The Carving [Solo Flashback][Closed]

[Nivex]

The Carving [Flashback] Summer 501 AV, Day 50 Age 13 Skyglow Nivex the Vantha sat in her room, staring at a wet, unfinished piece of canvas painting in front of her. Granted, the girl wanted to keep that piece unfinished. She had been sitting there for hours, trying to copy the likeness of the fruit basket near her, but the lack of motivation and care didn’t help her much. To be honest, painting wasn’t in Nivex’s interest. She never understood the point of trying to make something that’s real and turn it into a lifeless 2-dimential decoration. However, her mother willed it, saying the young girl “needed direction in her life.” Where the direction was going in this, Nivex didn’t know. Truth was, her mother just wanted Nivex to be her, in a way. Nivex was nothing like either of her parents. She didn’t like sitting there all day, wasting oils to create something no one was going to appreciate or buy. A knock came at Nivex’s door, and her mother, black long hair and purple eyes, popped her head in. At first, the young woman smiled. Then, upon looking at the girl, she frowned, and walked in the room, shutting the door behind her. “You’re still working?” The mother asked. Though it the answer was obvious. Nivex answered anyway, in a small squeak of a voice. “Yes.” “You’ve been in here for a while. You didn’t get much done.” Nivex didn’t say a word back. Instead, she looked down, not in shame but of annoyance. Her mother sighed. She knew of her daughter’s lack of motivation. For a while, the mother shrugged it off, all artists lack motivation, some longer than others. However, her daughter never even had motivation. It was like she didn’t care. The mother sat down on the bed beside her daughter, and put an arm around her. “Are you feeling well, Nivex?” “I’m fine,” The young girl said softly. She paused a moment, thinking of what to say. Usually, she wouldn’t say a word. She couldn’t take sitting her for the rest of her life, though. If she didn’t say anything, she might waste away here. “I just don’t know if I like this…” “You don’t like it?” Her mother chuckled, “Nonsense, you have great talent. Look at this painting. It’s unfinished but it’s well going somewhere. You still have learning to do, but you’ll get through it-“ “No, no, that’s not what I meant…I just…don’t know if I like painting itself.” Her mother cleared her throat. That was like a stab in her heart. “Shame. You have great talent in it.” “And so does a lot of others in Skyglow,” Nivex looked at her mother, “I don’t want to be like them.” “You mean like me?” “N.. no, that’s not what I meant…” Her mother smiled weakly. She sighed again. “Well, maybe…you just need some new things to do. I’ll make a deal with you.” Nivex looked up at her mother, and her mother continued. “If you finished this painting by tomorrow, I’ll ask your father to take you with him at his work. Perhaps you can partake on his profession.” “You mean glassblowing?” “Yes,” Her mother smiled,” You always liked figurines. Maybe you’ll like making your own glass ones.” Nivex smiled at her mother weakly. He mother smiled back, and got up to leave the room. As her mother departed, Nivex sighed. She was unsure if that is what she wanted to do. It was like her parents wanted to be like every other citizen in this hold. Nivex looked at her unfinished painting once more. If it gets me out of painting for another day, I’ll do whatever.

[Nivex]

Day 35 Nivex completed the painting late at night. It was sloppy, but it was done. Because of that, her mother had no choice but to let her daughter go, despite the fact it was a rushed piece of work. Nivex’s father woke her up early, and the two headed out to where he worked on his glasswork. Her father worked on glass from 7am till 9pm, with little breaks, and it was no wonder neither of the girls saw him much. There were times he’d come home early, but that was uncommon. Nivex disliked the mornings. The freezing air, the silent streets, the damned birds. Still, if it got her out of her studies for one day, she would take it. The two were at his ‘office’, which was a steaming hot shop that Nivex never liked. Her father had one all to himself, though at times he had shared it with some people. Nivex watched her father perform the process of glass working all day. He would heat up the minerals, , form it, make another, of a separate color, place them in the holder, then place it in the annealer, and at last, the break box. It was confusing to Nivex the first ten times, but after a while she got the hang of it. Her father was close behind her and held the tools with her as he spat out verbal instructions. “Be quite careful,” He told her, “Once you get the hang of this, I’ll let you perform this yourself.” Yet it wouldn’t be anytime soon. After the day was over, and the two were exhausted, they headed home. During the walk, her father handed her something. “A glass figurine?” “Yes,” Her father smiled, “Of a wolf. I don’t know how find of them you are, but I figured you’d like it. At least, it’s a reward for your hard work.” “Does this mean I’ll be back tomorrow?” “If your mother is fine with it,” He replied, “Which I suspect she will be. You need a rest from your studies.” Nivex stared at her wolf figurine. It was the glass animal with a blue tint the two made together. That night, after the family’s dinner, Nivex placed the figurine in her room on the shelf, and placed herself in bed.

[Nivex]

Day 40 For 5 days straight Nivex and her father created many glass work. Jars, jewelry, figures, and other luxury items. While Nivex grew tired of the hard work, her father seemed like he could go on forever. By the 5th day, her father had given her 5 different animal figurines, each a different hue. On the fifth day, her father had given her a figurine earlier than he did the previous day. “Why give this to me now?” She asked, “It’s only the evening.” Her father smiled. “You worked hard. You deserve to rest. We’ll call it a day.” That night at the dinner table, Nivex ignored her parents as they rambled on about their day. She started at the pink glass bird that she placed on the kitchen table in front of her. Nivex hated creating that thing. She loved the outcome, but the process was terrible. She didn’t like being in that heat. Perhaps it was because she was so use to the cold. But something told her that wasn’t it. She just couldn’t see herself putting that much work into it each day every day for simple items. Still, it was the art she wanted, right? Art that you can touch… “Nivex dear?” The girls looked up at her mother. “Are you alright, dear?” “Meh, she’s fine,” Her father grunted, “Just tired from all the work, “I figured just as much. It’s a very demanding profession. So, Nivex dear. Is glasswork the way you want to go?” Nivex didn’t say anything. She only looked at her figurine. Was there a way of making something like this without all that work? It wasn’t the work she was afraid of. It was the lack of time. She wanted to do other things. She thought of her father. His work was so demanding he couldn’t even see his family as much as they wanted him too. He was so into his work, he and Nivex’s mother couldn’t even bare another child like they always talked about. Nivex looked back at her mother. “I…I don’t know.” Her mother and father looked at each other. “You don’t like it?” Her mother asked. “But I thought you had fun?” “Don’t you like what you created?” Nivex mumbled. “I…I love it. But it’s not what I really want to do.” Her mother sighed in disappointment, while her father put his fork down in annoyance. “Then what do you want to do?” He asked. “I don’t know yet. Why do I have to figure it out at such a young age anyway? I’m only 13, after all.” “And 13 is a perfect age to figure it out!” Her mother preached. “You’ve had so much inspiration! I just don’t understand. You have so much talent! You could even be famous if you practice more!” Fame wasn’t what Nivex was looking for, non-surprisingly. Why did her parents pressure her into something at such a young age? She didn’t know what to do anymore. She didn’t want to spend her whole life making them happy, doing something she didn’t want to. She was too stubborn for that. All she could do was clean off her plate like a good girl and go to bed. As she reached down to pick up her glass bird, something caught her eye. A knife? No, she wasn’t thinking anything crazy. Maybe to her parents, but nothing illegal. Nivex thought, what if she picked up carving? It was the same work as painting in her mind, but produced the same type of figures as glasswork figures. Just not as shiny. It was something she at least wanted to try. Think off all the weapons she could produce. Nivex was always found of hunting... When her parents weren’t looking, Nivex grabbed the knife instead of the glass bird, and headed to her room.

[Nivex]

Day 40 Both of her parents were asleep that night way before Nivex ever laid her head on her pillow. The girl was up very late, scrapping a piece of wood she found in her room with the knife she had stolen. It was difficult, and very time consuming. She didn’t understand how to create the features right away. When she was finally finished hours later, the wooden figurine was in the shape of a disfigured version of the wolf her father had given her 5 days earlier. Nivex sighed, and went to bed. Day 46 Days later, Nivex’s parents were oddly worried about her. She hadn’t come out of her room since the argument on Day 40. Her father assured the mother that the child was going through a phase. Though her mother was unsure, she left Nivex’s door closed. Behind the door, Nivex’s room was covered in wooden shavings. Each night since the 40th, Nivex had snuck out of her house and gather many different types of wood. She gathered small wood, logwood, hollow wood, and tough wood. She got any wood she could get her hands on. Then, when she got back home, Nivex hid them under her bed and began to make different wooden figures. At first, she made just animals. Then, human figures. She would make abstracts when bored. Nivex thought then, why should she just do sculpting? She then began to work on her first weapons. The first one was a large wooden arrowhead, with childish decorations carved into it. She made a wooden knife, though it broke minutes later. She learned to make a handle and blade separate, and connected them. Nivex had found that she could make anything out of carving. There was nothing you can do. Her door creaked open, and Nivex jumped with shock. Her mother was at the door, worried. Neither said anything. Her mother looked around the room, and saw the floor covered in shavings. She then looked at Nivex, who held a piece of wood and a dulling knife in her hands. Her mother took a deep shaking breath, and walked towards her daughter. She knelt on the ground to see all the figures and weapons Nivex had created. “This is what you’ve been doing?” Her mother asked, angry but kept her voice down. “Instead of your studies? You’ve been carving?” Nivex said not a word. She looked down in shame, lowering her knife and figure. She lifted her head slightly back up to talk, which came out a light, soft voice. “It’s something I like.” “Glasswork is the same thing!” Nivex gave her mother a confused look. “No its not.” “But it makes the same stuff. I mean, honey. I love the…the cute animals and figures you made…but I really don’t want you to be making the weapons.” “The weapons?” “The knife, the arrowheads. We’re a peaceful family, Nivex, I don’t want any type of violence in my house.” “It’s not even sharp, mother!” Nivex raised her voice. “The worse you could do is get a splinter! And carving is a part of Avantha culture! How can you turn that away?” “This is my house, Nivex,” Her mother shouted. “Get rid of these tools! What do you know about culture anyway? You’re 13!” Nivex’s face grew red. She stood up angrily, grabbed her knife, and ran out the door. “Nivex!” Her mother yelled out to her. “Nivex, get back here!” But it was too late. Nivex had already left the house. Nivex hid the knife inside of her shirt as she sprinted past the Skyglow streets. Nivex didn’t know where to go. There was no privacy in this city. Not here, She thought, but out the gates there may be. Nivex walked out the Avantha gate and raced to the woods. She went in deep, and was scared of whatever she might find. But there was a place she remembered as a child, when she would sneak out with her friends. Deep in the woods was a large round space here a human could rest easy. It had a small pond of water, and edible berries everywhere. The children use to call it a sanctuary, where they could escape. Nivex wondered why they stopped going there. Nivex found the place she use to go, though it took her some time. She had to remember where it was located. Nivex sighed. She knelt down beside the pond and got her a drink. What now? What would she do? She wanted to be alone. Well, I wanted to carve. There’s more wood here than anyone could imagine. She took out her knife, and found a tree that she deemed perfect to carve. With one stab, Nivex slammed the knife in the tree. picture from Nancy Michaelson

[Nivex]

Night 46 Hours later, Nivex was still in the woods, carving the tree. It had become dark in the woods, but Nivex hadn’t notice. Before the last light of the sun went out, Nivex had finished the carving. It was a simple carving of a face, neither man nor woman, with symbolic and cultural decorations on it’s face. She stepped back and smiled. Granted, it wasn’t the most perfect thing she ever saw, but it was something she made. She was proud of it. She looked down at her knife. It had become very dull with all of the carvings. Perhaps it could be a remembrance of this day, the day where she decided she would do what she wants only. But it was useless for any more carving at that point. The sun had finally set. The woods seemed to move, and noises were loud. Nivex realized how dark it had become. Frightened and paranoid, Nivex ran as fast as she could with the dull knife in her hand. She ran and ran, until she had finally made it out at the end of the woods. When she did, she rested for a moment, and then went back to Skyglow. Nivex’s mother paced back and forth. That’s all she did all day. The father watched. Her mother was worried to the point she couldn’t eat. How could she? Her baby had run off. Her mother shot up. She could hear footsteps coming near the door. Quickly, she ran towards it and opened it. Standing there was the small Nivex. Nivex looked up in shame, tired and hungry. Her mother sighed, and then tilted her head as a signal to come inside. She shut the door, and sat at the table. Nivex was already there, starving. Her father sat down as well, and all three ate their dinner in silence. NoteI didn't actually finish this in one day. It was progressing for a couple of days now. The first two thread I deleted because the codes I was putting in drastically messed up the forum layout to were everything was unreadable. It took me a bit to fix it. Note 2I wasn't sure on the rule for parent NPC. Since I don't plan on using them in the future, except for flashbacks, I didn't know what to do about that. If I broke a rule, I can take this down until I fix it.

[Cheshire]

. Character: Nivex Experience: +1 Painting, +1 Glassworking. +2 Carving Lore: Freedom Over Glory, Trying New Trades, Standing up for what you Love Additional Note: Very nice post. The reason the XP for the skills is a little low is you were a bit vauge with the descriptions of what you were doing. I know you are new though so no harm done. Feel free to add a bit of decription and I'll give you more XP. You were perfectly within the rules for the parent NPCs. If you have any questions feel free to look at the NPC Wiki article. If you feel I missed anything just PM me