Timestamp: 20th of Winter, 511 AV, Afternoon.
Location: Shoreline.
Purpose: Practicing skills.
Location: Shoreline.
Purpose: Practicing skills.
The afternoon brought with it the chilly breeze off the sea. The wind picked up moisture and sent it sailing through the air on invisible wings, and collected as the ocean spray that doused T’Setsuna’s pale hair and skin. Iridescent scales glimmered under the touch of Syna’s vibrant rays. The Seer’s Lily on her wrist shimmered brilliantly as she shook the cowrie shells in her hands. The four shells had been cut for divination purposes. The matte creamy white of the shells was pretty on its own, but the young Konti woman would have liked to paint them with pretty pale greens and blues, something like the designs found in the South Tower.
The shells clacked together as she shook them softly in her hands, thinking of a question to ask them. She hummed a soft tune and asked, ”Will I follow in the footsteps of mother and father, and join the Opal Order?” Subconsciously, she knew what the shells would say. It was the same answer every time since she first learned to ask the shells. It helped to do it every few days, though, just to see. She blew into her hands and onto the shells before tossing them into the sand. The answer resulted in three open shells, and one closed shell. The answer, known as Etawa, brought a smile to T’Setsuna’s face. Etawa was a reply that meant she would probably achieve what she asked, but that she would have to work very hard for it, and there would be many obstacles in her way. It was okay though. She knew she was going to have to work for her membership, just as her mother and father had. It was something that she wanted badly enough to undergo any amount of hardships to achieve.
The cowrie shells were her favorite form of divination. There were five possible answers, instead of a simple yes or no. Alafia, Etawa, Ejife, Okana, and Oyeku. The process requires four shells, each with a small hole cut into the back of the shell. This reveals the inside of the shell, and represents the “open” stance, while the other side represents “closed.” To toss the shells after asking a yes or no question and throwing all shells open, the answer is Alafia. This represents a yes with the utmost reverence. A second toss is required upon receiving Alafia, on which the thrower must receive either Etawa or Ejife for it to be a definite yes. If the second toss yields Okana or Oyeku, the answer has been retracted, and instead replaced with a no as the final answer. Etawa results in tossing the shells three open and one closed. It means that the asker will probably achieve what he or she is asking for, but it will take time, effort, and patience, for there will be obstacles to overcome. Ejife results from tossing two open and two closed shells. This toss means yes, but not to ask any further on the subject. Doing so could irritate and enrage the spirit guiding the shells. Okana dictates a simple no with three closed shells and one open one, and Oyeku, with all shells closed, is a firm NO! Usually one asking a question that results in Oyeku should seek spiritual cleansing upon receiving this answer, for it is an extremely negative response.
She lifted the shells and shook the sand from the nooks and crannies of the inner shells before tossing them around in her hands again. The gentle music of the cowrie shells clacking together came again, and she asked, ”Will I earn the favor of my Goddess Rak’keli?” Lifting the shells to blow on them, she tossed them back out into the sand.
Etawa. The answer brought a smile to her face, just as the last. Sometimes she wished the shells could be more specific. She wanted to know when and where she would be marked. How, and why? On the other hand, the shells had told her she would have to work for the mark, and that there would be obstacles. Fair enough, thought she. She needed to take a day and pray in the South Tower to the Mother of healing, and thank her for her pristine health. While she was out, she needed to also pay a trip to the library and study some more on her medicine.
The chitter chatter of a bird drew her from her reverie. Hopping across the sand was a seagull. It cawed at her loudly, eyeing the shells in the sand. T’Setsuna took them and placed them back in their velvet pouch, and put the pouch back in her net bag. The bird continued to screech and caw at her, but it would neither take flight nor come closer. Reaching deep down into her core, she pulled the familiar magic from her inner soul and utilized it. As her eyes unfocused on detail, the bird’s aura took on a sickly, pallid lilac hue. It throbbed and was singed with black tendrils, like a virus attacking the bloodstream. Her brow furrowed as she reached a hand out to the animal. Upon further inspection of the being, she noted that its left wing was held out awkwardly to the side. Her heart seized with pity. The poor thing was hurt!
Inching forward on hands and knees across the sand, she reached out to beckon the animal to her, but it hopped away and squawked instead. She did not want to rush the gull and risk scaring it, or worse. She didn’t expect it to know that she was trying to help it, but how was she supposed to if it kept running. She hummed, and looked around. Her bag was made of net, fashioned by her mother. She grabbed it and dumped her belongings out. Turning back to the seagull, she tossed the bag at it, hoping to snare it so it couldn’t run. She missed though, and the gull angrily scuttled away, hopping to take flight, but unable to mobilize due to its wounded wing. She snatched the bag up and tried again, two, three, four times, before tiring the animal out. T’Setsuna finally snared the bird and drew it close to her chest. She reached to pull the bag off of the bird, but in doing so, it snapped its sharp beak at her, catching the meat of her finger.
”Ouch!” She yelped. Dumbfounded for the moment, she watched the blood seep from her index finger. She shook her hand and continued to pull the bag off of the animal’s feathered body. Again, she reached back down into her core and yanked on the string to draw the magic out of herself. The gull maintained the same sickly lilac and black aura, but now it was twisted along strips of vibrant red that she could only interpret to mean it was angry. It had to be; it had practically bit her finger off! She grabbed its neck to direct its head away from her face and limbs as she took her free hand and inspected its wing. Sure enough, there was a fish hook through the topmost arc of the bird’s wing. T’Setsuna reached for her belongings and pulled from them a long, simple cotton scarf. She put the fabric between her teeth and tore a long, thin strip free. She gripped the hook on the end without the barb and said to the little bird, ”This is going to hurt, but try not to bite me again.” She took a deep breath and forced the hook out of the wing backwards.
The seagull obviously wasn’t too happy, though, as it began to shriek and flop around in her arms. She drew the animal in tight as she could and applied pressure to the bleeding wing. ”Shhh….Shhh, I’m trying to help you, silly animal!” Her own blood from her finger stained the white feathers of the gull’s pelt, but it couldn’t be helped. She pressed the cloth from the scarf tightly into the wound, causing the animal to flutter about some more. At last, after checking the seepage of blood, it stopped, and she released the animal. It hopped from her lap and scuttled far down the shore, hopping but unable to fly.
T’Setsuna smiled. It hadn’t been an easy task, but she knew it would have been expected of her. Animals had feelings, too. It was no different than bandaging a child’s skinned knee or elbow. She took the remaining strip of cloth and wound it tightly around her finger. In the heat of the moment, she had failed to notice that it was throbbing, and the more she thought about it, the worse it hurt. In the end, it was worth it. She tied the cloth around her finger and put her things back into the net bag. Standing, she tossed the bag over her shoulder and cast one last look out to the seagull. It’s footprints in the sand had disappeared. A cawing called her attention, and as she looked to the sky, she could make out the shape of the gull with the bloodied wing soaring on the breeze.
