Closed Remedy (Taurina)

[Haena]

43rd Winter, 516
Speech
Others

Haena knelt at the edge of Lari Lake as the waters idly washed at the gritty shore. She was gathering water into the waterskin and the kettle, a task that required patience. Not her own patience, but that of her horse who had enjoyed the brisk ride down and was now trotting backwards and forwards as she waited for her Drykas to finish. Her children waited even less patiently and were playing in the water with their trousers rolled up, laughing and giggling as their mother fastened her waterskin back in her yvas bag and called loudly for them to come over.

They dragged their feet, but she handed the brimming kettle to Tomas, the more serious of the two, and the family walked back to the Stormbloods as Haena listened to Julai humming a tune. It was a good day. The light of Syna blossomed in the sky above like a beautiful butterscotch flower, and even though the grasslands were suffering, Haena had a great deal of faith in her goddess. Plus, today she was feeling kind, and kindness was a good way to feel happy, too.

When the family arrived back at their tent, Haena laced open the door to let the breeze flow into the space, and squatted at the firepit as she started to build up the fire from the ashes of last night's blaze. The fire was sustained with wads of fire-giving grass, thick, dry, and full of energy. She grabbed a few bundles, only as much as she would need, and picked up her flint and tinder, giving a few poor strikes before finally hitting a spark. With her and her children blowing carefully on the grass, soon enough the flames started to flicker and she smiled a ghost of a smile as she asked Tomas to bring the kettle over.

"Tomas, Julai, could you keep an eye on the fire whilst I go outside for a moment?" They nodded, putting on their best faces of helpfulness, then she turned her heel and walked out into the bright day. They need to be taught more, always more. Haena thought regretfully that she had not spent enough time teaching them. There was always something else to do, somewhere else to be. The children had fallen behind, no matter Tomas' seriousness and obvious willingness to help her. Sometimes he was just too earnest. And looks too much like his father. She brushed away the pang of memory, and walked purposefully over to the laden yvas bag that she had kept outside.

Recently, Haena had noticed that even in the mild to scorching heat of this peculiar Winter, the usual colds still prevailed. The Diamond Clan was made of tough stuff, that was obvious, but away from the Opal Clan Haena was painfully aware these people were less gifted with medicine than where she came from. Of course, she didn't consider herself to be 'gifted', nowhere near that. But what she was aware of was that the cold that was sweeping across the Diamond Clan could be easily warded off with a few doses of medicine, and she was happy to provide. It also meant her own family wouldn't suffer so much, if the cold was halted in it's tracks.

So yesterday, she had ridden out into the grasslands and searched for wild ginger. She had been lucky, and had found a whole collection of the plants growing together. Taking only what she needed, the woman had still collected almost a whole bagful of the roots and leaves of the plant, and had left them out overnight to keep them cool. Now she picked the bag up with a firm tug, and went to carry it in her arms to go back into the tent, when she tripped on a tussock, and the bag (and it's contents) spilled all across the floor.

PETCH.

OOCBy the way, Haena almost always speaks in Pavi, unless written otherwise.

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[Taurina]

“Stop… Melody..” Taurina giggled, “that tickles!”

The mare blew from her nostrils, searching for more. Her whiskers brushed across the space between the rider’s shoulder and neck. Taurina released another giggle, playfully batting the animal’s massive head away.

“Oh stop.. There is no more!”

This was what the Ethaefal got for feeding the mare some of those sugar cubes for nothing more than as a treat. The mare did not believe her either for she kept nudging her rider’s earthbound form, searching. Taurina gave the mare a sidelong glance, a look of playfulness sparkling in her eyes. The mare knew better.

“Nope, no more,” Taurina stepped out of the way, Melody followed after.

Taurina knew she had more sugar cubes in her pockets. A coat of it also layered her hands from the ones she has already given the mare. The Ethaefal was an easy target when it came to her mare, the one who had been her only family for a long time. She would easily cave to the mare’s instance of getting more treats if this kept up.

“Mel.. follow?” Taurina signed follow three times, the goal being to get Melody used to the pavi commands.

Taurina looked back and made sure she had the mare’s attention -which was not hard since Melody was focused on the task of getting those treats- before she once more faced away from the creature and ran a couple lengths ahead. The wind tangled with her braided, sun streaked hair and Syna’s rays beamed down on the pair. It was a strangely good day, not super hot or anything. Warmer than winter should be, but at least there was a bit of a breeze. Taurina stopped and turned back towards the mare, her face flushed with laughter when she saw Melody had followed right behind her.

“Oh you. What am I going to do with you?” Taurina teased.

Melody blew out her nostrils again before bobbing her head up and down, shaking her mane. The soft nose was pushed forward and nudged Taurina’s right hip, where the pocket holding the treats was. The Ethaefal laughed before reaching in and grabbing some of the cubes.

“Alright, alright, here you go,” the Ethaefal gave in, laying her hand flat and extending it towards the mare.

Melody’s warm, soft lips pressed against her rider’s palm as she lapped up the sweet treat. Taurina sighed and gave a content smile as she scratched at the mare’s forehead. Melody was a good horse, dependable and easy. Even this season with her little temper tantrums that she had been throwing. Taurina still loved her and worked with her when she could. Today was a spur of the moment thing fueled by the strange good mood the Ethaefal was in. It was rare for her to be so playful, so happy.

“There you go darling, such a good girl,” Taurina gave her praise, ruffling Melody’s forelock before pushing her face forward and brushing a kiss over the space between the colorsplash’s eyes.

Melody let out a soft, content sound which made Taurina smile softly. The Ethaefal thought that she could stay out here all day with the mare, but she had other things she wanted to do today. Her tattooing practice had been left alone for far too long. She had not done much with it all season besides the little she did at work. There was just so much going on, so much change, and new things to adapt to. The Ethaefal had found herself mentally not having the space for practice and growth, but she wanted to change that and make some time for her art form.

“Alright, let’s head back,” Taurina decided, giving the mare pat on the neck after she finished licking the rider’s hands of sugar.

They were not truly gone from the pavilion, just on the outskirts of it. Taurina refused to go far into the Sea of Grass alone because of her lack of ability to survive and fight for herself. Plus fear. So much fear surrounded the unknown.

“Follow,” the rider ordered once more, giving the sign another three times.

Taurina walked back towards the tents rather than run, already more tired than she had before deciding to come out and do a little work with her mare. Melody followed close behind and the two were back near the tents not long after. Taurina saw to it that Melody got to where the other horses were before she turned and moved towards her little tent with a lingering smile pulling at her lips.

The Ethaefal was almost to her tent when she noticed another of the Stormbloods had come back from wherever her travels of the day had taken her. Taurina watched Haena as the Drykas woman made her way out of her tent and headed for what looked to be a full yvas bag. The Ethaefal was waiting for a moment to offer the woman a smile before going about her task of practicing her art. Things did not quite pan out that way, however, for Haena lost her footing and subsequently, her grip on the bag. The contents of it poured out onto the ground.

Taurina felt a pang of sympathy before she rushed forward to help her fellow Stormblood retrieve what she had lost. The distance was not far and soon the Eth was on her knees helping retrieve … what were they? Taurina recognized the roots and leaves to be apart of a plant, but what plant or what they were used for she had no idea.

“Here,” had gathered up as much of the roots as she could and held them close to her body so she avoided dropping them all again, “what would you like me to do with … what are these?”

Curiosity always got the best of the Ethaefal.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

Boxcode credit goes to Azmere

[Prophet]

Haena - let me know when you get your ledger updated and I'll post your grades.

Taurina -
Animal Husbandry: +1
Horsemanship: +1
Observation: +1
Socialization: +1

Animal Husbandry: Using treats to teach a behavior
Horsemanship: Reading the visual cues from a horse
Taurina: Loves Melody
Taurina: Playful with her horse
Taurina: Ever curious