The morning was quiet aside from the light drizzle of rain that had lightened during the night. A comforting sound that made Qira glad that she didn't have to go out in it for the next few hours. Glancing over at the other bedroll she noted that Kaljei had gotten up before her, as he usually did when they were travelling. With a light shaking of her head, she grabbed her cane and got out of the tent to take a look around for him. She found him sitting not far away, feeding the messenger pigeon they had brought along and for a few moments, Qira stood, enjoying watching him, before taking the last few steps to the bags and sitting down to begin going through them.
Kaljei looked over at the sound, pausing the feeding for a moment as he spoke. "What are you looking for?"
"The carved bird Sahi gave me before she left on her trip back north. She told me it could deliver messages faster than any messenger bird could and taught me how it worked, kinda." Qira replied as she found what she was looking for: A raven delicately carved from wood. Although she wasn't certain how well the bird matched the real ones, as she had only ever read about them.
"Have you ever done it before?" He asked with a concerned look, moving his hand to keep the pigeon safe in case anything happened.
"Not really, but it can't be that complicated to get it right, it's just a small ritual after all. I even made sure to take notes and have Sahi check them to be sure they were correct." She tied the paper, containing a copy of the missing translation, to the carved bird. She looked over at Kaljei, her head tilted questioningly as she wasn't sure what he was getting at with his question.
"You remember what the elders said about it, don't you? We don't even know if the spirits are as calm here as they are back home." Kaljei chided her, to Qira's great annoyance. It was almost as bad as the lectures her grandmother had tried to give on that very subject.
"It's not that dangerous. Firstly it is only a light ritual and secondly we don't force it like the company does, we work with it. Besides, trust me a little on it. I trained under my grandmother for a time and she taught me some of the basics for it." She held the figure on her flat palm, trying to recall the words Sahi had once told her about. It had been a few months since then, but Qira had spent some time reading the notes in her journal, so surely, she could get it right she thought.
Qira focused her attention to the figure, taking several seconds to steady her breath and lock out the rest of the world. She knew the basic lessons she had learned, a necessity to affect the world. Draw from it. Her free hand gently swaying back and forth along her side, seeking to find a source. Then she felt it, a touch she had a hard time describing. Cold enough to send a shiver down her spine and thick as oil. She breathed out a mist and focused on what she could feel. Her hand edging along it, inviting it to follow, as she began to recite the words. The effect was almost immediate. She felt how it surged through her veins before the first word was even out. Reaching the heart by the middle of the second word. It slowed, or was it the world that did? She was not sure and neither could she afford to pay it mind. Third word. It followed the other arm, the dyes. She felt it touch every part of the dyes that spoke of who she was. Fourth word. The first hand moved above the bird. Was it glowing? She was not sure, the mist was becoming too thick to see clearly. It must have been the mist. She focused on the bird, it was the final word. The surge sprang, invisible as it was to the eye.
She felt as if someone had knocked her wide awake, her senses alert and by everything she knew, it was cold. The surging feeling was gone but Qira was left shivering in her seat, and Kaljei rushed over. The carved bird moved, turning its head to look at Qira, spread its wings, and jumping to take flight, but unceremoniously stopped moving as it fell to the floor and rolled into one of the many holes in it. She stared at the floor, taking several seconds to comprehend what had just happened, with Kaljei draping a blanket over her shoulders before she muttered quietly in defeat. "I'll rewrite that..."
Kaljei shook his head and remained around Qira until she was warmed up again. Her hands still felt cold as she began copying the text again for the letter. It was a slow process, but as the shivering subsided, her writing became faster. Finishing it up, she read it over once more to ensure she had it correct, afterwards she wordlessly offered it to Kaljei. She didn't look at him; her eyes locked on the floor, but she could feel him taking the paper and folding it up to attach it to the pigeon.
Qira looked at the hole in the floor, one of many around, but she guessed that it couldn't be helped, given the age of the building. Standing up again, she began walking over to the rope Kaljei had left from the previous day to get down. "I'll head down to grab the figure from Sahi."
"Need any he-" Kaljei started out as his attention was taken from the pigeon, but was interrupted by Qira before he could finish.
"No. I'll call if there is anything." She kept her tone flat, though she had trouble doing the same with her ears, which laid down and she walked faster to avoid anymore talking than what was necessary.
She sat down by the rope and inspected it briefly, then took her cane with a firm grip as she began to climb down slowly. Her attention focused on avoiding pressure on the old wound on her leg, even though it remained easier said than done.
Descending into the basement, Qira noted that it was dark with the only light coming in from the holes in the ceiling. Upon reaching the floor, she found herself surprised at the vines thriving despite the lack of light and as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness she was able to get an idea of what the room contained. Broken shelves, cracked bricks and barrels. Her best guess was that the room used to be some kind of storage, but for now that wasn't her immediate concern, as she had a carved bird to find. With that, she stepped into the dim light. It was difficult to move around in the sparse light as the ground was uneven and damp.
Making her way through the room, Qira almost stumbled over the carved bird, barely managing to catch herself before she fell over in one of the water puddles scattered across the room. As she turned to pick it up, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A door that she had missed while she was getting adjusted to the darkness. She put the carved bird in her pocket and walked over to the door to examine it. Old and made of wood with moss growing on it alongside a lock and iron handle. It was closer to something she would expect to find in the larger cities, but on the other hand it was hardly from her own time. In either case, it was something she would note down later. After a brief deliberation, she shifted her weight to her left leg and decided to use her cane to cautiously push the door open. The old lock seemed to have broken in the past, allowing the door to yield with a slight push.
The room was small, containing a few shelves with trinkets, but the bit that caught Qira's attention in the poor light was a set of urns. She sat down beside the urns and began to examine them. Fragments were missing and most of the urns were shattered, but the few intact ones were intriguing. While very little dyes remained, she could still trace the outlines of the original designs thanks to the etchings in the ceramic. But without better light or something to copy with, she couldn't do much about it in the moment. Instead she glanced back where she came from and sighed. Standing back up, she made a mental note to herself of the place, as she walked back to the rope to fetch Kaljei to help with bringing it up.
After retrieving the last of the urns and shards, Qira sat by the camp while Kaljei went to gather firewood. She began to lay out the pottery and shards in front of her while trying to decipher the story within the faded colors. An effort taking time as she lacked the equipment to restore more of their original colors, eventually she managed to arrange them well enough to get a rough idea of what the depicted scenes were. Kaljei returned not long after with an armful of firewood, glancing at Qira, who was busy transcribing the story into her journal. After placing the firewood down, he walked over to see what she was working on.
"Some sort of religious practice?" Kaljei asked after watching it for a few minutes.
"Close, kinda. From what I can make out, they were used to store food from the first harvest, which would be used in a ritual. They likely used them to tell stories during the rituals, like back home. So that means they would tell of a spirit rising from the sea, or born from it? I think born from it is more accurate." Qira paused to adjust some of the shards, looking over them once again.
"The first harvest was given to the spirit?" Kaljei inquired, sounding intrigued by the story.
"The first fruits of the first harvest, yes. They were given to the spirit during the ritual in exchange for peace and for the seas to be calm and plenty. Though I don't know why they would abandon this place if there was a calm spirit nearby. Maybe they angered it? Or something else happened." Puzzled, she sat for a few moments before looking up at Kaljei. "You didn't see anything while you were outside, did you?"
Kaljei shook his head. "Nothing that we didn't see on our way here. I kept close to the path though, without a map it would be dangerous to go alone out in the jungle."
"Weird. You didn't see any other paths either? There was still some remnants out to the coast and usually there would be a path to the local village too."
"No. Just the marks alongside the road we already saw and the mooring. Maybe the people came here from one of the surrounding islands? Lotuku is close enough if it is only for the bigger rituals." Kaljei replied and walked over to fetch their map, unfolding it by Qira and pointing to one of the nearby islands that had a larger settlement.
"Hrm. It would be unusual but possible. Or it could be a smaller village closer than that. There must be something around here to indicate it though. Maybe there was more in the basement? It was rather dark when I went down there and normally they would keep more ceremonial equipment around. Unless they took it with them when they left, though they should still have had a place to store it." Qira speculated as she looked over the map and then glanced back to the pottery. With a shrug, she stood back up again. "We might as well take a second look." She spoke over her shoulder with a sigh from Kaljei as he folded the map again and grabbed a lantern to take with them down.
Returning to the basement with the lantern, the duo began looking around the room proper. With the light, they were finally able to see everything properly, from the moss covered walls to the mold on the wooden debris and several colonies of various fungus. Qira's fascination was briefly taken by the latter as she took out her journal to make a few rough sketches for later. Kaljei interrupted her by pressing a strip of cloth into her hand.
"Tie it around your mouth," He instructed, pointing to the nearby moss. "Manahele, let's not linger for too long. The poison from it could risk paralyzing us."
"So that's why there are no animals. It must have trapped any that came inside to find shelter." Qira commented, turning her head to look around as she began to notice how much of it was around. "Shouldn't it be reacting to the light? They're supposed to dislike it."
"Sunlight. The lantern won't affect the Manahele. Didn't your learn any of this while working for your grandmother?" Kaljei sounded surprised as he spoke and started to move more cautiously around as he investigated the room.
"I learned to treat it and recognise medicinal herbs, not how to spot harmful ones. Also, i'm not considered done learning until I take over her post anyway, so it isn't like i'm supposed to know everything off the top of my head; it is why I take notes." Qira gave him an irritated look over what she considered obvious. Shaking her head, the pair resumed looking around the room again, being careful to avoid the moss. After some time, Qira noticed writing on the stone walls. There was a calendar etched into the stone, but it didn't seem quite right to her. "They put a calendar here, though it doesn't seem like the imperial one. Our calendar doesn't have a winter or summer solstice, does it?"
Kaljei came over to look at it, bringing the lantern up so they could better see the old carvings. "Not in the one we use back home. When are those periods?"
"It seems to be around a quarter into the year and three fourths. Though... Sahi mentioned it once. Their calendars are different up north, past the empire's influence. So if I remember correctly, they start their year in what they call winter. Though I wonder..." Qira hesitated before placing her hand on the brick mentioning the winter solstice and tried to push it.
The brick was loose, though she had to put effort into pushing it in until she heard a click and jumped back in surprise, falling into Kaljei's arms and almost toppling them both over. They stared at the wall, expecting more to happen as Kaljei helped Qira get her balance, but as nothing did, he instead walked over to the wall to examine it. Poking around, he placed both his hands against the wall and pushed, which worked. The wall began to slowly swing open, the stone scraping against the floor, revealing a dust covered tunnel behind it. With a shared glance, Kaljei took the lead, walking down the tunnel with the lantern held high, and Qira followed closely behind.
