FLICK
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Post by FLICK on Feb 29, 2008 18:04:15 GMT -5
Elai didn't understand everything Kokomai said, but she did catch the question at the end. Tugging slightly on her plait, she nodded shyly, like a three-year old would nod when asked something they didn't really understand. She was a little afraid of the stones, as she had been brought up to be suspicious of magic that wasn't the tribal mysticism of home. There, it was the subtle spiritual magics of the soul. This was something completely different - if it was magic at all.
With a hand she hoped wasn't shaking, Elai took the stones. She bit her lip, screwed up her eyes, reversed both actions, and then - finally - knocked them together. Sparks flew out, and although there weren't as many as when Kokomai had done it before, there were enough to make Elai drop the stones and flop backwards on the grass in shock, bouncing Gedeon's head rather roughly out of her lap. She propped herself back up on her elbows and looked apologetically at Koko, but the whole gesture was ruined by a giggle she failed to stifle.
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Post by Chani {♥} on Feb 29, 2008 18:57:26 GMT -5
Gedeon had been just as startled when Elai used the rocks. Fire was a frightening thing, and, as the stones lit up in front of his eyes, he jumped up as Elai did. He was on his feet and had hopped back at least a yard, first yipping and then barking at the flint stones.
Kokomai didn't laugh often. Most thought her entirely rude for simply smiling at their jokes and puns, but it was merely because she was a serious person, and normally she just smiled (ironically) to be polite. But she did let out a small laugh with Elai. It was genuine and it felt great.
"It's not sorcery," Kokomai assured her. "Not magic, I promise." She smiled. "But that's fine. At least you know what the rocks look like, so you can find them if you ever need them."
Gedeon, who had stopped barking as Kokomai laughed, had regained his composure. He took a few deliberate, cautious steps toward the stones. Sniffing them from a distance and finally picking them up in his big jaw and carrying them off. After he was about six feet away from either of his two companions, he began digging rapidly, as if the stones in his mouth were ticking bombs. Finally, he dropped them into the hole he had dug and covered them up. He padded off at a quick pace, glancing behind him and growling almost inaudibly as if to make sure they weren't spontaneously combusting. He finally lied down next to Elai, glad to know that there was a human who shared his fear of fire.
Kokomai released another laugh, not only at Gedeon's interesting actions but at the fact that he had grown so attached to Elai. She was happy to see him getting along with someone so quickly. He was a loving animal and it wasn't unlike him to snuggle with, lick, or nuzzle a stranger, but he was different toward Elai.
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FLICK
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Post by FLICK on Mar 5, 2008 2:29:24 GMT -5
Gedeon's reaction to the stones didn't help Elai's futile quest to hold the giggles back at all. When he leaped up, only a small hiccup of laughter escaped her lips, but when he began to bark, she couldn't hold it back. The floodgates opened, and pure, uncontrolled laughter ensued. She rolled back onto the grass again, but sat back up almost immediately when she realised what she was doing. An excess of laughter was considered impolite amongst the clan around people you didn't know well, but when she realised Kokomai, too, was laughing - just a little - she relaxed.
"They are... interesting," Elai finally managed, when she had listened to Koko's explanation. She had to wipe some water from her eyes, but her mouth had split into a wide grin - another thing, if trivial, that was considered slightly discourteous - but Elai had given up on courtesy. She was young, she didn't know the customs of the land, and Koko didn't seem to mind, so, she reasoned, it was okay to break a few rules.
"I think I will try to find these 'flints' in morning," she said, still grinning. "They make fire-making more easier." Even if they do scare me a little, she thought, but didn't add it. But when Gedeon grabbed the stones and rushed off to bury them, embarrassed guilt crossed her face.
"I am sorry," she said hurriedly. "I mean no Gedeon bury-" She stopped. In her haste, she had garbled the words, but she thought Kokomai had gotten the gist of what she was saying. She hung her head, a veil of thin grey strands that had escaped her ponytail falling between the two women.
But when Gedeon padded back over to her, lay his great shaggy body down and looked up at her with his soulful eyes, she couldn't help but smile a little. She lifted his head up gently and placed it in her lap again, rubbing him rhythmically around the neck. It was partly for him - but partly to avoid meeting Kokomai's eyes.
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 5, 2008 4:29:06 GMT -5
Kokomai released a giggle, not sure of why Elai looked so guilty.
"No, it's fine," she assured Elai. "Gedeon is a free spirit, and I cannot reprimand him for that, let alone you." She smiled, as if to confirm that she was not displeased and began to prepare the fire for cooking.
Gedeon groaned, as he often did when he was relaxing, and closed his big eyes. He was obviously quite pleased with himself, though he opened his eyes occasionally to glance over at where he had buried the flint stones, as if to insure that they were still buried and weren't sneaking up on him.
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Post by FLICK on Mar 7, 2008 4:49:23 GMT -5
Elai's hands continued their gentle massage, slowly making their way down the sides of Gedeon's neck till eventually she was just rubbing his chest. Everything about the animal soothed her, and her eyes crinkled up into a smile as she knotted her fingers in his long hair. She loved his scent, too - a warm, animal scent, that although it wasn't what you'd call nice it was still pleasant, and warm and comforting. Wolves, Elai had decided, were wonderful animals, clever and beautiful all at the same time.
"Where did you come from?" she asked, this time focussing on her human companion. She felt suddenly aware of how much of the conversation, until now, had centred around her life and her embarrassing difficulty with the language that a session with Koko had done so much to rectify.
[[Sorry if she's already asked that - I can't remember ;~;]]
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 8, 2008 4:07:14 GMT -5
ooc;; Yep, she's already asked that. xD I'll pretend like she didn't say anything. It's all good.
bic;; Kokomai finally pulled out two sticks, each had been carved so that the bases were stake-like and the tops formed a "Y" shape. She stuck them on either side of the fire and reached again into her rucksack, this time producing a metal plate with appendages on each side. She rested them on the sticks, over the fire, so that the tips of the growing flames licked the bottom of it. Taking a spare stick on the ground, she moved the firewood about.
"Is the animal ready?" she asked, setting the stick aside. "We'll have to cook it in small slabs, the plate isn't very big and I don't think the sticks can support much weight."
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Post by FLICK on Mar 8, 2008 6:18:12 GMT -5
ooc;; EPIC FAIL. Sorry. GOD THIS IS TERRIBLE (and short) - but I wanted to reply before I went to sleep, and I needed something to do while I made myself dinner. I've been at a party, but I ate next to nothing and am really tired and hungry which I hope partially explains for the crappiness of this post and the run-on redundancy of this sentence. I guess it also moves the plot on a little. Forgive me.
ic;; "Yes," Elai nodded. "It is not complete, but there is meat for cooking. What do you want to cook?" she asked, cocking her head inquisitively in a way reminiscent of a small parrot or monkey. There was a fair bit available - she'd cut off some good rump meat already, and most of the elk's internal organs had been removed. Elai knew how to prepare most of them, but as it was Kokomai's camp, she thought it would be polite to let her host decide.
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 8, 2008 9:02:25 GMT -5
ooc;; Oh, Flick! There's nothing terrible about it. Pfffshoosh. =P You just wait until you see THIS post.
bic;; "The loins, preferably," Kokomai replied. Meat was not among her favorite of foods, but the loins were the best, she had decided. She stretched, her back hurting a bit from sitting on the ground, though she was quite used to it. The fact that she was habitually held an elegant posture at all times and was instinctively sitting with her back straight instead of bending into comfort probably didn't help any.
Gedeon let out a yawn, possibly too high-pitched for a large, intimidating beast like him, but adorable all the same. Kokomai smiled at him and, as if that smile had been what he was waiting for, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
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Post by FLICK on Mar 8, 2008 21:21:10 GMT -5
Elai nodded again, slicing off a large section of the meat Kokomai asked for. She handed it over before going back to her work with the skin. Her scraper had been made of the antlers from an animal similar to this one, and Elai noticed that it was getting a little old. Perhaps, if Kokomai didn't have any use for them, she would be able to use the elk's antlers to fashion some new tools. The bones, too, were useful - although last time Elai checked, her bone tools were still servicable.
Elai giggled as Gedeon yawned. It seemed strange to hear something like that coming from such a large, awe-inspiring animal, but it was adorable and having gotten to know him a little, perfectly appropriate. She smiled at him, too - a large, genuine grin that made her face glow and her eyes sparkle.
"What sort of... meal will you be cooking?" she asked Koko hesitantly.
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 10, 2008 0:25:11 GMT -5
"Just the meat, with some added seasonings," Kokomai replied simply, reaching into her bag and pulling the dagger from her obi. She cut the meat into four rough slabs and placed one on the metal plate. She again reached into her rucksack and produced two miniature jars, taking the cap off of each in its turn and sprinkling a bit onto the meat with her fingertips before replacing them. She wiped her dagger on the grass to clean it and set it aside.
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Post by FLICK on Mar 10, 2008 3:39:17 GMT -5
Elai nodded. Kokomai didn't seem to need her help with the cooking, so Elai turned to her small pack, wiping her bloodied hands on the grass before unstrapping her bedroll. Elai was perfectly happy sleeping without it, but it was more comfortable, and sleeping without it had made somebody she'd shared a campsite with uncomfortable. He'd explained something about chills, and worrying about her health, and even offered to let her share his roll - but Elai had come to the conclusion that he'd just wanted to get her in his bed. She hadn't taken up the offer, but had purchased a bedroll with the little money she had next time she visited a town.
"I will sleep soon after eating," she explained, to clear up any potential awkwardness. "At home, we sleep soon when sun goes down. I hope you do not mind."
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 10, 2008 3:53:38 GMT -5
"No," Kokomai answered. "That's when we rest here, too. Gedeon usually frolics during the night, but he's had a rough day." Gedeon's ear twitched at his name being mentioned, but he did not stir. Kokomai watched the slab as it sizzled on the metal plate, waiting for it to finish cooking so she could flip it. It would take several minutes, she knew, and so she began preparing the herbs for their tea, facing Elai while she did so in case Elai wished to learn how.
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Post by FLICK on Mar 11, 2008 1:17:06 GMT -5
ooc;; Do you get the feeling that nothing is really happening?
ic;; Elai watched intently as Koko put the meat on too cook. In the forest of her home, they didn't have the metal plate the meat was sizzling on. They didn't use any metal at all, except for the few relics remaining from the time of their human ancestors. Instead, they spitted their meat over open fires, turning it slowly to cook it evenly all the way through. However it was a clumsy technique, so she watched interestedly as the meat began to cook.
However, she soon shifted her concentration to Kokomai's next task. It was much more interesting than the slowly cooking meat. She was preparing herbs in a fashion that looked well learned, with an instinctive feel to the actions that made Elai think it was a procedure her older companion had memorised long ago. It had to be the tea, Elai decided. She would probably scream if it wasn't.
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Post by Chani {♥} on Mar 11, 2008 5:01:55 GMT -5
ooc;; Indeed I do, this seems a bit sluggish. We need a plottymoof! -thinks- Perhaps we make our next couple of posts go through several events at a time and... uh... Hmmm... Well, Kokomai is tutoring Elai. So how about they visit a city that's holding a festival? And perhaps, if you need more excitement, the city undergoes siege? That's just a cliche idea, though. If you have anything, le'me know.
bic;; Kokomai finished preparing the tea and used a stick to flip the meat. Even cooking seemed tiring after a long day of training and teaching. Keeping her body ready for combat was a necessity, of course, and she was a highly self-disciplined individual. She had planned on using the time after her training to visit the Kinryû Mountain's shrine and making her camp there for the night, returning to the base and visiting one of the local villages afterward to resupply. She decided it was just as well that she had found Elai, or Elai had found her, rather.
Thinking over the events of the day, she decided that she was right in not judging Elai based on her fluency in Common. It was not her lack of intellect that plagued her, but her lack of teaching. With a proper tutor, Kokomai decided that Elai had the ability to learn Common as good as most within a matter of months. She was a clever individual and it seemed she actually enjoyed learning. She and Elai were as different as black and white to the untrained eye, but they had much in common in Kokomai's perspective. Elai was proud of and loved her people, held fast to her convictions while still accepting new knowledge with the greatest enthusiasm, and she didn't need to talk much. Kokomai appreciated that. She seemed to observe and study more than she liked to make idle conversation. Of course, that could have had something to do with her ability to speek in Common...
After cooking the first slab, she stabbed it with a stick so that it stuck to the tip and offered it to Elai.
"Your kill," Kokomai explained. "You eat first. It's a custom." After Elai accepted it ((assuming she did; sorry, trying to move it along ^^)), Kokomai continued to cook the other slabs. It seemed to take forever, but Kokomai's patience persisted, even as her stomach pained with hunger. Finally, the second slab was done. She stabbed it on a stick as she had Elai's and pulled it away, setting the tea on the metal plate. She would cook the others after they had eaten their first slabs, if they were still hungry.
It was hard for Kokomai's manners to shine while she was eating in such a way, with no silverware, but she decided to save that lesson for another day, when she was properly equipped. Besides, Elai had been the student, so she was probably even wearier than Kokomai. When the teapot whistled, Kokomai sat her food aside so that she could produce two teacups. She poured the first and offered it to Elai.
"Your first cup of tea," she announced, smiling tiredly. "Are you still hungry?" She poured herself a cup, blew lightly over its steaming surface, and took a sip, followed by another bite of loins.
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Post by FLICK on Mar 11, 2008 5:46:25 GMT -5
ooc;; Sounds fun! I’m all for it. I think we can discuss the siege-y idea more when we get to it – at the moment, a festival would probably be enough.
ic;; Elai, too, was glad she had found Kokomai. Koko was the first person she had encountered since leaving her home that she found she could really connect to. Everybody else had been either too different for Elai, or had found Elai too different for them. That, and the language barrier, had stopped her from finding a long-term travelling companion – which was what she’d planned to do as soon as possible after leaving Win Dain. Looking back, Elai was surprised she’d made it all the way to Hagakarin without somebody with a wider grasp of culture than she had to help her.
But Kokomai seemed different to the other people she’d met. She was accepting of Elai’s cultural differences and language difficulties, willing to offer help, and didn’t seem to mind Elai’s company. She seemed to share Elai’s values to the most extent, and didn’t mind silence. It was that, more than anything else, which allowed Elai to really relax in her company. At home, Elai had been considered quite the talker, but she had discovered that the outside world was quite different. In the tribe, it wasn’t surprising not to talk to anybody at all for up to a few days. In the wider world, most people were unnerved by silence. Kokomai seemed to appreciate it even more than Elai did.
Elai nodded, accepting the meat gratefully. It was nice of Kokomai to give her the first meal, even if it was a custom. “Thank you,” she said, remembering at the last moment. She hoped Kokomai wasn’t too hungry – but she herself was starving, and wasn’t going to deny Koko her customs even if it was in the best of intentions. However, she did her best to wait until Kokomai’s own slab was cooked before tucking in. She didn’t quite manage – but gave her friend an apologetic glance before she began. She ate with her fingers, but had it down to an art – she managed to avoid getting any juice on anything other than her fingertips, and when she had finished wiped them clean on the already slightly dewy grass.
The tea was more exciting though. She took the cup eagerly, her normally sharp eyes missing the steam in the excitement of the moment. They didn’t normally drink anything hot where she came from, so it came as a surprise when the first gulp burned the inside of her mouth. She managed to put the cup aside carefully without spilling any before she reacted, screwing her eyes up and sucking her lips in. Elai would be more careful next time – but at least she had gotten the taste. It was aromatic and bitter, but it had a definite appeal to it. She took another sip – much smaller this time – and let it slosh hotly over her tongue.
“It’s… tasty?” Elai hazarded, hoping she’d gotten the word right. She had a feeling there was a better one, but it hadn’t come to her. “I hurt my mouth on it,” she explained, in case Kokomai had been wondering at her initial reaction, “but it tastes well.”
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