Closed Unusual Circumstances (Nyela)

[Dovinya]

17th of Summer, 513 AV

All was quiet in the temple save for a few murmured prayers by some particularly devout worshipers in attendance. Not that he particularly noticed, so consumed was he with the beauty of the place. It had been far too long since he'd last been in these quiet corridors, and there, kneeling before the pool that held the blood of all of his ancestors, he felt the most close to Viratas than he had in a long while. He could only hope Daratur would understand his disappearance and allow him to be apart of this place once more.

As much as he'd like to remain there and enjoy the solitude the temple provided, he had business to attend to, and he struggled to his feet. His body still ached from his ordeal, not yet used to moving about regularly after staying inactive for so long. Even then, he wasn't certain if he would ever fully recover his strength, as malnourished as he had been kept, though he didn't allow that thought to disparage him much. He was free at least.

Thankfully, he didn't have to move far before Daratur answered his summons, and greeted him warmly, to Dovinya's surprise.

"My condolences to you, and your web, I just heard" Daratur spoke, purposely being vague with him, drawing a raised eyebrow from Dovinya. He'd hadn't told anything about his disappearance to the young lady he'd sent to retrieve the priest. Word of his fate must have preceded him here.

"You have my thanks for your concern, the matter is being dealt with promptly. That is not the whole reason I am here though.." He started before Daratur interrupted him.

"Ah yes, of course, you'd no doubt like your position at the temple back, yes? Do you still remember the rituals?"

"Uh.. yes, err no, my memory is a bit hazy on the subject. I know how to instruct someone to give thanks to Viratas"

"As to be expected. To be honest I didn't expect to see you back here so soon, especially with all things considered. How are you feeling by the way?"

"Little worse for wear, and more than eager to set it all behind me"

"Of course. Do you remember the chamber where the supplies for our rituals are kept?"

"I think so"

"Good, go find you the book pertaining to the rituals and learn what you may to prepare yourself. Afterwards see someone about a robe. I assume you are here to resume your position today?"

"Ah.. yes, yes of course" He managed to stammer out, more than a bit overwhelmed.

"Good, its nice to see you around. If you have any further questions, just get in touch with one of the acolytes" Daratur finished before turning to move deeper into the temple, obviously already having busied himself with another task.

After taking a few moments to fully comprehend what had just transpired, he followed suit, heading deeper into the temple where he knew the priest's quarter's to be at. He had a lot of catching up to do it seemed.

[Nyela Carum]

Nyela went over the last few bells of the workday in her mind as she entered the Temple. The nagging feeling that she’d left something unfinished irritated her. She looked back over her shoulder and considered leaving. Even though she worked with the best doctors and healers in Kalinor and she trusted them, she wasn’t sure she trusted herself.

Petch. The last few bells weren’t as sharp in her memories as they should have been given her patient’s lives were often on the line. It was possible that she missed something.

She twisted her fingers together and examined every detail of the day in her mind, bent on finding the source of her distraction, but nothing stood out. Still, the feeling lingered.

The last few days had been long. The Purging had been busy and she’d loved every minute of the endless stretch.

What am I doing here?

There was still so much to be done.

She’d been forced to take a break when one of her co-workers complained about the shake in Nyela’s hands and worried for the safety of her patients.

As much as she hated to admit it, her co-worker had been right. She was on her third straight day of duty. Her body showed signs of fatigue and her ten-chime catnaps weren’t cutting it anymore.

Though they insisted she needed to go home and sleep, her stubborn mind refused to settle as much as her body.

The Temple was the only place she could get her racing thoughts to slow; even if they never stopped completely. There was no point in going home until then.

Nyela glanced around the room. There weren’t many others inside. That was probably a good thing. The less distractions, the better. She had enough to worry about and that nagging feeling of having left something undone made it hard for her to be social.

She made her way over to the blood pool and knelt down in front of it. It was beautiful and so calm. Staring down into its depths, she found the strength to push away her impatience and let go of some of her worry.

This was important to her too, she reminded herself.

When she was done at the Temple, she could stop back at the Purging to check on things. Just to be sure. It was the only way she’d be able to get rid of that feeling. She knew she needed to see for herself what she’d missed. There’d be no sleep until she did.

As good as being in the Temple was for her, she knew she didn’t come as often as she should have.

It was knowing that she did Viratas’s work while she mended the bodies of the women she took care of that enabled her to keep going endlessly. Without the strength she got from her belief, she wasn't sure she'd have the will to go on for days like her patients often needed her to.

Nyela closed her eyes and prayed, in an attempt to turn off the last of her wandering thoughts.

"My condolences to you, and your web, I just heard." The male voice, she recognized as the priest’s, crept into her thoughts, and kept her from being able to focus on her prayers.

"You have my thanks for your concern, the matter is being dealt with promptly. That is not the whole reason I am here though.." That other voice was one she wasn’t one she'd heard before.

Her traitorous eyes cracked open and she peeked out of the corner of her eye. The male the priest spoke to looked like his body had seen better days. He didn’t look familiar, so despite the shape he was in, she doubted she’d seen him at the Purging.

The Purging! What in Vitaras’s name had she forgotten?

Her loud sigh echoed through the Temple.

[Dovinya]

Before he had taken more than a few steps though, a pronounced sigh broke the silence of the chamber. Curiosity tugging at him, he decisively looked over his shoulder, intent on seeing if the noise was an attempt to garner one of the acolytes attention. He didn't recognize anyone in attendance, and it certainly didn't seem as if someone was vying for his attention, which sat well with him for he really didn't expect that the noise would be anything more than it was. It certainly made him feel more reassured that he checked however.

With his curiosity sated, his mind turned back to business as he continued striding into the first hallway of many that he would have to traverse. It had been a while since he'd last navigated these corridors and more than once he found himself backtracking, his hazy memory of the place leading him in the wrong direction more than once. Being back in this part of the temple really sank in the reality of how long he'd been away, and unable to rejoin the sanctity of this place, the only place he felt truly close to Viratas. This was home for him.

So lost in memory was he strolling down the hallway that he didn't even notice a young man crossing the passage before him, and had to come to a complete stop to avoid running into him, breaking his train of though in the process.

"Dovinya!"

His eyes narrowed at the young man's familiar use of his name, for a moment till he recognized the familiarity of the boy's features. He was the same one he'd came across when he was being shown through the temple by Daratur. More than happy to see a friendly face in this maze of corridors, Dovinya greeted the young man back warmly.

"It is good to see you again, and at such fortunate timing. I'm afraid I've gotten myself a bit lost"

He couldn't help but sustain a blush of embarrassment across his features as he stood there awkwardly. After all, he was supposed to be an acolyte here and here he was lost.

"Don't trouble yourself over it, you have been kept long from these corridors, and it would be quite the task to keep them all straight in your mind after some time. Wisely, Daratur thought you'd might need some guidance through these halls, and sent me to find you. I assume you are heading to retrieve a robe?"

"Yes, I'd like to get started on my duties right away"

"Well, to your credit, you managed to find yourself at least partially close the the room you seek, though you certainly made a round about way of it" The young man chided, clapping him on the back before leading the way down the corridor.

"I thought I'd might be more familiar with the halls"

"Fear not, I still get confused in the halls occasionally. A few more tuns now, and we'll be were you seek. Are you keeping track?"

"As best as I can manage"

"Its easy to get back to the temple from the room, just a few simple turns and your back at the center"

"You make it sound so easy"

"Thats because it is easy when you get used to navigating your way around here. You remember traversing these passages don't you?"

"Of course, its just hard remembering which is where"

"Well what I always like.. never mind we are here" The young man announced upon entering before him into the antechamber. Responding to his beckoning, Dovinya swept in behind him, aways in memory once more when he entered the chamber. It had been in this network of chambers that he'd been accepted to work here by Daratur, one of his fondest memories he recalled.

There was little time to dwell in his thoughts however, as the young man was already shoving silk robes into his hand, and pushing him towards a separate chamber that he might put them on.

"From here go straight down the corridor to the left of the entrance we came through, and follow that down till you reach the your third right. Then if you follow that through its course, you'll find the center of the temple. It was good seeing you again." From outside the chamber the young man called out to break the silence of his dressing, before the slight scuff of his footsteps faded away, and Dovinya realized that once more he was alone.

With his robes on, he focused solely on remembering the instructions for getting back, keeping a careful eye out for the number of passages he passed so that he'd remember his way back to this chamber from the center of the temple. It wouldn't simply do to be found so lost again after all, to burden them with having to help him find his way through the temple. To hinder more than help.

He cast such disparaging notions aside as he finally crossed back into the center sanctum of the temple once more, the beautiful stone of the blood pool in its center assuring him further of the fact that he was in the right place. Remembering his previous curiosity, he scanned those few in attendance to see if he might spot the worshiper that had sighed earlier, for the thought that he might have been mistaken and they needed attending to nagged at him now that he was present here once more.