Jendayi App - Wake
Personal Information
Name: Lunnaei
Age: 25
Personal LJ: guardianlunnaei
Email / AIM / MSN: Enigma_Sibling@yahoo.com / guardianlunnaei
Current Character(s): Mitham keepastrnghrt
Character Information
Name: Jendayi
Age: 4 (appears and is mentally 8)
Appearance:
Jendayi has shoulder length, slightly curly, dusk blue hair, and her eyes are a strange slivery gray (reason under “powers and abilities”). Like all J’har he has elongated ears, though hers are much shorter due to mix of Human in her. She’s small, even for her age, and will always be considered petite even when she grows up.
She tends to wear either cute little dresses and sandals or soft leather pants and a button-up shirt with a belt fitted with pouches to carry different things in, usually small amounts of different medical mixtures or small bits of things she finds while exploring (small pretty rocks, or flowers, or perhaps a bug or lizard).
Personality:
Jendayi is a sweet and loving little girl. She has learned to hold onto those she loves, because even at her young age, she understands all too well how quickly they can be lost. Because of this she can be a bit physically clingy, seeking contact with people she trusts or loves through light touches or hugs, holding a hand, or gently leaning against them.
She’s a smart girl, diligent in her studies, if for no other reason than she loves to see her adoptive father smile at her and hear his praise when she does well. Though, honestly, she’d rather be out exploring, or making things, than studying. She loves working with plants because she can make new things, and she loves to cook for the same reason. She tends to make a lot of little craft items out of things that can be found around her home or in the woods, picking up this interest in art from the drawings her Papa does.
She loves stories. She can read some of the easier books her Papa has, but really enjoys curling up against his side and letting him read to her. She loves to tell stories too, and quickly learned that little stories to cover the truth were not okay. Still, her imagination loves to gallop across the world to places and times that don’t really exist, or wouldn’t be possible for her.
Jendayi can also be very quiet, and mildly shy. She likes talking to people, but she knows that people are a danger to her and her Papa, just as they were a danger to her mother, father, and brother before. This has her rightfully wary of new people, and because of long periods of hiding she can make herself stay in one place, quiet, for long periods of time; a feat usually difficult for children. A kind word and an honest smile go a long way, though, to getting her to open up, though it can take a bit of work to get close to her sometimes, physically especially, until she gets to know a person. She essentially “shouldn’t exist” and has had it drilled into her from birth that she has to be very, very careful of new people.
All-in-all Jendayi is sweet, curious, loves to explore and create new things, and has a drilled-in wariness of people. Once she gets to know someone, though, she holds onto them, and has no reserve about showing affection through physical expression.
Character history:
Jendayi was born out of a forbidden union. Humans dominate the land, J’har are their slaves, but some are able to look past their differences and find love. Bredan Lorveen was one of those, and he fell for a young slave girl by the name of Mariella. This union could be the death of both of them should they be discovered and so the two fled, with Bredan’s son, Delan, from a previous marriage. The small family found refuge and freedom in the forest. This is where Jendayi was born.
J’har children, or even Half-Blood children, grow very quickly. Before she was physically two years of age Jendayi was already exploring her home, learning about the world around her. But life for fugitives is always a hard life. The family often had to hide from hunters, or slavers searching for runaway J’har in the woods. Jendayi learned to be a quiet child. She knew it was important to sit silently with her mother, father, or brother when strangers were around, though she didn’t always understand.
Jendayi lost her father shortly after her second birthday. Bredan fell ill. With no way to find a healer in a town, and not enough knowledge of what medicines could be found in the forest, Bredan died of fever. Jendayi was too young to really understand what had happened. One day her father had gone to sleep and wouldn’t wake up. She asked often about her father, missing him as much as her mother and brother did.
It was not but a few months later when she lost the rest of her family. In an attempt to distract and mislead a band of slave hunters, Delan ran from his mother and sister, leading the men on a wild chase. Jendayi and Mariella were still found, and Mariella did the only thing a mother could do. Telling Jendayi to run, Mariella became the distraction for her daughter. Jendayi never saw her mother or brother again.
She did not, however, remain alone. Jendayi was found by a Wolf-Type Amin, the kindly healer taking her in despite the fact that laws stated that Half-Breeds were to be killed whenever found. Terris cared for the child, adopting her as his own. As she grew older, Terris began to teach Jendayi what all children should learn. She learned her letters, and numbers, began to read, and even took an interest in the practice of herbs and medicines, following in the footsteps of her adoptive father.
When she reached the age of three, the equivalent of six both physically and mentally for a J’har or Half-Blood, she discovered her powers. She still remembers her mother telling her that she would be very special one day, able to do things that very few could. Jendayi has worked hard to learn her powers, what they can do and how to control it, and while she still has a long way to go she’s actually pretty good at using her ability.
Powers and Abilities:
All J’har have the possibility of being born with the power over any one (or rarely two) of the Elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Air, or Spirit. This is a hereditary trait, passed on through the bloodlines leaving the children with great potential. For J’har it is impossible to know if the child has been born with an ability until they learn to use it, but with those of mixed blood, Half-Bloods, born to a Human and J’har, their abilities show in their eyes.
Jendayi’s eyes are silver, indicating that she has the ability to Wield Air. This means she has control over the molecules that make the air. She can create wind to lift things (or even herself), can condense and in a sense “solidify” the air into something of a shield, and more. All Elements are limited to a person’s strength, imagination, and the limits of the element itself.
Air requires a great amount of strength. Part of this is hereditary and part of this relies on the person’s own life force. Jendayi has the potential to be very powerful, and can do big things if she puts her mind to it, but such large displays would drain her within thirty seconds to a minute, leaving her with a massive headache (and possibly a nosebleed) for the next twelve to twenty-four hours.
If doing smaller things with her ability, Jendayi can wield consistently for up to twenty minutes before having to stop from the pain of an oncoming headache. Her range, whether for larger displays or smaller ones, is currently a maximum of twenty feet, though the affects could, in a sense, extend beyond that, she cannot control the air past that point. (Example: If, say, she made a small gust of wind to try to get something out of a tree, she could push the air up to twenty feet up or in any direction around her before that gust would be out of her control and would continue under its own power until it hit something that broke up the force or just ran out of energy, like any natural gust of wind.)
All wielders are susceptible to these headaches. This is partly because of the concentration needed to use the ability, to command the element, and partly because some of the power comes directly from the person, draining away their physical energy. A wielder that does not listen to their body’s need to stop can “burn out” their ability to wield at all, or in extreme cases, could end up killing themselves, their bodies giving out to exhaustion.
World Summary:
Reirinsei would be considered something of a medieval fantasy world. Technology is limited, or rather...lost as is the truth of the mater. The once technologically advanced world was decimated by war, magic, and demons and much of what was known was lost millennia ago. So now, the world is a medieval mess of lords vying for power, kings ruling their kingdoms and peasants trying to get by in their daily lives. Life is hard work and everybody works hard.
Social status is first determined by race. Only Humans can hold the highest positions on the mainlands. Amin are considered outsiders, but they are a strong and animal (literally) people and so are respected to a point. Amin are allowed certain rights and freedoms, allowed to own small pieces of land or start small businesses, but are also just as prone to ending up on the slave markets if they’re not careful. J’har (think elves) are considered a slave race. Historians speculate that this goes back to the war that nearly destroyed their world, but no one knows for sure. As J’har are the only ones capable of using the Elemental magic of the world they are feared and oppressed. Those found to be able to wield are often put to death so the “slave/tool” doesn’t have a chance to turn on their masters.
The magic of the world is elemental based, and a genetic trait of the J’har. Only one kind of magic can be learned by any race, the “non-Element” or Anti, and it is a forbidden power, believed to draw the attention of demons (which it does).
J’har, or any with J’har blood, have a strange aging pattern. J’har pregnancies last half the time of Human pregnancies, and once born J’har age at a fast rate. A child of one year of age will be the mental and physical equal to a Human at the age of two. Children continue to age at this double pace until they are five years of age. Once about five, the child’s aging will slow, matching a more Human pace for the next fifteen to twenty years (i.e. Someone who is ten will look fifteen). Once in their mid-twenties J’har seem to stop aging completely, though with the harsh lifestyle of slavery is it not common for many J’har to live too long past their twenties. Those that do, will appear to be in the mid-twenties, early thirties, until they reach about one hundred twenty years of age. Their aging cycles seem to start again, rapidly growing older. If J’har live to old age, many would average about one hundred fifty years.
Half-Breed, or Half-Blood, are very rare. Laws are in place forbidding any offspring of a Human and J’har. Any J’har woman found to be pregnant with a Half-Breed is put to death and her baby with her. On the rare occasion that a Human woman is found with such an abomination of a child growing in her, all of her male slaves are killed, and her pregnancy is aborted or the child killed.
On rare occasions mixed couples actually join in love. The couples and any children become fugitives, forced to avoid all other races for fear of being murdered.
Samples
First person:
[The feed comes on, looking up from the ground. There’s a little girl with a long stick in her hands, whatever she’s reaching for with that stick is off screen.]
[She glances down at the notebook, a little grin on her face. Seems this was set up, not an accident.]
[There’s a soft clang of wood on metal, and a rather indignant sounding.] GARBAGE DAY!
[Jendayi hops back, LAUGHING. She abandons the stick and picks up the notebook.] These things are so crazy! Does anyone know why they only yell one thing? And...what are they? [She walks back to the garbage can and walks around it. It seems to wobble a bit before yelling again.]
GARBAGE DAY! [One might swear that’s a “GO AWAY KID!” This just sends her into another fit of giggles, though.]
[She does leave the can behind, walking down the street.] There’re so many neat things around here. Like...why are the roads black, how’d the homes get so tall, or...or what are all these neat moving things? [She even turns her book to show one of the wind sculptures in the area.] Do they do anything, or are they just pretty?
[She looks back at the book.] Sorry, I know I ask a lot of questions, but this place is so new, so neat. I’d really like to know more about it.
[She leaves the book open while she walks. Hope she doesn’t make anyone motion sick, but she’s worried she’ll miss someone’s reply if she closes it.]
Third Person:
Jendayi shimmied up the branches with a carelessness born of practice and comfort. She’d gotten herself stuck in trees before, gotten high enough that she’d frightened herself at the thought of having to climb back down. That didn’t happen anymore, though. Jendayi had grown comfortable with getting up and down from trees, especially since learning that she could get herself down with Wind.
Carefully she started to stretch out on the branches, silver eyes locked on the bundle of twigs and straw. She had been climbing up here at least once a week, watching for any changes. The last time she was up here, there had been three, purple-ish brown eggs in the nest. She had small hands, but she could have fit all three into one without worry of dropping any.
There weren’t any eggs this time. Jendayi chewed lightly on her lip, trying to make out the little shapes in the nest. One moved, sharp yellow beak stuck to the side of a ball like, nearly bald head, with large beady eyes. She flinched back with a reflexive sound of disgust.
Well, that’s not right, she thought with a pout. Birds are supposed to be pretty. Jendayi watched the awkward little thing for a long moment, trying to determine what she thought of it.
Maybe it wasn’t a bird? She reached out, a small finger extended to try touching the ugly little creature. It had some features like a bird, but it was... weird. She realized there were two more of the same little things on either side of the first. All looked up at her finger, seeming to cringe down away from it.
She moved her thumb, pinching two fingers together in a mock mouth, and got a response she wasn’t expecting. The first boney little thing stretched its neck up and opened its wide mouth. Jendayi was half surprised its whole head didn’t split in half. It started to cheep loudly, demandingly.
You...sound like a bird, but... They couldn’t be. They didn’t look right. Not that she had seen baby birds before, but she was sure they shouldn’t look like little monsters.
Maybe they ate the baby birds! She gasped at the horrifying thought. No! How could they do that! They were monsters! They might eat the parent birds too! What should she do? Monsters couldn’t be let go to hurt others, could they? She considered dumping the nest and killing the little monsters. It would serve them right for eating the cute baby birdies and waiting for the parents to come back to eat them too!
She pulled her hand back enough to lower it to the nest, ready to try to push it off the branches. She stopped. Monsters or not, she couldn’t make herself push the nest down. Mama used to say people would think her a monster, but she wasn’t, she was a person, and she wanted to live. These little things just wanted to live too.
“Please don’t hurt the mama and papa birds, okay?” She didn’t know why she whispered it, maybe so nothing else would hear and decide to kill the monsters since she hadn’t. Decision made Jendayi scoot back down the branches until she could hop down, cradling herself with a strong whorl of air to soften her landing.
She felt good about her choice, proud of herself for not doing to those little creatures what mama said most people would do to her. Even Papa said she had to be careful of others. But she wasn’t a monster, and even if those things were, she couldn’t hurt them.
Not everything people see as monsters, are really monsters.
Name: Lunnaei
Age: 25
Personal LJ: guardianlunnaei
Email / AIM / MSN: Enigma_Sibling@yahoo.com / guardianlunnaei
Current Character(s): Mitham keepastrnghrt
Character Information
Name: Jendayi
Age: 4 (appears and is mentally 8)
Appearance:
Jendayi has shoulder length, slightly curly, dusk blue hair, and her eyes are a strange slivery gray (reason under “powers and abilities”). Like all J’har he has elongated ears, though hers are much shorter due to mix of Human in her. She’s small, even for her age, and will always be considered petite even when she grows up.
She tends to wear either cute little dresses and sandals or soft leather pants and a button-up shirt with a belt fitted with pouches to carry different things in, usually small amounts of different medical mixtures or small bits of things she finds while exploring (small pretty rocks, or flowers, or perhaps a bug or lizard).
Personality:
Jendayi is a sweet and loving little girl. She has learned to hold onto those she loves, because even at her young age, she understands all too well how quickly they can be lost. Because of this she can be a bit physically clingy, seeking contact with people she trusts or loves through light touches or hugs, holding a hand, or gently leaning against them.
She’s a smart girl, diligent in her studies, if for no other reason than she loves to see her adoptive father smile at her and hear his praise when she does well. Though, honestly, she’d rather be out exploring, or making things, than studying. She loves working with plants because she can make new things, and she loves to cook for the same reason. She tends to make a lot of little craft items out of things that can be found around her home or in the woods, picking up this interest in art from the drawings her Papa does.
She loves stories. She can read some of the easier books her Papa has, but really enjoys curling up against his side and letting him read to her. She loves to tell stories too, and quickly learned that little stories to cover the truth were not okay. Still, her imagination loves to gallop across the world to places and times that don’t really exist, or wouldn’t be possible for her.
Jendayi can also be very quiet, and mildly shy. She likes talking to people, but she knows that people are a danger to her and her Papa, just as they were a danger to her mother, father, and brother before. This has her rightfully wary of new people, and because of long periods of hiding she can make herself stay in one place, quiet, for long periods of time; a feat usually difficult for children. A kind word and an honest smile go a long way, though, to getting her to open up, though it can take a bit of work to get close to her sometimes, physically especially, until she gets to know a person. She essentially “shouldn’t exist” and has had it drilled into her from birth that she has to be very, very careful of new people.
All-in-all Jendayi is sweet, curious, loves to explore and create new things, and has a drilled-in wariness of people. Once she gets to know someone, though, she holds onto them, and has no reserve about showing affection through physical expression.
Character history:
Jendayi was born out of a forbidden union. Humans dominate the land, J’har are their slaves, but some are able to look past their differences and find love. Bredan Lorveen was one of those, and he fell for a young slave girl by the name of Mariella. This union could be the death of both of them should they be discovered and so the two fled, with Bredan’s son, Delan, from a previous marriage. The small family found refuge and freedom in the forest. This is where Jendayi was born.
J’har children, or even Half-Blood children, grow very quickly. Before she was physically two years of age Jendayi was already exploring her home, learning about the world around her. But life for fugitives is always a hard life. The family often had to hide from hunters, or slavers searching for runaway J’har in the woods. Jendayi learned to be a quiet child. She knew it was important to sit silently with her mother, father, or brother when strangers were around, though she didn’t always understand.
Jendayi lost her father shortly after her second birthday. Bredan fell ill. With no way to find a healer in a town, and not enough knowledge of what medicines could be found in the forest, Bredan died of fever. Jendayi was too young to really understand what had happened. One day her father had gone to sleep and wouldn’t wake up. She asked often about her father, missing him as much as her mother and brother did.
It was not but a few months later when she lost the rest of her family. In an attempt to distract and mislead a band of slave hunters, Delan ran from his mother and sister, leading the men on a wild chase. Jendayi and Mariella were still found, and Mariella did the only thing a mother could do. Telling Jendayi to run, Mariella became the distraction for her daughter. Jendayi never saw her mother or brother again.
She did not, however, remain alone. Jendayi was found by a Wolf-Type Amin, the kindly healer taking her in despite the fact that laws stated that Half-Breeds were to be killed whenever found. Terris cared for the child, adopting her as his own. As she grew older, Terris began to teach Jendayi what all children should learn. She learned her letters, and numbers, began to read, and even took an interest in the practice of herbs and medicines, following in the footsteps of her adoptive father.
When she reached the age of three, the equivalent of six both physically and mentally for a J’har or Half-Blood, she discovered her powers. She still remembers her mother telling her that she would be very special one day, able to do things that very few could. Jendayi has worked hard to learn her powers, what they can do and how to control it, and while she still has a long way to go she’s actually pretty good at using her ability.
Powers and Abilities:
All J’har have the possibility of being born with the power over any one (or rarely two) of the Elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Air, or Spirit. This is a hereditary trait, passed on through the bloodlines leaving the children with great potential. For J’har it is impossible to know if the child has been born with an ability until they learn to use it, but with those of mixed blood, Half-Bloods, born to a Human and J’har, their abilities show in their eyes.
Jendayi’s eyes are silver, indicating that she has the ability to Wield Air. This means she has control over the molecules that make the air. She can create wind to lift things (or even herself), can condense and in a sense “solidify” the air into something of a shield, and more. All Elements are limited to a person’s strength, imagination, and the limits of the element itself.
Air requires a great amount of strength. Part of this is hereditary and part of this relies on the person’s own life force. Jendayi has the potential to be very powerful, and can do big things if she puts her mind to it, but such large displays would drain her within thirty seconds to a minute, leaving her with a massive headache (and possibly a nosebleed) for the next twelve to twenty-four hours.
If doing smaller things with her ability, Jendayi can wield consistently for up to twenty minutes before having to stop from the pain of an oncoming headache. Her range, whether for larger displays or smaller ones, is currently a maximum of twenty feet, though the affects could, in a sense, extend beyond that, she cannot control the air past that point. (Example: If, say, she made a small gust of wind to try to get something out of a tree, she could push the air up to twenty feet up or in any direction around her before that gust would be out of her control and would continue under its own power until it hit something that broke up the force or just ran out of energy, like any natural gust of wind.)
All wielders are susceptible to these headaches. This is partly because of the concentration needed to use the ability, to command the element, and partly because some of the power comes directly from the person, draining away their physical energy. A wielder that does not listen to their body’s need to stop can “burn out” their ability to wield at all, or in extreme cases, could end up killing themselves, their bodies giving out to exhaustion.
World Summary:
Reirinsei would be considered something of a medieval fantasy world. Technology is limited, or rather...lost as is the truth of the mater. The once technologically advanced world was decimated by war, magic, and demons and much of what was known was lost millennia ago. So now, the world is a medieval mess of lords vying for power, kings ruling their kingdoms and peasants trying to get by in their daily lives. Life is hard work and everybody works hard.
Social status is first determined by race. Only Humans can hold the highest positions on the mainlands. Amin are considered outsiders, but they are a strong and animal (literally) people and so are respected to a point. Amin are allowed certain rights and freedoms, allowed to own small pieces of land or start small businesses, but are also just as prone to ending up on the slave markets if they’re not careful. J’har (think elves) are considered a slave race. Historians speculate that this goes back to the war that nearly destroyed their world, but no one knows for sure. As J’har are the only ones capable of using the Elemental magic of the world they are feared and oppressed. Those found to be able to wield are often put to death so the “slave/tool” doesn’t have a chance to turn on their masters.
The magic of the world is elemental based, and a genetic trait of the J’har. Only one kind of magic can be learned by any race, the “non-Element” or Anti, and it is a forbidden power, believed to draw the attention of demons (which it does).
J’har, or any with J’har blood, have a strange aging pattern. J’har pregnancies last half the time of Human pregnancies, and once born J’har age at a fast rate. A child of one year of age will be the mental and physical equal to a Human at the age of two. Children continue to age at this double pace until they are five years of age. Once about five, the child’s aging will slow, matching a more Human pace for the next fifteen to twenty years (i.e. Someone who is ten will look fifteen). Once in their mid-twenties J’har seem to stop aging completely, though with the harsh lifestyle of slavery is it not common for many J’har to live too long past their twenties. Those that do, will appear to be in the mid-twenties, early thirties, until they reach about one hundred twenty years of age. Their aging cycles seem to start again, rapidly growing older. If J’har live to old age, many would average about one hundred fifty years.
Half-Breed, or Half-Blood, are very rare. Laws are in place forbidding any offspring of a Human and J’har. Any J’har woman found to be pregnant with a Half-Breed is put to death and her baby with her. On the rare occasion that a Human woman is found with such an abomination of a child growing in her, all of her male slaves are killed, and her pregnancy is aborted or the child killed.
On rare occasions mixed couples actually join in love. The couples and any children become fugitives, forced to avoid all other races for fear of being murdered.
Samples
First person:
[The feed comes on, looking up from the ground. There’s a little girl with a long stick in her hands, whatever she’s reaching for with that stick is off screen.]
[She glances down at the notebook, a little grin on her face. Seems this was set up, not an accident.]
[There’s a soft clang of wood on metal, and a rather indignant sounding.] GARBAGE DAY!
[Jendayi hops back, LAUGHING. She abandons the stick and picks up the notebook.] These things are so crazy! Does anyone know why they only yell one thing? And...what are they? [She walks back to the garbage can and walks around it. It seems to wobble a bit before yelling again.]
GARBAGE DAY! [One might swear that’s a “GO AWAY KID!” This just sends her into another fit of giggles, though.]
[She does leave the can behind, walking down the street.] There’re so many neat things around here. Like...why are the roads black, how’d the homes get so tall, or...or what are all these neat moving things? [She even turns her book to show one of the wind sculptures in the area.] Do they do anything, or are they just pretty?
[She looks back at the book.] Sorry, I know I ask a lot of questions, but this place is so new, so neat. I’d really like to know more about it.
[She leaves the book open while she walks. Hope she doesn’t make anyone motion sick, but she’s worried she’ll miss someone’s reply if she closes it.]
Third Person:
Jendayi shimmied up the branches with a carelessness born of practice and comfort. She’d gotten herself stuck in trees before, gotten high enough that she’d frightened herself at the thought of having to climb back down. That didn’t happen anymore, though. Jendayi had grown comfortable with getting up and down from trees, especially since learning that she could get herself down with Wind.
Carefully she started to stretch out on the branches, silver eyes locked on the bundle of twigs and straw. She had been climbing up here at least once a week, watching for any changes. The last time she was up here, there had been three, purple-ish brown eggs in the nest. She had small hands, but she could have fit all three into one without worry of dropping any.
There weren’t any eggs this time. Jendayi chewed lightly on her lip, trying to make out the little shapes in the nest. One moved, sharp yellow beak stuck to the side of a ball like, nearly bald head, with large beady eyes. She flinched back with a reflexive sound of disgust.
Well, that’s not right, she thought with a pout. Birds are supposed to be pretty. Jendayi watched the awkward little thing for a long moment, trying to determine what she thought of it.
Maybe it wasn’t a bird? She reached out, a small finger extended to try touching the ugly little creature. It had some features like a bird, but it was... weird. She realized there were two more of the same little things on either side of the first. All looked up at her finger, seeming to cringe down away from it.
She moved her thumb, pinching two fingers together in a mock mouth, and got a response she wasn’t expecting. The first boney little thing stretched its neck up and opened its wide mouth. Jendayi was half surprised its whole head didn’t split in half. It started to cheep loudly, demandingly.
You...sound like a bird, but... They couldn’t be. They didn’t look right. Not that she had seen baby birds before, but she was sure they shouldn’t look like little monsters.
Maybe they ate the baby birds! She gasped at the horrifying thought. No! How could they do that! They were monsters! They might eat the parent birds too! What should she do? Monsters couldn’t be let go to hurt others, could they? She considered dumping the nest and killing the little monsters. It would serve them right for eating the cute baby birdies and waiting for the parents to come back to eat them too!
She pulled her hand back enough to lower it to the nest, ready to try to push it off the branches. She stopped. Monsters or not, she couldn’t make herself push the nest down. Mama used to say people would think her a monster, but she wasn’t, she was a person, and she wanted to live. These little things just wanted to live too.
“Please don’t hurt the mama and papa birds, okay?” She didn’t know why she whispered it, maybe so nothing else would hear and decide to kill the monsters since she hadn’t. Decision made Jendayi scoot back down the branches until she could hop down, cradling herself with a strong whorl of air to soften her landing.
She felt good about her choice, proud of herself for not doing to those little creatures what mama said most people would do to her. Even Papa said she had to be careful of others. But she wasn’t a monster, and even if those things were, she couldn’t hurt them.
Not everything people see as monsters, are really monsters.