[Tiki Time]

Early Years

The air was cool and crisp and she could smell the faint but evident petrichor. She loved that smell and felt as if it would never grow old.

Rain...I love the rain.

Everything about rain was soothing to her, well...except the detrimental affects it had upon her books when she'd chanced to read without shelter. The unique and fresh scent, the gentle drip drop, and the coolness of an otherwise warm environment...it all relaxed her and brought serenity to her mind. She loved it so much that she would often head outside to read beneath a tarp when she could sniff even the faintest bit of rain in the air.

She threw on her shoes and ran to her room, snatching a book from her desk before darting outside to her tarp.

"Hira, you're going to get yourself sick!" She heard her mother call after her, but she didn't care. Every time, without fail, her mother would remind her that being out in the rain might make her ill...but every time she ignored the warnings and fled the house.

"I know!" She called back, giggling a bit and letting out a small snort. She couldn't see it, but she knew her mother was rolling her eyes just then.

Ishira plopped down beneath a large tree, affixed with rain protective tarp, and swiftly buried her nose into her book. She was taken away to a land of danger and mystery, a land of mischief and pirates, a land of love and betrayal. The world around her faded into the background, all but the gentle thud of the rain drops and soothing smell of the petrichor.

As she neared the end of a chapter, she was snapped back into reality by the evident presence of another body beneath her tarp. She jumped in her spot, slamming her book shut before letting out a wholesome snort, "Ari! You're going to get yourself sick in the rain", Ishira did her best to sound like their mother.

The woman next to her was obviously older by a few years, and far more lovely by conventional standards. Arezima Kozka was a beauty with pale but healthy skin, sharp but refined features, a winning smile, and flawlessly hairless. She was a sharp contrast to Ishira who was tall and lanky, sallow skinned, and quite "barbarically" hairy. Even Ari's laugh was painfully melodic and never interrupted with awkward, piglike snorting.

Ari gave one of those laughs just then, and ruffled up Hira's long and unruly hair. "I'm not sure I'll ever understand your need to freeze yourself in the rain and isolate yourself in those books of yours." Ari had smiled softly and Ishira had grinned in response.

"That's okay, Ari. You don't have to understand, I love you anyway."

Ari rolled her eyes and hugged her little sister, running her fingers through that tangled mess of hair once more, "Soon you'll be headed to school, you know. You might want to consider shaving this off before you get there, the other kids may not be very kind to you and call you terrible names. You're proper Mulani, Hira, you should show it." Ari's voice was soft but Hira could hear the concern in it.

"Oh Ari, I'm not going to change who I am just because of what the other kids might say or do. Besides, if I ever want to be noticed then standing out is better than blending in!"

Ari let out a soft sigh at that. It was obvious to Ishira that her sister did not agree, but she did not press the issue further, "Just be careful, Hira. You're such a loving spirit and the cruelty of them might break you."

"Don't worry, Ari! I'm unbreakable!" Ishira said triumphantly, thumping her book with a grin.

Arezima nodded reluctantly and stood to head inside, I'm afraid she may learn the hard way that life is not like those books of hers...