[Knirin Gardens]The wind whispers in the trees[Naeya]

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Soon enough, Rykanis had her returning his smile, a coy grin on her face. Rykanis simply smiled back, his usual engendering grin, which he almost always wore. To him smiling was the easiest expression, as he truly was happy usually. Though not usually from what others assumed he was smiling for. Sometimes it was for being happy, talking to someone, as it meant questing after a secret. Sometimes, he was simply smiling, at some internal thought. Or even smiling at the fact of how funny he thought the entire thing was, or at one of his own words, filled with double meaning. Smiling at the fact that if they knew what he knew, his words, and theirs likely, would open up to a entire new depth of meaning. That was what made his smile so effective, so real, and so engendering. For in fact, it was real, even if its source was unknown or hidden in shadow. For Rykanis, even a thing as simple as a smile, was immersed in deeper meaning, in shadows and secrets. As she repeated her own words, doubting his honesty, Rykanis simply grinned even wider. She was the observant sort wasn't she? Or perhaps just as suspicious as he was... It was hard to tell, why she did not take what he said as true at its face. "Yes, I am sure. The only person I have met was you, and I certainly had no arrangements to meet you before know, or anyone else here today." In this case, Rykanis' smile was fueled, by his own little secret, his half truth. He thought it was hilarious, that he was being completely honest, while still hiding his true purpose. And of course, he would not call a shadow a person. While they were certainly alive, they were different from a person, though the distinction was hard to explain, to someone not marked by Akajia. "Certainly, I would love to accompany you on your walk. A favorite spot you say? I am sure that would be interesting." Rykanis popped up before Naeya had a chance to offer her hand, and simply motioned for her to lead on. The real purpose of why he wanted to accompany her, to learn more of her, to possibly find a valuable bit of intel, hidden in his statement, left unsaid.

[Naeya]

"Certainly, I would love to accompany you on your walk. A favourite spot, you say? I am sure that would be interesting." By now, Naeya was almost getting used to her Konti gift being awoken as the Akalak spoke, although she still felt incredibly exasperated with him for being so secretive in the first place. "Interesting? Oh, I don't know about that. But it is absolutely beautiful." Naeya pulled her waiting hand back to her side as Rykanis stood up from his seated position without her assistance. She stood next to him for a moment and tilted her head upwards, taking in his appearance. The sunlight showed her that Rykanis' skin was actually a deep shade of violet, rather than being the ebony colour she had previously imagined under the shadow of the tree. He also seemed to be at least two feet taller than her and more than double her own weight, a point which she'd failed to notice when they'd been sitting on the grass. The Konti was used to being the shortest and smallest, since she had grown up around Akalaks, but she was still occasionally caught off guard. Their brief conversation and her pursuit for explanatory answers had nearly caused her to forget Rykanis' genetics. Blonde hair tumbled into her face as she turned from Rykanis to face the lake, and she shook her head slightly in order to see again. The sky was lightening quickly, but a pale orange hue could still be seen colouring the clouds. In the distance, Naeya could see hints of this colour in the Bluevein River waterfall that poured over Riverfall's upper rim. It was towards this waterfall that she began to lead Rykanis, knowing that her favourite shallow shore lay closeby. As she walked, Naeya tried again to think of what the Akalak could possibly be holding back. Maybe I ought to take a different approach, she mused, narrowing her eyes. An unwanted thought of Divination was creeping into her mind, and she fiddled with her dress in order to distract herself from it. Reading people's pasts always seems to get me in trouble. I'm trying to get the visions under control... I can't. I won't. There had to be a better solution. Her mother always told her that her gnosis only amplified her natural nosiness. She could figure this out on her own. "Rykanis," she began, keeping her voice pleasant, "What sort of work do you do in Riverfall? Do you have a trade? Or are you a fighter?" Naeya smiled slightly as she thought of her own trade. Despite the difficulty she sometimes had learning the innumerable nuances of her craft and the number of hours she was giving her training as a jewelcrafter's apprentice, she could feel it in her heart that the work was meant for her. "I'm a jewelcrafter," she offered, hoping that he would open up to her if she did to him. "Well, a jewelcrafter's apprentice. I still have years of training ahead of me if I ever want to be as good as Valereig!"

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Beautiful. Well, he would have to see. He was pretty sure he knew most of this place. Doubted there were to many places she could show him here, that he did not know... Just because it was her favorite spot, did not mean she was the only one to know of it. Rykanis looked back, and grinned at her, as she took a moment to stare at him and take him in... Really, if one was going to do that, you could at least be a bit discrete about it, and not make it so obvious. He just barely resisted asking the konti, Do you like what you see? to tease her and point out her staring, but decided against it. Then she wanted to know what he did... What was his job... His skills so to speak... My, she was a bit nosy. But really, he preferred to be the one asking the questions, not the one being questioned. So he ended up answering in his usual evasive manner, which left much unsaid. "Well, I think most Akalak really are fighters of one nature or another. Personally, I never leave home without my lakan, for if a fight arises. As for work. Well, I help out the council a bit, when they need a bit of help in a matter or something. You know how it is, so much for them to do, sometimes they have to delegate such things out they don't have time for. My work varies though, it is a little of this and that. But I guess my unique skill set is up to the challenge." She offered up her own job, which Rykanis filed away as useful information should he need it later. A jewelcrafter... Not to common of a job. "That is an interesting job, how did you get interested in making jewelry and such things? Surely there is some reason, you are interested in it."

[Naeya]

The Akalak had a gift: a gift for being extraordinarily evasive. Naeya almost couldn’t believe her ears when, once again, he didn’t fully answer her question. This time, she didn’t need her Konti gift to tell her that he was leaving much unsaid. “My unique skill set”? “It is a little of this and that”? “..Help in a matter or something”?! Could he be more elusive? She was going to tear her hair out. It was going to happen. All hints of joy had dropped off her face at this point, and melancholy rose to take its place. Rykanis might be a charming man, but he was also a man who was causing her to doubt her own abilities to pry. She took a certain amount of pride in her natural nosiness and her ability to subtly intrude into other people’s business. His unexpected avoidance of her intrusions was messing with her confidence. Rykanis’ question about how she became interested in jewelcrafting just barely perked her up, and she didn’t answer with her usual burst of excitement (although her voice was louder since they were so near the waterfall). “Well… I guess I love the idea of being able to bring some small amount of beauty into this world through my jewelry. Jewelcrafting is an art. It is art. The feeling I get when someone admires what I’ve created… it’s like no other.” She looked wistfully at the grass, and thought of everything she had yet to learn. It would take her a long time before she became truly excellent at her craft, and sometimes she wished it would come sooner. Valreig always told her, however, that it was better to put your heart and soul into something that takes years of heartache and practice to truly master than to waste your life pursuing mediocrity. Naeya stopped walking when the two Rivarians reached the edge of Lake Knirin, close enough to the falls of the Bluevein River to have its mists swirl around their skin. The Konti woman led Rykanis over to a large, smooth rock jutting out slightly over the lake. “This is it,” she said, gesturing at the rock. It was gleaming where the sun hit the water, and sitting on it in the right position meant that one had a view of the entire length of the lake. Beautiful. Instead of moving to clamber onto the rock right away, Naeya began to once again think of a solution for her new acquaintance’s extreme evasiveness. And, once again, the thought of Divination popped into her mind. If she hadn’t felt so frustrated and morose about her failure to convince Rykanis to tell her what he was hiding, she likely wouldn’t have considered using her gnosis on him. She didn’t really understand Divination or how exactly to use her gnosis, though she knew that it allowed her to see into other people’s pasts. She also found that sometimes she was able to use it on command and other times… it just happened. The most pressing problem, however, was her lack of understanding with regards to her gnosis. She usually asked the wrong questions or looked for the wrong answers, and more often than not came up with visions that she never expected to see. Control. This was something she sorely lacked. Naeya swallowed hard, and turned to look once more to her companion. He doesn’t have to know… She took a deep breath. Within seconds, her body went silent and still, and her large green eyes held a lost, vacant expression.

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Evasiveness of course, was as natural and easy for Rykanis, as breathing water was to a fish. It was his natural position, something he practiced every moment of his life... He had done it for so long, he did not even purposely phrase his speech to do so. It just happened naturally. Rykanis noticed the change in her expression, as he spoke in response to her question. Not knowing that they were at odds, and that his need to extract info, while keeping as much as possible to himself, was at odds with this woman's nosiness. A spy though, was not one to question and expect open answers. Would she perhaps prefer if he lied? No, nothing he had said was a lie, and he honored himself as a informant on that. After all, how could anyone trust information, if it came from a man who always lied. His telling the truth, was as much as a natural thing for Rykanis, as a necessity in his trade. He might gather facts, but he did so while being truthful, so his customers always knew what he gave was truth. Finally, it seemed they had made it to their destination, a large flat rock, near the waters edge. A bit of an odd place. But he filed away the location, to remember it, in case it proved useful later. You never knew when such a odd tidbit might. As he was about to speak, Naeya turned to him, and then grew still, as if she was greatly concentrating. He also noticed a far off look in her eye, as if she was not looking at something before her, but something in the distance through Rykanis. How odd... What was going on? Why was she so focused, and not paying attention to her surroundings? It was a bit rude, and quite odd... He almost asked her what she was doing, but did not want to annoy her, or make her start over. He would have to ask her once she zoned back in. Surely though, this odd thing she was doing, meant something.

[Naeya]

Concentrate, concentrate on Rykanis… The Konti, who had entered the Chavena, didn’t know much about it or chavi, but past experience had shown her what to look for. She searched for the Akalak’s chavi, and found a place filled with beautiful refracting lights in every shade, every colour. They were fantastically squared and rectangular and hexagonal and circular, and they oscillated gently as she viewed them. This was her favourite part, the beauty. In truth, it was the reason she had been inspired to create jewelry and study gemstones. She wanted to replicate this feeling for others who couldn’t visit this whimsical realm themselves. Naeya conjured up the question she wanted to find an answer to. “What is he hiding?” Without further thought, she felt as though she was pulled through a series of shapes and colours. The blues, the reds, the yellows … they all weaved together, in and out, around and around and around. She felt as though they would never stop, until they did. A room: spacious, and alit with candles. A wrought iron sofa: piled with cushions and blankets to keep it soft. A woman: brunette, with child, and sitting quietly on the sofa. The beauty of the room overwhelmed the woman’s features and made her plainness apparent, but a soft, joyful glow warmed her cheeks. The woman put a hand softly on her pregnant stomach. A kind smile appeared on her lips as she looked lovingly down at it, and then up at the approaching figure. Rykanis. He was younger. He looked happy. The smile on his face was one of joy and satisfaction, although he seemed to have eyes only for the woman’s stomach. He reached down to place his hand on hers, the dark purple a strong contrast to her pale skin. And then he disappeared. Naeya’s hands stirred and she blinked slowly, unseeingly, as she returned to her reality. After a breath, she refocused on an older Rykanis. He was staring at her with a puzzled look on his face, and she returned the look with equal confusion. Was this his secret? Was this what he was hiding? It didn’t make any sense. “You… you have a child?” she blurted without thinking, breaking the silence between them.

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Rykanis was not quite sure what the woman was doing, and had waited patiently for her to finish. Really, it was a bit odd, and he hoped she did not do so, in places were she was unprotected. That would end with her dead. He of course had no way of knowing what she was seeing, or of her ability. He had heard in passing of konti woman able to peer into ones mind, into ones past, and pry out things. But he had not thought of it recently, and was not expecting such a thing to be used on him. Had no idea that was what was happening. As she rose out of her vision, Rykanis began to speak, a sly grin coming onto his face, over his confused look, about to question her of what that had been about... When suddenly she spoke... “You… you have a child?” She asked, saying it suddenly and catching him by surprise... At hearing the words, Rykanis tensed up, shocked, and turned away from Naeya, the grin slipping off his face... How did she? But no she couldn't... Rykanis was not sure what to do... And in his confusion, his other side took over, taking the lead while Rykanis was left in the lurch. As Rykanis turned back to Naeya, his expression was quite different, with this side of him in control. His face was passive, and neutral. And when he spoke, it was in a blank tone, with little to no emotion in it. The words to practiced and even, to carefully spoken. Even his body language was different, much more tight, and less loose. "I am afraid you are mistaken. I do not have a child. Though I would like to know, who has been telling you such things, or were you heard this from." Of course, technically this was true... Rykanis did not have a child... No, he had long since died and rotted to nothing... He had no child... Though obviously, it was not the complete truth, with a good bit of the tale left out. Though this new side of Rykanis, was rather different from the side Naeya had seen till now. Perhaps she would simply think she had offended him so greatly, that he had began to act this way. She might be caught off guard, by this much more serious, and coldly intimidating side of Rykanis, while his other side had been evasive, but charming.

[Naeya]

Regret flooded Naeya’s mind the moment she allowed her knowledge of Rykanis’ child to slip out of her mouth. The Akalak man had stiffened as she spoke, and turned his back to her in what she assumed was anger. Her shoulder drooped, and she began to fiddle with a strand of hair. Oh no… She should never have let on that she knew about his child. Naeya didn’t often think about other people’s privacy concerns when it came to using her Sight. Of course, it wasn’t as though Rykanis was the first person to become upset with her for knowing things she shouldn’t know, but she usually blamed their anger on the discoveries she had made rather than on her invasion of their privacy. This discovery? It didn’t seem worthy of the man’s anger. Children were considered precious in Riverfall. Why would Rykanis become angry with her for discovering he had a child? No, he had to be angry because he thought she had violated his privacy (which maybe she had, but sometimes she felt as though she couldn’t help herself). Naeya bit her lip, chagrined. Perhaps she ought to apologize. The young Konti woman reached out her hand to lightly touch her companion’s back. “Rykanis, I’m-“ Before she could finish, the tall Akalak turned to face her again and his expression made her stop her apology mid-sentence. That look… it was as if a storm was brewing silently beneath its surface. The easy-going man she had been speaking to earlier, the one wearing a constant grin, seemed to have disappeared. “Rykanis?” she whispered. What have I done? Rykanis began to speak. His voice was void of all emotion, and Naeya felt a non-Konti gift shiver run through her body. "I am afraid you are mistaken. I do not have a child. Though I would like to know who has been telling you such things, or where you heard this from." No child? “But I saw it…” she murmured, nearly inaudibly. How was that possible? Naeya’s hands grew cold and she found herself stepping back nervously. She had suddenly become aware that no other person was nearby, leaving her with this man she barely knew. What if her words had been a trigger? What if he lashed out at her? She took another step back from the Akalak, keeping her wide green eyes focused warily on his. “Please, nobody told me anything about your child. I didn’t hear it from anyone,” she responded truthfully in a quiet, cautious voice. “I’m so sorry. Rykanis, please forgive me. I shouldn’t have said anything…”

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Anger... Anger was not something this side of Rykanis understood, or excibited. Sometimes he was said to exude a kind of cold fury, but anger, was not a concept he comprehended. Anger led to bad decisions, and illogical ones... If any emotion could be detected on his blank face, it might be fear. Fear at something hidden being discovered... When he knew almost no one knew of this fact, but his grandfather, and the council... Someone clearly had told this woman... But why? To what end? Already, his paranoid mind was trying to find her angle, to understand who had been leaking info on him, or that was trying to unnerve him, to mess him up... Perhaps this lack of anger, in reality, made him all the more dangerous, than if he had shouted or thrown something, or even struck the woman. For in his mind, while it did not make sense to be angry or to do those things... If he felt it was for his own safety, to protect his secret, he might just decide to end her, silence her secret spreading lips... Though only as a last resort. There were many less crude ways to fix this problem... And he did not yet know the full scope of the issue. Rykanis did not move, but kept on the spot, his eyes trained on that of the woman's... Barely even blinking, and his body oddly still, unlike his previous side, which had constantly been in motion and action. If one did not look closely, it almost appeared as if this Rykanis had stopped breathing. "Well apparently you saw or heard wrong. I have no child." This statement would ring true to Naeya, but at the same time, would not tell the entirety of the tale. Clearly there was more to it Rykanis was not saying, though he was not telling a lie. For while he truly did not have a son... For a very short time, he once had... For the span of a few chimes... And then he had been dead... As Rykanis had gazed into his eyes, and watched as they glassed over and grew still and dead... As the babies chest stopped moving... Grew limp in his arms... As there was nothing he or any of the healers could do... "But clearly someone did tell you. You obviously gained this story somehow. So I would like to know were this information came from. Even if it is false." He did not move. Did not approach her. Did not raise his voice or tone... But there seemed to be a stored motion in his limbs... Almost as if when Naeya did choose to move, he would set upon her. Which might be more frightening to the woman, than if he had yelled... If he had approached... If he had struck her...

[Naeya]

The Akalak's face had become so expressionless and his body so still that Naeya could no longer guess at what the man was thinking by his body language. Instead, she continued to operate on the assumption that he was angry with her for violating his privacy. Additionally, since she had only known him for the span of a sunrise, she also had to assume that his sudden change in temperament meant that he was potentially dangerous or unstable. Naeya's eyes left Rykanis' for a moment and darted first to the lake and then to the grassy park. She didn't understand why (or even if) Rykanis would hurt her for asking about his child, but he had made her feel uncomfortable enough to begin planning her escape route. The lake was on her right and the park on her left. She knew she felt comfortable in water, and her gills gave her a powerful advantage over the Akalak. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure that she was a strong enough swimmer to escape the pull of the waterfall once the lake flowed closer to the tier's edge. Her other option, the park, tipped her plan in the Akalak's favour. She wasn't a skilled runner, which made her worry that she wouldn't make it to a more populated area before Rykanis caught up to her. And fighting? She didn't even consider it. Her tiny Konti frame against a full-grown Akalak? No, she'd rather risk being pulled over the ledge of the waterfall - there were better odds on her survival. Rykanis interrupted her plans by demanding she explain to him where her knowledge of his child came from. Maybe... maybe there's another way out. Maybe if she told him the truth about her ability to See into the past, he'd realize that she had meant no harm. She would leave out the fact that she'd looked into the Chavena on purpose, of course. And then, when he had calmed down, she would be able to slip away unharmed. Naeya cleared her throat nervously, and unconsciously edged backwards. Her heart was racing, and she could feel her shoulders becoming tense. "Okay, I'm going to tell you the truth," she began, showing him her palms to indicate that she meant no harm. "Have you ever heard of Konti women with certain... gifts? Gifts of Sight? Well, I'm one of those women." She silently prayed that telling him about her gnosis wasn't a horrible idea. "Rykanis... I caught a small glimpse of a moment in your past, just now. Not on purpose!" she added defensively. She considered this a half-truth since she hadn't actually asked to See that particular moment. "In my vision, I Saw you with a woman. She was pregnant and... and I just had a feeling that the child was yours." Naeya broke off and looked hesitantly at the Akalak. "I was being honest earlier, you know. Nobody told me anything." Another step back. "Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to See what I did. I couldn't help it..." Her eyes pleaded for Rykanis to believe her. "That's why you're angry. Right? Because I infringed on your privacy?"