Closed The City of Tents

[S'hazende]

43 Spring 513 AV

Endrykas, the City of Tents and the heart of the Drykas community. S’hazende had been granted access to the large encampment with the group of Opal Clan members he had been travelling through the Sea of Grass with since the first day of spring; his birthday. The Kelvic was certainly overwhelmed. He had been told that the city was big, but for a boy who had never graced such a sight in all his life, it truly was something to marvel at.

It took a good two hours to help the small group he had entered Endrykas with set up, but after that he was free to roam through the large pavilion. Ra’eesah, the young Drykas girl of sixteen who had helped him skin his first kill, offered to travel through the maze of tents with S’hazende and point out the places he would be able to score the best deals and haggle for better prices.

They started their search in the area that most of the clan merchants could be found. The Drykas traders were able to tap into the web in order to communicate with other traders and find some of the best prices in the city. S’hazende had been working on a small list in his head of things he wanted to pick up to help him better travel through the grasslands safely on his own.

“So for Toolkits I would like hunter-trapper’s, leatherworker’s, herbalist, fishing, and sewing,” he said to Ra’eesah so that she could tell the merchant. “I’m also looking for a one man tent, a leather quiver, rucksack, fifty feet of hemp rope, a hatchet, a cooking pot, bedroll, water additive, a dagger, longbow with forty arrows, and two hunting dogs,” he smiled. All up the boy knew he was looking at spending about two hundred and eighty gold miza and a few silver, but maybe, just maybe, Ra’eesah could help him score a better deal.

The excitement on the man’s face wasn’t hard to spot and his fingers tapped quickly against his upper thighs over the simple pants he wore, the same black he had always wore that matched his shirt. S’hazende wasn’t in his cloak today, but had instead traded it for the warmth the dog-skin he had skinned and cured himself, offered. Its tawny hallowed legs were crossed in a loose knot below his neck, the long black claws still attached at the soft, fuzzy paws.

His long black hair was tied up in a scruffy bun at the back of his neck and his face was clear of the red and black mask of earth he had taken to wearing out in the grasslands. He fit in it seemed, the Drykas people he had been travelling with had rubbed off a bit on him, though his own personal style still shone through in places and most knew he was no true Drykas, but rather someone who was accepted enough to move through the overwhelming large camp at relative ease.

[Ra'eesah]

Ra’eesah was excited as always to be back in Endrykas, the city of her birth. It was always exciting to go to the markets, to pick up treats, to buy and sell gear you needed for the next legs of their journey. There were usually performers of all kinds of things, music, acrobats, jugglers. It was the atmosphere of a circus at times. She was excited when S’hazende had asked her to go with him to the market. They had become friends and she enjoyed her times with the young man. He was the first Kelvic she had ever met. To her he would always be Redwing, the nickname he had been given when he killed the dog.

Redwing had given her his shopping list and asked her if she could help him barter with the merchants. Drykas merchants were known for only giving discounts to their own kind. Some would try to charge exorbitant amounts of money to non-Drykas. She agreed, though not having her wind-marks yet she was not sure how good of a deal she could broker for him. She was still a part of the Opal clan and that was something.

The pair could not contain their excitement and set off to find the items S’hazende needed. Ra’eesah was bubbly, exclaiming over all the interesting items. He was indulgent and patient with her. The Drykas were known for not holding their emotions back and today the girl was proving that theory correct.

Ra’eesah smiled at her friend. “That is an amazing dog around your neck! Whoever skinned it was a master!” she winked at him teasing him.

[S'hazende]

S’hazende chuckled. Her words were very kind but anyone could see he had butchered the pelt a little bit, especially around the toes, a part of the tail and the left ear where the hair had thinned or even fallen out completely due to certain nicks in the pelt or spots where the flesh hadn’t been thin enough to dry completely. He looked down at the crossed paws and smiled to himself. He would get better in time; everything took time. “One day, the person that skinned this dog will be a master,” he smiled, content with his work for now. After today he would be able to go out and hunt and tan more hides; maybe even well enough to sell them when he visited Endrykas in the future.

As they were working their way through the pavilion, S’hazende spotted a man who was still setting up his trading stall. He had a great number of many dogs that ranged from large to small and everything in between. The tall Kelvic knelt down and picked up on of the puppies, laughing as it tried to lick his face. It got in a few stealthy whacks to the man’s chin with its tongue before he set it down again and scratched it gently behind the ears. “She likes you, boy,” the fat dog man smiled, setting his hands on his hips as he looked down at the young Kelvic. “Cheap!”

S’hazende stood up and smiled at the man. “She is a sweet thing,” he replied in Pavi, a lot more accustomed to the Drykas language after having spent most of the spring season with the group of Opal Clan travellers who had helped him reach Endrykas finally. “But I was hoping for something a bit bigger,” the young Kelvic added, looking about the many tied dogs and puppies.

“What you need? I have everything you could ever want in a dog and if I don’t have it, I know where to get it!” He said in a loud booming voice, trying to advertise the same thing to all who passed; hoping to spark more interest in his shop. “I’ve got war dogs, guard dogs, big dogs, and small dogs. I even got fighting dogs and a couple of wild things out back,” he said the last few words quietly and only to S’hazende.

S’hazende shook his head; he wasn’t interested in any of those types of dogs. “I need a hunting dog,” he told the man, “Something that will stay loyal and collect my kills.” The boy scratched his head. “I want to work with a longbow and have a dog that knows how to fetch and return my kills.”

The fat trader rubbed his large, untidy black beard and smiled. “Well why didn’t you say so! I have just the thing out back.” He disappeared into his tent then and S’hazende looked over at Ra’eesah, slightly miffed. This was the first time he had bought anything and deep down he really would have liked for it to be the last as interacting with strangers wasn’t his on his top ten list.

The man returned a couple of minutes later with two large, black dogs that almost made S’hazende fall back with fright. He had seen animals a bit like this when Kavala and her party had stumbled across their small camp, but it was still a shock to see them up close like this when he wasn’t in his animal form and towering over most things. “What do you think?” The trader grinned from ear to ear, sure he was about to make a sale.

“Why two?” S’hazende asked and folded his arms, somewhat unimpressed; was he already being jipped?

“They are brothers and they work best together.”

S’hazende smiled slowly, picturing the two of them running off into the distance to fetch his game only to tear it apart before they managed to bring it back to him; was that not what brothers were best at, competing? “Hmm,” he hummed, unsure and glanced at Ra’eesah quickly. “We might come back on our way to the tents,” he then said to the man, not wanting to seem too keen, though he would feel safer out on the road with two dogs rather than just the one.

The trader’s face dropped, he had been so sure he was just about to sell the two, giant brothers to the young Kelvic. “Well hold up, hold up now,” he said suddenly in common, obviously realising S’hazende wasn’t born into the Drykas community and so took a risky guess that the boys dominate language was common. “They are good dogs, hardy dogs! These dogs won’t be here when you get back. Good dogs sell!” He tried to convince the young Kelvic and were S’hazende being honest with himself, he would agree that the dirty tactic was working.

He turned around and looked at the trader before studying the two dogs. S’hazende walked over to one of them and held his head out, fingers tucked against his palm; one could never be too sure around unfamiliar animals and he didn’t want to lose any digits. The big black dog sniffed his hand but otherwise did nothing. S’hazende lifted his front paw and stretched the toes out gently, examining the pads of the dog’s foot for injury or old scars. “They are in top shape!” The trader boomed, “Good condition too!”

S’hazende eyed the dog’s thin belly and smiled, he wasn’t blind. He rose and walked around the other dog, lifting his paws as well and then checking under his lip to eye his teeth. “How old?” S’hazende asked. The dog’s teeth were relatively clean and looked free of infection or sores.

“Two years, maybe a bit more,” the trader smiled, all but rubbing his hands together; his words were partly true. He had had the boys for two and a half years, but they were a little bit older when they had come to him, so it was more likely the pair were going on three and a half years, four tops. Such a smile said more than the trader probably intended and as S’hazende eyed the man, he wondered what it meant. “I knew their sire, but the mother I’m unsure off. Good bones, just look at the size of their feet! You might get some good pups if you ever decide to go into breeding.”

“I don’t think I have time for that,’ S’hazende smiled a small smile and rose. “How much?”

“Fifteen gold a piece,” the trader replied, scratching the back of his neck.

“Ten,” S’hazende retorted quickly.

“Ten? Twenty miza for these two boys? You must be out of your mind!” The trader laughed. “Go on with you and stop wasting my time.” He threw his arms up in the air and half strangled one of the dogs who let out a low yelp.

S’hazende was not about to give up, he wanted those dogs. “Twenty-eight for the two of them,” he said sternly.

The trader stopped and looked at the young Kelvic, his beady little brown eyes narrowing slowly; he was sure he could get full price for them, but sales had been down lately and it was far too hot a day to stand out in the sun arguing over two gold miza. One of the dogs had a tendency for running off as it was, so he wouldn’t feel so bad when the boy had left Endrykas and found himself missing a dog one morning. “Alright boy, you have yourself a deal, twenty-eight miza for the two dogs.” He held the make-shift leashes forward, which looked like plated lengths of dry grass.

“Can I bother you for a better set of leashes?” S’hazende asked, eyeing the pair of lively looking brothers; that grass wasn’t going to hold them for a second if they set their eyes on something small and fluffy.

The trader laughed, dash, there went his hopes of seeing one of his dogs come running back a few nights from now. “Yeah I can get you two leather leashes if you like and we’ll make that thirty gold miza all up.”

S’hazende nodded, quite pleased with the result. The trader soon returned with two medium sized leashes and hooked the dogs up. S’hazende had the man’s money ready and passed it forward. The trader greedily tucked it away in his coin purse and handed the dogs over to the very happy young Kelvic. The tall male turned and walked away from the stall with a leash in each hand and two very large, black dogs trying to lead the way. S’hazende was thankful that they at least seemed to want to go the same way, probably following their noses. He looked at Ra’eesah and smiled as they carried on to the next shop. “Good deal?”

[Ra'eesah]

Ra’eesah smiled at S’hazende as they talked about what each wanted to purchase today. She was confident that they would be able to find the items for good prices. She was happy to be spending the day with her friend and help him if need be. It was always a special thing to be in Endrykas and not have the normal schedule. She was hoping to find the woman who made sweets and treat herself. She was a sucker for something sweet, unable to resist.

They heard the yapping of puppies before they even saw them. They looked at one another smiling as they headed for the booth. They both picked up a puppy. Ra’eesah laughed as she watched S’hazende’s puppy keep wiggling and licking his face while her puppy sat quietly in her arms. “Oh these are adorable. I would love to have this but my mother would kill me if I brought another animal home!” she confessed. She stood and petted the pup, putting it to sleep as she listened to her friend haggle with the man over dogs. She grinned at his use of Pavi and proud at how much he had learned. One day soon he would be fluent and sound like them.

The man who owned the dogs wanted a sale badly. She whispered to S’hazende to not act overly interested when the man comes back if he liked the dogs. If he does she knew the merchant would charge an exorbitant price for them. The man quickly returned with two of the biggest dogs Ra’eesah had ever seen and out of instinct ducked behind S’hazende not knowing if the dogs were tame or not. She stepped out from behind him as the man explained the dogs were brothers. S’hazende looked at her and she shrugged her shoulders, her eyes sending a message. It concerned her that the man had switched to the Common language. S’hazende was doing very well in Pavi. The young man continued to talk to the man and it was evident that he was lying about a few things which was sad because with these animals there was no need to lie. They were magnificent beasts though they did not know if they could retrieve and could use a good dinner. Soon S’hazende was able to pet the brothers and bargained for them. They came to a fair price and he got leather leashes which would have cost him more at another stall.

Ra’eesah put the sleepy puppy down and turned to pet S’hazende’s new pets. “We could ride these things I think!” she joked as they walked away from the stand. He asked if he had gotten a good deal. “We shall see when you hunt. If they retrieve without eating it you did well, if not then you will be mad at yourself. Over all they look like they are intelligent animals. I think you did well.”

They walked through the market, Ra’eesah stopped and found a pair of earrings, wondering if she should buy them or not. She decided to wait until she had purchased her other items and see if she still had the money. “I’d be happy to lead one of your dogs for you.” She offered. The dogs obviously had been trained and walked well on the leash. That was a good sign. “You are going to do well in hunting I think with these two. People will be impressed! You did well Redwing.”

Ra'eesah started to talk to the dog but realized she didn't know what its name was. "S'hazende what are you going to name them?"

[S'hazende]

While R’aeesah was off looking at earrings, S’hazende was close by trying to haggle more with the merchants. He was out of luck it seemed and had to pay full price for all of the things he had tried bargaining for. He had purchased all the tool-kits he’d come for and was now tasked with finding the remaining things on his list. “Quiver, one man tent, rucksack, water additive, dagger, longbow, arrows, cooking pot, hatchet, and bedroll,” he said aloud to himself, going through the list mentally after that to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.

The man knelt down and stepped on the ends of the dog leashes while he stuffed his backpack with the kits he had picked up. Packing the things in weren’t too much trouble; it was just a matter of putting them in in the right order so that they would come out just as easily when he next needed them. S’hazende purchased a rucksack next, which wasn’t really worth arguing over the price on as he would need it to carry more of the things he intended to purchase.

When Ra’eesah had finished looking over the craft section of the shop she was in, she then made her way through the crowd to get back to him. She offered to take one of the dogs and S’hazende nodded, feeling a bit overloaded as it were. It would be smarter to share the risk like this, in case one of the dogs tried to take off; might be easier to stop one dog rather than being dragged through the streets by the brothers. “Thanks,” he smiled at the young Drykas woman and offered her the slightly smaller, but more lively of the two. The young dog’s ears pricked up and he jumped at ever sound, not in a timid sort of way but that curious, over interested stance most lively dogs seemed to take on.

When Ra’eesah asked S’hazende what he was going to call the brothers, he looked thoughtful for a time, his once quick paced step slowing as he stepped to the side of the dirt road to let people go by with little trouble. He looked at the large, black animals that had no other markings save for the white strip that started at their chests and went down to about mid-belly. “Nightshade,” the man smiled, spying a stall he thought he needed, one that looked as if it sold survivalist supplies. “Night and Shade will be easier to call them both at once,” he grinned, though knowing his luck they probably already came to another call, one he was unfamiliar with, which he would have to test once he was back outside of Endrykas.

S’hazende pointed to the tent ahead of them and spoke to Ra’eesah. “You think I can get a tent there, only something big enough for me?” The place looked promising and if he could get the water additive and cooking pot here that would only leave a weapons shop to find.

[Ra'eesah]

Ra’eesah laughed, her eyes twinkling as S’hazende explained his newly acquired dog’s names, Night and Shade. How clever to name them that then when called them he would only need to say Nightshade and they would both come. “I hope that works and they don’t both end up only responding to only Nightshade each time,” she teased him. He handed her the leash of the smaller of the pair but he was much more lively that his brother. She had to keep a shorter leash on this one because his curiosity kept getting the better of him. The dogs seemed to be well behaved but she was not going to take a chance and be dragged through the market by a dog. S’hazende would have a good laugh. She could be a clumsy person at times much to her friend’s amusement.

They both took stock of what had been bought and what still needed to found. They neared a stall that was quite large and seemed to have just about anything you would need when it came to living. The items in the stall seemed to be of a good quality as well. S’hazende asked her opinion as she was trying to see from their vantage if indeed it might have a tent that would suit his purposes. “I think it might but the only way to know sure is to go look.” The shop was quite crowded and she looked at the two large dogs and back at the shop and decided it might be safer for them to go in one at a time. “Why don’t you go first and scout things out and get what you need and I will stay here and watch the dogs. I’m afraid with how crowded the store is we will make an unintended disaster!” She took the leash from his hand and shooed him away as she took the animals to a shade tree a few feet from the shop.

The massive dogs looked at her as if to ask where their owner had gone. “It will be fine boys. He will be back soon.” She sat down and not knowing how trained the dogs were she commanded them to lie down. To her surprise they immediately laid down beside her. One on either side as if they were guarding her. She laughed with glee as she looked at them and scratched both of their chins. “You are very well behaved boys! Your master will be pleased. Now if you can only hunt and retrieve. Can you?” she eyed the dogs as if she believed they would answer her. Shade looked at her; his head cocked and then licked her in the face. Not a gentle lick but licked her entire face. “Eeeewwww Shade.” She petted him and hugged his head as she laughed at the dog. She turned to Night and petted him as well.

The day was getting warm making her sleepy while she waited for S’hazende to complete his shopping. She lay back on the grass, the dog’s leash both were around her wrist. Ra’eesah laid her head on Night’s belly and side using him for a pillow. She hoped that her friend would be successful in this shop. He was doing very well with prices so far and she hoped he would be able to get everything he wanted. She closed her eyes thinking about what a wonderful day this had been so far. It did not take much to make the girl happy. Being in the company of family and friends was always special to her. Shade repositioned to lay next to her as if he were a small child cuddling with its mother. Night wrapped his paws around her arm as she laid on him while she petted Shade, her hand moving slower and slower until the trio was fast asleep beside the road.

[S'hazende]

The stall was perfect. It had everything any one-man-band could desire. The young Kelvic felt a little overwhelmed by the shear size of the tent and how crowded it was. He had been so thankful for Ra’eesah taking the dogs off his hands while he slipped into the crowd and worked his way thought the items, looking for all he needed. The line to make his purchases was long and when he watched a man ahead of him trying to haggle with the store owner only to be turned away, S’hazende decided it would probably be best not to push his luck and attempt the same. “I’ve got far too many people shopping here to argue over a few miza with you, if you want a discount go down a few tents. Good luck finding what you need there,” the store merchant said to a disgruntled customer and then looked at S’hazende who stepped forward with his arms full.

“Bed-roll, one man tent, cooking pot, water additive,” he called to a young Drykas girl who was busy trying to add everything up and make sure they weren’t being ripped off. “Will that be all?” The merchant asked.

“Fifty foot of hemp rope,” S’hazende told him and glanced around the store on last time.

“Fifty feet of rope,” the man ordered one of his attendants to fetch while the quiet girl at his side leaned up to whisper the total in his ear.

“That will be six gold and four silver,” the man said, holding out an impatient hand to the young and rather flustered Kelvic.

S’hazende reached into his rucksack and collected the gold he needed to pay when he saw a small shovel hanging in front of the counter. “How much for the shovel?” He asked, his hand still hidden in the dark leather rucksack.

“Two gold,” the merchant chanted and wriggled his finger. “Eight and four if you please.”

S’hazende handed him the right amount, counting it twice to make sure. The merchant did the same and then handed it to his assistant who then helped S’hazende carry the rope and shovel outside while his arms were busy balancing the rest of his purchases. Once outside and out of the way of quickly moving feet, S’hazende put his things down and started re-juggling. The water additive went in his rucksack without any trouble. He rolled the bred-roll around his neatly packed one-man-tent and wrapped the rope around that before tying the end to one of the cooking pot’s handles. “Much better,” S’hazende grinned as he picked up his things and held them under his left arm. “Thank you for your help,” he told the assistant before going to find Ra’eesah who was sat under a tree with Night and Shade, his two hunting dogs.

“I think I got everything I needed there,” he told the woman and smiled down at the three of them, they looked so comfortable.

“Maybe we should go back to the camp and have lunch? Then we can off-load some of these things,” he eyed the dogs in particular and smiled, “And go and look for a weapons stall.”

S’hazende grasped Night’s lead and the dog quickly got to his feet, attentive and ready to move, while Shade looked happy just to sit with Ra’eesah under the tree; odd, the young Kelvic thought as he looked at the animal, he had been so lively only ten minutes ago; perhaps he was tired, it couldn’t be easy being cooped up with all those other dogs he had been shacked up with at the first tent they had come to. “Come on lazy bones,” S’hazende encouraged, giving Ra’eesah’s foot a nudge with his own as he smiled down at her.

[Ra'eesah]

Ra’eesah dozed off and on while S’hazende did his shopping. She hoped he was successful. Being Kelvic and trying to fit into another culture must be hard but he seemed to make it look easy. He worked so hard to learn their ways. It was admirable at all he had already accomplished. The sounds of voices lulled her into sleep. Her dreams were filled with being on the back of a horse, her horse, her strider. It was black as midnight, a beautiful beast with a gentle soul. The wind was blowing through her hair, the rider and horse working as one. She was hunting and ready to make the kill when his voice interrupted her dreams. She sat up and stretched, smiling at him. S’hazende was finishing packing his new gear to make it possible to carry.

“I’m glad you were able to find so much. I assume you got a good price?” She stretched again, scratching behind Shade’s ears, kissing his head. “I think taking this stuff back to camp is a good idea. My mother will have something waiting for lunch and you can leave your items there. She’ll even be glad to watch the dogs unless you want to bring them back with us.”

Night had jumped up and gone to his master, his tail wagging in pleasure. She was impressed that the dogs had already seemed to bond to him. Shade had looked at him but remained next to her. Ra’eesah scratched the dog’s head, “its ok boy. The day is a good one to be lazy. I think you most likely are the smartest one here!” She kissed the dog’s muzzle. Shade was such a sweet natured beast.

Ra’eesah had no motivation to get up and move from her spot and Shade seemed to share her sentiments. She actually was surprised that the dog was not standing near his brother ready to explore. S’hazende nudged her foot, teasing her about her laziness. She giggled; “You should give me a piggy back ride back!” she teased as she stood up and stretched. She grabbed Shade’s lead. “Is there anything I can carry for you?” she offered though he looked like he was organized.

They headed back to the camp at a leisurely pace, let the dogs explore and mark their territory every time they smelled other dog’s scent. The pair had become friends and was relaxed whether they were talking or quiet. It gave Ra’eesah chances to help him learn and practice his Pavi so he would not be embarrassed if he said something wrong. Their friendship had the comfortableness about it that made it easy to be with one another.

It did not take long before they found their way into the camp and her parent’s pavilion. True to form her mother had food waiting. Some sort of stew and flatbread. “Come you two, eat. I was lucky enough to trade some of my salve for lemons and I made lemonade.” Ra’eesah smiled and clapped her hands for lemonade was one of her favorite things and it was a rare treat that they got to drink it. She took the leads and tied the dogs to let them get used to their surroundings. She got a bowl and put water into it for the dogs and found something for them to eat. Her mother was in the process of fussing over S’hazende making sure he ate.

When the girl was done she took her bowl from her mother and her bread and began to eat. Her mother asking them questions about their finds and what they were still looking for. The pair laughed as they shared some of the strange sites they had seen. Ra’eesah and her mother enjoyed as S’hazende relayed his first time at the market. Her mother praised him for how he had done and for the dogs he had picked. So far the day had been successful and the afternoon would so as well.

Ra’eesah went to check on the dogs. Shade immediately came to her lay down as she petted him. Night seemed to only have eyes for S’hazende. He waited for his master to come and get him, his tail wagging in expectation. The girl laughed at the dog and petted him as well. "Your master is finishing his lunch, be patient!"

[S'hazende]

He ignored the question when the woman asked if he had got the good for a fair price or not. He hadn’t had the chance to haggle the merchant down and felt he had seen out his luck for the day now that business was picking up around the busy tents. “I should be okay,” S’hazende smiled when Ra’eesah offered to take something from him and lighten the load. “I think I got a good system going here, and besides, once I’m out on the grass alone I won’t have anyone to help me carry these things,” he tried to explain.

When they arrived back at the camp the dogs were tied up in the shade and some of the Drykas children sat playing with them. S’hazende watched the dogs for a time and was surprised to see that they were so good with children; even when the odd ear-pulling went on. “Children come away from the dogs,” one of the woman encouraged and smiled at S’hazende; it was Ra’eesah’s mother and of course, she liked to make a fuss of everyone.

The woman kindly offered S’hazende some stew and flat bread, which he thanked her for and ate greedily, forgetting his table manners. He liked the flat bread hard like this, it meant it fell apart better in the hot stew and so he would have to work quickly, munching a soggy bite-full before it slip off into the broth. He repeated this process until the bread was devoured and he was left with very little soup and a few chunks of fatty meat that were hard to chew.

“Try the lemonade,” Ra’eesah’s mother encouraged him and he picked up the wooden, handle-less cup and took a sip of the liquid. S’hazende’s mouth tightened with the bitter taste that had confused his taste-buds and made his nose feel watery. Half of the people sitting in the close vicinity laughed at the young Kelvic as he offered the cup of lemonade to someone else. It was quickly snatched away and consumed by a thirsty mouth.

“That was different,” he offered and Ra’eesah’s mother laughed, highly amused.

The woman sat down with S’hazende then and praised him for finding such tame animals in the market place. “You know the last lot we bought for the clan were so noisy,” she protested, “Barking at anything that moved, up all night; in the end we were glad to see the back of them.”

“They are just tired,” S’hazende shrugged. “We have been walking around in the sun all morning, I’m sure they will perk up come dusk.”

He looked over at Ra’eesah then who had gone to see the pair. S’hazende put his bowl away and went over to join the young Drykas girl with the dogs. He patted one of them and smiled at the girl; he had left his things near his bedding. “Think we should head out now while they are quite?” He asked before looking to one of the brothers and scratching behind his ear. “I don’t want to miss out.”

[Ra'eesah]

Ra’eesah smiled as she hugged Shade who was sleeping beside her. Night looked expectantly to his master, tail wagging as he was petted. “Yes there is still so much we need to find and maybe if we get the important stuff done there will be time for fun!” Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at him. She stood up and brushed her buckskin pants off. She was thankful for the white gauze blouse that she wore at least it was cool. She took her thick, long tresses down and shook them out. A breeze was blowing thank the gods but her head was hot due to her hair. The two discussed whether to take the dogs with them but in the end felt they could make better time without them in tow. The young girl put her hair up, ran to kiss her mother. Her mother handed her list of some herbs that they would need for medicines and some coin and bid her daughter happy hunting. The women hugged, the daughter was a younger version of her mother.

Ra’eesah’s mother watched as she ran to S’zahende and grabbed his hand pulling him towards the road to the market. Her mother laughed feeling sorry for the boy as her daughter was overly animated and excited at the moment. She would most likely talk the poor boys ear off. It would not surprise her if he would the form of his horse and run off. The girl could be a handful when she was excited about something. Her mother smiled at how they were total opposites. The boy serious, on the quiet side and her daughter happy-go-lucky and very vocal but the friends complimented one another’s personalities. It was a good friendship for them both.

The pair took their time walking back, Ra’eesah regaling him with stories of the grasslands and their travels. She was fascinated with his family and what it was like to be more than one being yet being one. “S’hazende, tell me what it’s like being Kelvic. What’s it like turning into a horse or back into a man.”

The young girl stopped and looked at him, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Can you have children both as a man and a horse?” She blushed profusely at her question but in her mind it was a legitimate question and fact a person would want to know. She prayed that she had not embarrassed him too bad.

Turning to continue down the road Ra’eesah snuck a peek from the corner her of eye, looking down watching her feet as she walked. She listened intently as he explained and patiently answered the questions. He never seemed to mind answering her questions and she asked a lot. The girl smiled at him as they entered the market again.

“Where to my fearless leader?” Ra’eesah teased him. “I hear they might have ice cream. I say if we can get all of our things done, we find the ice cream to treat ourselves. “She suddenly realized that maybe he had not ever had ice cream. She loved watching him try new things on their outings. His reactions never failed to make her laugh. She wondered if sometimes it was because he had a horse somewhere in him.