Tell Me A Story (Dawn)

by **Zhol** on December 6th, 2014, 2:53 pm

|.6th Winter, 514 AV

It was called the Storyteller's Well, or so Zhol had been told: an eight sided depression - square, with the corners cut off; Zhol wasn't entirely sure what the name of that shape was supposed to be, especially not in Nari - that descended by steps into the floor of the Enclave. Though only intended to be used in the evenings, Zhol couldn't recall ever seeing it completely empty: there was always a cluster of Yasi receiving a lesson; a few clusters Chiet chatting away, making the most of their limited time off to catch up with their friends; the occasional musician nervously practising for a performance that had been scheduled.

It was the evening stories that gave the Well its name, though: that was when the Yasi would congregate, and a teacher, or volunteer, or misbehaving student would sit in the centre, and share a story with the rest of Wind Reach's young. It was those times that Zhol encountered the Well most often, hiding as out of view as he possibly could without being out of earshot. Fortunately for him, there was something almost magical in the way the Well was designed: no matter where you stood, you could always hear the storyteller as clearly as if they were stood right at your side.

The stories were, of course, in Nari the vast majority of the time: but that was why Zhol was here. Learning Nari - learning so that he could say things to Khara without language getting in the way - was by his estimation the single most difficult thing he had ever done. Traversing all of Kalea to arrive at Wind Reach had been less arduous, and at this point had taken less time and yielded considerably more success. He tried his best to learn in private, borrowing the simplest of children's story books and learning materials so that the words would not be so complex; troubling Drusilla for translations of the words he didn't understand, so that he wouldn't have to embarrass himself even more in front of Khara; but there were times when written words and those spoken with the interesting twists of a Symenos accent just weren't enough. There were times when his only resort was coming here, standing as far out of sight as he could, and immersing himself fully in a tale intended for children in the hopes that his fragmented knowledge would understand enough of the words for him to glean the meaning.

Today was better than others. Sometimes, standing here was disheartening, compounding how little he knew; but today, it felt as if he understood far more than he ever had. There were times when he wasn't quite sure if a word was a name or just some description his understanding couldn't translate, but he understood the premise: a tale of Sylirans and Svefra, of swordplay and subterfuge, of a man out to avenge the death of his father, and a stable boy in love with a beautiful princess. That last part struck a chord, and lingered in his mind; he wondered if Khara knew the story, and if the stable boy's words would have the same effect on her.

Despite persistent interruptions from an impertinent youth, the storyteller finally finished his tale, and Zhol joined in enthusiastically with the Yasi's appreciative applause. He stared at the cover of the book that the storyteller held, burned the name into his mind, and made a mental note to try to borrow a copy next time he came to the Enclave to borrow more books.

As the well began to empty, he stepped back a little into the Enclave's maze of books, hiding himself from notice, and waiting patiently for his opportunity to escape. Having to explain why an adult outsider was lurking around at children's story time was a level of embarrassment that Zhol did not want to have to contend with.

by **Dawn Katayama** on December 7th, 2014, 7:58 pm

The Enclave was a haven of knowledge, filled with secrets of the lands that existed beyond Wind Reach. The little fox found comfort in a library where she could roam around and pick whatever she liked. There was always a new opportunity, whether it was a new book or possibly a new friend - it was a haven for her. Micquel had immersed in books where she would learn her future and what was to come. Though many found it odd that the active fox could sit down for more than an hour in order to read. Normally she would be out and about, either doing something for her apprenticeship or for the Learning Gallery. Living in the moment and keeping busy kept her brain going - initially being the only thing that kept her together. But it was reading that allowed to take a moment to breathe and soak in everything for one moment before she went off again. Everything seemed to move so fast that she forgot about things such as reason or just thinking.

Nights like these were the most enticing: Yasi and Chiet would come together in excited whispers to hear of stories of people falling in love or going on courageous adventures. Each story was different from another and that's what made the Storyteller's Well the place to be. It didn't matter how old you were or if you couldn't understand it because either way - you could feel the magic. As the speaker recited the words from a meaningless paper, he or she was able to paint a picture for everything in the room. And as Dawn sat in her seat each time, goosebumps would rise up her arms like a snake coiling around its prey.

As a result, another night had come and Dawn was on her way towards the Enclave with a spring in her step. In the hallway, she easily weaved through the incoming Inartans coming back from a long day of work. After passing the large crowd, she had found herself entering the Enclave and making her way towards the Storyteller's Well. The murmur of young voices filled the octagonal room, as a man spoke of a stable boy and a beautiful princess. A smile made its way onto the little foxes face as she made her way down the steps and delved into the crowd.

As the story-teller spoke, Dawn couldn't help but ponder: If the world were a simple place, she could know all the answers to all her questions in life. For instance, why couldn't the stable boy and princess be together? It was their decision and it shouldn't be fate who decided it for them. Life was truly mysterious.

Breaking from her reverie, everyone erupted into enthusiastic applause and began to leave the Well. However, the Kelvic remained in her seat until everyone had left and she was completely alone. Looking around, Dawn made her way up the stairs and into the core of the Enclave. Though not looking where she was going, her small figure accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry. You'd think someone like me would know when someone is in front of them."

by **Zhol** on December 9th, 2014, 4:51 am

|.

Zhol had made a tactical error in where he'd chosen to hide himself and, while waiting for the kind of privacy he needed to escape discretely, he'd become distracted by the books on the shelf beside him. He only vaguely understood the Nari words etched onto the spines, and wasn't quite sure he was getting the proper meaning: Seducing the Rock didn't seem like a very likely title for a novel, but then so much about the Inarta was beyond his comprehension, so who knows. He had half a mind to slip it from the shelves and fumble through a few pages, curious to see just how much he would have been able to glean; but being bumped into made him snap his hand away in embarrassment, suddenly all too aware of how odd it must seem for a grown man to be lurking amongst the romance novels.

His mind fumbled for focus, processing what the young woman had said. She'd spoken Nari, and instantly the familiar mix of anxiety and guilt started dancing around in the pit of Zhol's stomach. Every time he struggled to understand the Inarta's native language, he felt like he was showing some sort of ingratitude towards the city's hospitality. He was an outsider after all, and every conversation that had to happen in the common tongue because of his shortcomings was another step further away from fitting in.

Still, his Nari was better than ever - not that improving on terrible was much of an achievement - and his mind had settled into the rhythm of it, his mental compendium of words and phrases already open to the right chapter thanks to the story he'd just heard. It had started with an apology, that was for certain, and there was something very familiar about it: something that reminded him of the way that Khara was always apologetically negative about herself. He took a best guess, reluctantly assuming that it was some apology for not seeing him, perhaps with a little twist of self blame. That was something he knew how to respond to.

Zhol let an easy smile flourish on his face, making sure it was as warm and genuine as it could possibly be. "You was not be seeing me, because I am on purpose hidden -"

Instantly his smile collapsed into a wince at how clunky the words were as they came out of his mouth. Even he knew that sounded hideously bad. He switched to Common, anxiously hoping that he wouldn't cause offence by doing do. Better that than forcing them to listen to him butchering their language, he hoped.

"I was hiding," he explained, trying to keep his words as simple as possible, just in case the young girl's Common was as bad as his Nari. "If you had seen me, I would not have been doing it very well."

Closed Tell Me A Story (Dawn)