Good Morning [Bronik]

[Ari'Dail]

11 Cylus 716

Ari'Dail considered herself to be lucky. She had found a room on the outskirts of the city for a modest price. Even if she failed to find an income within a few days she could afford to sleep in relative safety and eat. In the worst case scenario she could return to the wilds and feed herself further away from the city limits. On the first day she had explored the area surrounding her rooms, noting the taverns, stores and vendor stalls. But on this bright morning, her feet followed their own path, Luri scrabbling along at her heels. The small dog had a sand-colored coat that she'd cut back the day before, leaving it clipped and the days cooler for him.

She had considered leaving Luri to guard her possessions, but a careful exploration of the locks on her room door had satisfied her. Her warmer clothes, leathers and furs had been left behind in the warmer weather, and she had no intention of carrying them if she didn't need to. After weeks of travelling with her pack strapped to her back, she felt as though she was flying as she walked.

Her feet led her to the docks where she stood, gazing out at the sea. Luri settled at her feet, snuffling the salty air as her eyes roamed over the different masts and beyond again at the harbor wall and the endless water beyond. It wasn't long before she moved down onto the different jetties and piers. The sounds of building, hammering, sawing, shouting and occasional laughter. It reminded her of home, the communal work towards and end. One small boat was rowing in a net of fish from a larger vessel. She stayed where she was and helped them heave their cargo up, shaking off their thanks with a smile as she continued along, washing her hands free of fish scales in the sea as she went.

It was the pile of wood cuttings that next caught her attention. She had hoped to find an apprenticeship for her time in the city to improve her carving skill. But on the road she'd sold all of her whittled goods, mostly spoons and bowls. But this pile of off cuts was perfect. She knelt down at the side of it, tucking her hair back behind her ear. Luri rolled around in the shavings as she picked through, trying to find something that would serve as a plattern, or perhaps could be carved into something more intricate. From what she had seen of Ne'haer, they appreciated artisans and fine work.

[Bronik]

“One more,” Cameron pressed.
“All right, boss.”

Bronik slipped his gloves back on and pulled a long, narrow plank of wood from the steamer and helped the old man carry it over to the long ship. He held his end in place while the master shipwright fixed the other accordingly before passing Bronik the hammer. Bronik nailed a small iron rivet into place and took measure of his work, adjusting the height slightly before he finished hammering the pin in. The heated plank bowed to his will and with a few more evenly placed rivets, the seventh strake was done.

They had worked all night, though before he would be done for the morning, Bronik had to finish sanding a plank to go in the steamer some time later in the day. He used a special tool to shave away any excess wood and went over it with a wooden float, pushing sand back and forth until the surface of the plank was smooth. By the time his shift was over, the man’s hands were red and inflamed, something Cameron kept promising he would experience less and less of the more he used a hammer.

Outside of the boatshed his walk home to the docks was all downhill, accompanied by another beautiful, blushing sky, the horizon painted cherry, lilac and gold. During Cylus there were two stages to any day, twilight and pitch-black. Bronik liked to stay up while the sky darkened around him and lie down on the deck of his boat, looking up at what seemed another world, a blanket of stars and mystery. Work had stolen this quiet time from him as of late, but there were always other tasks to keep busy with.

Eager to see if his fishing net had managed to trap anything in his absence, Bronik took a shortcut home and ducked between a pair of buildings towards the dock. As he came round the corner he skidded to a sudden halt, half a foot from bumping into a young woman who was bent over and raiding a woodpile, “oh, hello,” Bronik raked his fingers through his hair and crouched down to pet the dog, “you’re so beautiful,” he cooed, scratching behind the animal’s ear.

[Ari'Dail]

She heard the words before she realised ther was someone else close by. Her heart jumped into her throat and she felt panic rise quickly. She twisted in time to see him bend to fuss Luri. With a deep breath she continued her search as the dog rolled onto it's back and offered it's belly to a stranger. She shook her head with disbelief and closed her fingers around piece of pale oak and straightened. Her eyes lingered on her hopeless pet and she grinned, "and hello to you," she replied. Grateful that his greeting was less creepy and ominous.

She could have been annoyed that he had clearly ignored her, but she rested on hand on her hip watching as Luri eventually hopped back onto his feet, "His name is Luri, and I hope he never has to defend me," she spoke accusingly to the dog who blinked deep brown eyes up at her, tongue lolling. Finally her gaze turned to the man who had approached.

"If you encourage him, he'll only get worse," she rebuked with a small smile. So far her experiences with the people of Ne'Haer had been encouraging, pleasant. Perhaps the young man could assist her in finding an apprenticeship? He seemed easy enough on the docks that she assumed he wasn't a stranger here.

[Bronik]

Bronik smiled but did not meet the woman’s gaze, suddenly shy, he hadn’t had much luck with the ladies when he was younger due to the scar on the left side of his face, and after leaving school to work for his father, Bronik hadn’t really spent a lot of time working on his social skills; a poor excuse for a Biqaj.

“Luri,” he smiled down at the dog after having a little chuckle to himself about Ari’s comment regarding protection, and rubbed the animal’s belly before getting to his feet, scooping up one of the offcuts of wood as he did so.

“I’m Bronik,” the man smiled, the gesture punching a hole in his left cheek where his scar took on the form of what looked like a second, large dimple, “are you making something?” he wondered aloud, Bronik too had an interest in carving, though he wasn’t very good at it; the man had a lot of ideas but wasn’t able to convince the wood to reflect them for him.

The dock was in sight and Bronik was eager to check on the fishing nets strung out over the side of his vessel, but it wasn’t every day he ran into someone, almost literally. Idly he stripped some of the flaky bark away from the piece of wood he had managed to snatch up. He was somewhat new to Ne’haer, though his people had laid claim to the city for hundreds of years.

[Ari'Dail]

The Sev’ryn rolled the wood between her hands, warming it against her skin as she nodded “well met Bronik,” she erred on the side of caution and politeness, “I am Ari’Dail.” She watched as he picked away at the bark and discarded it and finally raised her gaze to his face, her own still wearing its customary smile. She didn’t miss the mark across his skin or the deeper dimple it gave him.

“Probably a spoon,” she slid the lump of wood into a small bag strapped over her chest, “I know its boring, but you can always sell spoons – everyone needs them after all,” she found that she was grinning. Luri yipped his agreement and circled her legs before settling down beside her, “will you make something? Isn’t generous that this pile would be left here for us to take,” it reminded her of home once more and she pushed her hands into the pockets of her trousers.

Her gaze roved over the docks to the ships and boats and the clear water “do you have business here? At the docks?” She tried to prolong their brief encounter edging toward the information she needed.

[Bronik]

The man wore an easy smile, forgetting the hurry he had been in only seconds before as Ari introduced herself and inquired as to what the man would use the wood for. The crafting of a spoon sounded impressive, and with little to no experience in actually crafting items from raw logs, other than planks of wood, Bronik was ashamed to admit that he would be happy if he could make anything recognisable, "something simple."

"I'd like to start one," he admitted in reply to the Sev'ryn woman's question about his line of work, "I docked a few days ago to find work, a man called Cameron has been letting me work for his boat building business a couple streets back from the water's edge. For the most part my job consists of sanding down rough planks of wood and cutting out the shapes and pieces he needs," Bronik looked up to make sure he wasn't boring the woman and offered another slow smile, "what about you? Are you working near the docks too?

[Ari'Dail]

Ari couldn't help but grin, simple was the best option. It was always hers, hence the penchant for spoons. That and that she'd been honest, everyone needed spoons. They were easy to sell. The Sev'ryn looked up with interest as he discussed his business prospects, her eyes widening with appreciation, "you have a ship?" She was impressed and it clear in her voice. How exciting, where it was her feet and horse that moved her over the landscape, it was sometimes slow going, but a ship - how far could someone travel by boat? How quickly could they explore the world? She bounced on her toes a little with excitement, just thinking about the endless possibilities. In her mind, she was already cresting waves with the wind in her hair.

But the conversation returned to her and she shook her head, braid flying from side to side, "I'm only just arrived to Ne'haer, I'll admit I was hopeful you could direct me to employment for my stay here," she hitched the bag strap higher on her shoulder, "ideally I'd like to apprentice to an artisan and learn the finer details of crafting - or I could spend a few weeks catching rats," her grin widened once more "I know which I'd prefer."

[Bronik]

The young woman had asked about his boat and proudly, Bronik felt his chest swell just a little at the thought of it, “I built it with my father,” he smiled, “just a one mast sloop best for mapping the coasts, I haven’t done any big sea voyages with her yet,” he admitted, “saving up to pay off some of the parts and perhaps acquire a small upgrade before I tackle crossing the sea.”

Bronik looked down between the woman and her dog as she spoke of her rat catching prowess; that explained the dog’s job, the man thought, wearing an amused grin. If Ari was new to Ne’haer she had probably already discovered how vast the city was, though Bronik himself had not had a lot of opportunity to explore it, having snatched up employment as quickly as possible and thrown himself into his work and honing his ship building skills, the best he could come up with was swiftly offered in the form of advice, “I’m sure if you speak to someone in the marketplace, or any of the shop owners set further back from the shore.”

[Ari'Dail]

His pride in his ship was visible and Ari knelt, scratching Luri behind the ears with a smile, "perhaps one day we will meet again and you can tell me all the differences? Between a s...sloop?" She tested the word out, not sure she'd heard it correctly, "and the other types of boats?" She peered out over the other ships and looked up again. She couldn't help but wonder what was missing that he didn't sail the oceans. It was becoming more obvious that she knew very little about the sea and sailing.

"Have you sailed very far?" her curiosity won out. But the Sev'ryn made a mental note to visit the marketplace as advised.

[Bronik]

Bronik felt guilty all of the sudden, he would have offered to take the woman out for a drink at the local if it weren’t for the solo, silver coin in his pocket that made the term ‘living day to day’ all too real. If he hadn’t caught anything in his fishing net, it just mean he went hungry again until the earth provided, “I would like that,” he nodded, “and you can tell me all about your job,” he smiled, sure the woman would find work soon enough.

“I havern’t sailed far,” he admitted, “I came down around the coast from Rhakros where I was raised, thought I would have better luck finding work here in Ne’haer and so far that seems to have paid off.”

The man looked between Ari and her small, furry companion, Luri. He noticed she had fiery red hair and had to ask, “Are you Aukari?” Bronik toyed with a loose thread on the end of his shirt, he was curious when it came to races outside of the norm and in Ne’haer that generally meant anything other than Biqaj or Human.