10 Searing, Year 123
[Closed - Solo]
"Caught you," Hilana had spent the last half an hour getting closer and closer to the group of girdled lizards, and now she finally got her hands on one. She had had to use the Shadows to make herself not only less imposing, but more inconspicuous in order to get close to the creatures that she was attempting to catch. Her skill and ability with Semblance to do that wasn't quite there yet, but she was making progress in that regard, too. That called to her memory of Khyan, and how skillfully he had been able to do that to dissuade attention from himself. Maybe one day she might be able to do what he did, but today was not that day. She just wanted one to investigate and handle, and then she would let it go. There was no need to keep it, inasmuch as she might have wanted to. She had enough pets, and these little lizards deserved more respect. It wasn't like her dwarf tegu that she had found in the Umbrium a year ago, which had surely been someone's escaped pet considering the rarity of its morph.
No, this was a wild creature, but it was good for her own skills to be able to catch one and handle it. And handle it she did, because the little creature curled up in a tight ball, its tail in its mouth, clearly frightened by being scooped up by some giant and lifted a bit from the safety of the warm sands. She settled on her knees, the fabric of her skirts protecting her skin from the heat. Gentle fingers stroked the plated sides of the lizard which was barely the size of one of her hands, even if it had stretched out, and it was going to take some work for her to convince it to relax. She was no Mesmer, after all, not like Finn who could charm the lizard into snuggling with him without even a glance.
Hilana sat there, cupping her hands together to support it, keeping her breathing soft and quiet. Patience meant letting the lizard decide eventually that she wasn’t going to harm it, it wasn’t being taken from its colony, and it wasn’t being restrained. After nearly fifteen minutes, it began to slowly uncurl, righting itself onto all four feet. The young woman just sat where she was, letting its clawed feet grip her hands. They weren’t venomous, and there wasn’t likely any issues that Hilana was going to have from something this small. It wasn’t inclined to bite her, and she would settle for not attempting to turn it over and see what gender it was. No need for that, after all: if she really needed to know, she could Semble it. Which, truly told, was good practice. It wouldn’t hurt to check this little one over more thoroughly, and if something was off, then she could catch a few more of the colony and check their health, too. It was all part of being a good steward of the land.
She focused on the Rune on her scalp, and when she blinked, her eyes were no longer just brown. Their ever-changing pattern of the elements began to present more information to her, and she could begin to investigate the girdled lizard’s aura and its physical attributes. Little by little, she was able read what she couldn’t see with her normal sight and knowledge. She focused on the aspects that she wanted to follow, almost like she was working trails, but rather than following tracks, she was chasing threads of information in the creature’s aura. It had seemed sturdy to her, and an adult, and didn’t seem to have any illnesses. Now that she could look closer, she could see that the lizard was still a juvenile, but not by much; it would be fully grown by the end of the season. Close enough.
The lizard was also female, which was good. It had been eating well: a steady diet of termites and crickets and occasionally ants and locusts. She did have an abrasion on her tail, but it was minor and showed no signs of infection. It would heal by secondary intention. When Hilana focused on the lizard’s echo to try to determine why she had that abrasion, the best she could tell was escaping from a predator… trying to figure out what predator eluded her; Hilana surmised it was likely a juvenile fennec fox or an inexperienced hawk. Girdled lizards didn’t fight each other regularly, and when food was scarce, they all reduced their intake to make sure that there was enough for the whole colony.
People, she felt, could learn a lot from girdled lizards.
She was continuing her inspection when the lizard decided that it had had enough of being held by the (albeit friendly) giant, and decided to brave the brightly-dyed cotton skirts to try to return to the sand. “Until later, little one,” Hilana chuckled as she moved her hands to let her get back down to the ground, bypassing the patterned emerald green and gold cloth. She watched as the little reptile hastily scampered away, leaving her trails in the sand as she was likely headed for the colony that wasn’t too far off from here. But Hilana wouldn’t follow her; there was no need to stress her further. But she could watch those tracks being formed so that she could recognize them again later, the way the clawed feet moved and the gouges in the sand made by the lizard’s tail. The Vastiana studied the new tracks, focusing on the tracks themselves, trying to grasp the echo that showed her the vision of the lizard that had been and gone. When she felt the beginning of a headache starting, she knew it was time to stop. She sat back, letting her hands fall to her lap as she blinked her eyes back to normal, just in time to hear her sister calling out to her. Her words were carried by the winds to help find her little sister.
“Here, Lia,” Hilana called back, getting up and lightly shaking her skirts to put the sand back where it belonged. It was time to head back to the Citadel, though with the Sceptre of Avaerys in the sky, it was just that much harder to know what time it was. The skies couldn’t tell her, not any more. Her colourful tiered skirts swept just off of the sands as she walked, long legs taking her up the hill in the Citadel’s direction. Even in this omnipresent heat, the Vastiana was home. They may have been hardy and durable, but she would likely need some salves for her skin for later just to take out the redness.
She made her way back up the hill towards the Citadel. It was probably getting close to dinner, and she could well imagine that Lykos was famished. The servii in the kitchen had a roast goat planned, and Hilana had made a tabbouleh salad to accompany it before she had gone off to chase the girdled lizards. The dessert for tea had been made that morning before she had gone into work, and all she had to do was give it another brushing of the honey syrup and hen it was time to serve it.
“There you are. Did you find what you were looking for out there?” Athalia asked her when they finally came together in the hallway on the way to the dining room. She didn’t see any lizards in hand… thankfully. She knew her sister had enough pets, and it was probably a blessing that she didn’t have the Rune of Command, because then she’d have all of them.
“I did,” Hilana nodded. “I found a young-ish female and checked her over. She is in good health, so that bodes well for the whole colony. Did you know that these girdled lizards, in times of food scarcity, reduce their intake as a whole so that everyone can still eat? Instead of what you often see when there’s less food - ‘I got mine, you’re on your own’.”
“I did not,” Lia was amused to hear this. “How did you learn that?”
“Asher told me way back when,” Hilana told her as they continued down the halls. "I was trying to chase them when we found a colony on one of the far grazing grounds and he didn't want me to bother them," she was smiling all the same, remembering. Her desert education was different to those around her, that was for sure. “I’m going to wash up. Is Lykos already there?” She wanted to know.
“I am going to go and collect him next. I just wanted to make sure that you knew it was dinner time. And you are a little pink, soror, you’ll need to do something about that tonight, please," Lia wasn't about to try to mother her, she knew Hilana wasn't going to be one for that... but it would be preferable that she didn't look like a wrinkled leather handbag from all her time in the Sceptre.
[Closed - Solo]
"Caught you," Hilana had spent the last half an hour getting closer and closer to the group of girdled lizards, and now she finally got her hands on one. She had had to use the Shadows to make herself not only less imposing, but more inconspicuous in order to get close to the creatures that she was attempting to catch. Her skill and ability with Semblance to do that wasn't quite there yet, but she was making progress in that regard, too. That called to her memory of Khyan, and how skillfully he had been able to do that to dissuade attention from himself. Maybe one day she might be able to do what he did, but today was not that day. She just wanted one to investigate and handle, and then she would let it go. There was no need to keep it, inasmuch as she might have wanted to. She had enough pets, and these little lizards deserved more respect. It wasn't like her dwarf tegu that she had found in the Umbrium a year ago, which had surely been someone's escaped pet considering the rarity of its morph.
No, this was a wild creature, but it was good for her own skills to be able to catch one and handle it. And handle it she did, because the little creature curled up in a tight ball, its tail in its mouth, clearly frightened by being scooped up by some giant and lifted a bit from the safety of the warm sands. She settled on her knees, the fabric of her skirts protecting her skin from the heat. Gentle fingers stroked the plated sides of the lizard which was barely the size of one of her hands, even if it had stretched out, and it was going to take some work for her to convince it to relax. She was no Mesmer, after all, not like Finn who could charm the lizard into snuggling with him without even a glance.
Hilana sat there, cupping her hands together to support it, keeping her breathing soft and quiet. Patience meant letting the lizard decide eventually that she wasn’t going to harm it, it wasn’t being taken from its colony, and it wasn’t being restrained. After nearly fifteen minutes, it began to slowly uncurl, righting itself onto all four feet. The young woman just sat where she was, letting its clawed feet grip her hands. They weren’t venomous, and there wasn’t likely any issues that Hilana was going to have from something this small. It wasn’t inclined to bite her, and she would settle for not attempting to turn it over and see what gender it was. No need for that, after all: if she really needed to know, she could Semble it. Which, truly told, was good practice. It wouldn’t hurt to check this little one over more thoroughly, and if something was off, then she could catch a few more of the colony and check their health, too. It was all part of being a good steward of the land.
She focused on the Rune on her scalp, and when she blinked, her eyes were no longer just brown. Their ever-changing pattern of the elements began to present more information to her, and she could begin to investigate the girdled lizard’s aura and its physical attributes. Little by little, she was able read what she couldn’t see with her normal sight and knowledge. She focused on the aspects that she wanted to follow, almost like she was working trails, but rather than following tracks, she was chasing threads of information in the creature’s aura. It had seemed sturdy to her, and an adult, and didn’t seem to have any illnesses. Now that she could look closer, she could see that the lizard was still a juvenile, but not by much; it would be fully grown by the end of the season. Close enough.
The lizard was also female, which was good. It had been eating well: a steady diet of termites and crickets and occasionally ants and locusts. She did have an abrasion on her tail, but it was minor and showed no signs of infection. It would heal by secondary intention. When Hilana focused on the lizard’s echo to try to determine why she had that abrasion, the best she could tell was escaping from a predator… trying to figure out what predator eluded her; Hilana surmised it was likely a juvenile fennec fox or an inexperienced hawk. Girdled lizards didn’t fight each other regularly, and when food was scarce, they all reduced their intake to make sure that there was enough for the whole colony.
People, she felt, could learn a lot from girdled lizards.
She was continuing her inspection when the lizard decided that it had had enough of being held by the (albeit friendly) giant, and decided to brave the brightly-dyed cotton skirts to try to return to the sand. “Until later, little one,” Hilana chuckled as she moved her hands to let her get back down to the ground, bypassing the patterned emerald green and gold cloth. She watched as the little reptile hastily scampered away, leaving her trails in the sand as she was likely headed for the colony that wasn’t too far off from here. But Hilana wouldn’t follow her; there was no need to stress her further. But she could watch those tracks being formed so that she could recognize them again later, the way the clawed feet moved and the gouges in the sand made by the lizard’s tail. The Vastiana studied the new tracks, focusing on the tracks themselves, trying to grasp the echo that showed her the vision of the lizard that had been and gone. When she felt the beginning of a headache starting, she knew it was time to stop. She sat back, letting her hands fall to her lap as she blinked her eyes back to normal, just in time to hear her sister calling out to her. Her words were carried by the winds to help find her little sister.
“Here, Lia,” Hilana called back, getting up and lightly shaking her skirts to put the sand back where it belonged. It was time to head back to the Citadel, though with the Sceptre of Avaerys in the sky, it was just that much harder to know what time it was. The skies couldn’t tell her, not any more. Her colourful tiered skirts swept just off of the sands as she walked, long legs taking her up the hill in the Citadel’s direction. Even in this omnipresent heat, the Vastiana was home. They may have been hardy and durable, but she would likely need some salves for her skin for later just to take out the redness.
She made her way back up the hill towards the Citadel. It was probably getting close to dinner, and she could well imagine that Lykos was famished. The servii in the kitchen had a roast goat planned, and Hilana had made a tabbouleh salad to accompany it before she had gone off to chase the girdled lizards. The dessert for tea had been made that morning before she had gone into work, and all she had to do was give it another brushing of the honey syrup and hen it was time to serve it.
“There you are. Did you find what you were looking for out there?” Athalia asked her when they finally came together in the hallway on the way to the dining room. She didn’t see any lizards in hand… thankfully. She knew her sister had enough pets, and it was probably a blessing that she didn’t have the Rune of Command, because then she’d have all of them.
“I did,” Hilana nodded. “I found a young-ish female and checked her over. She is in good health, so that bodes well for the whole colony. Did you know that these girdled lizards, in times of food scarcity, reduce their intake as a whole so that everyone can still eat? Instead of what you often see when there’s less food - ‘I got mine, you’re on your own’.”
“I did not,” Lia was amused to hear this. “How did you learn that?”
“Asher told me way back when,” Hilana told her as they continued down the halls. "I was trying to chase them when we found a colony on one of the far grazing grounds and he didn't want me to bother them," she was smiling all the same, remembering. Her desert education was different to those around her, that was for sure. “I’m going to wash up. Is Lykos already there?” She wanted to know.
“I am going to go and collect him next. I just wanted to make sure that you knew it was dinner time. And you are a little pink, soror, you’ll need to do something about that tonight, please," Lia wasn't about to try to mother her, she knew Hilana wasn't going to be one for that... but it would be preferable that she didn't look like a wrinkled leather handbag from all her time in the Sceptre.
