A working life (Ryjaoka)

[John Vicari]

His eyes peered down as a slight frown overtook his face. The message was a mess to read in his eyes yet his mind slowly was trying to form a reason how she messed up and it clicked as he saw qwc a few times.

“Don’t feel bad, it was very long and harder then I would had thought. Yet do you remember the shops name?” He asked as he leaned in closer to her holding her reply in his hands as his fingers moved from the S to U. “Shift left 2. So...” As he spoke he pulled his quill once more upon the sheet slowly writing. His voice never once holding a mocking tone nor unhappiness as he helped her with her mistake.

‘A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z’

“Now, this is the basic letters of the alphabet as you know. Lets take that S and move it to the right two places...I moved the S which was the normal letter back two places to the left making it the S...Understand so far?”

He said as he moved his hand along the nearest one of hers letting her index finger trail from the U to S and backwards once more as he talked. He was unsure if he was doing it wrong or not y et that is what he took from that book and he did not know any other aide to help them.

“So we used a shift left 2..same with the other letters...for this longer one...it was shift right 4...so lets look at that X and see it. If we moved to the right it would be the B you got but as it was already moved to the right we need to move it to the left..so it would be..T...” Once more he moved her finger upon the letters as he spoke looking back at her and the letters as his other hand wrote the T down.

“Now, the L becomes the H and M the I and the last letter Q to S...This.” Once more he was slowly writing it down letting her see and understand the steps he made to code the message. “I am going to let you try this again yet going to offer this tip. The csy you see spells You. Knowing some of the words may help you but if I tell you the riddle you won’t learn as well. Don’t give up I know you can do it.”

His voice was very cheerful as he smiled at her pushing her along. He knew she was smarter then she gave herself credit for and he knew she would be able to get it and more as he looked down upon the sheet she gave him.

She told him move five to the right and the letters were ‘rcvo yj tjp cvqz oj vnf’ as he placed the tip of his quill in the black ink once more as he slowly wrote.

‘W...h...a...t...d...o...y..o..u..’

The letters were slow as he did as she said unsure if his teaching and her learning were different on the code bases in the end. Yet as he wrote the first three letters his mind made a leap of the words.

‘What do you want to ask’

“What do you want to ask?” His words were soft as he looked at her, his head tilted a bit unsure if he got it right or not and looking to see if she solved his own riddle. They were pushing each other clearly in different ways and he was glad she was here with him.

[Ryjaoka Windia]

Listening carefully she tries to think of everything she was saying realizing the simple mistake she had made. Looking over him she smiled at him again, she was right about him being a good person to learn from. He was calm and patient even if she had made such a mistake that she was embarrassed by it.

Taking her notes as he talked she made sure to pay attention to the hand movements he was making and moment.

Moving to look at him look down at his paper she smiled at him seeing the first letter be correct. Knowing that he would get it, soaking her make. Somehow the visual helped to make her feel as though she was clearing her thoughts. Straightening them out in her head as she watched them on parchment she was sure that he was smart enough to catch it quick. Taking a moment to watch John work she found herself inspired by how fluent he was at the quill.

She wondered how many years he had written to get such smooth strokes.She imagined that it had to be years of hard work; and somehow she appreciated him more for that. Looking over his code again she tried to think what it was that he was saying to her.

Hearing his voice half way through her work she smiled at him simply nodding glad that he had figured it out. Now all that was left was for him to answer her when the time was right for him. She wasn't sure how long it would take him, or even if he ever would tell her.

All she knew was that when the time come she would listen to him. Passing no judgment like he hadn't on her. Knowing that, that's what friends did for each other, or at least that's what she heard.

Scrawling the last of the words down she looked over the message reading it carefully. Checking for errors before looking to John handing him what she had written. "Is that it?" The parchment reading this message is for you. A bit harder but I am sure you will do well. Whfn you break it pokd me. Looking at the two words that didn't seem to be any common words she knew. "Except the these two letters in these words don't make sense," Ryjaoka explains to him showing him the letters. "They seem to be five over instead of four over. If they are the words I'm thinking of."

[John Vicari]

He looked at the letters and saw he made the mistake when writing it. It would seem it was far harder then it looked and read in the book as he slowly nodded. She was right in her guessing and understanding as he made the mistake when forming the line.

"Should be if you 'A bit harder but I am sure you will do well. When you break it poke me.' but it seems I made a mistake when writing it and counted the letters wrong in my head. For that I am sorry."

He said as he bowed his head slightly towards her feeling bad for making it harder on her then what had to be but he was proud of her for breaking it. She showed true understanding when she did not give up which he feared she would had.

"As I don't feel like putting you though hoops I will just ask you...well I plan on moving out. My parents are still around yet...I just can't stand the house but my father made a deal with the people in the city and I will get a home for a base value of 500 gold so to speak...It will be a 20 by 20 place but I was wondering if you wanted if you wanted...to be roommates so to speak? I will try to put a large amount of gold to try to get more upgrades yet well...I would like you...to join me..."

His words were soft in a mix of fear of her answer yet he waited for her reply as his fingers danced around the table as he looked at the books. HE would write more soon but it took him a few days to warp up a book so he was not in any rush.

He was not sure of her reply would be but he waited for it as he looked at it. His face did not show his blank look yet a look of twisted emotions of fear and hope almost if the term was right in his head. He was not sure how he felt of asking her to live with him nor did he know if that was the right thing for surely she had other plans and what if she just left one day? Could he just sit around and not follow her? Would she follow him? If she would leave he would need to work on getting ready in more ways then one to join her even if it meant it would be hard. Yet that thought alone made him question why he would travel with her. Yet he did not fear it for some reason as his blue eyes met her green gems.

[Ryjaoka Windia]

The declaration shocked the pride of solving the riddle from her face. Had he truly just asked what she thought he had? That couldn't be true, not if it had anything to do with what she was thinking. Still she was sure she had heard right. The fact was only confirmed when she looked into his crystal blue eyes.

He had asked her to be his roommate, something that she wasn't sure how to take. The last time she had held processions to a home she was the younger age of seventeen and even then she had lived alone. Let alone with another male, turning her gaze she looked to the dusty window. Her thoughts were plagued with questions.

She was a young woman as it would seem to human society, however even at her age now most young Drykas girls had husbands they were loyal to. With that responsibility came privileges as well, the wife of a Drykas man naturally went to live with him and would obtain his status. Giving her a home and another braid or two to add to her hair.

Family was everything to her, it was installed in her from a young age and to go so bold as to move in with another man was a little shocking for her to contemplate. Sure she wanted to be a roommate with John, in fact she would surely be happy with the arrangement. But their were so many factors to think about when it came to that topic.

The most pressing one was her normalcy with traveling from place to place. Ryjaoka had over time become a hermit that much she was sure of, maybe not with John now; but she had been when she had first met him. Walking on iron nails and broken egg shells to keep things peaceful. It seemed that she had developed trust in the man somehow, and she didn't even know how?

Looking to her hands she study them, the oddly smooth texture sending mixed signals about her life. She had the hands of a pampered wife, yet her life was as hard as a blacksmiths mending.

She'd have to stay here in Sylrias, and although this was a wonderful city full of color and variety she doubted she could adapt to the living. She would become stir crazy and long for action. Shaking her head she looked at the book shelves. What was she even saying? She didn't want action she had enough of that to last her for a while. No, she just wanted to belong somewhere, but was it here.

Were these guarding walls meant to protect her too, or were they just fooling her eyes. Was John really the friend that she had longed for since she could walk, or was he just playing a part. She didn't know, and truly she couldn't tell what to do.

The only thing that was clear to her was that she enjoyed John, and wanted to be around him for a while to come. Still she had business of her own to take care of. Things that had to be answered and done in order for her to ever comfortably live somewhere; maybe even here with John.

Looking over to him again she let her eyes rest on his face, not saying a word while she looked at him. Reading his body for signs of lying or deeper intentions. What would her mother think of the whole thing? Would she find her actions disgraceful to her name? Ryjaoka doubted that was the case, somehow she knew that her mother would have liked John too.

She could just hear her angelic voice speaking highly of him, and how he was of good djed as she would like to call it. She couldn't help the smile crossing her face while she thought of that. She would just run out and start a webbing right outside the house. The thought of the art made her blood go cold, it was something that she knew. Something that she herself had to help with, yet something she didn't even want to remember.

Moving her gaze further she landed on a bronze statue of a glorious steed resting on a mound of books. That was the last matter at hands, Parkas, sure he would enjoy his elongated rest in the stable, but for how long. He was use to running the wide plains of the Endrykas grasslands, letting his legs stretch out while he lolled under the shady patches during the hottest days of summer.

Not to mention the cost of it all, she had quite a bit of Mizas with her right now. Enough to board him for two to three months at tops. Even so that was no where near enough to keep him her preminitly, even if she wanted to she didn't have a job to even out the cost. Reaching her hand into her pocket she pulled out the miza handing it to John.

She had to keep him active otherwise he would cause an uproar with his free soul. Smiling again she thought of him and his mannerisms, they way he snorted and grunted when he was angry. Pawed and neighed when he was pleased all of which she wondered would be a problem where he was now.

Still she didn't want to hurt John, his feeling mattered to her now. Even if they had just met to her they seemed like they were meant to become friends. To join each others life to better the other person. Shaking her head she let a long sigh go before she turned to look at him at last.

"I would.....but until I'm settled in soul my...roommate status would be temporary. For soon I must go to the Endrykas harvest and from there Cyphrus. I would return, but I do not know how long I would be away. Until than I will stay here with you...and be your roommate," she finished with a smile, hoping that she had made the right decision.

[John Vicari]

She did not say anything to him at first which he was not shocked yet the slowly moving chimes just kept passing as he waited. Thoughts running about his head as he waited, his own eyes moved about the shop before back on his own books.

The quill once more moving along a new page as he slowly wrote with care. He enjoyed writing but knew it would never help him if he got into a fight. He knew he had to learn some type of fighting for the world was not safe from what he read nor heard. Maybe the walls that kept him safe also kept him tame?

‘Transformation code is a generalization of the shift code. Theses codes consistently turn a letter into another letter. For example, one might decide that the letter A may be P, B is E and so on. The key could be placed upon another paper it is still simple enough to be memorized by heart if done often enough. As the code is more effective then just the shift code it can still be broken if one knows or suspects the language the message is made in and the length of the message. It will depending if the breaker in question knows which letters are frequent and slight guess work.’

A small shudder moved down his spine as he thought of the transformation code once he wrote the page of it. It sounded far harder then the shift code yet this book talked about it as if it could be broke down the road. Would he really be able to understand and use all the terms if he kept at this?

At last he heard her reply as he moved his head back towards her. He was a bit shocked she said yes to a point but understood that she still had goals. Even he had goals he had to work on and seeing her try to do her own made him understand he would need to step up as well.


“You will always have a place even if you wish to come and go. I know you have things to tend to and I won’t stop you from doing that.”

He said as he took his quill once more to writing her a message. He was hating it slowly but he was pushing himself as hard as he could for his mind to understand it as even as a wizard he knew if he dealt with world magic he would use some of the tricks.

After awhile his quill just soon stopped as he rubbed his eyes. “I can’t do something that long...was making to many mistakes and hurting my head...I will pray to someone to keep you safe but before you depart I would like to ask you if you could teach me more about the sword. As I learn I can help push you to learn more as well so you will be safer in the end.”

[Ryjaoka Windia]

His words touched her deeply inside, she couldn't believe that he would say such a nice open ended thing to her. Clearly they had to be friends otherwise how could he be so nice to her. She looked down at her hands once more with a smile.

She had a home now and was living with someone at that, she couldn't help but thank the gods for the news. Sure she was still worried how the living arrangement would work out, but for now she was content to let it be the future. She had a home, so where she could actually call hers.

Thinking of that she scrunched her eyebrow again this time in question. "Where is this home that I will be calling mine?" A simple enough question for John to answer. He hadn't said where it would be only that it was residing in the castle and that he wanted her to be his roommate.

That only shocked him to an extent, she couldn't believe that John had asked her. He had only knew her for a day, they had talked for only a few moments. If Ryjaoka had to think about it though, she guessed that they did learn a lot in that short time.

She had met a member of his family and seen something she couldn't explain let alone push to know. Looking to John she smiled again, this time more out of respect and friendliness for him than anything else. She could see herself living with him in this small place.

A strange thought to her at first but now a little more enjoyable as it was set in action. Still she found herself worring about how long the offer would last her. Would he eventually find another that he'd wish to stay with instead? She guessed if that happened she would just move on.

Looking to his book she smiled as he spoke his frustrations. She could imagine what it must have been like to constantly write and read all day. It must have been tiersome, not to mention unhealthy in the slightest of ways. Ryjaoka enjoyed her carefree life. She loved the fact that she could wake when she wanted to and move as she pleased. Plus, it was nice to be out in the sunshine to remind you that you were still alive.

Still the safety of this job had to be nice for John. She'd like to keep a steady flow of money in her pocket. Sure she'd never had a real job before, but it didn't seem to hard to do. Or at least John made it look easy. Looking to him she smiled before speaking. "I would love to teach you the sword, after your work is done. Prepared to be taught."