A Sudden Appearance

by **Aenisa** on May 21st, 2017, 8:14 pm

90th of Spring - 517 AV

As the spring was clearly drawing towards its close, Aenisa was nowhere nearer to enacting her own revenge for her misfortunes. It had been a goal ever since she had left that medical place, she still had some of the pain haunting her from time to time but it wasn’t too bad most days now. She had to run they had said, or well, not specifically but something along those lines is what Aenisa had heard. It wasn’t hard to see why people wanted to buy certain goods over others when the doctors, healers, alchemists and chemists were pushing for certain things. People listen when they are ill and then they will keep doing it when they are healthy, because it after all, cured them.

Towering all around the tiny Inarta, buildings which seemed to crowd together like mountains along the valley floor. In comparison to the colourful exteriors, her red hair seemed to fit quite nicely but if one were to look the other way, her hair stood out like a flower in winter, most didn’t have her hair colour. Aenisa, or as she was going to take to calling herself from now on, Shiraya, was slowly moving down the valley floor. Once more Aenisa had come from the ports, this time however she had neither been chased by kids nor had she been out for a run. Whilst down in the docks she had made sure that the work was in order for when she needed to go down there for Yuri in the summer, there was a lot of work piling up.

Now that she was returning into the city again, Aenisa was trying to figure out how or rather what she should be doing with the rest of her day. She still had to plot and try to execute her revenge plan, something that still was consuming her from day to day. The failed trailing was still with her as she cut down a side-street, her mind trying to figure out what might be a good course of action for her to take next. Bumping into someone Aenisa muttered “Sorry” before she carried on, not sparing a single glance at the person she had bumped into. Down another street and soon she was back out into a bigger one again, she had to jostle with the crowds, her slender frame doing plenty to carry her along though.

It wouldn’t be impossible to pull any of this off but she would have to be clever about her approach, she needed to make sure that she could perfect each plan for each person. It would not be easy for her to figure out exactly what was right for each person either since she never knew where she might encounter them. Thankfully she had not been beaten again since her release from Ionu’s Mercy and that was something that really made Aenisa think that maybe the god was slowly giving her their favour. Sadly though, Aenisa already knew that just because a break was given didn’t mean that she would be safe and speaking of Ionu, that was probably true for as long as she would stay in Alvadas. Aenisa wasn’t bitter, she was happy, she would do her best to live like she was supposed to, to make the most out of herself, for herself.

Turning around the next corner and she was met with the building, it was as if it had been listening to her thoughts and somehow that made it all the creepier. The temple of Ionu stood before her, it was in a sort of back alley today, probably taking a rest before it would move onwards again. Not wanting to waste the time, precious time that the whole city of Alvadas seemed to move with; Aenisa was quick to move into the confines of the temple and up towards the temple itself.

SPACER

by **Aenisa** on May 21st, 2017, 8:20 pm

90th of Spring - 517 AV

It seemed just as empty as the first time that she had been there, not much had changed and not much seemed to want to change either. Ionu perhaps found comfort in knowing that his temple stayed the same even if the city did not. Whatever the cause for it, the temple was nicely and tastefully decorated, one would call the decorations spartan though.

Cutting across the floortiles and then heading down the middle of the small temple she soon found herself sitting at a pair of benches. Aenisa focused her head straight ahead, she was alone, no priest, no civilians, no clay figurines, just her. The silence after the echoes of her footsteps had died out was refreshing, it was, religiously holy in some fashion or another. Her breath was the loudest within the walls as she begun an inner dialogue with the god, hoping that she would not have to speak out loud for the gods to hear. Aenisa was after all in the temple dedicated to Ionu, surely, they had total control over this dominion the same way that they did the city.

With her head sunk down like she had fallen asleep, Aenisa begun to talk within her own head, to herself but hopefully to someone higher and someone of more significance than herself. “Ionu, hear my words, hear my thoughts. I have returned to bring to you my request, my anguish and my pains. I hope you will heal, mend and rejuvenate the wounds which have been caused onto me. You to which this city, this temple and this world has given itself to, from you, I seek this, I seek guidance and permission, strength and favours. Guide my way and I will be yours, to serve as you see fit.” Now, just as much as the emptiness of the temple was silent, her head fell silent as well, she had no idea if the god could actually hear her, she had made an attempt at least.

It was something about the temple that was creeping up on her though, an itching feeling that something was near, something was there, something was watching, listening, observing. She had felt it the last time that she had been there, the tiny clay figurine had stolen her attention that time though. It wasn’t the clay figurine which was the source of the feeling, it was the building, this was becoming clear to her, slowly Aenisa allowed her head to rise. Eyes slowly scanning around the walls, was there someone there? Was she alone?

Approaching footsteps, they were slow, they were meticulous and they moved towards her. Slowly she turned around to look for the source of the footsteps and as she found the source Aenisa sent a small wave to the approaching man and a greeting. Aenisa did not want to seem hostile by not being polite, something she had learned from her time in Alvadas.

SPACER

by **Aenisa** on June 2nd, 2017, 8:01 pm

90th of Spring - 517 AV

The sun had disappeared behind a cover of clouds as she reappeared back out into the streets of Alvadas. The temple hadn’t offered her many solutions to her search and she had been left with just as many questions as she had when she had arrived. It was all very frustrating, she wanted guidance, she wanted the clarity that only a god could offer her and yet, it was silence that she had gotten. Aenisa thought about it for a moment and although the silence was the obvious, perhaps it was the illusions that she was given that was the true spoken words. It didn’t much matter at this point anyhow, she was on a mission, she wanted revenge and she was going to get it, with or without the help from the divine.

A sigh and she started down the street, the roads was sure to lead her in some labyrinth or another. It was a happy feeling that turned into a sort of lost feeling after her visits to the temple, it was as if she never really got any true validation for her belief in the god and the city. Somehow she knew that things would get better with time if she only put forth the dedication but at the same time she couldn’t help but to feel abandoned. Feelings of a strange city, far away from Wind Reach struck her hard after these visits. It wasn’t as easy as Aenisa had imagined it to be and all the strange people that she had met during her brief time in the city was overwhelming too. A tiny clay figurine, the man who wore a fox mask, the fortune teller with the beard, the odd man in the woods with the snowy beast, the screaming ghost, the stuck up ghost and the scrawny girl with the air of nobility. It was a far cry from what she was used to encounter.

The alleyway that she had wandered into came to an end just as she was pondering over the people that she had met. Aenisa found herself confused for a moment before she realised that she was still in Alvadas. Ionu. Aenisa shook her head and then briefly glanced about in the alleyway before she settled for a pair of beams sticking out from a bright yellow house. She didn’t feel like walking back the alleyway and instead she thought it would be easier to just climb over the houses instead. It was a strange way to deal with the problem that wasn’t much of a problem but Aenisa didn’t have the willpower to walk back down the road. They were shaped in much the same way that a staircase was but in the opposite way, from smallest to largest, it wouldn’t be the easiest way to climb up but she figured it would have to do.

They were rounded and offered at least some grip to her feet as she reached them, her nimble fingers grasped at the higher beams and then she began to climb the beams. Securing each foot one step higher as she took her time, her hands grasping the beams on either side as she shimmied her way up. It was rather effortless, albeit slow, if one were to look at her but it took some concentration on Aenisa’s part all the same. So much concentration that she didn’t realise that the roof was coming to meet her head before it was too late and she cursed out loud in the alleyway. Shooting an angry glare at the wooden underside of the roof she then shook her head a bit, holding on tight to the beams. It did hurt but only for a moment before the pain slowly faded away. With her feet and one hand still holding onto the beams she carefully located a grasp around the edge, one that would hopefully hold for her light weight and then she did the same with the other hand. Taking a deep breath she pulled herself up, heaving herself up over the edge of the roof.

SPACER

by **Aenisa** on June 2nd, 2017, 8:08 pm

90th of Spring - 517 AV

Planting her chest against the roof she rolled herself up onto the roof as she let go of the beams below. She paused. There were people on the rooftops too, Aenisa found this odd, did more people than her use the rooftops as a means of transporting one’s self to another part of the city? “Hello.” Said a man that came to a stop above her, blonde beard and black hair, a mixture that looked utterly ridiculous but could just as likely have passed for the latest trend. His brown eyes made the mix complete and offered at least some type of smooth passage between the dark and the light in his hair. “Hi.” Aenisa responded as her eyes were searching the individual above her, he was tall. “Let me help you up.” He offered a hand. With the help of the tall man she was soon on her feet and offered a slight smile and a thanks to the man as a show of appreciation.

“How’d you get up here?” He asked as he looked down into the alleyway below. He seemed curious and at the same time he wasn’t very surprised about the rather random appearance on the roof.

“I use the wall.” Aenisa offered, she was trying to figure out the correct words to use but she couldn’t find them in her head. Making a mental note that she needed to start listening to people and the words that they used to better her own vocabulary. “Used the wall? What? You mean you walked up the wall?” An arched eyebrow and a sceptical look was all that was offered after this question, even Aenisa understood that the question was sarcastically in nature and so she giggled a bit and shook her head. “No. Sorry, I don’t know… word for it.” A smile was offered to the man again and then she waited to see if he would make more fun of her or let it go. “Climbing… It is called climbing.” He said calmly as he focused back onto Aenisa again. “Yes, I climbing the wall.” She said and nodded her head a few times. The conversation didn’t carry much past that, Aenisa failing to properly understand complex words and questions made it rather short-lived and soon the man departed. A bit of a relief, Aenisa didn’t know if the man had been real or if he had been a part of the trio she was hunting. Fully aware of the fact that her red hair was a bit of a giveaway she had grown more paranoid of people as of late.

The slightly slanted roof offered a different way of walking, one couldn’t walk as you did on the ground and so it was important to counteract the gravity a bit. It was rather funny when you watched all the people walking on the roofs, slightly tilted. One foot falling lower than the other made them all look like strange penguins out for a walk on the ice, not that there were any ice on the rooftops of course because it was late spring but the motions were the same. Aenisa joined in on the penguin walk, although she chose a different path.

Balancing along the edge of the rooftops seemed like a fun game to her, arms outstretched and the threat of death from a simple fall to the streets below. Aenisa was used to the heights and the balancing act from her life in Wind Reach but the slight danger was fun enough. One needed to feel alive after an annoying moment at the temple and this was the best way without punching someone. Her eyes let scan the streets below as she was carefully stepping along the edge, dark hair, dark hair, blonde hair, dark hair, red hair, they all sort of flashed by so quickly. Some had wonderful hats on and others did not, some wore backpacks and others didn’t. It was a sea of people moving below and they all seemed to offer themselves to Aenisa for the picking, she could make a killing in the streets with a little help from her feathered friends.

SPACER

by **Aenisa** on June 4th, 2017, 8:41 pm

90th of Spring - 517 AV

Swinging a bit from side to side she rounded the corner of the roof, the tiles underneath her feet trembling ever so slightly by her weight. Aenisa wasn’t particularly focused on the task at hand, it seemed to be natural and yet, it was anything but. As the faces flew past on the streets below one of the many in the crowd stopped her in her tracks, she recognized the face. A frown and a moment of confusion opened up her mind to where she had seen the man before, it had been one of the three that had attacked her on that one day. Digging her toes down and spinning around on the edge of the roof, her hands waving about a little as she could feel the balance shifting from foot to foot when she was turning around. Leaning forwards slightly she counteracted the slight shift in balance to make sure that she would not fall and then she locked her eyes on the man, dark hair, light brown leathery coat. The body was well toned and spoke of heavy lifting and the care that went into keeping the body in shape, it was a total opposite to Aenisa.

He was oblivious to the fact that a stalking red haired woman was just above him, on the roof. Her piercing eagle eyes fixed on him like a hawk that is ready to strike, if she would have been more trained, she would have jumped the man right there. Aenisa wasn’t the best when it came to athletics and at this very moment, that annoyed her a lot. Shifting between the man in the crowd and the roof on which she was walking on, she made small jumps as the houses shifted in height. Being careful when she descended and just as careful as she climbed on top of a higher roof, she kept pace with the man who was still unaware of her prowling. It seemed that the man at first had no idea where he was going but soon enough he pulled out a key from his pocket. Held on with a metal piece it was seemingly pulling gently in one direction, the man slid the key back into his pocket. He started off in the direction that the key had shown, Aenisa following above.

Some people that she met on top of the roofs looked at her with a suspicious gaze but most people ignored her, either she was weird or she was an illusion. Whatever the people decided upon, it wasn’t worth their time to further investigate and by the time that they had all come to that conclusion, Aenisa was long gone. Aenisa didn’t have time with the people anyhow as she had enough to do with just keeping track of her victim below, he was showing her the way to his den. Around the next corner she saw the home, blue. The house was a blue house with two flowerpots hanging just outside of a red door with a white frame around it, the windows and the paint on the house were starting to fall apart. No key seemed to be used to enter the home, either the man did not live alone or he did not care to lock the door, Aenisa took note of this as she sat down on a nearby roof. She would stay for a while and watch, see what happened.

SPACER