Seated on the shores of Lake Lovalus, Rharne serves as the home of the Lighting Knights, the Thunder Priestesses, and the Merchant's guild. This beautiful trade city is filled with a happy and contented people who rarely need an excuse to party.
Seira's eyes opened the trill the first hint of light shined through the window in her room. She felt a thrill of excitement rush through her as she remembered what trial it was. It was the first trial of Ashan; her birth trial. As a child, that had meant very little to her until her mother had taken both her and Seri in. They had had to spend what little they could earn on their own for food and other absolute necessities.
That had changed when their mother had taken them in and they had all moved to Rharne. Birth trials had become something special. A time to share with family, and to celebrate being alive for another trial. Totrial would be no different. And yet...it was. She and Seri were turning eighteen totrial. They were leaving their childhood behind, and becoming adults. And that, at least in Seira's mind, was really special.
It was still really early, and Seira didn't want to disturb anyone, so she decided to go through the notes she had taken the last time she had volunteered at the Order of Adunih clinic in the Dust Quarter. So after getting dressed, she gathered up her notes, then curled up on her bed to read.
Stinging nettles can relieve rheumatism in both people and animals.
Seira carefully underlined that part of her notes. She had forgotten that stinging nettles could be used on animals as well as people. She couldn't help but wonder how many herbs could be used on both people and animals. There were herbs that could be used on people but not animals. Were there herbs that could be used on animals but not people too? It might be worth looking into. There was no telling what kind of information she might need one trial.
When she finished going through her notes, Seira got several sheets of paper and began copying her notes over and over and over again. She wanted to be able to write clearly enough for other people to be able to read her notes easily when they needed to. And for that to happen, she needed to practice as much as she could whenever she got the chance.
And she did. She had made several copies of her notes as she practiced her writing. Seira wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking or not, but she thought that she might see some small improvements in her last set.
She rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred for several trills before it cleared again. Her head started aching too, feeling tight; as if it was so full that it was going to explode.
I must be more tired than I thought. she thought.
She was distracted from her pain when Lyra and the kittens jumped up onto her bed and demanded her attention. Seira snuggled with them, grateful for the distraction. After a while, there was a soft knock on her door. Seira looked up in time to see Seri walk into the room.
"I figured that you would be awake by now. Happy Birthday." Seri said with a smile.
"Happy Birthday, Seri."
"Mom's probably awake by now too. Let's go get some breakfast." Seri suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea."
Seira set Lyra down on her bed, and the twins left to see if their mother was awake.
Vivian was indeed awake, and she was making breakfast in the kitchen when the twins came out. "Morning, you two." she said, not looking up from breakfast as she spoke. Vivian was not a particularly great cook, or indeed, much of any cook at all. She basically fell under the "cook until edible and hope you don't burn it" school of food production or, failing that, cold food. In this case, that meant eggs and bacon. When she was certain she wouldn't burn breakfast and could pull it off the cooktop and douse the fire. "Happy birthday." she said, hugging them both. Seira would also notice her headache starting to soften in Vivian's presence, as the gentle warmth of her Healing Warmth power started to work.
"Breakfast is ready." she said, as she started to plate up breakfast and set it out on the table. Once that was done, and everyone had food, she sat down and smiled at her daughters. "You're both adults now, officially, you know. Do either of you feel any different?" she asked, a slight tease to her voice. When she herself had turned 18, she had expected to feel differently, had treated the age as some sort of magical barrier between childhood and adulthood. She'd been quite disappointed when she'd woken up that morning and had felt much the same as she had the prior night.
As they ate, Vivian thought for a moment, then looked over at her kids, as she still thought of them. "So have you two decided what you want to do today?" she asked, her tone curious. She'd been busy still, between Storm's Edge and setting up for the Stormlakes Project, but she had made sure she would have the twins birthday off, as that was definitely something worth celebrating.
Seira and Seri hugged their mother back happily. As they did so, Seira felt a pleasant warmth surround her, and her headache began to fade slowly. She sighed softly in relief.
"That feels good." she said quietly.
Seri was about to ask her what she meant by that, but she was quickly distracted by the mention of food, and their mother's question. Seira paused at the question as well. Did she feel any different? The startling answer was...not really. She glanced at her twin, and judging by the startled expression in Seri's eyes, she knew that her sister felt the same way.
"You know...I really don't." Seira said after a few trills.
"Neither do I." Seri added.
"Is that strange? I really thought I would feel different. More...like an adult, I guess." Seira tried to explain.
Seri nodded in agreement.
As the twins ate, Seri stared at Seira, giving her a pointed look. Seira could feel her sister's intense gaze, and she knew what Seri wanted. She wanted her to tell their mother about her headaches. But their mother had enough to worry about, and Seira didn't want to give her anything else to worry about. Especially when it might not be anything to worry about at all. Seira met her sister's gaze, and shook her head slightly. Seri's eyes narrowed, and Seira wasn't certain if she would tell their mother even though Seira didn't want her to. But she didn't. Instead, she looked away and finished her meal in silence.
When their mother asked them what they wanted to to totrial, Seri turned to Seira. For Seri, it was simply enough to spend the trial with the people she loved most. So it was up to Seira to decide, and she had a few ideas in mind. As she tried to sort through them and make a decision, Lyra and the kittens walked into the room. Lyra headed straight for Seira, and flopped down on her feet while the kittens began chasing each other around the room.
Seira laughed at their antics while she reached down to pet Lyra. One of the kittens broke off from the chase, and moved over to Vivian with the intention of pouncing on her toes and chewing on her shoes.
"Seri and would like to get stronger." Seira said after a while.
"It will help us if we ever find ourselves in a fight, but it will also help us with a lot of other things. Anything from being able to lift more to being able to open jars that are especially hard to open. We also want to be able to defend ourselves better than we can right now. We'd rather not fight at all, if given the choice, but even though we aren't Knight Initiates anymore, that may not be possible."
Seira thought back to the Mummer's Ball they had attended a few seasons ago. If someone had told Seira that a fancy party like a formal ball wound turn into a battle that ended with the death of an Immortal, and the appearance of several others, Seira never would have believed them. It only went to show that you never knew when you might be dragged into a fight. And while Seira and Seri didn't want to fight if they could avoid it, they wanted to be able to defend themselves well enough to escape if they did have to fight.
"We've learned a little about using a short bow, and if we ever have to fight, we would prefer to used a ranged weapon if we can. But if we're ever in a situation where we have to fight and we can't use a bow, we'll need another way to defend ourselves. Would you be willing to help us with that?" Seira asked hopefully.
"And maybe the three of us could go out to eat as a family for dinner?" Seri asked hopefully.
