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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:14 am
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Where The Sea Meets The Shore
Naqenni needed to stretch her legs and clear her mind.
While she didn’t currently suspect anything would fully do the trick, at least with regards to the latter desire, the feeling of being encased in the sea and letting her body cut through water had been a source of relaxation for her since her youth. Even in dangerous, choppy water along Yael’s unpredictable shoreline, she found herself at ease, lost in the cold surf such that everything else could fade away and she could focus simply on the push pull of the ocean around and under her.
It didn’t hurt that her long limbs were especially suited to it.
So, after a morning training round with Patience, as the sun edged higher into the sky on one of the last few days before the great trek would begin, she took time out to walk towards the shoreline. She went alone, and unarmed, but for a small blade at her hip—for, though she did not intend to need to fight and bringing her full arsenal would only be a hindrance, it was in her opinion unwise to go anywhere completely armed, particularly Yael’s wild landscape, no matter how much it was ‘home’ to her. She respected its dangers.
As she arrived at the seaside cliffs, the winds were brisk, battering the sea against the rocks in waves, and for a moment, she just watched.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:22 am
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:52 am
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Naqenni…
An antennae coiled at the sound of approach, and her name was enough to peak her attention, turning to look.
May I join you?
Pruu. Looking flushed from some visible exercise, Naq noted passively, and a moment later, she nodded before turning her attention back to the sea. “I welcome the company of a sister…there has been much on my mind. I thought a swim might help to clear my head…as nothing else seems to be helping.”
Pruu, while younger than some of her sisters, was as fiercely dedicated to her training as any, and Naq could remember working with her, too, since her younger years. She was budding into quite the young warrior. Still, for all that they were close enough, she was among those that Naqenni had no idea what to expect of her opinion regarding traveling to the mainland. She would have to fish carefully for information first if she was going to bring it up, as it seemed already to be a topic of great dispute.
As if their tribe needed more reason for internal conflict among its already sparse numbers. More to blame the Matron for, in her own mind. But she kept that to herself for now.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:09 pm
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Pruu didn't think it would be hard to guess what it was that was bothering Naq. "I was seeking the clarity of a swim as well," she replied, coming up to stand next to her elder sister. The waves crashing against the rock beneath them were rough and loud, the wind making her activity-heated skin cool rapidly.
Sighing softly, she looked around for a spot to dive from that would provide a decent space for climbing back up, and was a bit closer to the water than where Naq stood. Pruu loved swimming, but the initial dive into the water... she hated the feeling of falling. The beach would have been easier, but Pruu wanted to push herself in order to better clear her head. "Let us swim and clear our minds, then," she offered, beginning to undress.
Giving Naq a small smile, she turned and ran for the ledge, jumping to dive right into the waves. She would rather have the chance to expend the rest of her energy and hopefully get that clarity before discussing their troubles, if anything came up. The water was crisp and welcoming, and she could already feel a little of the mental strain easing away. Not much.. but it was something.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 3:14 pm
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It quickly became evident Pruu was not of a mind to discuss things at present, as not only did she not inquire, but rather she actively shifted the topic back to clearing their minds—and began to undress. Naqenni supposed that was just as well. She had come here for that, and it might do her good not to dwell on it just yet, at least to whatever extent she could avoid it. Thus, as Pruu ran to dive, Naqenni’s gaze scanned the rocks, before she moved a touch further up herself.
There were higher cliffs, but they were a more substantial walk from here, and while she did enjoy the rush of making the leap from as high as she could get to, in this case getting to the shoreline and into the water in a timely fashion had been her prerogative. Still, she could at least move to the high point here and overlook the crashing surf below before removing her blade and the thin strip of cloth at her hips, and running to dive herself.
As the wind whipped past her, there was an instant where there was nothing but that: the sailing rush of taking ‘flight’ and having nothing but the air and sea about her, the ocean encroaching rapidly—and then, with a chilly swallow, she was engulfed by its embrace, cutting down into the depths. She pivoted her body through it, attempting to hold as long as she could onto the moment where the physical was all she thought of.
Unfortunately, she did have to eventually break surface, and could feel dissent prickling again at the back of her mind—but instead of allowing it to dominate, she pushed forward again, beginning a brisk, racing pace through the sea, following the shoreline.
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Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:28 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:34 pm
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Naqenni took her time in the sea. It had been what she had come out here for, after all. But there was only so much consolation to be gained from the silent sea, and she did eventually note that Pruu had returned to shore. So, once at least the initial underpinnings of anxious energy had been worked out of her muscles through the current, she made her way back to land.
As she stepped out, the ocean dropping away to bear wet skin to open air, the Yaeli winds were especially brisk. She ignored the prickle of her flesh though, ready to let her skin dry the natural way as she turned her attention to Pruu.
Eventually, it seemed pertinent at least to ask: “Will you be making the trip yourself?”
Naqenni liked to tell herself she hadn’t decided, that it was so foolhardy she ought to refuse outright to make a ‘point.’ But she doubted anyone would see it as such, and in the end, her options came down to remaining with Elzira, or doing what she could to seeing to Nivalis’ safety—and for better or for worse, she knew already that that was not really any choice at all. She couldn’t leave the mystic, and hopefully enough would remain behind to see the mother tree sufficiently guarded.
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:18 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:16 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:56 pm
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Well, when put that way…
“Not so much,” Naqenni admitted. “Perhaps you are right.” In truth, it wasn’t an enviable mission. All those who embarked including herself might perish at the hands of a trap or even otherwise, before they made it. The lands beyond their familiar shore were not familiar or friendly.
But, knowing her own reasons and the fact that Elzira would be left minimally defended made it feel selfish—to risk everything because she refused to walk a separate path from their mystic. Still, Pruu had a point. Regardless of the full extent of her personal reasons, there were plenty of non selfish reasons to go. She did want to see to her sisters’ safety. That was her reasoning, and to hear that Pruu at least was pleased she would be going—well, it lifted a small weight from her shoulders, in any case. No matter what occurred going forward, she could face it knowing she had given at least one of her sisters peace of mind.
At the mention of scouting together, Naqenni nodded. Though she had been once before to the other shore, she would have been mad to think it was anything but wild, alien land. She knew almost nothing of it despite her time there.
“Maybe we will learn something…”
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:49 pm
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 4:37 pm
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 9:34 pm
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