Heavy Weights on Light Spirits (Open)

[Risa Moontide]

13th of Fall, 511AV
Risa seemed alright.

She walked through the stone halls of Wind Reach, her hand trailing the lines of the stone. Her fingers danced around the lines, pretending to leave their own weave of strings around the stone grooves. Fala even whistled once from her shoulder, his shining feathers looking all the prettier in the light of the midday sun. Today was a rare day when Risa wasn't trying to force herself to work on either fishing or rock climbing, so her arms and legs could both rest.

But her face shown something different. The way her eyes looked slightly down to the ground, how her eyebrows both arched away from her nose ever slightly, the way her lips curved from indifferent to down-turned at the edges. Though she walked looking a little downward anyway to hide the emotions that played clear on her cheeks, the emotions were there nonetheless.

Part of her wanted to just go home. Not just home to her ship, but take the season-long sail back to the Suvan. She wanted to give up and run home to her pod with her tail fathers all ruffled, give in to her mom's commands and fail to spread her wings. Risa wanted to quit.

She wasn't really sure why. Her hands were worn and scrapped from the different rock faces and her legs ached daily from the hiking. The fishing net had gotten another hole to be patched and she was hauling in less and less fish each day. And as always the looming figure of Mt. Skyinarta stretched before her each day she was outside before it, taunting her with her ultimate goal that she wasn't even close to being ready for.

And then there was Tavaltia. He had become so distant around this time, when Risa was supposed to have already left the mountain. It's like he didn't want her around or was trying to distance her so she'd just leave already. Risa didn't know what she was doing wrong or what happened. She wanted him back the way he was before.

It was all too much.

Risa slumped again the stone wall, burying her face into her gloves. Her knees slowly slid themselves down the rock wall to a sitting position, Fala staring inquiringly at his friend. She took a deep breath, trying to catch herself, but a new wave of emotion caught her and flooded her out to sea. The wilds of the currents became her tears, trickling down as she slammed her eyes together in one last ditch effort to keep the tide from pushing her over.

But the tide kept its rise, and Risa just sat in the tunnels of Wind Reach for a while longer. She definitely didn't seem alright any longer.

[Krysanthe]

What does someone without a life do when they have a day off? Go for a walk? Sit in their room? When one is antisocial and introverted, they are not one to go about making friends and having a grand ol’ time. For some, talking to others is not as easy as many seem to believe. Sometimes, simply saying ‘hello’ takes great effort and the effort is noticed. Most people take offence to this, and decide that this introverted character is simply not worth talking to anymore, which only puts the person into a further state of isolation. Not that they would mind. People like this take comfort in being alone, and enjoy it whenever they have the chance. So when one of this particular state of mind comes across an opportunity to step forwards and speak, they often will not take it. Often, but not always. Krysanthe moved at a steady pace through the halls, fully intending to just roam, for that is usually what she did on her days off. Either roam or sit in her room, both of which she could be alone with her thoughts, something that she absolutely adored to do. Still, as she walked, something caught her eye up ahead. There was a girl with a bird, sitting with her head buried in her hands, clearly distressed. Krysanthe urged herself to just keep on walking, that this wasn’t her problem, that the girl just didn’t want to be bothered. Just keep walking. But then again… Krysanthe’s mind drifted to all the times when she had looked like that. Just a girl sitting alone, with so much emotional turmoil and distress of her days that she could no longer bear the weight on her own. She thought of all the times that people passed her by, the people who thought that all she needed was some time to herself, the people who just kept walking. She wondered what would have happened if some person just stopped, stopped and took greater notice, just the slightest inclination that she was cared about. She wondered if that was all that it took. She wondered that if someone had done something for her when she was under so much pressure, that maybe on a day like today she would be doing something a little more exciting than just roaming the halls she has traced a thousand times before. Still, it would be hard for her. She didn’t enjoy talking to people, much less reaching out to someone in need. It made her feel tense and uncomfortable. Despite all of this, she could not just let a girl cry without doing something. Besides, the girl didn’t have red hair, so she was not an Inarta. People of other races always caught Krysanthe’s interest. And it is not like Krys had anything better to do today. “Are… Are you alright?” Her question was tentative, for she really had no idea what she was doing. Feeling awkward just standing there, she knelt next to the girl, careful not to block the hall, immediately following up her question with: “Sorry, stupid question. Here’s a different one. What’s the matter?”

[Jeslyn]

Jeslyn strolled down the expansive halls of Wind Reach, eyes forward yet mind drawn within. Fortunately she did not bump into any that may have passed her by, while remembering a past of mischief and bedtime conversations. Her right hand is upon the glass blown pendant that hangs about her neck by a leather cord, fingers rubbing against the smooth surface as though the action will conjure up a lost sibling. Still, her mind is on happier thoughts, albeit ones which were darkened by recent events. She forces herself to remember the times when both twins played with their first birds together, or those rare occasions when they spent entire days with nothing but mischief mongering or showing off to the grown-ups. Rounding a bend in the hallways, she glances unaware at two women speaking. Slowly but surely, it dawns on her that she just noticed a curious sight. Paying a little more attention to the two, she realizes one of them is actually crying. Her heart skipping a beat, she hops behind the bend once more with a maddeningly loud stomp. Curling both hands upon the angled surface of the wall, she lifts her head out from its hiding place to peek at the two women at a safe distance. For a moment, a hand rises to her dark tresses as she stands in awe of one woman’s rich red hair, before planting it back on the wall once more with a little irritation. Examining the other, she notices a grey feather growing from one ear, arching a brow in silent familiarity of the sight. Still, from her cover, she decides to watch a little longer, too nervous to approach yet too curious to leave.

[Risa Moontide]

oocSorry it took me so long to reply, I won't let that happen again.
Risa glanced up at the bright red hair of the stranger that stood above her. The girl was very pretty, noticeably so, and Risa wiped the tears from her eyes. She opened her mouth to answer the well-meaning inquiries, but quickly shut it again when all that threatened to answer was a light whimper. Risa let her face fall, her hair draping and cloaking her eyes and hiding herself for a moment.

Risa sat for a second, not knowing what to say but not wanting this girl to leave for some reason. Be it politeness or a selfish need to just talk to someone, Risa wanted someone to talk to. Her voice cracked as she finally spoke, the tears making her throat wet and croaked, "I- A... Nothing. Everything."

Risa glanced over at the sound of the footprint, not seeing the new girl who hid herself around the corner. Part of her wished Tavaltia would come walking down these corridors, come collect her and tell her everything was ok. But whatever made those noises wasn't readily apparent and it wasn't Tav.

Risa felt the tears bubbling up again, but she took a deep breath to wash them away, at least for a bit longer. She shut her eyes for a second and then looked back up at Krysanthe. Risa's hands were trembling for some reason as they sat in her lip. She didn't know what else to say.

[Krysanthe]

"I cannot even begin to tell you how much I understand that feeling." Krysanthe took a deep breath, feeling even more inclined to help this young woman. She always had an interest in the different, for as long as she could remember. While many of the other Inarta look upon people of other races with extreme distaste, Krys was always curious. This woman was clearly not Inarta, yet she had so many of the same feelings and emotions written plain as day across her face that the redhead got the illusion of looking into a mirror into the past. "You don't have to say anything else. Truly. You know, I used to think that crying made me a child, that it meant I wasn't strong and couldn't handle myself, but I want you to know that it doesn't. That when you feel like everything is coming crashing down on you and you are going to drown in your tears, you actually end up floating." She tried to offer an encouraging smile, and, to be entirely honest, she was completely surprised by the eloquence of her own words. She repeated her statement in her head and felt a little bit of pride for being able to sound so philosophic. Normally she wasn't nearly so gifted in the terms of communication. Maybe it was just because she felt such a connection to this girl. It was as if they were family, and she was just the older sister comforting the younger. Deciding that her statement was not exactly conclusive, she finisheed off her little speech with a simple offer. "If you need someone to talk to, I have to ears ready to listen."