[Flashback] Shellfish (Tock)

[Blythe]

Fall 53, 508 AV

Blythe's feet sank into the moist sand as she moved her lithe form silently along. Dark brown grains settling in the spaces between her toes, as she padded the terrain down, forcing excess moisture back into her soles for but an instant, before it was drawn away by the current. Pulled back into the depths of the tumultuous sea she strode beside, rather silently, lost in her own thoughts, and not at the task at hand. Her reason for being there.

Her ears had long ago blocked out the sound of the gulls overhead, the sound of the waves crashing into shore. Her eyes scarcely seeing the light that filtered through their splayed feathers as they flapped their wings, keeping their bodies, filled with hollow bones, aloft. Slipping through ethereal currents of wind; a steady breeze.

A mane of blonde hair fluttered about her shoulders, trickling across her face, settling into her lips, as the edges of simple cotton circled her ankles hungrily. Seeking to maintain her modesty and composure. Seeking a thin line of pale flesh to cling to as the ocean's spray dotted; turning fabric sheer.

Even this, Blythe scarcely noticed. Her lavender colored eyes hardly picking up the shells which dotted the shoreline. Her feet never feeling them anymore, as she tread over shards of ribbed cockle. It was as though she were meditating, but as opposed to the lotus, she was a moving mountain. A pale wave which walked upon scorched earth, as opposed to chilling sea.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

It was like being on an endless vacation. Minerva Agatha Zipporah had fled her home, left behind her father, her past, and even her name. She had crossed the sea and arrived in what was surely the most beautiful place on Mizahar. Of course, she had only been in two places in her life, Sunberth and Mura. But Mura was infinitely better, and she had yet to find any downside to being here. She was living off the money she'd stolen from home, and wasn't even beginning to think far enough ahead yet to consider what to do when it ran out. It didn't seem like it would ever run out. She stayed in a nice inn every night, at the wonderful fruit and pastries and all the other amazing things she'd never had back home, and never seemed to run out of places to explore. There were parts of Sunberth that it simply wasn't safe to go, but so far she didn't think there was a single part of Mura that was anything other than wonderful, beautiful, and perfect. Today, she was down at the beach. She was barefoot, with her pants rolled up above her knees, and the top buttons of her shirt loosened to help keep her cool. She was moving down the beach, crouched, with a bag slung over her arm. She was picking through the seashells she found, searching for the most perfect, unbroken ones, and tucking them into her bag. She didn't notice anyone else around her. She didn't tend to pay much attention to other people. It was another habit from back home; usually in Sunberth it was best to get where you were going without drawing any attention to yourself. While the people here were far friendlier and more pleasant, the habit had proven hard to break. Crouched low and bending over the sand to retrieve the shells, she didn't notice as she neared a stranger on the beach. So distracted was she in her collection that she didn't realize someone else was there until she bumped into the woman. She lost her balance and fell back on her rear, letting out an, "Ooof!" of shock. She looked up and saw another of the beautiful, flawless women that seemed to be around every turn here. They made her feel like an ugly old cow, by comparison. "Oy, sorry, Conch!" she said. "Didn't see ya there..." She chuckled, scratching her head. Back home she'd have expected to get struck for bumping into someone. So far, no one in Mura had that sort of reaction.

[Blythe]

Blythe's lips curled into a delicate smile as she stumbled a few steps back, her feet displacing several grains as she fought to finally steady herself, and approach the fallen woman. When she was within reach, her hand came forward rather gracefully, palm directed upward, towards the clear blue sky. "It's quite alright," Blythe commented. "Sometimes, we all fall prey to delving too deeply into our own thoughts to notice much of anything." With that her eyes began to sparkle as she waited for Tock to get up, so that she may return her hand to her side.

After having glanced down at her toes, Blythe would wipe her hands on her dress, smoothing the folds, before looking back up. "You must really be enjoying the beach then, just as we all do," she wore on. "There's simply something so pure about it, so relaxing, that you can forget all your troubles. Everything the gifts born by the twins have to offer." Her smile widened. "Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this place is where the lover's realms first meet. Where they can lay their eyes on each other again, outstretch their hands, and just begin to grasp..."

Blythe shook her head a moment. Blonde hair splaying across her features as her lavender colored eyes danced. "Forgive me," she whispered. "It is not often we come by outsiders. Or at least, people who may have travelled to other places this world has to offer. We don't oft need to introduce ourselves, with everyone growing to know who we are. The name's Blythe," she explained. "And who might you be?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

OOCSorry this took so long! I forgot to click "subscribe" so it would email me when you posted. So I didn't realize you had! *facepalms* I'm an idiot. Tock accepted the help up, smiling bashfully at the woman who was far more beautiful than herself. But then, everyone here was. She brushed the sand off her pants, chuckling. She shook the woman's hand when she introduced herself, and replied, "I's Mi--, err, Tock!". She was still getting used to her adopted name. Sometimes it was hard to let go of the old one. "She sure is darn purty," she said, planting her hands on her hips and looking up and down the pristine sands. Forgetting all of her troubles... that was exactly what she was trying to do here. Leaving Sunberth behind. Leaving behind memories of her past, her Da... She winced and shook off the thoughts. He was gone now. He wasn't part of her life anymore, and she didn't need go even remember him. "What 'twins'?" she asked, looking around to see if she could spot them. She didn't know anything about any twins or gifts they had borne. "Ya got a sister?" she asked Blythe, assuming the woman could be talking about her own twin. Otherwise, she had no clue what the woman could be talking about. And lovers on the beach? She hadn't expected to be seeing that sort of thing out on the sands in broad daylight. She certainly hoped she wouldn't come across such a thing. Though it wasn't as if she hadn't spied a thing or two of that nature happening in the back alleys of Sunberth, either for money or in some cases by force. She closed her eyes for a moment and pushed the thoughts of home away. That wasn't her home anymore. She lived someplace beautiful now. Someplace peaceful. Someplace pure.

[Blythe]

Blythe chuckled, sparkles darting into her lavender colored eyes as she spoke again, her tone soft, almost motherly. "I have three sisters actually, but they are not to whom is being referred," Blythe explained. "It is two other sisters that we speak of. Goddesses. Twins. Rak'keli of healing, and Avalis of divination. The mothers of our race." There was a pause as the Konti allowed her words to sink in. "They gift each of us at birth, allowing some of us to be healers, and others to follow the path of divinists... seers. Each of us at least singularly marked may see into the past. With another, the present, and more, the future. But, there aren't many who garner that much favor from her."

A small smile crept across the Konti's lips at the thought. "Even the gods, it's imagined. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have a lover. The one we call our father, the god of the sea, Laviku himself." Blythe gestured to the place where the waves met with sand. "It is here that their lands would meet, that they could see each other again I'd suppose," she explained, as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, before shaking her head. "But that's more than enough talk of obscure things and possibilities isn't it Tock? Surely you didn't come here to listen to the ramblings of the strangers you encounter on the beach." The Konti fell silent again as she cast her gaze out to sea, "so why did you come here?"

OOCIt's alright, I am in no rush.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock's eyes went wide at the explanation. "Oy, God twins!?" she exclaimed. "I ain't done never know 'ere was God twins. But 'en, I ain't never known much 'bout Gods at all," she grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Her home hadn't been the most religious place. Sunberthans didn't like it when a human started lording over them and trying to tell them what to do, let alone kneeling and praying before a God. There were surely exceptions, but Tock had never been exposed to any sort of religion during her upbringing. The whole idea that these Goddess-twin-mothers (she wasn't quite sure how that worked; had both twins married the same man God to get pregnant with Konti? She guessed that this 'Laviku' God must have been bedding both of them) bestowed powers on their children was pretty amazing though. Tock wanted to learn magic, but she didn't have a clue where to start. She just knew the visions from her dream, and that she had to find a way to bring them to life. It was just as well that the woman changed the subject, since Tock didn't have anything to say about Gods except to ask questions that would probably make her seem stupid. But the question of what she was doing here gave her pause. She certainly wasn't about to tell this stranger the dark secrets of her past, and the death that she still hadn't found closure with. "I's on vacation," she said, raising her chin. "Seein' the world, an' all 'at, aye? Gonna travel 'round, see everythin'. 'En I's gonna go learn fer ta be a Magus." She told herself that was it, that was her only reason for being abroad. She wouldn't mention the death of her Granddad. Mentioning it would mean having to talk about it, having to face it, and having to deal with the emotions involved. She didn't want to do that. Not in this happy, beautiful place, where magic women got special powers from their polygamous Goddesses. Mura seemed to her like a place where death didn't exist. She wanted to hold onto that idea for as long as she could. "Best vacation ever," she said with a firm nod.

[Blythe]

Blythe smiled, "it is a rather nice place to come for a vacation. With all the lakes. The beaches... the forests twisting around the outskirts of the city. And all the people being so laid back. Well... most of them anyway, there have to be a few who aren't after all." The Konti's smile widened as she ran a hand through her blonde hair, tearing apart the knotted sections. "Come Tock, why don't we walk a little?" she asked, as she began to move forward, trailing her feet through the wet sand. Allowing the crashing waves to slosh around her ankles, and try to draw her into the sea. "That way, you may talk of all the things you wish to do while you are on vacation, and perhaps, I can tell you all the best places to go and do those things. Or... at least some places where you may be able to."

Blythe's lavender colored eyes began to sparkle all the more, as the scales that lined her forehead shimmered a soft pink in the light of the sun. "So, what suits your fancy? Food? Company? Places to go and simply see things? To relax? A beautiful view aside from the sea? Dancing? Having your fortune told?" A single brow lifted as she awaited an answer, wondering just what sort of woman Tock would turn out to be.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock smiled when the woman offered to have her walk along the beach with her. Back home, no one offered to have you walk with them unless they wanted something out of you. She had learned at a young age not to follow someone into an alley, especially if it were a man (though she had been robbed once or twice by a woman claiming she wanted to walk with another girl for mutual protection. She had learned the hard way that that was a common ruse). This place was different, though. She hadn't witnessed a single crime since she came here, and didn't let herself believe that crime could even exist here. Crime was a thing of far off places, a thing that never touched this beautiful land. She refused to let herself believe that anything dark could possibly exist here. It made it easier for her to continue living here. She kept an eye out for more shells as they walked, watching the way the waves lapped over the sand and looking for bumps that might indicate a hidden treasure underneath. Fishing another one out of the damp sand and depositing it in her bag, she said, "Everythin' 'ere's great. Food's bloody amazin'. 'As ya 'ad 'ese red 'ings 'ey've got? Calls 'em 'strawberries'? I ain't done never 'ad one 'fore in my life, 'fore I came 'ere. 'Ere, 'ey can even done bakes 'em inta cakes! Can ya imagine 'at?" She shook her head in wonder at it, even after half a season. "I ain't never done 'ad my fortune told, though," she said. "'Ow's 'at work? I mean, ya done tell the future, aye?" She thought about that for a moment. It sounded right good to her. "Aye, where's I gets me somma 'at? Be might good what fer ta know what I's gonna do when I's outta 'ere, aye? Aye." Better the future than the past. Maybe if she found out what her future was supposed to be, she could go ahead and get that. Seize it. Make it her own. No need to worry about how she was getting there or where she had come from. You never got anywhere by looking back, or by watching the scenery as you passed by. You got there by putting one foot in front of the other, and taking each step along the way. And keeping your eyes down on the ground, so you didn't miss anything important, like the swirly little pink shell she almost stepped on, before retrieving it and adding it to her collection.

[Blythe]

Blythe nodded her head in agreement. "Depends on the method being used to tell the fortune. Suffice it to say that a reading done by the shells is the most simplistic, in that you may only ask simple yes or no questions before they are tossed, and then divined. Should they fall in certain patterns, all ends. For many claim that certain sets aren't of grace, but of another light; evil omens," Blythe explained. "Unless of course, they are being used in lieu of more traditional backs for runes. Things like bones, or more often rock... they're a bit more complicated. Hard to explain, considering how no one has ever taught me much about them, I wouldn't know how they are read." Blythe sighed. "There are tea readings too. They're a bit strange. You don't really ask things of them, as much as you interpret the picture cast by soaked herbs. It's kind of like if the sea were to run dry, and the ground began to shrivel, leaving only the weeds that once were, and we were to go out to the edge and peer at them. Notice how the weeds rippled and curled, pointed to one and said we didn't like it. It's a bad sign. Hard times are to come." Blythe shrugged as she shook her head lightly. "Rubbish, as far as some are concerned. Myself included." There was a slight pause. "Tarot card readings are probably the most commonly given around here, at least by those who follow in Avalis' footsteps, as opposed to those of her sister. In these readings, the one being read asks a question, and the card answers. A spread will be used... and the reader interprets based off that which is drawn."

Smiling, Blythe ran her hand through her hair rather self consciously. Her cheeks reddened a little, and not by the heat of the sun. "It's a bit easier to understand when there is a deck right in front of you," she added before she waved her free hand around. "Just about anyone on the island can give you one thing or another. It's just what sort of reading you want that matters." Blythe shrugged. "Shells and cards are easy enough. I could do one myself, although it may not be as great as what someone older could offer... someone with more experience. You'd have to wait though, for the cards to be retrieved, if that is what you wish. Shells obviously, would be far easier, considering how they're rather plentiful around these parts." Again, the Konti smiled as she pulled her hand away from her hair, wondering what the human would think. What she would say.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock frowned at the explanations. They didn't sound very... scientific. "'Ow's a sea shell done gonna tell me the future?" she asked. "Or tea? Izzya messin' wit' me, Sook? Ain't no magic nothin' in tea leaves. Oy, sounds like bloody rubbish ta me, 'at does..." She shook her head, not believing any of it. The explanation about the cards sounded, if not more scientific, at least less ridiculous than tea leaves. Though she would need to know more about these cards to know how they worked. She looked at the seashells in her bag, thought about them, then shook her head. No way something she dug out of the sand could tell her about her future. She thought about what the woman had just said about the cards being used by those who follow Alvalis' footsteps. "So, yer Twin Goddess Mom Lady done puts the magic in the cards?" she asked. "'At sounds good ta me! Where ya done gets somma 'ose?" She looked around, as if the cards could be found somewhere on the beach. When she didn't see any, she asked, "Ya got any? I could 'as a magic Twin Mom card readin'. Might be bloody useful, aye? Easier what fer ta get stuff done, if'n I ain't done gotta figure 'er out on my own..." She wasn't normally one to think about the future. Tock was very much a 'live in the moment' person. Though this moment, they were talking about the future, so that was what suddenly had her attention. Maybe she could get this magic to tell her what to do with herself. That was better... better than having to figure it out for herself. Better than having to make the hard decisions of life. She'd gone most of her life not making decisions, just letting her Da make them for her. She'd made exactly one big decision in her life, and it had brought her here. Now she didn't know what was next, even after being here for almost eight weeks. She was avoiding making any more decisions, and just living each day one at a time. Making decisions would mean considering and thinking about her situation, and she didn't want to do that. So she'd let the magic cards tell her what to do. That was better. Much better.