#ffxiv
also: #Final Fantasy 14, #final fantasy xiv, #ff14
007. Urumet
Arguing in favor of Nomin's presence on Esenaij's trip to the Dotharl, Baryamaa wins out, though not without some emotional turmoil coming to surface. Accompanying Esenaij, Nomin and Bayarmaa both travel with him and some other members of the Sagahl from the Sea of Blades to fringes of Nhaama's Retreat. It is here that Nomin learns more about the other denizens that inhabit the Steppe along with her.
Word Count: 3,758
To no one's surprise, Esenaij had been quite stubborn about letting Nomin come with him on his venture to the site of the Dotharl. He presented a myriad of reasons why Nomin should have stayed home, ranging from “she will simply get tired and therefore in the way,” to “the Dotharl are not known to have mercy even upon those who are not quite at adulthood.” Though, all of his arguments were shot down by Bayarmaa as she presented many cases to continue to allow Nomin to go along with him.
“The Dotharl welcome the Sagahl to their site so long as we mean no harm! It's why I can stay here without worry in my heart for your return!”
Eventually, it got to the point where Bayarmaa huffed and packed her own belongings necessary for a trip. When Esenaij asked her what she was doing, her answer was simple: “why, I'm coming with you to the Dotharl's oasis! Now you have no excuse to leave Nomin here, because she simply can't stay here to manage the ger on her own.”
“You are both infuriating!” Esenaij growled, furrowing his brow.
“And you are turning into Father!” Bayarmaa snapped back. “There is no harm in letting Nomin come along, you just think you have to do everything yourself, and because of that, anyone else that wants to come along to help or learn is simply another obstacle for you to ignore! It's impressive how Barghujin and the others don't simply let you go off on your own without additional protection!”
Nomin had never once seen Bayarmaa get so riled to have shouted back at Esenaij, and the tension became quite palpable. Likewise, Nomin had never really heard mention of either of their parents at all in the time that she lived among them. They were nameless, faceless entities who she only knew were not around.
The emotional miasma thickened as Bayarmaa stomped up to Esenaij and jabbed a finger sharply at his chest, however. Her jaw was set as she continued: “going out all the time, providing what you can, but never being here to create memories and times that matter! You hardly even spare the time to teach her things she wants to know! Like it or not, Nomin is part of our family now, and you are going to damn well act like it, by the blazing sunlight of Azim! Stop acting like you didn’t bring her here because part of you felt compassion or pity -- maybe both! If you cared not, you wouldn’t have brought her here where it’s safe in the first place!”
Taken aback, Nomin stared at Bayarmaa, her mouth falling slightly agape that the word ‘family’ was used to refer to her as. Even with as emotionally charged as the situation was, there was a tickling warmth inside Nomin’s chest as she considered the idea of being part of a family -- Bayarmaa and Esenaij's family. Especially since she already liked being with Bayarmaa and Esenaij, even if it seemed they were both polar opposites at times such as this.
Esenaij stood there for a long moment, glaring down at Bayarmaa. Nomin was brought back to how uncomfortable with the way the air felt, and how it seemed to just continually thicken. She felt the pressure tighten within her, amplifying how she could feel her heart beating inside her chest, and hear that steadily beating thrum within her horns.
“... Do as you will, then…” Esenaij finally replied, his voice cutting through the thickness that hung in the air whilst steeling himself to hide any visible crack of resignation. He turned for the door, one of his hands clenched into an irritated fist. When he reached the exit, he paused, soon saying in a gruff tone: “if you plan on coming, make yourselves hasty. I intend to leave in the next half bell when I've put all that I intend to bring to the Dotharl onto the wain.”
Soon after his announcement, Esenaij pushed the door open and left, allowing the door to swing shut with a rather loud whumpf! Meanwhile, Bayarmaa sighed and placed her hands on her hips. She took a moment to take some deep breaths to calm herself, though she and Nomin allowed the silence to linger and thin out the emotionally charged air whose crackle now turned into a fizzling current as it dissipated.
“... I'm sorry you were present for that, Nomin…” Bayarmaa finally apologized after she finished calming herself to a more agreeable level. Her back was turned to Nomin, and she only slightly turned her head to look over her shoulder. “It’s, um… It’s not often that Esenaij and I have disagreements so…loudly. Believe it or not, we…we never actually really fight that much.”
“But…you fought…because of me?” Nomin slowly asked, looking down at the ground. She attempted connecting the dots of the dispute, a lot of it seemingly in regards to her. A large part of her discomfort stemmed from the idea that Esenaij did not want her there. Not just on the venture to the Dotharl's site of current residence, but there among the Sagahl in general.
“No, no…certainly not because of you…” Bayarmaa was quick to attempt to assuage Nomin’s uncertainty. Turning around, Bayarmaa walked over to Nomin and knelt down in front of her, gently placing her hands on her shoulders. “Just…Esenaij has always been used to doing things alone for the most part. For a long time…it was just us. After our mother passed away due to illness, he always took care of me when our father was out…which was often. And then father passed away, leaving just the two of us.”
“He doesn't like me being here because it means taking care of me, too?” Nomin attempted to further piece together what may have been the reason for Esenaij’s sour attitude when it came to her.
Bayarmaa pursed her lips momentarily, withdrawing her hands and taking a seat on the ground before Nomin. A low sigh fell from her nose as she then crossed her legs. Frowning, she thought about how to answer long and hard. She eventually placed a reassuring hand on Nomin’s knee.
“I think he's just overwhelmed with all this responsibility he feels like he has to take on and do by himself. Like…let's say that we cut too many logs to bring back to our site of migration and it's just the three of us. The best thing to do is take a couple trips to bring back all the wood so we don't tire ourselves out immediately, or hurt ourselves, right?” Bayarmaa attempted what she could to start drawing an analogy that could be understood.
“Sure…” Nomin slowly replied, the corners of her lips twitching back slightly into a frown. She thought about her trial among the other Tumeti children and tried to imagine the trees as piles of logs. Those trees made a lot of logs in her mind, and surely, the logic Bayarmaa provided was more than sound.
“Well, Esenaij…he's really bad at taking intermittent trips, and then really bad at resting between those trips to recuperate and gather himself. Worst of all, he is absolutely terrible about asking or accepting assistance from others,” Bayarmaa continued. “He tries to do all these things, and I think it just really becomes a lot for him as his body tires and cries for relief. Yet he keeps getting back up and forcing himself to go out, carry far too much yet again, and bring it all back all on his own while desperately needing rest.”
“… What can I do to help him? Because even if Esenaij doesn’t like me, I like him. He brought me here. And now I have a family!”
“I…” Bayarmaa paused, her lips parting every now and then as she searched for the words so she could respond. Eventually, she finally sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly. “Esenaij doesn't hate you, Nomin. He's just…really bad at expressing himself. Even worse when it comes to people he cares about. Sometimes it feels like he doesn't like me, either.”
Bayarmaa then shook her head, ridding herself of the negative thoughts in regards to their familial relationship. “As for helping him? 'm still…trying to figure out the answer myself… Especially since, as I said, he tends to refuse offers of aid or assistance in most cases where it matters. He always told me that I can't help people who don't want to be helped when it came to Father…”
Nomin slid off her seat, standing and going to pack some of her belongings. Her dagger was fastened upon her person, and she set aside some clothes to put away in a bag. Looking in Bayarmaa’s direction, Nomin posited a question: “you said he does a lot because he's the one that took care of you. But you're an adult like him. Does he think you can't take care of yourself -- that we can't take care of ourselves? You clearly can…”
Silence lingered between both Bayarmaa and Nomin as the question was left to stew. After some time, Bayarmaa allowed a scoff of disbelief to come out. She thought the question over a while longer as she stood herself up onto her own two feet. Her tail swayed with continued thought before she finally said: “I…guess I never really thought about it that way. I had my duties here, and he out there.”
Bayarmaa paused, furrowing her brow in further thought.
“Is…is that how it seems to you?” Bayarmaa had a look of confusion wrought upon her face. She thought hard about the point of view that Nomin provided, her mouth creasing tightly as she mulled it over.
Nomin shrugged in response. She then picked up her baras toy from the shelf and tucked it under her arm. “You said that it was just you and him after your papa died. If mamas and papas are supposed to take care of their children like the Sagahl do, and yours went back to Nhaama’s embrace, then maybe he still sees you like me. A child.”
Only the sound of Nomin packing her extra clothing and toy filled the air as it seemed she had given Bayarmaa something to ponder further. However, she eventually composed herself and took up the items she packed herself while assisting Nomin with anything else. Once they were ready, they left the ger and peered around for Esenaij momentarily. Once they caught sight of him loading up sacks of fava beans, grains, and unripened plums in the back of his wain, they were quick to make their way over and get their belongings loaded up into the back.
There were three other Sagahli members that stood close by, weapons upon their persons. Nomin stared at them for a while, holding her baras toy close. She had seen them before, but she never really introduced herself to these particular members of the tribe.
“Bayarmaa! You're coming along this time?” one of the three members asked. Their tail swished gently to and fro with glee. The Xaela in question was tall -- as tall as any male-at-birth auri. However, when Nomin looked them over, she noted how their horns seemed smaller than average. At least when it came to what she was used to seeing on Xaela of their size and stature.
“I'm coming along to assist Nomin's understanding of plant life in the desert. I've been helping her learn about things close by, but I thought this would be a decent opportunity to help her with things outside the Sea of Blades,” Bayarmaa said in response as she got her stuff situated and secured alongside Nomin’s. She managed to make herself smile and pretend as if she and Esenaij did not just have an argument all that long ago.
“So you're our new little Sagahl, eh?” the Saghal warrior looked over in Nomin’s direction and leaned down so they were more eye level with her, a wide smile on their face. “The name's Barghujin! It's a pleasure to meet you, little one!”
Barghujin then stood back up, tall and proud, puffing out their chest as they rested their lance on their shoulder. They then jabbed their thumb back at the other two warriors. Their grin widened as they introduced the other two Sagahl members: “the taller one with the bow and dark hair is Daritai. And then the one with wide horns with the tired look in their eyes is Keuken. We usually go with Esenaij when he's headed out to make trade with other tribes. Just for a little extra protection.”
Nomin glanced between the three of them before settling back on Barghujin. Tilting her head to the side, Nomin hummed in thought. Again, she looked between them and asked, “just the three of you?”
“Sometimes there are more of us! But this is just a delivery, and the most we need to look out for are probably just your average gedan pack, maybe some anala or manzasiri if we venture too far into the desert. So long as we don’t make them angry, we should be fine.” Barghujin chortled to themselves before reaching down and ruffling Nomin’s hair, much to her displeasure. “Don't you worry ‘bout a thing, little Nomin! Besides, with your own dagger on hand, I'm sure you'll be the one protecting us, eh?”
Smoothing out her hair, Nomin allowed an amused scoff to fall from her nostrils. A smile tugged at her lips. It was hard to stay annoyed with Barghujin when they seemed like this was just who they were: a very outgoing person who just liked talking and making friendly banter.
Plus, Nomin did have her own dagger! She was certain she could have at least done something with it!
“No more time to waste…” Esenaij spoke up, tossing one last bag into the back of the wain. He motioned to it once Nomin looked in his direction, torn from her thoughts. “If you're tagging along, hurry it up. I won't keep the wain here all afternoon. There's enough room for you to sit and lay down if you need to.”
“No room for me?” Bayarmaa asked in jest, placing her hands on her hips with a teasing look on her face. She was doing her best to keep her tone lighthearted to keep whatever disagreements they had in the past instead of souring the air once more. Though she then shrugged and chuckled. “But, if the room on the bed of the wain is better suited for Nomin, so be it! I'm happy enough to walk.”
“Good.” It was a simple response as Esenaij positioned himself into the harness to pull the wain. While fastening the straps to himself, he continued: “you had better be, all things considered.”
Nomin crawled into the back of the wain, situating herself among the produce that was planned to have been presented to the Dotharl. She did not want to well and truly test Esenaij's claim to venture forth without them. He certainly made no effort to wait in some cases in the past.
With everything packed and good to go, the journey to the site of the Dotharl started in earnest. Nomin admittedly was a bit too nervous to immediately strike up conversation with Esenaij for the start of the trip, though she enjoyed speaking with Barghujin and learning more about them. It was even more fun when Barghujin took the time to tell Nomin more about the upcoming season of spring and what to expect during the change of seasons for what the Sagahl are taught to forage for.
The more that Barghujin taught Nomin, the more that others joined in with little anecdotes and bits of their own advice about what types of vegetation were soon to start presenting the Steppe with their bounties. It was all to fill the otherwise silent venture, but Barghujin's enthusiasm seemed infectious. At least when it came to everyone other than Esenaij, who simply carried on, that stern expression ever present on his face. Though, that was simple enough to ignore, it seemed.
Three days into the trip, and the Sea of Blades finally started to transition from its verdant ocean of swaying grass to a more coarse and sandy spectacle. Nomin had seen the vast desert that donned the name ‘Nhaama’s Retreat’ once before that she could only scarcely remember. Its golden ivory sands stretched on and on, only cradled occasionally by the cliffs and mesas before they stopped, the sand seemingly stretching forever into the horizon.
“It's like it never ends!” Nomin exclaimed as she trotted alongside Bayarmaa. It had not been long that she departed the wain in order to exhaust her own energy and get it out of her system. Though with her exiting the wain, it seemed that Esenaij and the others had at least a good excuse to stop and recuperate for the time being.
“Some say it never does. Of course, those who travel Nhaama’s Retreat can assuredly say otherwise,” Bayarmaa replied, watching Nomin. “Try not to kick up too much of the sand though. You don't want it getting into your shoes.”
“Mhm!” Nomin was barely paying attention as she skipped ahead, giggling as the sand gave under her weight. She knelt down in the sand for a moment, running her fingers across the thousands upon thousands, if not millions upon millions of grains of sands. It felt good, feeling the warm and coarse sand underneath her fingertips -- it was hardly something she got to experience a lot, being more in the central plains of the Steppe.
While Nomin had been free to play in the sand away from everyone else, she was eventually called back to have some fruits and vegetables to help keep her energized for the rest of the journey ahead as well as make use of the provisions that had been brought before they went bad. Once she was snacking on some nuts and dried fruit pieces, Nomin sat on the back of the wain, her eyes scanning the desert sands. It remained barren for a time, at least until Nomin saw a traveling group of Xaela riding through the desert.
“Hm…” Keuken also took notice of the traveling group, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the beating sun. “Looks like the Urumet are making their way to their next migratory location now that the Naadam has come to a close.”
“Urumet? How can you tell from this distance? And who are the Urumet?” Nomin asked, continuing to eat her snacks while kicking her legs lightly off the side of the wain, her toes just barely scraping the top of the sand.
Keuken let a soft, amused huff out from his nose before he pointed a little past the front of the van. Crouching a bit so that he was more level with Nomin so that he could lead her eye, he made sure to direct her attention toward the riders who looked a little taller and oddly shaped. Keuken then said, “those members of the Urumet are carrying their elders upon their backs. They do this because the elders help see further so that nothing sneaks up on them, or so they can pick out a place for their migration site easier. Things like that.”
“Why don't we do that?” Nomin asked. Her question was met with a light chuckle from a couple of the others, which caused her tail to flick to the side slightly with a sense of annoyance and embarrassment. For a moment, she felt like the question she asked was not a good one.
“It’s taxing more than anything,” Barghujin replied, chuckling softly. Leaning on the side of the wain and displacing the weight somewhat, Barghujin shrugged and then shielded their eyes. “Besides, most elders have their eyesights starting to fail them if they need to be carried around like that. I’m not sure that relying on their eyes is too…well, reliable. Maybe the Urumet are different! Maybe they have better eyes!”
The comment elicited a couple chuckles from the others. Bayarmaa strode over, popping a piece of dried fruit into her mouth as she stared into the distance where the Urumet were traveling. She noted some of the members who were walking on foot. She was about to make a comment when Nomin asked yet another question.
“The children are carrying baskets on their backs, but it looks like some of them are struggling… What are they carrying that makes them look like that?” Nomin’s tone carried a sense of disbelief, and she looked over at Barghujin until she noticed Bayarmaa and looked at her instead for an answer.
“If I recall…some children train so that they can carry their elders on their backs one day when they're older. The woven baskets they carry are filled with bags of sand or grain. I think…sometimes stone, too.” Bayarmaa rolled her hand as she recalled what she could. “Seems too taxing to ask of children if you ask me, but some of the Urumet children I've seen in Reunion sometimes treat it like a game or competition.”
“But they'll be strong, surely?” Nomin replied, bringing another handful of nuts and fruit to her lips.
“If they train in moderation…” Daritai said, having finished his food and gotten his belongings put away to continue with travel. When Nomin looked over in Daritai's direction, she noticed him looking pointedly at Esenaij. “We've had plenty of experience watching people around us complain of poor back comfort for doing things for too long without proper rest and stretching that leads to constant back pain.”
It seemed Daritai's stare did not go unnoticed by Esenaij, either. Getting the harness of his wain situated back upon his person, Esenaij gave a ‘hmph’ before looking ahead once more. He did not start walking again, though he did say, “no need to look at me so intensely. If you have something to say, Daritai, say it. Though in this case, you need not worry about me. My back remains as strong as it ever has.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Daritai said with a dismissive shrug. “Let's hope it stays that way, then.”
With a final adjustment to his harness, Esenaij told Nomin to settle back onto the wain, all the while confirming with the others about continuing on till they had to stop for the night. Once everyone was ready to go and accounted for, it was on to traveling deeper through the desert.
