Closed Chance Encounters (Irriari)

[Alea Davenport]

89th Winter, 514

Alea had been kept at the NHC much later than usual today. It was toward the end of the season, when people were settling accounts, and they'd needed every hand to search records and file paperwork. It had been tedious, and mentally exhausting, but at least it was a break from scrubbing floors.

In any case, it was already dark by the time she was sent home. It was not so late that she was falling asleep; it was just that the sun set early this time of year. She'd already missed dinner though, and so she was sprinting as fast as she could along the canals, hoping to make it back before the table scraps were thrown into the lake.

She had been taking this route long enough to know that it was one of the shorter ways home, but she wasn't sure she liked it. The first part was okay, even though she had to go all the way to the far end of one platform to find a bridge to the next, which was a shop filled with--ugh--books. Then, instead of going in a relatively straight line, she had to dash ALL the way around the C-shaped cluster of floating buildings. She was panting by the time she reached the fighter pits, but she pushed herself even faster to get past them. Too many reasons she didn't want to think about them.

She was running past the Nitrozian Estate now. She could see it, just across the canal, but the land route involved two more bridges. She was so hungry... and tired now too. Indecision gripping her, she angled herself towards the canal, getting ready to jump.

[Irriari]

OOCSorry it's bad, I promise it will get better. I'm tired and in a rut. Please don't hate meeee. Irriari found herself wandering the bridges and canals of Ravok. With no destination in mind, she wandered aimlessly, glaring fiercely at any passerby who dared to do anything other than look away in her presence. The last few nights had been filled with failure. Her shielding abilities seemed to be going backwards and her latest attempt at harvesting eels had broken her net and her a large portion of her pride. This is why the zith had slaves, after all. Harvesting anything more than her well known poison reagents took vast quantities of patience and skill, neither of which the zith was known for. Finding a slave in Ravok was more difficult than she imagined. When she learned of the tolerant attitude towards keeping slaves, the zith thought that it would be easier. Few merchants would sell to her, as they didn’t want their reputation tarnished. There were plenty of human buyers that would pay the same coin. Two bells of walking the canals of Ravok had left the zith utterly bored. The boredom was of an atypical sort that propelled the citizenry to start temporary riots in the streets. It seeped into her bones and the recesses of her mind that weren’t otherwise preoccupied. The boredom demanded action, violence, and doing. It didn’t matter what was done, so long as something saved her from the crushing ache that came with living each day with little variation. Irriari was deep in thought, deciding whether she wanted to spend the rest of her night at the House of Immortal Pleasures or the Silver Sliver. Neither option sounded palatable in the least. As she began to pivot on her heel to continue her trek, a human girl ran past, her breaths coming in deep gasps as she sprinted by. A few seconds confirmed what the zith had hoped for. No one was chasing the girl- yet. She had free reign to begin her own hunt without worrying about some other human claiming her prize. Irriari took flight, pushing her feet deep into the canal street in an attempt to make the ascent quicker. It took a few seconds for her wings to catch up, but when they did, she was airborne, flying alongside the human girl but above the buildings. If the girl was observant, she might notice the shadow that was being painted across the building walls to her left. Irriari kept the girls pace well, but not without some effort. Her shoulders and back ached at the effort to maintain the grueling pace. It almost seemed as if the girl had begun to run faster. Did she know she was being followed? The girl didn’t bother to look back, her eyes were pointed directly ahead to the vast Nitozian estate. As the girl readied herself to jump the distance between the canal edges, the zith dove downward, intent on landing directly next to the girl. She spiraled slightly at the speed of the descent knowing that if the girl managed to jump the canal she would be within shouting distance of the guards that patrolled the estate. It would ruin the hunt. The zith touched down none too quietly, her boots hitting the canal hard as the shockwaves from the impact rippled through her calves and thighs. She appraised the human for a moment. The chase had been far too short for her liking. The girl hadn’t fallen to the ground out of breath and spent to the point that she could barely breathe. As far as hunts went, this one was hardly worth speaking of. She would simply have to alter her plan to make it more interesting. “Why do you run? Do you think that sprinting will save you from the bad things on the streets of Ravok? Surely you wouldn’t be so stupid.”

[Alea Davenport]

OOCUnderstandable, and I can work with it

Alea was not quite silly enough to believe she could jump a canal wide enough to fit two ravosalas comfortably. But she suspected that swimming across would be faster than running around, and she didn't much care what the other slaves would think of her coming in wet, as long as she got to eat.

Just as she was about to jump, a loud thump sounded right next to her. She was so startled, she tripped and tumbled right into the canal! "Waaaah!" she cried, covering the words the other spoke. She managed a gasp of breath right before she hit the water.

It only took, a couple of tick for her to breach the surface again. The lake was calm, and she had not gone under very far. She sucked in another big breath, and grabbed the foundation of the buildings she fell from, to get her bearings.

She glanced briefly up at the person who'd interrupted her, then toward the estate. Could she still make it in time? Or had she been too late for bells alreadt? She looked again toward the person who apparently thought talking was more important than eating--and her eyes widened, before narrowing into an expression not unlike hate.

It took all of her self-control not to attack on sight. (Being stuck in the water helped.) It's not the same one! she insisted to herself. It hasn't done anything yet! Giving up on the idea of getting even scraps of Nitrozian dinner tonight, she said with a sneer, "Oh no, it's one of you. What do you want?"

Just then, she felt slimy scales brush past her leg. On impulse, she dove down into the water, trying to grab the fish. She was too slow this time though; she had not been ready and the fish had been warned by her twitching. She could see the smug thing swimming away; it wasn't hard to see through Ravok's clear waters.

Alea resurfaced to converse with the Zith, but she held very still, and kept her eyes on the water below. "You cost me my chance at dinner, I'll have you know," she said quietly, still focused on the lake. "Are you going to make up for it, or are you wasting my time?"

[Irriari]

The girl tumbled forward and fell into the water none too gracefully. Irriari enjoyed toying with the easily startled ones. They proved to be weak willed, most of the time. If they couldn’t handle a loud noise or something suddenly appearing in their line of sight then they would likely panic at the first hint of combat. The weakness seeped into the rest of them as well. Their words were uttered without confidence, they moved like startled rabbits in the brush. It served her purposes well enough and the zith allowed herself a moment to savor the reaction. This was what she lived for. Poisons and shielding were simply distractions from her true purpose. Adrenaline flooded through her veins as she watched the girl flail under the water. Much to her disappointment, the girl could swim. The girl would be trapped in the canal for a bit longer if the zith’s luck held. It felt good to be staring down to someone for once. The girl surfaced and Irriari smiled cruelly at her, waiting for a reply to her question. A reply wasn’t in the cards. The girl bobbed down into the water again, paying no attention to Irriari. Infuriated at this display, the zith decided to up the stakes on the game. Finally, the girl replied. It wasn’t an answer to her original question, but it worked all the same. The girl holding onto the canal edge disliked her people. It was perfect. “Cost you your chance at dinner? How sad.” The zith laughed and continued speaking. “Make up for it? Do you not see my wings, human? Do you think I’m going to take you out to a nice dinner and tell you how pretty you are? You aren’t even attractive compared to my last slave, you know. No. I intend to play with you until you’re shaking and begging me to stop. Maybe I’ll chase you some more. Maybe I’ll poison you. I haven’t really decided. At the end of the night, I want you afraid of every shadow in the city, and I promise you that I’ll get you there. I have nothing but time.” The girl was pretty enough, but it never hurt to insult them. How many times had humans called her a monstrosity? They were the disgusting ones. They served no purpose other than to be culled at will or taken into slavery. The hunt was fun enough, and she awaited the girls answer. Irriari hoped she wouldn’t break too quickly. The night was young.

[Alea Davenport]

The Zith was speaking words, but Alea didn't see what any of them had to do with her. She had no need to look pretty, since there was no one at the moment she wanted to look pretty for. Well, maybe someone, maybe, but it certainly wasn't this Zith. And being pretty took way too much work; she didn't have time for all that when she was busy jumping into canals. Playing sounded more fun anyway.

It did finally penetrate her brain that the Zith had a pretty high opinion of itself. It apparently didn't realize that Alea had tangled with Zith before, and had come out...well, not unscathed, but there had been extenuating circumstances then which were not present now.

Alea smirked and said snidely, "I bet you can't even swim, much less catch a fish. What a waste of time, you're too useless to be anything but a bother. I guess dinner is up to me tonight." She felt a little bad about taunting the Zith. It was a little mean, and worse, it was pointless. Alea was just lashing out because she'd had a bad day. It didn't even make her feel better, the way hitting something might have. She decided to go back underwater before her guilty feelings caught up with her.

Normally it would never have occurred to her to snatch dinner from the lake, but now, talking to the Zith, she was no longer Alea, slave of Ravok. Shae had once again become Alea Davenport, reckless scion of Denval. Besides, she was hungry, and she was getting tired of being hungry and not doing anything about it.

She dove back into the water, holding her breath and looking around for the fish. She half-expected the Zith to tackle her from behind, and she tensed up to prepare for retaliation.

[Irriari]

OOCWhen you mentioned Alea’s feelings catching up with her, I could only imagine a ball of feelings chasing her as she chased fish. Irriari watched the girl floating on the surface of the water, talking as calmly as if she was discussing the clothes she wanted from her handmaid after she retired from her bath. It bothered the zith more than she could put into words. Few would dare to be so openly arrogant in the presence of a zith that had marked them as a target. The girl was either stupid or recklessly daring. Irriari peered at the girl, allowing herself a moment to etch the human’s features into her memory. Her hair was a sandy brown color that cascaded down far past her shoulders. The style wasn’t popular in Ravok, and the coloring was slightly different than the brown haired natives of Ravok. Her eyes were an alluring hazel—shifting from brown at the center to a deep green further from her irises. The dual coloration was rare in Ravok, or perhaps it was simply rare everywhere. The colony had never had a slave with such features. It was a pity that she hadn’t stumbled upon the girl at the slave market. The girl began speaking and the zith listened intently, hoping for that slight tremor in her voice that indicated the timid beginnings of fear. Her voice held nothing of the sort. She spoke with the strong, confidant air of a soldier. The girl taunted her from the canal, daring Irriari to jump into the water. The zith laughed. The girl was more feisty than she had thought. It would make terrifying her all the more fun. “It doesn’t matter if I can swim, human. I can always wait till you surface. You have to leave the canal at some point. I’m sure someone is waiting for you. I can wait forever. I belong to no one.” Soon after she finished speaking, Irriari watched the girl dive back under the surface. She was just as irksome as the damn fish she was trying to catch. Irriari sighed and waited. The longer the girl kept her waiting, the longer the zith had to devise a way to break her.

[Alea Davenport]

"Oh reeeeally?" Alea eyed the Zith with some amusement. So it was to be a waiting game then? She wasn't sure what a Zith's patience was like, but she got the feeling the taunt was meant to drive her out of the water...which meant it would be all the more irritating if she stayed.

She got right to work, using the excuse to ignore the Zith so she could concentrate on the fish. The Zith had made it pretty clear that she would not be coming into the water after Alea, which gave her plenty of time to focus. She was determined to catch this fish, even if it took all night. And then...if the Zith still wanted to play? Well, Alea could use the exercise.

She turned her attention away from the Zith, and carefully dipped her face below the water, trying not to make the slightest ripple. She could see a small off in the distance, but it did not seem inclined to come closer. Slowly, she lowered on hand into the lake, using the other to keep hold of the floating foundation. She wiggled her smallest finger, hoping to catch the interest of the fish. She didn't wiggle it for too long at once, just for about a tick. Then she'd stop for several more ticks, and wiggle again at regular intervals. Every chime or so, she pulled her head up ever so slightly to take a breath.

It was at least a quarter of a bell before the skittish fish got within grabbing range. She reached out for it, but it was too far away from her arm, which moved too slowly through the water. The growing darkness wasn't helping either. The fish darted easily away, and she never even came close to touching it. Alea surfaced to breathe, waiting for the churning water to still. Then she tried again.

Alea easily passed two bells this way, having all but forgotten the presence of the Zith. The nearby Nitrozian household was going to bed, with only a few late-night candle-lit windows disturbing the shadows on the lake. But Alea saw none of it, with her head underwater. The fish was inches from her hand, which was cupped in a grabbing position.

Come on, fishy fish, just a few more ticks. She gave her finger a slight wiggle. She fish darted forward with interest. Not close enough; she'd fallen for that before. She kept absolutely still as the fish investigated further, even though her lungs were burning for air. Come on! So close...Now! With the fish so close to nibbling her finger she could feel it's mouth, she grabbed with her grabbing hand. It darted away, but not quite fast enough! She caught its tail tightly in her fist, and she refused to let go! She burst from the water, sucking in breath even as she held the fish up triumphantly to be suffocated.

"Aha!" she yelled, "Dinner!" Remembering the events prior to her fishing challenge, she checked to see if the Zith had bothered to stick around.

OOCAlea's a finger wiggler!