#ziven bartosz

Ziven spends the better part of a minute staring at Lizard from the house’s doorway. Bipedal reptiles are by no means a common sight in town. Nether, as far as she is aware this is the first, though if she had to guess a skeleton in a nightgown is probably a first for them too.

Are you a skeleton?

Seemingly so, if that last word is what she thinks it is. Not so fun trying to read a reptile mouth for the first time. Raising a hand to breast height, she makes a slow knocking motion in confirmation.* Looking them up and down again, she fires back with a question of her own.

Opening her hand so that her four fingers are stretched and separated, she quickly closes them together and slides her entire arm sideways in the direction of her elbow. Ziven then points a finger at Lizard, raises a fist palm-out thumb-free, then finally moves the fist to her mouth and makes two snap-like motions with her thumb and index finger.

*Yes?

**And you a Lizard?

Pausing under a gap in the leafy canopy, Ziven turns their neck this way and that evaluating her surroundings. There are a few mobs some chunks out that she goes on to glance towards but otherwise nothing catches her attention. Their bearing regained and threats evaluated she is about to move on when she senses a new aura: Human, alone, approaching.

With a small wheel she faces them - him - as they walk closer, almost immediately focusing on his exotic outfit and diamond weapon. An adventurer on the road, maybe? Looking up, now several chunks closer, she focuses on the stranger's mouth as he speaks. At his current distance and with her face practically parallel to his Addie can probably see that there are no eyes beneath the helmet's rim.

Cupping both her hands and pointing them in towards her breast Ziven then drops them to her side while flipping them over*. After that she turns at her hip to gesture back in the direction she came from. Her other hand still signs as she does so, making a V-shape that is first held up palm-out then lowered at the wrist to rotate in a circular shape, middle finger slightly lowered and index finger slightly raised.

The V see one more use as she keeps signing, her gesturing hand coming back in front of her sternum as a fist and the bunny ears resting on the hand's back. With one last sign she extends all the fingers a hand and places it in front of where her nose would be. One slight chopping motion later** and both her hands are resting at her side again.

*Lost

Once she was sure the gray man is done talking Ziven signs to make sure she “heard” right. Her upper arms close to her side she rocks her forearms almost as if doing curls, thumb and pinky out with her hands otherwise shut. “Currently.”

The silent sentinel raises their off hand to their mouth. Keeping her palm open and facing in, her fingers out and together, she then relaxes her arm at the elbow so that her forearm moves towards the Enderman. A quiet “Thank you” to an old acquaintance.

Not every day in Ziven’s unlife was filled with something interesting. Nether, before the miracle the majority were spent silently moving from one point to another looking for trouble or misfortune that never came. The restoration had done something to add a bit of flair to her daily routine, give her something to think about or appreciate, but there were still moments when she felt like a golem going through its motions.

Today was shaping up to be one of those days. With nothing of interest happening Ziven had settled into routine: Walk a trail, put down the occasional zombie lurking in the shade or hiding in a ditch, continue to the road’s end. Rinse and repeat until out of patience or paths, then find a way to keep from going insane before starting over.

Halfway through the process she had a distraction throw itself into her lap in the form of a lone wander. Human, going by their face and her -sense. But why? And their armour…

"Oh hey, you’re different. Where is that armor come from?"

Ah, an adventurer. It took a special kind of folk to wander in full plate and ask where another person’s armour came from. The kind of folk that most people in polite society lumped together and referred to as ‘adventurer’.

"Hmn, I could ask the same of you." Ziven didn’t know of any armourers that used colored glass in their work, and something was different about the overall design. "That’s not a common make. But to answer your question…" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, but the right person to ask died about three years ago. My armour was commissioned by the late Towarzysz Jedrek. I did not purchase it myself, or for that matter know those who they used for maintenance. You would do better to ask around one of the larger cities, use some emerald to loosen some lips if you’re looking to get one for yourself."

(M!A Talking Ziven 4/5)

Over a month had passed since Ziven had rediscovered sound. Since the unexpected development she had spent far less time patrolling the roads and far more amongst the company of her peers. A selfish indulgence, one that had likely cost some traveler their coin or life in her absence, but few could grudge her for it. For almost twelve years she had been denied one of the most basic aspects of human interaction. Did she not deserve the chance to make up for lost time?

It was during one of these proverbial nights on the town that she was hit with a stickler of a question. Was there something about herself she’d like to know more about? “Maybe,” was her initial answer. “I’ll need a few moments to think.” Was there anything? She knew her family tree well enough, had accepted her vices and virtues before and after death, didn’t exactly have to worry about any predispositions any longer, so why did the question linger in her mind?

Eventually she had her answer. “Not… especially, no. But yes. I can think of something. Why did I rise when the others did not? Though I suppose that’s cheating. The mystery of Life and Death is one of the biggest questions.”

(M!A Talking Ziven 3/5)

Ziven shrugs in response, her hand tightening around her saber's grip when Donovan moves in closer. "I do not know. Possibly the same reason I can walk without muscles, see without eyes." Wheeling back towards her original path she ducks under the low hanging branches. "Or possibly not. I'd rather not look at this given horse's teeth."