Tell Me A Story (Solo)

[Vala]

70th of Spring, 511 AV The man awoke abruptly to the echoing sound of light footsteps, a girl most likely, from the warrens of Wind Reach. It was still early and the fresh spring air seemed to roll in right through the gates. “Vala it’s been a while.” Though his voice was low from sleep, Val’s words carried with soft clarity. The young woman trotted up to the sitting man, a perfect smile plastered on her porcelain face. She jumped to a stop at his feet, hands folded behind her back. Rocking back and forth from the ball to the heel of her feet, Vala spoke up in a sickly sweet voice. “I know! I’m so sorry, but I brought you some tea leaves to make up!” Bringing her hands forward, Vala nonchalantly dropped an opaque pouch of tea leaves into Val’s open palm. There was something about visiting Val, something she use to do more often as a yasi, that had Vala acting extra childish. The oddest thing was that Vala wasn’t even trying to act fake, the childishness just coming out naturally. Val could usually tell when she was being extra fake, but she rarely ever was with him, so he never bothered to bring it up. He definitely wouldn’t be the one to try and scare of the skittish girl with prying questions on her character. Barely a second after Val snapped his fingers, a Dek appeared at his side, waiting for his orders. It was old and scarred, even on its shaved scalp. His eyes were cloudy from cataracts and age; Vala barely even noticed that he had been around, so use to ignoring the lowest class. “Go fetch me a pot of boiling water for my tea, as well as a two tea cups, please.” The wrinkled drudge had left even before he could hear Val’s nonchalant politeness. “Now dear, have you been practicing your common? Or how about your Lhatvian?” He frowned when he noticed Vala avoiding his eye contact. “Vala? Don’t tell me you’ve been squandering my gifts to you.” The wizened old man furrowed his brows and looked down his nose at the girl. He was just pretending, trying to spook the girl, but with actual intent of malice. Vala squeaked in fear. “No, no! It’s not like that at all. It’s just that I’ve been so busy at the Enclave, at the market, and all this business with silly... boys, that I just haven’t had the time to read anything for me anymore.” Vala looked down guilty, missing Val’s questioning eye brow raise. She was in no mood to start spilling the beans on her life drama; she was here to forget all that by visiting an old ‘friend’ and mentor. The drudge returned with the tea supplies. placing them beside Val’s seat. He melted back into the shadows without another word. Unravelling the purse that held Vala’s tea leaves, Val dropped several pinches into the steaming water, put the lid back on, and waited for the leaves to finish soaking through. Vala watched as he measured out the perfect amount, just by sight, for the amount of water. She was surprised his worn hands could be more dexterous than the many young men she had seen at the kitchens. She sat in silence, her eyes glued to his patient face, which stared into the distance, through the gates, for a few chimes. Without any other indication, than an internal clock, Val opened the lid and breathed in deep. Vala had forgotten to count how many chimes it had actually taken, but she still tried to observe Val’s quick an sure movements as he poured them each a cup. “That should be cool enough to drink in three chimes, my dear. Now about your studies…” Val smiled, almost wickedly. Vala raised her eyebrow, reaching out to take a little sip of her tea. “You owe me a story, Vala.” “A story?” Vala sputtered. “Like the stuff I have to do at the Storyteller’s well at the Enclave?” Val took another sip of his own cup of tea. “Yup just like that. Except for one little twist...” Val swirled around his cup, breathing in the earthy scent wafting up to his nose. “You have to tell it in Common.”

[Vala]

“bu-bu-but…” Vala stuttered. “I can barely talk in Common… let alone tell a story.” Vala opened her eyes up wide, the bright baby blue orbs, glistening in the dim candle light. She wasn’t that worried about her common, she was conversational at best, childish at worst. She just wasn’t in the mood to make a fool of herself in front of Val. On second thought, who is ever ready to make a fool of themselves? Vala made a point never to try anything she wasn’t sure she would be at least 80% or more, likely to succeed. Considering her season of no practice, Vala found herself uncertain, at an unnerving 50% or more. Val was a hard one to sway; Vala would have to up her game. Putting down her now warm cup of tea, Vala folded her hands, demurely onto her lap, focusing on keeping her eyes as pleading as possible. Normally her yasi face would be enough to bring any man down, but for Val, she had to be clever, even going as far as transforming her physical charm into something more logical, words, to be more exact. “But Val, we’ve only really been conversing in Common, never going very far with our vocabulary.” It was a simple, direct, and completely logical argument. Vala was sure she would be able to persuade Val out of his course of action, but just to seal the deal, she had to dress her words up further. Though her sickly sweet voice was grating enough, she managed to lower the timbre, like verbal honey, to gently caress Val’s ears and mind to her bidding. Like the little minx she was, she knew enough to lower her voice to have Val have to lean in to listen, but not too low that he would get irritated from lack of understanding. “I’ll make a fool of myself if I try to tell a full story in common. I won’t know any of the nouns, let alone the verbs.” Vala bit her bottom lip, just gently pulling on the soft pink flesh with her pearly teeth. She even batted her eyelashes for good measure. She made a valiant effort, she really did, but she was still no match for Val’s cunning will. “Then tell me a simple one.” He looked down at his tea, staring at the misty surface, before taking another deep sip. “Thank you again my dear for the tea, it was very kind of you.” He looked up, his old eyes still clear, even sharper than those far younger than him. A sneer, just a little one, just a crinkling of her tiny nose and a twitch of her eye, marred Vala’s face for a second. It passed quickly, replaced by a perfect countenance, especially masked by Vala’s earlier motives. She wanted to stay, but she didn’t want to tell her story… Val was putting her into an awkward position and she really wanted to leave. She had been in a great mood that morning – why did he have to go prod the sleeping dog? Vala looked away, trying to catch the figure of the earlier Dek standing against the wall. Her lids drooped, mostly from frustration. He was really pushing her, and he probably knew it. All season she had been pushed so often, instances that forced her to rise to the occasion. She scoffed at what she had been able to accomplish when she had chosen to stay, to face the trouble instead of running away. This was a simple task. She tried to convince herself. It took her a few chimes. Val didn’t mind; he was a patient man. A little curve of his lips, the slightest wrinkle of his eyes, were not visible in the dim light. So Vala was not able to see how happy Val actually was when she finally agreed to try.

[Vala]

Vala raked her mind for stories she had recently told in the Storyteller’s Well. She looked down into her almost empty cup, disturbed by her reverie when a teapot spout was suddenly right under her nose. She was so startled she flinched, moving the cup and spilling a hot drop of tea right onto her thumb. She hissed in pain, but mostly managed to keep it to herself; she was deep in thought. Val even apologized but she didn’t hear. Well there was that one with Priskil… but that had a lot of big words. Or I could go about the little boy, but that had big words too. Then there was the… no. No, no, no, no. Vala sighed, placing the tea down again, rubbing the flesh around her stinging thumb, absentmindedly. “Oh yes!” She cried out excitedly, when she suddenly remembered the perfect story. She had even told it barely a market rotation ago, so it was quite fresh in her mind. She had chosen it because she had a vague recollection of hearing it as a child, and it just had to be the perfect selection for the set of young yasi that she had coming; she had even gone through the stacks to find the original copy instead of going from memory. Val uncrossed his legs, recrossing them the other direction. “So you’ve found your story, dear?” He smiled encouragingly. Vala nodded. “I believe so. Just promise me you won’t laugh.” She opened her mouth, as if to say ‘I’ll cry if you do’, but from Val’s lightly furrowed brows, it was obvious he already knew what she had wanted to say, and he took it seriously. “Ok… give me a…” “Why don’t you say it in common, dear.” Val raised his eyebrow, tilting his head playfully to the right. Vala raised her own eyebrow in response, but less in playfulness and more in annoyance. Yes. A second, please. Vala bit her lip, chewing little bits off, unconsciously. I need to… yes… remember. It is hard. This is hard.” Vala cringed at her horrid accent, wondering if she had made the right decision. “I’m sure it is, dear. Take your time. You can ask me for help if you need it.” Shaking her head and hands, Vala jumped straight into it – sick of psyching herself out. ”There was a… Vala snapped her fingers, trying to remember the proper word. Gasping when it came back to her. ”There was a falcon. He was a bad falcon. Vala felt bad butchering the already simple story, but it was hard seeing as most of her Common vocabulary was single syllable. She knew the story by heart though, as a proper storyteller should, but it still came out far more strained as she tried to convert the words in her head one by one. Her words came out slow and labored, heavy pauses between each thought. “The bad falcon bites and… Vala had to pause a long time for the last word, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t remember the word. Thankfully for her Val caught on quick, and knowing the story she was about to tell, hearing it as a Yasi himself, he helped her out and whispered the right word under his breath. “The bad falcon bites and caws. Nobody likes the falcon, because the falcon is bad. The falcon is mean. Vala found herself repeating the simple phrase ‘The Falcon is bad’ very often, mostly because it was the most comfortable thing she could say. And she knew as a storyteller it was wrong to fill gaps with filler words like um or uh, so she was relying on that simple phrase as a crutch, not much better than fillers, but just a lot more subtle, if not annoyingly repetitive. “When people come over to falcon master’s house, falcon act bad. Falcon is bad. Val continued to listen attentively, generously ignoring Vala’s many grammatical mistakes. She knew she was messing up to, but Val was silently encouraging her, egging her on to continue with his non verbal cues, that somehow seemed to work far better than any condescending cheerleading routine. “One day the master was mad, very mad. Master was very mad at falcon. Falcon was bad. Master buy bell from market. Master put bell on Falcon. Now, people know when bad falcon come.” So focused on getting the words out of her mouth, Vala was unfortunately unable to pantomime or act out as much of the story as she normally would, but telling a story in a language one was uncomfortable in was incredibly stressful, as Vala was realizing. “The bell ring when falcon come. Everyone know when falcon come.” Vala felt her throat closing up a little, and even a little tickly in the very back. She paused to take a sip of her refilled tea. As she drank Val took a second to verbally support the girl. “You’re doing a great job Vala. I know the story well, and you’re doing it justice, especially in Common. I hope you know this is a very hard task.” Normally he would have pointed out the many things she was doing or saying wrong, in both her use of common and storytelling practices but he could tell she was already stressed out enough by the activity, so he held off, for maybe a time when she would be able to handle such criticisms better. Val brought up his cup as well, to enjoy himself a sip of tea, as Vala enjoyed her quick break.

[Vala]

Feeling a little rejuvenated from her break, Vala continued on with the second half of her story. Just to get back into the proper flow of her telling, Vala began earlier than when she left off. “The master buy the falcon a bell. Everyone know where falcon is. The falcon very...” Vala looked down, trying to think. “Proud?” Val offered. Val nodded in grateful awknowledgement. “The falcon very proud of new bell. Falcon walks around all of Wind Reach.” Vala said Wind Reach in Nari as Common didn’t actually have a different term for her home city. “Falcon walks around Wind Reach very proud of new bell.” Even before she started in on the next part, Vala found herself sniggering a little. “One day, old falcon come to bad falcon. You are bad falcon he says to bad falcon. No one like you he says. The bell is bad, because you are bad says the old falcon before go away. The end!” Val lightly clapped his hands, congratulating Vala on her attempt. Val scratched at his scruffle before asking, “And what is the moral of the story?” Vala giggled. She was usually the one who asked that of the yasi. “Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.” Val nodded in approval at her answer. “Very good my dear. Would you like some more tea?” Vala shook her head no. ‘Okay dear.” The two sat in relative silence as they just listened to the natural sounds right outside the gates. It didn’t take long before the city girl started to feel uncomfortable sitting about, doing nothing. Before she could stop herself, she started to speak and ruin the moment. “What are you thinking about Val?” She didn’t look him in the eye when she spoke, still too visually lost in the dancing lights outside. Val took quite some time to respond. Mulling over his answer, preferring to think before he spoke, unlike some of the hotter headed Inarta. “I am praying dear.” He finally said, his words slow and deliberate. It had been so long since she had last prayed, Vala could barely remember. She had been steadily losing faith, and while she may not dislike the absenteeism of the gods, she was growing to learn how important it was to believe in herself. “Who are you praying to?” “I’m praying to Priskil.” He smiled at the alliteration. “What are you praying about?” She continued to pry with almost childish naivety, ignoring any barriers of privacy she normally kept up around others. “Nothing in particular. Just telling her my hopes my dreams and anything else that happens to come into my mind.” Val turned to face Vala, forcing her to look at him as well. “Why don’t you try it dear?” “What?” Vala asked incredulously. Her face unable to hide the look of shock and mind disgust that she felt for some odd reason. “Why don’t you try praying to Priskil?” Val reiterated with cold force behind his words. Vala broke eye contact to look at her tiny feet. “…I use to. I use to pray to Priskil. What if she doesn’t want to hear my prayers anymore? It’s been so long.” “It doesn’t work that way dear. She won’t be mad, I promise you. Just try it.” Vala furrowed her brows. He was forcing her to try something that made her feel uncomfortable again. For this she would have for sure, declined, but after her earlier success, she was made more open. It still took her ten chimes to finally stifle the inner turmoil she was feeling to finally try. She was about to tell Val that she was going to try it, but stopped herself, realizing he probably expected her to lead herself. Without further ado, she tried it, silently within her own mind and heart. Vala closed her eyes, folding her lithe hands on her lap. Drawing on her meditation techniques, she began to breathe slower and clear her mind. She pushed herself into a calmer state, one deeper into her mind. She allowed the darkness behind her lids to creep into her, to bring her into a state of proper calm. One, she realized, she needed to really get to see herself. Vala’s breathing slowed down to a pace that was similar to when she was sleeping. She would have fallen asleep, if she hadn’t been so pumped by her story. “Priskil… Priskil I’m sorry. I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve last prayed to you. I’ve just been super busy… and it’s just that… well… well it’s just that… Where have you been? I don’t know what to do. I should have been a master glassblower by now, you know? But what am I? I’m just a librarian. Not even an Avora yet. I get ordered around and get barely any respect, respect I know I deserve. I’m smart, I try so hard. I work hard at the Enclave; I even volunteer in the kitchens just to help the city out, because what, I don’t know, I feel like it’s my duty. What is wrong with me? I hate this feeling of duty. I can stifle everything else – love, a need for deeper connection, even basic friendships, but this duty, this feeling of changing the world I can’t remove. It hurts me sometimes, it hurts me all the time. It hurts me when I can’t do anything, when I’m constantly treaded upon. When I am ignored, when I am forgotten. I need to make the difference. I need to so badly. I want to be better. I don’t know who to rely on. It’s so hard to trust anyone when everyone keeps leaving me. Even you. You listen to me, but you’ve never really been there for me… No that’s wrong. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry for being so needy Priskil, but I need to be better, I need to do better. And I know, all I need is the opportunity. Please give me that opportunity Priskil? That’s all I ask of you…”

[Flicker]

Vala’s XP award: Acting 1 Storytelling 3 Persuasion 1 Philosophy 1 Vala’s Lore Award: An old man’s patience Translating a story poorly Breaking the rust off praying Comments: I didn’t know Val was such a hard ass! Give me four more threads using common and we’ll say she’s upgraded. Oh, and next time Vala sees Val, he’s going to refuse to speak to her unless she’s speaking in common or Lhavitian.