Post by Mayetoro on Jan 5, 2011 1:12:45 GMT -5
Maye knelt in the warm waters of the lake, singing along with the other women as they worked in the heavy, still heat of the afternoon, washing clothing. She could hear the sounds of the children on the bank, laughing and giggling as they flung various wet objects at each other and squealed at the occasional hit. Glancing up toward the bank, she could see the small huts of the village, the small figures moving about amongst the skin covered homes. Jungle trolls lived simple lives, trusting in the warm green to provide. Several small boys were practicing with their bows with Hinwaye over near the dead tree, deadly serious at their target practice while the old troll smiled at their intensity. In the back of her mind, the knowledge that the followers of Hakkar were probably burning villages just a valley away tugged at her.
Water sprayed over her from one side and she laughed, turning into a fresh onslaught from Kiru and Iroe'je, each using their now empty woven baskets to scoop up water and throw it over her. Maye abandoned the last of the clothing and began to hurl water back at the other young trolls, happy to have an excuse to cool herself on such a stifling day, to forget what was happening outside their little world.
Kiru was the first to cry surrender, "Stop! Stop! I can't breath and it'll hurt the baby!"
Iroe'je and Maye both laughed in disbelief. Maye smiled happily, "Ki, you could probably wrestle a croc and walk away without hurting that baby."
"What croc would eat her, looking like that?" Muttered Iroe'je, and Maye could just sense the younger girl's jealousy. Kiru's pregnancy had filled her out so that her natural thickness and the added roundness of her belly made her resemble one of the dire trolls of story time.
Ki pouted darkly at her two companions, resting her fists on her ample hips with a soft snort of derision, "Just because no boys are waiting for you beside the fire…"
Iroe'je frowned darkly, trying striking a pose designed to show off her young body and failing, "Are, too!"
"Kiru, be good." Maye chided gently, pulling back an endless mass of heavy, wet hair from her face, "There is plenty of time for Iroe'je to drive the boys crazy. Jily is already stumbling every time she walks by him."
Iroe'je looked to Maye with wide eyes, "He is?!"
Maye laughed as Ki rolled her eyes. "Oh yes…though it could just be his huge feet." She teased, gathering up the clothes floating about her in the lake and placing them back in her basket.
Kiru smiled at Maye, "Well, since you've caught Srin, the rest of us have to settle for the ones with big feet."
The druid blushed deeply and looked down, busying herself with finishing the last of his shirts, "Oh shush."
Iroe'je laughed brightly, happy the attention was off her, "Maye should be a mother! You two are always touching each other!"
Maye shot Iroe'je a look meant to quiet her, but Ki just laughed as she joined it, "I am surprised they don't have three, already. Aren't you trying hard enough?"
The young druid's reply was cut short by the expressions of her two companions. Maye's eyes followed theirs and came to rest on three figures on the shore. Two were covered in armor, dented and stained with a darkness she did not really wish to consider. The third was smaller and wore the simple robes of a dreamwalker. Maye left her basket with the two gawking girls and waded toward the shore. The other druid was much older than she, a man bent by years of listening to the whispering of the leaves. She was surprised that she did not recognize him, since her training had taken her to almost all of the nearby villages and even to Zul'Gurub. She finally stood a little off shore from them, naked and dripping, ankle deep in the lake. She could tell something was wrong by the way all three looked down. She did not consider herself beautiful, but men were men and when they behaved this way around women, it meant something heavy was weighing on them.
"I am Maye, Yis to Mother Ujemb. Welcome to our homes. May I offer you a place beside our fire?" The ritual greeting rolled easily from her lips even as her apprehension grew.
The old druid watched her with eyes that she could not read then finally sighed, as if the words he had prepared failed him. In that instant she noticed that he was missing half an ear…that his robe was patched recently…that his eyes were a shade of green she had never seen before…that his hair looked as if it had not been combed in years. All of this wrote itself across her mind as he lifted his hand, holding something toward her. She looked down.
It was a necklace. A simple strand of cord with a single twig strung on it. A twig she remembered so well. The twig she had strung on that cord for Srin to tease him for the nickname he had given her as children. The necklace he had worn the day he left. She felt his arms about her shoulders, the warmth of his breath on her throat below her right ear. His body was so hard against her back, so completely filled with the power he threw about him so carelessly at times. Lips on skin and his hands spread over her belly as she leaned back into him, wanting become part of his being. She had felt him on her skin even as she watched him pick up his shield and club. Standing in their tiny home, she had watched his broad shoulders weave out the small doorway, filling it with his armored back. The scent of him, the space he always filled in her, the warmth of his hands on her shoulders in the early morning as they lay on the small sleeping pad.
Other hands were on her shoulders, now. Distant voices. Something in Maye's unravelling soul wanted to sleep, but the voices would not let her. She felt water about her legs and slowly came to see her hands on her own thighs, the water shining with the sunset's reflections about her. Gentle hands held her shoulders.
"Maye…Maye…it will be all right."
Kiru. Lovely Miru and her child. So full of life. So far away.
"Maye…please…say something."
Iroe'je was so young. Like she had been in some other life. Another Maye that had never been.
She saw droplets falling into the water around her knees and thought it must be raining, but the world was too bright for rain, too clear and open and terrible for clouds. Maye blinked and more rain drops fell from her, running down her cheeks, falling over her legs and into the lake creating tiny ripples that spread out into nothingness.
"Maye…"
Arms wrapped around her and a distant voice said something about being sorry. It was a voice she did not know. An old voice. A voice full of pain and time and a thousand other apologies. Maye looked up and that other soul was with her in the silence of the dream. He reached out and touched her with the gentleness of a breeze, "Cry, little one. Cry."
Maye cried.
Water sprayed over her from one side and she laughed, turning into a fresh onslaught from Kiru and Iroe'je, each using their now empty woven baskets to scoop up water and throw it over her. Maye abandoned the last of the clothing and began to hurl water back at the other young trolls, happy to have an excuse to cool herself on such a stifling day, to forget what was happening outside their little world.
Kiru was the first to cry surrender, "Stop! Stop! I can't breath and it'll hurt the baby!"
Iroe'je and Maye both laughed in disbelief. Maye smiled happily, "Ki, you could probably wrestle a croc and walk away without hurting that baby."
"What croc would eat her, looking like that?" Muttered Iroe'je, and Maye could just sense the younger girl's jealousy. Kiru's pregnancy had filled her out so that her natural thickness and the added roundness of her belly made her resemble one of the dire trolls of story time.
Ki pouted darkly at her two companions, resting her fists on her ample hips with a soft snort of derision, "Just because no boys are waiting for you beside the fire…"
Iroe'je frowned darkly, trying striking a pose designed to show off her young body and failing, "Are, too!"
"Kiru, be good." Maye chided gently, pulling back an endless mass of heavy, wet hair from her face, "There is plenty of time for Iroe'je to drive the boys crazy. Jily is already stumbling every time she walks by him."
Iroe'je looked to Maye with wide eyes, "He is?!"
Maye laughed as Ki rolled her eyes. "Oh yes…though it could just be his huge feet." She teased, gathering up the clothes floating about her in the lake and placing them back in her basket.
Kiru smiled at Maye, "Well, since you've caught Srin, the rest of us have to settle for the ones with big feet."
The druid blushed deeply and looked down, busying herself with finishing the last of his shirts, "Oh shush."
Iroe'je laughed brightly, happy the attention was off her, "Maye should be a mother! You two are always touching each other!"
Maye shot Iroe'je a look meant to quiet her, but Ki just laughed as she joined it, "I am surprised they don't have three, already. Aren't you trying hard enough?"
The young druid's reply was cut short by the expressions of her two companions. Maye's eyes followed theirs and came to rest on three figures on the shore. Two were covered in armor, dented and stained with a darkness she did not really wish to consider. The third was smaller and wore the simple robes of a dreamwalker. Maye left her basket with the two gawking girls and waded toward the shore. The other druid was much older than she, a man bent by years of listening to the whispering of the leaves. She was surprised that she did not recognize him, since her training had taken her to almost all of the nearby villages and even to Zul'Gurub. She finally stood a little off shore from them, naked and dripping, ankle deep in the lake. She could tell something was wrong by the way all three looked down. She did not consider herself beautiful, but men were men and when they behaved this way around women, it meant something heavy was weighing on them.
"I am Maye, Yis to Mother Ujemb. Welcome to our homes. May I offer you a place beside our fire?" The ritual greeting rolled easily from her lips even as her apprehension grew.
The old druid watched her with eyes that she could not read then finally sighed, as if the words he had prepared failed him. In that instant she noticed that he was missing half an ear…that his robe was patched recently…that his eyes were a shade of green she had never seen before…that his hair looked as if it had not been combed in years. All of this wrote itself across her mind as he lifted his hand, holding something toward her. She looked down.
It was a necklace. A simple strand of cord with a single twig strung on it. A twig she remembered so well. The twig she had strung on that cord for Srin to tease him for the nickname he had given her as children. The necklace he had worn the day he left. She felt his arms about her shoulders, the warmth of his breath on her throat below her right ear. His body was so hard against her back, so completely filled with the power he threw about him so carelessly at times. Lips on skin and his hands spread over her belly as she leaned back into him, wanting become part of his being. She had felt him on her skin even as she watched him pick up his shield and club. Standing in their tiny home, she had watched his broad shoulders weave out the small doorway, filling it with his armored back. The scent of him, the space he always filled in her, the warmth of his hands on her shoulders in the early morning as they lay on the small sleeping pad.
Other hands were on her shoulders, now. Distant voices. Something in Maye's unravelling soul wanted to sleep, but the voices would not let her. She felt water about her legs and slowly came to see her hands on her own thighs, the water shining with the sunset's reflections about her. Gentle hands held her shoulders.
"Maye…Maye…it will be all right."
Kiru. Lovely Miru and her child. So full of life. So far away.
"Maye…please…say something."
Iroe'je was so young. Like she had been in some other life. Another Maye that had never been.
She saw droplets falling into the water around her knees and thought it must be raining, but the world was too bright for rain, too clear and open and terrible for clouds. Maye blinked and more rain drops fell from her, running down her cheeks, falling over her legs and into the lake creating tiny ripples that spread out into nothingness.
"Maye…"
Arms wrapped around her and a distant voice said something about being sorry. It was a voice she did not know. An old voice. A voice full of pain and time and a thousand other apologies. Maye looked up and that other soul was with her in the silence of the dream. He reached out and touched her with the gentleness of a breeze, "Cry, little one. Cry."
Maye cried.