Topic: To Give Thee Wings

Nianel

Date: 2010-11-25 14:18 EST
She fled over rooftops, through the darkened drizzling night, out over the walls, and into the wilds that were her home and safety, heedless of the rain that soaked her white hair and dark skin. This was her refuge, the wild places of the world, where tree and grass and animal and bird came together beneath the untamed skies.

There she crouched in the welcoming arms of an aged oak, hugging her little prize to her chest as she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She was exhilarated, as pleased with her brave new venture as she had been fearful during her escape of it. Loud sounds and the roar of beasts were things frightening to her, and yet, it had not been until the little redheaded female came with her banging stick and her roaring pet that Nianel had fled the places of people.

Ignoring the rain that still fell over her, travelling in rivulets over her sodden hair and skin, she lifted her prize from her chest, sniffing it curiously. It was something that the Leer-ess-ah had called a 'tao-el', and she was supposed to 'drrr-ayi har' with it. Language was as foreign to her as clothing, or the manners of the socially accepted, and yet there were times when Nianel longed for words with which to speak.

Only one word did she know meaning and use of, and that was the name she called herself. Far back, in the distant memories of her infancy, she recalled pale skin and eyes as green as her own, and a gentle voice singing to her, calling her 'Nianel'. She did not know what had become of the gentle voice, for it was gone from her lifetime long ago. Instead, Nianel had raised herself among the trees and flatlands, surviving and taking great joy in the natural world of her birthing.

"Tao-el," she repeated, mangling the word in her attempts to use it as she shook out her present from the Leer-ess-ah. It was as sodden as the rest of her, but she still gathered it into a ball and scrubbed at her hair, a tiny delighted smile on her dark face. "Drrr-ayi har. Leer-ess-ah tao-el Nianel."

There had been other words, too, words that she had not heard before, and only one was she entirely certain of it's meaning. Shifting in the crooked arms of the oak, she lifted her foot up to eye level, wiggling her toes at herself, and repeated this word to herself. "Slip-purrs."

For some reason, this reminded her of the bear that had been in the inn, and the thing he had given to the lady who was whelping a small person like the Leer-ess-ah inside herself to eat. It had not looked like any sort of food the little half-drow had ever seen or smelt before, and she could not help but wonder how it might have tasted. But to a tongue that had not tasted anything but the raw and cold before, perhaps it would not taste so well.

The rain was letting up, and the sun was beginning to rise before Nianel shook herself from her reflections on the evening. The places of people were still frightening to her, but she thought, perhaps, that the big place with the beautiful elfess and the Leer-ess-ah and all their friends was a better place that those others she had seen. Curiosity would give her courage wings, she now knew.

Crawling down from her oak to seek a hollow in which to sleep, the wild little half-drow was resolving to return to the city soon, where she could show the Leer-ess-ah that Nianel was looking after her tao-el and bring the small person something in return from the wildest parts of her wonderful home. Caught up with these thoughts, and wonder of her venture, she curled into a ball, naked save for the encompassing hug of her white hair about her dark body, and drifted off to sleep, hugging tightly to her the wet towel that was now hers alone.

((Many thanks to everyone who was in the Inn last night, and enabled me to adapt Nianel's first experience of life outside the forest!))