Solo A Troubling Situation

[Eilea]

70 Spring 513 The morning arrived in a panic. Eilea fell out of her bed, her heart racing in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. She wrapped the blanket around her as she sat on the ground, her back resting against the bed frame. Another nightmare of her mother tore through her heartstrings. The worst part was... it was like a memory that was haunting her. In her dreams she was living her mother's life, on her journey in Wind Reach as a young girl. What she didn't understand, was that it was always as if she lived there. It was as if she grew up there, and took many dangerous chances. Sometimes it was running along the side of the mountain, sometimes it was taking dangerous leaps from high levels, other times it was arguments, physical fights with other people. The worst part was that it was so real, and Eilea woke up whenever something drastic took place. Sure, they were related to the stories that her mother used to share, but they still posed a problem. Movement outside in the hallway pulled her from her thoughts. She raised her head and listened. There was a lot of movement. "Oh no." She whispered. "It's Market day..." The girl got to her feet and folded the blanket. She sat it down, then changed clothes. After getting everything together, she moved to the door, her carving tools under her arm. When she took a step out, her eyes narrowed. "Damnit! I'm late!" The girl let out a scream as she began to run down the hallway. "Not good! Not good!" She hated being late. She hated feeling like she had failed someone. As she ran, a couple people jumped out of the way, yelling out complaints as they did. "I am sorry! So Sorry!" She proclaimed in Nari as she moved. Once she got to the Courtyard of the Sky, she froze, looking around at all the booths with a slight frown on her face. Realization hit her as the man that had requested her presence was not there. His name was Jin and he had been a kind, entertaining Inarta that had been to her homeland in his earlier years. Jin had requested her help once again. He hadn't even set up his shop. This makes no sense. She began to ask around of the other people in the area, but no one had seen the man she had worked for before. A Inarta man took her arm and pulled her close. "Well, if the one that requested you isn't here, I would definitely love to have you in my..." Surprised, and feeling threatened, the Vantha closed her hand in a fist and cut him off with a single punch to the jaw. The man's eyes widened and immediately, Eilea regretted what she did. She moved back, taking several steps as he began to move towards her. "You little..." The man began to scream obscenities her way. A group of people around began to stare. Something seemed off. He's Endal. She thought to herself and bit her lip, realizing the mistake she had made. "Oh my god. I am so sorry." She began, but the man did not seemed thrilled one bit. Anger filled his eyes. "Look, I really don't want to cause any problems." She whispered, taking another step back as he proceeded to step forward, towards her with dark narrowed eyes. "I just got scared. A friend of mine was supposed to be here." She glanced around, desperately looking for someone she knew. "I'm really sorry."

[Eilea]

Before letting him get any closer, Eilea turned on her heels and began to run. She knew that if... or rather when, he got ahold of her she'd be in big trouble. She couldn't bring herself to imagine what would be done, only ran as she could. Eilea could hear his yells behind her. She let out a cry as she tripped over a rock that stuck out of the path. The girl tumbled into a roll. She let out a crumbling cry as her back struck a tree root and planted her in the fetal position on the ground. A chuckling sound echoed in her ears as her head throbbed. "You know, you should never run when you know you will fail." The man was speaking Nari very sharply, making sure every single word was understood. The Vantha pushed herself up, ignoring the pain the shot down her back. She knew she was bleeding, she could feel the warm liquid on her shoulder blades. She crawled her way backwards, until she had her back against a tree trunk. Eilea noticed that she had dropped the carving kit several feet from her. The Endal approached her slowly, a cunning smile on his lips. Eilea felt her heart start to race again. "I'm really really sorry." She exclaimed again. "Well, what shall I do to you?" He asked, standing in front of her. The man grbabed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "I'm assuming you're Chiet, right?" "Avora, sir." "Well, Avora... What is your name?" "Eilea." Her response was quiet. 'Oh Morwen, please help me. Please. I'm begging you. Don't let him do anything to me.' she thought, prayed to herself, tears building in her eyes. The Endal had his hands on both of her shoulders and was pressing her against the tree. He moved one and looked at it, his face showing disgust. Her eyes turned white, leaving small black pupils staring at him. She was scared. Eilea tilted her head to the side, startled. He then looked her in the eyes deeper. "What are you, a Vantha?" "Ye... es." She responded in Nari, not saying the word correctly. "Yes?" He asked. "Yes, I am Vantha." "Well little birdie, I assume, you're here for a specific reason then, right?" He winked at her, Eilea nodded in response. It was then when she realized he had sticky substance on his hand. It was amber colored and smelt sweet, much like the tree that she was being held against. She closed her eyes, and tried to move her head forward. Her long strands of braided hair snagged against the tree. A frown appeared on her lips and she looked up at him sadly. "Please just let me go!" Eilea begged. The Endal smiled a dangerous smile at her, and then leaned forward into a kiss. The Vantha let out a disgruntled sound, and tried to push him away. "STOP!" A low voice growled in the wind. The Endal moved his head back, and then stared over at an older man who stood a few feet from them. Eilea let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. It was Jin. It was the man she was supposed to work with for the day. "Please release her, without her I can not set up shop for the day, nor can I help make things for you and your fellow Endals to use and admire. This is my job and I need her to make everything correct." The Endal began to hesitate. He looked into Eilea's eyes, which had turned to a pale white blue, slowly getting more cerulean colors into them. Jin stepped closer to them. "If you can;t find someone to spend your time with afterwards, maybe Eilea will be kind enough to accompany you on a date." "I don't want a date. I want..." "Sex." Jin looked at Eilea for a second. She knew that he would help he rout of this situation. "Well, yeah but..." "Please, let us to our jobs so we can support you and yours. Go find a dek to play with, one that won't try and kill you, for I know that Eilea will fight, and if needs be, to the death. She may be Avora, but she's not from around her and she won't do whatever is asked of her." The Endal seemed to be contemplating the notion. Eilea looked down, at the space between them. "Fine, old man." The Endal let go of the Vantha, but then ran his hand through her braided hair, leaving clumps of tree sap in her locks. He laughed at her surprise and moved back. "I'll leave you be, for now." The man began to walk back. Eilea looked up to see a large Wind Eagle flying above them in the sky. She looked towards Jin and swallowed, before letting tears fall down her cheeks. He moved towards her quickly and wrapped his arms around her. "I am so sorry, my dear." "I was so scared. What was he going to do? And his eagle... was there too?" She let out a small cry and the older man just rubbed her back. "He's gone now. He's gone." He said softly. "He was just being a jerk."

[Eilea]

Eilea had never been in a situation like that before. This was obvious by the swirls of emotions that tainted her eyes. Sure, along her travels she had run into some horrible people, but she always had the right to argue with them. In Wind Reach, she knew that horrible repercussions could come out of going against someone of a higher caste. "Come now, pull yourself together!" Jin's words were calm. "Will you please help me out with my shop?" He rubbed her back gently. "I'm sorry I was late. I should have been here earlier." After a few minutes, Eilea steadied herself. Her hands went to her hair and she started shaking. "Oh my god." She whispered and looked at the man in front of her. "Do you know how to get this out of my hair?" Jin took a strand of her hair in his hand and looked at her sadly. "This will take a lot to clean. It's already hardening." He said. Immediately, tears sprung from her eyes. "How can I clean it?" "It would be a better choice to just cut it." He said. "I can help you once I get my stuff set up in the Courtyard, if you'd like." The Vantha was silent. Of course she was upset, she hadn't cut her hair since her mother had died. It was a sort of a remembrance tool for her. Her hair was long, long enough to tell the tale of her life. Eilea tried to run her fingers through her sticky and tangled braids but got frustrated as she did. She let out an annoyed noise and then looked up again. "Okay, yes, let us do that." Jin put a hand on her shoulder and then gestured towards where he had left a small cart and a few bags. Eilea noticed that one of the wheels on the cart was broken. It must have been the reason he was late as well. She frowned at the older man and watched as he picked up her carving set. She took a hold of a couple of the large bags and threw them over her shoulders, before walking towards him. Silently, she took the carving kit from his hands and began to walk towards the Courtyard. As she approached the market place, she moved towards an empty area, the same place she had worked with him the first time. Jin took the bags from Eilea and began to chatter with a few other people around the area as he started to set up his workplace. Eilea stood there, remembering the events that had just taken place. She didn't understand why it bothered her so much. She touched her hair again idly. "Miss Vantha?" Jin spoke softly. "Do you want to go for the day?" Eilea looked at him sharply, then sighed. "No, I don't want to be a disappointment." At that moment a woman walked up to Jin and started asking him about the things he was selling. Eilea took that time to look through his things and find a piece of wood, about the size of her arm that she was supposed to draw and carve a Wind Eagle into. He wanted the portrayal of fire as a border, and Eilea knew how to do it. So she moved the piece of wood and her kit to the side of his workplace and began to set out her tools, in the order that she wanted to use them. Once Jin was done speaking with the lady, he moved towards her. "Let me cut your hair while you work. It may be calming." He suggested as he took one of his smaller bladed knives. "Alright." Eilea sat on the stone ground and picked up a piece of chalk. "What would you like the Eagle to be doing?" "Flying."

[Eilea]

As Jin began to separate Eilea's colorful hair, Eilea began to prep the piece of wood. She started by using the large file from the kit. First she gave the wood a workable texture, by using a criss-cross pattern along the whole piece. She took the small vile of oil and squeezed a small amount of it onto the wood, before continuing to create more criss-crossed patterns. Along each edge of the wood, Eilea used the U-shaped tool to make small indentions into the piece. She crossed them over each other, using a larger force near the edge, and a lighter pressure as she moved inwards, creating a flame like image. This took a lot of time and work. All the while, the older man began to slice away at her hair, creating many layers of black locks with a reddish-purple tint in them. Eilea did her best to concentrate solely on her work and not on the man's hair cutting skills. But still, it bothered her. Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered her mother's death. The heartbreak. The screams of disbelieve. Her father's temper tantrums. The snow. The sadness. After a while, she began to think of the stories her mother used to tell her to keep her calm. One of which was about a large Eagle when she was in Wind Reach. A Wind Eagle. The Vantha paused. Her eyes changed to a light, relaxed green and she looked back at Jin. "Can I tell you a story as I work on this?" "What kind of story?" He took a another piece of her hair. "One that my mother used to tell me." Eilea said, a small smile on her lips. An Inarta came over to the work place, asking to see some of Jin's things. He gave her an apologetic smile and then got up. The carver turned back to her piece and moved the wood in a different direction. With the chalk, she began to draw out an outline of a bird, starting with a basic line sketch and then adding a few more details. After planning out the places to use different tools, she took ahold of the basic small straight knife tool and began to carve small lines over the chalk pieces. Once Jin sat back down, he urged her to continue. And so she did. "When I was young, my mother used to take me to a place called the Sculpture Garden in Avanthal. It was beautiful and filled with the most wonderful sculptures of the most wonderful things." "Yes, I've been there." Jin smiled encouragingly. Eilea had forgotten that he had told her of traveling to Avanthal in his earlier years. "On in particular always caught my attention. It was a bird with it's wings outspread, as if it's talons were about to grab something. I once asked her about the bird. She told me it reminded her of a Wind Eagle. So I asked her what a Wind Eagle was." As she spoke, she continued to carve deeper into the wood, using the knife tool. "She used to tell me that when she was in Wind Reach, she was fascinated by this one Eagle." She made eye contact with Jin for a second, trying to silently convey that her mother had really been there before. She changed her tools, using the V-shaped one to carve deeper into the wood. "So, she used to climb up onto a cliff and look out over the lakes and draw. It wasn't something she always did, but she always wanted to get better at it. So she went up tot he same point day after day. After a while, she began to this certain, darker colored eagle flying by himself back and forth until the sun was high enough that it's reflection could no long be seen spread out over the water. The Eagle would fly close enough for her to see the individual feathers and would then fly as far up as it could, before leaving view completely." The Vantha began to carve away further at the wood, outlining the Wind Eagle as she did. "See, this large Wind Eagle used to do this every day, getting closer to my mother daily, before flying high into the sky. The last day she spent in Wind Reach, the Wind Eagle flew close enough and called for her to reach up. 'Open you hands.' It spoke to her. 'Open your mind.' As she did, she grabbed ahold of one of it's dark chocolate brown feathers and that was when she knew, this was a parting gift." Once Eilea was finished carving, she began to spread the oil in on the deepest carvings. "My mother was one with her stories. Now, I don't know if it's true or not but... It was one of my favorites. She had a connection with that Wind Eagle. It's strange... considering how terrified I seem to be of them." She huffed, then looked at the older man once again. Her head felt lighter, and not only because of the lack of hair. She felt calmer in general. "My mother was such a daring person." "So are you." Jin responded. It was then that Eilea realized most of the people who had set up shop in the courtyard were dissipating. She narrowed her violet eyes. "What... did I... really take that long?" She asked a it of panic in her words. "Don't worry about it." He responded and smiled at her. "Now, let me see your Wind Eagle!" The Vantha carver smiled and picked up the wooden board. She turned it towards him. "What do you think?"

[Eilea]

As Eilea held up the wooden board, the older man studied it carefully. He tilted his head to the side. "You said that Wind Eagle was of a darker color?" The Vantha nodded in response. "Why don't you darken the feathers? Make this be the Eagle your mother grew to love?" The suggestion made Eilea smile. She took the board, and propped it up against her knee. "Alright, let's see what I can do." The Vantha took one of the small viles of wood dye from the kit and put one drop on the sharp edge of the straight knife tool. The girl slowly and carefully began to spread it along the indentions in the wood, darkening it as she did. "This dye will grow darker the longer it stays. It'll probably stay a near black once it settles, is that what you'd like?" "Is that what you think is best?" His wise question startled her. The Vantha looked up at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and looked down at the piece. "I think it's done." "Well, if the artist says it is, then it is." The old Inarta got to his feet. "Thank you for working on this for me. It will go perfect for the pricing sign you did before." He touched the girl's shoulder. "Also, I am sorry about the events that happened before. Be safe on your way home. And you'll probably have to get rid of that top." Eilea touched the sides of it. The tree bark had torn small holes in it, and the tree sap had left a crusty residue on the fabric. She frowned. "Thanks for helping me before." The girl gathered all the carving supplies together in the kit, kissed the old man on the forehead and then took off. On her way back tot he commons, the only thought going through her mind was... If mother was here, she would be so proud. Her stories are being told. And I'm turning into the carver she always wanted me to be...

[Phoenix]

Eilea

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Unarmed	1
Storytelling	3
Observation	5
Carving	4
Drawing	2

•	Lores Earned
•	Late for Market Day
•	Unarmed: Socking an offender in the face
•	Punching an Endal
•	Jin to the rescue
•	A haircut is never easy for a woman
•	Carving: Wind Eagle
•	Making Mother Proud

The Order of the Phoenix

I really enjoyed this thread a lot! I love the way you accurately portrayed the castes and the logic that Jin used to sway the Endal. Excellent work! I really loved this thread

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.