The fifty-second of fall, 514 AV
He woke with a start, the chill of the room having lowered his temperatures to a point where he could no longer keep his eyes closed and breathing slowed to ignore it. Shaking, Keene pulled the bag closer to him, his teeth chattering involuntarily. Staggering to his feet, he was surprised when his feet gave him little feeling as he stumbled out of the room, blinking dazedly in the light of the torches. His body, having grown used to the relatively intense heat of his volcanic home, was entirely unaccustomed to the chill of the Quarters, even more so than he had been initially. As he hustled through the hallway, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around him, Keene's breath shivered in and out. His footsteps echoed against the stone walls, reverberating at the same rate his body shook from the chill. It felt like an eternity trapped in ice, shifting through his frozen surroundings at a pace that seemed just under the speed he wanted to go. When he finally came to the doors that lead to the courtyard, Keene fumbled with the handles, his jittering hands unable to quick grasp and pull.
When the wooden frames finally did swing open, the rush of heat that passed over him was like a heady embrace that wrapped around him, sending warm, stinging tingling sensations through his fingers and his toes. Breathing in the water heavy air, Keene's chattering teeth stilled some as he stepped out into the courtyard, rubbing his hands together to further increase the warming process. The tingling became a painful, piercing ripple through his body as the blood began to flow once more, carrying with it the needed heat as well as the revitalization of sensation. Wincing, Keene pushed his back up against the wall of the Quarters, clenching his hands and curling his toes to try to keep from moving them any more than was necessary. After several chimes, the feelings subsided to an extend, fading enough to allow him movement without feeling near impaired by the pain of it. He turned to give the Quarters a firm frown, resolving to never leave the cave without at least two pairs of clothes to wrap himself up in during the night. He regretted not purchasing anything warmer, having developed his seemingly unfortunate relationship with the chill only recently.
The heat, however, was much less unbearable that it had been when he'd arrived. He supposed it was partially due to the time of the season, but his body's acclimatization was not something he discounted. Glad he had woken when he had and that no permanent damage seemed to have been done to his extremities, Keene wiggled the digits in question, his grimace returning as the pinpricks of pain radiated out from them as they moved. He paced through the courtyard, even in his daze that was slowly lifting with the advent of warm blood once more gracing his veins he kept to the paths, aware of what might happen should he accidentally cross the barrier. When he felt near to normal, a small bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, Keene let his meandering stop, realizing he had come to stand within sight of the Synchrography Office's doors. Flexing his fingers once more, Keene headed towards them; he tucked a hand into his pocket to make sure the request form was still tucked away, patting it to make sure.
As he passed under the arch, the cold met him once more. Having warmed himself in the muggy morning's atmosphere, Keene only felt a small shiver travel down his skin in response to the change. As it had been before, the office was abuzz with the strange little mechanical creatures that flitted, whirred, and a squeaked across the cold stone floors. The constant sound of files being shuffled, cabinets closing, and wheels scuffing against the floor only served to intensify the heavy feeling of urgency that the Office was infused with by its sheer nature. Having learned from his last visit, Keene strode up to the desk, his steps quiet and muted as they made careful contact the the ground below them. The nuit had not bothered to look up when he'd come in, and Keene wasn't surprised the old man took little notice when Keene placed the form on his desk. "I'm here under Warden Atziri's request to procure these items."
A grunt was given as a hand darted out to snatch the paper from where Keene had deposited it. Mumbling under his breath, he tucked the paper under a stack of similar looking forms, snatching a stamp from somewhere in the clutter and slamming it onto the part of the parchment that stuck out from the rest. "Six bells." With that, he returned to the documents he'd been attending initially, scribbling down notes in a ledger as he flicked through the pages, his muttering dying down to a low whisper of calculation and concentration. Taking the message as a clear invitation to return after the proposed amount of time had passed, Keene gave the nuit a bow of his head, keeping his mouth shut as he backed out of the office. He admired the nuit's work ethic, however much of a negative effect it had on his etiquette. He found it honest, something that the island seemed to be lacking. Even Atziri had secrets to hide from him; secrets he was in not hurry to learn, but there none the less. Realizing he'd failed to mention the wish to redeem his shielding lesson, Keene frowned back at the door. He knew if he were to reenter, nothing would go as he wanted.
Instead, he decided to head down to the lab himself. He still knew the room's location, the memory of it burned into his mind as an important moment in his life. The Gibbat dog's had help illuminate a darker side to his psyche; a desire to protect himself above all things, even at the suffering of what might have been otherwise innocent creatures or things. It had not been a glamorous realization, but it had been an important one. His feet led him through the courtyard at to the Gug Anjdak with little problem. As he stood, looking down the staircase to his right, Keene took a few tentative steps forward before his vambrace glowed a soft silver before fading the moment be passed where he imaged the shield's threshold had been placed. Nodding, he headed down the steps, the way clear in his thoughts.[/color]
He woke with a start, the chill of the room having lowered his temperatures to a point where he could no longer keep his eyes closed and breathing slowed to ignore it. Shaking, Keene pulled the bag closer to him, his teeth chattering involuntarily. Staggering to his feet, he was surprised when his feet gave him little feeling as he stumbled out of the room, blinking dazedly in the light of the torches. His body, having grown used to the relatively intense heat of his volcanic home, was entirely unaccustomed to the chill of the Quarters, even more so than he had been initially. As he hustled through the hallway, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around him, Keene's breath shivered in and out. His footsteps echoed against the stone walls, reverberating at the same rate his body shook from the chill. It felt like an eternity trapped in ice, shifting through his frozen surroundings at a pace that seemed just under the speed he wanted to go. When he finally came to the doors that lead to the courtyard, Keene fumbled with the handles, his jittering hands unable to quick grasp and pull.
When the wooden frames finally did swing open, the rush of heat that passed over him was like a heady embrace that wrapped around him, sending warm, stinging tingling sensations through his fingers and his toes. Breathing in the water heavy air, Keene's chattering teeth stilled some as he stepped out into the courtyard, rubbing his hands together to further increase the warming process. The tingling became a painful, piercing ripple through his body as the blood began to flow once more, carrying with it the needed heat as well as the revitalization of sensation. Wincing, Keene pushed his back up against the wall of the Quarters, clenching his hands and curling his toes to try to keep from moving them any more than was necessary. After several chimes, the feelings subsided to an extend, fading enough to allow him movement without feeling near impaired by the pain of it. He turned to give the Quarters a firm frown, resolving to never leave the cave without at least two pairs of clothes to wrap himself up in during the night. He regretted not purchasing anything warmer, having developed his seemingly unfortunate relationship with the chill only recently.
The heat, however, was much less unbearable that it had been when he'd arrived. He supposed it was partially due to the time of the season, but his body's acclimatization was not something he discounted. Glad he had woken when he had and that no permanent damage seemed to have been done to his extremities, Keene wiggled the digits in question, his grimace returning as the pinpricks of pain radiated out from them as they moved. He paced through the courtyard, even in his daze that was slowly lifting with the advent of warm blood once more gracing his veins he kept to the paths, aware of what might happen should he accidentally cross the barrier. When he felt near to normal, a small bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, Keene let his meandering stop, realizing he had come to stand within sight of the Synchrography Office's doors. Flexing his fingers once more, Keene headed towards them; he tucked a hand into his pocket to make sure the request form was still tucked away, patting it to make sure.
As he passed under the arch, the cold met him once more. Having warmed himself in the muggy morning's atmosphere, Keene only felt a small shiver travel down his skin in response to the change. As it had been before, the office was abuzz with the strange little mechanical creatures that flitted, whirred, and a squeaked across the cold stone floors. The constant sound of files being shuffled, cabinets closing, and wheels scuffing against the floor only served to intensify the heavy feeling of urgency that the Office was infused with by its sheer nature. Having learned from his last visit, Keene strode up to the desk, his steps quiet and muted as they made careful contact the the ground below them. The nuit had not bothered to look up when he'd come in, and Keene wasn't surprised the old man took little notice when Keene placed the form on his desk. "I'm here under Warden Atziri's request to procure these items."
A grunt was given as a hand darted out to snatch the paper from where Keene had deposited it. Mumbling under his breath, he tucked the paper under a stack of similar looking forms, snatching a stamp from somewhere in the clutter and slamming it onto the part of the parchment that stuck out from the rest. "Six bells." With that, he returned to the documents he'd been attending initially, scribbling down notes in a ledger as he flicked through the pages, his muttering dying down to a low whisper of calculation and concentration. Taking the message as a clear invitation to return after the proposed amount of time had passed, Keene gave the nuit a bow of his head, keeping his mouth shut as he backed out of the office. He admired the nuit's work ethic, however much of a negative effect it had on his etiquette. He found it honest, something that the island seemed to be lacking. Even Atziri had secrets to hide from him; secrets he was in not hurry to learn, but there none the less. Realizing he'd failed to mention the wish to redeem his shielding lesson, Keene frowned back at the door. He knew if he were to reenter, nothing would go as he wanted.
Instead, he decided to head down to the lab himself. He still knew the room's location, the memory of it burned into his mind as an important moment in his life. The Gibbat dog's had help illuminate a darker side to his psyche; a desire to protect himself above all things, even at the suffering of what might have been otherwise innocent creatures or things. It had not been a glamorous realization, but it had been an important one. His feet led him through the courtyard at to the Gug Anjdak with little problem. As he stood, looking down the staircase to his right, Keene took a few tentative steps forward before his vambrace glowed a soft silver before fading the moment be passed where he imaged the shield's threshold had been placed. Nodding, he headed down the steps, the way clear in his thoughts.[/color]
