sisterino -alaska-

Kavi was out on the campus grounds, practicing his newfound eilemaiden. It was trickier than he thought it'd be. Many settled clio he knew made it look so effortless, as natural as breathing, but in reality it took thought and concentration, and could even be tiring. Making tiny plants move was easy enough on its own, but anything more than that was gonna take some work.

There was a flower garden on campus that made for a perfect Nadar practice ground. Kavi concentrated on the ground beneath him, willing the roots to grow, and watched as some little sprouts poked up out of the dirt. They grew bigger and stronger, and Kavi willed them to braid together into a thick knot. He smiled. Not bad. The more skilled he got with his eilemaiden, the easier it would be to find a job on the mainland without finishing school.

Hey Ekavi, your sister is coming, Polaris observed, perched on a tree branch high above.

Kavi dropped control of the roots and looked over. Sure enough, Ali was headed his way. What was she doing out here?

It had been a nice day today on Martha's Vineyard, so Ali had decided to skip her last class and enjoy it before the sun set. She had mostly just been drifting around campus, eventually finding her way toward the flower garden that was a little ways away, but still close enough to the buildings. That's where she saw her brother, looking very concentrated. She grinned, almost certain that he was practicing his newly chosen eilemaiden.

"Kavi!" She called, as she bounded toward him, and then eventually taking flight. Gracefully, she landed next to him and playfully kissed him on the cheek. "What are you up to?"

Speaking of clio who made their eilemaiden look effortless, Ali glided right over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Practicing my eilemaiden," he answered. He hadn't told Ali or is parents about his quit-school-and-move-away plan yet. He knew they wouldn't be happy about it. He frowned. "It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I thought once you settled, it just clicked right away."

Ali frowned when her brother expressed his frustrations. She knew that he had been struggling a bit to master his eilemaiden, but he barely just settled! Things like this took time! It took Ali a whole year to finally master the wind so that she could fly without launching herself twenty feet into the air. Although she would never admit that.

"Well, practice makes perfect!" She encouraged. "Let's see what you've been working on just now!"

Kavi refrained from rolling his eyes. He got that Ali was only trying to be nice, but she didn't realize how incredibly patronizing she came across. She sometimes treated him like he was still her baby brother, and not sixteen years old. Oh well, he let it go and turned towards the garden.

"Just getting these plants to grow," he said, trying to regain some of that concentration he'd had earlier. A couple little stems sprouted up from the ground, wiggling towards the sky, forming tiny leaves as they did so. Growing plants was a lot harder than just moving them, so he stopped pretty quickly. The little stems withered and sank back into the dirt. "An expert Nadarian can grow and control entire trees."

Ali watched curiously as tiny little plants began to sprout from the dirt in mere seconds. She smiled, proud that it had been her little brother who produced those baby greens, and even when they withered her smile never faltered.

I think you're patronizing him Al, Abraham told her. Maybe take the enthusiasm down a pinch.

Ali knew that he daemon was right, but she couldn't help herself sometimes. She had always been over protective and proud of her little brother, even if it didn't always come off that way. She knew how much he struggled with trying to prove himself to their parents and to himself, and Ali just wanted to let him know that he didn't need to prove himself to anyone!

"That's awesome, Kavs!" She said, still sounding too enthusiastic. "You'll be growing whole forests in no time!"

Abraham rolled his tiny bird eyes at his clio.

This time Kavi did roll his eyes, because Ali was acting like he was a six year old who had just learned how to tie his own shoes. But still, he said, "Thank you, Ali," because he knew she meant well no matter how irritating it was.

"You know, I don't actually know that many other Nadar clio," he said conversationally, hoping to shift the focus away from his own skills or lack thereof. Nadar didn't seem to be the most popular eilemaiden. He had heard some others describe it as weak, which he fully intended to prove wrong. Perhaps only Deilig was less popular to settle as. "clio think it's nothing but little leaves and pretty flowers, but there's a lot more to it than that."

Ali stood there for a moment, looking thoughtful. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't know that many Nadarians either. She knew Paisley, and her brother, but she barely knew the overloridian and of course her brother didn't count. It made her curious as to why that was.

"I would definitely have to disagree with that opinion," she said. "I've seen the overloridian of Nadar do crazy things before!"

Ali decided that standing was getting tiring, so she decided to sit cross legged in the grass. She patted the spot next to her, hoping her brother would join her.

"Ya know," she said to him. "I don't think I ever asked you why you chose Nadar, why did you?"

Kavi thought about his answer. There wasn't really any one single reason. The fact that he knew so few Nadar clio was actually part of the appeal, he supposed. It made it feel more his own. That, and he had always felt a strong connection to nature, even when he visited big cities. Nadar was unique in that it was the only eilemaiden that allowed one to connect to actual living things. Finally, he just felt that Nadar had so much potential, could be so versatile. Plants could be used to hurt, to heal, to feed clio, to build shelter, to do almost anything one could imagine.

He wasn't about to spill his guts to his nosy sister though, so he gave a much more vague answer. "I guess I just feel like there's a lot I can do with it," he said. "Once I learn how to, that is."

He looked back at the garden. "I think Mom and Dad were surprised I chose it," he said. He wondered if they had expected him to choose Adhbhar, or just something other than Nadar.

Ali shrugged in a way that answered Kavi's response, without her actually saying anything. Knowing her brother, she was sure there was more to it than just that, but he didn't always like to share things with her.

It did make her briefly think about why she chose Cuir. Before she settled she use to watch the birds and other Cuirians fly around with envy. They had looked so free and light, she wanted to feel that freedom too. She wasn't sure about their dad, but she knew their mom wasn't expecting either one of her children to chose Adhbhar. Their mother had always let them be their own clio, and was proud of her children either way. Ali wished that her brother saw that. She knew that daddy could be hard on him, but he was still proud of Kavi.

"I think mom and dad were happy with whatever either one of us chose," she replied. "At least mom for sure...you know how she is."

"I didn't say they were unhappy, I said they were surprised," Kavi said, a little moodily. It was dropping out of school that was going to make them unhappy. Well, Dad for sure. He didn't know how Mom would react. Ali was right in that their mom had always kinda sat back and let them do whatever, but still. This was a pretty big deal. Wasn't it?

"Hm. Ali, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Mom and Dad?" he asked. He hadn't originally planned on telling his sister about his plan until after things were set in stone, as with their parents, but he kinda wanted to do a litmus test of what her reaction would be. Maybe he was completely overthinking this, and it actually wouldn't be a big deal at all. Or maybe he was underthinking it, and it would be an even bigger deal than he thought?

Ali suppressed an eye-roll at her brother's moody response. He really was such a typical teenage guy. That's why Ali herself didn't like dating. Too many hormones, too many emotions, and don't even get her started on the guys who tried to act macho, like that would impress her or something. No, she liked to just string them along, make them believe that they had a chance. She'd grow bored with them eventually and move on to another, it made life more interesting that way.

Kavi wrote:"Hm. Ali, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Mom and Dad?"

Ali raised her eyebrows curiously at his question. It wasn't often when her brother shared secrets with her. This one must be a good one!

"Of course!" She replied. "What's up?"

Kavi didn't know how much he trusted his sister's 'of course,' but he'd already committed to telling her, so here went nothing. "Well, now that I'm settled I'm looking for a job on the mainland," he said. "Once I find one, I'm gonna leave Redfern."

Ali's jaw dropped at her brothers sudden revelation. Drop out?! Oh gods, mama and daddy would be so disappointed! Daddy especially. Ali couldn't stand the thought of seeing her father look so concerned and disappointed. She was such a daddy's girl.

"Kavi!" She gasped. "You can't do that!"

She knew that he was going to be irritated with her response, but she didn't care. He can't just go find a job somewhere, at least that he was going to like for the rest of his life. That was what Redfern was for! To help him get his foot in the door at least!

"Well, too bad, because I'm doing it," Kavi replied snarkily. Gods, he didn't know why he'd thought Ali would react any differently. For all she and their parents talked about doing whatever made one happy, any time he ever did something they didn't approve of it was all thrown out the window. More like, Do whatever makes you happy! But only if it also makes me happy.

Ali narrowed her eyes at her dramatic, angst-y brother. How could he be so, stupid? She wanted to march away and send a letter to their parents immediately, but decided to wait. She needed to at least hear him out, no matter how poorly of a decision it was.

"Well, why?" She asked, sounding exasperated and annoyed.

Don't be so snippy, Abraham lectured. You don't want to push him away!

Ali knew her daemon was right, but she couldn't help herself. She just wanted to protect her brother, and see to it that he had the best life possible. Sometimes that meant doing something you didn't want to do, and that's why she felt as if Kavi dropping out was the worst idea he could have.

Kavi glared right back at Ali. "Because I don't like Redfern, because I don't like Martha's Vineyard, because I'm settled and can find a job I actually enjoy on the mainland that'll pay me just as much as if I stayed here and got a worthless diploma in two years," he said in a tone of voice that didn't leave much room for argument. Kavi had been waiting to settle for years because of this, he wasn't going to change his mind just because his sister got pissy about it.

"Who on the mainland is going to hire a dropout?" Ali snapped. "Probably just some back breaking laborer, your'e better off cleaning out the stables on Annerb."

She crossed her arms over her chest, irritated with her moody brother's outburst. Being mean wasn't Ali's style, but sometimes it was something that couldn't be helped. Especially if it was toward her irresponsible brother and his stupid decision making.

"Have you even looked into jobs on the mainland?" She asked, her arms still crossed. "What are you going to to if nobody wants to hire you? Move in with mom and dad?"

Kavi looked at Ali like she was an idiot, because she was being one. There was just so much wrong with everything she'd just said, he didn't even know where to start. "Of course I've looked into jobs on the mainland, what the hell kind of question is that? I literally just said I was looking for a job," he said, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.

"Believe it or not, plenty of places don't require a diploma. And even if I end up doing back breaking labor, not all of us mind actually doing hard work sometimes."

Ali scoffed, and threw her hands on her hips. "Oh please," she said with an eye roll. "Like you're the hardest working clio in all of Amelia."

You're one to talk, retorted Abraham. Aren't you skipping class now? Miss B average.

Stay out of this! She snapped. This is between me and my idiot brother!

"Well don't come crying to me when your new wonderful mainland job is shit," spat Ali.

"Okay, Ali," Kavi said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Well, this had gone fucking well. If Ali had flipped such a shit over him making decisions about his own life, he could only imagine what Mom and Dad would do.

He shook his head and turned around. "I'm leaving. I have some job applications I need to mail out." He began to walk away.

You know she's going to tell your parents, right? Polaris said, stretching her wings and flying down from her perch to follow him.

Gee, you think? Kavi replied. He didn't know what he'd been thinking, telling her.

Ali watched her brother stomp dramatically away with an irritated scowl on her face.

Kavi wrote:"I'm leaving. I have some job applications I need to mail out."

"Whatever," she called after him. "Make sure you address them to 'can't get real jobs 'r' us'!"

Ali crossed her arms over her chest, the scowl still prominent on her face, as she continued to stare in the direction of Kavi's leaving, up until he disappeared from sight.

Gods, she sighed. I can't believe he's going to drop out!

I don't think it's a good idea either, Abraham sighed. But maybe you should have heard him out anyway...

Whatever, replied Ali, with a roll of her eyes. I'm telling our parents asap.

With that, she turned and started walking toward her own dorm.