So You Think You Can Swim (Risa)

[Sairque]

22 Summer, 511 AV Tucked away in the busy middle ring of the market set up in the Courtyard of the Sky, an unassuming booth looked deserted compared to its neighbors. A simple banner suspended between two posts provided the lone marketing strategy. “Can’t Fly? I’ll Get You High!” It was slightly misleading, the owner had come to find, with people mistakenly thinking she was offering joy rides on an Eagle instead of exotic climbing excursions where one didn’t need wings to soar above the land. Exhausted from an arduous nine days of hunting and directing other Endal, the booth tender sat in a rickety chair behind the counter with her bare feet kicked up and hands folded behind her head. Protected from the sun by an awning overhead, bronzed skin was further protected by a simple orange vinati that left generous expanses of her torso bare and a pair of white bryda that gathered at her ankles. All in all, it was clear from the wiry musculature the outfit exposed that she was not one of the minutely softer craftsmen flooding the area. Her booth wasn’t hopping like the others, but it provided a nice time for her to nap. A lone piece of parchment with quill and ink waited on the otherwise empty counter. It provided ledger for the day and already had a handful of names and dates scrawled across it.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa had spent most of the morning traveling up from her ship ported at Thunder Bay. She never liked to sleep on land when she could help it, the still earth made her feel run aground. Her legs were getting strong, though, as the first two weeks she dreaded each hike. Regardless Risa examined the open-aired pavilion before her, much less busy than the market day she had seen, but still holding a variety of shops. Risa still didn't have a goal, nothing to look for, but she found herself in the center of the market regardless, overlooking each shop.

Fala landed on Sairque's booth with a sudden flap and a shrill whistle. Risa smiled and looked over at her bird, thinking she'd have to apologize to another Inarta. The friendly ones spoke common and asked for stories, the unfriendly ones gave her cold looks, and the majority couldn't speak to her at all beyond her poor attempts to sign out what she was saying with her hands. The empty shop was definitely curious-looking among the rows of various brightly colored stores, as was the more muscular girl sitting behind the near bare table.

"Oh, I'm sorry, he has a habit of making a real nuisance of himself." Risa paused, searching the girl's face for understanding. She hoped it was clear when she continued, "What do you sell?" She eyed the book, but no answers were clear from the spreadsheet before her.

[Sairque]

While a bird’s call wasn’t uncommon among the avian lovers, the accompanying thud of one landing on her stall was enough to cause the subdued flight leader to crack an eye. A sliver of predatory yellow met the bird’s owner’s curious gaze. Sai dropped her feet from the booth and straightened, somehow producing a bird treat and offering it to the clever avian. For long moments she focused on Fala, teasing him with treats until he was comfortably allowing her to stroke his delicate feathers so long as she had food. Smiling at the bribed bond, the stall owner looked to Risa with an inviting smile. “Imagine the nuisance he would be if he had a forty foot wing span and you’ll understand what I have to deal with all day,” she responded in common, the language slanted ever so slightly by the musical chimes of her native tongue. “I sell rock climbing trips,” the woman responded simply, the haze of interrupted sleep gradually giving way to the sharp focus of an authoratative disposition. From a hook screwed into the back side of a post, she plucked a cannister. A map slid out and soon covered the ledger Risa had tried to interpret. The map was faded, stained, and worn thin, but it was clearly the peninsula Mt. Skyinarta rested on. Sai directed her patrion to it with a flourish of a heavily scarred right hand. “Where would you like to go?” Often times she simply told people where she would take them, but from the décor glittering on her patron, this was one of those sea-faring folk that showed up every now and again in the summer time. She’d heard they weren’t comfortable on land. Well, she wasn’t comfortable on the open waters.

[Risa Moontide]

Risa looked over at the eagle perch, several of the large avians preening in the hot sun. She couldn't imagine them flying down to the stalls, their size would overtake any of these counters, perhaps even buckle the planks like the roughest of waves. Perhaps the local was toying with her, the eagles were simply too big. Risa's expression was light when she looked back towards the relaxed-looking red head with the next remark.

"Rock climbing trips? Yes!" Risa burst out in her sudden excitement. This is perfect! Whether fate or luck had brought her here this is exactly what she needed. She put her hands on the edge of the table just as Sairque unrolled her map across it, the pale yellow color just giving it a more alluring quality. Fala jumped off the table as the map rolls across, flapping quickly to gain the momentum he needed to fly back up and find his own perch upon Risa's shoulder. Risa's eyes were wide from the good fortune. She touched the map for a moment, just tracing the edge with her fingertips.

Risa's first impulse was to touch the top of Mt. Skyinarta itself. It would be so much easier to just take this girl's offer all the way to her goal. But that's not why I'm here. Her thoughts bubbled back. I'm not here to simply be led, a subordinate following directions. I'm here to make it there on my own. Risa's hand lingered over the map, not really knowing what kind of routes were available. Deep breath. Calm down. "Hm. What would you suggest for beginners?"

[Sairque]

Sai stared at the girl for a second. No one ever got that excited about climbing rocks. Svefra. Stifling a crooked smile, the Endal clucked her tongue and searched the faded markings for one that would suit a beginner. “Well, what are you interested in doing? Climbing high or staying close to the ground?” Yellow eyes, predatory and sharp like their avian counterparts, studied the girl for a second. “I bet you have lofty goals. Here.” Her finger swept across the map, stilling suddenly on a peak at least a week’s walk away from the city. Though the Svefra probably couldn’t read the Nari, in small neat letters ‘Syna’s Perch’. “It’ll cost about twenty Mizas, but I’ll do the hunting for food and all the camp work as well as insure your safety on the climb itself. I’ve got all the gear you’ll need. The fee is basically to mollify Catabasis, the Wind Eagle I’m bonded to.” She realized she wasn’t being the smoothest in delivery, but selling wasn’t exactly a strong point in her talents. The business hobbyist clicked her tongue again and her eyes went out of focus on the map. What else would the girl like to know? “We’ll fly out there, should only be gone about three days if you only want to spend a single day climbing.”

[Risa Moontide]

“Lofty goals would be right. That place,” Risa’s hand followed Sairque’s own, touching the peak she pointed out, “sounds perfect.” Risa did a quick mental count, thinking about the number of coins she had from earlier. A nagging suspicion told her she didn’t quite have twenty however. Risa shifted the weight of her bag, hearing the jangle of the money from within.

Risa picked up the corner of the map, motioning towards the ledger that it covered. She glanced over at the thin Nari letters, but looked back quick so it didn’t look like she was prying. “I’ll be ready with that amount by the 25th. Are you available then? Also will it be alright to bring Fala along?"
oocSorry, this post is lower quality than I’d have liked it to be. I just couldn’t get it as long as I wanted. Hmph.

[Sairque]

“Feel free to bring him along on the twenty fifth,” Sai gave her assent and started rolling the map back up. Already she was inventorying the things she would need to get for this particular climb and this particular client. As well as the hunting that would need to be accomplished to bring in her quota. Deft fingers rolled up and stored the map. “Is there anything else you need to know?” inquired while tossing the strap of the case over her shoulder and tucking the ledger under an arm. “I’ve got to go make preparations if you haven’t got anything else. “ Not the best note for her to leave off on, she realized after the words were already out. It probably made the girl feel rushed or insignificant. She’d have to work on that. Having stuffed her supplies away, or given them back to the booth next door, whichever the case may be, Sai skirted the booth and started to assimilate into the throng heading for the warrens. As an afterthought, she glanced back. “Meet here before dawn of the twenty-fifth, bring your money and any gear you have!” OOCMove on to the placeholder thread you put up?