Olivia, stood by the shelves, started pulling out volumes here and there, trying to mentally work out how far out they'd need to map.
She headed to an empty desk, noticing Kane admiring the books. She set her own armful down and walked up to him. It had been a long time since these rooms had been appreciated, and she couldn't help but be happy a new pair of eyes had been set upon them.
"My mother collects fairytales," she told him, gesturing to a glass cabinet full of colourfully illustrated and masterfully caligraphied books. "All first editions."
Kane tried his best to hide back his admiration but knew it showed, "Our stories don't get written down.. they're spoken and passed down from generation to generation… we have a few books, all in our native tongue."
Olivia smiled at his expression of wonder, equally fascinated by his people's system. "Do you want to see the books?" she asked after a moment, patting a small key sewn into her dress.
Kane’s head snapped to Olivia and he nodded, looking much like an over grown puppy who just got a new toy, “Could I? Please?”
Olivia let out a light laugh. Tugging the key out of its pocket, she went to the cabinet and, unlocking it carefully, pulled out a copy of Rapunzel. She brought it over to Kane, very gently setting it in hands.
Kane held the book carefully, running his hands over the front of the book, “Ra… Rapun… Rapunzel…” He muttered, sounding out the unfamiliar word.
Olivia arched an eyebrow in surprise– had he not been taught to read properly? Expecting he'd be embarrassed to be asked the question, she decided to move past it and try to tell. "It's a sort of vegetable, and also the name of the main character. She's named after it because in the original story the evil witch who kidnapped the princess grew Rapunzel in her garden," Olivia explained.
Kane nodded a little and flipped open to the first page, then the next. He mainly looked at the pictures then the words, not knowing what some of them meant or how to say them, “We don’t have stories like that…” He muttered.
Kane was flipping through the pages, not paying attention to the words as much as the pictures.
Olivia casually walked up to the desk where she set the necessary books and lazily started rifling through the top one.
"Do they teach you to read in a speech-oriented culture?" she asked lightly.
"Depends. Everyone learns how to read the native tongue. We learn how to speak most of yours but not all… and not how to read it…" He admitted quietly with a small shrug.
Olivia nodded, hearing his voice go apart quiet. She didn't react, only opened the book she assumed would be a good start.
She beckoned to Kane.
Kane closed the book shut but didn't put it down. He walked over to Olivia, looking at the books she'd laid out.
(oof sorry.)
She pointed at the nearest one. "The Palace is here. Is your village on this map?"
Kane shook his head but pointed to a small spot surrounded by mountains further North, "It's not, but that's where it is," He dragged his finger and pointed to an area further west, "We've noticed scouts around here but we're mainly being attacked from the east."
Olivia looked up at Kane in confusion. "The East? Aren't those flatlands? We would've noticed them by now."
"Magic, remember? And some dark form of it, too," Kane's fist clenched on the map, "We've tried to find a spell or something that would show them but… nothing. Nothing even in the ancient books of ours…"
Olivia studied Kane– he seemed deeply troubled. She paused a moment, letting it all sink in. Dark magic wielding invisible creatures, easily killing off shifters; this wasn't a game anymore, not a distraction. This was a real danger to Kane's species and her own.
She looked back at the maps. "What do you know about the scouts?"
"They hate sunlight," He said quickly, "Always stick to the shadows. They look… like us for the most part but they still look like something out of a nightmare…"
"If we had a sketch…" Olivia thumbed through pages of maps, reviewing the East regions. "Would you recognise them?"
Kane nodded, running his fingers over the map, "I would, yes."
Studying the maps, Olivia pointed to a far shelf. "Those are dedicated to creatures, animals," she explained. "We might find something."
Kane picked up the book and pulled up a chair, sitting down and opening up to the first page, "Let's hope so."
Meanwhile Olivia spread the maps out in front of her; she attempted to locate the village in relation to the palace, and every spot she knew in between. It would be nearly impossible to fight in the flatlands, but has as impossible to herd the enemy away from them… She rubbed her eyes with a nervous sigh– she'd never had the mind of a military.
Kane found nothing in the first book, much to his disappointment. He picked up another book and did a scan, finding the creature within seconds, "Here! I found it." He pointed to a creature that looked a lot like a human only with one eyes, no mouth and no nose and no hair of any kind.
(hey, I'm so sorry, lots of stuff going on)
Olivia looked up at Kane's exclamation and bounded over to him, nervous but relieved to find out what they were dealing with. She looked down at the picture and wrinkled her nose. "Oh man, that's ugly."
