Completed A New Dawn Hast Arisen Pt. II

[Naadiya]

A New Dawn Hast Arisen Pt. II 1st of Spring, 522 AV continued from... Naadiya had just left the Tropical Fever Boutique and was walking the Cobbled Pathway heading to the Estuary where she had heard Gracelin could often be found. If she had walked along the shore, the call of the sea would have been too much to overcome. It had been so long since Naadiya had comfortably touched cool water, and now in the summer time it felt more needed than ever. How unbearable it would be to go all these warm days only able to take hot baths. But anxiety still danced around her mind. What if her curse had not been cured like those of Dawn and Tony? That may have been part of the reason she wanted to see Gracelin too. The quiet woman’s affliction had crippled the shop’s production as much as Dawn’s own and even more than Naadiya’s. Maybe if she saw that the other weaver had also been cleared of her shaking hands as Dawn had been of her rash, then Naadiya could muster the courage to take a dip in the sea. It was not a fear of the effects of the curse showing themselves, she had almost come to terms with having a part-time penis. It wasn’t even that every time her body went through the accursed shift she felt as if she would be sick from both ends, that part was unpleasant of course but not terrifying. She just didn’t want to let her hopes truly rise. If she did that, the plummet would be all the worse. But if Naadiya could just see Gracelin first, it could be the tiny push she needed. Thoughts of Buraga creeped back in her mind and Naadiya tried to recall what he’d been cursed with. Or had he been one of the lucky few who’d escaped Rhysol’s malignant touch? No, Buraga has been here long before I ever set foot in Syka and I remember his name on the list…. Randal was the one with horns and Cleon’s addictions definitely had a pseudo-demonic tinge to them… And poor Faye and her aging. What did Buraga get stuck with? Pain in the joints? Pain in the muscles? Pain somewhere, I’m sure. He seemed fine just now…. Hope started to bubble but she simmered it down just as quick. The estuary had a serene sort of beauty. Still and yet full of movement if you knew where to look. As she neared the area, leaving the Cobbled Pathway, Naadiya shielded her eyes and scanned her surroundings. It was easy to see why Gracelin spent so much time in the estuary, the calm seemed to almost evaporate up from the waters as the salted mixed with the fresh. Her eyes found Gracelin soon enough, knee deep in the water and speckled with shade, the woman was bent over handling something beneath the water’s surface. Naadiya moved close enough to be able to call out to Gracelin without raising her voice to high and disturbing the serenity. The woman was always so quiet and peaceful, Naadiya always felt the need to match her attitude. Even in the sand, her steps moved softer than they would otherwise and it wasn’t until Naadiya had reached the water’s edge that Gracelin straightened up and turned to see who it was. 549

[Naadiya]

Gracelin squinted and brought up a dripping hand to shield her eyes from the sun, or was it to conceal them? A polite smile graced her face and after a quick greeting and a wave, the woman returned to her task in water. The hand that had shielded Gracelin eyes had not shook. Not even a little, if Naadiya’s eyes could be trusted. A quick darting gaze at the hand that lingered near the water’s surface hinted that that one wasn’t shaking either. Naadiya’s feet were very close to the estuary’s edge, just far enough to not be grazed by the natural movements of water. Just far enough. Biting down on her bottom lip and not bothering to take her sandals off, Naadiya waded into the water. Cool wetness enveloped her feet and caressed her ankles making its way up her calves. Naadiya gathered and held up the isuas fabric of her skirt but then remembered the materials impressive wicking ability and let it go. She felt nothing. No headache, no nausea, no feeling of imminent vomiting or diarrhea. There was no penis. She had no penis. NO PENIS! I don’t have a penis! she thought, going further in the water watching to not step on shells but thinking of only one thing. “I don’t have a penis”, she whispered excitedly. Hearing this, Gracelin turned with more enthusiasm than Naadiya had seen from her before, “I know! Me neither! Isn’t it great? Well I never had a penis but you know what I mean. Things are returning to the way they were!” Almost as suddenly, her energy level decreased with her shoulders relaxing and her eyes looking back down in the water, but the small smile stayed on her face. “I’m glad you are feeling better,” Gracelin spoke to Naadiya nicely enough but she was already turning away, always on the shy side. “How is Dawn?” “Actually, that is why I came looking for you,” Naadiya said, taking in the woman and recognizing certain body language movements she herself had shown not so long ago. Since starting to work for Dawn, Naadiya had run into Gracelin on several occasions in the shop. Sometimes they had even both worked looms in the back at the same time, but the conversation was never deep and never lasted very long, especially if Naadiya ever started asking questions about Gracelin’s life before Syka. “Dawn’s feeling… better, I guess. Well, she is weaving isuas and so far no rashes,” Naadiya gave a thumbs up but Gracelin was turned away too far to see. “But?” The woman asked without turning, focusing at least part of her attention of cutting something in the water. “But… I think she has been awake since well before sunup, hasn’t eaten anything and is weaving nonstop like a madwoman. And she seems ecstatic about it, so I don’t even know how or if I should try to stop her. She wanted to tell us something together, would say anything until I got you in the shop as well.” With a heavy sigh, Gracelin’s shoulders were raised then dropped, “Now?” 520

[Naadiya]

“I mean… she is in a bit of a ‘zone’ right now. I don’t think her time management is what it normally is. Why? What are you doing there?” Naadiya said as she took slow steps closer to the other woman. “Harvesting,” came a simple reply. Naadiya did not ask why. She suspected it was more about her being able to actually use her hands as she wished without them trembling than anything else. That wasn’t so hard to relate to. Dawn had immediately felt the need to weave, but maybe like Naadiya, Gracelin did not feel the same overwhelming creative urge just then. “Can I see?” Naadiya went even closer and could now see that there were green ribbon-like leaves waving lazily in the water around Gracelin. A woven, shallow basket, floated by her side and a few of the ruffled ribbon-like leaves were already in it, looking much less flamboyant than the ones still in the water. “What are those? I’m always trying to expand my taste pallet.” “Sea lettuce, mostly”, Gracelin replied. “I think I got some red algae too. I don’t know why we call it red when it’s closer to purple.” “Hmm,” Naadiya considered, “like grapes.” “What?” “Grapes. Red grapes aren’t really red, their closer to purple too. Do you eat these?” Naadiya gestured towards the plants in the floating basket. “Oh yes, sea lettuce is lovely. It’s a little like sorrel but with that ocean flavor. Is is because of wine? Red grapes make red wine?” Gracelin juggled the topics while grabbing a piece of green from the water and lifting it for Naadiya to see her hands as she use short bladed but heavy duty scissors to cut at the plant’s stems. “You want to cut around this part. Get far enough away from where they attach to the rock that they will regrow.” Naadiya looked at where Gracelin cut and nodded, noticing how the plant grabbed onto a rock like anchor. “But then why do green grapes make white wine… ? I don’t know, I’m not a connoisseur… Can I try?” Gracelin handed over the shears and held another plant for Naadiya to cut, nodding when the blade was at the right place. Naadiya squeezed and was surprised at how easily the stem was cut through. She placed the leafy green on Gracelin’s basket and snipped a few more, “how much more do you need?” “You really don’t need to help me,” Gracelin said, but she seemed to be smiling, suspecting Naadiya was also in no hurry to run back to the clothing shop. Naadiya harvested another piece of algae and put it with the others, “I don’t mind… I just… I don’t want to get out of the water just yet.” Nodding in comprehension, Gracelin reached for the floating basket and Naadiya then saw that it remained above the water being attached to gourds of some sort. She had seen similar devices among the Svefra but this looked distinctly different in design. The gourds would be spaced out and attached to the bottoms of the shallow baskets with a solid, waxed piece of very thin wood in-between the two. It made for a floating basket that did not retain water and Naadiya had thought the contraption very crafty. 549

[Naadiya]

Gracelin’s had been painted a dark yellow and bore a sheet of netting between the sea plants and the basket itself. They continued to gather algae in peaceful silence for a while, until Naadiya noticed the basket was filling up. As they had foraged the green and red algae, Gracelin explained how both could be harvested the same way but their flavors were wildly different, with the red variety having a somewhat meaty taste and both supposedly being quite nutritious and often overlooked, and how everyone would be better off if they included more of both in their diets. “I’m not surprised they go by unnoticed, I wouldn’t have thought to eat them if we weren’t having this conversation.” “There is a lot more here that is edible than you would guess.” “And some of it might also be poisonous, I don’t want to be the one who experiments with the tasting of entirely unknown plants… I’ve had some less than pleasant experiences with local plants.” “No… I don’t blame your caution. The cautious tend to outlive the bold. Let’s get some of those and then we can go, I want to drop these off at home before going to see Dawn, it should give us a little time to dry off.” Naadiya looked to where the woman pointed and saw some type of sea grass billowing in the surf. She reached for a piece and snipped a bit of the leave off and inspected it in the sunlight, “You can eat this too?” “Yes, that’s tape sea grass. Well no… Or.. I suppose yes, you can eat it, but I don’t think the actual leaves are particularly good. The seeds however, those can be peeled, spiced and roasted like tiny chestnuts.” Grabbing a lower part of the plant and showing Naadiya where the seeds hid, Gracelin cut a few pieces and placed them in the basket. Naadiya followed her example and gathered some of the sea grass herself as well. The ‘fruits’ that would reveal that desired seeds looked unappealing to say the least and Naadiya wondered who was the first person to decide the would pop that thing open and eat its seeds… Either very curious or very desperate, she thought, knowing full well she had already decided to try the seeds herself, now that she knew they would not kill her. Satisfied with their bounty, Gracelin and Naadiya made their way out of the water. Once on shore, Gracelin lifted the netting off the basket and split the contents between the two, handing the net to Naadiya. “You gathered as much as I did, that is for you. And I was serious it’s very healthy, you should eat some.” Taking the net in her hands, Naadiya couldn’t help but notice the gift was not the most enticing at first sight, dripping with the ocean’s smell and a little something else, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on but wasn’t sure she’d want to touch it if she could. But Naadiya smiled and thanked Gracelin wholeheartedly. This had been the longest interaction she’d had with one of the few people she could consider to be her ‘co-workers’, she wasn’t about to let it go South, especially without having even tried the seaweeds herself. 547

[Naadiya]

“Thank you, but I don’t know how to prepare them.” “You can keep them stored in water for a short amount of time, but after that you will want to either brine them or dry them if you won’t use them soon. You can also grind them to powder and add to foods and beverages, that’s a good way to get the concentrated benefits especially if you don’t like the taste.” “Thanks… I’ll definitely try, but I’m not the best cook so don’t expect me to invite you over for dinner anytime soon,” she laughed lightly. Gracelin returned a brief and polite laugh before going back to her place, telling Naadiya she would meet her back at the clothier but Naadiya went straight to the shop. Finding a spot out of the way from the entrance, she set her half of the harvest down in a shaded area before going in. Dawn could still potentially complain about the ocean-scent making it’s way in her shop, but Naadiya doubted the woman’s nose was as sharp as that, and in any case, the coffee buzz seemed to still be going strong. As Naadiya walked back in, she could still hear the loom going along in the back room. Before going to the back herself, Naadiya perused the store, re-folding the occasional garment and moving a few things around. Warm colors together and the cool colors together, she thought to herself as she grouped things for a pleasing effect anyone walking in would see. Naadiya then walked over to the counter where she had set the yarns’s she would be taking home and looked for the book where she and Dawn kept track of their interactions together. While the blonde usually preferred to track most interactions herself, asking Dawn to stop what she was doing to make these simple jottings might not roll over as smoothly as it would on another occasion. Knowing that her boss could be on the possessive side when it came to her business documents, Naadiya didn’t try to find the ledger usually used. Instead, she found a piece of blank parchment and made the notes of everything she had set aside for herself. Remembering how Dawn had made the notes previously, Naadiya took a nearby quill, dipped it into the inkwell and brought it to the blank page. Her handwriting could be improved, but was still legible enough she doubted Dawn wouldn’t understand. On the left she wrote what she had set aside, listing out the colors and the quantities, numbered in skeins, on a second column to the right. As she was tucking the notes somewhere where they would be easily found but not lost, Naadiya’s eye caught something that seemed familiar. An envelope sat on the counter, propped up against a tiered display of gloves. Brown weathered paper with a once-wet stain on one corner, but on the other was her name scrawled with a slant. For a few chimes she hesitated to take the letter though unsure why. Finally, she reached for it and grabbed the envelope. 515