Closed The First Snowfall Is Magical (Kenept)

[Haeli]

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Timestamp: The 3rd of Winter

The man didn't walk like a man at all. He had a cat-like stride that gave the impression he was almost darting with delight between snowflakes. Several times he almost ran into another person on the street because he was paying no attention whatsoever to where he was going. Instead, his head was flung back and his eyes were staring up at the first softly falling snow of the winter. His ice blue eyes held a sense of wonder and he had a half smile on his face that had an element of amazement to it that no man would rightfully wear.

His motions were feminine as if his heavy form was used to moving with far lighter grace. His hair was in disarray and not trimmed neatly like other Lhavitans. In fact, he looked more Svefra than anything, and that too made him stand out in Lhavit. And, as if no one was watching or he forgot he was in fact in public, large strong hands slipped out of his pockets and lifted skyward, as if he could no longer contain his delight at the snow. Strangely, as his hands lifted, so too did his cloak and it looked almost as if he was wearing nothing at all under it save the heavy boots he had his shoes clad in. Flesh was visible momentarily from a gap in the cloak, revealing darkly tanned skin that seemed to reinforce the Svefra heritage. Then, unexpectedly and unintentionally his hand smacked into a passerby and the man's gaze fell downward, he uttered something apologetic in a voice that didn't sound like it really even fit the man, and he darted into a alley that lead to a small courtyard - one of many devoted to Syna, Leth, or Zintila.

If anyone followed, they'd find the man alone in a courtyard that only held four small trees in its corners. The sundial sank into the ground in its center revealed it was one of Syna's courtyards. The man, thinking he was alone once more, lifted his arms upwards and revealed more skin and long muscular legs. He began to dance, spinning around the sundial, laughing in a voice that was quickly changing. Its pitched moved even higher and settled into a feminine trill even as the man's form contorted and changed, rearranging itself as he danced. Shoulder length black hair grew longer, lightened, and became a wash of golden brown that fell in a long straight cascade to the man's waist. Man? No... he was slowly changing, even as the snow trampled around the sundial.

The man became a woman clad only in heavy boots and a wool cloak. The boots were too big for her now by far but she managed to keep them on even in the slowly accumulating snow. She lost her grace though, the heavy footwear making her appear awkward as she tried not to dance out of them or fall. But the girl did not mind, her eyes always skyward, her hands reaching out invitingly to the snowflakes.

"By Caiyha, you are so beautiful!.. like frozen tears in the night sky. The stars...." She called, laughing again, thinking herself alone as she praised the snow and reveled in its wonder. ".... the stars they fall!" She sang, sounding for all the world like someone who'd lost their mind.

[Kenept]

Kenept Oraji 3rd Winter 512 AV A Courtyard in Lhavit It was a wonderful day to be in Lhavit. It happened to be the first actual snowfall in Lhavit for the year, and Kenept thought it was marvelous. As the snow fell and landed on the streets, the gentle warmth of the skyglass would slowly melt it into nothing, not even the slightest bit of water remained, for some strange reason. This left most of the streets clear for the usual traffic that Kenept had almost become accustomed to. Despite the snow, the usual ongoing's of the city were still taking place: idle chit-chat among the people, the usual bartering, even the priests and priestesses were making rounds. Kenept had his red cloak wrapped tightly around him as he walked down the street. He wasn't really out for any reason, other than to take a stroll in the first snow. Snow had always brought happiness to him; probably because most snowfalls he remembered were as a child, and most children relish the snow. As he walked down the street, he caught the strange movement of a man, running through the streets with his arms above his head. This man, paying no attention to those around him, ran into another and quickly darted down one of the alleyways. Kenept wasn't sure what exactly was going on, whether the man was running from something, or to something, but this kind of behavior was the kind that Kenept found interest in. He followed the man down the alley, leading to a courtyard. Careful not to draw attention to himself, Kenept stopped at the edge of the alley and the courtyard. From the shadows, Kenept watched as this man danced around a sundial, one that he had learned was a dedication to Syna. The events that took place immediately following Kenept's arrival to the courtyard came all at once as a huge misunderstanding blur. The man... was not a man... not anymore at least. His shoulder length black hair was... brown? And longer? His voice, which had been strange to Kenept when he heard him laughing, was now that of a woman's voice, pitch and tone, both well within the feminine range. Kenept, completely taken by surprise, and shock, let himself stumble out of the shadow and into the entrance of the courtyard. He was muttering, not to himself, and not to the... person before him. "F... F-first a man... now... a woman. I-I-I w-watched a... a man run in... s-same clothes... b-but y-you're... you're a woman..." He wasn't exactly sure what to do, surely the person in the courtyard had seen and heard him, or was he imagining. "I must be imaging things... surely..." He thought that he very well could be imaging this bizarre encounter, after all, anything was proving possible in Lhavit.

[Haeli]

Haeli whirled to a halt. And for all that she was in shape, the girl was panting slightly because she'd been dancing and morphing and her boots were far too big and it was a lot of work keeping them on her feet. Grabbing her wool cloak and pulling it tight, she assumed a half crouched position and then smiled slowly, keeping her hands where the man could see them, showing him no threat.

"It's the snow. Can't you hear it falling? I would have never thought such a thing so beautiful or even possible. And deadly as well, though to simply touch it is a gift even if it is a dangerous one. I did not mean to frighten you. I was only dancing. I can hear each flake fall, can't you? It makes a rhythm, like the world has a heartbeat and its keeping time with snow. It's the most beautiful fragile thing I've ever seen." She said, reshuffling, moving with an awkward gait to keep the clunky footwear between her feet and the chilling snow. "We never had any snow where I came from. We never had any cold either. It was just hot and hotter and even sometimes unbearable. There was green everywhere and gold and the smell of life. Nothing ever smelled like this... so pure, so clean, so beautiful. If beautiful had a smell it would be snow. I wonder if one could make perfume out of it... the smell of snow." She mused out loud then moved closer to him.

The girl had to be about his age, perhaps a bit younger, though she had the wide-eyed look of a child. And the way she was dressed, in the overly large cloak and the boots that were falling off her feet would potentially remind a person of a child playing dress up with their father's clothing.

The closer she moved to him the more he could see and almost feel her joy, as though it took no Konti gifts or a wizards ability to read someone's mind to see that she was happy. If it had been a liquid sort of thing, the happiness would have been dripping off of her and she'd have been soaked through with it. Instead, she simply stood before him in a cloud of steam her own breath was producing. With the joy still in her eyes, she introduced herself.

"My guardian called me Haeli." She said, her hands buried in the wool cloak, keeping it close to her body. The girl was small, smaller than he was, though there was something glittering in her eyes, a kind of power, that spoke just a little bit of insecurity and confidence contradicting themselves. "A man or a woman... the secret isn't in the difference, you know. The secret is the whole truth that we are all the same... every one of us. Even the plants in the ground and the birds in the sky." She said, her voice dropping now, past any normal tone and slipping into a conspiratorial whisper. "Once you understand that.... you understand the magic." She added softly, almost breathing normally again.

[Kenept]

Kenept watched as the girl, Haeil as she had called herself, came closer. He could tell that she was happy, about the snow, about life, about everything it seemed. She was like a child, without a worry in the world. It had been a while since he had felt like that. The warmth of a carefree heart, that acted like a furnace for the whole body. The only warmth like that that Kenept felt now was the Djed that he could manipulate. Even with the warmth of joy appearing to course through this girls body, she had to be cold. It appeared that she was only wearing a cloak and an overly large pair of boots. "Are... are you cold?" Kenept asked, still in shock by watching the girl transform right before his eyes. He also ignored the speak of magic for the moment. He wanted to ask her about the magic she mentioned, perhaps that was how she transformed. But for right now, he wanted to get her warm. Kenept looked around for something that may hold a fire. Spotting a basin, Kenept walked over to it, placing his back to Haeli, he knelt down at the pit. "Just give me one second," he said quietly. He reached out his right hand and forced some liquid res out into his palm; not much, just about the size of a marble.Letting it float in the palm of his hand, he looked over his shoulder at Haeli, "Almost done," he said smiling, as he felt the outer layer of the res catch fire. He maneuvered it into the small fire basin and watched as the res reacted and set a small poof of fire about the basin, lighting the wood and few pieces of trash contained within it. He stood back up and faced the girl, "There, come overe here. Get yourself warm." He was still sort of in shock about watching this girl become a girl from a man, just minutes ago, but the joy of using Djed had almost overcome that. "My name is Kenept." He said, offering a slight bow as he waited for Haeli to approach.

[Haeli]

When he went to turn around to call her over, she'd somehow managed to clomp up behind him in her ridiculous boots and inadequate cloak. She was busy peering over his shoulder curiously. She blinked in surprise as his abrupt turn caused him to bump into her and she staggered back, having not expected the move. Not quite falling, the girl pinwheeled her arms a moment and stepped sideways to shift her balance keeping to her feet. She looked awkward for a moment, mostly due to the boots, and then seemed to catch her balance before she came up beside him to peer into the basin.

"Fire?" She said confused, not having heard him strike flint to steel and seeing no tinder at all.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see what you were doing." She said quietly, her face apologetic and sincere. Her body was now a warmth at his side, pressing close to the fire as she released her death grip on the cloak's front and instead opened it to allow the heat to slide in and warm her chilled body. She wore not a single stitch of clothing beneath the cloak. And she didn't seem to realize that he could see that she wore nothing nor that it was perhaps not appropriate that the whole of her was revealed.

"I've never seen anyone make fire without tinder or flint and steel. That's a very handy thing to be able to do. Nor did I realize how cold it was out here until you said something. Thank you." She said, turning her head and lifting her eyes to meet his. "I get so excited. This... is my first snow. I've heard of it, and I've seen it climbing into the mountains. I never knew it was so magical though, so LOUD when its falling. How come the people that live here grumble so much when its starts snowing. It's the most beautiful thing in the world. I'm from where where it is warmer, a lot warmer. Nothing like this would ever happen." She said, stepping even closer to the basin of flames. She sighed in pleasure as if the warmth and still being able to watch the snow was a comfort. When she stepped closer, the girl cut off most of the view of her form from Kenept's gaze. But he could still see enough, where he was standing, to notice she was probably a bit different than most women, certainly more than most other girls about her age.

Her body was corded with muscle. Scars overlaid some of her skin, though nothing beyond the indication of a life lived outdoors. He wouldn't mistake her for say a mercenary or someone who used weapons for a living. But she had no extra fat and no extra softness or curves most men preferred in women. Instead she was just compact, lithe, and with just enough swell to her breasts no one would ever mistake her for a boy. But they would call her small, delicate perhaps next to his tallness, especially without knowing her spirit. And she seemed absolutely unconscious of her nudity beneath the cloak, or that he could see what he wished of it with a simple footfall right or left.

Instead she stared at the fire, struck by it, and the utter impossibility of its existence. She even released one edge of the fabric of her cloak and reached out, brushing her hands across the flames, making sure the fire was real. Besides that though, she kept back, making sure the fabric she wore did not catch fire, and let the warmth seep into her. Turning to look up at him, she smiled and gestured at the fire with her chin.

"How did you do that? You used djed didn't you?" She said, her eyes dancing as if she'd just discovered something new. Then she really looked at him and realized how much taller he was and by default bigger. He wasn't a heavy man, and he looked to be almost her age. But something in his eyes caused her not to be concerned. He had, after all, worried about how cold she was rather than himself or that they were two strangers meeting up in the city night. Not that it was uncommon. Lhavit was as busy at night as it was during the day.

"I haven't ever seen you before. Are you new to this place? To Lhavit?" She asked, calming now to settle into her old speech habits. Haeli's accent was strange and she drew her s' out a bit more than a true human should. She shifted again, the snow crunching under her feet and leaned against the basin, staying warm.

"I didn't even feel cold until you mentioned it. It's the only drawback to snow. The only one!" She claimed, bending to scoop up a handful of the stuff and offer it to the fire, not dumping it on the fire, but watching the property change of the snow to liquid and then to nothing as the flame in the basic heated it. "I'd like to know what's behind that... wouldn't you?" She said abruptly, her analytical mind kicking in. "How water can go from a solid to a liquid and then to a vapor... just in the face of heat or lack thereof. I never knew that before, until I came here. There's so much to learn... " She said, turning to smile at Kenept again.

"Show me how you made the fire... again... slowly... so i can see." She insisted, her good humor not faltering, not for a instant. She tapped the basin impatiently, eager, her mind sharp and wanting to see for herself without his tall back blocking her view.

[Kenept]

Haeli had bumped into Kenept as he finished with the fire and turned to face her, almost knocking him into the basin. Thankfully, he was somewhat good on his feet, so he quickly regained his balance at the same time that she did. Kenept hadn't known that she had been looking over his shoulder. Had she seen what he did? He should have known better than to just go around and use magic at every whim. But he really had no choice, this girl was bound to get cold, she was after all... mostly naked. Kenept looked over at her as she spoke, quickly noticing that he cloak was no longer wrapped around her, but fully open instead. He had only seen her for a second, but in that second, he had seen her. She was slim, like he was, but perhaps more-so. She had these scars that crossed some of her skin. He noticed that she was shorter than he. The two of them looked about the same age. Her skin appeared to be a little darker than Kenept's, and her hair longer. She was, remarkable; at least, she was to Kenept. He had looked away, back to the fire, just as quickly as he had noticed that she was exposed. But Kenept had never seen a girl like that before. Back when he roamed Alvadas with his brother, there were always times that his brother had gone to peek at the girls, but Kenept had never accompanied him. And he was always busy with learning magic, or helping around the house to have a close relationship with a girl. Although he was looking away, he couldn't help but the occasional glance at Haeli. Hopefully she hadn't noticed. When he finally spoke, it was not about her open cloak, or the snow. But it was a response to her request. He didn't look at her as he spoke, for she was most likely looking at him, and he didn't want to make things awkward by looking at her. "I'll tell you how I made fire, after you explain how I followed a man in here, and watched as he became you in a matter of seconds." It wasn't a trick, he would tell her. At least, he had planned on it. It seemed like a fair deal to him.

[Haeli]

Haeli turned and glanced at him as he spoke. She lifted an eyebrow as if she were surprised he was asking the question. She was certain she'd seen him using djed. Certain. But he was cautious and sometimes with magic that was appropriate. So she answered him honestly, in the way she knew, and spelled it all out for him so he could not be confused.

Her voice was not that of someone talking down to someone else. It was soft, as if offering up an opinion, and just a little hesitant. "Djed. I manipulate djed. It's something we have inside of us - all of us - though not everyone can use it. If you know your djed, than you can do almost anything with it I suppose. I just didn't realize you could make fire. I've never seen anyone ... drip some sort of sap like trees do in the fall and ignite it like someone striking a match to tinder. I saw no match, no flint or steel, nothing. I've never seen anything like that before ever." She said, admitting to him her ignorance. "But it was very beautiful." She added, certain she wasn't out of line by complimenting him on the act.

"Will you tell me how you came to learn to do that... and what it is called? That clear stuff? I've never seen it before. And in exchange I will tell you how I learned my first shape and why. It is a simple story, but it holds lots of lessons for me personally." She said, offering the trade in what to her seemed like a fair scenario. And with that, she watched him curiously, reaping the benefits from the fire he'd created and warming up rapidly - as much as was possible in the frozen night surrounded by snowfall.

[Kenept]

Kenept looked up at Haeli, trying to look at her face instead of the openness of her cloak. He looked into her eyes as she spoke. They were a beautiful teal color. Lighter than Kenept's blue eyes. He watched her eyes as she explained about her manipulation of djed to transform herself. So that's how it was done, it was a form of magic. Kenept had never known about that ability, there was a lot that Kenept didn't know about magic. Kenept held out his hand. "I too, manipulate djed." He held his hand so that his palm was up, and his fingers slightly bent, almost like he was holding a large ball. He looked at his palm, more specifically, the scar on his palm from the mage's cut. "The clear stuff..." He continued, allowing a small amount of djed to flow from his body and create a ball of res in his hand. A small marble sized ball, once more, floating about an inch off the scar on his palm. ... is called res. It's a manipulation of my djed." He allowed it to hover in his hand for a few seconds, to give the girl time to look at it. After a few seconds of allowing Haeli to look at the res, Kenept continued. "And yes, as you guessed I made the fire from this." He ignited the outer layer of the res, so that he was holding a small fireball. The fireball floated out of his hand, at his control, and to the fire only a couple feet away, where he released control of the res. And with another small poof, the fire grew in size, but quickly returned to normal. He looked back at the girl, but this time, instead of looking at her chest. He hadn't meant to, but the excitement of using magic had once again gotten to him, and he couldn't really help himself.

[Haeli]

Haeli watched Kenept carefully. Her entire pose was that of listening. She didn't just express her thoughts and feelings with her face. Haeli moved through the world expressing herself with her entire body. Excitement was evident in her stance, matching the animation in her face as she leaned close, peering at the clear almost gel he produced for her. She lifted a hand, letting one end of the cloak flutter down, and extended a finger to touch the stuff. Her puzzlement was almost a child's delight infused with a healthy dose of adult seriousness. She rubbed her finger and thumb together then sniffed the tiny bit she had on her fingers and then indeed tasted it. She seemed to take a moment to absorb all this before she met Kenept's eyes expectantly.

He didn't disappoint her. The res still clinging to him ignited and lifted up, floating above his hand. She reached out again, passing her fingers close to the fire, and then moving around it exploring but not quite touching or getting close enough to get burned. "I understand. You make this then it ignites. Or you make it ignite with your will. It is your Res so it responds to you. I feel that. But how do you make the Res? Will you show me? Help me to do it too? I would like to learn. Making fire in the wilds would be invaluable. You wouldn't have to keep matches or flint and steel. You wouldn't have to be dry." She speculated, her eyes holding fast to his own. "That small thing is huge in the winter or in danger. It could mean a life lost or saved." She replied.

The wildling moved, shivering outright now, getting closer to the basin. She was ill dressed for the outside and should have had many layers on. But what she had been doing had required a man's form, and the girl simply hadn't had the mindset to take herself shopping for men's clothing before she left. Nothing Haeli actually had fit Darik's form. She would remedy that in the morning light, but for now she was slowly starting to freeze. She had not been cold dancing and delighting in the snow, but once she'd stopped and began talking, she'd started getting colder and colder faster.

"I owe you a story but it is very cold. I have no furs or wools with me that will warm me. But my shelter is not far. Will you come with me there? I can tell you the story I owe you and show you more about how flexible our forms are when you use djed. I can make tea and there should be soup left to warm our insides." She added. "It is just there... that skyglass building." She said, indicating the old observatory that had been recently renovated into a giant glass orangery. It was just across the sundial circle accessed by a pathway.

[Kenept]

Kenept frowned slightly at her question. Not because of her, but instead because he really didn't know how to answer her. "It's hard to explain. It's just djed, but it flows out of my body, like you saw. Like water seeping out of the ground. I just will it and it happens." This was the only explanation that he had. He was only a novice in the art, and he by all means did not know everything about it. He continued on. "I had to learn from a more powerful mage. There's a... ritual... that you have to go through, and I do not know if I am skilled enough. But, this is not the time nor place to discuss such matters." Despite the fact that there was a fire in front of them, Kenept could tell that Haeli was indeed getting cold. He should have mentioned something about going inside somewhat earlier, but it had slipped his mind giving all of the strange happenings. He nodded to her in response to her request, "We probably should get you inside and warm." And dressed. But he didn't say anything about that. He looked at her once more, "lead the way." He smiled, and waited for her to take the lead.