Sacha

Richard leaned back in their booth, enjoying the feeling of warm food in his stomach after a long day of traveling. It was relaxing, and he enjoyed Juanita's company. As they drifted through the air, heading for their final destination, he couldn't help but be happy. He was looking forward to some sleep when they arrived.

He glanced up past Juanita and something caught his gaze. There was a girl, sitting alone at a table, a small plate of fruit in front of her. She was dressed in a brown outfit, clearly very cheap and one she had worn many times from the light fraying he could see. She had a satchel on the floor, clearly her only piece of luggage.

None of that was what caught his gaze, though. It was her hair. She had short hair, cut close in a manner that struck Richard as athletic, but with enough on top to allow her to hide her eyes from the world. She was, in fact, hiding her eyes, but it did little to distract people from her.

Her hair was a dark green.

"Juanita," Richard got his companion's attention and motioned for her to turn around.

To the Atzlantian's credit, she immediately noticed whom he meant.

"Oh my," she whispered, "She's one of the Gronadire, a native tribe from Southern Columbia. They are all born with green or black hair and multiple pupils in their eyes."

"More than that," Richard replied, having noticed something that troubled him, "Look at her hands."

Juanita glanced down along the girl's arms and spotted it immediately, especially as the ship began to drift downward to compensate for the aerland's drift. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the table, gripping it so hard she was genuinely concerned the wood would splinter. Her knuckles were white, and her body was tense. She was terrified.

"Poor dear," she whispered, "All alone and so afraid."

"Should we..." Richard wasn't sure how to continue; he'd never been good in these situations.

Juanita turned her gaze upon him, her eyes casting off shock and disappointment. She abruptly stood and walked over to the girl's table. After making quick introductions, she invited the girl to sit with them. When she protested, Juanita simply picked her plate and satchel up in one hand and grasped the girl's hand in the other. She pulled the timid girl along towards their table and Richard, feeling the need to display good manners before both this girl and Juanita, stood and straightened his tie.

"May I introduce Richard Aberdeen of House Aberdeen, a Knightson," Juanita introduced.

"Good morning, mam," Richard greeted with a smile.

"...Sacha."

The girl held her eyes down, avoiding his gaze as best she could.

"Sasha?" Richard asked.

"Sa Cha," the girl enunciated.

"Sacha," Richard confirmed, "Won't you please join us?"

"I shouldn't, it's-"

"Oh nonsense, you're clearly travelling alone for your first airship ride and could use the company. Richard, sit down so Sacha can sit away from the window."

Juanita was clearly used to getting her way, and had no qualms taking charge. Richard quickly heeded her instructions, sitting down and scooting up to give Sacha some room. For a moment, it seemed like she would bolt from their table but, instead, she gently sat down next to Richard, making sure to leave a good amount of space between her and him.

"So Sacha," Richard began, struggling for a topic, "What brings you to Womyn Weep this morning?"

"Womyn Weep?" Sacha asked, raising her face slightly to look at him, "You mean the Sisters?"

"Pardon?" Richard asked, confused.

Sacha dipped her head further down before answering, "Teclasites of the Black Hills call this the Three Sisters. They only cry when it rains."

"That is a bit better," Richard conceded with a soft smile.

"I think so as well," Sacha agreed before saying, "I am here for school."

"School? Summerton Hall?" Sacha nodded, eliciting a pleased smile from Juanita, "Well, that is fantastic! Richard and I are freshmen at Summerton."

For the first time, Sacha looked all the way up. Neither Richard nor Juanita could stop themselves from staring. She was remarkably pale with a heart-shaped face and a tiny nose, features that were dwarfed by the artwork on her face. On each side of her lower lip, there were fangs tattooed underneath the lower lips. The out fangs were shorter than the inner two, but all four were done with jet black ink. She had large, jade eyes and the iris held three distinctive black holes which seemed to form a triangle around her pupil. 

All this was mesmerizing, giving the young woman a very beast-like appearance that clashed with her outwardly conservative behavior.

Richard felt himself lost in her gaze.

"You're going to Summerton as well," Sacha stated, bringing Richard out of his trance.

Embarrassed, the young man stuttered, "Y-yes, we both are."

Juanita smirked to herself, amused by Richard's lack of social graces. It was obvious the man spent little time around women, or at least women like herself and Sacha.

The girl in question smiled shyly at that, "I am glad to know this. My family could only afford one ticket to Crowson's Forge, so I was alone the past two days. I hadn't met anyone else going to Summerton."

"It's a very prestigious school," Richard said, a hint of pride in his voice, "Father told me only 75 studnets were admitted this year."

"75?" Sacha seemed surprised by this face, but not so much as Juanita who couldn't help but let a soft 'Merde' slip from her lips.

She blushed for a moment underneath Richard's smirk, as Sacha didn't seem to think anything of it, before recovering, "We should all be proud to have been accepted, then."

"Quite," Richard agreed.

"My pachem and machem were excited for me," Sacha agreed.

"As well they should be!" Juanita praised, earning an embarrassed look from the tribal girl, "I think you may be the first member of any of the tribes to attend Summerton Hall!"

"I believe so," Sacha whispered.

"Oh, will you please tell us about yourself!" Juanita pressed excitedly, "I've never met a tribal before, let alone a Gronadire!"

"Grown-ah-deer," Sacha pronounced it for them.

"I apologize, I've only ever read the word."

"It's all right," Sacha whispered, "What would you like to know?"

"How about some of your history?" Richard inquired.

"I am the 42nd in my family line," she spoke, a hint of pride in her voice, "My ancestor, Ganui, watched your Columbus cross the Black Hills. My father is named after him,Ganuite."

"That's incredible," Juanita remarked.

"How about the aerlands?" Richard asked, his curiosity ablaze, "You must have stories about them."

Sacha shrugged, "They are here. What more could we know?"

"I mean about their creation," Richard explained, "I read the Cheko tribe from Jane's Isles believe the sky is really an ocean and the aerlands are the shells of turtles floating along the waves."

"That's beautiful," Sacha remarked, "We once believed the sky mountains were the domain of the gods. One day, many centuries ago, Gran Chanq was hunting. She stopped in the middle of a field; she'd heard a scream, but could not see the one who screamed. She heard it growing louder, so she whispered a prayer to the gods and went into a battle stance, preparing to face the unknown. 

"This is what saved her life. Moments later, a man fell to the ground, body broken as though he had fallen from a great height. Had she not moved, she would surely have been killed. Seeing no hill or cliff for him to dive from, she looked up and found herself beneath Annui."

At their confused looks, she sighed, "You call it 'Teardrop.' She reasoned he must have fallen from the sky mountain. She wondered how this could be, as only gods lived in the sky. And this man could not be a god. Gods do not die. So those sky mountains, she realized, were home to men."

"Remarkable," Juanita nodded.

Richard sat in silent agreement. There was an inescapable sense of logic in the reasoning behind the story, enough for him to conclude the Gronadire to be logical, even analytical in their thoughts. The legend came from a woman, so they were enlightened enough to take her at her word or smart enough to accept the evidence before them. Couple in Sacha's presence at a university and Richard concluded the Gronadire to be one of the more progressive, civilized tribes.

"Do the Gronadire have a legend about how the aerlands were settled?" he asked.

"Two," Sacha admitted, "One is of Sonora Skye, a great warrior. One day, he saw something flying in the sky. A large lizard."

"Lizard?" Juanita gaped.

"A winged lizard," Sacha confirmed, "It swooped down on him, and the two fought for seven days and nights. Finally, after such a long battle, Sonora Skye mounted the beast. He rode it to Tzatuin, what you call Mooneye, and tamed many other beasts, bringing only his chosen few to create the first Skye people."

"I'd never heard of flying lizards before," Juanita noted.

"There are old Corynthian legends about wyverns," Richard explained, "Winged beasts that knights once rode. They say the skeleton of one is locked in the Tower of Victory, supposedly once ridden by Sir Galahad."

"There are many stories like that," Sacha agreed, "Crowson's Forge was crafted by men who worshiped ravens."

"Ravens?" Richard asked.

"An old word, the ones we call crows," Juanita explained.

"They say giant ravens used to roam the Black Hills," Sacha said, "Crowson's Forge was built as a tribute to them, in the hopes that they would swoop down and deliver them to the sky mountains."

"Is that what your other legend is like?" Richard asked.

"The other is not exactly a legend," Sacha explained, "It's more of a...a theory."

Juanita and Richard exchanged curious looks.

"What makes it a theory?" Juanita inquired.

Sacha shrugged, "It's the best word for it."

"Alright so let's hear it," Juanita smiled, encouraging her to continue.

"Man came from Earth. Sky mountains are of Earth. Myn lived on sky mountains. So myn were born on the sky mountains."

Reviews

[richieb]

This is a very creative chapter Jesse, the descriptive background of your characters and their history is very well written. The dialogue is natural and flows easily with well placed descriptions of the people talking. It has to be enjoyable creating your own species of people. Your writing as always is polished and leads the reader to want to continue to read and learn more. Richie B.

[Jesse W.]

I consider this world as very closely related to ours, hence why sometimes you'll see certain names or references that seem familiar. I have a geography in my head about it, and if I ever legit publish it, I'll have a map created. Sacha is a great character, in my mind, and her people are closely related to the Native Americans of our world. I like to think this world is just Earth if things were a little more fantastic than they are right now.