Completed [An Elegant Weave] The Fabrics of Life

[Eluri]

3rd of Winter, 515 A.V.

Summer had left, and Autumn with it, when Eluri had last pondered on anything of importance. She hadn't learnt anything new, either. No answers as to who she was, her reason for being back on the land of the flesh and dying still remained a mystery, and the history of the sword still remains a mystery even after all this time. She didn't expect this season to be any different, nor any more fruitful than the previous two, but she could only hope as she began to get ready for a day's worth of training.

Although the season had only just begun, Morwen's new found sovereignty over the seasonal attributes were becoming evident with every passing day. Stepping out of the entrance of what marked the beginnings of the confining, but better than nothing, housing of the commoners of Syliras, Eluri braced herself against the cool that dashed across her skin. It was yet to be chilly in its countenance, but it was already colder than the winds that swept over and between every surface and cranny in Syliras. Mildly so, but it was still nonetheless colder than that of Autumn. Her breath had yet to retreat from her body in white tendrils but the child of Leth didn't particularly enjoy the way the temperatures lapped at her body. The cool breeze was nice, but any stronger and Eluri would have to retreat from it without any cloaks. It just so happens that she does have one. A very good one, too.

Hair pulled back behind her horns of bruised honey and crushed berries, their colour stained by the transitioning of the seasons, Eluri headed towards the home of fabrics and threads. It wasn't all too far away from her current abode, but it was far enough that the journey would leave her face cool to the touch, and her horns colder than frosted marble. It was a scenic journey too, Leth was only just settling into the sky when the silver haired lady left for work, and everything was touched by silver. A glorious change to the grey and browns of the background of the bustling city. Peace was also settling itself upon its stony exterior, the noise slowly decreasing, the shouts of bartering and the wailing of children falling away as she left it behind and as night began to fall, only to be broken by the nocturnal inhabitants of the area.

The moonlight wasn't enough for most of the night dwellers. Every cluster of strides she took was punctuated by the appearance of a torch that, try as it might, barely illuminated the paths of the place. It didn't make much of a difference to her, the light was weak and wavering in the face of the darkness and cool winds, but it lent her enough warmth to prevent her skin from growing any cooler than it already was. The light it shed upon the paths were also of much help to her as well as the other inhabitants of the night, but the feeling of danger still lurked at the back of her mind. They weren't enough to spur her to move any faster, the cold didn't either, but they left her with a sour taste. Something about flickering torches unsettled her.

They didn't last long, though. Pattering against the cold stone of the path that lead her to where she was going, her soft boots did their job well to take her to her destination past the remnants of the autumn litter. Flickering torches and flashing shadows gave way entirely to the bright lights of the store she worked at, and so did the unsettling feeling that had clung to her. Unraveling and seeping away at the seams, the odd sensation was completely filled with a different feeling of anticipation as she stepped up to the entrance to the store. Today, or tonight as some will, was the long awaited day of her induction into the life of a seamstress. And the first step to that was introduction of fabrics. Racks upon racks, folds upon folds of incredible fabric.

Hopefully things would be much more interesting than before. Sewing on buttons wasn't all that much fun.

[Eluri]

Eluri wasn't one to become nervous, she didn't particularly care about how others view her, but her previous blunder at attempting to design and sketch a dress, let alone attempt to sew one herself, was outright hilariously terrible. Not only were the seams in the wrong places and the size incorrect, the instructions had somehow been completely outright changed. She had read it carefully, followed the instructions word for word, but it didn't come out quite right. Somewhere along the way she had sewn the skirt of the dress to the collar and ended up creating an awful mess of fabric. She wasn't proud of it, she knew what pride was, but there was a sense of detachment to the failed attempt, to failure in general, that allowed her to see it as something less negatively oriented and almost positive in nature. It was a lesson in life that she could use to improve her skills, it distinctly cut out where her borders in sewing were, and it also told her that she was awfully bad at following instructions. She still didn't know how she had sewn those two clearly different sections together even after all these seasons.

Sewing buttons had been an interesting experience. She had already known how to perform the task when she was first shown to An Elegant Weave, sometime during her first handful of nights in Syliras and the world of flesh and matter, but she had never seen a button before. Although she had been indifferent to it at the time, now that Eluri looked back upon what had transpired she found it strangely amusing. She had placed the thread through the eye of the needle after realising that there wasn't much else to do with the thread, and then proceeded to put the needle through the holes that were quite prominent in the round black buttons of wood.

First came the two holed buttons, which were easily taken care of after failing once when she had sewn it in the wrong order. Align the fabric with the button and then pierce the fabric where one of the holes of the button was positioned, pull the needle and thread through, and then pierce the cloth once again where the other hole was, returning the needle to the other side of the material and securing the button to the piece. However, instead the horned lady had passed the pointed item from the side of the button, above the button, instead of from underneath it securing nothing as a result. After one of the ladies that had taken upon themselves to be her mentor and told her that threading from under the button, and then back through the sister hole, would be much safer, save her quite a few pricks of the finger, and would secure the two articles together that she had realised her error. It was then a matter of repetition before she got the feel of sewing without getting herself pricked with the pointed edge, making her somewhat less of an amateur in the process.

Remembering her lessons learnt through failure, the silver haired Lethaefal wondered if maybe the manner and fashion in which one sews also changes with what she was about to learn about as well. It wouldn't make much sense to teach her all about putting needle through cloth, to sew straight lines, only to tell her to learn a different skill altogether that had absolutely nothing to do with what she had just been taught. Or retaught from what she felt as she had repeated end on end the arduous task of securing buttons.

With that in mind the woman made her way into the peaceful store. There wasn't as much of a ruckus as she would have expected of this time year, probably due to the late bell that Eluri occupied, due to the cool seasonal change and the threat of snow. There was hardly any activity at all from what she could see peering in from outside, but when she opened the front entrance to the store and entered, there was more than she had thought. Nonetheless, it was still less than expected but the noise that traveled through the room, past the array of clothes that were readily made for customers, told her that there was much going on above her. Giggling and muttering could be heard from the dress makers and seamstresses that were housed at An Elegant Weave, but she couldn't quite make out what they were all talking about. She didn't have any interest, either.

Passing the various arrangements of clothing, Eluri tried to name what she could make out on her way towards the storage room that laid beyond the extremely long table, something apparently called an island. From blouses to dresses, and petticoats to skirts, the ethaefal managed to list what she could identify. Some were extremely similar to one another, others distinctly unique and different in designs, but she didn't see the charm of the attire of Druvia in any of them. They seemed incomplete alone, like an threaded needle, and that made it confusing to the woman when she tried to appraise them like the customers she had heard did.

She didn't like the highly sequined bodices of some of the dresses, the glamorously glistening beads of red were much too overpowering against all the green, and the skirts on some of them looked terribly heavy. The blouses were nice enough, though, with their light appearances that looked much like the blouse she had on at that very moment. The colours were pleasing to the eye, some were even a subtle blend of two or more that created a fantastic spectacle to the horned lady. Petticoats weren't to her taste, but she had to admit that some of them did catch her eye with their contrasting embroidery and delicate needlework, an example of the fine craftsmanship that laid beyond all of the ready made items. The coats looked pleasantly warm, be it trimmed with fur or adorned with a smattering of tassels, and carried with some of them an air of dignity and strength, suiting the guardians of the entire city. Other coats were much lighter in appearance, however, and brought to one's mind whether or not they were sufficient to brace the coming winter. There were pants and various other bottom wear as well, all purposed for different tasks such as riding and running, casual and formal wear from what she heard, but they were of little interest to her and her vision slid over them with little resistance. Cloaks, however, were somewhat more attractive to her. Ranging from simple to almost much too elaborate and glaringly garish to both her and one customer who was extremely unsatisfied by everyone and everything, cloaks were somewhat versatile to use in Eluri's opinion. From a wind shield to a carrying sack for all manners of items, cloaks were amazing. None shared the same design as her own, however, which made her wonder for a moment about the price of the gift she received.

Although it had felt as if minutes of standing and staring, admiration and possibly misplaced judgment carried out in seconds at a time here and there, the nighttime entity arrived at the island faster than she would have thought. A mere few seconds had passed as she strode through the room and in the direction of the staff exclusive area but it had felt like more. That was of no matter, though, when she had arrived at the island and then successively passing it and entering the area of the first floor which housed all of the items she was about to learn about.

[Eluri]

Entering the second half of the ground which housed the various tools of the trade, the expected number of fabrics within a store such as this one and even more, and odd looking mechanisms that Eluri knew nothing about, the horned lady continued to make her way towards the orangery. Her path was not without obstructions, however. On her way towards the destination she had imposed upon herself the silver haired girl had to smile and greet her fellow staff members, be they seamstresses or designers, as they noticed her passing and called out to her. It was an odd thing to smile and greet others with pleasantries when the words seemed so empty, flung at the air without much thought. The situation was even more confusing to her when she didn't know their names nor faces. She was much too absorbed in what she had aimed to do, where she had decided to go, to be able to register anything in properly.

Thinking that all of it was finally done and dusted, Eluri took a step into the orangery.

"Finally!"

Although not inherently a terrifying word, that single outburst silenced the little conversation that was already circulating within the orangery before Eluri's arrival. There wasn't even time for the woman to react before she was hauled by the waist out of the orangery and towards the racks of cloth she now regretted ignoring moments before. It would have saved her all the trouble of being attacked by some lady she couldn't remember, that was for sure, and probably made things so much faster. The materials were, after all, right there.

"Now," her assailant began, booming voice jollier than she thought was appropriate for the occasion, "shall we get started on this little lesson of ours?"

There wasn't much that she could do, so she simply nodded, or tried to anyway, as her possibly female assailant and mentor waddled towards the organised rolls of materials, from course to smooth for all the apparently helpless lady knew about fabric and cloth. She was good enough to sew in a straight line, and to secure buttons like her life depended on it, but if one were to ask her whether cotton or wool was better she would have absolutely no idea. As she had been told by one of her mentors at some point in the year, "the answer to a question you do not know is a polite smile and a nod."

Something told her otherwise.

Not sure whether her nod had been noticed or not, Eluri thinking to herself that that had been an absolutely idiotic action to take as she had not only been hoisted by the waist but backwards as well, the opalescent maiden attempted to verbalise her response this time instead. There wasn't any time for that, though, as she was once again manhandled by the overly zealous mentor.

Although being flung around like a sack of grains was not something she particularly enjoyed, she didn't complain about it. Flipped onto her back before being spun around and then planted onto her own two feet, Eluri was left reeling from the makeshift dance. Colours and patterns spun around themselves as her vision went from orderly to kaleidoscopic for a moment in time, her balance slightly off as well, but once she was able to gather herself she was able to set upon the task at hand. Quite literally.

While she had been recuperating the stocky woman that was to be her instructor had set off to work, compiling a variety of samples from each type of fabric that they had to offer. Cutting perfect little strips from the rolls before folding them into equally perfect little squares, the woman before Eluri quickly, deftly, and precisely completed her own task in a matter of chimes. Watching the entire time, the Lethaefal noticed how the woman had arranged the pieces of material in some sort of order that definitely had nothing to do with colour nor, after a little investigation and touching, texture and pattern. It was confusing to her orderly self but she had no say in the current circumstances. If she was to learn she had follow orders and wait patiently, listen carefully, and watch attentively. None of those three were helping at all for that moment, though.

Before she knew it the lady, who had yet to introduce herself, was finished with stabbing the pinning board with pins dead centre of the little cloths. After a brief reassessment of her work, she nodded to herself and slid her fabric scissors into its little straps on the side of her smock apron, harrumphing in satisfaction much to Eluri's continued confusion.

"Do you see what I'm doing here little apprentice of mine?" she questioned the Ethaefal, to which she simply shook her head. That answer didn't seem to be what she was looking for as the stocky woman continued to beam at her work with satisfaction and waited, yet, for an answer that she wanted.

With nothing else to do and with the knowledge that if she didn't at least provide a satisfactory answer the lesson would go absolutely nowhere, the silver haired lady decided to take a guess using deduction and the process of elimination.

Taking a breath, Eluri spoke.

"From appearances alone it does not appear that you have used colour to arrange these squares. There seems to be no mutual patterns, nor any similar embroidery. The arrangement does not organise by texture, either."

There was an awkward silence in time after she had spoken, he words clear and true, only to be broken by an outburst of laughter from her companion. It was surprising at the very least. She had been expecting to be corrected at the very least, not to be laughed at.

Wiping away her tear, the booming laugh causing the other employees who were still working at that hour to peer in without Eluri's notice, the older woman apologised before bursting into a much less explosive fit of giggles.

"It's just," she gasped, her body thrumming with barely contained mirth, "it's just that you're speech is exactly the same as that of an old friend of mine."

"She was like you," she continued after gulping some air, "stoic and confident with her answers, her words polite and all proper. But you're correct, I arranged the squares of cloth according to none of those. I didn't arrange it at all!"

Glad she was correct, but completely dumbfounded that it wasn't even organised in the slightest bit, Eluri waited to see what else she had to say. Her mind was turning possibilities around within itself, contemplating and musing over what possible reason there was to the randomised slotting of the enviously perfect squares, that she hadn't even realised the lady had said something about a past friend of hers.

"What I've done is purposely randomise these little squares so that I may train you properly, as she had done to myself during our early days."

"What I want you to do is head towards the folding area of the island where I have prepared a card with a sample of every type, and category, of fabric threaded to it."

Glancing at Eluri to see if she had any questions thus far, to which she found not even a hint of confusion, the unnamed lady continued.

"Behind each of the cards you will find that I have detailed the unique, and not so unique, features of the fabric. This includes the weave, grain, process, and the name of the particular textile in question, be it treated with a finish or not, as well as the origin of the material."

Although the horned girl knew what all those terms meant, she didn't quite know how, she absolutely had no idea where her training was going. She could guess but what she came up with made absolutely no sense. Nonetheless she had to admit that, so far, it seemed like a good way of teaching her how to not only differentiate one fabric from the other, and memorise them, but to decide on which material was suitable for what article of clothing.

"Each sample will be followed with a name telling you what they should be called and what some of our customers, especially the ones who are much easier to satisfy, call them. That's called the generalised name, or category, which is usually, if not always, representative of the raw material they come from."

It was an awfully long introduction if Eluri had to say so but it was fascinating to hear. It was nice to learn new things, even if her head felt like it would split apart, and she wanted to learn more. The task, however, was still needing completing and she felt like time was slipping away very quickly.

"To save you from any further talking, what I want you to do is sort each of these squares of textiles on the pinning board and place them under the correct cards."

Glad it was over, she began to move. Her nameless instructor wasn't finished, though.

"It seems I also forgot to tell you that you will have to rearrange the cards and place them into their correctly labeled pinning boards, each sorted according to the raw material. And with that I bade you good luck! If even one of the fabrics or cards are misplaced I'll have to make you repeat it all again until you remember it all."

And without a single word more Eluri was left to her task as her guide retreated into the orangery. It was going to be a long night for Eluri as she was sure that the night dwelling customers will prove to be more of a nuisance than usual.