It was hot, the air heavy with moisture that brought oppression more than relief. Naiya was laboring over milk, hoping to have something to take to trade at market, but there was so little, the heat and weather lending the zibri to low production. She stirred the hot milk, balancing the bowl of curds on her knee as she waited for it to finish separating.
Little Shai fussed, seeking attention while simultaneously protesting the heat that pressed in against them. She dampened her hand in the shallow bowl of water in her shop, using it to dampen his head and the dark crop of hair that had begun growing in.
"Che che che," she crooned clicking her tongue softly at him as she pressed water against his neck and the bend of his legs. He was on a linen blanket protected by wide edges rolled up to act as a barrier to his motion. He was soothed with her hand near, her body easily in his sight. She continued to stir, scooping out chunks of curd and adding them to her bowl.
She had to abandon touch with Shai, sticking her hands into the hot whey to wet and shape the growing lump of cheese. She placed it back into the hot whey, folding it over and placing it back above the bowl, squeezing the liquid out and molding the cheese into smoothness.
A hand into a bag of salt sprinkled across the growing mound of cheese, she kneaded the lump, mixing the salt into the cheese. She worked the cheese until it was hard again, then dunked it back into the hot whey.
She left it to soften again, waiting while the hot liquid began to work once more. She reached beside her again, dumping the shallow bowl of whey back into the pot and then adding a sprinkle of fragrant basil to the bottom of the bowl.
When the cheese was soft again, she scooped it out of the whey, dropping it atop the basil and mixing again. This was her finished product, smoothed and flavored, she set the cheese on waxed paper, scooping whey into the bowl so it could cool to help store the cheese without melting it.
Water was scarce, so she cleaned her hands on cloth first, then rinsed them with water, using the excess to fill the little pan that held her samples usually, but today cooled Shai's skin.
It wasn't enough, and there was little left to trade. She would have to make due with the yogurt and the soft cheese that had been on the shelf for a day or two, see if anyone would afford her a trade of product or work.
She dampened a cloth, slipping one hand beneath Shai's head to give him support as she pulled him up into her arms. Her damp cloth and his bare skin were enough to keep him cool, she just had to be mindful to keep him out of the sun His skin, while shaping out to be darker than her own already, was a fair bit more sensitive to the sun.
She dampened his forehead again, cooing as she tucked the cloth over his chest so that she could load the products into her back pack, careful to keep the jars from banging against one another. She slipped the bag into place on her back before slipping out, seeking a drykas with which to trade.
She struck out through the amethyst clan, weaving between horses and cattle, they had little in the way to offer. She could kill her own zibri if needed, but that was an extreme she did not find was needed. At least, not yet.
Through the sector she went, finding the topaz clan to offer little for her as well. Some people fawned over her little one, offering them both water and blessings which Naiya accepted with grace and gratitude.
She moved through the pavilions, a goal in mind to seek a hunter, and what better place than the Spitfire, a spot where she had often fetched her husband, or at least word of him. Caught in the heavy foot traffic of the topaz clan, she found her route cut through past the Raised Sun, the mass of whalaks cut down after so many were taken in for help with the attacks and poor weather.
Perhaps the storming and foreboding skies were best for the city, if not a worrisome reminder of the danger they faced, even in the massive numbers of their city. She had bandages still to remind her of the night attack, and new faces camped close around her and her kin to lend extra protection to the children of the pavilion. Everyone sought to protect the young, and the Dawnwhisper camp had many small beings underfoot.
She cut across the grasses between topaz and emerald, her path having drifted away from her goal, but perhaps for the best as she came upon a camp with furs strung out to dry, a small pavilion, but one with skill to their name by all appearance.
Naiya hailed them softly, the rocking motion of her walk having calmed Shai, she did not want to upset him if he could finally rest.
"Hello?" She called, her voice pitched low and gentle, so it would carry without shrilling or disturbing her slumbering boy. inquiry shaped her posture as she hovered outside what she could tell was the foot worn campsite, hoping not to invade their space while tensions ran high.
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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant
