sister sister

[Derrick]

((ooc// okay so I may end up contradicting myself later because of headcanons and stuff that'll hit. I also had an idea. Maybe Lexa and Tari have trained together before and interacted so they do know each other. They view each other as friends but they're not super duper close until now? For future reference because I'm dumb, Lexa is 12, Ontari is 10))

Though Lexa loved her Natblida siblings, sometimes it was hard for her to interact with them. A serious girl who could be excruciatingly awkward when it came to 'fun.' She didn't mean to be but after knowing she didn't exactly fit in with being 'fun' she had simply decided to stop trying. None of them made fun of her for it, her own embarrassment had done enough on that front. Still, she knew the names of her siblings, trained with them, ate with them. She was closer to the younger ones rather than those near her age(re; awkward). She tried her best, perhaps tried a little too much and so she wasn't exactly going to win friend of the year.

Not to mention she was at that age where she was changing. Being twelve was not easy and not fun. To help combat her emotions, Lexa trained even when she didn't have too. Titus had been kind enough to leave out her sword so she could get in extra training and the others knew not to touch it. It was a gesture that she didn't expect from him because of his stance and she never thought he'd show compassion like that. After scarfing down a quick meal for lunch, Lexa had gone straight back to the training. Not with a sword but against her shadow. She'd finish up here and then get permission to head back to the forest to train with the sword. That should give everyone time to finish their meal.

She'd been in Polis for many years now. Taken from her home as a mere child the moment they found out her blood was as dark as the night skies. She had been told it made her special, though at the time she never understood. All she knew was that she was taken from her family and brought to strangers. It had taken time before she really knew and understood the significance her her black blood. Did she resent it? Not really, not anymore. In the early stages she had because she had been frightened and alone. Now she knew that not everyone had this opportunity, this honor and she wasn't going to squander it all because she was selfish.

Though she had ample places to fight her own shadow, Lexa did so in her room. The door was open so that she could exit if she needed more room and she didn't exactly care who saw her. They knew she was the serious type with a kind streak that she showed in gestures rather than words. From a smile to a nod, or even to a simply squeeze of the hand, Lexa was all about the gestures. Words meant nothing because they could be broken so easily as they were said but actions? They spoke much louder and far better than any word could. This didn't apply to everyone though and she knew that she had to listen and that gestures were not always appropriate.

Pausing to take a breather, Lexa could only stare at the wall.

This would go better with friends.

iah

[Deleted]

The training Ontari had done that morning had left her drenched in sweat. She was the type to work hard, to train hard even if she was still only a child. What else would she do when she knew what her future held and what her purpose was? It had all started to snap together in her head that year, the whole purpose of her life becoming so much clearer than it had been before. She could imagine the conclave now and she knew that she needed to increase her training. The idea of becoming Heda was something more concrete and Ontari also had begun to listen more in their lessons, soaking in what was being taught. Part of her didn't completely like it all, part of her worried a lot, especially when she saw other nightbloods and wondered if she would have to fight against them. No, not if - when. Ontari was constantly wondering when she would be forced into the conclave and so she trained harder, fueled mostly by primal fear. Her bath cut into the first part of lunch. Ontari didn't care too much about that part, their lunches were always long enough and she would still have enough time to eat. While she might miss out on spending time with her siblings, it wasn't like she didn't have enough time to spend with them. She always had time to spend with them. Her damp hair sat against her back and caused the fabric of her shirt to stick against her skin. The discomfort, as it always seemed to do, made her think about finding a scrap bit of fabric to tie it back up against her head but like always she didn't make any move to follow through on that thought. She was sure her hair had never bothered her as much in the past, she sometimes felt like everything was beginning to bug her just because it could. Like as her mind grew clearer on what she was, it started to focus on the little things that it never had before. Instead of letting herself fuss over her hair, she started down the hallway to go to lunch. It surprised Ontari slightly to see Lexa's door open, seeing all the other ones closed as they were empty. She peaked into the room to see her standing in the middle of the room, looking as if she were just staring at a wall. As part of her training taught her to do, Ontari stayed quiet and payed attention to how Lexa was standing and what her body was doing. She could the slight rise and fall of her shoulders, faster than normal, and that told Ontari that she had been doing something that would cause her breathing to speed up. Training was the likely answer there. Everyone knew that Lexa trained the hardest out of any of the natblida. It wasn't the most surprising thing for her to be doing that rather than spending time relaxing with the others at lunch either, just a bit surprising to find her training in her room. Ontari had personally seen her training there before. Deciding on the spot to make her presence known, Ontari lifted her hand to knock on the open door. "Not hungry?" she asked. Derrick || That sounds good to me! I'm completely happy having them  know each other and then just feeling out how well they get along as we post.

[Derrick]

Lexa was used to being stared at and she was used to being alone. The others either watched her or went on their merry way, either way didn't bother her all that much. Good practice for becoming a leader as leaders were constantly watched. What wasn't watching her was the wall, still and silent as ever and something she could rely on just to stare at and not be stared at back. Sometimes it felt unnerving to have someone stare at her, mostly in training when they didn't blink. It was something she was getting used to, and getting over, because she knew how important it was not to feel unnerved. Commanders did not feel unnerved - they unnerved everyone else.

It was a knock at the door that called to her, pulling her to her senses just as she was spoken to, though she had been aware she wasn't alone. There was always that feeling you got when someone was close by, a sort of sixth sense for those that were trained to take note of the surroundings even when it wasn't on the forefront of the mind. She turned to face Ontari, the younger girl was always welcome to stop by if she ever wanted to. There was only a few years separating the two and other than Luna, Ontari was one of the ones closest in age. The rest were much younger. Even so, she respected all of her siblings, no matter their age or skill. They were family.

"Hey, Ontari." Lexa spoke as way of greeting, turning to face her fully rather than have her back turned. She lifted up a hand to push a few strands of hair behind an ear, smiling a little sheepishly. "I already ate. I wanted to get in more practice." Lexa explained, feeling like she had to. It was strange really, but she didn't want Ontari thinking bad of her. She cared for Tari like she cared for Luna even though she knew Luna longer, was closer to the older Natblida. They were more than just family. As Lexa watched Ontari with glittering green eyes, she knew what it was. Ontari was her sister. It was a silly thought to have since they weren't exactly the best of friends and she didn't want to openly admit that she felt that way in case Tari laughed at her.

"Have you eaten yet? It's important. Got to keep up our strength." Lexa inwardly winced at how 'teacherly' she sounded. Thing was, she didn't need to be teacherly. They were equals here, no-one above anyone else. She swallowed, her throat feeling raw with the emotions coursing through her body. Why was she so awkward?

iah

[Deleted]

Ontari made sure to smile as she saw Lexa turn to face her, used to making sure that she showed kindness to all her siblings. It tended to be a habit used for the younger siblings, one that she picked up seeing a lot of the fear that the new siblings felt and having wanted to help them. She cared more than she should of, especially knowing what could happen at any time, the event that loomed over all their heads. Still, Ontari was kind and even motherly to the other siblings, something that she had only become more so in the past year. Although she had obviously not taken this motherly thing up around Lexa. She was one of the older Nightbloods, one of the few older than Ontari and if Ontari were to be completely honest, not one of her favourites. She got along best with her younger siblings but still, she and Lexa got along well enough. Otherwise Ontari wouldn't have bothered stopping at her room and asking about whether she had eaten or not. She cared enough to ask and if needed, to offer to eat lunch with her. They were still siblings after all, in the weird way that the Natblida were. "Hey," Ontari greeted back, taking a small step into the room. It was at least a good thing to hear that Lexa had eaten and that she wasn't skipping the meal to train more. There was the level that Lexa trained at, so much more than any of the other siblings, and then there was training too much. Skipping meals definitely fell into the too much category. Ontari didn't know if she would have said anything to Lexa if Lexa had been doing that but she might have mentioned it to Luna or maybe even Titus at another time. She would have done something, not because she was worried of what that extra training would mean for her future but that she actually did care enough about Lexa to want to make sure she stayed healthy. Eating meals was important. It seemed Lexa held the same thought as Ontari, asking then if Ontari had eating and making mention that it was important. Ontari laughed, not bothering to hold back the humor she felt. That was not something she had grown particularly good at quite yet. As she opened her mouth to answer Lexa, she quickly closed it again. If she mentioned the fact that she had not in fact eaten then maybe Lexa would shoo her off to go eat and, Ontari had no idea why, but she didn't quite want to leave yet. The fact that she wasn't that close to her sister Lexa was something that she hadn't thought about that much before but it was something that she was thinking about now. She was wondering why she hadn't taken the time to try and get to know her better. "Maybe I could practice with you?" she asked, completely skipping over Lexa's question. Lying, now that was something Ontari could do. She didn't like doing it if it meant breaking any rules but in this sort of situation, she would do it if she had to. Her first choice was just avoiding the question. Derrick