[Flashback] Shellfish (Tock)

[Blythe]

Blythe chuckled. "The decks themselves can be found in various places around the city- market stalls and the emporium. But a reader of the cards is a bit more difficult to find. Or at least, a well versed one can be." The Konti paused as she considered the names she knew, the ones that were most revered in the craft, and those who could still be considered green horns. Silently wondering if the woman would be able to tell the difference between the two, considering she had never met a fortune teller before, let alone seen a deck, or had her future divined. "Grandmother Rose is a rather skilled woman in the craft, and is with a hand of her own. Although, she grows busy now of late, with all the nieces come. Perhaps then, the Palladini will remain, and you can have a reader neither good or bad. But one that simply is. For I know how to interpret them. It's just a simple matter of time. Getting one's hands on her deck."

Blythe sighed. "If you'd wait the cards can be retrieved. Shouldn't be more than a bell to make it to the cottage and then back to the beach with them. And with the lack of readings she has been giving of late, they shouldn't be missed." The Konti paused a moment. "Unless you'd prefer to go into the city, there are more than enough of them there." Blythe shrugged as she turned away, she would go to the cottage and come back with the deck. If Tock was not there when she returned, then she could always practice by the sound of the crashing waves, and cawing gulls.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock got a bit lost when the woman talked about this Grandma Rose person, wondering if this was another Goddess, or a real live person. And she didn't have a clue what a "Palladini" was. But when the woman offered to go and get the cards, Tock shrugged and said, "Oy, I's come wit'cha!" She didn't have any set purpose here on the beach today. But then, she didn't have any set purpose anywhere. "Beach ain't done seems like a place what fer learnin' yer future, anywho," she said. "What seein' 'ow I ain't gonna be livin' onna beach, aye? Ain't done makes no sense fer 'avin' my future 'ere..." She couldn't ever see herself making a permanent home on a beach. The sand just seemed to get everywhere. She followed along, stopping to retrieve a shell here and there, or an oddly shaped rock, and adding them to her collection. She hummed as she went, a nameless tune, just as she always did when she was working on something. It was an unconscious thing, done without her knowledge. It always helped her concentrate though. She started picturing in her mind what things she might be able to make with a bagful of seashells. They weren't anything like a standard building material. They'd be hard to work with... challenging. But she liked challenges. That was how she learned. She wasn't ever one to give up, just because something was hard. If she had been, she wouldn't have survived the life she'd led in Sunberth, or made it here. As they neared the village, she asked, "So, can ya done teaches me 'ow fer ta read the magic cards? I's gonna learn magic... soon. Gots a magic city ta build, aye? Oy, maybe yer magic cards can tells me where ta done learns magic, aye? 'At'd be right shiny, 'at would." She nodded seriously. The only part of her future she considered, the part she knew she had to do, was to make the magic city from her dreams. Though she hadn't really given any thought to how she might go about it. Other than having a vague idea of 'learning magic someday'. Maybe the magic cards could be her first step.

[Blythe]

"I could, although another teacher may be better. Someone older, someone wiser." There was a pause as the Konti considered. "Probably best not to spread the rest around. There are some here who still fear magic, the Timandres, a local family known for wielding many forms... but nonetheless, yes you could ask them of such things, if the question is framed well. Or, you could simply ask a local, they should know where to go for help."

__________

"What do you mean, you're using them?" Blythe asked. And for several bells... she hasn't had that many readings to do in months... maybe she just doesn't want me to borrow them anymore. The Konti sighed as she backed away from the door, defeated. "Maybe tomorrow then," she muttered, even though she knew she didn't have that kind of time. With head hung, the Konti returned to the front door, where she had left Tock, before heading back down to the beach. The sound of crashing waves, and bubbles crackling pleasantly as they lost themselves in their endless bounds of joy.

It was not long before Blythe found herself thinking of Tock again, as opposed to her encounter with her grandmother, and her own disappointment. A single human, against the sand. The occasional straggler which bore white or blonde hair not so much as crossing her mind. Blythe spoke to her then, and not a moment before. "Afraid they're in use. The best we could do is a shell reading together, unless you'd like to be led into the city for the tarot," she explained. "Or, we could do something else. The children here like to make sand castles sometimes. Or play in the water. Others have other crafts and arts to delve into- painting, pottery, poetry, things involving the hands. Training in the martial arts. Various weapons- pikes, poles." Blythe shrugged. "Anything suit your fancy, or do you have your head set on a fortune being told? A question that itches, and you are just dying to ask?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

As quick as the idea of learning her future had entered her mind, it fled again upon hearing that they couldn't use the magic cards. The curiosity of the moment had passed, and the future just wasn't enough of a priority for the young girl to focus on it. So she shrugged it away, refusing to consider that the sea shells could tell her the future because that simply wasn't logical. The lone redhead among the city of blondes soon became to used on a new curiosity. "Castles wit' sand?" she asked. "'Ow's 'ey do 'at?" She couldn't begin to understand how sand could be used to make anything, but then, she had never played on a beach before. She'd spent plenty of time exploring the beaches since she'd come here, collecting sea shells and other treasures, and studying the land and the city. But Tock didn't play. Even as a kid she hadn't been one for childish things, instead preferring to work in her Granddad's shop. She also HATED kids, and tended to avoid them whenever possible. When she spotted kids playing in the sand, she tended to avoid them and not pay much attention to what they were doing. She knelt down and scooped some of the dry sand up in her hands, feeling the way it ran between her fingers. It didn't make sense, but anything was possible. Even, perhaps, telling the future with magic sea shells. She tried to pile some of the sand together and pack it in place, but it wouldn't hold any form. She thought about it for a moment, then considered wet sand. That tended to hold footprints better. She moved down the beach to where the wet sand was, scooping some up. She molded it into a roughly cubical shape, and it mostly held. "Hmm," she muttered, considering the sand. Maybe she could build something with it?

[Blythe]

"You just pack it together into shapes or designs that appeal to you," Blythe replied, as she watched her companion moving up and down the beach, gathering supplies to try and build her own. "It's harder than it looks to actually build something that resembles a castle, but most people don't seem to care." The Konti shrugged. "The best part being the destruction that comes at the end. When it is either washed away by the tides, or stomped underfoot. As you can imagine, doing it yourself is far more... cathartic."

There was a slight pause. "Although, I'm not so sure you'd be fond of that part. With a name such as Tock, or perhaps even a nickname of some sort, it would lead one to believe that you're rather conscious of time. Trying to build on it, as opposed to waste it," Blythe continued before shrugging rather self-consciously. "But who is to say, we just met," she finished, as she scooped up some dry sand and allowed it to fall through her fingers, some of the grains dotting the edges of Tock's makings. A dirtied snow.

When everything had run through, Blythe glanced at the red-headed girl. "If you don't like this, we can do something else. There is much more to see than the beach. And if you want more time here, then you may be left. Surely an older Konti woman just gets in the way of your budding creativity," she finished with a small smile.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Destroy it!?" Tock asked, shocked and offended at the very idea. She looked down at the crude shape she'd begun sculpting, not even having any true form, and she was already hurt at the idea that she might destroy it. "Oy, what's wrong wit' kids 'round 'ere, aye? I ain't done never destroyed nothin' what I done built wit' my own 'ands, an' I ain't done 'hour ta start now!" She waved a sandy finger in Blythe's face, quite angry at the idea that she would be expected to destroy her own creation. What was the point in building something, if you were only going to destroy it? It was like asking why you would have a kid, only to... No. No she wouldn't think about that now. It was done and gone. Her Da was gone, and he could never hurt her again... She got up and brushed her knees off, frowning. She suddenly didn't like the idea of sand castles anymore. She only wanted to make something that would be permanent. Otherwise, what was the point? Everything would just disappear on you. Leave you. Until you were all alone. She looked around the beach, her mood suddenly ruined, soured by memories of her past that she was trying to push away. Memories she didn't want to face. She felt a burning in her eyes, and forced the feelings down. This was a magic place. This was a place she shouldn't have to face her sorrows. "Ain't 'ere no place pretty 'round 'ere?" she asked, tired of the beach. She needed something beautiful to distract her, before her thoughts strayed back to home again.

[Blythe]

Blythe considered for a moment. "Well, there's the starry night. It's a garden of sorts, with long winding pathways crafted of the darkest stone known to the isle, small waterfalls created by the hands of nature and mortals themselves, and plants that grow far larger than even the Akalak," Blythe explained. "And if not that, there are places to go by the sea, or even some of the smaller lakes I think, to ride seahorses. The Silverwood isn't a bad place either, if you're into that sort of thing, and as long as you don't harm the animals, or try to harm them, they tend to leave you alone." The Konti shrugged. "A pretty place may always be found, if only you know where to look. Or rather, how too."

Blythe's eyes sparkled mysteriously as she stared down at Tock, who had seemed to her, rather kind and soft but moments before, and almost scared and irritable now. "What suits your fancy?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"What's a 'Aklaklak,'" Tock asked. "Some kinda tree?" She'd never heard of one before. Maybe it was some kind of exotic Mura tree that they didn't have in Sunberth. Everything else here was so different, so why not the trees? "Lezgo 'ere," she said with a nod. Anything crafted and sculpted by skilled craftsmen sounded interesting to her. Beauty made by the hands of people was far more impressive than anything nature had to offer. After all, anything found in nature didn't need any skill to make, it was just there. It wasn't until a person cut it down, carved it, shaped it, and turned it into something that it became worthwhile. Until then, it was nothing more than raw materials. Potential, waiting to be unleashed. "Oy, can we done cut down 'em Akawhatevers an' make somethin' outta 'em?" she asked in a tone of complete seriousness. She needed a project to keep her mind busy.

[Blythe]

"The Akalak is an all male race that lives mainly in Riverfall in the Cyrphrus region," Blythe explained. "They tend to mate with us, seeing as we are an only female race. They're tall, known for their strength, and oddly colored skins- largely midnight blues and deep violets. Although forest greens and blood reds occur from time to time." There was a pause as the woman shrugged, "anyway, let us go to the Starry Night, if that be your will," Blythe continued as she waved her hand for the human to follow.

An instant later, Blythe was treading up the beach, towards the center of the city. She said nothing as sand made way for dirt, then grass; cobbled paths. As buildings crafted of the whitest stone loomed before them, and then but a single door. "It's just inside here," the fortune teller explained as she pushed it back, releasing a small shriek of discontent as the wood parted to allow a small sliver of space to emerge. A space from which sprouted the scent of honey and exotic, nameless flowers. A space from which lush green could be seen.

"Come on," Blythe called with a flick of her head as she made her way inside, gladiator sandals displacing pebbles as she led Tock through the beginning. "Afraid you'll have to do the exploring on your own," she went on. "Best be getting back to the family. With so many nieces, it can be hard to find time to yourself." She smiled sweetly as she turned away. "Enjoy your stay Tock," she exclaimed before she was lost to the city.

[Cachet]

Blythe : Blythe SKILLS Hospitality:4 Rhetoric:2 Socialization:3 Observation:2 Teaching:1 LORE The Sea is relaxing Explaning the Konti Pantheon Socializing with strange people Misc Notes: Tock isn't active so stuff was only awarded to Blythe! Anything seem out of place? Any questions please feel free to contact me ASAP.