[Wright Library] Of Like Mind (Zandy)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Summer 61, 515 AV

Talya had made her way back to the library within the early hours of the day. She had searched the shelves as she had done on a few previous occasions, following the titles upon the spines of the leather-bound books with the tip of her fingers, as much as the flow of her dark eyes. She had picked several off the shelves- a number of them being those she had found before, but hadn't had time to finish browsing, skimming, or generally reading through. She found a few new things as well, before shuffling toward the center of the library, where all the light seemed to pour in through the windows. Where all the chairs and tables and desks, and other people seemed to be. Although a few walked through the rows and stacks of books of scrolls, in search of their own sources of information. They moved silently; their steps sounding in soft clicks or muffled thuds against the floor only occasionally, as they moved farther along their rows in search of more. Talya, meanwhile, had made her way over to an unoccupied rectangular table at the right side of the great room. It seemed to be made of a dark wood like maple, and had no sort of adornments. No carvings. It was just a simple three foot by another two foot long thing, that stretched about three feet off of the ground. The four chairs at each of its ends were much the same. She doubt they would be comfortable as they bore no cushions, but she felt as though it would do all the same, and the Ethaefal set her books down on the table.

When they had settled softly onto the wooden surface, Talya pulled her seat back with her right hand, while clutching the long, flowing black cotton fabric of her dress, pulling it away from her suede leather boot laden feet, so that she would not trip upon it as she settled comfortably into her chair. Squirming a little until her comfort was optimized, at which point she glanced over at her small stack of books, and drew them a little closer so that they would be easier to reach. Their shadow crawling over her hands as she pulled the top book off the stack. It was a novel entitled The Darkest of the Gods, which she supposed could involve notes upon Rhysol, as well as some of the other more mysterious gods and goddesses, or at least deities with more tumultuous domains- Zulrav, perhaps, as he reigned over storms, or Ivak, who held domain over the ever chaotic element of fire. Or perhaps, it could be something else entirely- something more to do with their believed personalities than any other aspect of their entities.

Talya set the book in front of her, and turned over the cover, opening to a set of blank pages. Yellowing paper with frayed edges, as though each had been ripped as opposed to cut, before finally being set into place; bound by whomever did that sort of work. With a sigh, she turned through the next few pages, which involved a table of contents, which she didn't so much as bother to read before moving on, into the first set of chapters, which involved Akajia, goddess of darkness, shadows, and night. She skimmed through this, as it was of some interest her, when someone else walked by, the sound of their steps distracting her from her reading. She followed the person's silhouette with her eyes. She could tell that it was a woman from the long length of her flaxen hair, the way she bounced with each of her steps. Her hair was bound into a tight series of long, pigtail braids, which came to end at the center of her back. They were tied with pink bows that matched her frilly pink dress, and bright pink heels. Talya was amazed to find a person that looked like her here, and found that the sight distracted her so much from her reading, that she continued to watch as the woman sat down at a table not far to her left, and began to flip through a book. She wondered if it had pictures in it, to make her time easier.

Talya stifled a chuckle as she watched the delicate movements of the woman's tiny hands. The slight quiver of her pale lips as her light blue eyes searched the pages. She concentrated so deeply upon this woman, taking in every nuance of her movements, and of her overall appearance that she could discern from where she sat, that eventually, her aura came into view. It was a faded pink, something like the shade of a person's cheek when they blushed, or applied makeup to them. It swirled hurriedly around her, as though it were in a rush to get some place, although it was bound to her and could go no where. It smelled faintly of roses and jasmine. Perhaps a little honeysuckle or mint. The scent caused her nostrils to flare pleasantly, as she caught the sight of petals dancing within the aura, if only she looked closely enough. They appeared as though they could belong to a tulip. She heard a faint snipping sound too- as though someone were cutting something, but she knew not what. She couldn't taste anything associated with the aura, and determined that she would have to draw her conclusions only from what she had already discerned.

Talya decided quickly, as her pupils dilated, and her temples began to throb dully, that the woman was a passionate one. Given to bouts and bursts of excitement, that soon died away if she was met with too much of an obstacle. She guessed also, that she liked flowers, or at least the smell of them. Maybe a few perfumes involving the elements of a rose and like entities? Maybe she worked as an herbalist, and that was why she heard the snipping, as she needed to collect them to make her collections. Maybe she just liked gardening, and or making flower arrangements. Maybe she liked to gather them to make perfume because she worked in a perfumery, or maybe it was just a hobby. Maybe she liked to wear perfume and smell the flowers and tend a garden because it made her feel girly and pretty. Although she doubt the last one, she seemed to neat, her closes to well kempt and to clean for such things. But then again, some people did clean themselves up rather well. As the notion that this woman appreciated the finer things in life swept over her, Talya began to wonder all the more about what she was doing in a place like this. Maybe she was looking into the sort of herbs she should use for her next set of projects, or into the sorts of things that may go into her perfumes, she mused, as another person walked by, a man, which drew her out of her trance. Breaking her concentration and causing the aura to fade away.

Talya sighed. She breathed deeply in through her nose and out through her mouth as she studied her latest distraction, who was carrying a rather large pile of books. Greater than the one she had formed this time, which made her remember why she was in the library in the first place. Thus, she returned to her books; sticking her nose more deeply into them than ever before.

[Zandelia]

It was strange how so many tomes of knowledge squashed together had a very palpable effect upon the space around them, as if they were warping the very fabric of nature. For all Zandelia knew they actually did, however there were certain aspects of the Library that she knew all too well. Silence was the first thing, the whispering and muted tones as others spoke. It was instinctual, as if taking normally would somehow offend the scattered knowledge. Second was the smell, always musty no matter how many times she watched the building swept free of dust and damp. Even with the lanterns, the breezes and the Gods knew what else there was always that musty aspect to all scents.

And the third...the people. Always the same kinds of people, the studious. The intellectual. The...pink?... her mind blinked for a moment, sure that it was an illusion, likely caused by too much time staring at dried ink.

Blinking a few more times she tilted her head, rubbed her face and it was still there. Bending reality was right, she had clearly awoken from her stupor into another world, no one wore that...surely? But there they were and for the first time all day her interest was piqued. Taking up her borrowed book about Zeltivan history she slipped from her chair and silently followed the lass. She didn't want to talk tot he girl but if she was anything Zandelia was an adept at observation. Some things were just too strange not to watch. It was as she casually followed that she came upon her second person of interest. She had not seen someone of their heritage before, tanned skin and hair dotted with feathers and various other trinkets.

Two in one day...curious she noted to herself with some sense of satisfaction.

She watched the tanned watcher, captivated now with her previous quarry. There were a few moments more of the other lass before her gaze took in the tanned one once more. She had been bored she realised, too bored to even learn anything from her book. Learning did not come naturally to her from dust and parchment, she was a creature of activity. She learnt best through experience, it was just a shame that there were some things you couldn't achieve that way. Se made an executive decision to do something that didn't make her want to ram her head through a desk – talk. That was, of course, until she slipped upon a ribbon that had fallen from the cake of a damned girl. Leg slipping away from her at speed she managed to regain enough balance not to land upon her back, barely. Instead she slammed into the floor shoulder first with accompanying grunts and hisses of pain. She rolled onto her back to regain her breath, looking at the ceiling.

“Well...that was an introduction. Well done...” she wheezed slightly as she looked at the tanned one above her, “care to help me up? No?”

She slowly levered herself into a sitting position, grabbed the ribbon and crushed it in her fist venomously, throwing it onto the table above. From there she made her way into the chair opposite the stranger, a few panted breaths and she was slightly more composed. She sighed and raked her hair back with her fingers, avoiding the other's eyes for now. Re-adjusting her eye patch she finally looked at the other and in as calm a voice as she could manage spoke.

“Novel way to get someone's attention I admit, apologies. Names Zandelia, I was wondering where you are from. I haven't seen one such as yourself before” she asked as she set the book down upon the table before her.

[Talya]

Talya flipped through the pages of her book. She was reading a lot of interesting things- facts about the gods, and the nature of their domains in and of themselves. For example, that shadow could not exist without light, and that to some people, Akajia, goddess who presided over such things, was truly far more balanced than most were led to believe, as she could not exist without its presence. Thus, it was surmised that by its presence, her own power was kept in check, and the potentially more twisted aspects of her personality, (whatever that might be, as the book didn't get into that), were kept at bay, if not swept away entirely by the healing aspects that were associated with illumination. Now Talya didn't know if that were true, for she felt, that although light could silhouette a shadow, there was nothing further to it, nothing to it. Sure, their borders brushed up against one another, but that was it- they did not intersperse, so what effect could light truly have upon shadow, other than the simple matter of it revealing that it was there?

Talya sighed as she flipped the page, and moved onto other musings of the goddess. As she followed the words upon the page with the edge of her right pointer finger, she began to grit her teeth, her brow furrowed into knots. More and more people seemed to be following in. There were more and more people moving out. More grating of chairs against the floor, more shuffling of steps, and whispers, that somehow, in this place, seemed far louder than a mere whisper really should. Inwardly she groaned as she read the same sentence five times over, and then, although her finger held the point, lost her place entirely as her mind scrambled. She glanced upward, wondering what all the commotion was about, and saw the figure of the lady in pink retreating, and a man all in black taking her place. She studied him- the white trim at the edge of the long coat her wore over his sleeveless shirt, and his black trousers. His big, bulky black boots that looked as though they would be good for climbing. He had short, spiky black hair, which blended in with everything, and fairly pale skin with peach undertones. Dark eyes the shade of mud.

The Ethaefal smiled as her eyes trailed over his lanky form, although, there were portions in his arms that seemed wiry- as though he used them for moderate lifting- say of a weapon, if not something to do with his profession. As her eyes studied him, they began to grow glassy and distant, until she entered a trance-like state a few minutes later. Her eyes seeing through his back, in some ways, as he stooped over the book he had set upon the desk. A part of her wondering what it was reading as his aura came into view. It was thin, and seemed to waver around his body as though it were a young flame atop a candle, threatening to be blown out by a strong wind. Strangely, it wasn't as black as the rest of him, but instead, a deep, royal blue, with darker undertones- in both shades of brown and black. The brown running in streaks through the aura, as they were more akin to stripes, while the blackness were flecks or circular in nature, and seemed to call to her in a way she couldn't entirely put into words, as there was nothing outwardly special about them. They didn't glow, or sparkle. They didn't glimmer or fade and then reappear, but all the same, she found it harder to concentrate upon the rest of the aura, whenever she took but a second to look into them.

A second, to look at them, which soon extended into much longer periods of time. So much so, that the colors of the aura seemed to meld with the other things she was gleaning. Sight intermingling with the other senses, overcoming then, so that the smell it carried was but faint. The smell of something burning, although specifically, she knew not what. There was also a taste to it, a sort of unpleasant dampness, which she supposed could best be likened to stagnant water. Perhaps even brackish water. But there was nothing else to it, and with a sigh, the woman turned away and let the aura drop. The moment she did, her eyes began to burn, and in response, her heart beat faster and faster. She closed her eyes, and stifled a gasp, before rubbing her eyes, trying to ease out the pain within them, but it did not help, so she stopped and looked down at her book, and began to try and distract herself by interpreting the aura. She supposed from the brown within it, that the man was ill. The royal blue suggested something about his nature- a sort of majesty, which she supposed she saw in the way he held himself upright, his spine perfectly straight against the back of his chair. But the bits of black were more confusing. They were a veil that shrouded; kept something hidden from her. It was mysterious, she found and intriguing.

The rest of what she had gleaned gave her ideas just as vague. The scent of smoke could suggest that he knew how to build a fire. Or that he liked to cook, (as you needed fire to do that). It could also suggest that he had dominion over fire through reimancy magic, but somehow, that didn't seem quite right, and to Talya, he didn't seem like the type. She thought perhaps, he worked in a forge, as some sort of smith. But he seemed too clean, somehow. Maybe he had been around a fire a lot lately, for one reason or another, and the smell had clung to his skin and waded its way into the aura, but that seemed somehow unlikely. Maybe, he simply liked fire- perhaps, for the warmth it provided him with, but she wasn't entirely sure. The taste on the other hand, was a little less open, but still a mystery Tal found, as it could refer to a number of things- perhaps, that he was used to drinking it, as he didn't have access to clean water, or perhaps, it was the taste of the bay water. She had never really gotten a chance to try it herself, (nor did she really want to), and its presence within the aura could suggest that he was a sailor, as quite the number of Zeltivan men seemed to be, just as it could suggest he was a merchant who traveled by way of the water, or a fisherman, or an avid swimmer even. Or that he was attached to the presence of the water nearby.

Talya sighed. She hated how something could mean so many different things, and raise so many questions. But what was she to do? So with another inward groan, she turned away from the man and the aura in their entirety, and returned to the reading of her book. She was just beginning to get back into the goddess Akajia when a woman slipped upon one of the ribbons the lady in pink had left behind. She watched the last of the woman's fall, and then frowned as the woman began to talk to her, insisting that they engage one another, as opposed to be on with their lines. Again, with her finger, she held her place and looked up at the woman who had interrupted her. She seemed a bit older than most she conversed with- in her thirties, if she had to guess, judging by the appearance of a few crow's feet and other wrinkles, and the depth of her emerald eye, (the other being covered by an eye patch, for a reason unknown to her). Her skin was lighter than Talya's own, especially whilst in her mortal seeming, and her hair was lighter too, (which wasn't saying much). It was blonde, and shorter than Talya's own. She offered the woman a nervous smile as she watched Zandelia scramble into the empty chair across from her.

"Don't mention it," the Ethaefal began, as she watched Zandelia make herself comfortable. "Zandelia," she whispered, testing it upon her lips, before making her own name known, and simply smiling, in that annoying, know-it-all sort of way that Ethaefals often did. (At least, as far as Talya knew). "That is not at all surprising- the Chaktawe are not from around here," she explained. "They're a nomadic, desert people often found roaming the deserts and harsh terrain of Eyktol." Her eyes glimmered as she mentioned the home land of her past life. There was something about it that had always comforted her, as if even in this body, although she didn't remember everything, a part of her remembered the land fondly. "And what of yourself?" Talya asked. "You do not speak like someone who comes from here."