This is who I am (Fois)

[Rista]

She stared after the disappearing bird with a numb feeling hovering over her mind. It wasn't like when she had gotten angry and lashed out at Eoin only to realize that she had misunderstood him, nor was is like the time when Sairque Endal had placed her in charge of a group of yasi that hated her guts. Both times she had felt her mind cease to function, felt how her thoughts recoiled from fear or shame as if she had been struck by a mental blow. It was similar, but not the same. The shame she had felt then couldn't possibly compare to the one she was feeling now, and her fear over her own weakness was stronger than anything she had come across before. Seconds passed as the words of the grand eagle replayed in her mind, every time displaying his stare in vivid detail, her mind almost reveling in the feeling of his thoughts in her mind, how lazy curiosity had turned to scrutinizing, only to break out in disappointment at what he found.

A voice in the back of her head mumbled to itself, trying to find a reason for why she had ended up like this, so completely shattered from just some words. She had faced those before, even harsher still, and never had she reacted this way. Was it because she had opened up, dared to reveal something about herself? Perhaps, but she had done that before and been rejected. It was always bound to hurt, but not even her irrational fear of pain could explain this dumbfound staring she seemed to have engaged in.
Then, because he was an eagle? She had always admired them, always tried to picture her first meeting with one and the various ways it might turn out; everything from ending up as bonded and celebrated as Endal to being pecked to pieces and killed had she thought of, but never had she ever been able to think the thought that she could be judged and found to be of so small importance that it didn't even bother getting rid of her.
The humiliation of being so completely rejected rose, burned her copper cheeks until they glowed in ocher-red hues; the mist around her mind stirred, shifted, but didn't vanish. Not yet. She had to find an answer for herself, had to follow this trail to an end. So she was upset by the rejection of the magnificent creature; but that was to be expected, right? He had an Endal already after all, it wasn't like she was trying to bond with him. Thank all the gods in heaven that she wasn't, something mumbled within her with dry amusement; the beginning of a smirk twitched at her lips before it died away again. At the very least, that was a fate she wouldn't have to face.

The numbness was beginning to cease, her thoughts were given room to spread more easily, not as inhibited anymore. With cold, scrutinizing eyes she regarded herself from the outside, tried to see her as she must have looked through the eyes of the eagle. Small, strange, barely Inarta at all with those black eyes and dark hair. Short, possibly frail in built, though too young still to really be judged based on looks. Her words then, her behavior. She had spoken on request, never protested against neither the Endal nor the Eagle, hadn't hesitated in the slightest to follow their orders in following or revealing her inner core. Honest, yes, and earnest, but hardly very intelligent. The questions, and her replies then?
Once again, honesty beyond doubt, but also deeply rooted weakness. Doubt, about the worth of her life and her actions, about her blood and her right to be where she were. Loneliness too, a wish to rely on someone other than herself. Might be good, but paired with that much doubt it was bound to become unhealthy, a weak point that easily could be used, misused. She had a goal, yes, but it was based on fear; fear of not belonging, fear of not being good enough, fear of pain and humiliation and the fate that awaited her if she didn't evolve.

It was so simple, really. The girl was scared, and she had become paralyzed by it, unable to move either back or forth because of the things that might await her. Like a strike of a hammer the memory of her dream fell down upon her, brought back into the light by the symbolic thought. She remembered that dark desert she had been standing in, how fear and terror closed in all around her, and how two doors had been standing before her. She still wasn't sure what exactly they represented; she couldn't recall what the Dreamwalker had said, but a suspicion was beginning to grow within her. She was half, and right now she was in a way standing between two choices; or three, rather.

Either she could remain where she were, trapped by fear of things that might happen; eventually it would engulf her, eat her up, and that would be the end of her. Or she could swallow ignore her fear, carry on as she was and take the easy route, go to the Valintar and ask for a place among the Chiet once she turned fifteen and settle with whatever they chose to give her. It was a possibility, she could probably do all right like that; a mellow life as teacher or at the nursery, taking care of the yasi as they grew up; making a small niche for herself where she could survive, somehow.

And then there was a third option, one that had lingered in the back of her mind for a long time now, ever since old man Val spoke to her about her heritage the first time. She had ignored it, waved it away as impossible, silly, stupid, she had trampled the option and rubbed it under her heel, but still hadn't been able to completely crush it.

She could leave. Not forever, no of course not. Wind Reach was her home, she would never want to settle down and live the rest of her life away from this place. She loved it too much, was too strongly tied to the mountain and the eagles and the hard, stubborn, hot-headed and wonderfully warm people that lived here. No, but she could leave for a while, a little while to travel south and east, to the hot deserts of her fathers people, and maybe learn more about this other side of herself that so far only had caused grief.
The gatekeeper had awoken a curiosity within her, a desire to know more, and as she saw how well Kovac handled being half in this place that desire only grew stronger. He had accepted who he was it seemed, and because of that he was whole in a completely different way than she was. Age probably mattered too of course, but the girl thought it was more than that. Kovac -knew- who he was, what it meant to be Vantha as well as Inarta... Rista didn't. She knew next to nothing about the Chaktawe, and no matter how anyone explained or how she read in the books, it couldn't tell her anything. She had to see them, feel them for herself to understand, and that wasn't something she could do here.

The option was daunting, terrifying, but it was so alluring at the same time. The girl felt that she could have stared herself blind on it if she had been allowed, but slowly the reality was beginning to press down upon her, bringing her mind back to her current situation.

The numbness gave away and the yasi stirred, shifted and blinked as she looked around. The shadows of the room had barely moved at all, her musings couldn't have taken more than a few chimes, five or ten at the most. The humiliation of the dismissing words began to once again burn on her cheeks, but even so there wasn't even a thought about disobedience within her.
'Fetch a dek to finish cleaning' was the order that had been given, and from the eagle directly. That kind of thing overruled anything the Endal outside might have to say, and it was what finally pushed the little mongrel up on her feet; the dark fabric of her bryda were heavy with water that had seeped in from the floor and made them sag a bit on her hips, but at least it didn't show that they were wet. Leaning down to pick up the brush and the bucket, Rista felt oddly empty as she began to walk to the door.

That bird had been rather snarky, hadn't he? she complained to herself once her thoughts began to function more like they used to, the deep revelations about herself sinking back to be regarded when she could be alone. Snarky and arrogant; no wonder that the Endals were so harsh, when they had these kinds of thoughts in their head all the time. She had a slight headache herself from the invasion; she opened the door and stepped through it, then turned around and closed it thoroughly behind her. She might have made a fool out of herself, but she was going to be an obedient fool, thoroughly doing as the grand eagle had said.

"And I was not crying" she muttered to herself in futile defense, grumpy because she knew how childish she sounded when she talked to herself like this. And because it wasn't completely true. Her eyes were sore and the cheeks a little damp still, but that had been from pain and shock from his invasion of her mind, not from sadness or... Luckily there was no one to hear, since the eagle was long gone by now. The copper-skinned girl pushed her hair back behind the ear as she turned around and lifted her eyes... and froze, as the gaze landed on the Endal at the other side of the room.

A heartbeat passed, then two, and another, and Rista fought desperately to remember if she had seen the man stand there when she stepped out through the door. She couldn't remember for the life of her, nor did she have any idea how much he knew about the conversation between her and the eagle. Had he heard everything, had he been -aware- somehow, being bonded and all? More importantly, had he heard her comment just now, with her sulking tone and.. She didn't know, and it made it hard to meet those steady, blue eyes.

Her black gaze strayed and made use of the fact that it was impossible to tell where her pupils were faced, slid over his frame instead and couldn't help but notice the water that dripped from his red hair and rolled in gleaming beads over the bare well-toned chest. Had he been taking a bath? He must have been in a hurry up since he hadn't dried off, the bryda was plastering against his legs in a rather.. revealing way, and the young woman suddenly shoved a hand into her hair and looked away, feeling how her cheeks heated up.
Well, it couldn't be denied that he was a good looking man, it was true no matter how she twisted and turned, but how utterly inappropriate it was of her to react like this! And in this kind of situation, what had gone into her? Hopefully he'd take her red face for shame over being dismissed before she was finished with her chores; it'd be true as well, but frankly, with her thoughts in such a disarray as they were, that small fact ended up pretty low on her list of concerns.

"I'm sorry Endal" she finally managed to press forth, feeling a need to say something. "It seems I can't accept your reward at this point.. since my services were inadequate." She gave the apple a quick glance, her stomach giving her a sudden stab as reminder that it would be dinner soon; it wasn't that she didn't want it, but to accept it under conditions like these would have felt dishonest. She hadn't finished the task he had asked of her, after all...

[Fois]

”Seleer told that you broke into tears,” Fois nodded responding to her muttering and apology at the same time. He saw the effect that the Wind Eagle had on the girl in her nervousness, shame and uncomfortable feeling she expressed in her body language. At least that was how the Endal read the sings at a glance. ”You’re in no position to refuse, kiddo,” he lightly threw the apple towards her and it arched across the room. Fois wasn’t yet sure how he would go about proving Seleer wrong, but he had a feeling that speaking with her for a bit would be the best first step. He had a rough idea of what Rista’s conversation with the eagle was like, so the Endal wasn’t surprised that the girl looked shattered. This, however, might have also meant that his attempts were destined to fail, since he was a much worse talker than the bird and not a very good one in general. ”Sit down for a bit before going to fetch that Dek,” he motioned towards the chair nearby. His tone was rather gentle yet it still sounded like a command. Waiting for the girl to take a seat, he rested his right ankle on a knee and threw back his head to remove wet hair that were covering part of his face before returning his gaze on her. Fois searched his mind for clues of how he should begin, yet all that his thoughts offered were questions about what he was doing. Was it an attempt to show off and impress Seleer or a game of teasing the bird? Was he feeling guilty about sending a Yasi for such a menial task where she got hurt and abused, even if not physically, or was he questioning the views that he so willingly adopted from the Wind Eagle? He didn’t consider or accepted any of those thoughts, but his mind didn’t reject them either. The Endal just tried hard to dismiss the deeper pondering for the time being, making room for the issue at hand. He looked at the girl that didn’t seem to have anything Inartan about her and wondered how she could be one. What made a person an Inartan to begin with? Was it red hair? Looks that were similar to everyone else around? The love for birds, heights and sky? Those were only the things that made one appear to look like Inarta. To actually be one, the person had to live as one of the Wind Reach people. Part of the town, part of the community. Survival of the race were their driving goal and everybody played a role in that. Everybody understood that they had to. Seleer taught him of duty to the community and he got used to judging his actions through that framework. And the whole life in Wind Reach was based on their duty to the community; their skills and talents, and the importance of the two to the people. That was the reason he lived a life that was so much better than of most in there. The need to thrive and survive was also the reason why the skills and talents of the foreigners were welcome in Wind Reach, but were they themselves? Fois felt the dislike for the outsiders, their ignorance for the Inartan ways and their lack of understanding of what life in the Mt. Skyinarta meant. But if one grew up among them and even shared their blood like Rista… Then they must have been driven and motivated by the same things that the culture surrounding them taught them about. Then only their ability to contribute would determine how great their part in the community was, but their belonging to it would not be questioned. Fois didn’t know what progress he had made with his thoughts and it seemed that he had just gone in circles. He wasn’t a great thinker and didn’t engage in such activities very often. ”You’re Inartan, right?” he finally spoke to the girl who had quite a few moments of silence to suffer or enjoy. ”What do you do? What do you like doing?” He was a simple man and his questions were simple, or at least appeared so to him. He never understood how Seleer managed to be vague and start from far away only to go exactly where he wanted in a matter of chimes. Maybe that was why Fois lost most of their debates. The Endal took his braid and began playing with it between his fingers while waiting for the answers. His eyes were set on hers with a slight curiosity in them, though it also looked like they were watching past her, hiding a deeper thought behind. After all, there was more than just a little bit of interest to those questions. Neither Seleer nor Fois bothered to explain anything to the girl, but the thought that she might have found the unusual and unexpected interrogation confusing never even entered the rider’s mind.

[Rista]

Her shoulders seemed to drop in resignation as she heard what the man said, and a faint sigh escaped her. There really wasn't any point in trying to retain a facade if the Endal already knew about what had happened in the nesting chamber; Rista breathed in again and somehow managed to return her gaze to her host, just in time to see the apple come flying towards her. She managed to catch it with her free hand; not very elegantly, not even casually since she had to cradle the red fruit against the chest to keep it in her hand before the fingers grasped it properly, but at the very least it hadn't fallen to the floor. There might be hope for her still; it was a wry thought, thoroughly unimpressed over how she was acting. Breaking down, crying for no reason, complaining and lying to herself, and on top of it all in such a way that an Endal noticed it. So Seleer was the name of the eagle? She would remember that, it was nice to know who she should try to avoid as much as possible. After such a pathetic display, the gigantic bird probably wouldn't be impressed over seeing her again.

Interpreting the kind offer to sit as the order it probably was, the short girl didn't try to protest. As long as she eventually would be able to follow her other instructions... Oh who was she trying to fool? Aside from the fact that she so thoroughly has shamed herself, despite the empty, buzzing feeling in her head and the dampness around the knees, she somehow still managed to be excited to be in the aviaries. The personal quarters of an Endal, to be precise; it wasn't bound to happen again anytime soon, if ever, and she might just as well enjoy it as long as she could. It didn't exactly make it worse that the owner of the grand rooms was a handsome young man, currently dripping with water. Making sure to keep her eyes to herself, the dark-haired yasi put down the bucket on the floor and moved over to the assigned chair; it was too big for her by far with her short legs and small stature. A quick glance at the other showed that he had done it again, that strange retraction into his own world; from the previous experience, Rista figured that it might take some time before he decided to talk to her again, so she made herself as comfortable as she could.

Pulling the legs up onto the seat, she arranged the wool cloth of her bryda so that the damp parts didn't brush against the skin and leaned back, curiously eying the room as she rolled the apple between her hands. The quarters seemed as strange to her as the notion of someone making the acceptance of a reward into an order, quite possibly the reflection of an otherwise strange man and his snarky eagle. Or was it the other way around? She wondered what had happened in the room to make it so barren. Was it just a personal preference, or had there been some commotion going on to break all the furnishing? If it had been Rista living here, she would have preferred more fabrics; pillows, tapestries, decorated feathers and maybe pretty glass ornaments to hang from the ceiling... As she waited, the black-eyed girl allowed herself to drift off a bit, her mind still trying to reestablish some kind of balance. It was never easy to realize how insignificant you were, and when your whole world was built around the hope that you had a worth from just existing, having that taken away made things difficult.

As the silence stretched out, she slowly began to calm down. Very much doubting that it was purposely done, she was still grateful for the chance to repair her nerves a bit. It was something about the steady, calm silence of the red-haired man that was almost soothing; he didn't seem to expect anything from her, other than perhaps obedience. Rista could accomplish that much without much trouble... Unintentionally mirroring the actions of the blue-eyed man, she reached for one of the many thin braids that hung around her face and began to twist it around her fingers. Black eyes moved to look at the Endal when he finally began to speak again, the face calmer now, but with a slightly wary expression as she heard the questions.

So he wanted to question her too? What was this, a conspiracy to pry her confidence away from her and break her slowly and thoroughly? Had she done something to earn the ire of this man or his eagle, in some way she didn't know about? His questions were phrased differently than Seleer's, but by now Rista had gotten used to the many-layered inquiries of the wise eagle, and she automatically assumed that there were questions lying beneath the seemingly casual words. The problem was, the girl was tired of making a fool of herself. Completely unaware of his intentions, she chose this as the time to raise her shields again, and using the so well rehearsed frown as a mask she recoiled a bit, mentally bracing herself for more attacks against her illusions.

"Who knows" was her weary answer, the voice sounding a bit tired even though she did her best to be polite. "You tell me; do you see Inarta when you look at me? Probably not, most people don't. I barely do. Is it enough to carry the blood of this people to belong here? Sired by a Chaktawe, carried and birthed by an Inarta, raised among the Inarta; I don't see myself as anything else and I'd really like to be accepted as such, but I don't know if my opinions or wishes matters when it comes down to it." It was probably way too informal a way to address the Endal, but Rista was sick and tired of being scrutinized like this. What did they even want from her? Something within her wanted to bring back the alluring suggestion from before, wanted to whisper to her about a black-eyed people that lived somewhere in the deserts of the south; the yasi pushed it back, afraid of what she might do if she allowed herself to look closer at the the thoughts.

The other questions were stranger, and she looked down on the apple as she tried to understand what he wanted to know. The fruit didn't really hold any answers though, and since she wanted to be dismissed to go and eat soon, she decided to just reply with the first things that struck her; simple answers for a simple question. Her stomach churned a bit in temptation of biting into the fruit; she resisted, not deeming it proper to eat in front of the man like this.

"As for what I like.." she said slowly, the face as always mirroring her thoughts as they crossed her mind. It looked thoughtful at the moment, as her eyes stared forward; maybe looking at the man before her, maybe staring at the wall behind him. It was hard to tell with the gaze being so dark, bottomless and still without revealing her thoughts. The face otherwise did that so well for her...
"I like the sun. I like her warmth and the bright colors she creates, I like standing under her rays and feel how she envelops me within her warmth. I like being under the open sky, see the clouds drift by and watch the eagles fly effortlessly through it. I like being out in the wild, climb the mountains and walk the forests and track the animals that live there; I like using the bow, seeing people smile genuinely around me, I like glass and scarves in strong colors... I like this city, I like some of the people that live in it.."

She was slowly running out of things to mention, and blinked a bit as she drifted off, not sure if that had answered anything the man might have been wanting to know. She couldn't grasp the reason behind all of this, and it made it difficult to reply in a good way; eventually the small girl shrugged a bit and looked at the red-haired man, wondering about the strange look in his eyes. What was he thinking of? She slipped the arms around one of the legs and pulled it closer to her chest so she could lean the chin against the knee, quietly hoping that the other wouldn't mind her informal attitude. It felt like years had passed since he picked her up from the corridors outside, but it was probably not more than half a bell, if even that. It seemed like such a short time for so many things to happen; pressing her nose against the cloth of her trousers Rista muffled a sigh, waiting for the Endal to decide if this was enough. She'd had enough a long time ago, but it wasn't up to her to end the conversation. If it even could be called that; she didn't even know his name.

[Fois]

Even though the girl appeared to make herself comfortable in the seat, her attitude seemed careful and body language somewhat defensive. She sent strange vibes of relaxed obedience and Fois was quite fine with that. The girl sounded tired when she spoke, but he didn’t need to hear or see that to know it. He was an Endal, after all, and sensed that Rista’s silent undertone asked for her to be let go of this questioning. Yet she still chose to respond even to the question that he wasn’t expecting an answer to. ”I don’t,” he replied simply to her own pondering whether he saw an Inartan when looking at her. It might have been the biggest visible barrier to Rista for being one, but not the greatest or most important of them all, as Fois was beginning to establish. ”And blood is not enough. Look at the full-blooded Dek. You can barely call them people, let alone Inartan.” She revealed her heritage on the father’s side, but that spoke little to the rider. He had heard of the Chaktawe, and thought he might have seen one, but otherwise he didn’t know much of them. The Endal was almost sure that Seleer might have held greater knowledge on the subject, though. The bird knew things, things beyond his imagination; secrets he did not know existed. Fois didn’t share anything more of what he thought about the things that the Yasi had just said and instead listened to the rest of her answers; answers that he had actually wanted to know. As she spoke, he took his time to examine her peculiar eyes. If they had been a little scary at first, then they were quite fascinating now. Mysterious… Yet at the same time so very alien, not at all belonging here in Wind Reach among his people. The eyes appeared sneaky as a so obvious sign of mischief. It must have been very difficult to trust such person when you could tell nothing from their eyes. It was very hard to be certain where those black orbs were looking at, much less what they were hiding beneath. Rista’s words however lightened up his face a little as he saw opportunity that Seleer must have dismissed. Fois didn’t know the details of the girl’s conversation with the Wind Eagle, but he felt that his partner might have discarded her when she failed to show her strength. If she had any. The eagle seemed certain that he didn’t find it and the Endal knew what it meant. Seleer saw little use in trying to uncover potential when it was obvious that any possible hidden reserves of talent were already chained with fear and crippling uncertainty. The Wind Eagle had told Fois once that those could be fought but never destroyed, and would come back to bind the person at the first sight of reemerging weakness. All in all, it was too much trouble to remove those chains from many when he could only babysit one person. Despite constantly learning and absorbing knowledge and thoughts from Seleer, in his mind Fois knew that he didn’t agree with his friend here completely. The chains may not be destroyed forever and might return to consume the person later in his life, but even the temporarily unleashed talent could serve the people of Wind Reach. As an Endal, his duty to the community was to bring food and protect his people. However as an Inartan, he also had a duty to do what he could so that his race would survive and thrive long into the future. Because of his line of work, he might not live to be thirty, and he would probably not to see himself turn forty. During his life he could try to keep the Inarta safe and provide them with food to eat, but that wouldn’t last long after he was gone. Not because of him, at least. And that was something so wonderful about the Avora, how they sought gifted children and trained them to replace them. Perhaps it was wrong of him to think that this task was restricted to the artisans? If in his life he found one person that could do his job, Wind Reach would not suffer as much for losing him. If he found two, the rider could die and still leave the Inarta better off. Because of him. Because of his duty to the community. Fois was still looking at the Yasi, unconsciously trying to catch her gaze, guess what she was looking at. If he found how Rista could be useful to Wind Reach, he would succeed in not only enhancing the well-being of his home. The rider would also prove Seleer wrong about his view, at least this one. He would show that he was no longer a small boy in need of strong direction, but a man, and Endal, capable of seeing his own way, making right decisions and finding own methods to better do his duty. ”Why don’t you show me then?” Fois asked her, raising his eyebrows a little. ”The things that you like doing. That you can do. How well you can do them,” how well you could do them, he ended with a private thought. The Endal nodded, more to himself than to Rista, as if coming to the decision. ”We’ll go hunting. Tomorrow. Set off from the Sanikas Gates when the sun appears.”

[Rista]

Nodding soberly at the reply to her half question, slightly surprised that she got one at all, the girl soon settled back into the silence, allowing the man to be alone with his thoughts, whatever they were about. Her list of things that she liked could probably be filled out even more, but it didn't look like it was necessary. The way his face brightened made her wonder about the purpose for this questioning once more; what was it that he planned? Did he have any idea himself, or was he just sating some deeply rooted curiosity? Neither the Endal nor the Eagle had chosen to tell her anything, and in a way Rista was a bit glad for it. If just their questions were enough to beat her down, then surely she would snap completely under the weight of whatever expectations they had for her; if they had any at all. It was hard to shake the feeling that they simply wanted to pass some time.

The long silence between his words was beginning to feel familiar, even comfortable. The short young woman amused herself with trying to point out the differences between this man and Sairque, the only other Endal she had been close to enough to gather an opinion of her. Both were awe-inspiring in the way they carried themselves, and her deep admiration for the things they did and who they were automatically gave them both a shimmer of heroism that was really hard to shake. Somehow though, the yellow-eyed Sairque gave off a sharper, more alert impression as if nothing escaped her eyes and few things were left out from her thoughts. Authority wrapped around that woman like a cloak, unmistakable and almost tangible... But as Rista had gotten more familiar with her, the woman had opened up a little and showed glimpses of a warm, maybe even humorous side that had made the orphaned girl think of how she expected an older sister to be. Perhaps it wasn't very correct of her, but it was how she felt.

This person however... Studying his face curiously the young woman felt her stomach churn slightly, decidedly not from hunger. Aside from being a good-looking man, this Endal while still being impressive, felt more calm, a bit more laid back. Not as swift or sharp around the edges as the flight-leader, Rista deemed him to be kinder, but also sterner. She couldn't imagine cracking poor jokes around this Endal, it'd most likely earn her a beating; thinking back at the first few minutes of their meeting, it had taken a while for him to even look at her properly, and even now it felt like his gaze went right through her. Calmer, steadier, perhaps more deep of a thinker.. Not as immediately terrifying as his female peer, but perhaps all the more necessary to stay on the right side of. Remembering Eoin and his slowly burning anger that he refused to let out, the girl shifted in her seat; apparently it was the calm persons that got most frightening when they finally snapped.

Letting out a soundless sigh, she brought the apple to her lips and let the red fruit glide over them for a bit, feeling the smooth waxen peel against her skin. The eyes lowered for a bit, unsure if the man could tell when she was looking at him or not; she startled a bit when he suddenly spoke again, face looking up to meet the blue gaze...
She almost dropped the fruit when the announcement reached her ears and began to sink in, her face taking on a look of pure shock.
Her, hunting with an Endal? Okay, so this man was exactly as surprising as Sairque, and far less obvious in his intentions. The woman had set out with the intention of teaching, but this person, this red-haired, sky-eyed Rider, what was he thinking?

Mouth gaping open for a bit, Rista was then struck by another thought. Tomorrow, that mean he was going to sacrifice Market Day on this trip? That was even more surprising, not many would give up the chance to relax and have a good time once every ten days... How could she refuse? Did she even want to refuse when he said it like that, laying it out as a challenge. Was he trying to prove the eagle right? Or wrong? Was she just a pawn in his private game? Either way, Rista quickly snapped her mouth shut and sat up straight, letting the feet fall over the edge of the chair - the feet barely reached the floor, it really was too big for her - with her eyes gleaming from excitement.

"Really? I mean, yes Endal, I'll.. Are you sure? It's market day and all, but.. Of course, I'll be ready. Thank you!" Not even sure what she was thanking him for, the previously so suspicious face now brightened under a wide smile, her hands cupping the fruit hard in an attempt to restrain herself. Was this for real? Not only would she be able to leave the city with permission for once, she'd get to be in the woods, breathe the fresh air and see the sun... Of course she would do her best in showing what she could do too, but the meaning of the challenge wasn't clear to her, and thus this order felt more like a gift or a privilege. Almost laughing, it was like a completely different person was sitting in the chair; no more sulking, and the sharp words of Seleer was all but forgotten for now.

[Fois]

Fois was slightly amused by the effect his words had on the girl but didn’t show it. Clearly Rista had no idea where this was going or what was happening and he was completely fine with that. The rider didn’t respond to her words that struggled to bundle together in a smooth flow of thoughts. He just nodded again, partly confirming what he had just said to the Yasi, partly accepting her thanks. He thought he knew what the girl was feeling. Fois probably felt the same when Lepei told him that he would teach the boy a thing or two about falconry and quite possibly the same way he would have felt if an Endal invited him for a hunt before he became one. ”Go fetch that Dek now,” he said in the same tone that he had asked her to sit down. ”And be ready tomorrow.” That was all, and Rista was dismissed. Fois remained seated while the girl left his aerie, rethinking of what he was doing and still twirling his braid with his fingers as if that was helping the process. The newly reached conclusions were yet to be set in stone and felt a little shaky, but not entirely alien or unfamiliar. It reminded more of a discovery of something lost than something never seen. He shrugged and got up from the chair returning to the bathing chamber. When the rider was descending into the hot water again, his mind briefly ran through the plans for tomorrow. He certainly wasn’t telling Seleer about this. Fois could not be sure how the Wind Eagle would react or what he would say, but knowing him the rider wasn’t very keen on finding out. At least not yet. The bird would no doubt notice that something was going on – spending his free day hunting was not something Fois did very often, and even rarer without him – but the Endal felt confident that his friend’s mind would not go beyond mild curiosity, especially if he promised to explain it later. As he sunk lower, he chased all the thoughts away returning to blissful slumber. Resting became much more valuable activity now that it was his last day off.

[Phoenix]

Character: Rista Experience: Cleaning- 5, Socialization- 5, Observation- 5 Lores:Wait, you want me to clean that?, Feeling the impending doom of adulthood, Being constantly picked on for her half breed status, Using grunt work to get closer to the Eagles, Feeling the first avian presence in her mind, Talking out ones future hopes and dreams with Seleer, The sting of brutal honesty and rejection, Weighing the benefits of traveling from ones home, Being given the chance to prove herself to Fois Character: Fois Experience: Teaching- 3, Socialization- 5, Observation- 5, Lores:Reveling in the culinary art, Not failing to notice the novelty of Rista’s eyes, Having an Eagle with a quick wit, Being a little less prejudiced than the rest of his race, Napping while Seleer entertains Rista, Having ones Wind Eagle help Rista find her path in life, Being kind to Rista after Seleer crushed her confidence, Giving Rista a chance to prove herself too him The Method, The Fire: ... I seriously think I have crushes on both of you. The end. Any questions or concerns, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to help!