Solo A Poisonous Affair

[Adoian]

35th of Spring

Atsuya came storming into the kitchen, a blaze of fury and began throwing and moving equipment about, in desperate search of something. After a moment, she turned to Ado and came right up to him, grabbing the front of his shirt.

“Adoian! Why don’t you ever finish your work on time?” She growled then let him go. He fell back a bit against the counter, knocking over the jar he was adding leaves to.

“Mind your own business, Atsu. What do you know anyway?”

“Nothing is ever in the right place in here.” She continued her search, looking on the shelves and even peeking inside the oven.

“I keep things in order for me, not for you.” He said, righting the jar and putting the spilled leaves back inside.

“I can never find anything I need. Where have you placed the spoons?” She began rummaging through drawers.

“If you call out to them, they’ll come running to you.”

“Don’t joke! Where are they? I need them now, tell me where they are.”

“I don’t know, or I would tell you. I haven’t used them in some time.”

“Ah! There they are!” She exclaimed, holding up a handful of rolled parchment paper, “Perhaps if you weren’t always so careless you wouldn’t lose everything.”

“If everything was easy to find, you would never come to visit me here, would you?” He remarked.

“And now you’re making fun of me, I’m leaving,” Atsuya answered, then stormed out as aggressively as she did on the way in.

A loud knock came at Ado’s front door and he rolled over in a bleary haze of confusion, trying to blink the sun and sleep out of his eyes. His body was extremely sore, and he found it almost impossible to keep his eyes open. He was sure the knock at his door was his imagination, so he decided to roll back over and get some more rest.

The knocking came again, this time followed by a voice shouting his name. He groaned and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. Bringing his hands up, he went to rub his eyes but flinched the second they touched his face.

“What the-“ He whispered, and gently touched the tips of his fingers to his cheeks. There were painful raised bumps across his cheeks, over his forehead, and down to his chin. They itched horribly and it took all his willpower not to scratch at them.

“Ado! Are you awake?” The voice yelled from the other side of the door again, followed by more pounding. Ado squeezed his eyes closed, trying to bring focus and clarity to his mind. He attempted to sit up and immediately a flood of pain washed through his head. He became dizzy and nausea overwhelmed him. He swung his legs over the side of his bed then groaned and gripped at the edge of the bed in an attempt to not vomit right there. Oh, he was sick, that much was clear.

“I’m coming in!” Finally Ado recognized the voice as belonging to Atsuya, just a tick before she came bursting in and before he could tell her to wait. The door opened and she stepped in. She was wearing her usual shirt, pants, and boots combo, with her hair tied up. Today she had a pack with her that Ado did not recognize,
Once she looked at him she sank just a little bit.

“You’ve got it too,” She stated, seeming defeated. Ado was immediately alerted, mostly because behavior insinuating defeat was entirely unlike Atsuya. Hard-headed, stubborn, intense, competitive, those were good descriptive words for her but never demoralized. Second, because it seemed he wasn’t the only one sick like this.

“Too? I’m just sick Atsu,” Ado responded, he sounded tense, but not raspy; like he was trying to stop himself from puking. He was wearing only his undergarments and felt only a little bit embarrassed in front of Atsuya, but the pain in his head was far more pressing.

“You and half of the city,” She said, stepping closer to him to inspect his face, “The Catholicon has no more beds available, they sent me with these herbs to bring to anybody else who has fallen ill.” She grabbed his chin gently to turn his head to both sides, then clicked her tongue against her teeth, letting him go.

“Well, what is it? Some sort of virus?” He asked. Atsuya shook her head and set down the bag, it clinked as the glass bottles inside bumped into each other.

“They know it is due to some kind of poison, but these should help with your symptoms until they discover the exact cause of the illness.” She explained, rattling around inside the bag, pulling out bottles and inspecting them, then setting them aside. Ado watched her for a second, pondering the circumstances and the possible consequences of a city-wide sickness. How could something like this have happened overnight? How could somebody have poisoned the entire city?

“Why have you not contracted the illness?” Ado asked. Atsuya shrugged, finally finding the jar she was looking for which was full of small, dark berries, and opening the top of it.

“Perhaps I just have not contracted it yet. If and when I do, you will be the one administering my medicine.” She smiled at him then dumped five of the berries into her hand and offered them to him. He held his hand out and she poured them into it. He recognized them as jile berries, from the jile evergreen trees common in the forests surrounding Lhavit. These were likely found in the Unforgiving as they were only ripe every other year and there wouldn’t be much supply at the Catholicon to give to so many.

“Jile berries.” She stated, knowing he would know the use of them. They worked as a general poison antidote and may help to relieve his symptoms overall. They were a little bit sweet but mostly tart, easy enough to keep down despite the roiling in his stomach. After he swallowed Atsuya was already standing, prepared with the next jar. It was a dark salve that was quite fragrant like pine needles.

“This is jile salve, for your hives.” She explained. Ado nodded, even though she did not need permission to start applying it to the sores on his face. It was immediately relieving and soothed away the itchiness covering his face, cooling it down. She gently put the salve on her finger and worked on his hives in one area at a time. He closed his eyes and let her work, appreciating the care and attention she was giving him.

It was rare these days for the two siblings to spend any sort of quality time together, not that Ado considered this to be quality, but it was time. Atsuya was always wrapped up in her training or her gardening or her activities outside of work. She had a whole life and group of friends that had nothing to do with Ado or any of the rest of her family. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family, of course she did, but the one thing that the two of them had in common was their restlessness. She felt the overwhelming need to always be going, moving, doing something, anything. So preoccupied she was with her schedule every day that family time usually came second to everything else. It was only through Ado’s job at the teahouse that he spent any time with his family, and it was mostly his grandfather, Guzo. Their parents were rarely around, focusing their time and energy on their own business.

Despite it all, Ado still looked up to her and worked to gain her approval. He secretly hoped she would get the illness so he could take care of her too, but this he would never admit.

“That should do,” She said, finishing up and closing the lid to the salve, “Once you are able Guzo wants you to go to the teahouse. He has herbs there to use for infusions that should help with your other symptoms. He wants to watch over you while you heal and for you to watch over him in the case that he falls ill. Bring whatever you need from home for a few days.”

“What infusions is he making?” Ado asked. Atsuya was already packing the jars back into the bag.

“A mix of batonal leaves and belltor flowers that should help with the nausea and the headache. He will most likely have something to help you sleep as well.” She answered and put the bag back onto her back, and turned to leave.

“I’ll be around the city helping any others that need it, but I’ll be sleeping at the teahouse with you and Guzo for the rest hours and to restock,” She opened the door and stepped out before stopping and turning back to Ado, “Stay safe, okay? I need you to be healthy as soon as possible.” With that, she walked out, closing the door behind her.

It was one of the most sentimental things she had said to him besides ‘hi’ in the past few months. Ado was torn between feeling touched or indifferent. This was Atsuya’s way of showing familial affection, and he should be used to it by this point, even grateful for it, but it wasn’t something he easily accepted. He sighed and slowly settled back down against his pillows. He would give the berries time to work before he attempted his trek to Zintia Peak to meet Guzo at the teahouse.

*WC: 1,603

[Adoian]

45th of Spring

Ten days had passed since the poison had first spread around the city. After the third day, the Catholicon discovered the cause as Lhavit’s main water channels. The Shinya told citizens to stop drinking any of the water provided by the city’s water lines. The town supplied emergency water supplies, but those quickly ran out. Guzo and Atsuya contracted the illness during those first three days along with Ado, and the teahouse was temporarily closed for business while they recovered. Now that all three of them had healed, they were ready to start serving tea again, but this time focused on providing customers with infusions to ease their poison symptoms.

With the water supplies low, Adoian was volunteered to make the trek to the Amaranthine River to collect water for the teahouse. Seeing as he couldn’t carry an entire barrel full of water at once, he would have to make several trips with buckets.

“Guzo, if Atsuya helps me, we can get the job done twice as fast. I’ll be hauling water until the midnight rest by myself!” Ado complained to Guzo, who was trekking around the teahouse, getting things cleaned and situated in preparation for reopening.

“I need Atsuya here with me tending to the gardens,” He stopped and turned to the boy, “See this as an opportunity, Ado. Put some muscle on those twigs you call arms.” His grandfather smiled warmly and chuckled a bit before turning and walking off.

Ado felt defeated; he knew he could carry the water back and forth, but he wasn’t as strong as Atsuya, so it would be much more exhausting for him and take twice as long. He let out a heavy breath and eyed the two buckets hooked onto the ends of a long pole that he was meant to carry across his shoulders. They had gone through the barrel in the teahouse usually used for holding, and it was going to take around ten trips for him to fill the whole thing.

It would be a long day, and he imagined just about every Lhavitian would be at the river collecting water. He carefully slung the pole over one shoulder, stabilizing it with a hand, waved goodbye to Guzo, then headed out toward Surya Plaza.

He passed through the teahouse’s gardens; each plant slaved over meticulously. It was one of the greenest places in the city since Morwen’s disappearance several years ago, and that wasn’t due to pure luck. Atsuya was a notorious stickler for ensuring the plants were watered and pruned as often as physically possible. If she was too busy with classes, she hounded Ado to make sure the job got done. A bit of hard work was far better than facing Atsuya’s wrath. He never wanted to be on the receiving end of that fury ever again.

During this time of the year, the gazebos usually occupied by guests were empty; most of the teahouse’s regulars knew they would be closed for another day. Ado took the small winding rock path to the plaza, muscle memory taking over as he made the ordinary course almost every day.

The plaza was quieter than usual. Normally on his walk over, a few buskers would already be setting up. There would be a gea’tar player playing and singing Lhavitian folk songs, an amateur magician making coins disappear, a small acting troupe performing, usually with a small crowd gathered to cheer and toss kina. He saw none of the buskers out today, and many of the shops that lined the plaza were still closed. A few people wandered around the edges or sat in one of the many benches, murmuring amongst themselves.

Despite the melancholy feel of the atmosphere, Ado could never quite get over the city’s beauty. The sun gleamed off of the skyglass buildings, shining rainbow-colored light all over the pavement. It was far more impressive during the night, though, when the bioluminescent plants and critters could show their true colors.

Ado followed the path that led to Shinyama Peak, into Springwater Square. Similar to Surya Plaza, the square that was usually quite lively was dismally silent and still. The Shinya had shut down the elaborate and gorgeous fountain with its statues of okomo, Syna, Leth, Zintila, and other Ethaefal that would regularly pump thousands of gallons of water a day. That water went through a labyrinth of pipes before reaching the fountain, and it was too risky to have citizens drink from it.

As he continued walking, he glanced over at the Shinyama Pavilion and noticed a group of Shinya walking out and across the square. Some wore light blue robes with gold trim and black sashes with four white stripes. A few others wore dark blue robes with gold trim and a gold sash with two black stripes. Two of the Shinya wore black robes with gold sashes that bore the Shinya insignia. Ado didn’t understand which robes meant which rank, but he knew that these were some high-standing individuals and that the two with the black robes were leaders of the Shinya.

They strode rather briskly across the square in the direction of the Twuele, the tower that the Constellations and Zintila herself called home. He looked up at the formidable building; its many floors reached into the sky, a sentiment to the goddess of stars. He wondered if she was there now. He wondered that every time he passed the tower.

He pressed on, reaching the edge of the Square and stepping off the main path onto a smaller dirt path that would lead him to the edge of the Amaranthine River. On his way, he joined a small group of other citizens with buckets looking to gather some water.

“What do you suppose they plan to do about all of this?” A young man, seemingly around the same age as Ado, spoke up. The boy was looking toward the Twuele, his mouth in a slight grimace. Ado wondered if the boy was speaking to him or just to the whole group, but he responded.

“Whatever they can, I think. Nobody knows how to fix this yet.” Ado reasoned. He knew the people were frustrated, even he was, but that wasn’t an excuse to start becoming impatient and spiteful.
“I think they sit in their tower and discuss what should be done by which people, but they don’t take action. How are we supposed to trust a system like that?’ His outlook had sound logic, and Ado felt persuaded to agree with him. However, Ado did truly believe the Shinya, Catholicon, and Constellations were doing what they could, and this was as a big a mystery to them as it was to the regular city folk.

“We are all sharing the same fate, friend. The Shinya is providing for us where they can, and now we have to provide for each other. I believe we should be worried about the why of the situation, not just the who.” Ado contested the boy’s viewpoint. Not because he didn’t wholly agree, but because he wanted somebody to validate how he felt about the situation.

“The why? What’s the why matter? Once we find the who, we can figure out the why later.” The boy argued. Ado shrugged.

“Sure, we could. But let’s pretend for a moment that this isn’t just an issue of piping, that somebody with malicious intent did poison the water supply. Why? We already know the poison isn’t deadly, so what’s the point? Why make an entire city sick for a little while, only for them to heal within a couple of days? Perhaps it was meant as a distraction for a larger scheme. Maybe it’s an attempt to divide the city so people can become more easily influenced politically,” Ado paused, letting the boy think over the words, “Still, the who is just as important and could shed light on the why, when and if we ever find them.”

The group had reached the edge of the river by that point, and people chose spots at the border to fill up their buckets. It was a rather fast-flowing body and could be potentially deadly were one to fall in. Ado recalled his mother warning him not to get too close to the river, lest his body be slammed against the rocks until he was unrecognizable. That put the fear of Dira in him at a very young age, and he gave the Amaranthine a wide berth whenever possible. It took years for him not to be terrified to cross the bridge.

“Why go to the trouble? You look at somebody wrong and the rumors will start flying in a matter of chimes. That’s a much faster way to divide a city!” The boy exclaimed. It got a few chuckles from the small group. Ado took the buckets off his shoulder and removed them so he could fill them one at a time. He smiled at the joke as well.

“That’s only too true, but for somebody to do something like this, it would take power, time, and skill. No regular folk could pull it off, so why, indeed, go to the trouble? That’s what worries me the most.” Ado felt like if this was the case, then the poisoned water could just be the beginning. There were far worse things that could happen.

He and the boy continued to make small talk as they walked back and forth from their homes or jobs to the river, filling buckets and collecting more people to the group as the bells wore on. Ado felt the burn in his arms, shoulder, and back, but he would finish the task and settle down for the noon rest at the teahouse by midday.

*Wc: 1629

[Cleon]

Grade Award!

Adoian:

Skills: Botany + 1, Endurance + 1, Herbalism, Logic + 1, Medicine + 1, Observation + 2, Rhetoric + 1, Socialization + 2

Lores:

Lhavit: Strange sickness sweeping the city
Botany: The physical description of Jile Berries
Medicine: Using Jile Salve to treat hives
Location: Springwater Square
Rhetoric: Using logic to make arguments

Feel free to pm me with questions or concerns about your grade, and don’t forget to edit your grade request!