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 Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 12:52 pm
The Adventure Begins...
Her bags were packed and loaded into the caravan. “Why do I have to leave the village? Can’t I just stay with another family for a while?” Sawenah asked as she kicked the dirt gently not daring to look back at her foster father looming in the doorway of their home, her foster brothers and sister peeking through the window.
“Sweetie, it’s complicated…” Lilah tried to explain, “You’ll be alright; just stick with these men here they will keep you safe.” There was pain in her eyes as she looked over the young lady she had raised all these years. As much as she wanted to keep Sawenah around she had three kids of her own and to her dismay another on the way. They didn’t have the space or the currency to take care of five kids, and her husband made sure she was very aware of this.
Sawenah clung tight to her foster mother’s hand, “I’ll help with the twins more! Is it because Braka gets so frustrated with me? I can be better. I promise you’ll hardly know I’m there.” She pleaded as she saw the tears welling in her mother’s eyes, causing her own to fall, “Is it space?” her words came out as a wimper, “I’ll sleep on the floor? Outside? Please don’t send me away… I’m scared.”
“Oh, baby girl…” Lilah sobbed, “I want so much for you to stay too, but you have to get out of this town. You’ve got to see the world. You have so much potential. I know it’s scary out there, but you warm the hearts of everyone you meet…” Lilah brushed the blond strands of hair out of Sawenah’s face .
“Cept Braka’s.” Sawenah murmured.
The two stared at each other blankly for a moment, then burst into a brief fit of laughter.
“If you find a way to get him to warm up to anything, you let me know your secret.” Lilah laughed as she wiped a tear from her eyes. “Sawenah, here.” She began as she produced a leather pouch of coin, “This is all I can offer you. Spend it wisely now!” She warned with a stern wag of her finger.
Sawenah’s eyes were fixed on the pouch, “All of this is for me?” Her voice increased in pitch as the sentence went.
“I’ve been saving it for something special. This seems to be an appropriate situation to use it. Remember that I love you, Sawenah. Even though you can’t live with us anymore that doesn’t mean you can’t visit.” Lilah helped her up onto the rear of the caravan, “Be careful, don’t let that pouch out of your sight, and above all remember that I love you… Please don’t ever forget that, sweetie.”
The caravan lurched forward and Sawenah watched as her mother faded away into the night.
Word Count: 475 words
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Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:37 pm
Life Lessons Learned... And Goggles, Too!
They reached their first rest spot as they crossed into Tale. Several other caravans had already arrived; each with their own craft. They had everything from random junk sold for a quick coin, to familiars; trendy clothing from every region of Tendaji, jewelry, accessories like scarves, hats and such. It was like a playground of every kind of wonder a child could ever dream of. Each shop started a little fire as they swapped stories of their ventures and traded among one another.
The coin pouch Sawenah had firmly grasped in her little hands had suddenly felt so heavy as her eyes darted from one caravan to the next. Perusing the wares of her traveling companions she firmly believed that everything you could ever possibly want or need could be found here.
Her head was swimming with all the wonders available, and though her mother’s warnings still echoed in her head, they were quickly silenced when her eyes caught something shiny dangling from a lonely little caravan parked out of the way of the others.
Making her way over to it she found almost everything was packed in and locked up tight. A stout man with frizzy snow white hair sat on the stoop of the caravan in the light of the flame. He wore a simple dingy white shirt with trousers held up by suspenders struggling to reach beyond his bulbous belly. The most peculiar glasses clung to his nose; they had little gold arms with a variety of different lenses attached to the ends of them. The lens came off both sides of the glasses, which reminded Sawenah of some sort of a bug with its many legs.
Stepping up beside the man, Sawenah gave him a gently poke, “H-Hello…” she whispered, ‘Is he dead?!’ She asked herself as her mind began swimming and spinning out into sheer panic as she began to consider that possibility.
“WAH-HA?!” He cried out in a flailing flurry of limbs, “Who’s there?! What do you want!? Am I- am I…” the man began to settle down as his eyes rested on the young mixed girl, “Oh… Hello there little one.” He looked around for her parents and saw she was alone, “What brings you out here so late at night. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“How did you make those?” She pointed to the glasses she had been staring at since she arrived, “I like them.”
The man adjusted the glasses on his face and let out a jolly laugh, “Oh my dear, surely you don’t need glasses… Do you?” he had never worked with an Alkidike for obvious reasons… “Well, I made my glasses as that is my craft. Correcting the vision of those who need it and protecting the eyes of those who don’t.” He stood up and stretched out his already struggling suspenders, “Would you care to take a peek at my shop?” He asked, unlatching the door to his caravan and allowing it to swing open.
Sawenah stepped into the dark caravan cautiously at first, but as the man brought in a lit lantern her eyes lit up with a wild fascination. There were those peculiar glasses everywhere! Most didn’t have the funny lens arms, but none the less she found them fascinating; one set in particular caught her eyes. The shapes were that of large circles, held together by leather and some sort of shiny yellow metal. No matter, they had swirling black shutters in them and were absolutely astounding. She was very delicate when grasping the lenses off the wood head they were displayed on, “I need these.” She announced while presenting the lenses to the man.
“Well darling, I’m not so sure you need-”
“I. Want. Them.” She said, her lips pressed firmly together, “I’ll pay you… How much are they?” She bounced in anticipation her eyes never leaving the glasses.
It was clear he wasn’t going to be able to dis-sway her decision, so he walked over to an oddly shaped laying chair and patted the cushion, “Alright then, take a seat… I can’t very well turn away a paying customer.”
Sawenah bounced right into the seat and wiggled about as she waited in anticipation to receive her glasses.
The man pulled down a rolled sheet of paper from the ceiling and placed a weight on the end of it to keep it from rolling back up, “Alright, Can you read the top line for me…”
Sawenah bit her lower lip and focused real hard, “Ummm…” she stared at the paper just hoping the answers would jump off the page at her, but nothing happened. Her face flushed a soft pink and she hung her head in shame, “I can’t read.” She murmured unable to meet the man’s eyes.
Dumbfounded that the child was so uneducated that she couldn’t recite the alphabet, he took the weight off the page and let it roll back up into the ceiling, “Alright, here’s what we’ll do then… How many fingers am I holding up?” he held out three fingers and waited for her answer.
Sticking her tongue out as she squinted and tried to push back into the chair, “I think three… Could you take a few steps back?” It was blurry but she thought she could make out three little stubs of tan.
“Alright I’ll start moving backward and you tell me when you can see me perfectly.” He began stepping backward slowly. Five steps passed and she hadn’t said a word; ten steps, fifteen, thirty…
“Woah! There… I can see you fine there.” She called from the chair, “Wow, You’re kinda old, huh…Ah! Three I guessed right!”
The man burst into laughter as he was clear out of his caravan. “Wow… Your vision is… Interesting to say the least.” Returning to the caravan he scratched his head, “Alright, Well. You’ll need a lens that is convex then…” He placed his glasses on her face and began placing the bug leg lenses in front of the main one.
Sawenah’s vision swam as he began adjusting them, “Ahg,” she grumbled clenching her eyes shut, “I don’t like that…” The lenses made her eyes burn and hurt, like they needed to be rubbed. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to make it so you can see…” he answered with a simple smile.
“My eyes aren’t like yours… They don’t work with those funny bug leg things.” She struggled with her description, “Glasses?” She thought that is what he called them earlier, “I know how I can see. I don’t need your “Glasses” to make me see.” She pointed to the glasses she picked out earlier, “I want those… Will those make my eyes hurt like yours?”
“Those Goggles you picked out?” He retrieved them from his work self, “Currently they won’t, no, but you can’t see things up close, you’re farsighted…”
She nodded, “Yes, I see things fine far away…”
“But up close you don’t. I can fix that.” He said while monkeying with the lenses on his glasses again.
Sawenah pried the glasses off and handed them to him, “No, I can see different up close… and good far away. Give me the goggles,” was that what he called them? “And I will pay you.” She grabbed at the goggles he had in his hands.
Releasing a sigh of frustration he set the goggles over her eyes and tightened them to fit her head, “Alright, How do they feel on your head? Too tight, too loose?”
“They’re great!” She squealed while spinning around in the chair and looking at all the things in the shop through her new lenses.
“Watch this…” He spun a little switch on the side of the goggles that turned the filters and caused the room to get dark
“Wooooooah~” she mused as she stared on in delight, a child-like wonder expression lit up her face, “How did you do that… What did you do?” She felt the edges of the goggles.
“Here,” He grabbed her tiny fingers and guided them to the slides, “Push It down if you want the lenses to be dark and,” sliding her fingers up with the switch in her grasp the lenses went clear, “Sliding it up will open the filters and make it normal.”
“That’s awesome!” Sawenah exclaimed as she began gently switching the lenses, “How much are they…”
The man’s stomach knotted as he thought of the price. Those were his best crafted glasses… Though they didn’t sell so well; Due to price or appearance he did not know. “How about three gold pieces?” He had more than cut the price in half… would that be sufficient?
Sawenah’s face melted to disappointment, she knew she didn’t have nearly enough for them; even with the money her mother sent her away with, “I… I can’t afford them…” She pouted while sliding the glasses up onto her head.
The man’s heart melted a bit when he saw how cute she looked with those glasses, “I tell you what… You give me half of what you do have and we will call it a deal.”
She looked up at the man with a bright smile across her face, “Really?! You mean it?!” She rushed over to his workbench and dumped out the contents of her coin pouch, frantically sorting them into two piles without any regard to the value of the coins. Once she determined that the pile was sufficiently split in half she scraped the remaining coins back into her pouch and scurried off, “Thank you, Thank you! I will treasure them forever~” She called back as she waved to the man
Looking over the left coin he rubbed his eyes, “Oh dear….” He muttered to himself, “She has no concept of currency does she…” A knot formed in his stomach as he looked over the pile of gold, silver and bronze. There was enough to purchase the glasses at full value. And from the brief glance he got from what she scraped back into her purse, she had barely enough to scrape by.
Sorting through the coins he figured sufficient for his payment, he placed the remainder in a velvet pouch that would be used to keep lenses in. “Miss! Little Girl, you forgot something!” He shouted out to the girl.
One of the vendors she passed grabbed her arm and pointed to the man, “He’s looking for you, You should run up there and see what he needs.”
“Oh?” She said while cautiously returning to the stout man who sold her the goggles, a little leery he may try to take them back, “Did I do something wrong?”
“You need a lens cloth.” He said while placing a silky square of fabric into her tiny hand, “Also, you gave me too much coin little girl… You need to be more careful with this.” He emptied the pouch into her hand, “You take care of yourself little miss. Not everyone will be nice like me and give you your change.”
She nodded slowly, “I’m sorry… I’ll do better next time.” Placing the loose coin back into her coin pouch she waved shyly to the man and slunk back to the caravan she arrived with.
Word Count: 1,866
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:09 am
Sawenah awoke to the dry heat of the Sauti Tale border. ‘Hmm… It’s so bright…’ she thought to herself while rolling to her knees and looking around. An empty field is where she lay baking out in the sun. It would seem all the caravans have packed up and moved on, as they usually departed early in the morning to catch the shade of the forest by the time the sun was high in the sky. It also became apparent to her that she had been left behind. Still in a sleepy haze she rubbed her eyes and struggled to her feet and looked at the tracks she laid between. The night before she had fallen asleep in the shade of the caravan in which she traveled here on, but it was here no longer. Following the wobbly wheel tracks she figured maybe if she just kept walking… Eventually she would catch up, or be found by someone else? She had remembered they had told her not to be a burden and she could travel with them to Jauhar, but… they’re gone. Was it something she said; or maybe didn’t say?
The third sun has set since she was left by the caravan and she wasn’t entirely sure where she was… crawling high into a tree for the night she hugged her knees tight to her chest and bit her lower lip to keep it from quivering. Nights were the hardest… It was always easier to tell herself that the caravan was just ahead in the daylight when she could travel; easy to keep up the story which she inevitably knew was a lie. Nights were always the hardest… so many predators scouted the forest floor for unsuspecting prey. There was one thing she learned from the villages she scavenged for food: Never sleep on the forest floor.
Like in Sauti, no one was willing to actually take her in for an evening or two, but each person who would actually look her in the eye would give her tips of living out here, some were even decent enough to give her a scrap or two of food. Not tonight though; tonight she was far from a settlement and only had the sounds of the forest to lull her to sleep… which wasn’t as romantic as it sounded… There were the distant screeches of a menzuri’s latest victim, the clicks and buzzes of the various critters that scurried about. Burying her face in her knees she quietly sobbed to herself. She had eaten the last of the stale brick of spongy grain she was gifted days back and still her stomach groaned. Between the hunger pains, the aching in every limb and the scratchy burn of her dry eyes she was out of energy and it wasn’t long before her body finally succumbed to sleep.
What seemed like moments later she was startled awake by the groan of a rickety cart, clatter of armor, and the growl of a displeased animal pulling the cart. The sun had risen long ago; she knew this because she could see tiny speckles of tis rays shining through the forest canopy. Below was a cart, she hadn’t dreamt it. The owner was arguing with the stubborn team of humped creatures he walked beside. Though while they were stopped she decided it was as good a time as any to take a peek at their goods. It would seem they were carrying much, so he wouldn’t miss a few pieces of whatever she could find useful, right? Sawenah watched as the man unhitched his team and led them over to a small spring that been a few yards from them. Slipping from the limb she had slept on she glided down the trunk and only stumbled briefly at the knot toward the base of the tree. Pausing a good while to be sure she hadn’t disturbed the man and his creatures she slunk to the back of the wagon and peered inside. There was armor of leather and metal, weapons of all kinds most she had never even seen before, and a small crate of rations toward the front of the caravan; possibly personal rations for the trip?
Slipping into the caravan she took a few bits of leather armor, a long sturdy pole of sorts, and a square of hard biscuit as well as a few small bits of dried meat. Opening the coin pouch she had strapped to her side she dropped a few coins into the rations crate and slipped out the back of the caravan. Peering back at the watering hole he saw the man and his two humped creatures still enjoying the spring. ‘Good. They won’t notice a few missing pieces, right?’ she struggled with her decision to “buy” some supplies from the unknowing man at the watering hole, but the growing gurgle in the pit of her stomach told her she needed to get away from the caravan or risk drawing attention to her deeds.
Once Sawenah was well away from the caravan she looked over her shady purchases; a set of gauntlets, a shoulder guard and a long wooden shaft. Slipping into the gauntlets she strung them tight and then put her right arm through the shoulder guard. It was very loose on her, but gave her some cover. It was good enough for the moment. She had no clue what the giant stick was used for, but she could lean on it as she walked, and use it to climb…. Oh~ and beat of giant nasty bug creatures that think she looks appetizing. She would find uses for it!
Starting down the path she heard another caravan coming up behind her; definitely an odd amount of traffic coming through the forest she couldn’t imagine there were many villages out in this part of the forest…
“Ho Traveler~” the man called from down the path, “Are you off to Jauhar?”
‘Jauhar?’ Sawenah repeated to herself, ‘that is where the merchants she had been traveling with were headed’ “Um-Yes! I am traveling that way.” She called back to him, waving eagerly to the group of men dressed in odd armor and armed to the teeth.
“Hmm, She seems a bit young to be heading to the war front… But eagerness is definitely a good sign. We need more youth to share your enthusiasm.” One of the armored men said to the group.
“Arak, She already lost a spear tip! Hell, if she can last this many nights out in the forest then I’d say she can take out a few obans!” another answered, pointing to the walking stick she had purchased of the parked caravan.
“That shaft was never headed you t**t. She’s skin and bone and filthy to boot… ” the grumpy one snarled as he lifted one of her arms only to let it drop to her side, “Do you even know how to wear that armor you have on?”
Sawenah shook her head, “But I can learn~” she chimed hoping to worm her way into traveling with this group.
Arak step forward and picked her right arm up. “Hold that up and I will adjust it for you.” He stripped off his full fingered gauntlets and began adjusting the strings in the arm of the shoulder pad, “It is very hard to adjust these yourself unless you’re a freak of nature like Corvik over there.” He tipped his head to the broody one in the corner, then smirked, “you’ve got spunk kid. Jump in the back of our caravan here, and we’ll bring you to the warfront. It’s gotta be better than wondering around out in the forest here…” After adjusting the shoulder joint he restrung the body strap and pulled the slack through, “it’ll be a little loose yet, but you’ll grow into it yet. You’ve got a lot of growing to do.” He said while scrubbing her shaggy blonde hair, “now go on, you look like you could use a rest from walking.”
Sawenah bounced to the back of the caravan and hoisted herself into the back of it. She was off to the warfront… whatever that was. For now she was safe, or at least as safe as she has been in the last few weeks, and when she arrived at the warfront she would do everything she could to help this Arak and the odd band of company he keeps.
Word count: 1408
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Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 3:57 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:11 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:18 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:32 pm
“...she was a Loyalist; accepting all the benefits and consequences that come with that title. ”
Well, The war was over almost as fast as it started. The battle was forfeit, the king overthrown. Slaves by the hundreds fled their captors and returned to a homeland that was but a blurred mirage in their wildest dreams. Sawenah was left torn, trembling on the border of the home she knew all her life, yet fought against, and the civilization she knew so little about, yet gambled everything to spread. She couldn't go back and she knew it. Despite all the warm earthlings at the resistance camp she met who encouraged her, cared for her; returning just seems like a slap in the face... To all of them!
Directly after the battle, she was taken in by the priestess at the main camp, to a small sanctuary in Sulburi. Priestess Saorise sheltered her, educated her, and helped her adjust to life in Oba, but it wasn't long before Sawenah noticed the strain her presence was causing the sanctuaries coffers. Knowing she could never repay the Priestess' kindness she donated most of what coin remained in her pouch from her time in Tendaji and returned to what she knew best... drifting.
Sawenah kicked up a cloud of dirt as she strode the empty streets of Sulburi. It was early morning, so early, in fact, most merchants are still curled in their covers... Sawenah knew they were always the earliest to rise; prep their shops for the day to come; so eager to display their wares to any who would give them but a second of their time. She had traveled with merchants most her life and not a one of them was alike... but they all got up at the crack of dawn... the literal crack! Like the first speck of light tickles the sky the slightest of color... you're still potentially debating whether it's a bright moon or indeed the sun rising... She giggled to herself, The silly narration pleased her as she pondered it.
It was a wonder to her how she could hold a grouping of people in such high esteem and yet never consider to be one herself. As previously stated she had been around merchants nearly all her life, surely it couldn't be so hard?
'What could I possibly sell?' Sawenah's mind scrambled for an option while resting at the corner of a street, 'I'm not particularly crafty... I have few skills...' the reality was harsh but true. She had gone her whole life relying on others in one way, shape or form... and though in some way she was provided for no one really took the time to teach her how to do much of anything really. Releasing a heavy sigh Sawenah pushed off the street corner and started her way to the market when she felt a tickle on her chest. Reaching to scratch it, she felt the necklace gifted to her by a dear friend from the Resistance. “Takoda” the words escaped her lips and brought tears to her eyes. Her vision swam as homesickness set in. She rubbed some dirt from the pale blue teardrop stone and ran her finger along the feather. Funny how such a simple trinket could become one of her most treasured possessions-
“That's it~” she chimed, eyes widening with surprise, “I can make this~ Well, something similar... Maybe?” she would need basic materials, but that was easy enough to come by... it was still early yet, there would be minimal foot traffic through the streets and you'd be amazed at what people lose. She would spend her morning scouring the streets for usable materials, and before long she may have what she needs to start her own business... She could be a merchant!
After hours on the hunt for materials, the streets became too busy so she found a quiet place tucked back away from the merchant stalls to go over her treasures: a handful of random beads, a few coins, and lots of interesting rocks; smooth ones, oddly shaped ones, colorful ones, matte ones. The best find of the day; the one that really brought it home for her: an unused spool of twine. Hard to believe, right? Just passed the niche eatery nobles like so well on the main road through Sulburi; there it was in the alleyway. It may have been dirty, but with the proper care it can be cleaned and Sawenah would have everything she needs to start. Bursting with anticipation, Sawenah began down the path of a merchant; materials in hand she arranged her masterpieces and began the manufacturing process.
Word Count: 783
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:34 pm
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Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 7:06 pm
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