50 Summer 513
The night was buzzing with silence again and Shausha was making her rounds. She flew in circles around the sleeping city, waiting for something to happen. Alighting upon someone’s home, she arranged her wings in a comfortable position. She began to pluck dirt from beneath her fingertips and flick it into the abyss below when a strange sound floated to her ears, through the still night air.
The vibrations of the enchanting melody reverberated in a way that tickled her inner ear. Diving from her roost, she unfurled her wings and glided towards its source. To her pleasure, the song came from one of the largest buildings in Kalinor, one she had never been bothered to visit before now; it was usually so silent and dull.
She landed upon the curved roof, hooking her claws into the surface for grip. After a moment, she pressed an ear to the building’s exterior. The tune’s waves hummed along the roof in the same dense waves that tickled her ears before. She sat up and looked around for the entrance. Opening the hatch, she silently slipped inside.
However, it was almost instantly clear that the musician’s powers of observation exceeded her experience in stealth. The note he was pulling through the strings of his wooden instrument was cut short when he turned from his paper-filled desk to inspect who had arrived at such an unusual hour. Moving his candle to the side, he squinted into the dimness.
(Symnos)“We are closed,” his old voice warbled gruffly. Shausha ran a hand over her dreadlocks and stepped out from the boxes she had ducked behind. She saw the stern expression on his face shift to one of supreme suspicion. (Common)“The zith that has been flitting around our city for a few seasons, eh? Now why would one of your kind come to a place of formal knowledge?”
Shausha was looking around the building now, taking in the exotic sight of innumerable books upon countless shelves. The whole place smelled of moths, parchment, and black ink. Books were a new anomaly to her when she first came to Kalinor; She had disturbed her friend, Sosicly, immensely when she started tearing out pages and smelling them while trying to identify the leafy object. The white-washed walls seemed to change shape and color as the candle upon the old man’s desk flickered. She held up a hand to block the white flame’s glare from her eyes as she tried to look at the old man.
“I heard music,” she explained, now turning in circles while admiring the ceiling. “It was peculiar.” The man said nothing for a moment as he studied her while she plucked pieces of paper from a nearby waste bin, sniffing their surfaces and studying the inked scrawls.
“I have transcribed quite a few stories that detail encounters with the zith. This is no place for barbarians whose sole purpose is to destroy.” Now that she had drawn nearer, he examined her face. “What is your name, beast-child?”
“I’m Shaush--gek!” She had made the mistake of tasting the ink while inspecting a blotched piece of parchment. Vigorously licking her fur, she tried ridding herself of the pungent taste. The librarian regarded her with one nostril raised. In response, Shausha made the face back. His face softened when he saw his expression reflected so comically.
“You are certainly a child that need to be taught a thing or two," he said scratching the back of his head, “but we are closed. You must return in the day--- Look out!” While he chided her, Shausha had been backing up to get a better look at the library’s main corridor. Her ankle caught something and she stumbled backwards. She let out an “eep!” before tumbling into a very large, very wide, very old table. Rubbing her rear which had taken the brunt of the fall, she turned to see that her fall had knocked one of the table’s thin legs out. Shausha stepped back and gasped as she watched ink spill across the desk and over an unfinished page of calligraphy. Quills, brushes, and utensils scuttled across the uneven surface, cascading across the floor and splattering ink everywhere.
“What have you done!” the librarian gasped, clutching his heart and rushing over to survey the damage. “This was...” He reached out a shaking hand and touched the dry patches of the page that the ink had not ruined. Now that he was standing, it was apparent that he was almost two feet taller than her even in his old, hunched state. Visibly suppressing anger, he drew in controlled breaths and turned to face her. “How will you pay for this? You now have a debt upon yourself! Ignorant beast!”
“I-- But -- It’s just one page...” she began, ready to plead her hopeless case. Suddenly, a new sound met her ears. She froze. Skritch, skritch, skritch. She listened hard and shot up a hand to silence the elder who looked ready to cuff her. Without pausing to apologize, she listened into the dark, trying to hear it again, for it had stopped. Skriiiitch. Shausha shot off down a hallway that divided the sea of books.
“Hey! Get back here!” Knees creaking, he swept after her in a hobbled hurry. Shausha paused a moment, having lost track of the sound’s source. The old man caught up with her, wheezing slightly. “Where do you think you’re going? The Ochya will hear of this!”
“Shhhh!” Shausha shushed him. He was quivering with anger, but she had already began running down a row of books, into a deeper portion of the book maze. “I hear... someone munching....”
“What did you say?” the librarian hissed abruptly, now looking around. Shausha lifted a rather tattered, loosely-bound book off of a shelf and put her ear against it. She met eyes with the old man and smiled. Sliding a claw between two of the thick cardstock pages, she cracked the book open and several beetles ran for cover. Shooting a hand out, she skewered them upon her claw and held her kill up to the librarian proudly.
“My word...” he began, peering at the inch-long beetles whose legs twitched as they died. “Well, well, Shausha, I feel obligated to give you my name and a proposition. My name is Calvino Amaranthus. I have been the librarian here for many, many years. Those beetles you have found are a great source of vexation to me. I have spent my life preserving knowledge for the betterment of my people, yet these little devils destroy a years worth of work in just a few days just for a full stomach. They've corroded hundreds more pages than what you ruined today." Calvino turned and began to walk back to his desk, " You will continue to hunt down the beetles, moths, insects that devour my books. If you do this, I’ll consider absolving you of your debt.”
The vibrations of the enchanting melody reverberated in a way that tickled her inner ear. Diving from her roost, she unfurled her wings and glided towards its source. To her pleasure, the song came from one of the largest buildings in Kalinor, one she had never been bothered to visit before now; it was usually so silent and dull.
She landed upon the curved roof, hooking her claws into the surface for grip. After a moment, she pressed an ear to the building’s exterior. The tune’s waves hummed along the roof in the same dense waves that tickled her ears before. She sat up and looked around for the entrance. Opening the hatch, she silently slipped inside.
However, it was almost instantly clear that the musician’s powers of observation exceeded her experience in stealth. The note he was pulling through the strings of his wooden instrument was cut short when he turned from his paper-filled desk to inspect who had arrived at such an unusual hour. Moving his candle to the side, he squinted into the dimness.
(Symnos)“We are closed,” his old voice warbled gruffly. Shausha ran a hand over her dreadlocks and stepped out from the boxes she had ducked behind. She saw the stern expression on his face shift to one of supreme suspicion. (Common)“The zith that has been flitting around our city for a few seasons, eh? Now why would one of your kind come to a place of formal knowledge?”
Shausha was looking around the building now, taking in the exotic sight of innumerable books upon countless shelves. The whole place smelled of moths, parchment, and black ink. Books were a new anomaly to her when she first came to Kalinor; She had disturbed her friend, Sosicly, immensely when she started tearing out pages and smelling them while trying to identify the leafy object. The white-washed walls seemed to change shape and color as the candle upon the old man’s desk flickered. She held up a hand to block the white flame’s glare from her eyes as she tried to look at the old man.
“I heard music,” she explained, now turning in circles while admiring the ceiling. “It was peculiar.” The man said nothing for a moment as he studied her while she plucked pieces of paper from a nearby waste bin, sniffing their surfaces and studying the inked scrawls.
“I have transcribed quite a few stories that detail encounters with the zith. This is no place for barbarians whose sole purpose is to destroy.” Now that she had drawn nearer, he examined her face. “What is your name, beast-child?”
“I’m Shaush--gek!” She had made the mistake of tasting the ink while inspecting a blotched piece of parchment. Vigorously licking her fur, she tried ridding herself of the pungent taste. The librarian regarded her with one nostril raised. In response, Shausha made the face back. His face softened when he saw his expression reflected so comically.
“You are certainly a child that need to be taught a thing or two," he said scratching the back of his head, “but we are closed. You must return in the day--- Look out!” While he chided her, Shausha had been backing up to get a better look at the library’s main corridor. Her ankle caught something and she stumbled backwards. She let out an “eep!” before tumbling into a very large, very wide, very old table. Rubbing her rear which had taken the brunt of the fall, she turned to see that her fall had knocked one of the table’s thin legs out. Shausha stepped back and gasped as she watched ink spill across the desk and over an unfinished page of calligraphy. Quills, brushes, and utensils scuttled across the uneven surface, cascading across the floor and splattering ink everywhere.
“What have you done!” the librarian gasped, clutching his heart and rushing over to survey the damage. “This was...” He reached out a shaking hand and touched the dry patches of the page that the ink had not ruined. Now that he was standing, it was apparent that he was almost two feet taller than her even in his old, hunched state. Visibly suppressing anger, he drew in controlled breaths and turned to face her. “How will you pay for this? You now have a debt upon yourself! Ignorant beast!”
“I-- But -- It’s just one page...” she began, ready to plead her hopeless case. Suddenly, a new sound met her ears. She froze. Skritch, skritch, skritch. She listened hard and shot up a hand to silence the elder who looked ready to cuff her. Without pausing to apologize, she listened into the dark, trying to hear it again, for it had stopped. Skriiiitch. Shausha shot off down a hallway that divided the sea of books.
“Hey! Get back here!” Knees creaking, he swept after her in a hobbled hurry. Shausha paused a moment, having lost track of the sound’s source. The old man caught up with her, wheezing slightly. “Where do you think you’re going? The Ochya will hear of this!”
“Shhhh!” Shausha shushed him. He was quivering with anger, but she had already began running down a row of books, into a deeper portion of the book maze. “I hear... someone munching....”
“What did you say?” the librarian hissed abruptly, now looking around. Shausha lifted a rather tattered, loosely-bound book off of a shelf and put her ear against it. She met eyes with the old man and smiled. Sliding a claw between two of the thick cardstock pages, she cracked the book open and several beetles ran for cover. Shooting a hand out, she skewered them upon her claw and held her kill up to the librarian proudly.
“My word...” he began, peering at the inch-long beetles whose legs twitched as they died. “Well, well, Shausha, I feel obligated to give you my name and a proposition. My name is Calvino Amaranthus. I have been the librarian here for many, many years. Those beetles you have found are a great source of vexation to me. I have spent my life preserving knowledge for the betterment of my people, yet these little devils destroy a years worth of work in just a few days just for a full stomach. They've corroded hundreds more pages than what you ruined today." Calvino turned and began to walk back to his desk, " You will continue to hunt down the beetles, moths, insects that devour my books. If you do this, I’ll consider absolving you of your debt.”
.
