Closed Revealing Reo

[Mayra]

5th of Fall, 515AV
7th Bell, Sunrise
Northern Gate

It wasn't much of a trek from her tent to the northern gate, not as long as she had thought at least. Used to early morning, the mixed blood wasted no time rising and heading out for the Northern Gates. Dravite, vague as ever, simply told her morning. So she allowed herself to wait only a bell after sunrise for him. After all, she had better things to do on her free days than hunt for animals.

But the trek seemed extended as the nerves caught up with her. She could simply go hunting with Dravite, and end up doing nothing of importance like last time, or she could make use of her time to reveal to someone that she was harboring a potential monster. Whether the Ixam in her possession was regarded as such by the barbarians, she wasn't quite sure. And that was also the reason that necessitated her mission. She could hide Reo now, but when he grew to be nine feet in length, there was no one she could fool.

Squinting at the sun, Mayra arrived at the portable entrance to the city, swinging her pack over her shoulder so she could reach inside. Crouching, she pulled out her pipe, balancing it carefully between her knees so she could free her hands. Then she pulled out her snuff box, lighting stick and flint and steel. The last of her Alvadian Tevino was pinched into the pipe. Gently, Mayra prodded the tobacco into the pipe, making sure it didn't fall apart on her before she could put her snuff box back in her bag.

Once she had only her pipe and her flint and steel, Mayra stuck her thumb in the pipe, packing the tobacco down a little further so that it no longer looked so full. Bringing the unlit pipe to her lips, Mayra looked up around her to see the lethargic city starting back to life. She wasn't the only early riser. The mixed blood took a small drag, testing the draw of the tobacco. Again, Mayra stuck her thumb in the pipe, packing the last of the spicy weed down a little further before testing it again.

Satisfied, she swivled on her hip, sticking her lighting stick in the ground before snapping her flint and steel together. Mayra focused on the spark until one caught on the fuel end of the stick. Setting her flint and steel down immediately, Mayra slid her pipe between her lips, and snatched the lighting stick from the ground. Crossing her eyes almost comically so she could watch the flame. Fueling the charring with oxygen, an immediate cloud of smoke burned through her throat and nostrils as she watch the tobacco surrender to the flame. Once it was adequately lit, she swished the lighting stick in the air to put it out and pulled the pipe from her mouth. Taking the butt-end of the twig, she stirred up her burning tobacco a slight bit before dropping the twig on the ground and stomping on it for good pleasure.

She didn't smoke often, but the familiar relaxing buzz of the first drag of pipe settled her shoulders. More content with waiting for the inevitable reveal of Reo to Dravite, Mayra stood to watch the last tendrils of the orange sunrise give way to the daytime blue., Mayra stuffed her flint and steel back in her pack, letting the smoke tickle the back of her throat before releasing it in a cloud of smoke. If there was one good thing to come from civilization, it was the tobacco.

[Dravite]

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Dravite crept from the tent just before dawn, his movements tentative and measured, sneaking away from his own home like some kind of criminal; not because he was guilty of anything, but every night for that last few days sleep had been difficult to come by and he could sense the disruption he had become to his family. The tossing and turning went unrecognised by him until one of his wives stilled him with a hand against his chest or shoulder and asked if everything was all right. Outside of the tent there were chores to be done, goats to milk, wood to cut, animals to feed; all things that would help him forget the monsters that haunted his dreams, at least until it came time to sleep again.

He started with the turkeys, filling a bowl of water for them in the smell cage they were kept in. The birds rushed away from his hand only to attack the water as soon as the lid on the crate was securely fastened. The hunting dogs were next, Kavu and Meka waiting patiently, anxious to be untied and stretch their legs. Dravite watched them run around camp for a chime before throwing them the scraps from last night's meal. Meka wolfed hers down before trying to take advantage of Kavu's good nature and finish his too, "survival of the fittest," the horse lord smiled, staring across as Kavu who looked perplexed about his missing breakfast.

Outside of camp Cree and Bones stood with their eyes closed tiredly and their heads down. Dravite led them into camp and picked their hooves up to muck them out one by one. It was Cree who proved the most difficult of the pair, much to the horse lord's surprise; the large stallion leaning into him heavily until he was forced to move or take the weight as best he could. By the time he was cleaning out the last hoof, Cree grew tired of the exercise and shook his leg from Dravite's hold, "pest," the man spat and picked up the hoof again to finish what he had started; persistent if nothing else.

Grooming was almost as bad, with both horses trying to sniff and bite at the brush while it was still in Dravite's hand. He struggled to untangle knots from the mare's tail and when it came Cree's turn, the stallion whipped him across the arms, "Cree!" Dravite scolded and brushed to hair down across the animal's back, "you want to look presentable for Mayra don't you?" The stallion made a deep rumbling sound as if to reply before bowing his head to rip up a mouthful of grass that hadn't been rendered completely tasteless by all of the foot traffic the campsite had seen in the last twenty four hours.

The yvas was fastened a round Cree before Bones saw her halter. The mare shook her head, still unaccustomed to such things, her protest evident in the raking of her front, right hoof against the ground. Dravite tied the end of his rope under her chin and climbed up onto Cree's back, leading the mare from camp by tugging firmly on the rope as he guided his Strider through the maze of tents with fast, controlled footwork. Towards the outskirts of the city, where many were still to arrive, Dravite encouraged Cree to trot, hoping Bones would keep up, but she was being stubborn and almost yanked the horse lord from his mount's back twice before they approached the wind-knotted gates.

There Mayra was waiting, just as they had planned; how long the man couldn't be sure but she didn't seem too dissatisfied to see him, though he couldn’t say the same for his horses. It seemed Mayra had managed to pass the time with her smoking pipe; Dravite didn't smoke but most of his old pavilion members liked to partake in the odd little habit. Greetings, morning, excitement, anticipation, friend, the man signed, realising Mayra might not know half of what it all meant but figured she would catch on sooner or later, faced with enough opportunities to pick up the odd bit of helpful information; she probably thought the same of him and his terrible common, "Mayra set up camp well?"

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[Mayra]

Of course he actually brought a horse. Mayra groaned at the sight of the temperamental mare. There was absolutely NO way she would get on her, if that was what Dravite intended. Mayra took another drag of her pipe, trying to keep the tension from returning to her shoulders as he neared. Greetings, Morning, blah, blah, blah, friend. Mayra's brows plummeted as she tried to read the quick motions, unsure if she had even got most of the signs right. Previously, she would have assumed she misread the last one, but since their last meeting, it was unmistakable. Of course there was a difference between Kyanite's young soft hands and Dravite's big burly ones, but she recognized the same word on both.

"Good Morning," Greeting. She signed, eyeing the mare. When the barbarian got close enough with his horses, the halfbreed took the chance to shuffle to his other side, preferred the frightening Cree than the unknown mare in terms of proximity. When he asked his questioned, she looked back up, bringing her pipe to her lips for one more drag before laughing out a puff of smoke. "Ha! My camp? If you could call it that." She grinned to herself thinking of the canvas that hung poorly on the bamboo and the tiny fire she never used. Camp was a generous description. Squatting pot would have been more accurate, which Dravite even knew from what he had seen.

"You were really set on hunting, huh?" She muttered, glancing at his arsenal with a grimace. How was she going to get him back to Reo, and especially with the extra horse? Mayra pursed her lips, glancing up at his dark eyes for a moment. Perhaps today is not the day.

And perhaps you flake out every other day until Reo is too big to do anything about? She challenged herself. "Hey Dravite?" Mayra tilted her chin down slightly to exaggerate her already preexisting need to look up at him. She knew the human didn't understand her eyes, and realized it to be a disadvantage. She spent most of her life looking into colored eyes enough to forget other's didn't see the same. The wide puppy-dog eyes she had seen work for children against their mothers would not work the same with her. Childishness was out of the question. Nervous for a moment, she brought her thumb up to her lip, biting down on the claw as she gathered his attention.

"I set up not to far from here..." She dropped her hand, curling it behind her back and sighed. She couldn't overdue it, that would be too obvious. "I just..." What do you just? Snide thoughts invaded her mission and Mayra nearly snarled by how blank her mind was. Dravite considered himself her friend. And in a way, being about to reveal her biggest secret to the horselord, she returned the opinion. But the simple truth was she didn't much know him. "Txiro is hurt." She lied. Horses. Dravite cared about horses. Of course the man had no idea about what her occupation was. If Txiro was hurt, she would have simply taken him to Saron for help. Not Dravite, who she wasn't even sure.

"My horse," The glorified lazy pack pony. "He won't eat. He's laying down. He... umm, is sweating?" Mayra tried to think of things her dumb beast didn't do, thinking Dravite would read some sort of sickness that she didn't know about. But of course with her utter lack of knowledge on any horse sicknesses, she pulled her pipe from her mouth, she looked back up to face the man. A giggle threatened to leave her lips, but instead of submitting to the foolish laughter at her lie, she twisted her face into something that resembled pain, forcing the muscles in ways they didn't want to go. The horrible liar looked more like a madwoman than a pity-sight.

"You have to help me. She immediately turned away, not letting Dravite think too far into it. And begun walking, caring less if he brought the feisty mare with him or not.

She wouldn't look back to see if he was following, thinking the action would ruin her poor acting attempt. Instead she kept walking so long as she heard the hooves of the two horses following behind. It was a mere two chime walk across the Diamond district, where she had nestled her tent in the center of a few colorless nomadic tents, where she wouldn't stand so far out. When they neared, Txiro would be in full view, snoozing or eating as usual. But Mayra whirled on the man, stopping him where he was. "Trust. Me." She commanded, slicing the air with one finger to force her demand before darting into the mouth of her tent, throwing the canvas together behind her, barring Dravite from following.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

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Mayra would not look at him, thought he didn’t find this strange, for she had never really kept good eye contact in the past. The presence of the horses seemed to make her nervous and the idea of hunting was not as welcomed as the man had imagined it might be. As Mayra continued to speak Dravite thought that surely she was making excuses but when she mentioned that useless pony of hers, he stilled. His fingers went to the back of his neck where he scratched the oily hair, "sick?"

The godless woman gave him no time to argue and led him to her camp at once. The horse lord watched her go for a few ticks before clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth to signal for his horse to follow closely. Cree trotted after the woman as Dravite led Bones with the rope from his Strider's back, looking over his shoulder to make sure she didn't try to veer of course while his back was turned.

Once inside of Mayra's camp, Dravite jumped down from his horse and tethered Bones to one of the trees before approaching the pony. Mayra had disappeared into her tent rather hurriedly, perhaps to collect something, and seemed to make it clear that she did not want to be followed. The horse lord got the pony to stand up and felt around his throat and stomach before leading him around the campsite a few times.

He didn't seem sluggish or stubborn and showed no sign of discomfort. Dravite stopped to pick the pony's feet up which he didn't seem to appreciate but that was probably due to lack of training rather than pain. "Colic?" Dravite called to Maya who was still out of sight, "does not look over fed," the man shrugged; after the trek from the summer grounds to here there was no way the pony hadn’t seen enough exercise.

Dravite checked the fat little pony's teeth and ripped up a handful of grass to offer him, which was gobbled up hastily. The horse lord knotted his brow and folded his arms, Mayra was playing tricks on him, she knew he would follow her back to camp if he thought her horse was in trouble, when there was clearly nothing wrong with him; other than his utter uselessness, "no see problem," Dravite called, just as it seemed that the woman might finally emerge from the tent, "why Mayra waste time? Could hunt," the Watchman grumbled.

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[Mayra]

Once inside the dim tent, Mayra paused. Seh licked her thumb and pressed it into her pipe to smother the burning tobacco. Cringing at the heat, she twisted the digit for good measure before setting the pipe down on one of the stools. Her eyes took a few ticks to adjust. She was blessed with very versatile vision from both of her parents, built for the sun and the night. So it wasn't long before she saw the animal. Clearly, the creature had been rummaging through her things, looking for food.

"Damn." She surveyed the damage. The poor thing would have to be taught to forage in the wild, but of course Mayra couldn't take him out there. Not yet. "Where are you?" She mumbled, trying to push her things aside. She picked up a pillow that had found its way across the tent from her bedroll and threw it in the corner. With a solid thunk, it hit the flimsy canvas and Mayra froze as she watched the tent's main support wobble with the impact. Safe in the knowledge it wouldn't come down on her yet, she looked back to the ground for Reo. She didn't have to search long before she saw the creature crawling towards her in the shadows of the tent. His head was perked curiously, but the creature was obviously still groggy from sleeping, and from the lack of sun. Hiding Reo was doing nothing but hurting him, and he simply didn't know any better.

Mayra broke into a grin and crouched down, patting her thigh to beckon the Ixam towards her. Instantly he sprung forward, crossing the small tent space with ease and stretching his neck to rest his head on her knee. She chuckled, scratching the lizard under his chin where he was sensitive and she could tickle him. Quickly, she scooped the reptile up, cradling him in her elbow and maneuvered back over her mess to the front of her tent.

Using her free hand, she tugged the opening flap the to tent aside enough to reveal her face, and soon enough to meet the last word's of Dravites grumble. Mayra rolled her eyes, but gave a twitch of the corner of her lip. Good. He wasn't terribly mad. "Dravite." She brought his attention back to her. She hoped to keep his attention with the candid sincerity of her voice.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Mayra hesitated, trying to decide where to start. Of course it would have been better to actually plan this event out, past the simple necessity to do it. "Remember when we found the Ixam scales?" She asked, pulling the canvas around her neck so he couldn't see Reo squirm in her hand. The creature didn't much like being picked up and rarely kept quiet on the matter. "Why did you want to hunt the Ixam?" She asked, hoping it was not for sport or food. Or worse, because he thought of them as a predator. No matter his answer, she would be showing him, but the half-breed waited for a reply anyway.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

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Mayra poked her head out of the tent and a very unamused Dravite stood with arms folded alongside her fat little pony, staring down at her. Her question threw him; did she want to go out in search of the Ixam again? If so they should get on the road it they meant to reach the nearest lake and get home before day's end; after all, Mayra had not seemed fond of his idea to camp out in the summer in order to get closer to finding a live Ixam. The horse lord tucked his thumbs in his belt and looked up at the sky as if to summon strength from the god of storms, "hunt Ixam," he sighed, "see ghost."

Dravite stepped closer to the tent and sat down on the grass, ripping up a blade of grass near the roots to turn between finger and thumb as he spoke, "man talk of Ixam story, all claim, no see; hunt Ixam with Mayra to see with eyes Ixam real," he smiled slowly, a small smile often partnered with the sharing of secrets, "Mayra find scales with Dravite, Ixam real, see with eyes," wonder, myths, truth, he signed; common was a strain and Dravite hadn't found that he was any better at it now than the first time he had run into the godless woman.

"To see Ixam, for Dravite, a happy day."

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[Mayra]

"Alright, alright." The half-Zith didn't much understand what Dravite had said, but she understood enough to know he wasn't going to stick a knife in Reo as soon as he saw him. Giving in to the restless reptile's antics, Mayra stepped out of the tent, lowering the young lizard to the ground. Immediately, she could feel the small Ixam go from anxious to wary. She hadn't exactly socialized the creature. She knew it wasn't a good idea to isolate such a young creature, but for now he was harmless... she hoped. "Tada..." Mayra shimmied her hands for a moment as Reo's black eyes evaluated the man.

The halfbreed flicked the creature's tail, forcing Reo to react, turning back towards her, she didn't want him sizing up the man, or his horse. If Reo got it in his head to challenge the horse, he would be smushed with a single step. It wasn't worth it. "This is why I can't go hunting today. I named him Reo. It means river in my mother's tongue."

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

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Dravite was still smiling when Mayra put the Ixam down, not expecting her to actually have an Ixam. His jaw went slack and lips parted; lips his mother had always said were wasted on a man. The horse lord couldn't believe what he was seeing; how could a creature of legend start out so... Small? He admired the dark scales and the unnerving stare, grinning at the way the lizard skipped forward when Mayra flicked his tail; reactive but not intimidated by the gesture. Fearless, he made the sign in Pavi followed by welcome, river, surreal, wonder, and elation. "Reo," he said the name, both to test on his tongue and call to the magnificent creature.

The watchman wanted to see the lizard move again but as he drew his hand through the space slowly in front of Reo, the lizard only followed the movement with his eyes, defiant and still like his mother; Dravite paused, "where Mayra find, how take?" Again with his attention on Reo, he found himself captivated by the Ixam, memorised by the stillness that seemed to promise such an explosion of energy that Dravite doubted either of them would be able to catch him if he decided to bolt.

Slowly, Dravite put a hand behind his back to feel blindly for one of the pounces on his belt and bring forth a piece of dried rabbit meat that had been curing in the sun this summer gone. He held it tightly in front of Reo and turned it like a live worm trying to wriggle free from a fishing hook. Again the lizard watched with his eyes but made no attempt to take the bait until he got the scent with a flick of his forked tongue, long, dark, and sinister; causing the animal to draw back. The frill of smooth, pointed scales at the back of his head that were still developing seemed to match the descriptions Dravite had heard about in stories along with his short snout. "Plant eater," the man spoke up, having no other common word for the Pavi alternative.

The Drykas hunter looked around for a green blade of grass and plucked one from the earth to wave in front of Reo and this time the Ixam went for it, snapping up the grass so swiftly it saw Dravite pull back with surprise. "Drykas keep Ixam pets, work animal," he explained, "before Djed Storm, not strange for Ixam in city, now," he waved a hand, "Drykas no see Ixam anymore." He continued to feed any fresh grass he could find to Reo, delighted each time the animal reacted so quickly; like a child marvelling over a new, exciting toy, Dravite wasn't hard to entertain when it came to animals, especially the rare and exotic kind.

He understood why she didn't want to go hunting, and seeing Reo had given the man a change of heart too; perhaps he would return to work today as a member of The Watch rather than go off alone. "Ixam like sun? Fall get cold soon, how Mayra keep Reo warm?" Something for the woman to ponder perhaps.

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[Mayra]

The grin didn't come slowly when she saw Dravite look of suprise. Giving a curt laugh, Mayra reached out to touch the rough scales of the dog-sized creature once more. Possessively, she pulled Reo back towards her once Dravite had given him a few handfuls of grass, uncomfortable with how easily the Ixam had trusted the man. She smoothed her hands under his neck where his scales were softest, but almost as if Reo picked up on her sudden mood, the Ixam turned away from Dravite, pawing at her leg.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to keep him warm." She answered his second question. "But I don't think it will be hard. He likes to sit in my fires. In them." Mayra shrugged as the Ixam dug his claws into her elbow, sticking his head in her face to taste her cheek. But if Mayra knew anything about Dravite, she knew she couldn't ignore any of his questions for long.

"I got him from a silver chest." She blurted out, measuring his reaction with one perked eyebrow. "I wanted to ask you about the God thing. Because I don't know what magic grows an Ixam from a scale." She grumbled. She couldn't ask Saron, who was about the only other Drykas she trusted. He would surely think she was crazy if she shared that she didn't believe in his fantasies. Unfortunately, the half-breed was slowly learning that the whole world seemed to believe in her mother's fantasies. Curious. She added one of the few signs she knew. Not many words were spoken to strangers, but she had learned the sign for when she did need to ask a question.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

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The Silver Chest, Dravite smiled, remembering his own gift; it all made a lot more sense now. Gods, the Drykas man signed, mysterious, powerful, secret, “No one knows,” he spoke in common before switching to Pavi to see if the Roe would react to the quick, rhythmic language, “where did you come from?” He touched the tip of the Ixam’s tail and felt it whip out from between his fingers as and watched as the overgrown lizard scaled Mayra as if she were a tree.

The watchman laughed though he found it interesting that the Ixam liked to sleep so close to the fire pit. “Handsome,” he pointed, “bonded; Ixam care for Mayra, Dravite can see.”

He didn’t remember sitting down but slowly, the horse lord got to his feet and looked about the city which seemed to be a lot more awake than it had been a quarter bell ago. Someone in a tent nearby stirred, rustling a few pots and pans together, no doubt preparing to start cooking breakfast. The grey eyed man glanced back at Mayra quickly and waved a hand as if to suggest she hide Reo away in her tent again before he was discovered by anyone else.
“High value,” he told her, “might poach Reo. Trader give high gold for Ixam.”

“Dravite go,” he pointed in the direction of his camp and smiled, “See Mayra another day.”

After stealing one more glimpse of Reo the watchman returned to his horse, jumping up onto the large stallion’s back with relative ease. If Mayra was to keep changing their plans like this, he was going to stop offering to take her hunting. It must be expensive, he thought, buying all of her food from the marketplace when the grasslands had so much to offer. With a wave he left the woman’s camp and gave his Strider a quick nudge to get them moving.

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