Long nights

It was still early in the morning when she came down the stairs of her old room inside the little tavern, before walking outside. Clenching the warm fur coat against her skin, because she surely still had to get used to the temperature in the north. Not that it was unbearable, but it was certainly different. Either way, it wasn’t such a bad thing though, and she was fairly certain she would eventually get used to the furs as well. The air at least felt much more breathable here, and the breeze outside made her want to take a deep breath, before taking off towards the river to clean herself.

Even though the weather was slowly beginning to change, it wasn’t winter yet, and the days were still rather sunny. The sun was still giving off a bit of warmth, once you opened your mind to it. She slowly crouched down when she came near the river, and began washing her hands with the cold water. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and she could feel a shiver move through her body, but it felt good, almost refreshing. Softly she moved her hands towards the back of her neck, to wash away most of the sweat from that night’s sleep. But when she heard a noise, she quickly looked up. Staring at a woman with beautiful red hair and freckles. A rare sight from where she came from.

A soft smile began to play on her lips as she straightened herself again, wiping her hands dry onto her dress. ”Goodmorning,” She greeted the woman with a friendly look upon her face.

Aurora tried to keep her worried expression to herself when her father started heavily coughing again. She had lost her mother not so long ago and she wasn’t ready to give up her father as well. She had prepared multiple potions to get the virus he got struck with under control and had even addressed a letter to a mage to send for help, but whatever he was struck down with, they couldn’t seem to get it under control. The air seemed to be thick with sickness inside of the house and Aurora desperately needed a breather. She had arranged for a mage to stay with her father if she would have to travel with Ve, but the young Trygg hadn’t told her his decision yet, so it was a bit of a guess if she would have to leave her father behind for a certain amount of time or not. She felt conflicted with leaving him, but as soon as he had heard of her plans, he had encouraged her to go, telling her that he didn’t want to drag her into his mess.

Aurora tried to keep her worries off her mind as she wandered the streets of Ishgard, her home. The travel back from Norwyn to Ishgard went by quicker than she had expected. Probably because of her probing thoughts that had encouraged her to hurry up in case her father’s disease would turn out for the worst. But it hadn’t happened. Although he wasn’t much better as she had left him, at least he hadn’t gotten worse.

Aurora took a path that ventured away from the city, approaching a lake where she had always sat when she was younger to cope with her mother’s death. There was something about the serenity that a mostly deserted lake brought with it that brought her peace. As she was about to sit down, she almost shrieked when a voice spoke to her. Her blue eyes averted to a beautiful looking brunette, apparently standing right in front of her. How had she missed her?

”Goodmorning,” she replied, returning the friendly smile she received from the woman. ”Hopefully I didn’t disturb you with whatever you were doing?” she asked carefully, hoping she wasn’t intruding in an important matter. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but maybe that would count for the woman in front of her as well. Aurora had never seen her before, so she didn’t know who she was.

There was nothing like waking up and starting the day all fresh and clean, washing away all the sins of the night before. Or that’s what it felt like for her. Not that she actually believed that she was sinning, though most people probably disagreed with that. It was only a business opportunity, one that actually paid well. Way better than simply serving drinks at a tavern. Her clothes were nothing fancy, but they were at least better than those of the regular people in the city. And she had somehow convinced herself that she was doing it for that, because she didn’t want to look like she belonged to the lowest part of society, even though she did certainly fit into that category.

Her green eyes caught the glimpse of a red haired woman with beautiful freckles coming down to the lake as well. The color of her hair was pretty vibrant, and Arlyana couldn’t help but think that if she worked in the same profession as she did, she would have probably stolen a lot of customers from her. Not that that bothered her, no, instead she only felt some admiration for her beauty. And well, the girl didn’t look like a tavern wench to her. But neither did Arlyana for that matter. Not while she was outside, wearing a thick coat to protect her from the cold.

The woman seemed a bit startled when she spoke, almost shrieking. Apparently, she had not seen her. ”No you did not. And I happen to like company.” She honestly admitted, giving her a slightly playful smile with friendly intentions. Her eyes moved back towards the lake, looking out over it. ”It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?” She then asked.

Aurora looked back at the brunette. She was quite beautiful, with her long hair, lighter eyes and skin that seemed to be quite elegant. Although she wasn’t unhappy with the way she looked, she did want to have straight hair instead of curls. Curls were too much work, especially when her hair would get wet. But this woman had nice, straight hair that seemed to be a bit wavy. Aurora wondered if it was natural like that or if the woman had to put in some work to make her hair look like that. Aurora was pretty sure that she hadn’t seen the woman around, which made her all the more curious to get to know her.

Luckily for Aurora, the woman didn’t seem to mind company, even confirming so. ”Yes, it most certainly is,” Aurora agreed when the woman mentioned that the view was beautiful. ”I tend to come here a lot whenever something’s troubling me. The serenity of the lake always seems to put my frantic mind at ease,” Aurora spoke. Her cheeks reddened when she noticed how philosophic she must’ve sound. She didn’t want to come across as some weirdo who would share her deep thoughts the second she met someone. So she searched for a topic she could discuss with the woman, which wasn’t a very hard thing to do. ”Are you from around here?” she asked the woman, averting her eyes towards the brunette. Maybe she was just a traveler and passing through, like so many people.

Women usually tended to compare themselves with each other a lot, usually looking at all the things another woman had that they did not. Arlyana knew this, certainly in her business women could be bitches to each other, sometimes even more so then the men who simply wanted to spend the night with them. She was used to it, but she had chosen not to partake in it, and therefore she could admire the beauty of this red haired woman without seeing her as competition. Besides, she probably didn’t do the same work as she did, so there was nothing to worry about. Then again, it wasn’t always about beauty, because most men simply took whatever they were able to get, not being weren’t very picky about it. Knowing those truths made it easier for her to understand the way of things, and she felt less threatened.

That also made her more kind than most of the other women in her procession, sometimes, a bit too kind for her own doing. The redhead didn’t really respond to her words at first, but that didn’t bother her. She gave her a simple smile, after which she began to talk about the lake. The woman told her she came here to find peace from her frantic mind, and Arlyana gave her another friendly smile, but this time it grew a bit bigger. ”You and me both then,” She told her, before looking back at the lake with the same smile. Though, it softly faded after a little while, turning a bit more sad. Only looking back when the woman spoke again.

”No,” She softly answered. ”I came from far away.” She admitted with a soft smile. ”Do you know anything about the kingdom of Xaila?” Arlyana then curiously asked her.

It didn’t come as a surprise to Aurora that the woman was here for the same purpose. She also wisely kept her mouth shut when the woman averted her eyes back towards the like with a sad expression. Asking questions now would mean that she would have to answer the same questions as well and that would be a bit too personal for someone she barely knew. She was pretty sure that this woman also had a tragic past as well or was dealing with something right now, but Aurora had no intention of intruding on those thoughts. So she just kept silent until she said something that wasn’t related to the topic anymore, so that they could both take their minds of the sad thoughts that were wandering around in their minds.

”I’ve visited the place with my father when I was younger,” she spoke. ”My father is a druid just like me, so sometimes we have to travel far away to help patients in other kingdoms. I don’t remember much about it because I was so young, but I remember it being very hot. A far stretch from what people will find when they travel to Ravaryn.” People who were used to the warmth of Xaila were probably blown away by the cold winds of Ravaryn. But Aurora had lived here all her life, so she would feel very uncomfortable living in a kingdom where the temperatures would get that high.

”I take it you’re from Xaila then?” she asked, although she wondered why the woman was looking so pale if that were the case. From what she heard, everyone in Xaila had dark skin. Or almost everyone. She couldn’t really remember from her trip to Xaila. She had been pretty young back then and they were only there for a few days before returning back to Ravaryn. She remembered being stuck in bed with sunburns because her skin hadn’t had a chance to get used to the warmer area there. She remembered how her father had taken tenderly care of her.

A lump formed in her throat and Aurora did her best to swallow it down. She couldn’t afford herself to cry in front of a stranger.

Sometimes, some things were better left unspoken. And apparently, they both decided not to talk about the things that were making them sad. It became pretty clear that they were both visiting the lake for the same thing, because it calmed their mind from the storms happening inside, and it gave them peace, even if it was only for a short moment of time. Arlyana did this every morning, as long as she had the time. It gave her the strength to carry on for the rest of the day.

She gave the woman a soft smile when she began to explain how she sometimes had to travel to other kingdoms for ‘patients’, which left her with a question. ”You’re a healer?” She asked, tilting her head a bit curiously. Waiting a few moments, giving her time to respond before she went on. ”But yes, the weather was rather hot indeed.” Arylana agreed, but somehow, she had not missed it yet. Honestly, she didn’t think she ever liked the hot temperatures. The cold gave her much more energy, and it was different, which felt good to her because she didn’t want to be reminded too much of her old home. She had a new life here.

”You’re correct.” She continued when the woman asked if she could take that she was from Xaila. Ofcourse, Arlyana still had rather light skin for being from the most southern kingdom, but she wasn’t as white as most people here. Her skin still looked like it had been kissed by the sun. ”And I take it you’re from here?” She then asked the other woman, because she surely seemed to fit in with the kingdom of Ravaryn.

Aurora nodded at the question the woman asked. ”I extract liquids from plants, brewing certain potions from them which I can use to heal others. I’m still learning new methods to extract from certain plants to cure several diseases, but I think I’m pretty good so far,” she spoke, sounding more timid than arrogant. While she was confident in her work – which she had to be if she were to attend to her patients – she wasn’t going to brag about it. Yes, she was able to cure a lot of people, but she would still need to learn, probably her whole life. It was what she had signed up for after making it clear to her father that she wanted to walk in his footsteps.

Aurora averted her blue gaze towards the woman when she confirmed that she was from Xaila. ”Then you must’ve had needed some time to get adjusted to this environment,” Aurora spoke, sounding impressed. Her skin hadn’t been able to get adjusted to the hot weather of Xaila, but maybe the woman didn’t have that problem as well regarding her getting adjusted to the cold climate of Ravaryn. She nodded at the question. ”I’ve lived here all my life with my parents and now I’m trying to make it on my own.” She didn’t want to talk about her father or her mother, so this would be the best way to go about it.

”And what is your occupation?” she asked the woman. While she could be anything, Aurora doubted that she was working for the royal guards or any other work including heavy lifting or jobs where combat skills were required. She seemed to have as many muscles as Aurora had, which wasn’t a fair amount.

The woman nodded when she asked if she was a healer, after which she began to explain a whole lot about her occupation. Arlyana simply listened with a certain curiosity that showed on her face, a patience that was something quite rare. But in the morning she actually liked to talk about things that were very different from her own life. A distraction maybe of the hard truth. ”Well, that’s good to hear.” She spoke, giving the woman a smile after she had finished up her story. ”I guess I know now where to go whenever I need help with something.” She admitted, letting her smile grow a bit wider.

Arlyana took a deep breath when the woman asked her another question, the answer almost written on her face. Yes, ofcourse she had needed to adjust to the different temperature here. But after a while, she had been able to manage by putting on warmer clothes whenever she went outside. And now, she actually rather loved the colder climate. In some ways, it was better than the burning hot sun. Besides, she felt like she was better able to hide her life from the outside world here. ”Your parents are gone?” She then asked the woman, given that she just told her she was now trying to make it on her own. Something Arlyana understood, only she had been running away from her parents.

Somehow, she had not expected the woman to return the question. And for a moment, Arlyana doubted whether she would want to give her a truthful answer, which she probably did not. ”Doesn’t really matter. I don’t do anything important.” She told her, and even if she wanted to ask further, she could always tell her she served drinks. Which was also true, even if she served much more than just drinks.

Aurora smiled when the woman spoke her words. She hoped the woman didn’t mean it as a joke and that she would actually turn to Aurora if there was something the matter. ”Of course. Just send a pigeon whenever you’re in trouble and I’ll try to get to you as fast as I can,” she promised the woman without a hint of amusement in her voice, her blue eyes fixating themselves seriously upon the woman in front of her. She wanted to be there for everyone who needed her help, even though it was a bit harder now that she had her father’s condition that was distracting her. She knew she had to resume her duties sooner or later and not only would it make her able to make new connections if she promised things like these, but it would also be good for her income. She had to support the house in some way if her father would ever pass away, after all. That was a thought she didn’t want to dwell on for too long, though.

Aurora decided not to common on the facial expression from the woman, which made her think that it was a stupid question to ask. Maybe it was, but it was just showing interest on her part, really. It wasn’t really necessary to make it that obvious that she found Aurora’s question to be a stupid one, but Aurora knew better than to dwell on that. She swallowed hard when the woman asked her question, making it sound so simple, as if it didn’t even matter. To her maybe it didn’t, but Aurora cared about it a lot. ”My mother has, my father’s still around,” she answered, noticing how guarded her words sounded. It was pretty clear to her that she didn’t want to answer further questions regarding that matter.

She raised an eyebrow when the woman told her that it didn’t matter what she did for a living and that it wasn’t important. ”Every job is important,” Aurora answered encouragingly. ”We all do our part to bring food to the table.” The answer of the woman made her think that the woman was ashamed of what kind of job she was doing, but she wasn’t going to delve into that matter any further. It was pretty clear that the woman didn’t want to talk about it.