The Non-Human Society

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen - Renn - The Clothed Woman

     The Clothed Woman was... different.

And not just in appearance.

There was a strange smell around her. I wasn't able to place it, but regrettably a part of me... was disgusted by it. It made me feel horrible to think such a thing, to be repulsed by her scent... but it was the truth.

Her stink wasn't because of an odor, however. It was something else. Something I couldn't understand. She didn't smell as if she was dirty, or unwashed. Nor did she stink because of... whatever she wore, or was wearing beneath her white robes.

Something told me it was more innate. Something that most others probably didn't even smell, or couldn't smell. It was so subtle sometimes, that I even wondered if Vim smelled it.

Was it because of what she was? Or was it something else? Something she did, or ate?

"Sometimes I sew clothing... I give it to Brandy when she visits," the Clothed Woman said as she quickly moved her needle.

I nodded as I watched her patch white cloth. The same color as the robes she wore. It almost seemed like it was another set, but it wasn't big enough. Maybe it was a part of her dress? The robes she wore all looked sewn together, but that didn't mean they really were or always were.

Sitting across from her, we sat in the open living room together. We had pulled the chairs away from the table and were sitting near the corner of the room. She was sewing, and I was just sitting and talking to her.

"I enjoy crafting as well," I said. I wasn't sure if I should tell her I had spent time at the smithy. Not because I wanted to hide it... but I worried she'd stop treating me kindly if she learned.

There was a good chance she didn't like Nebl, or his family. Based off the odd woman's penchant for hating our own kind.

"Most of our kind do. We get too old to not become restless," she said.

I nodded and agreed with that.

"Do you plan to make a home in Lumen?" she asked.

"No. Vim wants me to meet Brandy, as to learn from her," I said.

"Learn...?" Her sewing didn't stop but she did look at me. Or at least, it seemed like she did. Her head turned, and by all accounts one would think she was staring... yet somehow, for some reason... I felt as if she wasn't.

I shrugged, and felt bad when I did. If my instincts were right and she really wasn't looking at me, it was rude not to speak my thoughts aloud. "I'm not sure. He just wants me to spend some time with her, I think," I said.

"Ah... maybe there's something you must learn from her. Vim is odd in his ways, but as strange as his methods are they're still productive," she said.

Her words seemed rude, but I could hear her genuine tone when she spoke of Vim.

She liked him. Maybe not the way a woman liked a man... but rather a person. She relaxed when he was nearby, and it was noticeable enough that even I could see it without being able to see her finer features.

But her feeling safe and comfortable around the protector was something most did.

"Is Lumen as big as it looks? I saw it from that massive bridge in the mountains. It looked... as big as Telmik," I said.

"Bigger, actually. It runs along the coastline, for the boats, and then runs up the mountain. It also goes into the mountain too, although I've been told they no longer are digging into it anymore," the Clothed Woman said.

"Bigger?" I asked.

She nodded, her sewing pausing just a moment as she rearranged some of the cloth. She wanted to sew another side tighter.