[Streets of Zeltiva] Charity Work (Open)

[Satevis]

65th Day of Spring, 512 AV The children were ragged little things, nothing more than skin, bone, and eyes. They clustered around the mouth of an alley surrounding the visitor, about six or seven of them, shoving at each other and clambering for room. The city had been under a state of official famine for twenty-three days now, with the only end in sight being a promise from Syliras--the gift of food in exchange for men. To an outside observer, this sounded like a great thing, an end to the people's suffering. To the people living in the city right now, though, the promise was nothing more than words in the air. Food within the city was extremely scarce, and what little one was likely to get was either rationed out amongst the populace or exorbitantly priced. Those that could travel by sea had already left the city in search of greener pastures, but those people made up a small fraction of Zeltiva's population. Even the University's Cafeteria, normally a reliable source of food for the school's paying students, had had to resort to severe rationing in order to continue feeding them all. A student might get lucky enough to receive one small meal a day, and on some days, calling it a meal was being generous. Satevis could live quite comfortably off of one small meal a day. In fact, he often did. Which was why he gave all his food away. The piece of fried fish in his pack disappeared in the crowd of children, his hands quickly breaking it into seven somewhat equal pieces and handing a piece to each child. The stale roll at the bottom of his pack disappeared in much the same fashion, divided up and eagerly scarfed down. It was precious little, but there wasn't much more anyone could do. The Ethaefal turned the bag inside out to show the children that he didn't have anything more to give, sighing as he watched their faces fall. It was late afternoon, and his own hunger gnawed at him, reminding him that he hadn't had a bite of food from dawn until now. In truth, he hadn't had a single bite to eat since famine was officially declared, but he was lucky in that regard. His body disregarded that. As soon as night fell, he knew that he would assume his Ethaefal form, and the need for food would be gone. The hunger would be gone. But he wasn't in his Ethaefal form now, he was in his mortal seeming. And in his Benshira form, he hungered. He didn't eat a lot, and he had gone days without food before, but in his Benshira form he was functionally nothing more than a human, and humans felt hungry when they hadn't eaten from sunrise to sunset. The academic part of his mind knew that he was in no danger of starving, knew that he was better off than everyone else, but it had been twenty-three days. His mind was starting to feel the psychological effects of being constantly hungry, and his control was beginning to grow strained. It was hard to have food in his hand and not take one bite out of it. It was hard to tell himself to wait for nightfall, that once night fell it wouldn't matter, once night fell, he would be satisfied. It was hard to stand here every day and give his food away, knowing that one bite here and there wouldn't do much to keep any of these kids alive. It was hard, but he kept at it, because of the principle of the thing. It would be a horrid excess for him to eat anything when he didn't truly need food to survive. And after a while, it became a point of pride as well, a personal challenge. Because there were few things Satevis prided himself on more than his self-control. So he stood and watched as the children ate, some of them scarfing down the few bites of bread and fish quickly, and others nibbling on the pieces, taking small bites and savoring them. And maybe for the first time since becoming an Ethaefal, he found himself thinking that he had the best fortune out of all of them.

[Blitz]

Food! Fish! Meat! Blitz smelled meat and drooled in copious amounts as he padded painfully toward the scent. There was a crowd of children and he did the only thing he could think of to be heard above them. He cried because his tummy ached with emptiness. 'Feed me!' Blitz begged and cried. The dog's stomach was tucked up high with starvation, his ribs showing plainly beneath the once glossy black coat. He knew posturing would take as much effort as his weak self could muster, but he was so hungry it made his very bones ache! Blitz did his best to catch Satevis' eyes with own big brown pleading ones. 'Food. I need food! I'm dying!' he tried to show this in his expression of desperation. He stepped weakly from child to child, avidly licking their faces and hands that smelled unbearably of the food that the young dog needed so very badly. The taste only sharpened his ravenous appetite and he cried out again. His skin felt tight, stretched painfully over stark bones almost sharp enough to poke through the skin and bedraggled patchy fur. After several desperate chimes, he fell down in exhaustion, weakened by too much posturing. Giving up, Blitz laid his head down tiredly on his paws, looked up pleading at Satevis and sobbed in defeat.

[Satevis]

It seemed as though his giving of food had drawn another visitor. Satevis watched as the dog approached him, a frown on his face. The animal would have been handsome once, but famine had affected it as greatly as it had affected the rest of the town. With the city's food supplies in such dire straits, the food that normally went to the dogs now went to whoever was hungry enough or desperate enough to eat it, and animals simply fell to the wayside. In times like these, caring for a pet would be considered a luxury. He sighed. The dog cut a pitiful figure, and he hated to turn his back on an innocent animal, but he had nothing left to give. Times like these forced a person to prioritize, and he couldn't justify taking food from the children and giving it to a dog. Still, he wished he did have more to give. He crouched down in front of the dog, reaching out and scratching him lightly behind the ears. "I am sorry, friend," he said with sincerity. "I have no food left." To prove his point, he held his hands out to the dog to show that they were empty, then opened his bag to show that that was empty as well. The children gathered around as well, some of them looking at the dog with sympathy, and others with contempt as they kept their food close to themselves. It was a little girl, about five years old, who responded to Blitz's pleas in the end. She came forward, a small smile on her face as she broke off a tiny piece of fish and put it down on the ground in front of him. "Here you go, puppy," she said, grinning brightly. Satevis frowned at her. He had a mind to tell her not to do that, but he stopped himself. It was her food. If she had a naturally giving nature, then who was he to tell her not to use it. "Leave it alone, Lena. It might be rabid," said a boy from the back of the group, scowling at her. The two of them looked similar enough that he might have been her older brother.

[Blitz]

The moment Satevis crouched by Blitz, he went rigid under the ear scratch the man offered. The dog fully expected a shake by the scruff or a cuff upside the head. But he didn't. The black animal decided to risk contact and he licked both of the man's hands and chewed at the empty but highly scented bag. 'No.' The strange man had said words he knew. No food. He sniffed the man's breath, but there was no food on it! If the man hadn't eaten the food, who had? Was he robbed? The two legged pups had smelled of fish--had they stole it from the man? Did he feed them because they were his pups? The scents were nothing even remotely like his. He must've regurgitated to feed these two legged puppies. A child's voice called out among the muttering and he staggered to his feet to greet her. 'FOOD!' Blitz lunged for the pathetic bit of fish on the ground for all he was worth, choking it down so fast, a sharp bit of tail fin scraped the inside of his throat, making it bleed. The skinny black dog laved the girl's face and hands with a huge pink tongue, leaving no bit of skin unlicked in gratitude. He wagged his brushy tail, putting a big moist nose to the little girl's own stubby one for half a chime. Blitz's keen ears swiveled and honed in on another pup's high voice. The human pup's expression showed a wrinkled nose and a stare--aggression or dominance toward the female pup in front of him. He put up his nose, trying to filter through the scents and found they shared an odor. They must be in the same litter then. He placed his lean, but tall body between the girl pup and the boy pup, in essence, protecting her. The large black dog stared at the human male pup, unblinking for two solid chimes, while his tail remained straight out from his body, stiff and unwagging. Pups needed to know their place--beneath their elders. The dog dropped the empty, half chewed bag at the girl's feet, offering at least the scent of food in return for her favor. Blitz turned back to the girl pup and groomed the side of her head paternally, making sure to clean out her ear thoroughly with a huge slobbery tongue. Pups could get so dirty so quickly! After a short while, he sat down panting at the effort he'd expended. Large brown eyes took in Satevis and his peculiar scents. While he smelled of food, his breath did not smell of any food at all. In Blitz's entire eight seasons of life, he'd never met a human that didn't have some kind of food scent on their breath. He turned his attention back to the human female pup, studying her facial expression to look for cues of further food to be given. Blitz set to tearing up the fishy bag with his large sharp teeth, and offered a shred to the little girl before setting about eating the fishy scented burlap.

[Satevis]

The boy took a step back as the dog stood between him and his sister, a sudden worried look appearing on his face. Satevis tensed, and he nearly moved to stop the dog in case it decided to go for the child, but the dog seemed more interested in playing with the girl named Lena. She squealed and giggled as he licked her, calling out to her brother. "See, Matthew, he's friendly!" she said. The dog seemed to be the friendly sort. Satevis exhaled slowly, a smile coming onto his face as he relaxed. He walked over and placed a hand on Lena's shoulder, pulling her gently away from Blitz. He used his other hand to gently, not harshly, push the dog off the child and back to the ground. "Alright, that's enough," he said with a slight laugh. "I don't think your mother would appreciate it if you came home covered in dog slobber." "But he wants to play!" said Lena. She looked down, watching as the dog began to tear into the sack. Her eyes widened as she took the shred from the dog. "Is this for me?" she asked. "You're nice!" The appearance of the dog and his treatment of Lena seemed to have sparked some of the children's enthusiasm. They formed a loose half-circle around Satevis, Lena, and Blitz, talking among themselves. "Is he eating the sack?" "My dog used to do that too, if you'd forget to feed 'im." "Think he's someone's pet, mister?" asked one of the boys, frowning down at the dog. "He seems real well-behaved for a stray." "It's possible," said Satevis, watching as Lena settled down next to the dog and began petting him. Her brother, he noticed, stayed cautiously at the rear of the group of children, although he kept a careful eye on her just in case. The dog could have belonged to someone at one point. It wasn't as if animals were spared the famine. He could very well have been abandoned by his owner, or his owner could have let him out to try and fend for himself. "Well," he asked as he crouched down in front of Blitz again, giving him a lazy scratch. "Is your owner nearby?" He didn't expect a response, of course. Satevis was speaking the same way people often spoke to animals, a one-sided conversation.

[Nai'shee]

The day was far of the beginning and Syna's light was shining brightly over Zeltiva. The heat didn't help hungry people. There were signs of violence on daily basis, people stole and fought for their food. Nai'shee haven't noticed anybody died, but she was sure it was because guardians did their job well, removing possible corpses. Nai'shee had a tiny advantage over other people at times like this: she was experienced thief and she was used on hunger. She was actually in infirmary until recently, so she was one of the best feed citizens. Cafeteria in University lacked resources, as well, but somebody took care of infirmary. They got less then they usually would, but doctors knew that they couldn't allow ill, sick or wounded people to starve much more. However she was out, and now, few days after, she started to feel famine pretty harshly. She did get her meal at University, but it wasn't closely enough for young, developing girl. There were times when she ate even less, yes, but they weren't so close and the scent of the past disgusted her. What she succeed to do was getting supplies from some local fisherman. Fish, of course, escaped the ruined city, but the situation was getting better. She felt miserable to steal from low resources he had, but she knew he felt only satisfaction because of the famine, since his job was more than well-paid now. Her little wolf also brought her something now and then, something he probably hunted down in the mountains. She was sure he was Kelvic by now and she was sure he wanted them to be bondmates, but she still wondered why he hid his human form. Walking over Zeltivan streets she noticed familiar figure. Satevis seemed content, yet like he was in huge pain, doubt. Little did she knew what he did past days to help Zeltiva, to help her people survive. There were some children gathered around him. She couldn't see what was happening from this far. She also saw dark stain on the ground, obviously some animal. Dog, perhaps? She hurried to approach. "Satevis?", she called out for him. He was in his Benshira form, since it was the middle of the day. He seemed to be interested in the animal. As she approached she noticed everybody there was affected by famine, everyone looked miserable. Kids seemed happy and only when she noticed a little boy, around three years old, eating tiny piece of fish, clinging onto it. She began to realize what was happening and she was aware how much she respected Satevis for it. All of the kids seemed pretty tidy for Zeltivan kids, but except that they were pure disaster. All of them became skinny and pale, one girl was shaking a bit, but she didn't know if it had anything to do with famine. She recognized some of them, but she gave no sign. And the dog, the one she could clearly see now, was the worst. He was pretty much bone and skin. He was most likely abandoned pet. She noticed she was pitying him even more than kids. He was an abandoned, helpless creature, lying there on ground, begging for food. She hated the fact she would probably share with them if she had what to share. She knew that survival game was created to provide survive of the fittest, but it did not help her mentality. She already lived trough this. The man who was her only family died from starvation long ago and she knew she'll always remember that winter, the winter when she first felt consequences which should had followed her her whole life. She hated herself, because she was aware that she should use every piece of food she touches for renewing her own energy, but yet, in the time like this, she wanted to share. Luckily, she had nothing. Her glaze moved to Ethaefal, trying to figure him out. Little did she know about Ethaefal's way of living, she had no idea that the man had no need for food all of them lacked. He didn't seem like he didn't need it either, his face told her that much. Still, he was worried about destinies of this crowd here. She felt need to give something away, she felt like worst scum looking at those kids, happy for little pieces of food they got from Benshira, and just skipping the scenario. But she knew any amount of Mizas is worth nothing today and she didn't have much anyways. Sadness was probably noticeable in the depths of her blue eyes, if somebody cared to look. But she tried to look strong.

[Blitz]

With a bit of fish oil and burlap sack in his stomach, he felt marginally better. A gentle hand pushed him to lay down and Blitz complied. He'd been trained by Levi since birth to find people and children and he liked the kids a lot. To show his thanks of the girl's kindness, and the man's nicer tone, he rolled over to allow them to give him a brief belly rub. His left leg displayed in bold letters that he was no common stray. tattoo ID : 'Owner.' He knew that word! In answer to the questioning tone, Blitz looked eastward toward a ramshackle hut made of rotted wood. The place would've been abandoned in better times, but now it was becoming more and more common as the average home. Starvation was knifing everyone in the gut, completely without prejudice. Young and old, rich and poor, two legs or four, they were all going hungry. Blitz rolled back over to his stomach and panted by Satevis' and the girl's feet. A strange woman approached and he gave an 'Alert!' bark. The skinny black dog scrutinized her face and posture, taking in the clues he needed in order to respond correctly. She greeted the man with only a word so Blitz concluded it must be a name. Her gaze studied Satevis and the children, then granted him an evaluating glance. He thumped his tail in greeting, but stayed laying down as the man had insisted. Blitz didn't mind much. It was a bit cooler close to the ground, though the overhead sun had him panting in the growing heat. He ignored his increasing thirst and rising body temperature, instead turning his attention to the approaching woman. He lifted a dry black nose in Nai'shee's direction and happily detected the scent of food on her breath. Blitz's wagging tail turned into a waving brush of friendliness and his big pink tongue hung sideways out of his mouth, making him look downright goofy.

[Nai'shee]

Nai'shee backed off when dog barked. Sudden bark scared her, but as soon as she was back to normal she smiled. The dog quickly calmed down, but she was aware it was still afraid of her. She crouched, far enough from him not to seem as an attack attempt, but close enough for the dog to reach. She knew that she wouldn't feel well beside person as much taller than her, as she was taller than him. She was still aware of Satevis and waited for his response, but she just felt the need to do this, to show the animal she was not dangerous. She offered her open hand, expecting him to approach and snuff it or something like that. She smiled friendly. "Come on, I won't hurt you", she whispered to the dog.

[Satevis]

Satevis obligingly scratched Blitz's belly as the dog rolled over, frowning as he took note of the tattoo on the inside of the dog's leg. Property of Levi Athan, he read. So, the child was right--the dog did belong to someone. It would make sense, considering he did seem remarkably well-trained. He wondered if this Levi had abandoned the dog in the famine. Certainly, taking care of an animal would be almost impossible at this time. He glanced up and down the street, but he didn't see anyone there who seemed to be looking for a dog. He did, however, see someone he knew. "Nai'shee," he greeted with a smile and a nod. "How are you?" His smile was slightly strained. Although the physical side of the hunger wasn't as bad as it would have been if he weren't Ethaefal, it was starting to wear on him. He left Blitz to the children for a moment, walking forward to greet his fellow student. Nai'shee seemed down. It was clear that she was trying to put on a strong face, but there was something in her blue eyes that told him a different story. He had seen that same look in some of the faces of the people he passed. The famine had affected Zeltiva's population in more ways than the physical ones. People were forced to neglect each other in order to survive. It was becoming a world of constant competition. There were some bright spots, though, some acts of generosity made even more meaningful by the sacrifices that they involved. Acts like little Lena giving a piece of her food to the dog. He offered the girl a sympathetic smile, but he didn't ask her about it. Satevis wasn't one to pry. He kept enough secrets on his own that he could allow Nai'shee hers. He noticed her attention turn towards the dog. "He has his owner's name on him, so he isn't a stray," Satevis explained. "It's possible he could have been abandoned, though. He came up begging for food. He seems quite playful."

[Kaeson Dakano]

Kaeson had been walking back and forth alongside the docks long before Leth had relinquished his reign to Syna. Kaeson had arrived in the same ports not too long ago, except when Kaeson had arrived in Zeltiva, it had been with a whole weeks supply of food -- or what had supposed to be a weeks worth of food. That majority of his supply hadn't even lasted the boat trip to the Zeltivan harbors, and Kaeson had barely managed to stretch what remained for five days, let alone a week.

Kaeson had been trying to gather some of the kelp that should have been collecting underneath the dock, but it seemed as though some of the other more resourceful Zeltivans had the same idea considering that by the time Kaeson had arrived at the docks, aside from the odd strand of kelp, there hadn't been anything to collect.

"What a petching waste of time," Kaeson muttered underneath his breath. He had woken as the first rays of Syna's light his the city, and even that hadn't been early enough. As he walked back to his small cottage, Kaeson began to reconsider his opportunities for food. As a university student, he had access to the university's cafe three times a day and Kaeson had been sure to take advantage of that as soon as he heard about the famine. The thing was, Kaeson had been noticing the cafe meal slimming down considerably the last couple of days and he was worried about how much longer the cafe would manage to continue serving.

Sighing, Kaeson had even toyed with the idea of foraging outside the city for substance. If anything, the climate should allow for wild onions to grow and this was the time to harvest..."but who knows how that storm effected everything outside?" Kaeson thought. The last thing he wanted to get do was get eaten by some wild Djed altered creature.

Hearing a bark, Kaeson head turned to look down an alley only to see a young man and a young woman apparently playing with a dog. Kaeson squinted his eyes at the pair, hoping they migh have something extra to spare when he realized he knew the smaller blonde girl. Recognizing her, Kaeson called out,"Nai'shee?" before quickly managing a nod and a polite hello to the benshira standing next to her.