[The Stone Garden] The Dilemma (Closed)

[Yve]

Winter 29, 511 AV Yve was sitting on a bench at the edge of the garden. Her face was pinched in disappointment as she looked out at the little sea of stones in front of her. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and blew a loose lock of hair out of her face. She had scoured most of the city all day, studying as many people as possible, hoping to feel... something. But every time, there was nothing. She was excited at being in the city for the first time, but that excitement was wearing off. She was glad for her new things though. She'd put on her new pants a while ago, and was fiddling with the hilt of her knife absently as she thought. She knew she'd know when she had found That Person. It would feel like when she had been home, with her old family. Warm and complete. Even though she'd only been in the city for about a day, she was beginning to feel certain that this was not the place for her to find That Person. It was only afternoon though, and she was no seer. Yve decided she would stay in the garden until sunset, then go looking in the streets again until nightfall. If by then she hadn't found what she was looking for, she would set out and travel through the night. She'd decided she would return to the wildlands for a while. It had been nearly a year since she'd been to the beautiful, familiar region of her childhood. It was starting to feel like the time to go back. Yve slid her knife into her waistband at her hip. She rested her chin in her hand and watched the few people walking through the garden, noting with annoyance that she didn't feel the twinge she was so hungry for. Her eyes swept across the beautiful stones lining the ground, back and forth until her eyes glazed over, her mind starting to wander outside the city walls to far off places. She thought of random things; rabbits one second, then the different trees she'd slept in, and so on. Her eyes closed and she sat there, daydreaming about anything and everything, waiting semi-patiently for the evening.

[Lucas Arias]

The day had been just like the last one. Exhausting sword practice, a little riding lesson and a long lecture about all the rules that governed the life of the Syliran Knights. Truth to be told, Lucas was getting a little tired of the whole knight business. He knew that what the knights did was important and that they protected everybody – without them the city would be a completely different place, but he wasn’t any good at obeying orders. The world had so much more to offer than going on patrols and occasionally sticking your sword into something or somebody while pretending to be disgustingly noble. Maybe he’d run away to Zeltiva or Alvadas or another place where he could live the way he wanted!

His knight had sent him to the Stone Garden to meditate and think about all the knights that had given his life so that he, Lucas, could live in relative safety and complain about everything, but Lucas wasn’t in the mood to think about such depressing things. He had decided to go to the Stone Garden because his knight was the king of man that might actually check if he was really there, but he had tucked a book and a bit of paper under his arm. He still needed to finish that drawing he was working on (a drawing of a kelvic in the middle of her change, somewhere halfway between human woman and bird).

And the book? That contained all the knights‘ dirty little secrets according to the slightly suspicious looking man he’d gotten it from …

He sat down on the bench that was next to Yve‘s. Short, with fiery red hair, freckles and wearing somewhat mismatched clothes (to spite his knight who always told him to wear decent clothes as he was a future knight) he didn’t look at all as if he could be that person. It didn’t exactly help that he put his feet on the bench to sit more comfortably either or that he blushed and laughed out loud as he leafed through his book.

[Yve]

Her daydreams had taken yet another veering turn; thoughts of wings and hunting danced in her mind. The sound of nearby laughter though, pulled her from her mind's wanderings. She noted hadn't been long since she took to daydreaming, which displeased her. Time seemed to be moving slower in her boredom. She sat up straight and turned her head to the young man sitting a few feet away; she hadn't even notice him sit down. Yve's eyes were first drawn to his clothes. She'd seen many people and they almost always matched their things, unlike him. But it was of no matter to her, she didn't care about such silly things as the humans did. She studied the rest of him curiously. His hair made the top of his head look like it was set aflame, and his cheeks were red too. Maybe he was catching a fever. It was winter after all, and the nip in the air could easily chill a person. "Hello," she said, smiling warmly. She decided to be blunt. "Your face is rather red, you know. Are you alright? If you're catching something I could escort you to a physician." Though I don't know where one is, she thought. While she was chattering she stood on her bench, stepped over the gap to his, and sat on her heels. She was closer than most stangers usually get, but personal space was a mystery to her.

[Shylar]

OOCI hope you don't mind me joining in? Shylar had been wandering the city for about an hour now. In her hand was an apple that she'd been given by one of her father's friends, Mikal. The man sold mostly groceries and was more like an uncle to her. He'd mentioned about looking for a job. The last money she'd made after her trip with her dearest dad was going to start running out if she wasn't careful and she needed to buy some more furniture for her spartan but messy home. She shrugged it off as if it would be fine. But the truth was that he was right. Shy shifted her shoulder slightly and pulled her backpack so it moved to a different part of her small frame, her hand reaching around the strap to hold it in place. Hidden inside it was the massive tome that her last teacher had given her, or at least, told her to read. It was very interesting but learning reimancy on your own was hard still. Her left hand pulled down the white shirt, ensuring it was still straight before pulling her cloak back tight around her. Her wandering took her to the Stone Garden. Her eyes softened as she entered. Every time she walked in to the gardens she could feel the reverence that took place here. She stopped at the edge of the stones, bowing her head as she made a quick prayer to the Gods in thanks for all the Knights had done. A satisfied smile crossed her face as she looked up. The movements of Yve caught her eye as she perched on the end of bench that Lucas lounged on. She had seen Lucas once or twice at the Training Grounds but she'd never spoken to him. Thinking of the tome in her pack, she settled on a bench across from them and observed. pulling out her own book, she used it as a cover to watch them. Her right hand reached upwards once more, fingers playing with her hair. She began to focus specifically on Lucas because she felt it was more polite that this other girl, even though she was probably more interesting. Slowly, she began to see the slight wisps of smoke that made up his aura.

[Xenalia]

OOCHey mind if i join in?

Xenalia sighs as she enters the rock garden. Ooooh...It's pretty in here...Okay..So i was told these stones represent fallen knights..I wonder if it would be rude to ask.. She's obviously in slight awe of the stone garden. She crouches down and inspects the first stones she sees that have and don't have a name. Would it be bad to touch one..?...Yeah probably..Okay..I'll just leave it alone then. She grins to herself, murmuring "Pretty" softly to herself.

She starts to look around at the bigger picture of the garden, the artistic arrangements, the people here, the paths winding course through a sea of stones, everything catches her eyes for atleast a few moments. Once she's seen everything she sits down for abit to take it all in, and then moves on to the next little area. She eventually comes across the group, and is very curious as to what people do in the garden so she sits one bench away from the girl with the big book. There's no way she has that big an attention span to read it all..unless there's paintings...like..alot..Well, no, there's no way I have enough attention span to read all that..

She nod politely to the girl. Then watches the two, not hiding it, or caring, she's too intrigued to remember other people arn't as open with everything as her people. Her gaze wanders all over, but is mostly focused on Lucas and Yve. There is no way that that can be meditating..I've never done it before..but that Can not be what meditating is like. She sighs to herself and just watches, amused.

[Lucas Arias]

As Yve adressed him Lucas rolled his eyes and looked at her as if she had just said something incredibly stupid. „I’m alright“, he informed her matter of factedly. „More than alright in fact. I’m just a little frustrated, but that doesn’t have anything to do with my physical wellbeing and can thus be ignored. If you really are worried about the color of my face, it’s currently winter, and your face would be a little red as well if you had read what I have just read.“ He nodded towards his book that contained a few awfully embarrassing or downright stupid passages.

He wanted to add another sentence or two to his monologue when it occurred to him that she was sitting much closer to him now. Was she really worried about him or had she only asked him if he was alright so that she could get closer to him? She was sitting awfully close to him. Not that he minded – she was a pretty girl – but still, normally girls didn’t sit so close to him, smiled at him and pretended to be all concerned. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do now.

One thing was clear though. He would definitely not let her read his book. Pretty girls usually didn’t like scandalous stories about knights. That would quickly put an end to whatever interest she might have in him.

It was then that it occured to him that they seemed to have attracted the attention of other people for some reason that he couldn’t really figure out. „Your friends?“ he asked and nodded towards Shylar and Xenalia.

[Yve]

That definitely wasn't what she expected. Her smiled faltered and quickly dimmed to a small frown. She moved back uncertainly, perching at the edge of the bench, on her toes. "That's not true. Seeing as how I can't read.." she mumbled. "But I can count!" she added defensively. That was a touchy subject for her. Her mother knew how to read and write a little, but Yve never learned. It had always slipped her mind to ask. "Plus, if I could read, you don't know how I would react. Maybe I should assume that you are rude to strangers who take an interest in your well being. Oh wait, you are." Her voice cracked slightly as her throat tightened. Don't to it, she thought vehemently, feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes. One thing Yve didn't like about her human body was how easily she cried. It hurt her throat and eyes, and made her face blotchy. She had never been good at controlling that reaction to her emotions. Her mother had told her she used to cry over very little things, but that it wasn't a bad thing. She said it was a sign that someone had a big heart. Knowing that didn't make her throat hurt any less though. So Yve gritted her teeth and furrowed her brows, itching at one eye in annoyance, pretending like something had blown into it. Once she was pretty sure she wouldn't cry like an idiot, she stropped her scratching and looked at the new girls sitting around the courtyard. "They're not my friends. This is my first time in the city." But I bet they'd be less confrontational, she thought dismally. Who would've thought her first real try for conversation in this city would turn out so bad. She definately made a better owl than a human.

[Shylar]

The more she focused on Lucas, the more smoke could be seen emanating from his form. She watched it twirl and flicker in an arcane wind that she could not perceive. Shylar was not very skilled at Auristics but that was why she was practising. Much like her Reimancy and Morphing, the more she practised the better she would get. She wasn't particularly frustrated by the time it took, it was just inconvenient. She could catch a mixture of emotions flowing from the aura but nothing she could really make out right now. It was not a case of ignoring Xenalia but that all her senses were focused in to her Auristics right now. Shy had to focus fully just to get even the barest information about a person from her skill. She wasn't particularly discrete about the skill either. as she continued to focus she got the strong sense of irritation from Lucas as he turned his head to her. Though curiously she caught something else in his aura. Something wild and untamed. A Kelvic? She didn't think any squires were Kelvics. She snapped back to the physical world and looked down at her book, blushing fiercely. She didn't catch what Lucas said but she caught Yves words. It was almost a shrill cry. It was then she remembered what her tutor had said. "People have auras that can extend a good distance from them. If they are close together, you will probably see the same aura from two people." She thought he was being a little romantic at the time but this was what he meant. So then the fiery girl must be a Kelvic. Were they bonded? Can an aurist perceive that connection? Shylar's curiosity peaked now, she couldn't help herself. She closed the book and slid it back in her backpack before wandering over to Yves and Lucas. Her face lit up with a soft smile as she approached to show she wasn't nervous. Yet her hand reached to toy with a lock of blonde hair cast over her shoulder while her bright eyes showed a little apprehension. "Excuse me, I couldn't help noticing but is one of you a Kelvic?"

[Lucas Arias]

„Oh, petch“, Lucas murmurred as Yve moved back again, as if he’d only now realized what he had said and that practically calling her an idiot wasn’t the best way to start a conversation with her. „I didn’t know that you can’t read. It’s great that you can at least count. A lot of people can’t even do that! I wasn’t rude on purpose. I was just …“ He broke off because he didn’t really have a good apology, besides he wasn’t all that sorry anyway. He only acted the part, as always, and there was still a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice.

If Yve had been a boy, he would probably have happily continued the same way as before, but he couldn’t do that to a girl. A pretty girl. Besides, girls that seemed on the verge of tears and acted all offended made him a little uncomfortable. He also found her behaviour annoying. He just wanted her to stop.

„Look, I'm sorry. Can you please try not to cry? Look, you can have my book even though it only contains stupid stories about people you don’t know. I’ll even teach you a few letters so that you can read. I’ll also teach you how to write! What do you think of that? Why didn’t your parents teach you how to read anyway?“

As Yve stated that the other girls were not her friends, he cast a brief look at them just in time to see Shylar walking over to them. As he heard her question, he looked at her incredulously. A Kelvic? No, thanks. He was not some kind of stupid animal that walked around as a human. He turned to Yve. „I’m not a Kelvic“, he informed her. „Are you one? Why does she think one of us is a Kelvic anyway? I thought you can’t really tell?“

[Xenalia]

Xena frowns as the girl begins to seem like she might cry, but she smirks lightly at Lucas' responses and promises. She then begins to wonder why the girl doesn't know how to read. But, she's drawn out of the thought process by the friend contest when her subconcious tells her she's being talked about. "Oh i'm sorry..I'm Xenalia..Still pretty new here in town..I was just curious as to what..People do here.."

She smiles lightly. "Though i'm pretty sure i've come no closer to knowing.. I do apologize if i seemed like i was staring..I was off in my thought processes." She blushes lightly, hating her shyness so uncommon for her kind.

When Shylar walks up to them her head cocks curiously. I wish i could just walk up to people.. I wonder what she's doing.. At that time she'd begun speaking and Xena looks confused, her thoughts following Lucas' thoughts. How does she know if one of them are Kelvic..Is there a tell..? If there is i've never found one.

She's got a point Xena chimes in lightly. "I thought you couldn't tell a Kelvic from a human..Except..Sometimes they're caught licking the back of their hands..Or doing other actions...But physical i thought you couldn't tell. Also i'm rambling, arn't i?" She blushes lightly again, her hands fiddling with her hair shyly.