Topic: "Birth of the Moon"

Rivulet

Date: 2012-05-11 01:12 EST
I know what they must think of me, the intrepid woman that was born defiled from the womb. The woman that was given gifts, but at what cost' I heard all their whispers, their fears. I knew they only kept me for one reason. I was their advantage, their giver in times of need and healer when natural remedies couldn't cure. It was my mistake to run from it all. To go into the arms of a man unknown and give my only cherished attribute, the purity that my people swore was my only savior.

From the beginnings of birth, water called to me. Before I could walk, I could manipulate water. It became my very being and my people cherished me, but that was before I matured. Before I created a mind of my own and realized that calming waters could rage fiercely. At time moved on and I realized my purpose was a pawn in their lives, I grew tired. It was then that I felt a need to find more like me. My calming waters had built a steady ripple that pooled to the edges of my very soul, their thrumming pulse leading me far from impersonated captivity and out into the wild.

It was then I learned what I was. Naiad. Possessed. Granted a blessing. There were so many explanations for my very nature that I merely ignored them all. But I'd learn a valuable lesson. With gifts came responsibilities, a nature you can't ignore. One that enveloped me in curiosity, drugged me into nights of stupor and forgotten actions. It wasn't until I awoke inhabiting a cabin in the middle of nowhere that I realized how much time I had spent in the bed of a man I didn't know. He seemed human, he acted human but there was something in his eyes. He told me that we had met in the woodlands, each wandering beneath an uneventful beautiful day. We had fallen in love and I had been staying with him for several months.

Months?! Confused and dazed, finally able to take back what my nature stole from me...my sanity. I ran from that house, from him. I was completely clueless of our relationship and thus didn't know that inside my belly, on the wall of my womb, she was growing. A hybrid I wouldn't be able to protect, one I thought my people would love as much as they seemed to love me. My return wasn't greeted with excitement nor was I forgiven as easily. Their only restraint was that they needed me and they knew it. So into the heart of my people I went, cooed and taken care of until my belly swelled to the point of creating my waddle. Parties were given in my honor, what a blessing it would be to have another like myself!

I didn't know what they thought anymore. I was convinced by their masquerading masks that I couldn't see. If this child I brought to them was a disappointment, a failure...they'd kill her. And it was a she, I felt it. On the fullest of moons, I heard her whisper to me. It was then I knew what trouble I was in, carrying a child that could talk only to me and tell me things one shouldn't say at such a young age. She was so strong beneath those moons and I prayed each cycle to keep her safe.

The birth was celebrated not long after. People gathered, fires burned, and flowers were thrown into paths for me to step on. Bundled in my arms was a child with my face, my lips, my hair. But when those eyes opened, there were too many blues. Beautiful orbs ringed in navy, outlined by pure silver with a robin's egg filling. They were specked with flakes of gold and royal blues. I could've sworn they were a wolf's eyes, they looked so much like them. But her spirit, her smile reminded me so much of my calming waters.

"My Rivulet...my reflection in the stream, I shall name you Leorah." A kiss to my child's head, a blessing I hope would carry her far from this place of facades. But they promised they'd never touch her, never harm her if she was like me. My only regret was not knowing she was more.

(All posts will be written in english but should be viewed as though the speaker is Brazilian. The main language is Portugese.)

Rivulet

Date: 2012-06-05 16:07 EST
"Mama! This is soooo boring!" The little one tredged after her mother, arms perpendicular to her chest as hands gripped a woven basket filled with too much water. It pressed against her back, weighed her down and made the already lanky child seem even more uncoordinated. "Why must we do this! You can bring water to the fields, can't you?" A grumble of assortments, all naughty words in Portugese for sure.

"Leorah, I swear, child. You complain of everything! And no I can not move waters from the river to here, I am not that gifted." A look was given to her mini reflection, a soft smile surely spreading alongst her lips. It always amazed her how beautiful her rivulet became with each passing year.

"I bet I can, oh I know I can. I can pull the tide even without the full moon!" The school aged child jumped and splashed water that landed perfectly back in the woven basket, a much too large confident grin plastered across her face. "I'll show you, mama! I'll show you and we won't have to do this anymore. Uuggghh my back hurts!"

For a moment Juliana was too busy laughing from her daughter's multiple complaints and sudden boast of confidence, but the minute her words registered she dropped her own woven basket and fled before Leorah on bended knees. "Rivy, you mustn't speak of your gifts. You mustn't boast about talents we know not of. It's not safe in the open to say so and the towns people won't like it. Do you hear me?"

The child had been shocked, her mother had never spoken to her this way nor held her so fiercely. A look was given to the clamping hands on her shoulders and wide hues of multiple blues locked onto her mother's browns. "I-I'm sorry, mama. I didn't mean to make you mad. But it's true, I've been practicing."

A soft sigh Juliana gave, how could she tell her daughter the truth without instilling fear into her heart. A hand gently caressed her cheek as she lifted and moved back to her basket. Thank god she could manipulate water or it'd be everywhere but in her basket. "Just don't show anyone but me, okay Rivy' We'll practice together. I'll take you to the sea and to Mayara."

From scared to completely disgusted, Rivy was infamous for her chameleon facial expressions. "Uh! Mama, I do not want to see that old witch woman. All she says is bad things and to always be careful." Shoulders hunched upwards to her ears as she shimmied her shoulders and continued on toward the crop fields. "Ooh but I love the sea. I could swim in it forever."

"I'm sure you could, Leorah. But we're going to see her. She has kept us safe since you were born. You're much more than the rest of us and one day we'll show them when we know it's safe." Juliana shook her head and hoisted her own basket against her back, eyes downcast and her mind lost to several thoughts. "But for now, only Mayara and I will know, is that clear?"

A hand waved as she nodded her head to dismiss the conversation, anything to stop talking about that old witch. Rivy was quite ignorant and cared not for matters she found no interest. But she knew her mother spoke the truth, it was pure denial that kept her from believing it. But she felt the way people looked at both of them. Outcasts, curses, a burden if they didn't possess talents that gave crops life and brought healing to their people. They were always under watch and never let out of sight except for watering the field and trips to the sea. Her people believed the sea rejuvenated them so it was tolerated as long as they continued to bring their gifts back.

It was odd the way her mother would act. Why was I able to use my gifts to water the field or heal but not to play' All I wanted to do was bask in the sea, become water itself and stay that way forever. Why would something like that be unsafe" Surely my people would understand. They encouraged me all the time to show off my talents, even brought me hunting because they said I had a sensitive nose. And it was true! Oh I could smell dinner miles away and my eyesight was better than a hawk's. The people knew this but my mother forbade me to go with them on every hunting trip. She always said it was too dangerous, but I was never scared of anyone or anything!

One time mother didn't know, but I snuck out at night because I smelt deer. We hadn't had deer in forever and I had such a big craving that I couldn't resist. I was only eight years old and I found the dear all by myself, even hunted it down. My mother made me burn it when she found me that night. She said the village people would suspect something of me because I never used any weapons to hunt. She said power was intoxicating to them and I presented it too much. Of course I listened to my mother, the look in her eyes was enough. But I always wondered, why' I have to admit that seeing the witch cleared some of my questions but never once did they tell me anything about my father. That topic was always ignored and I've heard rumors of my mother's disappearance but then suddenly she was back and everything was okay. Nothing more than that.

There was never anything more than that until we went to see Mayara. Each time was always the same. "Be careful, mind your manners, and do not show more than what they've already seen." But this time it was different. This time it was a warning mixed with a threat and it would be the beginning to our steady downfall.