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((Well consider my day made. |3 Thank you sweet anon.))
“I couldn’t tell you,” replied Elatos, peering into the woods, “But this is where we pulled onto the road, so I suppose we shall find out soon enough.”
He spoke much more quietly now, listening for any noise as they approached the previous night’s campsite.
“But to answer your question, Val actually knows quite a lot. It’s just that fire is his favourite, I suppose.”
Annowyn followed him as he left the path, noting his lower tones and also shifting her focus on the woods around them. The birds were still nearby, faint flutters in the trees and occasional calls still audible. Their own footfalls were muffled to silence by both the layering of pine needles on the ground and the slight breeze through the branches above. The breeze carried yet more scent of lavender, though there were undertones of food spice and fish odor beginning to lace through the smell.
Annowyn had picked up her pace to walk alongside Elatos rather than trying to follow behind him. As they came closer to the camp site, the odd clink of glass drifted muffled through the underbrush.
Not far away, beneath the pleasant shade of an older tree, a fox prodded its nose into an abandoned bag, snorting at the overpowering scent of flowers that assaulted again. The search had yielded another strip of dried meat, and shaking its head free of the bag, the fox clattered a few more of the hard containers together. The sound caused an immediate retreat, but with nothing giving chase, the fox settled down to gnaw on a most opportune lunch.
• Elatos • elatos-and-val • mobile interface.. pardon strange typos
He nodded along with her story, smiling at the informal mention of ‘mom’. It somehow didn’t seem to fit with what he knew of Annowyn. He was interested in her mothers phrasing and made a ‘hmm’ sound. “Mothers do say odd things, I think. I don’t really know, but I’ve read about it. She sounds like a fun woman.” Swings realised he may have said too much, and stayed quiet for a moment.
“…O-oh, not if you would be uncomfortable about such a thing, no! One should never force anyone, especially a lady, into something she does not wish for. It would be interesting, and I am curious, but….” He waved his hands about vaguely. “You know, you don’t have to.”
Annowyn frowned into the silence, but it slowly gave way to a smile. “I think Mother is a concept that transcends time and race. I think they all have their proverbs. You probably read right. Mine.. Her name was Salaloi. Ask whatever you will about her. I like to keep her song alive.”
“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable exactly. I just..” She had to choose her answer carefully here and tapped her lower lip thoughtfully as she did. A deep blue hazed over her vision, underscored by grays, and she blinked a few times. Apparently speaking of auras was making her more cognizant of them, and they were much more noticeable to her now. ” I Make other people uncomfortable with it, and s- so I don’t tell many people about it. It’s one of my little secrets, I guess.” She finally finished the thought and looked over at Swings, seeing a similar gray around him, though his was tinged with pinks and greens.
The gray was deception, and she knew it well from herself, and recognized it easily in him, but she didn’t feel like being so direct in pointing it out on him. Not until he inquired about it directly. Everyone’s deception was for a reason, and the more calm and contented colors of his aura eased any worry of malicious intent in his lies.
(Source: annowyn)
Elatos resisted the urge to laugh at the thought of Val ever retiring himself from combat. He’d surely die first, no doubt. There was no such thing as retirement from combat for Val, or Dremora in general, for that matter.
“Fire’s very handy to have when you’re a doer,” remarked Elatos, letting himself chuckle as he said it. “I’d say there’s few problems that can’t be solved one way or another by the liberal application of fire. It’s magic worth having. Not that the other schools of magic aren’t equally valid,” he added, quickly. “Probably. Not that I’d know.”
The previous night’s campsite wasn’t terribly far, now. Elatos recognised the path they’d come down only a little while ago. With any luck, Annowyn’s bag would be just where she’d left it; they’d have to be really unfortunate for anyone - or anything - to have happened upon it already.
She noticed the quick glimmer of laughter that went through his eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly when he curbed that reaction. What was so funny her comment? Perhaps Val was younger than she’d guessed, or more likely he was one of the old warhorse types that would die with his sword in his hand. Not that she had much to guess his age by.
“It solves plenty of problems, but there are so many more problems coming up when you have to either clean the ashes or contain it from spreading.” Annowyn muttered with a little shrug. “I prefer ice. Stops a problem in its tracks. Or lightning. Doesn’t cause such a smell or spread as much fire. If we’re talking about doing. Honestly, I’d rather not be seen and not have to do anything at all. Does he only know fire, or any illusion, or maybe even enchanting? That’s something to go well with forging, I’d think.”
Following his gaze, she recognized the faint telltale marks of the cart’s passing, but it still looked an unlikely path for it. “Is that where we came out? Where’s the lavender to be smelling so strong?” She hadn’t seen much thus far, and had some suspicions involving her lavender oil and some unfortunate someone in these woods.
“Oh, gods.” Elatos returned Annowyn’s smile, with a chuckle. “I don’t think he’s got the patience to teach anyone anything. It’s a shame, though. I’m sure anyone could learn a lot from him. He’s been fighting a long time.”He wondered how long it would be until Annowyn started asking about where Val was from or who he actually was. It helped not to have him there, really, because it meant that at least she wouldn’t be able to get a good look at him while they were talking.
“But, you know, that’s how fighters have to be, I suppose. They’re not talkers, are they. They’re doers.”
“A real shame.” Annowyn sighed, but her smile remained with the humourous image of Val as a silent teacher. “Experience like that is valuable wisdom to share. Do you think he’ll bother to teach when he retires himself from combat?”
In his pause, Annowyn fancied that Elatos might be a bit distracted, but she wasn’t sure by what. He had said that he and Val had been traveling together a while. Would this small distance really make much difference? Maybe it was something else. She glanced off the trail into the woods, not seeing too much amiss. Perhaps the only difference was a strong scent of flowers on the air, or maybe it wasn’t a difference. She probably hadn’t been awake on this section of the road to even make a comparison.
“Doers. Yes. Doers are both the best and worst to learn from. Pick it up quick or deal with the wounds until you get the concept. Something tells me he also has a penchant for fire magic. All the grand doers I’ve met seem to prefer that school. I never was so great with fire magic.”
Swings smiled back just as awkwardly, unsure of whether he’d said anything wrong or if he’d just asked for something especially difficult. He listened closely to her words, but it just served to confuse him further.“Something….in the water? Like something you see in water? Or maybe under it? Ah, perhaps I am being stupid, but I am afraid I don’t understand you, Annowyn.” He paused. “So…is it…permanent? Can you see mine, now? Your own?”
Annowyn fidgeted with part of her dress while looking at the passing scenery. She wasn’t sure where they were headed, and really didn’t care. Her explanation had confused him about as much as she’d expected it to, but true to his nature thus far (or at least his actions) he sought out some clarification. She couldn’t help but chuckle, and was relieved for it to be a more humored noise than an anxious one.
“Our village had a river going by it. Not too uncommon in Valenwood. A lot of rivers there. Not so many as the Marsh, but..” Annowyn shrugged to let the comparison trail off. “Mom told me I spent a lot of t- of time by the river there. She swore some ghost or spell or spirit or something met with me there, so an- anytime I acted a little peculiar, she would always laugh and say it was something in the water.” A wistful smile crept across her face even as memories of the rather loud and assertive Bosmer crept across her mind.
His continued questions kept her from wandering too far in reverie, and she looked back at him. “Permanent? No. Yes…. Sort of. It’s something to ignore, so I ignore it most of the time. Wh-why…?” Her look became wary. “Are you wanting some sort of reading? I’m… not really good at making a mystic show out of it..”
(Source: annowyn)
“The Canadian Air & Space Museum (CASM) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Toronto, Canada. For 15 years CASM has been located at Toronto’s Downsview Park, in the historic de Havilland Aircraft buildings, the oldest aircraft factory in Canada. Each year it hosted thousands of visitors and school groups, showcasing aviation and aerospace history. The Museum was run and supported by a small staff and hundreds of volunteers. In September 2011, the buildings were designated to be repurposed and the Museum needed to find a new home.”
CASM needs some help guys. Their Indiegogo has been rather quiet. Just going to signal boost this here because what are we without our history?
(Really guys, ostrich hats and pet zombie rocks are doing better than an actual museum? Please. Spare my faith in humanity here.)
((just leaving this massive ooc here because it matters to me.))
• CASM • Canada air and space museum • signal boost • we are our history
He held up a hand to refuse the water and nodded at odd moments in Annowyn’s explanation. However, he had a feeling that wasn’t exactly the right answer to his question. Swings took a mumbling breath as he tried to work out how to ask in a more specific way.“I know of life detection spells. I meant more..um, like being able to see these kinds of things without an aid. Do you know anything about that?” He did hope he wasn’t pushing too far.
“Oh..” Was Annowyn’s immediate response to the question, and she let the silence stretch for a long moment as she fussed with tying the skin back onto her pack. Apparently satisfied with that, she looked back at Swings and gave him a somewhat awkward smile. How best to explain anomalous vision quirks? It was something she’d become accustomed to from the start; the light and colours, and it had long become easier to simply refer to souls when speaking of it.
“You’re more familiar with magic than I thought, but I guess without any spells, this isn’t really a case of magic, is it? It’s more something to ignore. Mom always said it was som- something in the water. She said she didn’t know what I saw, but that it wasn’t normal.” She gave a little shrug. It was true enough. Part of it at least. She figured his curiosity would continue on this vein, so she tried to figure the best way to explain (or divert) further.
(Source: annowyn)
He raised his eyeridges. “Oh, I thought I’d told you about that. It was just before I came up to Skyrim, when I was trying to work out what I was doing and where I wanted to go. It wasn’t a particularly nice time, spent catching fish to eat so I could live for the next day, so I could catch more fish.” He laughed. “Or at least, that’s how it turned out.”Swings was very surprised to see Annowyn act in such a way, stammering and nearly dropping her waterskin. It was not usual for her, and he answered her question after a questioning look of his own. “I’m not sure. He could just do it. I can’t say I know much about how it works. I was thinking maybe you could tell me?”
“I would say that seems a cold area to live in, but then again..” Annowyn trailed off, motioning with a grand gesture to indicate the chilly terrain of Skyrim, even if the southern valleys were a bit warmer than some mountainous areas of Cyrodiil.
It seemed he was familiar in name at least, if not in details. She took a long drink from the water skin and offered it to him as she debated on how best to answer. “Well. There are spells for detecting living things, and some potions, but the ingredients are hard to pull together in these parts. It just makes people and animals glow. You can see it through walls too, which makes it really handy for not being surprised.” Well, that explanation was almost textbook, and didn’t even address the question he’d asked, but at least it was something that he’d likely encountered.
(Source: annowyn)
• art • swings • ((let me love you • this is absolutely adorable))
