[The Rusty Goblet - Nov 2001] You better watch out (Valda)

click clack click clack

The noise was like music in her ears.

click clack click clack

It was comforting and made her feel confident.

click clack click clack

She glanced sideways. Burmin was walking in step with her. His bony skeletal feet colliding with the pavement with every step he made made a sound similar to the one of high heels just so much more complex. Alla smiled at her bony companion fondly. It had been years ago that she had first animated him and ever since her skills had improved and she now kept him at her side most of the time because she felt incomplete without him. Burmin was more than a skeleton animated to act as her personal servant. He had become kind of a friend. She talked to him as though he could actually answer back. When he was not with her she felt almost naked as she missed him so much.

She could not say why she had decided to come to Belushya Guba today. It had been a spur of the moment kind of thing. The young witch wanted to use her day off work doing something nice. A little shopping, a little socialising... that kind of thing had been on her mind when she had travelled to the wizarding village with Burmin. Maybe she even was a little sentimental. Her last two years at school had been eventful and ground-breaking for the Klyk Vampira graduate. She had been made tsaritza, had enjoyed special attention from the headmaster himself, had received private necromancy tutorings and, well, it had also been the time of birth of her bony friend. Suddenly the girl had been more than just one among others. She had been singled out for her position, her above average skill level in Necromancy and she had also felt smug because of her secret meetings with Anton Petrovich.

After her graduation she had been back at Belushya Guba a few times. After all her sister Lyudmila still studied at Durmstrang and she rather liked the village anyway. A reminiscent expression spread across her face as she felt reminded of all the shopping trips and other adventures at the place. She could feel the looks they received from people at Belushya Guba. Mostly students seemed to be amazed by Burmin who was walking next to her as though he was her servant, carrying a handback for her. Even in the wizarding world people didn't see animated skeletons all the time. This was a fact that made Alla feel quite smug. She had reached a skill level that was above average and she knew it. However, instead of resting on her laurels, the Klyk Vampira graduate kept challenging herself with more complicated tasks and risky experiments.

The Muscovite walked through Belushya Guba for a while, just enjoying the attention she got. Some of the older students might even remember her and Burmin but Alla could not put any names to the faces she saw. While the young Necromancer's work was undoubtedly impressive, she looked a little like a zombie herself these days. Her complexion was pale, her movements weak and she was easily exhausted. Yet, she did not want to allow herself to rest. She still had so many experiments to work on, so many things she wanted to achieve.

However, even if Alla did not allow herself a day in bed or anything equally recreative, she soon felt like it was time to sit down for a little while at least. Therefore, Alla stepped into the Rusty Goblet and looked for an empty table. Feeling a little dizzy all of a sudden, she almost stumbled and had to steady herself on the backrest of a chair on which a girl sat. Sweat pearls were forming on her forehead as she tried to steady herself and keep her pet skeleton under control.

"I'm sorry," she muttered to the girl and made Burmin move on. "He must have pushed me," she added in order to lighten up the situation and shift the attention from herself to Burmin.

@Valda Pavlycheva
OOC: It took me quite long but here it is. Finally. I hope it's okay. Let me know if I need to change anything <33

Though Valda had agreed to go out to Belushya Guba with a few of her friends, she found herself remaining behind at the Rusty Goblet to enjoy a warm bowl of Zharkoye while she caught up on her studies. There were small bottles and packets of different herbs and healing potions set out before her. Those were gathered to be practiced and used on her mother when she would get home. She had studied enough herbal medicines and was now trying to focus back on her school work. Many of her classes were easy to understand, but she found herself struggling to grasp Necromancy and how it was done. For too long, she had tried to avoid the magic, wanting to use only light magic. Now, she was growing desperate. In the texts before her, she had learned that she could use Necromancy to to learn of things yet to come and hidden knowledge. Perhaps turning to the dark magic would be her best way to find how to heal her mother.

She was straining over the text, closing her eyes and attempting to visualize how the rituals and ceremonial-like summonings occurred. Her mind couldn't wrap around it, nor some of the terms used to describe different branches of Necromancy and what needed to be done. Her head was starting to hurt. The only good her Zharkove was doing at the moment was helping relieve her of congestion. She took a pinch of dried Passionflower out of one of the small pouches in front of her and sprinkled it into the warm cup of of water beside her. "That should help me get rid of this headache," the redhead muttered to herself as she leaned back in her chair and took a sip of the freshly made cup of tea once the herbs had time to submerge and distribute their healing properties evenly throughout the water. Her headaches had come from studying too much and the congestion from the constant cold air and unpredictable weather, if it would rain or snow. Just like her personality, her sinuses seemed to appreciate a constant in the weather, not crazy fluctuations.

As she was putting the cup back on the table, she was shoved forward. She jumped as a result of the sudden push, spilling some of her herbal drink over her hand. Instinctively, she began to apologize before she saw who was behind her. "No no no. I was leaning back too far. I'm sorry." She quickly fumbled amongst the papers and books, pushing them away from the smallest spill and wiped her hand off on her pants at the same time. Once she did look up, she was shocked to see Alla Chaikovskaya before her. What was more astonishing was the walking skeleton beside her. Alla's bony friend was a confirmation to any who doubted her capabilites in Necromancy. She was pretty much a legend amongst the younger years. Valda had seen her a couple times in the school during her third and fourth years before Alla graduated.

The younger Klyk Vampira never had the courage to talk to Alla. To be honest, the necromancer frightened her and she had avoided her at all costs. Now, things were different and rather than being afraid of her, she was inspired her. Necromancy was a difficult magic to perform, but the woman before her seemed to perform effortlessly. There had been rumors spreading around the school and Belushya Guba that her powers and abilities were increasing. To see her now and be in her presence, Valda thought was by God.

Once she had snapped out of her obsessive trance, Alla was already on her way to her own seat at an empty table. Valda was now getting over the fact that the creator of the walking skeleton had run into her, and was now focusing on her complexion. There wasn't something right about her health. She didn't peel hey eyes away until Alla seemed to be glued to a chair, sitting down slowly and relaxing once she was there.

Here was her chance. Right in the same room, only tables away, she could ask the best necromancer for help to aid her in gaining knowledge regarding her mother's future. Uneasiness was overcoming her as she turned back to the potions, powders, and pouches of the herbs. Her fingers tapped on the table's surface as she tried to figure out the best way to approach and ask Alla for the help. The longer she stared at the herbs, the more she couldn't help but think of Alla's appearance. Suddenly, a brilliant thought came to bind as she measured out different herbs and blended them together in a small pouch.

Valda took her own cup of Passionflower tea in hand with the small pouch and its contents she had just conjured up in her other. It was a spur of the moment that Valda found herself walking over to Alla. Soon enough, she stood before her. Had she wasted another second thinking and analyzing how things could go out and if she should talk to Alla, she would've psyched herself out and would have never raised from her seat.

"I'm sorry I was in your way. Here," She placed the small canvas pouch before her idol, avoiding the gaze of the skeletal person. "It's a mixture of Ginger, Lemon, and Chamomile. It should help with any dizziness and or uneasiness you may be having. I noticed you weren't feeling too well when we collided so I made you this. You only need a little, but you can put it on food or in a drink." She placed her hand out before her. Am I really doing this? I can't believe it. Why? Why am I doing this>
I've never even spoken to her! She's going to think I'm so weird. "Valda. My name is Valda Pavlycheva."

Why the girl she had almost bumped into apologised to her was something Alla did not really understand nor did she try to. If the other witch wanted to take the blame for this little incident then that was fine with her. "It's fine," the young necromancer muttered slightly bemused and offered a weak smile. She decided to leave the girl to herself and made her way to an empty table while Burmin followed right behind her. They both took a seat at the table but Alla spared herself the effort of letting Burmin pull back a chair for her. Usually she liked to make him behave all gentleman like but right now she couldn't be bothered.

She sighed as she sat down and closed her eyes for a brief moment. This was already better. She took out a handkerchief and dried her forehead just as a waiter already appeared next to her. Since the girl came here regularly they did not stare at Burmin nor were they astonished when she ordered two cups of black tea. It wasn't unusual for Alla to place an order for her bony friend. In fact, the girl sometimes entertained the public, letting Burmin pretend to actually drink and eat just like living people did. However, if she went through with it entirely it was bound to end in a mess she had to tidy up afterwards. Therefore, no matter how much people cheered her on, she never went further than letting him pretend he had tea.

Today Alla only ordered the cup of tea for Burmin because somehow it felt impolite not to get her pet skeleton anything. She did not intend to entertain staff and visitors at the Rusty Goblet now. In fact, she hoped for some peace and quiet to rest so she'd gather some strength to continue her trip through Belushya Guba later on.

When she heard steps behind her, the young necromancer was convinced that the waiter would bring the tea but to her big surprise the girl she had met earlier was suddenly standing next to her. Alla looked at her slightly bewildered. What did she want? Soon enough the girl spoke and Alla raised her eyebrows in astonishment. It was rare that people actually looked at her when she was out with Burmin. Usually her bony friend got all the attention. The Klyk Vampira graduate wasn't sure what she thought of this. It was a little odd, even uncomfortable that the student had picked up on her not feeling well and Alla did not really like it. If anyone was to look at her specifically when Burmin was with her then to admire her skill and not to comment on her unhealthy look.

The girl meant well, of course, offering her herbs that should make her feel better but Alla still felt like snapping at her that she should mind her own business especially because she doubted the things the other girl offered would help her at all. How presumptuous of her to comment on her not being well and to think she could help her at all. Alla looked at her for a moment, not giving away whether she approved of the offer or not as she tried to figure out what she should do. She could tell the other girl to leave her alone easily enough. She was not obliged to be polite and welcoming. She could play long and try the herbs that would change nothing to demonstrate that her condition was not easy to improve. Or she could try and find out why the girl, who had in the meantime introduced herself as Valda Pavlycheva, was approaching her at all. Alla doubted that she was just being kind. Few people were like that and she doubted this girl was one of them.

"Alla Artyomovna Chaikovskaya," Alla introduced herself, feeling that she should at least respond to Valda's introduction. "And this is Burmin," she said, gesturing at the skeleton. She paused for a moment, still unsure how to react to the other girl's offer.

"Thank you very much for your kind offer," she finally began her tone lacking a bit the warmth that should go along with the words she spoke, "but, honestly, I'm quite alright. I guess I just needed a break from shopping. Burmin loves to go shopping and sees no end there." She smiled weakly. "Have you been to The Weasel's Brew to get these things?" Alla asked more to distract from her feeble joke than out of interest. She often went to the shop as it offered a vast amount of potion supplies both conventional things and magical ones.

The encounter alone was enough to make Valda want to shrink back and hide. She knew she was unwanted company. Her cheeks were slowly growing pink from the embarassment she felt of intruding Alla and her time, but the redhead couldn't walk away. Alla was a good promise that she had answers to being such a powerful witch. Her dark brown eyes shifted over to Burmin, but only for a second. The Klyk wasn't sure what to do so she gave him a slight not of her head before reverting her attention back to the necromancer.

"Uh.. yes. I did. These are just some of the most accessible ingredients there. If you ever need to make some more and the powder works for you, you can definitely get them there," she swallowed softly, hesitant to keep the conversation going. Alla wasn't turning her away, so there was some hope. Of course, Valda knew she'd have to act soon if she were to get the answers and help she so desperately sought.

The waiter soon came and Valda stepped back to give him room to serve Alla. Her eyebrows wrinkled together when she saw the cup placed before Burmin. How does he drink it? He doesn't even have a stomach! She does know he's a skeleton and doesn't have any human attributes that allow him to live, right? She knows he's just a skeleton? Her feet stayed in place. Valda took a sip of her own drink as she waited for them to be left alone again. It was awkward. Now, she was hovering. She was starting to hate her decision more and more. For the time it took for the waiter to put the cups down and have the usual chit-chat of enjoying an order felt like an eternity. Valda didn't have an eternity to save her mother. She had maybe a year. The time could be less than what she planned.

She pondered during this moment how she would ask Alla for help. The young student certainly wasn't about to open with the fact that her mother was dying and she needed to learn how to master magic in order to save her. Pity and caution were always the result she got when she told someone. This was not the reaction she wanted from Alla.

The second the waiter had left and there was an opening, Valda heard herself speak before she had finalized on what she would say. "You're the most powerful witch I've ever met. I need you to teach me how to perform magic so well. I need you to teach me how to use necromancy to learn about the future and communicate with the dead. I-" Valda's eyes went wide when she heard herself. That was not how she had imagined it playing out. She felt her cheeks go from pink to red and to have the heat travel up to the tips of her ears. Surely, her words would frighten Alla away and she'd be dismissed. At least now, her reason for coming over to Alla was out in the air. Valda was serious about getting help. No matter what Alla would say, she wasn't going to give up easily. To demonstrate this, she sat in the chair across from Alla, though she felt small and as if the two across from her were indignant of her company. "I'm running out of options. I'll do absolutely anything to learn from you."

Alla felt too tired to actually pick up on Valda's quite obvious discomfort with the situation. While the young necromancer saw the reddened cheeks of the other girl she did not think about the reasons for it. All that she wanted now was to overcome her own weakness. She did not like the kind of attention that Valda was giving her, pointing out that she was unwell and not focusing on Burmin entirely. Usually she could hide so well behind her masterpiece. Why didn't it work this time?

When Valda confirmed that she had got the herbs from the Weasel's Brew, Alla nodded. She knew the shop quite well, having been a regular customer there especially during the last years of her time at Durmstrang. Nowadays she did not go there as much anymore. She knew other places where she could get her potion ingredients. In fact, the girl nowpre preferred shops that also sold things that were not accessible in an environment dominated by students. She did not feel like saying so though. It would take too much effort to do so and would probably also prolong the conversation unnecessarily.

Apparently Valda was still under the impression to have offered something immensely helpful to Alla and the Klyk Vampira graduate felt tempted to tell her that it was hardly this simple to make her feel better. The presumption that a student like her could find out what was wrong with her in an instant and cure her affliction with just some common herbs was infuriating. If it had been this easy to identify the problem and make her feel better she'd have done so herself. Well, truth be told Alla was quite aware what caused her distress and she knew what she'd have to do to make herself feel better. The only problem with that was that she did not want to do that as it meant experimenting less.

The headache was getting worse now and Alla massaged her forehead, hoping for some relief. The waiter brought her tea now and the Muscovite saw out of the corner of her eye that Valda seemed surprised because Burmin got a drink of his own. She hid a smile now, not intending to comment on that at all. She thanked the waiter and put her hands around her cup of tea, enjoying the warmth.

Surprise was written all over Alla's face when she heard what Valda said once the waiter left them alone. The young necromancer felt flattered, of course, but at the same time she could hardly believe what she heard. It was nice to know that her work was valued but there were so many powerful witches and wizards at Durmstrang that it felt like Valda's compliment was off somehow. She probably wanted something anyway. People were always nice and flattered others when they wanted something, after all.

She was right. Valda wanted help from her. Alla looked at her quite curiously, listening to the other girl's words. To be honest, Alla did not fancy wasting her time teaching the other girl how to use necromancy, especially not because Valda's take on the subject sounded different from her own. However, Alla was always looking for a guinea pig. In the past when she had only just started making necromancy experiments on her own she had used her sister for that but Lyuda was not going to be tricked into something like that anymore. Besides Alla did not want to have to answer to her parents if anything went wrong. Valda seemed like a good alternative.

"You are aware that Necromancy and Divination are two entirely different subjects though, right?" She asked. "If you are seriously interested in learning about Necromancy though I might be able to help you get a better insight into this branch of magic." She lifted her cup of tea to her lips, taking a sip of the hot beverage. Putting down the cup again she looked at Valda thoughtfully. "You sound desperate," Alla stated and waited if the other girl wanted to explain the motivation behind her approach.

She pursed her lips at Alla's comment. The way she had carried herself was not professional. She realized just how childish she was behaving. At least Alla was blunt and went straight to the point. Valda didn't have that confidence to be so blatant about her purpose and reasoning. "I am desperate. I'm running out of time, sources, and ideas." Perhaps Valda could keep her secret hidden for their entire time interacting with each other. "I do want to learn more about Necromancy. I know there's a difference between the two subjects I'm-"

Her words caught in her throat. Could she really humble herself to the powerful witch and admit she could barely perform 1st and 2nd year spells? Was this fact important to Valda learning the branch of magic? Or could she simply slip by without revealing herself? She decided not to admit it- not yet. "I'm searching for answers and I know that divination is seeking knowledge for the future, almost like the records the Greeks hold of heroes seeking the advice of an Oracle." There was the slightest pause, but a moment of doubt slipped into her mind that Alla did not know about Oracles? Valda still hadn't learned if they were of the muggle world or wizarding world, but she had gone to lengths to study the ancient culture of Greek when she wasn't studying herbology or other school subjects. "Necromancy is similar in the sense of gaining information for the future, but it is used to communicate with the dead to predict it, not know with a surety what will happen."

Perhaps, it would be beneficial to spill the beans about why I want to communicate with the dead so earnestly. I don't have to spill all the beans, just a few to help her see a little more into my reasoning.

Sitting here, conversing with Alla, Valda had started to relax slightly in front of the skeleton's voidless eyes. She was excited that Alla had agreed to help Valda learn more about necromancy, and this was only making her more excited. Her smile was starting to grow, though the redheaded Klyk was trying so hard to suppress her feelings and hide her excitement. She could tell she was miserably failing quickly. "I'm serious about learning necromancy! I'll make myself free whenever you want me. When do we start?" With her own cup of tea raised, only hiding a portion of her widening grin, her eyes twinkled with excitement. Valda was nervous at the same time. She wasn't sure what was in store, but for the moment, she was more ecstatic about having the opportunity to learn from Alla than she was concerned about what could happen or what she'd have to do to learn Necromancy.

Alla felt certain that Valda was not like she had been at her age. When Alla had been a student she had taken extra lessons in Necromancy from the headmaster himself. She had been eager to learn more about the subject than the regular classes offered. Valda, however, seemed to have missed the Necromancy classes in the past or else she'd have a better idea of what the subject was like.

While the student pretended that she knew the difference between Divination and Necromancy, Alla had to force herself not to shake her head and roll her eyes at the things Valda said. Although she claimed to know that the subjects were not the same, they sounded quite similar when Valda was talking about them. The more the younger girl said, the clearer it became to Alla that she would not gain an assistant for her Necromancy experiments but a student who had no idea what Necromancy was and most likely little talent to ever master this complicated and dark branch of magic.

She found herself contemplating different ways of how Valda could possibly be of use to her. As a source for blood, yes. Valda was undeniably a witch so her blood could be useful. However, would she give it willingly? The young necromancer tilted her head a little to the side as she tried to figure out if she could use Valda's blood to strengthen herself when she had overexerted herself with her experiments. She had a feeling that Valda would not like the idea unless maybe she could possess her mind. That, however, was the kind of experiment that Alla felt less confident about. She had struggled with human possession in the past and she did not want to be stuck in Valda's mind for all eternity. That would probably not be very satisfactory. She could, of course, poison her and then reanimate her corpse, making her her new servant. Yet, Alla did not really want to kill. There was always the risk of life imprisonment and she hardly wanted to spend the rest of her life in prison.

"Is Necromancy not an obligatory anymore when you start your education at Durmstrang?" Alla knew that it was still taught from the first year, of course. However, the lack of knowledge that Valda displayed made her voice the question anyway. Maybe she was not a Durmstrang student, after all. From her sister she had heard everything about the merge with Koldovstoretz and she was pretty certain that the other school did not have Necromancy on their curriculum.

"I must admit I'm a little astonished by your explanation of this field of magic as it's not correct. You really seem to have very little knowledge of Necromancy. In fact, it sounds as though you missed all lessons in the past. Necromancy has nothing to do with predicting the future. We also do not communicate with the dead. We can summon corpses and animate skeletons. We can possess other beings and make them do our bidding. If you are looking for a way to talk to a deceased relative you won't achieve that through Necromancy. If you want a dead person to fill you in on the future or talk to you about how it is to die, I must disappoint you. That's not what Necromancy is about."

Alla paused and took a sip from her tea while looking at the girl intensely, hoping that her glare alone was enough to stop her from speaking before she got the chance to say a bit more herself.

"If you are still serious about studying Necromancy now I must ask you to spend some time reading up on the subject. If you're still interested when you have a clearer image of this branch of magic, we can meet again and talk about the conditions under which I will teach you."