[The Docks] The Rolling Tide (Open)

[Ryndra]

Timestamp: Early Fall
Location: Syliras

The wind rolled in across the harbour carrying with it trade and cargo ships from far off lands. Caught in the sails of those brave enough to leave land behind, the wind brought items and objects from around Mizahar to this one place. If one stood long enough, they could smell the spices and fruits of lands far from here. Once a ship docked, workers would set upon the ship like ants taking the cargo from it, ready to be distributed amongst the traders that desired the items and goods.
A dark haired woman made her way to the wall over looking the harbour. Her white dress flowed around her in the sea breeze. This place was so different to what she had been used to back in her village. The harbour was one of the few places where she didn’t feel so stifled by the city life. The only other place was the training grounds within Stormhold, but today was her day off.
Her deep brown eyes took in the sights and she moved to sit on an empty crate. She did wonder if these crates were here for effect. They were always here, always in the same state and they never seemed to move. She knew it wasn’t just her that sat here. She had observed musicians and beggars use this same spot for their daily duties that they performed. She was loathe to call begging a duty but for those not as fortunate as herself, it was what they had to do.
The call of a sea bird roused the storm wolf from its brooding thoughts. She looked out across the many ships gathered in this place and refuse and the birds that took joy in resting upon the masts of the creations. A fine substitute for trees, she noted to herself. The breeze picked up again, blowing over the squire’s bear arms, she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
Ryndra smiled, remembering a song her mother had sung to her as a small girl. It wasn’t a particularly happy song, as such but Ryndra had enjoyed it all the same. She herself wasn’t much of a singer, not like her mother. Sophia had the voice of a songbird on a spring morning. It was always a good day when her Mother sang in the morning. The weather was fine and the hours on patrol seemed to fly-by. It always meant that the meeting in their house would be a jovial affair.
Truth be told, Ryndra missed her family. But the chance to become a Knight had been too good to pass up. It was times like these that she wondered if she had made the right decision in coming here. Aside from her mentor, she barely knew anyone. They were all nameless faces and faceless names. Sat here watching the sea was not the best way to get out and meet people she knew, but she was unsure where to even start.

[Fia Eaven]

"He's an Akalak, named Derik. Frightfully hard to miss, I know, but…"
"Lady," the seaman waved his hands and shook his head, "I never heard of him. So you can just take your stuff and go."
Despite the broad brush off, the redhead was rooted in place. Her voice did not change to reflect the man's rudeness. There was a lilt to her common, betraying she was not Syliran born.
"Another question, the ship, the Hind's Heart. Do you know what became of it?"
The seaman was shifting between staying and going, his irritation mounding.
"Is this some sort of punishment for your things being late? Lady, I've heard of the ship, but I couldn't tell you whether it's wrecked or sailing to Mura."
"So it went to Mura at some point in time?"
He shrugged stupidly, "Last I heard it went to Denval."
"Thank you," it was called to the man's departing back.

The woman then looked to the sack at her feet. It looked like a strange cross between a bag for feed and a fishing net. Not the most glamorous way to travel, but it held weight without breaking.
She reached down to heave it on her shoulders and took it to the crates where Ryndra sat. The sack was deposited atop a crate and the woman began to work on the winding knot keeping the bag closed.
Eventually she pulled the mouth open and peeked at its contents. A relieved sigh melted her raised shoulders and tense brow.
"Gods love you, you're still here."

She withdrew a smithy's hammer that was proportional to her size and kissed its metal head before putting it back in the bag.

Her rummaging was not done until she pulled out a folded square of blue gray fabric and shook it out, revealing a long fitted coat.

Hastily she began to wriggle into it, smoothing its wrinkles and pulling it in place over her simple dress.

"It's much too brisk here for just a frock this time of year," Fia commented to Ryndra with a quick smile.

[Ryndra]

Ryndra caught the sounds of heated discussion. She was thankful that she was pulled out of her darkening thoughts once more; she knew there was a reason she chose to come here. For such a crowded place, the city felt lonely a lot of the time. Her father had warned her of that, having travelled here several times with the caravans. It hadn’t bothered Ryndra when she had first arrived, caught up in the awe of the place, but as the shine wore off, she fell into the mindset of a rather lonely squire with nobody to notice her.
She searched for the source of the noise but didn’t have to look far. An impatient sailor and a determined young woman greeted her eyes. The woman didn’t look much younger than herself. There was a look and air of youth about her. Ryndra put that down to the girl’s head of strawberry locks and blue eyes. Ryndra was no real judge of character but this woman had a distinct confidence about her, which the squire instantly came to respect.
She remained quiet as she watched Fia hastily rummage through her bag of belongings and pull out a hammer that would have been better suited to the Ironworks. Taking note of the scars on this woman’s arms, she reasoned that she must work with metal. Her affections for such a mundane item tickled Ryndra and she let a small laugh, a broad friendly grin creeping on to her face.
“A few more weeks yet and I may contemplate bringing my coat,” Ryndra replied softly, still grinning. “But for now, the sky is bright and the birds fly high. I would still yet call this summer.” Ryndra pushed herself off her perch, her boots hitting the cobbles softly. Her mood brightened drastically, Ryndra’s brown eyes seemed to light up from the distant look they had before. “Would you like a hand with your belongings?”

[Fia Eaven]

Fia almost startled at having someone respond to her. The first time was a fluke, so the second time must be providence.
"Summer? Then you are made of sterner stuff than I," the pleasant tilt to her mouth showed this was a compliment.

For a breath Fia took an account of Ryndra, trying to discern if she should keep her wits at full attention. Just because she was a fellow sister, didn't mean all was well. There was a serene ease to the auburn haired girl as she sat, but when Ryndra was on her feet her steps were smart and her shoulders back. Dark eyes were always harder to read, but Fia saw a simplicity of intent.

"My things?" Fia was about to make a dismissing sound, but halted mid gesture.
"Actually, why not?"
This was a bet on Priskil that the woman wouldn't run while Fia's hands were full.
"I don't keep much company of late, so I will use this as an opportunity to be social," she announced with a grin at her own expense.

Fia stuck her hand into the bag and withdrew the heaviest object it held, her beloved hammer. As she extended it towards Ryndra, she began a half serious caution.

"Now, this may look like nothing to you, but this hammer has been my mate and livelihood. Not to mention a grand way to work out emotional dents."
Sometimes swinging a hammer at a piece of metal was enormously cathartic.
"I wouldn't say guard it with your life, but I will say treat her kind like."

As she reverently passed the tool into Ryndra's hands, Fia added, "I'm Fia by the way. A recent import to Syliras."

[Ryndra]

Ryndra looked down briefly at the compliment before smiling at Fia. “Night patrols have that effect I’m afraid,” came her nonchalant reply. There was no resentment in it all. She had done her duty for the village back then and she did not regret a second of it. That was just her way, if it helped someone out, it was a good thing to do.
Ryndra took hold of the hammer, her grip firm around the handle. She let the head rest in her free hand, clearly not bothered by the weight of the item. She examined Fia’s prized possession briefly. It was not unlike her own blade. “I understand more than you would think,” Ryn looked up to Fia once more, gesturing for her to lead the way and Ryndra would follow. “My own currently rests, locked safe in my home. Well, my pride and joy at least.”
As Fia introduced herself, Ryndra inclined her head, “Well it’s heartening to know that I am not the only new blood around here then. I’m Ryndra, or Ryn if you would prefer. This place is far larger than I would have first thought. Good company seems to be elusive here.”
It brightened Ryndra’s mood no end to know she was not the only one that felt alone in the city. Fia finding her was a blessing of itself. Not only did they have some common ground but also if Ryndra’s suspicions were correct, Fia was indeed a blacksmith. While not intending to use Fia as a means to an end, striking up a friendship now would benefit her.
“I presume from this hefty friend of yours that you work in the Ironworks?”

[Fia Eaven]

"Ryndra it is," Fia announced.
There was something contemplative under the redhead's smiles, like she was discerning a bright future between them.

When asked about the Ironworks, Fia showed crossed fingers, a gesture for luck in her family.
"I am hoping to end up there. I worked in my grandfather's smithy back in Denval. Nothing warms like a forge."
As Fia spoke there was a continual kindness is her looks, but she didn't have the fast and bright expressiveness of some, or an urgency to talk.

She hefted the sack higher on her shoulder as she broke into a faster gait toward the Inn. Her abode until she ironed out the complications of finding a place among the squat stony houses.

"Syliras seems a city where all us hopeful somethings try to begin. But the resident population, old hands, the lot of them."

Fia brushed her fox-colored hair from her face.
"I like the newness of plans, here. You can feel it a bit, like a fast current trying to catch your ankles."
Growing more thoughtful, she added, "But then I miss that comfort of old grounded things. The solidness of an ancient tree or gatherings that are repeated so frequently they cease to be announced."
Smiling, Fia announced, "New and old, hard to part with either."

Turning the conversation towards Ryndra, Fia asked, "So what is your pride and joy, all bundled up somewhere? I wager it's not a hammer."

[Ryndra]

Ryndra let out a short giggle at the gesture, understanding what it meant. So Fia was a blacksmith. The conclusion was an easy one to draw but Ryndra felt rather pleased with herself that had she had. Ryndra brushed a stray strand of her dark hair out of her face. It was rare to find a female smithy. Everyone she had ever known to be a blacksmith was male but Ryndra was not one to judge anyone by his or her gender. After all, she had broken the mould once before.
“I can imagine. Not for myself though,” Ryndra had been to the Ironworks had just found it too hot to be in their for any length of time. She much preferred being outside with the breeze running through and toying with her hair.
As Fia continued, Ryndra’s expression fell to one that was clearly remembering times gone past. “I will agree with you on that one. Back home, we used to host the whole village in our house most nights. Laughing around the fire, sharing stories, singing. Those are times we never forget. One day, I’ll go back there with my own tales, but we have to make our own stories before we can tell them.”
Ryndra took a moment, almost lost in her thoughts. “No, not a hammer. It is the blade my Father gifted me as I left home. I am a squire to one of the Knights and plan on becoming one myself.”

[Fia Eaven]

Fia found cheer in their shared understanding of smaller worlds and warmer hearths than Syliras. She had a hard time trusting someone who had no love of kin and kind, but Ryndra betrayed an affection for where she had first made roots. Each of them were trying to spread their boughs further out, though.

"A squire!" Fia's smile was openmouthed surprise, framing her words, "A noble enterprise if I have ever heard one!"
Tossing her hair back from her eyes, Fia went on, "And it seems you and I have made a rather fortunate acquaintance."

She made a quick scan of Ryndra from a smith's perspective. The girl could do with a dagger for her tall boots, but then those weren't the easiest to maneuver with. Flexibility and grace would be a woman's dearer assets. Perhaps a standard one to hang on her hip opposite the sword. Fia thought about Ryndra's possible opposition, heavily armored men? Then she'd need one with a sturdy rondel and thin blade, better for jamming through the chinks.

The roof of the Inn was coming into view. A few more streets and Fia would have no further excuse to keep Ryndra's company.

"Of all the things you could be, what steered you towards being a knight? Was your father one?"

[Ryndra]

Ryndra grinned shyly at Fia’s response to her being a Knight. Ryndra was not a bit ashamed by her being a squire but she knew Knights were meant to hold a modicum of self-respect. She had heard stories of Knights that held themselves above others because of their rank. She was sure these were just rumours concocted by jealous individuals but that thought was there in the back of her mind.
“Fortunate seems too light of a word,” Ryndra caught the glance. In the back of her mind, she knew the thoughts of how this meeting could benefit each of them were crossing Fia’s mind. The idea that she would befriend someone merely as a means to an end seemed morally wrong. Fia was someone who was in Ryn’s situation, if they could not find friendship in that then something was wrong.
She shook her head at Fia’s question and attempt to answer it herself. “No. Although, it was my father that got me into it. My parents were against me learning to fight. But to me, it’s like… my art. I’m not the perfect combatant by any means; I have a lot to learn. The Knight I am squire for saw something in me the day barbarians attacked our village. He asked if I wished to join the Knights.”