Glade 4, 122
The smell of fresh rain gently wafted through the beaded strands of a window, clattering the many colored pieces of bone, wood, and clay against one another. It was still a bit dark out as a pair of bright, amethyst colored eyes opened slowly, sidling over to peer out into the slowly rising sun, obscured by the clouds overhead and the shade of the great tree that she called home. Norani pulled the light linen sheet from her dark green form, groaning a bit as she sat up, her rope hammock bouncing a bit under her shifting weight.
A soft whistle, gentle and soothing, a beckoning, went through pursed lips, made lower and deeper by her Orkhan throat and wisping around her tusks sidled through the room toward an exposed balcony.
'Ree?'
A large, pointed head silhouetted against the dim sky as it raised up. Norani leaned forward, her feet catching her upon the well smoothed boards and she stood up. She walked toward the creature, cooing softly as she went, creeping from heel to toe, just like when she played 'Tag the Bird' with her friends. A small scree was uttered, a warning, and Norani gently swirled her back leg around her, setting to the opposite side, a small wheeling dance of a step. More coos from her as she crept forward, a shadow within her own small home. She reached out and touched the hard beak of Ruvaf. A soft coo was elicited as the Ci'uvan pressed into her hand.
"Good morning, Ruvaf."
"God noinonh, Ruvaf."
The young Ci'uvan stood up to full height, standing just as tall as she, stretching out its wings as it woke up. Norani pushed up against the flighted reptile and squeezed him tight.
"Today is the day."
"Eodat io eh'uv dat."
Ruvaf screed in agreement.
"Let us go to the fire."
"R'uve uo go eo eh'uv fi'uv."
A happy little screech and Norani let her companion go. She turned around, grabbing her light robe from the hook and pulled it on. Norani stepped out onto the balcony, moving past Ruvaf. She smelled the wet, musty air of the early spring of Ecith as she looked out before her. Down before her, a lake vast and deep, a dark grey as the clouds overhead reflected upon it, splashes from the heavy drops of rain. Beyond the lake she and her people called home, fields and fields of grasses, a faded green this time of year, yearning for the sun to show once more. And in the far off distance, the trees of the great southern jungles, extending up into the clouds and disappearing. It was the view she had the pleasure of seeing each morning, and every day she did she loved and was grateful to the Old Three she was a part of them, rain or shine.
She reached up, grabbing at a curled vine there, thick as her own thigh. She flicked it hard, and it unrolled, stretching as it fell down the trunk of the great tree she called home. Thinner than her forearm now, she reached out, grasping it first with one hand, then the other. She hooked one ankle around it, using her other foot to press the vine into the first leg. Then she slowly slid her way down the vine, making she to not grip too tight, not wishing to damage it. As she slid down, Ruvaf gave one large beat of his wings as he took up, letting loose a screech that was now being matched by many others of his kind in this great tree. He soared about, casting one large, green eye, always watching Norani, as he took his curve to go around the width of the tree.
Norani made her way down to the next branch, one far larger than the old knot her home was perched upon. She walked along it, waving as she approached the fire. There were several other villagers there, seated about on the tree, a few with legs dangling over the edges, others simply lounging about, enjoying the comfort of a meal and camaraderie. Juva was busy working the fires, working her hands to keep the embers and flames in control as she cooked the food, her magic doing just as she required. She'd never once burnt the great tree and had no intention of starting so now. She did all of the communal cooking for the village, and trained many a mage and cook in her ways so that they may one day replace her. She was a big, burly brute of an Orkhan woman and she was proud, every inch of her skin, nude as the day she was born covered in the story of her life told through the complex and woven images that all Orkhan adults built through their life.
As Norani approached the fires, she stopped and waited. A scree came, and Ruvaf landed in next to her, looking hopeful at Juva. The large woman laughed,
"Well, you are quite hungry today, Ruvaf."
"Vona'uvr, tou ai'uv quie'uv hungit eodat, Ruvaf."
A birdy chortle of agreement.
Juva reached over into her containers she kept nearby, plucking out some long strips of fishmeat, tossing one after the other to Ruvaf who caught them and swallowed them whole.
"More meat today, for the both of you. New dragoons need meat for your training. Makes your muscles strong."
"Noi'uv n'uvae eodat, foi eh'uv koeh of tou. N'uvona diagono n'uvd n'uvae foi toui eiainonh. Nak'uvo toui nuocr'uvo oeiong."
She handed Norani a bowl of roasted vegetables and a large slab of fish.
"Eat all of it. You need it. Tomorrow morning, you will need more."
"'uvae ar of ie. Tou n'uvd ie. Eonoiovona noinonh, tou vonair n'uvd noi'uv."
She handed a milkskin, "Make sure you finish that too."
"Nak'uv oui'uv tou finioh ehae eo.
Juva smiled at Norani, "We are all very proud of you, Norani, Ruvaf. This is a most exciting day."
"Vona'uv ai'uv ar v'uvit chioud of tou, Norani, Ruvaf. Ehio io a noe 'uvxcieonh dat."
