Timid Earth[Hana]

[Jaeden Kincade]

“Fair enough.” Jaeden said right before Ha’na’s hand slipped into his. Then it hit him, as the Ranuri along his back flared, almost sending a wave of emotion along his body. The desires that Ha’na harbored slowly intermingled with Jaeden’s own, eventually overpowering them until Jaeden only felt what Ha’na herself desired. He paused, his hand still lightly holding her own as she was stopped in her step. Jaeden looked to her, almost sympathetically, releasing a slow sigh. “No,” Jaeden then said as gaze looked into her own, “it’s not so much that you don’t like to be touched, it’s more that you worry what such contact will lead you to feel.” Jaeden took another few careful steps down along the hill. “Because I can tell you want to be loved, an unconditional love from someone. They type that sees you finding a place you finally belong. A place to call home,” Jaeden said in a soft tone. “I can only make assumptions as to why you would fear contact that may lead you to find such. Perhaps something that happened in the past, something that went wrong with someone you loved then.” Jaeden leaned his head down, kissing the top of Ha’na’s fingers as he then began pushing her desires from his mind. He struggled with such as he released her hand, eventually looking up to her. “I fear, that is a desire I can not fulfill for you directly. At least not with things I may possibly come to experience in the future.” Jaeden said, his voice sounding slightly winded. “At best, I can only offer you this advice: Seek out The Temple of All Gods in Syliras, and possibly pray to Cheva. I think if anyone, she may be able to help you find what you desire.”

[Hana]

When he’d started talking, her first reaction was to hit him in the face with her shovel. It wasn’t the right reaction to have, but it was there all the same. Fortunately for Jaeden, on the twisted next-to-impossible chance that she would have actually managed to do it, she had dropped said shovel a few ticks before she’d had the inclination to do so. It rolled down the hill in front of her as her sky-colored eyes widened.

Scared animals tended to freeze or attack before running away. The creature he was speaking to seemed to not be able to settle on what sort of reaction to have. Her mouth opened.

In this sort of situation she wasn’t inclined to ask how. She felt a stronger urge to ask why? Her eyes shot off of him, planting their attention strictly on the space in front of her as she eased herself in her final steps off the hill. Once on level ground she stopped, looking around at the soil.

“You’re correct, yes. I’ve loved greatly before, perhaps twice, but it has only left me with greater troubles than I began with.”

Why was she telling him this? Had the burden gotten so heavy for her finally that she could no longer carry it herself? She glanced back at him, holding up her hand. First she showed him the palm that had been inked black permanently. Then she twisted her wrist until the brand of the serpent showed itself on the back.

“This,” she said calmly, “is what I have been taught. That if love is not controlled then it will destroy. That, like a fire, if it burns too intensely it will burn itself out before night has ended. To love without thought or caution can be fatal. These marks? They remind me of this. Your choice of the word unconditional is quite right, though. That is what I want. A family? Yes. Home? I hope I’m on the road to it. So thank you, I will take your advice into consideration…”

She paused, looking around at the ground. She bent down to take her shovel up. “This is a very curious moment indeed. And this…”

She thrust the shovel into the ground suddenly. “This is clay.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden carefully listened as Ha’na revealed her story in vague detail. In the end, Jaeden didn’t need to know the full details of course, and it was likely better for her he didn’t. Otherwise Ranuri may have just tried to drive him that much harder. In the end, he gave a slow nod. “Sorry that I pried a little, the mark on my back tends to push a little.” Jaeden said as he slowly slid the back of his hand along his brow, wiping away a layer of sweat. “I’m sorry as well, for what you experienced in the past. No one should ever have to go through what you did. I only say this because this I have learned in my experiences: Love, can not be controlled. Love itself is a force, one that takes on various forms and several levels. It would break the boundaries set in front of it. For love, some would die, some would kill. To control it would be like trying to change the course of a river.” Jaeden set down his bow and unbuckled his belt, laying his sword, quiver and various gear down next to the bow. “At least, that’s my take on things. However, I’ve loved many over my time, so our definitions may somewhat differ.” Jaeden said before slowly removing his shirt once again, looking down to the clay that Ha’na pointed out. “Alright then, what would you like me to do?”

[Hana]

She watched him wipe his face. From her pocket she withdrew a scrap of fabric and offered it out to him. It truly made her uncomfortable to see anyone else experiencing any touch of discomfort - Especially those that seemed so kind.

“No, it’s fine. Sometimes perhaps it helps to pry a little… Every time I tell any part of my story, it gets a little less difficult to tell. Someday it may not pain me at all. But yes, I agree with all of your observations on love. Many of those things I’ve noticed as well… Along with love slipping into existence when you least expect it. It rides on the back of hope.”

Alistair deGrey crossed her mind, asking nervously about her pottery and then later being so bold as to kiss her. She imagined him bent over his workbench, making something ingenious and wondrous. As she looked up from the ground, a shy little moonstruck smile crawled onto her lips, clearly giving away the secret that she was in fact thinking of someone.

She moved to unbuckle her belt, taking the buckets off from it. She set them on the ground before putting the belt back on. Her throat had to be cleared before she could speak again.

“Um… I’m not so sure as to what you can do. I only have one shovel. If you can help me carry it, that is all I really ask for. Though I suppose I won’t be terribly upset if you decided to dig.” She broke the ground with it, putting aside the first layer of soil that she dug up. “This…”

She pointed to the ground, showing the raw sienna clay hiding under their feet. She gave a little grunt as she extracted it with her shovel and put it into the bucket.

“They call this vishal rata. It’s quite good for the type of work I do, though it took a little time to get used to it. This isn’t the type of clay I had as a child. I never understood why, but our clay was more of a gray.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s hand slowly reached out to the shovel, grasping it lightly as he halted Ha’na’s work. “You go ahead and talk, I’ll be the mule,” Jaeden offered, grasping the shovel in his hand as he began to dig as Ha’na had directed him. Jaeden then gave a slow shrug. “I’ve always been more keen as to what laid over top of the earth, not so much as what was in it.” Jaeden explained as each motion of the shovel caused muscle along his arms, shoulders, back and abdomen to tighten and constrict repeatedly. “Animal tracks, edible plants, poisonous plants. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.” It didn’t take long for a small layer of perspiration to begin forming over Jaeden’s body once again as the light of the sun caught just right to play a perfect mix of shine and shadow over the curves of his form. He paused for a moment, taking a half lean along the shovel as he dragged his wrist over his bow again, letting out an exhale. “Lot tougher than digging out normal earth, I’ll give it that.” Jaeden said with a half smile. “I’m certainly getting my physical exercise in today.”

[Hana]

She didn’t put up a fight when he took the shovel from her. Instead she sort of lingered back, taking in her surroundings.

“I come from a place where there’s not much excitement above the dirt. Underneath is where I’m interested. Clay. Rocks. Ge…”

She sort of trailed off. Her eyes had fallen on Jaeden’s body as he worked. She studied his muscles’ movements. Before she could really stop herself, her head tipped to the side to get a different vantage point. When she realized what she was doing, she was quick to look up, trying her best not to scowl at herself.

“And yes. It is much harder. I am always sure to get exercise when I gather clay between digging and carrying it back to my cottage.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave a slow nod as he then went back to work shoveling, filling each bucket and packing it down so it would hold as much as it possibly could. “Yeah, I’ll say. It feels like twice the weight of normal earth when I bring up a scoop. I should consider this kind of physical labor more often.“ Jaeden replied as he patted the bottom of the shovel along the top of the bucket, making sure it was full before starting on the other. “I wouldn’t mind having some ceramic plates and stuff, but they wouldn’t likely hold up to well for an outdoors type like myself.” Jaeden grasped the bucket, setting it behind him to make sure he didn’t continue trying to fill that one and create wasted motions. “So, what’s this batch of clay for? Just random items or are you filling an order?” Jaeden asked curiously, pausing for a moment as he heard the howl of a wolf. He eventually then looked back to the shoveling, seeming unconcerned over the sound that the Cobalt Forest so often echoed.

[Hana]

“Working with earth is good for the soul,” she offered quietly. “It keeps us grounded and humbled…”

Her eyes trailed off into the distance. She’d frozen the slightest at the sound of the wolf. Animals scared the girl, but there were good reasons why.

“Well… I am…” She looked around as if remembering now that she was in the woods. “I just have to replenish my clay from time-to-time. I use so much of it. I keep it on hand at all times, because I never know what someone is going to need.”

She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Her eyes went back to Jaeden, forgetting for a moment how his body was distracting. Distracted from being distracted – There was beauty in that.

“You know… If you ever wanted to barter for made work, I can always use an extra bunch of clay now that you know how to find it. I’m sure my work wouldn’t last out here, but if you’re working at Soothing Waters, you could always keep items there. Your own jars. Cups for those you are working with. I’ve heard it’s important to drink water to purge the toxins in your body after a massage.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

“I’m afraid I would be unreliable when it comes to collecting clay for you.” Jaeden confessed as he continued to shovel small loads into the bucket. “If my future time isn’t going to be taken up at the Soothing Waters, I’ll likely be traveling somewhere. The hunter side of me likes the exploration, so I wouldn’t want to commit only to end up letting you down. Those two reasons are why I wouldn’t be able to help you with your desires as well.” Jaeden smirked slightly. “Well, I’ll certainly introduce you to my employer there,” Jaeden commented, “but I’m a terrible masseuse, right now. Though my clients don’t really come to just have their shoulders and back rubbed by me.” A short time would pass before Jaeden was slowly tapping the layer along the next bucket, packing it down firmly to ensure it was full. He paused for a moment, his ear twitching slight at the sound of birds taking flight suddenly from the south. He held out the shovel for Ha’na to take before walking over to his belt, slipping it back on. He then tossed his shirt over his shoulder before slinging the belt over the same. “Time to go,” Jaeden simply said, grabbing both buckets and picking them up.

[Hana]

“You needn’t be reliable, honestly. I’m more than capable of harvesting it from the ground myself. My problem is that I can only carry two buckets of it on my own, and sometimes I’m surprised and need extra. Not always, but just sometimes. So I like to keep a little more than I’ll likely need at any given time on hand. If you decide to incorporate digging clay into your training on occasion, I would be thrilled to see to it that your hard work gets put to even more good use.” Did she sound convincing? It was hard to tell. She really had such a little voice. “And don’t fret too much over my desires, Jaeden. As much as I’m sure you would have liked to help me, my heart belongs to someone.”

She nodded slightly, reaching out to take the shovel in hand. Looking at the buckets, she decided he did a better job of packing the clay into them than she did. She would have to use his method to see if she could improve.

“I’m sure you’ll get quite good at massage if you just keep at it. I imagine muscle and skin to be a lot like working with clay. Practice makes perfect.”