Peace

[amber4]

TRY NOT TO RUN FROM THIS FREEDOM ALWAYS HAS A PRICE TO PAY tagged: @nuala

Niylah left her home, her family and the war torn territory searching for peace in the only place she knew to find it. Even then, it had been nothing more than a rumor. She traveled by foot for days and arrived at the shore. There she lit the signal fire and in hours, she was taken by men like she had never seen. It was terrifying to awaken in a place so different from the woods where she had grown. Instead she awoke in a new world encased with metal and surrounded by the sea. It was a new beginning for her... as it had been for many others. It was nearly impossible to get used to, as it had only been a few days. It was strange not fearing an Azgeda attack, or mistrusting everyone she met... Though peaceful, it was frightening as well. Anything new...

Quietly, she sat with her legs dangling off the side of the metal platform over the open ocean. She had offered to work, but until they figured out a place for her, she was still more of a guest than anything. She’d been given a place to rest, meals and even tried to socialize with the peaceful people, but it was still so alien. Steps approached, and she mistook the lightness for sneaking. Immediately, she turned and was on her knees, ready to raise and fight if she had to, but the child that faced her was most certainly not a threat at all. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly as she stood down; wide eyes on hers. She hoped that the child wouldn’t set off an alarm. She was clearly born here... so young. Niylah wasn’t sure what could have scared her.

“Your footsteps were so quiet I thought you were a mouse.” She joked as she forced herself to smile. Her hand shifted to her knees, hoping she didn’t seem threatening. “I haven’t met you yet. My name is Niylah..”

OWL

[Deleted]

AI GADA KLIRNES IN While Nuala often approached new children on the rig, feeling it a sort of responsibility of hers given the fact that Luna and Derrick were almost adoptive parents to her, it wasn't often that she found herself approaching new adults on the rig. That was, for good reason, a safety thing. Most of the time Nuala would wait until she had been told a new adult was safe to approach. Thinking back to when she had first arrived on the rig, remembering how on edge she had felt and how she had constantly felt like someone would attack her, she understood why that was needed. She was little and if someone scared her, she likely wouldn't be able to do much. But if someone attacked her, it was a different story. Today was a new day and Nuala was feeling somewhat curious about one new arrival. She had watched the woman, seen her socialising a bit and had gotten a positive impression. The woman looked, in fact, harmless. And so Nuala made the decision, seeing her sitting down at the edge of the rig, to introduce herself. Maybe she would be able to help in making the woman feel welcome. Nuala was growing older now herself, coming to an age where she could have been preparing for her first battle if she were still in Azgeda so maybe it was time to act her age a little more. Her feet seemed to agree, moving without hesitation in the direction of the woman. It didn't go quite as expected. Nuala's mouth opened as if she were about to scream but no sound came out. Her eyes wide, she watched the woman who was now on her knees, as she loosened and quickly apologised. Nuala's memory came to recognise the stance and her body, even after all the time on the rig, felt ready to respond. But it didn't, and Nuala just continued to stand there, almost frozen. Her eyes blinked a couple times, her mouth slowly shutting. Her head sort of nodded but the movements felt unnatural to Nuala. "Sorry," Nuala muttered, almost surprised that she could make her mouth move. By the time the woman was introducing herself, Nuala's body seemed to have recovered from the shock, at least enough. She was able to take a small step back and she felt the relief of muscles as they stopped tensing. "Niylah," Nuala repeated, swallowing and taking in a deep breath. "I'm Nuala." Was it a good idea to introduce herself to the woman that had just looked ready to hurt her? Nuala didn't know but she would find out herself, rather than running to one of the adults quite yet. amber4 || Why are kids so much easier to write than adults? Maybe I'm still a kid at heart. XD

[amber4]

TRY NOT TO RUN FROM THIS FREEDOM ALWAYS HAS A PRICE TO PAY tagged: @nuala

With a soft smile, Niylah rested back on her knees to stay at level with Nuala. She was a pretty little girl with an innocent appearance, not scarred or toughened by battle. Like so many of the children here she looked almost serene, which was unlike any of the children her age back in Niylah’s village. Even though she wasn’t a warrior, Niylah had lost most of her innocence before she could remember having any... “Nuala,” she mused as she looked over the starfish that rested on her robes. Her blue painted hair and pebble beads were beautiful and unique... Outside the war paint used back home and the stains that Clarke had used to color her blonde hair she’d never seen it before. These people were strange. “That’s a very pretty name, your parents must have thought about it for a long time.” She tried to keep her tone softspoken as she didn’t want to scare her further.

“I like your hair,” she said with a small grin as she pressed her lips together in thought. Almost playfully, she held up one of the braids that kept her bangs tied back. “Do you think you could show me how to do it? You all have pretty shells and colors, but I’m so plain.” She let the braid fall as she rested her arms on her knees, wondering where her parents were or if she had any at all. Perhaps she was born on this rig and didn’t know much about the world outside of it.... but there was something about her that made Niylah believe that was unlikely.

Though innocent, there was a hint of a ghost in her eyes. She’d seen things she shouldn’t... it was the kind of ghost that never really went away, no matter the state of someone’s life. It would always play in the shadows of a gaze. She wanted to make Nuala happy... as awkward as Niylah was coming across. Children were supposed to be easier to get along with than adults.

OWL

[Deleted]

AI GADA KLIRNES IN Nuala wouldn't want to admit it but it was nice to have Niylah resting back on her knees, keeping her at a similar height to Nuala, rather than standing tall above her. After the scare that Niylah had given her, Nuala found this a lot more comfortable and a lot less intimidating. But now that she seemed to be mostly over that scare and was able to think of other things, Nuala's eyes took in the woman in front of her, more than just the stance she was in. She was pretty and she was young. Not young like Nuala but young like Luna. With her hair tied back in braids Nuala could see her face clearly and could see the scar on her left cheek. For a moment she thought it was like the scars that Azgeda wore, the ones that decorated faces like she now knew tattoos did for other clans, but it was obvious from paying it more attention that it was just a normal scar. The kind that probably came from a battle. That would make a lot of sense when thinking about how the woman had reacted to the quiet sound of Nuala's approach. "Thanks," Nuala said as Niylah complimented her name. Part of her wanted to point out that she wasn't six and could be talked to in a less childish way but she didn't really want to risk angering the woman. She could deal with being treated younger than she was, even if it really annoyed her. Her fear won out in the end. "It just refers to my light hair," she added on after a pause, not really sure if the woman actually cared, or if she herself cared. Nuala remembered the story, told of how she was born with such light blonde hair when her parents had darker hair. That the old name was picked out because of that. Did it matter to anything? No.  Nuala didn't feel like her hair mattered either, but maybe she wouldn't think anything mattered while talking to the woman who had scared her. "Thanks," Nuala said, again. She took another small step backwards, just making a comfortable space between herself and Niylah. Her fingers played with the strand of her hair that was coloured a dark blue. Lifting it up so she could see it, she glanced between it and the braid that Niylah was holding up. "We use seaweed and stuff," Nuala explained, dropping the blue strand and moving all her hair behind her shoulders...where she knew it wouldn't stay. "What colour do you want it?" There were a lot of colours that people had worked out how to put in their hair. Nuala had blue and green, even a mostly washed out section that was a reddish purple. If Niylah really wanted colour in her hsir, Nuala thought it was probably a safe thing to take about. She couldn't imagine Niylah attacking her over hair colour. amber4

[amber4]

TRY NOT TO RUN FROM THIS FREEDOM ALWAYS HAS A PRICE TO PAY tagged: @nuala

RP Nuala was not what Niylah had expected and didn’t seem entertained by her light line of questioning or her efforts to be less intimidating. Honestly, Niylah didn’t know how to treat children, having had none of her own. She had been raised alone, miles from TonDC without meeting other children or even having the chance to spend much time with anyone her age until she was old enough to accompany her father to the villages. Even then, the children her age were warriors or busy, clinging to their mothers hips. She hoped that she didn’t offend Nuala. The little girl was the last person that she wanted to upset. Still, she smiled when Nuala accepted her request to show her how to dye her hair. Maybe she could even get her to help her make jewelry... It would be something fun to do while she got to know the mature little girl.

“Still, your name is very pretty,” she said with a soft chuckle as she grabbed onto the metal railing she’d been leaning against. She used it to pull herself up slowly, but leaned against it ever so slightly so as not to appear too intimidating. “I’ve always liked blue,” she murmured softly. “Trikru paints are less colorful... we use limestone for white, but it’s normally used as war paint. Berries and blood make for good red dye as well though... it’s just.... mostly used to intimidate.” Cosmetics were not very important to Trikru... Not really. Clarke was the only person that Niylah had ever met who used it cosmetically, and even then she was in hiding. Here, it seemed so much more relaxed. War was not an issue, giving everyone a chance to breathe and be themselves... It was beautiful really.

“Were you born here?” she asked lightly as she began walking with her towards the main deck where she assumed they kept supplies. “Or did you come here like me?” She was still speaking softly, but she tried to be a little less patronizing with her tone.

OWL

[Deleted]

AI GADA KLIRNES IN Nuala didn't bother to really respond to Niylah's insistence that her name was pretty apart from giving a small nod, finding herself growing more annoyed at the immature way she believe she was being treated. Again, she wasn't six, she was eleven. And she was hardly a child anymore, even if Niylah had still managed to scare her quite a bit. Nuala felt just ever so slightly uncomfortable as Niylah stood, taking another small step backwards both so it was easier for her to look up at Niylah but also so she was a little bit further away from the woman. As long as she didn't step so far back as to get in someone else's way, she would be fine stepping a little bit further back. Niylah didn't look scary, not really. There was the scar on her face but she also looked like she was trying to be nice. She was talking about hair colour, that wasn't a mean topic. Maybe Nuala needed to be a little more brave and give the woman more of a chance. Standing didn't mean she was planning on hurting Nuala . . . Nuala hoped. But then another thing managed to alarm Nuala. At the mention of Trikru and warpaint, images of warriors running into her village clouded her mind, the white warpaint looking as a bright as the moon on a clear night. The images passed quickly but left Nuala with panic in her eyes and an increased heart rate. "Your from Trikru?" Nuala asked, hoping the panic didn't seep into her voice even though it would be obvious in her face. It wasn't like Nuala didn't like anyone from Trikru. She had friends from there, ones that now lived on the rig, but with the mention of warpaint the idea left her freaking out. She didn't know why, not really. The idea of working out why seemed to difficult for her mind, too much work to do. She just knew that she felt panicked and she didn't want to. She was going to be brave. Her eyes closed as tears threatened to run down her cheeks, breathing and trying to imagine the sway of the water, the way she had been taught to use it to keep her calm. Once she felt calm enough to open her eyes again, she did, looking back up at Niylah and realising she had been asked another question. Also that Niylah had begun walking towards the main deck. "Um, I came here," Nuala said, speaking quickly as if she could make up for the time passed between the question and answer. "Do you want blue in your hair?" she asked, knowing it would keep her calm and keep Niylah happy to be on that topic. If Niylah was from Trikru, she probably wouldn't want to know that Nuala was from Azgeda. "Blue is my favourite colour. Like the water on a clear day." She led Niylah in the direction of where supplies were kept for colouring hair, as well as supplies for other things like making jewellery. The fun things.  amber4 || I wanna hug little Nuala.