Off to Work We Go [Danyella]

[Cheshire]

Timestamp: 2nd of Spring, 511 AV It had been a while since Gensen had headed out to the mines. He missed the feeling of his old hammer and pick axe in his hands as he worked. The duty of hold leader fell on him earlier than most in Avanthal. It had caused him to leave his daily life in the Icestone mines for a more sheltered job managing things in town. He was glad to hear Danyella needed a partner to head into the mines with. He had a free day so he gladly told her father that he would take her out to the the mines. In the common room of Iceglaze Hold Gensen sat quietly waiting for Danyella to arrive. He hated not having anything to occupy his hands with and began to fidgit with a small stone that was sitting on the table. He could not wait to get his hands on his tools again and hear the ring of the mines. He was wrapped up tightly in a elk skin coat and his pick axe sat loyaly at his side. A few girls walked past and he gave them a small wink. "Hey ladies." The girls simply giggled and waved back. "I still got it." He smiled to himself and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his pick. Now it was just a waiting game until Denyella showed up.

[Danyella]

Danyella was hurrying along from her father's home. Her large pickaxe looked awkward strapped to her slender back. She had an appointment to keep with the studly Gensen. She didn't get to socialize much, constantly working for her father. She saw the hold leader sitting as some girls walked past her giggling. "Hi Gensen," she beamed as she continued jogging to him, "Sorry to keep you wai--- Umph!" she said as she tripped and landed face first into a fresh snowpile. She silently cursed herself, her face flushing from either the wet snow or the mortifying embarrassment. She quickly stood back up, dusted off quickly, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

She smiled awkwardly, "I've never been to the mines properly. Dah trained me on the loose rocks at the entrance. I hope I'm not too much of a hindrance."

She tried to keep her eyes off of him, but it was difficult. She had to remember what her Dah said.

"This trip is for your training and business, so no small talk, I need you learning."

She smiled, he said that everytime she had to deliver a parcel, or collect materials, or really anything. She was nervous about doing this in front of the most important man in the hold though.

She nervously stammered, "Are you ready sir?"   

[Cheshire]

A quick look up from his axe showed Genen the falling body of Danyella. He bolted to his feet, his eyes turning a shocking yellow hue. "Are you okay?" He raced to the girl's side helping her up. He smiled at her trying to show her that she should not be embarassed. "It is no trouble at all. I rarely get time to myself these days. It was nice to sit back and just think for a little bit." He waved for her to follow and started out into the snowy morning. "I am ready if you are!" As the pair walked Gensen tried to familiarize Danyella with the mines. "Don't worry to much about being a hindrence. I am teaching you today. This trip is about you." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reasuring squeeze. He did not want the girl to worry too much. He hated to see such a pretty face waste time fretting over his mining time. He could have visited his old stomping grounds more if he truly felt the call. He was a little too busy flirting at times though. After a few chimes of walking the mouth of the mines was visible. It shined with the luster of ice, showing off its most precious resorce, Icestone. It was Avanthal's pride and joy. The stone could not be found anywhere else which made it a Talderian treasure. "Okay, here are the mines. They are rich with ores and of course our namesake, Icestone." Iceglaze was named for the precious stones. "We will not go too far into the mines. We don't want you getting hurt your first day out with me." He walked forward into the mouth of the mines with a wave hoping Danyella would follow. The walls of the mine glittered and shined with the veins of Icestone and other precious stones. "Here we are. How about you show me what you know and we will go from there. Does that sound good?" He held his hand out, motioning to the wall. There were stones for the taking, now to see how Danyella made use of them.

[Danyella]

Danyella looked into the beautiful depths of the mine. To Danyella not only did she see the beauty of sparkling gems that rested in a sea of crystal clear Icestone, but she saw the path of her future lay out before her. As she took in the wonders, her amber eyes changed to a clear, icy blue, specked with various colors to match her surroundings, and her mouth slowly dropped open in awe.

She silently whispered to herself, "Dah never told me how beautiful it was..."

She quietly gained her composure and began examining the structural parts of the tunnel. Even though she was short, the tunnel ceiling was too low to swing overhead with her pickaxe. She then attempted to examine the wall hearing her father's advice once more.

"Cavern walls tell many stories, you must read these stories and decide what ending you want, and through your own actions, achieve the ends to the means."

She could tell that due to the fact that the gem stones were still in the wall, they mustn't be of great quality. Which led her to the conclusion that the Icestone was her primary target, and the gems were secondary. She continued to study the wall face, her eyes shifting to a dark, studious emerald, but wasn't able to make out many more details. She stepped back from the wall and hefted the pickaxe off her back, with more grace than would be expected of a female of her size. Having been trained to be ambidextrous with her tools she settled for her right hand to rest atop the low end of the handle, while her left hand gripped the middle of the shaft. She tightened her grip, firm but kept it a bit loose due to the shock the impact would cause. Another tidbit her Dah taught her. She visualized where she wanted her pick to strike, took a deep breath, raised her pick diagonal, so it was about chest level, cocked it behind her back, then in one swift motion she quickly let the breath out as the pick swung deep into the wall. She missed her desired strike point by a few inches, and noticed that the pick had sunk into the wall but didn't send out cracks like she would have thought. She pressed upward on the handle, causing the imbedded spike to pull a chunk of Icestone outward, sending the desired cracks across the rock face like the lightning her Dah told her existed in other lands. The chunk fell to the ground and she nudged it out of the way with her foot. She lined up again for another strike but quickly rotated the handle so the flat end was her desired tool. She made sure her stance was proper, her hips parallel to the rockface, and cocked the pick back once more. She made sure to swing a bit lighter this time sacrificing some strength for accuracy. The flat end struck home and wedged itself into a crack. She chuckled slightly with satisfaction as she pushed up on the handle once more, watching as a much larger chunk of wall deposited at her feet. She knelt down to clear out her workzone meanwhile in a slightly excitable tone asking, "How was that sir?"      

[Cheshire]

Gensen watched Danyella with light blue eyes. He was impressed at her skill. She seemed young yet, determined like a Iceglaze much older than her. "Quite poetic Danyella. It's not everyday we get miners who can work their way with words." He winked at her and continued to watch her work. It was impressive to see Danyella take into consideration the height of the mine. Most younger miners would make their very first mistake right there. They would whip their pick-axe above their head and lodge it in the roof of the mine. At times, they might even cause a bit of a cave in. In that case the mine would be out of commision for a few days and the hold would be left in a sour mood. "Good job Danyella. Most of our younger miners would not take into consideration the height of the mine." He smiled at her and watched as the Icestone fell from the wall and tinkled across the floor. "Good size, I say you are doing quite well." Gensen picked up the slab of Icestone off the floor and turned it over in his hands. His eyes turned a bright green and he handed it to her. "Here, you can keep it. Use it next time you are making something." He had worked with Icestone many times and he knew how important it was for a Vantha to be able to work with it. "It is a bit tricky to work with at first but after you learn how to use it, it is as easy as sculpting clay. I can even teach you if you like." He looked down the mine and started to chip away at his own slab of Icestone. "Try again but try for a bit bigger of a piece. The bigger you get the Icestone the larger things you can create." He had never taught anyone how to work with Icestone but he figured it would be easy enough. He looked forward to teaching her.

[Danyella]

Danyella's eyes turned a delighted amber at his offer, and stammered, "I... I woul... Sounds like Fu...," she regained composure, "Yes, thank you sir."

She turned back to the wall struggling to control her glee. Eventually she slowed her breathing and her eyes took on their emerald hue, so she could study and concentrate. She readied the flat end of her pick when she noticed something in the new wall face. She saw a minor fissure leading deeper into the wall, ending in an amethyst that appeared to be the size of her Dah's fist. Her green eyes were sprinkled with purple, and without thinking swung into the fissure. 

The flat end of the pick embedded itself to the handle in the fissure, and she quickly pried large chunks of Icestone out, much larger than intended. She stepped over the rubble and saw her prize imbedded into the stone. Again without thinking, she swung her pick above the gem and began to pry it out, leaning on the handle for leverage. She leaned a bit more on the handle when the large gem began to loosen. As it loosened she lost her balance and she fell forward. She expected to hit a solid rock wall, but soon found herself flailing through air. She grabbed the handle of her still imbedded pick, and gravity took effect. She fell about a foot loosening the pick even more. She looked down and saw what appeared to be an endless, very narrow trench. She tried to remain calm but her eyes were glowing red with fear and desperation. She called out to Gensen and tried to pull herself up. In doing so she shifted to weight on the handle and the large amethyst shifted even more.

She cried out as the handle lowered further and her grip began to fail. She slid a bit down the handle when the gemstone fell free from it's home and with it Danyella's chance at rescue. Her pick flew back over her head as she was jettisoned into the trench. She saw the gemstone she would now lose her life for fall into the abyss. 

She fell about 6 feet when her spike on her pick stuck into the wall behind her. She barely had time to tighten her grip when she crashed into the wall and felt a pop in one of her shoulders, sending searing pain through her mind. She managed to keep ahold but knew time was severely against her.

[Cheshire]

The girl's flustered response caused a smile to form on Gensen's lips. He found it cute to see the girl get all riled up. He did not know why she would be so scared but he found it a tad amusing. "Let's worry about it later though. Right now we have other things on our plates." His eyes turned a soft pink as he watched Danyella returning to her work. A glint of color caught his eye as she worked. He was a bit surprised but stayed quiet, waiting to see if the girl would spot it as well. She continued to chip away at the Icestone until half of her body seemed to disapeer within the hole she was excavating. "Danyella?" His eyes flashed green as he saw her body slip into the cavern. "Petch, her father is going to have my head for this one..." Gensen poked his head through the hole to see Danyella sitting on the ground surrounded by fragments of Icestone. "Are you okay? I'm coming down, don't worry!" Gensen climbed into the opening of the hole and hopped down, landing hard in his boots next to Danyella. "Is anything broken? We can get you to Whitevine in a few chimes. Don't worry, you will be okay." He looked around the cavern to see what had caused Danyella to fall down. "What were you doing?" His heart was still racing after seeing her take the fall. He did not want to have a death on his hands. Not when he was the youngest leader. It would be terrible for his credibility. Besides, Danyella's father was huge. One of the largest Vantha around and he did not want to answer to him when he found out his daughter had been hurt.

[Danyella]

Her shoulder burned as if a white hot poker had been stabbed into it. She felt bruised and battered, a ringing filled her ears. She looked over and saw a pair of a boots. She followed the boots up a pair of breeches, to a fur jacket, up to the lovely face that belonged to a very distraught Gensen. She saw her pick imbedded in the trench wall behind him. She groaned and rolled on her stomach to pick herself, horribly ashamed and embarrassed. Why did I let that beautiful color send me into such an idiotic frenzy? Dah is going to be furious that I shamed myself in front of the Hold leader.

Danyella knew she had to pull something good out of this. As she raised herself up, she saw a glint for the trench below her. She looked and saw the massive chunk of gem and Icestone sitting on a small ledge. She checked the distance in her head and thought of a horribly stupid plan. She stood up and her eyes steeled into a determined, but slightly fearful crimson. She looked Gensen in the eyes and muttered "I'm sorry Sir Gensen. She quickly grabbed her pickaxe with her good arm, gripped it with her dislocated one, raised over head and behind her back. She walked to the edge, looked back and smiled, somewhat satisfied that if her plan failed, his would be the last face she ever saw. She turned back and jumped nearly straight in the ar and arced into a dive. She swung her pickaxe downward as her feet passed downward the ledge she leapt from. The pick sunk into the Icestone that the gem was imbedded in. She sincerely hoped and prayed her next feeling would be a tug on her ankles signalling that she will live. If not she prayed her death wouldn't be too painful.

[Cheshire]

"Danyella! The mines are not safe!" Gensen's eyes flashed orange as Danyella began to her plan to dive off the edge of the ledge. What was she thinking? He rushed over to her and grabbed into her ankles with a tight grip. "What is your problem?" He hoped he would not loose his grip on her. He pulled her up slowly, making sure her clothing did not rip and cause her to plummet to her death. When Danyella was back on the ledge Gensen looked at her with searing yellow eyes. "What did you think you were doing? You could have died!" His heart was racing as he sat down next to Danyella. He had no idea what he would have done if he had to explain to Danyella's father that she had fallen down a ledge on his watch. "What was the reason to jump off a ledge Danyella!" He knew that she had her eye on the gem which had been hidden in the wall but it was not a reason to risk her life! "Come on, lets get out of here and get you some help at" Gensen would have to send a crew down to this area of the mine to make sure it is stable. He waved to Danyella to follow. It would not take too long to get to the Whitevine Healing Center. [b"You do know I will have to contact your father about this. If I don't Seffarah Whitevine will."[/b]

[Danyella]

She couldn't help but laugh in such an inappropriate situation. Her good arm hung over the side of the ledge holding the heavy pickaxe. She didn't know what made her laugh, maybe it was the feeling that coursed through veins as she accepted death and stared it in the face, and came out the victor. She looked up at Gensen's llovely face as he scolded her, but she didn't care. She picked up her pick axe, who's spike end was imbedded in a large chunk of Icestone. And within the Icestone was a large deep purple amethyst, the size of her head.

She set the rock and pick together on the ground and dislodged the pick. She dusted it off and checked for damage. She strapped it on her back and pulled out a leather sack. She took one last look at the dazzling gem and slid it in the sack. She tied it tightly, and handed it to Gensen. "The color bewitched me,, not selfishness, please accept my gift to Iceglaze, and use it for funds or give to someone who knows how to use it. I apologize for scaring you and endangering both our lives. I will accept any punishment you and my father deem appropriate. Thanks for helping me today, it was one of the best experiences of my life. But for now I believe we should depart, if you would lead the way?"