Solo: A New Skill
Words: 921
Words: 921
Estellaina had gotten a little used to the customs on the ship. They were a rowdy group of people, but as long as she stayed next to Zhan they mostly left her alone. Her biggest issue at the moment was figuring out just what to do on the ship. She wasn't strong enough to do any of the heavy lifting, and certainly wasn't charismatic enough to go on any jobs off of the ship. So where did that leave her? Her stay was indefinitely extended until they could make it back to Yael. She couldn't sit around and waste away doing nothing in the cozy hammock. Her desire was to see the world and interact with other people. While the fear of being snatched up again had prevented her from interacting with a lot of the crew, she was ready to put a new foot forward to interact. That just meant going forth and doing it, of course. She had relied on Zhan's presence far more than she would have liked to admit, and wandering out onto the ship by herself made her skin crawl. They were all busy at work and she felt like a tourist out of place and in the way.
She wandered by as several of the crew hoisted barrels and adjusted sails, but paused when she noticed a small geian woman holding her hands up towards the sails. The sails fluttered and snapped into place as the woman focused on them, and Estellaina was deeply curious as to what she was doing. She didn't appear strong, but she was still able to help in whatever it was she was doing. She barely managed to dodge past a large water man as he stumbled along with a very hefty looking barrel, but eventually Estellaina made her way over to the woman. At first she just sort of stood there, glancing between the woman working and the mast that held the sails she worked on. From her new vantage point she could feel the wind forcing its way from the woman's hands into the sails. Estellaina was so entranced by it she didn't realize until the woman cleared her throat that she was looking at her now.
"Something I can help you with?" she questioned, voice a raspy rush much like the air blasting into the sails. Estellaina frowned, unsure if she should respond or retreat back into her hiding place. But no, she was trying to be helpful now. However long that was going to be. She straightened up her posture and folded her arms over her chest, attempting to look more serious while really just protecting herself from anything the woman might throw her way.
"I want to help. Teach me," Estellaina replied, pointing up to the sails. The geian woman turned to look Estellaina over, every second she spent observing her another moment Estellaina thought she had said the wrong thing. She took her time wandering around her, lifting her arm, patting her head. It was unnerving to the extreme and Estellaina wasn't sure if she was supposed to say anything to her weird probing or stay still. Eventually the woman stepped away from her and held out her hand.
"The name is Nomi. You look like you've never had a hard days work in your life girl," Nomi stated. That wasn't entirely true. Estellaina had helped about her home when it was needed, but she was right that hard labor wasn't exactly something she was familiar with. What she was doing didn't look like hard labor however. It looked easy, and while she knew that wasn't something that could just be done, there was at least not a physical component that used her arms.
Estellaina grabbed her hand and awkwardly shook it, taking a step back to giver herself more space between her and Nomi. "I helped my family." It was all she said, never one for too many words after all. Even with Zhan she was still short in her speech.
"This is hard work. You came to me because you didn't think it would be, but have you ever worked elements before? Do you even have any magic to work with?" Estellaina wasn't sure. She had never tried to work magic, but she had always felt close to the elements. To her land and her people. She thought it went beyond simply loving where she was from, but she had never considered that she could work magic with the land she had grown up in. Now she was in an entirely different area and her god and goddess were not guiding her as strongly, at least as far as she considered. But perhaps this was their guiding too. Picking up a skill that would eventually lead her back home and able to help out more than just with her words. If she could do magic she could use wind to carry things, maybe even move the earth. It was an enticing skill to have.
"Whatever the hard work is, teach me. I will work hard. Do not doubt," Estellaina replied, looking back up at the sails and watching as the wind died around them. Without Nomi there to force them forward the ship certainly slowed more than she had thought it would. If she herself could harness that sort of power.....she could help, and no one would ever take advantage of her ever again.
"Fine. We'll try it out, kid. Better than you sitting being useless after all. We start now."
