[Sanctuary] The Eye of the Storm (Open)

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 92th of Winter, 511 AV
Purpose: Waiting Out The Storm
Location: Sanctuary's Within
Status: Open To All

They'd all gathered below. The stock was all neatly tucked into the Within and now they were just sitting, staring at each other, resting, hoping and even a few of them thinking of others far away and more than likely in die. Kavala was glad for a few things... for the warnings they'd had. Otherwise The Sanctuary would be devastated. She was glad she'd decided to build underground so apropos this last Fall and Winter. Because they had a stone sanctuary to retreat too they'd more than likely survive. The city itself, Riverfall, would survive as well. And as the reports had said, the Drykas in the city had rode for Endrykas to give warning there too. Kavala hoped that her family on the Sea of Grass would make it to the Underpass before it was too late.

She also thought about another party of Drykas, partially where they were because of her. Sama'el, Leto, Issi, and ... Ronan. She couldn't help but think of it, with everyone here safe and secure below ground and they probably out on the road caught completely unaware. After the storm was done, she'd pull the key she kept from him.. a short strand of hair and walk his Chavi to see if he was alive. Until then though, she'd worry.

Kavala had done a lot of worrying the last season. Cugacon had all but disappeared. It hurt, but after Hatot leaving her it was not unexpected. The Akalak didn't seem to know how to carry on a relationship, and if they did they often had duties elsewhere. Riki had been absent. Mizuriel was gone. Ragnor hadn't been seen for ages. The core group of Sanctuary seemed to be Raiha, Kadrath, Aweston, and Serrif. That told her one thing and one thing only, she'd need to hire more staff. There was no way they'd make it through foaling this year with only five competent healers on staff and all the mares they had to foal out along with the calves, kidding, and regular training schedule they had to keep up with. That wasn't counting the clinic customers either.

And she suspected there'd be a lot of customers after this storm. Kavala worried that others in the city or outlying areas hadn't been prepared enough. She'd even sent a missive to The Stables in Riverfall offering to house excess horses. They'd brought ten head and a half dozen yearlings over, which Kavala had made room for. Other people brought private animals in as well. It was well known that Sanctuary boarded so folks thought it might be safer for lifestock out of the city. They were at capacity by the time night fell. But everything was done.

All they had to really do was wait. Kavala had rested her Reimancy too. If she got too restless she'd add mosaic to the wall in the Sacred Circle. It was all she could think to do to pass the hours.

"We should get some sleep..." she said, offering into the Great Room the suggestion she knew no one would take. None of them would sleep. Not really. And as the fire crackled away in the hearth, she stared at it and was struck by a thought.

"Won't Djed winds blow down chimneys?" She asked absently, offering the thought to the room as a whole. She was only talking to herself, but she hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud.

[Kadrath Onktaka]

"Sleep?! I don't think that's possible right now Miss Kavala." They gave a short bark of a laugh at the idea. Sleeping during a massive and deadly djed storm? Yea, right.

The long Akontak leaned against the wall with Raiha tucked into his side. Although waiting was not among his favorite things to do, he still felt calm and more importantly, happy. He and his brother were in total balance now and his lover was carrying his child.

Upon hearing news of the storm, they'd got several more boarders than they'd originally anticipated. Sure it might be a little crowded, but the money would come in handy once the storm eased. Someone had brought in an unusually high strung Deerstalker puppy that desperately needed training and it gave Rath the opportunity to stay occupied.

After a few bells of staying in one place the puppy finally dozed by his side. Rath held Raiha with one arm and worked on the pup with the other. With painstaking patience, he rubbed, then trailed a small hide repeatedly over the little paws. The first few attempts had the puppy jerking away from anything even close to his feet, but eventually he got used to the nearness. The next step was the soft hide rubbed along his legs, eventually leading to his paws and then back up again. When he continued his calm, steady actions for a solid bell, the puppy fully accepted the rubbing and touching of his legs, paws and toes without so much as a blink of protest.

Teal eyes watched Raiha as she drew res and created water for Tasi and Shay. Her slim, delicate hands extracted the element neatly into the bowl with what seemed like effortless grace. When she came up with the idea of a story game, he couldn't help but marvel at the woman's playfulness and ingenuity in such a stressful time. And he smiled.

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

[Raiha]

Raiha was calm as she rested in one of the large cushions, tucked in to Rath’s side, reclining there with Kavala’s son in her lap. On the little boy’s lap, over a towel, there was a wide wooden bowl with little wooden boats in there, simply carved, but brightly painted. The bowl, however, was empty, devoid of water. She would take care of that in a little bit. “Peace,” she told her friend, reaching out a hand to touch her arm, her eyes closed as she squeezed Kavala’s hand. “You put a shield up at the top last night. It will absorb the Djed. It will be fine.” She could well imagine why Kavala worried, and likely guess who. But worry and regret were the most useless emotions of all time, and they would only serve to upset her further, and then it would all come tumbling down on them. "Peace."

She put her hands on the wooden bowl, finding Tasival’s hands with her thumbs, and encouraging him to hold them as she squeezed them encouragingly. So many things had happened that season. The end of the season, of the year, should have been a time to reflect and watch others get drunk and dance in the moonlight, to laugh and tell stories about the year and what had happened. Instead, they were surrounded by animals of every kind while people worried and stewed in their own fear and anxiety. Raiha was calm, her breathing steady as she meditated, listening to the birds and the shadows, largely at peace with what was bound to be going on above. There was nothing more that they could do but wait it out and pray. Raiha breathed, and cuddled the boy and Rath. Worry and regret. The most useless emotions of all, Kanikra sighed. Distract them. Else it will catch like a cold.

Yes, I know, Raiha told her sister with a sigh. It will. Res began to slip out of her fingers as she gathered it in the bowl, a translucent, ethereal gel of sorts, too viscous to be fluid just yet. Without opening her eyes, she moved it in the bowl, shaping it, testing it, before letting it smooth out, placid, like a smokey pane of glass. Bit by bit, she transmuted the Res to water, making the boats begin to float and bob in the bowl, spilling nary a drop. She had come a long way since she had first started Reimancy, that was for sure, when she had soaked and sprayed herself and everyone else with it when she lost control of it. “Tell me a story,” she said to no one in particular as she opened her eyes at last. “But only fifteen words at a time. You can add anything you want to it, but only fifteen words at a time. We’ll go around the circle. I will start.”

The shadows circled, looming, crammed into the corners and along the roof, everywhere they could fit in, all of them whispering and calling, demanding riddles and answers as they conversed amongst themselves. She made produced a few more drops of Res, changing them once they hit the water to make little waves to make the boats bob enticingly for the boy to encourage him to play with them. “There was a big brown dog guarding the herds and pastures. The dog's name was...” With luck, she'd see how truly outrageous the story could get, and perhaps it would serve as the beginning of a distraction.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

The storm, the night was finally upon them. His body was jittery while he waited for the impending destruction that would be coming to them. But they would stand strong together. But they had prepared every way they could possibly could in the little time they were given. His body ached and screamed for sleep, it had been doing this for days. But he gave it nothing; instead he took small naps when he could manage and then kept pressing on. That was how he operated now; his mind completely focused on preparing for this single event. Almost nothing else mattered. He would’ve gone without eating if Kavala hadn’t taken the time on occasion to fix them meals. He simply would’ve forgotten…

Kavala’s suggestion of getting sleep was entertaining to Serrif. He like Kadrath offered a laugh in response; only he offered no words. He was right to Kadrath’s right hand side standing leaning against the wall his arms crossed across his chest. His eyes didn’t close as he began to run through all the things that could happen to them. But what good was that honestly? Now that his mind was leashed from the task at hand it was running wild. Unable to focus on anything his attention was scattered across the room; however it was not divided.

Reminancy, it was always something he found so very entertaining and useful at the same time. He had no idea how it worked only that overuse or misuse usually got Konti banned from the white isle until they gained some sense. He knew little, but this storm would contain raw energy and magic. Something that was foreign to him so it was really beginning to make him wary. It seemed the others had an understanding of this obscure subject, Raiha certainly did. They had no reason to be on edge; and honestly he should be calm.

Should be

But he wasn’t. He breathed evenly and slowly felt his eyes close almost as if he was going to sleep. But he was only resting his eyes. So that they had less to concentrate on around him. This way his only sensory prick would be sound. That he could deal with, maybe it would help him calm down a little. A story? This was an obvious try to get their minds off of everything around them. The storm, the impending damage….everything. And a good way to do it as well. It would get everyone involved. It was his turn now to add to this story. With his eyes closed he knew it was hic turn…or thought it was.

“T’snoika, a wonderful herding dog. Big, loyal and fiercely trained beast charged with protecting the…” He figured that was a good enough lead in for whoever wanted to continue next. He wasn’t sure who was next in the line. Mostly because he wasn’t really paying attention to who was around him right now with his eyes close.

He was waiting, now instead of for the storm he was waiting to see what would happen next in this absurdly worded story. Her distraction was working in a way, as interesting as it was all kinds of things could happen with this story. But in the back of his mind he was still thinking about the storm. How everything could be different afterwards. It made him uncomfortable but at the same time it could bring good changes. But he didn’t see how as of now; it had been predicted to do nothing but harm. All of this was curious to him; different but in all something would happen. The only question was what.

[Nhara K'tari]

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[D'Lena]

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[Kavala]

Kavala glanced at Raiha then at Serrif and smiled slightly. A group story? What were they five? It was actually a really good idea because Kavala's nerves were getting to her and something like that might have truly helped. She reviewed the rules Raiha set out, heard Serrifs continuation, and added her own.

"virtue of the maidens of Syliras. In fact, he was so good at his job that..." Kavala said, grinning slightly and passing the story on to the next person in line.

Then watching Raiha, Kavala knew she needed just as much practice at Reimancy as Raiha did. Raiha's ability to create water was amazing, but Kavala's talent ran to Earth has her first element. So while the story was being told, Kavala carefully began working res into her hands, slowly extruding it, shaping it, and working towards solidifying it into a bowl. The bowl would be stone, of course, though she thought she'd make it something fancy and not just plain brown rock. Agate was a particular favorite of Kavala, so the Konti sat quietly, thought of her favorite shades of splotchy agate and began to form them into bowls as the res pooled and seemed to shape itself in her hands. Getting them smooth and perfectly round was the hardest part, but she had time that night, quietly sitting up all night telling stories with the other residents of Sanctuary.

Bowls :

[Raiha]

Raiha listened to the other two, her eyes meeting Kavala’s when her friend looked at her, and there was a warm, but mischievous glint in the gold as the two women looked at each other. She knew that the others knew what she was doing, with silly stories that were almost childish, but they worked. She breathed out a small cloud of res, letting it float above them, and turned her attention back to the little boy on her lap. She was glad Kavala let her hold him tonight - he was a good distraction.

She touched Tasival’s arm with a wet finger, tapping gently until he looked up at her, confused, then she pointed upwards, tilting her head until he was also looking up, the boat still in the little ‘ocean’, as Raiha transmuted one drop from the cloud above them. The single drop of water plunged to the earth, landing on Rath’s head. The bald male jerked upright, looking around, as the boat splashed everywhere as the tyke laughed. Just when Rath got settled again, another drop plinked down upon his head as Raiha hugged the boy to her and settled down again, looking perfectly innocent. Just the condensation, surely.

When none of the others chose to speak up, Raiha elected to go next. “He was given a reward by Cheva, the Goddess of love. His reward was that...”