Closed Meaningful Distractions (Shahar)

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 14th Day of Spring, 514 AV Seirei watched her brother unharness their horses. She knew better than to ask if she could help. Jared thought she was too little...and as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. To a tiny five year old girl, a horse was a huge, intimidating creature. Seirei was too short to reach the harness to unbuckle it, and not strong enough to carry it once it had been taken off of the horse. The last time she had tried, she had ended up buried under a hopelessly tangled harness, and had had to be rescued. But that didn't stop her from wanting to help her beloved older brother. So she tagged along behind Jared, carrying the trailing end of the harness. After a while, Jared shooed her off with a grin, and told her to go see if their mother needed help with anything. Seirei did as she was bid. Her mother was setting up a table where they would hopefully sell the figurines she had made since the last festival they had worked at. The young girl was too small to help with setting up the table, but she did help her mother by spreading out the brightly colored cloth over the table they were going to use as a display. "Thank you, Seirei. We can put the figurines out tomorrow before the festival." Seirei grinned. "Okay, Mother. Does that mean that we have time for another lesson?" she asked eagerly. Her mother laughed. "Always looking for another lesson, aren't you, little one?" Seirei nodded emphatically. This only made her mother laugh even harder. "I was the same way when I was your age." she admitted with a smile. "Does that mean that we can have another lesson?" "Yes, it does. Just let me get the next tool I want to show you." Seirei watched as her mother went over to her tool kit, and pulled out a mallet. She offered to Seirei, who took it gingerly. The tool was made out of wood, and felt smooth in her hands. "Did you make this, Mother?" "No, but a wood carver could make mallets like this one. We use them when so much material has to be removed from the piece that your using that your own arm strength is not enough to accomplish your goal. Using the mallet will leave large marks during the removal process, so it should only during the beginning stages of a project." Seirei listened with rapt fascination to her mother's words. She liked the idea of being able to make some of her own tools. It reinforced the idea that wood had almost unlimited uses, and a carver who had enough skill could make something for everyone. Practical things like tools, and bowls, and spoons, and signs. Things of beauty like beads for jewelry. And masterpieces that would bring awe to all who saw them for generations. More than anything else, Seirei wanted to be a part of that. Seirei stirred in her sleep. Discomfort caused by the movement dragged her from her dreams. Her entire body ached from resisting her captor. It was a futile effort. Seirei knew that it was. And yet...she couldn't help herself. Seirei couldn't do anything but resist because she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she were to allow someone to violate her without even trying to stop it from happening. Her head was foggy, and she felt lightheaded from lack of sleep. He had kept her up much later than usual with his "attentions." This is really happening, isn't it? And there's nothing I can do to stop it. Not now, anyway. And not any time soon, either. What if he succeeds in getting me pregnant? With him assaulting me every night the way he does, it's a very real possibility. And I have to accept that. How will I escape if I'm pregnant? Or worse, what if I have a child? There's no way I could ever leave any child of mine with him. How will I be able to support a child? I'll have to plan for that, and earn enough money to support two people before I escape. But that will take even longer than I expected, and the extra time I spend here will increase the chance of him getting me pregnant. For all I know, I'm pregnant now. How will I know? Are there signs I can look for? Who will watch a child while I work if I do succeed in getting us both out of here? Seirei's thoughts swirled chaotically in her head. Panic and despair threatened to take over, but with sheer force of will, she held them at bay. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, and she breathed deeply, struggling to force herself to calm down. She needed to be able to think. The only way she was going to be able to do what needed to be done in order for her to escape was if she kept calm and focused on the task at hand while keeping the greater goal in mind. And to do that, she needed to be able to think clearly at all times. Otherwise, she'd never be able to escape. She'd be kept prisoner and forcibly bred like an animal forever. Or until I die of it. she thought grimly. I need a distraction. Seirei decided that she wanted to make a set of blocks. She gathered several pieces of wood, and brought them outside so she could work in the sun. She returned to the tent, and gathered her tools as well. Then she went back outside. Seirei wished she had a table and chair. Or a work bench. But Lian had little in the way of furnature, which was to be expected of someone who lived in a tent, and migrated through the Sea of Grass. So she had to make due with what she could find. With a sigh, Seirei sat in front of her captor's tent, and set the pieces of wood in front of her. They were already roughly the shape of the blocks she wanted to make; squares and rectangles. But they were far too big for a child's hands to handle easily. So she used her saw to cut them into smaller pieces. As the blade of her saw bit deep into the wood, Seirei had to focus on what she was doing, or she would make a fatal mistake, destroying the piece of wood she was working with. And by narrowing her focus to the task at hand, she was able to tune everything else out. Her captor, Lian. The pain and shame of being forced. Her fears about the future. Everything faded into the depths of her mind. That in turn allowed her to regain her calm. For the moment, nothing other than the wood and her saw existed. Nothing else mattered.

[Colt]

Shahar did not often walk through the Sapphire district, as he simply never had business to take him there. There were always exceptions, of course, and today he had found himself in the district searching for a small pavilion by the name of Bluesinger. Apparently, they had asked for a hunter at the Hunter’s Run and Shahar had ended up with the task of bringing down a mist pidgeon. The task itself had posed no trouble, but now he was facing down the intimidating job of hunting down the pavilion that had actually requested the bird.

Shahar had been wandering through the district for the better part of ten minutes when he discovered, to his dismay, that he had cut cleanly through the area and ended up on the outskirts. The Drykas growled to himself and clenched his fist; this was why he didn’t like business that took him into the city.

With few other options, Shahar set off across the outer limits of Endrykas.

After a few steps, Shahar stopped.

In all honesty, he had no idea what it was he was hearing. It was like nothing he’d ever heard before; it sounded man-made, but it also sounded similar to a wolf dying of laughter. Curiosity piqued, Shahar forsook his path to discover the source of the peculiar noise.

The tent he arrived at was not large by any stretch of the word. It was certainly not a pavilion, at least. It didn’t seem like it could house more than two or three people, and the size of the camp in front of it indicated the same.

The woman before it, however, was what drew Shahar’s attention.

She was young, though she was certainly more of a woman than a girl. She was very small, and her figure reminded Shahar of Hope after the auction in the fall. Almost all of the woman’s skin seemed to be in some stage of bruising or healing, and her eyes were dark, but they bore a strange, almost angry fierceness to them. The noise he had followed was coming from the saw in her hand as she hacked mercilessly into a block of wood.

Shahar said nothing to the woman, but he did step a bit closer to watch. She handled the saw with familiarity, a familiarity he had wished to possess more than once. He had attempted to carve wood before, but his hands were not made for such a thing. He had given up long ago, but the woman’s control of her tool entranced him. Before he realized it, he had reclined against one of the nearby pavilions to observe.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

By the time Seirei had finished cutting the pieces of wood into smaller pieces, she had worked off a great deal of her pain, frustration, anger, and fear. She picked up one of the square blocks, and studied it carefully for a long moment. Did she want to try carving a design on each one? Or would it be better to leave them as they were, and just round off the corners, and smooth them so they'd be safe for a child to use? After a while, Seirei decided that she could the practice in adding details to her work, and that the blocks would be a perfect project to practice on. Children would be more interested in playing with the blocks than looking at the designs on them. So a toy would be a good way to practice since the intended owner wouldn't be as harsh a judge on the quality of her work as an adult would be. Having decided that, the question became what desgin should she carve into the blocks? Should each one have a different design? Or should they all have the same one? And should each of the six sides of each block have its own design, or should she limit it to one or two designs per block? The unnerving feeling of being watched jolted Seirei from her thoughts. Startled, and more than a little alarmed, Seirei dropped the block she was studying as she spun around to face the person watching her. She saw a tall Drykas man. The man was easily two feet taller than she was, possibly a bit more. He had a look of strength to him, and that combined with his superior height, and well built frame made him a potential threat to Seirei. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she unconsciously drew back a little. Why was he watching her like that? What did he want of her? Was he going to try to force her the way her captor did every night? If so, Seirei vowed to herself that she would do everything she could to resist the man's attack. But deep down, she knew that if he did want to rape her, there was nothing she could do about it. It was obvious to the frightened girl that he was a lot bigger and stronger than she was. There was a wildness about the man that frightened and confused Seirei. Drykas were nomadic horse people, but they weren't wild barbarians. Seirei had learned that much from her father when she saw him most summers as a child. And yet this man reminded Seirei of a wild creature in some ways. This made her even more wary of him. Wild animals were incredibly unpredictable. If this man had the intelligence of a man, and the unpredictably of a wild animal, then he was very dangerous. As she continued to study the man, Seirei noted that his skin was tanned. That wasn't surprising. Most Drykas had tanned skin since they spent much of their time outdoors. What was surprising was that his forearms were badly scarred. What could have caused that scarring? Seirei gathered her courage, and swallowed hard once. "What..." she started nervously, her voice shaking slightly as she addressed the man. "What do you want?" she asked nervously. Seirei wondered if she should flee into her captor's tent. But that wouldn't protect her if the man was determined, and it might make him angry, which would only make things worse for her in the end. Realizing that her question might be seen as rude, and not wanting to anger the man, Seirei started again. "May I help you?"

[Colt]

The young woman seemed to have completed her sawing to her own satisfaction and began to examine the blocks she had made. She turned them this way and that, looking at the different sides with thoughts that Shahar could not begin to guess. It was then, however, that she realized he was watching her.

The young woman spun around, eyes wide with something that went a bit farther than simply being startled. She looked at him like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a hyena, wild and terrified as if she feared he might leap forward and devour her. Shahar tilted his head curiously and said nothing, allowing her to complete her frenzied examination without interruption. Her eyes lingered on his arms, and though she seemed like she wanted to bolt she remained in place.

Her words were common, he knew, but they strung together too quickly for him to truly place. Still, her alarm was enough for him to guess what it was she was saying, at least enough for him to form a response.

No danger, he signed, fingers fluttering with calm and reassuring. He shifted the pigeon to a hook at his belt, freeing both hands for communication. Greeting, respectful, curiosity, observation, curious about that––he gestured at the saw and blocks of wood. No danger, I will stay here, reassurance.

She reminded him of a foal, still unused to human hands and shy to the touch. And so he made no movements other than his signs, took no steps towards her. He was curious about the woodcraft, and the saws in particular, but she didn’t seem to be in any mood to teach––he would remain where he was, at least until he was certain she would not flee if he made any sudden movements.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

The man was a Drykas, and Seirei was an idiot. She realized that the moment his hands had begun flashing signs. She was in Endrykas, and the man was a Drykas...so why had she babbled at him in Common? Pavi was the language spoken here, not Common. So why had she just assumed that the man would speak a language not native to the city where his people lived? Seirei could only admit that she had not been thinking, as frightened as she was. She flushed with embarrassment, and stammered an apology in Pavi. Her hands unconsciously made a gesture that echoed her words, but the sign was a hesitant one. She was uncertain that the sign was the correct one to use since she had learned it as a young child. For all she knew, only children used it to apologize to an adult. Seirei took a deep breath, and forced herself to focus on the signs the man was using. The first three were half remembered from when her father had taken her out into the Sea of Grass for a day. She'd been five or six at the time, and they had encountered a wild stallion. Her father had used those signs several times to calm her fears at seeing such a huge, wild animal so close. Seirei was pretty sure that they meant safe, or safety. Something with that general meaning, at least. Seirei wasn't inclined to trust the man's signs...but actions spoke louder that words. Or signs in this case. And the man's actions reassured Seirei more than his signs could. He kept his distance from her, making no attempts to approach her. His posture didn't show the tension that would suggest that he was about to spring towards her. And other than his hands, he remained still. That reassured her more than anything, and she allowed herself to relax a bit. She was still ready to flee at the first sign of an attack, but she was somewhat less inclined to believe that an attack was imminent. The next sign was familiar. Greeting. That was one of the first signs her father had taught her. Seirei didn't recognize the following sign, though. She knew she had seen it, or one similiar to it in the past, but she didn't remember what it meant. But the one that came after that was one that was well known to her. Curiosity. The silent version of the question "why?" Seirei knew that she had probably driven her father crazy with that hand sign when she was a child, and trying to learn about his world that was so very different than her own. Seirei couldn't help but wonder if Drykas children drove their parents crazy with that sign in the same way as the children of the caravan had driven the adults around them insane by asking why all the time. The sign that came after that was another unfamiliar one. But the following sign was a variation of the curiosity sign that Seirei knew. And when the man pointed at her saw and the pieces of wood she had been working with, Seirei realized that he must be curious about her work. Or something related to it. The safe sign was used again, followed by another completely unfamiliar sign, and a safety sign. Seirei thought that the man was trying to reassure her, and it worked a little since he still showed no signs of approaching her or attacking her. Seirei looked around. She really didn't want her captor to know that she understood Pavi. But there was no sign of him around, so she decided it was okay. "Do you want to know what I'm making?" Seirei asked in Pavi. "I'm making a set of blocks...a children's toy." she explained. Seirei remembered the other possible meaning of the signs he had used. "Or do you want to know how to make them? How to carve wood?" As she spoke in Pavi, her hands fluttered uncertainly, but she wasn't certain which of the limited hand signs she knew should be used with what she was saying.

[Colt]

The woman apologized in Pavi, hands sketching an indistinct sorry in the air with the hesitancy of an outsider. Shahar’s posture unconsciously became curious once more; she was no Drykas, of that he was sure, and yet she seemed to have at least a partial understanding of sign.

She looked at the wooden blocks he had gestured to, and she seemed to comprehend what it was Shahar was trying to tell her. There weren’t any signs to her next words, and if there had been any doubt about her being a foreigner then it was neatly erased, but she managed to speak the language decently and he could read the rudimentary emotions on her face.

"Do you want to know what I'm making?"

Almost, not exactly, not far off.

Children’s blocks. Intriguing. Shahar had never seen children play with blocks, although he had never really seen any blocks for children to play with, either. It was a curious notion, to be sure, and his posture shifted to one of being intrigued.

"Or do you want to know how to make them? How to carve wood?"

Yes, exactly, that is correct, emphatic yes. He paused in his signs, unsure of how to continue. It was obvious that her familiarity with sign was lacking, so he couldn’t convey a message that had a great deal of complexity to it. In the end, he chose one that was simple enough to figure out even if one didn’t speak Pavi: he touched the corner of his eye, then pointed at the blocks.

May I watch?

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei once again found herself paying very close attention to the man's hands as he signed to her. She didn't understand his response to her first question, but the meaning of his next response was obvious. Mostly. He either wanted to know how to carve wooden blocks, or he wanted to know how to carve wood in general. Seirei found herself relaxing even more. She could talk about her passion for carving any time, and this man seemed genuinely interested. She smiled tentatively at his obvious interest. The man's next gesture wasn't one she had been taught as a child, but its meaning was obvious all the same. "Yes." she said softly, with another hesitant smile. This time, she signed an emphatic yes as she spoke. Seirei turned back to her blocks. Then she turned to face the man. "Blocks like these are easy to make. The wood I use comes in blocks. But they were too big for a child's hands, so I had to cut them into smaller pieces." she told him. Once again her hands fluttered restlessly, but she didn't know the signs to make that would go along with her words. She finally mimed a bigger piece of wood, then pointed to her saw, then finally to the blocks themselves. "I have other tools that can make decorations in the sides of the blocks." Seirei didn't know the proper signs, so she demonstrated by picking up one of her gougers, and using enough strength to push the tip into the block, making a small dimple. She repeated the process two more times, making the rough shape of a triangle. Then she held it out to the man to see. After a moment, she took the block back, and picked up one of her picks. She used its sharp point to indent the surface of the wood, connecting each of the dimples with a straight line, and completing the image. Once again she showed it to the man. "With the right tools, you can make any picture you want in the wood." Seirei glanced at one of the remaining uncut blocks of wood, then back at the man. "Do you want to try?" she asked, offering the uncut piece of wood, and the saw to him.

[Colt]

The young woman nodded, and Shahar’s posture changed to one of jubilation. He watched as she picked up the blocks, explaining what she had done to them. Her hands moved idly, as if they wanted to make signs but did not know how. She eventually settled on forming shapes in the air, demonstrating the original blocks of which she spoke. Then the saw, then the smaller blocks that now lay around her––Shahar took it in silently, listening with rapt attention.

The young woman then picked up one of the actual blocks, along with one of her tools. She demonstrated what it was she wanted to do, marking the wood once, twice, three times, then turning it to show him. Shahar leaned forward to see. She then took up a different tool and dragged a line between each of the three points, making a triangle.

I see, Shahar said, coupling it with comprehension.

She paused then, looking at one of the unmarked pieces of wood. Shahar observed her curiously as she took one of the unworked blocks in hand and held it out to him.

"Do you want to try?"

For a moment, Shahar simply looked at her. Then, with a smile and an emphatic yes, definitely, thank you, he took a careful step towards her.

Shahar had always been uncomfortable with people, and he imagined that he was as uncomfortable approaching her as she was being approached. He was not a small man, but his hunch deepened with every step that brought him nearer, and by the time he was actually within arm’s reach he was almost crouching. Gingerly, as if he feared they would bite him, Shahar took the block and saw from her hands, then retreated a few feet and took a seat.

Shahar looked at the two items. He didn’t know how small the blocks should be, so after some deliberations he simply put the saw to the middle and started into the wood. The action put up a strange resistance, but he had seen her earlier and he did his best to mimic her motions and then figure out what exactly they did from there. After a few strokes, he took the saw away and was rewarded with a small, straight line in the center of the wood. He had been using the saw correctly, at least. With no small measure of excitement, Shahar put the saw back to the wood and started again.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei held herself perfectly still when the man approached. She had invited him to do so when she offered the wood and saw to him, but that didn't make her any less nervous as he drew near. Strangely, he seemed to be as nervous as she was. His hunch deepened with every step until he was nearly crouching when he got within arm's reach. Despite that, it was still hard not to sigh in relief when he withdrew once more. Seirei was certain that her posture betrayed her relief even if she resisted showing it in more obvious ways. Watching the man work told Seirei two things. The first was that he must not have been around children much. Cutting the block of wood down the middle would result in two blocks that were slightly too large for a small child to hold easily. Seirei herself might have chosen to cut the block into thirds instead. The resulting blocks would be a bit smaller than ideal, but different sized blocks made a set of blocks more interesting. You could build more things with blocks of different sizes. The second thing that Seirei noticed was that the man must have some innate talent for wood carving. From his obvious inexperience, it was pretty certain that this was the man's first attempt at carving wood. Despite that, he was avoiding some of the more common errors a novice could make. Like positioning the saw incorrectly, and ending up with an angled, jagged cut when one wanted a straight, clean one. Or injuring themselves by getting their fingers too close to the blade while cutting. "You're doing very well." Seirei said softly. Her hands made two quick signs; one of happiness, and one of approval. She continued to keep an eye on the man's progress, but as she did so, she picked up another of the blocks she'd cut. After eying it for a moment, she used one of her gougers to make six star shaped dimples in the side of the wooden block. Then she set it aside, and used her pick to etch lines into the wood, connecting the dimples. The end result was a star shape etched into the side of the block. "When you're done, you can make a design in the blocks if you want. And then I can show you how to finish the blocks, and make them safe for children to use." she offered. Once again, she didn't know the exact signs she should use to emphasize her words. So she settled on one that meant polite inqury.

[Colt]

Shahar’s awareness of the world around him receded as he began to focus all of his energy on his new project. The saw was long and unwieldy, and after a few moments of cutting he found it difficult to get farther into the wood. He paused, huffing in frustration, then turned to block on its side and began a new line. The new one was less neat as the first, due to this side being a different length, but he did manage to get about the width of a finger into the wood. This, again, presented him with a positioning problem, and he flipped the block over entirely to begin another line altogether. After a few moments, it occurred to him that since he had three out of four sides cut into, perhaps he could shift it over and over again--doing a little on one side, then turning it to another. With this in mind, Shahar turned the block to the side he had not cut and did his best to line his saw up with the two gouges on the corners where two of the three lines bit into the wood. This made it clear that he had not positioned the lines properly at all, as the line was obviously diagonal even to his unskilled eyes. It made him irritated, but it didn’t seem like there was much he could do about it--he would simply have to take it as it was. With a sigh, Shahar began to saw.

“You’re doing very well.” Shahar looked up in surprise, and after a moment gave a respectful thank you. She was the expert, after all, and if she thought he was doing well then that was a very good sign. Shahar smiled at her and went back to his work.

He again gouged about the width of a finger before turning the block to another side. This, however, afforded him a little more leeway, and he was able to cut a bit deeper before being forced to turn it once again. As he did, however, he paused and looked at the corner. That looked far easier than a flat side. Perhaps if he cut it from there...