Closed [Valkalah's Tears] Wasn't Expecting That (Favchean)

[Rinya]

Day 4, Season Winter, 513 AV

It had snowed already. Under normal circumstances that would have made Rinya incredibly miserable. Well, actually it did but it had been her choice not to migrate—for several reasons—and she was determined not to let it get the best of her. She could spend the season holed up in the condo when she wasn’t work, or she could busy herself with… doing something. Anything really. There were still sections of Riverfall she had not visited and since the first snow melted fairly quickly it was a good chance to do that before it actually stuck to the ground.

But first, she had to get something far warmer than just her normal cloak. Her leather jacket was nice, but she actually planned on walking—flying in a bitter wind wasn’t a good choice. It got under her feathers and the chill took hours to fully get out. It crossed her mind to make a visit to Rosela, but if she went to her shop it was likely she’d buy more than just a cloak. Something for later in the season that was for sure. So she dressed in her simply pants and shirt, pulled on her leather jacket—snagging her quiver and bow—and made a quick stop at the Zhongjie Warren. There was always something to buy there. Usually a bit pricey, but well worth it in the long run.

After about a bell she came across exactly what she was looking for. Actually it was more than she was looking for—the price was outrageous. But there it was in front of her. A wool cloak from a Llama, not at all too bad really. The pricey part of it Rinya suspected was that it was fur lined, and not just fur trimmed. On the bright side, it didn’t seem to be any sort of extravagant. Probably rabbit by the feel of it, but it looked warm, that was for certain. With slight reluctance—she never paid so much for one garment before—she handed over the ten gold Mizas.

Once Rinya put on the cloak, adjusting the quiver across it and pulling the hood over herself, she found she couldn’t quite hate the price. It was indeed much warmer and with her hatred of the cold she couldn’t bring herself to complain. Jorin might wonder as to the cost however. Then again—if she wanted it he wasn’t bound to ask questions. With everything settled and the heat began to radiate around her, Rinya made her way across the city towards the only waterfall she hadn’t seen close up yet.

As a hawk, Rinya had taken the time to map out Riverfall. It was as much instinctual as it was hobby for her, to know the region she lived in. Rinya had actually wanted to visit Valkahlah’s Tears for some time, but summer had flown by with work and fall—well that was far busier than she was used to. So with Jorin preoccupied with work, it seemed a decent time to visit. Plus if she was lucky… it might even be a little warmer.

As it turned out, it was warmer if only slightly just. The lava flow itself was plenty warm as she predicted. But it wasn’t nearly as close as she would have liked. Safety wise she supposed she could understand, but in the very least the platform gave her view of the beach. Her eyes could easily make out the flow sliding into the sea. It was almost eerie, the steam rising from the water. But oddly relaxing.

Ledger :

Llama wool cloak, rabbit fur lined -10 Gold Mizas

OOC :

Not my best start, I'm sorry

[Favchean Hronis]

For Favchean the cold was a delight, he always tended to run a little warmer then others. When they were cold he was comfortable, when they were comfortable he was hot, he figured it was just a quirk of his. So he relished the chilled air. His clothing was changed in deference of the weather, instead of simply wearing a sleeveless leather vest over his chest leaving his thick arms bare, he sported a long sleeve unbleached tunic that was cut off short at his waist. It wasn't stylish, he supposed he would have to go by and see if Rosela wanted to dress him in some clothing that was more fashionable then simply serviceable. He preferred function over fashion but he was getting closer to his forty fifth year, when most typical Akalak males were expected to seriously look to procreate. It might be a bit easier if he didn't look like he had been raised in a barn some where.

Today he had spent the early bells at the Smithy, once more being relegated to selling the weapons others had crafted rather than crafting his own. He understood why Master Haiduk kept him in the shop, he had to learn to be a sells man as well as a craftsman or else he would simply craft daggers and never make any Mizas if he were to strike out on his own. He doubted that would happen, he liked Riverfall and he respected Master Haiduk, he felt no need to make a large name for himself.

Once he was released from his duties at the shop Favchean decided he was going to go on first a run, and then perhaps practice his Kata. His route was decided in his head as he stretched before hand, his large green body a honed tool that he only sought to further train and take care of. It would not do to go running cold and end up stretching or worse tearing a muscle. If he did that he wouldn't allow himself to go to a healer, to teach him a lesson on taking care of his weapon.

He started off from the Smithy and began at a fast jog, his large feet encased in leather boots pounding gently against the road that lead past Lapis Park, and the stables. His arms swung gently in rhythm, his legs pumping and his breathing tightly controlled in tiny breaths of visible air from his lips.

Ice colored eyes gauge the roadway ahead to keep from running over pedestrians or from tripping over something in the paths. He turned at the oathmaster's tower and continued down the road, his muscles warmed up quickly and he sped his pace. Long tree-trunk thick legs ate the distance in rapid succession, his thick tightly woven braid swung in time with his strides.

Past the white crane, past Wysar's tower Favchean made a split decision to divert off the road and head toward Valkalah's Tears, one of his personal favorite spots in the city. The lava flow meeting the green-blue of the ocean sending plumes of steam up might have seemed destructive to some but for Favchean that was a perfect example of balance, of one element holding the other in check. Perhaps he would go up there to practice his Kata.

His feet hit the sand before his eyes take in another figure. It was not unusual for this was a very scenic area, however Favchean frequents this spot quite often and he had never seen her before. She seemed to do less well in the cold if one judged by the coat she wore, but she did seem to be enjoying the scene in and of itself.

The green Akalak turned direction so that he was jogging in her general direction. The last time he came up here to practice, it was with his daggers and the Konti whom he had disturbed had chided him for doing so. He had no wish to repeat that mishap. She wasn't Konti he could tell from a distance that she wasn't, her coloring far too dark and exotic for that, so when he was within easy speaking distance he chose common to speak, "Good day to you!"

He pulled to a stop, well almost a stop he was no longer moving forward, but he continued to jog lightly in place. His skin was starting to secrete tiny droplets of sweat from his run, but it would be a while before he began to feel fatigued. He took in her figure from top to bottom, there was something about her that he couldn't quite place. A light quality that made it almost seem as if she might float away if a strong breeze took her. It didn't make too much sense that he got that feeling when he looked at her because she didn't look as if she was frail or weak, so he couldn't quite pinpoint why he got that feeling.

"It seems that Winter finally has come to Riverfall." He said sociably, a grin telling that he really didn't mind that at all. "I was going to practice my Kata up here on the beach...a form of unarmed combat training...but I don't want to disturb you.." Again he was thinking back to the time when Venya had scolded him for practicing in a public without thinking of others here.

[Rinya]

Rinya was quite caught up in her own mind as the Akalak approached her. Mostly over another Akalak that was acting quite strangely in her life. But then, if Rinya wanted to admit to the problem—there wasn’t much she could actually do about it, unless she wanted to remove the mark now resting slightly beneath her ear anyways. That wasn’t even an option, so she was stuck trying to figure out something else to get her Akalak work partner and somewhat friend out of his terrible mood. Both sides of him at that. Honestly she had no idea why he was so stubborn—apparently all the men in her life were.

Rinya startled and whipped around to face the voice behind her. A dark green Akalak with blue eyes she had never seen on an Akalak before stood—well jogged technically—and Rinya couldn’t help but cock her head to the side. Rinya took him much as he did her, her golden eyes scanning him from head to toe. He was—familiar. Rinya pursed her lips slightly as she tried to place him. She wasn’t known for conversing much with many Akalak, and the ones that she did were usually very easy to remember. But she realized she was actually being kind of rude, having not answered his greeting. ”Hello sir.”

The Akalak mentioned that winter had finally arrived and before she could stop herself she snorted. ”Winter has indeed.” The dry remark, and the cloak itself probably gave away that she wasn’t pleased with the winter, and Rinya had to remind herself that it was her choice to stay. Jorin had told her he would wait for her while she migrated. It was just simply the fact she couldn’t be separated from him that long that left her exactly where she was. So she shoved the bitterness over winter out of her mind and gave the Akalak a weak smile. ”Three guesses as to who doesn’t like winter, and the first two don’t count.” She joked before shaking her head slightly.

”Why ever would that bother me? Technically it is your city.” There was no bitterness over this fact. Rinya was far used to being considered a ‘pet’—so long as they left her alone. And this Akalak seemed fairly decent in his own right thus far. A thought occurred to her however, and Rinya pursed her lips slightly before speaking up. ”Actually if you don’t mind… I’d like to watch.” It was a cautious question, she had never asked to watch someone practice any kind of martial art. Weapon or not. But after her run in with the intruders to the Warren and her near suffocation that followed… she had been running the idea through her mind now and then about learning something other than weaponary. ”If you don’t mind of course.”

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean grinned comfortably, he was in his element here, a place he loved and with the chillier weather that he equally loved. There was little that could drag Favchean from the happy high on days like this. His large left hand, square and stout, raise to scratch along the shaven sides of his head a habit that he had fallen into long before. "I am no sir, Favchean is the name, and Chealvan." He automatically named his dark brother without really thinking if she would understand the significance of naming two names or not. It was simply a habit that he had taken to once his dark half had chosen a name for himself.

"I was once told that I should be mindful of other people on the beach before I disturbed them with practice that should be held in one of the Sasaran's." Again a grin was given, sheepish this time before he moved back, and immediately looked around for things on the sand that might be obstacles for his movements. "I don't mind if you watch..but you probably would get warmer if you practiced with me."

Favchean was naturally friendly, with a very rare exception. He didn't care if they were pets or people, if they weren't Zith then he generally didn't mind being friendly unless they warranted otherwise. To him, Kelvics could hold a conversation and reason so that made them good enough to chat and be friendly. Any more then that and he might struggle with, an example of it was his reaction to a Kelvic winning the beautyfest. Not even a Kuvan, but that was a thought for a different day.

Though he was naturally friendly there was nothing more then a simple suggestion. Open honest tones even as he settled back into the first pose. Whether or not she chose to join him, he began to explain the movements. IF she wanted to just watch she might be interested in why he was doing what he was. "The kata is a form of discipline, to help your muscles obtain memory so that when you are in combat your brain doesn't have to keep up with your body." His words are a growl, his deep baritone a natural bass so low that it often sounded like gravel grating.

His body moved slowly, deliberately, leaning back from his open leg stance, his right leg taking his weight while the left leg raises and his hips pivot so that he planted the left leg and turned his body forty five degrees north.

[Rinya]

Rinya hummed slightly as the Akalak introduced himself, and his other. In the very least Rinya was used to the idea that the Akalak had two sides, though she couldn’t help but wonder if she would meet the other half of Favchean. Seymantis in fact was the one she dealt with while patrolling the Warren, but she generally saw nothing of him when off hours. ”Pleasure to meet you. I’m Rinya…” It seemed almost an afterthought however as she added. ”Erithan.” Rinya still had trouble remember that technically she was married now, which meant she had a last name—though Jorin wasn’t like to push the issue.

”I suppose it could be counted as a distraction. Though isn’t it generally considered rude to tell someone what to do?” She was terrible with human manners—much less the Akalak. He didn’t seem much too bothered by it however, and Rinya simply shrugged. In the very least he didn’t mind letting her watch, though she was taken back a little when he suggested that she might be warmer if she practiced with him. Rinya could feel her eyebrows rise in surprise. That wasn’t generally an offer she heard from an Akalak before.

He certainly seemed to mean it though. The only problem was she had no idea what ‘kata’ was exactly. If she was going to do this with him, she wasn’t entirely sure how long it would take her to learn either. Things taught by Jorin were much easier to learn—then again she did just fine learning longbow as a young child. This could be easier to learn that reading or writing. She tended to pick up the physical much better than the mental. Rinya just nodded as he began to explain just what kata was.

As he settled into his first pose however Rinya took into account that if she really wanted to do this, she couldn’t very well do it with the cloak. Twitching her nose, she considered if she should just watch, but watching got you nowhere, so she reluctantly pulled off the cloak and tossed it out of the way. Taking a shuddered breath Rinya shoved the cold out of her mind to her best ability to come stand before him. He moved slow—part of her wondered if it was for her benefit—into another stance.

Rinya took a moment, trying to place his movements into her own mind before taking his opening stance. That seemed fairly easy—assuming she was doing it right—but as she tried to shift her weight to her right leg and lift her left, she realized balance was more certainly a key point. One she wasn’t used to it without feathers or a tail. Rinya could feel herself wobble, and it took quite a bit of focus to keep herself from falling at all. She did her best to twist her hips like he had, but she was certain she didn’t make it all the way by the time her left leg returned to the ground. She released a heavy breath.

”Well… this is going to take some practice for sure.” She grumbled mostly to herself, but refused to get frustrated just yet. If she got frustrated now then how was she ever to learn? She could upset later.

[Favchean Hronis]

Perhaps she was correct that it had been a bit rude to demand him to stop, but Favchean was not one to generally deny women what they wanted if it was within reason. He smiled a little as she reacted to the cold, but he did pause to let her catch up. Rinya Ertihan, he knew that some other races took last names, though for different reasons then Akalak's did. Some were even born with the second names rather then earning them.

"Easy does it." He cautioned at her words, thinking that she was being rueful rather then truly disheartened but one never knew. Some people were over achievers and felt that they needed to take to things like ducks to water. "It takes some getting used to. No one masters the Kata ever, it is ever challenging and there is always room for improvement."

The second pose had him gripping his right wrist with his left hand, "Grip with the hand you are dominant with." Was all he said before he brought his right elbow up, locking it in a forward thrust, before he twisted his arm so that his hands were facing the same direction and pressed forward, his fingers interlocking. "Careful to not over extend your arms, your elbows are weak points and if they are fully straight they will break much easier then your opponent will."

[Rinya]

Despite the fact that this was going to be far from easy to learn—both the Kata and having to learn better balance in her human form—Rinya herself was quite stubborn. It really was easy to just give up on something, especially in the first few chimes, however she always found that kind of thinking to be terribly unhelpful. Even Favchean mentioned that Kata itself wasn’t something to ever fully master. Though Rinya wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing—but so long as their was room for improvement that was all that really mattered in the end.

So it was with a firm decision in the back of her mind to take it a bit slower. Much like archery—or any other hobby she tried to pick up—forcing it wasn’t going to get her anywhere. It was just a lesson she obviously had to relearn rather quickly, not having to use it for some time actually. The only other thing she was honestly attempting to learn was reading and writing. And that was just mentally taxing at times. "Yes sorry, old habits from younger years." Not that she was exactly ‘old’, but the idea still stood.

Favchean moved onwards with his arms, and Rinya locked her eyes on their movements. Instinctively she knew this little flow of movements would be easier for her, or in the very least not so jerky. Her archery practice had her arms already in that kind of muscle memory. An over extended arm could cost you your own aim. But even without much fear of overextending, there was still much she could get wrong. So Rinya gripped her right wrist as well with her left hand, moving her arms through the whole process slowly—at best half the speed at which he moved—until her fingers gripped each other. "Better?" She hummed slighty.

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean nods encouragingly, "Much better." Still standing with his knees slightly bent, squared with his shoulders, Favchean released his arm. Methodically, with slow deliberate movements, the green Akalak swept first one arm up in an arch that started at his hip, moved into a wide arch in front of his body, and ended at his shoulder. The other arm did the same motion exactly but on the opposite side. "First two aggressive, then one defensive, it is all in the timing and the preparations." Favchean swung wide then, he let his torso follow his arm to the left, his hips swiveled so that his lower half remained planted but the other turned to the left.

One arm extended, in a blocking position, while the other came up and threw a mock punch. Then still in the same motion without pausing, he swept to the right, and did the same movements again except with the opposite usage for each arm. He was well aware that he had an audience, and well aware that she was attempting to copy his movements so he kept them far slower and less fluid then what he normally would have. Until now. "Watch. This is what they look like all together, after you have practiced them for years."

He began, his movements sharp and quick and for the first time this session he pushed his body to move faster, more precise and more smoothly. Every motion bleed naturally into the other, the elbow thrust was sharp and quick, the defensive sweeps blurred together even as he moved into the side block punch combo. "That is choreographed Kata, of course no spar or no real fight will go exactly in that fashion, but as long as your teaching your muscles how to move, they will be able to shift in any way that you need., without much thought on your part."

[Rinya]

Rinya nodded firmly with his encouragement, before moving herself to mimic his position, knees bent and as square with her body as well. However she made no move to copy his movements right away. Two aggressive and one defensive… Rinya followed the sweep of his arms with her eyes, the muscles in her arms jumping slightly as if she was imagining copying the movements herself. "I’m guessing timing and preparation is the hard part." Rinya stated. He made it look very simple, but she could already tell the moment she would move to copy him, she would make it look very awkward.

None the less she let her arms move in an arch across her body in a much slower dance than he did. The blocking position however felt a little odd. She couldn’t imagine having enough arm strength—or position for that matter—to hold off someone throwing a punch. Then again there was probably more to it, but she couldn’t figure that into the equation. The punch itself was very forward as she brought it up, but Rinya couldn’t help but think of the few punches she had thrown herself. They had always been in a rage so she didn’t actually remember them very well, but it certainly had no mechanics behind it.

Favchean drew her out of her mind however as he told her to simply watch. He moved with grace she hadn’t entirely ever seen of an Akalak, combining the movements as if it was a dance. Rinya wondered just how long it took him to get that down. After all, he said one could never master Kata but she knew improvement on her end was certainly going to take dedication. If she hadn’t felt it was so required she might have been sorely tempted to forget the whole idea. "Impressive." She muttered in slight awe. Even if no actual sparing took place, she could see how it would become almost like a second movement within the body.

"I can imagine there are countless more moves you’d add to this." Raising a brow at him, she was already running his dance through her own head, trying to keep it for future reference. If she wanted to do something like this at home, she would need to remember.

However another thought came across her mind as she realized she suddenly reconized Favchean. Rinya blinked several times at him before blurting out, "You were at Beautyfest… in the hair tent." Jorin had wanted to spar with him—that’s why she remembered his face. Her own face suddenly turned red and she cleared her throat, making a dismissive motion with her hand. "Sorry, it just came to me…" She motioned for him to continue.

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean tilted his head as he considered her question, "That is why the Kata is never mastered. You add step after step. There is always something new your opponent will find to throw at you. When he does, that is something you can add to your Kata. The Kata is as much a personal growth chart as it is a preparatory tool" His common was not as well spoken as his Tukant, but it was decent for living in a city that was so welcoming of visitors. His voice patient, if not a little distant, though his smile helped to keep the edge off the coolness of the voice.

He began to move again, "Follow.." He says before he even acknowledges her question about the beautyfest. Only because he wanted to continue his Kata work while he answered. His left arm shifts so that it was raised perpendicular to his body, yet it was his right that he brought around in a combo of a right cross, then a left knee lift.

The beautyfest was a success for him, he found three ladies each lovely in their own rights to give his beads to. His mother thought it was a failure because he did not come home with a beautiful Konti on his arm, or a perhaps a Nakivak contract. He hadn't set out for that, though he was coming to an age where it was beginning to be expected of him to find someone to bear him a son. He pushed that thought aside. Instead preferred to speak on the beautyfest, after one last instruction. "Now let us do the first steps that we have learned?"

While his body returned to the first pose once more, slowly working through them to keep his speed at a match for the beginner, he spoke. "Yes I was at the Beautyfest, the only booth I didn't go into was the masseur's. Seemed rather pointless to go in that one since you couldn't interact with the beautiful ladies." He grinned at this, boyishly almost before continuing. "Jorin... Oh yes, the human. It is not every day that a human asks to spar with an Akalak. I hope to take him up on the offer, though I shall try not to break him" The last is said in complete jest. Favchean knew enough that simple size and strength was not enough to lock in a victory. Small does not mean weak, as Kaie the myrian woman had taught him years ago.