Timestamp: 4th of Fall, 503 AV
Disclaimer:Sorry for the blandness here. Working solely to improve Common.
Is there a harsher word to describe her situation as utterly miserable? Boring to death might've been another good description. Kaie was thinking of other ways to convey her displeasure, when a gust of wind within the house caused the smoke to change its course. The cloud of black smog swung into her face, causing her to gag a bit. She waved her hand in front of her and closed her eyes. She coughed twice before the smoke has resettled how it should, billowing up through the hole in the ceiling. Kaie hadn't a guess as to which God or Goddess had sent the annoyance at her, but she assumed it was for her disrespect. When a kid just wants to return to their playmates and learn their clan skills, can anyone really blame them?
Kaie's great-grandmother, Ukla, was a wrinkled woman. Not quite nearly as ancient looking as her great-great grandmother, but still unmistakably old. Her skin was like Kaie's but a little darker. It was loose around the edges of her body and reminded Kaie much of the sap oozing down a tree. Though somehow behind the curses of old age, she was a pleasant woman to the eyes. Her close lipped smile was always warm and welcoming. Her eyes were bright and kind but Kaie feared them when her anger came. The gentle voice would leave and her eyes would darken like clouds over Syna. Her grey and white hair was braided down her back fashionably. One could see the tattoos that covered her arms and a single snake head that trailed just to her collarbone. It's fanged were wide open and hungry like they were about to pierce her throat. It was a satirical take on how their clan functioned and a reminder of the enemy. Dhanis were her clan's greatest foe and it was considered a great honor to slay one. As custom, they'd skin the beast and hang it from the trees just outside their domain. A warning to any other surviving members still lurking in the trees.
Yet today her kin was not here to give advice on hunting Dhanis. She had a much more uninteresting lesson in mind. Common. Kaie practically groaned when she heard the news. Why did she need to know the barbarian tongue? They were the lesser. The impure. Shouldn't they learn the tongue of the Goddess Queen? Of course all of that was easily countered when the old woman brought up Kaie's pilgrimage. Something she had declared from a young age she would do. Naturally she would need to communicate with the people she wasn't trying to kill.
Kaie sighed and looked at the woman sitting cross legged in front of her. Waiting for the torturous hour to begin. She could only hope time would pass quickly.
"You must know the words from the lips and the paper, Kaie. This is important," The woman said with a deep frown to convey her seriousness. Kaie practically rolled her eyes and fought the urge not to turn and stomp out of the longhouse. Had she wanted a brutal beating for her disrespect, she would've done just that.
"I don't understand why you can't just teach me a few phrases and call it a day," She argued weakly, searching hopelessly for a way to prevent another lesson in the future when this one ended. The woman was not amused.
"Long before your time when every clan member made a pilgrimage, the matriarch of those days had lost two of her children to the barbarian lands. Her mate crossed the sea to search for them. He returned two years later after finding out the fate of his children. You know how they died?"
"No, but I'm feeling you're about to tell me..."
Disclaimer:Sorry for the blandness here. Working solely to improve Common.
Is there a harsher word to describe her situation as utterly miserable? Boring to death might've been another good description. Kaie was thinking of other ways to convey her displeasure, when a gust of wind within the house caused the smoke to change its course. The cloud of black smog swung into her face, causing her to gag a bit. She waved her hand in front of her and closed her eyes. She coughed twice before the smoke has resettled how it should, billowing up through the hole in the ceiling. Kaie hadn't a guess as to which God or Goddess had sent the annoyance at her, but she assumed it was for her disrespect. When a kid just wants to return to their playmates and learn their clan skills, can anyone really blame them?
Kaie's great-grandmother, Ukla, was a wrinkled woman. Not quite nearly as ancient looking as her great-great grandmother, but still unmistakably old. Her skin was like Kaie's but a little darker. It was loose around the edges of her body and reminded Kaie much of the sap oozing down a tree. Though somehow behind the curses of old age, she was a pleasant woman to the eyes. Her close lipped smile was always warm and welcoming. Her eyes were bright and kind but Kaie feared them when her anger came. The gentle voice would leave and her eyes would darken like clouds over Syna. Her grey and white hair was braided down her back fashionably. One could see the tattoos that covered her arms and a single snake head that trailed just to her collarbone. It's fanged were wide open and hungry like they were about to pierce her throat. It was a satirical take on how their clan functioned and a reminder of the enemy. Dhanis were her clan's greatest foe and it was considered a great honor to slay one. As custom, they'd skin the beast and hang it from the trees just outside their domain. A warning to any other surviving members still lurking in the trees.
Yet today her kin was not here to give advice on hunting Dhanis. She had a much more uninteresting lesson in mind. Common. Kaie practically groaned when she heard the news. Why did she need to know the barbarian tongue? They were the lesser. The impure. Shouldn't they learn the tongue of the Goddess Queen? Of course all of that was easily countered when the old woman brought up Kaie's pilgrimage. Something she had declared from a young age she would do. Naturally she would need to communicate with the people she wasn't trying to kill.
Kaie sighed and looked at the woman sitting cross legged in front of her. Waiting for the torturous hour to begin. She could only hope time would pass quickly.
"You must know the words from the lips and the paper, Kaie. This is important," The woman said with a deep frown to convey her seriousness. Kaie practically rolled her eyes and fought the urge not to turn and stomp out of the longhouse. Had she wanted a brutal beating for her disrespect, she would've done just that.
"I don't understand why you can't just teach me a few phrases and call it a day," She argued weakly, searching hopelessly for a way to prevent another lesson in the future when this one ended. The woman was not amused.
"Long before your time when every clan member made a pilgrimage, the matriarch of those days had lost two of her children to the barbarian lands. Her mate crossed the sea to search for them. He returned two years later after finding out the fate of his children. You know how they died?"
"No, but I'm feeling you're about to tell me..."
