Completed The Meeting of the S's (Seryk)

[Savio]

38th of Summer, 513 The sun hung low in the sky was Savio made his way back to the Safe Haven Hostel after a hard day of running deliveries all over Nyka. But at least he was getting used to it. He wasn’t completely exhausted like he had been the week before. And the soreness in his limbs were not nearly as bad. That had to say something, right? Savio yawned as he stepped inside the quite Haven. He waved at Vysia was he took a seat at one of the empty tables. His feet throbbed inside his boots but it was manageable until after he got something to eat and drink before heading up into his room to clean up and sleep for the night. He rested his head on his arms, which were perched on the rough surface of the table. Petch, he was still tired though. Perhaps taking that third load had been too much. Oh well, at least he got a few extra laats as tips. If he kept working like this, he might get a raise soon. Hopefully.

[Seryk]

Seryk poked at his meal with a sour face. Wilting vegetables, the bread was so stale he could beat somebody to death with it, there wasn't any meat on the plate and just a few wimpy fruits. That and a cup of water made up his evening meal. They didn't even give him a mug of ale to wash it all down, Not that he wanted to get drunk, he had seen vysia's way to break up trouble and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that one. He looked around for a place to be seated. Some empty tables, but he found eating by himself rather boring, especially when the food was as bad as this. He wanted some conversation to distract him from the fact the food was ready to be thrown on the compost heap. He saw a table with only a single other person and smiled. That would be perfect, none of the hassle of trying to shove yourself into a group of people. He walked over towards it and put his food down on the table, giving the tired person a bright smile. "You mind if I sit here?" Without waiting for an answer he sat himself down. Giving the piece of stale bread a look before plunking it into his cup of water, hoping that the moisture would make it at least chewable. "So, had a busy day at your job? You look exhausted."

[Savio]

Savio lifted his head up when he heard someone approach and saw a rather… Small young man sit at his table. He seemed to have a cheery smile. He had asked to sit down, but didn’t even wait for Savio’s reply before he took the initiative. Savio couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto his lips as he examined his new companion. Even though he had facial hair, he looked too young. The beard seemed out of place on his youthful features, so much so that it was almost comical. He was also very short. Savio had never seen another man of that stature before. Savio had the impression that the boy was barely old enough to be loosed from his mother’s apron strings, let alone out traveling by himself. “Sure, I don’t mind.” Savio said with a tired chuckle as he sat up all the way in his seat. He watched the man give his food a disdainful look before attempting to soak his bread in the water so that it could be ate. Savio had also done that on many an occasion. The bread that was served here could have been used as a weapon by one of the monk factions. The mental image made Savio chuckle again. “Busy day? You can say that. Then again, it’s always busy. I’m just not used to it yet.” Savio replied to the young man’s second question before offering his hand as a friendly handshake. “My name is Savio Cazzola, and you are?” Might as well get to know his dinner companion. Nice people were hard to come by in Nyka.

[Seryk]

Seryk was pretty glad that the man didn't mind him sitting down with him. For some reason it was pretty hard to find people friendly to strangers in nyka even when counting the other strangers. "Seryk Tallgrass, nice to meet ya." He said with a wide grin as he shook Savio's hand. "So what has been keeping you so busy. Your job? running from the monks?" He jokingly threw out the second option. He doubted the guy would be here, in full view of a retired monk, if he had done something to piss a few off. "Or did you just have a bussy day in general?" He picked up one of his vegetables and gave it a disgusted look. before shrugging and eating it anyway, shuddering in disgust afterwards. "You know, at times I wonder if they didn't just scrape some stuff of the compost heap and gave it to us foreigners. These vegetables taste a lot worse then they look." he swallowed another one and waited for savio to answer his question, or go back to lying tiredly on the table if he really was that tired. He probably could bring enough conversation to the table for the both of them.

[Savio]

The short man’s name Seryk Tallgrass. The irony was not missed. Savio instantly fell in like of the man sitting at his table. He was friendly and talkative, and had a ready smile. It reminded of his friends back home. Savio even laughed at Seryk’s joke. He had no idea how close to the truth he came. Savio had indeed ran from a monk not too long ago, but he wasn’t going to vocalize it. The cuts on his back were still healing and or scabbed over. “I am a courier. I deliver messages and packages around Nyka.” Savio answered as he waved over one of the barmaids. She brought Savio over his own plate of… “Top Quality” food. Savio made a face at the food once the woman had turned away. Well, after the day he had, it was better than nothing. Savio looked up from his food to look at Seryk, a small smile on his face at what Seryk had suggested. He then chuckled quietly, not wanting to anger Vysia. “I agree. I think the intention is to chase us back out.” Savio started eating his dinner, trying his best to force the sour food down his throat. He missed his mother’s cooking every time he had to eat here in Hostel.

[Seryk]

As obvious the ironic name was for savio, seryk didn't have a clue about it, he just let out a impressed whistle as savio mentioned he was a courier. "I can see how running around the city tires you out. But look on the bright side, at least you get to know the city during your job. I'm stuck in the kitchen for almost the entire day, I still don't know my way around this city, even though I've been here for awhile already." he said with a smile as he took his piece of bread out of his cup of water and took a bite out of it. Seryk laughed at Savio's comment. "That probably isn't to far from the truth. I'm not moving though, still have a lot of stuff to see here before I'm even thinking to go back to syliras." He said with a ready smile. "Speaking of which why did you come to nyka? It probably isn't for the company or the food." the words already left his mouth before he realized that could be a sensitive topic. "If you don't wanna tell I'm not going to force you, just curious."

[Savio]

Savio offered a smile and shrugged. “I enjoy my job very much. It keeps me active.” He replied but Seryk’s job instantly caught Savio’s attention. “You work as a cook? Where?” The prospect of better food was tempting. Savio was more than willing to pay a miza or two for something that tasted better than the half rotten food on his plate currently. Seryk was quickly endearing himself to Savio; even more so when he brought up Savio’s home city. The young man’s face lit up as he felt a kinship to the other man now. Over the last few days, Savio had become increasingly homesick. Sometimes he contemplated returning home, admitting to his father that he had been wrong, and start working on the farm again. But giving up like that was unacceptable for Savio. If he was nothing else, he was proud. Stepping down like that to his father would shatter his ego. When Seryk asked for Savio’s reason for coming to Nyka, and then quickly looked abashed for it, Savio just laughed again and patted the man’s shoulder. “It’s alright to ask. I came here to find a Master to train me, whether it is in Combat or acrobatics or whatever. I also wanted to see a bit of the world. I was born and raised in Syliras, and those stone walls couldn’t hold me in any longer. You know?”

[Seryk]

Seryk saw savio perk up as soon as he mentioned he was a cook. "I work at the bubbeling pot down in the southern quarter. Don't get your hopes up for getting a decent meal there though. You just bring your rations to us and we cook it for you and while I can cook I'm not a miracle worker." He poked at his plate. "Not that a miracle would be enough to make this food taste good in any case." he took another bite from his plate as savio was talking, trying not to focus on the poor quality food. He was happy that savio didn't mind him asking about it and was slightly surprised when he was also from syliras. "You're also from syliras, that's awesome!" He said with a loud laugh. "And I know exactly what you mean with that. After a while looking at the same stone walls and doing the same work every single day just felt stifling. I wanted to see more of the world then just the walls of syliras. I heard a lot about nyka and how mysterious the city was so this was the first place I went towards. Though one day I hope to visit endrykas as well. My father was born there." the young man said with a wide grin on his face. "As for the master thing I haven't heard of one, but I heard about a training maze of some sort close to the northern wall. A lot of monks and civilians go there to get a daily dose of fighting. I haven't dared to go in there alone. But if we go in a group I don't doubt we would be able to learn something. Best way to learn something is to do it. You interested?" he said with an eager grin. He had been wanting to give that maze a go for a while now and savio looked a sturdy and thrusty fellow to him. "It will be a blast."

[Savio]

“The Bubbling Pot? I think I have been past there once or twice, but I never had the time or the rations to step inside. Perhaps if I can register at the Palace of Supplicants and get better food I will stop by there and see what’s cooking, hm?” Savio chuckled before gnawing on his rock hard bread loaf. Savio caught Vysia glaring in their direction and Savio instinctively slumped lower in his seat and lowered his voice as well. “I think we are being too loud.” Savio whispered to Seryk. But he still listened to his new found friend. “Endrykas? Isn’t that a bit far from here? I mean, it has to be at least a season’s ride from Nyka. But when you do go, I wish you the best of luck. Really. But I suggest you be careful. I remember some Knights talking about how the Diamond clan seems to be a threat. I honestly hope they don’t plan to raid Syliras, since my family owns a farm outside the walls. They are vulnerable to attack.” The thought was spoken before Savio could stop it. He hoped his words didn’t offend his new friend. He knew there was some prejudice towards Drykas in Syliras. He hoped he didn’t just sound like those zealots to Seryk. “um… I’m sorry, that didn’t quite come out right.” Savio shifted uneasily in his seat before trying to change the subject. “A training maze? Do you mean, The Warfields? I have heard about the place but I have been avoiding it too. I don’t think I am capable of fighting in there just yet, but I guess I can go with you. I mean, if it gets too rough in there, we can high tail it out of there. Right?” Savio had also been nervous about going in there, but it wouldn’t been too dangerous if he went with a friend to watch his back… right?

[Seryk]

Seryk visibly deflated under vysia's glare. shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he waited for her gaze to pass their table and focus on somebody else. "At least we got a warning that wasn't a knife to the shoulder." seryk said in a visibly relieved voice. "Though you have to admit,the way she can throw those things with such accuracy is pretty damn awesome. Maybe I'll ask what her price is for lessons. Maybe after I invested in a suit of platemail." He said in a half joking tone. When savio mentioned the diamond clan being a thread he froze in shock. "It's probably just a rumor. I doubt that the drykas would try to attack syliras." He let out a bit of forced laughter. "My father came from the diamond clan and he has become a knight. So I don't think there is any problem on that front. Besides there is a knight devision that protects all the farms outside of syliras. So even if they attacked syliras it would be a foolish move and nobody wants to go against the knights." He honestly didn't try to be insulted that his family would attack the knights. But if he was honest, he didn't exactly know anything about the diamond clan other then what his dad told him. Which wasn't exactly a lot to be honest. Was that maybe the reason why he left endrykas? He shoved that nagging little thought out of his mind. As quickly as it had popped into his mind. He waved his hand as Savio apologized a weak smile on his face. "No problem. Well, I never met any other diamond clan-member other then my father, so I wouldn't know anything about it. I don't think anybody would attack syliras though. The knights are a force to be reckoned with." He said in a steadfast tone. Trying to reassure his new friend. He went along with savio's change in subject. "Of course. We just need to make sure we don't forget the way out. I heard that the monks patrol it regurally as well. So if we are in trouble we can always try calling for help from them. They'll help us... probably, if that doesn't work we can always climb onto the walls and use that to get out." He grinned again. The other conversation forgotten and once again he was getting exited. Though he kept the volume down this time. "I don't have to work late tomorrow. how is your schedule?"