Restless (Pygmy, open)

[Khiara]

Khiara nodded to herself, turning back to the cheese. Finding a knife, she began to slice slowly. Pygmy's silence was slightly disconcerning, but at least she wasn't utterly distraught.

"A long time ago, when the vantha first touched the earth, there were two young siblings. Lanik and Lopa. The elder of the two, Lanik, was a wise and loving young man, who spent his time learning the ways of the land, and fending for his people. Lopa on the otherhand, was a playful soul. He spent his days fishing the Great Ocran and playing bones with his friends." Having switched into vani, she placed the knife down and scooped up the cheese.

"Now every afternoon, Lanik and Lopa had one responsability. They were in charge of ensuring the meat and fish were strung up out of reach of polar bears and arctic wolves. It was not a large job, but it was an important one." Standing beside Pygmy, cheese held in two hands, she shifted out of her story.

"Where do you want this?"

[Dhanya]

Pygmy continued to whisk as Khiara spoke, lulled out of her prior, sensitive state. She found a pan and rubbed some fat around the edges, leaving it to warm on the fire. Van had set up a metal stand that she could place it on. She poured the whisked eggs onto it, once it had warmed.

"Just put it on top of the omelette. " Pygmy said, quickly slicing some ham to throw in as well.

As soon as Khiara had placed it down, Pygmy reached for the spatula. The edges of the omelette were beginning to crisp, so she folded it over to one side. She let it warm for a few more moments.

"What happened to them?" She asked Khiara, alternating her gaze between her friend and their meal.

[Khiara]

Placing the cheese on the omlette, Khiara brushed off her hands and went to put the cheese back in its icebox. Turning, she walked to to fire and sat down, keeping away from the intensity of the flames.

"One afternoon, Lanik found himself alone at the task, Lopa nowhere to be found. Pulling up the meat by himself was a hard task, but Lanik struggled through it, trying it tightly and leaving to find Lopa. The older brother searched all evening for Lopa, scouring the freezing white landscape, calling and calling. Dressed only for a short trip out, no firekit to be had, Lanik the Wise found himself lost, cold and alone. The wind picked up, and a great blizzard tore up the snow. Freezing, all Lanik could think of was his poor younger brother." Khiara sighed, adding effect to her tale. It was an old story, told to the children she cared for many times. It panged a little, and with suprize Khiara realized - she was slightly homesick. Was that a sign? Maybe time was finally working for her...

"Meanwhile, back in the cozy warmth of his hold, Lopa awoke from a long and wonderful nap. He had fished and game all day, and feeling weary he had taken to his furs. Stretching, he dressed and went to check on the meat, not realizing he was so late. As he went to the entrace, his fellow hold members stopped him. They explained a terrible blizzard had blown up, and it was too dangerous to be outside. Lopa asked about Lanik, hoping the blizzard had gotten him out of his chores. But Lanik was missing, having gone to string up the meat and not returned. Fear and worry struck the young brother. Where was Lanik? Lopa the Gamer didn't realize how much he depended on his older brother, how much Lanik meant to him. He pleased for the hold to find him, but everyone knew it was too dangerous to leave now, and all hope for Lanik was lost in the winds. Packing his thing and dressing in thick furs, Lopa set out alone to find Lanik, traveling on his brother own frostmarch - a tall and strong horse. The wind screamed in his ears and the snow stung his face where it peeked out under a thick woolen wrap. Moving slowly, Lopa called out for Lanik - all hope of finding him in the swirling landscape completely gone. It would take a miracle to find Lanik."

[Dhanya]

Pygmy slid the omelette off the pan and onto a wooden plate. She sliced it in two and then pushed the second portion onto another plate, before sitting down. She picked up a fork and used it to cut off a piece of omelette, chewing it slowly. She handed the other serving to Khiara.

"What happened to him?" She asked, leaning forward, sniffling.

She was saving the bread and butter for later, she was too engaged in Khiara's storytelling to even reach for it. She didn't want to say too much, for fear it would ruin the story, though she did desperately want to know how it ended. It seemed she had learnt some patience.

[Khiara]

Taking the plate, Khiara poked a piece of omelette, twisting her fork and watching the piece of cooked egg twirl back and forth. She could hear in Pygmy's voice that the goat had calmed down. It was a relief. Popping the morsel in her mouth, she continued.

"Pushing on through the snow and the wind, Lopa called and called, but all that answered was the howling blizzard. He felt his teeth chatter and his brother's horse began to tire. If he stayed out any longer, then both of them would be gone. But Lopa didn't care anymore. How could he go on without Lanik?" A slight quiver to her voice was the only indication that Khiara related to this part of the story the most, but it was gone before Pygmy would have a chance to think on it.

"Turning the steed back to the Hold, a sudden light caught Lopa's eye. Far into the east, even through the swirling snow, The Gamer could see the fluid green and blue of the Aurora. It hovered over the one spot, like a beacon to the weary sailor, and out of curiosity and hope, Lopa followed it. The light became closer and closer, until the young brother was almost standing under it. He called out for his brother one last time, and faintly a voice responded under a thick cover of snow. It was Lanik, frozen and barely conscious. Lopa quickly gathered his brother onto the frostmarch, and led the horse back to camp, led again by the strange Aurora in the sky.

When they reached the Hold, Lopa took Lanik inside to warm him by the fire, with all their friends and family around them. Shivering, but alive, Lanik looked to his brother and smiled. 'Lopa, I dreamed of a beautiful woman with bright green eyes. She told me you would come. And you did.' Lopa smiled back to his brother, knowing that the Goddess had guided him, and protected his brother. 'Lanik, I am sorry, and I have been guided this night.' And guided he was, more than he realized. For in having to make his own way in the darkness and the haze, Lopa had realized his dependency on his brother. He stopped his selfish ways and helped others. And he did not leave Lanik to do his chores ever again." Finishing her story, Khiara took another bite of her omelette, letting the silence settle in. It gave Pygmy and herself time to think and reflect. There was more to her story than just a simple tale. Turning her violet eyes on the plate, the vantha spoke.

"You see, the Goddess guides us to our destiny, one way or another. She showed Lopa what he could become if he only took it upon himself to do so. Perhaps the Goddess will guide us somehow Pygmy. Perhaps she will see it fit for us to go our seperate ways one day." Taking in more of the breakfast-come-afternoon-snack, the woman looked at the kelvic and smiled openly.

"But that will not be today."

[Dhanya]

Pygmy finished her last bite of omelette and put her plate down. She thought about the story for a moment and sniffed, just once because Khiara's stories always made her feel... Well, they made her feel, she couldn't qualify it beyond that.

Then she jumped up and threw her arms around Khiara's neck. Her small shoulders shook and she squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her head into Khiara's shoulder. She breathed in, lips shakey and her throat sore, too sore to speak. Khiara's scent was reassuring, leather and lavender and something else. She truly hadn't been ready for Khiara to leave.

She just needed to be sure that she would stay.

[Khiara]

The vantha held her plate away as Pygmy threw her arms around her, hold the woman with one arm. They weren't that to far apart in height, but still Khiara thought of Pygmy as a smaller sister more than an adult. It was sometimes something she had to remind herself of.

Squeezing the kevlic, she sighed.

"You have to help me Pygmy. I get...it gets hard to stay in one spot for long. It hurts a lot." Swallowing, she thought about what Vanator had said...about time not distance. Letting go and moving on. The guilty stab in her stomach reminded her she had to move on...to someone other than the drykas himself. Pulling back, she looked at the kelvic with serious violet eyes.

"I need you to distract me. You've helped more than you can imagine since I met you, things are less...meaningless. But the longer I have time to think, the less occupied I am...the harder it is to stay."

[Dhanya]

"I'll distract you." Pygmy replied, "Whatever you need, I can run off with your horse or paint your tent green or anything, promise!"

Pygmy would do anything to keep Khiara from leaving.

She considered offering Khiara more to eat but decided it could wait until after she was finished hugging her. It took long minutes before Pygmy let Khiara go.

[Tundris]

Pygmy +3 Cooking +2 Rhetoric Lores: Painful Goodbyes Losing A Maternal Friend Facing Inevitable Independence Friendship and Dependence A Vantha Tale: Lopa and Lanik Khiara +3 Storytelling +1 Cooking +1 Rhetoric Lores: Painful Goodbyes Friendship and Dependence Messages Through Storytelling Nurturing a Breaking Heart Notes: Sorry that it took so darn long for me to get this thing awarded! I loved that Khiara used a story to convey her message to Pygmy, it was a creative way to do that and really represented her culture. Always a pleasure to read your threads!