Post by Maira and Apiallo on Dec 22, 2006 17:53:01 GMT -5
THE TRADER’S OUTPOST
One could not ignore the crisp cool of an autumn day. The seasons were slowly changing, and the breeze was chilly and fresh. The leaves were gone from the trees, and the branches that still held their summer leaves had dark colors on them. Winter was coming quickly. The people of the world were preparing themselves for the great change from autumn to winter, when the Inns would dry all their foods and fill their basements with frozen meats and fruits. The first snow would be any day now, and so pedestrians had to wear heavy coats and long pants to keep themselves warm.
“Azuna! Bring this to the Trader’s Outpost for me, would you? Darling, they’re going to be freezing and hungry.” A calm, gentle voice called. Azuna was the girl who was sweeping the sidewalk, the one with long black hair, and shimmering olive eyes. Looking up at her mother and into the small and smoky house, Azuna nodded, and walked up to the door, where she took a large bag from her mother. Inside the bag would be breads and blankets, Azuna knew. Every day her mother would tell her the same thing. Bring the bag to the Trader’s Outpost. And every day Azuna walked across town to the outskirts of their village, to give the bag to the man waiting for her.
The Trader’s Outpost is a small post where Traders come for their basic goods. People all around town provide things such as dried meats and fruits, clothing, water sacks, and hunting gear. But Azuna’s family owned the Bakery Shop, where they sold a variety of things. Mainly hand-woven cloths, breads, and basic jewelry, the shop contained miscellaneous items as well. Kicking a rock down the pebble-stone drive, Azuna passed many houses, all of their doors right up to the walk-way. There were only a few people out of their houses today because of the cold, but Azuna didn’t care. She knew that if she completed her task, she would get a nice cup of tea and a fresh loaf of bread to sit with by the fire.
Azuna met a few odd peoples on her way to the Trader’s Outpost. There was a man with a horse, whom either didn’t like the man at all, or was simply stubborn. Azuna decided not to introduce herself. Two women, wrapped in fine cloths, and bedazzled with intricate jewelry whispered to each other on the side of the walkway, and showed Azuna no interest. And lastly, there was an old man with his cane who was watering the flowers on his window box. Azuna did not see the point in this, as the first snow would kill the flowers anyway.
The young feminine almost skipped past her stop at the Trader’s Outpost, so interested in the contrast of the clouds. Some were dark and ominous, while others were light and springy. Azuna wondered how they could all be in one sky.
As soon as Azuna walked into the Trader’s Outpost, Azuna could tell she was in a totally different environment. The room smelled harshly of liquor, and there was a lot of unclean people drinking by the tables. The bar was messy and unorganized, and the windows were steamed up with heat, so you couldn’t see out. Azuna walked right past the Traders and upstairs into the more office-like area. There were Traders lined up to get important things like money and housing, things that the government of the town needed to know about. Dropping the bag on the counter of a very alone desk named ‘Donations’, Azuna waited for the man to give her gold. But instead, a grubby looking trader snatched the bag, and offered her a price. He had a Silver stone, probably a diamond that he would willingly give to Azuna for the bag.
“The stone and 3 gold coins.” Azuna protested.
“1 gold coin.” The trader bargained.
“1 gold coin and 5 silver coins.” Azuna finished. The trader nodded, and gave her the money and the rock. The Trader was right. The stone was polished smooth, but with was almost clear like a diamond. It had a silky feel, and Azuna was suspicious of its origins, but she pocketed it anyway.
Heading downstairs, Azuna smelled the rancid smell of a foul local drink called Guhrn. It looked like slime, and smelled even worse. But Azuna kept a straight face as she headed straight for the door of the Trader’s Outpost. The room was crowded, and she couldn’t help overhearing a menacing looking trader tell his acquaintances about a special person he knew. It was a man named Kahaira, and he had the answer to poverty. Azuna’s eyes glowed as she eavesdropped, hearing about the magnificent travels of the Trader, and the tales that he had to tell. Azuna knew that she needed to find this man. She needed enough money to help pay for their home and shop along with her mother, but she also needed the money to help pay for her father’s return from slavery.
In order to pay for the store, Azuna’s father sold himself as a servant to the king, and he had never seen Azuna since. Leaning closer in, Azuna frowned, hearing that the man lived all the way in the far mountain range, the Mountains of the Sea. To find this man, she would have to travel across the country. Through the forest of Vahar, and Into the Mountains of the Sky, and finally into the Mountains of the Sea. Azuna didn’t even know if her father was still alive, but she would go on the voyage anyway.
Bolting down the streets, sliding down avenues, and racing into the shop, Azuna took many cloths, a few pieces of jewelry, and almost all the stock of bread. And finally, Azuna opened the cage that was in the corner, letting out a gorgeous hawk named Kyii. Azuna was now ready to begin her voyage to The Prophet, Kahaira. Together they set out for the edge of town, where there were a few rolling hills called the Foothills. They would find shelter there.
THE FOOTHILLS
The Foothills are not exactly a magnificent place. They are grey, and dark. The Foothills are like the barren wasteland to the north of Diin, Azuna’s home. But thankfully, Azuna was always a troublemaker. She had gone into the Foothills before, hoping that one day she would go on a grand adventure, not unlike the people in the books she read. The books were really scrolls. Every page was a separate scroll, and they were all numbered and ordered on different shelves in the shop back at home. But they had sold the scrolls a long time ago.
Kyii flew ahead of Azuna, who was wrapped up in her large coat. It actually wasn’t that large, but she was curled up into it, giving it a large, lumpy shape. After a while, Kyii stopped flying ahead, and circled in one spot, finally landing on a branch of a dead tree. Azuna bent down, and wiped the grey dust off the ground under the tree. There it was, a wooden platform, about three feet on each side. Azuna lifted the rusty handle, and it creaked open, revealing the underground house that it lead to. A smile crept up Azuna’s face. She stepped in, and to her surprise, a man was already in there.
He had a shaggely grey beard, and knowing amber eyes. His gently smile and crooked nose gave a homey feel in the dark cavern, but the navy blue cloaking and the bent staff overruled the homey feel, leaving Azuna quiet terrified.
“Who are you?” She asked bravely, boiling up all of the courage she could muster.
“I have many names. The Shaman of the East. The Knower of Many Things. The Everlasting. The Warlock. But you, dear Azuna, may call me Kahaira.” The man said patiently. Azuna wasn’t sure what to say. This man had found her, and she wasn’t even at the Forest of Vahar yet!
“What is it that you want with me?” Azuna stammered.
The man simply laughed. “That is exactly what I would have said when you found me. No, I am not here to hurt you. But I needed to warn you. A terrible danger is coming, one that the scrolls you have here do not say about.” Azuna blushed. She had worked very hard to get enough money to make her mother think she had sold those scrolls. Some of them were lying about the wooden floor, others neatly stacked. Only the ones with facts had been left untouched.
“It is a great Shadow, that brings greed, poverty, and murder. It is a beast capable of destroying Entia, and only you have the power to stop it. You must take your stone, and train it.”
Now it was Azuna’s turn to laugh. “Train the stone? You must be mad!” She choked.
“No. It is no stone, but an egg. An egg to a powerful beast, but I cannot tell you what.” Kahaira continued. “You must go to the Plains of Southern Tyyn. There you will be able to hatch the egg. But do not fear travelers, only robbers.” Kahaira added, leaving Azuna puzzled. She looked down at her pocket, where the egg was nicely held, and when she looked back up, the man was gone. The candles were also out.
Shivering, Azuna wondered what type of egg it must be. It was definitely not a bird egg, but something close to a bird. Apparently she would have to wait and see. Kicking the dust in frustration, Azuna coughed, and lay down on the bed, which was hard and lumpy.
That night, Azuna had dreams of flying. She didn’t know what she was riding, but it was something hard and cold. It swayed through the clouds, and someone behind her touched her shoulder. Azuna couldn’t see the person’s face, and she reached out to feel it, but she woke up, right as her hand touched the skin. Azuna was grabbing the bedpost quite forcefully.
The days are just as bland as the nights in the Foothills and the Northern Barren Lands. You never know what time of day it is. Maybe that is why Azuna had woken up at 3:00 in the morning to see grey skies, just as she had gone to sleep in. Azuna didn’t know much about the mystique nature of the Foothills, so she went back to sleep. Three days passed, and nothing happened. Finally, Azuna woke up for the 7th time, this time with Kyii pecking at her nose. She had started to bleed. Azuna gave in. They had to start off for the Plains of Southern Tyyn.
LAKE TYYN
Azuna dragged her feet in the twisting weeds as she made her way towards Lake Tyyn. It was a long way, and Azuna didn’t have time to stop and rest. Surprisingly, the dreary, gray feeling that had hung around Azuna while she was in the Foothills was gone, as well as the coldness of the fall. It was bright, sunny, and the grass was green. Azuna would like to say there were leaves on the trees, but there weren’t any trees to be leaves on around her.
Noticing the unseasonal climate around her, Azuna laid down on the lush green grass. Taking in the slight breeze and the sunny day, Azuna wanted very much to stay here instead of going off to train a beast. But Kyii irritated her by squawking loudly, but when Azuna climbed over the last hill, she looked over the hillside to the lake below. There wasn’t a weed for miles(quite unlike the Foothills), and the lake’s surface was sleek and blue. And on the other side of the lake, the green grass rolled into the sunset; it was paradise.
Azuna had some ideas of what was in the egg. Was it a Zarlii (a giant comodo dragon), or perhaps a Sangyo (a massive serpent). Both of these were beasts used by the Palace Guards and Scouts. They were known far and wide for being creatures that were used for reasons untold. But what Azuna wanted the egg to hatch into was a dragon. Majestic and powerful, dragons were used to overthrow disloyal Guards and Scouts. They were intelligent and brave, plus lifelong companions.
Many days passed, and there was no sign of anything that would hatch the egg. Until one night, as calm and dark as any other, when low drums rolled in over the lake. The sound was long and everlasting. It built tension as it steadily came closer to the camping duo. Kyii and Azuna had no idea about the sound. And in the dead of night, the drums build up to their highest sound, a large bang in the center of the drum, and then stopped abruptly.
Swift as lightning, a warrior dressed with feathers and masked with the face of a bird swooped down from the heavens like a falcon, and stole the egg. The person’s gender was unidentifiable, but they wore a skirt of white crane feathers, and a shirt of dark crow feathers. In their hair were braided strands of eagle’s feathers. The person seemed to be half bird, half human.
The drums began again, going farther into the distance. A rough hand touched Azuna’s shoulder, and nudged her gently.