A prayer to the wind

[Nayeli Redwood]

((closed rp))


The descending sun crimsoned the sky and the blackhaired girl was thankfully for the cooling shadows upon her tanned skin. Her arm was already hurting.
“Stretch the bow further, Nayeli. Yes, that’s good”, said the tall woman, clad in leather, next to the girl. “But the arm's already aching, sister”, the girl replied, but her older sister simply continued.
“Concentrate. Watch your breath.” – and she smiled satisfied as she glanced at the young Nayeli with the bow that has been crafted for her size. “You are the bow and the arrow is your prayer to Findari. Now close your eyes and feel the tension.”
And the young girl did as she said. She closed her brown eyes and felt her muscles tensing, the cool sweat running down her forehead, the wooden bow in her hand. “Don’t let your thoughts stray. Concentrate only on the bow and you will feel when the right moment is there to release the string and shoot the arrow. This is how it is with everything in life. A right moment for every step you take.”
...
~

... Nayeli opened her eyes. But there weren’t the planes of Serin behind her anymore. And not the familiar woods infront of her. And no sister at her side.
She stood alone in the westforest of Gobaith. Far away from home. The young girl felt how her arm began to ache while she kept the bow tensed.
You are the bow and the arrow is your prayer to Findari.
‘Now’, mumbled Nayeli and in the very same moment had the arrow released, which now shot straight into the darkness of the forest.
She lowered the bow, then sank to her knees. After she had shot the arrow and tension had vanished, the feeling of helplessness has overwhelmed her once more. Clinging on the bow a desperate sigh escaped her lips.

"Why, Findari. Why had they all to die..."

[Nayeli Redwood]

The sound of horns woke her up in the morning. Sun Light was already falling through the hay ceiling and Nayeli immediately had a bad conscious that she had slept so long. But instead of reproaching herself, she wrinkled her forehead questioningly at the horns. Quickly she sat up, got dressed with a simple shirt and her trousers, before she hurried outside, not caring for her hair being a mess. She wanted to know what caused the commotion outside.

Right outside of the door she encountered one of her tribe members, Zerine. She was, like many others, looking northwest, where another woman was to leave the town with her things packed. Nayeli furrowed her brow. "Zerine, what's happening here? Where is Malire going?", she asked the blonde woman in the narrow leather clothes next to her, while tiptoeing in the hope she could see better. Many tribe women have gathered at the main place and blew the horns. Zerine lowered her gaze and looked down to Nayeli, it was hard to say if her expression was one of sadness or bliss. "Malire is leaving."
Nayeli wrinkled her forehead even more. "Leaving? I don't understand. Why would she leave us?" - "She's leaving for the Serinjah town in the north west. She had met a man and now Sirani had enchanted her heart. She fell in love."
Nayelis jaw dropped. "... She's leaving us for a man?", the young girl bursted out and Zerine had to chuckle softly. "Yes, she is leaving us for the love of a man."
"How can she do that! Isn't she betraying us with this?", confusion flackered in Nayelis eyes, but Zerine answered her calmly. "If she wouldn't go, she would be betraying her heart. Hence why no one of us will stop her, but simply wish her all the best on her way. But Nayeli, don't worry. You're too young to understand."
The girl lowered her eyes to the ground.
"I will never leave my tribe. No love can be stronger than the love to my family"
...
~


And what now where your tribe is gone? How will you go on without love?
Allans words weighed heavy upon the heart of the 14-year-old Nayeli. She had answered him, that she is strong. That her tribe has taught her to be strong, and she could go on without them too. She would not disappoint them.

But didn't she already? She was lost and alone upon an island that was so different to her home. She felt so terrible weak.

[Nayeli Redwood]

She held the wooden bead tightly in her hand, while her eyes were closed. "Fortune", she thought, then opened her eyes to string the bead upon the thread. Picking another of the self carved beads from the bowl. Closing her eyes once more she thought: "Health" - Then stringed the last bead upon the necklace. A smile escaped her lips and she quickly made a knot upon the strings, before she raised her gaze. Her mother and two elder women of the tribe were sitting at the campfire, carving or creating different jewelry.
"Are you done, Nayeli?", she asked and her daughter nodded quickly. "And you thought of a wish with every bead?" - "Yes I did!", the girl bursted out satisfied and her mother chuckled. "Then it's time to pick someone you will give this necklace to. It's your first one, so this choice must be special to you."
Nayeli stood to her feet and looked at her mother thoughtfully, wondering if she would give her the necklace. She grinned a bit and turned. Maybe a walk through their village would help her with choosing. So she wandered over the main place, watching the different women working or training. She saw her sister sparing with Zerine with spears, and she hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. How could she ever decide for one of them.
Raising her gaze to the sky for a moment, she suddenly laughed and began to run towards on of the highest trees, close to the village. Nayeli wrapped the necklace around her wrist, before she reached for the first branch, pulling herself up. It wasn't the first time she was 'conquering' this tree, but today she would have to climb higher than ever before.

And with success. She reached the treetrop quickly, though she became more carefully the higher she climbed. Nayeli unwrapped the necklace from her wrist and cautiously strapped it around the highest branch she was able to get a grip on.
Then looked satisfied at her creation. The necklace now moved slightly in the wind. "This is a gift for you, Findari. Because you keep us safe; because a gift to you, means to gift something to the mother of us all.", the girl mumbled, then looked down to the village...
... noticing that she has been watched. The clan leader - a priestess of Findari - stood at the entrance of her cottage, looking up to the girl in the tree top, while her traditional white and yellow clothes waved in the wind.