Closed [Zhongjie Warren] Deadly Spending (Alia)

[Alyra]

3rd of Summer, 514 AV

Pretty, Nice, Beatiful, Pretty, Pretty. . . Alyra ran her fingers over her options. Before her stood a sea of fabrics, each as elegant and miza-worthy as the last. Unfortunately, Alyra didn't have the mizas that these clothes were worthy of. One day, Alyra thought, narrowing her eyes at the beautifully designed shirt before her. You will be mine.

"Thank you, and I will be back." Alyra struggled through the smattering of Kontinese that she knew. She knew that the pale woman across the stall most likely knew Common, but the Eth enjoyed practicing. She also enjoyed the pained expression that crossed the Konti woman's face as she stifled her laughter. It was a contagious feeling, joy was; Alyra gave a bright smile, giving a slight, polite bow before she moved onto the next stall.

It was a hot day, and Alyra was unaccustomed to the heat. She often basked in Syna's warmth, but never before had she been in a place where it was this intense. The woman had found that all of even her cotton dresses were too heavy for this weather. That, and she had a combat lesson later on that day. She would not add the embarrassment of coming overdressed onto the impending awkwardness. Alyra was expecting Akalak boys in their third year to be fighting better than her.

The next stall was crowded with what seemed like all the denizens of Riverfall. This simultaneously repelled and attracted Alyra. While she wanted to see what all the hype was about, Alyra was also wary of the crowd. Every man, woman, and child in that cluster was larger than her. That, and they all probably had enough "physical knowledge" in them to beat the shyke out of her if she so much as stepped on their feet. I never really liked leather anyway...

As she paced along the marketplace, Alyra could feel herself getting warmer and warmer. The people around her pushed even more heat in her direction, causing Alyra to make abrupt swinging motions with her arms in attempt to cool herself down. Out of the corner of her eye, Alyra spotted a patch of shade. She thanked the Gods, then sped over to the safety of the tree. In her rush, the Eth accidentally tripped over another woman.

"I'm so sorry!" Alyra nearly screamed into the woman's face. She had forgotten to not only control her voice but to also switch back to common.
"I'm sorry, really. It's just...It's just so hot, and I was practicing my Kontinese, and it was so loud over there that I hadn't realized I was yelling, and..." Alyra explained herself frantically as she backed up into the shade. "I promise I'm not normally this . . . weird."

Words: 455

[Alia Beaudouin]

The Zhongjie Warren. A fancy name for the Riverfall bazaar.
Alia had only learned the two places were one and the same that day, when one of the Akalak shopkeepers had asked her if she knew her way around the Zhongjie, to which she had answered with a confused shrug. Not that she knew her way around anyways, which was partially the point of why she was here.

After almost a season of putting it off, forgetting, and failed missions to find one, Alia was wandering around the bazaar, searching for a map of Riverfall. This season she had plans to adventure all over the city, exploring the parts she had never been to before, and finding out more about the ones she had. Yes, summer was going to be Alia's season of new beginnings. She was going to go out, meet new people, try new things, learn new stuff, all sorts of things.

Either that, or she was going to die trying.

The heat was nearly unbearable, even for Alia, and she had grown up next to a volcano. You could practically fry food on the sidewalk due to the warmth. The end of spring all into summer had been hot days, and it was only getting hotter. Momentarily giving up her search for a map, Alia decided to take a break and rest in the shade. Picking a rather opportune spot underneath a nearby patch of trees, she set down her bag, using it as a pillow when she laid down in the grass, enjoying the opportunity to cool off.

Unfortunately, the peace Alia had created lasted only ticks before something interrupted it. Or rather, someone. A body hit Alia’s leg at full force, doing a near flip as they tripped over her. Startled, Alia abruptly sat up, only to be greeted by a scream in a language she didn’t understand. What the hai was going on? One second she was serenely laying down in what seemed like the only moderately cool place in the bazaar, the next second a body- a woman, it seemed- was lying on top of her, screaming things in languages Alia didn’t understand.

The woman, who was quite an oddity, it seemed, with full on horns lying atop her head, seemed flustered in her mistake. She began screaming- or rather, speaking quite loudly, in common now.
At least I’m being yelled at in a language I understand. Alia thought solemnly. She was still in a minor state of shock from the disaster. She was so distracted by what had just happened that she didn’t even register the fact that her new… Acquaintance… Had horns. Horns!

As the woman backed up farther towards the tree, Alia straightened herself. The collision had bent her in quite the uncomfortable position, going from completely comfortable to a sentient knot could be in a matter of ticks. It was quite disorientating. Once she got her piece of mind back, however, Alia let herself digest what had happened. It seemed the woman, from her explanation, had been running for the same shade Alia was - had been - relaxing in.

It seemed that the heat was a lot worse for others than Alia had originally imagined. As in driving people to desperation worse. The things heat did to people…
As the woman finished her explanation, Alia smiled at her to let her know she wasn’t mad over her… Mishap. Instead, she was quite amused.
”Oh, uh, no... Don’t be sorry, it was an accident, I’d assume.”

What was she supposed to say, ‘Nice to meet you, I’m Alia, thanks for falling over me’?
With her lack of ideas- and speech- an awkward silence soon fell over the pair. Brushing off the dirt that had attached itself to her clothes, Alia tried to break the silence, opening her mouth to say something before closing it again. She imagined she looked like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

Finally, she worked up the courage to say something more.
”I- Uhm… I’m Alia, in case you’d like to know.”

[Alyra]

Alyra slumped to the ground, sighing with relief as she fell into an exhausted heap. She folded her legs in front of her, and then placed her elbow into the crease of her leg. Sighing once more, Alyra took the few ticks of silence to reorganize her thoughts.

It wasn't until just then, as the shade pulled her temperature down to an acceptable range, that Alyra realized why she hadn't met very many worshippers of Syna; the sun goddess's affection was deadly! Of course, this didn't change her disposition towards the divine being. It did, however, give her insight as to why so many moved out of Eyktol, Syna's most loved land. It was so petchin' hot there, not even Alyra would move there to be closer to Syna.

As the redheaded woman awkwardly introduced herself, Alyra smiled."Alia," The Eth repeated before laughing. Alia, Alyra, Alia, Alyra... The similarity was amusing, and, to those outside the pair, probably a little confusing. "Well met, Alia. I'm Alyra. And I'm really sorry for...you know," Alyra emphasized with a shrug followed by a casual gesture towards Alia's legs. "Trampling you. I'm not really that familiar with Riverfall."

Being in the city for only six days, Alyra often found herself tripping over the locals. Though this time was more literal than the others, they were the same in essence: awkward, confusing, and fairly annoying. The other day she had to question many locals just to get simple directions to The Sanctuary. Once she had those directions, she then almost trampled an Akalak boy. Thankfully, the "child" was built like a rock already and was able to deflect her. Nevertheless, Alyra found that she was becoming more of pain in Riverfall's neck than anything else.

"Do you live here, or are you visiting?" Alyra inquired. Since her mind was already on the topic of Riverfall residence, she figured she might as well fill the air with some pleasantries. If both women were going to be sitting there, then Alyra would at the very least find a decent place to find some clothes more suitable for the weather.

Words: 354

[Alia Beaudouin]

The woman seemed very relieved, regardless of if it was because of the shade or because Alia wasn’t mad at her. Considering her earlier actions, it seemed to be because of the shade. Several more moments of silence ensued after Alia stopped talking, as the woman seemed to be organizing her thoughts well enough to form a sentence. Alia didn’t push for conversation, as, after all, she didn’t know if the woman had hit her head on the tree when she fell. In any light, neither of them were exactly in the best mind.

Finally, after what seemed like bells of silence, the woman spoke, repeating Alia’s name, laughing at it. Was there something wrong with her name? Yes, the woman had definitely hit her head when she had fallen. Staring awkwardly at the woman, Alia wondered if she should walk away now, or perhaps get her medical attention.
”Well met, Alia. I’m Alyra. And I’m really sorry for… you know.”

That must have been why the woman- Alyra- was laughing. Alia and Alyra, the names were practically the same if you switched out some of the letters. Laughing softly at the similarity once she understood it, Alia shook her head at the woman’s apology.
”No, no. As I said earlier, it was an accident.” Wondering about how long exactly the woman had been in Riverfall, Alia thought back to when she first moved to the new city. She had met the first few people she became friends with by straight up running them over. It hadn’t been the greatest start, but it led to fine relationships.

Answering Alyra’s questions with ease, Alia did the math in her head. She had come to Riverfall last year, near her birthday, so it had to have been summer of 513. Which, if it was, she would’ve been here for a full year, give or take.
”I’m not visiting… I mean, I live here, been here for… Four seasons, now, nearly five. A full year.”

Alyra didn’t ask any more questions, so when Alia finished her question the conversation died off again, leaving awkward silence in it’s place. Standing up and solemnly brushing the dirt off her clothes, an idea had occurred to her. Sitting here wasn’t helping much, so why not return to walking about? This time, with a friend?
Smiling at Alyra, Alia put out her hand to help her up.
”If you’d like, you could join me as I stumble aimlessly around the Bazaar.”

She still needed to find a map, and Alyra had to be here for a reason, so why not fulfill both needs? After all, it would be useful having a second set of eyes looking around for what they needed. Heading back towards the more densely populated part of the bazaar, Alia looked around at the wares. It seemed they was just clothing here, clothing, clothing, a crowd, and more clothing. Maybe the stall that was blocked by the crowd held maps?

Making idle conversaion as the odd pair strolled towards the stall, Alia decided it was her turn to ask questions. "So... I'm sorry if this comes out as rude, but..." Motioning towards Alyra’s head, she tried to find the right words, but quickly failed. Sighing at her word choice, she continued. ”...You have horns.”

Great execution, Alia. Of course she has horns, you just wanted to know why. That was not the right way to say it.

”Well, I mean… Of course you have horns, but… Why?”
That hadn’t been much better, but at least she didn’t sound like a total moron. Then again, it seemed that both Alyra and Alia had already achieved moron status in each other’s eyes. She didn’t have much less to lose. She had already racked her brain for any knowledge of a horn-baring race, to no avail. That left only one option: Asking.

Embarrassed at her utter failure at social interaction, Alia cast her eyes towards the stall covered with bazaar-goers. They were like moths drawn to a flame, bored, hot, citizens see something exciting, they flock to it. Then again, from her interest, that made Alia a moth too. Smiling at the thought of being a moth, Alia let her thoughts wander, allowing Alyra a chance to respond.

[Alyra]

Alyra nodded as the woman answered her question. She felt slightly awkward, being the newbie of the two. At the same time, though, she was also glad that she'd tripped over a resident. Maybe now she'd be able to find what she was looking for in the market.

"Thanks, that'd be great." Alyra said with a smile. She grabbed Alia's hand, using their linked arms sort of like a rope. The Eth was grateful for the help; she had always been one of the more clumsier of her kind. Getting up off the ground never made her look more graceful, either. In fact, most times it made her look like a floundering fish.

As the two walked, Alyra wondered what brought Alia to the bazaar. It obviously wasn't the weather. If she simply enjoyed the marketplace, then she wouldn't consider perusing it the same thing as "stumbling aimlessly around." What, then, was she looking to buy? As Alyra looked over at the woman, it didn't appear that she needed clothes more suited for the heat. Besides, a year-long resident of Riverfall would be prepared for the heat. Perhaps a weapon, or some trinket? Alyra went to ask, but Alia beat her to the punch.

"I'm one of Syna's fallen," Alyra was used to explaining the bizarre adornments. There weren't many of her kind in the world, so her arrival was often met with shocked looks. "An Ethaefal. We all have these horns, but I don't really know why." Alyra shrugged. It was a good question. She never really thought about her horns, they were just there. Just like a human doesn't question why their hand is attached to their body, an Ethaefal didn't question their horns. "I've always had them, though they didn't become solid until I was reborn."

Alyra shrugged as they moved towards a growing crowd. Much like the one around the leather stall, this crowd buzzed with excitement. People shuffled and shoved, pushing each other to get to the front. Groups talked in hushed, hurried voices, as if they were afraid their conversation would jump to prying ears.

The crowd had already caught Alia's attention, and Alyra's curiosity had been piqued. The Eth nodded toward the stall, and entered the fringe of the group. Immediately, her body was swallowed by the gathering. Strangers pressed against Alyra, pushing and pulling at her absentmindedly. The woman folded over, and pulled her bag to her chest. Though she wasn't too keen on violence, Alyra occasionally shoved a patron away from her.

It took a few long ticks, but Alyra eventually made it to the front. She stood up straight, smiling a victorious grin. When she found the center of all the attention, however, her smile fell from her face.

A body...a real dead body.

Alyra's jaw dropped, and her hand flew up to cover her face. The heat of the day was cooking the body. Alyra had no idea how long ago this person had perished, but it smelt like they'd been marinating in a trash dump for days. Her fingers clasped around her nose in an attempt to block the smell.

"Alia," Alyra coughed through her hand. She looked around quickly for her new companion, but her attention was pulled back to the body in a matter of short ticks. It was addicting to look at. She didn't want to look, but it was mesmerizing. That, however, didn't mean it didn't scare the woman. Death didn't scare Alyra, but looking at its aftereffects up close was daunting. She coughed to Alia one more time, not wanting to stand there alone anymore. "Alia, come here."

Words: 606

[Alia Beaudouin]

How hard was it to get through a crowd? Really, it was only a wall of people, couldn’t they step aside for one tick?
Sighing, Alia tried another way around. She still couldn’t see what was going on, she simply wasn’t tall enough to see over the crowd, and yet couldn’t seem to get through. Curiosity ripped at her mind. What had caused all this commotion?

Whatever it was the crowded stall was selling, it was selling fast. It seemed as if the whole bazaar had converged on the one miniature shop, itching to see the stall. Quickly checking if Alyra was still behind her, Alia began gently pushing her way through the crowd, knowing she was being a bit rude, but still apologizing for doing so. Countless Sorry’s and Excuse me’s were exchanged.

Unfortunately, it seemed ticks after she checked on Alyra, the Eth- That was what she had called herself, wasn’t it?- had disappeared. Alia sighed once more. She’d find the girl after she found out what the hai was going on. It wasn’t as if Alyra was a child, Alia didn’t need to watch over her. Then again, she didn’t want to lose the friend she had just met.

As she got closer to the front, Alia realized that the ocean of people she was weaving through was getting taller. And more… Colorful.
The majority of people seemed to be Akalaks, and armed ones at that. What were guards doing at the bazaar? Had something happened? Was the stall owner being arrested, for whatever reason?

From just farther forward through the crowd, Alia heard a soft voice.
”Alia,”
Even with the commotion, Alia could tell it was Alyra’s voice, and she was calling her name. Quietly calling, timidly, she almost sounded scared. Her voice increased in urgency the second time she called.
”Alia, come here.”

What was it? And how did Alyra manage to get through the crowd? Smiling, Alia thought she would have to ask Alyra to teach her the skill of crowd-weaving. A useful skill, on days like these.

Almost running right into a large, red man, Alia hurried on to find Alyra. Finally, a flicker of bright color above the crowd caught her eye. Alyra’s horns. They certainly were useful, at least for finding each other. Mizahar had many strange sorts of people, but it seemed Ethaefal were the only one with horns. Alia made a mental note to ask Alyra more about her race later. She knew she was being a bit rude, but curiosity won over that feeling.

Finally reaching Alyra, Alia tapped her shoulder, smiling at the fact that the pair had made it through. The smile was quickly wiped from her face, though, when she saw Alyra’s look of disgust, fear, and curiosity, all rolled into one. Whispering quietly, Alia tried to comfort her friend, but only got halfway through her sentence before realizing what it was that had spooked Alyra.

”Alyra, what is it? What’s wro-”
Alia found out for herself what exactly was wrong when her eyes fell upon what everyone else must have been looking at. A body, a real, sentient body, or at least the body of something that had been sentient, was lying in the space where Alia had thought there was a stall. Covering her mouth much as Alyra had, Alia stared in shock at the rotting corpse. Or at least it seemed to be rotting. How long had it been there?

It seemed the summers’ heat had ruined the body, distorted it like water over an oil painting. Alia couldn’t even tell it… Their race, nevermind gender. One thing she could tell was that it wasn’t Akalak, as the skin was much to pale to be the bright blue, red, or green of the Akalak. Then again, the sun might have bleached that too.

While disgust rippled through her body, curiosity ran through Alia’s mind. Who was this person? Who had killed them? How had they died? When had they died? Had they been killed in the bazaar, or was the body dumped there? So many questions, swimming through her mind like fish she couldn’t catch. One thought led to another, and eventually she was brought back to reality, staring at the body once more.

Gasping for air through her hand, Alia grabbed Alyra’s arm, suddenly feeling light-headed. She had never seen a body before, especially not one this grotesque. It was a horrible first experience, and though curiosity of who the corpse was distracted her, she managed to drag herself back through the crowd, taking Alyra by her arm.

”What the hai was that?”

[Alyra]

Alyra felt a strange sense of paranoia. She wanted to look around, just to make sure that something wasn't creeping around to steal her life too. Would it be so hard for the divine being in charge of death to sweep her away when they had easily swept away a Riverian not too long ago? Alyra didn't think so, and that made her uneasy.

Wrapping her arms around her chest, Alyra tried to pull her eyes away. Her curiosity anchored her attention to the body, however. She wanted to know why, how, who...if there even was a who. They could have tripped and hit their head, right?

"I don't know," Alyra shook her head as Alia pulled her from the crowd. She held onto Alia for balance as her mind overflowed with different scenarios. "I don't know."

"Does this happen often?" Alyra looked at Alia. She hadn't learned much about Riverfall before deciding to move there. For all she knew, the residents enjoyed this sort of thing. That would explain the crowd, at least. "In Riverfall, I mean?"

Words: 179

OOCSorry for such a short response...I'm short on time, and I just wanted you to get a response.

[Alia Beaudouin]

Alia was still in a state of shock, her face still white. She could still see glimpses of the body, a severed hand, a decomposing foot, in her mind, or even, through gaps in the crowd. It was quite disconcerting, knowing that someone had died there recently. It was evident that a sense of dread overwhelmed all other feeling in the crowd. It was that sudden realization that everyone was going to die someday, somehow. Some might go earlier, some later, but they were all going to end up dying, one way or another. One day, the would end up like whatever poor soul was lying, dead, in the bazaar.

Alia hadn’t experienced much death in her life, as she was very much an introverted child. She hadn’t been social enough to meet any friends, nevermind meet, interact with, and mourn the loss of. She had never known anyone who had… Passed on.

Turning to Alyra, Alia saw the shocked and disgusted look on her face, not unlike her own. It seemed the woman was attempting to make sense of what had happened, even with the limited information given. Alia hadn’t even seen the head of the corpse, as she had only gotten glimpses of it, even when they were in the front. She was curious about it, no doubt, but, looking over once again at Alyra’s face, drained of color, Alia didn’t think it was the best idea to go back and see the corpse.

In fact, it seemed Alyra was getting worse by the tick, mumbling something as Alia pulled her from the crowd. Her eyes were still wide, and her face still pale, but she know grabbed onto Alia for balance, even though Alia could barely stand herself.

Pushing the thoughts of the body as far as she could from her mind, Alia tried to help Alyra s best she could. She felt a certain inkling to take charge of the situation, even if there wasn’t much she could do. Alia led the pair back over to the tree where they had first met, or rather, fallen. The shade had receded a bit, as nearly fifteen chimes had passed, but there was still enough shadow to shelter the two women. Once they were both laying underneath the tree, Alia allowed herself a moment of break.

She sighed heavily, closing her eyes and absorbing what had happened. She was still shaking with shock, fear, and adrenaline, but the tremors had long since died down. As they sat under the tree, Alyra began talking once again, her face, this time, unreadable. It was a surprising question, asking about how often death happened. Alia almost responded with all the time, before she realized exactly what Alyra was saying.

”No… No, Riverfall… Riverfall is always so happy, so light… I mean, there’s always festivals, parties, good people, good people, I promise…”
She was tripping over her words once again, trying to reassure her friend but failing miserably at it.
”Riverfall… This never happens. That’s why there’s so many people here, they don’t see this often. I bet half of them don’t even know what’s going on…”

Could Alia really make that bet? Sure, so far, she had only met good people, but how could she guarantee there wasn’t any evil in the city? Of course there were bad people, people who did… This. She didn’t want to scare Alyra away from the city, but it was true.

”There’s no perfect city, Alyra… There’s no city without crime, murder, death, disease… There’s always going to be bad people in the world, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Alia paused for a moment, thinking over what she had said before continuing. ”You can never win with Mizahar, there’s always going to be evil, you just have to learn to work around it.”

There was a shift in the crowd, as if it was parting for something. Alia couldn’t quite see what for, yet, but she could see that there were some pretty burly guards coming their way. It seemed the Kuvay’Nas had arrived, and were beginning crowd control, pushing people back and inspecting the body. Soon, it would appear as if nothing had ever happened at that booth, though the images were burned into Alia’s mind forever.

Once the crowd parted completely, Alia could see that a group of Akalaks were transporting the body, supposedly so the public stopped panicking over it. They didn’t do too well of a job, though, as the transportation of the body just caused more people to catch sight of it. And, Alia could see, they were coming right for the pair of women.

Alia didn’t exactly want a second viewing of the body, so, while she knew the Kuvay’Nas were doing their jobs, she also knew that it was just going to indent the image of the body farther into her mind. Unfortunately, she couldn’t look away. As the body passed by, it was mostly blocked from view, though right when they were closest, the men carrying the corpse jolted to the right, causing the decaying head to swing wildly, landing so it was staring straight at Alia and Alyra. And as if that wasn’t creepy enough, the eyelids had fallen open with the jolt.

Alia’s face paled as the long-dead, glassy eyes met hers. It was the most disturbing yet attention-grabbing thing she had ever seen. What was even worse, though, was that the eyes were not a full, glassy white, as corpses usually had. The pupils were still wide, as if in shock, and they were far from human eyes. They were blood red.

[Alyra]

Alyra wasn't traumatized. She would be able to sleep that night. She just felt . . . weird. It felt like the aftermath of a distant family member dying. It was sad, yes, but it mostly felt like a joke. Alyra didn't know the person enough to be brought down by their death, but she still didn't feel like they were dead. It felt like a joke.

Alyra stood next to Alia, but she was not with the woman. Her mind was somewhere else. In Sunberth, she had come across a few dead bodies, or bodies that were just barely clinging to life. Granted, the majority of those were the bodies of dead fish, but it felt the same. She had looked into the eyes of something freshly dead, that had been swimming peacefully not but five chimes beforehand. The woman had touched once-living creatures, expecting them to respond with shock. Obviously, that never happened. That didn't change Alyra's expectations. She didn't believe that person was dead. Nobody had poked it, they couldn't be sure.

Alia pulled Alyra back to their tree, and Alyra let her. Her mind was far away, and it was much easier for someone else to steer her body. As Alia spoke, Alyra just nodded. Her body sank to the ground as she tried to both listen to Alia and rationalize what she had seen.

"I came from Sunberth." Alyra said when Alia finished. It was supposed to be an explanation, a statement, a conversation starter, a silence-filler, anything. Alia seemed to be the person who got over things with words, and Alyra wanted to offer words to help her along.

"There were a lot of...things there." Alyra struggled to find the proper wording. She'd be lying if she said Sunberth was filled with dead bodies just laying around, and that she saw plenty of death. She also felt like she would be lying if she left it at "things." "Visually abrasive things, I mean."

From the fringe, Alyra could see the crowds parting. Good. Help is here. Alyra felt better knowing that "professionals" were handling the situation, even if those professionals had as much experience with killings as any other riverian. Alyra did not, however, feel better when the professionals brought the dead man near them. Alyra kept her eyes on Alia for as long as she could, but soon curiosity got the better of her when Alia's face paled. Alyra glanced up, meeting eyes with the dead man. She immediately regretted looking up.

It's a fish. Pretend it's a fish. Fish aren't important, fish don't matter when they die. Alyra chanted in her head. Sadly, her childish mind games wouldn't work. No matter how much she tried, she wouldn't be able to write of this image. Fish don't have blood red eyes.

"Maybe that's how he looked before?" Alyra offered after a few moments of silence. The body had been carried out of sight, thankfully. The image of that face, those glassy eyes, the drooping skin...it stayed. "Maybe his people just are ugly die-ers. He could have just died of old age, and gotten really, really, really, ugly afterwards. He lived a happy life, and his death just is...ugly."