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? RP a normal day from before it became a spirit.
It was early, just before dawn, and the sun was just rising over the forest floor. Ekun stretched his arms up into the air until his shoulder muscles cracked away from his stiffened joints. Ekundayo flashed a pleased smile before jumping from his bed er? nest. He yawned and stretched again as soon as his feet were firm on the ground, and slowly he found his way down the steps of the tree. By the time he got down to the hut at the bottom, where all the others were already eating and preparing for the day, his brow was knit together in thought. His friends raised their eyebrows in laughter, their good friend thought way too much for a hunter. Ekun snapped from his wandering mind at the rolls of laughter pouring off his friends and waved, before making his way over at a strong trot.
?So?yeah?? He could never really understand his buddies? amusement with his thinking, but he intended to get it settled before they had to focus on other things, like pummeling a creature into the ground.
Tai, his right hand man, chuckled and slapped him on the back, ?You?re funny man, you?re always thinking like a damn scholar! Look at you!? He imitated his ?thinking? face before finishing his sentence; ?You?re not a elite, clean, preaching-machine, anymore. You should relax man.? He pushed Ekun?s shoulder playfully, and returned to eating breakfast.
Ekun smiled meagerly and went in search of his own nutriment. It was a large hall, but the food was always served in the same place, the small corner near the window, where Naita worked and distributed the goods.
Ekundayo had a major crush on Naita but whenever he was around her, he always made the biggest fool out of himself. Sometimes he wished she didn?t work there day after day so he could get through a morning without tripping or knocking something over. He breathed into his chest for encouragement before pressing over.
?Hey Naita.? He smiled at her suavely, ?What is today?s meal?? He flashed another smiled and leaned on the serving table.
Naita blushed a bit and laughed at his smile, ?It?s the same as everyday, Ekun, so just eat it already.?
Ekundayo raised an eyebrow, ?Hmmm?so it is. Alright then.? He smiled cockily again and picked up a wood dish containing the food of the millennium since ?day? didn?t seem appropriate for the same thing they had everyday. He calmly made it back to the table where his friends watched with surprised expressions. Ekun swore Tai?s jaw was dropped so low it was scraping the wood table.
?Wow? you didn?t kill yourself.? Tai mouthed slowly.
Ekun chuckled, ?What makes you think I?d do that?!?
The morning meal ended smoothly and the Ieldi hunters slowly filtered out to the meeting place outside. It was a bright and shining day, with the sun blazing like a firecracker in the sky. The perfect day for hunting too, since the wind blew the animals scent towards them and not the other way around. Ekun brought his trusty hooked spear and stood among his comrades as the troop awaited instructions. The head hunter stepped forward, ?We are hunting squirrels today, my birds of prey, so the ground will not play an issue.? Ekun rolled his eyes at the mention of the Earth and the reference of the beast, what hogwash. ?So there is no hunting parties today, make with what you can and no fooling around.? The hunter glanced dangerously at Ekun, who frowned. Before the troop moved out the hunter came over, ?I want no dive-bombs towards the ground today from any one of you. I don?t need to world to end by some low life troublemakers.? He glared at them before packing up his own weapons and moving out.
Soon the group was in the air on their graceful wings, soaring in different directions. Ekun had already spotted his first target, a fat squirrel gnawing on a trapped nut. Ekun stalked quietly over and he began to pounce when, a spear came soaring in-between his target and himself. He watched in disbelief as the squirrel squealed with fright and disappeared into a tight crevice in the solid trunk of the tree. Temper flaring Ekun shot a glance at where the spear had came from. It was Juso, his worst nemesis.
He swooped over and grabbed him by the shirt collar, ?For Christ sake! WHY did you just ******** do that!??
Juso smirked, ?Why would anyone want to eat the food
you catch!? And he broke Ekun?s hold on his shirt and darted away in search of another victim.
Ekun scowled, eyes clamped shut in annoyance. He would strangle the jerk if he came around dinner tonight.
The hunt ended at the setting of the sun, and Ekun had caught, as usual, a huge amount of game, but he was still sour about the one that got away. He set off for a bath at the spring, and his friends departed for their own nighttime ?endeavors.? Ekun shook his head, they most likely were going to find some kind of alcoholic beverage and flirt with some girls. Sometimes even his own friends annoyed him with their immature adventures. He found his way to the baths, and was relived to find no one there; even he deserved some quiet time. He brushed back his hair with both hands and jumped into the spring. He messed around a bit by splashing or diving before settling down in the rocky seat that jetted out into the water. He leaned his head back and let all the thoughts pour into his head that he had been saving from the day. He probably spent a good hour there, and by the time he snapped back to reality he was all prunny and his feathers were soaked. He dried off quickly with a sheet and made his way to the dinning hall for dinner.
Nothing really happened at dinner, except for a few seconds of flirting with his lovely Naita and pummeling the snot out of Juso. He mostly chatted with Tai and the others. He even shared his daily flirting with death tale about how he nearly touched the ground. Some seemed shocked and some seemed disbelieving, but Ekun knew that even he stayed a good couple of yards above it. He didn?t need his idea to be proven wrong by destroying the world. He also told the hilarious story about the naked mole rat and the Ieldi tribe that wouldn?t stop talking. He got many laughs from that piece of work and even he chuckled every once in awhile. The day had been a good one and he returned to his nest full and happy. Perhaps tomorrow would hold just as many surprises, but he?d have to get there first. With that on his mind he drifted off to sleep.
Journal Entry with Spirit
July 25th, 2004
Today was AMAZING and little strange! I learned soooo much. I finally moved all my stuff to the shelf now, I want to watch the spirit all I can when it shows up. This is only temporary since the shelf, as I realized from my first night up here, is very uncomfortable for someone my size and state of mind. This state of mind I?m talking about is that I am scared to death of heights, which I should?ve realized earlier, like when all the other times I visited the shelf. So this will be temporary just to save my sanity. Anyway, I?m getting off topic. The morning began when I rolled myself awake and practically fell off the shelf. I was about to scream bloody murder when my spirit appeared again and I clamped my small bony hands over my big wide trap.
It floated in from nowhere and began poking around the objects I set out. It seemed to be very interested in the yellow and orange origami swans I hung like a canopy over the shelf. I found it rather odd because the spirits own color was really pale. I have taken note that it is very curious, since it gazes about each item with great interest. I was watching so intently I failed to notice my ever-growing hunger. Suddenly with a rather loud grumble I realized that I hadn?t had any breakfast since I had woken up. My tummy grumble wasn?t just heard by me however; the spirit seemed to have disappeared. I?m guessing it wasn?t to familiar with bodily functions like growling hungry stomachs. I decided to take the spirit?s minor absence as the perfect time to get a muffin and some more objects for the shelf.
But when I came back with a full stomach and stack of reading material it had already returned. It seemed to be a slight tint of scarlet. It was inspecting a small bottle now and was quivering slightly. ?Are you ok?? I whispered as I took a small step forward. The spirit wiped around, after looking it over quickly, I realized that it appeared very aggravated. It stared at me with slightly narrowed blank white eyes. I was so surprised, I had no idea spirits had such spunk, I mean it didn?t even have a body yet and it was glaring at something that was a lot bigger then it was. I shifted my weight, a bit perturbed by the whole situation, ?I guess not.? The spirit slowly returned to its cool glassy color and I settled into the little bed I made, with several pillows and a large blanket, for some quiet reading. I peaked over the pillows and investigated the spirits movements one last time before I brought out the reading material I brought up. The book I chose was one of my favorites, a large collection of Native American Tales. I opened it and began reading to myself.
It was strange but whenever I brought my eyes off the page, the small dull spirit drew closer to me. I raised an eyebrow from over the edge of the page and the spirit dissolved into the air again. I frowned heavily, and snuggled into my cluster of pillows and blankets for more warmth as the sun began to sink into the forest. When I tilted my eyes back to the book, the small spirit had already reappeared, but it was in my lap. It looked up at me with its curious white circles; the spark of rage and the red tint was completely gone. With a small sigh of relief, I smiled. ?Would you like me to read to you, little one?? I asked quietly. It?s translucent body shivered slightly and I took that as a sign for ?yes.? So I straightened my posture and fingered through the pages to my favorite story; ?The White Buffalo Woman.? The spirits small eyes widened slightly and it turned its attention to the pages. I started in and the more I read the more interested the spirit became in the story. It seemed almost transfixed, but when I tried to turn the page, I startled the tiny spirit floating above my lap. It dissipated into the air quickly. I think I scared the fellow, so after rethinking my strategy for reading to my spirit, I put the book down on the shelf and left the page open, just in case the spirit would want to read the rest.
I think I?m really bonding with this cute, little, jello spirit n_n. It seemed to be more comfortable around me, despite that strange outburst upon returning to the shelf. I mean it still did venture into my lap for a story, right? I really hope it?s happy. I think I?ll ask some of the other owners about how their spirit charming is coming along. Maybe we can swap what works and what doesn?t. Yeah? maybe sometime tonight, since the night is still young.
Signing off more content then ever,
~Zydeco
Ekundayo stood on the ground, a hose in one hand and a sponge in the other. He stared with disbelief at Zydeco?s ancient Jeep. Every bit of the usual white and rusty car was covered with a thick coat of caked on mud. He turned to Zydeco with his eyebrows shoved together in annoyance.
?ZYDECO! This isn?t worth a dollar of work!?
Zydeco looked up from her book as she sat on the steps of the tree. ?Sure it is, once the mud is off it?ll be smooth sailing, besides I could
not pay you to do it.? She smirked knowing she got Ekun there.
Ekun scowled, ?fine.? And he began to hose the dirty, old artifact down.
It took a good ten minutes just to scrub the mud off the tires, let alone the rest, which took an added chunk of time, but once the mud was removed there was no paint to really polish, so the job was complete. Ekun looked himself over, he was soaked to the bone and his feathers were full of soapsuds and dripping with foam. He stared dangerously up at the idle Zydeco, who was just now making her way down to inspect the job. With a swift run down of the vehicle she nodded and removed the prized, a crisp one dollar bill. Ekundayo looked at it sourly, but snatched it from her hand anyway.
?See that wasn?t so hard,? Zydeco joked but the now very tall Ekun hovered over her with a slight twitching of the eyelid.
?Sure.? He said in a deep poisonous whisper.
Zydeco frowned, but she still couldn?t ignore the small twinge of pity in her loins. She took out another dollar, ?Fine take it all!? She dropped the piece of green into Ekun?s open hand.
Ekun still wasn?t satisfied, ?You?re such a cheapskate.?
He brushed past Zydeco quickly in an attempt to leave without being hideously scolded. Now it was Zydeco?s turn to get annoyed and she raised a devilishly high eyebrow. ?Hey at least I paid you. But just to make it a bit more fun. Why don?t we make a bet??
Ekun straightened his posture to look even more intimidating and turned to face his mother, ?Shoot.?
Zydeco thought for a few seconds to find the perfect gambling stakes before answering. ?If you fly today, and I mean what?s left of the day, I?ll give you 20 dollars, but if you don?t,? She paused to look back just as intimidating, ?If you
fail. I take back my two dollars and you get to sleep in this jeep tonight.? She patted the rusted car and sported a challenging grin.
Ekun smirked, ?You are so going down!? He jabbed a slightly taloned finger at Zydeco just to look even more impressive.
?Ok here are the terms.? Spoke Zydeco with a joyous and bubbly tone, ?One, I must be around to watch, or you have some kinda proof, like a Polaroid. Two, you can?t just jump off some short little rock because that?s just not daring enough. Three, no help from others, like having someone throw you off and take a picture of you fly falling. And last, no machinery, like a giant sling shot that will send you flying for miles.?
Ekun shook hands, a slightly arrogant but also a beaten face. After the bet was made he started up the tree?s many stairs but as he reached the bridge he remembered his soaking wet wing feathers. ?DAMN!? The only way he could fly was if he was in his prim and saturated feathers were just holding his first attempt back. He groaned, that was five minutes out of his precious day
gone to just drying out. He slipped into the spring quickly so he could wash the soap from his gray feathers.
Five minutes later Ekundayo?s wings were crisp, dry and ready for flight. At least he hoped they were ready for flight. But first he needed a place to fly from. Zydeco said he couldn?t jump from anything to low, but if he didn?t succeed from jumping off something high he didn?t want to end up careening his head into some nice hard bark. He needed a place that was safe to jump from. He laid his head back onto the rock, letting his black hair sprawl out and his quiet bronze eyes met the bottom of the living quarters. He began to think heavily, if he jumped off the deck of the living quarters three times and failed each time then that?s fifteen minutes out of his day gone. But while he was thinking all this out, he failed to realize that twenty minutes were passing as he lay there and it was now two hours past twelve. If he didn?t hurry the sun would go down, and after that, he would no longer dry off in a few minutes, but a few hours. He jolted forward, ?What? Dang.? After just realizing that perhaps he should spend more time flying then thinking, he scurried up the column that held the living quarters out of the water. He reached the wood landing and pulled himself up. Zydeco was already sitting there with a cherry lollipop and a Polaroid camera.
?Here, you know for the just-in-case-if-I?m-not-around rule.? She thrust the camera into his chest and returned to dangling her feet over the deck while sucking on her lolli.
Ekundayo looked over the edge of the wooden porch; he would need to clear the edge of the rock so backing up was a must. He gave the camera back to Zy, ?Take a picture if I make it.?
He really wanted one so he could gloat about it with all his friends. After handing off the camera he backed up a few steps. With a quick sigh, he took a running sprint towards the edge. He hit it squarely and launched himself into the air. He was only aloft for a few moments, but then began to fall towards the crisp, liquid, blue water below. His eyes widened and the moment he touched the water there was a flash of the camera. He had hit it with a ?SPLASH!? and paddled his way to the surface. He gasped fresh air, before glancing at Zydeco on the deck above. She was waving a Polaroid picture in the air while it dried with a smile on the size of Alaska. To mad to even say anything Ekundayo paddled over to the rock to dry out again.
?Second Attempt!? Zydeco yelled as Ekundayo pulled himself back onto the deck a few minutes later. His hair was still wet and he stared at her with narrowed and furious eyes.
?Why did you take a picture!? I wasn?t flying!? Ekun yelled with a raspy dangerous tone. Zydeco lifted an eyebrow at Ekun before removing the picture from her pocket. The moment it passed before her blue eyes she burst out laughing.
?Because its so funny! Come look.? She waved Ekundayo over, who glanced at the picture with a bitter expression. The picture was pretty funny, but it still made him look terrible as his head was engulfed into the water with his arms and legs flailing about above the surface.
He sighed heavily in agreement; ?Just don?t show this picture to my friends, savvy?? Zydeco nodded through a smile-stifled face and shoved the picture back into her pocket.
Ekun backed up much farther this time; his heel was pressed firmly against the building. He waited a few seconds to gather awareness before kicking off the building and sprinting towards the edge. Once again he launched off the deck and flew for a few moments before plummeting into the water. He didn?t like this, twice he fell, but maybe the third time would be the charm.
After drying off he returned back to the deck, ?Third Attempt!? Zydeco announced trying to sound as professional as she could. Ekundayo shook out his wet hair and made his way back to his starting place. ?This time try flapping your wings,? Zydeco imitated by moving her arms in an up and down motion. Ekundayo rolled his eyes; it was very hard to remember such things when you were tumbling towards the ground?er water.
?Are you sure they still work Zy?? He asked, as he looked his wings over, before finding and preening a small stick from his feathers.
Zydeco nodded, ?If they worked before, they should now.?
So Ekundayo pressed his heel to the building and launched off again. As soon as he hit the edge he started flapping frantically, but no cigar. He fell head over heels into the soft cushion of water. Now this was just getting frustrating.
This continued again and again each time ending in failure, but slowly Ekun was gaining a technique. The only problem was, it was getting longer and longer to dry as the sun set. Soon it was dark and the lumina appeared, and some were becoming very interested in all the commotion on the wooden porch outside the living quarters. Ekun appeared once more as he pulled himself up.
?Eighth Attempt? Reminded Zydeco as she pulled the now finished sucker from her mouth.
?I don?t think they work Zy?? Ekun rustled his wings and turned to face the ground, feeling utterly stupid for taking up suck a gamble.
Zydeco smiled, ?Don?t give up, you got close last time.? Ekun continued to stare at the ground, pondering what he was doing wrong. Zydeco sighed and got up off the edge of the terrace.
?Come on, at least you?re hitting water from a fifteen foot drop and not hard ground from a forty foot one.? She patted him on the back trying to console him.
After a few seconds of quiet encouragement Ekundayo felt ready. He made his way back to his starting place and set up, foot against the building and fingers on the ground. He pressed off and with a slight changed of strategy: held his arms out horizontally to the ground. Upon reaching the edge he jumped off and began to flap. He stayed in the air for a good few seconds before realizing he was flying. He laughed aloud but during this happiness he forgot to flap, thus loosing his concentration. He hit the water with a belly flop.
?ou?? Zydeco watched from above and took another picture as Ekun sunk into the spring.
Ekun returned to the exterior of the water and gasped for breath. His chest and upper thighs were bright red from the hard impact. Not a moment later he was right back onto the platform, soaking wet.
Zydeco seemed a bit surprised that this time he didn?t stop to dry or rest, but made her normal announcement anyway, ?Ninth Attempt!?
Ekundayo was swarmed over with the watching lumina as they looked over his now very rosy and painful chest. He laughed as the small glowing lights tickled his numbed skin.
?Last time, this is just getting annoying.? He said between giggles.
Zydeco grinned and added that to the announcement as well, ?Ninth and Final Attempt!? Ekundayo walked proudly over to the starting line and returned to position.
?Get ready with that camera Zy.?
Zydeco obeyed and held the camera up to her coral eye, ?Ready.?
With that one word Ekun took off. His arms were held out and his feathers were spread. And with a powerful kick off the edge he soared up into the air. There was a click of the camera, but Ekun didn?t hear it. There was too much wind blowing past his face, which created a small rushing noise in his ears. With one graceful pump of his wings he soared even higher.
Ekun was smiling broadly as he turned over the Phoenix?s Nest and rose up even more. He looked down and saw Zydeco as a small little ant waving happily to her son above. Chuckling he soon found himself very tired with all this unusual stress on his body so he began coming down. Slowly he dissented from high above to the wooden deck in front of the owner?s living quarters. Being a new flier however, he touched down on the deck once before continuing off the edge and into the drink. He sputtered as the cold water clashed with the warm humid air he had already gotten so used to. There was a flash from the camera and he crawled his way back up to the porch.
When he reached the top Zydeco stood there with a twenty-dollar bill in hand.
?I believe this is yours.? She offered it to Ekun calmly.
Ekundayo looked at it with deep pride before seizing it up, ?And you thought I?d be spending tonight in the Jeep.? With a flashing smile he trotted up to the shelf for some sleep.
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