[Flashback] Sea Captains don't like Crewcuts. (Kendall)

[Harper]

Fall 21, 507 AV Harper stepped quickly out of her father's house, heaving a large sigh. It had been a long day, and her father was becoming more and more irritable with her. She knew that he meant well, that he was just trying to help her learn more about magic, but with the sickness that Harper had been experiencing from secretly experimenting with Leeching, plus his screaming, she couldn't handle it. She just had to get out, had to get some fresh air. She had to clear her mind. And she knew the perfect place to go. She began walking towards the Docks, one of her favorite places to go at nighttime. The air was crisp and smelled of the sea, the breeze felt nice on Harper's face, and the sounds of the ocean put her in a trance of deep thought. It was her favorite sight in the city. Her quiet place. She didn't even mind the random drunken sailors; she actually found them humorous. After about twenty minutes of walking through the city, weaving her way through the entanglement of streets, she arrived at the piers. She walked over to the one on the very right and began walking down to the end. She let the breeze hit her in the face, and filled her lungs with a large, deep breath. She exhaled loudly and smiled a faint smile. She sat down and let her feet hang off the end of the dock and looked out to the moon reflecting over the water, and just enjoyed the view in silence.

[Kendall Saarinen]

OOCItalics are in Vani It was getting late and from what Kel and Layton had told Kendall, they would not be getting home anytime soon. The brunette was fine with this. Every so often her brothers were just too busy to come home at a normal hour. Did it worry her? Of course it did. She knew that at times their jobs at the docks took a bit of their family time though and that sadly was an inconvenient truth. Kendall was not ready to return home yet though. Leth was hanging so beautifully over the sea this night and the waves seemed so calming. Maybe she would stay on the docks for a bit before returning home for dinner. Why waste a perfectly good night inside? Kendall had not expected many people to be on the docks. Perhaps a couple of passengers from a late ship or some men who ended up working late like her brother's had but not much more. She walked slowly, skirting on the edge of the docks almost as if she was expecting to jump in for a swim. She was dressed far to nicely for that though and besides the water would be freezing at night. As Kendall walked, she sang quietly to herself. While she was a proud Zeltivan, her boyfriend, Kay'lan was from Avanthal and she had taken a liking to the Vani music of the north. She still was not full versed in the language of the Vantha but she was learning, slipping Vani words into her songs in hopes that it would help her become more fluent someday. "I climbed up a mountain, and looked off the edge At all of the lives that I never have led There's one where I stayed with you across the sea I wonder do you still think of me I carry your image always in my head Folded and yellowed and torn at the edge And I've looked upon it for so many years Slowly I am loosing your face Oh the ocean rolls us away, away, away The ocean rolls us away" The song was a more sad one, almost bittersweet but it was about the ocean so she found it half way fitting. Besides, who was going to judge her on her singing and choice of songs out here anyways? As Kendall's song continued and she had made it further down the her path, she spotted someone. They were sitting on the edge of the dock. Although it was usually a terrible idea to simply run up to someone and start a conversation with them, especially at night, she did so anyways. Kendall was always looking for new friends and the person look friendly enough. Taking a seat next to the girl, Kendall dangled her legs off of the dock. She smiled lightly at the girl before speaking up. "The ocean is really beautiful isn't it?" She swung her legs back and forth, each going in an opposite direction. She looked a bit like a child by doing this but she did not mind. "I'm Kendall by the way. What brings you to the docks so late?"

[Harper]

Harper was surprised and somewhat startled when the young girl who looked about her own age approached and sat down beside her. Harper wasn't exactly used to people randomly speaking to her, especially at night. The girl seemed nice enough; she was a normal teenaged girl walking along the docks of Zeltiva in the middle of the night. Just like Harper. She smiled back at the girl whose name was apparently named Kendall. That's a pretty name, Harper thought to herself. This was one of the few encounters that Harper had had that was social. A normal social interaction. Harper's father hid her from the world at times. She was pretty sure it was because he wanted to protect her; he had already lost his wife. Losing his daughter too would be too heartbreaking. But Harper often wondered why, then, did he teach her magic? Such a dangerous art... "It is beautiful," Harper replied. "But I think the Moon is what makes it so beautiful during the night. The ocean is a dark void at night, but Leth seems to bring it to life." Harper then laughed aloud at herself, noticing how exhausted she really was. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, just myself; I sound like some literature fanatic attempting to be poetic." Harper rolled her eyes at herself and let her smile leak through. "My name is Harper," She finally said to Kendall. "It's nice to meet you."

[Kendall Saarinen]

Kendall was happy to see the girl did not push her away when she tried to start a conversation with her. It was nice to see there were still some people who were nice enough to be social. So many others, especially the sailors did not want to just sit and talk. They were too busy with their jobs or tending to their boats. There was so much more to life than that though! Why would people want to be grumpy and antisocial when they could have fun? Of course, Kendall had the privilege of not having to work. Her parents were more well off than the average person in Zeltiva. This fact occasionally clouded her vision of others but it seemed Harper wouldn't mind. Besides, here money did not mean much. Just two souls looking over Leth and Laviku's worlds. "Very poetic. I like it." It excited Kendall to meet another person who liked poetry. It made her a little more relaxed as well. Now she did not need to worry about making a fool of herself if she decided to be randomly poetic. Harper would understand since she had just done it herself, right? "You don't have to apologize. It was beautiful! Not a lot of people speak like that but I get it. I am a literature fanatic too. My mother is a scholar of literature and I am hoping to follow in her footsteps." She smiled brightly as she swung her legs back and forth over the sea below. "I want to be a poet though. I would love for people all over Mizahar to be able to read my writings. Then, even if I never leave Zeltiva, it is kinda like I have. You know?" Kendall worried a lot that she would never leave the seaside city. Her sister had never left and as far as she knew, her mother had not either. The farthest her father had been from Zeltiva as Syliras. It seemed as though the Saarinen family was destined to stay in Zeltiva. "Very nice to meet you too Harper!" She smiled at her as she looked her over. "Excuse me if I am prying but I don't think I have seen you around. Have you just arrived in the city?" Kendall was sure there were tons of people in the city who she had never met or seen but it seemed a bit odd that she would have never met someone who looked as though she was around her own age. Did she not attend the university? It could have been so. Her brothers had not stayed there as long as she had. Only a few years to learn what needed to be learned. She could have sworn she had seen Kel sneak off the the university every once in a while though.

[Harper]

Harper laughed quietly at the bubbly girl. It wasn't often that Harper engaged herself in social situations, but she had decided that she'd give it a try for once. Kendall seemed like a nice enough girl, one who might not judge her. Harper had often longed for a friend, one whom she could stay up late at night with, blabbing about random topics that had no importance at all. Harper secretly wanted to be like other girls her age, she just never had the chance. "It's interesting that your mother is a literary scholar. That would be a lovely job, I think," She said. Harper wished her father did something normal like that, in stead of playing with magics he had no business playing with. Thinking about it set her stomach into knots, so she threw it out of her mind. "I think being a published poet would be wonderful. It's one of my dreams to be published too, if you can believe it or not." Harper smiled largely at Kendall, already taking a liking to her. Harper wasn't really taken back when Kendall asked if she was new to the city. Harper didn't often leave her house, so most people in the city did not know her. She let out a laugh, and said: "No, no, I've lived her my whole life. But my father doesn't like it too much when I leave the house, so I don't go out very often. And I've never been to school; my father teaches me everything I know. I do long to go to the University, though. I'm just not sure if my dad would let me..." Harper looked out to the sea, wishing that she could be set free. Her father loved her, that she knew, but he smothered her too much. She just wanted to live a non-sheltered life. Get into trouble, go out with friends, maybe even have a lover. Was that too much to ask?

[Kendall Saarinen]

"It is. I cannot think of anyone's poetry I like better than my mother's, although I am biased." Kendall giggled lightly as she spoke. Harper seemed quiet but that was okay. The brunette knew she could get her new friend talking eventually. She had even gotten Kay'lan to like her and that had not been an easy task. The two were in love now, or at least they liked to say. There was only one person Kendall had not been able to get to open up and talk with her. It was the boy she always saw studying in the university. She had never tried to talk to him of course. She was always too scared or Kay'lan would get jealous of her looking at another man. She was curious about him though. If someone spent so much time with their nose in a book they had to be really smart! Kendall smiled softly at Harper. "I'm sure you could do it if you tried. There is always someone out there who will find what you create beautiful and if not, if you are proud that is all that matters, right?" She wished she could take her own words. Kendall was nervous no one would like her poems, even if she seemed to be confident in them. She did not want to feel rejection, especially on such an imitate level as her poetry. "I can understand that… sort of. My father lets me roam but he doesn't allow anyone to practice magic and we can't keep animals, except horses of course." Kendall was not extremely interested in animals. She found them interesting but it was not the end of the world if she could not keep on as a pet. Of course she often wished she could take that stray cat she kept feeding in the alleys home with her. What plagued her more was the curiosity of magic. It seemed so interesting and so many other students got to study it. "My dad says that magic is for the deviant and lazy so no one in the house is allowed to practice it. It seems interesting though." She wondered if Harper knew magic, although she would not ask. She worried if that was an inappropriate question at times since magic was not exactly the most liked art. "What does your dad teach you, if I may ask."

[Harper]

Listening to the girl speak of her life was interesting to Harper. Finding someone willing to share their person life with her, to open up and actually have a conversation .. Harper really did enjoy it, even if she was awkward in conversation. "It isn't surprising that you'd favor your mother's writing; any child with a loving parent would." Harper thought of her own mother. Or rather, her lack of a mother. The fact that her mother died during childbirth left Harper motherless, alone with her unstable father. In some ways, Harper felt abandoned. Not by her mother, per se, but by .. someone. She felt alone. Why did it have to be this way? Why was Harper's mother torn away from her at such a young age? On top of all of the confused feelings, she also felt guilty. It was Harper's fault that her mother was dead, being that Harper's birth is what killed her. A tad like alchemy, isn't it? She thought to herself. Equal exchange: one life for another. Harper's interests were piqued as soon as Kendall mentioned her interest in magic. She laughed aloud. "Are the gods playing tricks on me?" She asked, not necessarily talking to Kendall. "My father, he is obsessed with the magics of the world, you see, and it seems that your father despises it." Harper looked back up at Kendall and smiled wearily. "The gods must truly be playing a game with my life." Harper sighed again and looked up to the sky once more, and leaned back on her palms to prop herself up comfortably. "My father teaches me mostly of the different types of magic there is in the world. He likes to focus on Voiding, which is a magic in which you can open portals to the Void, a place completely devoid of matter and air." She looked over Kendall nervously. Would she understand what she was talking about? "It's a difficult art, like any magic, but I am learning as best I can. But my father, he pushes me so hard, sometimes I think I should run away to escape him." She stopped talking, realizing that she was saying too much. She shouldn't be telling someone she barely knows all of this about herself. "I'm sorry for telling you all of this, I shouldn't ramble as much." Harper returned her attention to the sea, praying over and over again for things to change.