Flashback Traveling Tales (Aunalee/Open)

[Rengar]

Timestamp: Summer 15, 504 AV Rengar was letting himself being pulled forward, his wife dawdling behind him chuckling, as his daughters each had one of his massive purple hands, and were pulling him into The Silent Garden. "Come on papa! Hurry up! We want to hear your stories!" Rengar smiled, then stooped over and picked up both daughters, and sat them on his shoulders while they laughed, sitting upon his arms like tree branches. Syna smiled brightly today, many Konti, women, children, and inbetween, like his own daughters were, milled about, all smiling. He walked up to a small tree, and lifted the two daughters up onto a branch. They sat there, in simple white sundresses beaming at their father, little legs kicking. "Now, before I tell you any stories, let's check to see if you've been paying attention to your mother's history lessons." He turned and looked at Nyla, who was seated gently on the grass nearby, smiling at this little game her husband played with their daughters. He turned back to the blonde bundles of joy, "First, who is the Father of the Konti race?" Gyrya, the younger, quickly blurted out, "Laviku!" Rengar smiled at the little one, and continued, "And who is the Mother?" "Avalis!" screamed, Nylenar, laughing the whole time, "That's an easy one papa, give us a hard one!" Rengar smirked, "Who was the first Konti advisor in Syliras?" It wasn't a fair question, for their mother hadn't taught them that yet. The only reason Rengar knew it, was from his time as a squire in Syliras. The two girls were stumped, rattled off several ancient Konti names, but none were correct. "Her name was Kuvali Natra. But I think you've earned a story or two. Is there anything in particular you'd like to hear about?" They both looked at each other, whispered back and forth quickly, then turned to their father, "We wanna hear about when you left Riverfall!" By this point a handful of other women had gathered about, interested in everything that was going on, sitting about patiently. A dark vibe passed between Rengar and Garren, for they'd told that story twice before, and hated to relive those days. Nyla, one of the two people who knew it, moved to intervene, but Rengar held up a hand. His daughters deserved to know everything he knew, everything he'd experienced, for it may help them later in life. "Are you sure my daughters? It isn't one of the nice, friendly fairy tales like those of the Syliran Knights." Timidly they both nodded. This time to everyone present, "I will tell this story once, and only once. Please, do not interrupt me, and do not mention it again after this day. I will answer any questions at the completion of the story. So get comfortable, for it isn't the most pleasant of rides."

[Aunalee]

The summer heat was something Aunalee craved through out the year and once it hit, she was always outside. On this particular day she was wandering the stone garden, watching the Konti woman in their families have picnics or playing in the river. 'I wonder what my life would be like if my mother were still alive.' It was an odd thought that was unnecessary because her childhood was nothing short of happy but like most teenagers, she questioned the world around her. Her light blue eyes glanced around the garden for something new, something foreign. They stopped upon a massive purple hulk who was graced with an audience of Konti. 'Wonder what's going on over there.' Her feet moved with her thoughts and she joined the crowd of woman in the lush grass.

She was just in time to hear the Akalak speak to his two daughters, both Konti. As he went on, Aunalee only became more curious. 'A story that isn't pleasant and yet he's going to tell it anyways? My, he mustn't have been here long, I wonder if this story will disrupt this quiet peace of the crowd.' She licked her lips in anticipation and stared up at him, realizing that her sitting down only made their height difference worse. She couldn't help but smile at one simple thought. 'Even though the story is painful he is willing to tell his daughters, truly a caring Akalak.'

[Tyler Avery]

It was a beautiful day in her lovely Mura, everyone was walking around, outside, in the warm air and bright sun. Tyler was strolling through the Central Gardens, enthralled by all the green that the former Spring had brought upon them. Summer was her favorite month of the year, just because she loved the humid, light weather of Konti Isle at this time a year. The grass was a hue of green that the ocean at its finest couldn't even reach. The bark on the trees seemed to glow the deep dark brown of the secrets that it held. The red, green and sometimes purple colors of the numerous amounts of trees leaves where swishing in the light breeze coming from the Eastern Sea. The waterway that ran through the Silent Garden ran clear today, flowing over smoothed colorful stones that lay within its cool waters. In fact the waterway was where she was headed. Tyler made it a habit to visit most places of water within Konti Isle as often as possible. This stream in particular was one of Tyler's favorites, she loved to just walk barefoot on the rocks and algae that grew within the mud and stones. Especially in the Summer when the cool river contrasted perfectly with the warm air. This day was a popular one for the Central Gardens. Probably because of the weather and the lovely colors in which the garden was showing. She noticed many Konti women and their sisters and mother walking about, along with a few husband and son Akalaks. And don't forget the random race tourists. Most of which were Human but there was always the occasional Kelvic that Tyler could easily spot. But what was odd within the Silent Gardens was that it wasn't so silent. There was a small crowd of Konti women that had gathered and were whispering to each other. Which made for quite the racked since there were so many. About 10 or so. Instantly curious, she made her way over to the crowd, slightly pushing her way to see what was in the middle. She wondered why they were all gathered around a tree and then she saw that it was an Akalak father with two Konti daughter he had perched in the oak. She had arrived just in time to here the purple man say that he would retell the tale of how he had left Riverfall. Riverfall was always an interesting topic to her, being that her own father had come from there, any stories of that place brightened her obsession of the Unknown even more. She stood within the crowd, intently listening to what the Akalak would tell of his tale. Within the crowd, although her eyes set on the purple father, she stood next to a rather young Konti girl, not much older than 20 she assumed.

[Ki'toka]

15th of Summer, 504 AV The Silent Garden Flashback - 11 years of age Ki'toka loved being under the water, the way the liquid felt as she pushed her arms and legs through it, how her hair fanned out around her face, how weightless she felt. She could easily admit that she was most happy when she was under the calm surface. She felt like she could do anything and everything she set her mind too. Pushing herself deeper toward the bottom of the waterway with ease, the gills on the side of her neck working effortlessly to keep her lungs filled with oxygen, her eyes searched the dimly lit bottom for what she sought. Ki'toka loved it here on Mura. The island was filled with only beautiful things and each of those things left a craving inside her to draw it. Sure there were plenty of things on the surface she could draw; other Konti, those visiting the island, plants, animals, structures... The list went on and on and she'd drawn many over the years since Nel'fi had gotten her started on the hobby. But she wanted to draw something from below the surface today, something she could draw that would show her love toward Laviku. As she neared the bottom of the waterway, Ki'toka slowly spun herself around so her feet touched the muddy bottom first, her toes digging into the squishy water logged dirt effectively anchoring herself in place. Sinking down into an almost kneeling position, her body swaying slightly due to the current around her, her hands went down and started sifting through the mud she could reach. The water around her became dark and muddy with the sand she disturbed, but she didn't mind, once she stopped disrupting it, the current would carry the mud cloud away leaving her in clear water again. Her fingers brushed over several hidden shells in the mud, the mud made it hard to tell the exact texture and since she was still in the cloud she'd created, she couldn't really use her eyes. So each one that felt about the right size she picked up, rolled around in her fingers, then if she liked it she placed it the pouch she'd made of her shirt by picking up the bottom of the fabric and lifting upward. After placing the sixth shell in her shirt, she sat still for a moment, letting the mud cloud drift away from her with the current. As the water around her started to clear, she realized a small school of fish had gathered around her. Smiling, she slowly reached one of her hands out, the liquid around her making her movements slow and graceful, and wiggled her pinkie finger and one of the closest fish. She let out a soundless laugh as the little guys head seemed to follow the movement of her finger then swished forward and started sucking on the tip. It tickled and looked a little funny, but the action caught the attention of a few more of the fish and she wiggled a few of her fingers at them as well. She ended up with three little fish sucking on her fingers; one on her thumb, one on her ring finger and one on her pinkie. They were beautiful creatures, like everything in Mura, scales a pale white, yellow and pink that glimmered when the sun reflected off them. Deciding she was going to use them in whatever drawing she drew, she slowly moved her hand closer to her face so that they were only inches away, her eyes scanning over their scales, their bodies, memorizing everything about them that she'd hopefully remember when she started her project. The little fish didn't stay for long though, and were soon on their way back with the rest of their school traveling down the waterway. She watched them go for a few moments before rechecking the shells she'd gathered. Now able to see her loot she'd gathered, she smiled again. There were at least three or four shells in her shirt that called out to her to be drawn. Pulling the ones out that didn't, she left the four tucked securely in her shirt then pushed off the muddy bottom with her feet and started back for the surface. She broke the calm surface silently, blinking the water out of her eyes as she swam toward one of the many sets of stone steps the led out of the water. It was warm enough now that she hadn't bothered to bring dry clothes to change into, the summer heat would dry her up soon enough, unless it started to rain, which it was prone to do still since it was still so close to Spring. Kneeling down in the soft grass next to her drawing supplies (a backpack that held her current drawing book, her ink and charcoal). Setting the shells on the ground so they would dry, Ki'toka laid back in the grass, relaxing while she waited for the shells and herself to dry off before she started drawing. Being wet would just ruin whatever pictures she'd already drawn, making the ink bleed together. It was fine though, she already had an idea of what her picture was going to turn out like. Hearing the sound of a group of people talking in hushed voices behind her, Ki'toka sat up and peeked at the hill that blocked her view from the group. Pushing herself to her feet and scooping up her shells and her backpack, she climbed up the little incline until she could see the small group that had gathered together. From the way they were seated, she could tell they were focused on the Akalak but nothing else seemed to be happening. With her hair and clothes still dripping wet, she climbed down the other side of the little hill and came to a stop beside Tyler and Aunalee as they were the closest members of the group to where she'd been standing. Her eyes scanned the gathered Konti women, seeing the excitement in their faces while she caught a few words about there being a story happening. Her eyes glanced over to the Akalak again, waiting to see what he would say, wondering if she'd be able to hear him from this far back. Looking up to the other two women, both of which were older than her, she gave them a small smile and nodded her head toward the purple male. "Do either of you know what's going on?" She asked in a whisper. Everyone was talking in whispers. That's what people did when it was story time. Even though the story hadn't started, people were ready to go completely silent once it did.

[Xyliana]

Timestamp:15, Summer, 504 AV

Xy’Liana pushed her feet into the rugged bark of the tree as she lay at a ninety degree angle, her back supported by the elongated branch. The peace of the Silent Garden filled her soul as she slowly closed her eyes, intent on napping. At the exact moment she took in a deep breath of fresh air she heard the voices of the family making their way to a small tree across the pool of lush grass. Walking her feet down the bark, she turned slightly to watch as they passed. When she was sure that she would not disturb their blissful family moment, she maneuvered her body to lay tummy down upon her secure branch.

Xy’Liana remained still as she observed the family. Once the male lifted his children onto the small tree she allowed her eyes to move around, taking note of the Konti who began to fill in closer. The young girl couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pride as she looked upon her home, love filling her heart. Gracefully she made her way up the branch to get a better view when she noticed Ki’Toka standing next to two other Konti. She tilted her head, trying to get a better grasp as to what Ki’Toka was doing. Her curiosity did not last long when she heard the Akalak agree to tell a story that he was obviously not eager to tell.

At his declaration of only telling the story once, she settled in to her branch. Xy’Liana pressed her cheek to the bark (more to make a mark on her skin) and she closed her eyes. With them closed, she knew that his words would provide a visual for her memory. She cleared her thoughts and settled her mind to listen.