Winter 3rd, 512 Av
The air was cool and the sunlight was strong. Threats of a storm to come hung amongst the clouds in the city, but as he walked down the streets of Alvadas, Svan seemed unaware of this. All he knew was that the weather was at the warmest it had been since he had arrived, and he hoped it would stay like that for the rest of the day.
Thin pools of ice, and piles of snow littered the paths between buildings and Svan let out a heavy sigh as he tip-toed around them. Svan hated snow. In fact it might not be untrue if one were to say that Svan was afraid of snow. It wasn't because of the "terror-inducing" symmetric shapes of the snowflakes or any nonsense like that. It was simply that Svan's first encounter with the frozen water crystals had almost cost him his life. To make a long story short; Svan had been trapped in a blizzard on his second year away from the nest. Ever since that close call with death, Svan would run for shelter at the slightest snowfall.
But for now the weather was peaceful, and Svan was finally free to roam around the city. His first day in the city had been completely wasted traversing the maze like roads, and he had been forced to beg a family to let him lodge a night so that he wouldn't die out in the cold. The dispay of pitifulness that Svan had needed to do before the family eventualy decided to let him stay still wounded his dhani pride. He had no intention of repeating last nights begging.
Pulling his grey cloak tightly around his body the dhani looked around for anything that could vaguely resemble an inn. Unfortunately luck didn't seem to be on his side as each and every direction he looked revealed nothing that gave any indication of being a inn. Svan inhaled deeply to sigh once again, but caught his breath as he noticed that one fairly nearby building had a ladder hanging from it that led to the roof top. An idea immediatly leaped into Svan's head. Exhaling his breath, Svan immediate began to scramble up the latter using his non-existent climbing skills, and attempted to use it as a vantage point. Unfortunately it was lower than almost any of the other buildings, so his vantage point was rendered useless. Instead of giving up, Svan looked for another roof he could reach. The building to his left was still small but the roof was near, and low enough to the one he was on that he felt he could make the jump. Taking a few step back Svan prepared himself to make the leap.
"I would be careful if I were you", chimed a voice behind Svan. The dhani quickly turned around to find a young dark haired man stareing up at him. The man was lying on his stomach with his head resting on his hands in an amused manner. "If you aren't careful you may break your head slipping on that ice." He pointed to the edge of the building Svan hoped to jump from. As Svan looked closer at the spot he realized that a patch of black ice lie nearly invisible on the side of the rooftop. A chill went through his body as he imagined all of grisly ways he could fallen and broken himself had the man not pointed it out.
Rather than thank the man Svan simply glared back at him and asked, "What are you doing up here?"
Seeingly put off by Svan's lack of gratitude the man replied, "I'm afraid I dont have an answer for your question friend. You see, I wasn't expecting be questioned by a stranger for sitting on my own roof." Svan looked aside, embarrassed by the man's response.
"Sssorry", Svan caught his voice a moment too late and prayed the man mistook his lisp for a stutter.
If he didn't the man made no indication of it as he continued, "Don't bother appologizing, I know why you're up here." Svan looked at the man wide eyed, and for a moment he wondered how many other people had to have climbed this man's house in search of an inn for him to already know what Svan wanted. "You're trying to catch that white star over there," this time pointing to a white glowing light that floated around a tree just next to the building Svan had planned to jump to.
Svan, strangly disapointed that the man wasn't a psychic, turned away and said, "No, I don't care for any pointless lights, I'm trying to find the a inn so that I have a place to rest." watching carefully for the ice Svan readied himslef to jump again.
The man looked at Svan as if the dhani had told him that the sky was brown and dirt was blue, "You know, most inns and taverns tend to be at ground level." Svan ignored the man's teasing, and leaped to the next building. His fingers caught the ledge, but his face slammed into the wall nearly causing him to lose his grip. "Ooh. You're gonna feel THAT tomorrow." The man said with a smile accross his face.
"Petch you, I feel it already." Svan whined as he pulled himself up the side of the building. Torso now halfway up the building the white ball of light he had seen earlier dance past his face.
"Hey! Try to grab the light", shouted the smart-mouthed human.
"How do you grab a light?", replied Svan angrily.
"With your hands", retorted the man, "Just trust me on this." Holding on to the building with one hand he flailed the other out towards the light. After a few misses, he managed to catch the dull white light, and he pulled himself up to the top of the building. Now sitting up on his roof the man gave Svan an over-dramatic applause, "Good job, fine work. Of course, had that star been any slower it would have been standing still." He paused a moment to let the insult sink in, "But I suppose a victory is a victory none the less."
"Thanks", Svan snarled, "But why did you want me to catch this thing anyways?"
The man leaned forward, "Thats an Ionu star you have there." before Svan could ask the man continued, "An Ionu star is a rare thing that only appears in Alvadas during the winter. Once you catch it you can turn it into nearly any material you imagine." Svan cast the man a doubtful look so the man dug into a bag at his side, and drew out a bright blue light. Folding his hands around it the man looked up at Svan and smiled. When he opened his hand the ball of light had become a glowing blue string. "Believe me now?"
Svan, taken back by the Ionu star's change, simply nodded. Once he had regaining a bit of sense he looked the man in the eyes and asked, "Who are you, and how did you do that?"
Not bothering to meet Svan's gaze the man placed the string back into his bag, and rose to his feet. "My name is Caine, and to change the shape of the star is simple. You hold the star in your hand and you imagine what you wanted it to become." Caine looked out towards the street, "You should consider yourself lucky, white stars are rare to come by."
Svan looked skeptically at his new acquaintance, "If they are so rare then why didn't you try to get it?"
The man smiled broadly, eyes tracing a bright green light that was now flying down the road below at a runner's pace. "That answer is simple, my stupid little friend. Slow lights like yours are dull and boring" the man crouched his body down low, preparing himself to jump. He shot a quick look at Svan, "And whats the fun hunting if your prey doesn't put up a good chase?" He turn back to the street just as the green light was passing by, and leaped out towards it. His arm swung out to catch the light midair, and as he hit the ground he rolled fast to deflect the fall. Svan looked out towards the man wondering if the he had survived the fall. Sure enough the man was fine, and he rose to his feet holding the bright green light firmly in his hand. Caine looked back up towards Svan. I hope your not jealous that I got the better star. If it makes you feel any better, I can promise you that you wouldn't have had any chance of catching this anyways.
"Oh really, what give you the right to say that?" Caine made a dumb face and flailed his arm at his side to mock the manner Svan had caught his star. Petch you! I could catch something like that any day of the season!
"How about today? There is an orange one coming down the street as we speak." Caine smiled at Svan, daring him to prove him wrong.
"Fine then" Svan said half to himself, "I already know what I'm going to make when I catch it!" The bright orange light buzzed right by Svan, and running from roof to roof Svan chased after it.
The air was cool and the sunlight was strong. Threats of a storm to come hung amongst the clouds in the city, but as he walked down the streets of Alvadas, Svan seemed unaware of this. All he knew was that the weather was at the warmest it had been since he had arrived, and he hoped it would stay like that for the rest of the day.
Thin pools of ice, and piles of snow littered the paths between buildings and Svan let out a heavy sigh as he tip-toed around them. Svan hated snow. In fact it might not be untrue if one were to say that Svan was afraid of snow. It wasn't because of the "terror-inducing" symmetric shapes of the snowflakes or any nonsense like that. It was simply that Svan's first encounter with the frozen water crystals had almost cost him his life. To make a long story short; Svan had been trapped in a blizzard on his second year away from the nest. Ever since that close call with death, Svan would run for shelter at the slightest snowfall.
But for now the weather was peaceful, and Svan was finally free to roam around the city. His first day in the city had been completely wasted traversing the maze like roads, and he had been forced to beg a family to let him lodge a night so that he wouldn't die out in the cold. The dispay of pitifulness that Svan had needed to do before the family eventualy decided to let him stay still wounded his dhani pride. He had no intention of repeating last nights begging.
Pulling his grey cloak tightly around his body the dhani looked around for anything that could vaguely resemble an inn. Unfortunately luck didn't seem to be on his side as each and every direction he looked revealed nothing that gave any indication of being a inn. Svan inhaled deeply to sigh once again, but caught his breath as he noticed that one fairly nearby building had a ladder hanging from it that led to the roof top. An idea immediatly leaped into Svan's head. Exhaling his breath, Svan immediate began to scramble up the latter using his non-existent climbing skills, and attempted to use it as a vantage point. Unfortunately it was lower than almost any of the other buildings, so his vantage point was rendered useless. Instead of giving up, Svan looked for another roof he could reach. The building to his left was still small but the roof was near, and low enough to the one he was on that he felt he could make the jump. Taking a few step back Svan prepared himself to make the leap.
"I would be careful if I were you", chimed a voice behind Svan. The dhani quickly turned around to find a young dark haired man stareing up at him. The man was lying on his stomach with his head resting on his hands in an amused manner. "If you aren't careful you may break your head slipping on that ice." He pointed to the edge of the building Svan hoped to jump from. As Svan looked closer at the spot he realized that a patch of black ice lie nearly invisible on the side of the rooftop. A chill went through his body as he imagined all of grisly ways he could fallen and broken himself had the man not pointed it out.
Rather than thank the man Svan simply glared back at him and asked, "What are you doing up here?"
Seeingly put off by Svan's lack of gratitude the man replied, "I'm afraid I dont have an answer for your question friend. You see, I wasn't expecting be questioned by a stranger for sitting on my own roof." Svan looked aside, embarrassed by the man's response.
"Sssorry", Svan caught his voice a moment too late and prayed the man mistook his lisp for a stutter.
If he didn't the man made no indication of it as he continued, "Don't bother appologizing, I know why you're up here." Svan looked at the man wide eyed, and for a moment he wondered how many other people had to have climbed this man's house in search of an inn for him to already know what Svan wanted. "You're trying to catch that white star over there," this time pointing to a white glowing light that floated around a tree just next to the building Svan had planned to jump to.
Svan, strangly disapointed that the man wasn't a psychic, turned away and said, "No, I don't care for any pointless lights, I'm trying to find the a inn so that I have a place to rest." watching carefully for the ice Svan readied himslef to jump again.
The man looked at Svan as if the dhani had told him that the sky was brown and dirt was blue, "You know, most inns and taverns tend to be at ground level." Svan ignored the man's teasing, and leaped to the next building. His fingers caught the ledge, but his face slammed into the wall nearly causing him to lose his grip. "Ooh. You're gonna feel THAT tomorrow." The man said with a smile accross his face.
"Petch you, I feel it already." Svan whined as he pulled himself up the side of the building. Torso now halfway up the building the white ball of light he had seen earlier dance past his face.
"Hey! Try to grab the light", shouted the smart-mouthed human.
"How do you grab a light?", replied Svan angrily.
"With your hands", retorted the man, "Just trust me on this." Holding on to the building with one hand he flailed the other out towards the light. After a few misses, he managed to catch the dull white light, and he pulled himself up to the top of the building. Now sitting up on his roof the man gave Svan an over-dramatic applause, "Good job, fine work. Of course, had that star been any slower it would have been standing still." He paused a moment to let the insult sink in, "But I suppose a victory is a victory none the less."
"Thanks", Svan snarled, "But why did you want me to catch this thing anyways?"
The man leaned forward, "Thats an Ionu star you have there." before Svan could ask the man continued, "An Ionu star is a rare thing that only appears in Alvadas during the winter. Once you catch it you can turn it into nearly any material you imagine." Svan cast the man a doubtful look so the man dug into a bag at his side, and drew out a bright blue light. Folding his hands around it the man looked up at Svan and smiled. When he opened his hand the ball of light had become a glowing blue string. "Believe me now?"
Svan, taken back by the Ionu star's change, simply nodded. Once he had regaining a bit of sense he looked the man in the eyes and asked, "Who are you, and how did you do that?"
Not bothering to meet Svan's gaze the man placed the string back into his bag, and rose to his feet. "My name is Caine, and to change the shape of the star is simple. You hold the star in your hand and you imagine what you wanted it to become." Caine looked out towards the street, "You should consider yourself lucky, white stars are rare to come by."
Svan looked skeptically at his new acquaintance, "If they are so rare then why didn't you try to get it?"
The man smiled broadly, eyes tracing a bright green light that was now flying down the road below at a runner's pace. "That answer is simple, my stupid little friend. Slow lights like yours are dull and boring" the man crouched his body down low, preparing himself to jump. He shot a quick look at Svan, "And whats the fun hunting if your prey doesn't put up a good chase?" He turn back to the street just as the green light was passing by, and leaped out towards it. His arm swung out to catch the light midair, and as he hit the ground he rolled fast to deflect the fall. Svan looked out towards the man wondering if the he had survived the fall. Sure enough the man was fine, and he rose to his feet holding the bright green light firmly in his hand. Caine looked back up towards Svan. I hope your not jealous that I got the better star. If it makes you feel any better, I can promise you that you wouldn't have had any chance of catching this anyways.
"Oh really, what give you the right to say that?" Caine made a dumb face and flailed his arm at his side to mock the manner Svan had caught his star. Petch you! I could catch something like that any day of the season!
"How about today? There is an orange one coming down the street as we speak." Caine smiled at Svan, daring him to prove him wrong.
"Fine then" Svan said half to himself, "I already know what I'm going to make when I catch it!" The bright orange light buzzed right by Svan, and running from roof to roof Svan chased after it.
