Waterworks
81st of Spring, 513 A.V.
81st of Spring, 513 A.V.
"What are you trying to do here, Valle?" Xaven asked for the hundredth time. He was clearly quite concerned regarding her idea. The concern was well-put, actually. Her ideas were never known as risk-free or thought through. Usually she simply had a flash of brilliance and went on with it. If she had wanted to do this a year ago, Xaven would've agreed right away. But of course, now that he was in charge, he had to be the responsible one.
"Relax, Xavie," Vallora called out as she jogged further away from her brother. "I won't get us killed or anything." She needed to find the perfect spot, the one with most water hidden under its layer of soil. She was already barefoot so that she could get the best feel of the humidity.
Her brother raised an eyebrow at her. "Well pardon me for not believing that statement." Shaking his head, he tried to catch up with her. "You're lucky that I happen to be your travel companion right now. Others would've simply think you're crazy."
She laughed, her voice light and melodic. "Good to know that my own brother didn't think I am crazy." One probably could not believe how different she was between interacting with her brother and everyone else. She was so open and so careless. Smiling, teasing, laughing. Xaven was probably the only living human who had ever seen his sister's true nature. And it was such a shame.
"Oh, I still think you're crazy, Valle. I just had the good grace to keep to myself all this time."
As she readied herself for a comeback, Vallora finally found the perfect spot to start her search. Carefully, she formed her Res on top of her palm. It was a work that took most of her concentration and mental strain - but it had gotten easier. After some job routines of using her Reimancy, she had improved a bit - a very little bit. It took about a few seconds faster for her to gather her Res and transmute it.
Next, she knelt and pressed her Res into the ground, letting it act as water normally did as it traveled its way through the invisible openings of the soil. Her Res broke apart and spread around as she tried to widen the area of her search. It proved not to be enough. Slowly she stood up while making sure that she kept her Res. And walked around. The movement of her Res was still sluggish and she had to guide the water carefully. Every a few seconds or so, she would make her Res attract other forms of water, getting a sense of where more water was.
Walk. Stop. Attract. Walk. Stop. Attract. She repeated the pattern again and again until she got quite annoyed. The work was tiring her fast and she weighed whether this plan was stupid or just plain idiotic. She could have wasted her energy for nothing and she might come back to Endrykas empty-handed.
Wait. There it was. She could feel it as her Res seeped through deeper through the cracks of a layer of rocks or clay. It was not so deep underground, letting her have enough control of her Res. When she lowered her reach a bit, she forced her Res to attract the liquid. There was a lot. Excitement ran in her veins. It was nothing that special, really, but the thrill of discovery had gotten her.
What she found was some sort of space or opening under the ground filled with groundwater. It was called an aquifer. One can think of it as a room full of water buried at any depth of the earth. There was a current in there. And a current meant that the water must have been able to flow out somewhere. There must be an opening - a spring or a seep of some kind. And she had to look for it.
Vallora moved gingerly, making sure she did not lose her Res in the middle of all those water. She swirled it for some time, trying to get a feel of where the water was heading. It was funny - it was like she was wading her physical hand through the water. Now that she knew it was heading to the south-west, all she needed to do was follow the current and she should find what she wanted.
Fortunately, the current did not twist or bend in anyway. It headed straight in one direction. Vallora quickened her steps, she slowly let her Res go. She was close. Real close and she didn't need any magic to tell her that.
The ground unexpectedly sloped down and being the klutz she was, she slipped. On her defense, the ground was quite slippery and she had no boots on. A surprised yell came out of her mouth as she rolled the the steep incline. Thankfully, the ground leveled not so long and she finally could stop herself. Vallora groaned and spat the dirt that had somehow gotten into her mouth. She could hear Xaven calling out her name, his tone going frantic with every second.
"I'm right here! Just follow my voice!" she yelled. She cursed herself for being so careless and slowly rose to her feet. Well, she had no serious injury - just a few cuts.
"You are so stupid, Valle," Xaven called out from the top of the slope. Both of their Striders had followed him too and were peering at her. She could almost feel the disapproving looks from both horses. "You are so ridiculous." A huge smile was plastered on his face as he tried his best not to laugh. And failed miserably, apparently.
Vallora imagined what she might have looked like. Dirt covering her face and clothes. Torn grass in her hair. "Shut up, Xaven." Her face heated up. But his laugh was contagious and soon they were laughing together. They laughed and laughed until who knows how long. Their noises must have been carried to some distance away. It was almost impossible to stop. Every time a laughter died down, they need simply look at each other and started laughing all over again. She did not understand it. There wasn't anything too funny, but still they went on. By the time they were done, both of the Salvari twins held their stomachs, clearly winded.
"Now, will you stop fooling around and start doing your job right?"
As an answer, the Water Reimancer simply grinned widely and pointed at the small spring. The slope was partially made of a hard sediments. Water poured out of the tiny hole in a layer of rock - just as she had guessed. A spring would really make finding water much easier. She probably didn't even need to use Reimancy next time. She could just visit this spot. "All done, dear brother."
