[The Syliras Beach] The night of Knights (Niall Please)

[Nya Winters]

Timestamp: 60th of Fall Location: The Beach Below Stormreach Reason: Getting to know someone new - unarmed combat experience Nya knew the scent. She'd smelled it before. Niall was a Syliran Knight or in training to be one. She'd had a brief encounter with him in the Rearing Stallion with another strange man, a Myrian and several others. The gathering hadn't lasted long, but it had been enough to confuse her a little. Niall's scent was complex, and often changed in subtle ways. She wasn't exactly certain why, but it was almost as if he was one person one instant and another person another instant. And she wasn't quite sure why he was there, standing between her and her pile of clothing. Nya wasn't sure how his vision worked, but if he was anything like a full human, in the near darkness with only a thin sliver of Leth visible, he shouldn't have noticed her carefully stashed things. She'd been playing in the surf in her wilder form, which she had discovered didn't mind so much the cold as long as the fur-less side got warm enough fast enough and dry afterwards. So she'd shed her clothing, plunged into the warm waters of the suvan sea and had frolicked in the surf. In fact, if he was anything like a human, he shouldn't have been able to see her at all out in the water. He should have moved on, leaving her unnoticed. So why was he standing there staring out at the surf towards her? Nya ducked beneath the waves, shifted, and came up human so she could wade ashore. Somehow, he could see her.. and that puzzled her. She moved out of the surf, slowly, keeping in the shadows away from the lights that illuminated the rocks beneath the great fortress, and waited to see what he'd do. Nya wanted her things, but was also curious about what the Knight was doing out on the sand alone at such a lonely hour. She'd left her bondmate safe and sound asleep in their room, but as always, Nya had grown restless and wanted some time to be in her wilder form, one that Abashai had patiently explained time and time again wouldn't be too accepted within the city where she had to be human. "Hello..." She said slowly, moving downwind so she could get his scent. "I didn't know I wasn't alone." The girl said warily, not certain which scent she would encounter and what Niall's intentions were.

[Niall Raghnall]

Niall had decided to stroll the waters and get away from the noises of the city. Since that horrid day his family had died, he had found more comfort being alone or at the very least in small numbers. He did not care for huge crowds. It was the discipline of Wysar that allowed him to function properly within those situations he did not prefer. He did enjoy the laughter and comfort initially. It was the sadness that such moments could not be shared with family. He was Akalak and there was no one left. He would never leave Syliras because he felt he had to achieve knighthood in order to honor the memory of his family.

Life had never been easy since then either. The Captain had treated him like a son, and he always wondered if something had transpired between him and his father. But the knights did not trust him, and he felt like they never would. He was the longest running squire to never make knight in the history of the order; twenty years. He had been pushed into the scouting regiment because he was not trusted in the presence of others. The scouts worked alone or in small groups. It suited Niall, and he more than likely woul dhave volunteered for the group, but the order had never given him that chance. The rumors were that the only reason he remained in the order was due to the presence of the Captain. If the Captain were to leave or die, many thought Niall would be removed for good. Niall would not quite though, his loyalty was to the order because of his family.

It was during this time of reflection, that he caught a glimpse of a cat. Niall had found the idea strange because he thought cats hated water. The cat swam a few moments before stopping and watching Niall in return. Immediately it ducked under water, and Niall took a step towards the water thinking something had happened to it. What came up out of the water caused Niall took retreat back to his original location. It was the woman from the tavern when he'd offered drinks to get to know some of the people of Syliras, Nya.

She came towards him and out of the water ... completely naked! He did not know what was more strange, the fact that she was naked or the fact that she did not sem to care. What was wrong with this woman! "Please forgive me, Lady Nya. I shall wait until you have clothed." As quickly as he could, Niall turned around to keep her out of his sights. "You were alone originally. I only just came to the water's edge to take a walk. After your have finished putting on your clothing, I would be honored if you would join me."

[Nya Winters]

Nya paused, a little confused. Not only could Niall see her clearly but she was having a hard time seeing him in the dark with his deep blue skin. The forest cat blinked, nodded in response to his words, and skirted around him carefully to her pile of things. She shook herself, tossed her now tangled and salt-encrusted hair to one side, and slipped on a loose shirt before sliding on her leather pants that took some wiggling with the droplets of water still on her skin. She picked up her shoes rather than slipping them on - the soft boots would be useless on the sand anyhow, and turned back to the knight. At least she thought he was a knight. Nya wasn't sure... she'd seen his armor and heard him talking in the tavern, so she'd assumed he was part of the security force in Syliras.

The forest cat looked amused at his expression and the slight distress in his voice. "I was alone yes.. swimming. The water is turning colder though now. I think winter will be here soon. Storms pile up on the coast, so I have heard, and I look forward to greeting them." She said softly, coming up along side him again. "I am sorry for the skin, I know it makes some people uncomfortable. But I did not want to get my things wet, and its too cold to swim as a human." She said softly, tired for once of always keeping her kelvic nature a secret. Nya had been in Syliras long enough to understand that it wasn't illegal to be a kelvic. It was just dangerous to be a rather large predatory one when livestock disappeared or worse yet hunters and people.

"I will join you for a walk if you tell me what the purpose of one is. I have never taken a walk with someone without a purpose behind it. You seem sad, Niall, too. Is something bothering you?" The kelvic asked, sensitive to peoples moods. He seemed pensive, almost a little sad, though there was no obvious reason for it. Abashai might consider the question rude, too personal, and it was definitely one she wouldn't have asked if he was here. But she was alone for now, out prowling, and was curious about the cobalt skinned man.

[Niall Raghnall]

There was something about the idea of her being a kelvic that began to make sense going all the way back to when they met in the tavern. The shape changers probably did not revere the body in the same manner that most others would. It also meant she did not show flesh in order to manipulate males. He supposed she could, but he was stereotyping at this point and was making assumptions to fill in the blanks for his lack of true kelvic knowledge.

"The city does have stores that sells clothes one can way just for entering the water. Truth be, I would have thought cats hated the water, so you have taught me something new this evening, Lady Nya."

If there was anything that the Akalak could understand it was the dual nature of the kelvic. They had a side that most knew of but was not overly acceptable in society. Had society ever been able to learn of the dark half of his own people, they might not accept them within their city walls.

'You spend too much time worrying about what others think, Niall. That is part of what makes you weak. Focus on the tasks you take and let the end result dictate how society will feel about you. Be known for what you accomplish not how human you can be' Iwyn interjected. He'd been silent long enough. 'And for once at least allow me to look upon the flesh of a good looking woman if you are going to act all gentlemanly about it. Maybe the fact that she is part animal would carry over into the bed!'

'Dammit Iwyn, your presence is not wanted here at this moment. I will not act in such a way that could have any adverse effect on us becoming a knight and honoring our father. Now stop it.' Niall retorted happy that such conversations could never be heard by others. The questioning from Nya brought him out of his mental conversation.

"I guess the purpose of this walk is for me to think about life. I like to do this when I am alone so that the distractions of the city would not interfere with what I wish to think on. When it involves two people or more, it would be for the sake of getting to know someone or just having fun.

You are a very perceptive woman, Lady Nya, I would not say I am sad so much as lonely and homesick. Though the latter might be a stretch. I am the only Akalak that I know of in Syliras, and I am lonely to experience life amongst my own people. So I am lonely for my own kind and have a desire to visit the city of my people.

The problem is that I am honor bound to complete a task. I am but a squire, that is a knight still in training, and feel that to finally make knighthood would bring great honor to the memory of my father and grandfather who were both knights and died in the line of duty. Now, if I ever make it into the knighthood, I will have new duties and responsibilities to uphold which would also prevent me from trying to quell these sad issues of mine. I fear that my honor and duty will prevent me from fullfilling the other desires of my heart.

You see, one great thing about going to my homeland would be that I could finish the hand to hand training of my people. I was initially trained by my father who is now dead, and I have found a master among the human people who trained by my kind, but to be able to learn in the cetners of my own people would be ... well ... it is beyond words the feeling I would get from it."

[Nya Winters]

Nya turned after getting fully dressed and joined Niall. The forest cat smiled at him. "Stores do not make clothing for cats. I swim as a cat, not as a woman. Clothing would make that hard, though, no matter what ones form is." She said softly, laughing slightly, though he could tell it was only at herself. She had no clothing on because she was swimming as a feline. And Niall picked up on one important thing. "Yes.. small cats. They do not like water. But I am a forest cat. We really do love the water. Fish too." She added, not normally far from her stomach when it came to her thoughts. Nya padded along barefooted beside the large man, enjoying actually doing something while they were talking. Walking along the sand was nice, and since neither of them had trouble seeing in the dark, there were no misplaced steps or stumbles over flotsam and driftwood which littered the sands.

She listened quietly to the akalak, now having a name for his race. She'd never heard of them before she met Niall in the Rearing Stallion, let alone ran into one to talk too. Nya enjoyed the walk, and the converstation. There were things about it that were far different than some of the conversations she'd had with Abashai. It was a very strange. Niall treated her as a confident and talked to her almost immediately about his feelings. Nya was surprised at this for she'd started to believe that men never talked about how they felt, but rather kept their conversations casual, deliberately light, and steered things away when things got sensitive. But Niall had very sensitive problems and she was fascinated.

He felt... lonely and homesick.

The Forest Cat padded quietly along beside him, hoping for a moment that her presence filled a little big of that loneliness, even if it was only for the walk. "I am like that sometimes. It is hard being the only one of something. There are kelvics here, but no one is quite like me. I also feel lonely... though having a bondmate helps a great deal. It is good to have company sometimes, though I do not think he understands loneliness because he never talks about it. I think he misses the desert, but i am not sure why. It sounded like life was hard there because food and water was so hard to find." Nya said softly, tossing her tangled hair out of her eyes. "I get homesick too. My parents made me leave my home and go south to Syliras to find someone to serve. They did not want me to stay home. Forest cats make them nervous. But I still miss the tower where I was born. I miss my territory around it, and the trees big enough to stretch out in and lounge in." The girl said, smiling at Niall once more.

But the knight had more to say. Nya admitted that he had lots of complex problems to be sure. He was torn multiple ways, but it didn't seem so complicated to her. "Niall, why can you not do both? The Syliran Knights are supposed to be all over the place, some living very very far away from here. Why can you not live as you want too - going where you want too - in the name of the knighthood? Can you not be a squire that moves upwards by completing tasks that are uniquely suited to you? There are all sorts of duties and responsibilities that can be done traveling right? It seems to me that all you need to do is find a balance between knight and akalak and live it. You said your father was a knight and your grandfather too. That means others have found balance, so too can you." The forest cat said, feeling certain that her words were true.

"It sounds as if you have a lot of unfinished things in your life. I do not like things unfinished because they pile up and worry at a person. Humans complicate their lives horribly by not finishing things. It seems like your people might do similar things too." Nya said, lightly jumping over a piece of driftwood. "There are many things I would like to do as well, but I do not because some of them are against the rules that people have. Or against my bondmate's wishes. But you can finish things, Niall. It is never too late." Nya insisted, smiling slightly.

At the mention of unarmed combat, she practically danced. "I know Ry'vata myself. It is very fun... bending, stretching, kicking. I do not fight well with my human shape - not like I do in my cat shape - so I learned Ry'vata to help me be better. I do not like weapons, especially blades and bows. But fighitng with your body is so challenging. It makes me very very happy." Nya admitted, her eyes shinning brightly. "We could practice together sometime. I am not very strong like this, but I am working on getting stronger. What about you? Are you as strong as you want to be or is there some really important reason why you need to finish in your place of birth? Where is that anyhow? I have never seen someone who looks like you. It must be a very far away place." She speculated, secretly thrilled that Niall had given so much of himself - revealed a great deal of who he was.

They'd walked quiet a distance in just a short time. Nya didn't tire across the sand like perhaps a human woman would. She seemed at ease in the wild, even if it was the beach beneath Syliras. And she seemed truly interested in why he was feeling like he was. She wished more humans were like the Akalak... treating her with respect and honesty. He didn't talk to her like she was a child or like he expected her not to understand. He truly spoke to her as if she was an adult... and Nya loved it.

[Niall Raghnall]

The two walked in the sand under the evening moon deep in conversation. Niall had always prefered to be alone, but this moment was something that Niall found to be energizing. It was not potentially romantic setting, nor the fact that the other half of the conversation was female; though that did help. It had everything to do with finding comfort in sharing everything he felt with someone other than Iwyn.

Iwyn was of a different stalk, the dark half, but the two were brothers and had come to care for each other. The feeling of peace that Niall was feeling even touched his dark brother, and he felt content from it. For once in an akward situation, Iwyn was silent.

Niall was intrigued that Nya had more than a racial similarity to himself, they were similar in their emotional feelings as well. Nya had a sense of homesickness too. There was a bond that was forming between the two that Niall would never have thought was possible when he'd met her in the tavern. It felt good to have a friend outside of The Captain.

"I wish it were that easy, Nya. I do have a lot of unfinished business in my life and there will come a day of restitution, but I cannot leave yet. My grandfather left Riverfall to join the knighthood. My father was honor bound to become a knight just as I am. I cannot leave as a squire but must first become a knight. Once that happens my doorway opens to the feelings I have.

But there is more. A long time ago, some twenty years ago, I endangered the lives of two fellow squires and nearly killed them in a fist fight. I have lost a great amount of respect among my peers and the order. I still have not regained that respect and am still a squire while others have gone on to become knights. I must earn their respect and regain the honor i've lost in order to become a knight." He did not leave his statement hanging because he would never speak of his dark brother, Iwyn.

"I honestly cannot tell you if all Akalak experience this type of emotion because I have never met one aside from my own family. Riverfall resides in Cyphrus on the water's edge bordering Falyndar. I do not know the distance but would guess that travel would take a month if I went by foot. But the plains of Cyphrus are supposed to be more dangerous than the forest lands near Taldera. Travelling to Riverfall might be safer by boat, though there is the risk of pirates. One day I will make that journey. Just not now"

When Nya moved the topic on to fighting and learning a form of martial combat herself, it was Iwyn who's blood began pumping. This was a wild woman trying to learn a controlled environment form of combat. He was sure that she incorporated her wild side which only increased his passion over the situation.

'Challenge her dear brother, but please allow me the honors. I'll bet she fights to win more than to learn. That makes her more like me than you. Please do this for me.'

Niall herd the request of his brother and remembered the day that th two met and the words of Wysar. This would be a small victory in order to maintain a grip on the control of their body. Iwyn would be free to spar with a woman who seemed to have a small grip on his heart. 'I shall honor your wishes, Iwyn.'

"Well I do not concern myself with the strength or quickness which I possess nor the strength or weakness of others. Their is an inner strength inside everyone that gains balance with their physical side. If that balance is achieved, then one learns to use whatever physical properties they have to their advantage. Through skill in combat, on learns to also use their opens strengths and weknesses against them. I have not perfected this, but am being taught the fundamentals. I have a long journey ahead of me, but I am up to the challenge.

So we both see well enough in the dark. Would you like to spar now? I have never tested combat in the night sky and think their could be something to learn. Besides, the beach os softer than hard ground."

[Nya Winters]

Nya nodded thoughtfully. It was always more complicated than she observed on the onset. "We all make mistakes. Sometimes its out of ignorance and sometimes its out of not seeing something coming. But I understand about emotions... about them getting out of control. They should forgive you. Especially if no one died. I am... more Kelvic than Human. My kelvic side does not often think deeply before she acts. My human side thinks too much and it hurts me inside sometimes. I do not envy you being one thing all the time. It is a hard life, not having company." Nya said, lightly jumping a clump of seaweed that had washed up.

The forest cat nodded when Niall explained his ignorance. It made sense. Growing up away from his people would cause him a great deal of confusion, certainly. She thought of Abashai and how far away he was from his own people as well. She too was far away from her family, though the swift tinge of pain made her thoughts dart onwards, to other things. Nya still didn't understand why they didn't want her to remain at home. When Niall told her where Riverfall was, that made sense. It was south, across the sea of grass. Nya wondered if water and food was scarce there as well, like they were in Eyktol. It made no sense why so many people were eaking out a living in such harsh places, but there must be something to it she hadn't yet thought of.

Nya would think on it later, and maybe talk to Abashai about it.

If she'd have been privy to his discussion with his dark brother, Nya would have laughed in delight then denied Iwyns assumptions. She truthfully didn't fight to win. In Nya's world, when a human was unarmed, that human was food to her wilder form, regardless. There was no threat without a bow - especially a bow - and even less of one if a man was armed with a heavy awkward sword and no skill to use it. She fought instead because it was fun. She was a kitten, deeply ingrained in the need to play, and to her Ry'vata was playing. It was a high form of good fun and taught her frail human form strength in ways it wouldn't know otherwise.

But Niall was speaking of strength, and to her this was an interesting topic. She listened carefully, and nodded. "Balance. Yes. I understand that well." Nya said, grinning. "And I suspect you will do well with it. Life is a long journey, regardless of what form you wear. I understand that better now than I have for a long time." She said, and accepted his invitation to spar.

She did it quickly though, with a gentle playful growl. She dropped down, tossing her shoes away, and moving into a graceful leg sweep to test to see if Niall truly meant well with the spar. If he was ready for it and wanted to play, she'd play with him... and play hard. But her eyes would hold no anger, no determination to win. Instead, they'd hold laughter, joy, and the simplicity of innocence her race enjoyed. But first, she meant to knock him off his feet and see if he was really taking her seriously.