Unwritten, Undefined [Sable]

[Gabrielle Seawind]

57th Spring 512 A.V. Gabrielle didn't know what time it was, all she knew was that it was late into the night. The Svefra meeting had just ended and the people were starting to return to their boats. Some decided to stay on the Isle until the sun rose. Others were still huddled together in whispers. A few other people were singing into the night, and the music drawled unto the cold air. The meeting had ended, and Gabrielle had not found her pod. During the course of the gathering, she finally came into terms with the fact that she was alone. She no longer had a pod. An odd feeling coursed through her. It was an emotion dominant with numbness but etched with a bit of anger and fright. 'What am I supposed to do now?' She made her way back to her casinor, passing by the decks of other boats as she did so. The Svefra forced a smile at each face she passed. As she walked, she wondered what Sari was doing. Sari was practically the only family she had for now. She had left the Kelvic on her casinor when she went ashore, and she wondered if the girl was starting to get bored or if she had decided to go to sleep already. She was still a boats away from her own when she saw a familiar face and decided to stop in her tracks. Gabrielle glanced at the woman who was on deck the particular boat she was currently on. Her eyes met the face of a woman with a sun-bleached mass of curls that attempted to be kept back by a bandanna. Gabrielle found herself staring at the face of Sable Baggywrinkle, a person she had met just that day. Smiling at Sable, Gabrielle gave a slight wave of the hand. Somehow, in just a few hours of knowing this person, she had grown to liking and respecting her. "Hey, what are you up to?" asked Gabrielle, as if attempting to make a bit of chit-chat. The shorter girl put her hands to her sides and shifted her eyes uncomfortably. For some reason, she wanted to exchange words with this person she barely knew. "Want to hang out for a while?"

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

Coming and going, footsteps to and fro, setting the small meticulous vessel a-sway like a favored rocking chair. Pitter patter freezing halfway across broke maternal rhythm. The lanky woman glanced over. She was sprawled out over sun-hoarding boards, fingers linked behind her head and feet kicked up against the mast. Above them, stars ticked along in frozen rotation. Folded sails and limp lines cut black against sparkling points. After the meeting had broken up, she’d requested a little while alone and the passengers of her ship had been obliging. They were a motley crew, but Sable knew her pod would pull through strong. She’d felt it at the meeting, Laviku’s strength guiding her words and actions. She’d come here doubting her position, the viability of her Pod, but now there was no doubt. Laviku would have swept her ship back to open arms if he so desired the dissolution of the Baggywrinkles. Gabrielle had not the luxury of a Lia, though, to shoulder the burden and ease forward motion. Sable returned the smile and beckoned Gabrielle over with a toss of her head. “Just reading the stars until Leth comes out to play, then I’ll see what kind of trouble he and Laviku have planned for me.” Sable’s gaze slid briefly past Gabby’s to the silver-ringed shadows currently obscuring the moon. “Have you ever thanked Syna for showing us Laviku’s secrets? Leth reveals little.” Fratava, usually reserved as a trade tongue, swam through the depths of night. “Even on the full moon, when things as small as mice scurrying along the shore can be seen, the sea remains impenetrable. Do you think the glowing creatures adapted to no light, or Laviku prevents Leth—and Syna at certain depths—from disturbing their glamorous dances?” A faint glow lit her face, teeth reflecting what little light was available. “Laviku could have saved us all. Do you think he wants us to shine on our own?” Her head lolled to the side, dark pools settling on Gabby.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

It was a comforting feeling that washed over Gabrielle when she saw that Sable could spare her some time. She took a seat on Sable's deck. Gabrielle stretched her arms and relaxed her limbs, only now realizing how tired she was, both mentally and physically. The season has been a massive strain to her as it was to everyone else. Gabrielle listened intently to the words that Sable spoke about the gods. Leth, Syna, and of course Laviku, were all familiar names to the young Svefra. The Gods had always confused her to no ends, though she believed that their thoughts were beyond any mortal mind to comprehend. Sable's questions gave Gabrielle something to think about, although when she finally answered, her expression was difficult to decipher. "I don't know what to make of Laviku's plans, why he saved me and not anyone else in my pod," she admitted. It wasn't the first time she doubted the God, but it was the first she was actually telling another person. She felt heaviness in her when she said the words, as if she was uttering words of blasphemy – but the Lia had asked her about her thoughts on Laviku, and she was answering with honesty. The younger Svefra gave a glance at Sable, as if searching for something: a mark that said she had been born with Laviku's blessing. Gabrielle didn't really have to question it though, every other Svefra she had met had it. It was what marked a Svefra at best, and Gabrielle always felt alone and incomplete because of the fact that she wasn't born with one. One single word, a question, has always lingered on her mind – why? "I don't know why Laviku saved me and not others," said Gabrielle with a shrug. "He didn't see me important enough when I was born, didn't think it fit to give me his blessing. He is my God though, and that will never change. I will always pray to him like I always have... but I will never be able to understand him. He is as unpredictable as the sea that we call home." Gabrielle frowned. Yes, the sea was unpredictable. Any Svefra could attest to that. One didn't even need to be a Svefra to know that, as there was a reason that a very large majority of races preferred the stability of land rather than water. "And you? What are your thoughts about the tragedy that has befallen us?" she asked, curious to know about what transpired in the head of the Lia of the Baggywrinkle pod.