[Flashback]Lost and Confused (Tock)

by **Vondra Valencia** on July 15th, 2012, 6:24 am

12th of Fall, 511AV

It had been a long day and her sleeping pattern was not used to studying during the day, especially not when she had been helping out the previous night. Covering her mouth to stifle a yawn and trying not to walk into anything she felt her way around the hall and waved her hand at all the good mornings and a few whistles. Vondra thought hard about where she was and wondered if her little guide was still waiting.

To her dismay it was not so and instead she found herself hovering at someone’s door in an area where, well, frankly she had no idea. Well it could be worse, she could have ended up outside the city or dead, that was always a possibility. She heard a yell for her to come back anytime and smiled slightly, they were likely still drunk and wouldn’t even remember her but she hoped they would seek her again. But now she wondered if it were even day time as she previously thought.

Running a hand through her hair she took a few tentative steps forward, hands out stretched a little more than normal look and her foot tapping against the ground before actually settling. She was sure she looked a fool but tried to play it off, keeping her mouth smiling and hoping there was no one near. It was a foolish thing to drink and then run off with a non-paying customer. Worth it though, wouldn’t you say, Nikali? I have to say, it was the most fun I’ve had in days and I’m sure it was for him too!”

Agreeing with herself thoroughly and nearly positive her Goddess would without a doubt have enjoyed it just as much as she, she decide this slight embarrassment and pain in the arse was worth it. Continuing her trek Vondra found very soon that she must be against a canal for every few steps her foot found air and she would pull back, not able to actually find the bridge to cross.

“Petch.”

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 15th, 2012, 7:44 pm

A few days ago, Tock had had her study of Ravok architecture quite rudely interrupted. It had led to a long week of work on a completely different project, but now that that was complete, she was back to her studies. She was still considering how best to figure out the details of what kept these buildings afloat. The poshy Guv she had been working with had suggested she go find information from the city government, but pffft, that was no fun. Anything worth doing was worth doing herself.

So she had been wandering the city all morning, studying the buildings. She sketched several of them, paying special attention to the visible support structures and pillars. She'd gone into a few public buildings to examine the insides more carefully. When asked what she was doing (she HATED that question!), she had asked if she could see the buildings' basements.

After being stared at, laughed at, and yelled at in several different buildings, she was finally forced to accept that they HAD no basements. Which made sense in a way, since if they'd had any, they'd have been underwater.

She needed to get DOWN lower to see the support structures. But she couldn't get into the non-existent basements, and last time she'd lowered herself into the canals, she had nearly gotten beheaded by one of those little canal boats. So, she figured she could ride one of the boats, and see things from their level.

"Take me 'round the city," she told the boat driver when she hopped into one.

"Where to, precisely, Miss?" he asked. He no doubt was used to being given a specific address to take a passenger to.

"Jus' 'round," Tock said in annoyance. "I wanna see the buildin's..."

Not really caring much as long as his fare was paid, he started shoving off with the long pole used to control the boat.

She crouched low in the boat, as low as she could, head tilted sideways to study the buildings they passed. She didn't notice the strange stares the driver gave her, just focusing on her study. But they were passing by too quickly. Grunting in frustration, Tock sought out yet another alternative means of study.

Passing by a bridge (the very one a certain confused stranger was having trouble locating), she looked up at it and saw the support beams underneath. Without a second thought she hopped up and grabbed hold, letting the boat continue on past without her.

"What are you doing?" the boat driver shouted at her.

Hated. That. Question.

She ignored him, and so he waved her off in disgust, and continued on his way. She hung there, dangling over the water, and struggled to climb up and loop her legs around the beam. After a few clumsy misses, she managed it, and just let herself hang there with her arms and legs wrapped around the beam. She tilted her head back, studying the underside of the nearest buildings from an upside-down perspective.

Now THIS was the way to study architecture.

by **Vondra Valencia** on July 18th, 2012, 1:39 am

The question sounded surprisingly angry and without any actual reason behind it, Vondra found herself replying back just as sharply, “Petching piece shyke . What do you mean ‘what am I doing?’ I’m walking, obviously!”

She heard no response from the random assaulter and felt a quick swell of pride before she smacked her forehead. If she had waited one more second she probably could have asked the person for directions, though considering their temper she doubted that would have ended or better, well, maybe it could have.

“Bad thoughts.” She muttered but she was not as good as chastising herself as her mama was. Instead she picked up where she had left off become decidedly annoyed as she could not find the crossing, it couldn’t be this damned hard could it? Apparently it could. She also wondered how many jerks had wandered past her without so much as a second glance, then again maybe it was still nighttime. Muttering darkly under her breath whatever happiness had come with her last little tryst was rapidly evaporating into thin air.

Vondra finally heaved out a frustrated curse and stomped her foot like a child. “I know someone is nearby so where is the Gods damned bridge?!” By the end of her sentence her voice had risen in pitch bordering on a near hysterical shriek. She didn’t honestly want to be stuck in…where ever the petch she was but she couldn’t very well find her way back on her own. Then again it was more likely someone would butter her up with words and promptly paint a canvas with her blood. The sudden shiver she had was not entirely made up a fear and so she tried again.

“Hello?”

But just as she spoke her foot thankfully met something other than air, a solid stone! Vondra could have kissed the ground but it only just dawned on her she still had no idea where she was. Drumming her fingers on her thigh she stood a bit awkwardly in the middle of the bridge looking very much like a lost little girl.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 2:18 am

This was fascinating.

Under here, she could see under the walkways, which seemed to be raised on wooden struts like the way docks were made. She wondered how they were secured under the water, since it wasn't like people could go down there and dig a hole to slip the post into. Then she remembered Granddad one day telling her about a method of attaching a contraption to the top of a pole, which had a large metal weight inside. With a rope and pulley the weight could be lifted, then released, slamming down to drive the post in like hammering a stake.

She looked past those, to the buildings, seeing what was hidden beneath the street level. What looked like stone pillars held the buildings out of the water. From this angle she could peer through the canal water and see the stone stretching deep, though she couldn't see to the bottom. Still, the mystery was solved. It didn't really float.

She was a bit disappointed.

Unable to take notes or sketches while in this position, she scooted closer to get a better look. Her arms were starting to ache, but she ignored it for now, crawling upside-down along the support beam until she was as close as she could get. The beam was angled downward, so crawling this close put her nearly completely vertical, and her dangling hair brushed the canal water. She tried her best to memorize what she saw so she could draw it later.

Then she heard a voice from above her asking a dumb question.

She twisted to the side a bit, scrambling for a moment when her legs almost lost their grip. There was a girl above her (and Tock blushed a bit when she got a view right up the woman's skirt). From down below her she told the girl, "Oy, yer bloody standin' on 'er! Whatcha, bloody blind!?"

by **Vondra Valencia** on July 18th, 2012, 2:59 am

OOC :

A woman’s voice. From below? Wasn’t she on a bridge? She prayed she was not on a roof again, the crutches had not been pleasant last time. For a moment she was completely bewildered, the accent was strong and so it took a few moments for the words to sink in but when they did her body heated up rapidly, her eyes literally lightening with fury.

Most of the day was her fault and she was already fraying because first she had gotten drunk, which she would pay for later but her own foolishness irritated her now. Then she didn’t know if it was night or day. And she was lost she hated being lost. What tipped what was left of her patience off was the comment though, sure she had been screaming before but now she actually wanted to punch someone. She tried counting, she really did but her mouth was already running.

“Of course I’m blind you petching vagik! I’ve been walking around for Gods knows how damned long with my petching arms out in front of me! Do you think I do it because it’s fun?” she let out a breath the rest tumbling out and now her arms jerked around angrily, as if trying to lash out at anything, “Just because your piece of shyke eyes work doesn’t mean you have to going around point out my petching problem! Little ignorant—“

Abruptly she stopped speaking and held her tongue, it wasn’t really the woman’s fault, she couldn’t have known but it still pissed her off. Unable to put everything into words she settle digging her nails into her thigh. Frustration, anger and honestly a twinge of fear.

She hated this.

Being helpless and having people know. Though only perhaps a half a bell earlier she had been singing to Nikali her lack of remorse she now thought perhaps her frivolity wasn’t worth it. Sucking in rapid lungful’s of air vondra wasn’t sure whether she wished to continue yelling or simply pass out. But she wouldn’t, she would get home in one piece and she would control her temper and apologize. Well, maybe.

Finally able to speak again she released her nails from her thigh and grudgingly asked her question, not really expecting an answer after her tirade though a part of her hoped for one. Just as a part of her knew she would apologize, eventually. “Where am I?”

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 3:23 am

OOCWanna know something really funny? I hadn't read your CS, so I didn't even know you WERE blind until I checked... At first I thought you were just lost and hung over...

Tock peered up at the girl, having a hard time making out anything about her between the fact that one, she was upside-down and peering at a very difficult angle, and two, she was unable to stop her gaze from sliding up the girl's skirt. Awkward and embarrassed, and feeling a huge ache in her limbs, she finally released her legs from the beam she was hanging from. Her feet splashed down into the water, and she shifted her hands to get a grip on the walkway next to the bridge.

"Ain't done my fault I weren't knew ya were blind!" Tock shouted, dangling for a moment half in the water. She was dizzy, and needed a moment before she pulled herself the rest of the way up. "I couldn't done sees ya now, could I?" Of course, if the girl couldn't see her, she probably didn't know she'd been under the bridge. "Dun gotta yell, Sheila," she said. "I weren't seein' ya from down 'ere, aye?"

When the girl asked where she was, Tock looked around, the shrugged. "I unno," she replied. "On some bridge in Ravok." That was the most Tock knew about where she was. She'd only been in the city less than two weeks. She had no clue where in the city she was, nor how to get anywhere.

After a moment, she peered back up at the girl and said, "Water feels nice, though. Wanna take a dip?" She was thinking about swimming down underneath... except that she didn't know how to swim. But dangling here on the edge wasn't so bad. Maybe if she could find things to hold onto, and keep a firm grip the entire time, she could manage to get down there and get a first hand study of the building supports.

"Ever been under the buildin's?"

by **Vondra Valencia** on July 19th, 2012, 3:10 pm

OOC :

Vondra bit back a retort about how if one didn’t know they shouldn’t speak or something along those lines and smoothed her dress over. Her caustic mind only continued to grow ever more so as the girl seemed to muddle through some sort of explanation but the words’ down here’ got her attention. Even more so when the girl said she didn’t know where she was. She wanted to continue to be angry and tell the girl if she wasn’t useful to her than not to talk but her anger was already deteriorating replaced by curiosity and the hope that at the very least she wouldn’t be alone. The girl didn’t sound like a murder, however, she did sound a little crazy.

“So you’re new then,” she took a tentative step towards the voice, not wanting to flip off the bridge, “Where are you from?”

A few more steps in the general direction of the girl and her next questions made Vondra fully understand that the girl was not being rude when she asked if she was blind because clearly she didn’t learn. Strangely enough this time it amused her. Most people were pitying once they knew, this girl basically kept asking her about things she couldn’t possibly understand. She found herself laughing so hard she clutched her stomach, honestly, it was ridiculous, “Really? I would probably swim out to sea without even know and that was if I could swim. But I wouldn’t mind accompanying you.”

“No, I’ve never been under a building because I can’t even see where a buildings bottom is.” There was no anger in her words only more amusement, “and if I did go with you, you’d have to hold my hand because I have no clue where we are either.”

With that she thrust out her hand and wiggled her fingers and patiently waited for the other to grab her and help her into the water. she didn't care why the weird woman wanted under the bridge and she didn't honestly care, company was better than wandering around only Gods knew where.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 19th, 2012, 4:06 pm

When the girl asked where she was from, Tock didn't feel much inclined to mention her Sunberthan roots. So she answered, "I done used ta live in Mura. 'En Syliras after 'at." Even if neither had been a true home, it was completely true that she had lived in those places.

"Ya weren't swimmed out ta sea if'n ya stayed inna canals," Tock declared logically. "Ain't gonna be swimmin', anywho. Jus' 'oldin' onta the beams down 'ere." She didn't stop to think about whether bringing a blind girl under the docks was a bad idea. It seemed perfectly logical to her that a blind girl would want to, err, see how the buildings were supported.

She took the girl's hand and guided her into the water, staring into her blank eyes for a long moment of curiosity. Then she shrugged. So she was blind? Who cared? Everyone was equal, blind or deaf or whatever.

"C'mon, 'is's gonna be mighty shiny, it is!" she declared, excited that someone was actually encouraging her, rather than yelling at her and trying to tell her to stop. SOME people could be so rude! But whoever this girl was, she clearly had an adventurous spirit! Like Tock, always eager to learn, always determined to know everything she could.

Holding the girl's hand, she said, "'Old the beam, 'bove yer 'ead..." She used her other hand to grip one of the damp beams under the walkway. There wasn't much room to breathe underneath, and they ended up neck-deep in the water. She ended up pulling the girl close with an arm around her waist for support, slowly climbing and pulling herself and her new adventuring companion under the walkway towards the building. Once they were well under the floating platform, she belatedly realized she didn't know the name of the person she was floating in the water with, going someplace odds are no Ravokian had gone before. Names weren't really important to her, but she turned to her companion anyway and said, "By the way, I's Tock. Nice ta meetcha!"

by **Vondra Valencia** on July 20th, 2012, 5:06 am

As the girl listed the places she was from Vodnra’s brow crinkled slightly but she nodded as if she knew precisely where the two places were. Syliras sounded vaguely familiar but she never paid attention to out of towns peoples and this Mura place she was pretty sure didn’t even exist. All the same she agreed amiably, her previous animosity now entirely something in the back of her mind, “They sound…interesting.”

Vondra found her own excitement bubbling at the girls words, it was infectious and made a grin spread across her cheeks as her hand was taken and keep her questioning of what exactly ‘shiny’ was to herself. She was sure it was nice. She still wasn’t even sure what exactly they were doing but it was slightly better than focusing on the dismal fact of her horrible day, morning, whatever it was. She listened cautiously to the directions, keeping her head low, raising her arms and wiggling her toes in the water, belatedly realizing she may have forgotten her slippers. Of course, her mind went a little bit farther south at the close contact and she had no qualms leaning in. Nikali, I might have twice the fun today!

“Same here. My name is Vondra.” She grinned a bit and then bumped her slightly, feeling the water swish around her. She wondered vaguely if it was clean, “Just one question for you Tock, why exactly are we under here? Do you build things?” Another thought struck her, “Or are you one of those people who like to blow things up?”

Moving her head as if looking around she swung her legs gently and felt the burn in her arms, this was a much different kind of labor than she was used to. To distract herself she imagine things she couldn’t actually see before coming up with a much better way to imagine, “Tock, would you mind describing the things you’re looking at? It’d give me something to do besides dangle,” she didn’t hesitate, “though I can think of other things you might find enjoyable.”

Vondra couldn’t really resist saying it, sometimes she said things just to hear the sharp intake of breath and she could imagine some sort of twisted face from her own facial features. It made for a fun game when people were in the mood or weren’t total prudes.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 20th, 2012, 5:44 am

To some people, it might have seemed odd to take a blind girl you'd just met, pull her into a canal, and study the architecture of the floating buildings from practically underwater. But Tock was probably insane, and didn't think twice about it. She was curious, she was studying something, and instead of being asked 'What's wrong with you?' or the ever-dreaded 'What are you doing?', the girl had just agreed to come along for the fun.

That made this one of the best days Tock had had in a long time.

"Aye, I's a builder," Tock replied. "Done gonna makes a 'ole magic city one day. So's as I figgers, if'n Ravok done been floatin' on the water all magic-like, mebbe I's should learn 'ow 'at's done, aye? 'Cept, ain't seems like no magic 'ere..." She pulled as far as she could under the walkway, ignoring the footsteps above her head as people walked along the boardwalk. Right up against the building, she studied the wall, trying to get a better look down underneath at how the stone support strut was built. When she got close enough, she could make out wood piles underneath the foundation. She was curious why the wood she saw down there wouldn't be rotting under the water, but she couldn't examine it in detail from up here.

"She's done gots a stone foundation," she explained to the blind girl, "an' wood piles down under 'at. Bricks above the water," she raised her foot up to prod the wall, since one arm was holding the beam above her head, and the other was wrapped around her companion. "Prolly done cause 'ey couldn't git the mortar ta works so good under water. 'En stone foundation under the brick. Mighty brilliant, if'n ya asks me..."

She was considering diving underwater, except that she couldn't swim. She'd never even been neck-deep in water before. So, distracted by her studies, she glanced at her companion and innocently asked, "What 'other things'?"