ღ Mella

[Reoakee]

Journal

 

[Reoakee]

Word count: 1,000 words

The feeling in her behind had long since stopped being able to be felt. She was so focused on what she was doing that anything could have snuck up on her and she wouldn’t have noticed. Her mother would likely scold her for getting home late again, but that didn’t matter to Mella. Holding the small bowl of grown up lily she had green stains on her fingers from smudging her work with her fingers. Hardly daring to breath she hoped the skin would keep the color longer than the last one. She wanted to get some thinly cut timber and try to work on that but she was not about to have her parents loose trade with Tinerr just so she could have something that could actually soak in the colors. Making the mistake of moving she groaned aloud while the sail scales noticed her and took wing. They had been such a pretty image all laying down basking with an occasional playful air as they socialized. Closing her eyes she tried to envision them as they had been while she continued to brush on the colors. Sand mixed with lily for a darker color and berries mixed with lily for lighter colors. She finished tracing the lines of the bodies.

“There we go.” She was cooing softly adjusting the hide. Moving to try and regain feeling in some of her limbs she had to take a few moments to grimace before she could continue her work. She kept right on working until it was nearly to dark to see. Blinking a few times she looked around surprised at how the morning had gone by. Blowing softly on the skin she had to wait until it was nearly dry before she could roll it up to take it home. She pasted that waiting time cleaning up her mess. The lighter colors made with lily and berries only was edible but the ones mixed with sand she spread out spread out to dry so she could use her knife to scrape it up to put in a small bag. It was hard to do in the waning light but she was used to this exercise by now. Not only that but she often came back to the same spots and could scrape up more tomorrow. With all that done the skin was ready to roll up. Sighing contentedly she could finish it later. Having the outlines done before the sail scales disappeared on her was the hardest part.

Scrambling down in the moonlight now she saw a reflection of a pool and smiled to herself. Some time she would have to find a way to capture such sights, but the colors she had just weren’t sufficient. To try now would be a crushing failure. She had to move slowly down the crags and juts in the land she knew the lovely purple color of the stone even if she couldn’t see it. Perhaps if she could mix crushed rocks with berry juice she might get a new color. Stopping for a moment she pondered how to manage it and a noise in the night made her decide that such thoughts were best made at home or in a safer spot. Telling herself that it was just a roati didn’t seem to work as well as she would like and while she didn’t panic she did have a small ball of fear in her stomach which hurried her step. Hurrying she began to trot feeling her precious skin bounce in her pack. The warmth of fires made her slow down. Grinning at her own foolishness she decided next time she would find a good spot to settle in for the night and take a peek at what scared her next time so it would never scare her again. “A known fear can be dealt with unlike an Indiwaigo in the dark.”

Jogging through the small settlement to her parents home she tried her best to stay as quite as she could be so that her parents didn’t wake up. Of course it was all in vain as her mother’s voice from behind her made her jump and wish she had decided to settle in for the night in a crag rather than come home. After a long one sided talk with her mother about being late Mella was handed dinner and told she should show what kept her out so late. Grinning from ear to ear she pulled the skins out from her bag to show her parents. They smiled and told her a good thing and a bad thing about each image. Mella was used to this routine by now and very glad her parents were willing to help her improve her works. She had come a long way from her childlike drawing that had no real shape to them. Now she was able to show the world in much better definition. Once the showings was done her mother picked up the skin that had the sail scales on it and promptly announced that this would be one she would keep once it was done. Mella was surprised because of all the images she painted that day the incomplete sail scale was the last she thought her mother would pick. Nodding her head she turned the skin to look at it from a new angle when her mother set it down. She didn’t see what her mother saw in it yet as she only had the outline of three sail scales on it, but perhaps that was one of the best things of what she did. Others noticed things she didn’t or found a different kind of beauty in what she did. That made her smile and come to a decision she had been hesitating on for a long time. Tomorrow after she helped her father with morning collections she had a few things to discuss with them. Starting with getting a new good sized bag she could travel with.

Sail scale skin  

[Reoakee]

Words: 1,016

Well it had taken longer than she thought to talk a new satchel out of her parents she was now happily clinging to a nice soft satchel that she could sling over one shoulder and as long as she kept it tight it would fit snuggly into her lower back for travel. By loosening the strap it could be eased down to her hip for easy search of its contents. Now the only problem was trying to decide how she should pack her ‘paints’. Normally at home she had several jars of over ripening fruits that she could just grab one or two to take on her jaunts. Those same jars would be horrid for long travels due to the tendency of the clay to shatter. She couldn’t just take sewn skins full of berries because if pressed to hard they would squirt out and likely ruin everything in her satchel. Gently she stroked the top of a jar trying to think about how she could keep her vibrant fruit colors; yet, able to travel light and not risk the skins her parents had been so kind to set aside for her. Glancing over at the stack of skins she was touched her parents had been so supportive of her passion.

Sighing she wondered how she would save her images from harm once she had finished them. Crossing her legs she stared at the top of the jars like they should give her the answers she wanted. It was easy to cure a skin in fats left from a meal at home but her hunting skills were certainly not the most proficient for that on her own. Wrinkling her nose at the lack of answer from the jars on either problem she sighed and lay back on the floor with the new back snuggly wrapped with one arm while the other arm was sprawled out to the side like a sail scale in the sun. Closing her eyes she imagined clouds drifting along the sky. A relaxing sight to let her mind clear, making her able to look at the problem from a different perspective. After a few moments she sat up and looked at the containers to try and solve her problems again.

The problem with carrying jars is that they could break, but they were the only way to really carry fruits that were still full of juice. So perhaps one or two small jars wrapped in skin would be safe to take, while she could dry out the fruit on rocks and then scrap them into sewn skins and then simply add water, fat, or something to the dry smashed fruit to use it. Grinning she felt ridiculously brilliant for coming up with that solution. Setting her new bag aside for now she grabbed as many of her jars as she could hold at once and carefully stood up to head outdoors. It would take a while for much of the fruit to dry so if she started now she should be able to scrap up enough around dark to fill at least two sewn skins.

Having spread out her future powder, she when back into her home to grab her small stone bowl and rock she would grind the dried fruit to powder with. This went into the pile of things to go in her bag. So far this pile consisted of travel bedding, skins her parents gave her this morning along with her bag. She tossed a few empty sewn skins on her pile knowing she would fill them later. Then she began hunting through her jars to find a good sturdy small one or two for travel. The wood stoppers in the top would have to be snug and there could be no signs of cracks in them. Scrutinizing each jar she finally settled on three jars that were small but well-made.

Much of her day was spent with a bubbling energy about her impending trip. Wheeling between terrified and excited she tried to stay calm but somehow just couldn’t seem to manage it. In one last vain attempt to settle her thoughts she took a hike up to where she had been drawing the sail scales before. She had some dried lily to scrape up into a skin. It would be easier than trying to dry more lilies and grounding them up before leaving. The trip back up was so much easier in the light of day and seemed so much shorter than at night. That was something she would have to keep in mind during her travels. It was so much harder to judge distances at night so she would have to be careful and make sure to find a nice place to hole up at night so she didn’t twist and ankle or fall down a ravine to end up a meal for scavenger. The breezes caressed her hair and face making her breath deep and look around at the only home she had ever known. The energy she had been feeling still kept an edge of excitement but it was now tempered by the bittersweet feeling of leaving home. The thought of having more images of the world to bring home and show her family did help keep her happy and curious what the rest of the wide world would look like. Shaking her head she set those thoughts aside; moving to get that dried lily taken care of. She’d be heading back and do even more scraping due to the fruit so it was best to get this done quickly.

Some of the dried lily was gone from where she spread it, but that was likely due to a thief or two who decided the spread dirt lily mix on the rock sounded like a good snack. Imagining a creature actually taking the time to lick the rock clean Mella started to giggle. It was just such a silly image that she knew she would have to try and sketch it later tonight when she was at home and actually all packed for her journey.

*licking Lilies image*  

[Reoakee]

I see a world of color  

[Reoakee]

Sinnia RP  

[Reoakee]

words 1,024

Mella sipped her drink calmly. She was visiting her home after having visited the Zena boarder and even taken a trip to Liem for supplies. Right now there was a buzz all around about the enemy coming to enslave them all. It was hard to imagine that war was coming and even harder to see that it was close to being here. Closing her eyes she tried to imagine her family in the war. Her father so used to handling wood making or even wielding a weapon with her mother right at his side as always. It was so detrimental she couldn’t even make the image appear in her mind. A good part of her mind told her that the fighting would be bloody and messy, that people she met like Kiyelt, and Sinna would be involved somehow. It wasn’t like she could wild a bow or blade herself and that made Mella feel useless. All she had to her skill set was sketching and painting.

She closed her eyes and tried to think about what she could do to help the large number of others she knew would be headed to war soon enough. Frowning around the lip of her glass she wondered if she had the stomach to help tend the wounded. Blood was a bit unsettling to her, but perhaps she could deal with it for short periods of time and made sure to take breaks in the nice clean fresh air. Setting the cup down she got up to move around. It was a very scary time to be alive and just sitting there was driving her nuts!

Unable to sit and listen to all the talk of war that was floating around it was time to take a walk. Her favorite spot where she painted the sail scales was the more ideal location to clear her head. If she was lucky she might even be able to paint a bit. She had refilled her paints at home as well as got new skins to use since her parents thought it would be a nice welcome home gift for her. It seemed so much warmer here at home than her trip to Zena and even Liem. With her arms swinging slightly while she walked the same path she had so many times. It felt smaller somehow than before. It took a bit of hiking to get to the top and for all the effort she put forward she had no reward to show for it. The sail scales weren’t there to lift her spirits with their playfulness and mindless noises. The disappointment was trivial in comparison to the long run of things, but it was still bitter to the back of her tongue. Was it too much to ask that she at least have something happy today? Her parent’s warm welcome yesterday was wonderful but it was clear they were strained by the rumors that flooded her hometown.

Plopping herself down on the ledge she looked out over the rocks and hummed softly taking a look around trying to memorize everything as it was now before it changed even more from the innocent memories of her childhood. A clap like thunder echoing around her made her smile thinking of what little moracker must have been so startled to make the sound since it was unlikely thunder would happen on a clear day like this one. The echo faded after a while but a part of Mella sympathized with the small creature where it was. If she could just make enough noise and run away she would definitely do that. Sadly war was coming and she didn’t have anywhere she could flee too.

Annoyed with herself for being so helpless she scooted back from the edge and stood up. It was time to stop being so pathetic. She didn’t know what she could do for those who could fight but even if she couldn’t watch their backs on the field she would learn to help in some other way even if it wasn’t helping to tend to the wounded. She would draw the land out or draw the injuries that so many experienced and she would show those back home and those who said it was pointless to fight. She would learn to deal with the blood and other things that made her stomach turn just thinking about them so that she could help in some way. She looked up at the sky and said a prayer that was taken away by the wind. Turning she started to head back to Mez to prepare for her next trip that might well be her last if this war ended badly for all of them.

The hike back toward Mez was short and unvented which was good because Mella’s mind was full of determination and possible things she might have to learn that paying attention wasn’t particularly high on her list of things to do. She had no idea what to expect so it wasn’t as though she could truly prepare, but a few extra packages of dried food for the trip and an extra blanket to rip up if it was needed would be good. Of course she wasn’t looking forward to telling her parents what she was up to, perhaps leaving a note would be better than the argument her mother was likely to throw when she found out that Mella intended to head toward possible danger and the oncoming influx of pain and suffering that was going to cover all the lands.

The normal sounds of the town sounded strangely muted as she skirted most of the people so she could sneak home quietly and make her way out of town. It shouldn’t be too hard to ask where everyone would be headed in another town. She knew better than to ask here and risk her parents finding out and stopping her. Liem would be her next stop then off to the war camps. Scrawling out a hasty note she tossed the extras she wanted to take with her in a pack and headed out before even stopping to eat.  

[Reoakee]

[x] : Things I see. ( Nuawahn )  

[Reoakee]

Meta RP  

[Reoakee]

Class quest  

[Reoakee]

words: 1,045

Mella quietly crept up to her favorite spot after spending the night at home in Mez. She found she had truly missed being home and yet it feel so much smaller after everything she had seen. A part of her longed to go traveling again just as another part rejoiced at the prospect of being home. She was leaving a portrait of a commission she failed to get at home and while her parents marveled over her progression as an artist she knew she still had a long way to go. Which was why she was taking a hike up to her favorite spot. It was early enough in the morning that she might get lucky and catch the sailscales playing again. She smiled thinking of Kiylet and his cute little Iniu. Someday she would have to find a companion to keep her company on her trips like Nu and Kiylet had.

Once she got to the top she was disappointed to find it empty. The sailscales must have found another sunning spot for themselves lately or perhaps there was another reason like a large kill they could scavenge from nearby. Sighing sadly she slid her bag from her shoulder and sat down shifting a bit so her small knife wouldn’t gouge into her side. The wind played through her locks and tickled her neck making her smile. Reaching a hand up to still it she was surprised how long it had gotten. Perhaps she cut it latter but for now she was content to just let the untamed fluff be itself.

Drinking in the scene before her, she realized how much she truly missed the mountains and her home even if it was a tiny speck in the larger world. Blue eyes teared up and she used the heel of her palm to try and brush them all away before they could come out. There was no doubt about it Sauti was her home and the place she loved the best out of all the lands. In time once she had finished seeing more of the world she knew she wanted to come back here and settle down. Perhaps even start a family as her parents had. She still didn’t know if her art was good enough to make a living with, but it had been sufficient to pay for things in her travels. Perhaps she would find a spot with a lot of commerce and use it as a place to sell the artwork she had made. Chuckling to herself she wondered if she was being silly, but it was a nice dream to have. Though to do it she would have to travel much more and much much further than she ever had before so she would have a large base of images in her mind to pull from. The small promise to Nu to visit another land and see the berries there teased the back of her mind. Leaning back she stared at the open sky wondering if Nu realized how smart he was in suggesting that to her. It was a thought she had never been able to shake and somehow it felt like a quest she needed to take on. Slowly her eyes drifted closed daydreaming what her life could entail in the future if she let it.

A small scratching noise made her eyes pop open a few hours later. Painfully slowly she tilted her head and tried to figure out the source. Her bag was moving. Rolling to her belly she lifted herself off the ground not minding the sharp stones digging into her palms. Moving slowly she reached with one hand for her knife and with the other timidly she reached out to the bag. A long tail slithered out as what was in the bag thrashed about rummaging through her belongings. A chuckle nearly escaped as she recognized what the creature must be. Sliding her knife back into place she used both hands to scoop up the bag and pressed it all close to her so that her bag raider couldn’t thrash and hurt each one of them. It flailed and struggled for a while. “There, there.” She stroked the bag with one hand for a while until the wriggling ceased. “Now I’m going to let you out let’s hope you’re nice and not a big snapper.” Slowly she let up on the pressure in her bag and out peeked a very irate sailscale. It hissed at her and Mella nearly dropped her bag but managed to keep hold of it. Thankfully it didn’t bite her and was more intent on climbing out of her back. Mella let it go and kept hold on the bag while the brown sailscale slithered out onto the rocks. It tried to fly off but couldn’t manage it due to being tied up with some very thin strips of leather Mell used to tie up her bits of art. “Aww. Hang on there little one.” Mella reached out to help untie the sailscale’s wing and received another hiss of disdain. Pulling back Mella reached into her bag and managed to fish out some dried meat and tried a different tact.“Here now. Here.. girl?” It was a thin little sailscale so there was a good chance it was female. She offered the food moving slowly to catch the sailscale. It looked at her for a moment before snapping at the food and while its jaws were busy Mella pounced. Carefully snuggling it she kept a hand free to try and untangle the writhing beast. When she got the leather off she let go and scooted back holding her hands up dropping the leather while the sailscale hissed at her like it was ready to attack.

It watched her for a moment before jerking its head and grabbing the food it dropped in its flailing. Wings snapped as it took off flying away. Sighing Mella went about sorting out her pack making sure the sailscale didn’t damage too many things in its little raid. Finding only a few spills for her paint powder and some small rips in some parchment she had managed to pick up the things she had dumped out to investigate and packed up to head home.  

[Reoakee]

Words 1,023


That night she was given a wonderful gift by her parents. A new journal full of blank parchment. It was welcome home gift that made her break down in tears and hug them both. She even fell asleep holding it close to her chest wondering what she should impart to it first.

The next day she headed back to her spot moving slowly this time with extra food on her person. Not seeing any sailscales today either she was a bit disappointed. She had been looking forward to painting them. Sliding off her bag like before she had her journal in hand deciding to sketch the mountains instead and left her bait out by her bag since she wouldn’t need it today. She began her work quickly not thinking too much while she worked. The landscape of the mountains near her home began to take form. Pausing for a moment she was surprised when scratching noises didn’t. The noise wasn’t from her charcoal on parchment then what could it be from? Tilting her head she brushed a lock of hair out of her way and nearly let out a giggle.

The little brown sailscale thief from before was back. This time it had the sense to stay out of her bag and was ripping apart the extra food she had out while it’s tail swished back and forth making a scrapping noise across her bag. The it stopped and looked at her when it finally noticed she was watching it. “Hello little sneak theif.” She chuckled but made no move to approach it this time. The sailscale eyed her wary but didn’t flap off. Mella turned away from the creature to give it some space but she kept peeking at it from the corner of her eye. The little sailscare was keeping an eye on her and every so often it would sneak a bit closer to her sniffing. She realized that it must smell the other bits of food she had kept on her person. She didn’t so much as twitch a muscle while it came close enough that it’s green little tongue could reach out and lick her belt if it wanted. It glanced at her still wary before it sniffed the belt more intensely. Shifting her weight she wasn’t surprised when the sailscale darted back a bit. Staying still she waited as it came closer again. This time it moved to her side and reached up to sniffer her sash it found what it was after and nudged the sash until the food fell out. Grabbing it quickly the sailscale took off. Unable to stop herself she started to laugh at the silly little creature. Deciding to give the thief a name she settled on Telwren for its musical and lively sound.

For the next few days she came back each day to feed Telwren. It didn’t take long for the sailscale to start appearing before Mella arrived and sometimes even coming down the trail a ways to meet her and start its little feast. She started to notice the other sailscales coming back to the area, but none of them were as bold around her as Telwren. She spent a good number of days sketching them remembering a nice peaceful time before all the blood and death she had seen.

She had discovered a few things about the little brown sailscale. One it was actually a boy, but she didn’t feel like renaming it since Telwren was such a cute name. Secondly it didn’t take more than a few days before the sailscale started to follow her around more often. Soon enough the bold as brass little one would just ride in her bag all day and be happy anytime Mella slipped a morsel of food in. She was careful not to overfeed it in fears that it would end up fat or spoiled. Though she didn’t really know how much was too much and made sure to stop if Telwren’s belly started to bulge at all. He also liked to ride in her sash which did tickle sometime when he wriggled around to get comfortable.

Mella couldn’t help it she adored the little creature that she now thought of as her own. She spoke to him a lot but got the feeling the sailscale liked it better when she spoke to him with food in her hands. His antics for digging into her paints that were made of crushed insects was a bit annoying at first. Not only that but the sailscale caused enough grief to her parents that she had to wonder if Bergchi could see all this and was laughing just a bit. She had to transfer those dried paint supplies into her small jars leaving only one for semi liquid paints to be. She wondered if she could get more vibrant paints somewhere and remembered Nu’s words about the land just on the other side of Tale. Groaning she knew she’d have to go there herself and see it. This time she planned her travels a bit more carefully. New clothes for the trip and she even took the time to decorate the little lily foot accessories she made with the largest crystals she had left intact from the commission she had failed to obtain. When she showed her parents her plans this time they were sad to see her go but marginally more accepting since she had traveled a bit and come back safely before. The fact that Telwren was going with her did make her father loud allowed and her mother sigh in relief. Mella could only grin. She was not about to leave her new friend behind. Nu was right it was better to travel with others. Even if they couldn’t talk back and seemed grumpy most all of the time.

She spent the better part of the next morning arranging travel with a traders to start getting her closer to the Tale boarder. It would take a lot of smaller trips to get to Jauhur but she was fine with taking her time. Mella had no reason to rush her trip.


Rough of mountains  

[Reoakee]

[x] :Healer's view, Painters view. (Uquin)  

[Reoakee]

Meta RP and final camp  

[Reoakee]

[x] : Aldabuck beast battle ( Mella wins)  

[Reoakee]

[x] : It's not to bad out there (Ta'ruk)