Closed [Event 41st] Some like it Hot

[Pearl]

Pearl returned to the auction after a while. Obviously the emergency hadn't claimed too much of her time, but she was happy to have been of assistance and felt the patient was in good hands for the time being or she would not have returned so quickly. She looked around the auction arena, trying to familiarize herself with who was in attendance still and to see if she could locate her friend, Niaya once more. When she caught the young woman's eye she lifted a hand and signed, greetings, apologies, to her as she began walking towards her. There was a another young woman near Naiya that Pearl was not familiar with and she inclined her head to her in a silent greeting.

Things had transpired so quickly before, when she was called away, that she hadn't had time to fully explain her sudden departure. It was the life she was used to, being pulled away from whatever task she may be involved in when another needed her services. Not that she minded, not in the least, and she was quite accustomed to the interruptions and handled them with ease, but she was aware that others were not always that way. "My apologies for leaving so suddenly earlier. There was a boy that needed my attention. Head injury," she explained more fully. "Horse hooves are most often harder than heads."

Having not forgotten the question that Niaya had asked her before she'd had to go so quickly before, she responded to it know, "Garrison loved his quill vest. It's so beautifully made," Pearl gushed, obviously pleased in every way with the vest and Garrison's reaction to it. "You are truly talented in your art." Her eyes conveyed her sincerity as she offered the compliment to her friend, and in the same token acknowledged the man that stood with her. She assumed he was her husband, Shahar, as she observed the closeness of the two, and the way Naiya offered her support and understanding to him.

She was hopeful that she hadn't missed too many of the animals. Not that she was expectant of purchasing any of them today, but the thrill of it all had certainly caught her attention. As she was looking at the animals they currently had in the auction ring, she spotted Lian, she thought, standing to the side of one of the rings. Lifting up on her toes, she tried to be sure it was him. Convinced of it now, she signed to him, greetings, pleasure, unsure if he could see her from where she stood.

There was something about him, the set of his shoulders and his jaw perhaps, that she thought she noticed a tension in him. Then again, she couldn't be certain as every since she had met the man, he had that same stature about him, tense, aloof, determined. She knew something was off, and knew it had to do with his children, as Dravite had explained to her, but some of the facts of the matter still eluded her. Lian was a part of their pavilion now and as such, upon her husband's invitation, she was trying to get to know him better.

Pearl hadn't meant to monopolize Naiya's time, like she inadvertently had. Perhaps one of these days the two friends would be able to plan an outing together, or get their pavilions together for an evening of storytelling and dinner. The mere thought of that brought a smile to the woman's face. "I see Lian, I should go and say hello to him and see how he fares," she explained as she began to shift away from Naiya towards Lian.

The colt caught her attention, and she had her hand up in a bid as she was making her way to Lian, offering "Eighty-five Gold on number two hundred."





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[Naiya]

The next bid was the young female she had been admiring, Solidly white with distinctly black markings around her ears and muzzle. That was so strange, but really quite distinct. It would mark a breed without fail.

Amunet bid first, more quickly than the rest of them, and beside her Shahar raised her price a small number. Another small bid was made, haggling for the price of the creature, and one with such great potential. She wouldn't play this game. Thirty gold she offered her bid. No one countered her claim.

Beside her, Shahar was surprised and she laughed gently at his response. Fine indeed, mine, emphasis- ours She told him, Unwilling to lose the animals in a bidding war.

When the male of the same markings came to bid, she made him hers as well, followed by two more who were completely white, although she had to bid a bit higher than she intended to stave off the Windrunner man. She would not let him have them though, her bids unconsciously possessive.

Other creatures passed without Naiya's interest, although she did admire Shahar's choices for the horses he claimed as his own. The elderly mare would be a wonderful horse to teach Seirei and the children with. Care and riding would likely be easy enough, and they wouldn't have to turn to their bonded striders for the lessons.

Her thoughts seemed to call the woman to them, and so she offered a warm greeting to Seirei, and a welcomed return to Pearl. They chatted a few chimes more about the boys at home, and the gift Naiya had crafted. Pearl explained her absence, and after a bit excused herself to go greet another.

Lian was the person who had caught her attention, and Naiya wondered for a moment how they had come to know each other. It didn't matter. She seemed not to have taken offense at the troubles, so Naiya would extend the courtesy.

Shahar took interest in the colt as well, raising the bid to eighty, but Naiya's own interest was the filly. She was beautiful, and Naiya wondered what sort of coloration she might add to their growing herd of horses.

True to form, Naiya raised the bid with a determination in hopes of scaring off the other potential bidders, offering eighty gold of her own for the filly.

Ledger-113 GM for four Zibri calves and one large cow

[Colt]

Nervous smell.

What?

Nervous smell there Seirei. Snow paused in her observation of the auction stand to indicate the newest member of the Dawnwhisper camp making her way to their little cluster.

Friendly greeting, welcome, Shahar said to Seirei. To Snow, he gave a single, clear request: protect her.

Snow, already aware of Seirei’s uneasiness, either due to the crowd or to the close presence of Lian, rose from her spot and came over to greet the woman, wagging her tail happily. If Seirei allowed, Snow would lick her hand and then take a seat at her feet, back to Seirei’s legs and face pointed outwards, to where threats might come from.

Naiya’s friend returned, explaining her sudden absence and speaking of Naiya’s past handiwork, then also caught sight of Lian and moved to greet him. Shahar tilted his head, cautiously stoic curious; he hadn’t known that Pearl was a friend of Lian’s.

Pearl bid as she went, raising the colt to eighty-five. Shahar gestured towards the auctioneer: I submit, no more from me. The colt was more of a novelty than something he actually wanted to take home; he had his hands full enough already.

Naiya, however, seemed to have not even gone through her first wind, and raised the bid on the filly instead.

ledger-67gm for No. 22
-89gm for No. 37

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

Seirei smiled, and returned Shahar's greeting as she made her way over to him and the others. Most of the people in the crowd ignored her, intent on watching the bidding, or bidding on one of the animals themselves. Seirei couldn't help but be grateful for that. She had little trust for most of the Drykas.

When she saw Lian in the distance, she froze. Light tremors of fear shook her frame as her eyes widened. Had he seen her? Would he come over and start accusing her of stealing the striders again if he did? Would others in the crowd side with him if he did? She was a former captive, after all. It wasn't all that long ago when they were accusing her of not fulfilling her duty to the Drykas by bearing more children. Some had even taken it upon themselves to force the issue.

Seirei was starting to fear that they might have succeeded. It had been nearly two months since she'd been brutally raped by those men. And she hadn't had her period since then. Her period had never been as regular as she could have wished. And stress tended to effect it even more, usually by delaying it. But still, two months...that wasn't a promising sign. Seirei dreaded the possibility that she might be pregnant again. That didn't change the fact that she would need to find out if she was or not. She decided to give it a little more time. If her period still hadn't come by then, she would ask for an appointment with a healer. Hopefully Waisana would be available. Seirei didn't trust any of the other healers.

Seirei was distracted from her disturbing thoughts when Snow came over to greet her. She returned the greeting with a smile. The beautiful white puppy wagged her tail happily, and licked her hand. Then she sat at her feet, seeming to take up a guard stance. If Snow permitted it, Seirei would pat her on the head gently for a few ticks. Knowing that Shahar must have sent Snow to her, Seirei turned to him, and signed a sincere, heartfelt "thank you."

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian was watching the bidding with some interest, but he saw Pearl wave at him, and he smiled as he returned the greeting. She started to approach him, but stopped to make a bid on the colt that was currently up for auction. Lian eyed the colt. He would be a handful for whoever won him, that was for certain. His "love bite" for one of the auctioneers was proof enough of that! Lian hoped that Pearl would win the bid. It would be interesting to see how the colt turned out...and watch the fun as his new owners worked with him.

"That's an interesting colt you're interested in, Pearl. I hope you win him." Lian said when Pearl was close enough to hear him.

Movement out of the corner of Lian's eye distracted him, and he glanced over to see what had caught his attention. By then, the source of the sudden movement was gone, but he saw Seirei standing over with Shahar and Naiya. He stiffened with anger, and frowned as he tried to control his emotions. The pain and fury coiled inside him like a living thing demanded to be unleashed. It wanted Lian to march over to his captive...former captive, and lash out at her with all of the rage trapped within him. The intense longing to see his children made him want to beg Seirei to give them back to him.
But he did none of that. It would be inexcusable if he disrupted the auction like an unruly child. So instead, he turned pointedly away, fearing that his crumbling control would falter if he continued to look at Seirei.

"Distract me?" he asked Pearl, almost desperately.

Realizing that the woman likely had no idea what he was talking about, he elaborated.

"Seirei, my...former captive is here. I need a distraction, or I might give in to the urge to go over there, and..."

He fell silent, his hands indicating that he wasn't certain what would happen if he gave in to that urge. But it wouldn't be good..
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[Tribal]

Shahar bid seventy gold miza on number 401 and was quickly outbid by Merevaika who won the young Colour-splash filly for eighty gold miza. Number one went to the man in the dark cloak who seemed to be purchasing a lot of the undesirables with the silent but persistent wave of his hand.

The large black and white Colour-splash stallion (number 79), that was jumping around in his yard and nipping at anything that ventured too close went to Pearl for the extremely low price for forty-five gold, but with no other bidders she had won the quick round fair and square. The auctioneers jotted down the names of the winners in their little notebooks before moving onto the two remaining horses.

When number 393 came up for sale, Seirei was first to bid, swiftly outdone by the taller male stood near her. “Number three, nine, three goes to tall, dark and handsome up the back there,” Ringrose winked, “for eighty-three gold.” She pencilled it into her book and jumped down from the auction block to watch her husband deal with the last horse up for sale today; she didn’t want to get bitten by this beast.

Kado stepped up onto the small podium he had building himself out of a few timber boxes that were going to waste. He looked over his shoulder at the mixed blood stallion and raised a brow at the crowd, “Can’t rightly say that we have had any interest in this one,” the auctioneer piped up, “So I’m going to do something crazy and let the bidding start as low as one gold miza,” he announced, a declaration that even had his wife look up at him as if he were a crazy man.

“I’m going to be honest with you folks,” Kado chirped, “he’s a handful, impossible to catch, he bites, kicks, rears, will attack any hunting dogs, cats, or other animals he is housed with and I can’t rightly say that I would trust him around any young children; but he does have some good qualities, he’s still young, sires beautiful foals, you just need to look at 393 to know that, and it looks like he is half Nightwalker which you won’t see in these parts at all unless you spend a lot of money on an expensive import. You’re looking at about three hundred gold worth of horse her ladies and gentlemen and you can always house him at The Guided Horse where he can be someone else’s problem for forty-five gold and five silver a season,” Kado laughed, “Do I hear one gold anywhere?”

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

Seirei couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed that she didn't win the bid for the tiny little filly with the strange white marking on her forehead. With an unusual shaped mark like that, she seemed to fit in with Kairi and Thunder. But she was happy for Shahar when he won the bid. He knew more about horses than she did, so the filly might have a better chance at survival with him. And at least she would be able to see the filly around the camp.

"Congratulations." she offered sincerely, with a smile for the man who had taken her into his home.

She hesitated for a few ticks, then spoke again.

"Do you think that Kairi would be willing to feed her, too?" she asked softly.

It was both a question, and an offer. Even she knew that the tiny filly was too young to eat grass yet. And she hated the thought that the beautiful filly might starve without her mother.

When the final stallion was brought out, Seirei drew back, more than a little intimidated by the powerful, vicious looking animal. The auctioneer's words confirmed just how vicious he was before opening the bid by asking for just one gold miza. Seirei wondered if anyone could tame that stallion. If they could, it certainly wasn't her. She watched in silence, wondering if anyone would bid on the creature. Or would the others be too wary of such a vicious stallion as she herself was?

Seirei glanced at Shahar and Naiya, wondering what they thought of the powerful stallion. It was hard to believe that the tiny filly she had been interested in had been sired by that vicious creature. Though, if it were true, the auctioneer was right in that he would produce beautiful foals. Seirei couldn't help but feel sorry for any mare that was bred to the vicious stallion, though. He looked as though he was likely to attack any mare that was given to him, rather than breeding them.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

She had done well at the auction. The first bids were for wild Zibri, animals Merevaika had no interest them. She knew little about them apart from the fact that the drykas relied on them. Those had flown past, a few friendly faces appearing throughout the day. Shahar was one, and she signed a greeting to him, but he had missed it through the crowd. There were others too, people that she recognised, but she couldn't put names to them, so ignored them other than polite signs.

When it came to the horses, she listened more intently, finding the two she had picked out. One was a strider, a young mare with a wild temperament and cracked hoof who Merevaika had felt so sorry for, hoping that she would provide the horse a good home. The other was a colour-splash filly, with chance to become a driving horse, something Merevaika was interested in. It would take a long time for the horse to be fit for that, but she would put in the work.

Both horses became hers, and Merevaika found herself with a little left over money. Other horses flew past, but they were either too expensive or too difficult, horses she wouldn't have time for with her two new purchases. Some she admired more, others, like the older ones, she had no intent on buying. Finally, it came down to the last one, a large Nightstalker, dangerous and wild, a horse too dangerous to be bought by any ordinary person. Even the man said that, before doing something Merevaika hadn't expected.

He announced the bidding would start at just 1. Merevaika found herself debating whether she could miss such a good deal. She would have her hands full with these two, and even without them, owning a horse like him would be impossible. But the deal was too good, and Merevaika found herself raising a hand. "I'll bid one!" Hopefully, someone would beat her and she wouldn't have to take it. But now, it was too late to go back on her words.

ledger#69 - 150Gm
#401 - 80Gm
TOTAL: 230GM

"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian found that he was truly enjoying the auction. He was happy with his purchases, and he had no ill will against the Dawnwhispers for winning the reat of the calves he had been interested in. After learning that more than one cow would be needed to care for that many, he was actually relieved that he had lost. And he had won the one he had wanted the most, as well as bought a cow to care for her.

It was interesting to see what horses were available, and who won them. Lian was surprised to see Seirei bid on a tiny foal whose chances for survival did not look that good. Then again...had she felt sorry for it because the filly was an orphan? It was the sort of thing a mother might do. And she was a good mother. Foreigner or not, likely to teach his children to be foreigners or not, Lian had to admit that much. Reluctantly. As it was, Shahar won the orphaned filly. Lian wondered if he knew enough about horses to keep her alive. Seirei didn't, unless she had managed to learn a great deal about horses without his knowledge. Which was possible, if unlikely.

Lian dismissed those thoughts before they could turn dark, and focus on the loss of his children. To distract himself, he turned to see what was up for bid next. His eyes widened when he saw a beautiful, but vicious stallion that even the auctioneers seemed to be afraid of. They opened the bid at one gold miza, something that surprised Lian greatly. A horse like that was worth far more than that. Even he knew that much. Then again, if no one could handle him...

Someone thought she could handle him. The bid was taken. That got Lian thinking. Dravite had a monster of a mare that ate rabbits. Something Lian had never even believed to be possible. What kind of horse ate meat instead of grass? A monster out of nightmares. If Dravite could control such a creature as that, then could he handle this monster, too? Lian had to admit that the vicious stallion did produce lovely foals. The orphaned filly was proof of that. What kind of foals would he sire on Dravite's monster mare? Or on other, more docile mares? Lian found that he wanted to find out.

"Ten gold mizas!" he called out, wondering if he was insane as he did so.

Still, the stallion could be housed at the Guilded Horse so he wasn't a threat to the children, and the other animals. And he would be a nice gift for his ankal. Lian paid close attention to the bidding, hoping that he would win the monster stallion. He was prepared to go higher if need be, but he hoped it wouldn't be necessary for such a dangerous horse..
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[Pearl]

Pearl placed her hand upon Lian's upper arm in a show of comfort and support. She was there for him, as soon as he asked her for a distraction and explained why such was needed. Of course, she knew part of the story as her husband had explained it her, but she wasn't one to pry or try to force Lian to speak of it. He's asked for her help and he would receive it. "Perhaps you would be interested in helping with any of the horses that I am able to purchase?" Her words were easily spoken and she pointed out the colour-splash stallion that she was also interested in. "They seem like good horses that just need some training and care to overcome their bad habits."

She wasn't one to do things the easy way either, her father always told her. The thought of him caused her smile to fade just a little and perhaps she squeezed Lian's arm just a little as she felt herself letting the past overwhelm her. It had been that way for days now, but she was fighting to stay on top of it all and not let it weight her down.

The horses would indeed provide a much needed distraction for her as well. She'd thrown herself into her work, despite her Dravite and Belkaia's objections that she slow down and take care of herself. She was afraid if she slowed down, it would all catch up to her. And she simply could not have that.

When they brought the Nightwalker mix blood up to the auction block, Pearl had stilled, watching the animal and listening to the auctioneer describe the animals faults. Pearl was torn as to what she truly thought of the horse. What kind of horrors had the animal had to endure to become such. But her family was more important to her than one horse, and she would never put them at risk.

The look she gave Lian when he upped the bid on the monstrosity to ten gold mizas must have been one of scarcely controlled rage and undeniable horror. All she could think of, in that moment, was the children and if that beast of a horse harmed one single hair on their heads, she knew her rage would be loosed, swiftly. "Tell me you intend to board the animal if you win it," she spoke between clenched teeth, her hand still gripping his upper arm.

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