[Sanctuary] A Single Father

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Mother cannot guide you. Now you're on you're own. Only me beside you. Still, you're not alone. No one is alone, truly. No one is alone. 16th Summer, 512 A.V. The cub napped against Sama'el's belly, wrapped in a long, winding length of linen that bound him to Sama'el in a wraparound sling, at least until he could fashion a proper cradle board. He wasn't sure how long a bear cub would submit to such human treatment, but eventually they would travel back to Endrykas and that would be the only way the cub could come with them, as it certainly couldn't match full-grown Striders for speed, although they would not gallop with their livestock and the like. He hummed a tuneless lullaby, letting it vibrate through his body and into the sleeping cub. He was father and mother, now Issima was gone and Oriana had given him a year before she would claim him. He wasn't sure he would be able to give the cub up, even if it was a bear and lacked a human intellect. It was the fruit of the seed he had planted in his wife's belly. The Bear Mother had cursed him, perhaps, but he had decided to do all in his power to rectify his wrong, though he was still struggling with the idea that he had done wrong. All he had intended was to secure a safe place for his family to survive the Talderan blizzard. Luck had been with him that the lightly hibernating bear had not woken in time to defend itself, but luck had run out when Oriana and her Kuma had arrived to take vengeance. Well, luck was one thing, and Oriana another. He would have to propitiate her in order that the cub would prosper and his pavilion too, once he got to Endrykas and said its name aloud again. Already he had laid the cub in his lap while he sang the sun up, wanting Syna to see his shame and his joy. Even now, the sleeveless thing he wore revealed the bruise-like bear paw on his shoulder. He would not hide the shame, and he could not feel shame for the cub itself. It was a strange thing, but he remained quiet, just smiling at those he passed about the Sanctuary, looking for Kavala. He had questions. Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood. Others may deceive you. You decide what's good. You decide alone. But no one is alone.

[Kavala]

Raising the walls of a chicken house via reimancy was not a glamorous undertaking, but it was something that needed to be done. Thanks to all the work Kavala had done on the within, there was a certain flare she'd developed for doing so. Long since, Sanctuary had been staked out, little pieces of wood wrapped with colored cloth, and the dimensions of what was and what would be were more fully realized. It was just a simple walled compound with structures laid out in scratched earth and stakes large enough not to trip the numerous animals that were wandering around within the walls.

But to the mistress of Sanctuary, they were a lot more substantial. Every stake represented a building and in Kavala's mind those buildings superimposed themselves over the landscape in a ghostly fashion, leaving her walking around them rather than through them as if already shaping and forming out the lay of the land and how it should look so that dream became reality.

And yet sometimes reality was nothing but hard work. Kavala was rested, moreso than she'd ever been in the past few months. Something about Sama'el and his party returning had eased something in her that had almost felt broken since the djed storm. It might have been because the konti needed some sense of her family about her. But it was more likely that she'd been seen retreating to her suite at night with Ronan and while perhaps nothing was going on there, it was quite certain that they both curled up together to take their rest because most of the remainder of the time they had been seen together as well.

And speaking of hard work, Kavala was at it, her hands encased in res building stone over a layer of already framed wooden walls that formed the base of the chicken house. It was good solid stone she was forming, though as she laid out the layers. Granite formed under her fingers with colorful layers of Feldspar, Quartz, Mica forming intricate patterns. She'd got the back wall completely done, and now was working on layering the sides, doing the west wall first. The stone coloring was the same she used for all of Sanctuary - a warm earth tone filled with bright yellow and golds and streaked through with reds and blacks. For an abode of chickens, the stone house would be a palace.

Fencing material lay off to the side with stakes marking off where pilars of stone would rise and form posts. A diagram was firmly attached to the wall near the chicken house, sketched on hide and nailed up with small protrusions of stone. The bird run would be enclosed completely with mesh and the chickens would live like kings and queens.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Mother isn't here now. Who knows what she'd say? Nothing's quite so clear now. Feel you've lost your way? But you are not alone. Believe me, no one is alone. Kavala had shared her vision with him before he left on the quest north, and even now when he saw the colored markers, he could see the future, the dream come real. In time, reality would reflect dream. But he found her hard at work, and he almost laughed at the beauty she created. It seemed so out of place, but that was Kavala, making beauty where one should least expect it. Wasn't that meant to be a chicken coop? But truly, part of him worried that she would make Sanctuary so grand the Akalaks would find some reason to take it from her. They took everything from their Nakivak, really. It was cloaked in legality and free will, but the choice they offered was unfair. A Drykas wasn't above owning another person; back in Endrykas, Daejyn was helping out in the Sunkiss pavilion while Sama'el was away, and he and his daughter belonged to Sama'el. He might one day buy their freedom, and Sama'el was not a harsh master, but they did belong to him. Kavala would not leave her Sanctuary, though, and if he didn't think Ronan was in love with her, he might have wished she could fall in love with an Akalak who would love her back, let her have her children, whether Akalak, Konti, or Akontak, let her be free. "You must have been practicing all this time if that much work isn't making your brains leak out your ear," he jested, and there was a catch to his voice, however light and lilting. The simple joy of humor nearly made his heart catch, but he held on tightly to the humor, laughing a bit too hard to keep from crying. He had to be strong for the cub, his son, for his family that would, in a few weeks, perhaps, be an honest to gods pavilion. Sama'el had to be strong for everyone, drawing on that inner well of strength he prayed would never run dry. Oh, Issima... Their dreams had not been staked out in colored ribbons attached to wooden stakes, but in whispered words in the dark. Children, horses, a loom, and everything the world could offer them. They were young and healthy, strong and growing. Since seeking her out the day previous, he had not allowed himself the Web, afraid to find her shade lingering there before reincarnating. But he crouched down next to Kavala. She was alive and present. The cub yipped in his dreaming, and Sama'el wondered what a bear dreamed. You move just a finger, say the slightest word Something's bound to linger. Be heard. No acts alone. Careful. No one is alone.

[Kavala]

Kavala heard no one approach. Such was her fascination with stone, with building, and her drive to get her work done. Every day she'd worked with stone since Same'al had left for Avanthal. In many ways, stone had become her mistress and master all at once as she carved out the cliff and brought bright stone to life above ground. Kavala rested when she could, worked when she could not sleep, and generally drove herself hard - bordering on the madness of obsession - in getting the facility done. She'd learned a great deal from both those reimancers she'd employed and from trial and error, so forming the stone came easier, far easier perhaps than it should.

When Sama'els voice filled her ear where she knelt, the Konti whirled, a dagger in her hand almost immediately. She relaxed and resheathed the tamo into its mate almost immediately though, and smiled. The Konti was gaunt, thinner than Sama'el remembered with a darkness under her eyes that bespoke no sleep and very little rest besides.

The Konti took in her adoptive brother of a sorts, smiled, and then raised an eyebrow at the bearcubs presence. Her gaze filled with questions, though politely she asked none of them waiting for him to speak.

"I think you look a little more hardened than you were when you left. And while travel agrees with most Drykas, travel away from the Grassland doesn't. I'm glad your home, Sama'el." She said in perfect Pavi, though he could hear her accent had heavied up, probably due to her Tukant and Common polluting their native tongue.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

He probably should have expected that reaction, knowing how wrapped up in the Web he could get, though his use of Fire was rarely so controlled and sustained as her work appeared to be. The exception to that was etching glyphs into an Origin stone, but that was not an everyday occurrence. But in the Sanctuary, he was not prepared for violence. The best he could do was shield the bear cub, but then Kavala relented when she recognized him. "A bit more, yes," he agreed. He had already told her of his shame, and the existence of the bear cub was proof of that. Oriana had not forgotten him. "I'm glad too. This is the closest thing to home as being back in Endrykas." But as he paid better attention to her, he realized he wasn't the only one who had been through a great deal. "You look tired," he noticed with some concern. A woman of Sunberth or Syliras might take that as a slight, but a Drykas woman ought take it at face value. She managed the Sanctuary and was raising a child; of course she would be tired. The strange magical storms had come all the way down here, altering the coats of her foals. But perhaps she was overusing the gift they had begged of Semele, as skilled as she seemed to be. It would be easier to focus on her first, before the light burden of the bear cub and the heavy burden of his heart required he tell her that his wife of only six months was dead and gone. It occurred to him then, when he made those calculations, that she had been pregnant before he asked her to marry him, unless Oriana's curse had changed more than just the species of her child. So many questions still, but first he had to be sure the reimancy in which he had initiated her was not going to spell her death.

[Kavala]

Kavala met Sama'el's gaze and nodded, her eyes flicking between his for a moment until she nodded. "We're all tired. We live in times that require a great deal of us and often give nothing back. You appear no more rested than me." She said simply, her voice lightly accusing of Sama'el being a pot calling a kettle black. Kavala rose, so Sama'el didn't have to crouch and the cub could roam if he wanted.

"You can let him wander. The debris left won't hurt him. We've seen to it so there is nothing sharp, no nails, only broken useful wood. He might even want to chew something if hes loosing his milk teeth and getting real teeth in." She said, knowing the cub curious and perhaps not needing to be in Sama'el's arms the whole of their conversation. The Konti brushed the straight white silk of her hair back from her face and tucked it behind an ear revealing the gills on her neck that had overdry scales starting to sluff off. She was too long from the water, and while it didn't bother Konti to be dry, the luster of their scales suffered when their mind and body bore burdens. Kavala's were definitely dull.

"I'm glad you all ... are back safe." Not all of them had returned safe though. No. Issi wasn't with them. "And.. I'm sorry for all of it for you Sama'el. I'm sorry you lost your wife. I didn't say that before, but I meant it then. She was a beautiful soul. The web is brighter for her being in it." Kavala said, reaching out to touch Sama'el's arm. She nodded towards the gathering spot in the center of Sanctuary.

"I know because she is not with you. You brought them all home. And you hold them close. But her absence is conspicuous and the sadness in your eyes is one of love lost. I may not live on the Sea of Grass anymore, but I still know the signs." The Konti said, meeting Sama'els gaze and then glancing back at the stonework behind her.

"My work here can wait. Shall we go sit down and see if anyone' s left any tea?" She asked, reluctance in her voice as she glanced at the unfinished chicken house. Res involuntarily pooled in her hands at the thought of finishing it. Kavala needed to finish it. She wanted to finish it. It was like a living thing that needed to be birthed from her hands. She shivered a moment lost in a battle with herself. The stone sung a siren song to her she couldn't resist. But she did in the end, turning away from the project with a slight shiver, flicking her hands to release the res unformed.

If he would allow it, she'd lead him away from the stonework. She needed to be away from it anyhow. If she didn't, he would see how much The Sanctuary owned her and how much the stone held sway over her life. It refused to be done simply, without elegance and with only functionality. Her soul lay all around them in the new buildings and the carved out underground. Each project pulled a little more of her self away from it. So much so, Kavala thought, that if it ever WAS done, she'd cease to be necessary and thus cease to exist.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Fair," he agreed with a weary smile. And though she urged him to let the cub wander, he didn't. Only a day old, and somewhat premature -- though Sama'el had never seen a newborn bear cub before now -- he was not ready to let go. Sandar and Denen fluttered around him like mother hens while at the tents, wanting to mother the cub, but they had enough respect to leave him to it, when this was all he had left of his wife. Leto and Ronan always seemed present too, though they gave him a bit more space. He smiled tightly at the condolences, not because they weren't appreciated, but because he had shed enough tears and wanted the ache behind his eyes to go away. Of course he trusted Kavala with his pain and mourning, but he was holding it together for the cub and for his friends, who might one day be his family. And he had logistical questions for the animal expert, too, but there would be time for that. "I know life is short," he said, throat a little tight. "I just wish I had more time with her." But he was glad for the offer of the tea, and nodded. He was not so far gone in his own grief that he didn't notice the dullness of her scales, and the flicker of something not quite right when she looked at the stone. After a few short moments of silence as they walked, he said, "Perhaps you might come down with us to the sea and see if he has a bear's instincts to swim and such... I'm not sure if he's just a bear or something more. I mean, he is my son, but will he have the reason of a man or the instinct of a bear...?" Even though much had happened in the short span of time in which he had been camped outside Riverfall, there were so many more questions that remained, and only time and the caprices of a goddess would tell.

[Kavala]

She glanced back and forth between Sama'el and the cub shocked. It hadn't dawned on her, no not at all, that the cub was a cub and not a kelvic. "You mean he's not a kelvic?" She asked, surprise filled her words. Kavala took another look at the cub in Sama'el's arms frowned. Truly she wasn't able to tell the difference. She'd just assumed he was born a little special, shifting early or truth be known not actually knowing when he was born.

"When was he born." She asked, curious. Kavala had not seen Issi arrive nor did she know the details of the birth or death. Her mind raced with speculation and she realized she'd made some assumptions. Kavala backed up, looked thoughtful, and studied the cub again.

"Can you tell me the whole story? I'm making a lot of assumptions here. And I shouldn't be doing that." She said softly, confusion flickering across her Konti features. "I will go down to the water with you if you'd like, but I know most bears keep their cubs in their dens for the first part of their life, not letting them out for a while, a season or so... ninety maybe a hundred days. I wouldn't take him into the water until then." She said softly, though not sure because this was so unusual. "He looks older, but is he?" She asked, stepping close to get a look at the cub.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't think so." He looked away for a moment, then, "Issima stayed in the tents from the time we set them up until... I suppose she felt it coming. We were all trying to keep an eye on her, but she was determined. She sneaked away." Here his voice went a little dead. "Like a dog going off on its own to die. "I found her, had Denen with me because he was right there when I realized she was gone. She was almost gone by the time we got to her. There was nothing he could do. The cub... Unless he was human and changed before we got there..." The little thing looked small to him, but Kavala knew more about animals than he ever would. "Denen made her comfortable as she went, and I... I took her to give her back to the Sea of Grass. He doesn't like goat's milk. I was hoping... hoping you might know what sort of animal would have milk a bear cub could drink and grow strong. I will find one for him..." That was the story as best he could put together right now, still in a bit of shock himself, but at least aware enough to take care of himself and to try to do the same for his son. "I should have come to you last night after, but..." He had just sat there with his son and let his friends take care of things around him. They were all grieving in their own ways. He didn't tell her that the swimming lesson was for her benefit. Still concerned, he would just have to ask her to take better care of herself, but he was overwhelmed by what he had in his own hands to deal with right now. Perhaps he should say something to Ronan.

[Kavala]

Sadness filled her eyes as she studied the form in Sama'el's hands. Such a small thing shouldn't have killed Issima, but one never knew with curses. Kavala wasn't a fan of trading one life for another, but it was the way of things often in the world they lived in. No one could change when Dira called. They could only postpone it through training and caution and making sure one did what was right.

"I'm so sorry. I really am. None of this makes a lot of sense, Sam. But then again they never do when the Gods are involved." Kavala said softly, quietly, as if she did not wish to offend.

Kavala went quietly on. "No, not its alright. I... I don't know what I would have done either, but there's very little use for a healer after Dira has visited." She said, eyes still on the cub. "You must live for your living. That's all. It's always been our way on The Grass. It could be me or you next, and we'd want the same. Continue on." She said, thinking over what he said.

"No, goats milk wouldn't be right. You need to get close, something that eats the same things. Bears are creatures that eat plants and animals, but if given the choice they will eat meat and foods that are like meats - nuts, berries and such. You'll need milk from an animal like that. A dog would do. I have two nursing bitches in the kennels that I'm weaning the pups from today. You should take one of them with you, and keep their milk flowing for the cub. If you do things right she might even nurse him herself once she's been properly introduced." Kavala said gently, finally taking her eyes off the cub. She looked around momentarily confused then seemed to get her bearings.

"I am not used to the layout yet. I have to remember where I'm at to get to where I'm going. The kennels are this way." She said in excuse, beginning to lead him in the right direction. But it was obvious her confusion wasn't steamed from the place being in such disorder for the remodel and rebuild. It was her exhaustion. It slowed a quick mind and confused the one who owned it because it simply didn't react as fast or sharply as the person was used too. Kavala ran her hand through her hair as they walked.

"One is a deerstalker and one is a ghost dog. Which do you like better or would you like to meet them both and pick?" She asked, curious.