[Prequel] Tell Me A Story (Solo)

by **Vala** on May 29th, 2011, 4:19 am

61st of Spring, 511 AV

Stepping back, Vala refused to let herself lose her balance a second time today. The heavy stone stool was barely a foot in diameter, and even with Vala’s tiny feet that was barely enough space to stand on. It was actually harder for her, since she was still too short to reach much of the top row.

“Tako! Hey Tako!” Vala was met by a very condescending and disheartening shhhh. She lowered her hand and frowned. She was use to Tako’s selfish moodiness but really, he was getting worse and worse every day. Normally she would ignore the bugger and find someone else, but she was pretty sure everyone was busy and she really needed to get her shelving done so she could start on her research.

Hopping off her stool, she carefully walked up to Tako, trying not to startle him. “Tako? Sorry about calling out like that. Tako?”

The lean man, a chiet like Vala, but no more than a few years older, turned around to face Vala. He would have been considered handsome but face was set in a permanent sneer. Vala had to pinch herself to prevent sneering right back at him. “What do you need?” He asked gruffly, tapping the book in his hand against his leg. “Can’t you tell I’m busy?”

He definitely wasn’t in the mood to help her. Vala hated most people, that is why she spent so much time studying them. If she knew how to handle someone, how to manipulate them to do her will, the less time she had to spend with them. It was a breeze for her to convince people to do things for her, it seemed to come naturally, but to get to the easy party, she had to go through the most convoluted rituals, almost like having to pull her own teeth, to convince them she actually, genuinely liked them. Almost exponentially harder with Tako, since the guy probably already knew how much Vala hated the guy and his crappy attitude. The only way to win his favor now would be to act really fake, charm him in the force of the moment, but the risk of that would be once she left, and the ‘magic’ wore off he wold be more likely to realize he had been manipulated and hate her more.

She was in a desperate time crunch and she really had to make her decision now. Feeling particularly devious, Vala decided to go for it and risk burning that bridge. She could always try and patch things up later, when she had more time.

The key was changing gradually. When she had first come to Tako she had appeared cold and professional, as she preferred to be when working and possibly in Kirna’s line of sight. If she suddenly transformed to some nice caring twit, he would be instantly suspicious. First she would rib him, try to get him annoyed, it was risky, but it could lower his guard down if she did it right. Changing her voice from cold tone to a more insistent yet not too prying pitch, Vala kept her voice at a girly lilt. “Look so am I, silly goose. We need to work together. Come on, don’t be a prick...” She let that settle in, and just as Kato was about to release a torrent of pure rage that would threaten to leave Vala in a catatonic state, she raised her hand up to stop him, just in time, interrupting further with her own set of a perfectly planned phrase. “Are you ok?” She asked softly, just as she furrowed her brows, extending her lower lip just a hint and curving them downwards into a worried frown. She let the expression, sink in, as Tako stuttered, reeling from her question. She continued to permeate the feeling, the aura of her caring, trying to break through his defenses. When Kato sputtered to a stop she tried to continue with another move to further mood. It was risky and came with a heavy chance of failure at her skill level, but she was just feeling it. In actuality, she was not. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, gulping as if something was stuck in her throat, really pumping out the pity... but she quickly stopped that business when it backfired and Tako frowned, in anger. He would have taken a step back but the shelf was in his way. To cover up her blunder she tried to speak, to distract him. Keeping her voice soft but not too pitying.

“What’s wrong Tako? Are you ok?”

She was thankful she had kept her mouth shut in the next four chimes, because as if the dam had been cracking under pressure, it suddenly shattered, releasing a torrent of pent up rage and emotion.

by **Vala** on May 29th, 2011, 4:19 am

“I hate this. She’s such a petching selfish twit. I just hate her. I hate her so much. It’s all her fault. I just want to throttle her.” Tako growled incoherently. His somewhat handsome face went through a horrifying transformation, from a natural sneer to a mutilated mask of unveiled rage. Foam seemed to lather his thin lips, hiding his gnashing teeth. And his red rimmed eyes seemed to burst from his skull, almost as if about to pop from their sockets. Even his neck seemed to bulge with constricted blood vessels. Vala, afraid of what she had done, what she had released brought her hands up. Using as much skill as she could muster, she kept the fear from her eyes, trying to maintain as calm a facade as possible.

She hushed him, with soft gentle clucking. She watched him, observing the redness of his face, making sure the flushing had died down before trying to reason with him with calming words. Once he had wiped away the spittle from his face, and she saw that his bone white hand had relaxed from it’s death gripped fist, she began. “It’s ok Tako. It’s ok, dear.” She hated using such personal names for people she had no respect for, but she found it particularly effecting and calming, especially for guys who had parental affection issues (she knew this because it worked for her pretty well). She made sure to keep her voice properly modulated, slow enough to be calming, but fast enough to hold his attention. “Why don’t you take a seat. You seem tired, hon.” Vala dragged over the stone stool she had been using. Still lost in the tornado of rage swirling in his head, Tako sat down without question, eyes still bulging yet still a little deadpan. “Now let’s try this again... Who’s this horrible girl you’re talking about?” She had never expected such a violent reaction from him, she had expected maybe something about being overworked or not being paid enough. Talking about romantic issues seemed a little out of her league, but if she left now he would probably never forgive her. Vala sighed inside, trying to get hunkered down for the long haul.

“It’s Dai! She’s just so.... I can’t.... She’s... Gah!” Vala had a vague recollection of Dai. She was a chiet, bound for Avorahood; Vala remembered something about the farming, but that didn’t really mater now. She had to focus all her energy on keeping Tako calm and not drawing attention to them both not working.

Vala squatted down onto her haunches, to get to eye level with Tako. “I know dear. Just let it out. Tell me what’s wrong. Don’t keep it inside.” Vala wished he did, but she had to ask for sincerity’s sake. Tako was refusing to make eye contact with her, which didn’t bother at all. She didn’t have to focus as much on keeping her face proper, allowing her to hone her comforting voice instead.

Tako was silent, for five chimes. Five chimes Vala could have been spending working or researching whatever she wanted, but no, she was here with Tako, the annoying self centered, prick who always left her with most of the repair work... When he finally did speak, he was at least calm enough not to yell, but he was still angry enough to do so in a low, menacing growl. “She’s been avoiding me. She doesn’t look at me. She doesn’t talk to me. It’s like I don’t even exist anymore. Why is she doing this to me? I didn’t do anything. I would do anything for her. This isn’t fair. This just isn’t fair. I would do anything for her...” Tako shook his head. Then resting his elbows on his knees, he rested

This definitely not Vala's cup of tea. "It's ok dear, it's ok. Just let it out." She wanted, so badly, for him to just shut up and get over himself. Everyone had problems. His problem was particularly pathetic. Well that was what she was trying to convince herself, as one with a depressing lack of relationships herself. In short: she was jealous that Tako was getting action, even it was strained at the moment, while she was wallowing in her loneliness. It took so much, all most all, of her self control to continue her little charade. "Hon, don't. Don't worry. When did this all start?" She tried to keep her voice from wavering or hardening.

Tako didn't pick up his head as he responded. "Well... I think it was... no... I think it was when I was helping her shop for a vinati and then... and then she asked me if she looked nice. And... and... and yeah. But she was happy until I dropped her home, but then she just never talked to me again after. She has her coworkers and friends to make up these stupid excuses about her being too busy. And if I ever do catch her, she always manages to slip away somehow. I don't even know where she's staying at night. I think she's staying with a friend, because whenever I visit her at her room she's not there. Even late at night, no where to be found. I don't know what to do Vala. I feel like I'm going crazy. I just can't do it anymore..." He trailed off again.

Vala wanted to laugh, but she knew if she did Tako might actually hit her. "Did she ask you if she looked nice or anything like that?" Vala asked as gently as possible.

"Yeah, she did. I said sure. And she did. She looked great. What does that matter?" Tako picked up his head, with a look of disgust and confusion.

Vala maintained eye contact, not allowing her eyes to harden to a steely blue instead of the warm caring orbs she had tried so hard to emulate. "Were you looking at her when you said it? Or were you occupied?" Vala pried further.

Tako furrowed his brow, severely confused at where Vala was going. "I don't know. I can't remember. I think I got distracted by something in the stall over. I don't know." Getting frustrated, Tako hit the base of his palm against his forehead a couple times, trying to cover up the emotional pain with physical.

"Tako..." Vala didn't know how to put it without being condescending. She was also pretty sure that he wouldn't understand what he did was wrong... so she let that go and just tried to fix what she could. Trying not to regret what she was about to offer, Vala released a deep breath and spoke as slowly and clearly as possible, using the tone of her voice to convince Tako that she was right. "It's ok hon. She was just having some girl issues. It wasn't your fault." Blatant lie, but she didn't give a rat's bum about Dai and Tako's relationship or Tako's perception of women, any more than what would be useful to her. "Let me write a card for you. You can also get her some flowers. And then have one of her friends to give it to her. Ok? It will make everything better and you won't have to worry about this anymore. Ok? Good. You'll be ok, hon."

Taka nodded his head along with Vala, slowing down until he finally grinded to a questioning halt. "Wait. Why? How will your card and flowers make everything better? How? I don't get it. It sounds stupid. How would it wor-"

Now he was just trying to get on Vala's nerves. Already having burned most of her will power to comfort Tako, she had none left for his stupid questions. "Stop. It will work. Don't question me. Do you want Dai to talk to you again or not?"

Tako gulped, swallowing his pride and the lines of questions he had unanswered. He didn't understand how, but the look she was giving him just chilled him to the bone. Gone was the soft doe eyes, replaced by something far sharper than anything he had ever seen from a Wind Eagle. Even her plump limps had thinned to the point where he felt that any words that would come out, would be just as knife sharp. And the way she had told him to hush, well that was just unnerving. Usually she was curt with him, only taking time out of her life to ask him for help with work, but the hardness, and clipped consonants just made him feel as if she hated him with every fiber of her body. She made him feel small and pathetic in less than a minute. It was all made worse by the drastic change from cute and caring to cold and cutting. To mask his discomfort he tried to apologize. He may have been dense and chauvinistic, but he knew enough to know that compliments ‘always’ had positive reactions from girls. “Hey Vala? I’m sorry…. And uh… I just wanted to say… thanks. I know I’m not usually nice to you. This was really surprising me… and uh… this… this means a lot to me. So yeah. Thanks.”

As much as Vala’s reaching out made Tako uncomfortable, she was sure that his made her feel far more ill at ease. Thankfully just as she was about to try and come up with some bull crap to say, she was interrupted. “Hey guys. What are we up to here? Is the shelving done?” Kirna walked up to the two. Tako awkwardly stood up, tipping the stool over. They each took a step back, trying to get distance from each other.

While Tako was still trying to gather his wits, Vala covered for the both of them. “Yeah, we were just taking a quick break. Tako wasn’t feeling too well. We’ll pick up the pace to get everything in no more than half a bell, I promise.” Vala smiled, trying to keep her voice from quivering. Kirna gave a tight lipped smile before nodding her approval and walking off. “Come on Tako, we really have to finish this.” Tako nodded gravely, silently thanking her again.

by **Vala** on May 30th, 2011, 12:27 am

Vala had never expected getting Tako to ‘like’ her would take so long or so much energy. Now she was pressed for time and feeling irritable. She never understood what people meant about that fuzzy feeling one is suppose to get from helping others. She only understood the triumph one feels from winning or the joy of buying something brand spanking new. She expected her efforts to last her at least three favors or more.

“I think if we work together, our work will go by a lot faster. I’ve seen the twins do it during their shift. They always seem to get shelving done twice as fast as anybody else. They always seem to stop before I can catch them working though, but I have a general idea of what they do… so yeah. I’ll be at the cart and I’ll start organizing all the scrolls and books into their sections. Then I’ll hand them to you in order to be put away.”

Tako tilted his head to the side. “It’s because you can’t reach, isn’t it?”

Even after all she had done for him… “Yes.” She said through gritted teeth.

And the sneer was back. “Ok. I trust you. Just tell me what to do.”

Vala smiled back sarcastically. She would have tried to verbally attack him but she had no intention of burning the bridge she had worked so hard to just build. “Let’s work on my cart first. I already organized one stack. I can organize while you shelve. Come on, I really need to get some work done.”

“For someone so allegedly organized, why does it seem like I’ve shelved more books than you already?” Tako was really pushing it…

Hoping to shut him up, Vala just handed him the first book. “That book goes on the far left of the top shelf. The next couple of books will be on the same shelf all going towards the right. The fifth book I give you will be two shelves down. Then the next three books will be on the same shelf. That’s as far as I’ve got organized right now. Well? What are you waiting for? Shelve the book.”

Tako gave her one more sassy look before getting back up on the stool after turning it right side up. The six inches he had on Vala made the biggest difference. He had no problem reaching the top shelf, moving the other books to the side to slip one in.

While Tako worked, Vala began to get the books for the next bookshelf ready. At the reception desk returned books would be organized into general sections and then were placed into carts to be reshelved. While that did help keep assistant librarians (real librarians never had to shelve) from running all over the entire lirary, they still had to scuttle about between two rows or so. Vala found it an utter waste of time. She had brought it to Kirna’s attention one day, but she had been so nervous and had stuttered so badly that Kirna had dismissed her without really listening. Vala hoped that when she got a little better at confrontation, she could try again. She would have been visualizing a situation now but Tako could move pretty fast so Vala couldn’t focus on anything but working.

As she handed Tako another book she noticed a slip of scarlet binding. “Take that red book out. It doesn’t belong in this section. Also the book next to it belongs one shelf up. You should be shelf reading as you’re shelving Tako. That’s probably why you can shelve so much faster.” Normally Tako would have taken offence at Vala’s cold tone and cutting observations but he remembered that’s just how she worked. He was also why he always found it unnerving to work with Vala, or should he say Golem.

“Yes, master.” Vala knew he was being sarcastic, but that ‘master’ title had a nice ring to it.

By now Tako and Vala had finished with the top half of the bookshelf, Tako was now bent over, his height impeding him, as he tried to reach the bottom shelf. Vala was still angry though, that his suffering still wasn’t as bad as hers when she had to reach up, but as much as she hated anyone beating her at anything, they were working together now, so it didn’t pain her as much to try and help him be more efficient. “It helps if you sit on the stool while putting books away on the bottom shelf. And I’ll hand them right to you so you don’t have to stand back up.” Tako nodded in acknowledgement as they continued to work in a peaceful truce.

By the time Tako was half way done with the books on the second book shelf, Vala had already finished stacking and organizing all the books in her cart. Quickly handing Tako the next book, she ran over to Tako’s cart as fast as she could. Annoyed she didn’t decide this earlier, Vala had to pick whether to pull or push the cart. She could hear Tako clicking his tongue impatiently behind her. Just so she wouldn’t have to face Tako and possibly deal with the urge to punch him in the mouth, she ran backwards, dragging the cart of books along with her. It was heavy and it didn’t budge for the first couple seconds, that is until it started moving really fast, nearly bowling her over. “Here.” Vala gasped breathlessly as she tried to push the cart to a halt while chucking the next book at Tako.

It was a little less confusing now, trying to organize one cart while handing off from another. Vala’s movements took on a mechanical efficiency as her eyes scanned the call number of the book and quickly placed it on the proper stack. Each stack was separated into selections of numbers in a one hundred range. Once she had the one hundred range separations done she began to organize each stack from the lowest number to the highest.

Vala didn’t always organize each stack from the lowest to the highest. Especially since it was easy enough just to eyeball it with no more than three to four books per stack, but working with Tako gave her the time she wanted to just focus on organizing. There was something about perfect order mixed with the silence of the Enclave that sent Vala to a peaceful place.

It wasn’t long before Vala found herself handing Tako the last book from his cart.

by **Vala** on May 30th, 2011, 3:30 am

"Can you believe we finished that in less than a bell?" Vala said as she unraveled her hair from its high pigtails and ran her fingers through the thin strands. Normally it would take her a bell a cart. Two carts in less than a bell was unheard of. "We should work together again sometime, Tako. " She even smiled, a genuine one.

Still a little uncomfortable around the friendlier Vala, mostly suspicious of her motives, he tried to mask his insecurity with snarkiness. “How generous of you to offer your company, master Vala. What’s with the volte face anyway? You know what, I’ll shut up now…” Tako trailed off as he was met with Vala’s cold, piercing gaze. Gone were the comforting baby blues, now replaced by something more steely, a flinty gray, that seemed to cut straight into Tako. He bent his head down, in an attempt to break the painful eye contact.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that if you help me with my research.” Vala offered, letting up on her stare down.

Tako gratefully took the white flag. Vala was being uncharacteristically nice, but that was probably a mix of the pressure from her time crunch and the rush of excitement from finishing a job so efficiently, but definitely nothing to do with actually liking Tako or feeling sorry for his lack of romantic skill. “Come on, I need books from the Yasi section.” She started walking off, back into business mode, not even bothering to make sure Tako was trailing her.

When the two got there, she began running her fingers against the exposed spines, just taking in the feel of the worn bindings. Without even having to open her eyes to read the title, she pulled out several of the larger tomes, handing three of them to Taka. Anticipating Taka's questions she spoke before he finished opening his mouth. "I've been assigned to the storytellers well this evening to entertain some of the younger children. I've had a very specific story stuck in my head for the past couple days and I've just been waiting for the opportunity to share it. No I am not a golem. Yes, I enjoy telling stories and not because I of the snotty children. You can stop smirking now. Anyway come on. I only have three bells or so. And don’t worry I’ll tell you what I’m looking for when we get to the tables. I just don’t want to repeat myself when you forget in five chimes." Just as Tako made a sound, Vala turned around and sent him a withering look, catching the words in his throat.

Theirs was quite a walk from the Yasi section to the private classrooms. Picking one of the smaller ones, Vala dumped all the books in her arms on the only table in the room. Like most days, the classrooms of the Enclave were sadly vacant of city scholars who were definitely far and few between. She didn’t say anything though, because it would be rude to complain about having so much space and silence to oneself. Tako, walking in soon after, dumped his arm full of books on the table as well. “Ok, here are you books. Do you still need me?” Not that he had anything to do with his shelving duty done so early.

“Yeah, could you sit down and stop smirking so much?” Vala took a seat at the far end; Tako took the seat opposite. “I’m looking for a story about a falcon. It’s a simple one. Basically the falcon is bad and it teaches children that bad things never prosper, or some sentimental stuff like that. Just look for stuff about falcons.”

Tako stifled a snort. “Are you serious? You want me to look for a story about a falcon? Name a story that isn’t about a falcon.”

“Honest to Priskil, Tako. Either help me or not. Just stop whining like a little yasi.” Vala was sick of trying, sick of being friendly. She hated people, and she was just fine keeping it that way.” Vala cracked open the first head sized tome, stopping at the first page. It was an anthology, just like the others she had picked out. And she was in no mood to admit it, but Tako was right. The first story was about a falcon who saved his master, but still he was mostly exaggerating. Not every story was about a falcon… she hoped.

She quickly skimmed the first couple sentences; it wasn’t hard to get the gist quickly from the straight forward Yasi stories, especially since they usually weren’t any longer than a page or two. She was on the fifth story, the second one about a falcon, when she looked up in surprise, only to see Tako cracking open another book and flipping through the pages as well.

Tako was smart. Smarter than most chiet. Actually chiet were a lot smarter than Endal and Avora kind gave them credit for… but like Vala, they were usually just not as physically handy. Vala trusted Tako, not with anything important that could really effect her, but she trusted him enough to know he was competent enough to know when he found what she was looking for. And if he didn’t find it, she had no qualms rereading over the books he looked over. It almost became a competition between the two: who could find the story first. She may have wanted to win, to validate herself, but she also wanted to find the story before the yasi came. The words came out harder than she expected. “You should be looking for the key words bell and master. The falcon in the story was wearing a bell.”

It had taken her a while, and lots of practice, but she had built up her speed reading skills from doing research for the rare scholar Avora. Just as she had told Tako, she too was also looking for key words. Unlike the two seasons before when she had started, where she had actually, thoroughly read each and every sentence to help find what the scribes were looking for in the long winded tomes, especially the rare ones from before the Valterian (those were usually their personal copy though).

Vala tossed, I mean, gently placed, the first book to the side, when she finished skimming through all the pages. She hungrily grabbed the next book, flipping through the first pages, with Tako close behind, grabbing his second book.

by **Vala** on May 30th, 2011, 5:21 am

“I found it! I found it! I found it!” Vala exclaimed, jumping out of her chair, bouncing about with the book in her hand.

“Great. We’ll I’m off.” Tako said briskly before walking out of the room without another look back at Vala.

“Wait…” Vala meekly called out. She hadn’t expected such an apathetic response. The lack of validation hurt her deeper than any verbal insult or physical strike. It was understandable. They had been cooped up in the room for a little more than a bell, just skimming through simple children’s stories looking for something on a whim. She slammed the book on the table, releasing some of the anger she felt building up.

Instead of letting herself getting all riled up at someone she couldn’t face at the moment, she channeled her energy into work. Kicking her chair back, overturning it from sheer force, Vala walked to the cabinet at the far corner of the classroom. Vala had specifically picked this particular classroom for its size, its corner location, but mostly because she knew it was usually stocked with writing tools. She picked up a couple sheets of wadj, a bottle of plain black ink, and two quills whose nibs weren’t in too much need of a dressing.

Vala always found copying a story, no matter how short, always helped her remember a story when she needed to perform it. Still unable to stifle all the waves of anger she felt from Tako’s exit, she had to shake out her hand to release the tension, and allow her hand to loosen up enough to hold the quill properly.

Ignoring her chair, lying on the ground, Vala sat in a third chair to the right, trying not to look at the one Tako had sat in. Using her arm to sweep away the other books to the side, Vala propped open the book to her left, using other books to hold the corner of the open pages down. Vala growled, realizing she had forgotten to get herself a makeshift scribe’s writing station from the cabinet. She stood up, fuming, violently grabbing what she needed and attaching it to the table. She set the piece of wadj on the 30 degree sloped surface and pinned it down. Then she popped open the vial of black ink and promptly closed it again. Standing once again, gnashing her teeth, Vala walked back to the cabinet and grabbed a stylus and a straight stick. “I can’t believe I helped that selfish prick. I should have realized how selfish he really was. I hope Dia hates him. You know what. I’ll make sure to sabotage his silly little romance. He doesn’t deserve happiness… I’ll show him.” Vala grumbled under her breath as she walked back to her station.

She continued to grumble as she set the ruler first vertically, using the stylus to make the thin, almost invisible line straight from the top all the way down. In her unfocused state, her left hand wobbled, leaving the line crooked. Ever the perfectionist, especially since the first line determined the rest of the lines’ placement, Vala made another line just like it, coming out a little thicker than what she would like. Thankfully, while the indent was still permanent, at least it wouldn’t be visible except from a distance, especially once the page was covered with ink.

Using the left and right edges, and the center line to help her determine proper spacing, Vala began to indent the horizontal lines, using the width of ruler as the distance between each line. In the original book, the story had taken about a page in simple script. Vala preferred to copy in calligraphic font for practice’s sake, and also because she was fairly pretentious. Just from eyeballing she figured it would take at least one and a half pages, if not two in her hand writing.

Feeling a little too jittery to start on the ink just yet, Vala decided to mark the calligraphic guide lines on the second page of wadj, instead. Vala was surprised that someone had left a wooden stylus in the public cabinet, where anyone could steal it. Wood in Wind Reach was usually reserved for the hunter’s arrows – usually considered far more important to the society than any silly book learning. Vala preferred the feel of the wood, it was light yet still earthy and weighty, but not too weighty like the cheaper stone ones she was usually forced to use. Vala relished the small mercy, allowing it to lift her spirits just a little.

Vala frowned. All of her guidelines seemed a little off, just angled too much to the right. It got a little better by the end, but it still didn’t sit right with her. She settled with blaming it on Tako. Setting the precious wooden stylus to the side, Vala picked up a quill. Testing the sharpness of the nib against the pad of her finger, Vala nodded in approval before popping the vial open once again, and finally dipping the nib into the vial; Vala realized she had forgotten yet another vital piece of equipment: a towel or at least a rag to wipe up spills and excess ink. Vala grunted angrily; she hadn’t seen anything like that in the cabinet. The only place she knew for sure would have what she needed was at the reception desk, and she was definitely not going to waste any more time walking all the way over there and possibly seeing Tako and having an uncontrollable rage fit. She would just have to be extra careful…

Using the edge of vial, Vala lightly tapped the shaft of the quill to remove excess ink The first characters she would have to write out was the title - The Mischievous Falcon. It would be difficult to maintain for anymore than a line, that and it would take up a ridiculous amount of space, Vala decided to try writing it all out in Cadels. She only knew one set of cadels by heart at the moment, but without her master sheet guiding her, she didn’t feel particularly confident. She chose to save the title for later. Moving her quill to the next line, Vala began…

The Mischievous Falcon

There was once a Falcon who used to snap at people and bite them without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to everyone who came to his master’s house. So his master fastened a bell round his neck to warn people of his presence. The falcon was very proud of the bell, and strutted about tinkling it with immense satisfaction. But an old falcon cam up to him and said. “The fewer airs you give yourself the better, my friend. You don’t think, do you, that your bell was given you as a reward of merit? On the contrary, it is a badge of disgrace.”

At the point the old falcon came in, Vala had to switch to the other quill, as the first one dulled far quicker than she expected. It was probably old, leading to its brittleness. Even the ink seemed to get all caked up. Vala frowned at how it had turned out, not from her own wobbly calligraphic lettering, but from the shoddy tools she had chosen to borrow.

Even with her physical limitations, Vala had been smart enough to choose a simple, flowing font. It was a yasi story, so Vala chose the more childish, though that isn’t the proper description for any font, free and lightweight the closest, font from the three and a half that she knew. The simple yet elegant flourishes seemed to dance across the page, where Vala had snapped her wrist properly to get that decrescendoing line. The letter weight was just a couple hairs thicker than normal, but that was just because she didn’t have a pen knife to dress the nibs to the proper width. Vala had just held it at a 20 degree angle to compensate, instead of the regular 30. It had felt odd holding the quill so, but it worked better than she had expected.

Removing the second page from the scribe’s station, Vala set it down on the table beside the second one. She had been right, proving to herself that her eyeballing skills were getting better, she had only used one and a half of the page with her font (maybe more like 1.60 but who’s checking?). As she waited for the ink to properly dry, Vala begun cleaning up the room.

by **Vala** on May 31st, 2011, 4:17 am

"Hey. Finished already? That's good. Kirna's looking for you. I told her you were busy, but you would get to her as soon as possible. I didn't expect you to be actually done though, just glad I wasn't lying then. " Vala looked at Tako's nonchalant form, leaning casually against the frame of the door, as the selfish prick munched on a handful of cake. "You want some?" He asked as several crumbs fell from his cheek. “Some assistant cook, a nice Avora actually, was practicing making pastries. He had some extra slices after sharing with his friends. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I got you a slice since I thought you might want to eat something before you spent some time with the yasi.” Tako pulled out a package from the pocket of his byrda, unfolding it to reveal a semi-squished piece of mediocre cake. He held it out to Vala for her to take.

Vala was completely and utterly speechless. She wanted to hate him for leaving her so abruptly, but he had brought her a piece of cake! It was all just so wrong that Vala just watched, stuttering as Tako left the cake on the table. “So I guess you’re still busy… I’ll just leave this here for you when you’re done. Bye Vala.” And he was off again. Vala dropped the scribe station she had been carrying on the table, by the piece of cake, and clutched her heart. It hurt. The blood was pounding in her ears. It was hard to breathe.

It took Vala a couple chimes before she could regain her composure. It was just like Tako to play mind games on her like this, without even knowing it. But Vala wouldn’t allow it! She wouldn’t be strung around again, never again. Doing her best to forget Tako’s sneer, Tako’s lean fingers, Tako’s abusing attitude, trying her best to wipe Tako from the face of her memory, Vala got to work again. She didn’t know why or how, but he had managed to worm his way deep into her subconscious, hooking in with poisonous barbs, slowly wrecking her from the inside. Then there was the other side… no, she couldn’t think about it, but then again she couldn’t ignore it for long – the side that enjoyed his company.

One by one Vala put away the borrowed tools back into the closet, even tiding up further, organizing all the tools to take up space more efficiently. Once she finished returning the last sheet of extra wadj, Vala grabbed her dried, copied papers and made her way over to the Reception. She walked briskly, mind free of distraction. Her face set in a perfect, porcelain smile.

As she neared, she recognized Kirna’s form sitting on a stool. “There you are Vala. Ready? I hope you are. Some of the yasi are already waiting. I don’t expect you to start just yet, wait for almost everyone to arrive. Just make your way over there now, to keep an eye on them, to keep them out of mischief. I know you don’t particularly like the younger ones. Thank you for doing this Vala.” Kirna was about to turn back to her work until she noticed Vala’s eyes. “Are you ok dear? You seem a little out of it.” Vala shook her head, batting her eyelashes to mask their dead pan glassiness.

To avoid Kirna’s piercing scrutiny, Vala hid her face, turning it to the side, as she responded, clutching her papers tightly in her right hand. “I’m fine Kirna. Thank you for asking. Well I’ll be off now. Can’t let those children run around unsupervised.” Vala began walking off, without waiting for Kirna to ask anymore pestering questions. She blinked hard, trying to stop the tears from coming out. She thought she had hid it pretty well. She was slipping if Kirna could see her vulnerability so easily. Vala’s heart tightened, hardening, as she built up her icy defenses.

by **Vala** on May 31st, 2011, 4:25 am

“Hey there little one, you ready for a story?” Vala asked, her voice perfectly modulated. “Great!” Vala exclaimed as the young girl nodded excitedly. “We’re just going to wait until everyone gets here before I start, okay? Why don’t you take a seat in the front row. Good for you for coming so early. What a good little girl you are.” Vala smiled robotically. The child was too young to realize the difference, and smiled right back, happy to meet such a ‘nice’ lady.

To pass the time, no more than thirty chimes, as some of the familyless yasi, those like what she was at their age, came that early, Vala began telling some simple anecdotes, mostly fake, about herself, to get warmed up for the crowd. She walked up to one particularly cold yasi, one Vala knew came everyday, and sat next to her. “Hey dear. You know I had a scarf just like that when I was younger. Yup, same color even.”

“Black? What a surprise.” The girl replied sarcastically.

Vala liked the girl even more. “Ha, yes. Well I think you should take very good care of your scarf. Long story short, it was stolen by the most unlikely of beings and now I miss it dearly.” Vala bit her lip, hoping the girl would take the bait.

It took a couple seconds, but it worked. “Who… or what stole your scarf?” The girl asked, almost reluctantly.

“Why, a Wind Eagle, my dear.”

“A Wind Eagle? That’s ridiculous. I don’t believe you. Why would a Wind Eagle take someone’s scarf? You’re lying to me. I don’t like it when people lie to me.”

“I swear I’m not lying. Cross my heart and swear to Priskil.”

“Then tell me what happened.”

There it was. The perfect opportunity for Vala to practice her improv. “ Well, one fine Spring Day. Not unlike today. I was walking outside in the courtyard of the sky, reading a book. I can’t remember what the book title was; don’t give me that look. It was years ago; it would be silly for me to remember that now. Well anyway, as I was saying. I was walking through the courtyard with my book, my pretty scarf wrapped loosely around my neck, when I heard loud, crazy loud flapping above me. When I looked up, I saw a riderless Wind Eagle hovering above my head. Just like that. Scary it was. And before I knew it, it had landed right next to me. I was so shocked I just stood in place, watching with my mouth open like a silly dek. As I continued to stare at the Wind Eagle, I began to realize the poor thing was shivering, like most people do when they get out of the Miner’s pool and have to sprint over to the glassblower’s pool. Anyway, so this giant Wind Eagle is sitting there, shivering, while I’m staring on like a fool-“

“Wind Eagles don’t shiver.”

“Well this one did. Don’t you trust me?”

“No. What happened to your scarf?” The girl was trying to act snarky, but she was having trouble keeping a smile off her face.

“Well the shivering Wind Eagle reached forward, grabbed my scarf with its beak, threw it around its shoulders and flew off.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“You’re lying to me.”

“I told you! Cross my heart and swear to Priskil.” Vala couldn’t help but smile genuinely herself now, all thoughts of Tako beginning to leave her mind as she was caught up in the rush of the lie, in the rush of telling a good story. “Anyway, that’s why you should take very good care of your scarf and wrap it up around your neck twice. Well I’ve got to go tell this story now. I do hope you enjoy it dear.”

Vala walked up to the center of the Storyteller’s Well, leaving the other girl, the one that reminded her so much of herself, shaking her head in amused disbelief. It had been a blatant lie, they both knew it, but it was a fun little distraction, for the both of them. Especially since it was the human interaction they craved without the messy getting attached business.

“Okay little ones. I’m going to tell you all a story about a Falcon today. Who likes falcons?” A couple yasi cheered, still easily riled by an adult’s encouragement. “That’s good. Well the title of the story is the Mischievous Falcon. Has anyone heard this story before?” A couple raised their hands. Vala waved them down. “Good. I remember being told this story when I was your age. I can’t wait to share it with those of you who don’t know it.

“There was once a Falcon who used to snap at people and bite them without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to everyone who came to his master’s house.” Vala began strongly, even walking about the steps, acting out snapping at some of the children, eliciting frightened gasps and squeaks from the younger ones. A couple of them giggled at her silliness. “So his master fastened his bell around his neck,” Vala wrapped her hands around her neck and began to make bell noises, “ring ring ring. To warn his neighbors and friends of his falcon’s presence. The falcon was very proud of the bell, and strutted about tinkling it.” Vala began strutting about the room, pretending to ‘flap’ her wings. She even a added a cluck, to which one of the older children yelled out was a chicken’s noise. “Then one day, an old falcon came up to the bad falcon and said,” Vala bent her back, pretending to be one of the few older people of Wind Reach. She even pantomimed a cane. “You’re such a silly falcon,” Vala knew the story was worded differently, but she wanted to practice her improve some more, and some of the children were really young and she wanted to make sure they could understand as well. “Do you really think that bell is a good thing? That’s so people know where you are and can avoid you. You are a silly falcon!” Vala finished with a flourished bow.

OOC :

by **Phoenix** on June 16th, 2011, 4:43 am

Vala

Organization- 5, Acting- 5, Leadership- 4, Intimidation- 3, Observation- 3, Calligraphy- 5, Copying- 5, Storytelling- 5, Research- 5

Learning to read people, Providing a listening ear (Even if for the wrong reasons), Enrapturing a child, Enjoying the story, Learning what it feels like to be used, More and more calligraphy, Teamwork.

I enjoyed this read! I really like the detail and personality you put into the NPC's in your stories. Sorry it took so long to grade, I didn't realize that there was still any waiting in queue!