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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:48 pm
Yuzhi was taking a bit of time to herself. It kept her happy and mostly calm. Small hands fiddled with lengths of string and thin bits of rope as she started to make her newest knotwork design. The small Horseman was not sure who it was for or if she was just going to keep it for herself, either way it was turning out as she wanted. Strands of dark green and gold interwoven with each other made her smile and remember better days. A nicer era of her life.
Even if it made her sad sometimes to remember these things.
Near her sat a couple of books that she had found while meandering about in Amity. Things she was plotting to read but did not quite feel up to it yet. Yuzhi paused at her work and stared upward from where she sat near a large tree, her back resting up against the trunk of it.
What else could she do with her day? Yuzhi was uncertain.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:01 pm
On days where it seemed particularly pleasant outside, Invictus would find himself spending more time idling in some locations than he would others, staring out into the stretching lands they now, almost begrudgingly, called home. It wasn't completely unfortunate, and yet it was difficult to call it 'home' truly.
The scenery would always be jarringly different than what he was used to - perhaps it was just a bit too reminiscent of how things were back on the island of the hunters. Not to say they were the same, but something about the entire experience was comparative to him.
Certainly it wasn't bad to have trees to sit underneath again. In fact, the large tree he could see in the distance seemed to have invited such company to it, the protector stepping carefully as to leave minimal disturbance to the plantlife in his wake as he moved to further investigate if it was someone of the clans or a student who had wandered too far.
As some students were prone to snooping far too much for their own good.
What he found was one of his own, milling over a rather carefully attended to craft that was worked between her fingers in a way that Invictus had never actually practiced himself. Certainly he had his skills in making incenses, paintings, lessons from books, and a whole other menagerie of things.
Silently, he crouched down, arms resting over his knees to watch her work.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:09 pm
She furrowed her semi-brows together for a moment after she returned her focus back to her knotwork. This knot was turning quite complex, but that was how it went when she didn't really pay attention and had no plan in mind. She shifted the bits of string and rope this way thoughtfully trying to figure the best way to make it work to what she had envisioned when suddenly she had sensed someone near her.
Slender fingertips paused in their work as her head tilted up to gaze at the one before her; a flush covered her face as she froze. She was seated and it was much too late to bow appropriately. Yuzhi had recognized him and how could she not?
"I...I am sorry, I did not see you approach I...." She shifted and tried to get up but ended up only entangling herself amongst all the rope and things she had gathered about herself. Yuzhi felt embarrassment well up inside her.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:14 pm
Her flustered response caused Invictus to lift his hand, palm outwards towards her, and then incline his head in a slightly apologetic way. "You have no need to apologize to us." the protector replied, voice calm and steady. "You do not need to unseat yourself from your craft for us. We did not speak our approach, thus it is our fault for our inconsideration."
His attention turned back towards the knotting she'd been working on, extending his hand towards it cautiously.
"May we?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:19 pm
She relaxed a little bit, her head nodding slightly as she settled once more. Carefully she quietly offered over what she had been working on, "It is not finished yet, but I am getting close, I believe," she said softly. Yuzhi was not sure what to make of this little meeting. Certainly she wasn't overcome with giddiness but she did seem genuinely pleased that he would take time to notice someone such as her. Even if it was because she was working on a piece of art.
"There are many that do much grander things." She said simply with a bit of a admiring smile, "I hope to get to that level one day."
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:35 pm
Invictus carefully ran his thumb along the knots, taking a careful note of how evenly they were made, the rows made, the way the thread twisted - it all seemed to fascinate him so. In fact, he turned it over in his hands several times before he finally offered it back.
"You have very skilled hands." he stated very bluntly. "And a rather good eye, if your craftsmanship says anything. It may not be 'grander', as you say, but well made." His heterochromatic eyes finally looked up to her face.
"You are an artisan then?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:58 pm
Her face flushed slightly at the compliments unable to deny them for it would seem most ungrateful even if she was simply trying to be humble. Yuzhi ducked her head down and shook her head a little, "No, I am not an artisan at all. I am a Scholar but I have an interest in the arts and crafts of other people's cultures even our own," she tilted her head up toward Invictus and offered a small smile.
"It is a small pleasure that I allow myself, is all. Amongst all my studies and things I learn. A-Along with storytelling as well," she added bashfully. It was almost like talking to one of the great heroes from her stories in person.
There was a pause before she quietly offered, "If...If you would like I could teach you how to do knotwork, it is very simple."
..To her it was simple, anyways.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:14 pm
"Small pleasures make the bigger tasks easier to take on, We believe." Invictus himself was prone to his own hobbies, after all. That was part of what being one of conquest was about - the balance of duty with pleasure.
Her offer caused his attention, which had gone back to the knotwork, to come back to her face. "Do you think you have the patience to teach a student such as us?" It wasn't a haughty statement, but perhaps played off more playfully - it was hard to tell with his monotonous way of speaking.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 10:31 pm
"I agree," she said to the observation that Invictus made, "it makes things much more bearable in the long run if we have small things we enjoy doing." The small scholar smiled slightly as she simply started to reassemble her makeshift work station after she had gotten her project back.
His question caused her to stare up at him and a small tilt to her head soon followed by a quiet amused giggle. She thought nothing of his monotone; Yuzhi simply accepted it as it was. "If I may say as much, I think I have the patience needed, yes." Needless to say she didn't feel that he meant anything ill by his words.
After all he'd been amiable enough with her thus far.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:37 am
Her reassurance that she was quite alright with taking on such a task of a student, as Invictus actually had to wonder if the idea of having the Protector as a student would be an overwhelming concept for some, caused him to adjust his crouch into a rather uncomfortable sit on his knees. At least it looked uncomfortable, but to many in Conquest they were likely so used to it that they could stand it for much longer than most.
"Then we'd be honored to learn from you."
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:16 pm
Yuzhi couldn't help but blush a bit at Invictus' choice of words. To have a Protector honored to learn from her meant a great deal to the small Scholar. Despite the blushing she managed to gather her confidence enough to keep her light smile and nod, "I would be most honored to take you on as a pupil," she said simply.
There was something about the Protector that made her ... somehow comfortable to talk to him after the initial awkwardness of their greetings. Quietly she set her project down and began to select new bits of rope-like strings that she had with her. "I shall teach you from the very beginning," she began as she offered him a bit of rope as well, "This first one is called Cloverleaf."
Carefully she began to move the string about, forming loops and intertwining the rope just so, making sure her hands didn't obstruct his view.
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:37 pm
It was likely only that Yuzhi was from conquest that prompted Invictus to be much more open towards her. One from another clan - sans the protectors - would have been treated with much more guard and formality. Uber formality.
He took the rope as it was offered with a quiet 'Thank you', taking a moment to turn it over in his hands and run his fingers along the string, peering at the ends to see how it was spun together, but not trying to pry it apart. His curiosity about its form complete, he then turned his attention to the scholar's hands.
"The name is very apt." he seemed almost amused, but never the less was careful to follow her lead as he mimicked the motion of the rope around itself. He didn't take to it as naturally as one would assume that the 'leader' of Conquest would, and even started over completely at one point, a small frown of frustration barely pressing through the inexpressive wall of his face.
"Is it a proper observation to see that holding the purposeful spaces made, such as here -" he gestured to the first extreme bend made, - "so that they do not get pulled out and ruin the pattern when you need to weave through them again is a great source of frustration?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 1:23 pm
She nodded quietly in response to his 'Thank you'. Yuzhi seemed very focused on her task of teaching him how to properly pull off the knot. Even after she completed it she undid the entire thing and started over with no complaint just quiet patience, his amusement over the name was met with a quiet smile and even a giggle. Yuzhi blinked up at him as he made his observation and seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes. It is a very apt observation. To get one's fingers to stay where they need to be is awkward, unwieldy," she made slower movements now with her fingertips as she went through her second showing. "When I was first learning I had gotten so flustered and frustrated that I threw the string down and stormed off in a huff, which is the first true lesson," she laughed a bit, "do not throw your rope to the floor in a tangled mass. It will just make it worse."
As she completed the clover a second time she took a glance to see how he was faring, after a moment or two she quietly scooted closer and corrected his hold on the string in on place.
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:08 pm
He had never been the most quick to pick up on things. Certainly he was smart and full of wit, but in terms of new skills, Invictus seemed to have always taken just a bit longer than even his younger siblings would have to learn a new trade. Likely, it had to do with the level of perfection that Invictus held himself to. He was a representative as to what the clan was supposed to have in its standards.
"The rope likes to move as well." he noted, pausing in his third go of the knotting to watch Yuzhi's hands more carefully, mumbling underneath his breath as he following the weaving between the makeshift 'loom'.
He made no comment when she corrected his holding of the rope, instead holding his hands up to look at them from a few different positions, before relaxing them down into the better working position to resume his attempt at knotting.
"Your story is an apt analogy for many things in life." Invictus noted about throwing things down in a huft of frustration. "That is why we must all do our best to keep our heads atop our heads in all matters."
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:12 am
"It does like to move," she agreed softy, "do not be afraid to hold onto it more firmly until you can master the motions that are needed to master the knot. It will feel a bit awkward but sometimes it helps. You are the master of the rope, but the rope is not the master of you."
In her own way she believed in dominating things, and being master of her domain. Yuzhi simply was not very obvious about it. She appeared meeker and more demure than a lot of her fellow Conquest Horsemen. If she judged others it did not show.
She nodded and smiled a bit more openly up at Invictus as he praised her analogy. "It is true! Not many believe in this philosophy, though." demon_pachabel ((Sorry it took so long. I had many a brain-derps these past few weeks.))
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