Open The Uncertain Path Forward

[Sahar]

39th Of Spring, 516 AV, Morning

"So...I wanted to go to the Port. The port that I can see here in Zintia as right across from here. But no- the port that can only be reached through Sartu. So I have to go all the way back to Sartu, and then all the way down to the port- which, by distance, isn't terribly far from Zintia." Sahar muttered in her home tongue so that natives might not hear her complaints. "I should have figured it'd be another hike...I had to pick the Port...the map had it close to my apartment but that'd be too easy..." Truthfully, she had a few other grievances with the fact that she could see the port from the plaza in Zintia- but had to walk back all the way to Sartu before she'd be able to actually access it. But they weren't nice to the city, and she didn't want to start her angry cursing when she was out in public, still trying to make a good impression on people.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the scenery- the city that rested upon the mountain peaks was beautiful in a very different way than the White Isle or even Sylira had been, and the spring had brought flowers the likes of which Sahar had never seen before. And she loved flowers, she always had- they were so happy. The oddity of having rest times at various hours in the day was jarring and it would take longer for her to ditch her usual wake/sleep cycle, but it would still be nice to see the port in the cool morning air- if she even made it before the sun was setting, she thought with irritation. On the downside though, the walk gave her time to contemplate a few things, and Sahar had never been good alone with her own thoughts. A voice in her head pointed out with irony that perhaps that was the good of her gift, to be granted with the whispers of the recent past. To fill up her head so that she wouldn't overthink things.

"I need a job." She murmured as she looked at the hiring signs. She sighed, and ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair out of minor stress, slowing down her walk as she contemplated a sign in common, wondering if that'd be a good use of her time. "But I'm a bit too unsure right now...I'd rather meet some people before I go asking for work..." But Sahar, unfortunately, lacked most of the skills she'd need to do a lot of the work in Lhavit- and didn't really have the funds to go into a school and learn them... Then again, when she lived in Syliras, she had been approached about her gift- asked to do some spy work. She knew it paid relatively well, and she'd certainly never be caught by the humans in the city should she stop by and listen to their conversations shortly after they themselves had left, as they would never have proof it had been her to do it. "....but that's a one way journey to be cursed by my Goddess, I'm certain!" Sahar sighed a bit, rubbing her shoulder. "Guess I keep looking..." But that left her with little options. In Syliras she had worked briefly as a mercenary, and in Mura, well, she'd barely worked. She had no real talents, even in things Konti were supposedly good at- something that always got her down when she had been approached about vision water, or pearls, or healing, or the like. Sahar had known she'd flounder some in Lhavit, the "diamond" of Kalea, but she hadn't thought that work would be so different here...

On a similar note, the city of Lhavit itself was certainly different than the rest of the places Sahar had traveled and lived in- and perhaps that was a large understatement. Mura, where she had been born and raised, had been simple, and there had been such enormous trust between her and the residents within that it had been quiet and peaceful. Syliras, by contrast, had been a tad jarring in how heavy handed the Knights had maintained peace, but it had been loud and busy and a bit much. Lhavit was neither of these things, and that was strange within itself. It wasn't an unwelcome sort of strange, but it still left her grasping for a foothold in the town. ...Not that she had ever really had a foothold anywhere else, that traitorous voice in the back of her mind reminded Sahar. But even that wasn't true. Sahar did once have a foothold in Mura, and she'd been convinced that she would be able to live there for the rest of her life in her late teens and twenties. But come her 30th birthday, she knew that she wouldn't be able to call Mura home after the incident and left. But an echoing voice suggested that perhaps she had been right in telling Sahar that it was more that Mura couldn't ever truly be her home.

"But that's why I'm here!" She reminded herself strongly as she walked faster, determined to shake herself out of that poisonous funk that had only further isolated herself from her family when she had still lived with her mother. Sahar wouldn't let herself spend any more time moping over the lost cause that had served to truly severe her from her native lands and family. "I left Mura to find a place I would fit in! Sure I'm a bit...lackluster as a potential employee, and I know no one here, and 25 people have told me to just get jobs as a fortune teller or heal or do something that Konti are known for despite how I literally can't do any of those things well! I am Sahar of the White Isle, and I won't give up so easily!"

Sahar tripped on a rock, and ever the picture of grace, wound up doing a perfect face-plant into the trail, managed to shove some gravel up her gills and momentarily choked on it before she had managed to scratch it out of her. She was bleeding from ripped gills before she'd even managed to make it out of Zintia, before she ever realized that she wouldn't have choked if she'd waited to get them professionally removed, as she wasn't actually even using her gills to breath, since she was on land. When that hit her, she groaned a bit out of irritation and upset, wiping her blood with her sleeve and lowering the collar of her shirt so that it wouldn't irritate the relatively minor wound. She'd wash it off in the Port water, and it would be fine. Something in her like homesickness reminded her of her mother's gentle care when she had been a young girl on the Isle, asking why the other children didn't like to play with her, and she was again bitterly reminded of the fact that she was alone in a far-off land, and her mother wouldn't be able to patch up her injury for she was in Mura. For all of the differences that separated Sahar from most of her kind, she was still rather distressed by the fact she was, for all intents and purposes, completely on her own with no one to call family around.

Both the fall and the ripping of her own gills were also major blows to her somewhat fragile pride, and Sahar stood quickly, glancing around with her aquamarine eyes to make sure that no one had seen her fumbling with something that was honestly so stupid as her general lack of gracefulness and delicacy. She took a moment longer to wipe the wetness from her eyes, refusing to regret her choices that had brought her to this point. And then Sahar turned her gaze forward, and marched onwards- to Sartu she went. Even if she didn't know what her future held, she was determined to get at least to the port.

And, curse it all! Sahar hated having to talk to herself! She was going to make friends today, or she'd go crazy!

(Kontinese, Common Tongue)

[Urkut]

Urkut sighed slowly, inhaling through her mouth and blowing the hot air out through nose. She pulled her stomach in, bringing her closed fists closer to her body, and then let her open palms fall back to her lap.

She always enjoyed meditating. It didn't necessarily clear her mind, as most said it would, but it certainly calmed her body. It relaxed her tight, strong muscles and eased the aching in her head. Furthermore, since moving to Lhavit she still had not gotten used to the sleep schedule. The blocks were strange, and threw her off, so somedays meditation was the best rest she got. Today she had chosen the Trail of Waterfalls, and she was glad she had, for the steady rush of water reminded her of home, and allowed her to fall into a state near sleep.

That is, until she heard the voice.

Though it was distant, it rang clear in the openness of the wilderness, and was plenty loud enough to disturb Urkut. She opened her eyes abruptly and grunted in irritation. Must you really? Of course, no one could hear Urkut's thoughts, and so the girlish voice carried on in its strange language. Urkut closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, trying her best to ignore it, only to be interrupted yet again ticks later by a crashing sound.

This harsh sound awoke the warrior within the Myrian, bringing her to her feet before she could think. She felt the rush in her stomach that meant she needed to make a desicion; she could choose fight or flight. It was hardly a choice for Urkut. She squatted low to the ground, using her hands to balance herself as she crept closer to investigate the sound.

In her jungle, she had moved silently as a python, but here in the woods her movements felt to her loud and clunky. She seemed to crunch every possible fallen branch, and all the animals seemed to chatter directly at her. Nevertheless, she tried her best to continue sneaking. She stopped for a moment, having lost the sound. She cocked her head like a hunting dog, ceasing her breathing until the silence was overwhelming. At last, she was rewarded with the slight sound of a sniffle, and then the determined marching of feet.

Listen to her footsteps! Urged Urkut's inner warrior, She is strong. Be ready!
Urkut nodded to herself, creeping forward until she reached the trail. It was at this point that she stood, and, upon spotting the woman's figure, rose to her feet. The woman was much less intimidating in sight, as she was a good 3 or 4 inches shorter than Urkut's own height. Her hair was impractical, long and loose, but she was respectably muscled. But most confusing were the marks upon her skin. She was hurt, obviously she was the one who had been attacked and the one Urkut had set out to defend, but Urkut could find nothing which may have done the attacking.

"Hello, Deyhan." She began, calling out to the woman ahead of her. "I heard..." She paused, trying to find the word for distress in Common. "Trouble," she concluded. Her eyes darted about, keeping alert. "Are you okay?"