Solo A New Day

[Naiya]

Season of Summer, Day 1, 513 AV

Despite the events of the night before Rue woke as always, two bells before sunrise. The quiet dark greeted her as she dressed in her tan tunic and copper breeches. There was no light to catch the glimmer of the knotted embroidery at the collar sleeves and hem of her tunic, but she knew it was there, she had done it herself. She stuck her jewelry and belt into her boots and grabbed a small meal to break her fast and her pack as she stepped outside into the predawn hours.

She didn't walk far before she put her things down, just far enough not to wake the others with the sounds of her routine. The soft grass beneath her feet showed not a sign of dirt, this would be a good spot. She started with her breathing, raising her arms up above her head as she breathed in, lowering them as she released it. The process of in and out was both a cleansing and a raising of power, drawing up strength from the earth with each breath in and returning it with the out, breathing out old air and in the new. When her body hummed with wakefulness she bent at the hip reaching for her toes in a stretch that pulled not only her legs but up through her lower back as well. A deep breath in as she stood straight again and out as she bent, this time reaching further until her forehead was just inches from her legs. She swayed softly side to side before reaching up over her head once again stretching back in the opposite direction from before.

Quickly she worked through her stretches, waking muscles until her entire body was warm and ready. She stripped off her tunic, leaving her in only her underclothes and breeches for the next part, but she would be scolded for dirtying her top, so she draped it carefully over her boots.

Prone she placed her hands beneath her shoulders, a deep breath in as she pushed her body up from the ground, and out as she touched her nose to the ground. She managed one hundred of these before she rolled onto her back, planting her feet on the ground she curled up until she was sitting, lowered back down. Three hundred of these, although after the first she turned and did one hundred more on each side. These were followed again by push-ups arms at her sides instead of out at an angle. She moved to her legs with lifts and squats and lunges, one hundred reps of each exercise. Back to her stomach she balanced on the bone of her butt, laying back and stretching her legs out straight then sitting up and bringing her knees to her chest.

Her routine was simply keeping her muscle toned and strong, next was the hard part. On her feet again she did a quick stretch and began the forms of her fighting. A traveler needed to know how to protect themselves and their family from harm, or so her family believed, and so from the moment she was old enough she had trained to fight. Eleven years later the forms came to her without thought as her feet moved gracefully across the soft grass. In her mind it was a dance between herself and her opponents, cause and effect of their movements to hers. Her hands and elbows lashed out twice as often as her legs, but she knew her real strength would come from knowing how to use her center of balance to gain the upper hand against larger opponents.

Sweat covered her body as she worked, lunging and swinging, throwing her whole body weight into attackers that were not there. It wasn't until a breeze caught her that she realized the sky was lightening. She let the wind dry her for a few moments before she ran through a less vigorous stretching sequence. Next she pulled her tunic back over her head, securing it with her belt. Next her knotwork necklace around her neck, the small purple stone catching the little light as she picked it up, followed by a bangle on her right wrist so as not to impair her draw. She brushed off the bottoms of her feet before slipping on the tall stockings that served as an extra layer between her skin and the leather of the riding boots she always wore.

From her bag she pulled two sheathed daggers, one she slid into her belt, covering it with the purple sash that was popular among her clan. The copper knot embroidery that adorned the purple was done by her aunt, dyed to match the tones of her hair. The second dagger went into the top of her boot, hidden by the slight flair of the opening. By the time she was fully dressed her heart had slowed to a more normal pace, her body cooled dramatically. Pulling the drawstrings on her pack she slung it across her shoulder after removing the meal of berries and fresh greens.

She glanced back at her family's pavilion where it stood a quarter bell's walk from the busy parts of Endrykas, others were beginning to stir as the morning rose and it was time for Rue to take her leave. She didn't want to face her 'father' again so soon after their last meeting.

Rue popped a few berries in her mouth, savoring the explosion of summer's early fruit on her tongue, only just remembering to pull her hair down from the twisted knot she kept it in while she slept and exercised. Her locks fell around her, the three braids at the nape of her neck clinking as the ornaments fell against each other. The tips of her hair tickled her elbows, cut short because of an accident with clothing dye as a child.

She finished her small meal as the sky lightened and she joined the relative hustle and bustle of the morning.

Endrykas was alive with the smell of food, people, and best of all, horses. That was where she would go today, and she would visit often as new people and new horses arrived with the turn of the season.

[Naiya]

Weaving her way through the tent city, Rue did her best to stay out from underfoot, a task easier said than done when most others had their striders close at hand.

The sight that awaited her as she approached her destination was a mildly terrifying one. Before her a young child, maybe three or four years, had spooked a horse. The frightened creature had torn free of its tether and was rearing, stomping its feet, and tossing its head. The white of its eyes showed all the way around.

Rue approached them both as quickly as she could without scaring the creature further. She lifted the small boy off the ground by the back of his tunic, shoving him softly in the direction of safety. She was careful to keep one eye on the animal before her as she set the boy down. Lucky for her that she did because as soon as she turned the mare snapped her teeth in Rue's face, narrowly missing her target as Rue ducked out of the way.

"Easy girl." Rue tried to make her voice soothing, as she approached the creature again. She reached carefully for a handful of grass to bribe the mare with, crushing it softly with her hand as she waved it before her.

At the smell of the slightly dry grass, the creature quieted some, eyeing Rue apprehensively. "Sweet girl, look- it's just grass, see." She kept talking as she raised the grass towards the mare, not looking directly at her. Between the soothing ramble of Rue's voice and the offer of grass that she didn't have to reach for, the mare calmed down enough to stretch her neck out as far as she could and lip up the small handful of grass.

"There, see. You're alright." Rue murmured as she reached out and patted the mares cheek, glad to have calmed her before someone came back to find their horse missing. Rue gave the creature a quick rubdown with her hands, taking the time to further calm the animal and admire her beauty. She used her fingers to curry the mare, breaking up the spots of sweat that had formed in the excitement and checking to see if her was hurt.

Satisfied with her inspection, Rue loosened her sash from around her waist, pulling it off to slip around the mare's neck. "Come on, pretty girl, lets get you back to the others." With her sash acting as a lead rope Rue quickly scanned the ground, searching for hoof prints that would lead her back to where the mare had come from. With a sigh she realized the ground was marked everywhere with tracks, which should have occurred to her earlier what with all the horses around. "Where did you come from, Miss?" Rue asked, glancing at the horse standing patiently at her side.

A bit further to her left Rue noticed a few splatters of sweat accompanying hoof prints leading towards where they stood now. "Is that where you came from? That way?" Rue asked quietly as she began to walk, chuckling as the mare bobbed her head up and down almost as in answer to her question. The sweat drops continued, although they grew further and further between, until finally there were no more spots to be found. Glancing around Rue gave a sigh, "Now where do I go?" She grumbled, scanning the ground for more sweat, but the mare had other ideas, stomping her foot, she started off walking again in a slightly different direction, at a diagonal from their original path.

Hoping for the best, Rue followed the mare.

After a short while, Rue heard calling in the distance and the mare grew excited, taking off towards the sound, ripping the sash from Rue's hands.

"Hey! Wait up, you silly creature! Come back!" Rue called, chasing her up over a small rise. When Rue topped the hill she spotted the bay dancing merrily in circles around a boy. He was smiling trying to catch her by the sash that was still knotted loosely around her neck.

As Rue got closer she could hear what the boy was saying. "Come back here Sa'lin! Where've you been? And what's that you've got 'round your neck? Stop running off, you!" Rue couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up past her lips, the sound of which startled the boy into stillness.

"Is'sat your scarf then?" He growled, embarrassed at being caught chasing his horse in circles.

"It is." Rue answered him, "I found the girl a ways back, I thought I'd see if I could find where she belonged. She had quite a scare, that's why I've a tie on her, didn't want her to spook and go running again."

The boy grunted in acknowledgement, having turned his back fully to the mare while Rue spoke. Feeling ignored the spirited creature nipped at the boy's shirt, tugging on the coarse material. He pushed her head away. She tugged at his shirt again, and he repeated the motion. Stomping her foot the mare butted him with her head, sending the boy sprawling in the dirt.

"Och, you crazy beast! Cut it out would ya?" With a small smile Rue walked up to the two offering the boy a hand up. When he reached for her, she caught sight of his twisting windmark, curving around his shoulder. 'Lucky him.' She thought as she pulled her sash free of the mare.

"She's a beautiful horse." Rue mentioned, and watched as the boy puffed out his chest with pride.

"That she is," He patted the mare's neck, "Thank you for catching her for me." Rue nodded at him as she tied her sash back around her waist.

"It was my pleasure." She answered him.

"All the same, I owe you one for it. You let me know if there is ever something I can do for you."

With a grin, Rue thanked him, waving over her shoulder as she made her way back through the tent city.

[Naiya]

As Rue wandered between the tents of the city she took in the sights all around her. It was something she was supposed to do all the time, be constantly aware of her surroundings, but she wasn't very good at it. Her aimless walk was a good time to practice, she decided. Around her were children and adults with and without striders going about their business. In the tent next to her two people were arguing about the value of a length of fine ribbon, the woman clearly trying to lower the price by arguing the craftsmanship. In front of her was a weaponsmith, sweating over a white hot piece of metal as he shaped it.

Trying hard not to focus too hard on anything at all, but to instead be aware of everything was a difficult skill, and soon Rue found she had lost track of everything but her thoughts. She was thinking about how she envied the girls who had jobs as dancers or working outside when she was stuck pricking her fingers learning embroidery most every night. And those were the GOOD nights, on the not so good ones she was weaving fabric or sewing and patching clothing.

Rue snapped to attention as a child ran into her legs, falling back in the dirt at the impact. "Oh! Sorry hon, I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?" Rue reached to help the child up when out the corner of her eye she saw a second older child sneakily making their way behind her. An angry huff of breath escaped her as she realized she was falling for their ruse. She grabbed the first child up by the arm, spinning to face the other who was reaching towards her back when she caught him.

Caught the kid fumbled for a minute before deciding on playing the innocent act. "Are you going to hurt him, ma'am? He didn't mean to run into you." Rue gave a very horse-like snort shoving the younger child at the older one. The both of them couldn't have been older than eight, but all the same..

"If I catch either one of you trying something like that again I'll drag you both to your Ankal's for a ruling." Looking rather angry at being caught and at the lecturing, the older child took the other's hand pulling him away.

Rue brushed her hair out of her face with a sigh, glancing up at the sky to judge the time. Almost lunch, she would have just enough time to check on her pavilion's horses before she was expected back home.

A few chimes later Rue was moving through the corral, patting friendly faces and chiding the rude ones. Rue had always felt at home around the horses. It was like they spoke to her with flicks of their ears and movements of their body the same as any person who spoke pavi. That's not to say that she always got along with every horse, but even the mean ones were more than ready to let Rue know what they thought of her, not that that kept Rue from assuming the role of lead mare whenever she was dealing with them. She worked her way through the horses, inspecting them for injuries or ticks and accumulating a layer of dirt that was inevitable when dealing with horses.

A half bell later Rue ducked into her pavilion, weary and counting on a meal to fortify her.

"You're a mess! What've you been doing, rolling with pigs all morning?" My cheeks burned red at the insult. The implication that she'd spent the day on back was one that he's hurled at her often enough, but it never ceased to get to her.

"You know I haven't." She snapped, biting her tongue to keep from returning an insult of her own.

"Not even the pigs would have you then? It's a wonder your mother still believes you'll find a sutor."

"Everyone is young and stupid once, father," The word was bitter on her tongue, "Mother married you, didn't she?"

She regretted it the moment the insult left her lips, she needed to learn to keep her mouth shut.

[Naiya]

For a long moment she thought he would be too shocked to answer her, but the next instant there was stinging pain on her cheek and she wondered how she had missed seeing him move. She found herself outside in the shade cast by the pavilion, the taste of blood on her lips and a bruise forming on her cheek. 'You'll not be eating with us today. I won't allow that sort of behavior at my table.' He'd said, then left her where she lay on the floor.

Disregarding his attempt to shame her, she held her head high as she made her way instead to a small tent off to the side of another Amethyst Clan pavilion. She ducked her head inside calling softly, "Hello?"

"Rue, what a pleasure to see you so early in the day. Is there something I can do for you?" Maybell was an older woman, her dark hair streaked with hints of the white that would one day overtake the color. Her green eyes were steady though as she looked Rue over, and her voice was still as strong as ever. "Working with the horses again, were you, child? You ought to know by now that it is a job that doesn't belong to you." Rue stepped further into the tent, a smile crossing her face.

"You know that they don't do as well as I do for all that they are paid to do it." She replied, and the woman before her laughed heartily.

"That is true enough. Come now, wash up and help an old woman finish her meal." That was Maybell's subtle way of telling Rue that she could guess well enough what had happened and that she was still on her side regardless.

"I came to work, Maybell, not to take your food." Rue told the woman, but she was already bent over the washbowl, knowing that there would be no use arguing the point.

"Eat first, and I will teach you something new today." That was enough to shut Rue up, she knew that a lesson meant embroidery and she would not pass the opportunity up.

There was soft cheese and a warm bread at Maybell's table, some slightly bitter roots, and a lavender sage tea. Rue was glad for the meal, but she was more excited for the work to come.

After their meal, Maybell pulled her a small oval hoop and a scrap of purple cloth to which she added a delicate white silk floss and a needle. "Embroidery is different from sewing because your stitches are the final product." She continued to explain the finer points of stitches, using direction and length to change the texture and feel of the needle work. She also explained how the silk floss would be different from a floss of a different quality and how the silk would show the imperfections more. It was a lot to take in at once, but Rue did her best.

"There is a pattern in black on the cloth, see if you can match the pattern, I've set aside two more patterns for you on different cloth incase you finish the first. I'll check on your work in two bell's time." Maybell returned to her own sewing, repairing her husband's work top.

Rue squinted at the pattern on the cloth. It looked easy enough, a pattern of vines and flowers that crossed the fabric in swirls. She threaded her needle easily, something years of practice had made easy, and knotted the end. Starting from underneath she slid the needle through the cloth, moved the tip of the needle and pushed it back through the fabric, the needle tip came back through by the end of the first stitch, she matched the first length and continued on so for an entire bell. When she glanced back over her work she was embarrassed to find that her vines were boxy and turned sharply rather than curving gracefully as they should. There were gaps of cloth between some of her stitches and none between others. With a sigh she realized she would have to undo the whole thing and start again.

[Naiya]

"How is it going?" Rue glanced up dropping her work to her lap in order to make the sign for frustration, and weariness.

"It is much harder than I imagined." Rue answered her, even as she picked the piece back up. Her second attempt was better, her second bell's work getting only a quarter of the pattern done, but it still wasn't the smooth graceful work that her clan was known for.

"Most would not have done half so well as you did, I thought 'Surely she will have moved to the second pattern' and yet here you have only done a part of the first." Rue looked apologetic, face, body, and hands. She had not done well and had let her friend down. "You misunderstand me." Maybells hands spoke of patience and hard work just as her words. "Most would have raced through the patterns, mistaking speed for skill. Instead you worked slowly and paid careful attention to your stitches. Look here," She pointed to a spot, her hands signing grace as she continued, "You shortened your stitches as the patterned curved and you were left with an elegant turn in the vine rather than the boxy turn of inexperience. Embroidery takes time as well as skill."

Rue blushed at her words, thinking of her first attempt at the pattern, and told Maybell of the error. "You noticed the mistake, and you corrected it. That is more than I can say for most. Now why don't you take that home with you for later, tonight I have some garments that need patching and a dress that needs taking in."

Her work was easy enough, sewing patches into the knees of the pants of young children, repairing a small tear where a horse had pulled a sleeve free of its seam. This was work that Rue had been doing all her life, the quick stitches flew beneath her hands with little thought. Often times she found that the most difficult part of a fix was deciding how to keep the stitches from showing, or trying to find the right color thread to match the clothing. Her stitches were not always uniform, not for lack of trying, but they didn't need to be when they wouldn't be seen anyway.

Two bells later the were done with the queued work, so they stopped for dinner. "Won't your family be expecting you, child?" Rue thought of her mother and her aunt, the other girls and her only brother, they might wonder where she was if they had missed the scene between Rue and her father, but he would not expect her, and if he was asleep when she returned, all the better for her. "No ma'am." Rue replied, her hands silent in her lap.

They ate their meal quickly, Rue in the seat of a family guest in Maybell's pavillion. When she had asked Maybell if it would be better if she supped at Baultimes Barrel, the old woman had made a sign of scorn shaking her head as she told her "If I can't have a guest in my own pavilion, I'm doing something wrong."

After they ate they returned to the small work tent, opening the front flap to invite customers in. Rue greeted many people as they stopped by, to drop off or to pick up clothing. Some stayed to share news of the day, or to check on the progress of a special order, but for the most part, rues time was spent leaning over her work, watching the flash of the thin metal as it slid between layers of cloth, knitting together the torn or frayed clothing like an Opal Clan surgeon working on a patient. As Rue fell deeper into her work she realized that the movement of her needle reminded her of the ebb and flow of nature, the needle and thread acting like the energy that filled them all, knitting things together that were sometimes nothing alike but were wonderful in the end.

Rue was brought out of her thoughts when she pricked her finger on the needle, red blood welling up startling against the color of her skin. She shook her head, taking the finger in her mouth to prevent it from dripping on the tunic she was mending.

Maybell glanced at her then, realizing she had come out of her reverie. "So you've joined us in the land of the living once again." Her words carried the same tone as her hands, worry, fear. "I was beginning to believe you'd been lost in the thread." Rue glanced up at the older woman, signing a question with one hand. "You took up the work before you and have not stopped since dinner, I called your name over and over, I even shook you for a while, but you just continued to sew after I released you." Maybell shook her head, fear reflecting in her hands and eyes as she looked at the young girl before her. "I closed up the shop two bells ago, you've been at this for near six bells this evening. Take that hoop and put it beside your bed, but leave it until the evening after next. I'll expect you after supper tomorrow." The woman was obviously shaken, but she still managed to get Rue on her feet and out the door with her pack and embroidery in hand.

"Good night, Maybell. Thank you for today."

"Good night, Rue." The tent flap fell between them and Rue was left in the darkened tent city to find her way to her bed.

[Praetorian]

Your Diligence Has Been Rewarded! Rue Nightsong Body Building +3 XP Observation +2 XP Unarmed Combat +2 XP Tracking +2 XP Horsemanship +1 XP Mornings are for Muscles The Runaway Lost in the Stitches Notes : Lovely, skill-filled thread giving us a bit of insight into Rue's life. Can't wait to see where you take these dynamics. Have any questions, comments, or concerns? Feel free to message me.