Solo Exploring In The Early Morning

[Zenara]

8th Spring, 513 A.V. Work was tiresome. Incredibly tiresome. So, the young Zenara was quite annoyed that a girl, about her age too, had decided that a snowball fight was the perfect thing to do. Did she not care for all the work that Zen had to put in order to shovel the snow away from the courtyard? Clearly she didn't. So, the girl had been pleased at the end of the day to fall into her bed next to Sirf and peacefully fall asleep. Morning in Skyinarta was dark, hardly a morning actually. But, it was incredibly hard for Zen to awaken without a bright light shining on her face, but she somehow stumbled to her feet that morning ready for Bendi, though not particularly excited for them, she kicked Sirf at his shin in an attempt to awake him that did the job and she prepped herself for the day. Her tired limbs managed to effectively braid her hair and attach the ornaments before moving down to her sandals. With a yawn, they slipped off her feet once more and she let out a grumble of disapproval. She gave another hard tug but gave up when it slipped off once more and she shuffled her way from the cave and towards the courtyard for another day of shoveling snow. Just the thought of the work caused the blisters she had obtained to sting horribly and she clenched her tiny hands into tight fists which she kept until she entered the courtyard. The bright light that poured in was a beautiful color of orange and red and it came in from the ceiling. It shone right down onto a clear ground, free of snow and the width of Zen's eyes at that moment was so large she felt almost sure they would pop out of there sockets. "It can't be," she muttered running fingers through her braided hair therefore messing up the hairstyle. "It's too early for the snow to have melted." But it had, every last pile of snow was gone into a puddle on the floor which the light reflected brilliantly. Slowly, a smile crept onto the fourteen-year-old's face. It was time for a day of exploration! With a jump in the air filled with disbelief for the turn of things that morning, Zen sped off out of the courtyard. Her feet pounding against the floor she was surprised her sandals hadn't fallen off as she ran further and further until she was well deep inside of Skyinarta. Twin Lakes was a beautiful thing and a place where, happily, no one was at that day so Zen had the whole area for herself to explore.

[Zenara]

The light sound of the water lapping upon the shore was a soothing melody and one that Zen rather enjoyed. That along with the crystal blue color of the water as it shimmered in the underground crater of Skyinarta was absolute bliss and extremely more wonderful than working on classes. Though, being in quite an advanced level in her classes and finding her job the next year, Zen found more interest in the Twin Lakes than listening to an older man or woman speak for hours. Zen took light steps closer and closer towards the lake, her bryda swaying with every step. For a reason unknown to the fourteen year old, she felt pulled in by the lake and forced to step closer. Her green eyes narrowed and looking out over the lakes she noticed something suddenly, a sparkling something. It seemed to be of blue crystal and shined brilliantly under the water. Zen found her eyes widen upon looking at it. The last time she had been at Twin Lakes, nothing had been under the water. Nothing. She was sure of this fact for she had not seen one sparkling or twinkling object. With furrowed brows she took a few more steps forward, her sandals folding over the rocks, a few smaller pebbles crunching. Her breath was slow and heavy, her eyes narrowed in deep concentration, not moving from the glimmering object in fear it would disappear. Upon reaching the bank of the lake, she slowly bent down and peered over the lake, eyes still locked onto the shiny piece under the water. However, her arm slipped and splashed under the water pulling her body along, but with panicky strength, she managed to pull herself up onto the rocky banks once more. Arms dripping wet, Zen thanked Makutsi that she hadn't drowned. But, she quickly realized the only way to get the object was by going into the water. With shaky hands, still shocked by the previous happenings, she managed to pull off her sandals and throw them farther away from the banks. She then, cautiously entered the lake. Swimming wasn't something Zen did a lot of, in fact, she had only swam three times total in her entire life and that was enough to let her learn to stay afloat, but to move underwater was to be a challenge. Still, Zen sucked up all her courage and put on a brave visage before inching her way into the cold water. The water, touching her bare stomach caused a shiver to ripple through the girl and she was afraid of going in any more. Squeezing her eyes shut she thought of a few words of courage before going in. The water now reached her neck and Zen put her head up so that it would not enter her mouth. Behind her, a trail of dark red hair swam behind her. Before long she managed to stay afloat in the water, the floor half a foot beneath her. Zen looked around at her surroundings in search of the object and after looking around a bit, she realized that it was a few meters away from her. Fear took over the young girl and she desperately wanted to go back to the safe shore, but she knew she had to continue what she had begun.

[Zenara]

Now soaked, the cold of the water was beginning to set in for Zenara. She tried desperately to move her arms in circle motions to keep herself above the water, but every know and then, she would slip right back under the water only to emerge spitting the water from her mouth. Her legs kicked wildly beneath the murky surface, feeling for ground somewhere, but all they were met with was the cold water and an occasional fish or seaweed. Zenara concluded that she must have been inside of Konti. Why the mysterious, shimmering piece was in the colder of the two lakes, was due to Zenara's bad luck. This, or the fact that the gods wanted to punish her for skipping out on her classes. But, either way, teeth chattering, Zen titled herself forward slightly and kicked in order to propel herself forward. This worked well enough and soon the Inarta was above the mysterious piece. Her hair was a mess by then, unravelled from it's braids, the glass ornaments drifted to the bottom of the lake. Strands of red stuck to her face and she continuously pulled them away. This motion would make her lose her balance on the water for a few panicked seconds where she would thrash under the water, scaring the fish and occasionally swallowing the water. When her head popped up from the water she was in a fit of coughing until she was able to breath properly once more. "I can do this." Zen reassured herself as she looked down at the murky shadows below. Albiet it all, the shiny blue glimmer was still perfectly visible. Sucking in a breath she puffed out her cheeks in the weirdest fashion before dunking herself under the water. The water stung her eyes for a few moments and she was forced to resurface. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and wiped the water from them before dunking herself under once more. The water stung slightly, but she was able to move slowly downwards. Air was quickly becoming a problem and her lungs screamed for air, they felt near to bursting. She wanted to open her mouth in hope of oxygen, but she knew she would only receive water. She was almost there! Only a few more inches and her fingers would be able to grasp the item. She squinted her eyes, hand and fingers outstretched ready to take the piece. Her head felt dizzy, her vision was wavering. Zen felt very close to fainting, but then her fingers grasped the piece. The rough object was in her hands and with a sudden burst of adrenaline she pulled herself out of the water coughing haphazardly. She moved quickly to the bank, rough item still in hand and pulled herself up lying on the rocks and breathing heavily as the water dripped from her wet body.

[Zenara]

The drops of crystal liquid rolled off of her body and soaked into the cool rocks that lay on the banks of the lake. The water brushed up against her toes in small waves every couple of seconds, making her shiver slightly. The cool air that floated about in the core of Skyinarta only added to the cold effect. Green orbs looked up at the ceiling of the cave before sheltering under the pale skin and appearing once more. Zen's breath came out in puffs of deep, heavy breathing. Her vinati clung to her skin the glass figures that were miraculously still attached to her bryda clung together as she inhaled. The beautiful noise ringing and echoing from the cave walls. She had to get back. This was the only thought running through the young girl's mind for she was sure that she had spent more than an hour at the lake and she had missed her classes, but the rough gem-like object in her hand reassured her that it was worth it. The mere thought of the object caused Zenara to lift her head and bring her forearm up, using her elbow to keep herself propped up, she opened her hand slightly to reveal the object. Sand covered it in large chunks and the parts visible were an astonishing green. The sand caused the gem to be rough and jagged, though Zen could clearly see it was smooth and upon further investigation seemed to have something inscribed into it. However, some of the pictures were hidden behind the sand. Zen turned onto her stomach, this proved to be an uncomfortable move for the rocks pricked her stomach, but she ignored this as she tried to scrape the cake don sand off the gem, but it didn't budge. Zen quickly realized that her thumb would not be enough to remove the sand and she would need to look in the kitchen for a tool to use. Hopefully, no one would suspect anything from a fourteen year old girl walking into a kitchen to retrieve a small knife or something of the sort. THE END

[Phoenix]

Zenara

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	5
Swimming	5

•	Lores Earned
•	Work is no time for snowball fights
•	Snows gone, time to explore!
•	Something is in the Twin Lakes
•	Swimming: Cold water makes it difficult
•	Perseverance has its rewards

The Order of the Phoenix

This was a cute thread! I really enjoyed it a lot! Keep up the good work, and apologies for the wait on the grade.

Zenara has also been awarded the gem that she found at the bottom of the lake

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.