Culture Shock - 4. The Dance begins

Geh-tril-pah'o stomped across the field, looking desperately for Elder Ol-ya-trin. The added distance between himself and Wind Dancer Bah't didn't have the calming effect he had hoped for. Each step added to his frustration, increased his anger, stoked his fury. By the time he finally found the Elder, she had enough time to try and think of something soothing to say. The anger radiating out from the man was evident enough to cause anyone even remotely in his path to run away and hide behind anything larger than a blade of grass.

Ol-ya-trin experienced a wide range of emotions while watching the younger man make his way across the fields and between the massive ships that the Wind Dancers used to Dance across the sky. Even the other Dancers shied away from the elemental force of chaotic rage.

The truly unfortunate part of the whole event was the distance that allowed the Elder to finally end her emotional ride in an amused state. Snarling at leaves that the wind dared to throw at him and swatting at stray flies as they had the temerity to approach him only made the absurdity of the whole thing even more humorous.

Ol-ya-trin knew that if she wasn't able to get her mirth under control she would only make things worse. Laughing in the face of Geh-tril-pah'o in this state would only antagonize him further, making it harder to calm him down. In an attempt to get herself under control, the Elder began reviewing in her head the revisions needed to ensure that sewage pits would not overflow in the upcoming rainy season. She tried to clench her hands hard enough to drive the nails into the delicate flesh of her palms. She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. Nothing worked.

As Geh-tril-pah'o approached her, the Elder finally lost all control and collapsed on the dusty ground and dissolved into gales of hysteria. Even though she knew that her laughter was only making the situation worse, she could not help herself. Her finger-nail-dented palms slapped the ground, raising tiny dust devils to swirl around the helpless Elder. Looking up at the irate man standing with his hands on his hips and a ferocious snarl on his face was the final straw. The Elder's bones apparently dissolved and she began rolling around on the ground until she started choking uncontrollably and her stomach began to burn.

Everyone around wanted to stop doing their tasks and watch what was about to transpire but they were afraid to. They were afraid that to do so would bring them to the attention of the almost-homicidal man that was towering over the helpless Elder and had caused her humorous breakdown.

Sensing a prime event about to occur, the Seer Kla-por'o'a'o arrived breathless from her mad dash across the village. Worry overtook her as she saw the Elder rolling on the ground at the feet of the tower of fury standing over her. At first she thought that blows had dropped the Elder to the ground and she was writhing in agony, tears rolling down her face. After watching for a few seconds, and realizing that the “tears” and “wailing” were caused by laughter, the Seer started to chuckle herself.

A primal yell surged across the fields, causing small birds to take wing and fly away in terror. People now gave up the pretence of working and simply turned to stare at the drama about to erupt. Silence fell on the usually noisy field.

The Seer helped the Elder regain her feet, trying to brush off some of the dust that covered the Elder's clothing. Geh-tril-pah'o realized that he looked like a fool and tried to calm himself down. He bowed his head and mumbled through tightly clenched jaws 'Forgive me Elder, I have allowed my anger to get the best of me.'

The Elder tried to control the hiccups that plagued her after the hysterical laughter started to subside. She waved her hand at the young man and finally was able to croak 'What has Bah't done now?'

'Elder, I understand that Bah't is the Council of the Elder's chosen Wind Dancer but at times he is such a pompous jack ass and I would like to smack him so hard his eye lashes fall off!'

That choice of wording was enough to start the Elder laughing again. Torn between the ingrained respect for all Elders and the need to scream and yell, Geh-tril-pah'o simply walked away and flopped down in the shade of a tree that was lining the perimeter of the field.

Withing a few more minutes the Elder had recovered sufficiently to be able to approach the outraged man and sit down carefully beside him. The Elder ended up having to clear her throat several times to get his attention. The man looked around sheepishly, carefully avoiding the gaze of the Elder.

'Care to tell me about it now that you've had a chance to cool off a bit?'

After a few deep breaths, the story was finally conveyed. Bah't had decided that he didn't like the rigging on his new ship and there was simply no way that he would accept the fact that the new style of rigging was much superior to the antiquated rigging style. 'Bah't stopped me on the way for him to vent his frustrations out on.'

The Elder sighed, having heard all of this before. 'I know that it's hard on you, watching Bah't Dance knowing that you're no longer sharing a part of his life. Ever since the two of you stopped being a couple you have both gone out of your way to make the other one miserable.' Ol-ya-trin held up her hand, forestalling anything the young man could have said. 'I know that you two were together for a long time, but you have to face the fact that sometimes people change, emotions evolve. Sometimes when those emotions evolve what you thought was love turns out to be infatuation at the best and plain lust at the worst. There is nothing harder than to admit to yourself that you did not do anything wrong to destroy the relationship.' She smiled warmly at the young man as he dropped his head into his hands and started to sob. She reached out and started to rub his shoulder, letting him know that she was there to listen as a friend.

'Come on, I think we're both done here for the day. How about we kill the afternoon playing kfara?'