PM to join Rising Sun [Jh'eon]

[Litani]

There'd been little rest the night before.

In truth, Litani had woken with only an hour or two of sleep... again. Her eyes drowsily came open and she startled back almost at once upon seeing her dark reflection in the steel next to her cheek. And then she remembered.

She remembered where she was, how she got there, and she remembered the man who'd come into her room in the middle of the night after accosting her the day before and holding her at the point of his Lakan.

Dasreide.

Her game of chess with him had failed. Despite the fact that he'd left his blade as payment for hurting her - and she winced as she moved, still feeling the sting of the cut at her throat - he'd kissed her on the forehead and walked away. She still had no idea what to make of that nonsense and, with a groggily blinking growl, she flung the sacred weapon off of her bed and onto the ground with a clatter before turning away from it to rise and get dressed. Well, you're a fool for responding the way you did, she said to herself silently, bleary and half-awake but the inner chastisement didn't keep office hours, it seemed. You think because you sense something and respond, that it means anything? Idiot.

Pushing the self-loathing out of her head, Litani sighed and went into her small wash room to look in the mirror for the first time since yesterday. There, at the curve where her chin met her throat, there was a single scarlet line bit deep into the first few layers of her skin. She raised a long-fingered hand to touch it briefly and shivered, allowing herself to consider how close she'd been to true harm. Furiously, she frowned at herself in the mirror and went to her kit to retrieve the proper ointment. Once applied, she made the judgment to leave it open to the air rather than try to bind it; It would just look terrible and draw attention anyway, which is definitely not needed, and she slipped her shirt carefully over her head so as to avoid dragging the fabric over the ointment. Her pants were more of a split skirt, loose and modest but also feminine and practical, draping easily over riding boots and a leather sheath on her right calf.

Once dressed, the Konti paused only briefly to snatch the Lakan off the floor and slip it into the sheath. The Akalak might have no idea that he was dealing with a grown woman but some promises were made to be kept, and she would keep hers. With that, she slipped down the stairs of The Pearl House and secured a light, portable breakfast on her way out the door. Most everyone was still asleep this early but she exchanged pleasantries with the serving staff and disappeared out the door - she was in a dark mood and did not want it to color the way they saw her. In the half-shadows of the pre-dawn, she stole up the stairs... the many, many stairs... to the top Tier stables.

***

While the stable master had assured her that he would care for the Gildling as well - nay, better! - than she might, she still insisted on shouldering her share of the burden. He'd puzzled at that, but ultimately did not argue too staunchly. And what kind of woman pays for boarding for a horse and then helps with the job? Why, the kind of woman that cares for her creature as one would care for any close friend... and who has yet to make another friend in the city, that's what kind. But of course she did not tell him that. She simply smiled her calm and friendly smile, made a light-hearted joke about separation anxiety from the one that had been her only company on the weeks-long journey across the Sea of Grass, and graciously accepted his guidance through the complex to find her steed.

Ansem stamped his feet appreciatively as soon as he heard her voice. The Gildling had been brushed and fed already, she saw, though the sun was barely in the sky. It was still a good pretext for interacting with the creature, however, so she found herself taking up a comb and gently raking it through the glittering strands of his mane for a few moments. She stood for some time, talking quietly with the creature, silently debating about the merits of taking him out for a ride so soon after such a long journey.

[Jh'eon]

Jh'eon walked through his house. He was writing quickly in his journal, his writing a bit of a scribble. Season of Summer, Day 4, 513 AV The Akvatari, Theta, was correct. I should be going out and about, and preparing for the journey I will make to visit Ole'ah, my sister. The Sea of Grass is no place for her to live at! I will have to buy a horse and learn to ride it today. Makutsi, wish me luck today. It will definitely not be a seahorse, not on the land. He walked out and opened a chest. In there he took out four things - a spear carved with snakes, a shield, a flute and a bracelet. He took out the beautiful green crystal-encrusted bracelet, with some beautiful patterns carved in it. It had been his mother's once. He put it on and hurriedly took the flute too. He put back the spear and shield - he would not be in danger today. He hated violence anyway, and that was only there if he wanted to travel the Grass alone. The Charoda started walking to the hearth and ignited a fire. He drank some water he had brought from the river, and gulped it down. The memories of the Akvatari, and him and her exchanging stories stuck in his mind. He wondered a lot if he would ever see her again. He had jumped out into the waterfall - not far from it mind you. A jump from the top was just pure peril. If he was to actually attempt that, he would not be here now, preparing himself for the journey ahead. Walking outside, Jh'eon was hit with the early morning sunlight. It was almost enough to blind him. He was heading for a stable, a place to stop off for horses. If he was to travel the Grass he would need it. He looked at the bracelet, intently. It was his. He would not lose it, if it meant no more memories from when all of his family were happily living together, in peace. He would be devastated to lose it. He walked to the stables and noticed there weren't that many horses. He had come to these stables because he was told that they were the best in the city, without having to go out to the Sanctuary. He murmured to himself and was about to walk on when he saw a horse. He yelped, and crashed into the ground in fright. His heart was pounding, and he saw a Konti. He let out a word, while gasping for breath. "Petch!" He then saw the Konti and the Gildling. He hoped he didn't look more like a fool than already.

[Litani]

Caught in the doorway of the stables, bridle in hand, the Konti in question stood blinking at the suddenly startled Charoda, some distance off. She had decided to saddle Ansem and buckled his bridle on though he had no bit and no barding; she intended a meandering trot through the countryside, an exploration to take stock of her surroundings. Instead, she saw a clearly fearful and cowering creature of Laviku and she stopped, all previous thought gone entirely.

Surprised, she found herself 'reaching', 'reading', trying to discern what had troubled the creature so badly. She 'felt' no immediate injury in him with her Gift, but she felt fear so strongly she could almost name it. Briefly cursing herself with her unforgiving inner monologue, briefly wishing she'd had Avalis' Sight in addition to her healer's touch, she answered Rak'keli's call and began to move toward Jh'eon, a compassionate and concerned expression in her eyes. "What troubles you, great one?" she said softly, pausing a distance away from Jh'eon and softly inclining her head in a respectful half-bow. She found herself guessing, and probably accurately guessing, at what he was... but this was the first time she'd seen one of his kind and her heart beat quickly with the desire to help him if she could divine a way to do so.

Little did she realize that it was her horse which had caused such terror... She felt only the physical consequences of that fear, not the reason.

[Jh'eon]

Jh'eon looked at the Konti and murmured. "I am afraid I was a water dweller. The horses on the land - I am still wary of them." He stood up and looked in wonder and horror at the Gildling. He jerked slightly if the horse set their eyes on him. "It - it is very beautiful. I shouldn't be sc-scared of it - but I am," he admitted with a sigh. He looked again the Konti and noted her beauty. Then again the Konti, more often than not, stood out from the crowd with their outstanding beauty. He shook his head and looked at the horse. "I am going to need a horse or boat to do what I have to. I - will never be able to ride a horse." He shook his head at the Konti. "I am sorry to have disturbed you. I was indeed startled by the Gildling - I think it is? I hear they have an odd shine to them. And it doesn't have strange coloured hair so I presume it isn't a De- what is it called? 'Delask'? Denusk? I struggle to remember." He looked at the Konti and hissed to himself. He liked to talk a lot - he was a fool. Then a strength of sudden courage started filling him. He took a deep breath and spoke. "Can you teach me to ride a horse?"

[Litani]

The Konti smiled gently, knitting her brows together in wordless compassion, touched to the heart by the genuine plea of the beautiful sea creature before her. In truth, she melted slightly on the inside and, at once, both silently laughed in sympathy and internally wept in empathy for how sincere the plight she felt from him. Whatever his words, whatever his posture, she -felt- the truth of him - he was terrified, but determined, and she could not deny him.

"Of course," she said immediately, intuiting what else was needed before he could think to ask. Without remark, she turned the Gildling aside and took Ansem to a nearby fence post where she could tie off his reins and secure him - facing the other direction - and attend to the Charoda without Ansem's accidental interference. Having done this, she walked away from the steed as if she'd no particular mind to return to him. Instead, she crossed the small distance to Jh'eon and let herself be open to the risk of touching him - she extended her hand to him, in the human gesture of greeting to ask for the shaking of hands, but there was more... there was some vulnerability to the gesture, some unspoken delicacy that accompanied her smile, disarming and passionate and perfect.

"I can teach you," she assured him softly, looking directly into his eyes, direct in her stare even as she was gentle and unassuming in her body's posture. "But trust me first... Let us start there, before anything else." She waited then, calm and at her ease, in the way that only a truly confident individual can be.

[Jh'eon]

Jh'eon thought wildly. He thought that the Konti would accept but not so willing. He was pleasantly surprised. He responded to her question. Of course he would trust her. "I will trust you throughout learning this." He smiled at the Konti, and gave a weak smile at the Gildling. It was a fine horse - he had raging conflict battling within him. Half of him wanted to run and the other was determined to ride this horse if it was the last thing he ever did in this life and Caiyha's cycle. He asked Makutsi for protection mentally and walked up. He looked straight into the Konti's eyes and watched everything being prepared. "Yes. I will trust you..." He took a step towards the horse and tried walking closer with every step. He awkwardly looked it in the eye and whimpered a bit. "How do I get it to trust me..." He murmured. "You have a fine horse but..." He murmured again as the horse looked at him. You are a coward. That was the simple truth. He was one of the most cowardly cowards. He tried thinking and whispered to the horse. "Don't - I will be fine. I am not going to hurt you..." He was panicking. Was that what he was supposed to do? Talk to it and try and comfort it? Or what else? Were they anything like the seahorses from Charbosi? Probably nothing like it, from what he had seen of the land horses. Still he continued, and eyed the Konti from the corner of his eye. He hoped he was not making a fool of himself.

[Litani]

As her offer of a handshake went unanswered, Jh'eon neared and Litani watched him carefully, studying him, 'reading' him. For an instant, she was glad he'd been too focused on her horse to accept her physical gesture - his fear and panic might well've overwhelmed her if he had. As it was, it was nearly palatable, thick enough to taste in the air around him... at least for her. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. I am here, now.

Having done, her eyes settled back to calmness and she shook her head faintly, stepping forward, interposing herself between Ansem and Jh'eon. "Stop," she murmured softly. The word was gentle, kind, and tinged with the faintest hint of compassion. She waited, then, until she felt his attention shift back to her - this was why the trust was needed. She needed him to hear her, even through his fear. When faced with a creature that terrified him so deeply his whole body cried out in terror, she asked that he pay more attention to her words than his instinct to flee.

"You are having a conversation with Ansem," she said, gesturing with a faint nod towards the horse. Ansem was his name, apparently. "Ansem does not speak Common, however," she laughed very softly. "Nor Tukant, nor Konti. He speaks with his body and he listens to how we speak with ours." With a slow breath, probably unnoticed, Litani steeled herself and reached out as if to place her hands upon the Charoda's shoulders - a friendly, steadying gesture. "Right now, your body is screaming fear to him, and he's going to answer you by being afraid. Not OF you, but because YOU are. Does that make sense?" She took a step back then, let her hands fall away... the gesture had been for him, to connect him back to the moment, to comfort him. But she dared not prolong it or else risk losing concentration. Clearing her throat delicately, she went on, "Horses are not predators. They feed on grasses, they keep together as a herd, and they do one thing especially well - they run. When there is danger, they rear back, they cry warning to the rest of their herd, they flee. Only rarely do they kick and bite, and usually only if they feel trapped or directly attacked."

With this, Litani smiled to Jh'eon softly and turned to walk over to Ansem, whom she could sense was slightly unsettled by the nonverbal exchanges she'd just referenced. "But just as he reacts to your fear, so too does he react to your confidence. Watch." Her hands reached out to Ansem's bridle then and, headstrong though he was to toss his mane and whicker in aggitation slightly, he still let her fingers settle on his neck and nose to bring him back to calm again. Calm, like she was. Her touch smoothed his long nose and she patted his broad neck affectionately, murmuring a gentle tease to him for being so sensitive. Then, to Jh'eon, she said quietly, "With my hands and my body, I am telling Ansem that there is no need to fear. No predator that I can see, which he cannot. No reason to signal to the herd that we must run. We are together, we are safe. We trust each other, because we know we're in this as one... And she was right. Ansem settled noticeably, shifting his weight a little as his muscles relaxed and he even nudged her slightly with the flat of his nose. Maybe answering her for her earlier tease. She laughed softly and gave the horse an affectionate glance. She let Jh'eon observe their unspoken interplay for a few seconds and then walked away from the creature to return to the Charoda's side.