![Dust [Solo] Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
THEY SAY THERE'S NO ETERNITY
SO WHY DO WE ALL FIGHT INCESSANTLY?
I TRY MY BEST TO LAUGH AT IT
and go live my life as i see fit
The journeymen that lumbered their caravans through the wilderness were of a hardy sort; humbled by the terrain, they were the only group who'd provide safe passage to places that the railways dare not touch. It wasn't uncommon for them to see hire from all walks of life, and the men were grateful in return for the upkeep provided by the coin they received.
As a mage who sought the Forgotten Desert, Mari would go on to avail their services earlier that day - a venture she hadn't found strange until the driver pointed it out. He lends her a handful of spare linens and robes as a cautionary measure, reminding her that she'd have to come fully clothed on her next trip to the outlands.
"The desert ain't kind to naked skin miss." he said.
She dons the clothes in shame. Perhaps the wild breeds a lack of courtesy among the journeymen.
Their mastery over the art of transport granted itself some credit however, since the trip was largely pleasant if not for their attention to detail. There was a tarp that hung over the cart she rode that supplied shelter from the elements, while the outlander had been kind enough to keep the rear-end opening ajar for her convenience. And despite unpaved roads, the cart did not rattle in a way that was jarring.
Perhaps the length of the journey left something to be desired, but there wasn't much to expect from a caravan drawn by two camels.
"'Kay girlie, we're here."
They reach her destination sometime after noon. Sunlight at this hour reached a peak known only to sand dunes and desert rock. Mari exits the cart from behind, tugging at the material of her headscarf in response to a sudden gust of wind.
She plucks out a few pieces of jewel from her satchel. "So are the clothes free-"
The man atop the driver's seat hushes her. His eyes are a bright green underneath the shade of his headpiece. "Just another three hundred hun. Gotta pay for the bills some'ow."
Mari bites her lips as she fishes for a few more. 'At least the ride was comfy.'
"Thank you kindly." the man drops his pay in his pocket, "I'll inform ma' mates that there's a lil' lassy in the desert for pickup aye?"
"Yep! Or I'll haunt you sir."
"Heh. I getcha."
She watches the outlander bid her farewell before pelting back to the main road. Dust kicks off from the caravan's wheels as it speeds along its path, leaving nothing but the smell of old earth and a faint rattling noise just over the horizon.
As she walked, the desert's arid landscape seemed to tower over her like a fortress of sand. The excavation site could be seen just a few meters away from her drop point, bordering the ravine at the bottom of a canyon. There was a small encampment banked along the edge of a deeper depression, where the layers of weathered rock gave enough shade to protect the tents.
"Hey there!" she says, approaching the figures that stood over the hole, "Looking for help?"
A woman in blue overalls raises an eyebrow, "And who is this?"
Beside her was a elderly lady sporting a set of fine robes stitched with gold thread. Her face is worn and wrinkled, but the smile she passes Mari makes her feel oddly at home.
"You must've seen my request, I take it?" she urges the girl to approach her, "Come child, let me introduce you to my daughter, Quinn."
The daughter meets her with a pensive glance and a tone on the verge of patronizing. "You seem kinda thin to be helping us with the excavation."
Mari shrugs - "I've experience."
"Is that right?"
As she was told to change into the other set of overalls in the tent, Mari discovers that the lady, her client, was a professor at a foreign academia beyond the mainland. Mrs. Haywood, as she liked to be called, sought a capable mage to help dig out the remains of an ancient creature buried beneath this part of the desert. The daughter studied at the same school, and is likely to have taken the same majors as her mother did in the years past.
"Miss Oharu? When you're done, you can come out and move to the digging area alongside Quinn, yes?" she heard the lady say, her silhouette visible through the material of the tent.
"Will do ma'am."
Mari wasn't necessarily equipped with the right magic to deal with this sort of activity, but the shovel was a tool she'd come to consider an old friend since her time as an errand girl. In those days, the manure was a far more dreadful serving than the sand that smelt dry and earthen.
If any, she feels the objective favored her urge to show off.
Mari dove into the depression in the minutes that followed her change of clothes. From where she stood, she could already tell that there were pieces of smooth bone piercing through the ground.
Quinn passes her several things upon her arrival to the site proper - "Bucket. Shovel. Brush. Towel. Easy? Clear?" she said, "Oh and if you decide that the job is too hard for you don't be scared to let the adults know, yeah?"
'Excuse me?'
While her indignant undertone was a matter of concern, returning it would only run the risk of her namesake being haunted by unsavory rumors. Decency was quick to abandon Mari when it came to spite. And that spite had the penchant to combust into hostility that she no longer had the control over.
"I understand. Thank you." she said, nipping the anger in the bud. Her face was likely shadowed by an intensity akin to resentment, however. That part she couldn't help.
"Hmph."
Her employer's daughter spared her no ill reaction, instead choosing to work on the side furthest from where Mari stood. The mage respected that part of her at least - that she was smart enough to realize that the best working environment was found in the distance between them.
Mari rolls her eyes. There wasn't enough time to be had, but a lot of money to be earned. A far graver condition plagued her when she worked as an errand girl; not even a petty woman's distaste could trump the iron hand she was dealt in her youth.
The mage readies her tools. A few hours were all she needed.
"Wouldn't you want to stay for tea?"
Professor Haywoode approaches the mage at the foot of the table, where sand gathered beneath the bucket that was left there. Dusk would no sooner cover the desert in a blanket of cold, but there was always spare time for a warmer farewell.
Mari slung her satchel over her shoulders, content with the fullness of a weighted purse. "Mm. That does sound nice. But there should be a caravan on its way."
Although her face displayed some disappointment, the lady's eyes betrayed no further bitterness. She bunches her fingers tightly. "I'd like to apologize on Quinn's behalf, if she were rude to you. She's always been unkind towards her juniors...and I -" the woman shook in her spot, "...Sometimes I've not the heart to remind her more than once."
As if a cork came undone from a bottle, the memories of the past hours spilt abruptly. She recalls the attempted sabotage, the name-calling, the cat fight that was on the verge of brewing if it weren't for the professor's intervention. Quinn retired to her tent in response, leaving Mari to tend to the work she left behind.
Mari feels her knuckles pale underneath her too-long sleeves. "...Madam, that's no good. She's your child. If any, she shouldn't have the heart to burden like this."
She fishes out a thin paper slip from her bag, the material now old and worn. Yet the words printed in fine cursive remained legible even after all this time.
"Before I became a mage, I worked as an understudy for Counsellor Kishin. While he mostly handles legal affairs, he's works on relational problems too." she leaves the paper on the table, careful that it wouldn't get blown away, "He's really smart, and good with words. This is his address."
The professor's smile wavers under the lamplight. "...I see. Thank you."
"Uh-huh. I'll be on my way then Mrs. Haywoode."
As she flees to the outside, the defined bowl-like shape of the excavation site felt far more impressive under fading sunlight. The fossil that laid within it boasted an age dating to over a thousand years, but minute trivia were beyond her now that she'd been paid.
A caravan awaited her at the mouth of the ravine, bathed in an evening glow. Just the thought of home was enough to allow the dust to settle, letting bygones be bygones.
"I hope it works out for you and your daughter!"
As a mage who sought the Forgotten Desert, Mari would go on to avail their services earlier that day - a venture she hadn't found strange until the driver pointed it out. He lends her a handful of spare linens and robes as a cautionary measure, reminding her that she'd have to come fully clothed on her next trip to the outlands.
"The desert ain't kind to naked skin miss." he said.
She dons the clothes in shame. Perhaps the wild breeds a lack of courtesy among the journeymen.
Their mastery over the art of transport granted itself some credit however, since the trip was largely pleasant if not for their attention to detail. There was a tarp that hung over the cart she rode that supplied shelter from the elements, while the outlander had been kind enough to keep the rear-end opening ajar for her convenience. And despite unpaved roads, the cart did not rattle in a way that was jarring.
Perhaps the length of the journey left something to be desired, but there wasn't much to expect from a caravan drawn by two camels.
"'Kay girlie, we're here."
They reach her destination sometime after noon. Sunlight at this hour reached a peak known only to sand dunes and desert rock. Mari exits the cart from behind, tugging at the material of her headscarf in response to a sudden gust of wind.
She plucks out a few pieces of jewel from her satchel. "So are the clothes free-"
The man atop the driver's seat hushes her. His eyes are a bright green underneath the shade of his headpiece. "Just another three hundred hun. Gotta pay for the bills some'ow."
Mari bites her lips as she fishes for a few more. 'At least the ride was comfy.'
"Thank you kindly." the man drops his pay in his pocket, "I'll inform ma' mates that there's a lil' lassy in the desert for pickup aye?"
"Yep! Or I'll haunt you sir."
"Heh. I getcha."
She watches the outlander bid her farewell before pelting back to the main road. Dust kicks off from the caravan's wheels as it speeds along its path, leaving nothing but the smell of old earth and a faint rattling noise just over the horizon.
As she walked, the desert's arid landscape seemed to tower over her like a fortress of sand. The excavation site could be seen just a few meters away from her drop point, bordering the ravine at the bottom of a canyon. There was a small encampment banked along the edge of a deeper depression, where the layers of weathered rock gave enough shade to protect the tents.
"Hey there!" she says, approaching the figures that stood over the hole, "Looking for help?"
A woman in blue overalls raises an eyebrow, "And who is this?"
Beside her was a elderly lady sporting a set of fine robes stitched with gold thread. Her face is worn and wrinkled, but the smile she passes Mari makes her feel oddly at home.
"You must've seen my request, I take it?" she urges the girl to approach her, "Come child, let me introduce you to my daughter, Quinn."
The daughter meets her with a pensive glance and a tone on the verge of patronizing. "You seem kinda thin to be helping us with the excavation."
Mari shrugs - "I've experience."
"Is that right?"
As she was told to change into the other set of overalls in the tent, Mari discovers that the lady, her client, was a professor at a foreign academia beyond the mainland. Mrs. Haywood, as she liked to be called, sought a capable mage to help dig out the remains of an ancient creature buried beneath this part of the desert. The daughter studied at the same school, and is likely to have taken the same majors as her mother did in the years past.
"Miss Oharu? When you're done, you can come out and move to the digging area alongside Quinn, yes?" she heard the lady say, her silhouette visible through the material of the tent.
"Will do ma'am."
Mari wasn't necessarily equipped with the right magic to deal with this sort of activity, but the shovel was a tool she'd come to consider an old friend since her time as an errand girl. In those days, the manure was a far more dreadful serving than the sand that smelt dry and earthen.
If any, she feels the objective favored her urge to show off.
Mari dove into the depression in the minutes that followed her change of clothes. From where she stood, she could already tell that there were pieces of smooth bone piercing through the ground.
Quinn passes her several things upon her arrival to the site proper - "Bucket. Shovel. Brush. Towel. Easy? Clear?" she said, "Oh and if you decide that the job is too hard for you don't be scared to let the adults know, yeah?"
'Excuse me?'
While her indignant undertone was a matter of concern, returning it would only run the risk of her namesake being haunted by unsavory rumors. Decency was quick to abandon Mari when it came to spite. And that spite had the penchant to combust into hostility that she no longer had the control over.
"I understand. Thank you." she said, nipping the anger in the bud. Her face was likely shadowed by an intensity akin to resentment, however. That part she couldn't help.
"Hmph."
Her employer's daughter spared her no ill reaction, instead choosing to work on the side furthest from where Mari stood. The mage respected that part of her at least - that she was smart enough to realize that the best working environment was found in the distance between them.
Mari rolls her eyes. There wasn't enough time to be had, but a lot of money to be earned. A far graver condition plagued her when she worked as an errand girl; not even a petty woman's distaste could trump the iron hand she was dealt in her youth.
The mage readies her tools. A few hours were all she needed.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
"Wouldn't you want to stay for tea?"
Professor Haywoode approaches the mage at the foot of the table, where sand gathered beneath the bucket that was left there. Dusk would no sooner cover the desert in a blanket of cold, but there was always spare time for a warmer farewell.
Mari slung her satchel over her shoulders, content with the fullness of a weighted purse. "Mm. That does sound nice. But there should be a caravan on its way."
Although her face displayed some disappointment, the lady's eyes betrayed no further bitterness. She bunches her fingers tightly. "I'd like to apologize on Quinn's behalf, if she were rude to you. She's always been unkind towards her juniors...and I -" the woman shook in her spot, "...Sometimes I've not the heart to remind her more than once."
As if a cork came undone from a bottle, the memories of the past hours spilt abruptly. She recalls the attempted sabotage, the name-calling, the cat fight that was on the verge of brewing if it weren't for the professor's intervention. Quinn retired to her tent in response, leaving Mari to tend to the work she left behind.
Mari feels her knuckles pale underneath her too-long sleeves. "...Madam, that's no good. She's your child. If any, she shouldn't have the heart to burden like this."
She fishes out a thin paper slip from her bag, the material now old and worn. Yet the words printed in fine cursive remained legible even after all this time.
"Before I became a mage, I worked as an understudy for Counsellor Kishin. While he mostly handles legal affairs, he's works on relational problems too." she leaves the paper on the table, careful that it wouldn't get blown away, "He's really smart, and good with words. This is his address."
The professor's smile wavers under the lamplight. "...I see. Thank you."
"Uh-huh. I'll be on my way then Mrs. Haywoode."
As she flees to the outside, the defined bowl-like shape of the excavation site felt far more impressive under fading sunlight. The fossil that laid within it boasted an age dating to over a thousand years, but minute trivia were beyond her now that she'd been paid.
A caravan awaited her at the mouth of the ravine, bathed in an evening glow. Just the thought of home was enough to allow the dust to settle, letting bygones be bygones.
"I hope it works out for you and your daughter!"
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
1498/500 words | Job Link
1498/500 words | Job Link
