The caravan moved speedily through the forests. Behind, Kenil and Sierra
sat motionless against the rocking made by the wooden wheels banging
against random rocks. The rarely traveled path had many carriage trails,
recently made. The memory of the flood still reigns rampant in everyone's
mind. The flood was what made these trails.
Across the sturdy carriage Kenil could see his mother's slim, wretched figure, head in arms, bent in mournful assent. Kenil, too, cried much during the trip. Sierra sat upright, motionless still, with watery eyes catching the top skin of the carriage. By now, they couldn't help but think how a coincidence it must have been. Was there a connection between Sierra and the rainfall? It was too much to think about, especially now. But yes, they did think of it.
Every once in a while they'd see small movement in the forests and Kenil would be reminded of rats back at the farm. Rats, they'd used to hunt them. It was fun, because as kids they were nimble and could move easily through the forest with all its trees and small branches that an adult would find difficult. They'd hunt them and kill them. Later, they'd cook them back in the house - or even outside at night, since Kenil was no longer afraid.
--
Kenil's first impression of Vivec was magnificent splendor and curious wonder. When he saw the high towering canteens, though, he was appalled. Never before had he seen such high structures, and large. The big looming gray shape of the Foreign Quarters cast a great shadow over the surrounding area. At first, Kenil was reluctant to walk on the platforms; in fear of them falling, heights it seemed along with darkness was one of his fears. But Sierra with all her curiosity and none of Kenil's inhibition, she went as far as the highest-level platform she could see. As she climbed the platforms, Kenil could see Sierra's small figure waving back after every so steps just to check. It did produce an effect on Kenil. At last, when she reached high up there on the highest level, with her small ant size form pressed against an even smaller railing, Kenil felt his inhibitions surrender and soon he, laughing joyously too, but more cautious though, was journeying up the Foreign Quarters. Sierra always had this affect on Kenil, she always seemed to prove successful in beguiling Kenil in following her to whatever location she deemed she would go, against all better judgment and sanctions. There were many such things Kenil hadn't experienced in Vivec, and over the years he would experience them all at one point or another, because of Sierra.
But it appeared they had forgotten something very deep that should have stopped all the fun they had while exploring Vivec before it even began. Arcata behind was still suffering from the deaths of two of her loved ones. Kenil, too, for they had been the only male mer he had seen in his life, with exception to Master Omani. And so, the family mostly cried and grieved during those first days in Vivec, little fun the children had was prevented by Arcata who reminded them of the flood.
And when finally things became better, the clouds drew rain. Heavy rain.
It seemed the rains wouldn't stop this side of the Ascadian Isles. Vivec, sublime in its magnificence, was showered by water, its cantons pounded constantly from all sides. Ever since the death of her loved ones, a brother and a husband, Arcata never was the same loving, caring mother she once used to. Instead, she became more of a wrench, an ingrate. There were many like her in the streets of St. Olms, where the Sierra and Kenil lived. The first days were spent being accustomed to the suburban life in Vivec. The city was every bit as Kenil imagined it, so much to his tasteful imagination that he felt guilty for enjoying it when he knew his uncle and father had died not long ago. He had suffered as any child dumpling suffers when they loose those who they cared the most. Yet, it was still hard to imagine a place, much less a city in itself than a great complex of cities, and within the confinements of roof altogether. One could see out into the dark ceiling at times and wondered if it were really there and not just sky. But it was, for at nights when it they heard raining no water poured down.
As for Arcata, after experiencing the rain again, even under the safety of the room, she began to question, really question those around her. Namely, Sierra. Once, she had given that thought little attention, believing the little elven girl had been left over by some mysterious but nevertheless harmless people who simply did not wish her any longer. But the flood changed everything. Her suspicious were put to a momentary stop while she was mourning, but when it began to shower in Vivec, she relapsed. Now, in the deep recesses of her mind, she succumbed to believing Sierra had in fact altered the weather. And in an even deeper recess, she believed Sierra wished her husband and brother dead. She believed Sierra was a devil. Perhaps it was a sublimation of the real truth, the real guilt, and she wanted to put blame elsewhere. The real guilt was her own screams when she suddenly remembered upon that tall hill not long ago, about how the foods of last year would be spoiled by the flood. That had led directly to the deaths of her loved ones. But she would not accept that consciously, except in her unconscious she accepted that, too. Her confusion led her to put blame on Sierra, which was why even years later, when Sierra became a lovely young elven maiden, who attracted young men lustfully, the same girl who would later make young men jealous of Kenil's luck, making them wish upon wishes that she'd give them just a little bit of her attention, a chance which she never gave because in her mind she would forever remember the day when she had kissed Kenil and the memory of the days before then when she and Kenil had played in the darkness outside the farmhouse remained in her mind all time - even then, Arcata would never look at her with the same two motherly eyes again.
The crowds never seemed to dull in Vivec. Always there was people, Men, Mer, and some Alkaviri and the occasional orc. There were, too, cats of all forms and sizes. The money promised them stopped flowing, for at some point a collection of treasury contracts between the Great Houses broke. And as for the church in High Fane, charity for the widows and children of the deceased stopped flowing at some point years later, but by then the children (no longer children) no longer needed to worry, they had already well established themselves into society.
Life was fine for the growing children. Arcata, although very unhappy, did not enter a stage where her mind was possessed like a demon until later. There was food on the table, just enough to keep each from going hungry and to send the two children to schooling. Kenil went to study at the seminary in St. Olms church, where many of the willing lower class boys went to, if one couldn't afford an education at a more prosperous place like High Fane. There, he learned many things bequeathed to train a priest, like the Tribunes and Vivec, and the Daedra, Aedra, many of which he already knew from the stories from a better time. He also learned the innumerable hymns of Saint Olms, which was versed very eloquently for his crude ears. Sierra's case was very much the same, although she progressed much quicker.
--
The day was bright. Well, as bright as it could get within the confinements of a roof. Vivec is an odd place for sure. It had taken many generations to construct one Canteen, then many generations more to build a second, then a third, and so on. The only place that wasn't built within the period of many years was the Ministry of Truth, which Vivec constructed himself out of a mountain. Kenil had deep desire to know more about the Ministry of Truth, he wanted to explore it against all the fears that he had. Sierra was more interested in its levitation enchantments. How, she asked one day in the school she and Kenil attended, how can a mountain stay afloat?
By the will of our god, all the children replied accusingly.
On that day, she became labeled as an idiot. It wasn't the fact that she knew all the questions, but the awkward manners in which she gave her answers and the wayward questions that no one could understand why she asked made her such a questionable student. It is a universal fact that when children, perhaps adults too, when they do not understand; they, instead of venturing forth to probe the question, began to doubt the originator of it.
For the first weeks in The St. Olms Seminary of the Gods, Kenil was Sierra's sole friend. When they walked alone along the busy halls, they could hear shouting, as if they were outlanders from far away, even outlanders were not treated like this. Sierra kept silent, but Kenil at least tried to defend the teasing words. It was to no avail, for the words spread throughout the school that Sierra was complete nonsense. Sometimes, at home, she'd be all quiet, but then erupt in her fiery way against jesting kids that would never hear her from home. It seemed she, not Kenil astonishingly, because of the insults, had brought forth a shy personality in front of her peers.
One day, the rain never forgotten, the two children jotted along with Arcata to Hiaalu Canteen. It was rather far, almost on the other side of Vivec. They had thought about taking the waterway, but they had little money to spend, at least until Arcata finds employment. Hiaalu, as she recalled, had once been her great home. She remembered the days, as well as the canteen itself, when she ventured here and there as a noble's child. Then, on the eve of her wedding, she lost all possessions but found something much greater, true love. Now that that love was gone, she once again seeked her home, it wasn't a question of whether she wished to return, but whether her own house will accept her.
They trotted along, Sierra ran ahead of them, she was a very athletic child, she did well at most things, except when it came to speaking amongst her peers, Kenil's laughing pants of "Siri, stop!" droned behind. It had rained for a while, but on this morning it had finally stopped. The streets were still wet though, and Sierra's fast unwary running seemed dangerous. When they reached the bridge, suddenly she slipped, but regained her balance, almost, then slipped again. She had been at such high speeds that her momentum propelled her towards the railing, and full body slipped under it.
Sierra bellowed through her lungs as her hands caught one of the vertical wooden planks. Down below was the sea, gray with small waves meandering here and there like lines, too small. Arcata was the nearest, for Kenil had already crossed the bridge and was looking back puzzled in search of Sierra, whose arms tangled around the wooden plank.
Arcata didn't move. In that split second, it was as if all eternity had focused within that small frame, and Arcata stationary figure dwell on Sierra's mind. Sierra's face was taut, and her arms were struggling around the plank. Yet still, Arcata stone face glowered at Sierra, and for a moment she remembered all the hate against the little girl. She still didn't move. as if by the stare she meant to say:
You should die you devil! You should drown in the water just as you drowned my husband and my brother. I'm not going to help you. Die you monstrosity. You should die for having so much joy when I feel so much pain!
"Siri!" Cried Kenil, his eyes now transfixed on the arms and elven head, such was her danger that her body was no longer in sight; it was dragging her downwards for a plunge into the Inner Sea.
"Siri!"
Arcata jittered from her rest, and finally her frozen frame came forward. She moved forward and tentatively - reluctantly slid a hand for Sierra to grab. As she was pulled up, Sierra's look in her eyes told Arcata things would forever change, nothing would be the same now.
Across the sturdy carriage Kenil could see his mother's slim, wretched figure, head in arms, bent in mournful assent. Kenil, too, cried much during the trip. Sierra sat upright, motionless still, with watery eyes catching the top skin of the carriage. By now, they couldn't help but think how a coincidence it must have been. Was there a connection between Sierra and the rainfall? It was too much to think about, especially now. But yes, they did think of it.
Every once in a while they'd see small movement in the forests and Kenil would be reminded of rats back at the farm. Rats, they'd used to hunt them. It was fun, because as kids they were nimble and could move easily through the forest with all its trees and small branches that an adult would find difficult. They'd hunt them and kill them. Later, they'd cook them back in the house - or even outside at night, since Kenil was no longer afraid.
--
Kenil's first impression of Vivec was magnificent splendor and curious wonder. When he saw the high towering canteens, though, he was appalled. Never before had he seen such high structures, and large. The big looming gray shape of the Foreign Quarters cast a great shadow over the surrounding area. At first, Kenil was reluctant to walk on the platforms; in fear of them falling, heights it seemed along with darkness was one of his fears. But Sierra with all her curiosity and none of Kenil's inhibition, she went as far as the highest-level platform she could see. As she climbed the platforms, Kenil could see Sierra's small figure waving back after every so steps just to check. It did produce an effect on Kenil. At last, when she reached high up there on the highest level, with her small ant size form pressed against an even smaller railing, Kenil felt his inhibitions surrender and soon he, laughing joyously too, but more cautious though, was journeying up the Foreign Quarters. Sierra always had this affect on Kenil, she always seemed to prove successful in beguiling Kenil in following her to whatever location she deemed she would go, against all better judgment and sanctions. There were many such things Kenil hadn't experienced in Vivec, and over the years he would experience them all at one point or another, because of Sierra.
But it appeared they had forgotten something very deep that should have stopped all the fun they had while exploring Vivec before it even began. Arcata behind was still suffering from the deaths of two of her loved ones. Kenil, too, for they had been the only male mer he had seen in his life, with exception to Master Omani. And so, the family mostly cried and grieved during those first days in Vivec, little fun the children had was prevented by Arcata who reminded them of the flood.
And when finally things became better, the clouds drew rain. Heavy rain.
It seemed the rains wouldn't stop this side of the Ascadian Isles. Vivec, sublime in its magnificence, was showered by water, its cantons pounded constantly from all sides. Ever since the death of her loved ones, a brother and a husband, Arcata never was the same loving, caring mother she once used to. Instead, she became more of a wrench, an ingrate. There were many like her in the streets of St. Olms, where the Sierra and Kenil lived. The first days were spent being accustomed to the suburban life in Vivec. The city was every bit as Kenil imagined it, so much to his tasteful imagination that he felt guilty for enjoying it when he knew his uncle and father had died not long ago. He had suffered as any child dumpling suffers when they loose those who they cared the most. Yet, it was still hard to imagine a place, much less a city in itself than a great complex of cities, and within the confinements of roof altogether. One could see out into the dark ceiling at times and wondered if it were really there and not just sky. But it was, for at nights when it they heard raining no water poured down.
As for Arcata, after experiencing the rain again, even under the safety of the room, she began to question, really question those around her. Namely, Sierra. Once, she had given that thought little attention, believing the little elven girl had been left over by some mysterious but nevertheless harmless people who simply did not wish her any longer. But the flood changed everything. Her suspicious were put to a momentary stop while she was mourning, but when it began to shower in Vivec, she relapsed. Now, in the deep recesses of her mind, she succumbed to believing Sierra had in fact altered the weather. And in an even deeper recess, she believed Sierra wished her husband and brother dead. She believed Sierra was a devil. Perhaps it was a sublimation of the real truth, the real guilt, and she wanted to put blame elsewhere. The real guilt was her own screams when she suddenly remembered upon that tall hill not long ago, about how the foods of last year would be spoiled by the flood. That had led directly to the deaths of her loved ones. But she would not accept that consciously, except in her unconscious she accepted that, too. Her confusion led her to put blame on Sierra, which was why even years later, when Sierra became a lovely young elven maiden, who attracted young men lustfully, the same girl who would later make young men jealous of Kenil's luck, making them wish upon wishes that she'd give them just a little bit of her attention, a chance which she never gave because in her mind she would forever remember the day when she had kissed Kenil and the memory of the days before then when she and Kenil had played in the darkness outside the farmhouse remained in her mind all time - even then, Arcata would never look at her with the same two motherly eyes again.
The crowds never seemed to dull in Vivec. Always there was people, Men, Mer, and some Alkaviri and the occasional orc. There were, too, cats of all forms and sizes. The money promised them stopped flowing, for at some point a collection of treasury contracts between the Great Houses broke. And as for the church in High Fane, charity for the widows and children of the deceased stopped flowing at some point years later, but by then the children (no longer children) no longer needed to worry, they had already well established themselves into society.
Life was fine for the growing children. Arcata, although very unhappy, did not enter a stage where her mind was possessed like a demon until later. There was food on the table, just enough to keep each from going hungry and to send the two children to schooling. Kenil went to study at the seminary in St. Olms church, where many of the willing lower class boys went to, if one couldn't afford an education at a more prosperous place like High Fane. There, he learned many things bequeathed to train a priest, like the Tribunes and Vivec, and the Daedra, Aedra, many of which he already knew from the stories from a better time. He also learned the innumerable hymns of Saint Olms, which was versed very eloquently for his crude ears. Sierra's case was very much the same, although she progressed much quicker.
--
The day was bright. Well, as bright as it could get within the confinements of a roof. Vivec is an odd place for sure. It had taken many generations to construct one Canteen, then many generations more to build a second, then a third, and so on. The only place that wasn't built within the period of many years was the Ministry of Truth, which Vivec constructed himself out of a mountain. Kenil had deep desire to know more about the Ministry of Truth, he wanted to explore it against all the fears that he had. Sierra was more interested in its levitation enchantments. How, she asked one day in the school she and Kenil attended, how can a mountain stay afloat?
By the will of our god, all the children replied accusingly.
On that day, she became labeled as an idiot. It wasn't the fact that she knew all the questions, but the awkward manners in which she gave her answers and the wayward questions that no one could understand why she asked made her such a questionable student. It is a universal fact that when children, perhaps adults too, when they do not understand; they, instead of venturing forth to probe the question, began to doubt the originator of it.
For the first weeks in The St. Olms Seminary of the Gods, Kenil was Sierra's sole friend. When they walked alone along the busy halls, they could hear shouting, as if they were outlanders from far away, even outlanders were not treated like this. Sierra kept silent, but Kenil at least tried to defend the teasing words. It was to no avail, for the words spread throughout the school that Sierra was complete nonsense. Sometimes, at home, she'd be all quiet, but then erupt in her fiery way against jesting kids that would never hear her from home. It seemed she, not Kenil astonishingly, because of the insults, had brought forth a shy personality in front of her peers.
One day, the rain never forgotten, the two children jotted along with Arcata to Hiaalu Canteen. It was rather far, almost on the other side of Vivec. They had thought about taking the waterway, but they had little money to spend, at least until Arcata finds employment. Hiaalu, as she recalled, had once been her great home. She remembered the days, as well as the canteen itself, when she ventured here and there as a noble's child. Then, on the eve of her wedding, she lost all possessions but found something much greater, true love. Now that that love was gone, she once again seeked her home, it wasn't a question of whether she wished to return, but whether her own house will accept her.
They trotted along, Sierra ran ahead of them, she was a very athletic child, she did well at most things, except when it came to speaking amongst her peers, Kenil's laughing pants of "Siri, stop!" droned behind. It had rained for a while, but on this morning it had finally stopped. The streets were still wet though, and Sierra's fast unwary running seemed dangerous. When they reached the bridge, suddenly she slipped, but regained her balance, almost, then slipped again. She had been at such high speeds that her momentum propelled her towards the railing, and full body slipped under it.
Sierra bellowed through her lungs as her hands caught one of the vertical wooden planks. Down below was the sea, gray with small waves meandering here and there like lines, too small. Arcata was the nearest, for Kenil had already crossed the bridge and was looking back puzzled in search of Sierra, whose arms tangled around the wooden plank.
Arcata didn't move. In that split second, it was as if all eternity had focused within that small frame, and Arcata stationary figure dwell on Sierra's mind. Sierra's face was taut, and her arms were struggling around the plank. Yet still, Arcata stone face glowered at Sierra, and for a moment she remembered all the hate against the little girl. She still didn't move. as if by the stare she meant to say:
You should die you devil! You should drown in the water just as you drowned my husband and my brother. I'm not going to help you. Die you monstrosity. You should die for having so much joy when I feel so much pain!
"Siri!" Cried Kenil, his eyes now transfixed on the arms and elven head, such was her danger that her body was no longer in sight; it was dragging her downwards for a plunge into the Inner Sea.
"Siri!"
Arcata jittered from her rest, and finally her frozen frame came forward. She moved forward and tentatively - reluctantly slid a hand for Sierra to grab. As she was pulled up, Sierra's look in her eyes told Arcata things would forever change, nothing would be the same now.