Unalmis Raxëlilta and
Ilisys Azrubêl
Common Room. November
He was not one for loitering around the Common Room, most usually because
Lieutenant Brian had a habit of noticing him there, growing entirely unreasonably suspicious, and either directing the young Ranger to find something to do with himself, or WORSE ... the Lieutenant himself would ‘suggest’ something for
Nal to do. Even on the rare occasion when he had sat down on purpose with a book, he had been commanded to hand over said book, and wait while the Barracks Master shook it, checked for false covers, and the rest, before he would begrudgingly give it back for the Ranger to read. There was of course the other main cause for his rarely abiding indoors. Because he far preferred the outdoors. And because
Isys had retreated to her own house on the Fifth,
Unalmis would tend to call for her on his way out for when they trained together. So he'd never needed to meet her here in the Common Room first.
This morning however, the Ehtyar had told him to meet her here. And, knowing that the asking of questions of such a lady would gain him nothing but more questions,
Nal had merely shrugged, and accepted the arrangement. Not sure what sort of training they could do indoors, without incurring
Brian’s ire, that was of course quite the provocative thought itself, a challenge to engage him until the truth was revealed. For he had been waiting a half hour already, as his pending company was worse than him when it came to time keeping. And at least once she had appeared to have forgotten that they’d arranged to meet at all !
So it was that
Nal was idling around and switching chairs every few minutes, to amuse himself while he waited. He checked every so often too for any sign or sound of the Barracks Master, and therefore appeared even more suspicious than he ought to have had any need to.
When
Ilisys entered, she glanced about the hall, and smiled. With the sort of pleasantly surprised expression which suggested she had half expected to find no one. All the same, she wandered over, a small pot in one hand and a middling but still rather bulging hessian sack in the other. Sitting at a chair which was close to a small table, she indicated with grey eyes that the young man ought cease his chair inspection and come join her. Three empty cups and the faint aroma of coffee did not bode well to keeping her friend’s attention, but at least he was alert.
“
When I was seven years old, my father gave me one of these,” the lady began, and gently tipped the contents of the small sack out all over the table. What appeared to be a vast array of splinters and small scraps of wood made what could only be called a mess. And the decision to unscrew the pot of what turned out to be glue .. proved that this was a woman who had not spent a lot of time entertaining small children. If
Brian had come along at that moment, he likely would have lost his jaw to the floor. But as it was,
Unalmis was allowed the time to gaze from the small collection, back to the enigmatic woman’s face in hope of some elusive clue, and then back to the mess again. He picked up a small piece of wood as
Isys laid a purposeful flat tool across the top of the opened pot.
“
It’s err .. lovely,”
Nal commended her, dismissing mad ideas like fire building practice. Was this then some new thing to build, like one of the puzzle boxes his father made for him ? Ignoring the confused reaction, because lets face it, she was used to those by now,
Isys retrieved a small folded piece of paper from her pocket and proceeded to unfold it into a much larger piece of paper .. with a complicated illustration laid out on it.
Nal picked up the few tiny pieces of wood which had fallen down to the floor, as
Isys took string and maybe a small handkerchief out of her other pocket. When all had been laid out, ready, the young man awaited for the explanation he hoped would soon follow. As he had no idea what she was up to now.
“
It’s a ship,” the Belfalasian informed him, and a frown betrayed the young man’s disbelief. “
At least it will be when we have finished constructing it,” she finally explained. And then took the small piece of wood which
Nal was examining out of his hand and set it back upon the table. And then placed both of her own hands sedately on her lap. “
That is the design,” a gentle shift of the woman’s head, indicated the piece of complicated looking paper. And a breath of astounded air blew out of one side of the young man’s mouth. “
The best way to understand the architecture of a ship is to build one. You will become accustomed to where things are, and why. We shall explore how each piece works in relation to another, and which areas are most vulnerable to attack and other damage, and so forth. It is no substitute for the real thing of course. But it is something.”
As
Nal leaned back in his seat and quietly scrutinised the sight of such a project, it was hard to not walk away and call for the woman to be committed. But .. he was not one to walk away from a challenge. Which training with the Ehtyar had often been, for both of them. So he sighed, and pulled the plans over to take a better look.
“
When you were .. seven ?" he wasn't sure if he had heard that correctly.
But
Isys gave him a doubt-free "
Yes. I will help you." It had been a wonderful experience and time that she had spent with her father. It had not been accomplished overnight though, not by any means. But she had found it far more fascinating than her needlework, much to her mother's consternation.
"
Alright. So where do we start ?"
Nal resolved, missing the sight of the woman’s smile, as she sat up and moved in her seat to better show what he needed to see. And so another day of the most unexpected types of preparing .. began.
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