Can I come too? (Sama'el)

by **Alea Davenport** on May 5th, 2012, 3:56 pm

25th Spring, 512

Alea awoke that morning with the sense that she had something very important to do. At first she couldn't remember what it was. At first, she noticed the herbs Oluse had given her last night, and remembering his instructions, she briefly entertained the notion of making tea out of them. One whiff put an end to that notion; had they always smelled this terrible? No, whatever she had intended to do today, it was NOT drink smelly herbs.

She got dressed, hoping that it would come to her by the time she finished her morning duties in the stables. As she flung one of her cloaks about her shoulders, wincing from the soreness still lingering in the left one, something fell to the floor. She knelt down to examine the object: a rather crumpled, but otherwise blank piece of paper. She remembered suddenly, she had sneakily filched this from the room where Oluse had treated her...because she wanted to write a message... to the people who they would be travelling with...

Why did she need to right a message to them? Well, aside from the fact that the storm had rendered her mute, Oluse had said something about needing their approval. What was he thinking, asking her on the adventure of a lifetime without even making sure she could go? It was so typical of him. He thought he would introduce them tomorrow, but if she was going to be rejected, she'd rather know sooner. Besides, things might go better if Oluse wasn't there to muck it all up.

She borrowed a stick of charcoal from one of her Frostfawn neighbors and began composing her message. First, she folded the paper roughly into thirds. On the outside flap, she wrote, "Drycus". She still wasn't sure what the word meant, but according to Oluse, these "drycus" were the ones who would be taking at least him to Riverfall (wherever that was).

She finished the letter, returned the charcoal stick to its owner, and after feeding the stabled animals in record time, set out to find someone to give it to. Finding the camp was the tricky part; she did not remember where Oluse had said it was, so she had to go around Avanthal, showing the word "Drycus" to everyone she met, trying to convey a sense of questioning. Most looked confused and tried to avoid eye contact, but eventually she found someone who recognized the word, and directed her to another person who knew more.

So it was that by the time the sun was directly overhead, she had found a small collection of tents. She looked around, trying to find someone to give her letter to. The first man she saw, she briskly to him (ask briskly as she could in Avanthal's new mud, anyway), and handed him the folded paper. The contents of the letter were as follows:

My name is Alea Davenport. If you are the ones taking Oluse to Riverfall, this message is for you. He has asked me to come with him, but knowing him, he forgot to mention me to you. So what can I do to convince you to bring me along?

The message was as short as she would make it (she tended to assume everyone had her attention span when it came to reading). She watched the man, a look of single-minded determination on her face. This was pretty much her whole future being decided right now. (Which was still better than waiting another day and depending on Oluse... oh goodness, what a terrifying thought.) She would probably start shaking when this encounter ended, but in the moment, she was focused on her goal.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on May 6th, 2012, 10:33 pm

Sama'el grimaced, hand held gingerly to his abdomen. Something was wrong and it just wasn't going away, but he had manned up through the pain until now and so when he heard someone approaching who wasn't part of the camp -- the horses responded a certain way if one was tuned in, and little Hodei chirped with alarm -- he hid the pain and turned to find a young woman striding up to him. Were they anywhere else, she might have been met with steel for entering a Drykas camp without an invitation, but they were guests themselves and Sama'el was willing to suspend some issues of protocol to keep his people safe.

There was something about the way she held herself that reminded him of young Oluse, who said he was a physician, but how good could he be at that age? Then again, there were those who had doubted Sama'el's own skills due to age, and he had been a man at seven, after all.

She pushed a piece of paper into his hand without speaking. Strange girl. He looked it it, but no sign of comprehension lit his features. He could tell they were words, even name a few of the letters, but nobody had ever taught him to read. He had been seven when ripped away from his people, and then enslaved. Nobody wanted educated slaves, he figured. And he just had not had time to learn in the meantime, trying to make himself the model of a Drykas warrior that he might bring his pavilion back from the dead.

He didn't speak Vani, and she didn't look Drykas, so he opted for Common, holding the paper back to her:

"I don't know what this says."

by **Alea Davenport** on May 15th, 2012, 11:01 pm

Alea stared at the man for a moment, not quite believing what she had heard. He couldn't read her letter. She looked the paper over carefully; her handwriting seemed perfectly legible. Then suggested he couldn't read. He couldn't read, and Alea couldn't speak. She tried to think of alternative forms of communication, but all her ideas involved writing the words, which came back to the problem of he couldn't read!

She waved her arms a few times in a futile gesture of communication, but ever she didn't know what she was trying to convey. The look of incredulity on her face spoke more than anything she tried to say deliberately. Finally, her shoulders drooped. She had thought she was so on top of things, meeting the Drykas today and getting everything settled. She'd thought she was so prepared. But she had not foreseen this, and now she was stuck and could not move forward.

She heaved a sigh as she turned to trudge away. She would just have to come back tomorrow, with Oluse, following HIS plan and not trying to go off and do things on her own. She tried not to feel bitter about how the situation had turned out, but some part of her still resented the idea of depending on him, especially for something so simple.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on May 19th, 2012, 10:10 pm

If his stomach hadn't hurt so, the look of judgment in her eyes might have made him bristle. People who had access to education, especially young ones such as her didn't realize how good they had it, how easy they had it. Obviously someone had loved her enough to see to her training. Sama'el, on the other hand, had suffered his family to be murdered before his eyes as a child and spent the majority of his young years in slavery.

But his stomach did hurt, and so he ignored her judgment. Instead he wondered if any of his companions might read Common. He knew Leto spoke some, though perhaps not so fluently as Sama'el himself. But he seemed to remember the man saying he only read Pavi, really, and the glyphs. Sam himself had only the most basic understanding of glyphs, but that wouldn't help here. There had been nothing he recognized in her writing.

The frustrated waving of her hands didn't help him understand, but when she turned away, his sense of hospitality made him speak. Even if she hadn't been an invited guest, she had come to him for something.

"Are you a friend of Oluse?" he asked her retreating back.

by **Alea Davenport** on May 27th, 2012, 9:00 pm

Alea could hardly believe it. The man had somehow guessed what brought her here (or at least who), after she had lost all hope. She eagerly turned back and nodded vigorously, willing him to understand all she had come here to say. She had to show Oluse that she was no cripple, that just because she couldn't talk, that didn't mean she needed him to do everything for her. If she could successfully conclude this meeting without having to depend on Oluse's help, it would prove to her that joining him on his travels would not impede her ability to set her own destiny.

She waited expectantly to see if the Drykas could guess anything else she wanted to say.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on May 28th, 2012, 9:25 pm

He smiled, pleased to have guessed aright, but then she just stared at him expectantly as if he was Avalis' own daughter. Of course, he wasn't and he still couldn't read, and her attempts at non-verbal communication had amounted to windmilling her arms and the like. He sighed and wished his belly didn't hurt so.

"Well, he's not here, but you must know that if you're his friend. He wants to come with us when we return to Cyphrus. Oh," he paused, imagining yet another mouth to feed. She could write, but could she do anything that was actually useful for their trip back down through Taldera, across the Suvan Sea, and all that?

"You want to go, too, don't you?"

by **Alea Davenport** on June 2nd, 2012, 12:52 am

Alea wasn't sure what this "Syfris" place was--she'd thought Oluse was going to a place called Riverfall--but she was glad the man was grasping the situation so quickly. She nodded, briskly this time, warming up to this game of yes-and-no questions.

She waited for his next question, her focus now entirely on this new method of communication. She did not want to miss a word he said, for she wasn't sure how to ask him to repeat himself. Though, now that she was thinking about it, maybe cupping her ear, as if she'd had trouble hearing him? There must be all kinds of ways to say things with gestures, if only she could think of them...

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 7th, 2012, 5:34 am

He squinted up at the sun as if asking Syna for guidance. Finally, he sighed and nodded to her.

"All right, come. But you will take my word for law until we reach Riverfall. The wilds are dangerous, and I'll not have you putting my family at risk. You will work and be helpful, and I will see you safely to the city of the blue men. You can speak to Oluse about our arrangement. It will be the same."

Then he nodded again, not a dismissal, exactly, but he wasn't sure what else could be communicated if she didn't speak, didn't even know grassland sign to offer concepts when her voice was unable to do so. But he smiled for her. He understood the young ones' need for adventure; it just so happened that his own was subsumed by his need to revive his pavilion.

by **Alea Davenport** on June 9th, 2012, 5:59 pm

City of blue men? I thought we were going to Riverfall. In any case, the deal seemed like a fair one. The idea of working for a man who felt the need to exert absolute authority irked her a bit, but she would do her best not to put anyone in unnecessary danger. She could get the details from Oluse later, since she was actually able to communicate with him, at least a bit.

She nodded back at him, relieved that the meeting had gone so well. Now she could go with pride back to Oluse, to tell him that she hadn't needed him to do everything for her after all. When it seemed the man was done talking, she turned and skipped off, eager to make plans and start packing. The excitement of travel and adventure was coming back to her, and she could hardly wait to get started.

by **Valkyrie** on July 1st, 2012, 3:10 am

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