Completed An owl towards payment.

[Nemori]

32th of Winter, 516

Nemori found herself at the back of the stables. Her work for the day had been completed and she had slipped into the collection of broken pieces stored towards the back. The smell of rot and wet wood surrounded her. She hoped that what she was searching for could be found, although the smell gave her little help. They were a few old metal buckets, dented and rusted from age. They were lots of pieces of wood, broken and fractures in different places. Crates, buckets or barrels that had broken over the years. Several of them were damp, or sodden in places. One that she picked up fell into small pieces in her hand and she dropped the remains. How long had some of these been left here?

The different pieces needed shifting through until eventually her hand hit strong seeming wood. She pulled it from the pile. It curved slightly, as if it was once around a knot. With her free hand he knocked on it, waiting for it to shatter and fall to pieces before her. To her happiness it stayed. Her fingers wrapped her hands around both sides, applying pressure slowly in order to see if it would break. To her fortune it seemed to withstand and she smiled. Hoping that this piece would do for her practice. It was a standard looking wood and for a moment she wondered what kind of tree it came from. Her memory flickered back to Alex’s necklace he had shown her. Was it the same as one of those? She was unsure, they were too many for her to remember them all properly. Not that that mattered yet. Nemori tucked the piece of wood under her arm, glad to be leaving the storage so soon.

Her movement took her back into the stables. Her eyes scanned for Tsavyn. He was nowhere to be found, and she felt relieved at the idea. Her eyes shined with a dark blue. Her fingers ran over the wood she had claimed as she moved towards an enclosure she knew was empty, the horses neighing their greeting as she passed. The empty enclosure door was easily opened and she slipped inside. Sitting herself against it once it was closed behind her. If she was sitting against the door it would be harder for her to be spotted should Tsavyn walk past. She was unsure if he would have problems with her sitting and working within the stable, especially as her work for the day had been finished, but she did not dare risk it. The space was needed and she was unable to use the room she shared with Alex and Infilia.

The wooden piece was laid on her lap and she retrieved the dagger from her bag. She briefly inspected the metal, more from habit of being told too more than actual understanding of how to identify a damaged blade. She placed the dagger against the wood before stopping. What was she going to create? She knew her end goal but it seemed dangerous to be crafting and leaving symbols of Morwen around the city, even if they started with terrible quality. She hesitated for a few more moments. Memories of Avanthal flickering through her mind. The image of Whisper lingering in her head and she had decided.

[Nemori]

The wood was slightly too large for her end goal, but she hoped that it would even itself out with the mistakes she was likely to make. She imagined the way it would look eventually in her mind, folded wings would be an easier start, although she was uncertain how the feathered texture was going to be formed. That was something she could deal with closer to the completion. For now she merely had to work towards the shape.

With that in mind she started attempting to dig the dagger into the wood, cutting at the pieces in an attempt to remove what she hoped would be the excess. The ears seemed like the easiest place to start and so this was here she began to drive the dagger. The wood only yielded slightly, allowing the blade to sink barely a few centimetres into the wood. Was she doing something wrong? She was unsure. Part of her wished she could ask someone, have someone teach her. Or better, simply commission it to be made on her behalf. The piece of wood was moved between her legs, knees holding it in place as she attempted to apply pressure into the plank. Her eyes flared purple as she slowly increased the pressure.


A loud crack sounded and she jumped, fumbling the dagger which dropped with a soft thud against the straw floor. White eyes stared at the wood before Nemori snapped back to attention and twisted the wood around to look at it. The side opposite the one she had been working had started to splinter near what she had decided to be the top. She stared at it puzzled. Apparently cutting into the wood did not work. What else could she do? Was a dagger not going to suffice? She was certain she had seen people woodcutting with simple knives and blades? Had she misremembered? Her heart sank for a moment, concerned that she would not be able to complete her gift for Alex as she had intended.

Slightly disheartened she reclaimed the dagger from the floor. Studying the wood once more. The grain ran along the length and she wondered how that would affect her ability to carve, did cutting along the grain make it easier? She had no idea what type of wood would be best suited. Perhaps she should had done more research, although the problem of not having anyone to talk to hit her again. The words to ask a shopkeeper how to start carving were not present in her mind, and she could not ask Alex or he would be aware of her task. Absentminded Nemori began to scrape the edge of the blade along one of the corners of the wood. To her surprise it moved along the side smoother, small flakes of wood were starting to separate from the main plank. She tested it again, placing her palm against the flat of the blade to apply more pressure. This tactic proved more successful and she was able to chip into the wood more than her previous attempt. The small nick from her first attempt was still present.

[Nemori]

An idea struck and she moved the dagger back to the original mark, attempting to trace a vague owl shape into the surface. Occasionally the dagger would slip iinwards, causing damage to the surface and she would curse internally each time. The marks were rough all across the surface. She was unsure how she was going to convert the flat imagine into a more realistic image, but again this was something she could worry about in the future. Did it matter much for her final design? The snowflake would be much flatter than an owl, was attempting an owl a mistake? It was too late now, the rudimentary etching into the wood was already in place.

Her focus returned too slowly whittling away at the edges, working towards the mark. She figured if she made the basic outline she could then shape it towards the more angled points and detail. It took a great deal of time hunched over, the dagger gliding over and over the layers of wood. The scraps fell to the straw around her and she paid them little attention. They would get blended in with the stray and cleared out when a new horse was placed in this enclosure. Her body started to protest the stationary position and she placed the board and dagger on the floor besides her. Her legs stretched out, sore and aching from the strain of sitting still. Fingers entwined together she lifted her arms towards the ceiling, stretching them out as far as possible to try and alleviate the strain. Her hands still ached and she shook them slightly as her arms were lowered back towards her. How long had it been? She wondered. They was no way of identifying time and she had only just reached where she was hoping that the ear would be. This was going to be a far bigger time investment then she had originally planned for. She hoped she would be able to get enough practice in, and that she would complete the gift before either of them moved away from the other. It would be hard to locate him if either of them moved away. She frowned at the idea. If they were very lucky they would not be forced to move before any of them wanted to but the possibility was ever present in her mind. She lingered on the thought for a moment, her eyes slipping into the pale green color that surrounded most of her existence nowadays.


With a tired sigh she started to shuffle the plank and dagger into her bag. The dagger was wrapped in some fabric so as to reduce the likelihood of it damaging the other things in her bag. Her limbs ached less now that she had the ability to stretch and she started to stand up. Her legs complained at the action and she placed a hand carefully on the wooden door in an attempt to stabilize herself. The bag she swung onto her shoulders and once she felt stable on her feet once more she swung the enclosure door open. The ruffled straw and small wood chippings were evidence of her activity in the stable. She shut the gate and started towards the exit and out into the streets. It was dark outside, although that was not difficult in winter. She missed the light. In Avanthal it would be starting to get towards longer days, here it was mostly dark. Her way back to the inn was consumed with thoughts of home, and the potential problems with her gift idea. A symbol of Morwen was no more dangerous than harbouring them. She hoped it would blow over before too long, that Ionu would forget or change his mind about attempting to genocide her race.

[Chameleon]

Grades Pending...

Hi there Nemori! Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to go into the negative, as it will result in either slavery or death. Once you've received your wages and corrected your ledger, PM me and I can grade this thread for you. If you have any problems with that, feel free to PM me or speak to Kal about it.
~Chameleon