Legend of Ransera

It was a small room in the Vindeborg Dormitorium. There were many earthen pots covering every conceivably available surface, each filled with a different plant from a biome far more exotic than that which this university resided. In the corner of the room, a small bowl glowed with two activated dragonshards, one producing water while the other warmed it, lending to a much warmer and more humid environment in this tiny room. The walls here were covered in sketches, of plants, of people, of sunsets and mountain ranges, mostly in charcoal, though a few dabbled in other media.

In lieu of a bed, there was a hammock of reeds and furs, and nestled in it was an Orkhan woman, with a stream of foreign tattoos across her chest and down her left arm. A breeze blew in the crack under her door, and raced over, catching some strands of hair that loosed from her long braid, tickling them against her nose. The breeze repeated this several times until she sneezed, waking herself up. She rolled over to go back to sleep when the breeze blew in so hard that the crack was whistling.

Her eyes snapped open.

She looked over at the clock and relaxed. She wasn't late. Her exam wasn't for a few more hours. She glanced down at the wind that seemingly just wished to play with the young elementalist and she smiled. She conjured a few more breezes and sent them to chase the wind around her room, one of their favorite games. Norani sat upright, placing her feet on the floorboards of her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Another day at the Taltucca University.

She stretched wide, her back muscles rippling before she stood up. She dressed, in a thick woolen sweater and slacks to match, stepping into lined boots. She looked at herself in the mirror, smiling. She reached up into a few small bowls by her mirror, touching a bit of purple to her eyelids, a bit of darker green sheen to her lips. She grabbed her many earrings from the shelf and put them in. And then she sighed. It was a long and cold walk to the cafeteria. She hated this time of year in the north. Snow and cold did not feel like natural things to her.

She grabbed her parka, wrapping up tightly in it, and opened her door. She closed it shut with the breezes in her room and used them to lock it and she started down the hall. She saw that everyone else that was coming out was opting for just sweaters and denim, not breaking out the winter coats like her. But by the gods, she hated how hard the cold winds could bite. The spirits here seemed determine to pester her specifically.

Stepping out into the lawn, the ground was covered in a thin dusting of snow, some of which was still falling. Immediately Norani regretted even getting out of bed, and she tapped into the firestone she kept in her parka to warm her up as she hurriedly crossed the quad in the direction of the mess. She was hungry and she wanted nothing more than some coffee and a bowl of something hot. Exam day and then practice with the team out in this cold nonsense? She shivered violently, yanking open the door to the cafeteria, and sliding inside to the warmth.

There in the doorway, she relaxed, looking around the large mess to see if any of her friends were up and about yet. She pulled off her parka, hanging it in the coat room, as she slowly meandered through the room, seeking anyone out as she neared the food line.

There was enough caffeine flowing through her veins to lay waste to an army, but she was sure the results of such a self-inflicted risk would reap great rewards. The first sliver of dawn slithered through the window, entangled amongst the beads of dragonshards, and reflected winter’s earliest light in a myriad of colors. Reds and purples danced across the wings of paper cranes strung beneath her vaulted ceilings, each dot of color speckled the walls and duvet, shifting with the rise and fall of breath from the slumbering figure buried beneath the quilts, softly snoring. Yeva had done her best to add familiar touches to the opulent dormitory—an insistence from her parents—and felt rather pleased with the results until her bed partner began to stir and she hurriedly looked away.

A soft groan of consciousness came from the bed, and Yeva rose from the dark mahogany desk, watching a hand emerge from the mountain of pillows to reach for her side of the bed, cold and empty. It stilled as her own breath held. Guilty as charged.

"Go back to sleep," she whispered, soft and soothing. There was a pleading edge to the request, and she waited impatiently until at last the hand retreated and vanished from view once more. An exhale rolled from her lips.

She moved gently now, but without pause, tiptoeing to where her shoes had been sat by the door, already pouring the rest of her lukewarm coffee into a container she could take with her. She hoped it would keep her blood pumping until she could reach her destination, where she could refuel for her class presentation.

Washed and dressed hours ago, she freshened up by running a bit of oil through her hair and with uncharacteristic ease, began to split and wind her hair into two buns atop her head, followed by a single spritz of floral perfume. To her purse, she added the thesis paper written in perfect script, thick as a book, and was on the way out the door in record time.

Her lack of sleep would not have been recognizable to an untrained eye, Yeva she was as polished as ever. Perhaps more so with all the extra time this morning. She wore a green turtle neck tucked into a short tan skirt, dark tights for warmth, and a chocolate overcoat decorated with silver buttons that billowed behind her in dramatic flair as she stepped confidently across the campus grounds. Snow flurries clung to her eyelashes, and by the time she reached the cafeteria, her cheeks had taken on a lovely rose color and her coffee was ice cold.

She took one last sip and dumped the rest of the contents into an evergreen bush before making her way inside, just as another was emerging from the coat room, "Have the stars aligned?" she teased, calling out with a wave, as she closed the distance between them. The two friends had such vastly different schedules since enrolling in University, between her double major and electives, the obligations her family continued to slip into every opportunity, and Norani's own studies and practice, it felt like a lifetime since they last saw each other. Certainly, since they shared breakfast. Yeva had always favored afternoon and evening classes; mornings were never her strong suit by nature.

Things were changing.

"I've missed you," she greeted, reaching out for a hug, leaning her head back to peer up at the taller woman, "You look well. Cold," she added at last with a chuckle, "Gods, it feels like forever."

There was so much to catch up on. Yeva smiled, casting a glance around the room, half-expecting another to be waiting, "Have you eaten?" she asked, inching closer to where the trays awaited, "I was just about to grab a bite."

A very familiar voice rang out across the mess hall and Norani's eyes snapped in the direction of her friend and her face grew into a bright and vivid smile. It had been weeks since she and Yeva had last come across one another, but in Norani's heart the friendship hadn't waned or strained one iota in their absence. She knew that Yeva had been working tirelessly on her thesis, on... something far too complex for Norani's own understanding, and she herself had been busy with her training and the occasional bit of study.

As Yeva made her way over, Norani did the same, and once the gap was closed, she pulled her friend into a deep hug. Just as she had done that first day of orientation. They had originally met on a visitation day, but as suggested, the stars had aligned to put them in the same orientation group as well. Norani touched her nose to Yeva's forehead, rubbing it gently there, giving that extra squeeze between Yeva's shoulder blades.

"Too long.."

After a long and warming hug, she stepped back, her hands sliding down to Yeva's ribs, "I do not care for winter here. We may have long rains at home but snow and ice simply do not exist." She wished Yeva would come to Ecith one day with her. They almost had the trip this past summer, but Yeva's family had matters that required her instead.

"I am so hungry. We're on two-a-days right now, I feel like I can never eat enough!"

Then she decided to give Yeva a bit of a surprise as they turned toward the line as she attempted to hide her smirk, "I'm starting in the next match..."

As they waited for the line to move a bit, "How's your thesis going? Is it still the... maths thing I cannot pronounce?" A chuckle, "Or remember?"

She looked up the line and smiled bright. She practically bounced, "Oraha is cooking this morning!" The young woman was practically swooning at the sight of the eight foot tall, tattoo covered, muscle bound cook. She was only a cook in title though, for her skills with fire and salt and fat and acid were of a chef that would rival even the finest elves in Yeva's homeland. In her excitement, Norani reached over, tucking her arm through Yeva's own, pulling her in a bit closer.

With a playful nod, she sent a wind over, gathering up the scents from the kitchens and wafting them, and the warmth, over and Norani inhaled deeply, sighing afterwards. A sultry, "Fi'ud ic'uv..." She looked over at her friend, her eyes hooded, "Fried rice. And spicy too." Norani loved eating when her fellow Ecithian was in the kitchen for there would always be a taste of home on the menu.

Yeva held on to Norani’s arms as their hug loosened and Norani’s frame bent down to brush her nose affectionately against her forehead. So close, the astute academic could see the details of her companion’s face, the subtle speckling of dark green pores, and the patches where the cold pinched ruthlessly, drawing blood in violet blooms across the highest planes of her face. Hearing the disdain for winter made the redhead smile knowingly, and she pulled back reluctantly, wistfully wondering if she would connect with another so immediately, so easily, as she had with the woman before her. How unfair it was they saw so little of one another! There was an easy acceptance offered to her by the orc, similar to others whom shared the same culture, that it was hard for Yeva not to feel slighted by her own society somehow. What would life be like if she didn’t have to fight so hard for a chance to sit among the seasoned elite, a position that was her by birth rite, and yet as far as any star? She was being suffocated by rules and expectations.

Her thesis suddenly felt heavy in bag, tugging at arm like an excitable child. She had been happy to finish it, and it was good. Even without sleep and running on caffeine alone, she knew her capabilities in the classroom. Maybe she played the game better than she thought.

“Hm?” she realized she had been getting lost in her own thoughts and her attention honed in once more, her gaze ceasing to sweep across the room and settle back on her friend.

“I’m starting in the next match?”

Yeva gasped in delight, aware of how hard the athletes worked, tirelessly running laps around the campus, or performing drills on the front lawn, “Congratulations!” she enthused, “It was just a matter of time,” as the line inched forward, they were passing the coffee cannisters, large metal containers with black spigots, and Yeva refilled her cup with a fresh brew as she talked, “They’re realizing what they have – probably one of the greatest players this school has ever, and will ever, know.”

She was about to ask when the next game would be, in hopes to make it, when Norani shifted the attention back to her, “Math?” she inquired, blowing on the surface of the brown drink and sipping it to test its strength, “No – that was last term, relating to the mathematical patterns in cryptology analysis... I’m in a business program now. Partially my parent’s idea… but-“ she spied the sugar cubes, piled like a small tower, not yet destroyed by the ravenous and hung over student body, “I’m actually enjoying it more than I thought,” she admitted, blushing a bit by how quickly she had started to pick up the topics, “I’ve been writing a paper on Resource Management and Sustainability in Magical Industries… You know, there’s really not much study on it.”

Yeva dropped a few cubes as delicately as she could, barely managing to pour in a splash of cream before the line began to move again, “I’m focusubg on how magical resources are harvested, managed, and sustained. It’s just an introductory overview, but I’ve been talking to one of my professors, and he believes I should dig deeper, maybe even apply for one of the labs. I could investigate the environmental impact of magical industries and propose sustainable practices to balance economic growth with ecological preservation. Actually, did you know, Ecith is one of-“

“Oraha is cooking this morning!”

Norani jerked in excitement, startling the elf, who gasped in surprised and hissed as hot coffee splashed upward and barely missed her chest. Dark droplets fell at her feet and she looked apologetically to those who had trailed into the line behind them, searching for a napkin when a strong arm tugged her along. Norani beamed, and Yeva noticed the source of this thrill, emotion faltering. Brown eyes darted between the two, and the brush of wind pulled with it a rich and meaty smell, underlined with peppered oil.

Norani spoke, in a thick and sultry rumble, before offering translation. Yeva could gather enough meaning from body language alone, and looked back at the buffet. The way Norani had said it… cutting her off. Oraha, who reminded her friend of home and who could stand toe to toe with some Avilae. Muscled and beautiful, and talented.

Fried rice. And spicy too.

Yeva did not frown, instead reaching out to grab a cluster of grapes and fresh fruit for her plate, as a dark shadow darted across her face. It was gone as fast as it came, striking out of sight and biting her tongue, “For breakfast?” she challenged, daring another glance at the imposing figure who might as well have been flexing openly, the way her muscles bulged as she lugged heavy trays of steaming food into their slots in the line. She was good humored and hardworking, and so early in the morning? Yeva ignored the more critical, judgmental urges, offering a small smile instead.

Yeva added a few pieces of bacon, and a cinnamon roll, “I’m not sure I could stomach it.”

The fried rice required a longer wait, and Yeva took the chance to slip from Norani’s hold, “I’m gonna go ahead and grab a seat before the morning rush gets here,” she explained, nodding towards the rest of the cafeteria.

Not wanting to see Norani gush over Oraha should they get the chance to speak, Yeva excused herself and faced the expanse of mostly empty tables and chairs. A few ambitious students were cramming last minute knowledge, unconsciously shoveling food into their mouth while reading their textbook, others were… surprisingly social.

A table had filled up, about four women, and three men. A man with red skin and horns was making out a blonde woman in a strappy blue dress, while two other men – one goblin and a boy who looked far too young to be attending university – argued animatedly, one even loudly threatening the other. They were by far the most awake of anyone else here, and she realized as she walked closer, that they, like her, had not gone to bed yet. Wandering in after a night of partying, they smelled alcohol and smoke as she grew closer.

Something about the group was familiar as she passed, and Yeva moved closer to the window, where her and Norani could watch the snow, and yet still enjoy the warmth of the room. Setting down her tray, Yeva began to unwind her scarf and slip off her coat, popping grapes into her mouth until Norani joined her.

She smiled, suddenly a little nervous, “Hey, I’ve been thinking,” she waited for her friend to get situated and comfortable, “It’s been a while since I’ve taken some time off… and someone from my economics class is hosting a party tomorrow night… now that my thesis is all done…”

“It might be fun to go together. What do you think?”