Completed A New Dawn Hast Arisen Pt. I

[Naadiya]

A New Dawn Hast Arisen Pt. I 1st of Spring, 522 AV continued from… Talivindra and Naadiya parted ways on the Cobbled Pathway and Naadiya headed towards the Syka Commons while Talivindra walked in the opposite direction to only the gods know where. Only when she had neared the stairs of the raised platform where locals often gathered in the Commons, did Naadiya notice the monolith that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. Veering her path towards it, she noted that the local builders, who had already impressed her in the past with their skill and speed, could not possible be responsible for the tower, even stunted as it may have been in comparison to those of other cities. It would have to had popped up overnight, even Syka’s builders could not manage such a feat. Had magic been involved or was this the handiwork of some god? Please, not Rhysol, she thought silently, while biting her lower lip and scanning the statue for some clue to it’s sudden appearance. Her eyes caught sight of Kihala and Caiya along side Tanroa, the mother of time, as well as the sea god Laviku and others less familiar. She looked for signs of Syna and Xyna but found none. The sun goddess had not headed any of Naadiya’s calls before, this seemed further proof that her gaze rarely probed Syka for long. Perhaps, it is because the forest’s canopy prevents her from seeing much. I would get bored staring at plants doing nothing but growing as well. Inhaling sharply when she did not find the evil likeness of the dark god, or any symbol she could recognize as his, Naadiya reached out for one of the monolith, needing support and no longer fearing the obelisk. Then she saw a beastlike claw mark near where she held the stone for balance. Quickly recoiling her hand from the marks and taking a few steps back until she saw near by benches and took a seat. Naadiya hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath and the sudden inflow of air almost made her dizzy with relief. Maybe this monolith was a sign from the gods, an official marking and claiming the territory as under their protection. At least, she could hope. The Swiftwaters! she suddenly thought.Maybe their being cured is tied to this watchtower’s appearance. Maybe I’m cured as well! The realization had taken a few chimes too many to bloom in her mind, but as soon as it had, Naadiya started heading for the stairs again, feeling a sudden and long-repressed desire to swim in the ocean and forgetting the reason she had even come here to begin with. Only when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder did she stop and turn back. Buraga stood there, one eyebrow raised, but with a hint of something soft in his eyes. “Have you signed up for the Re-serves yet?” He said, sounding as if he’d been repeating the same phrase or something similar for quite a few times. Naadiya couldn’t even pretend to be insulted that he had assumed she wouldn’t meet the standards for the Rangers and made no comment at his lingering on the word as if repetition had caused the word to sound more foreign instead of more familiar. 537

[Naadiya]

Odd how language works that way… It was the same in Shiber or Common and Naadiya imagined other tongues shared the same trait. Fratava seemed to be exempt, from the bits that she knew, mostly due to its gesture-heavy nature. Not ‘language’ then, but ‘speech’… “I— right, that’s why I came,” she said, focusing back on Buraga. “I’m not actually sure if I can be of any help—“ “Everyone can be of help”, he interjected, his tone was brisk but not impatient, “what are your skills?” “I… weave reasonably well but I’m not sure how I could use that for your purposes. I’m not impressive with a short bow, but I’m not likely to hurt myself with it either. I’ve been told I’ve got fairly sharp eyes for a human.” “Scout. You can help with scouting missions into the jungle as a lookout and an extra set of eyes and ears, and of course hands. We are setting up a day to go into the Sea of Palms for a small harvest but you never know with that area, so I plan on having a few extra scouts to keep watch. Can I add your name to that group?” “When were you thinking?” “Within a fortnight.” “Yes, yes… I— Yes. Please put my name down.” Despite his smile, Buraga did not let her go. “You have to say the oath if you are joining, even as part of the Reserve.” “Oath?” Buraga nodded, telling her the words of the pledge she would have to make and Naadiya repeated them, adding a few of her own as per his suggestion. “I, Naadiya Anvari Lisuli, do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the people, ideas, and boundaries of Syka against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the Founders of Syka and the orders of the officers appointed over me. In Kihala's name, I pledge my weapon, my magic, and my life. And also in the names of Syna, Xyna, Laviku and Tanroa.” “Good. Welcome Naadiya. May Kihala and Priskill smile down on us and all of Syka.” “Thank you…” she smiled back at him, another thought still itching at the back of her mind, “not to be crass, but what is the stipend situation exactly?” A gruff laugh passed Buraga’s lips as he turned, going back to his errands, “At your stage, I think I would be allowed to pay you 2.., maybe 2 gold mizas and 5 silver per day.” Naadiya hid the disappointment on her face but quickly reminded herself this would be in addition to what she made weaving for the Swiftwaters not instead of and felt better, especially considering the oath had already been taken. She saw that he carried a couple of bow staves and a few bags and the thought occurred to her that herself still lacked a bow. Talivindra’s words from earlier rang in her mind of how useless her fias would be in the jungle. 512

[Naadiya]

“Buraga, do you teach bow skills?” “…Archery?” He corrected with a smile but Naadiya nodded impatiently having intended the term in encompass more. “Archery, yes. But also fletching, bow making and maintenance? I don’t have a bow anymore… I had to trade it away on my way to Syka. I don’t want to invest the money on a good one without knowing how to maintain it or have to always rely on being able to buy arrows or labor.” “That not a bad idea at all, everyone should be as self-sufficient as possible. If the individuals are strong, the collective is stronger still. I believe we will be getting some archery training going around for some of the other locals, but I’d prefer to keep the groups not too large to reduce the risk of accidents. I’m not overly worried but those things then to snowball.” For a few seconds, the former desert nomad stared at him blankly. The concept of snow was something she had heard of in stories, of course, but never experienced herself and the expression made little to no sense in her mind. “Snow ball?” “Snowball,” he repeated. Then, realizing she did not understand, added, “Escalade. Those things tend to escalade. One person trips, then suddenly everyone trips. Usually everyone will start with confidence until the first mistake. Then, its like the possibility of error becomes more apparent and doubt creeps in. But we are prepared and will have a healer just incase.” Naadiya wasn’t sure if the man had still been talking about the archery lessons or if he’d skewed to the subject of the scouting mission into the jungle but decided to make no comment. “Is everything set then? Do I need to do anything else?” “All set, you should also get a bag ready for when we go, I suggest a Sykan Knife or whatever weapon you are most comfortable with. I have a couple of extra bows if you need to borrow one for that day, but you should get your own, something that has a weight that is better balanced to your specific grip. I can teach you how to make something fairly basic in a survival scenario, but you wouldn’t want that type of weapon as your main bow. It will get the job done, but it won’t survive the test of time, and it will never be as good as something made by a bowyer.” Saying her goodbyes to Buraga, Naadiya thanked him and went back down the steps. She had a couple more stops to make and she wanted to get back home before it got dark. Walking the entire time may actually take her that long, she had learned after this long without a camel. Prepared for the trek, Naadiya headed to the Tropical Fever Fashions Boutique. She would need to let Dawn know that she would not be able to come in as often what with the Reserve now taking up some of her time. And she wanted to check in on the woman, if her curse had really been cured, it was something Naadiya wanted to see for herself before she could really believe it. 531

[Naadiya]

When she got there, the store stood with its doors open and no one manning the front. If crime had actually gotten a grip on Syka, anyone could have come in and taken whatever they would’ve wanted and made off with it, without anyone else so much as noticing until it came time to do an inventory check on the shop. “Dawn?” Naadiya called out with an unsure voice, heading to the back room as she followed the familiar sounds of a loom being worked. “Naadiya!” Her boss’s voice rang out loudly, if a bit jittery. “It’s a miracle! We’ve been cured! Kihala blessed the settlement and wiped away Rhysol’s foul stain! Praise Kihala! Oh great Goddess! Praise Kihala.” A bit wide-eyed at her boss’s tone of voice, bordering manic in its enthusiasm, Naadiya did not know what to make of the scene until she noticed the many cups cluttering a nearby table. “Dawn, how much coffee have you had?” She said, eyeing the cups to see how many had been emptied and wondered why she hadn’t simply refilled the same cup. “Quite a bit, dear. You see, I woke up before Syna did and I just had a feeling in the pit of my stomach, I did. And I knew.” Even as the woman spoken, she did not look at Naadiya, nor did she let go of loom. Dawn merely spoke out loud almost unaware of who was even there. If she hadn’t heard her name specifically mentioned, Naadiya would have thought the woman to be sleep walking. Or sleep weaving. The blonde continued, her voice and breath almost synced with the movements on the loom, “I knew, you see. I knew we’d been healed by the graceful hand of Kihala. She blessed us and gave us a watchtower so that she could watch over us. Haw you seen the tower? Isn’t it beautiful?!” “Yes, very beautiful…Have you eaten anything?” “I ate coffee. I woke up before Syna and couldn’t go back to sleep so I went for a walk. Even before I knew, I knew. I saw the monolith and I knew! I went for the test towel. I had an isuas handkerchief in the bottom of my drawer, even when we had taken the rest of the fabric out of the house because of my allergies. But I had to keep that one. It was the first thing I had woven from Tony’s crop. It’s special. I just knew I could touch it! It knew it was time. So I dug through my drawer and when I grabbed it, no rash! Praise Kihala!” “I think I’m going to get you some water, and a piece of bread… okay. You need to eat something solid.” “I couldn’t go back to sleep! I had to weave! My hands were almost shaking for it. Hands shaking. Shaking Hands. Hands that sake… Who has hands that sake? Gracelin! Where is Gracelin?! Is Gracelin shaking? I need to speak to you and her together, it’s very important!” “Uhhh okay, alright. I’m not sure how or where she is, but tell me what you want to tell us and I well tell her if I see her before you do,” Naadiya replied, collecting the wooden cups from the table that her boss was normally very adamant should never hold any food or beverage lest it stain fabric when it was being cut. 571

[Naadiya]

“No no dear, none of that. You must both find out at the same time. You do not rush important business-altering decisions like this and I will not be rushed!” Dawn said, even as her words were spat out at great speed and continuing to mutter, though the rest of her words were clearly thoughts unintentionally voiced aloud on a variety of subjects. “Alright then…Well…You seem to be in a groove over there so I’ll leave you to it,” she said, almost sure that Dawn was barely listening, “I’m going to look for Gracelin, but then I’m bringing you something to eat and I want you to take a short break just for a few chimes. Is that okay?” Naadiya walked away not expecting a reply and not getting one. Unsure of what she would come back to but hoping for the best, Naadiya pulled out a her pattern journal and looked through a few patterns before deciding on what she would be focusing on next. She had two looms set up at home now in her own little workshop, almost the equivalent of Dawn’s, but somewhat smaller and with less storage, but it was her own. When she had chosen a couple of patterns, Naadiya flipped through five or six pages of color combinations and went with a few jewel tones. She knew she had wanted to do the ruby florals, but looking at the spread of yarns available, thought the same print would look good with amethyst and sapphire tones as well. The cabinets that were normally neatly organized, now looked to have weathered a storm. Hurricane Dawn, no doubt. Even as Naadiya careful picked the skeins she would need, the girl had to organize the ones around them, or be unable to see everything that was really there. Her bag was filling up nicely with a few hues of red and she noted how lucky she had been to have gotten if not first pick, at least second pick, of the Summer’s ready yarn supplies. There were scissors and knitting needles sticking out of the center of a couple of spools and Naadiya removed the tools to return them to where they were usually kept. Lugging her fully stuffed bags back to the front of the shop, she left them behind the counter. Then, Naadiya went back to the cabinet and clean up all the rest of the yarns and tools that had been removed and not replaced by the overly caffeinated blonde woman. When everything was in its home and the workroom looked more like it normally did, Naadiya turned back to Dawn and told her she’d be back with Gracelin as soon as possible. “I’m leaving this door open, so you can hear if anyone comes in the shop, okay? I don’t even mean a thief, but all it takes is one unattended parrot and you’ll be cleaning feces off fabrics for longer than you’d like, and who wants to buy a garment that has already been pooped on? Did you hear me? Dawn? Okay I’m going to find Gracelin.” “What? Okay!” Dawn called out, her eyes never leaving her loom and her voice gleeful but unsteady. “Sounds lovely, have fun! Come back soon!” 542