Tidal Florette - A Painted Soul I

Favian - 14

Leaving the window open may have not been the best idea for sleeping in, but fortunately the startling squawk of a seabird shortly before sunrise is a perfect wake-up call for today's arrangements. The petite black bird tilts its head scanning the room, assumedly for a snack to steal before Favian struggles up off the mat and shoos it away to close the window. The chill in the breeze of dawn gives him a shiver as he pulls the shutters down and hurriedly wraps his scarf around his neck and slips back into his long gray coat.

When he exits the room the hall is dead silent. He yawns hard enough he's scared for a moment his jaw might break loose. Now that I think about it, we did arrive rather late in the evening. I couldn't have gotten much sleep... Must be why my head feels so dizzy... Oh well, this might be the only chance to find something I need. As he walks down to the bar to find no one yet there to meet him. Dawn has hardly broken the horizon, so Ruko may take some time to arrive. Favian decides the dark, dreary bar feels a bit too spooky to wait in alone and with a bite of unnecessary paranoia he rushes out the door.

Immediately, he is stunned by the breathtaking view of the moon setting over the ocean. Looking around it seems clear the town is still resting and there's no sign of Ruko as of yet. With a shrug, he decides to walk out to the pier to enjoy the view. Now that the light of morning has started to wash over the village, it becomes all the more clear how small of a population has settled on the island. Spacing between homes is wide, as opposed to them being crammed together in formulaic grids. Each home is uniquely constructed in designs that could serve no purpose aside personal preferences. All from similar materials, most accented with bamboo from the inland forest. There's no denying their stark differences, again a quality unavailable to the mortalfolk in Taikira, but even in smaller villages across the realm they don't take the liberties in architecture they seem to enjoy in Shikuria.

Reaching the pier, Favian settles on the edge and appreciates the tranquil beauty of the moment. Even with all the chaos that might come out of the next few days, at least the Isle is trying to be welcoming... Still, I can't shake the feeling I've come this far for nothing... Papa always told me I tend to rush into the wildest hypothesis... Then again, Abba would whisper that's why my results are always fascinating... Accepting a whisper from a telepath is something Favian had to learn over time. But once he learned how to hear them, both fathers were able to speak with him privately, which mostly just consisted of Abba's harmless schemes to prank Papa. Remembering that gives Favian a sad smile, wishing to return to those simpler times before he ever understood what their research entailed.

It's not time for things to be simple, nothing about this work can be... Sapha might think it sounds stupid, the temples might think it's heretical, but... They made it work once... They brought someone back from the madness... So I can figure out how to make the method as flawless as I can... Even if I'm not a telepath, there has to be a way...

Reaching into his coat, Favian runs a finger between the pockets to find and pull out one of the small books kept on his person. He's read this book countless times, being one of his fathers' favorites. Whenever he's felt discouraged about his studies over the years, he turns to this book for the comfort of home. The binding is worn, the pages starting to brittle, the inevitable sweet musk of its age is almost as relaxing as the memory of Papa's voice reading through the ancient poems within. The text is written in the nightrealm tongue, beautiful characters that are bafflingly meaningless to mortalfolk. I suppose Ruko may recognize these... He checks his surroundings to make sure no one is approaching, even with how relaxed the town seems to be on such matters. Still dead silent, for a moment Favian feels the weight of loneliness as though there's not a soul alive in the town at all and he's been abandoned on this island. But as he turns back to the book, a figure up the shoreline catches his eye.