Closed A Walk in the Park (Estavar)

[Luminescence]

A Walk in the Park

5th of spring, 518 AV

The Alheas Crone was uneasy. A feeling of dread had wrapped around her, like a cobweb shawl clinging to her skin, ever since the Watchtowers had flared green and announced the arrival of spring. It was a feeling she couldn't shake, and her readings had been strangely muddled on the issue; but no matter, even if she knew what was happening, it was not for her to intervene. The world had to be left to its own destiny.

Cala blew to cool the mug of tea she held in her hand, taking a sip before setting it down and resuming shuffling her cards, the well-worn edges of the deck familiar in her palms. As she shuffled the cards, the quiet shifting of them the only sound in the shack, she slowly became aware of a presence near her abode.

Rising to her feet, the ancient Dhani continued to shuffle her cards between her fingers as she walked to the door of her shack, peering out the window. A young boy was walking nearby. Cala's sharp eyes surveyed him for a moment before she made her decision, opening the front door. Turning, she breezed through the translucent curtains again, and as she did so she reached out with her djed to the shield surrounding her home.

Estavar, walking through the Alheas Park, would see a faint shimmering in the air before a shack suddenly sat in front of him where before there had been nothing. The building was rickety, and jars of multi-coloured glowing insects lined the porch, their rainbow hues illuminating the air of the early evening.

The front door hung open, strangely ominous yet welcoming all at once, beckoning to Estavar. Should he choose to enter, he would find himself standing in a simple room, occupied with a wooden table and chair. To the back of the room, sheer curtains covered another doorway, and the figure of the Alheas Crone sitting in the room beyond was just barely visible.

In the room at the back of the shack, Cala sat patiently. She'd lit the candles and her incense stick, and the small room was slowly filling with a sweet-smelling smoke wafting through the dimly illuminated air. She'd stopped shuffling her cards, instead simply holding them now; spread out on the green and gold cloth in front of her was a small velvet pouch, her cup of tea and another one freshly poured, and a small crystal orb.

"Welcome, young one," the Crone spoke softly yet firmly, her voice faintly raspy, not quite feminine nor masculine. Absently, she reached one hand up to smooth over the scarf adorning her bald head. "Do come in and have a sseat. I am the Crone, as I'm sure you know. But who are you, who hass stumbled upon my humble shack?"

Cala tilted her head slightly, the large golden hoops in her ears glinting in the candlelight. The Dhani had years of practice covering her accent, but she still slid some of her 's'es slightly longer than they should be spoken, her speech strange yet not quite sibilant. As she spoke, she leaned over to pluck a pipe from a nearby shelf, lighting it before sliding the end into her mouth and inhaling deeply, adding to the growing screen of smoke in the room when she let out a steady exhale, releasing the scent of bitter herbs to mingle with the sweet incense.

[Estavar La'loon]

Estavar had just woke up, he changed into his everyday clothes and walked out of The Solar Wind Apartments, he didn't feel very good today, so he decided to skip out on breakfast just in case he felt sick. "Hmm, I wonder where I should go, I suppose I could always take a walk to the Plaza, and see how I feel from there."
He was thinking, as he just got out the door of The Apartments.

The Surya Plaza was full of stall owners and travelling merchants, the wafting smell of fresh baking drawed him in, but Estavar wanted to go somehwere where he could enjoy the peace, so he decided to take a stroll into the Alheas Park. He ran up the trail to the park and took in the sight of the place. He had only been there once or twice when he was younger, so he was very happy to visit it again.

The late afternoon sun shined through the trees and made the park seem almost magical, Estavar was amazed, it was like all his childhood memories flowing back to him, the rainbow tree, The Faedong, was quite a sight with the different coloured leaves adorning many different parts of the forest surrounding the park. He ran over to the magnificent little pond in the center of the park, covered in Lhavit's waterborne plants. He sat on one of the benches and took a moment to take in the gloriuos view of light bouncing off of the skyglass and creating rainbows in and around the pond. He also saw many animals in the park, Bobcats, Squirrels, Deer Mice, Mountain Cats and of course the park's famous Prismfly, with its ever-changing colours matching the hues of the Faedong tree.

As he was admiring the view and gaping upon all that the park had to offer him, he suddenly saw a very faint glistening coming from directly in front of him, alhough he wasn't quite sure what it was. After a few seconds, Estavar realized something, it was the place only spoken of in legends, 'The Lonely Shack!' He gazed upon what was before him and saw jars of prismflies hanging from the roof, almost making a rainbow light emit from inside the shack itself.

"The door is wide open, so I don't see why I shouldn't enter, I mean, it's not like the Alheas Crone is gonna be that bad, right?" He though to himself. So Estavar strode inside the mysterious shack and found himself in a single room with only a table and chair both made out of wood, with the only thing odd being that there was a stick of incense on top of the small table. At the back of the room there was a doorway covered by some very thin curtains, which he could just about see through. There seemed to be someone sitting in the back room, although he couldn't make out who it was, Estavar had a feeling that it was the Alheas Crone, the seer told of in legends.

Estavar jumped in surprise, the Alheas Crone seemed to have just beckoned him to come and sit down with her? He didn't even know if the person was human, let alone a woman or girl, but Estavar would assume she was a woman for now. Cautiously, Estavar entered the room and sat down in the only chair available. He had noticed that the Crone had slurred some of her words, he was slightly scared now, but he didn't even think about fighting if she was not human and indeed a race that is not accepted into Lhavit. He watched her take out a pipe and add to the smoke in the room by exhaling. He examined the Crone's figure noticing that they were wearing a scarf on top of their head as if to conceal something and wearing an enormous amount of jewelery. She also had three lilies on her shoulder, all blossoming fully.

"Umm, I hear you're a sear, is that correct? So does that mean you have the power to tell people's future?"
"I was also wondering, how did you manage to conceal this shack so well in the park, did you do it with some sort of magic? I know I don't have much or any knowledge in that subject, but I still wouldn't mind learning about it, if you would be so kind, of course." He bowed his head to show that he didn't want any trouble and thought to himself, "Okay, she seems to be pretty harmless, just don't do anything irrational, Estavar."

[Luminescence]

Cala watched the young boy sit across from her tentatively; she didn't need to examine his aura to tell he was nervous. It was almost palpable. Her face remained impassive, but amusement sparkled in the depths of her eyes. "Come, surely I am not that frightening. I do not bite." She laughed at that, quiet and raspy, a joke that only she understood.

The amusement hidden in her gaze quickly vanished as the boy blurted out questions, ignoring her question as to who he was. The Crone's eyes narrowed imperceptibly as she took another puff of her pipe; had she been wrong to invite the boy in? Perhaps it was simply his nerves. She would allow the rudeness to slide this once, and give him another chance to prove himself worthy of her attentions.

"You have many questionss. Curioussness is good, and you are bold to ask me my secrets so bluntly," Cala said slowly, eyeing Estavar. "But you are being inssolent, to be so bold without even introducing yourself. I will teach you nothing. It iss not my purpose. Now, I ask you again; who are you?"

She leaned back in her seat, exhaling another breath of smoke smoothly. Gathering her djed, she focused on the boy sitting across from her. Estavar's aura faded into view, like thick smoke swirling around him. It smelled sharply of anxiety and nerves, but beneath that she sensed a deep-seated curiosity, a thirst for knowledge. It was strong enough for him to have overcome his anxieties, in any case.

Cala sensed no malicious intent in the boy, so she blinked herself out of focus, allowing her djed to slip away and Estavar's aura to fade from her sight once again. She favoured the bold, of course; but far above that, she favoured the clever. Only time would tell if Estavar was truly either of those.

Setting her pipe on the table, the Crone took a sip of her tea, and motioned to the cup sitting in front of Estavar. "Please, help yoursself. There are some who would call me a Sseer. Others would call me a fraud." She chuckled, but there was little humour in the sound. "It is up to you to decide which you believe for yoursself."

She watched Estavar with sharp eyes, wondering if he would accept her offer to drink the tea, or refuse. She found that the choice was usually quite telling in regards to one's personality.

Taking another sip of her own tea, she drummed her fingers on the table. "Sso if you are here, I do suppose that means you want your fortune read. Why?" She tilted her head, looking at Estavar. Unknown to him, that question in itself would not affect her decision. She had allowed him this far into her shack; there was little that would cause her to turn him away at that point. Regardless, she liked to know why people visited her when she allowed it.

While her gaze was firmly on Estavar, Cala considered her options; how would she tell the boy's fortune? Perhaps she would use her cards; or if he drank the tea, perhaps she would read the leaves for him. Nothing had stood out enough about Estavar for her to yet consider using the power of her gnosis.

[Estavar La'loon]

Estavar, hearing what the Crone said, instinctively sat down opposite her, he was already starting to feel more than comfortable around this woman that he had never even met in his life just because of a couple of words that she said, although, it's not like that goes against what Estavar stands for as he is definitely very optimistic and tends to put his trust in others often.

Although Estavar knew that he could trust The Crone, immediately after his sitting down, she completely changed, as if she was an entirely different person, she looked to be less amused and more defensive, Estavar wondered what could be wrong. Did he say something? Or was it something he did?

Then before Estavar could even reply or try to think of any reason why she was acting in this peculiar manner even after he had put his trust in her, she spoke, Estavar listened to every solemn word carefully, as to not miss what he had done wrong. Then he heard it, he was so oblivious to it this whole time, not even recognising what The Crone had said to him before his brain splurted out questions. "I am indeed very sorry, please forgive me, I did not mean to be rude in not introducing myself, let me answer if I may."
"Alright, I'm Estvar La'loon, Novice Chef and a boy who has just went out to explore the city of Lhavit for himself with his own money, own home and own skills, that is who I am, nice to meet ya Mrs. Crone!"

It was true, Estavar was indeed very scared of the lady called The Alheas Crone, but that didn't mean it would stop him, he wanted to overcome his fear and try and obtain as much knowledge as he could about this Alheas Crone, because of his over optimism and curiousity Estavar might not be able to obtain any knowledge of value from The Crone, just words that describe him and his view of the world, stupid as it may be, even so, that will not stop him from learning more about the world around him and the way forward to a bright future!

"Tea huh? Sure, I'll have it, after all, if something is offered to you with kindness and you trust that person whole-heartedly,then there is no reason for you to reject their gifts and blessing that they wish to bestow upon you, at least that's what I think." Estavar sipped the tea, although he was still unsure whether or not it would do anything drastic to him, he still continued to drink it.
"In any case, even though I spoke of you as a seer earlier that is not my final opinion, seeing as I do not have significant magic power or any knowledge of fortune telling, I will not subject you to any bias or crude judgement, but instead view what you are based on your skills and personality."

"Well, to be quite honest, I didn't enter here hoping that the only thing to happen to me was that my fortune was to be read, I entered with the hope of meeting a new and intriguing person, of meeting a person of legend, learning about their true past and to try and understand what you've went through, so I mainly came to obtain knowledge because I know I have very little at present."

At the moment, Estavar was hoping that The Crone would acknowledge him and hopefully enlighten him, although he also thought that if he got too greedy for knowledge she wouldn't say anything, so he was very torn up with decisions at the moment.

"I don't mean to be rude, but could you possibly introduce yourself to me as well? If not, I very much understand, seeing as you probably don't trust me to not tell other people about you.

OOCSorry about forgetting to answer The Crone's question, Lumi! I tried to incorporate it into my reply. Anyway, I'm really enjoying the thread so far!

[Luminescence]

Cala almost chuckled when the boy blurted out his apologies. He was well-meaning with a sweet demeanour, though easily distracted it seemed. She nodded ever so slightly at his introduction; a young one off to start their own life, then.

The Crone watched Estavar accept the cup of tea and sip at it, and she pursed her lips slightly. Well-meaning and sweet indeed, but also slightly foolish. Of course the tea was fine; it was a blend of herbs of her own making, and she would never poison someone she invited into her shack. But to blindly trust in a strange woman whose existence was shrouded in mystery and rumours like a cloud of flies around a pot of honey was perhaps not the smartest decision on anyone's part.

"You trusst me whole-heartedly, do you, Estavar?" Cala asked, her face imperceptible as she took another long drag off of her pipe, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke. "Interessting. Why? What have I done to incur such trust from you?" She surveyed him for a moment, allowing him to answer the question if he wished.

"You have a trusting soul, child, though you are perhaps too naive for your own good. But there is wisdom in you too, to make your own judgement and not allow the world to make your decisions for you."

Silence overtook the small room as Estavar finished asking his questions; Cala could feel the eagerness rolling off of him in waves. "Your ssearch for knowledge is...admirable. But I am not a teacher, merely a guide." She ignored his request for her to introduce herself, instead suddenly brandishing her deck of cards and fanning them in her bronzed hands.

She held them out across the table, allowing her djed to creep into her vision and bring Estavar's aura back into her sight. "Choose, child. Three is the usual number, but pick as many as you will; the cards often have words of their own to ssay, and who am I to hinder them with numberss. Pick those which call to you."

She watched Estavar with a keen eye, waiting to see what cards he would pick, if indeed he took her up on her offer. She could feel he had potential, but a deep part of her felt that if he wanted to reach it, he would perhaps have to face many a challenge and learn to be more cautious. Possibilities. Cala kept quiet, not revealing her thoughts, her hands steady and unwavering as she held out the fan of weathered and worn cards, the back of them patterned red and cream.

[Estavar La'loon]

Estavar continued to drink the tea in his hands, but instead of jumping straight into more questions he instead chose to mull over the Crone's advice, realising that maybe he had been too hasty in trusting this mysterious woman, regardless of that, he still listened inquisitevely to what The Crone had to say.

"Well, to be quite honest with you, it's just my nature, ever since I was little I've always put my trust into people I meet, so if ever they betray my trust, the consequences are always greater than if I were not to put my full trust in them from the start. I am listening to your advice though, I obviously won't change over night, but I'll remember this conversation if ever I am in a sticky situation. I assure you that one fact at least."

"Yes, many people including my parents have always said I am too naive for my own good, but they have also complemented me on the fact that I am so optimistic and cheerful, even in the darkest times when my family was going through violent arguements and issues with money, they said I helped them through those times the most." Estavar felt that he might be revealing too much about himself, but if the legends were true about The Crone being a sear, there would be no point in hiding his history anyway.

Estavar once again started drinking the tea and this time finished the whole cup, and to be polite, he didn't ask for another cup and instead chose to wait for what The Crone would have to say next. "I see that you ignore my question of who you are, but I suppose that can't be helped, as you may not want me to know your identity just yet."

"Well, I am still young, so there are many things I don't know, I am merely looking for ways to find them out and become a better person as a result of that, but if the only way you can help me is by telling me my fortune, then that is also fine."

Estavar watched as The Crone held out the intricately designed cards in front of him, should he pick or not? If so, then how many? These were all questions going through his mind. In the end Estavar chose to pick the card in the middle, the one to the far left, the one to the far right and also the card two to the right of the leftmost card.

[Luminescence]

Cala merely chuckled as the boy promised to heed her advice; she hoped he would, but she was never too convinced when it came to the youth. His usage of the word 'yet' made her lips quirk in amusement and exasperation; truly, he was a stubborn one.

The Crone let Estavar talk, silent, but taking his words in. He hesitated when she showed him the cards, his aura flickering with his uncertainty, but she held them outstretched until he made his decision. One. Past. Two. Present. Three. Future. Curiously enough, the boy decided to take one more card. Self, Cala decided as he lay each card down face-up on the table between them and allowed her djed to fade.

With the cards drawn, she organized the fan back into a neat deck and set it to the side, leaning forward to see which cards had been drawn. Her gaze swept over them quickly, and she hummed. "Interesting." If Estavar had ever seen a tarot deck before, he would be unfamiliar with the illustrations on the Crone's deck; they were not the same images that were so often used, but rather were more unique.

The first card showed a fox curled up, peeking out over its tail; six swords hung above it, and one was hidden beneath it. "The seven of swordss," Cala tapped the card. "You haven't alwayss been so honest and forthcoming, it seems. But the past is the past," she brushed the words off, moving on easily. Past cards could provide useful context, but she rarely found them worth dwelling on; what was done was done, and could not be changed.

On the second card, a bat hung upside down, seeming to stare up at Estavar with bright crimson eyes. "The hanged man," Cala spoke, her voice low and ominous. "A card so ssimilar to death. One never likes to see it in their sspread, and yet it rarely means anything as terrible as one thinkss." She was quiet for a moment, her eyes scanning the other two remaining cards.

"The four of swordss," the card depicted four swords hanging above a lamb, "And the wheel of fortune." On the card was a large wheel, tangled with threads of different colours.

"It seemss you are at a changing place in your life, my boy. A crossroads of sorts, if you will. It is true you are optimisstic as you say; continue to have good faith that the outcome will be positive. But you have an important decision to make ssoon, or perhaps you are in the process of making one." The Crone peered more closely at Estavar.

"You ssay you are out on your own for the first time, yess? That itsself is a big change. It may be what the card sspeaks of...or it may not be. That, I cannot ssay. But beware that whatever change may come will likely be permanent, and it may require you to make a ssacrifice." If he was indeed on his own for the first time, the boy had already made sacrifices; the loss of family around him, the loss of dependence, perhaps even the loss of security, financial and otherwise.

Cala began to gather up the cards and return them to her deck, shuffling it again even as she continued to speak. "Take the time to relax now, child. There is no rush for anything, even knowledge, you are still young. Take the time to conssider your situation and any new possibilities that pressent themselves to you."

With the deck shuffled again, the Crone placed it to the side, and looked at Estavar with sharp eyes, waiting to see if her had anything to say about his reading; she had no doubt the inquisitive boy would have questions. "More tea?" She asked, as she waited for him to gather his thoughts, flicking her gaze down to his empty cup.

[Estavar La'loon]

"Yes please, this tea is amazing, you must be a brewing master!"

Estavar watched as The Crone picked out the cards that he chose, waiting to see what his fortune would tell him about his life and what was to come.

When he saw the first card and The Crone explained, Estavar instantly scowled, but he explained anyway, "Well, you see, as most children are, I was very mischevious and I lied a lot, especially about things I had done that my parents considered dangerous or things I did to ruin the precious work they did on the house."

"But I was a very sly child, always sneaking out of trouble and blaming others for my mistakes and problems, but I had a change of character when one day me and my friends were playing and a fight broke out between me and a boy named Hugo, the fight was unfair and I easily won."

After this Estavar took a breath and a moment to recollect his thoughts. He looked at The Crone with a look of guilt because of what he had done then continued his story.

"However the same couldn't be said for Hugo because he had been violently attacked by me and I had caused him some serious wounds that he had to get treated straight away. So after my parents apologized to Hugo and his parents they gave me a big row and grounded me until I chose to become more mature and learnt to respect the precious time we have in this world and the company of others. So that's what I did and how I became the person you are talking to now."

Estavar silently cried and thought about how much he regretted what he had done, but he had to focus on the present in order to move on and not be like his past self.

When The Crone showed him the next card, Estavar gasped, but he was slightly relieved when he heard it didn't usually mean death, but never the less, he might experience something far worse than what was in his past soon.

"Do you mean to say that I might encounter something even worse than the deeds I committed as a child?" Estavar stared scared to death at The Crone as he waited for her answer.

When she showed him the last two cards, his spirits lightened and he felt slightly better for himself seeing that his future might hold something good just yet, but that it would come in exchange for a sacrifice.

"If I will have to make a sacrifice, then will it be of life, or something different?"
Estavar was pondering this question as he realised his life might not become as straightforward as he thought it would have become when he left home.

"I promise you that I will try my hardest to stay positive even when I am at my saddest points and hardest decisions that you have foreseen I will make."

"It was certainly a very hard decision for me to make to leave home and not get to rely on my parents all the time anymore, but I believe it was a necessary sacrifice to make in order for me to be more in touch with society, otherwise I would stay dependant on my family doing things for me, so I had to prepare to be self dependant before it was too late."

Estavar ponders his current situation and thinks about, if anything, that the cards might have been referring to when The Crone read them out. At the moment he had nothing but something might come to him hopefully sooner rather than later.

[Luminescence]

The Crone listened to the boy's story, face impassive, and merely nodded; clearly, he regretted his actions. Children often did foolish things in any case; that didn't always reflect the way they would grow and the person they would eventually come to be. Cala was pleased to see that seemed to hold true for Estavar.

"The Hanged Man, like its cousin Death, iss not always a negative card. Keep in mind, boy, the future iss not set in stone. I merely relay the message of the cardss; they offer advice, and tell what may happen...but it is never certain. Merely one outcome of many possible ones. It iss up to you whether or not you take their advice."

Cala chuckled as he asked his anxious questions, holding up a weathered hand to silence him, but not unkindly. "Enough, child. You take the cardss too literally. A sacrifice is not alwayss that of life, or even a physical thing...and it may not alwayss be a bad thing. And even if I knew what it wass, I would not tell you, for that iss not my way. It iss for you to decide your own life path, and make your choicess as you will when the time comes. I am here to only offer some advice, nothing more; do with it what you will."

She nodded wisely as he spoke of his resolve to remain positive moving forward, and pondered aloud the sacrifices he had already made. "Indeed. You are doing well to find your own way in life, my boy. Keep on that path." With a long sigh, the Crone rose from her chair, her bones creaking. "But come now. You have kept this old one from my afternoon nap for too long."

Cala lead Estavar out of the small back room, back to the front of the shack. "Remember, child. Ponder on the meanings of the cardss as I'm sure you will, but do not take them so literally. The beauty of the future iss that it iss yours to decide."

The Crone winked at Estavar, then ushered him out of the shack, waving goodbye. "Take care now," she called, before turning and heading back inside, shutting the door behind her. If Estavar turned around to face the shack again, he would find it no longer there as the Crone once more raised her shields to hide the rickety shack from prying eyes. It was as if there had never been a shack or a Crone at all, but the lingering taste of herbal tea in Estavar's mouth and the faint scent of incense and smoke clinging to his clothes said otherwise.

The encounter had taken merely a bell or two, though it perhaps had seemed much longer within the dim, smoky atmosphere of the shack; the late afternoon was blurring into the early evening as the sun began to sink towards the horizon, the sky streaked with shades of orange. Estavar had a lot to think about on his walk home.

OOC :

Thanks for the fun thread. If you want to make one more post feel free, otherwise just let me know and I'll get on grading this as soon as I can!