Traveling Leathers

Please. I know that you're tired, okay, but you can't give up, the Pants will give you a miracle, you have to believe.

The Pants have already worked their magic on me. They brought me to you.



There is never any predicting what the topics will be when you approach the fires. I managed only to catch the tail end of pink ribbons. There will come day when my curiosity becomes my downfall but I am still fearless enough to ask what Ina was talking about. She and Cana began to explain that when one fails to pay attention to what is happening around them, they may wake covered in pink ribbons and paint. Sort of the trimming around the outside that keeps everything focused to the inside. It wasn't the rite of passage I had thought in the beginning and in a way it is. It's an inside joke shared among friends. I have to hand it to Saresh, he sounded convincing when he said he was not afraid.

It was my first time to actually meet the singer, Ina. There was something different about her and instantly I liked her. Maybe it is the quiet roar I hear in her, a symphony of sounds all whispered acapella. I've not heard her songs but I've heard speak of them, speak of the beauty of them, the heart and life which she gives them. When she spoke of a song for our clan, it touched me and at the same time ignited a burning inside. I wanted to hear, I wanted to add her to those I wanted to know.

There was another woman who joined us as well, the other apprentice that I'd met so briefly before, Akasha. She and I both sat listening as the others told the story of the warrior that was turned into a lizard. I think there was a mutual feeling that we wanted such tales as our own but being so new, we only had those from far away, from the past .. we only had the tales of our beginnings. A blank canvas with small dabbles of paint that had yet to have any shape or form.

It is usually late when I leave the pens and make my weary way to the first wagons, looking for someone to talk to, people to surround myself in so that I do not feel so alone. Even when my eyes are so heavy they can barely remain open, I am there soaking in the warmth, the stories, the hospitality. The night gave way to leaving just Cana, Akasha and I to the embers of the fires, well Saresh too but we didn't hear much from him. I thought of tying him in pink ribbons but there is that old saying about don't start nothing you aren't ready to back up. Among us women however the topic of the kaiila can burn away ahns and Akasha and I were hanging on every word of wisdom Cana could provide. Not just about the beasts but of living as well. She told us to carry an extra set of leathers to the pens with us so we didn't have to go streaking through the wagon. Leave it to the warrior to pipe up and add his disappointment.

But back to the extra clothing ... this did leave me at a bit of a disadvantage. I had two dresses at the moment. One that was too nice to wear while working and the other Fonce had given me. I finally managed to take it in so it no longer swallowed me whole but it had been by firelight and in a hurry hurried. I liked the feel of the hem as it tapped against my shin and knees but if something happened to it I would be a cooked vulo. That was when Akasha offered to send a few things over. It was such a generous gift. Cana said she would send kasra to help make them fit. Seems none of us are very good at seams.

Of all the hazards you prepare for with the kaiila, there is always one that you least expect. One of the creatures made a snack out of her hair. A woman's hair is her glory, the good reverend used to say, and here among the plains, it is the glory for all. While Akasha and I talked, I smoothed her braid tighter and laced the tether down in long criss crosses so that the frayed ends could have chance to grow out with the rest. Of all the things that the edge of my little blade would come to know over time, its first use would be to help return the glory her hair.

I was learning how clans stick together, take care of their own. But the bond that had begun to form that night between the three of us went further than the work we do with our hands, it was forming of something deeper than just clan.