PM to join Rattlers, Rattlers Everywhere! [Serensskyra, Kassius]

[Licearsvansan]

. . ......... My journey is my destination. . . . .

Winter 512, the 17th day

"Well, petch", said a man whose face was hidden behind a grey hood. Snow was begining to fall around Aldavas, and once again there was no inn in sight. Cloth held tightly to body, the hooded figure's head whipped back and forth as it walked down the street. "There has to be something. Anything!". The man under the cloak cried out. He was met only with the muffled echo of his own voice as it danced off the empty street. The snow was falling harder now. Perhaps a blizzard was on its way. The man cringed slightly as he recalled the last blizzard he was in. Fear of a frosty death pushed his cold body foreward, stopping only to brace himself as the cruel iced wind blew through him. Each step reminded him of the time the cold had nearly taken his life, and each snowflake was a frigid claw reaching out to take his life. The man's breaths were heavy now with panic, his wild fearful eyes swept the streets. Am I to die? Out here in the cold, alone? No, I can't stop. There must be someplace! The man raced down the street, eying every building, looking for some reprieve from the blizzard's onslaught. A patch of ice on the ground stole his footing, and he fell hard. Tired, beaten, and terror stricken eyes looked up and down the street he had fallen before. A few building's down from where the man had fallen was a building with a sign. "The Withering Rose", the man read outloud to himself. A Tavern!, he had heard tale of this place but this was his first time seeing it. The cloaked man wasted no time standing up and running to its door. A tavern meant warmth, and wamrth meant that his body heat would rise, and his body heat rising meant....not death! The man fubbled with the door and a horrifying thought that the door was locked and the tavern was closed, crossed his mind. Short breaths of panic shot from the hood. It can't be closed. It can't be! By Caiyha's mercy PLEASE don't let it be clo- Click! His hand found the latch on the handle that he needed to press, and the man almost tumbled foreward due to the weight he had pushed against the door to open it. Stumbleing to find his footing, the man looked up to see half of the patron's and stare looking at him.

"Hehe, I'm glad you guys are open. What with the blizzard and all."

One woman gave the man a confused look and walked towards a window. She glanced quickly out side and then turned back to him. "There ain't nothing but a little snowfall outside." Under the hood the man's face turned so red that one might mistake it for a beet. Noticing his embarassment the women added, "Well I suppose it is heavier than most any other snow we got this winter." She looked him in the eyes. "Say, whats a young man like you doing alone in a place like this."

Pride wounded, the man looked out to see the eyes of the patrons on him and sheepishly replied, "My name is Svan, and it seems I'm your entertainment tonight."

[Serensskyra]

Kyra was navigating the snowy roads of Alvadas, the snowfall coating her clothes in an icy frosting that didn't melt as quickly as it would for other beings, if it did melt. Her body temperature was plummeting quickly even thought the snow fall wasn't that bad the wind that whipped it around like a bakers whisk was awful. It felt like knives were cutting through her skin and bones, leaving an icy cold behind.

She knew from personal experience living here that this was nothing compared to the blizzards that Ionu occasionally sent through the city, piling snow outside of doors and filling alleyways with the hard packed ice. But to a Dhani this snow and wind was the equivalent of a glacier blizzard.

Why was she out here right now? Oh well she couldn't quite remember, her head was going slightly fuzzy from sleepiness. Oh couldn't she just curl up here and go to sleep? But...No. She couldn't sleep. Sleep meant death right now. There was a place nearby, a place she visited sporadically but often enough to know the owner by name and to be on speaking terms with her. The woman of course knew her race but didn't comment on it or push the topic, something she liked. But right now Kyra wasn't thinking about that, she was thinking about warmth. And how this place had it.

Right there. Some one else had just opened the door and light filtered out along with the noises of conversation. She hurried her sluggish limbs to the door and pulled it open, stepping inside with a slow gracefulness. Kyra was rarely anything but graceful, this woman was not one to tumble into a place. No she flowed. Even as tired as she was her movements were fluid as water.

She looked at the man and as the heat warmed up her blood and her brain she realized she knew who he was. It was that boy who fell off the building the other day. What was his name? Oh yes, Svan.

She had just come in when he was saying the last comment and she smiled. She wasn't sure what he had done to become entertainment but it had probably been funny, seeing as how he had made his entrance the first time they had met.

Looking around at the people gazing curiously at him, Kyra's entrance had been much more low key in comparison, she recognized her friend Raenah, the owner.

The owner had noticed Kyra as well and was walking towards her. She had a soft smile on her lips but her eyes betrayed nothing.

"Hello Kyra it's good to see you again, can I get you something?" her voice was low and pleasant to hear. Calming really. Kyra shivered and rubbed her arms as she tried to get her body heat back to normal. She thought over what she knew was the menu by heart.

"I'd like a glass of wine and a beef dinner." she told her friend then smiled and nodded at Svan.

"Can you get the two of us a table? He's a...friend of mine.". Rea nodded and waited while Kyra made her presence known to Svan.

"Well well you seem to be recovering nicely from your fall from that building. " she commented. She nodded toward a waiting Rae.

"My friend has a white rose table waiting for us." Her lisp didn't pop up and her voice didn't question that he'd come with her, she just assumed he would.

[Kassius Selacs]

Snow and wind danced through the ever changing city, briefly brushing lone figures in the streets. White flakes landed on white blond and too pale flesh, lingering longer than one would expect, giving the figure struggling through the snow a ghostly, almost ethereal look.

While Kass was certainly capable of theatrics when performing, he liked to think he was fairly grounded and sensible in his everyday life. So it was with no dramatic exaggeration that he realized he had made a dangerous miscalculation.

Out in the wilds, when it grew too cold, it was possible, if not easy, to just drive some unlucky animal out of its den, or make his own if he needed to. Here in the city, however, Kass found no respite from the blistering cold. He had his house key, but the twisting, every changing roads worked against him, keeping him from finding the right path home. Ironic, that the very thing that made this city so fascinating to the dhani might just kill him.

Kassius shuddered at the thought, and pushed it away. He would not die yet, not when there was still so much for him to do. He pushed on, slipping into daydreams of fires and hearths and warmer days, coiled up in a makeshift nest.

He didn't realize he had fallen to his knees until he felt the snow soak through the linen. Eyes fluttering shut, he tried to stand, only to fall back against a nearby wall. As luck, or perhaps Ionu, would have it, a similar creature in a similar position saved him. He was roused by the sound of a body crashing through the door, and he quickly stumbled to his feet. A door stood not a few steps away from him, and a quick glance up confirmed his location.

Shaking the wooziness from his head, he slipped in behind the next person to open the door, and leaned back in relief. Ah, heat. How he'd missed thee. Glancing around, he blinked in surprise, spotting the two in front of him. His mouth twisted into a wry grin. Well now, wasn't this a surprise.

Stepping forward, he tried to rub some feeling back into his fingers. "I don't suppose you have room for one more?"

[Licearsvansan]

Well today was shaping up to be a rather poor evening. Not only had Svan nearly died of both the cold and his own embarrassment, he was now face to face with the very same dhani woman he had met earlier in the season. It wasn't that Svan disliked her or anything, but there was just something about her that drove Svan insane. He couldn't tell whether he liked her or hated her. There was one part of him that desperatly wanted to befriend a dhani that wasn't villianously evil, and yet at the same time he couldn't help but notice how severely the two dhani contrasted one another. Still, she was currently the only one in the building that hadn't seen his embarassing entrance, and while he remained cautious to hide his race, he was eager for a chance to learn more about this woman. Perhaps he could even get her to divulge a bit of info about her past.

He had just begun to follow her lead when a yet another dhani walked in through the doorway. Really?! Both of them again?! Svan wasn't sure if he was blessed or cursed. Svan scanned the man briefly and smiled at sight of his wet trousers.

"I don't suppose you have room for one more?"

Svan gave the man a playful smile. "I'm terribly sorry, but it seems we simply can't seat another soul tonight. However, we will have a seat open in a few bells if you're willing to wait outside." Svan's eye flicked down to Kass's pants "Could we interest you in some dry pants? Its a little chilly out there." Svan chuckled, and turned back to Krya. While Svan had mixed opinions about Kyra, he found little reason to dislike the blonde haired dhani. As Svan walked over to Kyra, he made a light motion with his head to invite Kass to join them at thier table. Svan simmply assumed he had Kyra's blessing to invite the other dhani.

[Serensskyra]

Kyra didn't really care that Svan invited the other male to join them. In fact she was pleased, although she said nothing or made any expression to express it other than a slight nod and ghost of a smile. She found the male quite beguiling and intriguing. He could as easily pass for female as he could male with his appearance, in fact if one didn't pay much attention or hear his voice you might very well think he was a woman. For surely no male could be that beautiful.

Kyra sat down at the table their patron had directed her towards. It had a white rose in it's center and Kyra picked it up to sniff it, the smell was delicate and faint. But still wonderful none the less. She twirled the rose between her thumb and forefinger, friendship then for tonight, shame she wouldn't have minded a bit of romance. She went over the use of a rose, it had so many properties. It was a well known aphrodisiac, but that's not what Kyra cared about. Excellent for blisters, burns, wounds and sunburns, it also cured sore throats, and stuffed noses, even on bug bites it was amazing., And if you were in a pinch they made great bandages. She smiled at the flower, so beautiful and useful at the same time. She laid it delicately down on the table again and looked at the two men she was sitting near, wondering how this evening would go.

She rubbed her hands together and blew on them, her breathe cool but warmer than her icy hands. All three of them looked like they were freezing, which she expected for her but not for them. Odd.

"I don't believe we've been formally introduced." she said thoughtfully, looking at the two realizing that she didn't know either of their names. "I'm called Kyra by most, and you?" she looked at both men, making sure they knew that the you meant both of them. At the moment she didn't want to exclude either of them. They were both sure to be interesting. And she needed a good time to get her mind off of her experience outside in that awful, frightful, disgusting cold.

[Kassius Selacs]

ConsistencySo, let's make sure that for the other thread, Svan picks up on the fact that all three are dhani, while Kass and Kyra are cheerfully oblivious.

He smirked back at Svan. Witty and reckless. Just his type, Kassius decided. "Dry pants do sound nice. Are you offering yourss?" He ran his fingers through his long hair, displacing a fair amount of snow onto the floor, and followed the two, studying them from behind.

There was something rather intriguing about this pair, though he couldn't say exactly what it was. They seemed familiar, though he was certain he had never met them before, and seemed a little, well, similar, different though they were. He, personally, rather liked both Svan's friendliness, and the woman's aloof demeanor, though he typically found those traits annoying. Balance, he supposed it was. Friendly without being clingy, and aloof without being rude.

An intriguing pair indeed.

They were seated at a white rose table, and he watched as the woman picked up the rose, examining it. She seemed more or less pleased by it, though whether by the rose itself or the implications of it, he couldn't say. He inclined his head slightly, returning her gesture, before answering her question.

"I'm known as Kassius Selacs, though I will certainly accept simply Kass." He smirked a little at that, enjoying his own private little joke. Though each member of his family certainly had proper, dhani names, they also had a last name, Selacs, for two reasons. Firstly, it helped immensely with blending in, if they had a human surname, especially one that could be traced back to a certain traveling troupe. Secondly, it allowed each member of his family to identify each other, as Kassius almost certainly had siblings he had never met, both older and younger by now.

Although it might be a little awkward to explain if anyone ever flipped it around.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan laughed at Kassius's reply, and smiled as the two introduced themselves. When it was his turn to speak he took a seat and gave a friendly glance to the pair. "My name is Svan. However, if that gives you any trouble you then feel free to call me Van." He spoke softly enough so that he couldn't be heard beyond the table. Only a dhani would likely be able to understand the implications he was making, but why take the chance of someone putting the clues together? Svan smiled sarcasticly at the other dhani, and continued,"So I take it you two have been enjoying the weather?", He was humored that for once he was likely the warmest one in a group due to the thick four layers of clothing he wore. "Though perhaps we should thank it. After all, it did bring us together for a pleasent little dinner. Speaking of which-" Svan plucked a rose petal and took a nibble out of it "Who do we ask for some food around here? I've had beef jerky for the past 4 days and this thing isn't enough to get the taste out of my mouth."

Just as Kyra had knowlage of the herbal effects of roses, Svan knew of the abilities roses had to help survival. Namely, that they were edible. Many dhani were die hard carnivores, but Svan had learned to dine on a shrub or two when given no other choice. Rose petals were far from filling, but when over salted jerky was all you had to eat out on the trail,anything to alter the taste even a little was welcome. Svan also had learned that an uprooted rose bush made a fairly effective melee weapon against violent dire animals, but he wasn't about to demonstrate that at a dinner table. Well, not this dinner table anyways.

[Serensskyra]

Kyra mentally sighed at the blonde man's comment on pants. But her lips turned up ever so slightly. She hadn't been around anyone amusing in some time. She thrummed her nails against the table, wondering at her food. Her body's effort to keep her alive in the cold outside had made her hungry. She could eat a horse, truly. She could.

Her eyes flickered over to Kassius' when he responded to her question. So that was his name.
"Kassiuss." she spoke out loud, rolling the word off her tongue. Her eyes and voice were contemplative as she tasted the word, not hiding her lisp. She nodded, a silent approval.

Kyra looked at Svan as he replied, her eyes hardened. They narrowed ever so slightly, he had noticed her lisp, something that was slight enough that most wouldn't notice. But this one did. Perhaps he knew she was a Dhani? She didn't hide the fact, she just didn't proclaim it to the world. She wondered.

"Ssssvan." she hissed out, using her lisp this time, she checked for his reactions.
"I believe I prefer that over, Van." she commented giving him a smile. She didn't trust him, anyone who acted like they knew something but didn't come out and say it was not trustworthy.

"Yes, the weather is just delightful." Kyra commented, her voice dripping sarcasm. Kyra sighed and pulled the rose out of Svan's reach.

"Do not eat that, in this city things are rarely ever what they seem. You could be eating a dead frog, mouse, or poison." she chided him, her voice that of someone talking to a small child. Kyra looked up right as a server arrived with her food and wine. Both were deposited in front of her as the girl stood waiting for the men to make their orders. The girl blushed at the sight of the handsome men. Kyra didn't notice, she was too intent upon her food. But before digging in she informed the two of the menu.

"They have chicken, beef, and pork dinners all for one gold miza. And they only have wine, for a gold miza as well." she informed the men, figuring they wouldn't care about the salad.

Kyra dug into her food, still maintaining to be ladylike as she ate small bites of the meat. Still she finished quickly and she was left with only her wine to sip at, she was still rather hungry. But she'd live with that, she couldn't afford more food and to go out hunting was a death sentence in this weather, if she had even remembered how to hunt. It had been so long.

[Kassius Selacs]

Kass raised an eyebrow slightly as Kyra repeated first his name, then Svan’s. There it was again. That familiar, almost nostalgic feeling. There was something in her words that tingled in the back of his mind, and he felt that somehow there was something he should understand. And it wasn’t just her.

Listening to Svan as well, Kassius couldn’t help but feel that there was something between the two, perhaps the three of them left unspoken. They were hinting, definitely. Exactly what they were hinting at, he was not so sure.

He quietly ordered a beef dinner, rare, and watched them as discretely as he could as they ate. There was definitely something off about them, and Kass was almost insatiably curious.

An unexpected saying ran through his head unbidden. ”It takes one to know one.” It takes one... His mind raced, replaying the moment he had stumbled in. They had both already been inside, looking every bit as frozen as himself. Now that he thought on it, that was rather suspicious. Humans tended to be much warmer than his kind. Then there was the accent.

Kass himself had only a light accent, as did his siblings. Of all the members of his family, his parents had the closest thing to a “normal” rattler accent, and even that had been muted after years of speaking mostly common. Still, it was enough that Kyra’s lisp felt faintly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it.

Well, he supposed, a little questioning couldn’t hurt. Swallowing a bite of meat, he spoke.

“So, what do you two do around here?” He glanced from one to the other. “I’m a street performer. A juggler and an acrobat.”

[Licearsvansan]

Svan made a light click of annoyance as Kyra reprimanded him. He did not appreciate being talked down to, even by a dhani female. He found it even ruder that she had taken the rose right out of his teeth. He gave her a dry smile and softly retorted, "If it is a poison then let us hope that it is not a poison that can be inhaled", lightly alluding to the hypocrisy of chiding Svan after she had smelled the flower so closely. He stared at her for a moment before chuckling to himself lightly. He realized that there was little point in trying to make a dhani feel guilty for being rude. If she had any concern for Svan's opinion then she wouldn't have take the rose out of his teeth herself. Svan almost respected her for being so forward about it. A respect that quickly disappeared as she blushed at the waiters. Svan couldn't help but roll his eyes. He never quite understood why people were so fascinated by the appearances of others.

Turning towards a waiter Svan ordered chicken and a bottle of wine. Upon receiving his food, Svan wasted no time in devouring it. A smile was broad across his face as the flavors of the food washed over his mouth and settled on his tongue.

Half listening to the conversation, Svan heard Kass speak. A juggling dhani? By the gods he had seen everything now hasn't he? Svan stiffed a laugh and replied, "A street preformer is it? I guess it should be expected in a city like Aldavas." Svan gripped his hand around a finger as he spoke. "I'm sure you know all sorts of tricks, but tell me" Svan gave a light tug at his finger to aid the morph, and as he withdrew his hand a large talon had taken the place of his finger. He paused a moment to let it sink in. "I'm a morpher. I have no honest trade but I dabble in mercenary work, and a bit of banditry to make ends meet." Svan let the morph relax back into its origonal form, and continued, "I guess you could say I'm a traveler. I came to Aldavas to escape the winter. After all, the mountains are hard enough to travel without being iced." The brown haired man turned to Kyra. "But enough of me, how is it you find yourself in this city."