Knowledge is Power [Aranta]

[Snaeha Datura]

Knowledge is Power
35th Summer, 514AV. The Cribellum.

Snaeha disliked the dustiness of The Cribellum. It always made her sneeze, rather embarrassingly, whenever she entered the building or opened a book. Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil; as a Symenestra hunting for information, the place was unavoidable for her.

The sour librarian who always seemed to delight in rolling her eyes at Snaeha's requests did not make the experience any more enjoyable. It not only insulted Snaeha how Dra-Nesyria spoke to her, but how the other woman dared to speak to her as a half-breed. The crop-haired librarian was clearly bitter about something - and Snaeha could only assume it was her own good breeding and good looks. A pity, really. She thought wistfully as she thumbed the pages of her chosen book, she could have done with a friend like me.

Her concern for the miserable woman was short lived, though. Snaeha quickly focused her attention back to the book she had selected, and her bright eyes scanned the page briefly before finding the last sentence she had read. Her book was on the topic of Morphing: the latest magic type that had sparked her interest. Whilst Snaeha had some skill in Hypnotism, she had not yet attempted any Morphing. Knowing that she could forever scar her appearance should she Overgive made Snaeha incredibly cautious. She did not want to risk her good looks for nought.

Whilst those with even a basic skill in Morphing may change parts of their body, she read in bright red ink, those with great proficiency can have so many other 'forms' that their original appearance can be forgotten.

Snaeha sat back, aghast. "I could forget what I look like?" Her tiny voice - barely a whisper - was met with a harsh 'ssh-ing' noise from the moody Dra-Nesyria, though Snaeha was too shocked to care. The thought of forgetting her own face and body was an impossibility too great for Snaeha to even comprehend. Although she still very much wanted to learn some skill in Morphing, her desire to master the art had decreased somewhat.

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[Aranta]

It was too early for favorable hunting, and the weather wasn't cooperating either, so Aranta was stuck inside of Kalinor. This wasn't the worst thing that could possibly have happened to the Zith (his wound from a few days ago becoming infected and killing him would have been worse), but it was still damned annoying. A bit of pacing didn't help, nor did flying-- he didn't have the space inside of the city to truly stretch his wings the way he wanted to. Frustrated, the Zith male dropped back to the ground, growling under his breath and beginning to wander through Kalinor aimlessly. His wandering eventually brought him to the Cribellum, which was an odd name. After frowning at the sign for a few minutes, Aranta shrugged and walked inside. Maybe he'd learn something new, today. That would make this day less of a waste. He marched right up to the Symenestra woman and demanded to know what this place was. Most Symenestra cowered before Zith, or at least kept a wary distance, but this one only flinched before icily informing him that the Cribellum was the library for Kalinor-- the place that held all of the Symenestra's knowledge. That got Aranta's attention, and he thanked the woman before turning to wander through the halls made by shelves, idly scanning the books there. He knew a little of Symenos, but he really couldn't read or write. Which, the Zith now realized, posed quite the dilemna. Huffing at himself in frustration, Aranta continued walking, but his attention was caught by a familiar voice-- followed by a harsh, sharp hissing noise which came from the direction of the librarian. Aranta quickly navigated the shelves, his wings wrapped around himself so as not to knock anything awry, and he smiled when he caught sight of Snaeha-- the woman was perhaps the only creature in Kalinor that Aranta would readily label 'friend.' As he approached, however, Aranta noticed that Snaeha looked upset about something. "What is it?" he asked, approaching carefully and from the front so as not to startle the Symenestra too badly. He bared his teeth at the librarian when she hissed at him, and he returned her hiss with one of his own before sitting down next to Snaeha. "You seem upset."

[Snaeha Datura]

Any signs of upset dissolved from Snaeha when she heard Aranta's voice. In fact, her pouting lips and furrowed brows relaxed and turned into an easy smile. It had been just a few days since their last meeting, but the redheaded Symenestra had found the Zith on her mind embarrassingly frequently. When they had last been together, Snaeha and Aranta had searched for a child who was, at that point, missing. As soon as she had heard that the child was found, Snaeha had wanted to share the good news with her winged friend, and had been disappointed when she could not.

"Hello," she whispered, closing and setting her book down. To his question, she flushed pinkly. Her vanity seemed girlish and stupid in front of the Zith, who did not seem the sort to be too concerned with his own appearance. She tapped the book on her lap and hesitantly explained herself. "I was reading about Morphing, the type of magic where one changes their appearance. I read that the most skilful Morphers have so many other forms, they can forget what they originally looked like." She giggled skittishly at her own fear, "it's a scary thought, forgetting what you actually look like."

Yes, skip out the bit where you were more concerned about losing your beauty. She would certainly come across as less shallow that way. Snaeha cleared her throat, quite keen to move off the subject of her own vanity, "how're you, and your wing?" The wound looked like it was healing well, from her viewpoint -- but then again, Aranta had received the best care possible.

.

[Aranta]

"Magic?" Aranta felt himself perk up in interest-- he had heard talk of this 'magic' stuff, but he'd never really been able to get a clear answer on what it was. "What is magic?" When the Symenestra mentioned his wing, Aranta moved it so that Snaeha could see the wound for herself-- it was most definitely going to scar, and it would be a pretty impressive one. Aranta was actually kind of proud of it. Right now, the wound was covered in a tough scab, but that would soon fall off(or Aranta would scratch it off), and then there would be nothing but dark, shiny skin. Fur rarely grew over scars in the Zith; no one had ever questioned it, as scars were seen as a sign of bravery and strength, and won many mates.

[Snaeha Datura]

The task of describing what magic actually was posed quite the challenge to Snaeha. "Magic comes from djed." She said slowly, as if reading aloud, "which, is... everything." Her final sentence was meek, and Snahea pulled a face at her own poor explanation. She grinned and tapped his arm playfully with a pointed finger, "read a book if you want to learn something!"

His wound looked promising in that it was scabbing over, and Snaeha nodded happily. "I'm sure it will look very... nice." Could scars look nice? Did Zith even want to look nice? "It will attract plenty of -- attention." Those final words seemed to be said with some difficult, like Snaeha had forgotten how to speak midway through her sentence. She cleared her throat and continued, "what brings you here?" The majority of the books in the Cribellum were written in Symenos, which Snaeha assumed Aranta could not read well in.

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[Aranta]

Aranta gestured in the vague direction of the entrance to Kalinor. "It is too eary to hunt, and hunting would not be successful," he explained. "I have nothing to do. I wandered, and came here." Aranta hated having nothing to do. "I thank you for the compliment," he added on formally, pleased with Snaeha's comment about his wounds. "Scars are good for Zith; show that Zith is strong and brave. Those Zith attract more mates." He thought over his brief explanation, unsatisfied. "How can something be everything? That seems unreal." he asked, frowning hard. "And I cannot read-- not in any language."

[Snaeha Datura]

Snaeha sensed the restlessness to his words, and felt a stab of guilt. It was on her instruction, after all, that the Zith was 'taking it easy', and the chilled lifestyle obviously did not suit him. "Once your injury is completely healed, you'll be able to fly and hunt again." She assured him gently. To the comment about scars, Snaeha's response was notably cooler, "well. Good. You'll find more... mates, then." Her emphasise was on that final syllable of her last word: the plural sound in the word mates. Polygyny did not exist amongst her people, and for Snaeha - who enjoyed being the only centre of attention - the idea of sharing a man was unthinkable.

If he could not read, it clearly well to Snaeha to explain her friend what djed was. She scratched her head, grappling for a concise answer. "Well... Djed makes us both, and everything in this room, and everything out of it. This tables djed is what makes it a table." Her explanation was rehearsed; it was what she had been taught as a young girl, and what she had heard her parents tell her younger brother as well. Though now it was Snaeha trying to explain it, she realised just how challenging a lesson it was. "Should you learn how to practise magic - such as morphing," a finger tapped the cover of her book, "it would be your djed that would fuel it." She smiled weakly, now a little confused herself. "My explanation is not that clear. If you ever wanted to know more, I would happily read something to you, you help you learn."

That's right Snaeha. Educate the man for his many, many mates.

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[Aranta]

Aranta nodded, pleased that Snaeha understood and approved of the important behind scars; the implication behind Snaeha's cool tone was completely lost on the Zith, and thus he didn't clarify that when he said 'mates,' he meant 'potential mates.' To Zith, they were one and the same, really. Zith usually had one mate and thus one family-- family was everything to Zith. Aranta listened intently to Snaeha's explanation, keeping his expression neutral as he thought. "So... Djed would be like the Great Rending?" he asked, trying to understand. "It would be what made Zith?" But that would mean that Zith could make another race-- or change themselves to look like another race? It was all very confusing to Aranta, but he was curious now, and he was going to learn and understand, damn it. "I would like to learn to read," Aranta added-- it seemed that books and other writings held much knowledge, and Aranta wanted it all. It was why he'd left his colony originally, after all. Aranta wanted to know everything there was to know, and so he would do anything to accomplish that goal.

[Snaeha Datura]

Snaeha shrugged her shoulders. She did not know enough about Zith religion to agree or disagree with his question. She was aware however, that the Great Rendering was where the winged-people believed their kind come from; it replaced their need for any other deities. "I suppose so, yes." She said unsurely.

"Now reading, I can help with." Snaeha clapped her hands together - earning yet another spitting hiss from the librarian. She stuck her tongue out to the woman's back and grinned to Aranta. She dropped her voice to a breathy whisper. "It will be a long process, though, to learn how to read." It was well known that the older the student, the longer it took for them to learn to read proficiently. The challenging of teaching him, however, was one that Snaeha was more than willing to take on. "But you'll learn a lot, I promise."

.

[Aranta]

Aranta smiled. "Time is okay," he reassured Snaeha. "I want to learn. Zith do not quit." Aranta, least of all-- learning to read would help him learn more, and until he knew all there was to know about the rest of the world, the Zith got the feeling that he would never know enough. "How do we start?" he asked, shifting in his seat so that he was leaning closer to Snaeha, his expression eager.