05-14-2015, 12:16 PM
Dorne has never told her children that the Amazons are not her true home, and Ellie is too young to realize that the lack of a vine and blossom on her mother’s chest signifies anything of importance. The other women have them, yes, but they do not breathe fire and playing tricks with the vines like her mother does. Ellie likes the tattoos, and imagines that someday she might have one of her own, when she is old enough. Everything will happen when she is old enough, but despite all of her question, the filly has not yet managed to figure out exactly what age old enough actually is. Older than she is now, most certainly.
So when the black and white filly tells Ellie that she is an Amazon, Ellie’s little heart swells. She smiles even more brightly – imagine her, an Amazon! – and misses most of the rest of the advice that Nayl dispenses. She does notice that Nayl is poised, still and confident in a way that Ellie has not yet mastered. It reminds her of the way that the panthers lounge on the branches overhead – slow and lazy. Nayl probably pounces the same way those big cats do, sudden and out of nowhere. It’s an exciting thought.
Though Nayl and Ephrelle are the same age, there is a vast difference in the way that Ellie nearly vibrates with energy and Nayl remains composed. Ellie replies to Nayl’s name with a blurted “Nice to meet you,” that is clearly rehearsed, but no less enthusiastic of genuine. She brings up leaving, and Ellie looks around them at the Jungle. Are there places other than the Amazons? She has heard of them (Mother has plenty of stories), but has never truly conceptualized them as places she might someday leave for. Why would she want to leave?
“Oh yes!” She says to Nayl’s suggestion that she stay and they become friends. “I do want to stay!” And she does, despite the fact that it might someday break her mother’s heart. “I don’t have any friends yet, just my brother. What do friends do?”
So when the black and white filly tells Ellie that she is an Amazon, Ellie’s little heart swells. She smiles even more brightly – imagine her, an Amazon! – and misses most of the rest of the advice that Nayl dispenses. She does notice that Nayl is poised, still and confident in a way that Ellie has not yet mastered. It reminds her of the way that the panthers lounge on the branches overhead – slow and lazy. Nayl probably pounces the same way those big cats do, sudden and out of nowhere. It’s an exciting thought.
Though Nayl and Ephrelle are the same age, there is a vast difference in the way that Ellie nearly vibrates with energy and Nayl remains composed. Ellie replies to Nayl’s name with a blurted “Nice to meet you,” that is clearly rehearsed, but no less enthusiastic of genuine. She brings up leaving, and Ellie looks around them at the Jungle. Are there places other than the Amazons? She has heard of them (Mother has plenty of stories), but has never truly conceptualized them as places she might someday leave for. Why would she want to leave?
“Oh yes!” She says to Nayl’s suggestion that she stay and they become friends. “I do want to stay!” And she does, despite the fact that it might someday break her mother’s heart. “I don’t have any friends yet, just my brother. What do friends do?”