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Miel Kha ([personal profile] feralwhm) wrote2019-11-19 08:37 am

Reticent

It had been half a year since the little Raen child had been brought to the Kha clan. Her recovery had been a haphazard one, with the Mol healers neededing to tend to her multiple times over, and when the worst of her physical ailments had passed there was still much to be done about her mental state and lack of trust.

Some days were better than others. Some days she seemed to lose her progress. Some days she'd be quiet and obedient to an extreme--disturbingly so as if she had become some automaton and other days she would lash out with claws and teeth at anyone who came near her. She seemed to be particularly sensitive and vitriolic towards women and this extended to Namuunaa as well.

Fortunately Namuunaa was a woman of infinite patience and knew not to take it personally...doubtless there was a reason for that.

The child, now named "Miel" was also willful as they came. In an effort to rebuild her strength as fast as possible she would walk until her legs gave out under her, fight against the training dummies until her fists nearly bled, and once she was able to picking up whatever chores around the camp that she could.

In the past moon her voice had recovered enough strength for her to speak again, albeit it very quietly and in spurts. When asked about her name, where she came from, what she had been doing, who her parents were she had simply shrugged again and said she couldn't remember anything.

Today found her sitting on a grassy knoll, looking over the clan's sheep to make sure that none of them wandered out too far. Her arms were wrapped about her knees and pulled tight against her chest. She was still a thin thing, but a far cry from when she had been at death's doorstep.

Buttons — 03/28/2023 3:56 PM
"Ah, there you are."

Lavanda had only grown impossibly taller in the past six months, horns elongating and coming close to the final form of them. On his back was the familiar bow, in his hand two rabbits. "Mom said you left without a meal again."


Space Coco — 03/28/2023 4:07 PM
Miel turned her head to look at him, big eyes watching him owlishly.

Lavanda....was strange.

She was still waiting for the hammer to fall in regards to him---to all these people, but particularly him. Yet try as she might she had yet to discern what he might be up to or catch any sign of malice.

"...not hungry." She lied, pulling her knees tighter to her chest. Truth be told it was simply a feeling of debt that kept her from eating. She already owed a lot to these people she so distrusted and now that her strength was back and the plants were flourishing once again, more often than not she went foraging instead.

Buttons — 03/28/2023 4:10 PM
"My ass. You're still stick thin, Miel!" He walks over to her, putting a hand on her head. "Besides," he pulls the hand from her head to his knee, "you only come up to here on me, so you still got some growing to do."

Space Coco — 03/28/2023 4:15 PM
"That's not my fault," she started hotly and defensively, "I'm normal size. You're a giant." Though the comment did make her stand up to see if she actually was indeed that small.







Ignore her trying to discreetly stand on her tip toes.

Buttons — 03/28/2023 4:20 PM
"Would you look at that, you've grown!" He smiles, leaning down to be eye level with Miel. "Clearly that much growing must have made you hungry."

Space Coco — 03/28/2023 4:43 PM
When he lowered his head down to hers everything that came next was absolute instinct.

Her mind processed a threat and the spines of her tail sharpened--said tail arched high over her head almost like that of a scorpion's poised to strike. A small growl slipped out of her and her knees bent and without further warning she was bodily launching herself at Lavanda's head with a snarl.

Buttons — 03/28/2023 4:46 PM
He laughs - laughs! - at her lunging at him, ducking low to line his shoulder up with her stomach, in one swift motion swinging her over his shoulder. "Alright, back to camp with you. It's time you ate." He waves to another member of the clan with the hand that held the rabbits, before walking back with a feral Miel held over his shoulder.

Space Coco — 03/28/2023 5:43 PM
She lets out a small hiss in response but just as quickly as the instinct came it left now that she realized there was no true danger. She settled down on his shoulder now overcome with guilt. Those still strong memories and lessons return to her: anger is the emotion of the wrong and weak and she forces herself to quiet down.

She looked at the person Lavanda greeted and from her perch on his back waves as well.

Buttons — 03/28/2023 6:58 PM
Lavanda carries Miel all the way to the yurt, only setting her down when they get inside. He heads to the cooking ware, beginning to hunt for the blades to prepare the rabbits for cooking.
March 29, 2023

Space Coco — 03/29/2023 2:55 PM
She stays where he set her down for a couple of minutes, watching him before she slides on over to stand by his side without saying a word.

She's watching him curiously.

During the early months of her time in the wilderness she learned due to sheer necessity and countless failures how to place traps. Yet she had always struggled with properly skinning them, often taking off huge chunks of meat that ended up wasted, or cooking parts with fur still on it.

She wanted to see how he did it.

Buttons — 03/29/2023 3:46 PM
Lavanda finds the blades, making sure they're clean before beginning to carefully gut and skin one of the rabbits, tossing the intestines aside for offal while setting the skin aside to be taken outside and dried for use as a leather. He moves to do the same with the second rabbit, pauses, and looks over to Miel.

"Do you want to try?"

Space Coco — 03/29/2023 4:18 PM
She looked up at him, surprised by the offer but then gave a small nod of her head.

Buttons — 03/29/2023 4:20 PM
He smiles, stepping to the side. "Here, I'll show you the easy way to do it."

He walks the girl through gutting the rabbit, explaining how they would use the innards for offal to the ravens, keeping the birds on their side. He carefully guides her wrist as much as her arm, gently touching to adjust her angle to skin the rabbit. It's not the cleanest skin, but it's leagues better than her self-taught results. "Not bad! I'm sure with more practice you'll be better than me."
March 30, 2023

Space Coco — 03/30/2023 7:15 PM
She listened to him intently and while initially there was a moment of tension when he first began guiding her arm, she soon relaxed and allowed him to show her. When finished she looks at the rabbit and the result in undeniable.

She stares at it for a while recalling all the instances she'd have to feel the scrape of fur go down her throat, how it would hang heavy in her stomach.

"...thank you." It's quiet, but it's there. The more skills she could learn the better for when she inevitably had to leave this place.

Buttons — 03/30/2023 7:18 PM
Lavanda smiles at the girl, reaching a hand out to pat her on the shoulder for a job well-done. "Here, take the skins to the tanning rack outside, and I'll finish getting these prepped to roast." He hands the skins to Miel, before he begins tying the feet together to put on a spit over the fire.

Space Coco — 03/30/2023 8:54 PM
She gives him a look at the pat but says nothing, gathering the skins up as instructed. She knows where the rack is but isn't exactly sure how to use it. Thankfully there is already someone there and when they see her they smile, taking the skins away from her.

She stays there for a moment, observing them seeing what she can figure out just from watching. When they invite her over to try, however, unlike with Lavanda that's when she turns tail and runs back into the yurt.

Buttons — 03/30/2023 8:56 PM
The rabbits are put above the fire to cook, and while they do Lavanda puts the kettle in the coals to heat water for some tea. He sits cross-legged by the fire, absently plucking his arrows from the quiver to check them from his hunt.

Space Coco — 03/30/2023 10:03 PM
She went to sit across him, watching as he looks over his arrows.

She draws her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around to regard him intently.

"Why," A flinch as her throat constricts and she tries again, "Why did...you bring me here?"

Buttons — 03/30/2023 10:05 PM
He blinks, looking up at her while holding an arrow in his hands, his brow furrowing. "You were out in the cold, right before a blizzard, sick and hungry. Why wouldn't I bring you here?"
March 31, 2023

Space Coco — 03/31/2023 7:53 AM
That didn't remotely answer her question.

"Yes. I was. So?"

Buttons — 03/31/2023 7:54 AM
The look he gives her is one of incredulity. "It was the right thing to do, Miel, so I did it."

Space Coco — 03/31/2023 8:49 AM
The right thing to do?

What did that mean?

The right thing to do was use her Echo to get into people's mind so that she and her Mother could talk to them, help them, fold them into the light's gentle embrace. It didn't matter what horrible things she saw, it didn't matter how she felt all the emotions within those visions.

The right thing to do was to always, always smile so as to never burden or worry anyone. They had enough on their plate after all without having someone else to be concerned about and she had to be a pillar of strength for them.

The right thing to do was to never waste tears otherwise their sincerity would be doubted, and that would hurt the people they were shed for.

The right thing to do was to never get angry because that was selfish, something someone only did when they couldn't get their way or work for the "greater good".

The right thing to do was not fuss whenever her exhaustion or hunger caused her to collapse during their walks or whenever they 'saved' someone so her Mother could pick her up and vocally lament her condition and fuss over her. Those were moments that a part of Miel still treasured, when her Mother held her close, kissed her head and told her it was going to be alright, that she was a good girl and that Hydaelyn would protect her.
[8:49 AM]
Sometimes Miel had tripped on purpose just so she could be held again.

It wasn't right to prevent a father from beating his daughter. It wasn't right to step in when you saw your sister being hurt. It wasn't right to step in when you saw children being mistreated. It wasn't right to allow families to remain together, it was more important to have workers for whatever task the Empire needed doing.

Right, wrong, good, bad. What did it all mean?

If it was "right" for him to take her home after finding her like that, why had she been abandoned out there to begin with?

She doesn't respond to him, simply looks at him blankly.

Buttons — 03/31/2023 9:01 AM
Lavanda watches Miel carefully, wishing he could read her mind and see exactly what it was that troubled her so. He sighs. "Miel, if I had left you there, coughing up blood and too weak to walk, knowing I could have done something to help and instead just left you for dead ... I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

Space Coco — 03/31/2023 8:27 PM
Hm.

For a moment she recalls what had transpired only half an hour ago---the jubilant but gentle laugh he had let out when her instincts had taken over her...how he had simply swept her up over her shoulder and brought her here so she could eat.

It seemed genuine. And maybe that single moment was.

Yet she couldn't believe that this kindness was unconditional. There was no reason for anyone in this clan to look after someone not their own.

So to pacify him she just gave a small nod and said nothing more in that regard.

"...what do you do with the bones?"
April 1, 2023

Buttons — 04/01/2023 2:09 AM
"The bo- oh!" He had honestly forgotten about the genesis of the conversation. "Well ... many things, in general. Needles, arrow tips, dice. But usually rabbit bones are too small, so whatever we can't use we will grind up and sprinkle about the berry bushes and tubors we harvest while we're out, to help them grow for the next time we're in the area."

He shifts as he sits, putting the arrows back in his quiver. "Speaking of, I was talking with Turgan earlier. We're going to be delayed moving, he says there's a bad storm inbound." He shrugs.

Space Coco — 04/01/2023 9:06 AM
Bones could help with plant growth? That surprised the little Raen but it was very useful to know.

Being that she was only here half a year, most of which had been spent in recovery there was still a lot about the Khas and Xaelans as a while that she did not know.

"Do you move around a lot?"

Buttons — 04/01/2023 12:18 PM
"We move with the hunt," He answers, stretching his arms above his head. There's a few cracks from his shoulder and back, and it seems to alleviate whatever he had been suffering with. "At a certain point, the animals won't return to a grazing area because of the danger, so we have to move with them. Sometimes it's faster than others."

He frowns a bit in concern. "I don't like being so out in the open during the big storms. We'll have to do a lot to prepare the yurts, and with so little foliage about we risk flooding out."
April 2, 2023

Space Coco — 04/02/2023 6:27 PM
It was so strange to her having been born and raised in a community that remained where it was. The yurt was such a strange building to her so accustomed to the sturdier but moored minka.

What he said sounded serious.

"What do we have to do to be ready?"

Buttons — 04/02/2023 6:31 PM
"Well," he looks about. "It depends on how bad Turgan thinks is bad. Considering that he's delaying a move for it, we'll probably need to check all the yurts' tie-downs, including the extra ones; pull all the tanning and drying racks inside, find a safe place to store the sheep, use anything we can to make diversion paths for the rain, get a few last good hunts in, and then gather everyone in the main yurt."
April 3, 2023

Space Coco — 04/03/2023 3:07 AM
That was a lot and she was wondering how much time they had to get it all done. Whatever the case, however, she was ready.

"What should I do?"

Buttons — 04/03/2023 3:10 AM
"Well first, eat lunch." He smiles, motioning to the nearly-done rabbits over the fire. "Then, we can go hunting and foraging."

Space Coco — 04/03/2023 3:12 AM
Simple enough. Learning better ways to hunt and forage would definitely be something she wanted to do. So with that she lapsed into her usual quietness and awaited what would come.

Buttons — 04/03/2023 3:14 AM
Lavanda takes the rabbits off the spit, handing Miel the bigger one to eat, and placing a small bowl between them for the bones. "Did you ever get yourself a bow?" He asks around a bite of rabbit.
April 4, 2023

Space Coco — 04/04/2023 9:58 PM
"They didn't have one my size. Um. Geriel said she's make one for me but I said I'd choose something else." She didn't want to feel indebt to anyone here. If the weapon was already made then sure, she'd learn it but she didn't want to feel like materials were wasted on her.

Buttons — 04/04/2023 10:01 PM
"Hm, alright." He eyes her carefully. "You're probably still too small for mine. Not, like, height, but muscle. So, I guess we'll go foraging, and we'll just hunt small game if we come upon it."