Completed Water from Ice

[Syveris]

39th of Winter, 513 AV

When Syveris heard that there would be a team of volunteers to go and fetch water, she didn't think twice before volunteering herself. There was a part of her that really wanted to be useful, but she knew that, mostly, it was because she was already tired of working on the forge. If she volunteered, she could be free from there for at least a day, and she would be useful. There wasn't anything bad about the idea.

Well, only the cold, but Syveris couldn't care less about it. It was a very nice change, and she would enjoy it while she could.

It was early when she woke up, and she hurried so she could get dressed on time. The Avora didn't even get closer to her falcon, knowing that Virat would give the bird food when he woke up. Tying her green katinu around her as tightly as she could, before also grabbing her scarf and her gloves. Maybe it would get in the way, but she knew she would feel cold.

Syveris ran to the meeting point, more to warm herself than to get there in time. The Avora wrapped the scarf around her neck and put on the gloves, leaning against a wall to wait the others. A group of Endal, that would give them a ride to the location, was already there, as there was also a few Chiet and a glassworker Syveris recognized. She had asked him for a colored glass the season before. The man sent a look at her, before moving closer.

"Petching annoying at the forge, right?" he groaned, hugging himself. Syveris almost laughed at the scene. He was a grown man, but he was shivering and hugging himself just like a child. Not even her was that cold, but she thought that he really was more used to the heat of the forges. "Name is Karan."

"Syveris." she said, with a nod and a smile. Looking with more attention, she noticed he looked rather young, although she knew he was almost forty. His eyes were piercing gold, and he had copper-colored hair that almost reached his shoulders. "So I'm not the only one hating this reassignment?"

"Only one?" he snorted. "Everyone is hating it. If we wanted to work on the forges, we wouldn't have become glassworkers." Syveris only nodded in agreement, looking to the entrance of the Courtyard of the Sky, to see if everyone had arrived. It was strange to be early, but there still weren't a lot of people. The Avora turned her attention to the older man.

"Nice to see a familiar face."

Karan agreed with a sharp nod, but said nothing more. Syveris didn't mind. The man was being nice, which was completely different from how he had behaved when she had asked him for glass. But then, most glassworkers weren't very sociable inside the Glass Reverie.

"Alright, everyone that is already here. We will drop you and come back for the others." an Endal announced, and Syveris followed the other glassworker towards where the Wind Eagles were.

They would go to a glacier somewhere on the Unforgiving. She didn't pay much attention as to where, because it wouldn't matter anyway. After all, she knew nothing about the wilderness surrounding Wind Reach. She didn't know if it was because the Wind Eagles were fast or if it was simply because the location was close to Wind Reach, but it wasn't long before they landed on the snow.

[Syveris]

It was a short while before the Endal brought the equipment and the rest of the volunteers. Then, the preparations started, and Syveris was happy for the almost chaotic way everyone was moving around, doing what should be done. She knew nothing on how to lit a fire, but she could help in other ways.

Grabbing a container, she nodded as someone ordered her to put it near the fires. One by one, she helped the team of Chiet and Avora to put the containers in place, an easy job, but that took some time to get done, specially since she wasn't used to walking in the snow. After every fire had a container by its side, she grabbed some pickaxes and began to give one to each volunteer.

This kind of work was even more different from glasswork than the one she was doing at the forges, but she didn't mind. This was something Syveris could see the utility of, that she could do knowing she was helping. In the forges, she had felt utterly useless. She was happy with fetching water, though. She would probably volunteer for some more things like that.

"Having fun?" Karan asked, shoving a pickax on her hands. Syveris smiled and nodded. "Good. Let's break some ice, then."

Syveris looked at him for a moment, before her smile changed to a sly one. She was already here, so might as well have some fun. It was also incredible good every time someone didn't seem to mind talking with her.

"So, what do you think about a competition?" she asked, waiving the pickax around. "Whomever breaks more ice wins."

"Are you sure you want to do this with me, chick?" Karen had a smug smile on him, so obviously fake that Syveris had to chuckle. "It's like if a songbird asked an Eagle for a race."

"Your voice isn't nice enough to be a songbird." Syveris replied, as innocent as she could, before walking towards the huge wall of ice. She saw as Karan raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head and following her.

They began to hit the ice with the tool, Syveris watching as the pieces fell off in the snow. She had grabbed a pot to place them in and then put them to melt over the fire. The strength she had to put in each hit was bigger than she had initially thought, but it was still manageable. Her arms weren't as strong as those of a miner, but her work on the Reverie was manual too. And unlike many people would think the weight of a huge blow pipe with a huge slob of glass wasn't small. There was a lot of strength required to stabilize and carry big pipes, and almost all of Syveris' strength had come from the Reverie.

However, that was also true for Karan, although the man was much stronger than hers, and he seemed to be able to break big pieces of ice with each hit. It was very clear who would win even at this point.

"You have done this before." Syveris accused, glaring at the older glassworker. He laughed.

"No, not really." he smirked. "Guess I'm just stronger. It's the first time I'm doing this, but I'm looking for points where the ice seems to be weak."

"It looks all the same to me." Syveris huffed, starting to feel her arms sore. She could keep going for a while longer, she knew, but not much.

"That's because you are just a chick." Karan said with a shrug. "You'll learn to see, someday." the man stopped for a moment, before glaring at the young Avora. Syveris shifted, uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What?" she asked, her voice clearly showing that she was uncomfortable. Karan chuckled, before returning to the task.

[Syveris]

"I got curious to see who the one aiding the Despised was like." at that, Syveris bit her lip, feeling the usual annoyance at the topic, but before she could feel anything else or lash out, the older glassworker spoke again. "But now I see you obviously didn't aid no one. You're too much of a chick for that."

"I dare you to say that again!" the Avora exclaimed, but she was happy again. True, the man had only talked to her now because of what she was thought to be, but it was still someone to talk, and the only judgment he was passing was on her own inexperience. She wondered if there were many others in Wind Reach willing to believe in her, if they had the chance.

The thought made her smile, and she focused on getting pieces of ice out of the wall, not willing to give up even though it was clear she wouldn't win.


After a while, Syveris dropped her tool, exhausted. Even the older Avora was showing sighs of being tired, but it didn't really mattered. He had won. She sighed, and grabbed the pot half filled with tiny ice pieces from the ground.

"Petch. Well, I guess you won." Syveris scowled at the smirk the man sent her. "So, what do you want?"

"Nothing. Just seeing you loose is good enough." Karan chuckled at her when she pouted. "You'll melt my ice too. Get going, chick."

Syveris took his pot with her free hand, surprised at the weight of it. Well, it was totally filled, but still... She walked back to the closest fire and waited for a Chiet to leave before putting her pot over the fire. It would be faster, and that way she could bring it back so Karan could fill it again. Although she didn't like to admit it, she would be of better use melting the ice than trying to break it down. She was strong, but not strong enough to keep working with an unfamiliar tool for such a long while.

After the ice had melted, she poured the water into the container and placed the other pot over the fire, while she walked back to the spot Karan was on with the empty pot on her hand. She placed it besides the glassworker, earning a true smile that left her feeling proud, as if he was her mentor, before she walked back to the fires once more.

And that was when the crackling sound reached her ears, and Syveris looked back and up, eyes widening when she saw a huge crack in the ice wall, widening with each tick that passed. She knew little about ice, but crackling glass meant something had gone terrible wrong. To her, a crack was never a good sign on her mind.

And when the low growl started, she knew she was right.

[Syveris]

She was glued in place, unsure about what to do, if she could do anything. Her first instinct was to run, just get away from the noise, but when the sound became a loud rumble, she found herself unable to move, her breathing uneven and desperate.

The sigh of snow coming from the top of the ice wall did nothing to easy her feeling. The Avora began to desperately search for some way to escape. She could run, she should run, but she couldn't bring herself to move. The snow was still coming, speeding up, and the people around her began to scream and try to run away. It was only then that she could turn, and then she ran.

It was probably the fastest she had ever ran in her life, but the snow kept slowing her down, and somewhere in her mind she knew that running wouldn't matter. She was near the ice wall, she would get buried, and she would die. But most of her body was filled with fear, and while most of the time said fear paralyzed her, now it made her unable to just stop moving and give up.

Her right foot got swallowed by the snow, and less than a moment before her whole body was turning and being dragged down by the avalanche. Syveris could feel the snow shifting around her and it seemed to press each time near. She couldn't move again, but this time because the pressure of the snow was too strong, too much.

When she stopped, she still heard the rumble for a tick or so, far away, and then it finally stopped. And while she never liked silence, this was the most terrifying one.

Panic set in again, and she tried to move, to un-bury herself from the snow, but it was to thick, and it didn't even move. Each time she tried to breath, a little snow would get inside her nose, until she gave up, breathing with her mouth instead. It was better, but she knew the air was going to end soon, and she knew that she would die once it did.

There was nothing she could do. The snow was pressuring her from every side, making her unable to even flinch any part of her body. It was a trapping feeling, one that she had dreaded all her life, but never as much as right then. It felt like she was glued to the snow and would never be able to stand again. The thought frightened her even more, but she tried as hard as she could to keep her breath even. If she started to panic, then snow would get into her mouth and it would be the end.

But that wasn't something assuring either. Tears began to flow, and she felt the snow on her tongue. Syveris didn't know how long she had been buried, only that the feel of snow pressing against her and pinning her down was becoming insupportable. This was a terrible way to die.

Far away, she could hear some sounds, but they seemed unimportant in her mind. The air was ending quickly, and all she wanted was to be freed from the mountain of snow above her.

Closing her eyes tightly, Syveris thought if there would be a way to escape. Was this Zulrav's doing? Was the God taking revenge on her, even if she hadn't done anything? Strangely, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she wanted to get to the surface again.

And then, when she opened her eyes again, the snow seemed to become lighter. Using all the air that was still in her lungs, she screamed, a faint sound that was muffled by the thick snow. If she was wrong, that was it. There was no more air to keep her alive. But still, she had to try. It was her last chance and she would take it.

[Syveris]

When the snow was finally moved, Syveris took a deep breath, coughing and moving her head forwards, hitting her face on the shovel that was being used to dig the snow. It was painful, and it would probably earn her a bruise, but she couldn't care less. She was breathing!

"Stupid chick!" the voice made her look up again, locating the face of the glassworker. Karan. So he was alive, too. "Why didn't you curl up? If the dogs hadn't find you!"

Syveris couldn't really answer, her lungs still stung by the previous lack of air. Her head, her shoulders and her torso had been freed from the snow, but her legs and arms were still under it. She struggled, desperate to get free, her mind knowing that now she was safe, but even so she couldn't stop. Karan grunted, and pressed her head down, gently, but firm.

"Quiet. I'll go look for other survivors, but you stay quiet and let this woman dig you out, do you hear me?" only when Syveris nodded did he left.

It took a few chimes to get her totally free, all the ones who had been helping get her free going to rescue someone else when they noticed she would live. Syveris was trembling, from both fear and cold, and she noticed she had lost her scarf. Not that it mattered.

Nodding a quick thanks to the woman who had helped her, she accepted the blanket and covered herself with it, wondering what were the chances of Karan being the one who found her.

Her question was answered when she saw the number of people that had been rescued already. Only two others. And from all the snow that was clinging to Karan's hair and clothes, he probably had been rescued not long ago. And yet, he was going around digging people up, while Syveris could barely stand straight. But then, maybe he hadn't been buried. If he stood close enough to the ice wall, would he have escaped?

The thoughts were shoved away when she focused on walking to where the few survivors were. Soon, other three joined them, and she hoped that they would be able to rescue everyone.

After some time, that seemed like an eternity, Syveris heard her name, and her head shot up. Her voice was weak, but as soon as she confirmed who had called her, the Avora couldn't keep quiet.

"Azira?"

[Skerry]

Grades

Syveris

Skill	XP
Body Building	1
Rhetoric	1
Running	1
Socialization	2

LORES :

• Karan: Fellow Glassworker
• Avalanche: Being buried alive under snow
• Claustrophobia: A very real fear
• Karan: Saviour

Notes:
An interesting thread with a happy outcome thankfully. Can’t have Syveris dying on us just yet now can we? Couldn’t give you much in the way of XP or lore but you’ve a nice addition to your PC’s story so that’s what matters, right?

Remember if you have any questions or problems with your grade then feel free to PM me.