Solo The Gathering

[Autumn Leithea]

20th Day of Autumn, 514 AV... Autumn awoke during the waning hour of the aging afternoon, a quiet voice in loving tone caressing her ears. "Good morning my love." Autumn smiled still laying in bed. "Mmm, I love you Marjorie." Autumn sat up and yawned a deep yawn and let it out. "It's late in the day and the sunlight is waning. We should get a move-on." "Why so quick to awaken me, what is today?" Marjorie smiled. "You know." Autumn looked at her with a rare glimmer in her eyes, a glimmer reserved for only the most scrumptious of occasion. A look that barley ever saw the light of day, a look of happy disbelief. "Really!? I have to get ready! Come in, come in." Marjorie entered Autumn's tent and sat crosslegged across from Autumn, making herself at home, as she was more than welcome as a guest in her tent, more at home sometimes than her own. As Autumn stripped herself of her day old clothes Marjorie started up a conversation. "You know the west wing entrance was moved." "Yeah? Who lives at the dead end now?" "Oh a family of refugees, probably 14 of them. They'll move on soon enough and another group of people will find it as home. They were actually quite friendly when I found them. Mothers and fathers, children and grandparents, all one bloodline." "Talking to them must have been fun." "It was. Never seen a group of people more at home in this labyrinth of cloth we call home. The children were running everywhere and everything." Autumn chuckled, now stark naked. "Those little tykes must have been a wonderful sight. There's something about children that is so young and enchanting and pure... we should adopt." Autumn said, half serious and half joking. "No." There was a silence. "Alright, fine, we won't adopt if its gonna be too much a pain in the ass for you. You'd make a great mother you know..." "Are you mocking me? You'd make a better mother, why do you have to pin the mother duties on me?" "I'm just saying, we could go to the city, pick out some little tyke off the streets and call him our son." "I want a girl." There was a pause. "Oh so you want to adopt now." "No, but IF we were to have a child I would want it to be a girl." Another pause. "Alright so we'll go find some little girl off the street and call her Angela. She will be our daughter and we will raise her in this wonderful little slum." Marjorie gave her a look. They burst out in laughter. "Haha, alright lets go." said Marjorie, still laughing. They got their things together, grabbed a bottle of wine, and exited her tent, joining a river of commotion, people all flowing together towards this way and that. The secret of traversing the intimidating and unpredictable maze of passages they called home was thus; follow the current of people. Where it is strongest can usually be followed to an exit, the river's tributaries leading to the more populated halls of their home. Many many foreigners had gotten hopelessly lost within the fray sometimes took hours just to orient themselves within the maze. Even a second encounter with this daunting cloth structure would yield frustration as the hallways and exits tended to change based on the ever-changing nature of the Sanctela. So they followed the river and found their way to a familiar exit and exited unto a warm autumn day, the dirt roads lined with tents with healthy bustle of activity about that was welcoming. The sharp coolness of warm autumn stung their lungs for a moment, and they began walking along by the way toward the campsite of one of their oldest friends, Anna.

[Autumn Leithea]

Everyone seemed lighthearted on the streets with a festive energy permeating throughout the endless campsites along the road. Everyone was abuzz with an almost loving vibe, a vibe still young in the late hours of the day. They made their way past campsites on the dirty road, people coming out of tributaries between the sea of tents that seemed to last for miles out over the hillside in the distance. The people all joined together into a thick river of those walking this way and that, talking in a light commotion all going somewhere or just wandering their way through the area. The traders began to show their wares in campsites that lined the road. Selling soup and water, medical herbs, and even wild game. The smell of stew filled the air as fires began to roar to cook the evenings meal surrounded by circles of tents, people laughing and carrying on around the campfires adding to the already potent furor within the tent city. Autumn and Marjorie made their way through the bustle toward Anna's tent. "Tonight is going to be wonderful." said Marjorie. Autumn laughed her joyous Autumn laugh. "Of course!" "We should get something to eat before tonight." "Definitely!" the lighthearted Autumn replied. "There will be a bunch of trading posts out tonight, it is a festival after all." "Yeah but I don't wanna wait until dark." "Fine, we'll trade soup for a fire with someone." "Deal." They walked quietly for a few moments, sharing a separate peace with each other. They took it all in, the sights, the smells, and the turbulent dull roar of all the people at once. They finally made it to Anna's tent after awhile. Anna was one of their oldest friends, their godmother. An aged midwife who lived alone feeding weary travelers, made healing herbal remedies, and cared for the sick. Many called her Grandmother Anna. She was very poor, a trader by nature, but she was more than wealthy in wisdom and love, more than enough for the generally interesting company she kept at her campsite, and more than enough for her goddaughters. Anna had adopted the two orphans as their godmother when they were very young, and gave them the shelter, food, and love they needed as children. She was by far their favorite person in the whole world, and she meant the whole world to them. "Hello my dearies!" Anna welcomed them. "Come over, come over." "Hi Grandma Anna!" said Marjorie. "Hey Grandma Anna!" said Autumn. "What are you two up to today?" "Oh you know." said Autumn. "We were just thinking of you so we decided to stop by!" "Oh, on this of all days to come see your weary godmother." "Yes." There was a pause. They all burst out in laughter, Anna grabbing her sides. "Ooh, don't get old you two. Its awful; aches and pains and joints... ugh... Never get old." "We wont Grandma Anna." said Autumn. "Grandma Anna, we brought a bottle of wine." "Thats lovely Autumn." "Grandma Anna, do you want us to make some soup for all of us?" "I already have some stew boiling, come on in girls, come, come." She ushered them into her humble campsite. "Here take a seat you two and let me get some bowls." She went into her tent and rummaged for a moment eventually bringing out three bowls and a large ladel. She knelt down over the pot and poured out three bowls worth of stew. "Here you are my dearies." "Thank you Grandma Anna." "Thanks Grandma Anna!" They ate in relative silence, all very hungry after a long day. Anna's soup was heartwarming, there was no cooking like hers. It always filled the belly and gave you a warm full feeling after you ate. Outside the along the road the crowd was getting thicker, and though some of the roar of the crowd was dulled within the campsite it was still decently loud. They listened as they ate, a comforting vibe laying between the three that felt warm and safe. It felt like home. The energy from the crowd was getting more and more joyous, and the sun was just above the horizon now. They finished eating and sat, sated and fat from the lovely feast of so little warming their full bellies. "Do you have time for a story girls?" "Mhmm." said Marjorie. "Yes!" said Autumn. Anna's stories were the best. As the sun went down Anna told them an old story of when she was young and the two sat and listened to her tale told lovingly and with care over a bottle of wine between the three of them. The sun set and they turned to watch the last glimmer of sunlight disappear below the horizon. It was time now to celebrate. Music could be heard in the distance and the crowd was roaring with excitement. "Come with us Grandma Anna! I know you can still dance!" stated Autumn. "Oh go on without me girls, I'll see you there." "Thank you Grandma Anna!" "Thanks Grandma Anna!" "You're always welcome here girls, you know that. Now go and have some fun! You two deserve it." said Anna with a warm smile. "Okay! Bye Grandma Anna!" said Autumn. "Bye!" They got back out on the road and listened; music! Music coming from somewhere down the road. They both turned to eachother and grinned. "Lets go!" said Autumn with a smile.

[Autumn Leithea]

Everyone they knew was in the crowd, everyone whom they had seen and talked to and laughed with all summer. They bumped into multiple people they knew on their way through, sharing glances and smiles as they went. It seemed like the entire Tent City was there at that place at that time together with each other for one purpose; to forget living in fear from one another. It was a brotherhood they had together living in that place, and it seemed only yesterday that they had been eyeing each other with contempt and hesitation. But not this day. Most of the commoners had doused their fires to come to the festival, but there were others whom set up a regular bazaar on the sides of the street. Food and wares, and all sorts of rare items were being sold as buyers and sellers came from all over to enjoy the festival market in all its bounty. Anything went at that bazaar, you could find most anything, but only at this time of year, as traders went through the place mainly in the Autumn to see what was there, but on this day it was traders' delight. "Are you hungry?" asked Marjorie. "No I'm still full from Grandma Anna's soup." "Just thought I'd ask." Strewn about the outskirts of the festival were midlevel gang memebrs peddling wares of drugs and protection. Their protection being sending men to people's campsites to watch over their belongings whilst everyone else was enjoying the festival, paying in a half now, half later fashion. Though Autumn and Marjorie left their tents unwatched, they were so deep into the Sanctela that it would be nearly impossible for a thief to take anything and find their way out. "Two men, six hours, ten gold mizas!" "Three men, three hours, seven gold mizas!" "One ounce of skunk grass! Ten gold mizas!" "Two men, all night, eighteen gold mizas!" They shouted out their advertisements in plain sight; no one would bother them. The campsite protection was such a lucrative trade that anyone, even from another gang, who was caught looting would be beaten heavily or even killed; they could not have doubt plaguing their profits. Autumn and Marjorie looked at each other and smiled. They walked up to one of the gang members, Autumn and Marjorie's old rival gang (though that did not matter now seeing as they were out of the game for so long). "Skunk grass you say?" stated Marjorie. "We'll take a quarter ounce." said Autumn. "Quarter for four." he stated. "Two." Marjorie began bargaining. "Four." "Two fifty." "Four." "Three or I'll find someone else." "These are the best prices you can get." "Three." "Four." "Oh fine." They paid the man two mizas each and took the grass. "Thank you!" said Autumn. Autumn pulled out her wooden pipe from her bag, put half and half tobacco and skunk grass in, packed it tight, and lit it with a burning stick from a dying campfire on the side of the road. This campsite was well within an area that was filled with people, if anyone were to loot this site they would be seen by many people. People in the Tent City do not snitch, but then again, there were many who would take the law into their own hands upon the sight of such treachery. They lit the pipe and began passing it between them, a mellow mood coming over them, and they started to feel a little silly. They made their way up the road towards the music through the bazaar. Autumn caught Marjorie eyeing some bandanas at a stall. "No." "Aww why can't i just..." "No." Autumn interrupted. "I need a new bandana Autumn." There was a pause... "Oh fine go get your bandana." Marjorie smiled and went over to the mans tent, bandanas tied to the canopy out front of his tent. "You see what you like?" Marjorie looked for awhile, finally spotting a black and white patterned one and held it up to the man. "Ahh, that'll be one gold miza." Marjorie looked the man in the eye. "Try 5 silver mizas and I might believe you." "Eight." "Six." "Eight." "Five" "Eight." "Seven." "Done." said the man. The man gave her an odd look as they made the exchange. "Thank you! Peace!" "Yeah peace girl..." said the worn trader. As they were walking away Marjorie put her wavy hair back into a ponytail, and put the new bandana on, covering the top of her head from her brow back over the back of her hair. As Marjorie finished Autumn was standing there silently. "How do I look?" Marjorie asked with a big smile. Autumn paused for a moment staring at the most beautiful person ever to have come into her life. "Beautiful." said Autumn, Marjorie smiled. "Thanks!" Autumn laughed for a moment, Marjorie's beauty was intoxicating. "Alright lets go!" said Autumn. OOC2gm - 1/4oz Skunk Grass

[Autumn Leithea]

Music! Music could be heard just down the road, and as they went they found the crowd growing thicker and thicker. Everyone around them seemed to be enjoying the festival air and the wonderful vibe and all that was good in the world knowing it was just for a night, all drinking and smoking and carrying on as roaring laughter could be felt through the air. The sun had gone down quite a while ago, and torches placed in the ground everywhere lit paths to an fro, in and out of the sea of tents to their right side, left being generous campsites with people inviting their unknown brethren for a drink around the fire near the music. People met for the first time after being strangers for so long. The music was intoxicating, as was the skunk weed and tobacco Autumn and Marjorie continued to smoke at a nearly reckless pace, knowing that they wouldn't die from it or go insane or anything else for that matter. Pushing their way through the crowd they finally made it to the heart of the scene. People stood apart from one another on a makeshift "dance floor", a relatively flat portion of road, dancing the night away. You couldn't tell who was who, and the crowd seemed to undulate together in strange recurring patterns almost illustrating the song, if not the song illustrating them as it went. Dancing and being part of such a lovely atmosphere was more than they could ask on this day of days. The musicians were a traveling band of bards and together they formed a band rarely seen amongst these parts. High as could be, and drunk to the point of tears, they played such incredible music, often slurring their instrumental words so to speak, which arguably made them better than most, and to be able to play like they were playing intoxicated? Please. They enjoyed the music, and it was relief that everyone could be together and not friggin kill each other for once. And it seemed the man on the guitar was probably the best musician they had ever heard, playing even better than the year previous. "Lets dance!" said Marjorie. Autumn smiled and they turned to each other and began dancing up a storm. As the lovely paced music died down the band segued perfectly into a slower more beautiful tune. They slowed down and looked at each other with love. Autumn grasped Marjorie with care from behind her, and they began to sway back and forth to the music, Autumn kissing Marjorie passionately on the cheek. Marjorie blushed. And there she held her amongst all the racket in the world, and it was as if they were the only two people in the world that existed. The music turned up again, with a powerful beat and wonderful rhythm and a characteristic type of sound that was almost their musical signature. Autumn and Marjorie could be seen kissing each other hidden within the crowd in plain sight. After they stopped they looked at each other and laughed, and then began dancing at the same time as if a cue not even be made. They were spinning each other round and round as the music went faster and faster until they couldn't go faster anymore, and then they did careening and out of control, as the band seemed to be too, and then it climaxed and stopped. Everyone cheered. "Ok folks we're gonna take a short break, cheers to everyone who came out tonight to celebrate life and love!" The crowd cheered again, the cheers almost reminiscent of a melody. Autumn took Marjorie by the hand. "You know what time it is." "Mhmm." said Marjorie. Right in the middle of the crowd formed a circle, and Autumn and Marjorie made sure they were on the edge of the circle itself. Without any cue, Autumn stood up and walked to the middle. "Alright everyone, you know what time it is. Lets hear a big cheer for the bards! They'll be back anytime soon. You all know the rules. Those who know, on the ring, those who don't, on the ring as well, and if you don't wanna be on the ring then the hell with you!" the crowd let out an absolute roar. "If you don't know what to do... you will, you pick it up fast. As for..." Autumn was interrupted by three young gangsters pushing through the crowd, whom Autumn looked at with a slightly confused look on her face. "EVERYONE TAKE OUT YOUR MONEY WE HAVE WEAPONS." a wiley little one up front stated. The whole crowd laughed and started pulling out weapons from hidden places. Everyone was armed. There was a silence, the boys looking frightened. Then the little one who spoke ran up to Autumn and pointed his dagger at her. "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!" Autumn turned for a second at the crowd in disbelief, and in that time the boy grabbed Autumn from behind and put a knife to her throat. "NOW GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY. AND YOU! ALL OF YOU GIVE ME YOUR MONEY OR I'LL KILL HER." Autumn grasped his knife hand by a pressure point. The boy screamed. She flipped his hand around and the knife was in her hand like that. "This is a nice dagger... does anyone want a dagger?" they all laughed. She then pointed his own dagger back at him. "Money." she stated bluntly. The boys two friends turned and ran. Leaving the boy hastily going through his pockets to find 9 gold, 5 sliver, and 5 copper mizas. "I've got nine five five." "So you've already scored tonight you arrogant little mutt, go home now before I spank you." "Yy-yyes maammm." said the boy looking at the ground. "How about you be a little more creative when you want money instead of almost killing someone for some spare change huh?" "Yyy-yes maammm. "Alright now run on home." And so the little lad did. Autumn turned to the crowd and threw all the change she had gotten holding up a nonviolent little brat into the crowd. People scrambled everywhere looking for some of the free mizas Autumn had thrown. "What happened here?" asked the guitarist of the band walking back from break. "Oh nothing." "Well lets get on with it!" he said. "Couldn't agree more." Autumn replied

[Autumn Leithea]

"Alright everyone whose in on the ring..." Autumn shouted. They formed a circle, Marjorie drawing a line in the sand all the way around the entire way. Everyone seemed to be talking in anticipation for some reason. Marjorie then walked over to Autumn. They looked at each other for a moment and smiled, turning away from each other to look at some people on the circle. There were a few of them dressed oddly, in a particular fashion that nobody else was, having the same type of vibe given off by Autumn and Marjorie. They each walked over to a few of these people and grabbed their hands after talking with them. Four young women entered the circle. They turned to each other, getting into a small circle, holding hands together. They began chanting an old, loving, and welcoming chant passed down by generations. After saying the chant, Autumn and Marjorie went to the South and West corners of the circle, Autumn drawing a line all the way across from South to North and Marjorie drawing a line from West to East. After they were done they returned to the center where the four others were, got into a huddle, and said a second ages old chant passed down through generations. When they finished the four girls each took a quarter of the circle and began drawing elaborate patterns on the quarter they were in. They all were different, but all of them worked off of the same traditional patterns they had known since they were young. There were central circles spiraling outward to smaller circles almost orbiting the center. Autumn and Marjorie turned to eachother and drew a central circle together, brushing away the lines they had drawn within it. They then drew a half and half circle pattern, the one they were taught by tradition, Autumn and Marjorie taking the art of the other and combing it together as their own, each inspiring the other continuously. When it was done a single traditional circle pattern in the middle had formed from their art. All of the others returning to the outside of this circle and holding hands. "ALLARIE!" Autumn yelled in her colloquial creole of the Tent City. Everyone stopped talking, and they began a prayer to all life in the world. "Shall we all be together. Oluvus sangen to whatever we masang about for another year, and we are all together in our love thisday. We're here to celebrate LIFE!" Autumn shouted and a roar erupted from the crowd. Autumn and Marjorie shouted with her brethren, and then waited for the crowd to die down to a complete silence once again. Translation : "Shall we all be together. All of us singing to whatever we may sing about for another year, and we are all together in our love on this day. We're here to celebrate LIFE! " The phrase "All of us singing to whatever we may sing about" loosely means the song of their lives, so they are all "singing" the song of their lives, and whatever else they may "sing" about that is in their lives. "Today we celebrate the life that we live, livin knowwn that we need to truly, an' so we celebrate tonight n this occasion for everything we wish to give. Aluvus here have blood more than many since we were kids. So we die later. We live tonight." Translation : "Today we celebrate the life that we live, living knowing that we need to truly live, and so we celebrate tonight and this occasion for everything we wish to give. All of us here have blood more than many. We die later. We live tonight." The phrase "we need to truly" means we need to truly and genuinely live. The phrase "All of us here have blood more than many since we were kids." means both that the person is thick blooded and can whether any hardship, but also a trait that implies the person is seasoned and experienced through time by "bleeding" (living life in the face of hardship). "Hab." they all stated. Translation : The word "hab" is used to acknowledge a kind of love towards a neighbor that runs deep, much like the love of a brother or extended family, it acknowledges that 'we are all in this together, and we are brothers in this together'. It roughly translates as "love". It can be used saying goodbye by saying "Heb!" which is much like saying "Peace", but is much more meaningful in a group such as after a table prayer over food or during large gatherings roughly translating to "Amen". "Alright, lets go!" She turned to the band and smiled. They smiled back..." "One, two, three, four..." The band started out with a tune that they all had heard, and there was a roar of commotion as everybody began dancing. When the band had come around once, within the beats people stepped into the outermost satellite circles of the drawings and began dancing in a way that made them laugh and as the beat continued they would move to the next spot in their area, each time switching places with another in their group laughing as they went. As the song hit a climax they all spiraled about each other, dancing and singing to the music as it went, and began kicking near each other and spinning around like a slow fight, constantly dodging each others movements, moving like water. As the music continued groups of them would smile and congratulate others in the group and those chosen few would advance to the next set of drawn circles, the music still playing. Finally two would be found at the center circle of their quarter, leaving empty spaces where they had been. It played off until people on the edge of the large circle were themselves dancing the night away until the movements of the people within were almost contagious to the people outside and you couldn't tell who had inspired who. Two people had entered the innermost circle and faced each other, Autumn and Marjorie. The song stopped, and all those within stopped for a moment, and then turned and congratulated each other, talking and laughing together. The crowd was lovely and boisterous by this time, and everyone seemed happy. The band started playing a little jam, starting from nothing and hinting as to a song they would play. What song was it? They played the song everyone was thinking about, and more people came in to fill the places where the rest had been. It was a merry gathering of folk, and the Kirili dancing kept up well into another song. Autumn and Marjorie finally stepped down after the third song, allowing for more people to come to the center and dance, as others would fill the empty spaces that were left by other people. Autumn and Marjorie went to the outside and began dancing with some other folk, drinking and smoking as they went merrily to their side of the circle, wherein all their other brethren from that side of the circle were as well, mingling with strangers as they went. They talked for a little while and then decided in their somewhat stupor to go spread some merriment to the people that they didn't know. Everybody was on their side of the circle, from each direction of the Tent City, and they were all together as brethren. They decided that the westerners needed some love, and left their southern brothers to go make some new friends and spread some love. They made it, somehow, through the thick crowd of people to the western area and found a few of the oddly dressed young women on that side, and pulled some other strangers into a little circle in the sand that they danced around. This went on for two more songs, and then the jam band started a song, Marjorie's favorite song! She immediately grabbed a slightly inebriated Autumn and pulled her back through the crowd to the southernmost quarter of the circle, and they got on the edge of it waiting for two spots to open up. They about a few long moments later and they jumped in, making sure to be courteous to the other dancers too as they went. They made it to the center again as the jam band jammed right into another tune, the two of which went together, and they danced Kirili long into the second and the one after that. Eyeing each others' movements, and dancing with an exuberance in love that was breathtaking in a way that many could never dream of. Twas fast and slow, intricate and passionate, loving and breaking, they knew each other so well that their movements were seamless. By the end of the concert Marjorie and Autumn were on the sidelines laughing and carrying on, drinking wine and smoking skunk weed, as were quite a few others in the crowd. Then the band played their final tune, a slow song. Autumn and Marjorie turned to each other, eyes locking, and they moved forward and put their hands around each other. They slow danced for all of the song together, not saying a word. For every word, every note, every slow beat of the loving song, they were together. Finally the song ended and they embraced each other in tears. Everyone around them was cheering as they band said goodbye. And when they left, everyone was happy together, and continued on to celebrate life wherever they made rest together as brethren, carrying on long into the night. As Autumn and Marjorie halfway stumbled to the Sanctela, a couple of kids were playing in the road and ran across it. "Hey you boys, you should be asleep!" Autumn said. One of the kids turned to look. "Aww, but everybody else gets to stay up, why can't we?" Autumn thought about it for a moment. "Aw, fine, you can stay up. But when you get tired get some sleep or I'll come get you! Grr!" The kids started laughing. "Now you boys get some sleep soon, you don't want to be asleep midday, don't you?" "No..." "Alright, see you guys!" said Autumn "Bye Autumn! Bye Marjorie!" the kids said. They somehow found their way though the Sanctela to their homes. Autumn kissed Marjorie, and was going into her tent when Marjorie stopped her. "Can I stay?" Autumn turned and said yes.

[Jashkataal]

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