Unlike her more fragile, younger sister, K'nahli felt no discomfort for having met with the gaze of those deceptively, innocent gems. There was no reason to, after all; she had convinced herself of that much.
Like most of the events and that had transpired since the beginning of the ceremony, K'mih's performance, spontaneous and unexpected as it had been, failed to hold well against K'nahli's fleeting levels of interest. The huntress's maroon eyes had remained focused upon her younger sister, but her effect on K'nahli were as the fire that had been observed up until then, largely present within her vision but almost entirely transparent to her interests.
For that very reason, it was odd that K'nahli had even managed to notice it, but somehow she had certainly picked up on it. Those short but repetitive gazes that travelled to a particular place in the audience. Somehow distinct from the casual movement her eyes would make as they slowly ventured out over and across the entirety of her spectating family while the performance continued on, yet nothing plainly obvious to the common observer either.
With an initial flicker of hesitation, K'nahli then found her head involuntarily tilting toward the direction that K'mih's gaze had seemed to be travelling... and as it drew to a stop she could immediately recognise the destination of her young sister's interests, even from amidst the crowd of miqo'te.
K'yohko Nuhn... but of course.
Why was her gaze suddenly turning sour, the fiery-eyed huntress would ask herself in vain, though in spite of herself, she allowed little time to dwell upon that curious question and instead returned to her usual habits of allowing her petty frustrations and anger to consume her mind wholly, stealing her away from the outside world until all sound faded away to a monotonous and dulled roar... and all colour drained away to a lifeless, shade of grey. Her fierce eyes could no longer keep themselves on the enemy that was that pink-haired miqo'te for the remainder of the dance, and instead, remained fixed absently upon the base of the great bonfire whose ferocity seemed to be in competition with the girl's rotten thoughts as it spat and roared dangerously mere yalms before her.
***
The ceremony had ended; K'mih had moved out of immediate sight and the elders taken their leave. Indecipherable murmurs could be heard all about her as the hunters and huntresses of the tribe anxiously turned and made their way away from the fire in preparation to set out for the eagerly, anticipated hunt. K'nahli was not among them.
For a few short moments she had remained unmoving upon the same spot that she had been standing on up until now, eyes focused down toward the ground with a contemptuous glare corrupting her otherwise, youthful features. There was another presence that lingered nearby, a dark and hateful presence as K'nahli saw it, whom deliberately remained in the silence along with her merely to spite the young girl... though in truth, there really was little reason for the nuhn to be hurrying off anywhere in any case. He would not be participating in the hunt after all.
Her father, K'yohko, lay far outside of where her vision lay, but she had no doubt in her mind about who it was that remained nonetheless. His stench mocked her senses and slowly pushed her agitation to higher limits in those long and drawn out seconds of isolation where he arrogantly invaded her moment of solitude.
How ironic it was to have such feelings toward him when in truth it was her who was waiting to be alone with him.
With a slow blink, K'nahli raised her head once more, pulling her gaze away from the churning flames whose flickering light seemed to paint her expression with a weak, facade of calmness. Though much softer now, her deceptive expression could not be mistaken for anything other than what it truly was; anger.
"You should apologise to your daughter, K'yohko" she spoke suddenly with a cold tone. Her voice was loud enough for the man to hear her but luckily not so much that she would be overheard by their tribekin, not that she had deliberately tried against doing so. Her self-inflicted isolation the past few suns had not rendered her ignorant to most of the goings-on within the tribe and nor had she been ignorant to her father's task for the coming night. Likewise, it was safe to assume that K'mih hadn't been either, or so she figured.
"And maybe explain to her why, for once, you can't choose her" she added with venom as a deepening shadow was cast across her face, having now turn away from the towering flames to abandon her father to the meaning of those words.
Like most of the events and that had transpired since the beginning of the ceremony, K'mih's performance, spontaneous and unexpected as it had been, failed to hold well against K'nahli's fleeting levels of interest. The huntress's maroon eyes had remained focused upon her younger sister, but her effect on K'nahli were as the fire that had been observed up until then, largely present within her vision but almost entirely transparent to her interests.
For that very reason, it was odd that K'nahli had even managed to notice it, but somehow she had certainly picked up on it. Those short but repetitive gazes that travelled to a particular place in the audience. Somehow distinct from the casual movement her eyes would make as they slowly ventured out over and across the entirety of her spectating family while the performance continued on, yet nothing plainly obvious to the common observer either.
With an initial flicker of hesitation, K'nahli then found her head involuntarily tilting toward the direction that K'mih's gaze had seemed to be travelling... and as it drew to a stop she could immediately recognise the destination of her young sister's interests, even from amidst the crowd of miqo'te.
K'yohko Nuhn... but of course.
Why was her gaze suddenly turning sour, the fiery-eyed huntress would ask herself in vain, though in spite of herself, she allowed little time to dwell upon that curious question and instead returned to her usual habits of allowing her petty frustrations and anger to consume her mind wholly, stealing her away from the outside world until all sound faded away to a monotonous and dulled roar... and all colour drained away to a lifeless, shade of grey. Her fierce eyes could no longer keep themselves on the enemy that was that pink-haired miqo'te for the remainder of the dance, and instead, remained fixed absently upon the base of the great bonfire whose ferocity seemed to be in competition with the girl's rotten thoughts as it spat and roared dangerously mere yalms before her.
***
The ceremony had ended; K'mih had moved out of immediate sight and the elders taken their leave. Indecipherable murmurs could be heard all about her as the hunters and huntresses of the tribe anxiously turned and made their way away from the fire in preparation to set out for the eagerly, anticipated hunt. K'nahli was not among them.
For a few short moments she had remained unmoving upon the same spot that she had been standing on up until now, eyes focused down toward the ground with a contemptuous glare corrupting her otherwise, youthful features. There was another presence that lingered nearby, a dark and hateful presence as K'nahli saw it, whom deliberately remained in the silence along with her merely to spite the young girl... though in truth, there really was little reason for the nuhn to be hurrying off anywhere in any case. He would not be participating in the hunt after all.
Her father, K'yohko, lay far outside of where her vision lay, but she had no doubt in her mind about who it was that remained nonetheless. His stench mocked her senses and slowly pushed her agitation to higher limits in those long and drawn out seconds of isolation where he arrogantly invaded her moment of solitude.
How ironic it was to have such feelings toward him when in truth it was her who was waiting to be alone with him.
With a slow blink, K'nahli raised her head once more, pulling her gaze away from the churning flames whose flickering light seemed to paint her expression with a weak, facade of calmness. Though much softer now, her deceptive expression could not be mistaken for anything other than what it truly was; anger.
"You should apologise to your daughter, K'yohko" she spoke suddenly with a cold tone. Her voice was loud enough for the man to hear her but luckily not so much that she would be overheard by their tribekin, not that she had deliberately tried against doing so. Her self-inflicted isolation the past few suns had not rendered her ignorant to most of the goings-on within the tribe and nor had she been ignorant to her father's task for the coming night. Likewise, it was safe to assume that K'mih hadn't been either, or so she figured.
"And maybe explain to her why, for once, you can't choose her" she added with venom as a deepening shadow was cast across her face, having now turn away from the towering flames to abandon her father to the meaning of those words.
![[Image: ecec20e41f.png]](https://puu.sh/xvMxb/ecec20e41f.png)
Characters: Andre Winter (Hy'ur) / K'nahli Yohko (Miqo'te)
