9th of Winter, 513AV
Winter had finally descended upon the city of Nyka. The air held the sharp bite of cold every time Savio took a breath. He could even see his breath in small puffs with each exhale. The young man frowned and wrapped his coat tightly around himself before shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
It wasn’t that he disliked the season. On the contrary, he thought Winter was quite beautiful when there was snow on the ground and when the sunlight hit it so that it sparkled like diamonds. But there was no snow yet. Savio wasn’t even too sure that it would snow here in Nyka since they were so close to the ocean and that left him feeling miserable and cold.
He took a sad breath and continued to walk down the narrow streets of Nyka, keeping his head tucked in so that the cold wind would not sneak into his coat and chill him further. At least he was going somewhere where he could get warm and liven up his spirits. He had just left the School not too long ago as was making his way towards the Celestial Quarter; towards his Beloved who was waiting for him in the Safe Haven. Savio smiled to himself at the prospect of his Ireth smiling up at him as he wrapped his arms around her tender form.
In all honesty, the two of them were still in the ‘learning about each other stage’ of their relationship; trying to figure out the other’s likes and dislikes and perhaps tiptoeing around the small fact that they come from rival cities. It was something that became problematic from time to time. Sometimes Savio would slip up and use a slur that involved Rhysol and Ireth would get upset or Ireth would make an unpleasant assumption about Sylirans that Savio took offence to.
They worked around it, though. Even then, as Savio treaded miserably through the damp cold to go see her, all he could think about was how he could make the beautiful young woman smile. He wanted to learn more around her so that he could make her happy and in knowing that she was happy and safe Savio became content.
Speaking of working things out, Ireth was going to be awfully sore at him today. He planned on telling her that he was going to absent for about nine or ten days because he planned on taking up a small challenge. Not too long ago, Savio had heard from one of his customers that there was a place called The Hollow of Odraz. That one can meditate in that place and find wholeness within himself.
No one has been able to stay in there for longer than four days, but there is rumor that if a person who stays in there for nine days they will emerge with a great and strange power. Though the prospect of attaining said power was attractive, Savio was more interested in sorting out some things he has kept buried within himself… Namely that had happened in the Aperture back in Summer. A part of him still hasn’t forgiven himself for what he did and almost did to Sayren and it has been weighing heavy on his spirit ever since.
It was then that an idea sprung in his mind. It had been a few days since he last seen her and chances were that she would be a little sore at him for that… It had also been a while since he last spoiled her with a gift now that the flowers were all gone until spring. A wide grin spread across his face as he turned towards the West. A nice trinket would suffice, right? Savio took off in a jog towards the western quarter where most of the jewelry in Nyka is made by the hammer welding monks of Xannos. Besides, he had gotten a good amount of pay from last season and he could spare to spend a bit of it.
After crossing the bridge that connected the west quarter to the north, Savio took to the rooftops. The weather, though cold, was a lot dryer than it was last season with its fog and rain. It felt nice to once again stand on the slatted roofs and look over the city and be away from the confining and over crowded narrow streets that crisscrossed Nyka. He could see where he was going and it was relatively faster than the standard travel.
The acrobat grinned to himself as he rolled his shoulders before sprinting, his boots slapping against the cold tile with each step. His focus narrowed in the patch ahead, his arm pumping to help him gather speed before he reached the end of the roof. He pushed off from the edge and lunged his body forward and felt the icy wind whip his skin. A short moment later, his feet landed soundly on the other roof and he rolled with the momentum, allowing his body to drop and tumble with the motion before he just as smoothly got to his feet and continued his freerunning. He didn't wish to tempt fate by performing tricks since it had been close to a season since he used the rooftops.
It took about half a bell for Savio to reach his destination. He carefully made his way down the side of one of the red stone buildings once he heard the tale tell singing of the Monk Lynk and his apprentices as they worked with in The Blinding Light Studio. Savio has passed the building quite a few times since working as a Courier but had never went inside since he normally had no interest in trinkets.
The entryway had always managed to catch Savio's attention with its very intricate sign made of crystal and silver that stated the name of the establishment proudly for anyone who cared to look. Savio took a breath to even his slightly labored breathing while dusting himself off. He didn't want the monks within thinking that he was some sort of thief or lowlife. Once he was sure he was composed enough to enter, he stepped forward and inside the well worn building.
The wonderfully trained voices sung their praises to the God, Xannos and Savio couldn't help but smile in appreciation of the pleasant sounds. He was not very knowledgeable of music but his ears told him everything he needed to know of their possible hours of grueling training. Once voice in particular stood out from the rest. It was an older man, wearing the robes of a Xannos Acolyte and bent over some sort of contraption, peering at what seemed to be a diamond. He was the first to take notice of Savio standing in the doorway listening to the songs.
He stood straight with a small groan as his back changed posture but his face still held a welcoming smile as he stopped singing, of which Savio missed immediately."Ah, good day young man!"He greeted once he had gotten close enough to Savio to be heard over the other singing voices.
"Hello... Erm, Acolyte Lynkin..?" Savio fumbled, since he was still getting accustomed to the strange Nykan names.
"Please, just call me Lynk. Now, what can I do for you?"The old man chuckled good naturedly.
Savio smiled, relaxing a little bit under the warmed of both the building and Lynk's friendly disposition. "Well, I was hoping to get a gift for a very special someone. But alas, I haven't the slightest idea of what to get."
Lynk's eyes crinkled at the corners from how widely he smiled then, seeming to understand Savio's plight."Well, what does she like?"
He asked as he turned, walking towards the displays of his shop's wares.
The young man followed close behind as he thought for a moment. "Well... She is fond of music, since she plays the flute beautifully and she seems to like birds quite a bit." He mused out loud.
The monk stepped aside to allow Savio look over the wares on display, a proud expression evident on his weathered face. The younger man did not blame him in the least bit because the pieces of jewelry were unbelievably beautiful and well crafted. Each trinket hand created with its own unique style that gave each sparkling thing a personality of its own. Even the simpler and smaller items seemed to have been created it the utmost care. Such a dazzling sight left Savio feeling just a tad over whelmed.
Luckily, the old monk seemed accustomed to such behavior and placed a hand on Savio’s shoulder and lead him forward.“Now boy, is this special someone your wife or lover?”
Savio’s face colored slightly, still not used having someone to be called a lover. “She isn’t my wife…yet” he replied with a sheepish smile that the made Lynk chuckle and pat his shoulder firmly.
“I see! Very well then, I think something simple would be best at this time. Come, we have a nice selection of rings, bracelets, and necklaces that would suit her. What type of metal does she prefer? Gold? Silver?”
“She wears silver earrings so I think she prefers silver over gold.” Savio answered as he looked over the shimmering things in their locked cases. Gods, there were so many things to pick from and he was sure that Ireth would love each and every one of them. That is, until a splash of blue and grey caught his eyes.
“Monk Lynk, what is this stone?” he then asked, pointing at the stone while carefully not touching the glass. It was a lovely little stone that wasn’t much bigger than a Miza and was shaped to look like a drop of water. On its ocean blue surface, there were designs of wispy grey and the stone as a whole was carefully secured in a silver wire of sorts. It made Savio think of water and he remembered Ireth always telling him that she was quite fond of water because Ravok was on a lake.
“Oh? That would be a Feather Agate. It is a lovely piece, very simple yet still elegant. Would your woman like this?” The monk inquired as he pulled out a ring of keys and walked over to the case Savio was standing by so that he could unlock it and retrieve the stone so the potential buyer could have a closer look.
“I think she would.” Savio answered as he leaned in closer to look at it better. Since Lynk mentioned that the stone was a ‘Feather’ Agate, the gray colors did look like feathers.
The old man nodded and carried the pendant over to a counter that had two silver chains of different sizes sitting on it as well. The old man must have gathered them while Savio was busy looking.[/color]“Alright, now that you have the pendant, you must choose a chain for it to be on. This one,” he said while pointing to the smaller of the two,“is an 18” chain. It costs twenty-five gold laats. And this one,”he then pointed to the longer one,“Is a 24” chain that costs thirty-five gold laats. What do you think would best suit her?”
Savio looked over the chains while doing his best to imagine either of them around his woman’s slender neck. “I think… I think the 18” one would fit her best. It won’t get in the way nearly as much if it was on a shorter chain.”
The monk nodded before putting the longer chain away and then proceeded to slip the Feather Agate pendant onto the slender chain and then place the piece in a simple trinket box to protect it while Savio carried it to Ireth. The two of them discussed the price a bit longer; coming up with a fair total of (To be determined) laats Savio promptly paid the man before leaving the shop quite pleased.
The young acrobat was even willing to take the Cursed Bridge to get to the Hostel faster. It was a daunting task and Savio ran most of the way across but it he made it safely over and reached the Haven in good time. Before stepping inside he took a small moment to dust off his clothing and attempt to tame his rebellious hair. After all, he still wanted to impress his beautiful Ravokian… I never thought I would ever think of such a thing. Father would disown me if he had any idea. He mused silently as he stepped into the welcoming warmth of the Hostel.
