What is it About Them? (Solo)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Summer 6, 515 AV The night was newly fallen, and unlike upon most others, Talya hadn't been given a true task for the night. As "seeing what needed doing, and what others were doing, and helping them with the doing of said aforementioned tasks," wasn't much of a task, she felt, especially when most people wanted to be left well enough alone, to do things on their own. Maybe it was an adult human thing, or maybe it had to do with the ego, but whatever the case, no one had wanted Talya's assistance with anything, so she was left to her own means. As such, Talya found a quiet corner of the forest, a little ways away from a newly constructed fire, which offered some light of the small, tree-free space she had found. None of the other travelers had claimed it either, so she thought it a safe place to set up her own small portion of the camp for the night. As such, she set her bag down against the nearest tree, and retrieved everything she would need to build her tent, and set it down upon the ground. When she was done, she plucked up two small portions of the support beams- one for each hand. She then put these together, before repeating the process with the others, until she had all she would need to make the frame of a tent. With everything resting on the ground nearby, Talya began to string the framework together. She made a large "X" with what she had, and bound it together with bits of small rope that had come with the tent. With this done, she then laced the canvas over the tent, so that it formed a shape akin to a dome, but also pyramid like. It was basically, some place in-between. From there, she took a wooden peg, and drove it into the ground with all of her strength. With a slightly larger piece of robe, she ran through the hole on the bottom of the northwestern corner of the canvas, and the hole at the top of the peg, before binding them together. She repeated this process with each corner of the tent, until she came out with a stabilized, if not slightly lopsided structure. Seeing as it was fairly dark now, she didn't care, and decided to move on to making her own small fire, just so she would have something nice and warm to sit by, even though she never felt cold. She thought it was something worth doing however, not only for practice, but because it seemed to make her more normal within the eyes of the others, and put them more at ease. Thus, Talya stepped into the thicket of trees, which was loosely illuminated by the moon's milky white light. She looked around the forest floor awhile, moving in slow circles until she found several small twigs she could use as kindling, and then a few larger branches that had been broken off the trees, either by old age or the elements that she could use as a frame for the kindling. General firewood, as it were. She plucked these off the ground one by one, moving around methodically until she felt as though she had gathered enough to produce a fire that would be large enough to keep her warm, but not so large that it would be to close to her tent, or the others, where it could cause a fire, if it didn't set the forest itself alight. Smiling to herself, she headed back to her lopsided tent, and the mass of people of the caravan, and set her firewood down beside her tent, before dry washing her hands and looking around at the ground for the perfect place to build a fire. When she felt as though she had found the perfect spot for her fire, Talya picked up a stick, and drew a circle in the dirt. This, she had learned, would help keep a fire from spreading if it got out of hand. It wasn't a very large circle, maybe two and a half feet at its widest points, or thereabouts. When she was finished, Talya dry washed her hands again, and took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. Hopefully, this wouldn't take long to finish, and she could look up at the stars afterward.

[Talya]

Talya began by easing her body into a kneel, at the outer edge of the circle she had drawn in the dirt. She took a deep breath, and then reached for two large branches, which were roughly the same size as one another. She pressed their points together, and then rest them against the ground, so that they formed a triangle with the dirt floor of the forest. She then pulled her hands away, and then watched as they wobbled a few times, before finally collapsing. They landed on the ground with a soft thud, that caused the Ethaefal to shake her head. Her hair swayed with the movement, tickling her skin as she picked the sticks up and tried again. This time, the pair stayed, and she was able to move onto the next set of sticks. These two were also roughly the same in size. As she had done before, she leaned them up against one another, and added them to the beginning of the frame she had been creating. Now, when everything was done, they formed a pyramid; one point resting in each of the four cardinal directions. She pulled her hands away, and realized that the structure was stable, and thus, grabbed another two sticks. These she placed carefully, beginning to fill in the empty spaces of her structure. Luckily they took, and she moved on. Unfortunately, she jerked her hand to the left to far with the next set, and knocked the structure over. Scratching the circle in the dirt. She sighed; she would have to start again. And so she did. Meticulously, slowly, Talya began setting up the structure again, until she had reached the same place as before. This time, when she placed the next stick, she made sure to be extra cautious about the way she set the piece down- taking note of where her arm was in space, where her fingers were, how slowly she set it down, how hard she pushed it into place against the frame, etc. She scarcely breathed as she did so, and let the next portion of the puzzle fall into place, ever so gently. The structure being more stable now, and held, and thus, Talya was about to continue after letting out the breath she had been holding in, until her lungs ached dully. She sighed in relief, as she picked up another few sticks, and continued filling in the structure. Which, a few minutes later, clearly formed a slightly lopsided teepee, with a small opening in the area closest to her. She took another deep breath, and then retrieved the kindling she had gathered. She picked it up off the ground in handfuls, and guided it slowly into the opening in the wooden teepee. She set everything she had gathered down on the ground, and then spread them out delicately, to the best of her ability, with her right pointer finger. Making sure that the ground was carpeted with kindling as evenly as possible. With this done, Talya retracted her hands and dry washed them, before retrieving her flint and steel from her pack. In her right hand, she chose to hold the steel, and in the left the flint. She held the flint closest to the site of the fire. The far end pointed downward, in a descending line that ran toward the opening of the teepee where the kindling was stored. She inched a little closer to the site of the fire, and then raised her steel a little higher, before bringing it down upon the flint. The pair clicked together lightly, before she brought the steel up again, and repeated the process. Nothing seemed to happen though- no sparks were produced, there wasn't even much of a build up of heat. But Talya relented, this time, making more of an effort to draw the steel down the length of her flint, as opposed to simply tapping it with it. This seemed to work better, for after a few more minutes, sparks began to form. Spitting bursts of light that extinguished themselves a few seconds after they had been made. None of them took to the kindling however, so Talya had to keep on trying until one finally did a few minutes after that. A thin line of flame erupting on the bottom of the kindling as she put her flint and steel away and then returned to the fire. Talya leaned her head against the ground, her hands bracing her as she watched the flame lick the underside of the twigs. Causing them to blacken and furl, as whatever leaves there were crackled and burst apart, before going up in smoke. Talya breathed lightly on the fire, fanning the flame until it grew. Flitting first through the spaces between each piece of kindling, before climbing even higher, and licking the underside of the sticks. Blackening the bark as it chipped away at it, and smoke began to trickle freely through the opening and into the night sky. Satisfied now that the fire wasn't about to go out any time soon, Talya backed away and straightened herself out. She dry washed her hands. She wasn't hungry, and wouldn't get that way in this form. It was nice sometimes, as it meant she had more time to do what she wanted; but it also meant that she didn't get to fit in as well with the masses, or socialize as much, as they ate and talked around there own fires. Oh well. With a sigh, Talya looked up at the sky, upon which the darkness had fully descended. She noticed a few thin, wispy looking clouds here and there, but mostly, the sky was clear. She could see the moon, a waxing gibbous now, hanging high within its deep, dark blue expanse, just as she could see a number of white and silver sparkling stars. Twinkling merrily, as they stood vigil over the earth far down below them. Talya breathed deep, she found she felt more at peace when she looked up at them. When she could find the constellations and recall their stories, as she planned to do now.

[Talya]

Talya scanned the sky for a few moments, before she came across a grouping of five stars known as Alinko. The constellation, if she recalled properly, (as it was one of those more abstract ones, where the viewer had no idea how the creator had come up with the shape and description), was supposed to be of a morning dove. It was said that the dove had a love for clovers. Especially four leaf ones, which were notorious for being rather difficult to find. It was said that Alinko spent many years flying all over Mizahar in search of a four leaf clover, but found none, and as such was forced to subsist upon three leaf clovers and whatever manner of other plants and bugs it could find to eat- berries, worms, caterpillars, mosquitoes, rose petals. Until one day, Alinko finally came across a four leaf clover while flying low over a small town. The clover was situated next to a small square building, but the overjoyed bird didn't think much of it, and instantly plucked the plant from the ground with its beak. It took a moment to study the leaves, and then with a shrug, ate the plant. It was the best clover it could remember eating, and spent several moments chewing and rejoicing over its prize, until a human came out of the little square building, (a house), and chased him away with angry waving fists and shouts in a language Alinko didn't recognize. Alinko took instantly to the sky, and was said to have never taken to the ground in the area again, or any ground at all, despite the times when he became hungry, as he was simply to frightened that he may encounter a human again, and be chased away. He flew so high, that he became one with the sky, and died from lack of oxygen, (or in other cases, of starvation), and was given a place in the sky after that. Talya began to scan the sky again, for several minutes. There didn't seem to be much of anything out tonight. Both dippers yes, and even what looked like it was Capricorn. As she kept on searching, she heard footsteps approaching, and then someone clearing their throat. Talya pulled her gaze away from the sky somewhat reluctantly, and found that a woman was standing before her. She was about five feet tall, and had a chubby sort of build. With big arms and legs and wide hips. Her skin was olive in tone, and her hair a dark black. Like midnight, although not quite as pure as that of Talya's mortal seeming. She had bright blue eyes and a button nose, and held her hands clasped behind her back, so that the fabric of her light green dress was pulled more tightly against her chest. "You seem to like the sky," the stranger began. Talya merely nodded, she wasn't so sure what else to do in such a situation as this. "You stare at it every night; I've seen you." Talya nodded again. "Why? What's so nice about it?" the woman asked. "Is jus'a bunch of stars and the moon. Always the same." Talya shook her head. "No it isn't. The moon waxes and wanes. Grows and then shrinks- changing shape from something as full and round as an orange, to a slender sliver. A crescent, like the most satisfied of smiles." She paused, "and as the world shifts, or perhaps, as we shift within it, the stars change. Sometimes you can see one constellation, and sometimes you can't. I think maybe they change with the seasons or something too," Talya shrugged. The woman's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?" she asked. Talya waved her over, and the woman took a seat beside her after making sure to tuck the skirt of her dress beneath her. Talya resumed her scan of the sky, and pointed at a constellation a few minutes later. "See?" she asked, as she pointed to a grouping of stars. "There's the big dipper," she then pointed a little higher at a star that shone very brightly. "And there's the north star," she explained, "but you can't always see them," she explained again before looking around and picking out another grouping of stars. A tight cluster of them really; seven in all. "See those?" she pointed, forcing the woman to follow the extension of her finger toward the stars and nod. "Those are called Amiel," she explained. "Like with most of the other constellations, there's a story behind her," she went on to explain. "If I remember correctly, Amiel was once a woman who was lauded for her beauty. It is said that men came from far and wide to look upon her form. It is said that women envied her, that they wished that they could be her, for when she was around, no man looked upon them." "It is said that when she came of age, many men wanted to marry Amiel; that suitors came from afar to offer her a large dowry in most cases, or simply, their affections in others. But for one reason or another, each man was turned down by Amiel's father, if not the girl herself," Talya explained before pausing a moment to catch her breath. "Amiel, having been so beautiful, never wanted for much during the course of her life. If she asked something be done, some boy would run to do it for her, and her parents furthermore, protected her beauty by forbidding her to go out and play with the other children most days, to help avoid her from being hurt. They forbid her from working on their farm, or helping with clean up. Doing the dishes, that sort of thing. It is said that all she knew how to do in the way of chores, was season food, mix the batter, and make beds. As such, Amiel remained uneducated, and thus unwise. Thus, by the time she came to be of age, she thought much of herself, as everyone had built her up onto a high pedestal. It came to the point that she would refuse the suitors, (as mentioned before, in part), because she felt herself better than them. So good, so virtuous, pure and beautiful, that she was better than every other woman of her time. Much prettier too." "Hearing this, a witch once came to Amiel's town from the next village to see Amiel for herself. She found the rumors of the girl known as Amiel to be true, and outraged, cursed her. She turned her into a sort of sunburst. But one that didn't shine. She was given a place later, upon her death, in the sky. She is said to be a warning to those who think to much of themselves. We believe that it is for this, that Amiel's light remains eternally dull." The stranger nodded. "Yes, yes," she muttered. "All well and good." Her stomach rumbled. "Hungry," she said, as she thanked Talya for the lesson and walked away. Saved by her stomach, Talya thought glumly as she watched the woman go. Amazed that her kind never seemed to have the patience or the interest she did in such things as the field of astronomy. That they never seemed to see the beauty in anything, and often, seemed to see most things as dull, or to commonplace to take much interest in, in any case. Talya sighed, it was no matter, for she loved them, and as such, she would endeavor to enjoy them to the best of her ability. She wouldn't let others get to her, as she looked back up at the sky, and did her best to enjoy the night. OOCJust in case it is unclear, all of the constellations in the thread, (at least the ones with their own story), are entirely made up. As Talya is a novice, I'm not so sure she would know much of anything about "real astronomy."

[Talya]

Talya scanned the sky again. She felt as though she had been looking for quite some time. But for what specifically, she wasn't entirely sure. Even so, she began to pick out a few more constellations. There was Virgo, and what looked as though it might have been Sagitarrius, but the edge of the constellation had always confused her. To her, it looked like another constellation known simply as prisma, and she was wont to confuse the two, as they had the same amount of stars, with one being farther to the left than the other. Which was really the only way you could tell them apart at all, unless of course, you considered the seasons, and when they were supposed to be visible. But again, even with this, the Ethaefal conveniently couldn't remember which was which, and with a shrug, decided to move on and keep on looking at all of the other stars that could be seen within the night sky. She kept on looking over the sky, picking the stars apart, until they were nothing more than little specks; a miasma of nothing. She tried to throw them together again, but this didn't seem to help much, and for awhile, the girl saw nothing further. However, with time and patience comes everything. This Talya knew, and as she persevered, the search gradually became easier, until she was able to discern another constellation. This one, she knew, was known as Cilasia, it was the depiction of a rare and beautiful flower. Its story, however, she couldn't quite remember. It was said, either, that the flower sat atop the highest hill in a great valley filled with several rolling rises. A valley covered in lush green grass, through with dandelions both aged and young, and wild strawberries grew. Cilasia was said to be the only flower that grew pink, and brightly so, and as such, could easily be seen from afar in a way the other plants could not be. People who lived upon the plains in small tribes, in little thatch huts, were said to admire the plant from afar. Never picking it because it was so beautiful. Years upon years went by with the people of the plains in silent agreement over this, until one day a young boy from one of the tribes went to pick the flower since it was so pretty and he wanted to take it home to give to his mother. The boy was later punished by his parents when he showed them what he had done, as he had broken and unspoken, unwritten rule. He was chased out of the tribe, with the flower in hand. It later wilted, and its beauty was lost. The stars feeling sad as they looked upon the scene later that night, wept for the loss of the world, and the sorrow of the boy who was lonely and scared out in the wild. It is said that they chose to display some of the plant's beauty within their sky, and shifted, to portray it in a constellation. On the other hand, Talya thought that the story of the Cilasia constellation could have gone a little differently as well, as she couldn't remember either way for certain. She thought perhaps, that its story was similar, but not the same. That a group of several people lived in various tribes within the confines of a hilly grass-covered valley. They lived in huts, and hunted the animals of the area, and forged for berries and other food in the nearby forests. Atop one of the hills in the valley however, was a plant known as Cilasia, it was a plant with pink and purple leaves, that was said to have magical properties. But no one remembered what they were. Even so, all the members from each of the separate tribes, (six in total, to mirror the number of petals on the plant), wanted it for themselves, to see what it could do, and if it would give them an advantage over the other plain tribes. Instead of sharing the plant- a petal for every group, the tribes fought bitterly over it, day in and day out. Blood bathed the plains, as no one thought to team up, and after awhile Cilasia grew tired of it. Sick of it; sad, because so many were fighting over it, and dying because of it. So, Cilasia was said to have uprooted itself during the night, and flown up into the sky by flapping its leaves and using them as though they were wings. It flew up so high that the sky absorbed it, and made it a constellation. The next day, the people of the plains wondered where Cilasia had gone, and fought bitterly amongst themselves thinking that one of the other tribes had gotten to it first, and lied about their having obtained it. It wasn't until that night that they noticed her constellation in the sky, and stopped their fighting, as they deemed it a sign from the flower that there should be peace. Over the next several hundred years, it was said that they learned to live more harmoniously, although they still fought from time to time. Talya sighed. She knew it was just a made up story, that it wasn't likely that it had anything to do with the history of Mizahar and its people; that it was probably just an old wive's tail created for the entertainment of children. But it didn't mean that she didn't wish at least part of the story were true, as she had always wondered just how beautiful the plant was. She wanted to see it for herself. To test it out really. She sighed again, for some things simply weren't so, and with that, she returned to scanning the sky for anything else it might be hiding within plain sight.

[Talya]

Talya searched and searched for what felt like a long while, before she found anything of consequence or particular interest. It was a tighter grouping stars, a constellation comprised of seven in total, which took the shape of a sheep, with four horns jutting out of its head. The ram had a story, she remembered, but just what, she couldn't quite recall. She knew its name was ratrork, or something like that. Retrark? Retrork? Reta... something like that. But the way it became a constellation, and anything worth merit she couldn't place her finger on, so she moved on to another grouping of five stars, which formed the picture of a large deer. A buck specifically, with massive ivory colored antlers, with several jagged points and breaks. It was said that the buck was named Xaci, and that he was the head of a small herd of deer, which could be seen roaming the sky if only you looked hard enough. (Or perhaps, knew where they were supposed to be). He was the only male in his herd, and was said to love each of the females equally, although he had a special sort of relationship with one, and they bred fawns together. It is said that Xaci always wanted a son, to take after the herd after him, but all the pair ever had were daughters. It is said that the pair of deer tried and tried for years and years to have a daughter, but they never had one. This made them sad, although they tried not to let it show to the others, and they went about their business from day to day. Grazing, some running, and then some more grazing, and perhaps even, a little bit of pooping and sleeping now and again. As they continued to cross the world, it is said that the herd was spotted by a number of hunters, and that sometimes, they were picked off one by one. However, the herd managed to replete its numbers, and keep itself going. That was until one day, when a pair of hunters from the forest noticed the herd, and Xaci in particular. They knew his hide would sell for a lot on the market, as would his antlers, which could be used to make cutlery, if not fine jewelry or weapons. That the venison they could gather from him would keep their bellies full for days, as well as the bellies of several of those who lived back in the same city. So, they looked at one another, and from then on, decided not to rest until they had caught him, cornered Xaci, killed him, and harvested what they could from his corpse. And hunt him the pair did. All through the forest, until one day, they shot him with an arrow, and the beast was felled. He crumbled to the ground as his heard fled deeper into the forest; weeping. They didn't want to be caught too. Xaci's blood flowed freely from his body, and pooled upon the cold, hard earth. It was warm, it was said, so warm, that when the hunters went to harvest him, they burnt their hands upon it. The blood like acid, melting their length, making it impossible for either of them to ever hold a weapon. To eat, to drink, or perform any sort of simple, mundane task on their own. It was said that the pair never hunted again, and later died of starvation. It is said that their cries of agony lifted Xaci's spirit into the sky, where he found a place among the stars, and watches over the descendants of his old herd, even to this day. This, was something Talya knew with a surety. (Even though it was wrong- she had confused his story with that of another deer constellation, which wasn't surprising, there were dozens of them). But she didn't know any better, and it didn't really matter to her anyway. She was simply happy to be looking up at the stars. Talya kept on smiling, and smiling. She couldn't contain her happiness. But after awhile of finding nothing new to look at, she decided to give her eyes a break, and lay down to rest. After which point, she would awaken with the other members of the caravan come morning.