Completed Exp(hair)iments

[Ana Sol Starris]

Jakobi's Yard Winter 35th, 512AV The day had been like any other, it was frosty and chilly with a nip in the air that bit at the skins of those not properly dressed for a Winters day. While the wind blew ever so gently, there was a light 'crunch, crunch' as one would walk across the frosted over grasses of the Spires. Deafening the crunch of two feet, came four 'clippity, cloppin, crunchin' steps from a horse behind the first two feet; Ana was out leading one of the Spires visitors horses around the Yard for daily exercise. It wasn't so cold that the horses hair wouldn't keep the majestic creatures warm on this chilly day, they walked a few rounds around the slugsuckle fences that constantly needed trimming (those darn plants, they were like weeds the way they grew so fast.) Ana breathed the cold air in, and let a misty steam drift from her mouth, the Yard was so peaceful, just as the city was that could be seen over the tree tops some ways away. She paused the horse lightly, glancing up at the fuzzy face of a horse, his long lashes framing his black eyes, ears flicking too and fro as he seemed content with how everything was going. He started to lean the other way as Ana stared a little too long, moving to turn the opposite direction of which she was looking. Exhasperatedly, Ana followed the movement but kept a hand on the shoulder of the horse as she tried to redirect the horses travel back to the hut. It would have been so much easier if she had a bit and bridle, some reins, but no- Jakobi didn't approve of such things, he had said it was cruel to put a bar of metal in a horses mouth. The horses owner would never know that they never used all of that tack, but they had left the items in the hut for when the owner would return. The horse was well trained enough, calm, alert, and just all around mellow; it was hard to frighten this horse. Ana liked that alot; it made her work easier. She chuckled a little as they came up to the huts door and nearby her stepping stool, she managed to walk the horse to its stall and then hopped to the tool box inside the hut where she could then begin a light brush down of the horses coat. There wouldn't be any need to go full out grooming on the creature, perhaps just the curry comb to get the dust off, the dirt, and anything else that was terrible for the animals coat, and then the dandy brush to wipe it off. Then she could use the soft brush to pamper the gentle beast. Moving over with three brushes in hand, she pocketed the soft brush by the handle and began her work gently. Working over the rippling muscles of the horse, moving with the way the horses hair was directed to give it a smooth shine. She worked lightly, and got the dust out, she wiped it off and onto the ground along with any loose hairs that had been shed. Ana took note how the coat of a horse seemed slightly different this time of year compared to the Spring and Summer seasons, it seemed thicker than before. She guessed that was something that the horse did to stay warm while outside, unknowingly, or did the horse know it grew a thicker, more heat insulating coat? She moved to the otherside, doing the same thing with the curry comb, and dandy brush over again. The brown coat was glossy, it was a bay colored horse and was simply wonderful; she let her hand pet the side, feeling the strong muscle underneath brought a small smile to her face. Their coat was just as soft, and she could feel the heat radiate from underneath the skin contrasting with the frigidness of her fingers (good thing she bought gloves! Albeitly gloves which had the fingerless bits.) Pocketing the curry comb and dandy brush, she switched it out for the soft brush and began to work slowly along the brown coat of the horse, giving him a loving pat down, as well as including the mane in her brushing. Taking all three brushes back to the tool box when she was done, listening for her crazed lover boy to come out at any second to scare the living daylights out of her.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Shutting the tool box, with the tools now apropriately placed where they should be, she turned to look at the opposite wall; barren, with the occasional tool or two hanging up. As well as the tack sitting in the corner. Patting her hands together and then wiping them on her pants, she moved towards the wall and lifted a shovel up- she absolutely hated this job but it was a necessary evil that was to be performed for the sake of hygeine. Cleaning horse poop up from the pasture. Groaning inwardly she carryed the shovel outside and patted the butt of the horse to get a move on, she watched as the brown colored bay moved forwards at command towards the other horses hanging about together with eachother. Some were sitting up, others were standing, and the foal- Taven, born newly last summer was being a ball of energy. Sighing wistfully she watched the young foal for a few moments, such new life was a blessing, and a gift, she had even watched this foal be birthed. Ana wondered how it was like for the mother horse to give birth, to expel life from herself in the form of a child, or in a horses case- a foal. Unaware of what her hand was doing, her hand had went to her stomach before retreating back to hold onto the shovel, a slight glare forming in her eyes. Turning away from the scene, she wouldn't bother herself with unpleasent emotions, she wouldn't let herself think long enough to long for a child of her own. There had been so much planning, and work going into travel plans, supplies, and all that which needed to be adressed to leave the Spires. Ana shook her head as she moved towards the first few piles of dung, she stuck the shovel in the ground and began to wrap the hem of her cloak into her belt, making sure to get the loose ends rooted deep so they wouldn't fall out as she worked. She even pushed her hair back behind her ears so it wouldn't get in her eyes, a light scar appearing on the side of her right cheek, it had been procurred many years ago when she had lived in Zeltiva under her familys rule. One stray strand of blonde hair fell in front of her face, and she blew at it somewhat irritatedly before grabbing the shovel and bending her knees slightly, shoving it underneath the poo and lifting it up, trying to balance a wobble in the handle and spade part of the shovel. Carefully, she stepped around other piles with a lightness to her feet but slowly as she didn't want to spill her picked up manure. There she made her way to and from each pile towards the compost area, plopping the manure onto piles away from the general area the horses would graze and definitely away from their water supply. Ana kept this up until her arms started to sting with the repetition, and the angle at which she kept her arms bent to make sure the manure wouldn't fall all over the place. It was slow going, and humiliating, but she didn't show it on her face, she just wanted this job to be done and over with (as much as she loved horses, she had found a certain distaste for the dirtier jobs involving them.) There were alot of horses, or at least enough to make a lot of poop; to the point it was annoying. Where was Alea when it came to this type of job? Ana grumbled slightly at the impertinence of the younger girl, and then snapping her thoughts to Jakobi, where was that man? She looked about herself, shovel at the ready to pick up another small pile of manure and transfer it to the compost pile. It didn't take long but she finally saw him, he was riding one of the other horses, one of his own actually and boy did he look like he was having the time of his life whilst she picked up poop. Pursing her lips, she thought nothing more of it, this was apart of the job description and the man had the tendancy to let her have some free will on what was to be done. So why was she picking up poop? It has to be done... a voice echoed in her mind. Groaning outwardly now, that was so very true- if no one did it, then it would just pile up and she felt compelled to prevent that from happening before it did. Not because she was forced to or anything, she just didn't like seeing negative outcomes for slothish lazyness, nor consequences which resulted directly from not taking charge of such roles. Bending slightly, this would be her last manure pile to pick up, so she slid the shovel under the poop and hefted it up with a slight wobble to her shoulders as she balanced it too and fro. She made her way to the manure pile once again, starting a new one since the other two seemed a tad full anyways. Ana wondered why it was called a compost pile, did it just keep building up and up until finally there was too much? She would have to pester Jakobi on that later.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana walked back to the hut to the put the shovel away, she was quite pleased with her handiwork in clearing a part of the pasture of poo. Some of the shovellings between compost area and the general grazing area had been long, and sometimes short, or even inbetween certain distances. She had managed to not dump the manure in the wrong spots, or lose her balance too often, and usually when she did fail to keep her balance, she would only shovel the poo back up and continue carrying it. Tomorrow she would definitely make Alea shovel the poo instead, it wasn't her faverite task at all, anything involving alot of unhygeinic processes she didn't like at all. Mainly because she was a big germaphobe, she had enough of her illnesses when she was younger, and as a teenager. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she entered the warm hut and set the shovel back into its rightful spot, making sure it wouldn't fall and then make all the other tools collapse. She turned around to leave, her step was light and when she passed the water barrel she saw red catch in her eyes making her stop and look again. Moving closer to the barrel and peering into the water, it was any wonder it hadn't freezed over yet but it definitely did look colder. Inside the water she saw her reflection, and within that reflection she noticed the red in her hair; a shock of strikingly dark red, blood colored hair stained the strands cruelly. She gripped the sides of the barrel, one hand going to lightly brush some of the red strands as her face hardened; she could see the dark circles under her eyes, the somber appearence it gave her. It was ugly, disgusting, revolting, who could ever look her in the face with eyes such as hers? Petch the gold irises, what about the dark circles which taunted her lids and let everyone know she was an insomniac? There was a tremble in her lip, a twitch in her cheek as she could feel an anger well up inside her, but it was because of this appearence that she had that most people hadn't looked at her in Sunberth. Pretty women had to watch where they stepped, or face severe consequences if they could not defend themselves, even men that looked sickly like this had to watch out or have their arses handed to them because they looked weak; but a small woman, that looked like a pubescent child? She was too small to be noticed, and if she ever was, she was lucky to have gotten away with her body intact. Her eyes were drawn back to the red again, red like blood, red like the stained streets in Sunberth and the setting sky. Sighing yet again, Ana let her head hang a bit; so far she had been careful with this morphing buisness and here was pure evidence that she wasn't being careful enough. The red which stayed in her bangs, and the green that dyed her hand, all examples of not being careful enough with magic. Yet, there was something alluring about morphing, it gave her a thrilling chill every time she used it. Morphing in itself was not a play toy, and she treated it as thus with a type of respect she wouldn't give most people; if it could temporary do this to her, then what would happen if she messed about with the very code of her body? Ana stirred the freezing water with a finger, distorting her appearence and then gripping a small part of the red hair she had accidently given herself. Examining it, and then to the green fingers she was holding it with. Right now probably was not the time to test anything out, but she didn't want to see that red in her hair at every moment her bangs decided to come undone, or worse, when she had to have her bangs covering that small scar from veiw of the world. At that moment she wasn't thinking of the scar, she just didn't want to see the blood in her hair, and if she were to be honest, this would proove to be a learning experience; if a part of someone was morphed, and it was cut off, what would happen to the detached morphed part? Unsheathing her dagger slowly, she held onto the scabbard and watched it be drawn out just in case she did something stupid and cut herself by accident. Holding a part of the red hair again, she lifted the dagger with her other hand up and cut it off; keeping a firm grasp on the red strands now seperated from her head. Ana watched it scathingly, waiting for something to happen to it- but nothing did. Throwing the red strands down in disgust, she undid the bun she had put her hair up in and let the long hair flow down to rest lightly on her back. Huffing her rage out, she began to systematically shear her hair off; letting golden strands hit the ground until finally her entire head of hair looked to be a big mess. Uneven, and crooked. No more than an inch stuck out from all sides of her head, with here and there larger strands sticking out, a chunk of the red hair remained in a fist. She wanted to see how long it took for this wretched transformation to wear off, but she would not be caught with it on her person any longer. Hair was one thing, skin was another, if she could have chopped the green hand off without great consequence, she would have. Ana glared at the yellow hair now on the ground, just moments before on her head..

[Ana Sol Starris]

Realization set in within moments at what she had done to herself, panic choked her as her eyes frantically looked at the golden strands now on the ground. Dropping the dagger, she clutched at the blood colored hair with her other hand, whilst the now free hand went to touch the right side of her face-what had she done? Despair wailed loudly within her mind, what would she do, how could she have done that to herself! For many years she had kept her hair long as a sort of defence mechagnism, to hide that scar she didn't want acknowledged by anyone. It was why those side bangs were allowed to hang loose at the side of her head, making the bun in the back uneven, and messy, more able to fall out of said bun because it didn't have the right amount of mass to hold it back there. "NO, no, no" whispers darted from her mouth, repeatedly as she sank to the ground trying to grab at the golden strands. Eyes watering as she felt her identity be stolen away from herself in mere chimes, from a single, and simplistic act called getting your hair chopped off. "PETCH!" Ana shouted, an echo of the word followed as she folded in on herself, she held onto the red strands as she went into a fetal position, "petch, petch, oh gods no, no, no, how could I" she began to hysterically sob into the ground, her hands going to hold her head. Her hair in itself had been a type of mask she treasured, it fell in her eyes alot, hid the scar, and made her at least look like a woman; now she must have looked like a scrawny boy. Tears rolled out and down from her eyes, her mind screamed, but her mouth remained shut and her outward appearence quiet. Barring the snivelling, and essentially the shuddery crying. There was a rough tumble about behind her, Jakobi had stormed in after hearing her shout and had come in frantically looking for the problem. All he saw was a crying Ana surrounded by hair, he must have seen the red chunk of hair she held onto so tightly that he gave a shout of surprise riddled with worry "Ana!?" he said, making Ana only want to hide more. The small girl felt herself lifted, and turned about, being checked for any sign of harm; she saw Jakobi's eyes go to the dagger and then to the hair around her, as well as her rather shorn head. Worry filled eyes as he shook her lightly by the shoulders, his own realization setting in that she was fine, physically, perhaps not emotionally. Ana dipped her chin in, squeezing her eyes shut; she didn't want to see him, didn't want him to see the blatant scar on her cheek even if he had possibly seen it a thousand times beforehand. Jak didn't force her to look at him, only held her tightly against himself as comfortingly as he could; she could only wonder what he was thinking of right at that moment, but that didn't matter, she just couldn't look at him now with that awful scar out for all to see. Didn't want to see the disgust that could form at any given chime, she felt a flutter in her chest as she started crying all over again. This time instead of hysterically wailing, she only had her eyes shut, and felt the tears run down in hot waves. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" He asked her, a little desperately now that she wasn't responding to him. "No," Ana croaked to him, feeling her back shudder as she tried to bury her face into his collarbone area, trying to further escape his eyes; "I'm not alright, I did something stupid" she whispered, her voice a little higher than normal, arms wrapping around him tightly, clinging to him just as desperately as his voice had been. Jak rubbed her back, and a shoulder lightly, she could hear the strain in his voice "you cut your hair?" "Yes" Ana replied, voice cracking as she admitted it, but he wouldn't understand why she had. Ana heard Jak's sigh as he gave her a comforting squeeze "we could have went to a cut above, y'know Anasol if you really wanted your hair-" "It's not that-" Ana cut him off, gritting her teeth as if in pain "it-its the scar.. the scar on.. I.. I didn't mean to cut my hair.. I just.." She did not finish what she wanted to say. The both of them stayed silent for many chimes, just holding onto eachother; neither knowing what to say, but mostly Ana not having the courage to continue her sentence, and felt as if she hadn't needed to continue on- her voice and demeanor had said it all. Jakobi seemed content to just hold onto Ana, until she calmed down, having of cryed herself out, and shivering in his arms; it was only until then that he spoke with a very caring tone to his voice. "Wear that scar as a badge of honor.. Anasol, you should be proud to have it, its a sign of experience" he told her not very lightly, now gripping her chin and making her look him in the eye "scar or not, you are beautiful the way you are."

[Ana Sol Starris]

That had been the most cheesiest thing she had ever been told in her life, she stared at him, eyes wide and red from the crying, mouth opening slightly to reply but shut as she looked at him dumbfoundedly. For all the things she wanted to say and do, she could do none, as Jakobi's face had gotten very close to hers; so close that their lips touched and he had kissed her. The sensation was fleeting, warm, it left a tingle on her lips as he pulled away, there was a goofy look on his face as he grinned "Now since you've hacked your hair off, would you like me to at least even it out? I'm not a hair-stylist thingamaperson, but if it's any consolation.." He caressed her cheek and gave her enough space to get comfortable again, pleased with his effect on the small thief. Ana blinked as he drew away, his words were like static in her ears- unreadable; she did not flinch away from his touch, she had grown quite accustomed to it over the few seasons. It took her a moment to validate what he was saying, slowly nodding her head as she picked up the dagger and handed it to him. She turned around and sat on her knees, shoulders slightly slumped with a tired ache seeping into her body. Jak started to work carefully, and slowly with her hair, simple with what he was doing maybe even a bit rough around the edges but it would get the job done. He had said to wear the scar like a badge, that it was a sign of experience; if that was so, was that why Zand didn't wear an eyepatch over her own blind eye? Or grew her hair out long enough to cover it completely. She kept completely still as he worked, her head felt much lighter than before as if cutting her hair had lifted a harsh burden. "Thankyou.." She murmured to him, feeling emotion well up in her chest again; this time she managed to choke it down and remain stoic. How ungrateful she was, for everything that Jakobi had done for her, she had taken for granted; she was despicable, and she knew it. How he could ever love her was beyond her now, and how long would it take her to come out to him that she was going to leave the Spires without him? The ache that once was on her shoulders seemed to have shifted into her chest, resting in her heart, the hand which clenched at the red hair slowly went to rest on the middle of her chest. Deeply in thought. Jakobi must have sensed it, or something, because he whispered close to her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder afterwards; done with the trimming. "You look nice with short hair, Anasol." The hairs on her neck rose at the small intrusion and brought a small blush to her cheeks that slowly crept down her neck. She couldn't deny she had feelings for him, even if she did push them down as often as she could in hopes of dulling the pain for when she left him, and the Spires- forever. There was a twinge in her chest, the look on her face must have been pained, or because she didn't respond right away that Jakobi began to worry again. This time she could hear the fear in his voice, did he know she was going to leave him? Did he know that she didn't belong in the Spires? "Whats bothering you Ana.." He asked her, she could feel a hand on her arm lightly, reaching out to her and she just kept pushing him away. Turning her head slowly, she looked at him in a new light, this man was a funny guy, he cared for her, loved her, protected her, he never showed fear. Yet here he was, an anguish she could not describe reverberated through him, she did not need auristics to see his own inwardly held pain. Did he expect the both of them to live happily ever after like a fantasy story book did? She cleared her throat to speak, but suddenly found that telling him the truth was hard, she mustered a smile as best as she could for him. "Nothing-" "You're lieing." The exchange had been quick, he had cut her off before she could add anything on and before she could even refute him for saying she had lied, he continued on to speak, her eyes darted to the dagger in his hand now being layed on the floor. He suddenly gripped her shoulders, and forced her to face him chest first, and in his face, a fire she had seen only a few times. One side of Jakobi she feared, if only a little bit. Her smile faltered. "You're lieing, and you know it..I can see it in your eyes, I can hear it in your voice, how you stare off into space, and are far more fidgetty than you use to be, and how you get into even more trouble- more than before.. Don't tell me it's nothing.." He kept a firm grip on her, she stared into his eyes and felt him searching her soul, such a gaze she could not keep for long before looking away shamefully. His voice was strong, dominating as he got her to listen. "No, look at me Ana, look at me.." he lightened a bit at the end, that had gotten her to look at him again, scaredly, like a child would "the circles have gotten worse under your eyes, do you ever sleep any more? Have you ever?" At this question she shook her head no, it wasn't often that she slept and when she did her dreams were not respites, they were hellish prisons. Ana shut her eyes in an attempt to hide the pain she felt, face contorted in pain as she held back the tears that threatened to flow once more, her voice was shuddery, and whispered, half way through she would open her watering eyes "I can't sleep at night because I have nightmares.. Things of my past.. Things I have to do before I can ever settle down, and actually.. rest.." Admittedly, that was the first time she had ever told anyone of her nightmares under her own free will. Not even Zandelia knew of her nightmares, and hopefully she never would; Ana took in a troubled breath as she tried to remain calm and continue to speak with a sane mind "I can't stay here in Spires with you.. Jakobi.. I can't.. I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry.. I don't belong here-" her voice dragged out at the end into a half-wail, she controlled herself but her jaw trembled.

[Ana Sol Starris]

"So it's true.." He said somewhat neutrally, a tinge of hurt on the tip of his tounge. He could have given any sort of reaction to that, and Ana had expected it to be one of anger, disbelief, frustation, and hurt, it could have been depression, sorrow, sadness, and irritation. It could have been anything besides this, this reaction he was now performing towards her. Jakobi had pulled her into a tight hug, and with how little strength she had, could only comply with the motions; for a few moments she thought he was crying, or at least trying not to, but he sounded happy, and understanding. How much more could she expect from him? This man was amazing, he didn't deserve someone like her, she was horrible, nasty, she was far more trouble than she was actually worth yet here he was hugging her. Ana was far too surprised to do anything besides just let him hug her without complaint, a beating in her chest became thunderous as her guilt drowned her in her own misery. Slowly she snaked her arms to hug him back, but found that action to be just as hard as it had been to tell him, daggers stabbed at her conscience mind that this was completely wrong, he shouldn't be acting like this. But he is.. Ana fought back mentally, trying to accept this as a reality, and somehow she thought that maybe if it were a dream, it was a nice one. Heart felt, and emotional, not dark, nor gruesome and it inspired some form of confidence inside of her. "J-jakobi?" she tried to ask, startled by his actions of course. "I knew this would happen.. I knew it.." He breathed out, getting just as emotional as well with her. He did not let her go "you didn't have to hide this from me Anasol, you could have told me and maybe.. maybe" he tried to continue on "maybe theres still time to start over..?" Ana shook her head in his chest, feeling her shoulders shake; oh no, she was crying again and this time because she knew their relationship was coming to a terrible end. Perhaps one not filled with misery, but an anguish, and a longing for eachothers hold. She gripped him, and held onto her words, she had to rectify this as best as she could-otherwise face consequences for not acting right away, she inhaled, taking in the musty, horse aroma like scent that wafted from him as she breathed. How many nights she had come familliar with his special smell, she was no animal, but she knew when someone smelled because they didn't bath, opposed to someone that just naturally smelled like this, and with this scent he smelled good. "Nothing would have changed if I told you or not," she whispered, "this was going to happen whether either of us wanted it to or not.. J-Jak.." she bit her lip, feeling a hand squeeze in her chest, pangs of sorrow invaded quickly "I l-love you.. I really do.. But I can't stay here, I have.. I have to take care of some buisness that is far away, outside of Spires and its peaceful forests.. I have to leave and right the wrongs that have been done.. and perhaps finally after that..." she paused, turning her head slightly so she could hear his heart beat, it was fast and dense, as if he were a scared animal to her words "..after that, maybe then I can settle down with you.. and actually.. you know.." her voice fell into silence as she listened to the rhythem in his chest. Hugging him tighter. For a chime, he was silent as if in deep thought, he nuzzled her with his face and held on for dear life seemingly. He was scared too, of losing her. "Is there any hope for me to come with you?" He asked quietly, tightening his grip on her as she would turn her body somewhat to sit in his lap. The question surprised her to say the least, could he come with? Of course she would have to watch out for him, and make sure he didn't pester Zandelia or Ximal too much, but was it actually possible? What if she died, and took too long to come back, he could simply move on (a thought that she didn't want to think of, or to happen at all!) What if vice versa were to happen? What if Jakobi were to meet Wrenmae? Ana feared for Jakobi's life if such a meeting were to occur, no, there would be no sense in bringing Jakobi with her on this quest. They would have to seperate from here on out, there was no other option, no other way, she feared too much for Jakobi's life to just bring him into these matters. She didn't want him hurt. "I..I don't know.. It would be dangerous," Ana started off, hearing a quickening of his heart in his chest as his body flexed ever so lightly underneath her. "You're my woman, my love, my everything, I can't just let you go with the possibility you'll be hurt," he said with a fierce loyalty, making her cringe. "I have to do this on my own," she tried to reason. "But you'll bring two others with that came with you from Sunberth," he refuted. "They're just there to help me get to my destination," she whispered, obviously not telling the truth. If he could tell, he didn't show it this time. "You're set on keeping me from coming, aren't you?" "Yes" She replied quietly. He let a sigh expel itself, holding onto her as she was holding onto him back with as much vigor. Ana could see the indecision in his last few words, she continued on, and as carefully as she could. "It's my fault.. My buisness, what I do when I travel will be solely to get to where I need to be, when I am done, I swear I will come back to you Jakobi. Alive, and in one piece, with maybe a few more scars.." She raised a hand up to guide his face to look at her, she could see the heavyness in the depths of his pupils, he didn't want to let her go "you have to trust me Jakobi, you said so yourself.. a scar is a sign of experience, and you'll love me either way." The look in his eye seemed to change, ever so slightly, a flicker of emotion as he realized his few mistakes, or possibly the cataclysmic advice he had given her would set in motion things that he hadn't thought could have happened before. Ana frowned, worridly up at him as she awaited a response and was not so surprised this time as she had been other times. He hung his head slightly, giving up, but there was still a flicker of hope in his demeanor, he put a larger, more calloused hand ontop of her small one, turning his head to kiss her palm ever so lightly "Alright, alright, but you will promise me you will stay safe, you will come back to me.." He looked at her with his amazing chocolate colored eyes, hope radiating now, pain, but a sort of belief made it possible for him to agree. Ana nodded her head to him, "I promise Jakobi."

[Ana Sol Starris]

The both of them got up, holding eachothers hands and now looking into eachothers eyes with such a clarity it was unbelievable. Instead of there being hopeless despair, and hatred between the two, there was a truely budding love; one that wouldn't be sullied easily. They may have stayed like that forever, just staring into eachothers eyes and relishing in the moments they had together, afraid that either would dissapear and that this truely were a dream. Both drykas horseman, and dark eyed thief, cracked smiles at eachother; genuine on the thiefs part, and contently on the drykas mans part. They were the silliest couple there ever could have been, but it didn't matter, as if in a silent confirmation between the two they cleaned the golden hair up and Ana stowed away the red hair now tied in a knot away into her pocket. Later, Ana would find a way to keep the hair in a more permanent safehold, if there was anything she had learned with her green hand was the color would fade out eventually even if she had stopped fueling the djed there. Bending over, she would pick the dagger up and carefully sheath it once more. As she moved about, Ana noticed the difference between a full head of hair, and one with considerably shortened, boyish hair. There had been worries before, about the scar on her cheek but now those fears had ceased, she would hold her head up high and face life head on when she could (at other moments, she might just be sneaky and backstab the life right out of the headstrong, it was quite a future possibility considering where her fated path was heading) and she would meet conflict, with words and blades. She was tired, and her energy was spent however, all she wanted to do was crawl in a bed and try to go sleep, and hopefully not be tortured by nightmares; but Jakobi motioned to the toolbox, the smile had faded into a calm expression "Theres still lots of daylight, how bout we finish up and get to a nice, warm room with lots of blankets and hot drink afterwards?" The silly grin appeared again. Ana blinked and looked over to the tool box, giving him a pouty lip and moving over towards it "Sounds like a decent plan" she added in, both she and Jakobi collected the necessary tools to continue their jobs and headed out of the hut. They moved towards the horses and began to groom them, interchanging brushes and combs every so often, taking their time to give the animals good pat downs, and sleek shines. The sound of a hot drink was rather inviting actually, and though she wanted to just shirk the duty off, she hated to admit it that she also wanted to get the job done before trying to relax. That could have been said the same for a much larger scaled version of her upcoming life, there would be no resting until the job was finished. Exactly what that job was, Ana didn't know, she knew she had to return to Zeltiva at some point and deal with her father, see if he was still alive after the plague which hit the fair Port City. Then she would brutally interrogate the old man for answers as to why he had made her life a living nightmare, and what her past was like during the years she still had trouble remembering. There was no one left in her life at that time where they would remember her, or even know her besides him. Slowly the both of them worked, and whilst Jakobi was going about exercising the horses by giving them brief runs around the fences, she herself would start trimming the slugsuckle viny weaved fences with the bone shears she had collected from the tool shed earlier. The fences needed to be constantly trimmed down, and they were rather clever in the ways of sneaking up and around the yard. One day she had found some apart of the compost piles mentioned earlier, that was one job she did not enjoy at all. Clipping here and there to keep the vines in line, snipping a leaf here, a stray weed there, there wasn't anything really hard about this task besides the increasingly boring repetition of snipping vines, and rearranging them so they wouldn't over-grow. Now Ana was no expert at this, mostly what she did was cut them off and haul the vines by the arm load to set them next to the toolshed. The Spires could always make use of such things, and therefore were picked up at some time later in the day. Ana would have done the whole fences perimeter if Jakobi hadn't called her away from it, saying that they were done for the day, and they could have fun now. They put the tools away, and hand in hand, they made their way back to the Spires but not before making sure the horses wouldn't escape the fencing.

[Gossamer]

Character: Ana Sol Starris
Experience: +2 Observation, +2 Bodybuilding, +1 Animal Husbandry, +1 (Barbering or Cosmetology – you pick), +1 Morphing, +1 Socialization, + 1 Planning
Lore: Mucking stalls builds muscle, Move slowly and confidently around horses, Self Loathing: I dislike my face, Giving Oneself a Haircut With A Dagger, Scars are Badges of Honor, Keeping Things From Lovers

Additional Note: Lovely insight into Ana. Dude, your PC is messed up. She needs to seek some help or beat some people up to start feeling better about herself. You’re a great writer though and I appreciated the chance to get to grade this. PS. Alea already whined about the other grade, but I'm taking the tough love track on that. I'll regrade when she stops being museless.