*Raises eyebrow* Is this an RP? If it is I am so totally in.

*intrigued* Ooo, interesting!

Even throughout their travel, that jar came back to her. She couldn't stop thinking about it--it reminded her of another jar. When she was younger, she had dropped every 'special' thing she had into the jar. It had been filled with buttons and odds and ends.

If she could, she would bring every little special item from her childhood with her and keep it in that same jar with the sand. But metal would tarnish and holes would fill with sand--and besides, she didn't even think she still had those things.

Her mind wandered as they traveled. If they had been attacked or robbed, that might've been an issue. But even if they had? She was fierce. She could handle it..

"And... We're here!" 

"You've been off since the market." Edan observed. Seri shuddered as she dropped a box onto the pile. "D'ya think most Kyngdom events are this bad?" Seri asked, her gaze intensifying into a fierce glare for a moment. Edan shrugged.

She quickly wrapped a section of twine around one of the smaller stacks of boxes. "It was a good waste of time, effort, and money." She continued. He looked up with a warning look. "Seri." He began. "Kuoia wouldn't have liked it either," Seri stated, her voice aloof. "And I don't like it for a reason, y'know." Seri finished.

He checked his watch. "I hear the carts are fine." Edan said softly, as if trying to calm a wild beast. He was a good talker--he seemed to know what to say and how to order his words. Seri snorted but made no reply. He smiled, then yelped as he pulled his hand out of a box quickly.

"Please tell me it's not another broken--" Seri began. Edan just shook his head before disposing of the contents of the box. Seri cussed under her breath. "Remind me to never go here again once this trip's over." She said, not for the first time. Edan bit back a laugh. She shot him a glare. "I'm serious. This place is filled with superstitious idio--"

"Pass me that green box." He told her. She handed it over. He added it to a well-organized stack. "Are we done, then?" She asked impatiently. He nodded. "Relax, Seri. The trading post will be better."

"'The trading post'll be better'." She scoffed under her breath.

Seri pressed her fingertips into the side of the cart, feeling the grainy wood. She was already planning on working on an unfinished piece when they got to their destination, which would take an hour. She had piled some of their boxes at her feet, while Edan held a small stack on his lap.

The cart was simple, just a solid wooden structure with two long benches inside. It was also open-air, giving Seri an incredible view of...trees. She glanced at Edan. He was staring at the scenery outside of the cart, not even bothering to look at the animals pulling the cart or anything else.

Theirs was one of a long line of carts going down the dirt road. The animals of Kyngdom made use of their power in offering these cart rides... Seri frowned. How much were they even making? The few per person was--

After a few minutes of calculating how much the animals had, she let her mind wander again. Kyngdom had its animals, and several of them--it was too different from the empty desert. And to think people in Kyngdom had to buy Cyphers... That probably drained a good portion of a Kyngdomer's money. 

"Edan, how much  was the average income agaim...?" Seri murmured. Edan shot her a wry look. "And just what's on your mind?" He asked. Seri shrugged. "Just wanted to know how much a Cypher costed. If all of the foreigners didn't have a Cypher and they couldn't borrow one like we did... How much money would the animals running this be losing?" Seri mused thoughtlessly. Edan laughed quietly. "Ever the businesswoman, mm?"

Seri frowned, shooting Edan a look. "I prefer trader." She corrected, her usual sharp voice making an appearance. "But you sell, don't you?" He challenged good-naturedly. She shrugged. "Traders do many things." She replied. He smirked. "Like scamming?"

"Edan, we're in public." "The other carts aren't within hearing distance." "Then yes, traders do that too. Pass me the pocket knife, wouldja? I'd like to get to work on this piece." Anything to keep their minds off of Kuoia. 

In case anyone still reads these little posts, I wanted to give an update on what the heck I'm doing right now (for those who don't know, I'm Icy). I'm currently going through a lot of regret that's preventing me from rping because of something that happened a while ago.

That something being that I read through the previous pages of the RP board. I can't tell you how guilty that made me feel. The first ship I ever had to write was ruined due to...I'm not even sure what happened to lead up to this, but due to the two charries (everyone knows who) being related. Reading through that was like a punch in the stomach.

And then I read some of my previous rps... GaaAAAaahhhHHh. 

What I'm trying to say is that the result of this is that I'm not really comfortable with rping right now, so I'm going to be writing these short little posts for a while now while trying to ease myself back into rping/simulate rping. So you'll see me all over Kyngdom doing who knows what, but not rping. No, I'm not going to stop rping, I'm just giving myself a break and some time to get used to writing like that again.

And that's pretty much it! Thank you if you've been reading my random Seri posts.

-

Another wood chip fell into the pile. Seri guided the knife across the object's surface, her thumb applying just enough pressure to the flat side of the blade. Edan was writing something in that book of his--he had that book even in the Audune, where he wrote and wrote and never told her why. She hadn't seen inside of it, but was mildly curious. She wouldn't intrude, though, and she never seemed to get a chance to ask him about it.

He looked up from his writing, studying her and her carving. Once finished, the piece would resemble a traditional miniature chest of some old jungle tribe. Of course, it would require the right finish, but she had a jar of some in one of their boxes...

Seri glared. "Don't you have something better to--" She began, then stopped, cutting herself off. He shrugged. "Not really. Just hoping we catch up with--" He began, then fell oddly silent. Seri bit her lip, looking back at the carving. There it was, that stupid moment. Again and again, it was there. She tried for something to say. 

"Is...there something you want to see, while you're here?" Seri asked. Edan shrugged. "Dagger bay." He said simply. "I thought you'd say Rainefall for sure." Seri commented. He shook his head but didn't provide context.

As for Seri, she went back to carving, all too aware of the cloud that hung over them.

No worries, you're not alone. I'm getting the feeling that Kyngdom is changing. It's different than it was a year ago, when I first joined. There's all this new stuff and I feel as if it's just all rushing last me. I feel as if I can't roleplay anymore, too. But I do say that I think your writing style is amazing. And I always do eagerly await the next part in Seri's story. And I agree with Night Whispers. Let's finish up this plot and begin anew. We can start a new plot where all our charries are grown up and have families of their own and new lives and a new way of life. It'll be the next age of Kyngdom. A new beginning.

Aw, I'm really glad people are actually enjoying reading this! I'm honestly surprised because the writing process I go through while I'm writing casually, for myself, is a lot different from when I'm focusing on rping or getting a main story point across. Most people seem to like my more tense writing style.

As for ending the main Kyngdom plot soon, how are we going to accomplish that? When is Lunee activated? When is Claaws activated? How do we execute a final battle with Catastrophe? ...So many questions. Is anyone up for talking that through on another thread at all? 

-

Seri slumped against the chair, relaxing. Selling that day would've gone well if it weren't for a chatty old man that just wouldn't stop about Catastrophe being so completely evil and in his day--

Edan just looked at her, both eyebrows raised. "Don't even ask." She mumbled, running a hand through the few strands of hair that had escaped her headband. He snorted. "Did you say something about 'Sinaub' near another Kyngdomer?" He asked, restraining himself from smiling.

"If I hear ONE MORE THING about how proper worship of--" Seri began, her volume spiking. "Pagan deities?" Edan offered. Seri snorted. "None of them even seem to worship anything (they're not animals, now are they?), they just don't trust our...what did you sa--deities. Idols or whatever." Seri paused from her rant. "Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I believe in any of our's as well." Seri finished, only realizing afterwards how...

Edan whistled, his voice low. "So just how bad was it this time?" He asked. No answer from Seri's side.

He frowned, standing (he had previously been seated, scribbling down words in that book of his as always). "Ser?" A pause. The room suddenly felt so much colder. She shrugged. "Sorry, just thinking about stuff." She tried. "And what stuff is that?" He questioned, offering no escape.

"Oh, I don't know. That other world, y'know, the one where you're the boy with the knives and I'm--" She choked on her words. At least they weren't talking about Kuoia. At least they were here, in another rented house and not... Other places. The Audune would have been fine. It could've been fine if Kuoia hadn't wanted Kyngdom.

He sat down again, putting a pen to his book and pressing it agressively into the pages. 

"Sorry." Seri muttered, practically spitting the words out. That silence was there again. It was all too different from how they were when travelling or selling, when they could easily talk about sales or prices or anything but those things. Their conversations were fluid then, easily moving and not filled with Seri's usual temper. Now? Now it was nothing like that.

They had left the Audune, yes, but they hadn't left their troubles behind.

They went to the lake that day, just to walk around it. The scenery around the lake was mostly soil and trees, but occasionally a patch of sand could be spotted on the shore.

They had walked on one of those patches of sand, Seri staring down at it and Edan looking out at the water. She was too clearly wrapped up in her work, already planning taking a shortcut through the market on the way back.

Edan continued staring at the water. She looked over, following his gaze. A mild breeze had picked up and the waves were fluttering across the water, more ripples than real waves. Across the lake, a heron suddenly plunged its head in the water, catching a fish in a quick violent moment. Then it arched its graceful neck upwards again, as if the moment never happened.

She shuddered. It was too quiet. Quiet was bad. Quiet gave you space to let your mind wander, to think of things you wanted to forget. 

Seri slid the knife over and over again on the piece of wood. There was a matter of pressing sandpaper to the rough parts and sanding it, but it wasn't that hard, and--

"Seri, you're bleeding," Edan muttered under his breath. Seri glanced down, noticing the red stain spreading across her long sleeves. She just shrugged. "Did I nick myself or what?" Seri grumbled, not even stopping her carving. Edan flinched. "Please--just--"

She sighed. "Fine. If I bandage it--" Seri began. "Yes. If you bandage it I'll leave you alone. Is that what you want?"

"Yes."

She was all-too oblivious of his tone. 

~A memory~

Her hands rested on her worn bag, gripping its strap tightly. The ityei's sands had bit into it, and they had most definitely not done anything to help it, despite it's tough material. 

She could feel too many pairs of eyes on her. They had already scattered away from here, fleeing like grains of sand from the wind. Scared. Of her.