Help Me to Help You (Ven)

by **Vala** on June 1st, 2011, 2:15 am

50th of Spring, 511 AV

“You’re to go and help catalogue at the Valintar. Something happened and their records got blown about and they need help getting things back in order as soon as possible.” Kirna wasn’t being serious? Could she? Vala looked up from her scroll; her quill poised a mere hair from the ink vial. Kirna spoke again before Vala could protest. “Finish this book and then fetch Tako when you’re through. He’s on his break: he’s probably in the courtyard reading.” More conniving than people gave her credit for, Kirna’s next words were perfectly calculated to shut Vala up instantly. “I’m so glad I have people like you I can rely on.” And just like that she sapped Vala’s will to protest; she walked away with an accomplished smile upon her lips.

Releasing the frozen hold she had on her hand, Vala’s quill gracefully dipped into the inky surface. Holding the nib below the line until the reservoir was filled up; Vala tapped the shaft against the rim of the vial until the excess had dripped off.

Her jagged teeth gritted in frustration as she thought about Kirna’s impromptu assignment. Her grip tightened on the quill, a little too much for the particular font she was using. It was great that people were finally recognizing her for her exemplary work, but why? The first stroke on the page was heavy and stiff. The serifs just met the guidelines. It wasn’t that she minded the extra tasks. They really weren’t a big deal. The lower case characters weren’t as labored, flowing a little cleaner onto the textured page. It was the cataloguing: the endless, all consuming, mind numbing, hair wrenching cataloging. Grabbing a nearby cloth, Vala cleaned off the sharp nib which had been collecting a bit of the parchment from her heavy strokes. Even stuff like copying pointless yasi books were still motivating since she could at least practice her calligraphy, but cataloguing? Vala put the sharp quill down, picking up a duller one that could handle her stressed strokes. Cataloguing was only, and only in this situation, fun when it was to organize awesome new stuff. Half way through the third line, Vala realized she was beginning to slant downwards. Her stylus made guidelines were hard to see in the dim candle light. She couldn’t say no. Adjusting the angle of the quill, she managed to straighten out the rest of the line until it was barely noticeable. It was a matter of pride

It took her no more than another twenty chimes of not so motivated work to finish the copying job. One of the newer girls had borrowed her book stand and had ‘forgotten’ to return it in time, so Vala had to massage a crick out of her neck since she had spent the better part of a bell turning her head back and forth from her workstation to the counter. It had been a simple book. Vala was sure she had copied it before. After cleaning up her tools, Vala flipped through the pages of the copied book. She cried out when she found the barely visible smudge of ink at the very top right corner of one page. Her stomach churned, not from guilt, but from fear that maybe Kirna or another librarian would call her out for having ‘damaged’ a tome, no matter how insignificant. It had been near a season though; the internal pain had almost completely disappeared.

Now what was the second thing Kirna had asked her to do? Oh yeah… fetch Tako. Anything to do with the man, especially anything that had to do with fetching, only set Vala off into one of her moods. Checking her station one last time, Vala made sure everything had been properly capped and cleaned. She even took a second to check her fingers for any residual ink stains that could possibly make it to her face… an incident that happened far too often for her taste.

Vala made her way over to the Courtyard of the Sky with her scribe’s kit safely ensconced in her clenched fist. It didn’t take her long to find who she was looking for. It wasn’t that he was particularly flamboyant in dress or manor, anyone else would have just overlooked him as another ordinary Chiet. Vala hated it and would never admit it but she had a ‘radar’ of sorts for the boy. She attributed it to the hate she housed for him, using the radar to avoid ever coming in contact with him unless it was absolutely necessary.

Their cold blue eyes met. Vala broke the stare to ‘inspect’ Tako’s surrounding. A book lay open in his lap, one finger holding it open. She noticed his lids were droopier than usual – he had probably been dozing off a bit, listening to the passing entertainers in the open courtyard. Vala also noticed that his skin was looking quite flushed, sun kissed even… not that she cared.

“Kirna asked us to do a job at the Valintar.” She didn’t bother stifling her glare as Tako shrugged nonchalantly. Her bright blue orbs followed the line of his body as he staggered up. His movements were sluggish. He had probably only woken up just as she had been making her way across the floor. “Come on. I don’t have time for your sloth. Let’s go. Break’s over”

Vala gave Tako one last withering look before turning on her heel and making her way to the esteemed government building of Wind Reach. Her steps were firm, springy and fast. Tako had a bit of trouble keeping up, at first. It didn’t take him long to sober up and quickly outpace Vala with his longer strides. Vala nearly had to jog to keep up with him them. Her arms pumped, as if trying to propel her faster. Her breathing grew ragged as she struggled to keep up. Every one of his steps were two of hers. The lightness she had felt earlier quickly faded, replaced by the heaviness of her body as she tried to move faster and faster.

It took the pair five chimes, half the time it usually took, to stop before the doors of the Valintar. Vala brushed a stray lock from her flushed face, hair slightly disheveled from the light jog. Tako smirked, perfectly composed.

by **Vala** on June 21st, 2011, 4:28 pm

Before either of them could annoy the other with a snarky remark the Valintar’s doors opened. A fairly tall woman with pursed lips and bird like features stepped half way out, keeping one foot in with one foot out. Her sharp voice came out nasal and gave Vala quite the headache, it took all her will power not to cringe and nod at the right times, pretending to be the perfect subordinate. By her clothes and demeaneor it was obvious she wasn’t a chiet. There was even a chance that she could have been an Endal. “I assume you are the two chiet that were sent by the Enclave? Took you guys look enough.” She looked down the bridge of her nose with disdain. “Come with me.”

Like Tako, the woman had a long stride. Vala found herself having to jog again to keep up with the both of them. Being light was great and all for sprinting, but endurance was never, and probably never would be, Vala’s forte.

Using her sleeve Vala wiped away the sheen of sweat that had formed across her brow. She hated sweating. This job was getting further and further under Vala’s skin. As the trio walked across the light gilded expanse, Vala remembered the last time she had been in Kaden’s presence. A season ago she had promised herself that she would rise to Avora by the time the Sanikas Road was clear again… what a great liar she made.

The lady led them past Kaden’s office. A room every citizen recognized. Kaden was absent at the moment. She entered a shadowed arch. Vala looked to Tako, hesitating before blindlessly following a woman she didn’t know into a room she had never seen before. Tako didn’t even notice her scrutinizing gaze as he stepped in behind the woman. Vala’s brief glimpse of Tako’s face revealed that he was sure of every choice he made – a gift she envied.

Once it the dim torch lit room, the lady spun around to face the two chiet. Vala was trailing a little behind and almost stumbled into Tako. The lady spoke. “Some birds had made their way into our record room. Unfortunately their fight over turned several record books, making that pile over there,” She pointed a claw of a finger to a disastrous pile of binding and papers scattered about a three foot radius. “That needs to be sorted out and the books need to be re-shelved. Call for me once you have the books back in order so I can make sure you did it right. That is all. Get to work.” The lady walked out, the sight of her uncomfortably tight bun turning the corner.

Before Vala could regain her bearings, Tako was already crouched over the pile, trying to poke about and figure stuff out. “Stop!” Vala exclaimed before Tako could move anything. She hopped over, again, nearly tripping onto Tako.

“What now?” Tako grumbled.
“Don’t touch anything yet.” Vala snapped.
“Why not?”

“Because I’m trying to figure something out first.” Vala hushed him as he grumbled some more. Tako was obviously not going to wait much longer so Vala tried to figure out the hunch she had before he began fiddling about and ruining everything. Her eyes scanned the papers trying to find the pattern. It took her another chime to really see, to find what she had suspected. “Look!” Vala whispered excitedly. She began to point as she explained. “You see these? These are all wadj. Over here, well these are all parchment. And here is a section of vellum. Do you see it?” Vala pressed insistently.

Tako waved her down, trying to get her to calm down. Once she settled into a crouch opposite him, he spoke with low even tones to keep her from jumping about again. “Yeah I see it. Probably not as well as you since I don’t do copying work as often as you do. But how is that going to help us?”

Vala was so excited. She was pretty close to fainting. She closed her eyes, and tried to take several deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, they glinted with purpose. The childish glee was gone now. Her voice was cold as it was modulated. “There are at least six record books. I can spot five bindings I’m sure the last one is underneath the papers.”

Tako raised a skeptical eyebrow. “How do you know there’s a sixth underneath all this?”

Vala pursed her lips; she hated being doubted. She pointed to the inset stone shelves that surrounded them. “As the lady was talking I noticed that the books were knocked off from there, over there, there, there, and if you look closely the space in that one shelf should fit two if the sizes of the other record books are anything to go by.”

“How very astute of you.” Tako hissed. He made it sound sarcastic even though he genuinely meant it just to get under Vala’s skin.

Instead of trying to talk reasonably, she was too invested now to waste her energy with acting, Vala glared at Tako. She held the stare for a good two seconds until Tako backed down, realizing Vala wanted him to move, just from the daggers she was shooting at him. Once he had given her enough space, her deft hands got to work. First she gingerly separated all the wadj she could spot without disturbing any of the other papers. Just from a quick glance she recognized scores of numbers spanning the entire page. It was probably Wind Reach’s financial records of some sort. It wasn’t that hard to find the binding that matched the sheets. The particular set was probably from a specific year where they tried using different material for the records. “Here, why don’t you be helpful and start organizing this record book while I try to find the rest.” Vala growled at Tako whose gaze had begun to haze. “It’s a financial record book – just your type.”

Vala gave a quick prayer of thanks to whoever wrote out the record books – Kaden – for being experienced enough to know to number each of the pages at the top right hand corner.

She was offered yet another mercy when the two books filled with velum were tinted differently enough to be identifiable quickly by sight and the one parchment was still quite fresh and the coloration distinct. Heaven’s graces stopped when she had to separate the last two books that had sat next together on the shelf. Because they had come from consecutive years the age of the parchment was about the same, the coloration too similar to be distinguished by sight or even touch. There was no choice but to actually read every single sheet of paper for content; Vala teared up a little… She would save that for Tako.

With all the papers basically set into their proper piles, only a few out of place from the jumbling, Vala began to help Tako put the papers back in order within the book. Like her, Tako was a fast reader. By the time she started he was already almost finished with the financial record book. Vala knew it wasn’t a competition, but hey, whatever made the work go faster.

A bell and a half later, they were finally done. “You can go wait in the atrium. I know you like to stand in the colored light.” Vala gaped, her lips opening and closing as if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Before she could even begin to protest the bird lady walked in, interrupting all possible thought, pushing Vala basically out of the way, as she made a bee line to Tako. He was holding the books after all. Vala slunk out of the record room without another word, in complete emotional upheaval. Ten words. In ten words Tako managed to make Vala feel uncomfortable, warm, twitchy, happy, confused, angry, and so many other swirls of incompatible emotions.

Her normally cat like steps, echoed sharply as her boots hit the stone. She stood in a dark corner of the atrium, arms crossed protectively over her torso. She gazed up at the glass, lost in her thoughts, oblivious to the world around her.

by **Ven** on June 21st, 2011, 5:05 pm

Lost and not to far from panicking, Ven could only come to a simple back and forth pace. So far any luck of finding someone who could speak the common well enough was hopeless, even if he did find someone they had little time. Everyone was so busy that they had little time to help him, and he still hadn't found a decent meal to put within his belly. Never before had he lived in such a stressful day, and to top it off he didn't know anyone at all. Kaden would help if he went back, but why bother the man when he's busy. Ven wasn't sure he was still at his office, and didn't feel like wasting what energy he had left to find him.

Oh man if I don't find something to eat soon, I might just end up fainting from exhaustion. To think that I thought things would be easy for me, boy how stupid am I for such a clever fox. His paced slowed down to a halt, as he pulled a chair from under a table. He dropped down and crashed his head onto the table, creating a small echo in the ever so silent atrium. Some people looked and giggled for a moment, others just shrugged or him. Either way he had a hard time understand them, and decided to just ignore them for a minute to collect his thoughts.

OK so based on my emphasis, I know little Nari and NO ONE here. Ronin is probably gone off, Kaden is no doubt super busy, and I'm stuck here with a super annoying stomach. After that thought passed through, his stomach made a huge grumble that plenty could hear without even paying attention. This situation is getting more and more terrible by the minute....maybe I should've met up with Val Ismun when I had the chance.... His focus finally shifted it's attention to a Inartan, sitting by herself and watching what look like nothing. Simply staring at a glass window, probably doing the same as he was. Why not, I'm sure everyone here want's to go insane every once in a while. Perhaps I should try and speak with her.

He wondered if she knew anything of the common, then a thought counteracted his first. Maybe I should try a different approach, like Lhavitian for a change.

With that in mind he lazily pulled his body onto it's feet, pushed back in the chair and went on his approach. He hoped not to be awkward when he did so, but he had little worry or care for looks. Right now he just wanted to remain sane, and he hoped that this one Inartan would be able to help him out just this once. When he finally arrived he found little to say, so he just went out with what came first.

"Hello." Feeling embarrassed he gave a friendly grin, while inside his mind he felt the urge to tear off his own head. What was that all about? A friendly hello, and nice meet and greet. HUH? He felt like beating himself up for being such a slow paced boy for someone usually so quick and eager, and never before in his life has he ever felt so pathetic. "I'm Ven, the new guy..I guess."

by **Vala** on June 21st, 2011, 5:32 pm

Vala jumped at the sound, berating herself for not noticing someone had walked up to her earlier. Lhatvian He didn’t look like he came from Lhavit. He could have passed as one of her people, from a distance that is. Before she responded to his uncomfortably random greeting, she tried to assess what about him unnerved her. There was something about his ears and eyes that just didn’t seem normal. She couldn’t place it just yet, not having much experience with Kelvics, but she made sure to stay wary. He looked young, though looks could always be deceiving.

She was sick of being torn up about Tako’s ‘harmless’ antics and ‘thoughtless’ words – she needed a distraction. The boy had come just in time.

His grin was cute; the sight of it made Vala want to rip his face off. She smiled brightly in return, her pensive look quickly and easily wiped off. “Why hello Ven. Welcome to Wind Reach. My name is Vala.” Her lhatvian was heavily accented but it was still quite understandable. She gave a quick mental thanks to Val for forcing her to practice. She spoke slowly and bubbly, as if she was speaking to a child. “How can I help you? Are you hungry?” she only asked because her ears were pricking at every conspicuous growl of his stomach. Her brows furrowed comfortingly, as she encouraged him to speak.

by **Ven** on June 21st, 2011, 5:51 pm

He never felt such relief mixed with surprise after her reply, though wary that his encounter was somewhat awkward she seemed...decent. A little less commanding and offensive than Ronin, but something about her made him feel odd inside. His instinct told him to be wary, but his stomach answered the question for him. Embarrassed he glared at his belly, thinking of cursing it to never again be full; but he new good and well a rebellion would only be caused. Where would he be then? No doubt on the ground, groaning for food while his stomach probed him for endless hours. He was surprised that didn't happen already.

"I am quite hungry indeed, but first I need to figure out who all Ronin knows. I've no idea where he is or where he went and I'm pretty much homeless, so I need to find out if he has any friends I could stay with for a while. Meanwhile I can learn Nari, and eventually help out with the hunter's here in Wind Reach. Who knows maybe if Ronin is still around, I'll go hunting with him; now won't that be a surprise." His stomach bellowed once more, as if it had exactly replied: Yea right, first your gonna get some food or else I'll make you suffer. Still holding the same grin to cover his embarrassment, he held his stomach and tried to laugh to keep himself from shedding tears of humiliation. Of all the times he could've made a better first impression, he had to be hungry on this one. How much worse could it get for him? Better for him not to ask that question, obviously his situation could easily change.

by **Vala** on June 21st, 2011, 6:33 pm

That’s what it was – he had the eyes of a hunter. Hunters could always see her past her façade. He was obviously still new or at least a severely naïve to believe her faces. It was great – someone new to corrupt.

She almost sniggered when he mentioned Ronin. She thought she saw a familiar Mohawk passing by as she was working. It had been obvious through his gait that he had been in no mood to stay, let alone care for the boy in front of her. It really was his lucky day though. I just happen to be Ronin’s friend. I think he’s a little busy right now but I can help you. I don't hunt... ever, but I do practice archery. She began to walk out of the Valintar, motioning for Ven to follow. “If we hurry I’m sure we can get you something to eat before the Dek’s meal time… we wouldn’t want to get caught in their line and accidentally get their kind of food now do we?” Just as she stepped into the courtyard, Tako made his own way out of the record room.

Her steps were light but somewhat hurried as she led Ven to the Kitchens. So you need to learn Nari, huh? What other languages do you know? Did you come from Lhavit? No offence but you certainly don’t look like the few lhavit natives I’ve seen. Vala giggled playfully, a skip in her step. The spring sun was shining bright above them and the air was perfumed with new life. Vala wasn’t sure if she needed to go back to the library; technically the job she had finished at the Valintar completed her shift. She would check with Kirna after helping the new boy.

OOC :

by **Ven** on June 21st, 2011, 6:59 pm

Ven noticed her little joyful skip, which sort of appeared odd to him. His instinct warned him to be alert, cautious that she might pull a stunt to embarrass him further. She appeared nice but underneath must be something that would act out and do something unexpected, he didn't want to admit it but his instinct told him that out side she was a sweet angel....while inside the work of a cruel being was at hand. Observing her made him feel bad, for his instinct was already telling him things that didn't seem nice about her. So he ignored it, and went along with his human side.

"I lived in the wild close to Lhavit, and found myself a master for sometime. He was a traveling merchant and took me in, he taught me Lhavitian and little Nari. Said he usually traveled between Lhavit and Wind Reach a lot, for trading valuable shipments when the time came. I just tagged along, curious of the ways of man and the world. It was all confusing really, but the time spent made us grow close. Now that I'm here and he's gone....I have no where else to go really." He could still feel that same part in his body, the feeling that hurt his body most. It was as if someone took a knife a simple jabbed it into his heart, which was something he understood little about.

"I'm a Drek now, and until I can speak Nari fluently I will simply be a messenger boy. Which is fine of course, but with pretty much only a hundred pinions I doubt I could afford a place to stay....and I doubt I can simply revert into my form and sleep where ever." He snickered, hoping to at least make a joke out of that last remark.

by **Vala** on June 22nd, 2011, 5:48 am

As if she had been laying in wait, Dai, Tako’s girlfriend, jumped to give her much taller lover a crushing hug. Even though he was surprised, Tako still managed to keep enough presence of mind to recognize his love and without any words passing between them, he began to twirl her about: their faces aglow with happiness.

Vala’s sharp eyes caught every strand of fiery red hair dancing in the wind, as her pointed ears caught every tinkling peal of laughter. She had barely heard what Ven was saying, let alone register anything but the basics. The next words seemed to shoot from her lips, like bitter bile spewing forth from the depths of her inner ball of eternal hate. “Why don’t you stay with me? Her voice was high, near hysterical.

It took another chime or two to realize what she said… and regret it completely. She stopped in her tracks. She was just about to retract her accidental invite, until her eyes began to twitch uncontrollably, her balls fisted painfully, and a giant toad of a lump took residence in her throat.

Dai and Tako were snogging like crazy.

It was then logic put on its hat, grabbed its bags, and waltzed out the door of Vala’s mind. Her normally blue eyes could have been mistaken for an emerald green, but maybe it was just the light. “YEAH? WHY NOT? STAY WITH ME!” Vala began to giggle, maniacally, as she turned to face Ven, Dai and Tako disappearing into another warren.

OOC :

by **Ven** on June 22nd, 2011, 5:05 pm

Ven had felt little concern for her hysterical voice, he wasn't sure what to think upon this really. To him nothing appeared to be funny or not even the slightest hilarious, yet she seemed like she was acting out for something. Maybe to get the attention of someone, but he still wasn't sure. Humans are very weird people indeed.... He thought to himself, trying to look delighted. It was all to convenient to be true, but he still needed somewhere to go.

"Well, if it's not much of a bother then I'd be happy to." His reply was enthusiastic, to hide every small thought of how strange humans, particularly this girl, was to him. His still understood little about their society, and it seems that he would have to learn and understand how things were here as well. He did not want to admit it but sooner or later he would have to tell her the truth, and that was something he didn't really feel comfortable sharing. Still he kept his grin going, hoping that everything he felt that was readable on his face was surely hidden well.

It was mostly odd to him though that she seemed nice when they first met, and then later instinct would tell him to at least be wary. Now that she's laughing oddly he can tell something is up with her, he noticed that she often looked at a couple of other Inartan's dancing around and holding each other. That's when he made his assumption.
Well she could either be insane, the spawn of evil, or jealous of that woman....or man. He did his best to keep the thoughts from his head too long, so that they wouldn't reveal themselves if he was to be observed. "So tell me again, what is for dinner?"

OOC :

by **Vala** on June 22nd, 2011, 7:39 pm

Vala was silent and brooding for the rest of the evening. A black fog had invaded her mind and was now in the process of setting up a permanent residence. Ven was all but forgotten. Vala had no sympathy for the boy next to her. She was only helping him because she needed a distraction. But even the motions weren’t enough to keep the demons at bay. Whatever he said or asked she replied to in terse monosyllables. Her façade had cracked; her inner shade was seeping through. Unfortunately for Ven he was at her mercy. It was either, deal with the spiteful maiden or sleep in the hall.

Once they reached the kitchens the normally fastidious Vala ordered an entire plate of food. A pointed sneer was set upon her face as she devoured the entire meal in a matter of chimes. She growled at anyone who dared come near her or even glanced her way. Thanks to her sunny disposition, the swarm of Dek that had flocked to their last meal of the day, made sure to maintain the invisible bubble of privacy Vala demanded.

The dry bread crumbled like tasteless sand, grating painfully upon her jagged teeth. She could smell the people around her, they were disgusting. And now the anger that burned within her, did not only tinge her thoughts with a hazy red, but gave her that extra sense. Anger was power. And like her anger, her new power of auristics was uncontrolled, flaring and shifting constantly. No matter how often she tried to do it with a calm presence of mind, she had yet to get as much strength of sight as when she was in a murderous state. Seeing the Dek’s aura’s only made her angrier. They were so weak. The waves of energy flickered and dimmed around them, sucked into a black hole of dreary misery. The more decrepit ones, the ones that had given up, were giving her the worst pain. They were so empty so faded that she had to try so much harder to see just instances of muted grays, of deathly fog around them. Her eyes strained, her grip on her fork turning her fingers bone white. Compared to them she was a sun. Just seeing the energy flaring around her outstretched arm burned her retinas. She was flaring bright oranges, blinding yellows, blood reds. The whites of her eyes not only began to bulge with ropy red veins, but it seemed to be bleeding. Vala took a heavy draught of her water, as she tried to get the sharp taste of metal out of her mouth. Her head spun. She didn’t want to stop though. The physical pain, the pounding in her head, was nice. It filled the silence. She stared even harder. Ven was next to her, so he avoided her notice.

After their short meal in tense silence, Vala stood to leave, not bothering to wait to see if Ven was finished with his food. She began walking. If Ven followed, he followed. If not, it wouldn’t cause her any sorrow in the slightest.

Once she reached her room, she nearly slammed the door on Ven’s face; she had forgotten he had been following her. Her regular nighttime routine had been forgone. 1. She wasn’t in the mood. 2. Ven was in the room.

Petch. She had invited some puppy eyed stranger to live with her… Whatever. Vala didn’t feel like thinking about it. Everything felt like a nightmare anyway. Maybe if she just went to sleep now everything would right itself when she woke up.

Before she crashed onto her lumpy mattress, to drift off into sweet oblivion, Vala had some remaining decency to pull out an extra bed sheet and pillow. She tossed them at Ven. This small kindness was soon negated by her next blather of scornful words. “Pick a corner, any corner. Don’t touch me while I’m sleeping, don’t even go near me. No loud noises. If you wake me up I’m kicking you out. If you want to leave… do what you want. I don’t care. Just don’t wake me up. Also if you steal or touch anything else of mine I will hunt you down and toss you over the mountain. Goodnight.” The last bit of evil to spew from her lips helped her calm down and feel better about herself. Vala threw the covers over her head and promptly fell asleep.