15th Day of Winter, 515AV
Izuyanai quietly peeked her head out from her room in the Dusk Wing of the Towers’ Respite. The halls were dark and the silence of nighttime settled all around. There weren’t a lot of students left after the Towers closed and the building was especially peaceful as most of its occupants seemed to be taking Midnight Rest. The raven herself had woken up early as it were. She’d tired herself out trying to make sense of a particularly convoluted section in a history text and had retired to bed much earlier than usual. That was probably why she found herself waking before anyone else.
Carefully shutting the door behind her, Izuyanai readjusted her pack and made her way toward the staircase. Something about the quiet made her feel guilty of disturbing its tranquility. She padded as silently as she could, trying to cushion the sound of her footfalls and lessen the rustle of her clothing. The richly coloured tapestries that hid the wall fluttered silently as her movement created a passing breeze. Gentle looking shadows swayed a few times and went still once more.
Reaching the stairs, she trailed her hand along the banisters making her way down into the gathering area shared by all Dusk residents. Noting the bright light and comforting crackle from the hearth, she crossed the familiar space toward another set of stairs leading down from the wing to the classrooms and main entryway. The raven wasn’t really surprised to see Tahala at the front dest, organising papers and filing them away accordingly. It wasn’t until Izuyanai passed the desk that the other woman noticed her presence and looked up to greet her.
“Oh, good morning. Where are you off to this early?”
Izuyanai was pretty sure Tahala didn’t actually care to know where she was going off to and was merely being friendly. Either way, the raven didn’t feel like sharing too many details.
“Good morning. Just off to run some errands.”, she said vaguely pointing out toward the rest of Lhavit.
Skilfully answering the question but not really, Izuyanai gave a parting wave and a formal smile to Tahala before stepping out into the front garden.
Once out of the premises of the Towers’ Respite, and nearing the centre of Zintia Peak, more and more people were to be seen despite the hour. However, wanting to hold onto that quiet peacefulness, Izuyanai kept to what shadows there were in the brightening city and quickly slipped past the small crowds. Today she didn’t feel like engaging in idle chit-chat with anyone. The nature of her mission today was making her feel rather nostalgic and reflective.
As a child, the raven had always ‘borrowed’ her brothers’ weapons to practice with as she had none of her own. Finishing her work up as messenger in Wind Reach came easily as she could simply wing her way around the mountain. She knew he wouldn’t mind so much and had gone exploring out to Thunder Bay for the rest of the day. After some time, she’d come across a sweet smelling valley filled with blue roses. Entranced, she spent the afternoon examining the area along with the flowers that bloomed there. Perhaps she’d become distracted, but the sun was well on its way down when she finally told herself to get home. Unsheathing the dagger and navigating around the menacing rose thorns, she’d picked out a single rose to bring as a gift. Turning around to walk back, her eye caught the movement of something large shifting by a collection of caves. She remembered how it felt when blood drained from her face by simply looking at the monstrous creature with huge bat like wings. She didn’t really need to decipher what the being was as all her instincts were telling her to run.
Luckily, the being hadn’t noticed her crouching among the greenery. This gave her the opportunity to shift and barrel across the sky back to the safety of Wind Reach. Only when she arrived home breathless, did she realise that her brothers’ weapon was still in the valley. She’d only managed to haul home that single rose and had dropped everything else in order to escape. Sheepishly, she had given it to her brother, explaining the terrible monster and the absence of his possession. He’d seemed alarmed for her well-being at first but only laughed about it saying that he would go looking for it later. Even though he managed to convince his sister that it was safe during the daytime, and had gone looking, he never turned up with anything and had come back empty handed. Being the bright soul that he was, he never blamed her for it. However, the raven herself had been disappointed that she had caused such trouble for him.
Grimacing to herself at her own past failures, Izuyanai arrived at the Touch of Fire on the Shinyama. Sure she might not have handled that one retreat as a child very gracefully, but Kelvics matured quickly and it was up to her now not to repeat past mistakes. A weapon of her own meant decisions, responsibility, and power to some extent. She was determined that she’d never be consumed by blind fear again. One needed to be able to think, analyse and observe calmly. Not to say retreat wasn’t an option of course. But at least it could be a tactical one.
In the showroom, Izuyanai was immediately greeted by a young man willing to help her with her purchase.
“Is there anything particular you are looking for?”
Izuyanai nodded and answered. Of course there was really only one type of weapon she was interested in buying. “I was hoping for any daggers you might have.”
The man nodded and guided her to a section of the showroom with practiced ease. Izuyanai politely listened to the various descriptions and advice the man gave while her eyes flitted from each item to the next. They were all certainly well made with a wide selection in blade types and handles. She quickly dismissed the most decorative one the man was currently giving his pitch on. Glancing through the displayed products the raven made varying decisions in her mind. Nope. Nope. Definitely not. Maybe. Oh.
The dagger her eyes had landed on was an elegant creation. It was displayed alongside with its sheath which was black with silver metal winding around the top and bottom. The blade itself was long and rather slender, tapering into a deadly point. Its polished steel glinted at her from among the other displays. The handle seemed comfortable to hold and was black to match its counterpart. Thin enough to fit in her hand but sturdy enough for her not to lose it in combat. From it, a sufficient guard extended. Perfect for catching most other bladed attacks. The top of the handle rounded off cleanly without any other ornament.
Her decision made, Izuyanai moved over to her choice with the man at her elbows.
“I’d like to purchase this one.” she said, gesturing towards the elegant dagger.
The man seemed pleased with the successful sale and took the item to counter, handling the brief transaction while he had Izuyanai write down a few things on a creamy form.
“Would you prefer it packaged?” he asked. When Izuyanai shook her head no thank you, he smiled and bowed her out of the store.
Izuyanai found herself sitting at the edge of the fountain in Springwater Square, turning her dagger over in her lap. The nostalgia had passed, but she still remained thoughtful. The raven had always had the interesting habit of naming her possessions and now, she wasn’t going to be satisfied until she came up with a suitable one for her blade. Listening to the cascade of water behind her, she went through lists of historical characters, fictional ones, and even tried to cobble new titles together. When that wasn’t enough she pulled a notebook from her pack and idly flipped through the pages full of notes, pausing every now and then to consider a possibility.
“What are you called, hmm?” she muttered to the dagger as if it would give her a response.
Bells chimed over the city and she glanced about the square for inspiration. Twisting around in her seat, Izuyanai looked back at the fountain and its rippling pools of water. Lights from the city reflected brightly on the surface while deep shadows seemed to swim through the water gathering at the base of the fountain. Izuyanai stared harder and the flow seemed to leave behind letters in her mind. Hmm, Aramis. Repeating the word over in her mind, the raven turned back toward the dagger decidedly. Aramis it is. Briefly pulling out writing tools to scratch down the information, she stowed everything in her pack and made her way to get breakfast. The name and its meaning was for her knowledge only. |
by Izuyanai on January 3rd, 2016, 7:52 am 
