Day 27 of Summer, 508 AV
The day started out sunny and muggy, just as a regular day during the summer in Zeltiva should. Being surrounded by mountains and water, Zeltiva had it's fair share of weather abnormalities and anomalies. It was on mornings like these that Evanie most enjoyed going out to the Zastoskas and drawing the leaves on the trees, still dripping with fresh dew that the night left. Her sketchbook was mainly full of drawings of nature and the forests, and occasionally a foreigner visiting the town, maybe of a different race that caught her attention.
"Mother! I'm going out for a while, I'll be home by the fourteenth bell!" Evanie shouted down the hallway on her way out, quickly grabbing her backpack and shoes that were sitting by the door. Both of her parents would still be asleep at this time in the morning, and knew where she would be whether she told them or not, but Evanie still liked to let them know.
The streets through the Old Quarter were practically empty, with a random stranger every few moments straggling along with an overloaded backpack or on horseback, the saddlebags filled to the brim. Evanie would smile and greet every person she passed, because in her heart she truly believed that every soul was a kind one, and there were no bad things in the world. Being only fourteen at the time and having had grown up in the same cottage in the same city her entire life, Evanie was a complete foreigner to the outside world. She knew nothing of the dangers it possessed because she was shielded by her parents and their constant reassuring that nothing could hurt her. She had never been trained to defend herself from any kind of attack and was usually good at resisting a fight, breaking up a fight, or stopping a fight before it happened. All Evanie knew was her drawings, singing, dancing, storytelling, and acting, and everybody loved her for it.
"Hello Evanie! You're up bright and early this morning. Why the rush?" A kind man who lived in the cottage three blocks from her, called out to Evanie from his front window. The man's name was Russand, and all Evanie knew of him was that he made very good soup for when one had a sickness, and he liked to offer his soup to anyone he saw, whether they were sick or not.
"Good morning Russand. I'm on my way out to the mountains actually, I'm going to catch the sun rising through the trees before it's too late."
"Would you like some soup? It's fresh!
"No thank you Russand, I have to be going now, farewell!"
Evanie jogged down the street and slowed her pace to a comfortable walk, heading for the Mirahil pass, which had many different trails branching off of it.
She passed through the busier part of town, the markets, seeing all the different races and people bustling around, selling, buying, conversing in the street. A line of soldiers passed through the square and she nodded her head respectfully at them as they passed, paying her no heed.
Maybe I should buy an apple, I'm hungry for an apple, Evanie thought whilst passing one of the many stalls selling foods. She looked around until seeing one selling fruits and browsed for apples. She smiled at the vendor, a human man with a graying beard and dark eyes, with a permanent scowl on his face, and picked out a round, shiny apple that looked very appetizing. She paid the man for her purchase and slipped the apple into her backpack.
After looking around a little more, Evanie decided to continue making her way to the pass, but was stopped by some sort of barricade in the street, made of horses.
"Sir, you need to pay for the food." A woman at another stall selling food farther down the road was talking up to one of the men on a horse. From this distance Evanie could tell that the people on the horses were Drykas, there were three. An older man, a woman, and a boy who seemed about Evanie's age, fourteen.
The man watched the woman as she repeated what she said, then he made some obscene gestures with his hands and spoke a language Evanie had only ever heard once before. Pavi, she thought, the family must not know any of the common language, they might need help.
Evanie pushed through the crowd that was accumulating around the horses and spoke directly to the woman.
"How much do they owe you, ma'am?" Evanie said with a smile and the nicest voice she could muster. The woman grunted a price and Evanie handed her some of the silver mizas in her pocket, telling her to keep whatever was left over. The woman turned back to her booth and started counting the money.
The Drykas family seemed surprised at Evanie's random offer to pay the price of their food. The Drykas woman dismounted from her horse and walked quickly over to Evanie. Evanie was almost sure the woman would do something drastic, but instead she stopped right before Evanie and just looked at her.
The woman made gestures with her hands and spoke in that strange language again, seeming to say something along the lines of 'Thank you'. Evanie smiled, nodded, and turned to continue down the road.
Before she could go anywhere, she felt someone grab her upper arm and yank her back, it was the Drykas woman, pulling on her sleeve.
The woman seemed to struggle with what to do, but then started speaking in Pavi again, with the hand motions again. Evanie waited until the woman was finished before letting her know that she didn't understand a single word of what the woman had said. The woman seemed exasperated but thought before making it a littler simpler. She shrugged her shoulders, looked all around, pointed in every direction, shrugged again, then put her palms flat together and held them to the side of her face, making a sign like she was sleeping, that's when it clicked in Evanie's mind.
"Oh! You don't know where the inn is! Of course I can help you there!" Evanie said excitedly. She waved at them, motioning for them to follow her. The Drykas woman remounted her horse and they started following when Evanie walked away, in the direction of the World's End Grotto.
They walked a good distance, zigzagging through the now busier streets of Zeltiva, until they reached the inn. The Drykas family thanked Evanie, tried to pay her for her troubles, but Evanie refused to take the money, and they went inside to get a room. The Drykas boy stopped outside before going in with his parents. He had intricate tattoos all up and down his arms and a pretty swirl right above his left eyebrow, Evanie could imagine sketching him.
"Thank you." The boy said to her with a heavy accent. Evanie raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"You can speak the common language?" She asked him, suddenly getting excited, he seemed to struggle to find what to say and nodded.
"Yes, school teach me little common, Mother and Father do not speak common." He replied. She nodded in thought and an idea popped into her mind.
"I could teach you! And in return could you teach me Pavi?" She asked him. Pavi was always a language that interested Evanie, with it's sign language along with spoken words. It seemed confusing, exotic, somehow alien, and that was exciting to her. It was like a language from a whole different world. The boy smiled and then gave her a questioning look.
"Day? Time?" He inquired. Evanie decided that tomorrow at the 12th bell would be a perfect time. She let the boy know, telling him that her name was Evanie. He smiled and told her his name was D'Ryat.
They parted ways and finally Evanie was able to get to her favorite spot in the Zastoskas to sit down and draw to her heart's content.
