Knowledge Hunting(Aleksi & Tebridiar)

[Aleksi]

Aleksi tilted her head as Tebridiar started touching the ground. There was something that girl wasn't saying, but Aleksi didn't want to push her. Her eyes just went back to Jarhal and she smiled. The smile practically ran away as he mentioned glassbeaks. Aleksi shivered every time she'd heard that word, even though he has only seen one in he life, which was dead.

Her fingers instantly went towards her dagger and she had to sigh deeply before actually realizing they weren't around them. Her lips parted, but only a quiet noise could be heard, before she actually cleaned her throat and added "Well, I've seen one and my father used to tell me really disgusting storied about them... how they hunt in packs and well, by seeing their teeth, I'd figure their hunting wasn't something I'd want to be a part of... Besides, I've seen a scar on one man's leg... or well.. what was left of it and it was...", Aleksi just sighed once again, shivering and biting on her bottom lip.

The images in her head weren't pretty and the only thing she could think of at this moment is to lightly pull Tebridiar closer to her. Thinking of those creatures didn't make her feel safe, especially with something that beautiful out in the open, like this. She was probably overreacting, but then again, was there anything she could do about that? Nope, not really...

[Tebridiar]

The glassbeaks…

She had heard about them, never seen one… but those Drykas she had travelled with, they spoke about them with hints of caution in there foreign tongues. She hadn’t seen one, but there were whispers in the grass… movements, noises in the night…

As a horse, when hearing those noises, they set her on edge, made her alert, and she wasn’t tired anymore. She suffered from it the next day of her travels, however. But that didn’t seem to matter to her. She couldn’t suppress it.

But she had no idea they could savage the legs of men…

“They… a mans leg?” She tried to express what she felt. “I had no idea… the Sea of Grass was that dangerous. No idea…” She imagined a great bird on stilts, a huge group circling them, their huge, jagged mouths waiting to tear into some young flesh.

Even Aleksi seemed to fear them.

She shut her eyes.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

He considered divulging a complete story of his family's rather unfortunate encounters with the monsters with no terrifying detail left out, but it didn't feel right yet. It wasn't that he thought he might blubber about it, but who would want to hear it? It was best to keep to the matter at hand diligently. The women did not seem to exactly be enjoying this lesson anymore without a scary story on top of it.

"They're very large and tall, and their plumage is camouflage." He listed calmly, with a determined tone that did not lend to more friendly banter at this moment. This was Drykas business as important as riding horses. "They gain their name from their large beaks, which have a strange crystalline look to them. They prey on everything that breathes, including Cyphrus Striders."

He paused there, letting the full implications of that sink in by itself. Nothing could outrun the Glassbeak, not even a pureblooded strider. "Glassbeaks usually hunt in persistent groups of three or four, but when alone they will lay in wait and ambush their prey. If you find glassbeaks in the wild, try to sneak away and then start running. If one has found you, your only hope is to use fire to scare it away. Do not panic, because fleeing will not help."

Had he dwelled too much on how deadly they were? His father had said that frightening folk with scary stories only made them freeze with panic when they encountered their nightmares in the flesh. With an effort, he brushed at his cloak and tried to grow less grim. Aleksi wouldn't freeze with panic at most anything, would she? He desperately hoped so.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so..." He trailed off, waving a hand, "Well, anyway, do you both understand why this is important? We have lost generations of Drykas because of the Glassbeak. Do you have any questions at all?"

[Aleksi]

Aleksi nodded softly, listening to Jarhal talk. Tebridiar got her attention for a bit, because she seemed rather surprised by what she said, which in Aleksi's eyes was reasonable, since Tebridiar was perfectly innocent for her.
Either way, Aleksi decided it was important to follow what Jarhal was saying and she could deal with what was bothering Tebridiar in just a bit.

Remembering when he gave her the compliment about noticing things, she just smiled, but then rolled her eyes, knowing he was right about the curiosity thing. It did cost her quite a bit already, since well, if one would look close enough, she wasn't all that beautiful of a female... well, at least not if one didn't like scars. Having over 50 of those, she would have been quite ugly, if there were no tattoos.
This way though, she was just a strange, Drykas woman.

When Jarhal added a few things on Glassbeaks, Aleksi couldn't but to wander was this in any case related to what they talked about before... his family and bad things that happened in his past. She was not sure, like with pretty much anything about Jarhal, but what she knew was the fact that she didn't like him feeling uncomfortable, so she just kept herself silent, hoping things will get better soon.

Aleksi watched his face change and as soon as she heard his comment and question she shrugged, adding
"No, no Jarhal, it's good to know such things... I doubt I'd get all whiny around them, but they sure as hell seem like something I do not wish to test my strength and speed around..."
Her eyes moved to the ground as Jarhal added the thing about Drykas generations, making her sigh deeply
"It's a shame we do not teach these things to our children though... I do hope hope we start some day soon.... and I don't have any questions"

[Tebridiar]

Tebridiar wished she had a little more empathy she could pull on.

Sometimes, she didn’t quite understand everyone as well as she thought she would if she wasn’t a Kelvic. If she didn’t run on what the winds and the grass told her to do. But she was a bit more human now.

But she did occasionally feel withdrawn. She didn’t lie people talking about generations and the future and the past. She preferred to live in the now. Talking about “our children.” It plagued her, Aleksi might never have children. Or maybe Tebridiar would die young, and Aleksi would be free to continue her life as she deserved.

“I’m sorry.” She muttered. “Sorry if I can’t relate to you more. I just… ugh. Past and future… it scares me a little bit. I’m going to die. Young. And maybe a lot younger than even a kelvic should… I…” She stopped.

Its better for some people not to know everything.