Desnind
70th of Vhalar, 679
Small limbs extended in a downward facing dog, and dark hair spilled over scrawny shoulders. Hands splayed and small fingers stretched, the young child grunted in exertion, wobbling when she lifted her chest and struggled to tuck a knee under her chest. She continued to stretch, raising her chest straight and reaching skyward, feeling a warmth in her calves, and thighs. Again she wobbled, catching herself and she leaned forward to look at her foot placement, “Not straight,” she whispered, holding out her arms while she realigned her bent knee to be lifted directly above her foot. When she noticed the nice angle, she exhaled, and re-lifted her arms directly above her head, palms facing one another and fingers reaching towards the clear sky. The wind blew gently, giving her a nice breeze and she held the position as long as she could. As she held her pose, she looked straight onward as other kids played with a ball in the pathway. They dove and tackled one another, their makeshift hoop nailed to a tree untouched. Navyri wasn’t sure she had seen them make a goal as long as she had been training, but it sure looked fun. Their small bodies tumbled and smacked into one another, their cries of laughter and teamwork flittering through the air. Navyri’s muscles began to grow hot and weak, shaking lightly and she winced, lowering herself with weak limbs back into her original downward dog. Her butt sticking in the air, her posture was not perfect, but she tried to imitate the dancers she had seen warming up earlier. Long gone, their stretches and rhythmic movements to heavy drums had captivated Navyri’s attention.
When back in her downward dog, she felt a small relief, but her breathing had become labored. ‘Breathe’, she silently urged, feeling a bit breathless to give herself a verbal pep talk, ‘Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…’ Trying to calm herself, Navyri brought her opposite knee forward and began repeating the steps from before. Tuck her leg, wobble, correct the angling of her knee, reach high and hold. To Navyri’s surprise, this was much harder than she had originally thought, as the dancers from before had made it look so effortless. Her muscles were not yet flexible and lacked the tone and strength of her idols. After she held her pose for as long as she could, breathing deeply and regularly, she straightened up and stood, hands on hips and pacing. Her muscles felt loose and like the rubber from the chicle tree.
Walking over to where her water skin sat under the shade, she scooped it up and pulled off the cap to drink deeply. Water rolled down her lips and onto her chest. Her thin top hung loosely on her frame and she grabbed her collar to dry herself. Once she was done, she tossed it back to its place and cooled down, continuing to watch the game. She wanted to join, but the thought brought a flush to her cheeks so she kept her distance and continued to work. When she was ready, Navyri straightened her foot to face forward, and lifted her other leg to bend it and press the sole of her foot against her thigh. Immediately, she stumbled and had to catch herself to try again. Pressing her hands together, she held them above the center of her chest and closed her eyes. Without the distractions of the other kids, she could feel the sweat build on her forehead and under arms. She took a breath and switched legs.
Bits passed and when she was bored, she put her foot and arms down, rolling her shoulders. ‘Time for the fun part.’ Navyri opened her eyes and used her imagination to pretend drummers were still beating away, and that she was one of the lovely, powerful dancers with painted skin. She smiled and started running and then pushed off as hard as she could, leaping into the air. The wind brushed her dark hair away from her face to show her red face and bright grin. When her small feet hit the dirt, she was racing off again, pumping her arms and legs. She jumped again, this time not as high, and after pausing to take a breath, twirled and stomped her feet, the music in her mind leading her onward. Imagination began to take over and she was no longer just a girl dancing in the dirt, but a grown woman dancing for Delroth. Grace for the Immortal of Wind, and strength for her Shadow Mother. She imagined an audience, waving her arms in the hair as she spun, pretending to hold flaming torches. They were impressed, watching with respect and admiration. When she grew tired of that image, she pretended to throw aside the flames (with no repercussions, of course) and began to tumble onto the ground. She wanted to roll and rise fluidly, jumping into the air as if flying, but instead her roll caught her tiny body and she stumbled and was late in standing. She rose and attempted a bad cartwheel, skipping forward and throwing her weight downwards, locking her arms to catch herself. She sort of hovered in a mid-handstand before collapsing. Laughing at herself, the world around her disappeared and she twirled until she was dizzy, falling to the ground and laying on her back as the world realigned beneath her. It had been some time since she had been able to be so carefree, and now the hot sun beat down upon her and she sighed softly, ready to jump back up and continue her game when a shadow cast itself over her. Navyri squinted and lifted herself to her shoulders, looking up at a girl who had wandered over from the game.
“What are you doing?” she asked while scratching her leg where mosquito bites decorated her black skin. Her hair was in a million braids, tied off with ivory beads. She looked no older than Navyri, and a yellow bruise decorated her shoulder like a badge of honor.
“Practicing,” Navyri muttered, weary if this stranger intended to laugh at her. Instead the girl smiled and asked another question.
“Are you gonna be a dancer or something?”
Navyri shrugged, curt in her conversation “Maybe.” She looked at the group of kids who had stopped playing and were watching them at a distance. Were they going to make fun of her?
The black girl looked over her shoulder briefly and then took a step back, “Do you wanna play with us?”
This took Navyri by surprise, evident by the small ‘oh’ her lips formed. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she shrugged, “I don’t know how to play… What’s your name?”
“Aba'ra. We can teach you. The rules are easy. What’s yours?"
The Naer thought for a moment, biting her lip. Had they all decided to invite her? “Alright. I’m Navyri.”
“Navyri?” Aba'ra thought for a moment as if remembering something, “Okay, but no cheating.” She grinned, waving over her shoulder at her friends. “This is Navyri!” she yelled, “She said she’ll play!” then to Navyri, “Do you want to be on my team or his team?” Aba'ra pointed to a lanky boy who looked a few years older with light brown hair and green eyes. He waved awkwardly, but his expression was friendly.
“Who’s he?” she asked.
“Ni'ka. He’s a good teacher. Almost as good as me.”
“I don’t mind.” In truth, she didn’t, but felt picking one over the other was embarrassing. She didn’t want to scorn one or the other, but Ni'ka’s white smile made her stomach feel funny.
A new voice stepped in, and the other children started approaching to introduce themselves. Ni'ka waited quietly until they were done and nodded at her, “You can be on my team,” he announced, “You look fast. Is that okay?”
She nodded again, looking away after the compliment, “Sure.” Aba'ra nodded good naturedly and ran to get the ball and the rules were drilled off. Sev'ryn were so different from her own people.
“Navyri, you can use your arms, legs, or… well, anything. Just don’t touch the ball with your hands. And you have get it in the hoop.”
The young Naer made a face, “That sounds hard,”
Ni'ka laughed, leaning in sheepishly, “It is.” Then he cleared his throat, patting her on the back and started shooting off orders to the other kids who Navyri assumed were also her team mates. ‘He’s a good leader.’
She took a moment to memorize their faces and nodded, “Okay.” ‘Just don’t let the other team get the ball.’ She followed the others where they positioned themselves on either side of the hoop, and Aba'ra placed it in the center of the two teams on ground. Aba pointed to a few spots beside her where her teammates began to fill their places.
Ni'ka called out to Navyri, “Over here. Stand next to me.” Navyri nodded to older male, hardening her face when she faced off against the enemy. When she got closer, he pointed to the ball, “We’re putting it in play. We line up and then when we get the signal, both teams charge and try to get the advantage.”
‘How do we… control it?’ This would definitely be interesting. Navyri leaned forward and crouched ready to run as everyone else did the same thing. Out of the corner of her eye, Navyri say a child standing separated from the groups who gave a piercing whistle, and in a trill, chaos broke out. Both teams began to charge and Navyri jolted forward, trying to keep up. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing!’
Her captain reached the ball first, to Navyri’s delight. Ni'ka and Aba'ra were head to head, and Ni'ka could have taken control of the ball, but Navyri met his eyes and he jumped behind it, just as Aba'ra dove to hit it and she, along with another girl slammed right into his back. Eyes wide, Navyri heard him shout to her, “It’s all you!”
Surprised, under the protection of Sev'ryn boy, Navyri dove down and threw her ankle at the ball. It made contact and shot outward, and one of their teammates was there to contain it. They let it smack their chest and then bounce, using their hip to launch it. Navyri grinned, scrambling to get in position and predict the next move. To her delight, even Aba're, who was the leader of the other team shouted over, “Good hustle, Nav! Nice sacrifice, Ni'ka!” It was such a strange show of support, that the culture shock made stunned for a moment.
The comradery boosted Navyri’s confidence and she waved happily, chasing after the ball. Ni'ka would shout orders, Navyri would follow (and refuse to think at how disgraced her mother would have been). More than once, she missed a pass, but no one mocked her. Her legs kicking back and forth, she jogged up and down their tiny ‘court’, having too much fun to notice her lack of breath. She laughed when two kids who were fighting over the ball got their legs tangled and tripped over one another. Navyri ran past them and shouted to a girl on her team, “Over here!” Clear, Navyri saw the brown ball soar through the air towards her, and her eyes followed it like a cat on a canary. As it began to fall, she turned and it smacked heavily into her shoulder, dribbling in front of her. Navyri hit it with her knee to give it momentum, but out of nowhere another of Aba'ra’s team flanked her and rammed into her, sending her sprawling into the dirt. No doubt a bruise would form on her arm, but when she hit the floor, her attacker tried to take control of the ball and knocked it out of bounds. Navyri was sitting herself up when Ni'ka jogged over and offered a hand.
The blue eyed foreigner smiled smiled, catching her breath, “This… is fun. Thanks.” Navyri allowed him to pull her to her feet and began walking with the back of her hands on her head. Maybe Desnind wasn't so bad after all.
70th of Vhalar, 679
Small limbs extended in a downward facing dog, and dark hair spilled over scrawny shoulders. Hands splayed and small fingers stretched, the young child grunted in exertion, wobbling when she lifted her chest and struggled to tuck a knee under her chest. She continued to stretch, raising her chest straight and reaching skyward, feeling a warmth in her calves, and thighs. Again she wobbled, catching herself and she leaned forward to look at her foot placement, “Not straight,” she whispered, holding out her arms while she realigned her bent knee to be lifted directly above her foot. When she noticed the nice angle, she exhaled, and re-lifted her arms directly above her head, palms facing one another and fingers reaching towards the clear sky. The wind blew gently, giving her a nice breeze and she held the position as long as she could. As she held her pose, she looked straight onward as other kids played with a ball in the pathway. They dove and tackled one another, their makeshift hoop nailed to a tree untouched. Navyri wasn’t sure she had seen them make a goal as long as she had been training, but it sure looked fun. Their small bodies tumbled and smacked into one another, their cries of laughter and teamwork flittering through the air. Navyri’s muscles began to grow hot and weak, shaking lightly and she winced, lowering herself with weak limbs back into her original downward dog. Her butt sticking in the air, her posture was not perfect, but she tried to imitate the dancers she had seen warming up earlier. Long gone, their stretches and rhythmic movements to heavy drums had captivated Navyri’s attention.
When back in her downward dog, she felt a small relief, but her breathing had become labored. ‘Breathe’, she silently urged, feeling a bit breathless to give herself a verbal pep talk, ‘Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…’ Trying to calm herself, Navyri brought her opposite knee forward and began repeating the steps from before. Tuck her leg, wobble, correct the angling of her knee, reach high and hold. To Navyri’s surprise, this was much harder than she had originally thought, as the dancers from before had made it look so effortless. Her muscles were not yet flexible and lacked the tone and strength of her idols. After she held her pose for as long as she could, breathing deeply and regularly, she straightened up and stood, hands on hips and pacing. Her muscles felt loose and like the rubber from the chicle tree.
Walking over to where her water skin sat under the shade, she scooped it up and pulled off the cap to drink deeply. Water rolled down her lips and onto her chest. Her thin top hung loosely on her frame and she grabbed her collar to dry herself. Once she was done, she tossed it back to its place and cooled down, continuing to watch the game. She wanted to join, but the thought brought a flush to her cheeks so she kept her distance and continued to work. When she was ready, Navyri straightened her foot to face forward, and lifted her other leg to bend it and press the sole of her foot against her thigh. Immediately, she stumbled and had to catch herself to try again. Pressing her hands together, she held them above the center of her chest and closed her eyes. Without the distractions of the other kids, she could feel the sweat build on her forehead and under arms. She took a breath and switched legs.
Bits passed and when she was bored, she put her foot and arms down, rolling her shoulders. ‘Time for the fun part.’ Navyri opened her eyes and used her imagination to pretend drummers were still beating away, and that she was one of the lovely, powerful dancers with painted skin. She smiled and started running and then pushed off as hard as she could, leaping into the air. The wind brushed her dark hair away from her face to show her red face and bright grin. When her small feet hit the dirt, she was racing off again, pumping her arms and legs. She jumped again, this time not as high, and after pausing to take a breath, twirled and stomped her feet, the music in her mind leading her onward. Imagination began to take over and she was no longer just a girl dancing in the dirt, but a grown woman dancing for Delroth. Grace for the Immortal of Wind, and strength for her Shadow Mother. She imagined an audience, waving her arms in the hair as she spun, pretending to hold flaming torches. They were impressed, watching with respect and admiration. When she grew tired of that image, she pretended to throw aside the flames (with no repercussions, of course) and began to tumble onto the ground. She wanted to roll and rise fluidly, jumping into the air as if flying, but instead her roll caught her tiny body and she stumbled and was late in standing. She rose and attempted a bad cartwheel, skipping forward and throwing her weight downwards, locking her arms to catch herself. She sort of hovered in a mid-handstand before collapsing. Laughing at herself, the world around her disappeared and she twirled until she was dizzy, falling to the ground and laying on her back as the world realigned beneath her. It had been some time since she had been able to be so carefree, and now the hot sun beat down upon her and she sighed softly, ready to jump back up and continue her game when a shadow cast itself over her. Navyri squinted and lifted herself to her shoulders, looking up at a girl who had wandered over from the game.
“What are you doing?” she asked while scratching her leg where mosquito bites decorated her black skin. Her hair was in a million braids, tied off with ivory beads. She looked no older than Navyri, and a yellow bruise decorated her shoulder like a badge of honor.
“Practicing,” Navyri muttered, weary if this stranger intended to laugh at her. Instead the girl smiled and asked another question.
“Are you gonna be a dancer or something?”
Navyri shrugged, curt in her conversation “Maybe.” She looked at the group of kids who had stopped playing and were watching them at a distance. Were they going to make fun of her?
The black girl looked over her shoulder briefly and then took a step back, “Do you wanna play with us?”
This took Navyri by surprise, evident by the small ‘oh’ her lips formed. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she shrugged, “I don’t know how to play… What’s your name?”
“Aba'ra. We can teach you. The rules are easy. What’s yours?"
The Naer thought for a moment, biting her lip. Had they all decided to invite her? “Alright. I’m Navyri.”
“Navyri?” Aba'ra thought for a moment as if remembering something, “Okay, but no cheating.” She grinned, waving over her shoulder at her friends. “This is Navyri!” she yelled, “She said she’ll play!” then to Navyri, “Do you want to be on my team or his team?” Aba'ra pointed to a lanky boy who looked a few years older with light brown hair and green eyes. He waved awkwardly, but his expression was friendly.
“Who’s he?” she asked.
“Ni'ka. He’s a good teacher. Almost as good as me.”
“I don’t mind.” In truth, she didn’t, but felt picking one over the other was embarrassing. She didn’t want to scorn one or the other, but Ni'ka’s white smile made her stomach feel funny.
A new voice stepped in, and the other children started approaching to introduce themselves. Ni'ka waited quietly until they were done and nodded at her, “You can be on my team,” he announced, “You look fast. Is that okay?”
She nodded again, looking away after the compliment, “Sure.” Aba'ra nodded good naturedly and ran to get the ball and the rules were drilled off. Sev'ryn were so different from her own people.
“Navyri, you can use your arms, legs, or… well, anything. Just don’t touch the ball with your hands. And you have get it in the hoop.”
The young Naer made a face, “That sounds hard,”
Ni'ka laughed, leaning in sheepishly, “It is.” Then he cleared his throat, patting her on the back and started shooting off orders to the other kids who Navyri assumed were also her team mates. ‘He’s a good leader.’
She took a moment to memorize their faces and nodded, “Okay.” ‘Just don’t let the other team get the ball.’ She followed the others where they positioned themselves on either side of the hoop, and Aba'ra placed it in the center of the two teams on ground. Aba pointed to a few spots beside her where her teammates began to fill their places.
Ni'ka called out to Navyri, “Over here. Stand next to me.” Navyri nodded to older male, hardening her face when she faced off against the enemy. When she got closer, he pointed to the ball, “We’re putting it in play. We line up and then when we get the signal, both teams charge and try to get the advantage.”
‘How do we… control it?’ This would definitely be interesting. Navyri leaned forward and crouched ready to run as everyone else did the same thing. Out of the corner of her eye, Navyri say a child standing separated from the groups who gave a piercing whistle, and in a trill, chaos broke out. Both teams began to charge and Navyri jolted forward, trying to keep up. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing!’
Her captain reached the ball first, to Navyri’s delight. Ni'ka and Aba'ra were head to head, and Ni'ka could have taken control of the ball, but Navyri met his eyes and he jumped behind it, just as Aba'ra dove to hit it and she, along with another girl slammed right into his back. Eyes wide, Navyri heard him shout to her, “It’s all you!”
Surprised, under the protection of Sev'ryn boy, Navyri dove down and threw her ankle at the ball. It made contact and shot outward, and one of their teammates was there to contain it. They let it smack their chest and then bounce, using their hip to launch it. Navyri grinned, scrambling to get in position and predict the next move. To her delight, even Aba're, who was the leader of the other team shouted over, “Good hustle, Nav! Nice sacrifice, Ni'ka!” It was such a strange show of support, that the culture shock made stunned for a moment.
The comradery boosted Navyri’s confidence and she waved happily, chasing after the ball. Ni'ka would shout orders, Navyri would follow (and refuse to think at how disgraced her mother would have been). More than once, she missed a pass, but no one mocked her. Her legs kicking back and forth, she jogged up and down their tiny ‘court’, having too much fun to notice her lack of breath. She laughed when two kids who were fighting over the ball got their legs tangled and tripped over one another. Navyri ran past them and shouted to a girl on her team, “Over here!” Clear, Navyri saw the brown ball soar through the air towards her, and her eyes followed it like a cat on a canary. As it began to fall, she turned and it smacked heavily into her shoulder, dribbling in front of her. Navyri hit it with her knee to give it momentum, but out of nowhere another of Aba'ra’s team flanked her and rammed into her, sending her sprawling into the dirt. No doubt a bruise would form on her arm, but when she hit the floor, her attacker tried to take control of the ball and knocked it out of bounds. Navyri was sitting herself up when Ni'ka jogged over and offered a hand.
The blue eyed foreigner smiled smiled, catching her breath, “This… is fun. Thanks.” Navyri allowed him to pull her to her feet and began walking with the back of her hands on her head. Maybe Desnind wasn't so bad after all.
