RP:Copper for Your Thoughts

Summary: Cerinii and Amelia (one of her twin daughters) happen to meet Alvina at a wishing well. They talk about children, little 'miracles' that 'are easy to make. Hard to maintain." They discuss love, and the role it plays in our lives. Most importantly, Cerinii shares the news of her imminent death with her apprentice. The information fuels Alvina's resolve to continue their shared trade after the Avian has passed.

Wishing Well

Alvina took up residence on one of the marble benches, clasping her hands together out of a habit more than to warm herself on the chill winter day. Little clouds of breath parted her quivering lips as she sat, staring intently at the wishing well a few feet from her. Ribbons of crimson fall down past her shoulder blades, just as it did when last anyone saw her...just as it did when she came to this land. Clad in midnight blue and white, the bard sits with all the defeat and bone weariness of an adult, with all the hopeful ignorance of a child.

Cerinii had been saddled with one of the twins, as her estranged wife went off to go rescue whoever it was who had captured her heart. The Avian had been left; abandoned and absolutely heartbroken. So, rather than remaining so depressed, the woman decided she'd give some kind of hope to one of the twins. The child looked near identical to the woman, as she sat atop her shoulders, quietly taking in the sights of this city. The Avian now decided it was time to treat the girl to a little wish or perhaps some seashells. But she spotted a very familiar woman, "Alvina," she offered with a faint smile.

Alvina shifted her emerald gaze to find the very dear owner of that voice speaking her name. "Cerinii," she nearly whispered back to the avian, standing to greet her and her companion properly. The girl with her caught the bard's heavy attention. "And hello to you as well," the bard beamed at the child, looking from mother to daughter with a familiar grin. "What brings you and this dear one out this way?" The bard could not remember a single instance of ever seeing her teacher here, but she supposed there were worse places to run into creatures. And she certainly looked to be doing better than when last they met, the girl with her might be cause to that.

Cerinii was accustomed to putting on a brave face when necessary, and with her daughter around this called for a brave face. She offered Alvina a small smile, "Say hello to Alvina, Amelia." The girl was quiet and merely offered a small wave of her hand. The Avian murmured, "She's ein bit shy," as if to excuse Amelia's actions. "I'm showing her around, trying to find things that will be of interest to her. Und what brings you out this way, Alvina?" With that said, the Avian approached the bench and sat down, waiting for Alvina to do the same.

Alvina offered a small wave in respond, shaking her head to dismiss the excuse. "She's precious. A pair of familiar eyes two times over." By which she meant to say the girl looked very much like her mother. She held a satisfied grin, soft and affectionate towards the pair before glancing back to the well. With a sigh, she took a seat next to her and dug through her bag for a few silver coins. One is offered to avain and her daughter, and one she twirls in her fingers thoughtfully. "Everyone can use a wish or two, right?"

Cerinii smiled, moving carefully to pull Amelia from her shoulders and down into her lap. The girl did not have wings or features quite as sharp as the Avian. The woman looked to Alvina, "Araina, her mother, chose ein partner who looked like me so she would have ein daughter like me." A small pause, a small dark thought in her head before it was shrugged off. "Ja, that is true Alvina..." She looked between the coin and Amelia, "Go on, Amelia, go make ein wish. Just be careful." Once the girl had toddled away over to the well, the Avian finally asked the woman, "Und what has you wishing for.. well, ein wish?"

Alvina smiled at the girl, wondering in that small moment if she would ever have the blessing of children, if her body would even permit it. "Just think of your wish really hard," she closed her eyes and scrunched her face, as if thinking. "And then, throw your coin into the water." She made a tossing motion, while keeping her coin in hand. "I've been promised to a man for years...who never visits or writes anymore. He could be dead, he could have given up on me. My heart aches for the blissful days of ignorance when I thought we'd be married and happy for all the days of our lives..." The woman now looks down at where her engagement ring use to be. "I wish for knowledge, and I wish for wisdom teacher, but more valuable than that...I wish for someone who completes my soul."

Cerinii listened to Alvina's more emotional words with intense concentration. A small 'hm' emitted when she finished speaking. The Avian placed her hand upon Alvina's shoulder, in the effort to offer some comfort, "Heartbreak comes to us all, Alvina. Sometimes it is from simple love, or from great love. Und this great love... is the one you feel you cannot live without, even after months. The one you know you need." A small and sad smile offered to the woman, "Und when you lose it, it feels as though it is the most devastating thing in the entire world." A pause. The Avian was wondering why she couldn't follow her own advice. "You have to decide, Alvina, do you let it conquer you or do you show you are strong und that you may live to see another day, und perhaps find great love again?"

Alvina took her words to heart. The bard had always looked up to Cerinii, ever since coming under her apprenticeship and even her technical work. She flexed her metallic digits thoughtfully. The contact and concern in her voice warmed the bard, and she thought for a moment that she might embrace her. No, she decided, she was going to. Quickly, the bard wraps her arms around the avain and settles for a brief but meaningful embrace; the thing ending just as quickly as it began. A light blush took her face, for she wasn't sure how her teacher would accept it. "I know that I need to be strong, you've taught me nothing less, but there are times when I feel like I need to strip away the layers of pretend and effort and just cry. To remember that my heart felt love, and lost it...and that I can still feel those things." Her eyes met Cerinii's earnestly before moving to watch the child near the well, a smile playing across her lips. "I long to do something greater than myself. Even if I lost love then, I would have someone to remember that it existed, that it wasn't just a dream. That it was real, for that moment in time, and together we were able to bring a miracle."

Cerinii was not adverse to the embrace, she welcomed it albeit a bit awkwardly. The woman offered her a small smile, "Mein teaching was not telling you to be made of stone - or more appropriately steel - or to be void of emotion. Just to be strong when you must, Alvina. To be your own person und summon your strength when you need it. Do you think I am strong all the time?" Her eyes followed Alvina's, watching as Amelia pondered over the well, still debating what wish to make. "Miracles are easy to make. Hard to maintain."

Alvina nodded, still smiling a bit grimly. "Yes but they love you unconditionally." She pauses for a moment, turning back to the avian. "She's beautiful." The bard couldn't help but wonder why Cerinii wore such a heavy sadness, and why she'd been in the shop. The only thing she could guess would be hard times, though in what capacity she didn't know. Perhaps they would share this heartbreak, as they had shared many lessons and laughter before. Alvina realized that through everything, Cerinii had been a constant mother to her. She wondered, then, if the bard was a hard to maintain miracle in her own right. The thought made me laugh, thinking of herself as causing the avian so much trouble and heartache. She fell into the mothering role with such ease, nothing else seemed to suit her just the same. The silence passed between them; comfortable and knowledgeable. There is love, sometimes, in the things you don't need to say.

Cerinii chuckled lowly, "Ja, but they often make you think differently, they will say they hate you und an ocean of other nasty remarks. But in their youth they do not understand it." She gazed at Amelia then and gave a nod of her head, "She misses her mother, und her sister." A small pause then, "She's an inquisitive one, though." Amelia deposited the coin in the well, after a long time of thinking of her wish. The girl watched as it sank to the bottom, the light shimmering against it before it was swathed in darkness. The Avian looked to Alvina at that point, offering her a small smile, one that held plenty of admiration. Perhaps the Avian did see herself somewhat as a mother to the younger woman, it was difficult to tell what she was thinking these days. To break the silence, she simply asked: "So, what have you been doing with yourself these days?"

Alvina found herself lost in the child's antics, smiling delightfully in her direction as she finally decides on her wish. The bard could only hope that if it was possible, her wish would come true. And if not, then she hoped the child would understand why and be a better person for it. The woman couldn't help but wonder, if the things she wished for hid a deeper wish. To be a mother. To be a better, stronger person. She had come a long way, certainly. Mousey and meak were hardly her calling cards, but still she was soft spoken. "She gets that from you, the inquisitive nature I'd wager." She says at long length, "These days I'm putting all my time and effort into restoring the Rynvale Amphitheater. I'm hoping to become a full fledged part of the Bard's guild and the Fold suffered Arien's leaving, so I'm helping Lady Rilla with some tasks here and there. I tinker on occassion still, though I have quite a bit to learn." The bard nudges the avian playfully, smiling. "And yourself?" She wanted to ask, but wasn't quite sure how to find the right words.

Cerinii seemed to hold no contempt for Arien these days. Perhaps because the Avian had ran out of hatred or had simply learned to let go of these emotions. It was difficult to tell. But she did know what Amelia was wishing for, and she knew that it was unlikely for it come true. The woman opened her arms as Amelia came back for a quick hug and then began to run around and amuse herself. The woman watched her for a few minutes, before returning her attention to Alvina. "I'm glad to hear that you are keeping busy, Alvina." A smile was offered, before she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I do nothing, these days. I watch over Amelia, at least until her mother comes back for her und mein time with her is over." A sigh was restrained. But then she looked to the younger woman and asked her, "Is something on your mind, Alvina?"

Alvina bit her lower lip and looked up towards her teacher, almost as if she was a child about to be scolded. "I'm sorry, to hear about your wife..." The bard did not look with sympathy but empathy at Cerinii, wishing with all her heart that just once, she could see love stay. In all the people she'd known, it always found a way of getting out from under their feet. A rug too quickly pulled. A pill too quickly swallowed. And there it was. Gone. The bard felt silly, opening her mouth to several silences, like she might be the one offering advice instead. It felt strange and forgien but she tried on the off chance that it would make some difference, if only for an instant. "Love comes." It was all the bard could think of. It wasn't meant to be cryptic or deep, perhaps it might have seemed to be. But it was the simple truth of the matter. One she was learning now. Love comes, and love goes. The later she was more reserved to admit.

Cerinii shrugged her shoulder and offered her a small, if not sad, smile. "These things happen, Alvina. Und I wish only for Araina's happiness. So if being with someone else makes her happy, or simply being without me, then I shall... support... her." The Avian offered a small sigh, and shook her head. "I do not have much time on mein hands these days, Alvina. Love can take ein life-time to come, I know this. But mein time..." The Avian was perhaps trying to deliver some delicate news.

Alvina looked very seriously at the avian with a pin-prick of fear rolling up her spine. She had gotten news once before of someone being sick, or perhaps feeling near the end of their patience in their life span. The bard feared for the only other creature in the land she loved near the level she had her fiance. "...Teacher?" Her voice wavered, cautiously. She looked then to the child and back to the avian woman's face. Her mind shook, begging Cerinii to shush the bard with her silly irrational notions. For this one instance, she wouldn't mind being scolded.

Cerinii 's eyes cast downward and then to Amelia, watching as she laughed and played; chasing after butterflies and anything else that may have sparked her interest. The Avian gave a sombre nod of her head, and simply left it at that. She knew that the younger woman would understand. It didn't make her happy having to confirm that her time was dwindling, nor did it make her happy knowing she'd be eventually leaving a fine student. But what could she do?

Alvina wanted to fight the tears building her eyes but she couldn't. She could only hold back the heavy sobs that would have burst forth from her chest should she have let loose all control of her composure. The bard didn't want to alarm the child, but she could do nothing to stiffle her grief even sitting here as she was, that defined moment and undefined amount of time away. She wanted to ask why, if she could help, what could be done...but she held her tongue. Knowing at all seemed like the heaviest burden and the most meaningful confession. A metallic palm pressed against her mouth, choking back small sobs, dabbed at her eyes to brush aside a small flush of tears. Speech would be impossible for a few moments more.

Cerinii felt incredibly guilty for causing such upset in the woman. Her estranged wife hadn't even been this upset. The Avian placed her arm about Alvina's shoulder and pulled her in for a small embrace, she spoke quietly, "All things must come to an end, Alvina. No-one can truly live for ever." A small pause, realising that she may or may not be doing more damage than intended. She simply said to Alvina, "You are mein brightest pupil, und it is mein privilege to teach you everything I know about /our/ craft. Alvina, I see you as mein equal, not mein lesser. If you have any questions, you may ask them."

Alvina sniffled, rubbing her palm to her eyes. Words that the bard had always wanted to hear, a status to achieve was confessed on her teachers lips and still. She could not enjoy it at the cost of it's admission. Would she take back the knowledge of her teacher's condition? Or would she be more hurt to find out she hadn't been told? "What's happening to you?" Her voice came in a whisper as she attempted to regain what she'd lost in the form of composure.

Cerinii didn't exactly wish to tell her student, or anyone for that matter, that she was ill. It wasn't something people enjoyed telling! The Avian, however, was blunt in her honesty - sometimes that wasn't good a thing and sometimes it was. "I'm sick," she offered, "it's... something to do with the metal." To quickly reassure the woman, "You'll be fine. You do not have as much metal in you as I do."

Alvina that knowledge, the knowledge that the bard would be fine, did little to reassure her. The last thing she was concerned with in this moment was her own well being. "I'm so...so...Teacher, I'm so sorry." Eventually she found the words she thought to say, even though they seemed shallow in comparison to how she truly felt. She felt sorry, yes, but "sorry" didn't seem to be enough. It wasn't adequate to describe the deep pit of despair that lunged into her soul at the thought of losing her avian instructor and her friend.

Cerinii couldn't help but smile and chuckle lowly, hand gently patting her shoulder. "Alvina, what do you have to be sorry for, hm?" A pause and another small embrace. "Alvina, I do not know if I am going to..." she didn't want to say 'die' in front of Amelia, "from this. I do not know if there is some kind of cure or not. All I know so far is that it is ein slow process."

Alvina looked at her cautiously, afraid that a spark of hope might be enough to ignite the fear and give her drive instead to find a cure for something she didn't even know existed. "I'll do anything I can!" she said quickly, excitedly. "I will scower the world, from the peaks in Frostmaw to the depths of Alithrya! There has to be something." The bard took the embrace carefully, tucking the memory away in her heart if she should pass, or perhaps just because it was nice to be close to someone.

Cerinii was amused and yet somehow hopeful what with Alvina's reaction. Her estranged wife seemed indifferent with the news, almost as if she didn't care about it. The woman smile and simply said, "Perhaps Thea is ein better place to start, eh? After all, she is ein master healer." At this point, Amelia returned and simply embraced Alvina - while she and Cerinii were embracing - feeling as though it was the appropriate thing to do.

Alvina nodded, making a silent vow to go speak to Miss Thea in person if she must to request help for Cerinii. There had to be -something- in all the land that would be of -some- help. Hope flushed the bard's cheeks, her arms reached out to include little Amelia in the embrace with a gentle laugh. "Well, hello there. Welcome back." It was strange, how tempting it was to scoop the girl up in her own arms and tell her bardic stories until she slumbered. She looked to Cerinii, "If ever you need a sitter..." The bard would have been more than pleased. She use to keep Linken's adopted little ones when they would visit. She missed it, truly. Then, as if to close the subject from Amelia ear's completely, the bard smiled. "I will do this for you Teacher."

Cerinii watched as Amelia simply offered Alvina a smile. The Avian was not quite so worried by how silent the girl was, it reminded her of herself when she was younger. Araina didn't tend to worry too much about it either. Amelia was a curious girl; intelligent and curious. The Avian struggled to entertain her these days! "I'd like that, Alvina. I am sure she would too. She seems to have taken ein shine to you." The Avian would not protest if Alvina attempted to scoop Amelia up, given that the girl had taken such a shine to the bard so quickly. Perhaps just from watching her 'father' do the same. "Und I will teach you everything I know, Alvina."

Alvina did indeed scoop the girl up then, trying her best not to ruffle too many feathers. "I am grateful for that!" The bard hummed a light tune, placing the girl's feet on her own knees, hands in hands, rocking her so she might appear to be dancing on Alvina's kneecaps. "I will make you proud Lady Cerinii." It was rare, for Alvina to address the avian by her name. It felt too formal, like it lacks affection. But, by adding 'lady' the bard hoped she was would still see how she looked up to the Master Engineer.

Cerinii watched as Amelia grinned and sat eagerly, enjoying the playful little dance. Amelia was quite rare to engage with others, so it brought the Avian some relief to see her daughter enjoy some form of company. The Avian, however, didn't mind what Alvina called her. She understood that some were difficult to change and could not address her in an informal manner, "You have already done so, in life. But in metal-craft... we will surely see." A grin was offered to the woman, as if to imply that they were indeed very much back to a teacher-student bond.

Alvina shot Cerinii what could only be described as a cocky expression, twirling her daughter round before releasing her to adventure as she would, or perhaps she would stay happily seated on the bard's lap. "I dare say I'm a bit 'rusty', " the pun was carefully crafted, the bard laughed. "But I will do my best, as always." She grinned wildly. There was confidence in the hallowed halls of her optics, she was practically dripping with possibilities.

Cerinii grinned, chuckling at the cocky expression. "You had better, given that I am going to throw everything I have at you to test your 'mettle'." The word chosen specifically for its likeness to metal, the Avian was good at making a bad pun. She smiled as Amelia remained where she was seated, quite happy to relax for a moment or two. "But on ein more serious note, I will be testing your skills, Alvina. I will be teaching you the very secret to mein trade; showing you exactly how that metal arm of yours works."

Alvina nodded, knowing how important it would be to learn what she had to teach, and to excel in the craft. To do her art and her name proud, and eventually she would do both of those things. In time, she hoped to be someone capable of holding her own. Being a teacher, while still being taught. There were things the bard would still need to toughen up on, but she was as eager as she was when she was accepted into the avian's care in the beginning. The bard vowed to make her proud, and she meant it, in every sense of the word. " I will see to it, that I keep it safe and learn it well."