And the characters want out.
May. 25th, 2009 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jolantruAunt Betta rubbed her tired eyes. Accounting, in other names, was still accounting. This was one part of trading she did not really enjoy. It was a necessary evil, she told her often, even when the numbers did not add up and turn into gibberish after multiple calculations. She was a perfectionist, wanting her numbers to be perfect. Numbers seemed to have minds and spirits of their own. A miscalculation, an error, would mean that she would have to go through it all over again. Sometimes, just sometimes, enough was enough. She thumbed the digi-ledger close and took a long sip at her dark coffee, a special blend from Tertullian VI. Even relaxed, she mentally rummaged through the things she had to do. Ah, Min Feng’s report. There it lay, a small digi-pad.
She was glad that the princess was settling down well. Betta had gotten over the fact that the girl could turn into something out of the stories, the legends. But she was no yee naaldlooshii. Not a malevolent skin walker, the stuff of nightmares. Firstly, yee naaldlooshii were mostly male and followed the Witchery Way, the Corpse-poison Way. Secondly, the girl’s inner power was benign and a result from their bloodline.
It was true that yee naaldlooshii could be both male and female. Males seemed to be more numerous. The aunts instinctively came to trust the girl as she had. She had not done any transformation, any shifting, for some time now. When she first arrived, the aunts were all concerned and counseled Betta. They had heard, as they always had, about the girl’s phoenix-power. Their mother had brought them up on not only the history but the stories and myths. A people without stories is a people without culture, without history, their mother would say while she pounded corn meal and minded the sisters. There were families on Mesa who were afraid to talk about the skin walkers, because they feared these creatures would come after them. Mother saw no harm in informing all the sisters. Each family, she would often add, had their own stories of the yee naaldlooshii.
Min Feng was a girl born with a genetic ability. That was it. Betta was not trained in science and she could not give a logical answer for that. As for Min Feng, she had performed well as an apprentice, learning and observing quietly. Asking questions when they were needed. They left the Imperial City soon after she returned to the Phoenix Court, traveling in their merchant freighter the Pueblo Star to various Alliance Planets: the Verdant agricultural worlds to maintain cordial ties, Tertullian VI to negotiate for olive oil, wine and coffee berries, and Solaris to renew water treaties. The Empress Ze Tian had privately made Betta Master Trader and guardian of her oldest daughter. “Watch over her,” the Empress had said to her privately, in her audience chamber.
Betta had reluctantly given up her fry bread business and let one of her cousins take over. From what she had received, the stall was still going strong and attracting a steady crowd of customers.
I feel like Aunt Betta now. Yeesh. Words become a gibberish blur. :P
She was glad that the princess was settling down well. Betta had gotten over the fact that the girl could turn into something out of the stories, the legends. But she was no yee naaldlooshii. Not a malevolent skin walker, the stuff of nightmares. Firstly, yee naaldlooshii were mostly male and followed the Witchery Way, the Corpse-poison Way. Secondly, the girl’s inner power was benign and a result from their bloodline.
It was true that yee naaldlooshii could be both male and female. Males seemed to be more numerous. The aunts instinctively came to trust the girl as she had. She had not done any transformation, any shifting, for some time now. When she first arrived, the aunts were all concerned and counseled Betta. They had heard, as they always had, about the girl’s phoenix-power. Their mother had brought them up on not only the history but the stories and myths. A people without stories is a people without culture, without history, their mother would say while she pounded corn meal and minded the sisters. There were families on Mesa who were afraid to talk about the skin walkers, because they feared these creatures would come after them. Mother saw no harm in informing all the sisters. Each family, she would often add, had their own stories of the yee naaldlooshii.
Min Feng was a girl born with a genetic ability. That was it. Betta was not trained in science and she could not give a logical answer for that. As for Min Feng, she had performed well as an apprentice, learning and observing quietly. Asking questions when they were needed. They left the Imperial City soon after she returned to the Phoenix Court, traveling in their merchant freighter the Pueblo Star to various Alliance Planets: the Verdant agricultural worlds to maintain cordial ties, Tertullian VI to negotiate for olive oil, wine and coffee berries, and Solaris to renew water treaties. The Empress Ze Tian had privately made Betta Master Trader and guardian of her oldest daughter. “Watch over her,” the Empress had said to her privately, in her audience chamber.
Betta had reluctantly given up her fry bread business and let one of her cousins take over. From what she had received, the stall was still going strong and attracting a steady crowd of customers.
I feel like Aunt Betta now. Yeesh. Words become a gibberish blur. :P
no subject
Date: 2009-05-25 10:28 pm (UTC)Yee Naaldlooshii - are they jiang shi? :P
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 12:51 am (UTC)No, not jiang shi. Shape-shifters.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:10 am (UTC)hmm. I kinda like the snippet. Though it does seem a bit mary-sueish, that she is the only one who can do the shapeshifting thing.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:43 am (UTC)>.> I mean, in a way, even coming from a special clan/family with a genetic disposition to do special stuff (like the Uchiha's abilities to have red eyes and copy everyone's ninja abilites) is sort of. mary-sueish, if your OC has it, you know? Hmm. TThough it's hard to see from such a short snippet.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:48 am (UTC)Good questions there. Mmmm.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:50 am (UTC)You know what would be interesting? Would be the shape-shift in space being damned inconvenient.
>.>
<.<
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 02:02 am (UTC)>.> Might be an interesting thing trying to get it under control so she wouldn't fry the ship's computers, the floor, and her bedsheets.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 02:04 am (UTC)