Solo [Zhongjie Warren] A Golden Discovery

[Ssezzkero]

3rd of Spring, 515AV

It was the first of spring and Sezkero still found herself bundled up in her boots and cloak. To say she noticed a difference in the weather would be a lie, but the shivering snake was content with pretending to feel Springs warmth as if the few hours of night would suddenly melt the snow and bring on Syna's warmth. Either way it was still necessary to go to the Bazaar for necessities.

The small Iyvess was content with looking over the various goods and artisan's work rather than seek what she entered the Bazaar for. Although her tiny apartment was only a few blocks away from the colorful canopy of merchant's tents, she loved the vibrancy of the market during the day. Especially at the end of a cold a wet winter that left her teeth shivering and false promises to move to the intimidating deserts of Eyktol that she had heard so much about. A foreign smell assaulted the snakes nostrils as tried to avoid the lanky limbs of two young Akalaks chasing each other. It was clear they were children, but even so they were at least her height already. One held a wooden knife to threatened his friend and the other wore a bright smile to show he didn't take his companion seriously. Despite their leather pants and loose shirts, the children wore little else, which caught Sezkero's attention more than anything else. Those who ran around with nothing on in weather like this are crazy. The snake stated in her mind, dragging her attention back to stall that smelled heavily of perfume. A woman stood in the back of the tent, nearly snoozing despite the chill.

There were many humanoid traditions that Ker found odd, and masking ones scent was one of them... But the snake simply ignored the tiny glass bottles, continuing on her way. She reminded herself that she had a purpose, and continued on, starting to walk with more of a purpose.

Eventually her eyes caught sight of what she was searching for. A stall selling all sorts of paper wares. Inks, quills, blank books as well as some already filled books, paints, seals and more. Any sort of stationary she needed was here, which was just what she was looking for. Switching her empty basket to her other arm, she approached the stall, smiling at the Akalak that approached her.

"Why hello ... lady, how ... help you?" Sekzero sucked her lips in as the foreign-but-familiar babble of Tukant flowed into her ears. She was so used to speaking to others that spoke common with her that she forgot that this city had a different main language. Whether it was a blessing that most Akalaks knew common, so the she could understand them, or a curse, because she hardly practiced the other language, Sezkero didn't know. In the moment, she was usually relieved by the readjustment to a language she knew, but in hindsight, she always regretting not even attempting to speak back int he native tongue.

Before she allowed her face to reveal too much of how little she knew of the language, Sezkero relaxed her lips. She didn't know about this Akalak in particular, but most of the blue men would speak common as soon as they realized she was not fluent in Tukant, with or without her consent. Trying to keep this man from switching languages for her, the snake worked to drag up what she knew of the warrior's language to reply to him.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

"Excussse me." It was a phrase that Sezkero had learned very quickly, and used almost always. She swore she remembered the phrase for an apology, but she simply couldn't dig the words from her brain. "I look for..." Sezkero looked at the items in the Akalaks stall, as if they would show her to word she was looking for. There was Tukant print on the leather of some books, or engraved into the vials of inks, but even if they did label what each thing was in the foreign language, she could hardly read it well enough to sound it out, let alone understand it. Instead Sezkero reached for what she was looking for. A small leather book, likely used to keep track of coins and a quill. "This."

She gave the vendor a hesitant smile, watching her ignorance register across his face. To her disappointment, he immediately switched to common, as most men of the city did after realizing her lack of knowledge on the local language. It didn't help her learn the language, it didn't help at all. "Stationary." His deep voice rung out the familiar word in common, and with one large hand he gestured towards his stall. Then, he repeated the word again in Tukant. "Stationary." As the foreign word met her hears, Sezkero's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He was helping her translate! Her face must have visibly darkened when he spoke common, and this Akalak was nice enough to understand her wants.

"Ssstatunary." Sezkero replied, trying to form the word in her mouth as best she could. The Akalak shook his head, pointing to his lips and respoke the word for her, slower this time so that she could watch how his lips formed the words.

"Stationary."

"Sssstationary. Ssstationary." Sezkero repeated again, this time finding an actual word coming out of her mouth. This time the Akalak nodded at her attempt.

"Good." She recognized the simple Tukant word. "Easy, yes?"

"Yesss." Sezkero nodded as well to confirm. Even though her comprehension of the language was almost non-existent, she had memorized the few simple simple phrases she needed to scrape by in the strange blue city. "Stationary, please." Sezkero asked. She placed the coin-counting book and the quill back on the counter. Thinking for a moment, Ker pulled together the words she needed for the next sentence. She dropped the 'I' in the beginning, unsure of which pretense to put it in, but knowing there was a different way of saying it, and hoped the Vendor understood she needed the items. "Need Quill, Book--" Sezkero started counting off her list on her fingers, working to translate the simple words to Tukant for the vendor. The Akalak only waited patiently by her, reaching for items that were too far for her as she listed them. "No write, no write book. Book, empty." She waved her hands as the Akalak pointed towards a section of written books, all of which she didn't understand which only made her shy away from them. The Akalak nodded, handing her a medium-sized empty book. The leather cover was simple with an image of a knot and a sea-shell imprinted into the cover. The inside held the familiar yellow-ish/white smooth paper tight together, it was perfect.

"Blank Book." He taught her the Tukant phrase flipping, through the blank pages to show her what he meant.

"Yesss, blank book. No write, yesss?"

"No writing, blank, yes." The Akalak confirmed, handing her the book along with a pack of five quills, wrapped together neatly with a teal ribbon.

"Got Quill and blank book." Sezkero confirmed, returning to counting off her fingers. "Need Ssscroll, Ink and Ssscroll... box?" The Akalak handed her two vials of black in and presented her with a pack of ten scrolls, also tied together with a ribbon. The paper for these scrolls was much finer, showing it was higher quality than the blank notebook, which was perfect since their use would be more official than her notebook anyway. She nodded, grabbing these two as well, arranging them in her basket so they would not crush one another, and then turned to the Akalak who was clearly having trouble understand her last request. You and me both. Sezkero sighed, wishing the language barrier wasn't so large but also refusing to crack and start speaking common.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

"And a scrollcase, here are two. Anything else, Doll?" But the Iyvess didn't need to crack, the vendor did for her. Although his face showed nothing but patienience, the sudden apperance of another customer clearly made him wish to rush the transaction along. Sezkero didn't blame him, as another Akalak was not flipping through books and peering at the various colored inks. But the snake couldn't keep a sigh from escaping her lips as she nodded, thanking the man for the supplies. Pulling out her coin purse, she struggled to pull out the coins necessary to pay for the supplies.

"Good day." She repeated a phrase she knew well to the man to notify him of her departure after dropping the coins in his hand. The vendor only smiled and nodded before turning to the other Akalak who was questioning about a metal scroll case. What they spoke, she didn't know as the vendor's Tukant quickly picked up in speed as she was forgotten.

Oh well. Sezkero turned away from the stall, continuing down the row instead of braving the crowds back in the direction of her apartment. At least I got a small chance to practice. The snake thought to herself as she decided to loop around in the city streets instead of the bazaar. But as the snake walked down the empty stalls, she found that she could not remember one word of the Tukant the vendor had taught her.

Receipt :

Item	Price
Quills (5)	2 sm, 5 cm
Blank Book	3 gm
Vials of Black Ink (2)	2 gm
Paper Scrolls (10)	4 gm
Leather Scroll Case	1 gm
Total	10 gm, 2 sm, 5 cm

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

The snake was not able to get very fad down the empty side of the market when she felt her heart grow cold. It was a chill similar to when she was a snake and had forgotten to sun a day. The cold suffering and sluggish pain of the following night was the only thing the Iyvess could compare to her reaction to such a pitiful noise.

Small feet halted in their tracks. The tips of her boots were caked in frost and while it was no longer completely freezing, it was hard to consider the seeping wetness of melting snow warm.

Mew. Mew.

The snake's head snapped to the left, and she slowed her breathing, ears perked for the sound that had stopped her in her tracks. It was ever so faint and the faint whimpers had odd intervals of silence between, but Sezkero was determined to find the source of the sound.

Wide chocolate eyes dropped to the ground, scanning the grey slush of dirt and melting snow that pooled at the edge of stalls. The only really dry spots were either in the empty wooden shelves or under the vacant vendor's table.

Meeeooww. Sezkero faintly hear the whine and her senses narrowed on one stall in particular. The snake wasted no time dropping to her knees, which she found incredibly odd. There was no hesitation about whether she was actually hearing the animal whimpering or not. There was not much thought going into the action at all as Sezkero shoved her basket aside, crouching to peer under the stall. It was dim in the morning light and hard to see. It was clear where the slush ended and were the dirt of the market ground began, but shadows obscured any sight past that.

Mew. Mew. Mew. Sezkero could hear them very distinctly now, kittens. It couldn't be anything else giving such a small and pitiful meow. Huffing a breathe out, she stuck her head under the stall, turning it to the left where she caught sight of the infant animals. Nothing more than a little bundle of wet fur, the snake couldn't tell if there was one or more.

Unable to stop herself, Sezkero reached one arm under the stall, attempting to get her fingers as close to the kittens as possible. The tips of her digits barely caressed the wet fur, which the kittens did not help by shrinking back from her touch. "Ah, c'mon!" Sezkero growled, pushing her elbows into the damp dirt to push herself out form under the stall. The snake sat back on her haunches, worry filling her features as she assessed the problem at hand.

There were two possibly three cold, wet and likley starving kittens. They were clearly stranded and hiding from the hustle and bustle of the market place. Ker would have liked to pull them out and bundle them up, but unfortunately the kittens were not all that pleased to be prodded by a stranger. Normally, the snake would have given up at this point. She considered herself a nice person but the snake was only willing to go so far for what she perceived as a lost cause. To Sezkero's surprise her mind was already running past, thinking of ways to lure the kittens out.

The snake knew almost nothing about mammals, let alone kittens, but she did know that cats liked fish. It seemed to be a common stereotype, so it must be true, shouldn't it? Sezkeor pushed herself up to a standing position, hesitating. Should she leave the kittens there for the few minutes it took to run to the fish stall she had passed earlier? Would they still be there when she returned? They will have to be, its the only way. Ker told herself, glancing down the way towards the busy side of the market.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

Holding her basket close to her chest, Sezkero ran down the lanes of the Bazaar. When she neared the crowd, the snake slowed, but didn't care so much who she bumped into until the distinct smell of fish began to assault her nostrils. Earlier, she had passed it will a slight disgust at the raw smell, but now it represented hope for the kittens, and thus she didn't mind it much.

The snake wove through the mass of people until she was finally in front of the vendor's stall. It was one of the more permanent stall sin the Bazaar, and so it was no surprise to see the vendor and his assistants in a large stall with a very established business. Tanks held live fish, others were displayed on cubes of ice, some in jars and even more hung by the rafters at the top of the stall, clearly the more fresh ones, ready to sell.

The snake was suddenly overwhelmed as she looked at the variety of fishes and choices. The stall was a staple in the market, and so it was very busy, not leaving one vendor open for her to question. Was there certain fish that the cats couldn't eat? How expensive were they? Winter had just ended and even though the hauls of fish must be growing with the warmer season, there hadn't really been enough warm days to move from cold water fish to warm water fish.

Salmon. Salmon is a safe bet. And they can have it raw. Sezkero confirmed the generic fish, trying to make up her mind as best she could. The snake hadn't actually a darned clue what the hai what to lure the kittens with, but she was winging it, and Ker guessed that was okay.

"Fisshh?" Sezkero stepped forward, trying to secure a spot in line for herself. The Tukant word was hesitant and akward in her mouth, but she hoped she could grab one of the vendor's attention.The three Akalaks that ran the stall were running in circles trying to fill orders and take more. The snake's voice was not only too low but her accent too thick for them to even glance at her. It didn't help that the customers she was contending with were at least two or three feet taller than her. "Exxxcussse me!" Sezkero repeated a phrase she knew well enough, but again no one listened.

"EXXXCUSSSE ME!" The snake shouted, annoyed at the hustle and bustle of the stand. She was not normally an impatient person at all, but the past two seasons had been turned around and so she was less surprised with herself when she blurted out. One Akalak who stood next to her saw her struggle to gain the vendor's attention. As one of the vendors handed him his fish, he spoke a flurry of words in Tukant, pointing to her. The snake gave him a nod of thanks as he departed, and turned her attention to the vendor."How much is your raw salmon?" The snake didn't bother to attempt Tukant, instead she cut straight to the point. She wasn't even sure if they had salmon, since she had no clue what the fish looked like, but she was riding on frustration and so she took the risk.

"Two Golds a pound, little lady." The akalak replied, already reaching for a particularly pink looking fish that was already being chopped at.

"Umm... I'll take a... a quarter of a pound." Sezkero struggled to think how much a pound would be and how much teh kittens would need quickly, as it was obvious the vendor was ready to chop it and hand it to her. Without replying, the Akalak place one hand on the side of the fish and whipped a sharp looking knife out of his belt. To Sezkero's horror, the man twirled the knife inbetween his fingers like and expert before slashing it across the fish. He moved so fast she was unsure if the man had chopped his own hand or the fishes. In an instant he had pulled a small looking slab of the pink fish off and placed it on a thin cloth. From there, the Akalak turned away, where Sezkero assumed he would place it on a scale to measure it.

Before the vendor returned, Sezkero slipped five silver mizas out of her coin purse, procuring them to the man. He flashed her a tight grin, which she returned, as she dropped the coins into his sticky fish-hand. With the other hand, they exchanged the fish, which had been wrapped in the thin clothe and then burlap and wrapped with a string. The wrapping was odd to the woman who never ordered fish, but she assumed these men have been doing this long enough to understand how to properly wrap a slab of fish.

Retreating from the frustrating crowd that was only growing by the chimes, Sezkero headed back towards the empty stalls. But as the sun started rising, other, less stable, vendors were starting to filter in, taking up their spots and setting out their wares. Thankfully the stall that the kittens cowered under was still empty, but she knew it wouldn't last for long.

Receipt :

Item	Price
1/4 lb of Raw Salmon	5 sm
Total	5 sm

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

Again, the snake found herself on her knees, a short mop of black curls stuffed under the stall. Gooseskin ran up her arms in the firigid cold of the early spring morning, and once Ker was sure that the kittens were, in fact, still there, she pulled her head out from underneath the stall. Even though she was already cold, Sezkero found herself pulling off her cloak. The heavy garment was then folded, twice, before she placed it in the basket, over the items she already bought. She removed the salmon though, not wanting the fish to squish into her fresh supplies. She would save the fish for later.

But before she could do so, Sezkero adjusted her cloak within the basket, turning up the sides and folding it so that when two fluffy balls of fur were to be placed in there, they would not fall out. Already, she felt her fingers getting stiff. The air was no where near as cold as the winter had been, but the water-ey banks of snow-ey slush that piled on the sides of the roads seemed to prevent spring's warmth from fully taking hold.

"Here." The Iyvess murmured in common, leaning forward so she could stick her head under the stall again. Now, when she leaned under, she watched the kittens for a second. By the patterns in their fur, she was sure that there were only two, which was easy enough. Hopefully they wouldn't fight back. Not in that condition, they won't. Sezkero decided. She wasn't sure to be glad that they only flinched as her cold fingers wrapped around each one, or sad that they hadn't even attempted to run in the other direction. Don't infant kittens had survival instincts? Or are they just that sick? Gods she hoped not.

Tucking the two freezing bundles into her coat, she flipped one side of the cloak over so that it partially covered the kittens. Rising to her feet, she stooped to grab the basket in one hand and the salmon in the other before turning from the market place. Now she had to figure out how to warm these kittens back up.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

Even though it was a mere half-a-mile walk from the market, due to her poor estate choices last year, she found herself nearly out of breathe. Fumbling with her key she managed to unlock her door before the shivering started back up again. Her careful jogging, so as not to jostle the kittens too much, was a workout after the past two seasons, but it had warmed her up. Unfortunately it did not do the same for the kittens.

"Okay, here we go. I don't know why I didn't sssstart the fire, sssssstupid me. Ssssstupid me." Sezkero set the kittens on her dining table, placing the pack of salmon next to the basket and cooing her thoughts to the kittens. "Just a few chimess and I will have thisss place warmed up for you." She huffed, distracted now as she picked up the tinder box by her fire place. After placing a few medium sized sticks from her storage in the fire place, Ker set the small bundle of tinder in the center of them. Now, she fumbled around her tinder box for her flint and steel, removing the two from their small leather pouch.

Sezkero always hated the actual starting of the fire. She knew that she wasn't going to catch flame, but when the sparks flew from the stone in her hand she couldn't help but jump. Eventually though, after a few hesitant tries, one of Ker's spark caught on the tinder, which nearly immediately went up in flames. "Okay, good." She continued to sit on her knees for a few more ticks as she watched the medium sized branches catch flame. They were plenty dry, so it was no surprise, but those twigs were not enough to keep a fire going, so there was on e more step for her to take. Turning again to her stack of firewood, she grabbed one of the larger logs from the stack. It was a bit heavy but not something that Sezkero couldn't handle. She crouched in front of the fireplace, hesitating again. There had to be a safer way to start a damn fire.

"Eeee!" The Iyvess let the log drop onto the fire, springing back before it could hit the flames. A small scattering or sparks shot across the hearth, but caught nothing to spread on the cool stone. Unless I figure out a better way to do this, I'm going to burn my arm off. The snake grumbled her thoughts as she stamped on any place she thought she might have seen a spark. Then she took the poker and helped re-position the log to the center of the fire where it could catch well. She looked at her messy work for a moment, glad she was a better cleaner than fire starter and shrugged as an assessment of her work. At least it'll keep us warm.

"Oh!" The small snake exclaimed as she remembered the kittens again. "Time to warm up." She rushed over to the table to peer in the basket at the kittens. They were huddled together still and there was a large muddy wet patch on her cloak where they rested. Sezkero let them rest for a moment longer, grabbing her pail of drinking water for the day that she had gathered that morning. Moving over to the fire once more, she hook the handle of the pail on the cooking hook near the top of the fireplace, letting it hang in the heat.

Sezkero did this because she remembered her first snowy winter in Riverfall. Somehow in her hundred and eight years, Sezkero managed to stay in cities that were pleasant in winter, until coming to Riverfall. It was the perfect city for the snake if it wasn't so damn cold during the winter. Either way the snake had been pressed to come up with a solution for her freezing nights, and although it took forever to boil the water, warm baths were perfect. And a visit to the bathhouse when she was feeling lazy. She figured, since the kittens were mammals too, a warm bath would yield similar results. Drying them could only do so much, but a warm bath would do wonders for cleanliness and warmth.

But in the meantime a good rub down with a rag couldn't hurt them.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Ssezzkero]

"I know, I know, I am so sorry!" Sezkero murmured in her mother's tongue to the kittens, finding it more soothing than the harsh common as she picked one, the black one, up. Taking the rag in one hand an the teeny kitten in the other, she started to gently rub the rag across his body. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but generating some friction would help with warmth. She she wrapped three fingers in the rag and ran them up and down the kittens spine for a few chimes. A pitiful mew escaped and the kitten dug his teeny claws in her finger. I hardly hurt but it made Sezkero frown and stop. Only when the kitten started shivering again, she realized that she had done some good. But the kittne didn't want it, as much was clear from the small pinpricks in her fingers.

Throwing all her care for staying clean out the window, she let the kitten rest in the fold of her dress on her lap. There she tried to rub him with the rag more gently. Not with her fingers this time, but the whole cloth. The kitten, now encompassed in the rag, was moving around but she could feel nor hear any complaints from the animal. She continued this for a few chimes, hoping desperately for some drastic result. After picking the kitten up to look at him she found there was none. He looked as if he had just been hit by lighting, with his soft infant fur sticking up in every direction, but he was still shivering and mud still seemed to cake his wet fur.

"Okay, Plan B." She placed the kitten back in with his sister, who was still shivering. She stepped over to the fire to look into the pail of water. Minuscule bubbles lined up the sides of the metal pail, which told her that within a few more chimes the water would be boiling, which meant it was plenty hot enough, if not too hot, for the kittens.

Unclipping the pail from the hook she let the hot water rest on the hearth and went to scoop up each kitten again, transferring them to a bundle of rags to bring towards the hearth. She could feel the heat of the fire on her face, which was good because that meant the kittens could too.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking