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[Valentina Adair]

Summer, 08, 523
Just before midnight on the Sykan beach

Val closed here eyes for what felt like the fourteen hundredth time. The cot was not poorly made. Nor, was it poorly set up. It was fine. Everything about it was, fine. Val kept telling herself this and she kept rationalizing it in her head. None of it helped.

She held her eyes shut a moment longer, squeezing them shut before flashing her face open and sitting up. This had been repeating for the better part of an hour now. Val relaxed her shoulders and sat in the tent. Setting up the tent was simple. She followed all the directions that were explained to her to the letter, perfectly positioned and perfected just as instructed. Always as instructed.

She swung her feet out and over the bed and attempted to stand straight up. The long sleeves of the garment she wore caught in her armpit tightening around her skin. Val shut her eyes in annoyance with a grimace on her face as she adjusted her position. Moving too quickly got the fabric clumped together.

Everyone said the climate her was beautiful. Val said to herself while she adjusted the sleeve. Clearly nobody thought about that maybe people in Ravok might have a different sense of beautiful. Sitting with her feet on the floor of the tent continued to feel weird. In Ravok she never went to a beach. She had been in the water, once, but was not a swimmer either. Hard stone under her feet was almost all she had ever known. Even the Ravosala ride was more sturdy than sand.

Val could feel herself growing more and more angry as time went on. On the ship she felt a fool while speaking with the captain. Now she felt a fool at not even being able to make it to bed on time on her first day.

A soft reminder of a song lyric hit her mind for a moment. A time when she sat in a nice chair, in a nice theater and in a nice mood. It wasn't anything grand, but it was a happy memory. She found herself singing the note softly.

"When you cant sleep know that the reason, the reason is your awake and your fighting in someone else's dream."

The performance was a love ballad, because what else do bards sing about besides love. Be it hopping to marry into an important house, get someone into their bed or just get a bed. It was constantly love songs. Val remembered the performance showed two lovers fighting to save the other in their dream. Only staying awake in those sleepless moments because they were so invested in saving their true lover.

It dawned on Val that this constant thinking was most likely the reason she couldn't get to sleep. She sighed and decided to listen to her emotions and clear her mind. She stood up and did two things on the way out. She made sure to grab her sword, just in case those survival tips were needed to be put to use. Val also reached to her right, grabbing a soft pendant from the sand and slipping it around her wrist. Years of consistency drilled in to never leave your place without your connection to him.

Val stepped out into the night.

[Valentina Adair]

The moon reflected off the water and waves as Val stared at the open sea. The waves crashed amongst each other and the banks of the beach with little care for rhythm or consistency it seemed. Some waves came with a crash and rose larger than others, some would crash into each other and break apart or grow larger. Valentina wasn't used to the water moving so much. Back home the water had no such motion.

A wave grew in size out at sea as it approached. The apex of the wave continued to get higher. The reflection of the moon shone in the center of the wave. Val thought she saw something in that light. A pattern. She forced herself to turn away from the waves. Facing herself back towards her tent, the cooler temperature of the wind came against her back. Her breathing was picking up. Heart rate increasing. A distant voice in the back of her mind, whispering the seeds of paranoia that have long been conditioned into her.

Val caught herself beginning to sway forward and back. The hairs on her body stood up. She felt watched. Quickly she moved her hand to the pommel of her sword and gripped it tightly. For a brief moment she imagined a predator hurling itself out of the jungle at her. Run off by rain or just searching for food. If one did come, could I even fight it off? Val thought to herself before she could feel a smile creep up over her mouth. What a story my mother could tell at dinner. It seems that our deer daughter Valentina will not be joining us for a meal ever again as she has been turned into one reserved for a crocodile.

Would the rest of her family laugh? Feel sorry for her? Any regrets maybe? Her father once mentioned casually killing her brother should he ever stain the family's name too greatly. He laughed about it moments after, but even then Val worried for her own self after such a casual mention of murder.

Behind her the wave crashed against the beach. Val shut her eyes as the sea water enveloped around her knee. Sand began to rush back with the wave as the tide turned back towards the sea. It felt like her legs were sinking for a moment and the unexpected tension shook Val’s eyes open.

In an instant she flung her hands forward. The shock of losing balance and the fear of being knocked out to sea pulled her back into the moment as after all, she couldn't swim.

In an attempt to reset her balance Val flared her strength into her upper body, taking the speed and strength from her legs and redirecting it upwards. It was much harder the first time, redirecting the Djed of her own body. With the strength sapped from her feat standing still in the moving sand proved harder, if only for a second. Two hands and a head shot forward and out like an axe falling onto waiting lumber. Except instead of smashing into a cutting block her entire body flew forward. The momentum of her body flung herself into a front flip. Sending her legs up and out of the sand and above her head.

Cutting off the flow of Djed allowed her the moment to extend her arms out to break her fall and raise her legs up. Pointing her toes towards the sky to create resistance on the way down. Vals hands hit the wet sand and bent at the joints. She hoped her knees would hit the ground but instead landed with her face into the sand before the rest of her body joined her in the sand.

She bounced up quickly to her feet and took a few steps forward. Already the wet sand was falling off her dress as she looked down at the sand falling off but also sticking to the fabric. A dusting with her two hands removed most of it. Val felt some sand lingering around her neck and proving mildly irritating. The sudden movement of Djed into her upper body had left with the beginning feelings of a headache forming. Another thing that would prove harder to fall asleep with tonight.

More irritation from the sand getting caught in the neckline of her dress caused Val to raise her hand up and grab at the neckline. As soon as she did, the fabric of the long sleeves once again got caught up in the joints of her arm. The extra fabric was welcome at a formal ball, but sleeping on a beach at the ocean it was not. Val stood still for a moment, debating her next action.

Her free hand reached across her chest and gripped the fabric around her arm. Gripping the linen in her arm Val flared her Djed again, sapping energy from her legs again and rushing it to her arm. In a more controlled manner now she flared it again once it reached her arm. Pulling back with her arm just as she reversed the flow of Djed in her arm. The sudden strength and force against the linen tore the excess fabric from her arm.

[Valentina Adair]

Both arms were now bare against the nights summer air. The fabric of her sleeves were now ruined. It looked almost like she had been attacked by a jaguar or some other predator. Maybe an arm eating alligator perhaps. Instantly she felt more comfortable. With little reason to avoid it her two hands rushed up as she gripped the small white fluff that lined the neckline of her dress. With two hands clasped she pulled in opposite directions. With no need to direct Djed the dress ripped softer.

Cocking her head to the left she used the new angle to rip the constraining neckline off. It was messy, similar to the arms but Val took a deep breath almost on instinct. It was no constraining corset but it was a constant reminder of her past the entire time she wore it here. Everyone else was so relaxed or casual and her attire was certainly anything but.

Had her tailors and family not known what a tropical summer would bring, surely someone would have suggested some other form of attire to take. Val thought of these questions in her mind before feeling herself get lost back in that dark place of her mind that whispers only dark thoughts.

Maybe her family had known and this small infraction was meant as another sick lesson based on lies, paranoia and the fear of the unknown. Another reason for her to give up, return home where it’s safe. A place she can sit and stand as just another member in a large obedient crowd.

As her hands dropped the third piece of now ripped clothing she noticed the pendant around her right wrist. The etched symbol of a dark flame was pressed to the center. It held the shape of a humanoid inside it. The pendant was the pattern she saw in the wave. The two forged metals of silver reflected off the moon light out to the sea. Val tried to move her head away but her eyes remained fixated on the image.

“Why won't you leave me.” she whispers at the pendant. She didn't realize it till she spoke but her voice was raspy and soft. Like that of someone held at sword point fearing for their life. Her hear rate was increasing again as she looked at the pendant. In the back of her mind the voice of a mother scolding a misbehaving girl repeated as a memory in her mind.

A small shrine in a room and soft prayers exciting Vals lips.

“Fine.” she said softly to the pendant. “I’ll pray.” the words were lower than a whisper. Hardly even spoken. When she said them a stinging pain lingered in her stomach. Val debated on which prayer to say quickly and return to bed.

However, it seemed another wave had crashed against the beach and this one crashed later with a much higher wall than the last one. So much stronger that this time, Val lost her footing instantly.

[Etoil Nimbral]

Etoil was at a loss for words. It was the first clear night in Syka since his arrival a few days ago, with little cloud cover to speak of. This afforded him a gorgeous, uninterrupted view of the moon. Pale sea foam frothed in front of him as he stood on the beach, with large waves cresting here and there. It was serene. And it was morose. He sighed as he planted himself in the sand, laying his cloak out on the ground for some cushioning.

He wondered how his companions were doing. They were probably putting their children to bed by now, having closed their storefronts for the day hours ago. He missed them. But he couldn't dwell on it. He was here to start something new, not to plod around in an aimless depressive state.

His eyes went back to the night sky, where familiar stars glimmered. He was still really only a beginner with star lore, but this didn't prevent him from trying to take some guesses at what the sky heralded for the future. The phrase coming to mind immediately was "new beginnings", the clear sky afforded the slim and gaunt Ethaefal a window into his own hopes. Something seemed a bit off though. Wasn't that one star not supposed to be so bright?

Before he could figure out if he was just seeing things or if there really was an astrological anomaly going on, his attention was dragged away from the celestial world. A particularly large wave had just broken against the coastline, and if Etoil's eyes weren't deceiving him, it appeared to have taken somebody off their feet with it!

A sword at the hip and some jewelry about her person, the woman seemed to be performing some kind of... ritual he was unfamiliar with? Or maybe she had been gripped by some form of chemically induced madness, maybe even enchanted by the soft moonlight descending on the beach. These were all possibilities. What was certain was that she would need either new clothing or repair services after a wave like that hit her. A commercially inclined glimmer flashed across his face.

Picking up his cloak from the sandy ground and giving it a bit of a dusting, he made his way a bit further down to the coastline. A faint jingling followed him as he walked, thanks to the charms which dangled off the long black belt which looped around his waist twice. Not wanting to surprise the woman, seeing as she had a sword, he paused some ways away. Tilting his head quizzically as he absentmindedly played with one of the horns jutting from the side of his head, he ventured a question.

"So... are you all right ma'am?"

[Valentina Adair]

She was taken under the water quickly but didnt go far. Her whole body fell down into the sand at the unexpected force. She felt the sand form around her body and slide down and away. Only sinking for a brief moment before the wet sand formed together like very strange clay.

Val snorted out sea water from her nose as she stood up, a slight wobble to her step and a fully wet tattered garment clung around her. She was rather happy the extended long arms had been torn apart by now. Seeing as her arms already felt to be getting dryed off by the breeze, but it was most likely just the wet sand falling off.

Whatever mess of a thing her hair must have been doing would surely need to be rectified in the morning. All those thoughts drifted away as a voice filled the quiet night.

"So... are you all right ma'am?"

She spun at the words, searching for the sound. The knockdown from the wave while not violent was still distorting and Val was started as well. She turned her head and meat the silhouette of a demon.

Val gasped suddenly as her head settled. The form was lanky and long, clearly taller than herself. From the side of the head it seemed like horns were poking out. Val steadied herself. She took a deep breath, giving her mind a second to catch up. If this person wanted to attack her they would have done it before.

"Yes." Val said, her voice failing her. It stuck in her throat when she finished and was said far to fast. Taking a few steps forward off the wet sandy beach and onto the more dry land area she continued.

"Just having a small mental breakdown." She found herself saying quickly. Was that what this was? She thought to herself. One day living in a new place and I'm breaking down. Val was shocked to find the stranger still here. She wondered who they were and what fate brought them both to this beach.

[Etoil Nimbral]

He chortled. What honesty! It was enough to banish the thought of his initial approach, wherein he planned to flog his services. It didn't even really make sense either, to be going around a beach offering people clothing repair. Taking advantage of the fact that it was nighttime, Etoil smiled. During the day he had a pretty horrifying one, fangs and all. But at night his teeth were straight, perfectly alabaster white, and if it was possible, the opposite of intimidating.

"Well, lucky its a small one at least."

Looking at the woman, he couldn't help but be reminded of his own beachside mental breakdown, which doubled as his birthday. It had been awful. He could still feel the pain. Like being ripped apart and spat back out. But he had been lucky. Between the ghosts of sailors and the careful attention of a spiritist, his birthing pains were significantly less harsh than they could have been. And he believed in paying it forward.

He assumed a more relaxed posture. There was no immediate danger here. He sized the woman up, carefully considering his approach. He was looking to be kind, but had been warned of the dangers of offering strangers too much for too little.

She seemed plenty civilized, and his approach was going to hinge on that assumption. Though her dress was now quite thoroughly torn, he could tell it was of a fairly fine make.

"You know, there's no reason to feel poorly on a moonlit night like this. Can you feel Leth smiling?" To accentuate this point, he waved a hand up at the moon, which was still gleaming.

"I don't mean to pry, but if it'd make you feel any better, maybe a quick prayer to Leth? I find he listens more often than not." As he said this, he instinctively brushed off his horns, one of the clear marks Leth granted him in the nighttime. Being touched by a God wasn't the worst thing on the planet. "Its what I was out here to do anyway. There's comfort and power in it, quite a bit."

[Valentina Adair]

“Pray?” she asked quickly. Feeling a sudden rush of fear through her body. Even here now it seemed he would always follow her. Would praying to another god even work? Is that even allowed? Val felt the weight of her pendant grow heavier in her hand as this talk of other gods continued. She moved both her hands behind her and clasped them together at her lower back.

“No” She said softly, “I don’t think prayer is what I need right now.” She felt the need to add, “But if you wish too I don't want to intrude.” she says gesturing around the beach. Val could see herself as the fool here. Standing as a wet mess off the coast of the beach practically rambling and jumping at sounds.

“I'm terribly sorry for my poor manners stranger.” She said after a moment, keeping her hands held tightly behind her back. Slowly she moved the pendant into the palm of her hand, keeping it hidden. “My names Valentina and you have come at a rather bad time I'm afraid. I was trying to come clear my head only for a moment before going back to sleep.” She gestured with her head over towards her tent. Somehow it actually looked worse than when she set it up earlier.

Val wondered if her verbal attempt to run away would register. This was a stranger, one she hadn't met before. The possibilities of this person flooded her mind but the loudest was one her father would say. Danger.

“Besides!” Val said quickly, adding on another sentence as her voice cracked at the sudden inflection, “My dress here is soaked through. It needs to be hung up to dry. It wouldn't be very modest of me to do that in the presence of company and the wet fabric is already beginning to prove irritating.” She made no mention of the ripped, torn or various tears on the dress. Hopefully the small mental breakdown mentioned previously would be enough indication.

Was she making a mistake pushing this person away? Paranoia and fear seemed to be the common themes of the day to her. It was never like this in Ravok. In Ravok she had a nice bed, a house with strong walls and so many other amenities she thought were frivolous. After one night was she to admit that this was all a bad idea?

Doubt set through her body as she glanced down, wet hair falling haphazardly over her face as she awaited the strangers reply.

[Etoil Nimbral]

Etoil listened calmly to the woman as she explained what was going on. He was fairly certain she wasn't interested in prayer, and seemed to be invested in extricating herself from the conversation as soon as possible. Nothing wrong with that, as far as he was concerned, he had done his due diligence.

He was a little surprised to hear her talking about clearing her head, it certainly didn't appear to be any clearer after her romp through the ocean. As she spoke more, he could feel her speech getting a bit more formal, almost prim and proper but not quite. He nodded at her comment about modesty, it was true. Looking back out at the ocean, he made his mind up to get on with his evening. The moonlight was precious to him, and would go wasted if he insisted on an interaction that wasn't welcome.

"No need to apologize, your manners have been exemplary." He smiled, hoping not to look like he was being sarcastic. It was a funny thing to say to someone whose dress was torn and soaking wet. "I think I'll have a walk a bit further down the beach for my prayer, please don't let me disturb you further."

Before he turned away though, it was almost like he could hear his compatriots from Lhavit yelling at him not to throw business away when it presented itself. Alright. He could compromise. Putting his hood back up, he made a final comment. "Ah yes, my own name is Etoil. Nice to meet you. If you see me in town and are looking for a cheaper option when it comes to... repairing your garments, let me know. I'm a weaver by trade."

With his mercantile duty completed, he turned away and strode further down the coastline. He gave a short wave as he went, closing with what had become a catchphrase of his. "May the moon smile on you, and guide your way."

[Valentina Adair]

She had told him She would look for him in town. As the stranger departed. Her actions were clearly irrational and maybe she had been close to being sucked out to sea. She had little knowledge of any of the dangers, let alone the simple fact she could not swim. She allowed his final saying to be said and answered with a polite nod. She was tempted to offer a parting phrase of her own to the man but remembered the Captain suggesting she limit herself.

Twenty long minutes after the stranger departed Val sat down in her tent. The torn up ripped dress across her lap. Val’s fingers moved up and down in her hands, the spool of thread moving between the ripped tears. On the dress directly under the woman's face was the pendant, sitting in her lap as well.

Val was reminded of her own sewing kit she was sent with. It had seemed almost useless at first in her mid but she was glad to have it now. While needle craft was fairly common for a daughter to engage in, Val would rank her skills at below average on a good day. Today was not.

The tips of her fingers had small lines of blood running down them from where the needle had pierced. Along the nails there was blood and even one line down to the elbow had pooled. The blood slid down her skin. The red liquid passed over bits of seawater, sand and small rocks as they slid their way down by gravity.

As the blood fell from the arm to the floor, it pooled up together with falling tears. Val's eyed water and loosed tears that slid down her cheek before joining the blood at the base of her tent.

In a hushed whisper Val sang to herself softly. Tempted by the prospect of prayer had made Val question her own self, again. Her medical knowledge, her whole selling point for her usefulness, rushed into her mind as she thought back to what a professor at the institute. One professor might have been helpful and reminded her that this feeling was mental, instructing to perhaps disassociate. However another professor might have more likely said such falling of spiritual self balance was a lack of devotion to Ravok’s one, and only, god.

If Val was to find any peace tonight she would have to take the embrace from somewhere, if it proved to be one she wished to avoid then so be it. Val allowed herself to seek the comfort of a place much different from here. One that was temperate, warm and safe. All because one god had willed it.

With the almost forced conviction of herself Val's mouth sang an old song. One her mother had heard sung many times.

Rhsyol loves me this I know
For the Black Sun tells me so
Little ones to him belong
They are weak but he is strong

Yes, Rhysol loves me
Yes, Rhysol loves me
Yes, Rhysol loves me
The Black Sun tells me so

As the song ended and she drew in her breath again. Another needle prick against her fingers opened more pockets of blood. Val's fingers kept working, closing the ripped and exposed fabric haphazardly.

Val continued crying inside the tent. She would continue crying and she would continue singing, long into the night. To a god who she allowed herself to believe he did indeed love her.

[Valentina Adair]

Summer, 09, 523
Just after the sun rose on the warm Syka beach

She woke up the next morning exhausted and sweating even worse than the day before. The humidity only got worse as the sun added to the heat. Inside her tent it was stuffy and before long Val wished she had torn off more of her dress the previous night. With her hair an oily mess she threw her feet over the cot and stepped outside.

Stretching her back she looked out at the beach and the blue waves that the night before had looked so daunting. Her bare feet felt the sand again, just like the night before. Alone on the beach she slowed her breathing, taking in air from her nose and letting it release out her mouth. The woman raised her right hand straight up above her head, and kept her left down by her hips. Slowly the right hand came down to the front of her face as the left hand raised up. The two met an inch from her face as her palms placed together.

She pulled the Djed from her hands and added to the strength of her right leg. With a quick kick of her left foot she raised the leg out and bent the foot back to her knee. Pressing the ball of her foot against her knee as the Djed added to the strength of her balancing leg.

The heat was already proving to be a major issue. More sweat beat down her face as Val was determined to remain still. Meditation was often a well documented and accepted tool to center oneself. While she was used to shorter and more basic forms of spiritual centering such as a prayer or kneeling at a shrine. This small exercise from her tutor gave balance she desperately craved at this moment.

As she was settling into the zone, a growing desire and hunger for food crept up into her stomach. Hold still, she told herself, not wanting to lose her centering. This was going to pass in time. The hunger was not to bad but the heat was starting to gnaw at her. It seemed to be getting worse and Val could only imagine if the breeze slowed down or simply stopped how much worse it would become.

She put her foot back down, returning the flow of Djed back to its normal course and took a deep breath. Sucking in air through her lungs she breathed it out, mentally checking to see if any adverse effects were happening from her use of Flux.

"Remember Val, the more you practice and train it will only become more dangerous."

The words of her tutor rang in her head. Thankfully, such a simple exercise routine was hardly enough to cause any damage. It was only a warm up and currently she had no need to get a full work out session in. Her Djed could use a break.

The grass and trees off the beach were her next task. One of Syka’s greatest delicacies layed just in her reach. Easily accessible fruit, only a short walk away. Val walked herself up towards where the sand meets the grass and found a fruit tree eagerly awaiting her hands.

The tree was sloped slightly allowing her to easily stand onto her toes, reach up and pluck the fruit. She made sure to direct her Djed into the hand doing the pulling. It wasnt needed but she should get used to moving it into different directions.

As she took a bite and felt juices run down her chin. With a smile she looked down, feeling the juice drip onto her foot when she gasped. Slithering through the grass, about two arms lengths away was a snake. She wasn't sure it was an anaconda, a constrictor, poisonous, or not.

Val quickly jumped back and lobbed the fruit at the green serpent in the grass. Its skin looked bright green with spots of dark black going down. Val had only spotted it by chance when it was moving, its body was along the ground and she wasn't paying attention.

The snake seemed less concerned with the fruit and more with Vals sudden movement. It moved suddenly faster than it had before, she wasn't sure exactly how fast snakes could even move. Its body arched quickly to the left, towards where the fruit had been thrown and slithered off towards the loose fruit.

The woman's eyes glanced left and right suddenly down the coast, looking for a second or third snake. There could sometimes be packs of them, she thought she had heard that once. With her quick glance she didn't see anything but decided to stay alert all the same. Her would be ambusher might have been sleeping or looking for other prey, she told herself. If she avoided it then it would move on and go back to its life.

The beach is supposed to be safe, she said to herself, why did it decided to come up here? She then looked at the jungle edge looming into the heart of Syka. Val then smiled and shook her head. Of course, they can just walk out. Its nature. She said to herself again backing up towards her tent.