#zhloe at least taught arsay how important menphina was

[wildstar25]

idle thought: when did Arsay first find out about huntspeak? About it being an old traditional miqo'te thing etc? (also how does she feel about the whole idea of miqo'te tradition stuff just generally, is it something she's curious about, something she wishes she'd learned about growing up, or is she largely indifferent about the whole being miqo'te-ness, her place in the whole keeper-seeker dichotomy and all that?)

Oh great question! Well, she sure as hell did not learn it from Emrara. Despite traveling with Arsay's parents for X number of years, Emrara never really picked up that much knowledge about Miqo'te tribe culture and customs. I think Arsay would have first heard traditional Miqo'te huntspeak during her first trip to the Forgotten Springs while she searched for the former company of hero's member U'odh Nunh. Most likely she overheard some of the huntresses chattering to each other about a pack of sand worms roaming too close to camp. She was definitely curious but felt strange asking about it directly, so she kept to herself and carried on her task of earning a favour for the U tribe Nuhn.

This is a common trend for Arsay and learning about the culture. She's so curious, she wants to know so much, but its difficult for her to broach the topic. Not only does she not even know what she doesn't know, there's also lot of hesitancy to "outting" herself as an ignorant miqo'te. Like, every Miqo'te she interacts with treats her like a normal person, they assume she has a similar experience, base knowledge, etc. She doesn't want to risk breaking that illusion, she doesn't want to be seen as an outsider instead of a peer. So she doesn't question. She nods when people assume she's from the shroud, because I guess technically she is?? on her mom's side? She doesn't want to give them an opening to scrutinize or reject her for being different. She had enough of that growing up. Arsay loves being a Miqo'te. She loves her fluffy tail, her sharp teeth, being able to see so well in the dark, how easy it is for her to climb trees, hear from such long distances away. But she's never fully felt like a miqo'te. She doesn't feel tethered to Azyma or Menphina. Despite learning her father was from the U tribe, she doesn't consider them family. She wanders through the black shroud a stranger, wondering if she'll ever into another keeper with the same family name as her. She doesn't really know if she needs miqo'te tradition in her life, but she wonders if knowing something might make her feel a little more whole. That's why it made such an impact to befriend G'raha when she did. When he talked about his difficulties growing up away from his tribe, being bullied for his heterochromia (something that is generally seen auspicious in seeker culture actually!), it made Arsay feel safe enough to reveal she grew up outside of a traditional Miqo'te clan. They bonded over how little they knew about themselves. Even when Arsay asked a dumb question, he explained what he could without making her feel bad. This is when she probably would have asked him about huntspeak as well. A great lead up to G'raha teaching Arsay how to shoot a bow and arrow the way he was taught before being sent away.

And a similar connection point happened again when Arsay found out Y'shtola also grew up isolated from her tribe. Granted Y'shtola still knew a hell of a lot more than Arsay ever could, but it was something. A bit of security that Arsay didn't have to save face all the time

Now a days, Arsay's learned quite a lot from both her seeker partners and it's made her really happy! She's much more comfortable being a miqo'te living outside of tradition, especially since she feels like she's made her own tribe that can have it's own customs (even if some are technically south seas lalafel).

#Arsay Nun #Arsay Nun lore #sorry for rambling I do think about this kinda thing for her though #again its always so nice to me that she made a family with miqote who are also disconnected from tradition in a sense #but I think shtola and raha share their tribe culture with her openly #and i do think zhloe taught her some basic stuff on keeper traditions after they got really close with custom deliveries #zhloe at least taught arsay how important menphina was #but zhloe also reads as someone who grew up in a mixed race settlement and not so much the shroud so im not sure she even knows that much