amatakka lesson [★] HEIRLOOM

[Tena M.]

Tena Moonspinner —
The petite Demdji found herself at a loss with a thought that occurred to her.  It started with her brother.  Afterall, the word 'brother' she never spoke in the common tongue.  Upanda.  Conversing with a few Elysites, family became a topic of interest and she let it slip without conscious thought, referring to Ebra as her older brother, only in her tongue.  The blank stares through her off for a moment, until the gears clicked into place.  Sheepishly, she just explained the term and they kept talking.

But it stuck with her.  She said other things too, when she didn't think.  This had not been the first, or only occurrence.  Yet, what was she supposed to do about it?  Amatakka was her language, her culture.  It wasn't something she felt comfortable sharing because she couldn't really share where she came from.

She found comfort with Ebra, who spoke with her in the same tongue.  She felt awkward and clumsy and terribly shy with Lavi, who'd traveled home with her once.  She felt distant and stubborn with everyone else.  They didn't need to be involved in her past.  It was hers, not theirs.  And her language, was something special, something secret only her people and those they shared it with knew.

Yet she found a home in Elysium.  She realized it'd been home for a long time now, for, why else would she have stepped up to be Magna when they were leaderless?  If she'd been planning on leaving, she would've left the role open for someone else, someone more committed, yet here she was.  Still here.  Home.

The sand cat decided, warily, she could share a piece of herself then.

Tena's tail flicked behind her as she wandered through the town, looking until she found a small, blue house, with plants overgrown, some distance from the water.  In the midst of it all, the young Magna had not been running her shop, something she felt inclined to change soon.  For now, she took comfort in the sight of it and sat on the porch.  As winter especially ushered in, she felt tempted to move into here, for she may be more cold tolerant than everyone suspected -- deserts were cold at night -- she had never dealt with a mountain in the winter before.  Another decision, for another day.

Right.  Raising her chin, she lifted her voice to the wind.  The town seemed more alive these days, something she enjoyed immensely, so she hardly doubted someone would hear.  "If you'd like to learn a few phrases in Amatakka, I'm holding a lesson!" Just a few.
[align=right]— I tell you this story, save your life, set you free

[Straw]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Amatakka phrases? Amatakka must have been a language, or maybe a dialect. Either way, if Tena was giving a lesson, Straw ought to attend. Maybe the knowledge would save her life someday, but even if it didn't, there was no harm in learning.

  She was apparently the first to approach, padding over to Tena and glancing around. It didn't seem like anyone else had heard her call, or if they had, they had other things to do. Straw wasn't especially busy, though, and even if she had been, she personally found this more interesting. Sitting down, she adjusted her mask and waited for Tena to begin.

  /late post but eh