04-08-2012, 03:12 PM
Hover the Cherokee words for translations.
736
There was a moment of pure terror when she realised that someone was actually making his way towards her. The closer he came the more her body language changed from merely uncomfortable to fearful, her ears pressing close to her skull and tail keeping close to her thigh. The woman began to shake, so gently that it would be hardly noticeable, her breathing shook with her body, and her eyes dashed back and forth seeking an escape from this kindly male. While she did recognise the attempt to be friendly she was still too new, too unsure of herself, too battered by her life to take well to his olive branch.
So when Ulilohi's request for a dance from the fire tenders, the only one being her of course the woman moved away from him quickly, relief evident only for a second before she realised she would now have to show off what meager talents she did posses in respect to the dances. She had never performed with a lit staff before and there had been no one to watch over her and she attempted to learn. Her hands shook worse than ever as she stopped herself before the larger female, she bowed her head respectfully, speaking quietly some of the only AniWayan she knew,
[html]"A-ya galv'ladi, Anasgayv"[/html] She hurried into the Town Hall to retried her staff and the special oils she would need. Preparing the staff quickly and efficiently for herself. Her heart hammered against her chest the whole while, she was certain she was going to make a fool of herself. Finally she was ready to begin and she bowed to the Great Fire, asking it in Aniwayan if she could borrow some of its fire to fuel this dance and give it grace and beauty. She passed the edges of her staff through the red and orange flames and the fire quickly took hold of the oils, burning brightly, the heat washed over her, warm and comforting.
She faced the small crowd of people and swallowed her fear, blotting them all out, they did not matter now, only the dance and the fire were important and the knowledge that she must get it right to honor the spirit of the Great fire and the founding families who's embers had provided the fuel. The dance she was going to perform was one of the more simpler ones, focusing more on slow fluid movements than nimble deft tricks of the hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them back up.
She began.
There were things she could not forget, she was an outsider to this culture, she was unskilled and imperfect, lacking the specific training needed for such an honorable position. But she gave the dance everything she had, poured her whole soul, as broken and fractured as it was into the movements. and suddenly it was as though it was not herself controlling her movements, her limbs move of their own accord following the ritualistic motions to almost perfection, that did not mean she made no mistakes for she did but they were minor and easily recoverable from, at no point did she drop her staff or burn herself, somehow sure of the dance, her hands did not waver or shake but held strong, graceful in a body so used to clumsiness and failure.
Every twist and turn came to her with barely a struggle, the flowing positions and sense of peace that filled her allowed her to ignore her fright and nervousness and focus completely upon the dance. If she had music then the dance would have appeared even better but she was content with the level to which she performed. Her only wish was that maybe Matteo was hiding somewhere in the crowd and could see her like this, so free and alive.
It was several long minutes before she was finished holding a new sense of closeness with the fire and with AniWaya as a whole. The dance ended on a final twirl of her staff, the flames leaving a trail in the air, a tail that followed. She turned again to Uliohi and bowed a second time to their leader, the dance in an honor of her ascension maybe, and also a thank you from herself for allowing her to stay here where she was safe and had a reason to continue living.
736
There was a moment of pure terror when she realised that someone was actually making his way towards her. The closer he came the more her body language changed from merely uncomfortable to fearful, her ears pressing close to her skull and tail keeping close to her thigh. The woman began to shake, so gently that it would be hardly noticeable, her breathing shook with her body, and her eyes dashed back and forth seeking an escape from this kindly male. While she did recognise the attempt to be friendly she was still too new, too unsure of herself, too battered by her life to take well to his olive branch.
So when Ulilohi's request for a dance from the fire tenders, the only one being her of course the woman moved away from him quickly, relief evident only for a second before she realised she would now have to show off what meager talents she did posses in respect to the dances. She had never performed with a lit staff before and there had been no one to watch over her and she attempted to learn. Her hands shook worse than ever as she stopped herself before the larger female, she bowed her head respectfully, speaking quietly some of the only AniWayan she knew,
[html]"A-ya galv'ladi, Anasgayv"[/html] She hurried into the Town Hall to retried her staff and the special oils she would need. Preparing the staff quickly and efficiently for herself. Her heart hammered against her chest the whole while, she was certain she was going to make a fool of herself. Finally she was ready to begin and she bowed to the Great Fire, asking it in Aniwayan if she could borrow some of its fire to fuel this dance and give it grace and beauty. She passed the edges of her staff through the red and orange flames and the fire quickly took hold of the oils, burning brightly, the heat washed over her, warm and comforting.
She faced the small crowd of people and swallowed her fear, blotting them all out, they did not matter now, only the dance and the fire were important and the knowledge that she must get it right to honor the spirit of the Great fire and the founding families who's embers had provided the fuel. The dance she was going to perform was one of the more simpler ones, focusing more on slow fluid movements than nimble deft tricks of the hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them back up.
She began.
There were things she could not forget, she was an outsider to this culture, she was unskilled and imperfect, lacking the specific training needed for such an honorable position. But she gave the dance everything she had, poured her whole soul, as broken and fractured as it was into the movements. and suddenly it was as though it was not herself controlling her movements, her limbs move of their own accord following the ritualistic motions to almost perfection, that did not mean she made no mistakes for she did but they were minor and easily recoverable from, at no point did she drop her staff or burn herself, somehow sure of the dance, her hands did not waver or shake but held strong, graceful in a body so used to clumsiness and failure.
Every twist and turn came to her with barely a struggle, the flowing positions and sense of peace that filled her allowed her to ignore her fright and nervousness and focus completely upon the dance. If she had music then the dance would have appeared even better but she was content with the level to which she performed. Her only wish was that maybe Matteo was hiding somewhere in the crowd and could see her like this, so free and alive.
It was several long minutes before she was finished holding a new sense of closeness with the fire and with AniWaya as a whole. The dance ended on a final twirl of her staff, the flames leaving a trail in the air, a tail that followed. She turned again to Uliohi and bowed a second time to their leader, the dance in an honor of her ascension maybe, and also a thank you from herself for allowing her to stay here where she was safe and had a reason to continue living.