Solo The Sea's Breath is Strong

[Karin]

10th Bell, 42nd Winter, 515 AV,
The Port

There was a warm feeling to the winter day this day. Karin could feel it, from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. It seemed to be a day where anything could happen but the girl was at a loss at what to do. She was walking along the beach, with gritty, dark sand underneath her boots. Overhead, the harsh call of gulls blended well into the crash and boom of the ocean against the beach.

If she could have done so, she would have gone for a swim. But despite the warmth of the day, the sea was chilled. She couldn't really explain why, though. Perhaps the currents carried cold water from distant places? Either way, the girl was landlocked today.

She recalled a conversation she'd had with the Kelvic man she'd met on the mountain, remembering the talk of climbing. She wanted to carve, too. The lure of the ocean was ever present, and the wide, flat expanse of the beach longed to have her pound across it, to kick up sand and pebbles. If she could do everything at once, she would.

But of course, that would be impossible. Instead, she decided to focus on one thing, knowing that in the long run, it would be more worth her while. There was nowhere for her to climb, so she dismissed that idea. Her knife was attached to her hip like normal, but there weren't any decent branches nearby. Plus, there was a wild, carefree feeling in her.

So, she ran. Spontaneously, she threw out her arms, feeling the warm air rush through her fingers. The city had been feeling more and more oppressive recently, and it was a relief to be out in the fresh air and to feel that sense of freedom one can only get from running without a care in the world.

[Karin]

There was nobody about, and that was how she liked it. Compulsively as she ran, she dropped her rucksack on the sand, and threw down her cloak. She was free and it was wonderful. Her feet pounded, one in front of the other in wide arcs as her toes curled inside her boots, feeling the pressure of the sand.

She looked back breathlessly, and then turned to face forwards again. Her sides ached but she continued, because the earth was made for her feet this day. Then, as she reached an inlet of tidal water, she stopped with her hands pressed to her knees. The run had been a short one, and her belongings were a short distance away, but they were in no danger and she felt no need to retrieve them just yet.

The water had been trapped here, she saw, from the receding tide. Reasoning that the water would be warmer away from the currents, the girl slipped off her shoes and rolled her trouser legs up. She waded into the water and yes, the water was warmer, but not warm as such. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable. Overhead, the sky was a flat grey, brushed into fine ridges dappled with the faintest blue blush. A lone bird of prey wheeled above, uttering a harsh 'piou'.

The girl felt thankful. She felt thankful to be there, to have the privilege of the water on her skin, the air through her hair and the nature that surrounded her and accepted her. With a soft utterance, she whispered without knowing it, "Thank you, Father Ocean."

[Karin]

With soft caresses, the pool of ocean water swirled around her feet, gently stirred by the breeze. The girl sighed, and gazed out to sea. She wanted to let Laviku, the god who blessed her at such an early age with the mark on her skin, that she appreciated him. That she was proud to be Svefra, even if she didn't know what it meant.

"La..- Laviku. Thank you for this gift. Although I don't know much about my heritage, and I hardly know anything about you, I want to thank you." She stopped, her voice hesitant as she felt around for what she wanted to say. "There are times I get angry at myself for not being in your waters, but know this. When I'm free, I will. I love and appreciate the ocean, its life and your dominion over it."

"I... I just want to be able to understand myself, where I fit in... What you want from me. Because, you call me every day and I want to come but I can't yet. So, can you wait, just a bit more? Soon I will be free and I can devote myself."

The girl prayed for a bit longer, letting her voice flow in the air and mingle with the sand. This was a different experience to the past. She felt calmer, perhaps. Or maybe it was because she was speaking out loud, and really focussing on the god, instead of her own imagination.

Either way, she felt refreshed. As if she had had a weight lifted off her, not a weight that she could identify, but something felt better all the same. It was like a pledge, one which wasn't binding, but that would stretch around her whilst at the same time, she knew that she would succeed eventually.

[Karin]

But even for Karin, the water she stood in eventally got too cold, and she stepped out, walking back across the sands. She didn't know if gods spoke to humans, but maybe she would get a sign. She thought it over as she got back into her shoes and slung her cloak back over her shoulders.

The walk back along the beach was slow, in a daze. It wasn't long until she was back on land proper, and soon she had passed through the Port on her way home. The walls of Alvadas felt especially close and uncomfortable, in fact the whole city had been getting more and more... strange, mixed-up, worrying. The girl was no expert, but it was alarmingly different to the past, albeit anything she could remember.

As she walked she drew her cloak further around her shoulders. Without her noticing, the weather had picked up, strong gusts of wind now buffeted her shoulders making her push against the wind with a certain amount of defiance. She was climbing a small hill, cobbled underfoot and walled off on each side by blank houses. It was a long street as far as she could tell, and it acted like a funnel, drawing more and more wind down it.

But it was unexpected, but the sky was clear. And chimes previously, the air had been still. The wind gusted around her face and ears, whistling ferociously, making it hard to hear anything else. Then, making the girl open her eyes wide, which in turn made them water, the powerful wind pushed her.

It was clear, it was pushing her, pummels of fierce wind knocking her. She physically couldn't move a step forward. Now it took all her effort to simply stay in one place. Her mind raced, could this be Laviku? The winds didn't feel angry, if anything they felt anxious, or simply determined. If it was Laviku, it seemed the deity wanted her elsewhere, and the girl was inclined to agree with the wind, whatever or whoever it was.

The funnel of the street was pushing her down and down. A slight lull fell over the air, causing her to stumble forwards. As she did so, her foot slipped and she almost fell over, almost...

For instead of falling, she was pushed back again, the wind returning with piercing jabs of strong jets of air, and suddenly the largest gust of wind she had felt in her entire life knocked into her, as if a house had suddenly detached itself from the wall at speed and pushed into her.

Fear filled her belly, this wasn't playing, it wasn't something she could think about and then return to whatever she wanted to do. She wasn't in control of this situation, and she suddenly realised it. The wind was physically lifting her up, off the street and in the air and she was moving at speeds she'd never moved before, back down the long, barrelling funnel of the street.

[Karin]

The pure, mindless (or was it?) power of the wind lessened, knocking her forcefully against the ground and she felt her arm graze, blood welling in the fresh, gritty wound. She winced in pain and tried to move her hand to place it against the graze, as the winds piercing cold turned to splinters against it, but she couldn't.

She had been moved four houses down. Incredibly four houses down. It was unbelievable, yet it had happened. But the girl didn't get any respite yet, the gale was picking up, howling down her throat and making her choke on nothingness. It rolled her over and over down the hill, and she made herself as small as she possibly could, but it was no use.

The amount of bruises she would receive would be an amount she didn't want to think about. All she could hope and pray was that the relentless barrage of air would relent soon. If it didn't, she wasn't sure what she could do. Clinging like a lizard to the ground, the girl shuffled over to the edge of the street, where the houses were.

It took her five long, agonising chimes, during which the wind grew stronger and stronger. However, as she neared the wall it grew lesser and she could breathe again, something which felt like a luxury. She clung to a gutter, feeling the bite of the cold metal and looked up at the sky, trying to see the source of the wind. It surely couldn't be an illusion, could it?

If it was, the city could endlessly surprise her. And there didn't seem to be any source, so she was forced to admit, as it pressed over her, that it must be an illusion, surely? But before she could get any more time to think, to find a way out of her situation, the wind tugged at her again, and her grasp of the gutter weakened, and she let go.

This time, the gale was forceful, but not uncomfortable. It lifted her up, with undercurrents brushing her stomach and all of a sudden, for a brief, lovely moment it was as if she was flying. She was in perfect symmetry with the wind, and the air, and if she so wanted she thought she could move her body in a certain way and fly up into the skies above Alvadas like some great bird.

[Karin]

But it was not to be, as the wind cut out from the air as if it had been removed instantaneously. The girl plummeted, not far, but it certainly felt it. In all, it was as if she had jumped down from halfway up the first storey of a building. She landed hard, twisting her ankle painfully and falling forwards onto her right knee, her elbows skidding onto the floor.

She lay, deposited at the entrance of a building. Every bone in her body was creaking with the effort, but she craned her head and looked up. The building was the Temple of Ionu. If it was a sign, she'd take it. She was exhausted, and bruised and scuffed. But she wanted to know what in all of Hai had just happened to her.

The doors of the Temple opened as she pushed them, and she found herself inside somewhere she hadn't often been. Ionu wasn't a god she revered. She respected the deity, but she didn't worship Ionu. But at the moment, all she really thought was 'Temple', associating it with knowledge.

If there was some god that dealt with wind then she wanted to know. Because if there was, then it seemed that they were rebuking her, and if the gods were angry then she surely must find some way to make it better. It wasn't as if she wanted to though, she felt a great deal of resentment towards what had just happened, and she had the flicker of brightness in her eye that told of an angry tear.

Nevertheless, she pushed on. At the end of the day, she would stop and rest and think. But for now, she wanted answers, and here seemed to be the place to get them, if only because she had been pushed here by something. Petch it, I want control again.

[Karin]

But the Temple was quiet, too quiet for Karin, and she felt curiously uncomfortable. And of course, there was nowa yto find out if there was a god of the wind here, because it was the Temple of Ionu, not the Temple of The God of Wind.

The girl kicked herself miserably, feeling the weight and the pressure of the city on her. Her stay in the Temple was a short one that day, and she was soon out again. The air was still, the winds had left but she didn't feel safe.

She wasn't a paranoid person, but an invisible wind picking her up and throwing her around? She wasn't happy with that. At all. Not knowing where to go, the girl wandered. Her feet took her all over the city, as she was used to.

It was like she was a child again, and she could spend bells exploring, finding new nooks and crannies whilst her mind switched off and everything faded away. Houses that piled on top of one another, or flowerbeds that climbed up walls... They all blended into one.

Illusions that danced across the pavement didn't bother her. Not even when one almost tripped her up, even. Perhaps it was some kind of coping mechanism. When something was out of her control she didn't know what to do. She couldn't find the answers she was looking for. And so she walked, aimlessly.

It was some time before she snapped out of it enough to find something to preoccupy her mind. She remembered earlier in the day, when she'd felt so carefree... She wanted to feel that again. Her feet were sore from walking, and she ached all over from her fall, but she wanted to run.

So... she did.

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Karin

Skills

• Running: 3
• Endurance: 4
• Prayer: 2
• Land Navigation: 3
• Acrobatics: 1

Lores

• Freedom of carefree running
• A prayer and thanks to the god Laviku
• Strong gusts of wind; a sign from Laviku?
• Sensation of being picked up forcefully by the wind
• Alvadas event: The strong winds of Winter 515 AV
• Alvadas Location: Temple of Ionu
• Is there a God of Wind?

Comments: I enjoyed the thread especially the chaotic sensation of being picked up by the wind. It would be fascinating for Karin to eventually learn of Zulrav since I could certainly imagine a svefra worshiping the god of the sea and the god of wind.

Your Grader,

Sayana

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