Starlight. Starbright. First Star I See Tonight. (Open)

[Haeli]

Timestamp: Midsummer
Time: Twilight
Location: On the back garden wall overlooking Lotus Street
Purpose: Social
Status: Open


Haeli missed the swamp. Sometimes the feeling of homesickness struck her at the oddest hours and most inconvenient times. Making friends here in Lhavit had been all but impossible. People were just too different. And tonight, even as the sunlight faded into twilight, Haeli found herself alone again. She wore a loose tunic and long leggings that were tucked into low kidskin boots. Perched upon the garden wall of All Things Wild overlooking the street that touched it behind the garden, Haeli was looking for familiar things - stars. At least here in Lhavit the stars were the same as they were in the Gyvaka. It was a warm clear night, one that promised a thousand stars to be out shining. She was just waiting for the first one to appear, the one that the old Dhani who raised her used to say was the magical one, the one she could make a wish upon.

Her wish was simple. She wanted a friend. She'd seen closeness in other humans, and had even felt it with Brig. But Kelvic bondings weren't often like human to human interactions, so judging life through the eyes of a kelvic was not something one could easily lend knowledge to the human world from. Haeli was having a hard time putting a finger on what was troubling her that night. She was lonely, true, but there were other things going on as well. She wanted to talk to someone, but her only prospects were Dor and Emeric, and she was loathed to bother her house guests because she was so very afraid she'd drive them off. Plus, she didn't know how to just simply start a conversation with them. She'd been tiptoeing around both of them, Dor because even though she was a kelvic she knew ten times more about what the world consisted of than Haeli did and that intimidated the girl. Emeric she avoided because she wanted to be around him, to listen to him talk and be in his presence, but she always felt like he had closely guarded secrets and she was intruding upon them each time she asked him what to her was a simple question like 'Whats that marking on your hand?'. He was a wanderer, a traveler, and he would leave sooner or later like the sailors that traded with Ozantha had. Besides, Emeric made her nervous on a level Dor didn't, in a way that Haeli knew meant trouble.

So as she tipped her chin to the sky and let her long dark blond hair fall around her face, she scanned the horizon and slowly darkening sky for the first star that would show its face that night. When a faint twinkling appeared near the horizon, Haeli smiled. Then she closed her eyes and made her wish.

A friend. A friend that would stay her friend a long while and help her to learn how to be friends. She poured the thought and energy into a chant that she recited carefully... making her wish known, casting her net of desire out into the universe. And so she sat up top the wall, chanting softly, eyes in the sky and a singular star reflected in her gaze.

[Aiko Killian]

'I need ta get more paint. As always-more ideas than materials!' She chuckled to herself and a smile flashed across her face. Aiko had no idea that she had bright orange paint slashed across one cheek and a dab of blue on the tip her nose. A half chewed pencil lead was tucked over one ear as the woman lost herself in the on coming night. This was the time she lived for for observing people. She breathed in the smell of twilight, immersing herself in the light dew breathing on her hair and skin. The warm air brought out the scents of hidden flowers caressed by velvet shadows and cloaked all forms in violet hues. A night bird called out sleepily to its mate and it gave a gentle trill of reply. Several different colored lamps winked on in the places she passed among the light flow of people. It was her favorite time and season and her snapping ebony eyes looked on it all with great pleasure. Her thoughts skipped along as lively as her pace. 'I need a place to people watch. It's far too nice out tonight to rush anywhere or hurry indoors. Maybe I'll sit beside All Things Wild a bit before going in. Never pass up an opportunity to meet your next inspiration!' Aiko noticed a woman with golden hair and peculiar eyes so she watched her first, before approaching. 'Oh maybe a smidgeon of yellow with emerald green to make that color eye..?' The woman she's spotted seemed a bit lost. No. Not lost, looking for something or someone. Her peculiar demeanor caught the young woman's curiosity. That and to get a better look at those eyes. Normally the Lhavitian woman kept her people watching to herself. On this night in particular, Aiko had to admit it was interesting to find someone else doing what -she- normally did. She crossed to the other side of Lotus street, her out of place kimono dragging the ground behind her until she stood before the golden haired woman. She bowed politely, remembering her manners at the last chime and introduced herself. "Hey there. I'm Aiko Killian. My friends call me Killian. Pleased to meetcha."

[Tamsin]

Tamsin had taken to walking in the night to familiarize herself with this city. Or, at least, to try to - it had two different personalities, it seemed. Every day showed her something new, and every day, she wished for the fog to part and impress upon her something she should know. She went from being an Eypharian that she was once, in her last reincarnation, to being Ethaefal when the Syna and Leth touched and said goodbye for bells more, until it was Syna’s turn to paint the sky. And when that time came, she returned to her more-mortal seeming. It was a strange pattern to get used to, but Tamsin knew that in an ever-changing world, one must adapt. The whispers that came in Leth’s light helped console her, reassure her that she was not the only one that found herself here on Mizahar.

She had more to do.

She wasn’t sure just what it was yet. But He had told her, and Tamsin trusted Him to guide her. Walking at night, under Leth’s light was invigorating, soothing, relaxing all at once. It made her feel warm and loved - she did not feel that cold loneliness that others may have - His words shielded her from that. Her walk was slow, deliberate as she let the sky guide her. The dark fabric that wrapped around her, covering her chest, midsection, and left shoulder left the bare milk-white skin of her white arm exposed. The cloth had been confusing at first, but she found wrapping herself with it instinctive. It would have been awkward to run in, but Tamsin never ran anywhere. Her long hair was loose tonight, long and black, only barely contrasting with the blue-black sari she wore, the silvery stars stitched within the pattern. The long locks framing her face were tucked behind her forest-green horns, but loosely enough to almost hide the silver ring on her forehead with its sliver of the moon inside of it. As always, she had no set path on her nightly promenade. She would see what she would see, she would meet whom she would meet, and she would learn and observe the world around her.

Tonight, her pathway led her down Lotus Street, listening to the sounds about her, one arm at her side, the other bent at the elbow over her midsection to help support the drape of pleated fabric. She could barely make out the soft words, repeated, that made something inside of her remember, something she couldn’t quite grasp. But it was familiar in some way she could not explain, and that in itself was a comfort. It drew her in, and she paused in the street when she arrived, looking at the young woman on the wall from whom the words seemed to have come from, and at the other woman now speaking to her. “Star light, star bright,” came the quiet voice, accompanied by the soft swish of silk as the cloth rustled while she moved, “first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight,” her words were in Common. “Is it the habit of everyone,” she asked the two women in an almost dreamy voice, her mismatched eyes alighting on them as she smiled faintly, “to wish upon the starlight?”

New beginnings. Renewal. Regrowth. Reflect on it.

[Haeli]

Haeli smiled. She shifted her position so she could bow to match Aiko Xu's and did the same without standing. "I'm Haeli. I just sat out here to watch the stars come out and the people awake. Would you like to join me?" She asked, offering her hand to help the girl climb the wall. It was irregular enough that even a lady in a fine kimono could actually navigate the stones to find a safe perch among the soft moss at its top.

If Aiko decided to climb up, Haeli would help her settle and then turn to stare at the stars again. "I was told once you could make a wish upon the first one you saw at night. A sailor told me that, one that stopped to trade twice a year. He asked me to make a wish and I did. I wished for cloth, new stuff, and he gave me green silk for the first time ever. I loved it. I've believed ever since. Tonight, with that one there, I wished for someone to talk to because today feels so lonely. I'm glad you came along. Do you think it is Zintila answering wishes?" Haeli asked, not knowing much about the Alvina of the Stars.

Another woman approached, one Haeli recognized as Eth for she'd met an Eth and had done business with one in her shop. The woman started out with six arms though, something Haeli had never seen, and then transitioned into a two-armed woman with incredible beauty and a set of horns beautiful enough to make the morpher want to study them intimately. She wore silk, of the type Haeli had just been speaking of, wrapped up and around her, barring one shoulder and gleaming with embroidery. The witch was enchanted, especially by the words - almost an incantation - the woman spoke as she approached the pair already staring at the sky.

"I did. I wished for company. And here you both are. What about you two? What would you wish for on the first starlight of the night?" Haeli asked, also beckoning the woman to join her up on the wall. The view of the city was spectacular from their vantage, one they could safely talk for hours from and watch the nighttime Lhavit crowd awake.

[Aiko Killian]

"Hi Haeli. Yea, I'll be up in a chime." Killian smiled, forgetting her kimono and its limitations until she tried to climb up the wall. She looked down at the constricting garment and frowned. She shrugged and hitched it up to her knees with one hand and took Haeli's hand with the other. "My mother got me this for my birthday coz she thought the colors would appeal to me. We had no idea how limiting it could be!" Once she'd managed to clamber up beside the woman, she looked around her--loving the view difference that height made. Killian studied Haeli's fascinating eye color as the woman talked to her. Of their own accord, her legs swung back and forth with idle energy. "I don't know many that would like to be lonely." The dark haired woman nodded at the question. "Definitely. I think Zintila answers everything we ask--we just might not always like the solution." She chuckled, taking an immediate liking to the woman's calm, friendly attitude. The artist stared with intense black eyes as Tamsin approached. She squinted as she took in each and every detail of expression, coloring, stance, and clothing. The colors were exquisite! She was a walking piece of art!! "I already got my wish if I'd made one--an inspiration for another painting! Is it too late to wish for endless supplies?" She replied, still boldly gazing at the beautiful Eth. Killian tilted her head to the side like a curious animal and thought for a moment. "Nope. Can't say I've ever wished on starlight itself before. Although, I keep up a running commentary with Zintila every night!" She laughed, the humor coloring her tone. "I'm Killian and she's Haeli. What's your name?"

[Tamsin]

The woman’s faint smile grew, reaching the mismatched eyes that only moments ago, had been a deep brown-black, making the little flecks of silver in them brighter, at the invitation to join the two of them on the wall. She didn’t hurry, but Aiko and Haeli surely got the feeling that she never hurried anywhere - she just took her time, like a boat gliding through still waters as she made her way towards the wall, her long hair blending in well with her sari.

Tamsin joined them on the wall, her sandaled feet peeking out from the pleated silk that draped around her body, and from under the skirt. It took her quite a while, more than it would have, she thought with a titch of amusement to herself, if she still had six arms. But for now, she would deal with two. The cloth had to be adjusted, her hair had to be adjusted, considering its length and thickness... She set about making herself comfortable on the wall on Haeli’s other side, giving the witch the opportunity to study, really study, those beautiful horns up close. They looked heavy, almost like the rest of her, seemingly made out of glassy stone. Maybe something like volcanic rock.

“The stars are beautiful,” she agreed serenely with Killian’s words, perhaps deliberately misunderstanding her. But Tamsin was modest - she couldn’t even begin to compare herself to the stars above, which were beginning to peek out, one by one by one. Soon, as the night darkened and the stars shone brighter, they would really shine, just like the embroidered stars set in the dark cloth she wrapped around her. Now that she was settled, her sari over one shoulder and her hair over another, the Ethaefal joined the other two women in looking up at the sky. “An open sky... to look at and wonder and dream... I’m sure that the stars look down at us. Maybe they wish upon us, the first person that they see.”

“Killian and Haeli,” she repeated, nodding slightly, the movement making the curved, forest-green horns bob slowly as she did so. “I am called Tamsin. I know that in another life, I was once called Tamsina, but now, I am Tamsin.” With her head tilted up, her hair fell back, revealing the silver circle emblazoned on her forehead, standing out despite her white skin. Her eyes closed, as if she was drinking in the light from above. She considered the question, though the answer did not take her too long. “I would wish for more of my memories,” she opened her eyes again, her gaze still on the stars above, waiting, watching, for something, for someone, before she looked up at the moon, her smile perhaps a bit wistful. “Not all of them. They will come when He wills it. But I wish to know,” she looked at the other two, then, “of all that has happened. To know why.”

[Haeli]

Haeli hoisted Killian up onto the wall one-handed frowning at the layers of silk she wore. "You'll ruin your lovely clothes." She said absently, while not pausing in hauling the girl up. Something in her voice seemed to say she disliked things that limited her movements as much as Killians robes limited hers. Pants, or better yet, no clothing at all, was far better in Haeli's mind.

Once the girl was settled, Haeli smiled at her and listened to her answers. She nodded at the others words, agreeing, then turned to study the view as well. "You are a painter? I didn't know people painted until I watched a priest work on something called a mural at the temple. I went every day for a long while until he was done. He called me devote, but I was just interested in how he was making the wall come alive." She said with a smile. "I still don't know what devote means, but he sure was impressed that I was." Haeli said with a chuckle.

The new commer was introduced before Haeli could say anything, so she smiled and offered yet another hand down to the woman. "The Stars are beautiful, yes... my mentor told me they held places like this in their arms with other people and other lands. I don't think she was serious though." Haeli added. "Nice to meet you Tamsin. Why do you not have memories? All of us should, of all the steps we've walked in life, of all the promises we've made, and all the laughter and danger we've shared." Haeli said, certain of this.

But Tamsin was talking of something else - something Haeli wanted to know about. "Will you explain?" She asked.

[Aiko Killian]

"Ruin...?" Killian was puzzled for a moment and looked down at her kimono as if someone else were wearing it. "I forgot I had it on when I went out." The brunette tilted her head to one side, listening to the cadence of Haeil's voice. The pitch seemed to say more than her words and she wondered what it was. She nodded at the question and watched Haeli's features in the play of light and shadow dancing across her forehead, nose and chin. The hair seemed several shades of golden-as unique as her eyes. Killian joined in a chuckle at Haeli's comment. "You actually got to see a priest at work on a mural?! It must've been beautiful to witness first hand! The priests are very skilled aren't they? Devote? Devout? Devoted?" she shrugged, not one to pick apart words. "It means really dedicated to something. Maybe the priest thought you were there for religious devotion?" She smiled in encouragement as she waited for Tamsin to get comfortable and shifted her artist's perspective to the Ethaefal of stunning coloration. The planes of her face were gently softened but still distinct and clearly outlined. Her hair was long and the texture was so....different! The sari's material looked both soft and lovely. The more Killian looked, the more she saw, and she found Tamsin's calm, serene movements fascinating. The young woman bit her lip, trying not to ask and say everything she wanted to. She couldn't imagine someone not having memories! How do you get anything done if you don't know how, with who or when? Was it lonely? Is Tamsin sad?

[Tamsin]

“I do not know,” she shook her head slightly, making the starlight reflect from her forest-green horns, and her long black hair move in ripples, like water in the pond. “I do not know why I fell. I understand that I am called an Ethaefal now. I fell from the Ukalas, where the chosen of the gods reside,” she sounded slightly dreamy, wistful, as she spoke about it. She couldn’t remember it - she couldn’t get more than vague pictures, scant memories about her time there, almost always, they came from being under the moonlight. That He helped her remember. They were important, somehow, she knew, but time and introspection would tell her more.

Reflect on it.

“I find that I do not remember what I know that I should. They will come or they will not. Perhaps it is better this way... You cannot lose what you do not have, can you? If I could remember more, perhaps I would regret my circumstances now.” She was contemplative, thoughtful. “But I trust in Him. He will guide me. He always has...” Tamsin took a moment, gathering her thoughts, finding it not at all strange what she was telling to people who had been, mere moments ago, complete and total strangers. “Long ago, before the sundering, I was an Eypharian. My name was Tamsina. This, I know,” she didn’t fidget, kick or jiggle her legs or shift her weight. She wasn’t in any hurry. “I lived in Ahnatep, one of our cities there. I became a champion of Leth. When I finished in that life, Dira brought me to the Ukalas. I resided there until the first of this season... when I fell into the Tranquil Bay from the sky.” Those words were what she held onto - she believed what Leth had told her in the water with all her soul. “He promised me that I was not forsaken. That I have a reason to be here now. I will understand in time. I call myself Tamsin, because I am no longer fully Tamsina.”

She hadn’t forgotten Haeli’s request for clarification, though it took her a little longer to put that into words. “I wish to know what happened to the world, the sundering... and why it became this way. I do not think it was this like this before... but it has been a long time since I dwelled here last. Maybe it was always this way, and I did not realize it...” She wasn’t above thinking that it was perhaps some oversight that she herself had committed. “But I do not think it was. It feels different now. Maybe because I do not feel the desert heat on my skin. Maybe because we are so high up on the mountains. But I believe it is more than that. That something greater than this, all of this, has changed, for better or for worse.” She looked at Haeli and Killian, smiling a bit. “Do I speak sense?”

When you wish upon a star...

[Haeli]

Haeli nodded, not being able to help but smile at the new girl. She was infectious and happy, someone Haeli wanted to talk too. Some of the Lhavitians were so reserved. "I did. I saw him carrying all his paints and brushes in one day and helped him move them. Then I never really left but visited every day. I brought him a mixture made of distilled and fermented wheat that cleans his brushes better than he could with just water. But he still called me devote. I think its a slang name or a criticism." Haeli offered, smiling at the new girl before turning her gaze to glance out over the vista. She loved Lhavit and its beauty. She wondered if the people all around her understood what they saw as well and recognized it for its magnificence too.

Haeli laughed. "I was dedicated! To seeing him paint. It was like nothing I've ever seen before." She said, pleased her name wasn't slang for something bad.

"Have you watched painting before, Killian? I want to try it sometime, but I have a feeling I won't do very well unless its all one color and on a wall. That man made the ceiling and wall live, like a God creating a new world. I was humbled by his gifts." She said thoughtfully. Humbled was a good word, watching the sunset and the stars claim their places in the sky.

Then it was Tamsin's turn to talk.

Haeli marveled at her. Tamsin was one of those people that when she did decide to talk, which wasn't a lot, people stopped and listened to her. Haeli heard a whole host of things she didn't understand, but listened anyhow, making notes to herself to look next time she was at the library and find out what Tamsin was talking about. She didn't want to embarrass herself by asking first and foremost what a fall was or what the Ukalas was.

One thing she did appreciate though was that Tamsin was a follower of ... Leth? She only guessed that because of how Aestin' had introduced himself and how the talked about Syna and that his people were both of Syna and Leth. That meant Tamsin needed to be of Leth then, and more magical at night than in the day. "Faith is important." Haeli stated, appreciating Tamsin's words perhaps more than someone just casually listening would. Haeli spoke of Caiyha the same way and her gratitude at her Goddess. In that they had something in common.

Haeli snuck a glance at Killian. She wondered what the girl believed thought and who she worshiped. "Do you follow someone?" Haeli asked quietly at the girl when Tamsin ahd stopped speaking for a moment. The question was almost a whisper.

But the Ethaefal had more to add, and Haeli turned her attention back to Tamsin for a moment.

"You make sense to me. I recently came from the Swamp. I came here because it was time to move. I just knew it in my heart. And though it all feels so strange, it feels right as well. You make perfect sense." Haeli affirmed.

She turned her eyes out over the deepening twilight. "Such beauty. I'm glad to have company to admire it with. I wish I could play music or sing so then I could play something to honor the Sun departing and the Moon arising. There should be some sort of ceremony here, daily, to say hello and goodby at each transition." Haeli admitted, looking thoughtful. Instead, she reached out and took Killian's hand and one of Tamsin's... which had gone from six to two (much to Haeli's relief) so she could squeeze them and honor the transition that way.