[Flashback] A clay-tastic day. [Solo]

[K'Sabe]

24 of Summer 489 AV "Must I Tara?" 12 year old Sabe whined, her planned day at the harbour looking for traders shipping animals had effectively been ruined by her oldest sister catching her right by the door. "Yes, you can not run around all day doing nothing Sabe," Ky'Tara said with a sigh, being a full fledged Konti she had a hard time understanding her youngest sister, compared to L'Saiya who'd been the only one to fully understand Sabe. "You know that mother will be far more stern than me, and pottery is really fun." Tara said and pulled her sister after her towards her working place, Tara was quite skilled as both a potter and a wood carver. Sighing Sabe let herself be dragged along to the workshop, built to resemble a curved sea shell the small house had a beautiful coloured stained glass window in the store area and the workshop was placed in the smaller round room. As they entered the door Sabe was greeted by warm air, rows of pots, vases and pitchers and a smell of clay and a floral smell from Tara's incense. "Here," Tara motioned for Sabe to sit down by a strange wheel like plate. "This is a potters wheel, you place a lump of clay in the middle and then as the wheel turns she shape the clay into a distinct shape, but you have to keep it moist so you don't risk ruining it." Sabe seated herself at the small chair and looked uncertainly on the wheel, her sister placed a lump of clay in her hands and put a bowl of water beside her. Sabe had seen Tara work many times since she was very young but it was something else to do it yourself, reluctantly she reached out a pale, scaled, hand and poked the clay. "Really Sabe, you have to actually touch it to make a vase, it won't bite you. Dip your hands in the water and start pressing up a hole in the middle." Tara said exasperatedly, rolling her blue eyes in annoyance. Sighing in return Sabe wet her hands before using all her might to push hard with her hands until she finally got the hole in the size she thought would do, dipping her hands in the water again before carefully starting to bend the sides and shape the lump, making sure her hands was wet all the time she started holding her hands as her sister had shown, and let the wheel's turning movement help her make the edges thin. Now when the opening had widened a bit she placed hare hand inside the pot and pressed with her hand until she was satisfied that the inside were smooth and flat and then she continued turning the wheel and holding her hands flat over the surface of the clay and smoothed out dents and continued working on it until it had roughly the shape of an hourglass. It took time to carefully press and form the clay as it was important to move with purpose but not being too rough as it could break the form nor could you be too soft as there would be no shape at all. It didn't help that Sabe moved with a novice's uncertainty and non existent knowledge. But the urn slowly took shape in Sabe's hands, before the vase would get too thin the young Konti started to check for any dents or uneven areas, still believing her hourglass shape seemed to thick at the top she dipped her hands in water again and gently applied pressure to the top of the vase while turning the wheel. Pausing to look over her simple design Sabe nodded in childish satisfaction and turned to Tara. "look Tara!" She said smiling, her pale face crossed by a streak of clay as well as some pricks off clay that had spattered from her rough movements. I'm done, what do you think?" Tara placed her wood carving on a table and walked over to Sabe, her blue eyes looked at the simple vase with experienced eyes. Her white braid fell to the side of her face as she bent down slightly. "It's great Sabe, Tara praised her sister, chuckling at the sight of the young girl's clay dappled face. "Now we'll leave it out to dry for a few bells before you can apply a glaze to it before placing it in the kiln to finish it off." Tara pulled out a long thin metal wire and proceeded to remove the vase from the wheel, cutting it loose with an even steady pull and carefully placed it on a special table where it would be dried. Sabe then cleaned up what she had used before heading for the door. "Be sure to be back in a few bells Sabe so the clay won't dry too much." Sabe nodded and as she smiled the clay on her face cracked slightly. "Also Sabe you may want to wash your face." Tara said, chuckling as she picked up her half finished wood carving off a sea eagle.

[K'Sabe]

Ten chimes later Sabe was at the beach, relishing in the salty breeze and the warm sand beneath her bare feet. The heat at the sister's workshop had been strong and it felt like she had a layer of dust and sweat on her so Sabe pulled off her dress, leaving her in a thin simple tunic she always wore underneath her clothes. Walking down to the shore Sabe laughed to herself as the water tickled her when it licked at her legs, hesitating a little Sabe then took a deep breath before throwing herself into the water. She hated soaking her stomach and it was easier to just get it over with. Continuing down into the sea, kicking with her legs to get closer to the bottom, the feeling as her gills took over the breathing was always such a unique experience. It felt both weird and completely right at the same time, to explain it simply it was a tingling breathtaking feeling that spread from her gills on her neck to her lungs. Life underwater was a truly astounding sight, waving seaweed, colourful fish swimming around, starfishes littered the sea floor and the sun light filtered through the sea green surface making Sabe's surrounding even more breathtaking. Swimming with soft strokes to not bother the wild life underwater, her long ashen hair spreading out behind her, waving gently in the soft current and Sabe's movement and her deep sea green eyes blended in well with the water's own colour. She loved being underwater, the warm smooth feeling of water caressing her skin, at first the salt water stung her eyes but she quickly adjusted. As she didn't need to go up to the surface to breath Sabe quickly lost track off time, deciding to finish her swimming Sabe saw a smooth white stone with large red freckles at the bottom and she kicked strongly with her legs and reached the floor with only a few strokes. Clasping the stone in on hand she turned and started heading back to the shore, times like these she felt she could stay underwater forever, but then again she wouldn't want to give up her life on land either. At the beach again Sabe walked up on land stroking her gills softly as the tingling feeling returned when her lungs started working again and her gills closed up. Breathing deeply to remove any old air from her lungs she stood in the strong sunlight for awhile to dry up a bit before she pulled her dress over her head and quickly wrapped her sandals on again. Looking at the sun she tried to decide how much time had gone by but she wasn't sure, setting off into a slow jog Sabe ran towards Tara's workshop, her dark blonde wet hair blew slightly behind her, stray strands clinging to her pale skin. Panting Sabe pushed open the door and was greeted by warm air and soft voices, Tara had a customer so Sabe sneaked past them and into the back room. Spending a few chimes admiring her sister's handiwork, rows of beautiful pottery stood on the shelves, probably those that she had no place for in the store area. "Sorry Sabe," Tara said as she walked inside the round back room. "Now then what colours do you want your vase to be? Pick those out and I'll show you how to glaze them and also you have to put wax on the bottom so it can stand in the kiln without the glaze sticking to the kiln." Looking through the colours she first wanted blue and silver but then she remembered the stone she'd found and took a chance decision. "Hmm, red and white." Tara nodded and picked out two large containers and opened them both and also fetched the vase Sabe had done. "Depending on how you want to colour it you do this a bit different, but as you want two colours you just take the vase carefully in one hand and dip it into the glaze as much as you want then you let it dry for a while before dipping the other side into the other colour you want then we'll put it into the kiln. First Sabe carefully dipped the vase more than halfway into a deep red glaze after using a thin wooden stick to carve in her name and the year on the bottom of it and put a layer of wax on it. Letting it dry a bit she then dipped it into the white glaze and put it on the plate that Tara then placed on a plate that she would place in the kiln after it had dried a bit more. Later that afternoon Sabe followed Tara back after dinner and watched as her sister carefully brought out the plate from the kiln and placed it on a table. During the heat in the kiln a piece from the red part of the vase had fallen off and the edges had turned white, giving a striking change from the red. The small vase was also a bit bumpy and had a few thin cracks spreading like spider web and the top edge was more wavy than even but it was Sabe's first try at pottery and she loved the vase. In all its broken clumsiness it had a certain unique air about it. Secret : "So, pottery wasn't so bad then Sabe?" Tara said and pulled off the thick gloves she used when handling the kiln and placed them in their place nearby the kiln itself. "It was so fun," Sabe said smiling, a childish happiness lit up her green eyes as she stared at her vase. "Not as much fun as drawing though," Sabe said quickly to not seem too eager when she had been so negative this morning. Tara chuckled, used to her sister's behaviour. "Maybe you should give an offering to Rak'keli for your fortune? Then you can pick up your vase on your way home from the South Tower." She suggested. Sabe nodded, her thoughts going to the white and red stone in her pocket, it was so smooth and beautiful, maybe it would be fitting to place at the statue or Rak'keli.

[Cachet]

K'Sabe : K'Sabe SKILLS POttery:2 Swimming:2 LORE Day Ruined by Older Sister Pottery: Basics of a pottery wheel Pottery: Basic Methods Misc Notes: Conclusion: I love reading Konti flashback threads. I liked reading the interaction between Save and her sister. It was sweet. Anything seem out of place? Any questions please feel free to contact me ASAP.