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Post by kuni on Apr 4, 2007 17:52:46 GMT -5
Kuni looked to the other woman, her eyes watching everything she did. Kuni waited for an answer, but instead, got none. “ Did she not hear me?”Kuni asked herself, “If nothing else, she seemed so polite…” Kuni waited for a few more moments, twirling her hair with a finger. As Ukaleq spoke to her father, and her father asked that she go, Kuni noticed Ukaleq’s cheeks flush, though it was hardly noticeable. Although Ukaleq accepted, it was clear she liked to be more alone in the archives. “I won’t bother you…” Kuni spoke quickly, picking up the sign.
Kuni wondered exactly what the archives looked like. She had never seen them before. The most she could imagine was a large library, filled with shelves of scrolls. Maybe there were other girls there as well. Her mind slowly drifted to what happened to that man. She took a few steps towards Ukaleq, though her mind was not in the present. “Let’s go,” she whispered.
Meanwhile
In the jail, a bulky guard watched over Nakamura. His face showed no emotion, and simply did his job. A messenger came in, giving the guard a scroll. The guard read over it quickly, and then shoved it into one of his pockets. He stood up, and reached for his water skin, careful to keep his hand ready in case the prisoner wanted to escape.
“You’re lucky, boy” he said gruffly, “Your trial has been called early.” The guard moved one of his hands, and the bars on the cell turned into water, and fell down. Two more guards came, in, and moved towards. “Take him away,” the watchman said, handing over the scroll. With a notion motion of his hands, the guard reassembled the bars, and sat back down, pulling his hood over his head and going to sleep.
“Come with us.” Was all the other two guards had to say, as they asked him to follow them.
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Post by taartoq on Apr 4, 2007 19:53:06 GMT -5
Taartoq leaned around the corner, glancing into the back room to inform him of his return. The elderly supervisor saw Taartoq once he returned, and the two exchanged nods of the head across the room in acknowledgement. Taartoq swung around the arched doorway of that room and stood beside it, shifting his gaze across the room. A small number of other archivists were out and about, attending to their different duties about the place.
Along the wall where Taartoq leaned, there was a staircase leading to the second story of the archival building, a staircase parallel to the one that faced the opposite direction on the other side of the arched doorway to the back room, but both sets of stairs lead to the same place. Same was the case with the stairs clear across the other side of the building, as these also lead to the second story.
The middle floor of the building consisted simply of a walkway about six feet wide around the perimiter of the building's interior, a large square shape, and a parapet, or small wall, of solid ice surrounded the outer rim of this walkway to prevent any accidental falling eleven feet to the ground floor. The walkway was held up with the occasional truss of solid ice.
As Taartoq ascended the stairs, he continued to admire the light shining from the cupola atop the building while still remaining vigilant of anyone descending the stairs. As he got to the second floor, he walked around the edge of the parapet, looking down at the rows of books and scrolls on the ground level. There were a few people scattered about the aisles, browsing the selection of books of traditional folklore, pre-war foreign cultures, memoirs of various auspicious figures, and a few other subjects.
Taartoq had read a large number of the tomes housed in the structure, but it was still only a small percentage of all that this building contained. Despite the fact that the tribe had remained isolated for more than one hundred years did not limit the numbers of books and scrolls in the Northern Water Tribe Archives.
He continued around the second floor walkway, looking at the walls, engraved with a lattice pattern that would hold scrolls within the squares, most of which still had scrolls inside. Other shelves on the top story simply held books, but of course, the most valuable artifacts were kept in the back room, only to be accessed by a full-fledged resident archivist.
The waterbender reached the other side of the building where a set of stairs lay opposite to the staircase he went up, then headed down this staircase before him. It was then when Taartoq realized that he had nothing to do...
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Post by gandalan on Apr 4, 2007 22:09:05 GMT -5
The cieling was currently undefeated, and showed no signs of faltering. But it apparently wasn't ready to quit, either. Nakamura quit instead. Another day, he'd finish this. But for now, a nice nap was in order. Yes, definately. After all this stuff had happened, that didn't sound bad at all.
At least, HE didn't think so.
A messenger, a much smaller person than the guards, came running in. Nakamura, sitting, sat up and looked at the messenger. He wasn't much younger than Nakamura... but such wasn't abnormal. Most younger children spent some time in service to the Chief.
He handed a scroll to a bulky guard, who nodded at the boy (his dismissal), and unrolled the scroll. His eyes, blue and dark, read over the smooth script. He then turned to Nakamura's cage. “You’re lucky, boy," he said. “Your trial has been called early.”
Nakamura raised an eyebrow. Lucky? Hardly. This meant one of 2 things: either Arnook wished to apologize to him for the welcome home. Nakamura thought the chances of that were probably even worse than those that Raine had a boyfriend right now.
The other meant that he would be sentenced to something not all that fun. Hm.
He sighed helplessly, as the bars were melted in front of him. He stepped outside them, and they were re-frozen in place. The guards, nodding at the watchman, flanked Nakamura. “Come with us.”
He rolled his eyes, sighing again, as he was lead out of the jail, to whatever they had planned.
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Post by ukaleq on Apr 10, 2007 22:26:27 GMT -5
"Hm.." Ukaleq made the noise softly, keeping her head low and her eyes shut. She was stuck with this girl.. Why, oh Why? A slender hand, bound in thin seal-skin gloves reached up to brush away some strands of her dark hair. She accepted her fate, stuck with this far to cheery girl. I wish Naira was here.. Ukaleq thought deep within her mind. Her sister always relaxed her, and did most of the social talking for the two girls. Silently, she followed Kuni to the Archives, stepping down into the room which was sunken below the main level. The snow and ice stairs led down into the archieives, and Ukaleq descended them quickly as they were as familiar to her as her own home. She seperately from Kuni, sliding off to a corner table that was located under a overhang where she removed her parka and place it gently on the table. Her dress was just as ornate as her parka, a simple cruelean top folded over her chest and wrapped tightly with a lavender obi which matched the hem of the neck line. Unique to her dress, the hem ended in three points though typically edged in white fur, ended at her knees over a cream colored dress of pleated layers which acted as insulation to her legs and feet.
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Post by kuni on Apr 11, 2007 0:31:06 GMT -5
Kuni walked into the archives, her eyes widening as she stepped through the archway. The archives were quite unlike the rest of the city. Long rows of iced shelved seemed to end nowhere, and either books or scrolls were everywhere, covering every possible centimeter of space they could occupy. Kuni gave a friendly wave to Ukaleq, as the other woman spirited from Kuni, though she didn’t think Ukaleq saw her, and instead of heading down the stairs with Ukaleq, began to get curious on what was on the upper stories. To Kuni, she felt like the exciting artifacts and scrolls were higher up.
Taking off her parka, and placing it gently on a nearby table, she revealed a very extravagant dress, mauve in color, with exquisite designs, indigo, designed onto it. Underneath is only one undergarment, a tight dress, covering her entire body, and sticking to her skin. Pushing back a lock of her hair, Kuni descended up the staircase to the second floor.
Kuni’s eyes widened further, and she turned her head back and forth, trying to take a look at every scroll there was. There were far too many. Descending up another set of stairs, and then down yet another staircase, leading to a different section of the second story. Once more fascinated by the amount of knowledge one could learn from these scrolls, Kuni walked forward until she bumped into somebody, falling down as she crashed. The man was older, and slim. He had long, thick, brown hair, and was most likely an archivist here.
Kuni quickly stood up, and bowed. “I am sorry,” she replied hastily, though her voice meek, “Please excuse me.”
Meanwhile
Chief Arnook sat at his place above all others at the trial. There was a long list of prisoners needing trial, and at the top, a boy called Nakamura. The guards took Nakamura into the courtroom and had him sit on one of the chairs in the m idle of the room. The room was empty, save for Arnook, his council, and the guards posted around the room. There was no audience, no spectators.
“State the offense,” Arnook boomed. He knew fully well what the offence was. As did most in the Water Tribe, but it was custom to have the defense state their own offense. “We are waiting.”
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Post by taartoq on Apr 11, 2007 20:41:09 GMT -5
Taartoq was caught off guard by a distracted young woman who collided with him, and he moved back a few steps as she fell the the ground. He quickly noticed many details about the girl, such as her ornate clothing, many soothing, lovely shades of purple, blue and indigo, her hair and face so pristine that she could only be one who lived as nobility.
"Oh, dear...are you all right, young lady?", he queried, moving toward the fallen maiden and crouching on his knees. Leaning forward, most of his long, dark hair fell over his shoulders, and he gazed at her striking azure eyes.
He extended a hand to her, incidentally glancing at the gentle brown skin of her graceful neck to note the absence of a betrothal pendant. She was either younger than eligible marriage age, however doubtful this was since her features made her appear a few years older than that, or she were simply uninterested in marriage. But there was no doubt that suitors sought her hand. After all, she was an aesthetically-pleasing young woman.
Being gracious for the moment, Taartoq continued, yet still with an underlying sardonic tone, "I simply must watch where I'm going..." then offered a half-smile to the girl.
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Post by gandalan on Apr 14, 2007 23:36:17 GMT -5
As they walked down the white, icy streets, the cloudy sky looked down on them. Nakamura sighed, flanked by the two guards. He was being taken to trial already? This really couldn't be good. It was probably, in fact, something rather bad. However, when he got to the place where his trial was to take place, he saw that it was set up normally. There were no more elders there than were normal, and the Chief was there. Well then...
“State the offense,” Arnook boomed. “We are waiting.”
The offense? What HAD he done? Now that he thought about it, HE hadn't done ANYTHING, really. He HAD helped Raine (who was a waterbender) get away... but only at the request of her mother. And that couldn't been seen as doing anything wrong unless Raine was considered an enemy of the state, and since women weren't considered combatants, they couldn't be considered enemies of state... could they? He really didn't know which angle they were coming at this from... but whichever way it was, it was probably some wierd way with lots of technicalities. He'd been thinking about Arnook's question for some time now, and since he needed and answer (and Nakamura didn't have one), he responded with the first thing that came to his mind, even though he knew it wasn't very wise.
He smiled up at the Chief, and said, "I don't think I've done anything particularly offensive..."
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Post by ukaleq on Apr 19, 2007 20:34:27 GMT -5
Ukaleq's hand gracefully rested on the soft fabric of her parka as she let it rest on the cold wooden tables. She lifted her head slowly, having been looking down at her dark skinned hands against the soft perriwinkle fabric. Her raspberry lips parted, her breath escaping her as she breathed in deeply. She felt magical.. Her braids draped her shoulder, the cruelean colored flowers hiding the technicalities of working such intricate weaving into her hair and also her ears. The pale ribbons, a rich and soft baby blue accented the drape her neck, bare from any necklace. Her eyes closed, delicate eyelashes fluttering against her high cheeks. In a swirl of nuetral blues and soft lavender, Ukaleq turned, an enchanted, dreamy expression on her face as she faced the lower floor, lined with shelf after shelf of scrolls and books. These tales, folk lore and legend, waterbending techniques, accounts of great military campaigns, records even of familial history.. all held a great magic, a power over the slender young woman. Picking up a scroll was as if her very soul was sucked out from her body and placed inside the story. Her head was filled with such wonderful images that danced like a fire. She desired to be within these stories and histories, and it tore at her heart, such was her love for history and legend.
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Post by kuni on Apr 28, 2007 19:11:54 GMT -5
Kuni backed away slowly, helping the archivist get up. "I'm sorry," she replied meekly. Not directly looking at him, the young woman was looking away from him, above yet another flight of stairs, and wondering what the next story held. She turned her attention back onto the archivist, though it was in no way or shape complete. Expelling the shortest of sights from her petite mouth, she decided to ask the archivist.
“Sir,” she began, her voice soft and silky, “Would you care to tell me what an archive such as this holds at its highest floor?” Kuni was naturally curious, it was in her personality. Staring blankly at Taartoq, she gave a smile, prompting him to tell her.
Meanwhile
Arnook’s brow furrowed, his fist clenched in his hand. “Your thoughts and feelings regarding this trial will be taken to account.” Arnook raised his voice before continuing, “But I asked you for the accusation was, not whether you thought you did was wrong.”
Impatiently, Arnook waited.
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Post by taartoq on Apr 30, 2007 1:03:18 GMT -5
At the girl's inquiry, Taartoq began forming in his mind a coherent guide to the tomes inhabiting the topmost level. Slowly, he turned his back to the girl while adjusting certain items of his clothing, then swept the non-braided sections of his hair back over his shoulder so that it fell freely behind his back. Taartoq took pride in his appearance, but was in fact, slightly conceited in this regard, but only because he put such effort into keeping his hair and clothes so immaculate. Only on days when Taartoq felt ill did he allow his appearance to suffer, but today was not one of those days.
He cleared his throat and took a few steps ahead, his back still to the young woman. Glancing over his shoulder at the girl, Taartoq replied, "That...leads to nothing with which you should be concerned..." Referring, of course, the the staircase leading to the mezzanine. Such a room was exclusive to archivists, much like other rooms in the structure, and he had hoped such a room would be occluded from view most of the time.
He took a few more steps and swiveled to the side, walking toward and standing beside the small, intricately carved and decorated wall along the walkway; "But included apart from these on this level are parchments and scrolls penned by travelers and adventurers, those who searched the earth learning of diverse peoples and lands, cultures far different from our own."
A grin came across his thick lips. Taartoq had always wanted to see the sights of the world, even if the concept seemed frightening to him. He'd never lived outside a higher-class culture, much less without a home to call his own in a strange, unfamiliar country. With this though occuring within seconds, he discouraged his own wanderlust, as would inevitably happen.
His grin softened at that concept. Now standing about six feet from the girl, he glanced over at her; "I believe one may even find a few musings of Avatar Kuruk among these."
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Post by ukaleq on May 16, 2007 22:48:05 GMT -5
Ukaleq quietly wandered the stacks, stopping occasionally to gaze over book titles, her now bare hands tracing the spines. Her blue eyes seemed glazed over, as she read off the titles in her head. She had been coming to the archives since as long as she could remeber, and yet many of the titles were still foreign to her. There were books on numerous Avatars, the four nations, various traditions and practices, histories written by chiefs, various things. The scrolls that were mixed in were also of interest. The diaries of noblewomen, military notes used during combat, alliances and treaties. It was all so interesting. Ukaleq lifted her head upwards, braided loops swinging back behind her shoulders. She smoothed dress over her torso and stomach, and reached up to grab a scroll tied with a sealskin ribbon. Her arm stretched, just barely brushing the wooden shelf as her fingers curled over, flopping like a fish towards the scroll. There! The ribbon was within her grasp. Ukaleq tugged.. and tugged again. The scroll was stuck! She sucked in her breath, and pulled once again, only instead of retreiving the scroll, a whole mound of papers, scrolls and bounded material poured over the shelf's side onto the young woman below. A cloud of ages old dust rose up, as Ukaleq flailed to cover her mouth with her hands, coughing roughly.
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Post by taartoq on May 20, 2007 15:23:32 GMT -5
Turqouise-colored eyes widened and eyebrows raised at the sudden, loud crash. Startled, the slender man pivoted from viewing the young woman toward the source of the noise, yet saw no clues as to what it may have been. Probably books falling off the shelf, maybe a young child doing such. Taartoq rolled his eyes as he proceeding to walk quickly toward the nearest staircase to the bottom floor. "Children can be such a pain..." grumbled the waterbender under his breath.
Soon after, he heard violent coughing, the sound undeniably coming from a voice of such a pitch that seemed like a young woman and not a child as he first assumed. While feeling rather sheepish in assuming that it was a child's fault, he scurried toward where the sounds of coughing emanated from, behind a row of shelves. He got to one of the rows of bookshelves and peered down the aisle to see what had happened.
It seemed a young woman had gotten bombarded by books and scrolls through no fault of her own. He realized he recognized the girl as a daughter of one of the chieftains or councilmen of the tribe. Taartoq ambled over and crouched down to pick up some of the items covering the poor girl. "Are you all right, dear?", inquired the archivist, glancing at the teenaged noblewoman.
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Post by ukaleq on May 25, 2007 23:46:10 GMT -5
"Oh No.. Did anything get damaged?!" Ukaleq quickly sat up, on her knees reaching all around and gathering scrolls and loose papers and old worn leather bindings. Her face looked absolutely devastated, those doe-like eyes of dark oceanic blue so concerned for the well being of the documents. Her lower lip quivered, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. Ukaleq could feel her round cheeks becoming red as she hurried. As she gathered things up in front of her, she murmured over and over.. "I'm so sorry.. I just wanted the ballads and folk songs.. I'm so sorry Master Archivist.." She pleaded, looking to the elder with the hints of tears in her eyes. This was no act. Ukaleq treasured books, stories, histories, and always treaded with the utmost care in the archeives while he father sat in meetings. To have knocked an entire shelf, delicate and rare wood itself, of various material was a complete humiliation to the quiet, self-contained young woman. She reached up with a nervous hand, selfsconsiously running her thin fingers over her looped braids. Her eyes dropped and she grew quiet as she began to seperate her pile of materials.
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Post by taartoq on May 26, 2007 0:23:39 GMT -5
Taartoq quickly turned his head from the young noblewoman and the books on the floor, repeating such motions a few times before stopping with his eyes on the girl. He offered an innocent half-smile of guilt toward the teenager as she apologized for her mistake. The girl was blushing, and if he remembered correctly, she had always been shy and timid.
It popped into the waterbender's mind that the girl was of the high-ranking Ulloriaq family, but he still couldn't remember her first name. Strange, considering he could remember most things with an absurd amount of accuracy, but this girl's name escaped him. As her apologies ceased, his voice became a mellow tone; "There's no need to be so sorry. It was an accident, dear..."
He looked over what was sprawled on the textured ice floor, noting that the books and scrolls had no obvious damage. "You didn't break anything, nor was it your intention, I'm sure.", he said as he raised his eyebrow in a vaguely stern manner. He turned from the woman to the faded taupe wooden shelf over the wooden shelf and knocked on it a few times to ensure his words were the truth. No damage was present.
In a rather presumptuous manner, Taartoq spoke up to the girl again as he alternated from picking up scrolls and books and placing them back on the shelves in proper order. "By any chance, is your father Chieftain Qillaq?", he said as he adjusted a book to fit precisely in place alongside others on the shelf, exhibiting a nigh-obsessive attention to detail. Perhaps such a question would lessen the humiliation the poor girl must have felt.
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Post by ukaleq on Jun 1, 2007 1:05:27 GMT -5
"...Yes.. I am Ukaleq Ulloriaq... My Father is Cheiftain Qillaq Ulloriaq." Ukaleq spoke softly as she stood, her slender and dark hands brushing back those braided loops. She looked up at the Archivist, her eyes falling on his profile before quickly dropping. Though Ukaleq had been coming to the archives for years, it was only within the past year that Archivist Taartoq had become a secondary reason for coming. Though she often was very shy and kept her books, not being courted by many young warriors and hardly venturing out of her home, she found him pleasant to look at. Far from being a lustful crush, her feelings were more immature... just... wanting to.. to see him. The shy and demure young woman would never dream of letting her feelings stray beyond that for any man.. espically if they were married. She had often seen his wife, a woman named Padma she had learned, visiting with their neices and nephews in tow, visting their Uncle Taartoq. It was always pleasant to see the family.. so happy. Ukaleq wanted a family one day... with girls that she could make beautiful.. and strong boys to be warriors like her father and brother. She sighed softly, brushing some dust off the cover of a worn tome written by a cheiftain of many many centuries ago before the Northern Tribe was united. Ukaleq handed it to Taartoq, one of the remaining books.. "Again.. my apology.. I have the utmost respect for the archives..."
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