In a relatively quiet corner of the docks, a rather intense-looking young woman sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly reading through one of many sheets of paper. At last she nodded to herself and set the page onto the neat stack beside her, placing a rock gently on top to combat the unpredictable winds of the last few days. The dense writing and detailed sketches marked her as a scholar and thus a priestess, and sitting here in the open made her a target for the questions of the religiously-confused. Though it distracted her from her current task, Jini didn't mind. It was all part of serving her goddess, and equally worthy.
Besides, it wasn't like she could go anywhere else. What if her shipment arrived while she was away, and her sister with it? It would be irresponsible of her, and would show a lack of dedication to her work. Perhaps it was unlikely that the ship would arrive for at least another week, and perhaps the dockmaster would call for her as she'd asked, but she wasn't one to leave such things to chance.
And as chance would have it, the wind chose this exact moment to blow, just as she lifted the rock from the stack of pages she had yet to check. As soon as she noticed the movement, she slammed the stone back down onto the pile to prevent any of her precious documents escaping, but not fast enough. Two pages had made their way to freedom, and out of all the places they could be headed, they were floating towards the sea. Horrified, Jini leapt to her feet and started after them. If they were lost, her manuscript would be incomplete. She couldn't submit it to the library that way, she couldn't share her knowledge with the world! Inima would be simply appalled!
It was a beautiful day, warm and clean and the sea breeze perfect for a walk. It was just nice to be home. The familiar beauty and feel of the place, Senka had been away far to long. It was even nice to be back in normal clothes again, unconstricting, bright clothes. How she had missed that.
A gust of wind blew past, fluttering her hair past her face. And then she noticed a few scraps of paper go past. Reaching out, Senka snatched the pages reflexively, crumpling them in her hand, but they at least didn't reach the water.
Looking down at them, she frowned slightly, puzzled at the pages. Lifting her head, she glanced around, trying to see where they had come from. Her face lit up when she noticed the frantic woman, "Oh! I think these are yours!"
No! She was too slow! The pages were almost at the water's edge, and there was no way she could catch them in time. A desperate expression crossed her face and Jini skidded to a halt, bending forwards to catch her breath with her her hands on her knees. Ever since she joined the church she'd noticed her fitness decreasing, as she stopped digging up her own specimens and had zombies do her heavy lifting for her. She hadn't cared, she thought she wouldn't need it any more and yet here she was, betrayed by her own pointless flesh.
A fleeting moment later, a cheery voice reached her ears and she looked up to see a pale girl clutching those same papers she thought were lost. It had to be a miracle. She straightened up and moved to take the pages back, gently smoothing out the creases even as she kept gasping for air... She really was out of shape. At last she regained the breath to speak, and closed her eyes gratefully. "Thank you. You saved six months of work." She bowed her head, bringing it up again with a faint smile. "Inima will surely bless you for this."
"Ah, thank you." Senka gave a small laugh. Zoran appeared a moment later, holding another one of the pages that both the woman had missed. He handed it over to his sister with a small grin, "She's pretty."
Senka shook her head at her brother, taking the paper and passing it over to the woman, "Here, this one got away as well. What is it your working on?"
Preoccupied as she was with the crinkled page in her hand, Jini still noticed the slightly odd movement of the other piece of paper when it came into her view. The wind kept on blowing out to sea, so it shouldn't have been able to float in the way it did. Something interesting had happened there, but she didn't want to say what without witnessing it again. For all she knew, it was just a freak air current, so for now she merely took the page back with that same reserved smile and nod.
The smile widened at the girl's question, almost enough to show some teeth this time. Her research was about the only thing that could get her worked up, and even then she barely seemed any more enthusiastic than normal. "I'm working on a new kind of fleshcrafting, with creatures that were somehow turned to stone. We don't know a lot about them, so it's very exciting."
"Really? That is exciting. I didn't think that was possible to fleshcraft once the flesh was gone." She was no fleshcrafter, but the prospect was still amazing. And Senka didn't have anything better to do than stay and chat with a pretty woman.
"I am surprised you are working on it out here. It's a beautiful day and all, but that seems work more suitable to some lab somewhere."
"I didn't either until I did it, but it works... Most of the time," she laughed quietly. "Really, we know very little about it, although what we do have is quite promising." While Jini liked to talk about her research, she wasn't so good at explaining it. Part of the problem was that it was somewhat difficult to study how the process worked, and even though she could work some things out from the results of experiments, it would always be hard to get a clear picture. If she herself didn't understand parts of it, it was hard to get others to. What she really needed was more time in the lab.
"Believe me, I would much rather be inside," she replied with a wry smile. "But I have other business to deal with, and I thought I could work while I wait. A mistake, perhaps."
"Ah, really? Waiting on something exciting?" It was always a big deal when ships arrived from the mainland, "Some petrified subject?" Senka smiled, glancing over in the direction the woman had come from.
"We're you having lunch? I'm absolutely parched from all my walking and would love a drink."
"Me too? I saved the page." Zoran moved around Jini, watching her, "She's pretty. I missed Thanati woman."
Ignoring her brother, Senka forced another smile, "My name is Senka, by the way."
"Ah, that sort of thing, yes," she nodded. Her sister hadn't been very specific in her letter, but then she never was. She liked to keep it a surprise, even if Jini had made it clear she'd rather know so that she could plan ahead. Still, it was hard to be annoyed with someone who supplied such quality specimens.
"I wasn't planning to... But I suppose this might be a sign that a break could do some good," she concluded with a nod and a smile. "I'm Jini." Come to think of it, she had forgotten lunch a lot recently, which went some way to explaining why she'd noticed herself losing a little weight. She really didn't want to make it look like the church didn't provide for its members, so she should probably make more of an effort to take care of herself. Well, she could make a start on that now, by going to eat with Senka.
"Wonderful!" Senka beamed, "It's nice to meet you." Senka linked her arm around Jini's, heading back to where the other woman had left her things, "Let's pack up all this research and get food. Besides, food always makes one think better."
Glancing down at the papers, Senka tilted her head, trying to read them a little. She wasn't the best with words, but she could make a bit out, "Do you work for the church then?"
Jini's faint smile became a little forced when the other woman grabbed her arm. Yes, it could be counted as friendly, but she found it somewhat unnerving to be touched by a person who was, in effect, still a complete stranger. However, some did find this sort of thing normal, and it wasn't a big deal to her. In the interests of lunch, she could let it go.
"Yes, I do," she responded, smiling broadly as they reached her former seat. "Such work is an honour." Thankfully unlinking their arms again, at least for now, she bent down to pocket one flat, ridged stone, her foot pressed on the edge of the papers to keep them in place. Quickly but nonetheless neatly, she stacked the pages in order and scooped them up, leaving the other rock where it lay, and stood with a solemn nod. "That's all."
"I imagine so. It must be amazing to have all that information at your finger tips." Senka had thought about joining the church in her younger days, but it had never really worked out. She had wanted to see the world and that didn't work well with the church life style.
"Let's find a place to eat, shall we? Do you know of a good one? It's been so long since I was last in Suna, I don't know what is still around." She still couldn't get enough of proper Thanati cooking. The people on the continent had no idea what to do with food.
Jini shook her head. "I don't often get food out..." She wasn't in Suna much to know what was there, and she had far too much to get done for her to float around inns and market stalls all day. These visits were strictly for business. Well, that and catching up with her sister over a nice quiet dinner, or as quiet as anything could be with Noora around... So perhaps she did know more than she thought she did after all. "Oh, maybe. I think there's something a short way from the church."
Wait, the woman said she'd not been in Suna for a while, which could be interesting. Normally she wouldn't much care, but there was this thing she'd heard about called 'making conversation', and besides, she was genuinely curious as to whether Senka knew any other researching necromancers. "So, which of the islands do you usually live on, then?"
"I've been off the island for a few years now. My brother and I. We only just got back." Senka gave a small shrug and a laugh, "Though I'm from a tiny little village just outside of here. Yanu. I don't know if you have been there before."
It was always a little odd talking about having been off the islands. Some Thanati had such bad reactions to it. But she hoped a member of the church would be more open minded about it, "Let's go to that place then. It's nice having real food again."
"Ah, I haven't been there, no." Jini shook her head, then gave a sigh ended by a quiet laugh. "Sometimes it seems like everyone wants to go off travelling these days. The islands always pull you back, though! They may not be green, they may be small, but... They are ours."
Hearing her sister speak of the lush fields and forests of the mainland, of vistas that could stretch all the way to the horizon without ever seeing the sea, she could understand the draw the continent might have for younger Thanati, her peers. Then again, having to hide their magic and their ancestry... It wouldn't be hard for someone like Noora who didn't think much of those things, but Jini could never act with shame towards such sacred things. No, this was her home. Always.
"Exactly. There is no place like home. I couldn't wait to leave, see the world, all that. But, it just wasn't home. And, just, the people are so odd. The land is beautiful, really stunning, so lush and green. And mountains and things that we have nothing like here. But, the people..." Senka gave a shrug, "They are too strange. They have such love for the flesh and little for the spirit. It's unnatural."
"Really, all of them? I thought the traders here were curious creatures, but I'd hoped they weren't all like that." Jini looked sad for a moment, trying and failing to contemplate a life consumed by the physical. "I have to pity them. Such a meaningless way to live."
Shaking her head solemnly, she fell quiet, lost in thought. How anyone could stand that sort of empty existence, much less an entire continent of people, was completely beyond her. She wanted it to make sense, and it couldn't, and that bothered her deeply.
"There are a few that aren't horrified by our ways of life, but none of them seem to understand that the flesh isn't what's important. They don't even really decorate it, they just...leave it. And seem to care so little for the soul." Senka shrugged, it had never made much sense to her.
"Can I help you carry anything? And we can talk of something more entertaining than the strange ways of the foreigner nations."
"Hmm?" Roused from her contemplations, Jini stopped nodding along in disconcerted agreement with the other girl and instead looked over at her. Shifting the weight of her papers to her other arm, she waved away Senka's concerns and laughed quietly. "Oh, that's quite all right. It isn't too heavy."
Still with a smile, she gave a slight sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you can understand my fascination with spiritual matters. Perhaps you could tell me more about these forests? I've not heard very much about mainland vegetation, apart from how it gets in the way of the ground."
"Are you sure? I am dragging you off for food. I don't want to inconvenience you too much." Senka fidgeted slightly, feeling just a tad guilty for disrupting the other woman. But she really didn't want to have to eat alone. The company was so nice. And Zoran hardly counted.
"The forests...where to start. It's like nothing anything I had ever seen. Huge, massive, things, thick and heavy. They can cover the sun in parts. And just, green is everywhere. It's so lush."
Jini found it hard to imagine anything that could be large enough to block out the sky, much less a plant, but in the true spirit of curiosity she tried anyway. Such a thing would be breathtaking to see. Really, trust Noora not to bother looking up... She laughed softly again. "That sounds like it gets in the way of more than just the ground, then. But all that life! It must be a humbling sight."
She paused a moment, and frowned slightly. While she'd been concentrating on her work before, she hadn't really been focused on it. She'd kept finding little distractions, errant trains of thought, and she'd been getting quite irritable. Just this short walk had refreshed her a little, she realised, noticing how much easier it was to keep her mind clear. She gave Senka another smile, and another wave for her concerns. "And honestly, I can feel the break doing me good already. So don't worry about that."
"It is. It's...awe inspiring to see the Goddess's hand in it all. Such flourishing life. And it's not like that everywhere. There are so many other things too. Just, fields and plains and all different things. Though, I don't know. It still lacks the charm this place has."
It made her relax a little when Jini reassured her, "Great! I'm glad. It must be so fascinating to work on projects for the church. You must get to do some amazing things."
"Mm. I think... While the Goddess is everywhere, Her presence can be most keenly felt among Her people. Perhaps that is what's missing?" Jini mused. It had to be strange to be in a place where nobody acknowledged Inima's power.
"Really, it's an honour to be doing holy work, and there's so much wonderful work being done, I can barely keep up with it all!" Visibly more animated, she actually moved her hands and smiled as she spoke, thinking of the inspiring books she'd had the chance to look through during this season's stay at the church. She couldn't talk about all of it, though, or she'd be rambling on all day. "I do think the most interesting is the synergy between different schools of necromancy. Combining powers can give some quite astonishing results."
"Really? That has always been an interest of mine. Seeing what the different groups can do together. I've got entropymancy and a bit of raising, but I haven't really done much with exploring what they can do together." Senka leaned a little closer, not realizing she was doing so, talking a little faster, "What are some of the things you have been able to do? Am I allowed to ask? Being able to serve the Goddess like that must be wonderful."
"A lot of my work uses a combination of fleshcrafting and raising – extensive modification is a lot easier when you don't have to worry about not killing your specimen, you see. My specialisation requires at least one participant to be dead, anyway, so it was a logical progression," explained Jini, enthusiastic enough herself to remain unfazed by the other woman's eagerness. Unusually for her, she barely even noticed Senka's invasion of her personal space. "And actually, I did hear about a recent project using your kinds of magic, although it was meant for military application so I'm not sure how much I can give away, I'm afraid."
"Ah. I missed my calling. I should have gone for the church. That sounds amazing." Senka gave a wistful sigh. She had been too eager too go out into the world and had missed so many opportunities back home.
Her belly chose that moment to give a loud rumble and the necromancer laughed, "Whoops. I apologize for that. It has been some time since breakfast!"
"It's not far now," Jini replied with a laugh as they came to the wide road that connected the docks to Suna's largest church. The streets were full of people, milling around the market stalls set up haphazardly along the walls, and it wasn't easy to avoid bumping into them. The big city wasn't exactly her kind of place.
Barely audible above the crowds, a roll of thunder sounded in the sky, as if it was mimicking Senka's stomach. It appeared as if the morning's strong winds had brought a storm across the islands from the ocean, dark clouds billowing in from the east. Clutching her papers protectively to her chest, she shot her companion a nervous grin. "And it looks like we timed it just right, too."
Senka looked up at the sky. Storms always made her nervous, it was the wind mostly, that frightened her, though the lightening wasn't much better. She gave a shudder and nodded, "Loots like. Let's get inside. I hate weather like this."
It made her feel so vulnerable, so powerless in the face of such fury. Senka picked up her pace a little, not sure where she was going, but wanting to get there a little faster.
"It is quite inconvenient, isn't it?" agreed Jini, matching pace with the other girl. Bad weather didn't usually bother her too much, since she spent so much time inside working, but it was a bother if she needed to venture out for supplies. And right now, of course, she was mostly worried about her papers. All that hard work, washed away... It didn't bear thinking about.
Unfortunately for her, though, it turned out she was right to fret. A droplet of water plopped onto her forehead, trickled down and hovered at the tip of her nose. Trying to cover the top half of her papers with her arms, she glanced skywards and grumbled, "Hmph. It could have given us a little more warning!"
Senka gave a small squeal as the rain started pounding down and she made a mad dash for a nearby tavern. She managed to make it into the building before the heavy rain hit, but not before she got quite wet. She shook her head, trying to get her wet bangs out of her face, "Alright, well...maybe we'll just have to settle for where fate has sent us. I'm sure this place...has...lovely...food..."
Looking around her, Senka found she was in some sailor tavern and a number of gruff men were staring at her.
Bringing her gaze back down from the sky, Jini noticed Senka already several feet in front of her, charging for the nearest open door. Making a surprised noise in the back of her throat, she broke into a run too, slowed by her hunched over position protecting the papers in her arms. She made it into the building a few seconds after the other girl and took a moment to flick her thumb over the pages, checking that they were still dry enough not to stick together. Phew. They'd survived, at least.
"I think you may be right..." she began, only just looking up at the room's occupants. Ugh. Foreigners, and foreign men at that. They never knew how to behave, and this lot were no better as was clear from the unappealing leers on their faces. Appraising them with a cold eye, she turned back to her much more pleasant companion. "Ignore them. I'm sure they know where they are."
A gentle smile returning to her face, she gestured to a small corner table. "Shall we take a seat, then?"
"Oh, I'm sure." Senka headed over to the table Jini gestured to, sliding into the seat. The men's eyes stayed on them, but they didn't seem to be bothering them any. Keeping her back straight, Senka did her best to ignore them.
"Well, I'm glad we managed to miss the worst of that. I hate getting wet. Did your papers survive alright?"
"They're all right," Jini nodded, setting the pages down beside her on the table as she sat. "They're not library quality, but then they weren't to begin with!"
Settled comfortably enough into her chair, she glanced around to see who she could ask about food. With a clientele consisting mostly of mainlanders, she doubted it would be very good, but they'd come for lunch and they weren't going elsewhere while the storm raged outside. They'd have to make do.
"Just a couple of stuck-up island bitches!" a nearby sailor commented to his group quite a bit louder than necessary, watching for the women's reaction. Even though she understood only a few words of the sentence, his tone made it obvious enough to Jini that he wasn't being particularly complimentary. She ignored him, however, and signalled the serving boy. Such rudeness didn't deserve a response.
Senka on the other hand, wasn't about to ignore them. Turning, she narrowed her pale eyes at the man, her voice icy, "Excuse me? What did you say?"
"I said ya were a couple of stuck-up island bitches!" The man leered, bolstered by his companions presence.
Standing, Senka's power reached out for her brother, his energy flowing into her. Reaching a hand out, she smacked her palm against the man's table, leaving an off colored imprint in the wood. At first nothing happened, then the discoloration spread, until the table suddenly collapsed, rotted through.
"Watch how you speak on this island!"
Smirking, Jini craned her head slightly to get a better view of whatever it was Senka was going to do. It wasn't in her nature to directly confront people, but she had to admit she enjoyed it when others did. The woman didn't disappoint either, with a textbook-smooth display of entropymancy. No doubt she would have made it into the church if she'd wanted to with that!
The men's faces, not only on the ones whose table was gone but on almost every other member of the tavern, said everything necessary. They wanted to retaliate... But they knew they shouldn't, for now at least. Still not how men should act, but a vast improvement nonetheless. Jini chuckled then turned her faint smile back to the other woman, the contempt in her expression now gone. "Impressive control. It's hard to believe you've had no formal study."
Senka gave the men a dark look before turning back toward the other woman. She wasn't going to tolerate that behavior and if some flashy displays were needed, so be it. Smiling, she gave a small shake of her head, "I was able to pick up enough. Plus, well, I've got an interesting...background."
Her and Zoran had a strange connection that was hard to explain. "Though, I would have loved some formal training."
Though Jini was slightly curious as to what in Senka's background was so unusual, she didn't push the point further. If the other woman didn't say any more, she probably wouldn't want to and it was best to leave it. Besides, people were hardly ever as fascinating as they thought they were. Magic was a far more interesting topic, and they'd have time enough to discuss it while the serving boy was preoccupied with sweeping up the sad remains of the table.
"Mm, I'd imagine you'd have benefited from it. I do wonder what advances we've missed without you in the church," she mused, before catching herself with a polite smile. "Although I'm sure you've had a wonderful time on the mainland."
"Well, a little too late to wonder now. Besides, I'm sure there are plenty of people much better than I am." She tilted her head, watching Jini, "I'm sure you have some impressive abilities."
When the boy was finished cleaning up the table, he approached the table carefully. He was a native and was more than impressed by the display Senka had put on, "Um...can I get you anything? Ma'ams."
"I'm decently powerful," Jini conceded, attempting modesty for once, "But it really is what you do with it that counts." Oh, sheer brute force was all well and good she supposed, but with the kind of innovative thinking the best minds in the church were known for, great things could be achieved with even the most pathetic of abilities. Not that a little extra power didn't help, of course.
Before she could say any more, the serving boy was finally ready for them and she returned his politeness with a smile. Now that was a way to behave. Sad when a mere child could act as a good example for grown men. With a pointed look at the sailors, staring around at each other in stunned silence, she smirked, "I'll have anything you've got that actually has some flavour."
"See! I bet you are more than decently powerful. The church wouldn't have you working on important projects if you were't impressive." Senka had never really managed to do that many things with her abilities. The straightforward raising and rotting, as her lack of real training made combining them together.
Jini's order amused Senka, lips curling in a small smile, "What's the spiciest things you have?"
The boy didn't seem pleased when Jini made the slight to the food, but he was smart enough to not say anything. "Um...we have a white fish grilled with a spicy rub. It will knock your socks off." It wasn't the stuff normally served, but the woman didn't seem really like the regular crowd.
Jini smiled at the other woman's compliments, flicking a loose braid back over her shoulder in a small act of preening. She was good, she knew it, and she liked other people knowing it without having to be told. That was another problem with foreigners. They didn't know what being in the church meant, and so they just didn't give her the respect she deserved.
"That sounds quite pleasant," she nodded, satisfied with the boy's answer as well as his behaviour. "We'll have that, then." Speaking for Senka seemed completely acceptable to her; why wouldn't the woman want something homey and comforting after being away so long? She just hoped the food lived up to the hype. It was sad but entirely possible that after catering to foreigners all this time, the cook may have forgotten how to please Thanati tastes - unless their family was keeping them in check. How awful for them to be subjected to subpar food...
Looking around the room again, she managed to catch one sailor's eye and to her idle amusement he glanced away almost immediately. They were clearly still not happy with the women's presence though, and she remarked coldly, "I wonder how long they're going to keep staring at us."
The fact Jini ordered for her amused Senka. It just seemed to fit the subtle arrogance of the woman. Made her feel back home again. And Senka didn't mind, the food did sound good and she doubted that the boy was dumb enough to serve them something awful after that little...lesson.
"Well, probably until we leave. Beautiful, powerful women are a combination that few men can resist." Senka gave a low laugh, "I doubt they could keep their eyes off us even if they tried."
Glancing back around the room with a quiet growl, Jini glared at each man whose eye she caught, every one of them hurriedly pretending to be greatly interested in the walls, or the floor, or the ceiling. It was funny, and slightly sad. After all, if they'd been behaving themselves to start with they wouldn't have had anything to worry about. "I wish they'd try harder. I'm not here for their entertainment."
She shook her head and sighed, smiling faintly at Senka. "I hope not all of the mainland men act like this. I'd imagine it gets tiring after a while."
If the other woman had had to put up with such behaviour, no wonder she'd come home! It was yet one more thing lacking in foreign parts, and it all added up to make a place she really didn't want to visit. Strange weather, tasteless food, a bizarre dislike for necromancy, heathens absolutely everywhere and on top of all that, the men didn't have any respect! All in all, it made her wonder how anyone could stand to live there.
"Oh no. Not all of them. The seamen are a special breed. And they don't really understand subtly. They just have no concept of privacy or face!" Senka had gotten used to foreign habits, but it was much nicer being home and she found herself slipping back into the familiar, comforting way of the island life.
"Or honor. As you have been made aware. But it isn't all bad, I promise. Just very different."
"Hmm," Jini mused, with an expression that said she didn't quite believe Senka. "I should hope so. If everyone knew Thanatos was so much better, they'd all want to live here. I expect it would get quite crowded."
Now with the puzzling mental image of foreigners packing the streets like roaches under a rock, she sniffed haughtily. It wouldn't be allowed, of course. A blink to dismiss the thought, and she smiled back at the other woman. "Your voyage wasn't too long then, I take it?" She tilted her head discreetly toward what used to be the table next to them. "Having to put up with that rabble..."
"That is a point. They don't understand how to be civilized. Even the ones here seem to stupid to figure it out." She gestured to the sailors in the room with a small laugh, "The voyage wasn't bad. I actually came here on a Thanati ship. Then a met up with a very talented medium and had a bit of an adventure."
Jini laughed when Senka did, wholeheartedly agreeing with her opinion of the sailors. Stupid and uncivilised, those were exactly the words to describe them. She couldn't have put it better herself! At least the other woman hadn't had to actually put up with them after all. "Well, that does sound a lot more pleasant than I was thinking," she nodded, then raised a quizzical eyebrow and smiled broadly. "And an adventure? You can't just leave it at that. Anything the Church might like to be hearing about, perhaps?"
"Oh, it was quite the adventure." Senka laughed, "It isn't all that exciting of a tale though and I'm an awful story teller. But I wont keep if from you if you want to hear."
She paused when the boy arrived, setting down drinks and food. The food smelled spicy...ish and looked a little lackluster. Probably from cooking for so many outsiders. The wine at least was decent, which Senka took a long drink from.
"I ran into a seer, just by chance. She had been helping some lost soul. Well, I got a ride with her and she got a vision, from the Goddess herself." Senka nodded, leaning forward a little, "There was some lost soul that needed help."