[Day: Ramuh 5th, 1360 AI.] [Auditions are going! But who cares about those? Not this particular narrator, as we decide to focus on one young, pretty Selkie girl. It's mid afternoon, and the air and ground still smells of rain, though the sky's clearing.] [Let's see what she's up to. Mini? Go!] * Harmony is focussed on! She's... In a tree! She's sitting on a branch with a book in her hands, but she's not looking at it; her attention is on a bunch of younger children playing in a field not far away. [Aww, look at them play! Clavat and Selkie and Lilty are all involved in a game, and the Yuke is a little seperate, trying to build something out of twigs. We have a future Squenix here, folks.] * Harmony is looking, all right. The book lies nearly forgotten in her hand. * Nikki calls up from below Harmony, "You're going to drop that if you keep it up." * Harmony jumps suddenly and nearly does drop it, but scrambles and manages to catch it. She peers down at Nikki. Today her clothes are much like last nights, but she's added a long red scarf; it goes around her neck and probably falls as far as her knees. * Nikki grins up, waving. She's got the same general ensemble: boots, pants, shirt, duster. Though today, she's got grass stains, too. "Hi!" Uh... Hi? What're you reading? * Harmony blinks. She looks down at her book. "Oh, it's just some fables." * Nikki actually looks interested in that. "Really? Um, mind if I come up?" Um... Ok. * Harmony moves to make room. "Can you, uh, get up here?" Probably not as easily as you, but I can try. * Nikki gauges the tree, rubs her hands dramatically, and starts climbing up. She slips once or twice, but she eventually makes it. * Nikki huffs as she ends up next to Harmony. "Yeesh. You do this a lot?" Sometimes. * Nikki smiles. "Neat. I usually keep the balancing stuff to riding." She gets a look at Harmony's book. Oh. * Nikki swings her feet. "Ever go riding?" [It's a book of short stories, more than fables.] * Harmony shakes her head slowly. Oh, you *should*. It's great. I can teach you sometime. Ummm... But I don't know if I'd be very good at it. * Nikki laughs. Who cares? I'd make sure you wouldn't get hurt. What matters is having fun, not being very good. Besides, nobody's that good when they start. It's normal. (B.S. You're probably better at it than Nikki. :P) ( I have no riding skill @_@ ) (If she's got no skill, unlikely. But she would be a natural. ;P) (Well, you have what, 19 dex? That's +4 right there.) (I don't know how many ranks Nikki has. :P) (Four.) (Okay, maybe not better. But still good!) (*snicker*) Oh... Well, maybe. * Harmony puts the book down and pokes her fingers together. "Sorry about last night." * Nikki blinks. "What? Oh, no. It's okay. But was something wrong?" I was kinda worried. You left in a hurry. Oh, not really... * Nikki tilts her head and lets Harmony continue. * Harmony sighs. "I'm just worried... I want to get on the Caravan, but I don't know anyone on the council... I think I'm um... at a d-disadvantage..." * Nikki blinks. What? Why? * Harmony blinks. "Because I don't know anybody." Oh. * Nikki pauses a moment, then she says, "Y'know... Well, it's hard *not* to know people. This isn't that big of a place. It's not like Alfitaria." * Harmony looks down at that. But if only relatives ended up going on caravans, then why would they have auditions in the first place? Maybe tradition. * Nikki shakes her head. "Nah." Why not? You can look in the old journals. All sorts of people ended up on caravans. * Nikki sighs and stretches her arms. "Well, because... um, because if you just gave the job to people you know, instead of people who do the best job, the town's sort of doomed." Whoa! * Nikki catches herself before she falls. * Harmony steadies Nikki. Um... But the Caravan makes people famous, too... * Harmony then hurriedly lets go. Meep. ( Once she's steady again :P ) * Nikki smiles a little. "Thanks. And yeah, it does. So?" So if you're on the council and you've um, got a son or daughter, you can send them on the caravan... If the rest of the council catches that you're just doing that, you'll probably get thrown off. There's no way for them to know. Are you sure? * Nikki swings her feet some more. How could they? (Yarksetnik knows.) (She knooooooows.) You said yourself that, uh, that Loren wanted Leran to be on. ( I don't know she knows ^^ ) Yeah, but he can't convince the rest of the council. He's just one vote. If everyone else decides- okay, look. This is a *really* important job. Nobody wants us to die, and nobody wants the town to die. But it is a vote. * Nikki waves vaguely. "So they have to do the best they can." She lets out a mildly frustrated sigh. "Harmony, if all they care about is getting their friends and relatives on, this place should've gone under a long time ago." * Harmony pokes her fingers together. "I guess..." She doesn't sound convinced though. Darell got on the caravan, and he didn't know anybody. You saw him, right? He's on the council. * Harmony nods. * Nikki smiles. "So, you could have gotten on, too." Her eyes twinkle. "Assuming you're good enough, but I bet you are. Right?" I don't know. I hope so... Then you've got nothing to worry about. You went through the whole audition, at least. I bet a lot of people quit before making it. * Harmony blinks. "Quit? Why?" (Yeah, the whole killing part really scares people off.) (Yup.) * Nikki winks. "For reasons we're not supposed to say, right?" Her fingers move in the rapid and complex Selkic Sign: * Harmony blinks dumbly. "...Uh, what reasons?" * Nikki looks a little confused at Harmony's lack of understanding. "Because of what goes on in the audition." Pause. "Do you know Selkic?" * Harmony scratches her head. "Uh huh..." * Nikki switches to Selkic. "" ( Is she signing or speaking now? :P ) (Speaking. See the quotes!) ( @_@ ) (I know it and I'm just a quarter selkie! HAH!) * Nikki shrugs. "" She grins. "" * Harmony gets a worried look. "" * Harmony nods. "" * Nikki thinks. "" * Nikki switches back to Common. "But you don't need to worry about it if you don't want." * Harmony shakes her head. "Oh, no, I'd like to learn. I didn't think it was used much, so, uh, so I never did." Oh. Well, not as much as talking. But I use it. * Harmony nods. * Nikki smiles. "It's fun, too. Being able to talk without words, I mean." It is? Well, I think it's fun. I, uh... guess if you say so... * Nikki bites her lip for a moment, then says, "Hey. You got anything planned today?" Um... Not really... * Nikki nods. "All right. You wanna learn how to ride, then? I mean, later. Ioanna needs some exercise, anyway." Okay. Okay! Um... I'll wait 'till you put your book away. Meet me- oh, you don't know where I live. * Nikki thinks a moment, then brightens. "I'll be back here in an hour and a half. Is that enough time?" * Harmony closes her book. She has a bookmark. * Harmony nods. "Um... Sure." Okay! I've got to make sure we're not too bothered by Elias, anyway. * Nikki starts climbing down. When she reaches the ground, she waves up. "See you soon!" * Harmony waves. * Nikki heads off. Probably home. [Mini Pause Maybe!]