Searing 90, 122
The second half of Searing had been hard for Norani. Her entire world had been turned upside down by a few simple words. During her initiation into Summoning, she'd heard a voice she'd forgotten, telling her words that she thought only she knew. A proof of truth. Her name was Juno. She had been Norani's childhood friend from the time they both could walk. Juno was from Ouno'uve, and Norani from Ounokt Nora, neighboring villages that shared the same lake. They had been the closest of friends, chasing frogs, hunting wild chickens, raising their partners, Ruvaf and Rafi, playing games and sitting under the stars. They were happy and there were none closer. The two villages were small so often groups of children of the same age were also small.
And Juno had been taken by the Unknown five years ago.
Prior to that night of her initiation, Norani had no idea that Juno existed. The Unknown had stolen that from her. There was no memory, not a single one. There wasn't even a void for the emotions. She was simply gone, as though she'd never existed. And Norani had not shed a single tear, didn't grieve for a moment, because she never know the girl called Juno.
But now.
Now she knew of her. And she knew that her family, her chieftain all knew about Juno. They had records. While Norani screamed and yelled at them, they showed her paintings of the two of them playing in the reeds. They shared poetry that Juno had written and signed, about how one day they would all fly to the moon on the back of Ruvaf. They shared journal entries where each parent had written about watching over Juno and Norani, comments on their closeness, seeing a dear friendship beginning to develop into a young love.
And Norani had broken down sobbing, lashing out at any of her family who tried to console her. All of the grief that she should've been allowed to have hit her all at once, tainted by the fact that her family had kept this from her, at the word of her Chieftain. She had said that being so young, to not have yet had her skin marked in honor of their bond, it would be best for Norani to move on without those pained memories. And she had ordered it so.
Norani's chest felt as though it would be cleaved in half from the betrayal.
Since that night, she had not shared a single meal with any of her family. She did not sleep in the familial hut. She had taken up residence in her own hut, one that had been occasionally by Yeva, when the elf needed her space. And Norani threw herself recklessly into her training, into her role as part of the local Shield. She awoke every morning before sunset, to be the first at the village pot, to eat without having to see her parents. The cook always looked on sadly, bad news traveling fast in a small town such as theirs.
Norani tried to push herself to exhaustion each and every day, but the Cook refused to feed her on days that she needed to rest, unless Norani agreed to take it easy. She and the Cook fought on this point often, but Norani always relented. The Cook hadn't betrayed her. Once Norani told the cook about the voice she'd heard, and the woman cried as she embraced Norani.
"I'm sorry, love. None that the Unknown has taken have ever spoken to us still here. It must've been a demon tricking you."
Norani decided to not tell anyone else what she'd heard after that. Orks just couldn't believe her. She'd already told Yeva everything. Her dear friend, no longer her only friend, was the only person she truly trusted now. She was there the nights when Norani would come home and just bawl her eyes out, slumped in the corner. She was an Ork without a family right now. And she would've been alone if not for Yeva and Ruvaf.
The smiling, curious, laughing Norani was now cautious, quiet, and withdrawn with anyone other than the fortuneteller. Now when she spoke with Yeva, it was in private away from anyone else, and she tried to share how she felt. How she didn't feel safe with those who would lie, even if by omission, in such a way. How she felt hopeless that there was no way to get back the friend who was still alive, whose voice she had heard. No one in all of Ecith's vast history had ever manage to learn even one singular detail about the Unknown or its victims.
And what if it was simply a demon that tricked her?
This morning, Norani was sitting on the edge of the mattress, soft hide stuffed with the fluff from the reeds at the lake staring at the wall, her sheet laying softly over her thighs, her muscular back lit by the moonlight through her window. Yeva was still sleeping, curled up against the wall of the hut, as Norani looked upon the wood grains that had become all too familiar a sight lately. She needed to leave. She was trapped and stifled here. And if they could lie to her about that, what else had they lied about? What if they lied to Yeva?
What if she decided she would lie?
Norani didn't want that. She closed her eyes. She could take her Och'uvnai. She was the right age for it, and none would question it. None could question it, it was a rite of passage allowed to all Ecithians, no matter when or how they choose to claim it. She looked over her shoulder at the freckle covered back that was peeked out from the thin sheet. Would Yeva wish to travel with her? Would she rather stay? Go home? Travel without her?
She cast her eyes once more on her most attended spot on the wall, only to see that the grains were different. She blinked a couple of times, but it didn't change. She pulled back her vision, when she realized that there was now a door there, leading into the great tree.
Whispering softly, "Yeva." Norani had never once intentionally awoken Yeva, always letting the woman sleep as much as she needed. A few times her tears had woken her, but Yeva refused Norani's attempts to cry quieter to not disturb her. Norani reached back, a gentle hand on Yeva's upper arm, "Yeva, wake up, please. A door has found us, I think."
