A New Beginning (Ciraaci)

[Ramona Silvertongue]

Ramona

Fall 10th, 517av

"Well my dear, I do hope you find someone who can help you out."The nice lady said with a smile, Ramona nodded and hoped so to. Ever since her parents died last year, she had just realized that living with one other person wasn't going to cut it for Winter, let alone the rest of the year, and the future. Though, it's nice that Ramona didn't have to worry about so many things, but she was sure that that would change soon. Since the weather had been changing for this season.

"I do hope so too. You don't happen to know anyone who can help us do you?"Ramona asked as she helped load a few bags of flour into the wagon for the nice old lady.

"There might be a few people, have you heard of the Stormbloods?"The Drykas asked Ramona. Ramona nodded her head. She met Jasmine, a long time ago. Ramona wondered how she was doing, along with the other Stormbloods, Ramona never met any of them, but she had heard rumors.

"I have heard of them, though... I don't know about them though. Yes, I think that one of them are a part of the Watch which is what I want to do,but I'm worried for Bhug. I have to be there for him."Ramona said with a hint of worry in her voice, as she continued to help the woman out.

"No need to worry my dear, good luck will come your way.
You just have to embrace it."The woman claimed, and carried a bag of tools and slapped them inside the wagon.Ramona looked around for her shortbow, and quiver. She always brought it with her, wherever she went.

"If you say so, do you need anything else ma'm?"Ramona asked her as she patted her donkey on the back and he motioned forward and the wagon started rolling behind him.

"Nope, I'm good deary.Here, for your troubles." The old Drykas pulled out a couple of gold mizas, and handed them to Ramona.
She wanted to refuse, but she didn't want to be rude. She thanked the older woman, and nodded before putting her mizas in her pocket.
Not so sure where to go afterwards.

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Template layout courtesy of Prophet, and big thanks to him for letting me use his layout.

[Maore]

Fortune favoured the unknowing, for as Ramona mentioned the situation she'd found herself in to her companion, Ciraaci was making her way by followed by a gaggle of children and the spirited sight of a young man trying to weasle information out of her. The boy was Rhiain Greyblood, and while he was named after his his aunt for her good humour, he himself seemed to possess none, as the needling he poked into Ciraaci was anything but kind. Regardless, she seemed adept at ignoring, a trait inherited by being around so many children.

That Ciraaci had managed the simple feat of overhearing Ramona's plaintive remarks regarding her family situation beyond the incessant questioning of the boy at her ear was fortune enough, but when Ciraaci halted in place, causing Rhiain to plow into her back and stumble to the side, they were all rewarded with the peal of laughter from the children that had amassed. These children had a variety of names and pavilions to return to, but the Ethaefal that strode through them was enough of a sight to gather a gaggle of small faces when she walked about during the day, and so here they were. A ghost of a smile crossed her lips, resplendent brow smoothing as woodland eyes glimmered.

Rhiain was up again in a flash.

"What pavilion are you from?" He asked her.

"Do you have a name? I haven't seen you before. What is your name? Where are you from?" He spewed the words in a flurry, hands carving out additional meanings to sear into his sentences, and the act of their play seemed frantic out of the corner of her eye. Ciraaci didn't acknowledge him, because in some way or another, she'd recognized the make of his character and it was not entirely important for her to do so. Rather, she looked at the unfamiliar young sight before her, and the elder woman as well, and inclined her head to the elder in significance of respect. To grow grey hair and still be among the living in a time so hard was a remarkable feat.

"I couldn't help but overhear you," she said to Ramona, cutting through Rhiain's stream of thoughts and interrupting the lingering giggles of excitable grassland children. Her sign language was mellow and unconcerned, but interested, apologetic, and curious. "You're alone?" While it hadn't been said outright, Ciraaci couldn't help but get the impression that this was the implication. Lately, it had seemed like many people were alone.

Rhiain opened his mouth, but Ciraaci was ready for him this time, and she turned to face him with a sharp eye and the keen awareness to stand tall. She shook her head at him, a nearly imperceptible gesture of denial that should need no more words; it was better to refute the excitement of a young suitor like this, she'd come to learn, rather than to laugh at him in front of potential marriage candidates. He was reluctant, but with a few ticks' passing to consider the gesture, eventually relented and disappeared back into the tents they'd come. Ciraaci then looked to her contingent of small people, and a proper smile spread across her face, before she flapped her hands at them to shoo them away.

It was when they were gone that Ciraaci returned to regarding Ramona, and she did so with a long, calm stare. She was blunt and forthcoming, and without much more waiting, asked another question. "Who is Bhug?"

[Ramona Silvertongue]

Ramona

Ramona watched the old woman amble away as she did so. Towards the direction of the Market, Ramona had no interest of the Market, and she didn't really have anything else planned. She was lost in thought about how she was going to manage the next year without her parents. It was a tough mead to swallow for her. She frowned at the Earth beneath her feet, as she prayed to the Gods up above for good luck. She was conflicted with what to do, and that was totally something unlike her.

She could train, she could hunt, she could even volunteer for something. Though, with what to volunteer for, Ramona didn't know; she would probably hunt instead, anyways.

Though, a man's voice came behind her, after the noise of children laughing was heard. She turned to be faced by a man who questioned her with inquiries with the speed of a jack rabbit that was hopping across the Sea of Grass in search of shelter. Or not for shelter in this case? Ramona shifted her feet and wondered if this man was being serious... was he really asking questions about her personal life? Or was he talking to someone else, and hopefully not Ramona. She looked back where there was no evidence left of an old woman with a wagon, and a donkey that seemed to have disappeared as quickly as Ramona turned.

"I- sorry what?"Too fast, Ramona signed to the man. He was very eager to get the answers from Ramona, but another woman, with horns on her head... there was something that Ramona heard about people like them, but she didn't even know who they were. They seemed to be mysterious, Ramona liked mysteries. Though, she seemed to have signed the man away, and it looked like they knew each other quite well, or at least just knew each other.

"I couldn't help but overhear you,"the other woman stated. So... she was listening to Ramona's troubles for winter. She didn't know whether or not it would come, but something in her gut was telling her to just make extra precautions, just in case winter does come around this year. She wanted to be mad at the Ethaefal, but it was Endrykas-there were people everywhere who listened to everything, and even Ramona can't help herself when listening to a rumor.

"You're alone?"She asked. Ramona nodded, and watched as yet another Drykas walked away from her today. She couldn't help to wonder, why so many people just walk away from her.

"Not exactly... "she lost her thought, when she thought if Bhug again, and how h might be hanging around with Ashka or the other kids within the Diamond Clan near her tent.

"Who is Bhug?"She asked, and Ramona looked at her. The Drykas didn't blame the Ethereal for not knowing who her brother was, so she didn't mind explaining to her.

"He's my brother, and he's only five. A Healer and a good friend healed him last season from this strange illness."Realization. Ramona signed. "I need more support, I can't be there for Bhug all the time, and I've been looking for a family..."

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Template layout courtesy of Prophet, and big thanks to him for letting me use his layout.

[Maore]

Even if winter held its breath this year and Morwen refused to stride across the land, there were other dangers that faced the Drykas, as with every other year, that would make being alone dangerous. There was always another danger out there, whether it be disease of famine, or even the sea of locusts that was the Zith. Ciraaci knew it, and she knew it very well; never be alone on the Sea of Grass.

Another smile passed her lips before Rhiain left, to allow Ramona assume the young man was talking to her and not the Ethaefal. Ciraaci was of the ambiguous situation where she looked as young and lovely as the day she'd been born, but she was old enough to be considered grey haired. Not in pursuit of any suitors, she'd rather let the man come and express more interest in this young woman instead.

She listened to Ramona speak, the flat glimmer in Ciraaci's green eyes neither repulsed by the state of being without a pavilion to rely upon, and not lacking in some measure of compassion for the struggle that would put upon a young pair of Drykas. How do they support themselves? What do they do for time? Do they struggle when the times are hard and people are starving and sick? Ciraaci couldn't much imagine that, when disease came calling, they wouldn't have suffered. Internalized though the thoughts were, her gaze sharpened upon Ramona, hardened interest overlapping other feelings. It was complex.

"Where is your family?" She asked. Ciraaci had failed to actually introduce herself, a fact which came up when she realized she didn't actually know the woman's name. That simply wouldn't do. "I am Ciraaci Mourningstar," she finally said. "From Amethyst. I'm surprised others haven't offered you a home with them. A young boy and his sister would be a fair catch for any pavilion that has faced losses."

[Ramona Silvertongue]

Ramona

Well... it would have been a catch if Ramona decided that she wanted to embrace herself with the rest of the Drykas before this past Summer. It wasn't until after her parents had died, that Ramona decided to engage with the rest of the community from a few seasons worth of solitude, and the money her mother left her, it wasn't enough. So, Ramona needed to make sure that things were steady for the two of them.

Until last season, near the end. Bhug had fallen ill, Waisana healed him, and Ramona won't forget that deed that needs to be respected. Without Waisana, Bhug would have... passed. Ramon's feared death in her family, she couldn't see Bhug die. She wouldn't live with herself, and her parents wouldn't approve- Ramona knee that with the pride they had when her parents had Bhug at the beginning. Ramona was supposed to be working with the Watchmen by now, her father would be training her.

Though, the dangers from the outside world, the wild life. All of it was a part of life when they attacked, the Zith. Ramon was to keep her brother safe, and she fought as well as she could, and she had even earned some memorable scars hidden with her windmarks when she bonded with Anthem. She didn't need to worry about her scars from her past, but her scars from her past had caught up to her, and she could feel the shift of weather take its form as Fall had arrived.

Ramona swallowed hard, a gulp of regret, and pain contested the oxygen in her lungs. A sharp gasp as Ciracci asked about Ramona's family. Though, as she was content about it, something inside her disposed the fact of how hard the meat was to swallow when she admitted to Ciracci that her parents had died just last year.

"My cousins, they married into different Pavillions. My... parents, they died during the Zith attack."She forced back a tear, but couldn't. She was in her twenties and she was crying in front of a stranger. Someone she didn't know. The parents was just the foundation of her oppressed behavior. Ramona looked down, at the earth beneath her hoe it collected her drops of tears. "I'm s-sorry. It's just I've been really stressed. My name's Ramona." She said in between sniffles. "Ramona Silvertongue."

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Template layout courtesy of Prophet, and big thanks to him for letting me use his layout.

[Maore]

Fortunately, Ciraaci knew absolutely nothing about her female Drykas companion, and she wasn't about to ask more than the bare surface questions. There were things an Ankal would need to ask her, of course, and further still, there were likely to be things that an Ankal would need to request of her. Expectations. An unrelated woman and her brother living among a large family group of Drykas would be a benefit to the people Ciraaci lived among.

Ciraaci formed her opinions gradually, and yet even she could not help but wonder at the sort of parents that would have left a son and daughter without the means to be supported by extended family or community. The girl was one thing; her potential lay in being married to an eligible man, of which there were many in this society. The boy, though, should have been adopted when his sister proved incapable of caring for him by herself, which put Ciraaci back to her first thought regarding eligible men and marriage. Even further, Ramona cried for the deaths of her parents.

Ciraaci, not entirely cold to the plight of a child having lost someone as important to her as her parents, was nonetheless detached from the experience of sympathy someone else may have expressed when put in her situation. She didn't hesitate, and yet she didn't extend condolences. In fact, she may have looked perplexed, and wondered briefly if Ramona was able to give her parents a proper farewell. She signed out helpless gestures of sympathy and comfort, but couldn't offer much more with the fluttering of her hands. "Did you lay them to rest?" She asked Ramona then, a sudden blurting of thought.

Admittedly, Ciraaci didn't learn about Webbing from her family. She'd long ago refused to, in respect of a culture that prided itself on this closely guarded knowledge, but she'd been tied to it when she'd married and bonded to a strider, and understood some small facts, mostly that regarding that a Drykas never truly left the Sea of Grass when they died, and that they were said to come back and live amongst their people again. She wanted to offer this as comfort for Ramona, a suggestion of patience and understanding, because she too had lost people, and had lingered in defiant hope for some glimmer of familiar eyes in the horselord eyes around her.

Rather than offer this, though, Ciraaci extended a hand and laid it on Ramona's shoulder without request, an unbidden gesture of solidarity. Though they weren't ever the first to lose a person, she could at least offer some semblance of strength in lieu of a lack of proper comfort. With a squeeze, she relinquished.

"I have a large family," Ciraaci eventually said. She tread the waters with a combination of distaste and caution while her hands moved through signing recommendation proud strength. "You may come to an agreement with the Ankal to live with us."

[Ramona Silvertongue]

Ramona

"What... "Ramona asked rhetorically, she turned back and thought about what the elderly woman said earlier, about good luck coming around. She couldn't believe her ears, did she hear the other woman in front of her right, or were her ears playing a trick on her? She cleaned out her ears with her index finger. Though, Ramona looked back at Ciraaci and she looked to be genuine, serious almost. Ramona's chest warmed up. Was it cool outside, or was her heart cold, as she thought that she wouldn't be able to find another Pavillion to live with? Ciraaci seemed really nice, and even though they lived in a different Clan. Where they all still work together as one. Doesn't matter what clan you're in, but Ramona would always be a Diamond. She would carry on the traditions of being a Diamond, and a Silvertongue, as well as being a part of a whole new family.

Ramona was sure that if her parents were looking to do the same thing, they would accept. It would be very regretful to deny such an offer. Plus, she said it was a big family. Ramona hadn't heard of it, unfortunately. Though, Ramona saw this as a gift, and she was going to accept, and no doubt about it she'll do her best to keep her spot and make a name for herself while training to become a Watchman.

Gratitude. Thanks.Ramona signed, as she looked towards Ciraaci. "I appreciate your offer. It would be a great honour to stay with your Pavillion. Mind if we go to my tent and gather my stuff, and Bhug?" Ramona asked Ciraaci. After all, Ramona couldn't just leave it all behind.

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Template layout courtesy of Prophet, and big thanks to him for letting me use his layout.

[Maore]

"Slow down, slow down," she said, signing caution apology amusement with the barest curl of a smile adorning the graceful bow of her lips. "I said you may come to an agreement, not that I can promise you to stay with us. I am not the Mourningstar Ankal." she laughed, too, genuine laughter that wasn't intended as capricious. Eagerness was a good trait, to Ciraaci's high opinion. If it were up to her, she may in fact have let the woman take up the name of her pavilion, in exchange for a few promises and met expectations, the least of which being marrying to one of the pavilion's sons. This would probably be one of Caradoc's requirements anyway; Ciraaci couldn't determine the age of the Drykas before her, but she assumed her to be an adult both by her physical development and her survival thus far with only two people to her name. It put value on her, especially if she had a skill that she could offer them.

"We may fetch your brother still," she said, her words better measured now to pull back on giving this woman undue hope where they should both proceed logically. "Caradoc may want to meet him, too." He may even be adopted by the ankal, a fate Ciraaci saw nothing amiss with. This was the price of survival; it would be Ramona's choice whether or not she conformed to what was expected of her upon taking the Mourningstar name, or whether she refused and decided to go on her own way.

She made a gesture, reassuring the other Drykas of her good intentions, and indicated that she ought to lead on.

[Ramona Silvertongue]

Ramona

The Ankal shifted unsteadily, her legs quavered, and she adjusted her shortbow as the string bothered her. There were a few other Drykas' who passed by the two without a care. Ramona didn't look down, she didn't want to be disrespectful, and she normally wasn't. Though, she didn't think things through, when Ciraaci had told her to slow down. Of course, deals had to be made. That's what her father had taught her, when you'd become an Ankal, you need to make deals so that things run smooth with the rest of the Pavillion. That was why he had always made compromises with Ramona. She now realized that some of the lessons that she had learned in the past, were now beginning to catch up to her.

Apologies.Ramona signed, and looked at Ciraaci. I. Forget. About.
My. Energy."Forgot about making deals. I see that you are not the Ankal of your Pavillion then, would we meet him today?"Ramona asked Ciraaci, Ramona stood where she was and waited for a response.

"We may fetch your brother still,"Ciracci suggested. Ramona nodded, and smiled warily. She hoped that the stakes weren't too much for Ramona to handle. Though, she didn't know Ciraaci, or any of her Pavillion.

"We're from the Diamond Clan. Not too far."Ramona explained as she felt her pocket for the two golden Mizas that she had put in just recently. She knew not to pester, she would answer any questions that Ciraaci might have, and once they meet her Ankal, Ramona would be glad to answer any questions- something about this meeting seemed too soon, and Ramona wasn't really ready to give up her Ankal status. Though, she wouldn't have to worry about too much maybe, since she wouldn't be the Ankal anymore. Even if she did marry, her name would still change, it was a good thing that Bhug was born. Otherwise, the name of the Silvertongues wouldn't carry on after Ramona.

Though, he's only five years. He needed not to worry about things such like a family name. Just survival, and Ramona would do anything to just survive. As well as keep Bhug alive. "Follow me,"Ramona stated and she led the way through tents and everything else that made up Endrykas.

Eventually, the two made it, and Ramona was glad to see Bhug playing with a few of the other kids.

"Ramona, what are you doing here so early?"Bhug asked surprised and skipped towards his older sister, the Ankal.

"We have someone to see. I need you to come along.""Ramona replied, Bhug looked at her confused, though content won over him and he grabbed Ramona's hand.

"Who's this?"Bhug asked kindly as he seemed to be amazed by the horns of the Ethaefal.

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Template layout courtesy of Prophet, and big thanks to him for letting me use his layout.

[Maore]

"Women aren't ankal," Ciraaci reminded in a gentle, lackadaisical sort of way, not aware that she was voicing the old belief that men were the sole inheritors of their family's estates. Clearly it wasn't true, but she didn't know that, because she didn't know Ramona to be her own ankal, and she spoke simply for herself as the wife of one long since dead.

"We cou;d meet him today," she said, thinking of the man in question. He was often busy with matters in his family, and given that there was a great deal of people sharing his name, she expected him to be a little hard to find. Following Ramona, on foot no less as she'd walked so far to the market (and forgotten about buying something for the young ones anyway), Ciraaci remained thoughtful as she considered the ankal they spoke of. He could be just and fair, she knew, but would he see the benefit an unmarried woman would bring into his family? Would he treat her as a relative, or as a prospective match for one of his sons? And her brother would be adopted easily. They wanted children. They wandered the Sea far when not with Endrykas and often fell into situations where their numbers suffered. A young boy would carry the name well.

She was otherwise silent as she followed Ramona, listening to her prattle on if she continued to talk as they went, and considering what she knew of the ankal and how this could play out.

The tent they made it to was small among the larger ones owned by full pavilions. It stuck out like a silly little lump, but Ciraaci wouldn't say so. Instead of regarding it a moment longer, she looked to the child that came running out to his sister. Indeed young, lively, hopeful, Ciraaci couldn't help but smile at him.

"I am Ciraaci," she said gently. In the sunlight, her horns were especially glorious and threw glassy reflections off nearby tent walls when they caught the light just right. "You're coming to meet my ankal, Caradoc Mourningstar, to see if he'll open his home to you."