Of Ashes

[Morthwyll]

Morthwyll had decided it was time to head north from his home in Brazil. Where it would end with him showing he knew not. For the past couple of days it took the Dryad, he wound up in a city in the center of the Amazon called Manaus. It held a small population though the streets today were abundant with locals making it all the more lively. A farmer's market had made its way to the city. Exotic fruits (caqui,oranges, guava, pineapple) known to be a sight to any native were on display, as well as imported goods from outside the country.

The necromancer was leisurely surveying everything the farmers had to offer, taking their odd looks at his physical appearance as simple curiosity. His deep eminence hued eyes collected and focused gaze settled on a round palm-sized fruit that he hadn't seen before. Being a tactile individual, he picked one of the reddish yellow fruits from the collection of them and inspected it...until he noted that the woman in charge of the stand was holding a boring gaze on him. Casually he turned his gaze to settle on her and in a soft almost passive tone stated," Eu quero isso". She replied with," Sete brasileira reais".

"Sete...daquilo?". A look of confusion wore on his face. The woman shook her head and politely explained, "Para a apple. Meu inventário não é de graça". The process of money hadn't occurred to the cleric. He muttered, "Então é isso que este é", before the realization hit him that he had no Brazilian Real, and a slight frown cross his lips; thus, the idea of the apple would be a moot point.




1) "I want this"

2)" Seven Brazilian Real"

3) "Seven...of what?"

4)"For the apple. My inventory isn't for free"

5)"So that's what this is"

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia, more attuned to the prospect of currency walked over and upon reading the numbers in front of the same looking fruit that the Dryad had, placed down the exact amount and pointed to the plant man. Having been around the area for over a few years, the locals have picked up on Shalia's method of talking. The woman nodded and made the 'shoo' gesture with which Shalia tugged Morth out of the way. She held up a slightly worn sketch pad with {If you aren't aware, money gets you what you want with most people. And before you try and say anything, i'll just let you know right now that i wont be able to hear it.} already pre-written on it. Realizing that he must be hungry since he tried taking fruit, she reached into the potato sack she had wrapped around her shoulder and pulled out a small bag of cashews and offered it to him.

[Morthwyll]

The male was just about to abandon the thought of the apple when a smaller blue-haired woman slipped the required money across the table. This was peculiar, and for a moment he studied her mannerisms--seeming to understand the message she was getting across. Morthwyll started to open his mouth to speak when the same woman who helped him out was pulling him away from the stands of fruit (apple in hand). A sketchpad was shown to him and he at first tilted his head slightly much like a dog would have done from curiosity. Upon realizing there were words on the page, the cleric read it and smiled. Pocketing the apple, and accepting a few of the cashews, he looked about himself for a writing utensil he knew he didn't possess. He busied himself with munching on his snack though it was obvious he was trying to figure out a way to communicate with the kind being.

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia giggled silently at the Dryad. She knew full well what he was doing. She had to go through this same thing with a majority of the locals. She held out the sketchpad accompanied by a pencil. Water began to form on the ground beneath her feet and rise above her. {You can use this to speak if you want.} Was written by the water above her. She gave the sketchpad a little shake to try and emphasize what she meant as the water above her came together into a ball of water that then came down beside her.

[Morthwyll]

With a knowing nod Morthyll gently took the pencil and paper, letting his hand glide across the paper as he wrote in it neatly:

Thank you for your generosity. This idea of the city is new grounds for me. My homeland is further south from here, so the travel has left me with this peculiar sensation of hunger. As you can imagine I was not expecting how other mortals lived here let alone their culture. Morthwyll is my name, and it is a pleasure meeting you.

The dryad turned it around for his acquaintance to read, still wondering what stole her ability to hear.

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia gave Morth a warm smile after reading his message. The ball of water rose, drop by drop, above Shalia again {The pleasure is all mine. What brings you up north} She gave a small bow as the final word finished forming. The words above her then began to morph into different words {If you are tired you may rest at my place. It's just east of here} More water was forming from the ground and rising up to help finish her message.

[Morthwyll]

The dryad respected the silent woman, enough to watch the water she manipulated coalesce into words. He was more fascinated by the process than at all frustrated. Once more he took to the paper in his hands: A sense of knowledge is what caused my branching out. My mother's awakening ended a couple days prior, but I did not weep her eternal sleep for long. Instead, it told me there was more out here, to grow as much as I could. Morthwyll paused as he spotted her next outgoing offering; quickly he jotted down his response. Yes. If I am of no hindrance to you or your home, I would greatly like a place to reside for the evening. Oh and I never caught your name? . Another smile crossed his bark-like features as he waited for Shalia to show him to her home.

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia turned and began walking east. As she began to walk, most of the water flew over and filled up buckets that most of the locals left out everytime Shalia came to town. The rest of the water spelled out {Shalia}. Half a mile out of town, the came across the amazon river with a poorly built raft tied to a tree. She undid the rope, and waited for Morth to get on before joining him on the raft, kicking away from shore as she got on. 

Instead of flowing downstream, the raft began floating upstream. Shalia was mouthing words as she sat calmly on the raft. A quarter mile later, the raft steered up onto the east bank. Shalia got up, and moved some nearby bushed aside, revealing a cave entrance.

[Morthwyll]

Morthwyll followed suit after the oracle, watching as she didn't waste the water she was manipulating and thinking over her name. He liked the way her name sounded, and he almost felt bad that she would never be able to hear it spoken. In a solemn manner he let the idea linger what a world of silence would be like before joining Shalia on the makeshift raft. During this time the dryad kept to himself by biting into the apple the samsaran had purchased for him. Sweetness reached his tastebuds and by far it was of sound approval for him; he would have to make sure to pack more apples in his pockets before leaving Manaus. Now however he arrived on the eastern bank of the water spirit's home. With further guidance he reached the mouth of the cave. Morthwyll hesitated some, his deep plum colored orbs resting on the smaller woman a moment. A brighter violet bio-luminescent undertone, mostly around his eyes and the crown of his head started to show just a tad more in the shade, pulsing in and out of intensity in the cover of shade.

[Shalia Shinoma]

While Shalia did see him hesitate, she didn't think of it as anything serious. She entered the cave, which was just a hallway a little over 6 feet tall until you turn the corner at the end in which it turns into a dome, big enough to house Shizukesa. On the far wall was a table with scraps of cloth placed haphazardly on it. The wall to the left once you enter had a table next to it as well, but this one had a tree stump next to the table and various river weeds rested on the table. The wall to the right had a makeshift stone bed with a pillow and a blanket resting on it. And finally in the center is a currently extinguished fire pit with a box of matches sitting on a rock next to it. She pulled off the potato sack and dropped it right inside the entrance to the dome section of the cave and walked over, lighting a match and tossing it into the fire pit.

[Morthwyll]

Shalia lead the way into her cavern, and the plant man followed. He couldn't help but let his fingers brush against the rock wall; though his interest with it faltered almost as soon as he laid his eyes on the mix-matched fabrics to his far left. With a slight tilt of his face, Morthwyll quickly deduced that the samsaran took to making her own clothes, and that by choice she had pulled away from society. The sudden blaze of fire had severed his runaway thoughts and shortly after he planted himself at the fire pit, leaning back on his hands and let out a sigh from his long trip.

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia gave a small smile at seeing her guest get comfortable. She didn't often get guests and limited visits after Raz's visit. Even with the little human interaction she gets, she never forgets how to treat guests. She walks over to the table on the left and collected a clay bowl and a few edible river weeds before walking back over to Morth. She sets the bowl down next to him and it begins filling up on its own as she holds out the weeds.

[Morthwyll]

As her guest, the dryad welcomed the food and gave a thankful nod as he took the seaweed she handed to him. It was good that he wasn't being offered meat, for the cleric wasn't partial to eating animals. Something about plants eating their predators didn't sit well for him, though he knew in these parts of the world there existed some foliage that did. When he had a moment between one part of his meal and the next, he reached for the pencil she let him borrow earlier, set the notepad on the ground and jotted down: Thank you once more, friend. Your abode is lovely and the food is more than I could have imagined getting. With a returned smile he allowed her to read it, continuing with his meal.

[Shalia Shinoma]

Shalia looked over the message and her smile grew. This was by far the nicest guest shes ever had. {Thank you. If you want more,  please let me know} was written in the air with water to the side so the fire wouldnt effect it. If Morth didnt see it, she'd point over to it as she stood and went over to the tree stump and sat on it, staring at him in case he needed anything.