Private Tales The eve of starry lights

[Hath Charosh]

"Life," he said plainly. "The savanna is dry, almost no trees. Pale scrubs
in all direction. Then the rains come and it is verdent green as far as the eye can see," Hath said. He loved to explore and travel but always knew that he would have to see the savanna again one day.

"I'll take the dry earth and yellow grass over everything being covered in damned white though." Hath wasn't truly complaining, not with the fire so close.

 

[Mabess]

The children soon began to enact various feats as the warlord sent soldiers to chase them down. 'Stormcaller' prevailed in all the assaults, no matter how hopeless they were, though some fights seemed to go on for longer than the script dictated.
Nobody could really notice the difference.

»Oh, I can imagine how beautiful it would look when all sprouts green, the springs here are very much the same phenomenon as life takes over the landscape once more.«

 

[Hath Charosh]

He wondered if there could be a change quite as rapid as the shift of seasons on the savanna. The snow was certainly able to change the landscape in just one day, but that wasn't quite the same.

"Do your warriors shoot from the saddle?" he asked as he watched the stormcallers fighting off each wave of attackers. It was starting to seem as if the tribes of the savanna were in the minority in not keeping any mounts.

 

[Mabess]

On the open field stage, the children soon wrapped up the story, the land was wide and too many were the people.
The tribe was thus split among stormcaller's sons, their names still cresting the tribes today.

»In war not, the gait of the dog and cat is not smooth enough to pose threat, however, we have and use lancers.«

»Suppise it is time to retire,« Mabess murmured. »Tomorrow you have skating lessions,« she jested last as a reminder for his indecent snap from before.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath thought this was certainly a good way to organise the children into doing something as a group. Within his tribe they normally followed their elders and if left alone becane unruly. Nothing a few cuffed ears wouldn't sort if there was serious business to get on with.

"I will see you in the morning then," he said. The nod of his head was deferential enough for the clan's leader. So much of their communication was in physical gestures.

---

A lot was happening on the ice. There were some moving quite gracefully across it. Others - and Hath suspected he would be joining them shortly - were cautiously shuffling across the ice. Some seemed to be on their arsed more than their feet.

Dropping to his haunced he tapped the surface with a glove hand. It was rock solid. He had no doubt it would take its weight. It was also going to hurt plenty when he fell on it.

 

[Mabess]

Teenage orcs were rowdy individuals for sure, and they were specifically instructed to rouse Hath in the morning and get him down to the lake. He was also handed bone skates which would be tied to the soles.

Today sure seemed better than other days, with the sun undisturbed by even a single cloud. the ice too was too perfect for the occasion, it was hard and thick, overall smooth and slightly covered in a thin layer of snow.


Many were already around the lakes, but not the entire tribe of course, some others preffered to indulge themselves in other activities. Most of the parents were already thinking of the names they'll give their children later in the day.
But for everyone else?

Arda, Mabess' daughter and eldest child was already racing across the frozen lake with some other more skilled orcs, away from the clumsy dispaly of novices.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath placed one foot very tentatively on the ice. The skate clacked as it touched the smooth surface. Trying to lean a little weight on that foot made him realise just how little friction there was and he picked the foot up quickly.

Most on the ice looked to be enjoying themselves. Hath wasn't sure why. Some of them managed to build up quite a lot of speed.

An orc couldn't live day by day worrying about what could go wrong. Travelling across the savanna alone he had learned to be cautious, but compared to lions, trolls and human raiding parties the chance of bumping his knees and elbows was a small risk.

Keeping his balance low he managed, with a little flailing of arms, to get onto the ice. He skipped very slowly for the length of a stride and came to a stop.

"Now what?" he muttered under his breath.

 

[Mabess]

Like wind, Arda would be racing among the others of her skill level, perhaps it might have been a bit amusing to see such a species, that is blemished by brutish stereotypes to move this quickly and precisely.

On another end some teenagers, all rowdy boys were skating around with stripped tricks in their hands, sliding some object between among each other, it was a general mess to watch, but they appeared to have fun even though occasionally they all piled onto each other.

»Need help?« Suddenly spoke out Ubabe as she slid from behind Hath's back, but her entry onto the moderately large lake was far more skilled, despite showing rust from months of yearly neglect.





------

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Yes," he said bluntly. Even turning his head to respond nearly took his balance away. What he was failing to grasp was that staying still was more difficult than being in motion. There was a problem with reaching that discovery.

"How do you get moving?" he asked. The others seemed to be changing feet and pushing themselves off but when he tried his feet just started going in different directions.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe shook her head and placed her palm on her chin. »Just try keep on your feet for now.« She then offered to take his hands and drag him as she slid backwards.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath replied with a slow nod and offered his hands. He remained slightly concerned that the first tug was going to send him to the ice.

However, she pushed off and he was moving across the ice. To his surprise it seemed easier to keep upright. Hath tried to watch her feet carefully whilst also keeping his balance. He still couldn't figure out how they were building up speed.

 

[Mabess]

Her feet were making swaying motions, making her glide across the ice.

As Ubabe picked up very moderate speed...actually in fact very slow speed, but it never really felt that way to novices, she let go of Hath and slid sideways and watched him deal with the sudden lack of support.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath dealt with it in much the same manner as he would a strong wind whilst trying to shoot. He lowered his weight and leaned forwards to place his centre of mass over the balls of his feet.

Cruising in a straight line was surprisingly easy. However, a group of young ones decided to stop to talk almost directly ahead of them. With no notion on how to stop or even steer Hath did the only thing he could think to do: drop onto his backside and skid to a halt. The ice was particularly cold

 

[Mabess]

»Very well then.«

»It's a start,« spoke out Ubabe as she slid past him, stracking her ear.
She offered him her hands, taking on an oddly balanced pose as she'd lift him up, mostly to get him back up and sliding again.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Once more it seemed that watching someone maneuver and stop wasn't enough to work out how to do it himself.

Failure was a part of life. To be an orc was to walk into the fight knowing that death was ahead. Death was a part of life too.

Falling repeatedly onto his ass on frozen ice was now, apparently, part of his.

"How do you stop?" he asked. Hath didn't make eye contact. He was watching his feet and trying to stay upright.

 

[Mabess]

»How will you learn to stop if you don't know how to move?« Pondered Ubabe at Hath. Though the she-orc would regardless demonstrate how to move and stop, mostly relating to how the legs moved and how they were angled.

 

[Hath Charosh]

The logic was flawless. There was no point complaining about the process. As learning experiences went it was quite a painless one by their standards.

Turning his left foot out he gave a gentle push. For once his feet didn't go their seperate ways. Hath didn't attempt any more changes in direction, he managed to keep his balance, slow to a stop and remain upright.

He was more pleased with that than he probably should have been.

 

[Mabess]

»That's it, geed, keep going,« spoke the stormcaller huntress complimented slightly. »As easy as walking.« She then commented, though she probably should have mentioned that once you get off the ice you sometimes feel as uneasy as when you got first on the ice. But how little does thta matter when it feels natural to you, sometimes such little details just get lost one most.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath wasn't certain this was as easy as walking, not at all. He couldn't even remember the state before walking. The young ones started before they were six months old, grabbing at tree stumps and older orcs to pull themselves up.

He doubted any babes looked at the ice and threw themselves onto it.

It was deeply unsettling when he lost his balance and his feet flailed at the ice, failing to find purchase. Yet he remained upright, finally turning to give his advisor a nod. He promptly fell on his backside again.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe let out a brief chuckle before offering him her hand again to hoist him up. »Hey, everyone starts somewhere, it's not that difficult« she reassured before sliding further away, with some others sliding past and between the two before leaving to other parts of the ice. The faster ones that raced were too quick to properly observe and their movements too odd to help a novice. How odd it must've been to see a big burly orc slide across at such speeds...
Yet the slower ones, even if some tried fancy tricks like pirouettes and other stunts, the basic sliding movement was the same.

 

[Hath Charosh]

"Not that difficult..." he muttered quietly to himself. Keeping to the edges where everyone moved at a slower pace he started to get some control over his momentum and direction.

Most orcs had a good grasp of the things orcs did. With the exception of the magic of the shamans, Hath didn't expect to have children make him look foolish at anything. Yet out here in the mountains what formed that collective experience passed down through the generations was different. Scabhair had probably already written a great deal about it.

Watching a child skid past him with a flourish only made him more determined, but even with orcish stamina his legs started to ache from it.

"Better?" he asked her, having built up to a speed he now felt comfortable with.

 

[Mabess]

Ubabe observed him and nodded her head. »Better, much better, and can you stop now too?« The she-orc then demonstrated by stopping herself.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath grimaced as he pointed his toes inwards. He was unsteady and needed his arms held out wide but he came to a stop.

"There," he declared. Hath was starting to see why this was enjoyable. Wasn't often you could move so freely. They didn't even have much in the way of hills in the savanna. It felt a bit like floating.

 

[Mabess]

»Yeah-yeah! Good good, up for a race then?« Ubabe slid a bit further away, though it would not be a race akin to the speediest sliders out here, at least yet, more a test of getting used to more.
But perhaps some other games would come to taste once ice felt as solid as ground.

 

[Hath Charosh]

An orc couldn't turn down a straight challenge like that, even if the chance of victory was slim to nonexistent.

More than a few of his scars came from scraps with other orcs because of a minor disagreement or just so that they could test skill with sword and axe.

"Where to?" he asked. His only reservation was that he might skid and take a few children down with him. Back in his tribe children learned early to get out of the way of adults sparring, racing or hunting.