Ash 3rd, Year 104, Age of Steel
The air was finally starting to chill, thankfully. At least for Alyssum. The recent Searing had been an absolute slog, made worse by the fact she'd had the poor foresight to spend it in Cathena of all places! Truly, a mistake if she'd ever made one before. She tended to bundle up in her true form, which made the situation all that much worse. Plain traveler's clothes under a heavy cotton robe under a heavy cloak. It was all sorts of gross come Searing. The majority of her time was spent mostly in her human and faunis form, but even that couldn't save her from the heat. She ended up having to flee the city a little under halfway through the season, the temperature becoming unbearable enough she just had to leave! The good thing about Cathena was that regardless of the season it was typically pretty easy to live. Sure, there were perils just like anywhere else, but Cathena had such a constant flux of travelers and traders coming in and out of the city that it made it pretty easy to slip into the crowd and find a good group to travel with.
All the better, in the end, Alyssum supposed. She'd managed to find her way back to Atinaw by the tail end of Searing. She liked to be in Atinaw whenever she could during Ash. At least once every couple of years she tried to spend the season there. It was the one season she didn't spend working herself down to the bone. After all, Rúnar always hated it when the younger Rathari tried to do anything work-related on his birthday or her own. It was a day for relaxation, according to him. He'd always told her to take things slow and enjoy life once in a while, birthdays were the only time she could genuinely excuse taking it slow. So it was a tradition of sorts to just relax a couple of days before and a couple of days after a birthday. Baring Isra's. If anything, Alyssum was always more active on Isra's birthday than she was any other day of the year.
This year wouldn't just be spent in Atinaw, though. No, she would be spending it in Raellon. One of the two Clans that she and Rúnar had called home. The other was Hopsfel, a place they occasionally traveled to in order to talk with other smiths when Alyssum had been little more than a small pup. Sure it was 'home' but it wasn't home the same way Raellon felt. If she had to settle down, if she ever had enough money to buy what she considered to be a 'proper house', then Raellon would be a strong contender for where she decided to live.
The territory run by the Asmund family was rife with magic and beauty, at least in the mind of the Rathari who'd probably been born somewhere in the area. Even if she wasn't, even if the Sharvalains who took care of her for those first two years dragged her from far away lands, Raellon was the place she and Rúnar used to have their house. Their labs, their forge, everything that had been important to her as a child.
She was still old enough to remember the birth of the current Finla. That day had been one of ice and cold, ferocious to say the least, but the people of Raellon had celebrated merrily and welcomed into the world what was soon to become the next Finla. Alyssum had met him a couple of times, but new personally. Her Kinship was good with magic, outstanding even, and one of the few who was good at magic and smithing. Usually, it was one or the other. Smiths lived in Hopsfel, magic users lived in Raellon. Only those familiar with magic and smithing (like Rúnar and herself) were both, and being such, they typically ran in both circles.
Now she was back in her old stomping ground, Raellon city, looking at the way things had changed. It was good to hear other people speaking Vithmi again, it'd been a while since she heard the sound. There were still plenty of people chattering along in Kokalath, the true 'Official' language of Atinaw, but there were just as many talking in the old Rathari tongue. It was a comfort. Rarely did she get the chance to speak it except with other Rathari's she occasional found on the roads or in towns. Fewer did she get the chance to truly speak with outside of the friendly greeting that all Rathari offered one of their own.
All in all, it felt good to be home.
She started to hum, strolling down the streets with a swish of her tail. The hum was pleasant thanks to the fact cotton had already been stuffed in her ears before entering town. Her rather delicate hearing couldn't stand being in towns otherwise. She'd gotten into town a little bit before dawn. Now the sun was climbing into the sky. About 10, she reckoned, taking a quick glance upwards. After she'd relaxed the next couple days she'd track down the apothecaries she usually offered her services to, see if he was still around. He was starting to push the older end of the spectrum, but when one died another usually took their place. Civilization could live without apothecaries, though who could craft medicines and tonic. And apothecaries loved alchemists.
With a slight spring in her step, she traveled the familiar streets, looking for that familiar shop.
