Feast and Firedancing [K-tribe]

[Lyraciilee]

K'iara blinked as her similarly haired Uncle popped out of the tent right after her. Somehow she thought that K'ile's discussion with the elders would be longer... Or perhaps she had rudely interrupted it. K'iara shrugged the thought off uncomfortably. She avoided the elders when mostly possibly since she was the one always having to bring the bad news about the hunt. And that had been far too often of late. The desert was more bare than ever before.

 

Thinking of the barren desert, K'iara was reminded briefly of K'yohko's angry exit to hunt, alone. Had no one gone to hunt with him? She should have followed him probably... It probably wasn't too late to find him yet. K'iara turned to move towards her Chocobo. If she moved fast the maybe- K'iara had to stop in her tracks as her uncle's almost identical blue eyes caught her own. He seemed different than the last time that she spoke with him. But it had been a long time since they last looked at one another's eyes. Probably... at least five years. Since before the calamity. Despite K'ile being her uncle, they had surprisingly little to do with one another. Not for a lack of K'iara's wanting, or maybe not even for a lack of K'ile's wanting. It simply... somehow had come to pass that they were rather distant from one another.

 

K'ile's announcement startled her. Enough that her face visibly twisted into one of confusion, and then annoyance. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the ground, narrowing her gaze.

 

"Well, hello to you too Uncle. I'm fine, thanks for asking." The huntress shook her head hard and looked back up at her Uncle with a thin frown. "You've been gone for months and the first things you say to me are unload the cart and I'm challenging the Nunh?" K'iara let out an exasperated sigh. Really, where was her father to knock some sense into his knuckleheaded brother? "You've got sand in your eyes Uncle. Who's going to cook? Not me. Not Zhumi. The others are all scrambling to hunt in the desert. The game is scare and when we do find it, it's extremely hard to kill." K'iara pursed her lips, her eyes softening a little. "We could have really used you for the hunts these last few weeks... And the food you brought? We could really use it to last out the month Uncle... If we have one feast, it will all be gone after tomorrow and I don't know how we're going to make it..." K'iara frowned at the ground again and kicked her heel into the sand. What could she do? Certainly, she doubted her words even touched her Uncle's ears. He was right there in front of her, but so far away at the same time.

 

K'iara huffed again and looked up.

 

"Tahj is in the shaman's tent with Luha and Zhumi. K'mih is over with K'nahli and the outsider. If you want, go get Tahj. I'm not risking Zhumi's wrath because you want someone to fire dance for your feast tomorrow. I'll get K'mih." K'iara motioned back towards Li and K'mih and K'nahli with a thumb.

[Twinflame]

"Sorry," K'ile's ears dipped at the woman, K'thalen's daughter. She looked so like him that she was almost difficult to look at. "I'm in a rush to get things done so we can get this over with and leave soon. There haven't been enough dances or feasts or rituals these past years. We can be sparing on the food, some of it, but the tribe needs this feast, especially if we're going to be leaving soon. We owe Azeyma some respect, and it's better to travel on a full stomach anyway, right?"

 

The Tia started walking. Not toward the medical tent, but instead towards where K'zhuzhu's supposed son and K'yohko's daughters were speaking. "I want to go fetch K'mih. I'll need her help to get K'tahjha to agree, anyway."

[Lyraciilee]

K'iara bit her bottom lip at the apology. It was kind of pathetic seeing as the trouble he'd gone and caused but, she couldn't really find it in her to stay mad. She wasn't particularly fond of staying mad anyway. She was like K'thalen in that way, or at least she had thought she was like her dad in that way.

 

The huntress frowned again as he walked off towards K'mih. She moved sharply to catch up with him and let her ears flatten a bit as they walked towards K'mih and the others.

 

"Okay, maybe we need a feast and maybe you're in a hurry, but can't it wait until we've moved? You literally just got back. You can't just go around and demand feasts and that people learn to fire dance!" K'iara tried to explain exasperatedly. "I mean it's... it's rude! Before we owe Azeyma respect, don't you think you owe us a little respect? I don't know what happened, but it honestly kind of looks bad on you. Can't you at least help with the hunts for a week or something first? Rushing this really isn't... it doesn't..." K'iara struggled to find the word before trying to step in front of K'ile to stop him. "It doesn't feel right Uncle! Won't you at least consider holding off on this for at least a few bells?"

 

K'iara's ears rang a bit when a rather abrupt scream echoed from Zhumi's tent. She frowned and rubbed at her ear. That sounded rather bad. Looked like Zhumi had her hands full. No way K'iara was going in that tent...

 

The deathly screech from the tent had indeed been none other than K'luha's as K'zhumi less than delicately snapped her bones in her hips. She was still too drugged to really be able to retaliate properly, but she did weakly try with her arms to hit K'zhumi, and completely miss.

[Twinflame]

K'ile Tia came to a fast and sudden stop, kicking up sand as he did so. His face twisted in displeasure at hearing K'luha's howl, but he threw an indicating hand out towards the middle of tribe, to where he imagined K'iara had stored the food, "Help with the hunts? I'm sorry I haven't been around to help, but that food is my help! An entire feast of food to make sure that we start this journey with our bellies full, and and a ritual will make sure we have Azeyma's blessing for the trip. People are hungry now. Why would we wait? Because it looks bad on me?"

 

He moved to step around K'iara and continue towards the others. "This isn't about me. And anybody who wants to assume it is can think whatever they want. We have a tribe to take care of, K'iara."

 

Kicking up his pace into a trot, K'ile waved his hand over his head and called out to where the K'yohko's girls were gathered around the outsiders' chocobo. "K'mih! I need your help with something!"

[Lyraciilee]

K'iara bristled as K'ile of course, disregarded her words and walked around. A tribe to take care of? How... how could he even say that to her!? She was a head huntresses! She went out every single last Azeyema forsaken day to scour the desert for food. How could he even say that to her, like she hadn't done everything she could to take care of them? As he walked off to address K'mih, K'iara stomped and angry foot on the ground.

 

"I know we have a tribe to take care of! Something I've been doing Uncle! Something YOU haven't done in months! Don't act like you're the only one who ever thinks of the tribe!" She yelled back angrily at him. Her voice broke and became high-pitched towards the end, and K'iara had to hold her burning throat. She could never yell that loud thanks to the remaining wounds from the Calamity. Talking in general was a strain, but yelling was a whole different story. K'iara turned on her heels, brushing a few tears from her eyes. Her throat hurt terribly, and that her Uncle would be so damn stubborn...

[Izmina]

K'tahjha flinched back eyes going wide and ears flat to her skull at the screech emitting from her aunt. Never had she heard a living being make such a noise. Barely recovering in time to grab at K'luha's hands as she started to flail at the shaman.

 

K'zhumi's ears dipped apologetically as K'luha began to scream, she felt badly but it had to be done. Gathering what energy she had left, she picked up her tome and concentrated on the bones in the hip that were now in place. If she could only keep them where they belonged for the healing to finish. Using her aether she shaped it into a fixation device of sorts holding the bones in place from inside. Before her energy was spent Zhumi healed small portions of the broken bone giving the rest of the pieces a framework to grow across. Slumping back in utter exhaustion, K'zhumi spoke queitly to K'tahjha. "Child, go get a bucket and scrape the top layer of sand from the floor, do not use your hands."

[Clover]

K'rahto maintained his position outside the medical tent, from where K'luha's screams were too close for his liking. His expression remained as stoic as he could manage, albeit a cold sweat had started traveling down his forehead. As if the day hadn't been tense enough, the sounds coming from the injured woman's throat weren't helping. They made him nervous. More nervous than what he already was. His role as an useless Tia had given him some humiliation a moment ago, but now he could only think that he'd been too lucky. His sister K'zhumi was getting the worst end without a doubt.

 

In the distance, his ears caught the yelling voice of his other sister, reaching a surprising pitch he hadn't heard in a long time. The Tia couldn't help but frown in confusion. Just what had K'ile said to make K'iara, always composed K'iara, lose it that way?

 

[...]

 

K'mih turned her head towards the voice who called out her name. She then took a quick last glance towards her half brother. "I-I have to go..."

 

(Will you be here later? I'd like to talk to you more. I want to hear more about magic. I want to hear more about your family... I want to hear more about you...)

 

Her eyes lingered on him for another second, almost apologetic and guilty, and none of the things she actually wanted to say left her lips. She finally turned away and ran to K'ile.

 

"What is it, uncle...?"

[Lamiaris]

Ehm.. Is this RP walk-in? Or no? Just want to make sure, sorry if I'm intruding :3

And also, if it's walk in, could someone give me a brief summary of what's going on?

[K'nahli]

Edit:

((OOC Reply: ))

 

 

This is a tribal scene that takes place deep within the Sagolii desert. It isn't that this scene is particularly closed but it would honestly make little sense for someone to encounter anyone here. Anyone who has joined the scene via travel were former members with the exception of one who was guided by an existing member, lending to the reason why they knew how to reach it. I'm sorry about that!

 

 

 

 

 

K'nahli paused, clearly dissatisfied with his response. She watched the unfamiliar miqo'te carefully, her eyes scanning over him repeatedly as though he were an unfamiliar beast - a creature with whom she could not be sure posed a threat or not - as he casually tended to his chocobos. Her lips parted to speak though the unexpected call from the returned K'ile interrupted the notion, creating a brief moment of silence on K'nahli's part as she waited for K'mih to offer her departing words to her new acquaintance before fleeing the scene upon her uncle's request. K'nahli's eyes followed her sister briefly before reluctantly being dragged back toward the stranger who resided before her.

Her thoughts continued to dwell determinedly upon his annoyingly, persistent interest with his chocobos. His lack of care for the fact that she did not trust his word was rather aggravating. Still, the girl just stood there quietly, granting a short moment longer for K'mih to fall out of earshot before allowing herself to speak again.

"A long trek from the Black Shroud simply to make it as far as Thanalan.... further you did push through the untamed wilds of the east and down into the southern reaches of this land - of which are heavily infested with Amalj'aa scouts and patrols"

 

The girl slowly took a couple of steps forward as she spoke, her words falling into slight rhythm with each pace she took; all the while, however, maintaining a fair distance from the male that stood before her.

 

"Then, with not so much as a guide to try and lead you toward our camp, you cast yourself into the depths of Sagolii , alone, in search of but a single, isolated tribe"

 

K'nahli's eyes narrowed a little more as her own words seemingly added to the suspicion she held toward the outsider's claim. Her left hand came to rest upon her hip while she took another brief moment to pause in her speech and glance instead toward the Keeper's chocobos - allowing herself a second or two to reflect upon her own words - before returning her eyes forward once more.

 

"Surely you are not so dense as to realise that you would sooner find a specific drop of water in one of your oceans? The sands are forever shifting... and the direction from which you trod but a bell ago could easily fool even the most experienced of you outsiders. It is naught short of a miracle that you crossed paths with K'ile.... only for him to lead you to us"

 

She breathed a bitter sigh as her eyes took themselves towards K'ile and K'mih who stood a distance away. She watched as the two conversed amongst themselves, their words however, too faint for even her sensitive hearing to decipher; though perhaps it had been her preoccupied mind which denied her both the ability and desire to pry.

Regardless, it didn't take long before the outsider quickly recaptured her gaze once again as her thoughts, too, faded away from the more receptive nature of her kin.

 

"And even so... you went through all of this without even having anticipated our like to cooperation?"

 

Her eyes met with his more firmly now as her arms came to fold themselves across her chest with a hint of defiance.

 

"You are either incredibly foolish.... or incredibly arrogant" she snarled.

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li shrugged, "I came from Limsa Lolimsa, and stayed in Ul'dah for some weeks seeking rumors on sightings of Seeker tribes is the Sagolii." 

 

Heading over to his pack, Xha'li returned shortly with a small, sturdy wood case.  Opening it Xha'li revealed an octant, taking it out gently he held it up, "With this and the aid of the Menphina and the stars finding my way is comparatively easy, for even if the sands are constantly shifting so too are the seas where this was originally designed to be used."

 

Setting it back in its case and closing it Xha'li grinned wryly, "I may have changed seas of water for seas of sand but its principles are the same.  Foolish?  Quite likely, but curiosity has always been a weakness of mine."

[K'nahli]

("Where you came from loiters little near the point..") were the words resonating through the girls' mind with a bitter voice; though before she had the chance to voice such thoughts, the male had already turned his back on her to begin rummaging through his belongings. 

 

The girl had nearly assumed that the male had suddenly excused himself from the conversation, taking half a step forward in fact, before he quickly turned back to hold up an octant before her. She paused a moment as she beheld the tool while he offered her a short explanation, an unexpected one admittedly, but nothing unusual for anyone whom would call themselves a traveler all the same.

 

"Foolish?  Quite likely, but curiosity has always been a weakness of mine."

 

K'nahli retracted herself slightly, her expression softening too. The outsider's comment, though nothing special, had helped bring her away from her defensive state.

 

"So you would have me believe.." she replied with a more mild voice than before. Her apprehension and suspicion were slowly diminishing with each second that passed. In truth she had not expected the miqo'te to utilize the moon and stars as should be otherwise expected of any serious traveler. Mayhap it were her previous encounters with the brainless wanderers that she and K'mih had the misfortune of stumbling upon in the more shallow reaches of the of the desert that had caused her to so hastily cast judgement.

 

 

"I know not whether to trust in your intentions, Moonkeeper.... but in truth, I do not believe you to come bearing malice"

 

She shifted slightly on the spot as she allowed herself to relax, her eyes for yet another time, flicking over the male, his chocobos and belongings as though she were only now seeing them in a new light.

 

 

"I am K'nahli Yohko, blood sister to the girl you had just been consorting with and firstborn of K'yohko Nuhn. Lest you were deprived of such formalities earlier, he is the man whom so... warmly... greeted you to the camp" she introduced herself, smiling wryly toward the end as she poked fun at the male's unfavourable encounter a short while previous.

[Twinflame]

"Uhm?" K'ile snapped his head around to watch K'iara run off, the anger in her grating voice sitting heavy in his ears and pulling them down on his head. What had she gotten so angry about? Maybe she didn't think the feast was as important as K'ile knew that it was -- the tribe was starving in its heart as well, after all -- but she should at least respect the fact that the Elders gave him the go-ahead. He quirked his features in discomfort, watching the girl's red tail she left.

 

He wished he knew her better, or that he understood women and their emotions better. Maybe he'd find her later and apologize for whatever he'd done to upset her, if he could figure it out in the meantime. Knowing himself as he did, he was sure he'd said something he shouldn't have.

 

K'mih's voice snapped him back around, and at first his hands swung away from his body to greet her with enthusiasm. But his right wrist felt light and vulnerable, the fingers of his hand curled under his naked wrist. K'ile Tia drew the wrist that had once born the bracelet of the firedancers near his body. He almost hit it from the girl. But, then, it was K'mih.

 

Instead of hiding his hand, he brought it in front of him to show her the absence of the stones. He smiled, though, hoping that the strained expression would draw a more sincere smile from her. "I need your help with something. There's going to be a feast tomorrow evening, and someone's going to have to dance to dedicate the feast to Azeyma. I can't dance anymore, but I want to teach you and K'tahjha to dance for the tribe. It's a very important job, but it's a lot of fun, too."

[Clover]

The lack of the firedancers bracelet wasn't something K'mih noticed right away; not until K'ile directly mentioned his unfitness for dancing again. The girl stared at him with unblinking eyes and slightly parted lips, taking in his instructions like the obedient miqo'te she was. Surprise and confusion weren't hidden in her features.

 

"Tomorrow...? I-I'll do my best to learn, uncle," was her first and a bit nervous reply, naturally accepting any duty she might have to perform, no matter how hasty it sounded. Actually, dancing had always been something she felt very curious about for several reasons, and her mind had toyed with the idea on more than one occasion. Dancers were beautiful, after all. Everyone looked at them when they performed, including the Nunh...

 

K'mih's possible excitement about K'ile's request was, however, stained with concern. "But... you can't dance anymore...? Why...?" She asked carefully, wondering if it was alright to inquire about the matter. K'ile was her family, and yet she knew nothing of what he'd been through during his trip.

[Twinflame]

"I'll be able to dance again soon! No problem." K'ile's ears popped up, and he forced himself to smile a bit wider. He was sure K'mih would be able to conclude on her own why this was necessary, once she had time to think about it. The Tia gestured to the large tent at the center of the camp, "The Elders took the firedancing stones, so what you need to do is go ask them to give you one. I already mentioned it to them, so it shouldn't be a problem. Before you do that, though, I need your help convincing K'tahjha to dance. She's afraid of fire, but she would be a good dancer, and I think everyone would love to see you and your sister dance together."

[Clover]

K'mih relaxed visibly after K'ile's next words. A soft smile was drawn to her features then, reassured that he'd be okay in no time. She assumed he was just a bit unwell from the dangers they might have encountered during their trip. Nothing serious like K'luha, but enough for him to be unable to dance nimbly the next night.

 

"I've never tried dancing before, but I'll do my best to learn, uncle! You can be at ease tomorrow."

 

At the mention of her young sister, the girl's expression displayed surprise once more. "K'tahjha...?"

 

Two things were revealed then. For one, that K'tahjha was afraid of fire, a detail K'mih had been unaware of. For another, that she'd have to be the one convincing her sister to dance with her own nightmares. Could she?

 

"Uncle, I will ask her," she promised, her eyes and tone full of concern. "But if she feels she can't, I could dance on my own. I don't mind being the only one..."

 

The only one. Just for a night.

[Twinflame]

"I know she'll say she can't," K'ile's smile came a bit easier after seeing K'mih's. He stepped forward to put one hand on either of K'mih's shoulders, emphasizing his point. "It won't be easy to convince her, so I need you to really try. The tribe needs us to really work hard for each other."

[Clover]

Pink tail and ears fell down upon K'ile's request. The man was basically asking her to hurt her sister, to force K'tahjha into something she was going to hate. It was going to be really difficult for K'mih, but...

 

"U-understood..." she finally said, lowering her eyes in defeat.

 

Obedience. Was it really a virtue?

[Twinflame]

The way that K'mih's demeanor sank made K'ile drop his brow and flick his tail in agitation. Why couldn't he ever say anything right to these women? Did K'mih not want to dance with her sister? He'd assume that given five minutes of time together, they'd be best friends. Surely they'd have met and made some kind of connection by now.

 

K'ile dropped his hands away from K'mih and looked uncomfortable, pulling on one ear. "Uh. Try and be happy. There's nothing more fun than dancing! It'll be good." He shifted a step back and said, "I need to go get everyone to start getting ready for the feast. We'll start tonight after you get a firedancing stone from the Elders and talk to K'tahjha. If you see your dad tell him to go talk to the Elders, okay?"

 

The Tia turned to walk back towards camp. Maybe he should find K'iara now.

[Izmina]

After finding a large  clay urn and a scoop, K'tahjha returned to the medical tent. Looking towards the shaman, she discovered Zhumi had fallen asleep in the corner, So remaining as quiet as she could Tahj began scraping the top layer of sand from around K'luha and placing it in the urn.

[Xha'li Moui]

Xha'li nodded, "Xha'li Moui, Li if you wish to shorten it; the Xha plays the same role as the Yohko except the name belongs to my mother."  With a shrug Xha'li continued in an amused tone, "I've had colder greetings, and my introduction to K'ile almost ended up with me being trampled, take my advice and if K'ile is ever driving a cart stay behind it."

[Izmina]

Taking a careful look around, K'tahjha decided she'd gotten all the tainted sand picked up. Both K'luha and K'zhumi appeared to be resting, so Tahj picked up the urn full of sand and stepped outside of the tent. Spotting K'rahto still standing guard, Tahj flashed him a weary smile and headed for the edge of camp to dump the sand.

[Clover]

K'mih approached the medical tent, where she thought K'tahjha was supposed to be. She remembered having seen her sister beside K'luha from the very first moment they arrived to the camp.

 

At the entrance, she found K'rahto standing still with his unfriendly face. They looked at each other for a moment.

 

"Is Tahjha inside?" The girl asked politely. She didn't know the Tia much. He wasn't someone who had ever played with her, and neither had K'nahli told her about her small story with him. To K'mih, he was just a very serious Tia who didn't want to be friends with many people.

 

"She left a moment ago."

 

"Oh..."

 

Albeit her voice might have sound disappointed, K'mih was actually relieved. She wasn't eager to see a scared look in K'tahjha's eyes when she had to tell her the news, though that was just a matter of time.

 

"Alright... I'll wait for her," she replied afterwards. Crossing her fingers behind her back, she stared at nowhere in particular. The Tia remained silent, his eyes also focused on any random point that wasn't K'mih.

[K'nahli]

K'nahli's eyes flashed with curiosity upon hearing Li's jest.

"Wait... that isn't your cart? I thought...-" she trailed off as her eyes scanned back toward where the cart remained on the outskirts of the camp.

 

"How in the hells did he...?" she mumbled quietly to herself in total bemusement. Between that and the massive haul of food which he had returned with - K'ile had certainly proved himself to be oddly... resourceful.

 

K'nahli brought her eyes back to greet Xha'li with a quick glance once more only to break it away soon after while she turned herself on the spot, subtly suggesting that she was intending to depart from his company.

 

"As I have said already, I trust that you mean no harm, but I would ask that you do unto me the small courtesy of not venturing beyond my sight...." she spoke coolly without so much as even waiting for verification from the male as to her previous question as her eyes scanned out across the camp, curious to see how everyone was now reacting to the recent events.

 

"...can I trust you with that much?" she added after a pause, punctuating her question with the almost patronizing gesture of resting her hand on her hip.

[Izmina]

Having disposed of the urn full of sand, K'tahjha headed back for the medical tent. Now that the stress and heavy emotions of the last several bells were leaving her, she was very tired and wanted nothing more than to curl up near her aunt and sleep.

 

Drawing near to the tent once more, she spotted a certain pink-haired miqo'te. Tired though she was, her face brightened and her lips curved into a smile as she quickened her pace to pull K'mih into a hug.

[Clover]

"...!"

 

Without much of a warning, K'mih found herself hugged by her younger sister. Her initial surprise didn't take long to turn into slightly nervous smile; would the other girl be as glad to see her after she heard the news?

 

"T-Tahjha... I was looking for you."

 

When the younger one pulled back from the hug, K'mih managed to look at her in the eyes. It was going to be difficult, she needed to find the right words...

 

"Do..." she started, carefully at first, then more effusively to sound convincing. "Do you like dancing, Tahjha? I was wondering if you'd like to learn some moves with me! I think it'll be fun!"