Summer was, perhaps, the most convenient time of the year to take a vacation; three months without school, without classes, nor any other scholarly activities to take into consideration. It was the perfect time for a family to go out and enjoy themselves on an island somewhere or visit another country and see he world. However, there were also those that had neither of those things. They worked a day job; a boring, tedious waste of labor that could likely be done with magic with a quick enchantment but, for some reason, would never be done that way because the world wanted human interaction and intuition. These people likely had no educational responsibilities, bar their own desires, and thus had no excuse to use a quarter of the year for their personal time; the world expected them to work, and to do that work year-round with few exceptions. Then there were those with no family. Be it because they chose not to have kids, theyir kin were all dead, or some unlucky bastard was just too damn ugly to get a wife, some people did not see the need to have a family, and thus have an excuse to go on vacation once a year. These people ranged from a wide variety of sorts; some were sad, lonely lumps that sat and cried themselves to sleep at night, others were pyschopaths that murdered their significant others before the relationship could get anywhere meaningful.
While those sorts of people certainly existed, Kistiñe was neither of them. As a Latina with a knack for flirting, an appetite for socializing, and an inappropriate sense of humor , it was highly unusual to see her acting out of anything but her usual spontaniety. However, for several months, there appeared to be a fog hanging over her head; she had been grouchy, irritable, and unwilling to talk about what was bothering her...in all likeliness, she probably never would. Most of her guild mates had stopped asking her about her problems by the time she had packed her bags, but there was still some nagging feeling for a few members that not all was right with her when she had left. Not a word had been spoken, only a note on her door reading “On vacation. --Kisti.”
For the first time in a while, there was a genuine smile on her face. It had been several weeks since she had last been in Black Rose’s halls; currently, she was in her room on a returning cruise ship. The room itself wasn’t all that impressive—she had gone cheap on accomodations so she could use her money elsewhere—but it was certainly enough to fall asleep in at night. A single bed lay opposite the door, with a small chest at the foot for her belongings, and a small bathroom to the left—in essence, a cheap hotel room on a boat. She was currently in said bathroom, looking in the mirror and playing with her hair; it had been quite long and unruly before she had left for her vacation, and during the course of her time away she had gotten it cut down quite a bit. Whereas before it had curled and cowlicked unrepentantly, now it was quite easy to manage; her former black mop now went about half way down her neck, with more length in the front to style with...although, she was still fairly clueless about styling it. With a laugh, she stopped playing with it and decided just to let her hair fall freely before going to get changed. Whatever shenanigans had occurred in her meeting with Kim seemed to have worn off—over the course of the cruise, she discovered that her bras started fitting again—but that wasn’t much of a thought as she went to continue getting dressed, taking a moment to pose in the mirror and look at the guild tattoo on her back.
Getting dressed was a quick affair—khaki shorts, a black tanktop, and some sandals—but packing up was another task entirely. A weeks’ worth of clothes were strewn about the room, much like how she kept her own back at the Guild Hall. In such a small space, it was hard to walk around and not step on an article of clothing; it also made her wonder how she managed to fit everything into a singular duffle bag when she had first packed for the trip. Forty-five minutes of searching, swearing, and cramming clothes into said duffle bag later, and it appeared that she was packed and ready to go...however, another ten was spent looking for her earrings and bracelet, both of which were found at the bottom of the chest at the foot of the bed. Putting them on with a sigh of relief, the Latina sat on the bed and looked at the clock: it was about noon. The ship was scheduled to be back in Lavanitir’s ports by two. With nothing better to do, she decided to take a nap…
Taking a nap probably was not the best option she could have gone with. Aside from nearly missing the stop, she also had to run back to her room and search for her passport, which, thankfully, was on sitting on the top of the nightstand. As she walked away from the docks and into the city proper, it was nice being able to be on solid ground after being at sea for two weeks. The cruise, to be fair, had been absolutely amazing; the stops had been marvelous, the weather was perfect, and the deck parties had been fantastic. The experience had been refreshing and much needed, but there were far more entertaining things to do at home. Rather than catching a cab, she walked down the sidewalk at a brisk pace towards the guild hall, humming and da-da’ing a familiar tune as she did. Thoughts about her guild mates popped in her head: how was Corliss? Iza? The others? Two weeks wasn’t an extraordinary amount of time to be gone, but it was enough to make her wonder what had happened while she was away...oh well, she’d know when she got there.
Eventually, she got to the guild hall. She stopped at the door and waited for a moment, playing with one of her earrings. Was she ready to go back to guild life? Part of her wanted to say no; that part of her was still hurting, still wanting to cry and crawl in a corner...but, she wasn’t going to let it control her. Felicia was dead, but it was said and done; the hole was still there, but there was no use in staring at it any longer. After a moment, she took a breath and opened the door to walk inside. “¿Bueno?” she called, “¿Hay alguien aquí?”
Translation: Hello? Is anyone here?
While those sorts of people certainly existed, Kistiñe was neither of them. As a Latina with a knack for flirting, an appetite for socializing, and an inappropriate sense of humor , it was highly unusual to see her acting out of anything but her usual spontaniety. However, for several months, there appeared to be a fog hanging over her head; she had been grouchy, irritable, and unwilling to talk about what was bothering her...in all likeliness, she probably never would. Most of her guild mates had stopped asking her about her problems by the time she had packed her bags, but there was still some nagging feeling for a few members that not all was right with her when she had left. Not a word had been spoken, only a note on her door reading “On vacation. --Kisti.”
For the first time in a while, there was a genuine smile on her face. It had been several weeks since she had last been in Black Rose’s halls; currently, she was in her room on a returning cruise ship. The room itself wasn’t all that impressive—she had gone cheap on accomodations so she could use her money elsewhere—but it was certainly enough to fall asleep in at night. A single bed lay opposite the door, with a small chest at the foot for her belongings, and a small bathroom to the left—in essence, a cheap hotel room on a boat. She was currently in said bathroom, looking in the mirror and playing with her hair; it had been quite long and unruly before she had left for her vacation, and during the course of her time away she had gotten it cut down quite a bit. Whereas before it had curled and cowlicked unrepentantly, now it was quite easy to manage; her former black mop now went about half way down her neck, with more length in the front to style with...although, she was still fairly clueless about styling it. With a laugh, she stopped playing with it and decided just to let her hair fall freely before going to get changed. Whatever shenanigans had occurred in her meeting with Kim seemed to have worn off—over the course of the cruise, she discovered that her bras started fitting again—but that wasn’t much of a thought as she went to continue getting dressed, taking a moment to pose in the mirror and look at the guild tattoo on her back.
Getting dressed was a quick affair—khaki shorts, a black tanktop, and some sandals—but packing up was another task entirely. A weeks’ worth of clothes were strewn about the room, much like how she kept her own back at the Guild Hall. In such a small space, it was hard to walk around and not step on an article of clothing; it also made her wonder how she managed to fit everything into a singular duffle bag when she had first packed for the trip. Forty-five minutes of searching, swearing, and cramming clothes into said duffle bag later, and it appeared that she was packed and ready to go...however, another ten was spent looking for her earrings and bracelet, both of which were found at the bottom of the chest at the foot of the bed. Putting them on with a sigh of relief, the Latina sat on the bed and looked at the clock: it was about noon. The ship was scheduled to be back in Lavanitir’s ports by two. With nothing better to do, she decided to take a nap…
Taking a nap probably was not the best option she could have gone with. Aside from nearly missing the stop, she also had to run back to her room and search for her passport, which, thankfully, was on sitting on the top of the nightstand. As she walked away from the docks and into the city proper, it was nice being able to be on solid ground after being at sea for two weeks. The cruise, to be fair, had been absolutely amazing; the stops had been marvelous, the weather was perfect, and the deck parties had been fantastic. The experience had been refreshing and much needed, but there were far more entertaining things to do at home. Rather than catching a cab, she walked down the sidewalk at a brisk pace towards the guild hall, humming and da-da’ing a familiar tune as she did. Thoughts about her guild mates popped in her head: how was Corliss? Iza? The others? Two weeks wasn’t an extraordinary amount of time to be gone, but it was enough to make her wonder what had happened while she was away...oh well, she’d know when she got there.
Eventually, she got to the guild hall. She stopped at the door and waited for a moment, playing with one of her earrings. Was she ready to go back to guild life? Part of her wanted to say no; that part of her was still hurting, still wanting to cry and crawl in a corner...but, she wasn’t going to let it control her. Felicia was dead, but it was said and done; the hole was still there, but there was no use in staring at it any longer. After a moment, she took a breath and opened the door to walk inside. “¿Bueno?” she called, “¿Hay alguien aquí?”
Translation: Hello? Is anyone here?
