Submission (#7545) Approved
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“Aww come on, I said I was sorry!”
“You most absolutely are NOT, you heathen.”
Shiva was still sulking, arms crossed as Ifrit made a poor attempt at consoling her. Perhaps it would have been more effective had he not been stifling his laughter the entire time.
“Well, you had to admit it was pretty funny.”
After painstakingly sculpting a self portrait of herself with the snowmound Ifrit had left for her and had cajoled her into doing, she had noticed much too late that he had been eerily quiet, and she had turned to see what it was that had occupied his attention, was instead greeted with a tackle. The impact had knocked her over, right on top of her sculpture, crushing hours of work.
She glared at him, resisting the urge to smack him in the head. Of all the reckless, childish things to do…
He reached out to attempt to comfort her, and she smacked his hand away angrily.
“Do NOT touch me. Just stay silent and keep walking.”
She would have made him leave instead, but unfortunately, she had made him the pack mule for their current destination, and sending him away meant she would have to carry everything. She supposed it probably would have been fine, as the amount on hand was nowhere near the raw materials gathered for her jewelry making, but it was still a fair amount.
That said, she still wanted to find some way to punish him properly, and would have spent more time musing about it, but unfortunately Ifrit didn’t seem like he planned to keep quiet the entire way.
“You know, I didn’t peg you for the superstitious type. You always said that everything is earned through hard work, and relying on the work of fae and spirits was beneath you.”
She cast a cold gaze at Ifrit, not responding.
“Oh, I suppose this is ‘cuz of granny, right?”
Shiva twitched, which only confirmed his suspicions.
Granny had been her caretaker since she was just a kittom, and even though granny was getting up there in years, she certainly didn’t show it. If anything, she seemed even more lively, constantly butting heads with Shiva.
That said, granny was a pious nin, frequently making visits to the elder shrines and creating wards against mischievous feyfolk. She would often drag Shiva with her when making offerings at the shrines, and would constantly scold her if she did anything that could potentially upset the spirits.
Still, Shiva disliked the concept of being overly reliant on others, especially of the more ethereal kind. Too often she had seen nins being entirely dependent on the supernatural, letting it dictate their entire life, and mumbling things that as long as one was devout, they would never be in want. And yet those very same nin would never lift a finger to help themselves, blaming any misfortune they faced on the fey being fickle.
However, granny wasn’t like that. While she did believe that keeping the fey and spirits appeased would prevent misfortune from entering your life, she was also a strong advocate of working for your goals, and not solely rely on fate to provide what was needed. This was something Shiva took to mind, and worked harder than anyone to achieve her goals. It was also thanks to the granny’s connection that helped fast track the process, but otherwise it was all her.
While she no longer stayed with granny, as she was old enough to have a place of her own, she still visited on occasion, bringing various gifts, with the former often raving about Shiva’s latest performance, or gushing over her outfits. Granny had also been a performer during her younger years as well, and while Shiva felt she probably could still take to the stage, granny was content letting younger nin take the limelight instead, though she still carried a love for it.
The two would often talk for hours, and while Shiva wouldn’t openly admit it, she did appreciate granny’s company immensely. Which was why, when the djinnin had told her how she was celebrating the success of her latest performance with getting some custom jewelry made and granny had asked her to make sure to leave an offering of thanks at the local mana well on her way back, Shiva couldn’t say no, despite her being nowhere near as devoted in appeasing the spirits.
The two arrived at the mana well, and Shiva took a minute to look around. It was just as she remembered. The area was surrounded by crystals, various hues of blue and abundant vegetation. At a first glance, the crystals probably didn’t look much different than large ice shards, and even Shiva could feel the higher levels of mana within this area. In the distance, she could see snow hares watching them, noses twitching as they sniffed the air, munching on the leafy greens of ice lettuce in the vicinity.
She turned to look at Ifrit, who began pulling items out of the bag. A rough, unrefined gemstone they had recovered from Zevija’s mines. A small bag of sand, a mix from the beaches of Palu’au Island and Ahza’s desert. A shard of glass that was refined from the sand, as well as a small vial of water from the geyser Ifrit had obtained it from before they left Zevija. Laying the items down, Shiva closed her eyes, placing a clawed paw over her chest.
Thank you for the success you’ve granted me.
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ELN2923: Ifrit
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MYO-ELN743: Shiva
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