Ekaitza Dolrin

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Ekaitza Dolrin
Eh-KITE-sa
Created by Alianora
Information
Gender Female
Occupation Novice
Affiliation The Grey Tower
Nationality Murandian

Ekaitza Dolrin is a Tuatha'an Novice of the Grey Tower.

Description

Ekaitza is a woman of strong emotions and quick temper, traits she's had to struggle with all her life as one of the Tuatha'an. Despite this, she deeply loves her family and her people, and works hard to stay true to the Way of the Leaf. Her greatest difficulty with this occurs when any member of her band is threatened, as she feels fiercely protective of them all. In such situations, Ekaitza will run away as she's been taught, keeping herself apart from everyone until she can trust herself not to lash out in anger, but it has never felt quite right to her.

That strict control she has had to learn allows her to appear confident and capable in front of most others. Only her parents and close friends know that beneath the surface, Ekaitza is often nervous and worried about what other people think of her. She takes criticism poorly and personally and can be moody and sullen after receiving it. When she is especially unhappy, Ekaitza becomes withdrawn and contemplative, wondering what life is like for people who don't adhere to the Way of the Leaf. She isn't yet comfortable with questioning it too far, but part of her longs for a purpose to her life that goes beyond the search for the Song.

Ekaitza is neither especially tall nor especially short and is thin, but not skinny. She leaves her golden blonde hair long, almost to her waist, and usually allows it to flow loose down her back. She has a high, wide forehead and a small, rounded chin. Her eyes are large and light blue, and make her look younger than her fifteen years. She moves with the grace of a dancer. Like most Tuatha'an, Ekaitza loves color, and prefers to wear bright, contrasting shades. Her opinion of the white a novice wears is perhaps better left unsaid.

Biography

Ekaitza came into the world shrieking at the top of her infant lungs, something which her parents will later look back at as the first hint at their only child's personality. As a baby, she cried often and loudly, and as a toddler, she was a bit of a terror to her peaceful community. As so many young children do, Ekaitza would resort to hitting and even biting to get her way, and nobody outside her family could handle her behavior. She might have grown into a difficult and unlikeable girl if it hadn't been for her parents' calm patience with her. From them, with assistance from her aunt and uncle, Ekaitza learned first what would and would not be permitted, and when she was older, why. She grew into a child who did her best to obey, with little resemblance to her younger, wilder self. This didn't mean that Ekaitza was never tempted to scream at someone who'd upset her, or to stomp her feet in a tantrum, but that her parents's instruction had taught her to manage her own behavior by separating herself from the group until she calmed down.

It also helped that they'd encouraged her to make friends with her cousin Saralin, who was a year older and of a much more mild temperament than Ekaitza would ever be able to claim. The older girl was a good influence on Ekaitza, so mild mannered that Ekaitza could never find a reason to be angry with her. They grew up together, later accompanied by Saralin's two little sisters, spending their days playing and doing chores, and evenings dancing by the fire.

By the time they were young women, Saralin had developed into the very image of a good Tuatha'an woman, seemingly incapable of even thinking of hurting someone else. The same could never be said of Ekaitza, who had begun to fear that she would one day make a mistake she would not be able to undo. The worry had set in one day when her father had returned from working in a nearby village with a black eye and bruises, injured by the man he'd been working for, who had not wanted to pay what he'd owed. Looking at her father's eye filled Ekaitza with a fury such as she hadn't experienced since she was small, and she'd spent an entire evening away from their camp, trying to talk herself out of it. Despite everything she'd ever been taught about how violent action would harm herself as much as her target, Ekaitza couldn't rationalize why her father should not have defended himself. While she did manage to tire herself enough to calm down, Ekaitza returned with anger still simmering within her, and the question she'd asked continued to haunt her.

Still, the Tuatha'an woman never once considered leaving the wagons. Her life was all she knew, and she wasn't unhappy with it. She expected to continue living as she had since she was born, until the night screams woke her from her sleep. Looking around, Ekaitza noticed that her parents were not in their bed, and rushed outside to see what was happening. What she saw was a chaotic scene of fleeing Tuatha'an being set upon by figures on horseback, some attacking her people, and others carrying everything they could out of the wagons as the Tuathan'an offered little resistance. She saw her parents standing back against the wall of their own, defending it with their bodies. She would have joined them if she hadn't picked out the cries of her younger cousins as the girls stumbled out of the wagon next to her family's. Ekaitza rushed to them, ushering them away as she wondered where her aunt, uncle, and Saralin had gone.

She stopped a short distance from the camp, but within sight of it, positioning herself in front of the younger girls. Though she didn't see her aunt or uncle, Ekaitza immediately noticed Saralin's black hair streaming behind her as one of the attackers dragged her by the arm. She yelled her cousin's name, fighting against every instinct she had that suggested she should do something....but there was nothing she could do without breaking the Way of the Leaf. She shook with anger, clasping her hands together to keep them from curling into fists with the younger girls watching her. At any other time, Ekaitza would have run away, but she couldn't leave her cousins alone.

She hated feeling so helpless, barely able to contain her emotions, and she couldn't take her eyes off of Saralin. Unfortunately, that gave Ekaitza a very clear view of the fire that streaked from her cousin's open hand towards the man who had hold of her. She hissed at the younger girls to close their eyes as the man burned, screaming, and Saralin fell to the ground. Seeing what had happened to their companion, the thieves fled with what they had. Part of Ekaitza wanted to rush to her friend's side, but shock kept her feet rooted where she stood. Saralin....Saralin was Lost.

The wagons turned towards Hama Valon the next morning, and Saralin slept in Ekaitza's bed. Ekaitza's mother had offered to look after her niece for the journey, knowing her sister would be too overwhelmed to handle her eldest daughter along with the two younger girls. Saralin hardly left the bed all day, and didn't say a word even though Ekaitza sat beside her,talking to her for most of it. Whatever Saralin had done...she was still Ekaitza's cousin, her closest friend. Ekaitza dreaded the day when they would arrive and abandon Saralin to an uncertain future.

Another night and much of a day passed in much the same way before Saralin turned her head towards Ekaitza late one evening. She studied Ekaitza with pale blue eyes, the same exact shade as Ekaitza's own, before she spoke. "Ekaitza, I'm so scared," she whispered. "I know I can't stay with what I've done....but I don't want to leave."

Tears welled up in Saralin's eyes, and Ekaitza reached for her cousin's hand. "It will be all right," Ekaitza said. The words sounded hollow even to her ears; she had no way of knowing if that would be true. Saralin sniffled. "Mother told me she won't even write to me. I know what I did was terrible, but I just....I don't want to be all alone."

The words leapt from Ekaitza's mouth before she had a chance to rethink them. "I could come with you," she offered. "You wouldn't be alone then." Saralin shook her head. "You can't channel." she pointed out. "And....I don't want you to be Lost too."

Ekaitza shrugged. "I won't be," she said. "I can keep the Way of the Leaf...find work somewhere.....and I'd visit you as often as I could." Saralin opened her mouth, Ekaitza suspected to protest, so she kept talking before her cousin could object. "You know I've been thinking about the Way....that I have questions I can't seem to find the answer to....it might be good for me to spend some time living away from the wagons."

Saralin sniffled. "Just....promise you'll keep the Way." she said. "I couldn't bear it if you became Lost because of me."

"I promise," Ekaitza said quietly. Climbing onto the bed, Ekaitza laid down and wrapped her arms around the other girl. Saralin yawned, closing her eyes, and Ekaitza blinked her own.Whatever awaits us....we'll face it together, she thought to herself as her eyes closed. At peace with her decision, Ekaitza drifted to sleep, as ready as she could be for whatever both of their futures held.

Career History

  • Novice (5 December 2021)