Completed Breaking Through The Barriers

[Darcy Silverwood]

WINTER 63RD, 512 AV

Darcy Silverwood, son of Augustus - trying to shape his destiny still, twenty-five years later...

Darcy sighed - his thinking on hold as he carefully placed a fine piece of linen back into his bagpack. Being a salesman is much harder than what I thought. People just don't seem to have any interest in anything I have to say or offer and why's that? Because I'm the son of one of the finest shipmakers in Zeltiva - dead or alive, his legacy will always haunt me. I'm more of a mockery, a let down to my father. Deep in thought, his brown eyes hardened as he mulled this over in his own head. He began to stare at his own hands, inspecting his fingers and the fine lines that adorned his palms. He carefully placed a couple of his fingers onto his face, gently stroking his features before sighing once more and heaving the bagpack back onto his right shoulder.

He was a tall, imposing figure - with dark, glorious features and a smile wide enough to break a few hearts. He wore a dark, tousled top with a pair of tight, black trousers and dark, scuffed shoes. There was also his trademark belt sitting proudly against his waist - the middle catch of the belt being that of a ship, his initials sewn into the sides.

I must leave now, it's getting darker and I'm tired.

He carefully made his way through the crowd, a few young girls snickering as he walked past. He looked over to glance and pulled a wry smile, one of the girls beginning to howl at Darcy. He felt his brows furrow and quickly strode on. Oh well, I haven't done too bad. I've sold a few things, just not as much as I could have. Darcy was an alright salesman, he was a man of few talents (including being a novice sailor) but there was one true gift he had and that was the gift of singing. He had never done this in public before though, only near the mountains of Zeltiva where he felt sheltered and safe - although the odd lone walker was known for hearing Darcy and pausing to catch some of the melodies which errupted from his mouth.

He stared up to look at the sun, the gold shimmering splendor seemed to be dying as the day drew on. Darcy didn't really have any friends, he spent most of his time secluded in his small, modest cottage or visiting his mother, who he liked to help out whenever he could. No, life for Darcy had been pretty dull and meaningless up until now. Only a few minutes away from his house now, he stopped to look at a big, wooden board - a poster gleaming out at him, the colours a frenzy to his eyes. He felt his pupils dilate as he read it, scratching his hair in wonder. Talent... CONTEST... there is to be a talent contest in a weeks' time, for all ages and all fields. Should I? He stared at the poster some more and bit his lip. It would be something he'd have to think more about.

Pulling away from the board, he saw a few more people walk past, their faces a blur. For some reason, Darcy didn't feel like going home anymore, at least... not just yet. He walked over a few rocks and began to make his way to some of the nearby mountains which he so very much adored. A good while later, he arrived, his eyes gleaming as the sun had now pretty much fallen asleep. He carefully placed his bagpack down beside his feet and began breathing out ever so lightly, watching it cloud up as it emerged from his mouth. He began to sing a soft, subtle melody - the mountains ringing this back to him as he did so.

And it was peaceful... and calm... and one of Darcy's favourite places. He was all alone, in the comfort of himself - just being himself in fact, in the serenity of one of the few places where he felt safe and truly at home.

He knew he couldn't stay out too late though, for there was to be a ball tomorrow night, something in which he was really looking forward to attending. Maybe I can even wear a face mask? That way people wouldn't even know who I was - Augustus' son! He laughed now, his voice breaking off, staring at the land in the distance, his eyes even more dark than usual due to lack of sunlight but dancing with amusement.

[Nai'a]

Nai’a was walking after a hard day’s work at the infirmary, trying to clear her mind of the haunting images of all the sick children. Nai’a rubbed her temples, banishing the memories and thoughts out of her mind. She remembered when she was a kid, when she held that haunted look in her own eyes, when she was a slave. Nai’a sighed out loudly, a puff of white air being exhaled into the cold air. Walking lost in her thoughts, in her own mind, she did not know where she was going, she was just walking, letting her feet guide her.

She was abruptly pulled out of her torturous memories and mind, by a soft melody being sung in the air. Nai’a stopped in her tracks listening to the beautiful subtle sound, picking up where it was coming from with her sensitive ears. She followed the sound like a child would follow the smell of sweets being baked with their nose. When she finally came to the source of the beautiful singing, the man stopped singing and was looking off in the distance. Nai’a felt awkward standing there listening and spying on the man, so she decided to do the appropriate thing and approach him. Nai'a kept the hood of her cloak over her face, only her eyes and down could be seen.

“That was beautiful.” Nai’a said as she approached the man, then realized he might be confused by her words she continued on. “The song you were singing, it was beautiful. I have not heard such a beautiful melody being sung in such a very long time. Nai’a’s voice came out calm and soft, a radiating and warm smile on her face.

TimestampDon't forget to put a timestamp on your thread . So that way I can add it to my list of threads

[Darcy Silverwood]

Still in his own zone, he continued to gaze at the world in front of him, his head in complete silence for once. He heard a voice, a feminine one at that and abruptly turned his head to notice a hooded figure standing right in front of him. He instantly moved one of his hands to his face, feeling insecure. He knew the odd passerby had heard him sing before whilst walking in the distance but never had someone actually came up to him like that and actually took the trouble to tell him that his singing was beautiful. His dark eyes stared at the figure, a small smile forming secretively under his hand. He quickly moved his hand back down again, still shaken from the whole experience of someone actually being here apart from him.

"Why... thank you. That's... very kind of you," he murmured, glancing at the hooded figure again before quickly glancing at the ground through his shyness. He actually let out a small laugh of disbelief. "Usually... I'm the only one here, nobody's ever actually came up to me before to say that. It's funny how one comment can brighten your day and give you self-belief again," he added, nodding his head as he spoke, ruffling his hair with his left hand and then kicking the bagpack softly with his feet to check that it was still there after what felt like an eternity after he'd gazed at his surroundings.

He continued to stare at the hood before noticing that Nai'a's eyes were visible, which he stared at a great deal. I wonder if she ever takes that weird, hooded thing off? Maybe I should invest in one of those, people surely wouldn't recognise me! His eyes were warm and sincere as he stared at her. "So.. umm, do you come here often? Oh, and can I take your name?" Darcy laughed now, realising how stupid he must have sounded, still shocked by the fact that she was here. He knew he couldn't say too much just yet, he wouldn't want to confuse the poor woman. Darcy knew how complex he could be at times so he turned his head back to look at his surroundings, before smiling again and letting out an elongated sigh, but this time it was a happy sigh, not like the sharp, 'I've given up' sighs which he'd let out earlier that day.

[Nai'a]

The man’s body language made him look nervous and shy at her being there, and that she complimented him on his voice. Nai’a felt awkward again, she was wondering if it would be a good idea to leave the man alone to do… whatever it was he was doing. At least the man said thank you to her compliment, although it came out in a shy murmur. Then he said something that sort of shocked Nai’a, he said that people never really came up to him to say how beautiful his voice was. But she was happy to hear her comment had brightened up his day. Nai’a really liked to make other people happy, in any way she could manage. She was a healer after all, and she did not only heal people of sickness, but of depression and sadness too.

“You are welcome, and I am surprised no one has ever told you before. Maybe if you didn’t hide out here, and used that wonderful voice of yours in a tavern or something, more people would complement you. You shouldn’t hide such a passionate talent like that, it is a waste.” Nai’a said in a calm soft tone, a small smile lifting the left corner of her mouth as she examined the man with her dark grey eyes. He had a nervous and shy disposition about him, making Nai’a a little nervous herself. She did not want her presence to make the man nervous, but she supposed he did not have much experience with people, or woman, which made him awkward around people. Nai’a shrugged mentally and brought her attention back to the now, when he spoke again, asking her two questions that was fair to ask, normal curiosity of one.

Nai’a smiled and sat down beside the man, drawing back her hood as she did and looked at his handsome face, “I do not come here often, no, I was just taking a walk to clear my mind. I just got off work at the Infirmary. My name is Nai’a by the way, what is yours?” Nai’a’s voice come out in a musical and pleasant tone, the smile reaching her eyes, as she waited for the dark haired man to answer her question of him. Hoping he did not reject her because of her strange color of hair, it seemed to still shock some citizens of Zeltiva, and they still had cruel things to say about her, but not as much as the first day she arrived in Zeltiva.

[Darcy Silverwood]

Hearing her soft, subtle voice again was enough to make him turn back around, the ball of his foot spinning on the hardened ground. He could instantly tell that Nai'a had picked up on his slightly 'nervous' disposition and blushed, hoping that Nai'a would not notice his reactions much more - after all, the only female company he was pretty much used to was that of his mothers. He was so unused to anyone ever speaking to him with any remote kind of interest, let alone a beautiful young lady showing up from the middle of nowhere to express such a humble and honest opinion, which quite frankly, Darcy didn't quite want to believe.

"Well, I usually just come to the mountains to sing. I feel at home here. I'm known for my father's work as a shipbuilder, he was a great guy... but I'm a person too, and well... I've not had it easy. I dare say people wouldn't believe that I even had a talent, I was almost half expected by the locals here to be a shipbuilder like my father. Well, I can sail... just about," he trailed off his last sentence with a laugh. He noticed how sweet Nai'a was being, how she was doing all she could to somehow add a sparkle to the end of Darcy's day.

He noticed she'd decided to actually sit down next to him now and he felt his lips tremble with nerves. He carefully lowered himself down to her level, his dark hair brushing over his eyes and face for a second as he readjusted himself to be sitting comfortably beside his new female acquaintance. She had now taken off her hood and Darcy was shocked by the mass of pink hair that erupted from the piece of material. Wow. That's amazing, what a beautiful colour. He continued to think to himself before carrying on from her words. "I can understand you taking a walk to clear your mind, I tend to do that too." He stared at her pretty eyes, which were so much brighter than his own dark brown ones.

"Nai'a? What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady..." Darcy paused, blinking rapidly. "I'm Darcy. My name means 'dark.' I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing but it'll do for me!" Darcy chuckled and smiled again, hugging his legs now, feet perched up against the rocks.

[Nai'a]

Nai’a could not help but hold her smile as the man rambled on about his father being famous as a ship builder, and people expected him to do the same as his own father. Then he trailed off with a small laugh. Making Nai’a giggle in response to his awkwardness. The man lowered himself down to her level, speaking how he could relate to the walk to clear her mind, looking her in the eyes with his dark brown ones. He had such interesting eyes to look upon, she rarely seen that color brown here in Zeltiva, it was a welcomed change, a breath of fresh air to be sure. Her own looked pitch black from a distance, but dark grey up close, not the usual green or blue of the other people she had seen.

The man’s gestures and the way he talked were really awkward of someone that had a famous father like he said he did. One would think he was used to such social meetings, or at least talking to people, which made her assume he just wasn’t used to talking to females, and it made her heart soften to his awkward and shy disposition. When Nai’a told him her name was beautiful, as well as she, she was taken by surprise at his bold words, as she assumed he was too shy to speak such things to a woman. Nai’a smiled and giggled behind her palm, as he paused and blinked rapidly.

After the pause he told her his name, which was a rather unique name for a male to have, it sounded feminine to her. “Your name is interesting, it reminds me of a girl’s name though, but I think it suits you, since you are tall, dark, and handsome and hold mysteriousness about you.” Nai’a laughed a little and looked over at the man. “You do not have to be like your father, just because people assume you are going to be what he does, does not mean you cannot just correct them and tell them that you are your own person, then people would stop asking you cause word would then get around. Or at least, that is my opinion…” Nai’a brushed her pink hair behind her ear, as the wind started blowing it, making it dance madly in the breeze.

[Darcy Silverwood]

He felt the wind pick up now, the cold air tickling his cheeks, which were now beginning to tint an ever so soft shade of pink. He raised his hands to his chest, as he continued to listen to Nai'a with a great deal of interest.

"Ha, well my mother is to blame for my name. I do like it though, I suppose it is unusual. And... feminine, ha, yes." He nodded towards the end of this sentence, laughing again. He already felt a connection with the young lady and couldn't believe how kind and sweet she was being towards him. Darcy knew he was shy, but he would always speak and admit the truth and in this case, that Nai'a was anything but beautiful. He soaked her compliments in, shrugging his shoulders upwards and playfully sticking out his tongue as he did so. "Tall and dark, yes... handsome - hmm," he joked, waving one hand in the air with laughter. "Thank you Nai'a, you truly are charming," he quipped.

Then, the conversation was back on his father. He could feel his fingers tensing. Maybe she doesn't know who he is, which is a major relief to me, it really is. He looked up, her words pacing through his mind, carefully mulling over all that she had said.

"Yes, I can see what you mean and believe me, for I have tried. People find me a bit of a joke because my father was this grand, wealthy and talented figure and then, there's just me," he declared, his eyes softening. Darcy had, had quite a sheltered life with his mother and seeing as his father had passed away for at least over ten years now, he had missed out on most of the hype and buzz, being taught to study and do his best rather than go to parties and such, to try and find his own person - which he had struggled so hard with doing, due to the judgements of others.

In fact, the majority of Darcy's life had just been one big learning curve and challenge, his sights were purely set out on finding his true talent(s) and creating the family life he so very much wanted one day. For now, he intended to prove people wrong, that he was worth something. And Nai'a if anything, was an inspiration to Darcy right now.

"You do realise, Nai'a, for the short time that I have known you, you have already breathed a degree of warmth and a good deal of rewarding reflection upon my life," he murmured, gazing at her with happy eyes.

[Nai'a]

When he mentioned that it was his mother’s fault, and that it did indeed sound a little feminine, made Nai’a laugh a little again. This man was proving to be slightly humorous, and not the person her first impression thought of him. Then he went on to comment about her previous comment about him, then laughed, and thanked her calling her charming. Charming? That’s a first.. Nai’a thought. Usually people thought she was kind, shy, and slightly naïve. She never thought herself bold enough to exude charm, but she was happy that he thought so.

Nai’a kept quiet though, blushing slightly at his comment, and smiling as he went on to speak about his father. She had never heard of him, but she had only lived two years so far, so that would probably be why she never heard of him. Plus she wasn’t in any circles of people that discussed these sorts of things; she was a rather lonely individual that sought comfort in books, rather than people. Which was so unlike most kelvics, but she did not like to be a stereotype people form about races anyways.

“I do not know your father, nor have I ever heard of him, but I have only been on this world for two years, so I am sorry for not knowing him. But if you have tried and they are still persistent then let them be fools, who cannot see the talented individual before them.” Nai’a felt rather stupid now, not knowing such a prominent figure of society, and a little shy that she was being so protective of the man already. She did not like to hear of people looking down on someone, or expecting them to be someone they are not, and bluntly showing their distaste that they are not what THEY thought the person should be. But Nai’a did not say anything more on the topic, she inhaled a deep breath of the arctic air, shocking her lungs and abandoning the angry thoughts.

Then the man said something that slightly shocked Nai’a, yet again, and made her look over at him with shocked eyes. She actually helped this man, bringing warmth and rewarding reflection in his life. She was filled with happiness that she had helped the lost soul out, and was good for something besides healing sickness.

A wide bright smile bloomed on her face, she was at a loss of words; she did not know what to say to such kind words. But she tried to form the right words to tell him, hoping she did not fail too badly, “I am happy to hear that Darcy, that is really kind of you to say.” Nai’a glanced down at her feet, and continued to speak, “You are so easy to talk to, I think we could be really good friends, if you wanted to be?” Nai’a glanced back up into his deep brown eyes, a nervous smile and a light blush on her cheeks.

[Darcy Silverwood]

Darcy found it amusing that Nai'a seemed to find everything he said so funny as much as he found himself that way. They seemed to have quite a connection and even Darcy could sense this now. If I had never sung that little tune, I would never have met such a fantastic person. Darcy could see so much brightness and friendliness in Nai'a that he could see why people could potentially fall for her charm so much. Time was passing by but it was almost like Nai'a had stopped it for Darcy and he felt at peace, unpressured by everyone and everything that currently laid on his shoulders. She continued to talk and Darcy felt so happy and content just listening to her voice.

"I am actually rather relieved that you do not know of my father. It's nice to have no former comparison. He was a great guy, who did a lot of work for the people of Zeltiva and is still, to this day by some, sorely missed," exclaimed Darcy, his eyes falling to the floor. "I want to thank you for stopping by to talk to me and making me realise that I'm not such a failure," he added, turning his face to look back up at her, smiling warmly.

He continued to listen to Nai'a, half in a daze until he caught her talking about being friends.

Really good friends? Darcy felt himself look at the young lady in front of him with amazement. "Of course I'd love that Nai'a, I'd love to be really good friends, if not best friends with you," he said softly, his smile widening. Darcy was actually pretty happy that Nai'a had said this, because not only did Darcy agree with this but he knew he could easily fall for Nai'a's charms, for after all, he had never been around another female before like this, especially one as lovely and cheery as Nai'a. "Yes, I'd love that," he replied, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks too. "My amazing friend Nai'a," he declared, his eyes lit up with happiness. This would give Darcy the chance to have someone in his life who actually believed in him, he only hoped deep in the back of his mind now that he managed to keep this 'friend bond' for someone who, in a sense, made him feel so happy in such a short space of time.

"I suppose you'll have to leave soon, huh? It's getting quite late and I guess we both have plans for tomorrow?" His voice rang out, the mountains repeating certain words.

[Nai'a]

He was relieved that she did not know his father? That was a little strange, but somewhat understandable. By what she has learned so far the man placed high expectations on his son, and the man had other expectations for himself, not what was expected by him from other individuals. She could not help but feel sorry for the man. She did not grow up with her parents, she grew up as a slave then was taken in by an old mage that did not live that long.

The man thanked her for stopping by to talk to her and helping him realize he wasn’t a failure; Nai’a gave him a sweet smile, and replied in a smooth and soft voice. “You are most welcome! And you are never a failure; you are only a failure when you stop trying to accomplish your dreams. Never give up on your dreams.” Nai’a knew all too well the power of holding onto your dreams, that was how she survived the torture of the slavers, how she kept her mind from falling into the depths of insanity.

When the man told her he would love to be good friends with her she refrained from clapping her hands in excitement. Happiness flooded her soul, and she showed that happiness on the inside by the radiating smile she portrayed on the outside. “Oh Darcy that makes me so happy that we can be friends! I know it may seem silly, but I do not have very many friends. But I am far from amazing, but I thank you. You are so kind, such a rarity in a world filled with so many cruelties. “ A pained expression crossed her face, for only a few seconds, then Nai’a casted it aside and replaced it with her jovial smile.

She was sad that he was indeed right, it was getting late and she had to go tend to Meka before he freaked out and ripped her room at the grotto to shreds. Nai’a heaved a sad sigh, and glanced at her new friend. “Yes I suppose you are right. It is getting late. The temperature will drop soon, and I must go tend to Meka, my monkey. We should go do something tomorrow when I get off work.” Nai’a paused for a minute then glanced back over to Darcy, “You should meet me outside the Infirmary tomorrow if you have the time. I won’t get off till the 19th Bell though, so it’ll be dark. But we could always go to the Kelp Bar at the docks. It could be fun. If you can’t I understand…” Nai’a scooted off the rock, landing on her feet, brushing her rear off, waiting for Darcy to answer.

OOC19th bell = 7 pm lol.