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 Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:13 pm
[ 1 / 10 ]
In the lowlands of Sauti, where the sun took on a golden hue and the valleys were filled with pools of shimmering water, a small group of travelers set up camp in the dying light. Traveling across Sauti was a challenge, which was why most of the locals quickly learned how to be accustomed to the landscape. For those moving through, either to reach the airship depot or make it to Tale's grasslands, the trip was meant to be completed with a guide.
Thankfully, Liio was experienced enough from his trips back and forth that he needed no guide. Old enough now to travel without his mother between Tale and Zena, he found the travel relaxing almost. It helped he got along so well with his closest sibling, Elna.
Finishing up the camp, he leaned back to consider how his life had adapted to the world around them. These days, he mostly spent time with his sister. Tyyn was a fading memory, though her personality always stood out when he thought back to it, and his father also seemed to be a bit of a stranger compared to his mother. As a result, he was always closest to his sister, and jumped whenever they decided to take a trip or an adventure.
Right now, they were heading toward the cold lands of his mother, so they'd need to find some furs. It also called for them to build a fire at night, as the air grew more cold the further they traveled north. Getting started, he absently looked to see what Elna was up to.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:28 pm
Elna had just finished reorganizing her backpack and making sure that she still had everything that she had needed for this trip back to Zena. Traveling was still fairly new to her, not that it was for Liio. After some time away from him, she had accepted his invitation to start traveling with him, and so far it had gone smoothly. She was still worried of the unexpected, but Liio’s attitude helped ease her mind most of the time.
She sat back on her heels and looked over to where Liio was. He was already looking back at her, so with a swipe of her hands on her pants, she called out. ”Did you need help with anything?” He was much more adept at setting up the camp but if he needed something, she would try her best.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:34 pm
[ 2 / 10 ]
He smiled at his sister when he noticed she was about done packing up, and nodded good naturedly at her offer, "Sure, I'm just working on the fire, want to help me find some kindling?" He would show her the ropes, because he assumed eventually she'd want to do this on her own, "Magic would always be nice, but we'll have to do with the ol'fashioned way."
Standing up and brushing off his pants, he took a look around, "Those bushes are a good start, we want both small and big logs..."
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:46 pm
Elna nodded her head and made her way over to Liio. ”Sure, I can help get some wood.” She agreed. She followed where Liio was pointing and chewed on her lips as she helped gather the wood. Magic would be nice, she just had no idea what she was doing. And she hadn’t even brought up her problems to her brother yet. She didn’t know how to approach that subject. ‘Oh hey, by the way, I have magic and can’t control it. Cool, right?’ She thought to herself sarcastically as she gathered the wood.
”Are these alright?” She held up her hoard of twigs and larger branches and waited for the affirmative.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:54 pm
[ 3 / 10 ]
As they moved to pick up the wood, Liio looked around for the larger logs. He was able to find decent sized ones, but nothing big enough to sustain a fire all night. He'd have to gather some before bed to try and keep them warm.
Caught off guard, he turned when his sister spoke up, before nodding, "Yeah, that will light quickly and make it easy to start a bigger fire. Nice find!"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:14 pm
Elna felt a little bit of relief that she had done a good job. It wasn’t much, she did know that, but it would help with kindling at least. ”Maybe we can get someone to help get some of the bigger stuff back to camp later?” She offered. She knew enough about making fires that what she had and what Liio had wouldn’t be enough for them throughout the night. It wouldn’t make a nice long fire.
”Hey... So...” She started before mumbling off again. She didn’t know what to say, she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts lately, she wasn’t much for conversation. She didn’t know whether she should start on the bigger issues in her head, or just try to make for light friendly fire conversation.
She went with the latter as they walked back toward camp. ”It sure is getting colder now. Are we staying in Zena for a bit when we get back?”
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:34 pm
[ 4 / 10 ]
As they began to walk back to the camp with their finds, Liio's ear twitched at Elna's mumbling. Turning to look at her while they moved, he patiently waited for her to move on. There was no rush out in the wild, they just had time to waste as they traveled so he was used to just waiting things out.
Eventually, it paid off as she spoke up, and he wondered why such a simple question took so long to word. Was she worried about going to see their mother?
"Yeah, I think we'll need to stop at a settlement and pick up some furs before we hit the snow. I didn't pack anything heavy enough for Zena..."
Shrugging again, he dropped the wood next to the camp, before turning again to his sister, "I figured we'd stay with mom for a bit...why, did you want to go somewhere else?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:51 pm
Elna put her pile of wood next to Liio’s and felt her face get warm at Liio’s response. She hadn’t meant to make it sound like she didn’t want to go home. ”Ah, no, I... mom’s sounds good.” She shrugged her shoulders and tried to shake off her doubts in her head. ”While we’re there I think I want to go book shopping. Find some stuff to bring back with us.” It was true enough, but she was also looking for specific books now. She needed to know more about magic and what made it work.
”We’ll definitely need warmer clothes.” She thought aloud, echoing what Liio had said. Furs would definitely be necessary. ”So Liio,” there was only so long she could avoid it, ”have you noticed anything strange lately? Like, I don’t know... anything unusual happening to you?” She prodded, unsure of herself all over again.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:59 pm
[ 5 / 10 ]
Liio's brows furrowed as he studied Elna after the response. She seemed distracted, distraught almost at the idea of telling him what was on her mind. He knew she was a teenager now, so maybe she just had some private things she wanted to talk about. He shook his head, he would not go there.
"Books?" He echoed, curious now. Did she like to read? He didn't really know. Maybe he traveled a bit too much these days, before her next question really caught him off guard.
"Strange?" He echoed again, before moving to pick up some rocks and clear a place for a fire, "I guess I've started growing a beard...not to brag or anything." he laughed, setting up the kindling.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:05 pm
Elna had to laugh at Liio’s response. A beard? ”Well, I guess that counts, but not really what I was talking about.” She didn’t know why she felt like she needed to keep it a secret. Like it was shameful. Her brother was the closest person to her, she should be able to just openly talk about nearly anything with him.
She took a deep breath and tried to let it just come naturally in conversation. ”What I meant was... do you think you have magic?” She asked him as bluntly as she could. It was one of the things they hadn’t brought up, but none of the members of their family had magic as far as she knew, so she just assumed growing up that she wouldn’t have to worry about it.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:18 pm
[ 6 / 10 ]
"Hey, don't laugh! I'm officially a man now. At least according to dad. Beards are important parts of growing up...just like...your lady things." He blushed and waved off the conversation, "What were you talking about?"
He let her take a deep breath before responding to her question with a huh.
"Magic?" He shifted a moment, "Well...I've thought about trying it out...but it's so hard with the travel and mom and dad not really being magically...inclined. Why, have you showed any signs?" He ended excitedly.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:34 pm
Elna equally blushed at the mention of lady things. Those were talked about between her mother and her briefly and then left alone. She knew enough about her changes to not need to ask any more questions at this point.
He had thought about trying it. Hmmm... it had her curious as to whether or not he could. ”Well... I mean, not to brag or anything.” She copied his words with a bit of sarcasm. ”It’s been weird. But, yeah.” She sighed and tried to figure out how best to explain it. ”I don’t know how to do it. It just happens sometimes. I don’t even know where to start with learning.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:43 pm
[ 7 / 10 ]
Liio narrowed his eyes, a bit jealous she was already getting some sort of magic in her system. He wanted to cast spells and sling them all over the place, first and foremost at the fire, but not even a static shock came from his fingertips.
"What type of magic is it? Are you able to cast elemental spells or heal people?" He prodded, focused on her and no longer worried about setting up the fire. This was more interesting anyway.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:27 pm
Elna shook her head, her confusion showing on her face. ”I don’t actually know what kind of magic it is. It’s only happened a couple of times.” She thought back to what she knew about it. ”It’s elemental?” She questioned her answer even as she spoke it.
”I made snow move.” She offered as a pathetic attempt at explanation. ”I don’t know how though. It just happened. I wasn’t even thinking about it... and I don’t think I could recreate it either. I tried before and nothing happened.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:48 pm
[ 8 / 10 ]
"You don't seem so sure..." Liio said with a skeptical tone before realizing it was a bit cold. He turned to grab some flint and lit the fire, letting it begin to grow and blowing on it slightly before turning back to listen to his sister.
"Why snow? Usually they say we show signs of magic during stress or if we are in danger...like if we were about to be hit or drowning."
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