Solo Idol Days

[Anibesa]

2nd Summer, 518AV

The sun was growing higher in the sky by the time Anibesa woke from a nap. Though during the night she felt no need to sleep, as soon as morning hit she felt herself becoming more and more tired, so today she had opted to take a nap just when the sun rose and forced her back into her Svefra form, and then to take another later in the day before the moon rose and woke her.
Groaning to herself she debated rolling back over and napping for a few more bells, though she knew that she’d have to seize the day at some point and enjoy the relative safety that the daylight gave, compared to the frequent predators she daren’t face in the dark.

Sighing at herself she pulled herself into a sitting position, groggilg rubbing her eyes before staying there for a moment, contemplating what she should do. She didn't want to head into the jungle for the day, and decided that instead she’d keep to the beach, maybe explore what was up past the mercantile, though she also thought about heading more south along the beach to see what she could find that way. She’d never really tried to explore the beach past the settlement in either direction, though being more towards the south of the settlement she was thinking it would be easier for her to head south today and explore the north another day. Then she might have time to get someone to keep her company.

Since she’d be staying on the beach, Anibesa knew she wouldn’t need to put on as much clothes as she would have to when going into the jungle, and hurriedly she pulled her underwear on, and her shirt which she left open to try and shade herself from the heat of the sun.
Then she picked up her backpack and checked through it. In it was her fishing equipment, her waterskin and her compass. Nodding she closed the backpack and slung it over her shoulders before grabbing her kukri and leaving her tent, before sighing. She knew that she’d have to build her house eventually, but for now she was content with her tent, though it was getting less and less organized as time went on.
Closing her tent Anibesa glanced around the settlement seeing if she could see anyone, though the few she could see were in the distance and seemed to be getting on with what could have been their work, or just the things they needed to get done.

Smiling slightly she looked towards the south of the settlement and started walking, enjoying the feeling of the hot sand on her bare feet and glancing around as she walked past the Tidepool Bar, her eyes landed on someone sat at the edge of the bar with their feet dangling into the water, obviously enjoying the cooling effects of the sea.
Her smile breaking into a grin she raised a hand to wave at the figure and saw the man wave back before she turned her attention away and kept walking along the beach.

Word Count517
Total: 517
~

[Anibesa]

As she walked, she kept glancing back over her shoulder watching as the Tidepool Bar got further and further away in her vision. She couldn’t help but grip her kukri slightly tighter as she became slightly nervous, though not as nervous as she would have been if she were headed into the jungle.
The kukri, though she wasn’t sure how she’d use it, felt as though it gave her some form of power. It made her feel as though if something went wrong she had something that she could try to use to help try to defend herself. It was something that looked better in those situations than if she had to use her bare hands.

She walked slowly, the heat beginning to get to her as she stopped briefly to take off her shirt and tie it messily around her head in an attempted loose knot, though it looked more as though she had just draped the shirt over her head to try to keep her hair out of her face.
The temperatures in Syka were something she knew she wouldn’t get used to, at least not for a long time, and as she brushed a few beads of sweat from her nose she moved to walk in the shallows of the sea, the water just hitting her ankles as she walked through it and enjoyed the cooler water of the Suvan Sea, and gradually she moved further into the water until the gentle waves hit her knees and she exhaled happily, briefly bending over to dip a hand in the water and rub the water over her eyes, hoping for some form of relief as she continued to walk through the water, following the beach around the west for a few chimes.

Her eyes scanned from the jungle to the beach to the water and then to the horizon as she walked, and for a brief moment she stopped walking.
Carefully she listened to the ebbing of the water and the bird song coming from the jungle, even the occasional noise that seemed to come from animals fighting deeper within the jungle and for a moment she squeezed the handle of her kukri, eyes trained on the jungle before shaking her head and continuing walking in the direction she assumed was west, though by following the curve of the beach she was certain that she would not get lost too easily.

She kept turning her head to glance back the way she’d came, and Anibesa saw that the Tidepool Bar was still in sight, but now looking around she saw that the island that seemed to be at the centre of Syka was slightly behind her. While usually she would look out to see and the island would be there, she was now looking back at the settlement and the island was in her line of sight.
“Must jut out pretty far...” she mumbled to herself about the stretch of land that headed west as she finally reached the point at which the beach then turned South again.

Word Count510
Total: 1027
~

[Anibesa]

Finally as she turned the corner she saw the stretch of beach and took the moment to sit on the beach and take in the view. From here most of the settlement was no longer visible though she knew that she could find her way back to the settlement somewhat easily, or at least she hoped she wouldn’t get lost so close to the settlement.

Sighing she spent a few moments just looking around, with the sea stretching for miles in front of her, and the jungle stretched for miles behind her. All that was safe was the beach. In the ocean she could drown, and she didn’t know what really lurked in the deeps. In the jungle she could get lost and die of dehydration, or be killed by some fierce predator.
The beach risked having predators wandering onto it, and overexposure to the sun, but it seemed so much safer when compared to the other two options.

Sighing she took off her backpack and retrieved her waterskin, quickly taking a drink from the vessel to quench her thirst before she put it away again, standing up and beginning to walk south along the stretch of beach, her eyes looking down as she walked, though still occasionally glancing to the sea and the jungle respectively, keeping an eye on anything that could have been dangerous.
Carefully she made her way along the beach, occasionally stopping to bend down and run her fingers over a pretty pebble, or a small shell, that had been washed ashore by the sea.

A small black stone caught her eye and she bent down to pick it up, looking it over before she drew her hand back and threw it out to sea. It didn’t go far, only a few feet, and Anibesa frowned slightly before shrugging and continuing to walk along the beach.
The next thing that caught her attention was a shell that was a soft pink colour and seemed to curl around itself. She bent down to pick it up, her hand taking hold of it gently until she heard a rustling close by.

She dropped the shell in shock and straightened up quickly, her fist tightening around the kukri and staring into the jungle. At first she couldn’t see anything, though the rustle came again and Anibesa took a few steps back until she felt the waves brushing against her ankles.
She couldn’t take her eyes away from the jungle, and for a long the rustling came again and again, until a fluttering of wings sounded and a bird flew out of the jungle and Anibesa sighed.

“Stop being silly Ani, not everything is out to kill you...” she mumbled to herself, chuckling slightly as she did so before she got back to what she was doing, checking over the beach for anything interesting.

Sighing again, she carefully walked along the beach until something caught her eye. It looked like stone but yellow and carved, almost looking like hair from a blonde statue.

Word Count503
Total: 1530
~

[Anibesa]

Carefully Anibesa bent down to try and pick up the yellow stone, but when she tried to pull it out of the sand it appeared to be much bigger than her first thoughts.
She began to use her hands to dig away at the sand around it, revealing that beneath the yellow colouring there was white colouring and even flesh tone.
After she dug about six inches down around the stone, she gently took a hold of it, pulling it out of the sand to see it in full.

It was a statue, about 8 inches in size, and it seemed to depict a fair woman with blonde hair who was clothed in white robes.
“Oh...” she mused to herself, brushing the sand off the statue and admiring it’s quality. It was a beautiful creation, and as she turned it in her hands she looked into the amount of detail on the statue.
To her it looked like someone had put a lot of time and effort into making the small statue, and Anibesa wondered who could have made it or why.

Smiling, she stood up, still holding the statue and then glanced around, deciding to head back to the settlement and see if anyone might know more about the beautiful item. For all she knew the statue could have been there for years just waiting for someone to dig it up, or it could have been washed ashore by the tide. There was also the case that someone within Syka could have dropped it and was desperately looking for it in and around the settlement, so Anibesa knew that she’d be best off taking it to someone in the settlement.

As she walked she made her way back into the sea slightly, enjoying the feel of cool water on her feet and ankles, then she carefully stepped deeper for a moment allowing the water to reach her knees before stepping back out of the sea.
“Best not get used to it too quick today.” Anibesa mumbled to herself, before she heard another sound and froze for a moment.
“Do you get used to the water often?” a voice questioned and Anibesa remained frozen until she turned her head to see who was there with her, though she couldn’t see anyone else.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” the voice came again, and Anibesa had more time to listen to it, noticing that it was soft and feminine and she imagined it coming from someone warm and gentle, though as she thought she felt something tap her hand she looked down to see the statue now moving, it’s small hand resting on hers.
Anibesa felt her legs give out in the shock of the moment, and found herself kneeling on the sand, before she fell back into a sitting position and brought the statue closer to her face.

“I’ve got to be going mad...” she mumbled to herself and she saw the female looking statue shake it’s head.
“You don’t seem to be insane. I should have been more delicate though, definitely.” the figure said and Anibesa lowered her hand down, letting go of the statue and seeing it stretch out it’s legs, standing and walking in the sand next to Anibesa. “I think I need to explain a few things now, don’t I?”

Word Count555
Total: 2085

Note :

This idol was received from the Rings of Power Challenge

~

[Anibesa]

Anibesa just nodded as she looked at the now moving statue. She was both scared of it, having never encountered such a thing before, but also fascinated by it and now both of those feelings were overwhelming her, confusing her and not allowing her to think clearly.

“I am an idol of Avalis, goddess of divination.” the idol started, moving to sit down in front of Anibesa as it spoke in it’s soft voice. “I’ve chosen you as my owner since you seem to be the right sort of person. I can offer you my guidance and advice, and even my service, though I can only stay like this if you give real prayers to Avalis.” the idol said and Anibesa thought for a moment.

“I think I heard of Avalis.” Ani said, her voice somewhat monotone as she thought, though as she tried to recall she was distracted by the feeling of the idols hand on her knee.
“Avalis is the mate of Laviku. Since you travelled with the Svefra, you had probably heard of her.” the idol said again and Anibesa nodded, agreeing that that must have been how she recognised the name, though then she furrowed her brow unsure of how the idol could know that she travelled with Svefra. “Avalis is the goddess of divination and visions, all of the past, present and future. Her visions have helped people in times of great need.” the idol said and Anibesa nodded.
“So if I had a choice and I didn’t know what to do, if I prayed to Avalis and she listened to me, she might help me know what might happen?” Anibesa asked and the idol shrugged and nodded.

The goddess that this idol was telling her about seemed almost exactly like what Anibesa had been looking for in her life, though she wasn’t sure whether this was real or too good to be true.

“So is she how you knew I travelled with Svefra?” Anibesa asked and the idol nodded with a warm smile.
“I am marked by Avalis, so I can use some of her power to look into the past.” the idol said and Anibesa nodded again before the idol went quiet for a moment or two, her eyes closed as she seemed to be thinking hard.

It was a couple of ticks before the idol opened her mouth, and the voice that came out of it was different to how she’d been speaking before. This was that of an elderly woman, strong and commanding but still understanding and Anibesa recognised it instantly. The voice was that of the Lia of her pod and a smile came across Ani’s face.

“Come on child, you know who you are and you know what you want!” the voice said and a smile spread across Anibesa’s face before the idol opened it’s eyes and smiled back.

“That was... that was Lia Jarci’s voice? How did you do that?” Anibesa asked and the idols smile grew.
“It is a gift I was made with.” it said and Anibesa nodded in response before staring at the idol again and titling her head.
“So you say you chose me? Will you stay with me then? Will you be a friend? And what do I call you? I can’t just call you ‘idol’?” Anibesa allowed the onslaught of questions to escape her as she realised that the fear of the idol had dissipated.
“Yes I can be your friend if you’d like that. As for names? How about you choose one?” the idol offered to Anibesa and the Ethaefal thought for a moment, debating between a number of names before speaking one out loud.

“How about Lissia?”

Word Count617
Total: 2702
~

[Okara]

Grades and Awards Anibesa Experience Observation 5 Land Navigation 1 Interrogation 1 Lores Land Navigation: Using Landmarks to Keep Oriented Avalis: Goddess of Divination and Visions Avalis: Mate of Laviku Avalis Idol: Abilities and How to Awaken Avalis Idol: Named Lissia Misc Rewards or Injuries (+) Avalis Idol, details in the Rings of Power challenge weekend thread Notes Your posts were mostly descriptive so there wasn’t much for me to award. However, your writing was very beautiful and you breathed a lot of life into the environment around you. I enjoyed reading this thread thoroughly. Your descriptions of Anibesa exploring the beach were lovely, they made feel the heat and peacefulness that she was feeling. I think I summed up the important lores, if you were hoping for different, specific lores or feel that I missed some skills please let me know. Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.