The Little Things

[Navisya Curare]

Fall 61st, 512 First things first. Before Navisya visited her father for the first time in half a year, she needed to clean herself up. While in Eyktol, Sand had become less of an irritant and more of constant reality. Like time ebbing away, the suffering that occurred in the world, the Valterrian, and the inevitability of death, coping with sand had become a profound, inevitable truth, a small tragedy of existence so inescapable that it was of little note at all. Everyone was aware of it, everyone dealt with it in different ways, and it never made for polite conversation. Sand was so invasive and ever-present that it was almost unremarkable. Well, now the Symenestra was home, and she decided she would no longer tolerate it. Sand had no place in Kalinor, and she would coldly eradicate its existence with violent passion. "Rouf!" Zlynge barked happily as he was let out of his basket. His dull claws skittered against the stony ground. The lighting here the Blue Grotto pleasantly low and easy on the eyes. The incandescent pool of water threw dancing patterns on the surrounding stalactites and cavern walls, even coloring Navisya and her dog a cool shade of blue. There was supposed to be a tranquil atmosphere here, were it not for Navisya's dog trotting in circles amid the rocks and emitting quiet, happy growls and subdued woofs. She felt a little guilty, bringing her dog to this peaceful place, but it was an odd hour and there didn't seem to be anyone else around. And it wasn't Zlynge's fault. He was happy to be back home too. He would calm down in another day or so. "Zy, come." Navisya lowered herself onto the solid surface, then calmly proceeded toward the water. Her dog obediently returned to her side, making a circle around her and waiting to see what she wanted. Unlike her, Zlynge was mostly blind in this place. Fortunately, dogs relied on a combination of senses and had good navigational intuition. Usually. "Can't have you running headfirst into stalagmites. You're getting too old to simply walk off knocks like that." Vhast, her human guest, was still trapped in Navisya's domicile and was likely still resting. Though she only knew the barest details about his predicament as a fugitive, he had a great deal more to worry about than she did. Navisya was just as exhausted from the journey home, but she had been on her own for half a year. After only a few hours' sleep, she couldn't bear to stay cooped up in her home any longer. "There's the water. Off you go." Upon nearing the water, Zlynge immediately ran in, his paws throwing up sprays of water until his entire body was submerged and he began to paddle along on his own. Navisya seated herself near the water's edge and began to remove her skirts and the first layer of her wrappings. A modest under-wrapping was kept, decent enough for public places such as this one, but not ideal for polite company elsewhere. Her shoulders and arms were bare, as were her legs below the knee, but the rest remained safely covered beneath dull red silk. The hunter moved along one cavern wall into the water, her skin tingling with cool relief as it gradually rose past her hips. Leaning over, she dipped her head into the water and soaked her hair, then tossed it back behind her. Feeling immediately relaxed, Navisya adhered herself comfortably along the wall and closed her eyes.

[Nyela Carum]

Water dripped into the pools below, lulling Nyela's mind into a peaceful state. Coming to the Blue Grotto instantly changed her mood. It was hard to be anything but calm in the beautiful cavern. That’s why she came. As she descended, she noticed that there was only one other person there. She practically had the place to herself. Her nerves began to settle right away. As she passed by the woman, all she could see was the top of her light grey hair. It didn’t matter that she was so close. There were plenty of pools to go around. Nyela didn’t even stop to question why the woman had her dog with her. It had been a long day at the Purging. She needed to relax. Nothing—not even a dog—was going to get in the way of her unwinding the way she planned to. There were so many thoughts on her mind. Her chest welled with all the pride she was feeling, but it wasn’t all pride. There was some sadness too, and it was the sadness that she came to the Grotto to erase. She had no room for it. In the years she’d been a midwife, she’d delivered many babies and it was hard to let go of the women who gave them life. The woman who’d just died was Symenestra and Nyela couldn’t help but feel the loss of another strong woman. She survived three bells to spend with her son before she succumbed to his venom. Each bell was it's own miracle. Now it was Nyela’s turn to be strong and honor the woman's memory, not mourn her. The cavern was huge, but Nyela was too tired to walk far so she stopped a few paces past the woman in the pool and eased herself into the incandescent water that called her name. As she slid into its warm embrace, she let it wash away the tension that ran through her. There was no room in her heart for the mixed feelings she had. In an effort to be rid of them, she leaned back against the rock wall and let her body float, then she closed her eyes and focused on letting everything else go with it. Her mind was almost a blank slate when she heard the dog bark. She tried to block it out but the sound echoed through the caverns, bouncing between the stalactites and the rock wall. She cursed under her breath. Who the petch would bring a dog to the Grotto? It was a place to wash away your troubles, not add to them. She closed her eyes and tried to relax again, but the feeling was gone. She couldn’t get it back. All she could hear was the scratching of dog paws on the rocks. Nyela cracked her eyes open and leveled her amethyst gaze at the woman. “Is that your dog?”

[Navisya Curare]

At some point, Navisya became aware that another soul had entered the Grotto, but upon a cursory examination, it was no one she was familiar. Maintaining her silence, she offered up an unspoken agreement of respectful coexistence, then slipped back into her personal realm and returned to untangling her thoughts. Even her mind felt full of sand. Something had apparently caught Zlynge's attention and excited him, but Navisya was accustomed to the sounds her companion made and barely noticed when he barked. The other woman in the pools, however, was not as tolerant. The sound of her voice breached their agreement, but a moment later, Navisya realized that Zlynge had broken it first. Navisya lifted her head and regarded the other woman with a look of chagrin, and then lifted herself out of the water and began making her way along the wall toward the wandering animal. "Zy, come here," she commanded coolly, her bare feet reaching the cavern floor again. The dog met her as she returned to the site of her belongings, which had been left neatly folded and topped with her sandals. After slipping them back on, she merely swept back her hair and seated herself on a lump of rock. She could afford a moment to air out before she put the rest of her clothes. Navisya turned again to Nyela, smiling apologetically. When wet, her almost-white hair became several shades grayer and took on a lively wave. "I apologize for him." She laid a clawed hand over her dog's head. The animal sat down quietly next to her, blinking slowly and staring out into space. "We've just returned from Eyktol and he brought some of it back embedded in his fur. My home was turning into a desert." Growing bored, Zlynge yawned and lowered himself onto the ground, laying himself at Navisya's feet and resting his head between his legs. Sharp, black nails scratched carefully near his ear. "I hadn't expected anyone to be here at such a late bell," she continued to explain, perhaps excessively. She was glad to be speaking to an audience who understood Symenos. "I presume that means you've had a long day. I'm so sorry that we bothered you." An idea sprang to mind, urged by the euphoria of her return to Kalinor, comfort, and familiarity. "Might I take you out for a drink as compensation in the near future?"

[Nyela Carum]

Nyela didn’t have the energy to hold onto her annoyance. It was already late enough. All she wanted was some peace and the woman had already quieted her dog. There was no reason to hold it against her. She let the tension flow out of her body and into the water. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t the dog that was bothering her anyway, but she came to the Grotto because she didn’t want to think about what really lurked beneath the surface. Her eyes skimmed over the woman. Rivulets of water ran down her body from her wet hair. There was nothing unpleasant about her face. Even in the low light, she could easily see the dark veins that ran under the surface of her pale skin, which starkly contrasted the darkness of her wet hair. Nyela blinked and moved her gaze back up to meet the woman’s. “There’s no need to apologize. Your dog seems to obey your command well. It must be well trained.” She played with her hands under the surface of the water, resisting the urge to get out. The woman’s black nails were long and lovely, unlike hers. Nyela plunged her hands deeper into the water so they weren’t easy to see clearly. She still remembered the day she filed them down; they had to be clipped short for her to function as a midwife, but she’d become overly conscious of her hands as a result. “I’ve never been to Eyktol, but I’m thinking about travelling there sometime. How did you like it?” She knew she’d probably never get around to going anywhere with all the bells that she worked. It didn’t help that she had little desire to leave Kalinor, but every once in a while she dreamt about it. Until she had free time and the nerve for travel, she had the Grotto. It was more beautiful than any place else she could imagine going. There wasn’t a lot of light, but what little there was set the whole place alight. Reflections from the stalactites danced across the surface of the water. She loved it. Nyela smiled openly enough to expose her canines. “I work really long days at the Purging.” Some of them longer than others. “I’m usually here at a late bell, trying to unwind.” But there were still some stains that couldn’t be washed away by the warm water. "Might I take you out for a drink as compensation in the near future?" The question caught her off-guard. It’s not like she knew the woman, but right at that moment, Nyela could have used one. “You know, I don’t remember the last time I went out for a drink?” She laughed a little to herself. “I guess my version of a good time is coming here to relax. I forgot there were other ways to do that. I think I would actually like to go out sometime. Oh, and my name’s Nyela, by the way. If we’re going to share a drink, you should probably know my name. And you are?”

[Navisya Curare]

The compliment made Navisya smile, and she turned to Zlynge to pet his cheek and neck out of praise and pride. It had taken a long time for the dog to grow out of his puppy years (she still remembered the messes he would cause when he was past two years old), and she wondered if he listened now more out of age than trained obedience. Then again, he spent the majority of the first year of his life traveling with Navisya's older sister, who probably would have preferred to drown the animal if it hadn't kept her surrogate preoccupied. That might have left some scars in him. "It was fine," she replied vaguely, but honestly. Fine enough for a Gleaning and fine enough never to go back. "Bright, hot, sandy. Several times the size of Kalinor, so it's easy to get lost. The Eypharians however seem to have a little trouble telling Symenestra apart from humans; we're all the same to them, so it's a bit easier to get around." There were some places that Navisya's mother had strongly urged her never to visit, like Ravok and Lhavit. The cities were only names to her, but they became synonymous with danger. This early morning encounter was going better than expected. Navisya's guilt drained away into a budding interest for a new acquaintance. Zlynge however was growing bored. He got up, leaned over to scratch at his jaw with a hind foot, and then laid himself down again in a new position after a long moment of meandering around his owner. Navisya tilted her head, learning the woman worked at the Purging. It lent some heavy insight into her exhaustion, mentally and emotionally. The hunter made a private note to be more considerate in the future. "Navisya," she responded, smiling again as her offer was accepted. "Second daughter to Tevander and Lissith Curare." Lissith had spent the last months of her life under the care Purging staff, so Navisya assumed that Nyela would have at least heard the name. "My family and friends call me Sya, and you are welcome to if you wish. So it's settled then; I will take you to the Hunter's Gather sometime soon. I used to go there frequently with my father and cousin after hunts in greater Kalea." She leaned forward and used a thick ribbon to tie her unruly wet hair, to keep it from puffing into a terrible mess at it dried. Now that the water had mostly evaporated from her skin, Navisya then began to put on the rest of her clothing. "I haven't gotten good and drunk in a long time. I never developed a taste for Eypharian beers, and all the best wines were kept by the higher castes. Have you ever traveled outside Kalinor?"

[Nyela Carum]

Her smile lingered. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn’t a patient or a coworker. Everyone else was in short supply. She squeezed the back of her neck, loosening up the muscle there a little more. The Grotto had begun to work its magic. She noticed that the woman was practically dry, while she was beginning to prune under the water. Nyela’s reluctance to get out of the pool remained, but she knew she being stupid. She’d just agreed to go out with her. Sooner or later she was going to catch a glimpse of her hands. Then what? Probably not give a petch about her nails. Nyela was the only one who obsessed over them. On the other hand, if she stayed in the pool, she could relax a little bit more. She doubted anyone would bat an eyelash at her if she stayed submerged for a few more bells. She sighed. Making things harder for herself was becoming a hobby. She dismissed the line of thinking before it spiraled out of control. Her mind was all over the place today. This wasn’t like her. If her new acquaintance got the idea that she was a lunatic, their get together might be off before it was on. For Viratas’s sake! She was getting on her own nerves now. Nyela had completely zoned out and only tuned back into the conversation in time to hear the woman say, “Bright, hot, sandy. Several times the size of Kalinor, so it’s easy to get lost.” The bright part didn’t sound too appealing but the hot and sandy part sounded interesting. Getting lost on the other hand? Not for her. She could nurse those at death’s door back to life, but she couldn’t search her way out of a barrel, let alone a huge city. A chill ran through her that had nothing to do with being cold. “Maybe I’ll stay here where there’s less sand to get in my hair.” She looked up at her, listening carefully as the other woman introduced herself as Navisya. Sya seemed to have a rich life. It was something Nyela could appreciate. Her own days were never dull. There was no reason to complain about being bored and she didn’t want that to change. Though she often felt microscopic in a the big world. For that reason alone, she dreaded leaving Kalinor. Sya’s mother had been in the Purging. She remembered her, but she’d never been in her care. “I’m so sorry about the loss of your mother. She was at the Purging for a while, though I never directly cared for her. I mostly take care of the surrogates and the newborns.” When she asked her about travelling, Nyela thought back to Sya’s experience with the desert and another little tremor ran through her. “Never. I guess I don’t get out as much as I don’t drink.” Though there was something about the woman’s energy that kind of made her regret both. Suddenly, she felt like the pools were too shallow. She pulled herself up onto the rocks at the edge of the water, leaving its warmth behind and stretched the last kinks out of her back before grabbing her dress, which she laid across her hands. “I’ll be looking forward to getting drunk with you then. The sooner the better.”

[Ensnare]

Navisya If you should ever return, send me a PM and I will post your grade here. It is saved as a file on my computer. Nyela Skill XP Gained Observation 2 Meditation 1 Lore Gained Navisya: Syemenestra With a Dog Location: Blue Grotto Offer: Drink with Navisya! Fear: Shortened Nails? Eghads! Eyktol: Bright, Hot, and Sandy Items/Consequences: N/A If you feel I have graded you unfairly, or if you have any questions, please send me a PM and we'll work the problem out. Notes : T'was a nice and short little social thread.