had never thought she would have a family again after her mother had died, and her caravan had abandoned her. Children, yes. Lian had seen to that first, and that group of men last summer...Seirei shuddered, and fought with the memories that her thoughts had stirred up until they settled back into the depths of her mind once more.

She was a mother, and would give birth to a third child in the coming spring. But family was so much more than people who were related to you by blood. That was a part of it, yes. But not everything. Family was a sense of belonging somewhere. To someone who cared about you, and who you loved in return. Family were people you could count on for anything, and who you would do anything for. Family was...everything. Family was life. And the Dawnwhispers had given it back to her when they asked her if she wanted to become one of them.

Today was the day that she was going to get her windmarks. But it was also the day that she was going to join the Dawnwhisper family as a sister. As a symbol of this, Shahar and Naiya were allowing her to include the Dawnwhisper family windmark as part of her own windmarks. It was a gift that she would cherish forever. She felt almost giddy. Like a little kid waiting with eager impatience for a momentous event to begin.


Word Count17,871 words.
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[Colt]

The day dawned in brilliance. The night had brought a light shower to the city of tents, nothing heavy or damaging, and the lingering dew caught the rising sun in an vast, limitless expanse of fractured light and rainbows. It almost erased the discomfort of the nipping chill, at least to Shahar and Snow; Tuka was as cold as ever and did not pay attention to rainbows.

The three had risen before dawn, as per usual, and left the camp to carve their typical circuit between the traps lain the night before. The pattern that had been so new at the beginning of the season was beginning to root itself into the minds of the three hunters, and now that all three were comfortable it was beginning to change. Tuka no longer spent the early morning at Shahar’s side, as she had previously; instead, the she-cat was making a habit of roaming ahead and afield, nose to the ground for a wake-up hunt that the other two did not aid her with. Sometimes she brought back prey, sometimes she didn’t, but it was an exercise that never failed to leave her fresh-eyed and ready to face the day.

Snow, meanwhile, was perfectly content to wake up alongside her guardian, and saw no need to stray from his side so early. She remained at his hip, always on the right, perfectly happy to follow him to his traps even though she knew no excitement would wait for her; it was a quiet moment for the two to simply experience one another’s presence, a deep, thorough sort of ‘good morning’ that was all their own.

The morning of the sixty-third was somewhat mixed in yield; only one of Shahar’s traps held prey, and while that prey was a pretty young fox, small predators were known to eat decaying food and it made their meat sour. There was enough of yesterday’s dinner to stretch into a breakfast stew, and the meat of the fox could go to the animals.

Tuka caught up with them on the edges of the camp, blood and fur in her teeth but no prize to offer. Shahar suspected that she had found and eaten her own breakfast. No contributions from her side, then; it wouldn’t be the first time the day had begun without fresh meat.

Upon entering the collection of tents that was the Dawnwhisper pavilion, Shahar was pleasantly surprised to see Seirei already up and observing the rising sun.

Warm family greeting, Shahar said, waving. Excitement? They both knew what was going to happen today, and the entire family was looking forward to it––family that included Seirei, whether or not it was made entirely official by ink.

Shahar dropped himself down near the hearth, setting down his weapons and tools to take the fox in both hands. Snow whuffed and spread herself on the ground beside him, to the east so that she could catch the warmth of the rising sun. Drawing his knife, Shahar abandoned sign and spoke with his voice so he didn’t have to empty his hands.

“Yesterday, I went to Wind Skins. They are expecting us this morning, and are prepared.”

[Naiya]

Morning dawned with a hushed excitement, Shahar had stirred, rising from their bed with a gentle touch and an unspoken word of departure before the rising of the sun. It had been greeting enough to awaken Naiya, detangling herself from first his arms as he stirred and then the bedsheets as she too rose. Their day would be full, their morning busy, filled with preparations. So the first thing Naiya did after pulling herself free from the sheets was to roll them up and stow them away.

Following the bit of tidying, she dressed, donning her breeches, tunic, and the silk cloak to help ward off the chill of the morning. Fortified against the cold, she stepped outside to greet the morning, the gentle rays of the rising sun slanting across the grass with a plethora of color. Clouds dotted the sky turned pink and orange by the growing light.

Shahar had returned, a fox in his hands and Snow by his side. Greetings, love, shared happiness the signs tumbled together into a general air or excitement.

Seirei was having a moment of peace in the quiet, so Naiya left it to her for the moment, choosing instead to ready the fire. She stirred the coals of the previous night's fire, hoping to rekindle the flames. There was heat, but not enough to make a fire. She retrieved some kindling and a pad of dried dung, layering the two with hopes that the bottoms of the hot embers would spark life into a fire.

She had to get down low and breathe life into the flame, but after a few steady blows, the red heat caught the dry kindling and took, the flame dancing quickly into a true burning fire. She emptied a waterskin into a cook pot, finding the amount of water lacking, she dug up another skin to pour in. Additionally she filled the kettle, setting that in the fire beside the pot. Seirei would not eat this morning, she had begun her fast the day prior, but she could drink, and tea would surely be just right to counter the chill of the morning.

With these things done, Naiya turned to the young woman, warm greetings in her posture ans a number of signs dancing on her hands, happy, excited, great honor. As she approached, the signs became hesitant. "I was wondering," She began, not wanting to inturrupt the woman's moment, but also hoping to continue what was a tradition for her family, "If you would like me to braid your hair today?" Gentle offer, fine to say no. "My family before, we would style the hair of whoever was about to be marked. A sort of celebration, and a distraction while we waited. I would be happy to do the same for you if you want?"

She waited for the woman's response, her gentle signing settling into a patience almost as quickly as she had finished. It turned out that she did not have to wait long at all, Seriei responded with a positive excitement that was impossible to miss. Naiya's own excitement grew in response as she moved to retrieve her comb and brush from her belongings.

Her return brought her to the young woman, a gentle inquiry asking if she could begin, and once Seirei agreed, Naiya began to brush the tangles from her hair. She started at the ends of her hair, down by the woman's waist. After she had worked the tangles from the very bottom, she moved up, starting once more a bit higher than before.

She moved through the entirety of her hair, the wavy locks seeming to shine extra brightly, then she separated Seirei's hair into four separate sections. She divided the first section in her mind, imagining the shape of the braids and how many she wanted, as well as how to style them.

She began then, forming the braids, twining the hair into a mixture of tight and loosely woven bands. She pulled some hair across, braided flush with the hair at her scalp, other sections pulled up and around, tucking in and under. Soon enough the long masses of Seirei's dark hair wrapped in a crown around her head. The separate sections wrapping in different directions until the entire length was braided into a pile atop her head.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Shahar returned from his hunt with a fox in hand. He greeted her with a gesture that included her as part of the family, and Seirei felt a wave of pride, joy, peace, contentment, belonging, and safety settle over her at his greeting. She belonged here, with the Dawnwhispers. She was one of them, and she always would be. That knowledge filled her with pride and joy, while bringing her the feeling of peace, contentment, and safety that only a sense of belonging could bring.

Seirei returned his warm greeting with one of her own, and confirmed that yes, she was very excited. Then she saw Naiya over by the fire, and moved to join the woman who was now more than just a friend. She saw that Naiya used dung as well as kindling to fuel the fire, and that surprised her. She had known that thick, twisted clumps of dried grass could be used instead of wood, but dung? That was a new idea to her. She promised herself that she would remember that. Dung was everywhere, and would be a constant source of food for a fire. Where making clumps of grass took time, and if one was careless, they might run out of them, and not realize it before they needed to make a fire. There was also the fact that the grass clumps had to be carried with them as the city moved since the grass had to be dried before it could be used.

When Naiya asked if she would want her to braid her hair for her, she mentioned a family tradition. Family. Seirei didn't think she would ever get tired of hearing that word. Seirei was delighted by the offer, and she said as much, and thanking her sister sincerely. Then she held still, and basked in the feeling of being part of a family.

"Thank you, Naiya. For braiding my hair like this. And for welcoming me into your family. For allowing my to share your family windmark. And for coming with me today. This means so much to me. More than I know how to say. Saying thank you doesn't seem like enough."

Seirei looked at Shahar as she spoke. Her signs included him in her very heart felt words.

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