Open We Don't Need No Education

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth - Library

"Your building smells."

"Excuse me?"

"It smells in here, all dusty and musty and.. there's just a lot of 'usty going on."

"It's a library, it smells like books."

"Oh. Libraries do not smell good. What is a library anyway?"

"It's a collection of knowledge, accumulated and stored so that people can come in and educate themselves, something many people are sorely lacking in!"

That was a bit of a snap, apparently 'Chra was wearing on the Librarian.

"Why are you even here?"

"I heard where you need someone to do you a map."

"And you're a cartographer?"

The disdain was almost literally dripping off of that sentence.

"No, I'm a Kelvic. I've never even met a catografur."

"Cartographer. Someone who draws maps, we're looking for a cartographer! If you're not a cartographer then we don't have a job for you!"

"Well I guess you can call me a cartographer if you like then. Better at drawing maps than you. You can't even see anything the way the map shows it so I don't see how it helps you anyway."

There was perhaps a touch of sulkiness in that.

"What do you even mean?"

"You're stuck on the ground, you can't see things from the top like a map, all little and stuff. If you draw a map you're just.. You're just making it up, it's not even a real thing that you saw, you're just guessing. I can actually see it and draw what I see. Then I can check."

"What are you, a pigeon? Chicken?"

"What? No. I am a Raven. The best kind of bird. Huh. Pigeon."

'Chra looked rather put out by that. That was an insult that was.

"Fine whatever. No payment until I have an updated street map of Sunberth."

"Werl okay, but if you want it on nice paper you gotta buy it. Elsewise I'm usin' bark."

"Yes fine, there's charcoal sticks and paper over on that table, I'm busy now."

That was a dismissal even 'Chra couldn't ignore.

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth

With a bit of a sniff that was half returned disdain and half continued commentary on her opinions on Library smells as could be inferred by the wrinkling of her nose, 'Chra grabbed a few sheets of paper and one of the charcoal sticks off the table and stalked out. To think she'd put pants on for this. Plus pants meant she'd had to walk. Walking meant she was subjecting herself to the dangers of a Sunberth street. All this because The Rules said you should try and be human and that meant doing jobs and having money, which meant pants. The Rules were stupid, she sulked internally. It wasn't even necessary. She didn't need a house, she was happy to spend much of her time Raven. She could see things as easily, she could travel safer and faster, she could still have conversations if she wanted to. But noooo, you had to fit in, you had to assimilate, you had to please, because otherwise..

Here for a moment an unhappy expression flitted across her face, goosebumps rose on her arms as she tried to fluff non existent feather for comfort and she shivered. Otherwise you would be alone. Forever and ever until you died. Probably of sad. Folks died of sad all the time in stories and songs and stuff. That was a terrible way to die. Firstly because it was so extremely stupid. But it might happen. If she never found her person. They had to be somewhere.

Didn't matter. With a mental shake, she refocused. 'Chra was not a creature that tended to dwell on things or brood. The immediate moment concerned her, almost everything else mattered far less than people thought. If one end of the brooding scale was Akvatari, the other end was 'Chra.

Sharp dark eyes scanned her surroundings as she made her way through the streets, eyeing the buildings in particular. There'd been one in this area she'd used before.. There! Charcoal went into pocket, and paper was moved to be gripped between her teeth. Clever hands and bare feet found cracks in the decrepit building wall and she pulled herself up with some struggle. It really wasn't too hard until she reached the roof and had to haul herself up and over the slight lip. 'Chra was in decent shape, after all, as a Raven her wings took her everywhere, but she didn't spend much time climbing, she usually just flew. There was a fair bit of undignified scrabbling as she tried to puller herself up with her arms before thumping her upper body on the roof and sort of rolling the rest of the way up. Pants were dumb.

A quick check showed that while her ascent may have drawn a few gazes, no one was scrambling up after her. Good. She didn't want anyone to steal her pants, stupid though they might be, while she was gone. Clothes and papers were set aside. One paper and the charcoal was set out within easy reach.

That done, she freed herself of the hated pants and started pulling her shirt over her head.

[Lo'campo]

He walked through the streets, out exploring the town to see what was new for the seasons change and quickly found himself in the library. It was his first time ever entering the building though he remembered passing by it one time or another. It never dawned upon him that there was a place in Sunberth where one could get some education going. He imagined that everyone would probably be a lot smarter if they were to pick up one of the hardbacks and gain some knowledge for one. Never less to say that he himself hasn't picked up a book in ages.

He walked through the doors and down the counter top that was filled to the brim with books. There were many rows of wooden shelves all to which were full with different colors, some pale other vivid. Tables were scattered about covered in white flaky dust the coated them like winter's snow. He came to a stop at the desk where there was a woman sporting weird looking glasses and brown hair. She seemed to be focused in her work as she stacked books in different piles, opening some only to slam them shut and move on to the next. He stood for a moment hoping that she would look up and see the blue giant standing in front of her but to no avail.

He gave a slight knock upon the wood to gain her attention. "I told you that the charcoal sticks and the paper were over- Hello." She finally turned around to face his upper abdomen before looking up at his resting face. "I am sorry, I thought you were someone else." He gave a look of confusion as he looked her up and down. He could tell just by how she pronounced every word properly that she was well educated. Probably one of the smartest people in Sunberth. "How can I help yoouuu?" She dragged the last word on asking for a name. "Lo'campo, and I was just passing by. I never been in here before. It's quite impressive." He answered giving a compliment.

"Ah, welcome then and thank you. One does work hard to ensure that knowledge is always available. Ah petch she forgot one." His gaze followed her path to a table bearing a black stick, a charcoal stick used for writing and marking paper. "I swear that girl would lose her head if it weren't attached to her neck."

"Is everything alright?" He asked. Who was this girl that she was speaking on? "Oh yes, it's just we hired this person to draw a map and she seemed to forget one of these sticks. Oh I hope she doesn't mess this map up."

"A cartographer? I can take it to her, what does she look like?"

"Finally! Thank the Gods, there is someone with some form of knowledge. Yes please if you could deliver this to her? You may still can catch her she just left." With that being said he took the charcoal stick and left out of the door. "She is a kelvic, a raven!" He heard her yell behind him. So that meant that he was looking for a bird. He walked the street a bit scanning the faces of people that passed him by hoping to see someone that looked like a bird that could draw maps before he soon realized how foolish that was. A bird like humanoid walking through the streets of Sunberth drawing on paper.

He stopped to think on how to find this person. "If I were a bird, where would I?" He began to back track, this time looking upward in the sky and at rooftops to see if he could spot anyone or anything. It wasn't long before he spotted a pair of pants hanging from the top of a roof not too far from where he began his search. Either someone was drying their laundry up there, or that was the person he was looking for. Either way, he would need to find a way to get to that roof top. He stood at the wall of the building looking upward at his destination. Charcoal stick in his pocket he estimated how high he would have to jump to get a hold on the side of the building. Setting his feet, he gave a good jump. High enough to where his hand could grasp the edge of the wood to pull himself up. His feet dangled as he struggled to get a foothold only to find none.

This meant that he would have to rely on his upper body strength. Taking a breath he did a quick set of pull ups to awaken his muscles. Aiming for the next slot above, he reached gaping his mouth open as if in pain, his hand slamming into the slot with a loud thump. Repeating his actions he lifted his other hand up to meet the first. Good, now all he had to do was hoist himself up onto the roof. A long grunt as he struggle with the little space he had to grip. The old wood creaked under his weight and small splinters began to form in the woodwork. His fingers were folded in a way that made them seem old and bony as he continued to lift. Maintaining his strength he quickly lifted an elbow to rest upon the roof scraping his arm in the process against the rough wood. His second elbow followed as he lifted his torso followed by his lower half up upon the roof.

"Hey, you-" A pause as he continued to catch his breath. He did expect to find a bird Kelvic up here, but what he didn't expect and failed to realize was that Kelvics transformed in the nude, and that the map maker that he was to be locating was of the female gender. He could do nothing but stare as he seemed to catch the woman in the midst of getting undressed preparing to shift into the bird. Her pants lay upon the roof along with her other supplies and she was working her top. He could do nothing but stand there with the charcoal stick in his hand.

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth

Did the arrival of someone else stop 'Chra from shucking off her top? Nope! Not in the least. 'Chra herself had no nudity taboos, she tolerated clothing because other people got funny about it. And sometimes it was cold and her human form did not have a cozy covering of feathers. Were it not for other people and weather, 'Chra would have forsaken clothes entirely.

That said, just because she wasn't concerned about being nude didn't mean she wasn't concerned about the sudden appearance of a man who she only came up to the bicep of. Of course because this was 'Chra and she was content in her ability to change to bird and be gone before he ever laid his hands on her and really was only risking her clothes being stolen, she was mildly wary at worst, but still full of Raven bravado. Besides, from what she'd glimpsed while pulling off her shirt, he'd ascended in a fairly impressive manner.

"Me."

She agreed cheerfully, eyeing the big blue giant. At least his fairly obvious discomfort meant he'd probably not come up here to try and rape her, so that was a plus.

"I used t'other wall. It's much easier."

She added, pointing in the direction of the wall she'd ascended.

"Of course, I guess it might've fallen in if you'd tried to climb it, so maybe it's better you used the solid one."

It was at about this point that she noticed the charcoal stick in his hand and making some fairly impressive leaps of deduction, put together the most likely chain of events. Which, shockingly enough, she actually got right. She usually didn't. Her second place theory was that he was an artist and wanted so badly to draw her that he'd climbed a wall to do it. Who wouldn't want to draw her? Her feathers were perfect and glossy, her beak even and strong. This theory lost out only because she wasn't a Raven yet and who would want to draw a naked woman? Women were all over the place, and you could see a naked one at any brothel, of which Sunberth had many.

"She sent you wall climbing for that? What's she think I'm doing, eating them? I reckon all the 'usty in there got into her brain. Probably dangerous spending all your time in a library. It were very nice of you though."

He'd not pulled himself entirely up yet, so since it would be impossible once he had, she took this chance to give him a pat on the head. Which could be seen as condescending, until you remembered that this was a woman who spent half her life as an animal and who a fairly large chunk of the population felt was no smarter than and as a result treated her like an animal. Given that, a pat of appreciation was likely sincere.

[Lo'campo]

It was the prancing around naked atop of a rooftop that make him suspicious of her doing some form of drug that was commonly sold on the streets of Sunberth, but the pat on the head deemed that this woman was completely off his rocker. Was this really a charcoal stick? Or was it some form of new drug in disguise? It was hard to believe, but he soon came to terms that she just acted this way normally. Wow. Completely pulling himself up onto the rooftop he gave himself a complete pat down to clear the dust and white specks from his black robe.

He paused at her comment. He guess he really did get sent up a wall for a simple charcoal stick. It brought out a slight chuckle to thing of all the work that he just put in the get up here for a measly thing that he could have probably thrown up and went about his day. He looked back to the woman motioning to hand her, her tool needed for her job before seeing once again that she was fully naked. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable around nude women, he actually didn't care. His mind though worked to figure out why would a map maker need to get naked to do their job.

"So you're the cartographer huh? If I may ask, why do you proceed to be in the nude to draw maps?" It was more of a serious question than it was an insult. He honestly wanted to know. Did this mean that if he wanted to draw a map that he too would have to remove his clothing? Not that he would be ashamed of his tower of perfection, he was sure that women would gather around his stone like body, moths to a flame. Giving a quick toss, he launched the stick over to the woman. "If you do not mind, I would also like to learn to draw maps. I would be willing to pay miza for a lesson from you." It was the truth. He sought out to learn as much as he can intellectually so that one day he could return to Riverfall and show that he was suitable to live in their working society. Undoing his sash, buttons and buckles, he removed his top revealing his chiseled upper half tattered with scars from previous battles. He then undid he belt and rested his pants and undergarments in a black heap not too far from himself. He stood strong, noble. Ready to learn.

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth

She took a step back as he raised himself the rest of the way up, giving him some room. That and if she stood too close to him she had to lean her head back an uncomfortable amount to see anything other than chest. Head cocked to one side as he asked his first question, she didn't answer for a moment just because it seemed so obvious to her that she had to stop, mentally go back, and see if there was more to the question than first appeared. In the moment it took her to think about this, he'd already carried on with his next request and was peeling off his clothes.

Well all right then. She did give him a fairly good once over, though this was more curiosity than anything else. She'd never seen an Akalak with their breeches off. Where they blue all over? The answer to that was a definitive yes. Yes, they were. That question answered she paid more attention to the scars than anything else.

"Ksst, you need to duck more I reckon. I suppose it's harder when you're so big though."

She allowed. She had an advantage obviously, being smaller. Often very much smaller, and airborne. It was probably hard to take cover when you were a giant. Maybe someone had used him as cover. He'd certainly serve well enough in that capacity though she wasn't sure she'd take a swing at someone with him in the way if she was an attacker. That seemed like a situation where you'd maybe just accept that the night was a wash and go have a drink or something instead. So he was in fact the best cover. That explained the scars.

"I've never tried teaching anyone anything before."

She commented, idly scratching the back of her head as she thought about it.

"I can if you'd like, you probably don't have to pay me though, the lady in the library already is and you might not learn stuff anyway. I'll try, just a lot of it is stuff I can't teach you. Though.."

She eyed him again, head cocking to the other side before looking out at their surroundings.

"How well do you jump?"

She'd gotten so distracted with the idea of teaching someone something that she'd largely forgotten his first question. So she did not answer it. People might assign her a task, but she was largely viewed as a tool, not as someone where you'd ask them for an opinion or defer to them as being an expert in a subject. If we were being entirely fair here, this may be because she wasn't an expert in anything. Aerial view she knew though!

[Lo'campo]

Drugs. He was sure of it now seeing that her attention span was very short as she rambled. He could feel his head going in a circle following her words while looking for an answer to his question only to gain none. He had noticed her eyes look him up and down. He wasn't one to let his pride get the best of him though he did strike a small pose to make himself seem like more of a statement.

His hopes of being taught seemed even more the less when she stated that she has never taught anyone anything, but was soon restored when she still agreed to do so, miza free. It seemed like he found an even rarer sight than an intelligent person in Sunberth, an honest one. Giving an assured not of his head, he opened his ears to the knowledge that she would have to offer, also hoping to filter out any unnecessary rambling that she may slip into. Her next question however raised a bit of worry for the Akalak.

How well could he jump? What in Krysus's name did jumping have to do with map making? Still it was in the name of learning a new trade. He looked first to the left, then to the right trying to find something to get an estimate of distance. "I guess I could jump pretty far if I had a good running start." He set his feet unto the rooftop, bending his knees pumping them to get a feel of the wood under him. Going into a low squat he came up pushing with his leg muscles into the air. Almost clean over the woman before coming down hard an old piece of wood creaking under his weight. He looked to the woman for critique. Hopefully she could explain what jumping had to do with map making while she was at it.

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth

There were probably a large number of people, mostly women, who would have paid to watch the show the naked and statuesque Akalak was putting on with his squatting and flexing and dangling and all. 'Chra was surprisingly, not one of them. They weren't currently mating so what did she care about his bits and such? They had important work to do! Maybe mating later. For now, maps! And for maps, jumping! At least for him. She wasn't going to do any jumping thank you very much.

"Length-wise not height-wise, but I reckon if you can jump up that high from standing you can probably jump long-ways all right."

She rubbed the back of her right calf with her left foot, eyes distant for a moment, clearly going over something in her head. Likely looking half dazed again. In fact she was going over flight patterns and figuring which could be adapted for the Akalak to get him where she wanted him.

"Okay! This is not a good place for you to start mapping. It is a good place for me, but any place is a good place for me, so I will take you to a spot that will work for you. That way even if my instructions are bad you will learn."

Or that was what she was hoping anyway. Of course, 'Chra did kind of side with the birds on how to teach things. Want to learn to fly? Get pushed out of the nest. Learn it or don't. She did actually intend to make an effort though. She just probably wasn't coming at it the way that the average person would. Most of the things she did made perfect sense to her, you just had to be able to preform the mental equivalent of thinking your way through a corkscrew without touching the sides to keep up.

A glance at the sky to ensure it wasn't going to suddenly cloud up and start raining. One of the pieces of paper was carefully and almost reverentially tucked away between her shirt and pants and set aside. The rest she folded in half, and helping herself to his sash, Which she carefully wrapped in such a way that charcoal and paper were contained within without touching each other before wrapping it back around his waist.

"You will probably need your hands free!"

One might question the wisdom of just doing things to a person as physically imposing as the Akalak without permission. This would be justified. Fiachra had decided on a course of action though and she was going to see it through. He wanted to come along, this was fine, she was including him. Since he'd not acted like a threat and was treating her well enough, she'd moved him from unknown to safe in her mind and there he'd stay until she was given good cause to change it.

"I will lead, you follow. Watch where I touch the roofs, that's where it's safe for you to land okay? Some of the roofs here will break if you jumped onto 'em. Ready? Let's go!"

One might wonder what the point of asking if a person was ready was if you didn't wait for a reply. He was ready enough. Turning, 'Chra started to run. She glanced back once over her shoulder to add with a grin.

"I'm Fiachra, keep up!"

That said, there was a swirl of lights and woman became Raven. Winging forward she briefly touched down on the roof of the building beside them, turning in the air to see if he was indeed following. Apparently she fully expected him to follow her across rooftops to wherever it was she reckoned he could learn cartography. The good news was that almost everything was only one story, and most of the building were quite close together. As long as she kept him from leaping onto something entirely rotten, if he chose to follow, someone as fit as he was should be fine.

[Lo'campo]

Once again she had not answered any of his questions. Only said what came to her mind before moving on to the next subject. Drugs. Without his permission she took hold of his sash along with a piece of paper and charcoal. Good now they getting somewhere. He went to reach his hand out to take the things from her only to see her change direction and dive downward toward his waist and midsection. He did not know what kind of woman this was or her intent, but his blood settled down after he felt the sash being wrapped around him. Something about needed his hands, which in a way made sense even though he didn't know what she was talking about.

He mentally had to tell Oumoc to keep quiet as the darker personality cheered Lo'campo on from inside his head. True not many men could say that they stood in the nude atop of at building with another woman who was also nude kneeling down at his waist, and yes it also would have made a good story when drinking and passing the time with fellow comrades...Not that he had any, and he wasn't one to share he personal life with others, so the actions that were being done atop of this place were to only be lost in time and memories.

Finished with her work she came up from below him turning to what ever her mind pointed to her next. He looked at the makeshift garment that she had tied around him sporting paper and charcoal stick tightly between himself and the sash. Black smudges appeared on his skin from the drawing tool. His attention was brought back to the woman who now looked out over the edge of the building. "Try to keep up" She chimed before running towards the edge and leaping outward turning into a black colored bird as well as mooning the Akalak with all that was behind her front.

He was awestruck at her transformation as well as her beauty as a bird. It complimented her personality and beauty as a human as well. It also explained why she was in the nude seeing that it would be quite difficult to fly with clothing. It all pieced together now as he looked at himself realizing that he would not need to be required to be without clothing at all to do his part of the job. He really wished that she would have stressed that to him before letting him get this far, as well as hoping that no one would so happen to look up and see a naked Akalak leaping over them bare arsed and all. It was too late to get dressed and he really didn't mind being in the nude. It gave him a heightened sense of freedom of sorts.

Taking a few steps back gain speed before his launch, he pushed forward attempting to go as fast as he could for maximum distance. Loud thuds came from his feet as he moved across the roof. His foot reached the edged, he gave a powerful push as the solidness under him was replaced by air. It wasn't a big gap to clear, but the feeling of being weightless for an instant filled him with a new kind of energy. He came down upon the other rooftop in a roar, his foot hitting a weak board and crashing through engulfing his entire leg up to his center. This was quite embarrassing to been seen in such a manner. He tried to pull his limb free only to realized that he was stuck and in need of assistance. He looked up to the skies hoping that the bird would come down to help.

[Fiachra]

6 Spring - 516 AV - Sunberth

Well. That was not the best start. She couldn't help but let an amused toc-toc-toc go, imagining the view from inside if anyone was home. Still, he'd jumped very well at least, just about three feet further to the right than she'd indicated. She was probably going to have to be less precise in her directions. Only pick landing spots for him that were fairly solid for a good distance in either direction. Otherwise he was just too big and heavy with all that muscle for there to be much forgiveness when he landed in the wrong spots.

Flipping easily in the air, she winged back to him, hitting the roof beside his trapped leg, she cocked her head, examining it with one eye. Well this was a dilemma. If he just pulled up he might get free but he'd definitely give himself splinters at best and minor impalement at worst. If he brought his other foot down, which would be difficult given how much of his trapped leg was in there, he risked sending himself through the roof entirely. Which was a valid option. He could just walk out the front door then. Possibly not the best option though. Swirl of lights and woman stood by his side again.

One hand on his shoulder, which was still much higher on her than the shoulder of anyone with most of their leg stuck in a roof had a right to be. She brought her own well callused heel down on the wood around his trapped leg. She didn't have nearly the weight or muscle he did, but he'd already weakened it significantly when he crashed through and she only needed to break a bit more to allow him to draw himself free. A few more blows and enough additional chunks had fallen in that he could probably pull himself free, but just in case, since she did feel slightly responsible for him at this point, she lowered herself down to sit on her heels. Clever fingers found the gaps in the wood, breaking off particularly splinter-y pieces before the found blue flesh to live in.

"Should be okay now. That's why you have to watch where I touch! I suppose you could walk on the ground t'where we're going."

She allowed wrinkling her nose slightly.

"But I reckon you ought to know how to get around up here. It's much safer."

In her mind at least. All the scars on his torso said that down on the ground was dangerous. It would be better if he could fly, but learning to use the rooftops was probably the closest he could get. A few of the criminal sort used them, but most people didn't. And those few who did tended to be the sneaky sort who would definitely take off if they saw something like him heading their way, not try and gut him.

It was possible being taught anything by Fiachra came with it's own set of hazards. For the moment she'd largely adopted him, and while he'd only asked to learn how to draw a map, which was not usually a very dangerous past time, she was apparently trying to teach the large, blue hatchling what she could about all the things that were involved in it for her, which included not being where people could threaten you.