[The Stone Garden] The Dilemma (Closed)

[Yve]

"It always slipped my mind to ask my mother to teach me. But she didn't know how to read very well either. It was hard enough for her to teach me to count." She smiled nostalgically, remembering what an awful teacher her mother had been when it came to things like math and literature. She mentally shook herself and went back to frowning. "You don't need to try and bribe me either, I'm not going to cry. Stories of people I'll never meet won't help me catch a meal. Learning to read won't find me a place to sleep. I've done fine so far without all that." Yve's eyes trailed back around the garden, and she noticed Shylar coming toward them. When she asked whether she or Lucas was Kelvic, it wasn't a surprise. Yve could sense a magic within the girl, as all animals could tell such things, and neither was she surprised by Lucas's confusion. He had obviously been touched by a higher power in some way, that much she had also sensed, but most humans didn't have the instinctual sight that other animals possessed. It was sad, in a way, that many humans were blind to this knowledge. The other girl, Xena, had joined in with Shylar, agreeing with Lucas. "I am Kelvic." Yve said, nodding absently to all of them. "You normally can't tell us from humans or animals, no. Some of us have physical clues, like our eyes or teeth, and other times we can give ourselves away by how we act. My mother would growl when she got mad and pant sometimes when it was hot. Other than that, we look normal." She nodded toward Shylar, looking her in the eyes knowingly. "You have a gift though. You can see." Yve didn't have a word for this sight, but she knew it was one of the many gifts blessed to few people. She looked back at Lucas, frowning slightly again. I wonder what he'll say this time, she thought, a little exasperated.

[Shylar]

Shylar couldn't hide her surprise. Though whether it was because she was right or that the Kelvic could sense so much, she didn't know herself. She somehow managed to keep her composure, working her jaw a moment, she let her backpack drop carefully to the ground. She'd never met a Kelvic, to her knowledge at least. Maybe she did and didn't realise but she was intrigued and excited by Yves presence. A genuine, warm smile light up her face. "I'm able to perform auristics," she spoke in slightly hushed tones compared to the others. She didn't like the idea of disturbing any spirits that may be protecting this place. She had been told ghost stories about this place and though she didn't really believe any of them, she didn't want to incur the wrath of any violent spirits. "That's what you call the 'sight'. It's a form of magic." Shylar looked to the others. "I can use it to tell things about a person. Which is why I was staring, it takes a lot of concentration for novices. Kelvics have a different aura to humans. But I couldn't make out who it was." She seemed to have changed slightly from before. Where she was apprehensive at first, she now seemed relaxed. Her eyes glowed with warmth and there was a joy in her voice. "If I continue to improve I might be able to tell what animal a Kelvic is as well. But I can't now," she stopped mid-flow and blushed again. "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. I'm Shylar Aweiss, I didn't catch your names?"

[Lucas Arias]

It seemed as if neither Yve nor her mother were particularly bright, but again Lucas wisely chose to keep his thoughts to himself since she would probably just start to cry for real, call him names and run away otherwise. And he absolutely couldn’t stand that! So instead he smiled brightly (a somewhat fake smile) and remarked, „As I said, reading isn’t that important. And you are of course right, reading won’t help you catch a meal.“

It was only then that he really thought about what she had said. „Wait … did you just say ‚catch a meal‘? Are you a hunter or something? Which girl in Syliras needs to actually catch her meal?“

Of course the revelation that came a few moments later answered the question. A Kelvic girl usually caught her meal. Kelvic were animals, and animals tended to do that. Lucas made a face. He had found her really pretty before, despite the fact that she was a little touchy, but he wasn’t sure if he should find a girl that probably wore fur most of the time pretty. Or worse yet, scales. He shuddered at the thought that she might transform into something slimy, scaly and disgusting as soon as he turned the other way and then proceed to eat slimy, scaly and disgusting things. He really wasn’t into animals.

„Ummm … what kind of Kelvic are you?“ he wanted to know and shuddered. She had said something about her mother growling. Was her mother dangerous? Was Yve dangerous? Did this pretty girl secretly want to eat him?

As Shylar revealed that she was able to perform auristics, he shuddered again. Lucas was a mage as well – he’d tried to open a void all of once – but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the presence of somebody that could read his aura. He was a little worried about what she might see when she looked at him.

„Can you read my aura?“ he asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

„Lucas“, he said curtly because his mind was on other things right now, and he really wasn’t in the mood for introductions.

„And yes, you are rambling“, he informed Xenalia. He could be rather direct.

OOCXenalia, could you please write your posts in past tense? It’s a little weird when you are using present tense while everybody else is using past tense.

[Xenalia]

Xenalia raised a brow..'See'...What's that supposed to mean i wonder..She sighed as she was informed of her rambling, but then shrugged it off. "Sorry.." She listened to the other's a thoughtful look on her face. Auristics..?..Interesting..I wonder how that works.. she waited for a block in the conversation, then asked. "How does Auristics work..I've heard a bit about it, but not much."

The question posed to all of them, she didn't care who answered her, just wanted an answer. She'd then listen for a bit longer, though she'd been thinking more of her Webbing than the conversation. but, she managed to catch Shylar and Lucas say their names and remembered her manners. "A pleasure to meet you both, as i said i'm Xenalia." she talked curtly with a small smile.

She sighed, remembering why she intitially was watching them. "But if you don't all mind my asking..what do people do in this garden..Or just here less specifically." She wondered whether that was a bit confusing. "Here being Syliras..I havn't been here too long, nor done much of anything but walk in circles without a map of the city.. Which is less fun after more then a wekk than i thought possible.."

[Yve]

I think I'm starting to figure him out, she thought. Yve smiled, noting that Lucas shuddered when he asked what she was. Obviously the thought of her being Kelvic upset him in some way or another. But this didn't bother her as much as it should have, surprisingly. When she'd almost cried earlier, it was because she'd been caught off guard and gotten angry. It hadn't taken her long to get used to him though, and he was obviously narrow-minded, among other things. She listened quietly as everyone properly introduced themselves, though still distracted by her thoughts. "My name is Yve." she said a bit absently, but smiled warmly, though mostly to Xena and Shylar because Lucas seemed to not care who was who. Names weren't all that important she thought, but her mother had given hers to her, so she loved it as much as one could really love a name. Her smile didn't last though. She could sense Lucas's apprehension, and even though he was rude, Yve never liked people thinking ill of her. Had he never met someone like her before? Suddenly she realized she hadn't even answered Lucas's question of what she actually was. She could have just told him, but maybe if he saw firsthand he would be more understanding. It only took her a second to decide these clothes were roomy enough not to injure her; thankfully she had a small animal form. So she shifted. It always felt like being submerged in warm water, and she loved it. She knew it looked like her skin had light up from the inside and become something like fog, swirling for a moment before it was over in another instant. She thought absently, during the transition, that they would probably be startled by her changing suddenly with no warning. That was unimprtant though. It's not like she needed permission. Yve shifted back and forth when she pleased. Yve wasn't surprised though that when she changed, she ended up tangled in her blouse. It took her a second, but she got herself situated so a little bit of her head was poking out of the neck hole. She didn't have the coordination of her human body now, and owls weren't good with their feet. Hers were tangled in one of her sleeves, and her talons would rip the fabric if she yanked them out. Yve looked at the three of them with large black eyes, and blinked. Even with an owl's face her expression obviously said, "If you don't mind?" OOCXena, I'm really sorry I didn't reply to anything you said in my post. Yours wasn't there when I had started typing mine, and when I submitted it, you had put yours up. I didn't plan on that.

[Shylar]

"If I wanted to read your aura then I could," Shylar replied calmly. She chose to ignore the fact that Lucas was being very defensive and curt with the group. "I have to really focus on someone to see their aura properly. Even then I'm still not able to read a lot in to them just yet. When you see an aura, well, it's slightly different for different people. I see smoke flowing off a person or object, others see different things but its fundamentally the same." Shylar let a small laugh escape her lips at Xenalia's back track on her words. "This garden is an area of remembrance, dedicated to brave Knights of Syliras who have passed away. People come here to enjoy the quiet or too remember usually, or at least, I do. As for Syliras, what di-" Shylar was cut off as Yve's body began to glow and broke down in to a series of lights. Shylar took a step back surprised by the suddenness. Once the glow subsided, only Yve's clothes were left behind. Shylar watched a few moments longer as the clothes shifted and the head of an owl appeared out of the neck of the blouse. Her eyes widened as she looked at Yve's animal form, unable to stop the "Awww!" then slipped from her lips. She knelt down and gently helped Yve pull herself free. "Wow! That was incredible. I hadn't imagined it to be so beautiful with all the light. Can you do that as many times as you like?"

[Lucas Arias]

„This here is called the Stone Garden, and people …“ Lucas graciously began to explain to Xenalia, but as Shylar started talking, he stopped and simply listened. „You are a better person than I am“, he remarked to Shylar. „I just pretend to enjoy the quiet and secretly do other things that you shouldn’t be doing in such a place.“ He figured that he might as well say it out loud since he was facing some kind of aura reader. It was entirely possible that she was reading his aura now, even though she claimed that she needed to focus and couldn’t read a lot. In his opinion aura reader was almost the same as mind reader, and both made him uncomfortable.

„I can get you a map“, he offered Xenalia because she was the least weird of the three girls. He wanted to say more, when Yve suddenly began to glow. He had no idea what exactly was happening, but no normal person should start glowing. It worried him slightly. Was she going to explode? Burn? Or was she some kind of mage as well? He looked around, wondering if he should run or be brave and confront the mages, and then …

… and then an owl sat where Yve had been a moment before, and he quickly forget what he had been thinking. Lucas just sat there and stared at her, mouth open, looking like an idiot. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if what he was seeing was real. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. Nobody had ever changed into an animal in front of him before. Should he poke it? Stroke it? Take it and stuff it into a cage? Make those girly sounds that Shylar was making?

„That was weird“, he stated. „Amazing, but also a little weird. You can still understand what we are saying, right? Could I learn to do this as well?“ Even though Lucas found Kelvic weird, the ability to change into a bird and back could come in handy every once in a while. And then it occured to him that her clothes were lying in a heap on the bench now. What would happen if she changed back? Would she be … naked?

[Xenalia]

Xena raised a brow at Lucas. "I wouldn't feel bad about it..Most the people i know would've done so too." She chuckled lightly smiling at him. Her smile broadens as he offers to get a map.. "Really..? You'd do that for me?! Oh..thank you so much..I was trying to get one..But i couldn't find a mapmaker anywhere.."

Now, Yve began to change and Xena is enthralled instantly, she loves kelvics I wonder what she'll be..A Cat..a dog..Or something big..Like a..Nope she's shrinking..Hmm. She watched the shift go, and the same "awwww.." escapes her lips as she sees the owl. I didn't know they could do non-mammals..It's sooooo cuuuuute... She eyed Shylar, then Lucas as they ask their questions. She answered Shylar's first though."No and yes..She can shift as much as she wants..But it makes them exceedingly tired, after about 5 or 6 a day they need sleep."

She then looked to Lucas to answer his question. "She can understand you, but can't talk back...And..Have either of you never met a Kelvic..?" She wondered how they hadn't met a Kelvic for a few moments before continuing. "No they can't teach you..They're born with it.." She sighed..Wondering if she missed anything. "Oh..And if she starts to change..She'll be naked. Not a big deal for Kelvics..But you know Kinda is for humans..Just warning you Lucas." She grinned at him, teasing, but, telling the truth. "I think that's all..Except..That she's gorgeous.."

[Yve]

Shylar's help was very welcome. Yve got herself carefully situated on top of her pile of clothes and ruffled her feathers, making them puff out. They settled back down quickly, smoother than before. She should have been more prepared for Lucas and Shylar's questions, but she wasn't. Thankfully Xenalia knew how to answer, and did so for her. She could understand them perfectly fine, it was communicating back that could be a problem. Yve bobbed her head in agreement as Xena went through the questions, and made a soft churring sound at the prospect of teaching Lucas to shift. That was as close to a chuckle as she could get. Even if it were possible, it would be a funny contradiction, seeing as how he had seemed almost repulsed by the thought of her being Kelvic just a few moments earlier. But it was no matter. Lucas seemed to think better of what she was now, though she thought changing on a whim might have been a little hasty. The attention made her a little uncomfortable, but it was easy to ignore. Her point had made at least, she thought. Yve let them confer with themselves, choosing to attend to her feathers since she couldn't actually talk to them. Luckily she had an itch at the base of her wing, so she had a reason to concentrate on preening instead of trying to communicate. Xenalia had answered all the questions anyways, so they could just talk amongst themselves for a little while unless they had something to say that she could answer to in this form.

[Shylar]

"You're a squire, aren't you?" Shylar asked Lucas as he replied to her comments about the garden. She looked a little taken aback by the statement. "I've seen you training, I think." She was still not a hundred percent sure of it. "Shouldn't you be setting an example?" There was clear disappointment in her blue eyes as she looked at him. Finally, she turned her attention back to Xenalia and Yve. Her eyes softened back to the warmth of before. "I've never met a Kelvic knowingly, or seen one change," She knelt down to get a closer look at Yve's form. "I had never thought it to be such a beautiful, elegant change. I can change my form but it takes a lot of hard work and effort to perform even small changes. It is nowhere near as natural as that." She looked up to Xenalia. "Where did you come from, if not from Syliras?" Shylar asked. once more, her curiosity began to get the better of her. She was clearly a very bookish person from the way she spoke. Nor did she get out of Syliras very much. OOCSorry it's taken so long, been a very busy week for me.