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[Khida]

Bonded. Bonding. Khida nodded slightly as he gave her the other form of the word, remaining intensely focused on the Drykas as he spoke. She almost didn't blink as she listened, leaning slightly forward, practically drinking in the words. The first part didn't sound too remarkable. Being chosen by a horse sounded as simple as any choice -- important to the Drykas for whatever reason, but... not remarkable. As he went on and described the bond, though, it sounded altogether too much like a Kelvic bond -- or what she knew of one, not having bonded yet herself. Khida turned to look at the horse who nosed her way in through the tentflap, her head canting to an angle as she watched. "It sounds like a -- Kelvic bond," she remarked, realizing at the last moment that she now needed to distinguish between two kinds of bonds. Or were they the same? She still didn't know. "But she is not Kelvic. Is it the same?" So she asked.

[Joss Hawkeye]

Joss considered her next question, and he found it odd that he had never thought of this himself. There were a good number of kelvics in Endrykas, and throughout Cyphrus, and he had the acquaintance of a few himself, and that of those they had bonded to. Of course, not all those he knew of were bonded. But he supposed it would happen sooner or later. Joss had never had that experience himself, so that was one reason he hesitated while considering the young woman’s question. Or perhaps he should now think of her as the young falcon. Apparently she identified more with her avian form than her human one. In any case, he had to think about it – was a Strider selecting a rider any different from a kelvic choosing someone to bond with? Or did the human choose the kelvic? He wasn’t really sure. Maybe it was more of a mutual thing, whereas the Strider was definitely the one who did the selecting in that type of Drykas bonding.

Finally, he replied, “No, the Striders are horses, not kelvics. They are the descendants of Rakivas – The Stallion – created of wind and earth by the gods themselves. Where his hooves touched the earth, the sea of grass came into being. And he chose Serifal, the first Drykas. Forever have the Striders selected and bonded with those they deem worthy of belonging to the Drykas. Together, Strider and rider protect and care for the plains and in turn the plains supply us with all we need. Striders never shift to a human form. And they were never…servants.” He paused, his brow furrowing. He didn’t want to insult the falcon kelvic – he wasn’t sure that she’d be insulted. It was common knowledge – the kelvics sprang from those first beasts transformed by a powerful mage, to be his servants. They were born to serve – to bond with some master and serve, that was their nature, wether in human form or animal. And they could be bound and prevented from shifting at will. So, no…to his mind, the kelvic bond was different from that of the Strider.

But he then shrugged his shoulders, for in truth, he did not know. “I – I don’t know, if the bonding is the same. I’m sorry…I’ve never experienced that myself, with a kelvic. Only with a Strider. But there are many amongst the Drykas who have experienced both. Perhaps one of them might be able to tell you more – to answer your question.”

At that moment, as he had been expecting ever since they entered the tent, a familiar face popped through an opening which led to another part of the pavilion. Then, seeing that it was indeed Joss who had returned, his mother came into the front part of the tent and looked from her son to their visitor. If she was surprised to see her son’s cloak on the girl, and that gapping open to reveal much bare skin underneath, her expression did not show it and her voice held neither shock nor disdain, as she said, “You are returned right away, Joss – what has befallen you?” Her hands moved in eloquent underscores to her voice, and her gaze went back to her son, questioning.

“I’m fine,” he reassured her in their own tongue, then switched to Common for the kelvic’s benefit. “I came back because I met this girl, out in the snow. She – she was cold, and I lent her my cloak and brought her here, to get warm.”

It was only then that it dawned on him – amongst the many questions with which he had bombarded her, he had yet to ask her her name. Nor had he introduced himself.

“I’m so sorry, I haven’t even asked you your name,” he said to the girl, as his mother turned a warm smile on her son's guest.

“This is my mother, Nataly, and I am Joss, of the Hawkeye Pavilion.”

[Khida]

He thought about the question for a while; it seemed to be as much a quandary to him as it was to her. Khida folded her hands in her lap and waited, patient as a hunter stalking prey, her intent gaze never straying from the Drykas. It was probably a bit unnerving to be stared at so, if he noticed. No, he finally said, and went on to describe the story of Strider origin, the ways they differed from Kelvics. Khida listened, mostly patient as it didn't go on too long, but the story really wasn't of interest to her -- where they were from mattered less than what they were now. And the gist of all that came to they're not Kelvics. More importantly, he mentioned that many Drykas had both -- a bond to a Strider and a bond to a Kelvic. That satisfied her greatly. "That is good," she said, nodding once. It meant she could still find a bondmate here, even with the Striders and their relationships to the Drykas. Khida turned as someone else approached, the divider rustling as she stepped through. The dark-haired young woman tipped her head to one side and studied the new arrival, an older woman who spoke to the boy in Pavi, more rapidly than she could follow. When he switched to Common, Khida's attention shifted to her companion, and the introductions he made. He hadn't asked her name, this was true; but she only shrugged slightly, uncaring. "I don't mind." Nataly. Joss. Hawkeye Pavilion. Khida blinked, glancing up to the cloth roof overhead. "You gave your tent a name?" she asked of Joss, tone diffident -- had she understood that right? Surely not. It made some sense that humans named living things; naming the nonliving seemed... well, silly.

[Joss Hawkeye]

However incomplete he found his own answer to be, the girl seemed to find it satisfactory. Or at least, she said that it was good – though she might have meant that the whole bonding thing was good. Joss wasn’t quite sure. He was finding his communications with the kelvic to be quite puzzling. She accepted his mother’s arrival with an equal amount of aplomb as his mother seemed to accept the sight of this half naked – well, fully naked yet cloaked – young woman in their tent, and though Joss had given her a prompt, she did not seem inclined to give them her name in exchange for theirs. Instead, she posed yet another befuddling question, and Joss actually looked up, wondering what the hell she was asking. He frowned a bit and his gaze dropped back to her. But his mother seemed to catch on more quickly.

“Hawkeye is the name of our family, not our tent. Pavilion can mean both – either the group of people who are related – family – or a tent.” She was smiling still and didn’t seem bothered by the girl’s ignorance any more than by her state of undress. She also had switched easily to speaking in Common, clearly picking up on the girl's limitations of understanding Pavi.

Nataly’s dark eyes went to her son. She obviously had put two and two together much more quickly than Joss had – perhaps longer years and more interactions with kelvics accounted for that. “She must be some kind of huntress, if she was out in this weather ready to shift. But since you have brought her here, I will fetch you something warm to drink, before you go back out.” It was obvious she did not expect Joss to shirk his own duties just because he had stumbled across a naked girl.

Nataly then addressed the kelvic. “And perhaps you could tell us your name, dear, and who you belong with. I don’t believe I’ve seen you about. Are you new come to Endrykas?” This was entirely possible, as many families came and went all the time, though with the recent outbreak of pox, many were staying away.

[Khida]

The boy seemed altogether confused by her question, which didn't help her get an answer to it. His mother seemed to understand, however, and fielded it readily. Khida nodded to the woman, turning the name over in her head for a bit. Hawkeye. She'd never met a human with the eyes of a hawk -- not even these two seemed to have such. This idle musing was interrupted as Nataly continued, the Kelvic glancing towards the doorway as she mentioned huntress. "No," she said, rising to her feet. They were more than comfortably warm now, and it was past time she move on. "I should go." But before she could do more than stand, the woman went on to ask her name; Khida paused to answer, because humans expected that, and it was fair besides -- she'd answered Khida's question. "My name is Khida," she supplied. "I don't belong to anyone yet." At least in the strict sense of being bonded, which was the only one that mattered, right? The idea of being new evoked a thoughtful frown from the Kelvic; she considered for a moment before responding. "Not new," she finally said, "I've been here a whole season." Which was plenty long of a time by her reckoning, if not so to those who had lived a human lifetime on the grasslands. She shrugged out of the cloak without ceremony or hesitation, folding its sides together and stepping around the brazier to hold it out towards Joss. "Thank you for the cloak," she said, perhaps inspired to the polite formula by his mother's presence. But not inspired to modesty, clearly.

[Joss Hawkeye]

Apparently, the girl had had enough of the tent, and she rose with the purpose of leaving them. And finally he had her name. Khida. He didn’t think he’d forget it. She answered his mother’s questions succinctly, and Joss found her subjective interpretation of his mother’s use of the word “new” sort of amusing. Only one season? That probably explained why she had not yet bonded to anyone here, and that might explain all the curiosity about bonding in general. She removed the cloak and held it out, and Joss took it, feeling less and less confounded by her nudity, but still quite intrigued enough to give her body a somewhat surreptitious once over – though he tried to make it subtle, what with his mother standing right there.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Khida,” Nataly was saying warmly. “Please, come by again, and we’ll share a cup of tea, or a meal. You are welcome at the Hawkeye pavilion anytime, my dear.” They might have sounded like false words born of courtesy only. But Nataly meant them – and she knew better than to speak in elaborate social politeness around members of the often quite literal and matter of fact kelvic race.

Joss smiled too, and considered offering to come out hunting with Khida, though he wasn’t quite sure how that would work, he with his bow and she with her talons and beak. There were a good number of hunting birds such as this around Endrykas, some kelvic, some not – but he had little experience with either. But he decided he would offer all the same, for he was always curious to learn new things.

“You’re most welcome, Khida. I feel a bit silly now, knowing that you could have cloaked yourself in feathers.” He chuckled. “I need to get going too. I have my snares to check, and I’ll have my bow handy in case I spot any likely looking game. Would you like to go together? Or do you prefer to hunt on your own?”

She had said only that she didn’t belong to anyone yet – but that didn’t mean that she always went unaccompanied, he supposed.

[Khida]

Khida looked to Nataly as the woman spoke. Being welcome mattered; being welcome to food mattered more, and the Kelvic bobbed her head. It was the lean season, and between the cold and the strangeness of snow, she had the suspicion that this winter might be lean indeed. A place to get food when hunting failed would be very welcome. Tea didn't figure in her estimation at all, though Khida didn't dislike the drink as such. Most of the time. Then Joss offered hunting, or rather the checking of snares, and she reflected briefly on the last time she'd encountered a trapper. Still, Khida did approve of snares; they seemed to make hunting rather easier. The falcon Kelvic blinked at the young man as a thought occurred to her -- perhaps he could show her how to make them herself. That could also help with the lean season -- as could knowing where his were placed, of course. She glanced up towards the roof of the tent, as if to see the sky beyond. "Today he is waiting. But another day I will go with you," Khida replied, looking back towards Joss with a brief nod. "Hunting is better with two." The falcon Kelvic looked between the two Drykas for a moment, then turned and ducked through the entrance flap without further farewell; she'd said all she needed to say. Outside, she shifted forms in a quick swirl of light, the peregrine leaping into the air and climbing some distance upwards before gliding out above the tent city.

[Limey]

Khida: Skill and Lore Rewards Skills Lore Endurance 1 Snow: Falling Frozen Liquid Investigation 3 Learning A New Word Persuasion 2 Clothes: A Necessary Evil Drykas: People Of The Horse Strider Bonding Lore: Drykas Pavilions Joss: Skill and Lore Rewards Skills Lore Acrobatics 1 Snow: A Hunter's Help And Hindrance Rhetoric 2 Compassion: Not A Four-Letter Word Teaching 3 Khida: Actually A Falcon Acting Proper By Not Ogling (Hard Though It Is) Patience In Teaching Shared Lore: Snow Throughout Mizahar Additional Notes : Not a bad thread at all, guys. I loved the clash between the blunt Khida and the polite Joss, it really did work. Not exactly action-packed, but there was a nice flow here and you played back and forth off each other very well. The teaching portion was good, and I liked hiw Khida struck their little bargain. Hopefully you'll have that hunting thread up soon, I'd love to see it. Any questions or queries, please PM me.