Winter 72, 513 AV It took the Akvatari a few days to familiarize herself with the architecture and street patterns in Zeltiva. After that, she started observing and working with that which was unseen, the underlying rhythm and overflowing melodies in and around the city. That required longer bells of work, but Gwin took them on with the meticulous diligence and silent enthusiasm characteristic for her race. That day, she was sitting at the edge of the Fountain of Cascading Harmony. It was located on a central square and easy to spot if one came up the street from the docks. She’d flown from water to water – that idea provided enough incentive to linger for a while. Of course, the opposite of salt and fresh water stood in her way, but she was ready to ignore that. Maybe it’d become significant later, but maybe not. Suffice to say, her furry tail was dangling over the edge like a knot of algae, dripping, while her rucksack rested in her lap and on it a sheet of parchment. A case rested against the stone next to her fin, shaped like a string instrument. Long fingers were playing with a piece of charcoal as green eyes stared out into the distance. Was she trying to spot the sea? Hard to say. Suddenly she turned around, gazed at the statues of God and Goddess as if judging the artwork and started scribbling charcoal lines, dots and swirls on the parchment. The water etched its never-changing melody into her mind, mixed with footsteps, voices that were talking, laughing and shouting as well as clinking, clanking, thumping, harrumphing and other noises. None of them were strange or unfamiliar, Gwin had visited cities and listened to their songs before. Yet the trickling water, the passers-by and other noises all around the square created their own melody. She’d only hear it at that particular point of time in that particular place. Once she heard it, her fingers moved the charcoal at a rapid pace. She only focused on the notes she was writing and the sounds around her, so intensely that all melted into one. If one were to come closer or stand right next to her, she wouldn’t notice. |