♫
Watching the dismissal of the dwarf, Vivianna didn’t feel an ounce of hurt despite the fact that her favorite subject was dismissed so easily. Instead, she tilted her head and tried to understand where the dwarf was coming from; to empathize with him as much as possible. Of course, without growing up in the same environment, same culture and more, such a feat would eventually be impossible. She took a sip of her tea. Tasty. She would, however, save her words for later.
After asking him how he wanted to be remembered, several ideas of her own future came to her head. Despite not exactly being one, she suffered from the common fault of humans which was losing focus while listening to someone. However, her nature quickly put an end to it and she brought her attention back to Kurdran, listening to every single syllable, better than ever this time. The questions had made some wheels in the man's brain turn, apparently.
When Kurdran finally finished talking, during which Vivianna was very attentive, she just raiser her palms facing him and stood still for a while.
"There are many ways to be remembered, isn't there?" Separating her hands, a glowing white ink appeared in the space between. The blobs of ink made a small figure similar to Kurdran; a dwarven man with some fantastic hair, standing proudly with his chest puffed and his hands on his hips. Smaller blobs of ink made a crowd around him. Cheering him on. The dwarf then raised his foot and a head of a beast appeared there, the crowd cheering, even more, this time.
"A hero who slew a great beast; loved for his strength."Bringing her hands together and re-opening them, she rearranged the scene. This time a lone dwarf, the same figure with Kurdran's hair from before, kneeled alone in a field of flowers. It looked like it had a cape of some short, or was wrapped in a blanket. The figure reached for a single flower in front of him and picked it up, smiling.
"A tender soul that taught his people to love and happiness; loved for his kindness."Repeating the same motion, she rearranged the scene. This time, the dwarven figure was standing in front of a table, with others all around it, but sitting. Raising his hand, he stabbed the table and everyone in the room nodded. Proud, the figure looked around at others and started to listen to them.
"A strategist with the keenest mind; loved for his intelligence."Repeating the same motion, she rearranged the scene for the last time. This time the dwarven man jumped to save a kid from the foot of a giant beast but got crushed himself. The kid ran away safely.
"A noble soul with no self; loved for his sacrifice."Letting her hands go, the glowing ink slowly disappeared. Her expression was somber. She took another sip of her tea, but her hands were shaking a tiny amount.
"Your story being a book doesn't mean it will be less remembered you know," she began to speak with a slight smile.
"Someone can read it, learn from it, love you for it and then tell others about it. Be affected by it for the rest of their lives. If it's a book, then someone years later can pick it up and relight your memory. If it was just passed on as words, don't you think the story would be twisted eventually? Then only the stars would know the truth," she said with a calm tone.
"That's what I think at least," she said with a broader smile and reached for the other fish on the fire. Twiddling the stick between her two hands, she looked down at the sands, then the beach itself.
"How I want to be remembered is... a bit more boring, I'd say," she said and paused.
"I want to be an accomplished author, you see. I want to reach out to people with my words, to make them feel a whole array of emotions, to make them... to make them forget whatever it is that is making them sad if only for a few pages," Vivianna spoke, her eyes lost in her dream.
"However, I am also a healer. Being remembered as a soul that helped prevent a great plague or an attack or... something would be nice too; in fact, I could be remembered as the woman that helped the brave dwarf that slew the dragon," she said chuckling.
"Which means that I have a long path in front of me, I must train my arts and my magic. Thankfully, they are connected," she said and then took a bite of the trout, the taste immediately bringing a smile to her lips.
Breathing in and gathering her courage, she turned to Kurdran rather swiftly. She was excited to have come to this point.
"How do your people, the ones back at home remember you; or well, think of you Kurdran?"