Strangers Like Me (Sama'el and Co.)

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

The wild man's sudden blankness threw Sama'el. He blinked back, and his hand dropped finally, awkwardly, when the greeting was not returned. Still, it had stopped the chase, and the violence seemed done. Even the falcon only shot him dagger glances from her perch. After a few moments' thought, he decided. It was a good thing Pavi came with grassland sign, a very expressive gestural language. So he spoke in a soothing voice, as if to calm a wild, frightened stallion. "Don't worry," he said, both hands coming up in a calming gesture, "but I'm going to dismount." The which he did with practiced ease, slithering out of his yvas and onto his own two feet. With a word, he put Bigarren at his ease, and the stallion, uncaring, dropped his head down to crop the wild grasses. He wouldn't have much proper grain until they returned to Endrykas, after all. This peaceful gesture was followed by Sama'el taking a step away from the horse, but not forward, nowhere near invading the feral man's space. He maintained eye contact, but his head was much lower now. It was not a show of submission as an animal might understand it, for he didn't look away, but clearly making himself less threatening. The weapons were put away, the Fire extinguished. He tapped his chest with the flat of his palm. "My name is Sama'el," he said carefully. "Sama'el." Then he patted Bigarren's shoulder. "Bigarren." He wasn't an expert at this, not knowing whether he ought not say horse or Strider to explain Biagarren, but as a Drykas, he saw horses as akin to people and not just a soulless creature.

[Colt]

The foreigner seemed confused by the lack of response, but the hunter remained motionless. The strange man raised both hands in a placating gesture and made more sounds. “Don’t worry, I’m going to dismount.” Every word sent a bolt of understanding searing through the predator, stirring knowledge that had been forgotten long ago. His eyes remained glued to the stranger as he moved gently away from the horse, lowering his head but keeping their gazes locked. Then, just as carefully, the stranger put his hand on his chest. “My name is Sama’el. Sama’el.” His name was Sama’el, the hunter realized. The man put another hand on the horse’s shoulder. “Bigarren.” And the horse’s name was Bigarren. The hunter continued to stare for a small while. When it seemed that they were not going to do anything else, he raised his gaze to the sky. Syna was still high but looked like she would be starting her downward descent, signaling that it was time to return home. The hunter looked back at the Sama’el and Bigarren, but they made no more moves towards him, threatening or otherwise. The hunter turned and scurried halfway down the boulders to reach the crater wall, chirping at the falconess as he slid into a quick pace across the stone, keeping half an eye on the Sama’el and Bigarren in case they did anything else.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

The feral man did not seem to be much of one for conversation, but he was neither attacking nor fleeing. Was there a flicker of understanding in those eyes or was Sama'el imagining things? But he too was keenly aware of Syna's progress, her solar orb burned around his eye with a single ray of gnosis. He felt Hodei's shadow pass between him and his goddess, and raised his leather-reinforced wrist to catch her out of the sky. If she seemed to ignore the stranger and the falcon, it was only because she had been watching them from above, and now they were at a safe enough distance that she seemed not to care. In fact, he could tell by the weight of her and the slight change in her shape that her crop was full, so she had definitely paused to feed, a lucky kill before the light started to get weaker. For his part, Sama'el just held her, allowing her to preen while he watched the feral man seeking something on the crater wall. He knew he would have to explore this place, but he was patient. If possible, he wanted to learn to communicate, and if the crater was a personal hunting ground, well, Sama'el could scout it out on the Web. He wasn't sure if he ought follow or wait, and so, for the time being at least, he waited to see whether the wild man was fleeing or wanting him to follow or... something else.

[Khida]

While the man and the stranger stared at one another, Khida kept watch, resting uneasily upon her perch. As the stranger spoke, words which meant nothing to her but a tone she found unthreatening, she looked between them, waiting to see if anything would change. Nothing did. She found that acceptable, and brought one wingtip forward to preen at its feathers, albeit with one eye upon the stranger all the while. She raised her head when the kestrel flew overhead, and watched as it dropped down to land on the wrist of the stranger; but there was no threat in its actions now, either. The peregrine tucked her wing back against her side, apparently settling back in to continue waiting. But any such intentions were interrupted when her partner began clambering down the boulders, the falcon straightening to peer down his course with interest. With his chirp, she glanced once more towards the stranger and his companions, then chirped in return and pushed off from the outcrop. Her wings stretched wide to catch at the air, carrying her in a swoop down past her partner before she began beating for altitude.

[Colt]

He flitted over the stone, quick enough to make progress but slow enough so that his limited experience climbing would not mean injury. He was fairly certain that the stranger had peaceful intentions, but it would be idiocy to put his life in another’s hands. A shadow passed over him as his partner moved to follow and he stopped momentarily. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the Sama’el who remained standing. The Sama’el’s bird had reappeared and descended, now perching comfortably on her master’s fist. The Sama’el remained still. Waiting. The hunter turned and slipped to a lower portion of the wall that wasn’t quite accessible by horse, but was much closer to a path that was. Not quite sure if it was enough of a suggestion or not, the hunter knocked a rock onto the flat trail through the jagged towers, cast one more look in the Sama’el’s direction and turned to continue alongside it. He wasn’t particularly confident that this was the best idea. The rules—or rather, his rules—of the crater were difficult to convey, but perhaps by opening his home to the stranger he would know that the hunter would not be one to give harm. A small twinge of guilt plagued him, for the falconess lived there too and it might be an invasion of her privacy, but he felt certain that if she had a problem than she would make no small fuss about it. He gradually moved towards the flatter areas below, being careful to keep a large distance between him and the Sama’el at all times. Every now and then he would look back, doing his best to remain aware of the stranger’s whereabouts at all times.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el tracked the progress of wild man and falcon both with his eyes and with Syna's, occasionally casting his Sight out to look down from above, and that was how he noticed the path that the man seemed to be indicating with the thrown rock. He transferred Hodei to Bigarren's yvas, where she could perch or fly off per her desire, but he spoke to the Strider in Pavi and it soon followed him unquestioningly down the path. There were parts of the path that were easy enough for the horse to walk, and others that required Sama'el climb out across a steep face of stone, finding ledges for the horse to hop to or scrabble past. At times he wondered if Bigarren's training had lasted long enough to prepare him for this, but the Strider was brave and loyal, and Sama'el felt a twinge of guilt hoping he would never bond to someone and leave Sama'el's herd. Although he had his Dohaina, he had grown accustomed to Bigarren too. Between the rigors of his own descent, and encouraging Bigarren down too, he tried to keep an eye on his quarry. He had no desire to hurt them, but this was something between following them and tracking them. He needed to know where they were at all times in case this was some clever ruse to ambush him. Feral though the man might be, but he could still be intelligent enough to trap a Watchman not paying close attention. It was a long journey down, and they were dirty and scraped up by the time they got to the flatter areas toward the bottom of the crater. When he saw that the feral man had left a great deal of space between them, he did what any good Drykas would and looked Bigarren over for any injury that might be serious. The scrapes were minor, though, and he would attend to them later to make sure they stayed minor; he checked the hooves for signs of damage, and managed to work a small stone out with his finger, not needing to go into his saddlebags for a hoof pick. When the wild man didn't approach, he continued his tender care for the stallion, cupping his hands and whispering a prayer to Laviku and Makutsi, manifesting Water in his cupped hands to slake the beast's thirst. The stallion was used to this odd way of watering, and slurped up the water as quickly as Sama'el called it into being. Sama'el cut him off, though, not wanting him to get a belly ache, and quickly took a few mouthfuls for himself. There were probably sources of water down here or the man wouldn't stay so close, but Sama'el turned to him and offered him water all the same, as a show of generosity. The man was off a ways, though, and so Sama'el pushed more res into being and transmuted it immediately into Water, until he could have been a fleshly statue in a fountain, offering up the Water. He held it out, an obvious gesture of offering, and whatever fell to the ground would feed the plants. "Water," he said loudly.

[Colt]

The journey was jagged, but in time the oddly matched group made its way to the more even side of the crater. The wild man slowed and stopped when the Sama’el did, turning to observe the stranger’s actions. The obvious care the Sama’el bestowed upon the horse made the hunter strangely pleased, and he observed the attendance like one might observe a familiar and well-loved dance that has not been seen in a long time. The horse itself looked pleased as well, especially when the Sama’el petted his nose. No, that wasn’t what was happening. The wild man narrowed his eyes. Was the horse eating him? The beast’s jaw moved as if it was, but the Sama’el was not crying out in pain. Something very odd was going on, and as the two continued to do whatever it was that they were doing, the wildman snuck slowly closer. He froze when the Sama’el turned around, then jumped back when water fell to the ground. Water? The hunter stared, not completely able to comprehend what he was seeing. He took a curious step forward and then a nervous step back, hovering between looking closer or vacating the area as quickly as possible. “Water,” said the Sama’el. The wildman blinked as another bolt of understanding coursed through him and stopped his uneasy prancing. Water. Yes, water, of course it was water. That was water. Even though it was quite obvious what it was, he was a bit loath to take it. Instead, he returned to the place he had come to rest, but instead crouched over it loosely. Eyes flicking from the Sama’el to the east, he did his best to gesture that they were not yet at their destination. Little more indication was given, and in a few moments he was off again. His pace was now much swifter. Now that the land was easier to traverse he trusted the Sama’el to keep up with ease or at the very least follow his trail. The rocks were few and battled with the grass over territory, and often times he wandered into the savannah completely in his path to the crack in the wall.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el was not surprised when the feral man seemed more spooked than pleased by his command over Water, so he merely nodded and answered Hodei's imperious chirps by holding up his hands to her. From atop Bigarren's yvas, she drank from his cupped hands daintily enough, and when she had had her fill, she fluffed her feathers and seemed half-prepared to nap, though she was alternating between watching the man and his strange falcon. The young Watchman let the remaining water fall on some parched grass, then smoothed the remains over his brow. As their strange guide was on the move again, he gave a short whistle to Bigarren, and set off after him. The horse followed dutifully, his gait easy enough that Hodei didn't seem to mind it in the least, nor have trouble keeping her balance. And so he was back to tracking the man, even though he made it easy enough, staying in sight. This was a strange and wonderful place the man had found, and Sama'el was pleased to explore it. He thought it might be a good place to sink an Origin, too, the depression being a place where djed might naturally gather, and possibly be protected from another storm.

[Khida]

The peregrine circled unhurriedly above, for her part ignoring the kestrel's watchful glances her way. She kept a closer eye on both humans, soon realizing the man meant to lead the stranger into the crater. She didn't understand exactly how they'd gone from apparent antagonism to mutual agreeability -- particularly with as one-sided as the talking had been. But they seemed to have reached some kind of accord all the same. Khida was less surprised by the manifestation of water in the stranger's hands than she had been by the earlier fire. After all, she now had precedent for it. It was nonetheless unsettling; the falcon wasn't sure if she really liked being around this one and his obvious command of magic. As a stranger, who knew what he might do? He'd already nearly singed her feathers off. Still, the man seemed intent on leading him around to the cleft in the crater wall. Khida shortened the spread of her wings, turning her circling into a swooping glide. She dropped in the direction the men were walking, finally backwinging to land on the clifftop near the entrance of the crater. From there, she tipped her head and peered down towards those who walked, waiting for them to catch up.

[Colt]

The falconess swooped above, and the man paused his trek beneath her. He shifted uncomfortably, casting glances over his shoulder to where the Sama’el was approaching. He couldn’t help but feel uneasy letting someone into a home that was not exclusively his, and didn’t know how she felt about it. Hoofbeats announced their guest and he eyed the oncoming Sama’el. He shifted again, then tensed when he heard a second set of beats on the other side of the wall. How would Akaidras react to another horse after so long? And on that matter, how would the raptor react to foreign encroachment? He shifted again and flicked a gaze to the falconess, then back to the Sama’el. He looked down, signing apology to her. Still, he was quite leery of allowing the stranger into their home, and paced anxiously around the entrance to the ravine while Akaidras pawed curiously on the other side. The hunter couldn’t decide if he wished to allow the Sama’el in or not, because while he did indeed want another like him to study, the decision did not seem like one that would belong to him. He ended up below the falconess again, and looked t the ground. He signed another apology, looked at the Sama’el, and then gestured permission? I am so, so sorry for the lateness of this post. I’m going to try and catch up and stay caught up on everything in the next couple days.