Open Pale Waters Chill The Soul

[Haeli]

Timestamp: 15th of Winter, 513 AV

The girl had no distinction between summer and winter other than wearing clothing in the winter was far more of a necessity than wearing clothing in the summer. Had it been summer, Haeli's long legs would have been bare and most likely dangling off the log and into the water where she perched. The giant cyphrus had fallen sometime ago, but its stoic wood hadn't rotted at all. It made a perfect place to bask in the sun, even if one wasn't wearing a basking form.

The girl had opted instead for a warmer set of gear, one that kept her legs covered and her usual bare feet well shod. And instead of her normal herb kit where she was out collecting herbs, she was instead fishing. Haeli didn't really need to fish. She didn't much know how either. But here she was with a pole, some tackle, and a small box of worms trying it out. She'd much rather morph into a egret and go fishing, but it was cold and the water had ice chunks floating in it. Taking any number of her given forms - crocodile, egret, even jaguar - would result in wet and cold at some point. So here and now she was opting for trying her hand at the good old fashioned human method.

So far, Haeli hadn't really seen the appeal.


She'd picked up the gear in the city after some careful inquiry and had outfitted herself well for the trek. The equipment hadn't been expensive at the night market, but it had taken some convincing to get the shop keeper of the small corner display to understand she just wanted the rod, line, hooks and the woven basket with the extra gear. He seemed to think she wanted special snake oil, powders that dissolved on her tongue to get her to see things that weren't real, or even mushrooms Haeli was certain were poisonous. But she'd won out in the end, got the gear, and was out here by light trying to make a go of it. So far she'd caught lots of twigs, sticks, and even managed to snag a passing duck.

But no fish. The tiny salt water crocodile that was attempting to bask on the big Cyprus windfall had a lot to say about her ability as well. And none of it was good. If salt water crocodiles hadn't had such long memories, she'd boot him off the log they shared with her literally. So that meant when he was bigger and next time she'd return to the log, he'd remember, and then things would get unpleasant. She might be the witch of the area and well able to speak with the denizens, that didn't mean they had to like her or speak to her.

And sometimes the feeling was mutual. She gave the croc a glare and concentrated on casting out her line again, ignoring him.

purchases :

Purchased at the Night Market.

Fishing Kit – 10 GM
Fishing Pole – 1 GM
fish Basket - 1 Gm

[Kryos Coal]

What Coal had learned after his first week working the Hammer and Nail was that he had been out of the blacksmithing game for far too long. His left arm, though much stronger than his right ached with exertion, but more than that, his whole body seemed to have drained of energy. Liana, the mixed blood slave in charge of smithing and woodworking liked to sleep during the day, rising an hour before the shop closed up and working from that point until Syna started rising above the horizon. In order to get his instructions Coal had to follow suite and the transition was not going well. Besides that, Liana seemed keen to give Coal the most menial of tasks, hammering out nails, repairing broken field tools, and delivering shipments to various shops around town. The lugging and carrying, mixed with the fact that he could never seem to fall asleep with light shining in between the thin worn curtains of the shop's attic meant the Isur slowly turned into a walking skeleton seemingly made of stone.

Green eyes stared up, half closed at the massive beams connecting the ceiling of the shop, hands folded behind his head. He blinked once, then again, and slowly rose form the bed. Though Liana seemed to sleep through anything, he didn't want to risk her stony gazed wrath, so he slipped on the roughspun jacket he had been given for the cold, and wandered down the rickety steps that led into a small back room before opening up into the store where Taiyl was having a pleasant conversation with what appeared to be a Freeborn. The human cocked an eyebrow at Coal, and the Isur replied with the barest of shrugs before softly padding out of the shop, down the much nicer set of stairs and out into a brusque winter morning in the city.

A heel of bread was his breakfast as he meandered through the city streets, half of him knowing this was a mistake, one he'd regret come dusk when his real day began, but he had been instructed to familiarize himself with the city when he had spare time, perhaps this is really what the Radacke's had meant.

Coal didn't notice the company at first when he stopped at the edge of the waters, dipping his ashen left hand absentmindedly to pluck a block of ice from the rippling waters, appraising it like a jewel before throwing it casually into the water where it skipped once off of the surface before sliding down into the cold black depths. That was when his eyes caught the fishing line, the ripples he had caused flowing against it, following the string to where it was held by a woman. As soon as his eyes met hers they flicked back toward the water.

"Sorry." He blurted out immediately. She was fishing and he had probably just disturbed the fish here...if there were fish here... His brand, a curving line over a hammer was visible, if not easily upon the right side of his neck in the form of raised shining flesh as his head turned away, wondering if he should leave the woman to her fishing.

[Estrellir Konrath]

Even the best detective needed a break every few days or weeks. After a night of reading and scribbling in the tiny illegible script she was using for purposes of secrecy, Estrellir's eyes stung and her head swam. There was no way she'd get more work done without taking the break she deserved. So she left Mell in charge of the bureau and ventured out into the chilly day, taking her cloak.

Out of habit, she covered her white head with the black hood. Her fists were thrust into the pockets of the cloak to protect her skin, scales and sensitive webbing between fingers against the cold. Until she noticed the hard wood against her knuckles and remembered. Then she took out the pipe, lit it and sent the first puff up into the clear air. Avoiding passers-by, she slipped into the less populated areas of Kenash soon and wandered off the beaten paths without really noticing. Of course, she kept an eye on her surroundings – although she was a Dynasty, previous experiences had taught her to expect danger behind every corner.

The girl sitting on a fallen tree and holding a rope that hung into the still water didn't seem dangerous though. Squinting, Estrellir tried to discern her features from the distance of a few trees away. Her boots produced a wet noise as she came nearer, but she didn't mind. The girl was sitting at a prominent location and apparently didn't mind being seen. Her face didn't ring a bell. The Konti's sixth sense crossed out the Dynasties. The way she sat and gave herself over to her task didn't suggest a slave, so Estrellir shelved her as Freeborn.

Before she reached the spot near the water though, another wanderer came into sight. He seemed human, only more muscular, stockier, stronger perhaps. Estrellir couldn't pinpoint him either. Her brow furrowed as she weighed the pipe in one hand. People she didn't know posed a personal challenge – it was her work to know everything and everyone in Kenash!

With slow steps, she approached the pair, blowing smoke into the air and listened to their noises. Soon she was close enough to understand the words spoken.

[Haeli]

The witch looked up at the sound of the rock being tossed into the water and then turned tracing its tragectory back until she laid eyes on the man who had tossed it. His abrupt voice startled her, having been sunk into Nura and the habits witches indulged in when out in their elements. She started to bare her teeth at him and hesitated, understanding dawning in that moment that he was human, or something like it, and not a denizen of the woods. Her lips instead curved to a proper smile and she nodded her head. "The fish... they aren't biting anyhow. I can feel them in there, prowling around, hungry... but the worms don't interest them. Neither does feeding us." She added, nodding to the ripples in the water. "So it matters not and they are not scared of rocks anyhow... only crocs and fishing birds." Haeli said, glancing down at the baby croc that perched about a foot away from her basking on the fallen cyprus as well.

"Are we in your place? I have never come here fishing before." Haeli said, as if in a way to explain her intrusion in case the man had that thought process. He was closer now than he was before, and she studied his features, suddenly knowing that he was not a full human at least not like she knew them to be. He was stockier, bigger, though not in height but in mass. And his arm was dark, as if some dark magic had been applied to it. She'd never seen anything like him. And of course she immediately wanted to ask, but she knew enough from her experiences in Lhavit that it was beyond rude to ask about differences.

"Do you know anything about fishing? I might be doing this wrong." Haeli said, not bothering with an introduction. What good where they anyhow? Names meant next to nothing to her. Actions, demeanor, everything else but a name represented far better than a simple word.

She lifted the pole, showing him what she meant and slowly reeling int he line to check to make sure the worm was there. At the same time another woman approached and Haeli glanced her direction and once more stifled the urge to bare her teeth and instead offered a smile to the additional newcommer as well.

[Kryos Coal]

His gaze was averted enough to miss the half snarl that then transformed into a smile, but the tone of her voice, which held no indication as to her rank made him look up from the frozen ground. Coal's head tilted to the side a bit at the mention of feeling the fish, and his mind passed over the detail, deciding it was perhaps just a term one used when fishing. He stepped closer. She was not Dynasty, that much was...almost certain, but she couldn't be a slave either, they didn't simply fish.

"Uh, no this is not mine." He said uncertainly. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure this was the first time anyone had actually asked him if he possessed something. Closer up Coal surveyed the woman a bit, Syna reflecting in her brown hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes. The Draer's had blue eyes, and they liked to fish. This thought made his eyes fall ground ward again, but his conclusion didn't make as much sense when she admitted to not knowing much about fishing.

Of course, Coal knew even less, but some instinct bade him to help in what ways he could. "I am sorry, I have never fished. But you said they don't like the worm. What do fish like to eat?" He glanced out over the water, not knowing himself. He observed the proffered line, but for one as inexperienced as he it gave him no ideas.

Then another female approached the waters, though at a bit of a distance. The Isur's shoulders hunched a bit instinctively. He just on the cusp of figuring out where he stood with this curious woman, and he didn't like having another unknown entity enter the equation. For safety's sake he kept his eyes low and greeted the woman with a polite. "Mistress." Even if she was Dynasty, he wasn't precisely doing anything wrong, but that was the thing...he wasn't doing...anything. The lack of productivity set into Coal's nerves, and he found his eyes drifting back to the fishing line as a focal point in the midst of his own inner turmoil.

[Roric]

The hare happily gnawed away at the wild dandelion poking up through the snow. It was extravagantly fat and more than likely a runaway pet of those dynastic runts that lorded over the city. It must’ve made a bid for freedom at the first opportunity. Which, would’ve put the little beast into Roric’s good graces, had it not looked and smelled so delicious. The wolf crept silently closer, eyes intent on the quarry. It was almost time, then.

The rabbit froze in horror. He caught the unmistakable scent of fear.

So the chase was on. Roric barreled from his hiding place amongst the snowy trees and the rabbit fled in a blind panic. But he’d already drawn too near. The little beast cut a sharp right and he followed suit, sending a torrent of snow into the air as he suddenly changed direction. Within a few bells he ran it down, his powerful jaws closing around the hind end before he held down the rabbit’s quivering body and with a crunch, snapped its neck.

Ah, and how he wanted to eat it right there, too.

But in the manner of wolves, he was compelled to share. Haeli had done much for him over the course of the past season. She’d freed him, given him a home. Thus he would hunt for her and keep her safe. Not because he owed her a debt, either, but because he wanted to. The strange give and take of their relationship left him content. Roric was happy. There was of course, a longing for something more, but neither of them really understood what that meant. Beyond the physical implications, anyway, though he suspected she was lost on that point too. Despite how he’d looked at her, touched her, she had not yet responded. Perhaps he’d show her what he meant, one day.

But he didn’t really know if that was what she wanted. Which troubled and angered him. So rather than brooding about it, he decided to ignore those feelings and instead, deliver her lunch. It didn’t take too long to pick up her scent, as he’d trained himself to it. The wolf followed it down to the water, meal between his teeth. It was only as he came upon the scene did he realize she was already engaged with at least two others.

Unable to stop himself, a low snarl emanated from deep in his throat. Who were they? He did not trust these strange people. Neither of them smelled human. The wolf stood just behind where Haeli sat, his bloody teeth closed around the inert form of a large, juicy hare.

He postured defensively and his hackles began to rise. Oh, Haeli would know him and what he meant. Were she not to call him back, he’d drop the rabbit and begin to advance on the Isur.

[Estrellir Konrath]

The girl was fishing which marked her as a Freeborn with certainty. For a moment Estrellir even spotted the worm dangling at her line, a tiny dot in the big swamp world. Existence as a worm was probably the most unlucky of all, especially in an environment as dangerous as theirs.

As she approached, the girl looked up and offered a smile. After a hint of hesitation? No, perhaps she was growing paranoid. The smile seemed fine enough, more honest and pure than a Dynasty smile at a party, even. Estrellir quirked her lips in imitation, although it turned into a rather dry and weird shadow of the girl's expression. Another two steps revealed the small crocodile chilling next to the girl on the trunk. The Konti raised an eyebrow, but chose to take a drag from her pipe instead of commenting. “Hello,” she said softly, releasing smoke into the patch of sky visible between treetops.

She hadn't meant to intrude and cut short their conversation, but was still faced with a polite greeting as she turned. He didn't look like it, but the man had drawn the right conclusion from observing her. Of course, as a Kenash slave such skills were paramount to survival. Estrellir nodded back. “I can't remember seeing you two around the city...” Just as she was about to voice her name in hopes of hearing theirs, something came closer from the other side, the wild swamp side, rustling softly... growing louder.

Then she saw it. If it had been possible, Estrellir would've paled. Numbly, she caught the pipe just before it fell from her lips and took a shaky step towards the man. He seemed the best choice as protector from the beast. As a Dynasty, she could even order him to attract its attention while she fled... Then the wolf snarled and she froze. How was it possible?

During that tiny moment, she hated the numb helplessness and fear paralyzing her body, the fact that it came from her heritage, a family of privileged and pampered fools. What did they really know about the swamp? How beautiful the beast's white fur shone against the green and brown...

[Haeli]

Haeli met Coals eyes when he finally swung his gaze around. She was puzzled by the glimpse of subservience she saw in his body language. A man of pure muscle, walking with the strength he did, subservient? Haeli’s eyes roamed until she saw the slave brandings and realized why. Ahh. He was one of the owned ones. The witch wondered for a moment how something so strong and powerful could be bound so effectively by simple markings on his skin. It was one of the mysteries of Kenash, and something she’d yet to discover. It had seemed, this mysterious fact, not a topic lightly discussed unless one had sufficient rank in society, something Haeli cared nothing at all for.

His question caused her to smile and she offered him her pole. “Would you like to try? Perhaps you will do better than I. Well, I’ve seen fish eat bugs off the surface of the water, things that fly and swoop. Bigger fish eat smaller fish I supposed, and they are suppoed to all like worms according to the man that sold me the pole. But I am doubting his knowledge, at this point for none in this stretch of water have the least bit of interest in my worm.” She admitted, offering a chagrinned smile.

When the other woman approached, Haeli’s eyes swiveled to meet hers, noting the pale skin and white flesh and hints of scales throughout. Not human. Not anything Haeli had ever seen for sure. The witch kept her eyes on the smoking woman, but said nothing more until a growl interrupted them all. Half turning from her perch, Haeli spotted Roric and a smile spread out onto her face. “You brought lunch!” She said in delight, setting the pole aside (unless Coal had indeed taken it), and hopping up from her perch on the fallen log. She ignored the growling wolf, possibly because that had been her first reaction to the strangers as well, and snatched up the hare where he’d dropped it. After all, Roric wasn’t warning HER of his unease. He was warning them. And if they stepped back a step or two, he’d probably stop his warning posturing all together.

She hefted the large kill, admiring the size and weight, and retreated to her log again, pulling forth a wicked knife from a belt pouch. “This is a big one.” She said, pride in her voice at the wolfs hunting. “I was getting really hungry, and the fish weren’t volunteering to feed me. I tried, Roric, but they are just not willing to fall for a worm on a hook.” Haeli said, already skinning the hare and laying aside its pelt. Her hands were bloody but she managed to keep most of the blood off the pelt and had the thing neatly skinned and its head and intestines tossed towards Roric’s direction. “Do you want the heart or can I have it?” She asked, tossing him the liver and deciding to pop the raw heart into her mouth before he answered. He got the stomach and most of the good meat on the hind quarters. She divided the kill evenly between them and then with her portion, offered some to the strangers, not asking the wolf to stop his growling, though hoping her ease and delight would show him that there was no threat here - at least not yet.

“I will share my half with you if you folks are hungry.” Haeli said but then gestured back at the wolf. “The hunter should get to keep all his half though. He made the kill fairly.” She started to divide the half she had up into thirds and once she’d done so, already started gnawing on the raw foreleg she’d sectioned out for herself. Blood stained her lips red and she grinned around the mouthful she was working on eating even before the rest could decide to take their meat or not. It must have been true, what she said, about being hungry.

[Kryos Coal]

It was all a bit much for the poor Isur to process. The blue eyed woman seemed quite friendly, even kind in the way her smile reached all the way to her eyes, and she seemed to take her failure in stride as few people would. Coal thought it might be rude not to take the rod and try his luck with it, seeing as how nice she had been to him thus far, but even as his ebony fingers reached for the pole he heard a warning growl that made him take a step back, suddenly realizing the white haired woman had drawn closer to him.

There were a few questions fluttering through his mind, and though Coal knew little of fighting, his dominant left arm crossed in front of his chest, knees bending slightly. Green eyes met golden yellow ones, staring into them, thinking that they had a strange wild beauty to them...somewhat like the blue eyed woman.

And then she spoke to the wolf, much like he...she...it could understand what she was saying. Slowly assessing the wolf's posture, how it had taken its place in front of her, Coal took another step back, lowering his stony hands slowly, and making sure not to bump into the pale woman behind him. "We don't wish her...any harm." He said hesitantly to the wolf, glancing up to where the lady had hopped back upon her log and was tearing hungrily into rabbit. Blood covered her hands, and soon her face as she ate its...heart. Despite the strangeness of it all, Coal's stomach which had only the sparse heel of bread in it grumbled audibly at the idea of fresh meat. Before that could be addressed, however, the stocky slave turned to the woman behind him. At this distance he could make out the faint scaled pattern of her flesh, skin paler than even the most sheltered house slave, that meant a Konrath, or a direct relation.

"Are you alright, mistress?" Always best to tend to Dynasty needs over your own, and once she had replied Coal turned almost bashfully back to the wolf and woman, eyes drifting slowly upward.

"If neither of you mind...I would take a piece of the rabbit." He wasn't exactly sure what raw meat would do to his stomach, but hunger won out over reason this time.

[Haeli]

OOCI think its fine to move on after waiting seven days for a response when the person we are waiting for has posted elsewhere since.

Haeli spared the Dynasty woman a glance, but otherwise didn’t worry overly much at her presence. The woman seemed more intent on her smoking than she was on any food or territory, so the witch wasn’t too concerned either. And when the man with the odd arm indicated he’d like some of the food, Haeli shared what Roric had shared with her. She smiled fondly at the wolf, not afraid of his growl. Oh, he’d bite alright. But Haeli wasn’t about to give him an excuse to do so. Even now she didn’t look him in the eyes. Instead, she cast her gaze sideways, at his throat, ears, nose.. but never at his eyes, not while he was posturing.

She passed the stranger half of what she had before settling into her snack. The warm meat rested well in her stomach, soothing the ache that had been there from going without for so long. She’d been stubborn about the fish, wanting to try the human method of catching them, all the while knowing birds knew best how to do so and proving it by her attempt at using the fishing pole.

The longer she’d been out of the wild, the more determined she’d been to try things the human way. But as time passed, the less she was convinced that the human way was any such good way at all. For example, they assigned each other names here in Kenash and according to what name they had, people were supposed to fear or respect them sometimes in equal parts. It had less to do about who the individual was and more to do about the name. It was as if each name was actually an ancient word of power and each person took that word onto themselves to draw something from it, borrowing from its collective reputation despite the fact that at the end of the day it could still be something etched in the mud with a stick and then easily crossed out as well.

And for a brief moment, Haeli wondered if either of the two before her held onto one of those names in such a fashion. She looked closer. The Konti might have. She had that bearing about her as if overly proud. The man with the strange arm… no, perhaps not, Haeli decided. But still, she was curious about the limb.

“Can I ask… about your arm?” Haeli started out, after breaking the last leg bone she had and sucking the raw marrow out of it. “What happened to it? I’ve never seen such an arm like you have. It is a beautiful color, but I can’t tell if it pains you or not. Is it burned?” Haeli asked, curious suddenly, hoping she hadn’t overstepped anyone’s privacy. Humans, the witch had learned, were jealous guardians of their secrets. They tended to hold them close and stroke them affectionately like they were something real and tangible, and not release them into the world. When they were free, out to roam and be what they were willing to be, those secrets tended to release the iron grip they kept on people’s lives. She wondered what the stranger’s secrets were and if they were killing him like any iron ban would if left unmoving around a living growing thing as it tried to become more than what it was at the time the band came into existence.