The metallic rattling of the modest-sized birdcage at the opposite end of Eva's bedroom signaled the beginning of another day. Another day fraught with the same level of trepidation as the handful of days that had come before. It wasn't the scarlet-colored light that permeated the edges of her bedroom window that spun this anxiety though; not any longer. No, the fair-skinned duskwight had grown used to the way that Dalamud's glow permeated the canopy of the Twelveswood, reflected off the waters of the lake out back, and peeked its way into the sanctuary of her newly-built cabin in the woods. She had felt safe here until recently, if not quite completely at home yet.
Eva lay in bed, her violet eyes open and staring through the darkness at the ceiling as thoughts from the days past brought her back from whatever dreams she had been summoned away from.
Rising from her bed, she was aware her blonde hair was a mess. Giving a passive effort, she ran her fingernails through it in a half-hearted effort to comb it straight again. It didn't seem to matter. There was no one to look pretty for this morning anyway. She was usually very fastidious about her appearance. Today though, this was enough. Satisfied, she glided across the room to where the creature in the bird cage continued making a ruckus now that he realized she was awake. Opening the cage door, she reached in and withdrew a small ceramic food bowl and scooped some nuts and berries into it from a small wooden bin on a small table nearby.
"Good morning Bixby," her voice was eerily soothing as she placed the bowl back within the cage. The black bat within stretched his wingspan, filling most of the bredth of the cage for a moment. Chirring contentedly in thanks, he began enjoying his breakfast noisily. Eva pressed her hand against the side of the cage. Watching him feast for a moment, she gave a somber smile before going back to the window and drawing up the shade.
The odd crimson aurora filled the bedroom, and Bixby stopped eating for a moment as if to acknowledge the strangeness of the lighting before he commenced with his breakfast. Peculiar shadows cast themselves upon the wooden walls of the room and Eva stood in the large windowframe looking out, her frumpy night gown obscuring her figure.
There was not much to see as she gazed outside. Her bedroom window faced the western wood. She could see through the branches above that the faintest hint of gray was just beginning to touch the sky. The sun would be up over the opposite horizon shortly, lighting up the trees and revealing every ripple atop the lake's surface. And the red wouldn't seem so bad, hidden away mostly behind the canopy.
"Oskar..." The name barely touched the elezen woman's lips. He had been involved with a team that was conducting a land survey somewhere last week and had uncovered a system of caverns. A few days later she had received a letter reporting news that the site caved in. She didn't know for certain whether he was alive or dead. She had been to the company's base of operations each day since - Good Luck Fortune Co. - but no one was ever there. She scoffed inwardly at the company's name. The rescue effort was tying up all of their resources, she had assured herself. If anyone knew how to survive amidst a cavernous environment, it would be him. He had to be alive. She had known him nearly two full cycles now, and they'd been seeing each other intimiately for the past four moons. It had been gradual, and in spite of his faults and her frustrations with him, she had fallen in love. And the thought that he might be dying or dead frustrated her. And the fact that she didn't know frustrated her further. All she wanted was to speak with him, if only for a few heartbeats.
Her hands fell to her belly and she gave a quiet sigh, closing her eyes. The cave-in wasn't the only news she had received last week. After having an unsettled stomach for several mornings in a row, she had been examined at Stillglade Fane and it had been determined that she was with child. Even before news of the cave-in, this brought its own anxiety to the tired-looking woman. "It won't be an easy pregnancy," they had said. She had been told she was barren, after she lost her baby boy just after childbirth five years ago and having endured the trauma that went along with that. It could as easily happen again, if she could even keep the baby for the remaining nine moons. It was a miracle indeed, and she was as excited as she was afraid.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if it even mattered. Dalamud was coming. Her efforts within Everwatch - even in Oskar's absense - to halt the further descent of the crimson moon seemed to have been in vain. Oh the mission was a success, but she couldn't help feeling all they'd manage to do was prick the Garleans' finger with one of her sewing needles. It was something though, and it had given them hope. And hope is a very powerful thing, especially in times like these.
Her mind wandered a bit as she gazed out the window, the landscape slowly beginning to illuminate as dawn grew nearer. She had thought of running away. But there was no guarantee that Dalamud's reach wouldn't extend however far she could run. She also had a thought to travel to her ancestral homeland, in a complex network of caves deep beneath the surface of Coerthas. She felt like she needed to do something in spite of her faith. Dreams. Visions of the future, of a sky void of Dalamud's angry glow, and of walking and talking with her friends. She knew she would survive this somehow. She know this with alarming certainty. And her faith had been unwavering on the matter. Where others expressed doubt, she had tried to instill hope. But many - Oskar among them - seemed afraid for the worst. And one quiet woman's inexplicable assurances did little to change anyone's mind or assuage anyone's worry.
What kept her up nights wasn't fear of some supposedly-imminent destruction that she knew would never come. No. Rather, she stayed awake and worried for Oskar's life. She wanted to tell him that she held his baby, for whom she also worried. It seemed the odds were stacked against this new life, and where her friend Nel had once expressed frustration at being regarded in her own pregnancy as a 'glass doll' - Eva knew full well this is exactly what she was. A glass doll perched precariously at the edge of a table amidst gale-force winds.
Her thoughts continued to wander as she stepped away from the window and got changed. She had chosen to quit her job at Sunsilks because the weaving of cloth seemed such a frivolous thing. In the mornings she had been either running or practicing the forms with the spear - lessons that her father had taught her when he was still alive. This morning it would be the latter. Once her practice leathers were fit snugly over her form, she shook her head a bit as though to slough away the morning's thoughts, then she grabbed her practice spear and made her way outside to the dock in the back yard that stretched out into the lake and began the dance with her spear that helped bring peace to her mind and prayer to her heart.
All she had to do was hold on. Hold onto her spear. Hold onto her unborn baby. Hold onto her faith. Hold onto hope.
Hold on.
Eva lay in bed, her violet eyes open and staring through the darkness at the ceiling as thoughts from the days past brought her back from whatever dreams she had been summoned away from.
Rising from her bed, she was aware her blonde hair was a mess. Giving a passive effort, she ran her fingernails through it in a half-hearted effort to comb it straight again. It didn't seem to matter. There was no one to look pretty for this morning anyway. She was usually very fastidious about her appearance. Today though, this was enough. Satisfied, she glided across the room to where the creature in the bird cage continued making a ruckus now that he realized she was awake. Opening the cage door, she reached in and withdrew a small ceramic food bowl and scooped some nuts and berries into it from a small wooden bin on a small table nearby.
"Good morning Bixby," her voice was eerily soothing as she placed the bowl back within the cage. The black bat within stretched his wingspan, filling most of the bredth of the cage for a moment. Chirring contentedly in thanks, he began enjoying his breakfast noisily. Eva pressed her hand against the side of the cage. Watching him feast for a moment, she gave a somber smile before going back to the window and drawing up the shade.
The odd crimson aurora filled the bedroom, and Bixby stopped eating for a moment as if to acknowledge the strangeness of the lighting before he commenced with his breakfast. Peculiar shadows cast themselves upon the wooden walls of the room and Eva stood in the large windowframe looking out, her frumpy night gown obscuring her figure.
There was not much to see as she gazed outside. Her bedroom window faced the western wood. She could see through the branches above that the faintest hint of gray was just beginning to touch the sky. The sun would be up over the opposite horizon shortly, lighting up the trees and revealing every ripple atop the lake's surface. And the red wouldn't seem so bad, hidden away mostly behind the canopy.
"Oskar..." The name barely touched the elezen woman's lips. He had been involved with a team that was conducting a land survey somewhere last week and had uncovered a system of caverns. A few days later she had received a letter reporting news that the site caved in. She didn't know for certain whether he was alive or dead. She had been to the company's base of operations each day since - Good Luck Fortune Co. - but no one was ever there. She scoffed inwardly at the company's name. The rescue effort was tying up all of their resources, she had assured herself. If anyone knew how to survive amidst a cavernous environment, it would be him. He had to be alive. She had known him nearly two full cycles now, and they'd been seeing each other intimiately for the past four moons. It had been gradual, and in spite of his faults and her frustrations with him, she had fallen in love. And the thought that he might be dying or dead frustrated her. And the fact that she didn't know frustrated her further. All she wanted was to speak with him, if only for a few heartbeats.
Her hands fell to her belly and she gave a quiet sigh, closing her eyes. The cave-in wasn't the only news she had received last week. After having an unsettled stomach for several mornings in a row, she had been examined at Stillglade Fane and it had been determined that she was with child. Even before news of the cave-in, this brought its own anxiety to the tired-looking woman. "It won't be an easy pregnancy," they had said. She had been told she was barren, after she lost her baby boy just after childbirth five years ago and having endured the trauma that went along with that. It could as easily happen again, if she could even keep the baby for the remaining nine moons. It was a miracle indeed, and she was as excited as she was afraid.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if it even mattered. Dalamud was coming. Her efforts within Everwatch - even in Oskar's absense - to halt the further descent of the crimson moon seemed to have been in vain. Oh the mission was a success, but she couldn't help feeling all they'd manage to do was prick the Garleans' finger with one of her sewing needles. It was something though, and it had given them hope. And hope is a very powerful thing, especially in times like these.
Her mind wandered a bit as she gazed out the window, the landscape slowly beginning to illuminate as dawn grew nearer. She had thought of running away. But there was no guarantee that Dalamud's reach wouldn't extend however far she could run. She also had a thought to travel to her ancestral homeland, in a complex network of caves deep beneath the surface of Coerthas. She felt like she needed to do something in spite of her faith. Dreams. Visions of the future, of a sky void of Dalamud's angry glow, and of walking and talking with her friends. She knew she would survive this somehow. She know this with alarming certainty. And her faith had been unwavering on the matter. Where others expressed doubt, she had tried to instill hope. But many - Oskar among them - seemed afraid for the worst. And one quiet woman's inexplicable assurances did little to change anyone's mind or assuage anyone's worry.
What kept her up nights wasn't fear of some supposedly-imminent destruction that she knew would never come. No. Rather, she stayed awake and worried for Oskar's life. She wanted to tell him that she held his baby, for whom she also worried. It seemed the odds were stacked against this new life, and where her friend Nel had once expressed frustration at being regarded in her own pregnancy as a 'glass doll' - Eva knew full well this is exactly what she was. A glass doll perched precariously at the edge of a table amidst gale-force winds.
Her thoughts continued to wander as she stepped away from the window and got changed. She had chosen to quit her job at Sunsilks because the weaving of cloth seemed such a frivolous thing. In the mornings she had been either running or practicing the forms with the spear - lessons that her father had taught her when he was still alive. This morning it would be the latter. Once her practice leathers were fit snugly over her form, she shook her head a bit as though to slough away the morning's thoughts, then she grabbed her practice spear and made her way outside to the dock in the back yard that stretched out into the lake and began the dance with her spear that helped bring peace to her mind and prayer to her heart.
All she had to do was hold on. Hold onto her spear. Hold onto her unborn baby. Hold onto her faith. Hold onto hope.
Hold on.
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." Â ~ Lewis Carol
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
