|
Post by evelie on Jul 19, 2010 0:11:56 GMT -5
Normally, the woman would be out helping those in need. She certainly itched to do so, and felt the need to do something other that sit like a lazy butt. Well, she felt like a lazy butt, so she twiddled with her fingers, huffing. Her fingers itched to play a song on her gitar. But the ever-ready piece of wood was not around her shoulder, nor would it ever be again. Maybe a different piece of wood would someday rest there, but never that same piece again. She hadn’t seen it splintered to smithereens just as she hadn’t seen the rock that had smashed into her head and knocked out her sight for… forever it might seem.
She had cried plenty, and had even driven herself to sleep by her own exhaustion. Slowly, though, she had come to terms with her blindness, and had somewhat gotten used to not being able to see. She sure did miss the sights, and walking around on uncharted territory did a mite bad things to her. So she sat there. She knew she was under the sun because her skin was warm, just as she knew there had to be some shade on account that her legs felt cool, even to the touch. Either that, or both her legs and arms were getting numb, and that she didn’t need right now. Evelie sighed and pushed her long dress farther down her legs. It had been bunching up over her knees and the last thing she needed was to be showing everyone anything down there. Not now, not ever.
She heard some ruckus, and felt the Weyr keen, actually keen, as a Bronzerider up and died. The blind woman tried to cover her ears with her hands like a child would, but the keening persisted even through her half-hearted attempt. It did not work, and, in the end, she ended up uncovering her ears. You’d think one would get used to it, huh? She certainly thought she’d get used to it. Why hadn’t she have gone deaf, or mute? Bein’ a blind person really didn’t help when moving Weyrs, moving lives like this. And what was worse was the fact that she couldn’t do anything. She’d tried to help, but that ended in failure. She supposed she could have been able to keep the children at bay with Harper song, but there were other Harper-survivors, and she had neither gitar nor flute to entertain with.
Besides, she had forsaken Harpership. No one would want a blind Harper. Finally, having decided she had mulled in her sorrows long enough, Evelie stood, and swayed on her feet. The blood rushed devastatingly to her brain, and she blinked a couple times as if to clear her eyes when actually it helped her clear her head. She didn’t technically need to blink anymore, just to make the appearance that she could see. Well, maybe she needed to blink to keep her eyes moist…
Evelie felt her way around by keeping one hand always on the wall. Her hand found the wall easily enough, and her feet (also easily enough) found anything wrong with the ground. She nearly tripped twice. Gorram blindness, she was about to swear aloud (or, at least say something rude, since Evelie did not swear, per say), when her next step brought her on an uneven step… or was it a rock? Since that step had been the stabilizing step, and Evelie was not very stabilized, the woman tumbled.
“Oh, great,” She moaned softly, hearing her dress tear, “that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Tag Any
|
|
|
Post by S'ren and Kasalith on Jul 19, 2010 14:00:39 GMT -5
The morning had taken on a grim tone and all through the Weyr S'ren could hear the dragons and riders mourn the loss of one of their own. He had taken refuge in the bowl while Kasalith sought to comfort and mourn with the other dragons she had grown close to over the course of their journey.
S'ren wasn't the type to mourn or cry. He didn't see death as loss, but rather the beginning of ones journey into another mysterious world. One could not hope to remain trapped in this world forever. A part of him wanted to believe that the next life was more joyous than the one they were forced to live now, but in his current mood he could see no happiness outside of his sullen bubble of dispair. While he did not 'mourn' he would not deter the others from doing so.
And so he read a book. The book resting in his hands now was a tale about adventure, about discovery and pride. He had found it tucked away in his things that he had hastely packed at Ista Weyr. It was odd that he would pack a book because it wasn't his and he had no idea of where he could have found it. It was rather good though, so he read it merely as a distraction; though it was hard to hear with the entire Weyr in an uproar over the bronzerider's death.
His dark eyes darted back and forth across the page as he read. Every paragraph or so his lips would part in a smile or turn downward in a grimace. The protagonist, a foolish and optimistic peasant boy, battled the evils of his imagination. Witches and war lords, banshees and giants. He encountered them all. The story was filled with ups and downs, near misses and moments of jubilation. It was truly a fantastic story and had he not caught sight of another he would have sat there and read it all morning.
His head rose and he peered across the bowl. There, in the distance, stood a woman, her eyes wide and watchful. She moved slowly, carefully. Fingertips trailing along the rough contours of the cave walls, each step she took appeared a bit hesitant and once or twice she almost fell, but managed to catch herself in the end. He watched her regain her footing before his curiosity failed him and he looked back at his book.
Yet he couldn't concentrate. His large eyes lingered on one word 'disappointment.' Disappointment. That's what he was. He had drank himself into a stupor last night because he felt sorry for himself, for what he'd done and for hoping that this time it would be different. Not even Kasalith's gentle words could comfort him and in the end he had fallen asleep with his eyes burning with tears he wouldn't let fall. His eyes burned now, but he closed his eyes before the tears in his eyes could form.
No, he wouldn't ruin this day thinking about yesterday. That day was in the past, gone, never to be repeated. Today he would start anew and begin a new chapter of his life!
S'ren looked back ahead and watched in horror as the woman tripped over a rock. He was on his feet and rushing to her side, but before he could reach her she fell, rather harshly, to the ground.
"Are you all right?" He asked her as he knelt at her side. He touched her before he realized he shouldn't. It was too late to be formally 'correct' as it were. He never cared for rules like that anyway.
Tag: Evelie
|
|
|
Post by evelie on Jul 19, 2010 16:41:03 GMT -5
“Are you alright?” The voice came from a man who had, Evelie assumed, watched her fall. Her cheeks burned from blush, and seemed to burn harder still when she felt him touch her. Oh fardles, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. But the man was nice enough, for all he touched her and did not seem to mind the rudeness of it. Even then, though, Evelie sort of welcomed the touch, because it meant she wasn’t the only person here and her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her.
Evelie didn’t dare look up to try and meet the owner of the voice’s eyes. She couldn’t see him, so why should she try? Instead, she touched her cheeks, feeling the intensity of the blush upon them, and seriously hoped that she didn’t look as bad as she felt. He was still touching her—no, don’t stop touching her. The touch was friendly, comforting if not trying to help. That was what Evelie needed in this moment, when most of her world consisted of darkness and dreary thoughts. And tripping. Her world consisted of a lot of tripping.
“Oh, uhm…” Evelie started, but found she was more flustered than she had previously thought. The hand that had felt her cheeks now moved to settle on the ground as her stomach jolted from nervousness. “A-alright as I can be, I guess.” Evelie smiled politely in the direction of the man, but since she hadn’t really taken stock of where she’d heard his voice come from, she could have been staring off into nothing. Well, technically, she was staring off into nothing.
The hand that wasn’t holding her up felt the hole in her dress. It would be relatively easy to mend, but she hadn’t really needed to make a hole in her dress at the first place. She couldn’t mend it right now, either, at least not until she got situated again and either found a seamstress or decided to do it herself. “Thanks… uhm, thank you.” She said, and blinked. “I’m not hurt, it’s just my dress; it tore.”
Another light smile, but this time it was directed down, shyly, and toward her dress. She was at a loss for words. Normally, no one helped her up because they were doing other things. More important things. Normally, too, though, she didn’t fall this hard. That might have been why he helped her. “Oh!” She cried as that realization dawned upon her. “Oh, please, if you were… doing something important… I don’t want to take up your time.”
Tag S’ren
|
|
|
Post by S'ren and Kasalith on Jul 20, 2010 14:59:56 GMT -5
“Oh, uhm…A-alright as I can be, I guess.”
S'ren smiled a bit at that answer. It was honest. He liked that more than hearing lies. He pulled back a bit, his hand still resting atop the woman's back as he helped her to her feet. While he tried to meet her eyes, he noticed that, though she looked in his direction, her gaze shifted a bit off to the side of his face as if looking pass him, yet she didn't look like she was focusing on anything in the distance.
She couldn't see. The situation suddenly made sense. He already had every intention to help her, but now his presence served a new purpose. He'd help her as long as she needed him at her side.
"I'm glad I could help," he said to her, looking at her dress. It was definitely ripped, but he was sure there was someone around this rock who could mend it for her. "It's not that bad of a rip, really." He said, his voice light. "I've seen worse. Once a lady tripped over a pile of branches. When she finally stood up the only thing left was her top. Her dress was still tangled in the wood," he added with a laugh." He took her hand now and guided her a foot away from the jumble of rocks along the wall. "I'd say you faired pretty well, given the givens."
“Oh!” She cried as that realization dawned upon her. “Oh, please, if you were… doing something important… I don’t want to take up your time.”
"That's impossible. I've grown bored reading. I'm afraid you've captured my interest. Whatever shall you do with me now?" He joked.
Tag: Evelie
|
|
|
Post by evelie on Jul 20, 2010 18:13:04 GMT -5
Evelie felt the man help her as she tried to stand. His hand on her back was strong, and she realized that he probably wouldn’t have let her fall even if she were trying to. He must have been a dragonrider, or someone who worked out a lot. She couldn’t tell, and she wasn’t about to just go and touch his shoulders where the knots would be to tell her what he was. He might have been rude to her (but she had definitely allowed it), but she wasn’t about to just reach out. She would probably have poked his eye out before touching his shoulder—that is, if she were to even find her hand anywhere near his body.
Contrary to popular belief, it takes a while for a newly-blinded person to get used to the world as they saw it… or didn’t see it. Evelie had bent slightly so that she could feel the rip as she was standing to see just how bad it would be. Her head was about level to his chest when he started talking about a lady who’d lost her dress to a bush. She giggled as she straightened, deciding that the rip would just have to wait and that the man was more interesting. He seemed like a good guy, and apparently, she’d captured his interest.
“I’m quite afraid I don’t… do much. I’m like a broken doll.” Her voice was not joking, but neither did she mean to totally berate herself and her condition. It was calm, as if she had accepted her fate, though in reality she had not. “But I can tell you my name. Thank you, uhm… yes, thank you for helping me. I am Evelie, Holdwoman and retired Harper.”
But Evelie just knew she was taking up his time. She gained a look of sheepish reluctance as she pushed slightly away from him. Her hands immediately sought for the wall, her friendly companion in times of need, and her fingertips brushed it. "Thank you, truly, but... but I must be going now." What was she doing before this...? She couldn't remember. She didn't know if he would backlash on her for having helped her and then her just leaving, but it had to be done, she had to leave. She cast a final, small, smile his way then ducked toward the wall and started walking again. This time, though, she picked up her feet.
Tag S'ren/End Evelie
|
|