Closed Breaking Dawn (Casimir)

[Atticus Leslie]

69th of Spring

Atticus had been thinking his experiments often lately. Or, actually, the lack thereof.

Shabaan had explicitly stated that Atticus was to further his understanding of light. He had stated that he had until the end of Spring to present it to him. Atticus wasn't a gadgeteer, he had no idea how to manipulate light. He wasn't some kind of magician. He couldn't manipulate djed, though it would be much easier if that were the case. He doubted Syna would just appear to him and give him the answers. That was ridiculous at best. No. He had to figure out a way to break light and observe what came out.

That's what had occupied his thoughts for the past few days. It resulted in static. Only static. He had no clue what it would look like if he did, there was no way to predict it. And as far as he knew, it was all new material in Lhavit, so there was no work to build off of. It was all rather stressful. Hence his reasoning to speak with Casimir.

Though Casimir was perhaps not the most... Gifted apprentice at the observatory, he wasn't dumb and Atticus had quite enjoyed his encounters with the fallen zealot. He saw Casimir less as a peer and more as someone with a common interest. Though he had suspicions on the man's actual intent on developing anything in the field of astronomy, there was no doubting his diligence to work, and Atticus respected that greatly. As well as that, he needed to relax. It wasn't worth stressing constantly over. It wouldn't be completely unheard of, after all, to complete investigations on his own. Shabaan didn't dictate discoveries, he dictated work. And Atticus could live without that. But he still needed to produce answers. Which was tiring.

Casimir had to know how to relax. In some way or other. It's not as if Atticus went out of his way to ask the horned man, but he trusted Casimir's judgement and his availability. He had told Casimir that he would wait by the city gates a few bells before dawn, and there he was. A bit early, maybe, but present.

Atticus stood near the gates, shifting his head every few ticks and analyzing the passerbies, hoping that Casimir would soon appear. He clung to his journal - seeing as he never knew when he may find his answers and required available place to put his results should the need arise - and tapped his foot out of nervous habit. If anyone could help him, it was most likely Casimir. Or Boo. But Atticus hadn't yet forgiven Boo completely for the broken nose.

And so he waited. The air hung mostly still, with only the occasional Shinya passing by. Atticus smiled and waved, but otherwise nothing much had happened. For a while he paced about, tapping his feet in the puddles the recent rainfall had created in the cobblestone. It was all waiting at the moment.

For a tick, Atticus began contemplating light again.

But then he got a headache.

Boxcode by Verena

[Casimir]

Casimir bounced down the street, seeing the gates in the distance. Atticus had cut it a little close with dawn, but the Ethaefal assumed that it couldn't be helped, considering the boy didn't yet know about his situation. Besides, Casimir was going to take him on a nice walk near the water anyway, so it wasn't like he needed to leave in a lot of time for him to reach the ocean. Smiling at the thought, Casimir slowly arrived, spotting Atticus as the small boy clutching a journal.

"Hello Atticus!" he smiled, moving over to greet the boy. Casimir inhaled, taking a deep breath of the fresh rain against the cobbles. Then he grinned again, this time the smile not leaving his face. "I know a really good trail we can follow - I like walking it sometimes. The scenery is just beautiful. There are so many waterfalls and creeks and ponds, and in places, the sky is so clear, it's as if you were there."

He thought about it, then started moving, heading to the head of the trail just off the gates. A raised wooden pathway marked the trail out clearly, Casimir's boots making nice thumps as he walked. They were steady and paced, a fairly brisk walk but not too fast so the boy could keep up. "The whole trail is about a bell of walking, slightly longer actually. But it should work."

They walked for a few more ticks in silence, then Casimir spoke again, "You know how Ethaefal have different forms from day to night? Well, during the day..." He trailed off, but smiled wider, "You know, not many people know about this," the excitement in his voice was clear, "I turn into a Charoda, which is race that live underwater. Up in Lhavit, the air is too dry, so I can't come out of the ocean during the day. I'll dry out." Despite talking about dying, Casimir could only smile, speaking with a light tone and bounce in his step. He had accepted the consequences of living here ages ago. Now, it was the sharing of a secret that was the interesting part.

Soon enough, they reached Rainbow Falls, a beautiful location, at least in Casimir's eyes. The waterfall was beautiful, the rushing water filling their ears almost instantly. Silver streaks darted down the face of the mountain and as they approached, they revealed themselves as the fish, steelhead trout defying the very nature of the fall and climbing up it. Casimir bounded nearer, leaping over the rocks that were damp with the light mist that clung in the air. The sound was cacophonous now, no longer the gentle hissing and humming from before.

Large eyes darted around the scene, taking in the beauty as if he had never seen it before. Vapour moved up off the rushing water, the light shining through in rainbow colours, all the colours. Casimir moved a hand through it, laughing with joy. Then he stepped back, turning to see Atticus' reaction. Even this boy, who find wonder in the stars and in knowledge, would see the beauty in this nature. "What do you think?" he shouted, voice nothing compared to the mighty beast behind him. Casimir didn't care, eyes wide with wonder.