|  Author | Topic: Wandering (Read 187 times) |
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
![[avatar]](http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m111/artemis5555/th_asdifjsad.jpg)
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
|  | Wandering
« Thread Started on Jul 31, 2007, 3:59pm » | |
As Serena eased herself up against the side of the riverbank, she wondered why she had ever came this way. She had thought of it as an adventure of sorts, but there wasn't much excitement, or fun. She didn't even know where she was, except it must be ages away from Mar Ciudad. All around her were those tree things, towering above everything else. Serena shuddered. Every once in a while, she saw some interesting type of bird or land animal, but they never stayed long, and her amusement ended when they left.
But why be stuck in this river if she didn't have to? Serena had gotten a bit better at walking on land, and could keep legs a little longer. Walking on land for a while would sure beat having to stay within the confines of the river. As she ascended out of the river onto the land her tail turned into a pair of legs, a blue skirt round them. She wondered if she looked anything like a normal land-walker would, as she had only seen humans and elves on vacation on the Isle of Sirena.
As Serena walked, her jewelry clanked together. It was not a very loud sound, but might scare away nearby animals, perhaps. Serena stared with wonder at all of the birds perched on the trees and the rabbits scurrying across the forest floor. She had never seen anything like them before. There was not much animal life on the island. So great was Serena's wonder that without noticing at first, she walked right into a clearing full of multi-colored tents.
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
![[avatar]](http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/grndygrl1717/triannamelwythavatar.jpg)
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female 
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #1 on Jul 31, 2007, 7:02pm » | |
Trianna was wandering around the woods collecting firewood when she saw the other girl walking rather awkwardly through the forest, apparently unsure of her legs. From what Trianna could see, it seemed that the girl had just finished having a swim or a bath because her hair was soaked and her clothes were slightly damp, as if she had not completely dried off before putting them on. Strangely, Trianna could not remember having seen her before; she knew most everyone her own age within the gypsy camp and the surrounding areas, and she was certain that the stranger was not one of those people. Yet the girl could not have traveled from far away because there was no pack on her back.
Her curiosity piqued, Trianna decided that she had enough wood to get on with and began following the other woman, who was heading in the direction of the gypsy camp. She certainly seemed to be taking her time about getting there, however. Trianna was able to stop and collect extra wood several times while the person she was observing stared at everything from the young rabbits emerging from their burrows to the twittering birds in apparent wonder. Finally, she saw the woods fade away and the two of them entered the clearing in which the Court of Miracles was. While Trianna set down the heavy stack of wood and rubbed her back, the other girl gazed around, apparently quite impressed with the simple tents and brightly painted canvas covered wagons in which the gypsies lived.
Deciding that it was about time to make herself known, Trianna walked around the tent so that she was approaching the stranger from the front, and then, pretending that she had just noticed her, she walked over and smiled saying “Hello there, I’m Trianna Melwyth of the Court of Miracles. Who are you and where are you from?”
|
![[image]](http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/grndygrl1717/TriannaMelwythsig.jpg) |
|
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #2 on Aug 2, 2007, 4:08pm » | |
Serena examined the tents and wagons with interest. She had not seen anything like them. In Mar Ciudad everything was made of pearls, coral, and other things from the sea. It appeared that the people who lived here made their dwellings out of wood and cloth. Serena wondered what they would be able to withstand. Serena smiled brightly as Trianna introduced herself. It would be interesting to talk to a land-walker from this area.
"Hello. So is this where I am, the Court of Miracles? I don't know this area very well. It's my first time venturing this far away from home. I'm Serena Windsor. I came here from the ocean. Serena leaned forward awkwardly on her legs and fell forward facedown into the dirt. She quickly stumbled back up, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'm not very used to walking at all."
Serena's light blue eyes gathered light as they looked over Trianna. This human seemed very different from the ones that Serena had often seen on the island. Of course, this whole area was entirely new to Serena. The thought of this much land all together almost made her shudder. She wondered if all of the land was like this, with these trees everywhere. But no, Serena had heard stories of things like cities and mountains.
"So if this is the... Court of Miracles. Then does that make you a... a... gypsy?" Serena asked, her eyes growing wide. She had heard a tale or two about the gypsies from some of the older merfolk who had walked throughout the land traveling. That is, the ones who could keep their legs for days at a time. The very thought seemed both repulsive and amazing to Serena at the same time.
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #3 on Aug 3, 2007, 2:35am » | |
OOC: Sorry for the short reply, had writer's block and couldn't think of much to add
Trianna thingyed her head at Serena’s odd question, but she thought that she covered her surprise fairly well. “…Yes” she replied, wondering if Serena had grown up deaf to never hear much of the Court of Miracles. The gypsies tended to stay in one place, but they were well known everywhere that she had visited. What sort of human or elf…?
Something seemed to click in her head, making Trianna nearly laugh out loud at her own stupidity. Not used to walking? Come from the ocean? Falling over and staring around at the land as if she had never seen it before? Well she hadn’t really; Serena must be one of the merfolk. Shaking her head ruefully at not catching what the girl had meant when she had said that she came from the ocean, she said “You probably think I’m slow, but you’re a… a mermaid aren’t you?” From the way Serena was looking at her surroundings in amazement, Trianna was sure that her guess was correct; she seemed to find this entire place new and full of surprises, while Trianna found her new acquaintance equally fascinating; she wondered whether she had lived in the ocean, and if the traveler’s tales Trianna had heard about the ocean were true, miles upon miles of pure water stretching on and on, monsters inhabiting the deep and fish twice as long as a man, some gentle, others with rows of razor sharp teeth that could saw a man in half. Keeping control over her tongue, Trianna forced down the questions that were choking her, and asked “Have you seen much land before? I could show you around the woods from here if you like, or you could see parts of the camp…”
|
|
|
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #4 on Aug 3, 2007, 3:02am » | |
(OOC: That's fine, mine is pretty short too. I can't seem to think of anything either.)
Serena smiled at the girls question and nodded. She had never been asked that question before, but she had never met someone under circumstances like this before. Most of the time when she met people they either were merfolk or Serena was in her regular form. Serena had never been this far away from her home before. Who would suspect a mermaid to be wandering about in the middle of the woods, after all?
"No, I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen much land before. It all seems so amazing, though. Especially those winged animals, just flying around like that. How can they do that? Well, I'd really love to some of both. As interesting as the woods are, it all looks sort of the same everywhere. How many people live in the camp?" Serena said this all very fastly. How many people could live in this place? Serena imagined a scene with tents everywhere and hundreds of elves and humans walking around. If this place was so amazing, then what could cities possibly be like.
"I don't think I have too long to see things, though. Perhaps a few hours. I'll have to be back in the water by then."
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #5 on Aug 6, 2007, 6:18pm » | |
“You’ll have to be back in the water…” Trianna repeated, puzzled “Why would you…?” Scrambling in her mind, she tried to remember what the travelers had said about merfolk, and a soft “Oh” of understanding escaped her lips as she realized. Apparently the legend about the merpeople needing to return to the water with the sunset was true- all except their queen, Meriel. Putting aside the thought, she gestured towards the camp, saying “I’d love to show you around; the gypsy camp is very different than any other dwellings in Cesitria though, so don’t think that this is how all of the human and elvish dewllings will look. Most of them live in houses, while we live in tents and covered wagons. About… let me see… probably around one hundred and fifty women, fifty children and perhaps the same number of men are gypsies, but many of us enjoy traveling, so there are usually only around one hundred people here at any given time. Enough for fantastic parties, and wonderful times, but few enough that we can all really know everyone else.” Trianna knew that she was probably overloading poor Serena with information, but she hoped that was alright with her- she had asked for information, after all.
While she spoke, she had grabbed Serena’s hand and half-pulled half-supported her into the camp. Work was being done everywhere of course- wood was being piled up for fires, food prepared and clothes washed, but at the same time everyone was enjoying themselves. Music was echoing from four or five different areas of the camp- fiddles were especially popular- and children chased each other around, shrieking in delight. A stoyteller or two were entertaining other groups of young ones with fantastic tales of dragons and magic and mermaids. Not just fantasy any more Trianna thought to herself, although in reality, they never really had been. So many of the gypsies had traveled that almost all of the tales told here were actually true, most of them even stranger and more wonderful than the fairy tales.
“That’s the marquee” she nodded towards a large white tent “We often have the parties in there, and it’s where we usually house vistiors who are staying the night. Mirima- she’s the leader of the gypsies- lives just past that, but you can’t see her dwelling from here.” Stop chattering and let Serena get a word in she ordered herself Let her talk for a bit about herself “So… what are the merfolk homes made of under the water? How many of you live down there and who is your leader? Do you ever get human visitors down there?” Trianna, unlike most gypsies had not traveled extensively, aside from one rather unforgettable journey to Lithonion, and so she had never seen the ocean. She wasn’t sure that she could quite picture that much water, as far as could be seen in every direction, but she supposed that to the merfolk the prospect of that much land must be quite as foreign an idea as that of the ocean was to her.
|
|
|
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #6 on Aug 8, 2007, 3:16pm » | |
(OOC: heheh I had to edit it because I put HTML in instead of a message board tag thing)
Serena tried to imagine what a house would look like as Trianna went on telling her about the camp. There was so much that Serena had yet to see someday, and she wondered how many merfolk could say that going onto land wasn't worth it. There were so many different things to see, and people to meet as well. If everything about the people and places were different depending on where you went, Serena couldn't imagine all of the possibilities of what a place could be like.
The gypsy camp really was lovely. Serena enjoyed looking at all of the different people doing jobs around the camp. There was so much going on in this one place at once that Serena could barely keep track of all of it. What most intrigued Serena was the music coming from several places throughout camp. In Mar Ciudad they had instruments as well, but they sounded very different from the fiddle playing of the camp. She listened to every word that Trianna said while looking around the camp. She had heard quite a few stories about Mirima, and wondered what she was like in person, but doubted she would be able to meet her. When Serena got back home it would this time be her telling the tales, she thought with satisfaction. She stared blankly ahead for a few moments when Trianna stopped talking, before bringing up conversation again.
"Well in Mar Ciudad, no one has homes. There is just a great hall with giant clams in the floor for all of the merfolk to come and sleep when they need to. We keep all of our possessions either on us or hidden somewhere, like in a cave. There is a whole city, though made from all kinds of things. I really have no idea how many of us live there, though. A great many. We are always coming and going, never staying in one place for too long. Our queen is Muriel, perhaps you have heard of her? No humans or elves can come to Mar Ciudad, except for those who have seadragons, and not many people have them. Humans and elves can come to the Isle of Sirena, though, which is quite near Mar Ciudad. It is a common meeting place between our race and the others."
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #7 on Aug 10, 2007, 6:20pm » | |
Eyebrows raised at the strange ways the merpeople lived, Trianna replied “I’ve heard of the Island of Sirena, but I haven’t traveled farther than Lithonion before. The ocean and all the people there sound just as interesting to me as the gypsy camp apparently is to you.” Glancing up at the sky, she tried to gauge the time, seeing how long Serena would be able to stay, and saw that they had perhaps two more hours before the sun would set and her new-found friend would have to return to the river before the moon rose.
Already the long tables where the gypsies ate were being covered with food, the usual plain but tasty fare, and Trianna couldn’t resist asking “Have you eaten much human food before? There’s plenty for everyone if you want to try some; better yet, you can try some of the ale or beer if you like. It really is very good.” Briefly she considered pulling one of the initiation pranks used on new gypsies, in which everyone in the camp worked together to get the woman drunk, but she discarded it immediately. Serena needed to get back in the water in only a couple of hours, not giving much time and besides, such things were usually only done to gypsies, who knew what they were getting into when they joined the group. Even so, that wouldn’t prevent Serena from at least trying some of the food, and with that in mind, Trianna quickly darted into the marquee, filled two mugs and a plate of food for the pair of them and, coming back out to her handed a cup to Serena, saying “Try this and see if you like it; if you don’t there are some fruit drinks and water that you can get instead.” She would find a place to sit for them in just a minute, but first she wanted to get an impression of what Serena liked so that she wouldn’t be running back and forth to bring new things.
|
|
|
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #8 on Aug 11, 2007, 9:09pm » | |
Serena stared at the food that Trianna brought her somewhat disdainfully. It didn't look too good under merfolk standards. But Serena couldn't exactly turn it down, could she? She had to at least try it, it would be rude. After all, Serena was pretty hungry. It would be nice to eat something before she left. She picked up a piece of some sort of meat with some sort of utensil that was on the plate. She imagined those happy, hopping rabbits and the beautiful, prancing deer she had seen today. She was full of unease as she brought the meat towards her mouth. She often ate fish, but that was different. She had never witnessed land animals until today. They were so new to her, so graceful and full of majesty. How could anyone eat them? Nonetheless, Serena chewed on the piece of meat, the utensil quivering slightly. It actually wansn't too bad, or so she thought in reflection. However, she was still horrified at the thought of eating a land animal.
Serena's next thought was to get the taste out of her mouth. She took a sip of the cup that she had absently left on the ground while she tried the meat. She took another sip. It really was good. And it didn't remind her of those creatures, dead. Serena shuddered. She looked up at Trianna, who was standing and seemed to be trying to read Serena's expression as she ate the food.
"This... drink is quite good, but I was wondering if you had anything more like... a ... plant instead of this meat." Serena sped up her speech quickly, "Not that I don't like the meat, I do, but it just sort of... well... I don't quite feel comfortable eating it, really."
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #9 on Aug 21, 2007, 11:23am » | |
OOC I sent you a PM about this ages ago, but you never responded. Did you read it? If you didn’t I can send it again. Anyways, sorry for the late reply; I was waiting for a response at first, and then school started up and you wouldn’t believe how late I’ve been having to stay up lately with homework.
IC thingying her head in slight puzzlement at Serena’s request, Trianna nevertheless quickly tossed the slices of beef to two dogs standing nearby, and then ducked back beneath the awning to look around for other food. Quickly taking a miniature loaf of cinnamon spice-bread, a pair of apples and- after a bit of hesitation- a slice of cheese, she rejoined Serena again. Thinking about it as she happily passed the plate to Serena, she guessed that any surprises she got about how the merpeople ate shouldn’t really shock her. After all, no doubt to Serena, her practice of eating meat seemed as barbaric to Serena as Serena’s refusal was eccentric to her.
Even while she had been gone, however, the sun had begun to sink even lower in the sky, and she realized that her original estimate of their time together was much lower than she had thought. With the phase of the moon tonight, it would be up nearly as soon as the sun set, and she didn’t want to leave Serena stranded on land. “You came from the river right?” Trianna asked. She was nearly positive that that was the case- there weren’t any other large bodies of water around here, and besides, Serena had been heading away from the river, as if she had just left it, when Trianna had followed her- and didn’t wait for an answer as she continued “Because it looks like you’ll only have a little time left before you have to get back there. Do you know the way, and do you mind if I come?”
|
|
|
Serena Windsor
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #10 on Aug 31, 2007, 1:19am » | |
(OOC: sorry it's taken so long and its pretty short, school just started up for me and i've been unbelievably busy.)
Serena stared at the dogs as they ate the beef that Trianna threw at them. The dogs wagged their tail excitedly and Serena's eyes followed the movement. She smiled at thanks to Trianna as she handed her the plate of food, and this time Serena barely paused before eating it. It had been a fairly long day and it felt good to relax, if only for a while. As Serena bit into an apple she listened to Trianna's questions thoughtfully.
"Yes, I did come up the river. I think I will be able to find my way back. All I should have to do is follow the river until I reach the ocean, and I'm fairly certain that when I reach the ocean I'll be able to find the rest of the way back fine. Well, you could come to the Isle of Sirena, I'm sure. Obviously not down into Mar Ciudad, as that would be impossible. But how would you manage to get to the island exactly? You could walk down to the side of the river, but I you would need a boat or a ship to get to the isle, and it would be better to have one as means to get down to the river. You could always book passage on at one of the ports to go on one of the ships that take people there, but that wouldn't be happening right now. Do you have a means to get there in mind?"
| |
|
Trianna Melwyth
Stranger
member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 24
| | Re: Wandering
« Reply #11 on Sept 8, 2007, 5:32pm » | |
Trianna was slightly taken aback at Serena’s suggestion; she had only meant to ask if Serena minded her coming with her as far as the river, but she could not deny that she would find it extremely interesting to travel to the ocean, even if finding a boat to go all the way would be a problem. Still, going down the river at least would be relatively easy. “We gypsies travel a lot, and some of us prefer boats to walking,” She explained “So there are always a good half dozen skiffs and canoes that I can borrow for the river. I don’t think they would be able to go far enough out that they would reach an island on the ocean though…” She reflected on the matter for a few moments before giving it up. She would just have to bring enough of her small supply of money that she would be able to pay for whatever she might need to get her out there and hope for the best.
“Let me just pass the message on to my mother that I’ll be gone for a little while and that I’m borrowing one of the skiffs, and then I’ll be good to go. She’ll make sure word gets to my father that I might be a little late for my two weeks with him too, so that’ll be alright too. Follow me.” Turning down a side road, Trianna threaded her way through the different streets of canvas tents and wagons, keeping her pace slow so that Serena would be able to follow easily, until she reached her own brightly colored wagon, so long out of use that ivy grew all over the wheels and a small set of stepping stones ran up to the entrance, which had an actual door rather than a simple opening like an in-use wagon would. Pushing it open, her eyes adjusted easily to the dim green light that filtered through the jade-colored canvas and she entered the small canvas room that was her home. A pair of hammocks were slung from the frame that held up the cloth ‘roof’ so that more space was provided beneath for a small shelf on which her mother kept her fiddle and a tiny supply of parchment along with a quill and ink. Quickly using those items now, Trianna laboriously scrawled
I’m going to vesit the oceun with a frend. Borowing a skif to get there.
Love you, Trianna
Blowing it dry hastily, she put it on the set of drawers where her clothes were kept and prayed that her mother would be able to decipher her atrocious handwriting and spelling. She never had had much time to learn that sort of thing, and it wasn’t usually much use to a gypsy anyways. Turning around, she grabbed a few coins from her tiny stash, her packet of herbs and medicines, and a change of clothes that she would stow in the bottom of the boat before heading out again, saying as she did so “Sorry about that. Ready to go, or is there something you would like to try and see a little more of before moonrise?”
|
|
| |
|
![[Home]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Home.gif)
![[Help]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Help.gif)
![[Search]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Search.gif)
![[Login]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/login.gif)
![[Register]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Register.gif)
![[Send Topic To Friend]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Send_To_Friend.gif)
![[Print]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/theeighthsword/Print.gif)
Logged