Closed Winds of Discovery

[Sophia Sunshore]

30th Summer, 519

"Speech"

Sophia had awoken to a sky so dark that she thought for a moment that she should still be sleeping. However through the oppressive clouds she could see the sun, though it looked eerie beneath the grey blanket of sky. Pearl was, unusually, running around on the floor of her home and not down on the beach. The Svefra rolled herself out of her bed, peering out at the sea as she did so. The waves were rough, but not particularly large, indication of a strong breeze over the water which was likely enough to agitate the tiny bird and throw her off balance in the air.

Even still, Sophia had not seen Pearl behave in such a way for a long time and it concerned her a little. She scooped the bird up into her hands to check her over for injury, carefully extending her wings and running her fingers gently over the soft feathers on her underside. worry filtered into her mind and Sophia stopped examining Pearl, instead setting the bird back on the ground to gaze at her curiously. What on earth would Pearl have to be worried about? Perhaps she was worried that she might not eat so well today, as the seabird was self-sufficient. ”Don’t be silly Pearl, I can get you some fish this time.”

The seabird fluttered down off the raised deck in response and took off underneath the house. Sophia rolled her eyes and stood, moving over to where she kept her clothes. She pulled on a green dress with loose, short sleeves and fixed a brown leather belt round the middle. The colour of the clouds led her to believe it might rain, so she pulled on her soft brown, ankle height leather boots. As she was fixing a necklace around her neck, a gust of wind blew through her home, ruffling the mosquito nets draped around her bed and flipping over a few pages of her journal.

She flipped her journal closed again, setting a small pile of stones onto the cover to keep it closed. The stones were beautiful and she rolled one in her palm, smiling as she did so. Sophia had been finding them in the sands recently - semi-opaque and smooth in varying shapes and sizes, they appeared to be made from the sea itself in shades of white, blue and green. She had amassed quite a collection already, small piles littering the surfaces of her home.

Another gust wound its way past her, the skirts of her dress wrapping themselves around her legs. Sophia turned and looked out over the sea again, her brow furrowing as she took in the darkening sky. She stepped over to the edge of her home and reached up to start untying the rolled canvas sides. While she herself didn’t mind rain, after a day in it she knew she would appreciate returning to a dry home. Though it wasn’t actually raining, the sky looked angrier than she had seen it since arriving in Syka and didn’t fancy taking the risk. It took her a good few chimes but eventually she had tied down all but a single piece of one side, just enough for her to duck in and out from.

Sophia stepped down onto the beach and crouched to peer under her home at Pearl. The tiny seabird had huddled herself down into the sand and was pointedly ignoring the Svefra. Sophia affectionately shook her head in amusement before standing straight again, turning to start making her way along the beach. She had taken a few steps when something in the sand caught her eye and a smile spread over her face before she reached down to pick it up. It was a piece of cloudy blue seaglass and Sophia ran her thumb over its smooth surface before folding her fingers around it.

A little way ahead she spotted another piece and quickly rushed over to pluck it out of the sand. Completely distracted now from her tasks for the day and the looming weather, the Svefra instead had her gaze fixed firmly on the swathe of beach ahead of her. Her only focus was to find more of the beautiful seaglass, and she barely even noticed Pearl who had emerged from under the house to stick close to her feet.

As she wandered, the sky over the seas grew angrier still. The clouds were smudged through with deep grey slashes and the winds were picking up, throwing Sophia’s hair around her face. She remained oblivious, simply brushing her hair away and stepping over and around Pearl, intent only on growing the little collection of glass in her hand.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

A storm was brewing, that much was immediately obvious to Kamilla when she'd awoken that morning. While the symptoms resembled that of the storm she and Finn had had to deal with during their short sail across the Suvan from Riverfall to Syka, whilst being pursued by a crew of persistent pirates, she'd yet to experience anything but sunshine and heat during her season at the settlement. She hadn't been particularly worried, though she wasn't thrilled at the thought of a storm either. Syka was noticeably lacking in full shelter. Windows were not commonplace, most buildings being nothing more than a roof and, sometimes, some walls, so the thought of enduring a storm of any kind in yhe settlement was not something she was keen on experiencing.

The only silver lining she could think of, as the winds began to pick up, was the cooling effect the storm and rains would bring to the otherwise extremely warm settlement, though that didn't mean Kamilla was looking forward to being drenched and she highly doubted Yen would feel the same. From the moment she'd opened her eyes, Kamilla had noticed that the yowlwing was acting odd, tugging desperately at the leather leash in an attempt to pull free, meowing and scratching at Kamilla's boots, wanting to be picked up. It was clear that something was off, but she'd not been too bothered by it until she'd reached the City Core and noticed the unusual amount of activity amongst the citizens. People were darting around, looking to pack away any small items and secure slightly larger ones, seemingly excessive for a simple storm.

It was during this time that Kamilla had spotted the blonde Sophia crossing the beach in the distance, heading away from the Maw with a bird near behind it. Because of the distance, she was unable to see what the friendly svefra was doing but at least she wasn't overreacting like the rest of Syka's inhabitants. She supposed the woman was used to storms, coming from the sea, which explained her nonchalant behaviour.

After about a bell of finding a comfortable spot to sit and repair some garments for work, Kamilla was forced to stop, the winds had picked up, making it difficult to work as the clothing and her hair whipped around, adding to the annoyance that was already being caused by Yennefer's constant meowing. "Would you stop that Yen. I'll find us somewhere dry to hold up before the storm actually hits..." She began, glancing upward and noticing how much darker the sky had grown since she'd last paid any attention. "Though maybe now would be a good time... but where?" The clouds looked angrier than before, forcing her to pack away her things, slinging her satchel over her shoulder and picking both Yen and Roo up.

"Where did the lovely sun go?"

Kamilla almost rolled her eyes as the androgynous voice of her talking flower reached her ears, it was always a slippery slope to incessant chatter when Roo was involved. "There's obviously a storm coming Roo... Now keep quiet, there's people all around. Someone might hear yo-" Before she could finish her sentence, someone did show up. It was Nesra, the potter.

"Kamilla, the storm will be here any moment... uh, I don't think we've ever had anything that looked this big in all my time here. Please bring your pet... uhm, feathery cat and uh, flower along with you to one of the storm shelter west of here. Hurry now!"

Just like that, Nesra had come and gone in a rush. The woman was clearly disheveled and panicked at the coming storm, which alerted Kamilla to the possibility that she may have been behaving too nonchalant in response to the weather. Frowning, she cast a gaze in Yennefer's direction, the yowlwing was twitchy, tense and clearly on edge. "Is that why you've been acting so skittish today Yen? Trying to warn me?" The wide eyed feline meowed in response, sometimes she was sure Yen understood her perfectly. "Okay then we should go... right now... but, I haven't seen Sophia come back this way... Did you notice her Roo?"

"Oh, noooow I can talk, because YOU want me to?" She shot the flower an annoyed look. "Okay okay! No I haven't seen her since you mentioned her a while ago... and trust me, I've been looking. She's my hero. Those seaweed bits really helped. Though it was kind of terrible having to share my pot with bits of other dead plants."

Not having time to pay the final comment any mind at the moment, Kamilla groaned to herself. Surely the svefra would be okay, she'd been raised at sea, a  storm on land was definitely far better and easier to survive right? Or perhaps, someone else would go looking for her? It wasn't as if Kamilla was the only citizen and she had her own family to look after.

Having made her decision, Kamilla turned in the direction of the storm shelter, took a single step and froze, her head whipping back around to search the beach for any sign of the blonde. Had she been heading to Treasure Point? The image of the clueless blonde hunched over as she crossed the beach that morning filled her mind once more, a feeling reserved only for her dead family, guilt, rising up within the troubled mage.

"She helped me. You have to help her back."

She couldn't believe she was getting morally blackmailed by her talking pet flower. Unfortunately, Roo was right.

"Petch... well then let's be quick about it." With that, Kamilla spun around and began making her way southwards along the beach, in the compete opposite direction of the shelter, boots stepping through the sand as she carried Roo and Yen along with her, nervously eyeing the dark clouds above as the winds whipped her hair about her face.  "That stupid svefra better not be hard to find."

Words: 1007

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Sophia was heading away from the City Core, away from any sort of relative safety, in the direction of Treasure Point. The Svefra was unaware of where her wanderings were taking her, however, her mind only focused on the beautiful seaglass. She didn’t know why, nor did she stop to consider why, but all she wanted was to collect it. She needed to have it, as much of it as she could find. And so she was looking for it.

The winds were picking up, throwing her hair into wild disarray and her skirts fluttered around her legs. Sophia was walking in a zig-zagging pattern to allow her to comb as much of the beach as possible. A smile wound across her mouth as she spotted another piece of green glass, smoothed and clouded by the seas. She plucked it from the sand, adding it to the collection that she was starting to struggle to hold in one hand. “Ah I should have bought a pouch..”

Pearl, her Tavan, was still following her, and the little seabird took the opportunity of Sophia’s pause to do something she had never done before. The bird fluttered closer to her, and jammed her beak into Sophia’s leg, just above her ankle. The Svefra yelped in surprise, dropping her handful of seaglass.

“Pearl!” She looked down at the gull flapping around on the sand. “What the petch was that for?!” Sophia frowned in annoyance and Pearl cawed at her insistently as their eyes met. Fear settled in the back of Sophia’s mind and she paused, thoughts of seaglass momentarily forgotten. Sophia hadn’t taken Pearl seriously earlier, and the seabird’s behaviour had only gotten more out of character.

Sophia raised her head to look out at the sea as a strong gust of wind slammed into the shore. It forced her back a step, eyes stinging from the cold, salty air. The sky had darkened considerably and the waves had grown larger and rougher. Something clicked in her mind and Sophia’s eyes widened. It wasn’t just rain that was incoming. It was a storm, and a big one at that. She spun on her heel to look back at the settlement, but she had gone quite a distance without realising. There was a chance she could make it back to her home, but the canvas walls would offer little in the way of shelter.

She glanced down the beach in the other direction, but there was even less on offer heading away from the Core. “Stupid, stupid…” Sophia muttered to herself as she tried to formulate a plan, though her best and only option appeared to be to grab Pearl and run as fast as she could back to the settlement.

The Svefra turned to scoop the seabird up from the sand, but her eyes fell again on the little pile of seaglass she had dropped. She’d definitely need to take that with her too. She hurriedly started picking up the pieces of glass, looking around for Pearl as she did so. Instead of finding the seabird, her gaze caught something glinting in the sand a little way off. Was it another piece of glass? This one looked bigger and prettier than the ones she had already.

Once again, all thoughts of her safety were forgotten, and Sophia stood to retrieve the shiny glass from where it lay. She crouched to pick it up, but it seemed to be attached to something else buried underneath the sand. She pulled it towards her and ended up clutching what could only be described as a metal wand. The seaglass was not seaglass at all, but a large grey gemstone adorning the end of the hilt. It was a beautiful object, and she definitely would be keeping it, though she was disappointed that it was not a piece of glass for her collection. She stayed crouched in the sand for a moment, ignoring the fluttering of Pearl once again to examine her new find.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Several chimes had passed since she'd decided to leave the Commons, and the safety of the Storm Shelter, in search of the blonde svefra and Kamilla still hadn't seen a single sign of the foolish woman. Honestly, she was beginning to regret her decision to be selfless, the growing winds whipping her hair violently around her head as she powered forth. A quick glance behind her revealed the settlement to be nothing more than a few miniature buildings in the distance. If the storm were to hit now, herself and her 'family', Roo and Yen, would be taking the full force of it. She mentally berated herself for dragging the two of them along with her on her foolishly selfish suicide mission.

That was it, she was turning around, Sophia be damned. As fond as she'd become of the young svefra, it wasn't worth endangering Yennefer, Roo and herself for. Especially since the looming clouds had now darkened to the point that there was hardly any of the sun's light left to illuminate her surroundings. "Okay, we tried… I think it's time to head back now…" If they were lucky they might make it to the storm shelter in time, already turning around.

"Wait! Wait! I see her! There! With the bird!"

Kamilla didn't know whether to be relieved of annoyed, her head whipping around in search of Sophia and finding her in the distance, appearing to be pulling on something. What on earth could it be that was so important she needed to risk her life for it. Brushing the thought aside, Kamilla forced herself forwards, despite the winds that seemed determined to keep her path from being a straight line.

She could see the svefra pulling on something buried in the sand and wondered if that was what she'd been in search of. It didn't matter. They needed to get to safety. "Sophia! What the PETCH are you doing! You trying to get yourself killed out here!?" A few more steps would see the mage arrive at the blonde's location, Yennefer in one hand and Roo in the other.

"Good thing we found ya, Kam was about to turn a-"

"What are you doing out here? Let's go! Quick!" She'd seen where Roo's words were going and quickly cut him off, now looking around. "We seem to be near treasure point… we should take the cobbled pathway back to Syka quick!" Of course she'd noticed the wand held in the svefra's hand, very similar to one she'd found herself a season earlier, but that wasn't important.

Words: 428

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

"Sophia! What the PETCH are you doing! You trying to get yourself killed out here!?"
It took the Svefra a moment to register the words that were shouted in her direction. When she recognised Kamilla’s voice however, it snapped her out of her daydream. Pearl too, had started emitting tiny squawks at her, flapping her wings so that they batted against Sophia’s legs. Her hair whipped around her face as she peered up at the woman standing over her.

“Kamilla?” Sophia stood, apparently to Pearl’s relief as the seabird ceased making a racket. She peered at the brunette curiously, noticing what was clutched in her arms. Why on Mizahar was she wandering around with Roo, and a… cat? With wings?

"What are you doing out here?...”
What was Sophia doing out here? The Svefra could barely remember her journey this morning. She looked down at her hands, one clutching a fistful of seaglass, the other wrapped around the hilt of the odd wand. “I uh…” She flicked her gaze to the sea, then to Kamilla. “...I’m not sure.” Kamilla seemed scared, more scared than when Roo had been terribly sick. The wind gusted at them, forcing Sophia to take a step lest she be knocked sideways.

Her gaze slowly travelled past the woman, to the sea again. The waves were roiling, the sky a sheet of steely grey above it. The storm. Blue eyes darted back to stare into Kamilla’s dark ones as her words finally sunk in. “Oh…no.” It was as if Sophia had been wandering around in a fog that had suddenly cleared. She stuffed the seaglass into the tiny pocket of her dress and bet to scoop Pearl up, the wand still in her other hand. “Yes, let’s go.”

She hurried along beside the other woman, the wind now trying its best to push them off the path they were following. “Wait…” The words Roo had spoken when the trio had found her suddenly popped back into her head. “Kamilla did you come all the way out here to look for me?” She glanced again at Roo and the cat huddled in her arms. Kamilla’s little family. “Why would you risk that?!” Sophia was of course, grateful that she had found her, but still. If anything happened to the brunette or her companions, Sophia would feel terrible forever.

The next wave that hit the beach was so large that the sound of it crashing into the sand made the Svefra flinch. The wind picked up even more, slamming into the two women making it difficult to walk, let alone run. Sophia paused in her steps, squinting out at the sea, the air causing her eyes to stream. Her mind raced through her knowledge of ocean storms - having grown up on a boat she was familiar with the weather’s tantrums. She flicked her gaze in the direction of the Commons. They weren’t going to reach the safety of Syka’s more secure buildings before the worst of the storm hit.

“Kamilla!” Sophia struggled to catch up with her, shouting above the sound of the wind. “Kamilla, we need to find another shelter! We aren’t going to get back in time!” As if in agreement, another monstrous wave slammed into the beach, the accompanying gust causing Sophia off the path. Pearl flapped in her arms, small, frightened chirps sounding from her beak. The Svefra could barely see through the blonde locks that were being thrown around her face, but she turned away from the sea, searching for someplace, any place that might offer the ragtag group some shelter.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Finally, to Kamilla's relief, the svefra woman turned her blue gaze on the mage and her pet's, a look if recognition visible in her eyes quickly followed by one of confusion. Kamilla responded with a suspicious frown, how did someone walk a significant distance in a storm without realising what they were doing? She wondered if Syka had any easily accessible drugs, though if she remembered her life in Sunberth correctly, they were usually exposure and came at a higher price than money… not that she had any experience with any of them. The most mind altering experience she'd ever undergone was the time she got a host of memories from a maledicted skull. Reminiscing aside, they had bigger problems at hand.

Seeming to finally get a grasp on reality, as well as their current predicament, Sophia's mind seemed to have caught up to their situation as she began questioning Kamilla's decision to try and save her. Sophia was right of course, it was silly of her to risk herself and family to save someone she'd only met on a few occasions, but it was far too late to dwell on it. "That's not important right now. We need to go." Her arms tightened around the pot plant and cat in her arms as she turned to return to the distant settlement.

The sky had gone from angry to stunning, everytime she was able to catch a glimpse of the approaching storm behind her, between being buffeted by the wind no matter which direction she moved, Kamilla would simply freeze in place, feeling incredibly small in comparison to the mass of dark clouds. What was the name of thr storm God again? Whatever it was, he or she must have been in a either a very good mood, or a very bad one. Regardless, they were in danger, a fear that Sophia echoed. She could only nod.

Even with all their struggling against the storm, the two woman had only made it off of the beach and onto the cobbled pathway, coming to a halt at the fork in the road. If they went right it was quite a distance back to the settlement, though they'd be completely exposed to the storm along the coast, quite a risk. Left, lead further away from the safety if the settlement and it's storm shelter, but they'd be staying nearer to the foot of a cliff which would possibly provide them with enough shelter to survive. It was a big decision but Sophia was right, they wouldn't make it back to the settlement in time. She remembered that the svefra had grown up on the sea and figured she knew a bit about storms.

Sighing loudly, though it was lost to the storm, thunder and lightning now nearer and more intense, Kamilla felt as if she could feel the rain coming. "Okay, let's go left…" She didn't have any real justification other than that the wind seemed slightly less aggressive. Assuming Sophia wouldn't protest, Kamilla would begin to slowly follow the path left, a sudden icy feeling pricking at her exposed skin in dozens at at time. The rain had arrived.

"By the way, what's the storm God's name?" It wasn't important at that moment, but Kamilla felt the need for a slight distraction from their ordeal. The words were shouted over the sounds of the rain and wind, she was uncertain if Sophia would even hear it.

Words: 575

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

While the Svefra couldn’t deny that it had been incredibly dangerous for Kamilla to seek her out, Sophia felt a rush of warmth toward the brunette. Did this mean that she had finally found a true friend? Even though she was sure that Roo had had something to do with it, she sincerely hoped so. Sophia didn’t let herself dwell too long on the thought for now as there were certainly more pressing issues at hand.

She struggled on behind Kamilla, Pearl clutched in her arms. The little seabird had fallen silent, and Sophia could feel her tiny body trembling. Their progress was slow, the howling winds fighting them every step of the way. At the fork in the road Sophia struggled to stay standing still as she considered their options. Neither were particularly appealing.

It would be a case of choosing the lesser of two evils. The path to the left led away from the settlement, along the foot of a cliff. It appeared more sheltered but if something were to fly at them, be it a wave or something else, there would be little they could do.
Right would eventually take them back to the city core along the exposed beach, though Sophia knew that they would never make it before they got into real trouble. She had no idea which was the better option. Storms at sea were what she knew how to navigate. On land they became completely different monsters.

She saw Kamilla’s mouth move but struggled to hear what the brunette said. It was easy to guess though as she turned left and started to make her way along the path stretching away from the Core. Sophia paused for only a moment, unsure if it was the best choice, but not wanting them to be separated.

She struggled up to Kamilla’s side, pinpricks of rain now stinging her skin. Her eyes were scrunched almost closed against the onslaught of rain and wind, and she struggled to see the path they were supposed to be following. Sophia shot a glance at the brunette as she spoke again.
“Zulrav. The storm is either his or one of his followers.” Sophia knew that there were people he favoured, much like she was by Caiyha for there were a few among the Svefra.

As if in recognition of the name, a huge gust buffeted the two, knocking the women into each other. Pearl let out a squawk as Sophia struggled to stay upright and the Svefra shouted to her companion over the noise of the weather.
“Kamilla it’s too dangerous for us to be out here for much longer.” Unfortunately she had no idea on how to resolve their predicament, and panic was starting to settle into her stomach. “Can you see anywhere we can shelter? There’s no way we’re going to get back!” She ran her gaze over their immediate surroundings, squinting in an attempt to see better. Aside from rocky outcroppings scattered along the exposed beach, there was little around that she thought would help them.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

The storm seemed to be growing more aggressive by the tick as Kamilla struggled along the narrow cobbled path along the cliffside, it seemed to her as if the high walls on one end of the path had slightly lessened the current onslaught of wind. Regardless, she was still forced to carefully crab walk her way along the path, attempting to shelter both Roo and Yennefer with her side, now making sure that the howling was safely secure in her bag. Every glance she cst down towards her odd family caused the unpleasant feeling in her gut to grow, a glance backwards to see if Sophia was following, she was, only made that feeling double. She'd been the one to come save her, so it was her responsibility to make sure everyone was safe.

In the back of her mind, Kamilla couldn't help but think of how much easier her life had been when she wasn't saddled with the chore of looking after others, but at the same time she knew she felt far less empty nowadays as a direct result of having pets and people to fill that hole.

Zulrav… had that was the name she heard Sophia call out. The storm. "Well then, I hope Zulrav has it in him to spare us." As she said it, Kamilla noticed a tree from the cliff above and smashing to pieces on the path up ahead, instinctively crouching down and turning her back as a mass of tiny twigs and debris came flying toward them. "Look out!"

The mass of tiny twigs and branches hit her with more force than she'd expected, feeling tiny cuts and stinging sensations all along her left arm and shoulder. She let out a muffled shout of pain though she doubted it made it further than a few meters beyond her person, drowned out by the wind. She felt her left arm spasm from the sudden burst of pain but there was no time to worry about that. "Are you okay?" She checked to see if Sophia was okay, completely agreeing with her statement as her eyes turned about and settled on a small crevice in the cliffside just short of where the fallen tree was blocking their path. There's a small indentation in the cliff up ahead, if can just get to it… trust me." If Sophia was okay, she would begin putting all her strength into reaching their destination.

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Both women were struggling to walk properly now, and Sophia squinted at Kamilla as they made their way painstakingly slowly along the pathway. The brunette had adopted a sort of sideways stepping, which Sophia tried to mimic for a moment. Turning to face the cliff shielded her face a little and protected Pearl, but her back was now a larger surface for the wind to buffet against. She compromised, moving at an awkward diagonal. They were already moving slowly so it really didn’t make that much of a difference to their progress.

Sophia opened her mouth to respond to Kamilla’s comment on the God of Storms, but she was cut short by a shout from her friend. Instinctively, she looked up to see what was happening, realising when her eyes locked on the debris that that had been absolutely the wrong thing to do.

With a shriek of panic, Sophia dropped to her knees, bringing Pearl to her chest and bending her body over the bird. Her left hand was still clutching the strange wand, and some part at the back of her mind refused to let her drop it, so she was unable to shield her head properly.

The branches had been falling fast, and Sophia felt the heavy impact of a few of them. She hissed in pain as one caught the right side of her face near her ear, and a few others bounced off her bare arms. She thought she heard Kamilla cry out next to her too, but the first thing she checked was Pearl. The little seabird was trembling but mercifully unscathed, and then she stood and turned to look at Kam.

Like herself, Kamilla had cuts down her arms. They were both seemingly incredibly lucky that the debris hadn’t been heavier or larger. She could feel the warmth of a trickle of blood on her face, mingling with the rain, but it was a minor thing compared the situation at large. Sophia nodded once. “I’m fine, let’s keep going!”

As they struggled on once more, Sophia strained to hear Kamilla’s voice over the winds. She frowned, squinting ahead to see the small dip in the cliff the brunette was speaking about. She had no idea what good it would do them, but it was a target they could work towards in any case. And she did trust Kamilla, even though she had no idea what her plan was.

Head bowed, she trudged slowly along, cuts stinging from the salt in the air and the coldness of the lashing rains. When they eventually arrived at the indent, Sophia stared at the cliff. It was nothing special, literally just a dip in the cliff face. It offered no extra shelter from the elements, and she turned to Kamilla, water streaming from her face.
“Now what?!”

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Although she couldn't hear Sophia's voice over the sounds of the storm, despite being only feet away from the young svefra, Kamilla could just about make out the words "I'm fine." considering the shapes her mouth was making. Of course, neither herself nor sophia was fine, she knew that. Massive storm aside, both woman had just been bludgeoned by a mass of tiny debri and Kamilla could see the shallow seeming cuts and blood covering the blonde, knowing that she must have looked the same or worse. Unfortunately, they did not have time to dwell on their injuries and the duo struggled forwards, eventually reaching the small crevice in the cliffside.

Once they'd arrived, Kamilla noticed Sophia saying something once again, though her voice continued to be overpowered by the storm.

Stepping as far into the crevice as possible and feeling a slight decrease in the intensity of the storm, Kamilla held Roo's pot tightly with one arm and took a deep breath, reaching her free right hand upwards to the stone wall just above her head, noticing a small head sized hole not far above. The mage began to coax the energies within her, guiding her djed towards the palm of her right hand with only a fleeting thought about the fact that she was about to reveal her magic to Sophia, barely a concern given the current situation.

Kamilla gathered and produced as much res as she could in as little time as she could, feeling as if the energy was literally being poured out of her being and into the stone, though to Sophia it would seem as if the dark haired woman was simply running her hand downward along the stone to no effect.

Once she'd reached the ground, now kneeling, Kamilla could feel the mass of res that she'd pushed into the stone and with one side glance in the svefra's direction, she willed the stone to change form, instantly changing from solid rock to white beach sand which was almost immediately swept away by the winds, forcing Kamilla to shield her face with her forearm.

Her intention had been to create a large enough hole for both women to huddle in, in hopes of avoiding the full force of the storm, but when she'd lowered her arm, Kamilla was both surprised and grateful to see that she'd somehow, out of pure luck, managed to uncover the entrance to what looked like a somewhat decent cave.

Not wanting to waste a moment longer, Kamilla waved for Sophia to follow her through the narrow hole she'd just created. "In here, quickly!" She was unsure if the svefra would hear her, but figured it didn't matter.

Stepping carefully into the narrow hole, Kamilla experienced instant relief from the storm, once past the threshold the powerful winds and battering rains immediately dissipated into only a cool and ungentle breeze which traveled through the cave, seemingly from up above, where Kamilla could see light coming through a long narrow sloping tunnel that ended in a small hole. They'd really lucked out.

Quickly stepping a few steps further into the cold and dark cave, stumbling slightly over a protruding rock but managing to catch herself with the help of her free hand and a nearby wall, Kamilla began to reach into her bag, while kneeling down to place Roo's pot on the ground, then retrieving a tiny feather patterned glass ball and some flint and steel. She needed something flammable.

Once Sophia had finally entered into the cramped space of the dark cave, the dim light of the lower entrance illuminating her and the bird clutched tightly under her arm, Kamilla would reach a hesitant hand out. "I'm sorry about this." plucking one of the birds tail feathers and placing it between her lips. From there she easily used the flint and steel to set the tip of the feather alight, quickly pushing it into a pop open slot of the glass ball and lighting the wick within.

Once the lantern had been lit, Kamilla blew out and discarded the feather before closing the tiny glass panel on the ball and allowing the glowing globe to slowly levitate a few feet above her head, casting its surprisingly bright light across the cramped cavern and a single nearby chamber to the right, not much larger than the one they were in, but at least it was deeper into the safety of the cave and away from the open entrance and storm.

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