SHINAYDA

Heat and Excitement
As the dancer finds her way
Through the flames
Of yet another day

Never she hesitates
Forever singing she glides
Like there is nothing else
Than the orange tides

-Ode-

Shinayda found her way to the large crowd. Like always her moves were very elegant and focused. She seemed to follow a rhythm only she could hear between the loud noises of the marketplace. And in a way she was.
Everywhere she went, people stopped and looked at the small, slender red haired girl. In a land where red hair was considered a lucky charm she could be called doubly blessed as her hair was the colour of the sunset. When the crowd looked down from her hair they could see a white skin, freckled from the summer sun. Lower were her two brown eyes, her straight nose and her mouth.
Oblivious of the people around her, Shinayda walked on. Inside she was already thinking about her next performance. What moves would she use in her next dance? What song would she sing? Would she herald the stories of the Gods or sing praise to the lord she was dancing for? 
Shinayda was 21, she had been a fire dancer for as long as she could remember. Girls and boys with red hair were recruited very young to dance for the Gods and the royals. But even so, she had started at the very young age of 3, not afraid of the fire, unlike the others. She had never gotten badly scorched, a thing she should be grateful for. No-one trusted a scorched dancer, it was a sign of a lack of Faith in the Gods.
Suddenly a song emerged in her head. She had heard it before, but she couldn't remember where or when. The song wasn't exactly words or music. It was a strange melody that got louder and softer with an hypnotic beat. Without hesitation, Shinayda started singing it. She had found her song for the night.
Shinayda took the broad road to the temple where she and the other fire dancers resided. She had never fully understood why some of the dancers were unhappy. She loved the fire. It was her closest friend. Outside the heated temple she often got cold, her heart frozen like she had left someone she cared for. Quickly she opened the door and let the warmth soak into her bones.  
The inside of the temple was a deep orange with accents of gold. Fires burned in every corner and there were always people present. People praying, or asking advice. The priests and priestesses made sure everyone got an answer. There were also girls dancing. Not the best girls of course, the ones like Shinayda were kept for special occasions. 
Shinayda could see at least two burns on the arms of the girl on the left. Her moves were too slow, but her hair was the colour of liquid metal and so she had gotten a place in the temple. Shinayda shook her head. Once only the best had gotten in, but now there weren't enough dancers to fill the spaces of the ones that became priests due to old age. There were more than enough priests however.
Shinayda looked up at the big torch hanging from the ceiling. She bent to one knee and started praying. There was a whole scalar of prayers and things to say to the Gods, but Shinayda had always felt a more personal approach was better.
"Gods." she said, "I thank you for my life, my luck and my gifts. I've been blessed beyond understanding and still I come and ask. I ask to stay safe and unharmed to once become priestess." Shinayda made the ritual smoke-sign in front of her face, but stopped before she could finish it. In a spontaneous moment she suddenly asked: "And I ask to find someone who needs me."
Shinayda looked up and wondered what those words had meant. The Gods sometimes gave visions to the dancers, but she had never gotten them before. She was sure those words hadn't been hers however. Who would she need to find?
Shinayda left the temple and went to the rooms at the back. She shivered a moment when she got out in the summer sun and ran as fast as she could to her own small room. Shinayda found her room as she had left it. her bed neatly made, her clothes folded and the scrolls of rituals on her desk.
Shinayda entered and looked at the scroll. She didn't need it anymore, she had her own song to sing tonight. She took out her ceremonial clothes and softly stroked the precious material. There was a long dark red dress without sleeves. Then there was the large orange transparent skirt that would flow around her and a transparent yellow shirt with golden bells on the end of the wide sleeves that tingled when Shinayda rearranged the clothes.
A soft tap on the door alerted her that she was to get ready. She had two hours left. Two hours in which she would be cleansed and bathed. Shinayda liked the cleaning ritual. All alone in the hot springs beneath the temple she really could get relaxed. A state of mind that would only help her when she needed to dance through the flames.

Later that night, cleaned and dressed properly, Shinayda stood at the door of the ballroom. Inside she heard people talking and laughing. Soon they would become silent and then she'd enter, dancing on the rhythm of her song, into the fire.
Shinayda took one last deep breath and entered. The heat of the flames calmed her down immediately. She was home. She was alone. 
In her mind, Shinayda was always alone when she danced. Alone with the flames and the Gods. The silence was surreal, even in her mind she could hear the faint sounds of the crowd as she entered, but not today. With her eyes still focused on the fire Shinayda started her song.
Somewhere in the middle of her dance she woke up out of her trance and noticed the crowds were so silent it wasn't possible anymore. Carefully she looked sideways and saw people standing. So she wasn't alone.
Only a few seconds later did she notice that the people were standing still like statues. As oblivious of her as she had been of them. Not one of them moved, breathed or made even the smallest sound. Shinayda stopped. The fire was burning. She could feel the heat, but not the burning. Carefully she touched one of the flames with her fingers. It felt like sticking a hand into warm running water. 
Shinayda was still trying to figure out what had happened when she suddenly saw movement in the middle of the flames. Carefully she went through the flames to the movement. The moving stopped so abruptly Shinayda gasped for air, as if she had been thrown against a brick wall. The frame was darker now. Like early morning. The person she had seen was sitting at a desk. He was singing. Suddenly Shinayda recognised the song. It was the song she had sung tonight. Looking closer, it wasn't the person singing, it was whatever was in the basket she was looking at.
As if driven by Shinayda's mind, the picture moved to the basket. Small creatures lay in the basket... Shinayda knew without a doubt that the red one was singing her song.
The song became louder and Shinayda started dancing again. The voice sang the song a lot better than she had done, sometimes weaving a melody with more than one voice. Maybe that were the other creatures. Shinayda didn't stop to think. She reached in with her arms and head and suddenly she was in the room, the flames of the ballroom still flickering on the ceiling.
Alerted by the bang of Shinayda's not very elegant fall, the man turned around and looked at her.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Shinayda. Who are you?"
"My name is Eyo."
"Where am I?" she asked.
"You are on Elementia... and contrary to what you may think your entry wasn't very abnormal." Eyo smiled.
Shinayda looked wanting at the little critters in the basket.
"I see you are interested in the kajis." Eyo said, taking the basket and placing it on the table. One small little red/brown female opened one eye and yawned. 
"I see this one has taken a liking to you. What would you like to name it?"
"Fyr."

Shinayda absentmindedly stroked Fyr on her head. This of course wasn't much to the liking of the small kaji creature. Fyr as most of the reds was moody and easy to anger. She had felt a sudden drop in attention and wanted to correct that unwanted behaviour by hissing at her owner. 
Shinayda, not even noticing much of the hiss, just stood up and started walking around in circles. The little kaji didn't like that even more. Irritated she got up and started scratching in the couch where she was sitting. Her small, but sharp claws rasping the cover good. Pleased with her little act of destruction Fyr yawned and went to sleep. Let her owner work out whatever was troubling her.

What was  troubling Fyr's owner was her sudden halt of purpose. Shinayda, still pacing up and down in her small room, had lost meaning. On Gremyne her purpose had been to watch over the fire and though Fyr sure wasn't easy to be around and keep entertained the pet didn't need the same amount of devotion as the fire. 
Shinayda had thought about devoting her life to the kajis but that seemed pathetic. She loved the little creatures, but there was something like a life... and she had had one. If not for Fyr she would have gravely been regretting her decision to come to Zyon-D5. But Fyr complicated things. Could she just take off? Go wherever Fate brought her? Shinayda still felt some ties binding her to the isle. Gratitude and debt for the kaji were the most potent...
But also she didn't know what to do next. On Gremyne she would just go back to the temple and take her new pet with her. A creature like Fyr would be valuable beyond imagining at the dancing for the fire. But... and here was what troubled her, Shinayda really didn't want to go back to Gremyne. In the temple she would be cooped up, dancing yes, but she could dance everywhere. 
But not here. There was not enough fire for Shinayda to launch into a large exuberant dance, the type she so liked. A silent tap at her door alerted Shinayda that someone wanted in.
"Yes?"
"Shinayda?"
"Yes Raelle?" Shinayda asked when the girl entered her room.
"I was just saying I'm leaving."
"You're leaving!" Shinayda nearly yelled.
Raelle was almost the only one around here she actually knew. They had become friends over the few weeks Shinayda had been here. And now she was apparently leaving. Zyon-D5 suddenly seemed a lot drearier of a place to be.
"I have to go back home."
"But you don't even have a Kaji!" Shinayda exclaimed.
"I know... but I may return here after the hatching."
"What hatching?"
"Dragons, Shinayda! Hathians to be more precise. I came here because they denied me the last time I applied. But now there is a shortage of candidates and they have accepted my apply!"
"Doesn't that make you feel second choice?" Shinayda asked.
"There's no being picky in dragons, friend." Raelle answered.
"I've talked it over and there's a hathian picking me up this evening. Maybe, if I get lucky there'll be another litter born on Zyon. I really hope so. It would save me another trip, though with a hathian you don't need to worry about travelling anymore."
Raelle most likely saw the look of hope on Shinayda's face. The prospect of a dragon, a hathian, anything was so exhilerating that Shinayda could break out in dance. But she didn't dare ask. Maybe it was good that Raelle was more practical than her friend.
"You are free to come of you please... There is still more than one place open."
"Oh..." Shinayda said. "Thank you. Can I really?"
"Why stop you when they need people?" Raelle said.

And so it was that Shinayda was waiting with her friend for the evening transport. Time crawled forward, inching like a snail. But finally the hathian appeared. The dragon was beautiful, blue with transparent gliders and a strange outcropping against it's eyeridge. Though Raelle told her blues were among the most common hathians. To Shinayda the blue was the most beautiful creature in the entire universe -safe Fyr becayse she knew her pet would scream fire and murder if she knew her owner admired the dragon. But happily for her the little kaji was already sleeping, being worn out from her playdate with Raelle's kaji.

HATCHING
It was night at the Warren when the bugles of hatching came. Most of the candidates were slow in getting to the sands only appearing there after two hathians had hatched already. Bondings were made, though not always peacefully, and the hatching continued.
Shinayda did her best not to fidget, keeping herself graceful and still as the silver-drenched trees that surrounded them. She felt deeply uncomfortable, nonetheless; there was no fire to warm her, no flickering flames to comfort her. A slight shudder went through the girl and she clenched her hands together in an attempt to warm them.
The yellow, meanwhile, was hesitant, aware of the fact that she was alone on the sands, if only for a moment. And in that moment, she strode with remarkable grace to the side of Shinayda, her young voice warbling in a faintly melodic way. The woman knelt, her lips pulled in a wide smile. "You'll be quite the singer, Melfaris.", she stated, stroking the yellow's forehead and brushing off a bit of stuck on shell.

Melfaris

ADULT
Shinayda, Melfaris and Fyr returned to 

ZYON-D5 (kaji)
Trys'Hath (hathian)
Back to Gineya Isle Adopted Page

Fonts used are called Carolinga and Caliph and can be found at Font Freaks.
Music playing is called 'Erase and Rewind' and was found with the MIDI search engine
Background modified from a background found here