Solo It takes one to run

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

The labour of running hadn’t been very kind towards Aenisa, she had improved somewhat but the pain from her disastrous encounter with the trio of thugs was still hampering her progress. A swift foot pushed down against the stones underneath her feet as she was shooting off towards the Gaping Maw, she had no issues with people in the vicinity thanks to the early hours. As she put forth her other leg she could feel how the muscles strained under her posture and found herself slowing down momentarily. Her stride was very flexible, quicker on the one leg than the other and it looked like she was constantly getting slowed by a bubble of delayed time.

As she was thrown out of the city, her feet landed her on a side which were facing a path that led along the cliffs near the water. She was unsure if it could be really called cliffs as they weren’t really all that majestic looking and they seemed more… Unforgiving. Whatever it was, Aenisa didn’t spend any further time thinking about it as she allowed herself to scan the horizon and the forest around the city. She had decided that she was going to stay close to the wall and make her way down to the docks today, try to catch the fresh produce that is coming off the ships. A deep breath and some massaging of her previously injured leg before she took off from the gate.

It was weird how a few days earlier, Aenisa had tried to follow who she considered to be the main perpetrator of her little shindig. It had been as if Ionu had given him as a gift to Aenisa, a gift of peace but then he had spotted her and she had had to run away. Her feet moulded perfectly along the dirt path as she was running along the wall, never far enough out to not see the city. The quiet nature was only disturbed, nay, not quite disturbed as much as it was enhanced by the twittering of the birds. It was really nice. She had been laying on the roof of the house into which she had broken in, hiding out of fear for what the man was going to do to her if he had caught her. It had made her think back to all of what had happened and it wasn’t very good for her, although most of the injuries might have healed on the surface, she wasn’t all alright yet.

Her feet had carried her halfway to her destination and she felt that she needed to stop, she had gotten somewhat better at the whole endurance as well but she was far from a good runner. It wasn’t really as useful in Wind Reach as it was in Alvadas she had come to find out. The deep thumping of her chest as she stood, trying to catch her breath had blocked out all of the thoughts that she had been thinking about on the way to her current spot. Weird how getting windy could do that to a woman, Aenisa mused. It was so nice to be out and running in the early hours of the day, the dew still in the trees and on the grass and the predators had gone to sleep, most of them at least. The onslaught of the sun and the prey hadn’t really begun for the day and if she was quick she could even catch the morning trade by the docks too. She could do with some water but she hadn’t known how she should bring it with her in a good way and so had skipped it. She shrugged it off and then she set off again, towards the docks once more.

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

It was a ghastly way to pass her time but the doctors had suggested to her that it would be a good idea to have some exercise to become healthier more quickly. Aenisa had regarded their advice as suspicious but decided to follow it all the same. The wall of the city was just a stone’s throw away and she would soon be reaching the road down to the docks. A root that had been hollowed out seemed to materialise out of nowhere, catching her foot and tripping her up. It seemed to Aenisa that she was always falling over as she once more was heading towards the ground, although this time she would be met with soft ground rather than hard stone. A soft hand against the ground and a graceful little roll and she landed on her back rather than her face this time. Aenisa found herself surprised by this as she stood back up, had she just done some sort of secret move, a move lost throughout the ages, hidden within herself, revealed thanks to her clumsiness? She looked down at her legs, stunned as well, she was out of breath, her legs all the same seemed to carry her on. Weird.

It felt as if the day had just gotten a massive jump to it as she continued along, Aenisa found herself with some newfound energy, no doubt thanks to the inevitable adrenaline that she got from almost falling on her face. The rest of the trip was a breeze again and she soon arrived at the short road between the city and the docks, happy and wholesome. The road seemed to be somewhat busy as the bustle of conversation was carried past the exhausted Inarta. Aenisa stood by the side of the road and was catching her breath, hands firmly planted on her knees as she was breathing rapidly. A few of the passersby chose to spare her a glance as they were hurrying past her whilst others ignored her like she had been a part of the open fields. It didn’t worry Aenisa one bit though as she wanted to continue her path down towards the docks in a few chimes. Wiping her forehead with her shirt she then started off in a slow pace towards the docks, it wasn’t far but she was sweating. The slow walk allowed her body to cool down from the run she had just come from. The sun that had risen above the city was already warming the air and the city and making it harder to cool down.

Coming outside of Alvadas was always a promising idea to clear one’s head, that was something that Aenisa really needed from time to time. It wasn’t as if the whole city was eating her up, she had learned to adapt to the craziness somewhat by now. It was more the fact that the city was driving her insane, slowly, she was aware of it and day by day she felt as if it was getting worse for her. It was a trap from which there was no escape, Aenisa sighed deeply. She was going to have to figure out how she wanted to live her life in the world before she did more mistakes than she had already done. Figuring that so far, Aenisa had mostly been running away from those that wished her harm and even when she tried to turn the tables it had seemed that the city was working against her. She needed to remember what the priest had told her that one time when she had been in the Temple of Ionu.

If she was going to stay in Alvadas she would need to get on the good foot with the god that ran everything and to do that she needed to head back to the Temple and make sure that everything was in order. If she wanted to continue with her current task, she wanted to have the blessing and guidance of the temple, feelings of insecurity washing over her. Aenisa thought back upon her time in Wind Reach as well, it wasn’t really what she remembered that she had set out for. Leaving the city with promises of bettering herself and finding the true god for her, bettering her falconry and coming back a better person. Since she had arrived she had worked some on her falconry and reached out to the temple so when she really thought about it, she was doing alright actually. This picked her spirits right up and she smiled as she saw the entrance to the port approaching.

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

Squeezing past a moving wagon as she passed into the ports of Alvadas. During her short walk from the walls of the city down to the port she had managed to cool off and felt cool and satisfied with herself. It seemed that since the festival had passed the pressure on the ports had dissipated as well. The streets that had once seemed so small, closed off and full off life now stood agape with space and emptiness, a statement that although true in comparison wasn’t entirely true. Wagons, merchants were still travelling along the path, just not in the same intensity as before.

Even though the sun was warming the port enough so that it became hot, thanks to the open seas just beyond, it was still refreshing to be in and around the port. Aenisa could see herself working in the port eventually, should she be able to catch a job in the area, something which was never certain. In any case, Aenisa reminded herself of the last time that she had been to the ports, before her attack and before the end of the festival. It had been lively and full of ships, merchandise and trade. It had also shown something to Aenisa that she still didn’t know how to handle, it had shown what she presumed to be death. It wasn’t necessarily so that the man in the ports had been the same as in the Bizarre but in Aenisa’s mind, it was.

For a moment, she felt like she was being watched again, like she would travel down the same spiral she had done during the festival. A spiral of illusions, or had it been? Aenisa looked around, suddenly having a feeling of insecurity washing over her, like something was nearing that she didn’t want to feel, she started to hurry. The sudden urgency made her cast her glances all around in the streets, she walked calmly as to not attract too much attention but could feel how people were watching her. Low conversations all around her seemed to be directed at her, spiteful looks and smug expressions all seemed to be aimed at her suddenly. Aenisa stepped over to a nearby wall, she allowed her hands to drain along her face to drown out the voices of those around her. It was like she was under water. She felt the finger poking her on her shoulder, shocked she looked at the old woman that stood before her, she was speaking, Aenisa didn’t hear a thing though. Giving the older woman a expression like that which one gives when you cannot hear someone over the roar of a fire or through a heavy wind. The woman started to speak again, her words coming slowly into focus.

“A...e …o… ok…y?” Most of the sentence came out as a muffled sound, indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd, Aenisa understood the meaning of the question however. She was acting weird to the woman and she wanted to know if she was alright, Aenisa didn’t feel like answering her, her mouth felt like it had been glued shut. Standing up and pushing the woman out of her way, Aenisa started down an alleyway, her reality was growing ever more distant. Was this madness, was this an illusion? Whatever the reason for her body reacting the way it did, it did not give Aenisa brain much of a choice to answer as it drove her into a tunnel, colours fading as the rest had done. After the tunnel enclosed her completely, Aenisa collapsed.

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

“Think she is okay?” The voice was that of a young boy.

“Don’t know, she might be deaded.” Said another young voice.

“No, she is not deaded, look.” There was silence for a moment as the boy prodded the Inarta with a stick, a groan came from the limp body on the ground. “See?” Said the boy triumphantly to his friend.

“She might be a Nuit or something then? One ah’ them undeaded thingies.” Slight fear in the voice as it trembled ever so slightly upon speaking of the Nuit and the undead.

“You think? What undeaded thing would she be?” Asked the boy with the stick and poked the Inarta again with it. Aenisa groaned again.

“I don’t know, maybe she got turned by that creepy old man at the dock?”
“The one that caught Onrixo?”
“Yeah. Onrixo said he was really creepy and old, like he was dead.”
“My mom says that he eats crows for breakfast and children for dinner.”
“He does not!”
“He does!”
“He does not!”
“He does!”
“He does not!”
“Mom says so!”
“He does not!”

The searing pain of the young children were getting on Aenisa’s nerves, even if she felt weak enough to be dead. It was enough to hear the two annoying one another and so she decided that she would get them away at least. Groaning heavily, like she was indeed an undead she tried to think of what an undead might be and how it might work. She had read somewhere about them, they didn’t work as Inarta did at least, she had to improvise.

Aenisa allowed her eyes to shoot open instantly, she stared into the legs of the young kids before her as they had fallen silent thanks to her groan. Now she figured, if she acted as a mechanical figure she could get them to just run away. Slowly she started to drag herself towards the kids, one arm at a time as the kids stood frozen solid. Endeavouring to not blink as much, after all, she was dead, dead people had no need to blink. It was hard, her eyes started to dry up and she felt the reflex to blink, she did, the kids didn’t seem to notice as they stood frozen. As she had dragged herself some few inches towards them she reached out to grab hold of one of the kids’ legs.

The scream that the kid let out when he got touched by Aenisa would have shattered glass if not for the fact that there were none nearby. She had not grasped his ankles too hard because after all, she wanted them to run off, leaving her alone in the otherwise deserted alleyway. What Aenisa hadn’t thought about was that stupid stick that the kid had, it now came down like a cane on her back to the words of the boy. “Aaaaah! Let me be! Stupid undeaded! I will tell mom!” It was a threat that had no real bearing but the blow that he had dealt now had Aenisa rolling onto her back, mumbling and cursing as she was trying to get up onto her feet. It was time for real revenge on these small buggers. When Aenisa was up on her feet however the children were already by the end of the alleyway, screaming and shouting for help and about some undead. This was not a good situation for Aenisa and she muttered for herself. “What I done…”

It took but a few moments before a small crowd had formed where the kids stood, all of them looking down towards Aenisa in the middle of the alleyway. It wasn’t bad enough that she had collapsed earlier, now she was going to be chased, again. Aenisa sighed, resigned to her fate as she started to back away slowly in the alleyway. The group by the end of the alleyway seemed to be talking between one another and it seemed like they might get closer to a decision as to what to do with her. Aenisa would have to react fast here, her empty stomach wouldn’t carry her for long before she might black out again. As her feet carefully carried her slowly backwards she felt as if the small crowd might burst into a sprint at any time and so she shot a glance across her shoulder, the alleyway was empty, good. Looking back at the group again, she could see how one of the older people in the ground was now pointing at her. Aenisa pointed at herself and gave them a confused expression before she looked around the alleyway with the confused look on her face. Aenisa turned and ran.

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

It was unfunny how often Aenisa had to run these days, Alvadas was never safe. A little joke had gotten her chased by a mob, a little punch had gotten her nearly dead. As her feet carried her quickly down the street, Aenisa thought about the advice that she had gotten from her doctors, it was good to run, stimulate the body they said. Maybe that is what Aenisa needed, a good technique on how to run, how to escape. It seemed that even though she was used to standing up for herself, the odds were almost always stacked against her.

Skirting out from the side-street out into the moving crowds, she was quick to disappear through the moving groups of people and head over and into another street, just across from the one she had appeared from. She could hear the mob behind her just a few moments later, shouting above the general buzzle of the streets. “There it goes! Watch the red hair!” Blast, she forgot that her hair was like having a big red arrow above her head, it pointed everyone to her as long as they could spot her. She needed something to hide her hair and get out of this, her energy reserves were quickly being drained as she dashed down the side-street, it wasn’t too long. The next street offered less people and less places to hide, she threw her head in every which way as she had emerged. Something caught her eyes.

Outside of a small entrance into a house there lay on top of a wooden barrel, a hat and a cape. Someone had clearly taken them off and gone inside for a moment, thief or no thief, it was her only way out as Aenisa saw it, quickly she ran to it, snatched the items off the top of the barrel. She continued to run as the mob appeared out into the street, difference was, now she had a plan. Darting through a few more short side-streets she soon came around a corner, far enough ahead of the little mob, who, like her, had grown tired. Quickly her hand caught her hair up into a big bun and then she capped it off with the hat on top. Her arrow was now hidden; however, her clothes still spoke of who she was, the cape, the cape she held was her ticket for that. Quickly she unfolded the cape and slung it over her back, she didn’t have enough time to tie it together and so she resorted to holding it together by herself.

About ten or so people came rushing around the corner, Aenisa threw her head away from the group, hopefully she did so just in time for them to miss her. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she started to try and walk slowly away from them, moving down the rather empty street, she could hear them as they were talking to one another, spreading out along the road.

“Where did it go?”

“I don’t know! Quick, spread out, search.”

“Go in pair of two’s, you see it, shout.”

“Alright, you two, you two, you two, you two and then us two.”

With that quick exchange, the voices behind her died out a little, however she could hear approaching steps coming from behind. One look and she would be discovered, her exhausted body would not be able to take another run for the day, she needed energy, she needed food. The tunnel wasn’t quite there but she could feel how she had grown weaker in her legs as she had calmed down. The two that had been sent her way passed her by however, moving right past as if she hadn’t existed and down the road they continued. Even if it seemed as if they had passed her by, Aenisa wasn’t sure that she could trust in it and so she kept her head low, carefully tying the cape around herself so that she needn’t hold it up by herself.

As the duo ventured down a side-street at a quick pace, Aenisa felt secure enough to raise her head again and she strode quickly away from the area in the ports, heading down towards the docks instead. She needed to get food before she headed back to the city, her body was now screaming for energy.

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

The staircase offered some support as she sat down, she was taking deep breaths and making sure that she tried to conserve as much of the energy that she had left as possible. Thankfully she had made it to the docks and as she sat down outside of what seemed to be a private home of someone, the ships were being unloaded. She was going to have to find something to eat before she headed back to the city. Her hand dug into her little pouch and she fished out a few silver mizas, looking at them with a slight frown she let out a deep sigh. It wasn’t easy to try and make your own life work out in Alvadas. Aenisa needed to get ahead of the curve in some way, she allowed the coins to clink against one another in her hand as she sat, slightly hunched over and scanning the port. There had to be a better way of earning coin in the city than what she was doing at the moment. Clink. Clink.

There was always room for improvement in how things were handled in the docks, room for more merchants, more trade, more opportunity. For some reason, these thoughts, they had come to Aenisa as she sat on the staircase. The idea for what she might be able to offer, might be able to draft up for the city was something that she was going to have to shelf though, she would look further into it. It was odd for Aenisa to get a sudden attraction to something out of the blue like that unless it was already driving her forwards or it was something that had to happen in a moment. It wasn’t exactly time to think more about it though. Clink. Clink. She had to get food from somewhere. Clink. Clink. The coins were going to have to do. Standing up again, Aenisa started down along the harbour towards what seemed to be a boat that offered some cheap food most likely and maybe even some other assorted food for the sailors. Perhaps not the quality of what she might have found in Alvadas but it was going to have to do. She needed to get herself a dagger whilst she was at it as well, something that she could carry for self-defence if it was needed. Food first though.

It was red, it was small and it seemed to be not the most popular location in the docks but at the same time it had a steady stream of people all the same. Walking on board the small ship and in through the opening, Aenisa emerged into a cosy and friendly interior. It wasn’t very much inside but there needn’t be for her to satisfy her needs for sustenance. Walking up to what Aenisa considered to be the counter inside of the Primrose, a man stood behind the counter, he seemed not all too happy about seeing Aenisa. It wasn’t the best of feelings but she could see that there was something beyond just the general hatred of people and their never-ending needs.

“Hello.” Aenisa said in a rather upbeat tone as she greeted the middle-aged man.

“Hello.”

“What you sell?” Aenisa asked curiously as the man didn’t seem interested in offering that information up by himself, he tapped a small sign with his finger instead of answering her. Pickled fish, that was all? Really? Aenisa grimaced inwardly. Outwardly she had a smile on as she was looking at the prices and what was there for sale.

“I’ll have… uh… like one pickled fish.”
“One? One jar? One fish?” The demand for one pickled fish had seemed to confuse the man for a moment, he asked a few more questions than what he had done earlier.

“One jar.” Aenisa said, figuring that what the man had said first was the most logical. And it seemed as if she might have been correct at that as the man took out one jar from a nearby shelf. He put the jar in front of Aenisa and then he tapped the sign again for the price, three gold. She frowned, three gold for some fish, this was daylight robbery. It was either this or go hungry and possibly black out again. She frowned slightly at the man and then reluctantly she dug the coins out from her pouch, tossed them onto the counter and took the jar with her as she left.

LedgerPickled Fish - 3 gm

SPACER

[Aenisa]

88th of Spring - 517 AV

It hadn’t been the best of lunches that Aenisa had ever eaten but it would have to do in a pinch. Having been sat on a pair of stairs outside of a home near a busy street, a few glances had been passed onto her, all of them carrying a sort of judgement. Apparently, it seemed to Aenisa that it didn’t seem quite alright to eat pickled fish out of a jar in the middle of a city with your hands. She was hungry and what was she supposed to do if she couldn’t eat right there? Black out again and be found by undead-seeking kids? She had to eat, so she did.

Leaving the glass jar behind, Aenisa headed back up through the ports towards the city of Alvadas again, she was out of energy and felt like going home for a quick nap. The day was still young and although she had the day off from work she would still head over later in the afternoon to make sure that everything was in order, for Yuri. Feeling a responsibility after her little accident that had kept her out of work for so long. The rather slow, short steps that Aenisa found herself taking was making the trek to the city rather long but it suited her well.

It wasn’t until Aenisa reached the Gaping Maw that she finally took off her hat and the cape, leaving it near the Sanity Center, she was safe in the city. It wasn’t much else that she could do with the day and so she headed over down the road where her key was carrying her. The streets were starting to fill and the conversation encased her in a bubble of her own world and creation, the feeling quickly enveloped Aenisa. It was a good feeling in the air as she had come back to Alvadas, things seemed to be looking up and people seemed to be in a greater mood than they were at the port. It wasn’t until she turned the corner that she saw the building, the Bizarre and it reminded her of her earlier thought for the knife. She would have to make it her last stop for the day. She strode off towards the entrance.

Not everyone had managed to get their stalls up for the day, even though the Bizarre was as bright as it always seemed to be, except that one time. It seemed weird to Aenisa, after having been in the Bizarre so many times that people needed to go home and sleep. Today it was easy to stride into the big compound and she headed for the nearest weapons stall, skidding to a stop as she reached the table. Her little manoeuvre had garnered the attention of the man behind the desk, inside of the shop. Squinting eyes penetrated her eyes and seemed to dig deep into her soul as Aenisa found herself looking away as she said.

“I need dagger.” There was only silence for a long time from the man, Aenisa stood in silence, she didn’t have the energy to bother with much niceties and social stuff at that moment.

“Dagger, eh? What kind of a dagger does the lady need?” Silky smooth, the voice was silky smooth, it came in direct contrast to his rough exterior that seemed to say that he was the weapon smith himself. For the briefest of moments it confused Aenisa, thinking that the voice came from somewhere else.

“One that is sharp.” She said coldly and as the man simply nodded his head and directed her attention towards a pair of knives nearby, Aenisa felt satisfied. On display on the counter were a wide variety of models of daggers, all of them seemingly sharp and in newer condition. Fingertips went over them all before she settled for one of the smaller daggers, something that she could easily carry with her, concealed and quickly draw as she needed it. Touching her index finger to it and nodding, the man made a firm nod and then she quickly exchanged the golds for it before taking her leave. Aenisa was getting tired, she needed a rest and some good relaxing time.

Coming out of the Bizarre Aenisa headed for home, following the key which took her in the direction of her door, she would soon be home again.

LedgerDagger, Assassin’s - 4 gm

SPACER

[Dovey]

Aenisa

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	3
Running	3
Endurance	2
Acrobatics	1
Acting	1
Disguise	1
Planning	1
Socialization	1
•	•
•	•
•	•
•	•

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Acrobatics: An instinctual roll
•	Acting: Pretending to be undead
•	Alvadas: Driving me insane
•	Alvadas: Hard to make a living
•	Collapsing from exhaustion
•	Disguise: Hiding my hair
•	Location: The Primrose
•	Patchwork Port: Can see myself working there
•	Running: Slowed by my leg wound
•	Self: Always falling over
•	Self: Need a technique for escaping
•	Stealing a disguise

Rewards/Penalties :

+1 Assassin's Dagger
-3 GM (Pickled Fish)
-4 GM (Assassin's Dagger)
- Aenisa's legs will ache with decreasing intensity until tomorrow evening.
- There is a small welt on Aenisa's back where the boy hit her with his stick. Without treatment it will heal after six days. With treatment it will heal after three days.

Additional Comments

This was a really fun read! The scene where the children discovered unconscious Aenisa had me chuckling. There was a lot going on in this thread, but you kept things moving along at a good pace and made clear what was happening at any given moment. If I may, I would suggest that you break up some of your longer sentences.

Please remember to edit your request in the grade queue to show that this thread has been graded! If you have any questions or concerns about your grade, please contact me via PM. You're actually my first grade, so do please let me know if you spot any problems!