(Flashback) What Washed Ashore (Kavala)

[Blythe]

44 Summer, 507 AV

Blythe was walking along the shore, kicking up sand with each step, and leaving a dent in the coarse, dry sand behind her. She was carrying her bag on her back, and looking up at the pale blue sky, not a cloud in sight. The sun was beating down on her skin, leaving her with a hot, tingling sensation.

Blythe was happy to have finally gotten out of her family's cottage, it had been a few days since she had any free time to go out and do something for herself. It felt nice to be surrounded by nature- the gentle crashing of the waves, the calls of several seagulls overhead, the beautiful greenish-blue water, the sand.

Blythe walked along blissfully, soaking it all in. Her blonde hair lay limp around her face, there wasn't much of a breeze today. As Blythe walked along, she looked down at her feet as they kicked up the sand, sending it in a wave of fine beige grains before her.

As Blythe looked back up from her feet, and further down the beach again, she noticed something laying approximately thirty feet away. She couldn't tell precisely what it was, just that it wasn't something you'd typically find on a beach. It certainly wasn't a stone, or shell, or a piece of wood that had been washed ashore in a storm. Of that, Blythe was certain, yet, she still couldn't tell what the mysterious object was.

Curious, Blythe decided to walk over to it, and when she got there, she was startled to find that it wasn't an object at all, in fact, it was a kitten.

When Blythe had reached it, she tossed her bag on the ground above the kitten, on what was dry sand, and looked down worriedly at the kitten. Small beads of water were visible on the short fur that clung to the kitten's body. The kitten's fur was predominately white, although some of its fur was grey about the face and its legs. The kitten's eyes were closed, and its nose was a pale pink, its whiskers hung limp and close to its face. Blythe wasn't sure the creature was even breathing, she couldn't see its chest rising and falling, or much of anything else.

Worried, Blythe put her ear down, next to the kitten's mouth. She didn't hear anything, but maybe she was too nervous to do so. After all, her palms had started sweating, and her heart had started pounding against her rib cage, threatening to break free.

Blythe straightened back up, kneeling on the sand behind the poor kitten. She looked frantically up and down the beach, looking for someone, anyone, to help her, not knowing herself, what she should do.

The Kitten :

[Kavala]

Kavala missed the endless Sea of Grass where she was born. Though she didn't regret her trip to Mura, more and more she was homesick for the grasslands and open spaces the island just didn't have. It was incredibly nice to get back to her roots, receive the training she was getting here, and meet all the fellow Konti she had, but Kavala missed Vanator, Akela, and the rest of their family. Living half beneath and above the sea had its advantages for her kind, but never once did she decide it was better than the vastness of stars at night nor the comforting flap of canvas all around lulling one to sleep.

And the truth also was that Kavala missed being unusual in a sea of humans whereas here she was nothing but a girl who'd lost her mother to tragedy - a mother that had taken off to Cyphrus on a Call that everyone said would be the death of her. And it had been.

So when she wasn't taking classes, Kavala had taken to either riding or running up the beach in the mornings and in the evenings. This day she was riding, a pale form in a loose tunic and shorts mounted on a buckskin strider with almost no harnessing save for a yvas on him. They were kicking up sand and moving at a good speed when they came upon the Konti woman and the tiny bundle in her hands.

Kavala sat deep on Windsong's back and the stallion pulled up all on his own. Snorting and pawing at the sand, the little strider tossed his head unhappy that his run had been cut short. Kavala wasn't paying him any mind though. What she did see was a konti with a frantic look on her face and a limp bundle of fur in her hands.

Kavala slipped off Wind, walked over, and took one look at the kitten. "What happened?" She asked automatically as she reached out and asked to take the kitten from the woman. "I'm Kavala. I've got some medical training. Can I see it?" She asked, urgency in her voice but not panic.

[Blythe]

Blythe looked up from the kitten, to see a Konti woman riding along the shoreline on beautiful buckskin strider. The woman was wearing a loose tunic and shorts, and seemed to be quite comfortable as her horse walked along, kicking up sand in its stead. The woman had pale skin, and long, straight white hair that fell to her waist.

Blythe mustered up a shy smile, even through all of the tears, as she watched the horse stop short, and the woman swing her leg over the side of the saddle and dismount. The woman walked over to her, as she looked down at the kitten, which she now held in her arms. Blythe didn't remember ever picking it up. She shrugged, she must have pulled it closer to her, protectively, as the woman was heading her way.

The waves crashed into the shore, and the kitten's wet fur started to seep through Blythe's thin dress, soaking her skin. Blythe ignored it, holding the kitten to her a little more tightly. When Blythe looked up again, the mysterious Konti woman was standing over her, seeming to inspect the scene: mysterious, distraught woman cries over the soaked, wet kitten in her arms.

"What happened?" the woman asked Blythe as she reached out and asked to take the kitten. "I don't know... I guess it just washed ashore..." Blythe replied, her voice trailing off. She was sniffling.

"I'm Kavala. I've got some medical training. Can I see it?" the other woman asked, urgency in her voice but not panic. Blythe nodded, holding the kitten out to her. Small beads of water were falling off the tips of its fur, and into the sand, as well as on Blythe's dress.

Blythe found that even through her tears, she could still make out the azure blue eyes of the woman that stood before her. "I'm Blythe," Blythe said, as she handed the kitten over, "is there anything you can do you for it?" Blythe asked, looking up at the other woman, her lavender-colored eyes seeming to beg Kavala for her help.

[Kavala]

"Maybe." Kavala said, taking the kitten gently in her hands and looking at it closely. She bent down placing her ear near its lips to listen. It was breathing faintly, but its body was very very cold. Kavala figured it probably experienced a dunking of some sort and got chilled, exhausted fighting the waves, then possibly went into shock.

"Nice to meet you Blythe..." Kavala said automatically. Her entire focus was on the kitten. "It looks exhausted... worn out. And like perhaps it got very cold and very tired fighting the waves. I'm imaging it went into shock, though I can't be certain since no one really saw what happened." Kavala said, whistling abruptly. The noise caused her horse, which was pawing at the sand in the distance to raise its head, wicker softly and start back down the beach towards her. Windsong was swift, so it took him almost no time to bridge the gap between where he was and where Kavala was.

When he arrived, Kavala gently removed a large cloth from his yvas bag and sent him on his way again. It contained her medical kit but more importantly was the cloth itself it was wrapped in.

The material unfurled to reveal a blanket that she immediately began using to rub the kitten all over. She sat down in the sand, well above the waterline and just began to rub the kitten. "It's a little female... but we need to get her blood moving again and her little body warmed up." Kavala said, beginning to briskly rub the kitten all over with the cloth. She looked like she was actually mauling it, but her attention was gentle and actually designed to get the cat's circulation going once more.

"The sooner we get it warmed up the better off it will be." Kavala said, finishing rubbing and drying the creature off. Then, oddly, she slipped the creature into her shirt so it was laying directly against the warmth of her skin. It had already begun to move, squirming slightly with its eyes open even as she tucked it safely in.

"What brings you out here?" She asked, curious why the other konti was doing wandering the beach alone.

[Blythe]

"Maybe," Kavala said as she took the kitten, and placed her ear by its mouth. She seemed to be examining it, as Blythe knelt on the beach, anxious for Kavala's opinion on the manner. Was there anything that the two of them could do? Would the kitten to be ok? Blythe wondered, as she gazed intently at Kavala, as the woman worked.

It was a few moments before Kavala exchanged pleasantries further, as if such words were a necessary response, as much as they were essentially, automatic. The next thing that Kavala said, Blythe missed entirely, perhaps Kavala's words were few and far between, or rushed, maybe even both. Blythe couldn't be sure, all she knew for certain was that the waves had drowned whatever words had formed on the woman's lips out entirely, that she wasn't particularly gifted when it came to reading lips, and that her anxiety level was mounting.

Blythe's palms were sweaty, her eyelids felt both heavy, and sticky with sweat. Her heart was pounding so quickly in her chest, that it began to sound like a drum, and to feel as though it may break through her tiny rib cage.

Blythe took a few deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth, to help her calm down, just as a whistle was heard, and Kavala's horse came trotting down the beach towards them. It amazed Blythe how well-trained Kavala's horse appeared to be, and how quickly it reached them.

When the horse had reached them, Kavala gently removed a large cloth from his yvas bag before tapping him lightly with her hand. The horse trotted away again, kicking up a small amount of sand, and leaving sloppy U-shaped tracks in its stead.

The material that Kavala had taken from her horse turned out to be a blanket, and she immediately began to pat the kitten down with it, using it as one would use a towel, to dry the kitten off, as well as a blanket, to warm the seemingly-cold creature up again. Kavala rubbed the kitten with the blanket furiously, commenting on how the poor thing was a female, and that she was doing what she was doing to get her blood moving again.... can't she just say to get it warm? Blythe wondered, after all, isn't that essentially what she's doing, no need to get all technical...

Blythe watched in silence as Kavala rubbed the kitten with the blanket furiously, at times it appeared as though she were hurting it, and Blythe was convinced that if the kitten had been awake, it would be mewling in pain, or attempting to bite Kavala's hand off.

Kavala didn't say much as she worked, too intent on her task, Blythe supposed, as she sat around in the sand, Kavala's own personal Konti statue. She was starting to feel somewhat useless, simply sitting there as Kavala finished drying the kitten off, and presumably saving its life. She wished she knew more about animals, or even medicine.

When Kavala had finished drying the kitten off, she tucked it into her shirt, as if to protect the kitten from the elements, the harsh, cold outside world. As if holding the kitten to her would warm it, AND keep it safe. Blythe watched as the kitten's whiskers and nose twitched, and the kitten's eyes opened, while sitting in the make-shift cradle the other Konti's clothes had created. The kitten's eyes were a deep emerald green, with pale yellow specks around the rims. They were positively breath-taking.

Yet, Blythe didn't get much of a chance to simply sit and admire the beauty that was contained within those eyes, because Kavala broke her concentration with the words, "what brings you out here?"

Blythe lifted her lavender eyes off of the kitten, and instead, looked over at Kavala, a part of her wondering why she had asked, a part of her wondering the same thing. Why was Kavala riding down the beach, all by herself? Thinking nothing more of it, Blythe flashed a shy smile, replying simply, "Now that I have the time, I just wanted to walk along the shore, it's so beautiful this time of year, isn't it?"

[Kavala]

"Yes, Mura is lovely, especially the beaches." The Drykas born Konti said.

Kavala almost smiled to herself as she felt the body tucked within her shirt heat up and began to move around. Concentrating, she felt the creatures hunger stir with her gift, which was a good sign since it was almost lifeless moments ago. Shock was an odd thing in the young, and spending time cold and wet most likely wasn't good for the creature. It'd probably been afraid too.

Kavala just wasn't sure about the other Konti with her. She seemed a little helpless in finding the kitten, not really doing anything to help it but rather looking for help all around her. And she hadn't said much either, which was odd for the Konti of Mura, who one and all seemed somewhat talkative amongst themselves. Perhaps she was just shy. Kavala had no idea. Regardless, the Drykas woman hoped that the other woman would know what to do next time.

"You know what you need to do next time you find an animal in shock or exhausted now at least." Kavala said, and pulled the kitten from her shirt now that it was a tad bit warmer. "Rub it vigorously to get circulation going and get it warm and then keep it warm. She's feeling hungry already so I think she'll be okay. You might want to tuck her into your shirt to keep her really warm if your going to keep her." Kavala suggested.

"When she fully wakes up and starts making noise, you'll need to feed her. If you can't get replacement milk from another cat or get another cat somewhere to feed her then you can use sugar water, a scrambled raw egg, and add some gelatin to thicken it. That will keep her fed until you can find some cats milk somewhere or use goats milk. Don't give her cows milk, it wont be good for her. I think she still needs to be on it a week or two." Kavala said gently then looked at the woman expectantly.

[Blythe]

Blythe sat quietly, staring intently at Kavala and the kitten that was resting rather peacefully in the folds of the other Konti's clothes. The two were quiet for a bit, as though each of them were deep in thought, or simply taking in the beauty that surrounded them. Kavala had started speaking after a while, but at first, Blythe wasn't really listening, she was far too mesmerized by the sight of the sea, the rolling waves, the sun. She always had been, no matter how many times she gazed out upon it, and it always seemed to take a great deal of energy for Blythe to look away.

Eventually, she started to internalize the other Konti's words, take sight of the fact that Kavala had pulled the kitten away from her shirt. She was saying quite the number of things, advice as to how she should care for it, should Blythe choose to keep it. Something about what the kitten should and should not eat, but Blythe only caught the end of it, which made her a little nervous considering how she didn't know the first thing about animals and their care. "...add some gelatin to thicken it. That will keep her fed until you can find some cats milk somewhere or use goats milk. Don't give her cows milk, it wont be good for her. I think she still needs to be on it a week or two," was all Blythe had heard. Lovely, she thought, not only didn't she know what gelatin was, but she didn't know what she was supposed to add it to. But she didn't want to ask because she didn't want to make herself seem rude or disinterested for asking for clarification, or repetition... of everything that the woman had just told her.

So instead, Blythe smiled sheepishly, and gave a few short nods, as she tilted her head to the side, and looked over at Kavala and the kitten. Kavala was now staring at Blythe expectantly, as though she expected Blythe to say or do something.

Blythe leaned over, and extended her hands towards the kitten. "I hope you don't mind," Blythe said, as she clutched the kitten as tenderly as she could, and pulled it towards her. "I don't mean to appear so bold," Blythe added, as she placed the kitten on her lap, it appeared as though it were about to stir, its nose and whiskers twitching from time to time.

Blythe let the kitten sit in her lap a bit, before she absentmindedly began to run the backs of her fingers over the kitten's soft fur. Feeling embarrassed, her cheeks a little red, she finally worked up the courage to say: "thanks for helping. How did you know to do that? Or rather... stay calm? Do you do this sort of thing often? Do you like animals a lot? Or normally take care of them?" The questions were simply spilling out of her mouth at this point, and she wondered if she had said too much, or made herself look foolish by asking too much at once. Surely the other Konti would find her behavior strange, going from a nearly dead silence too the twenty million questions game.

There was an awkward silence, as Blythe pet the kitten a little more, wondering if it would help her calm down. Before she added, "sorry, was that too much?" before closing her mouth once again as she gazed over at the other Konti.

[Kavala]

Blythe seemed nice enough, but Kavala wondered how she'd act in a true emergency, like a Glassbeak ripping apart an encampment or zith raiding openly for sentient hamburger. Most Konti, Kavala had witnessed, weren't so good in a crisis. It wasn't as if they had meek souls or were pacifists, it was simply that they had zero exposure in Mura to the harsh realities of the world. Blythe was obviously one of these.

"Where I grew up, there as lots of bloodshed and emergencies. Zith tried to eat or capture us. The weather could get terrible fast. People got sick. Fires burned the grasslands. Herds panicked, and there ere enemies and predators everywhere. You get used to life or death situations. Getting upset or panicking is not going to help you at all." Kavala said gently. "Plus, I'm a healer training at the Opal Temple." She added, deciding to forgo a comment on Rak'keli's mark. "Truthfully I'm more Drykas than Konti." She added shrugging slightly. "Yes, I like animals. My gift is animal empathy. I understand them better than most people, who confuse me to no end." She added.

"Uhm you should listen to what I just said. Keep her warm against your skin so she doesn't fall right back into shock. She'll need to be really warm for the next day or two and hand feed her as soon as you can get her to eat. She'll get cold on your lap." Kavala said, a little worried that the woman wouldn't do the right thing even after she told her what to do.

Kavala rose then, gave her head a little shake, and shrugged. "Too much? What do you mean?" She paused. "Too many questions? No, I just... look. You seem a little different. I'm not sure why. But well.. did you hurt that kitten? I've met a few Konti here, and not all of you are the good guys." Kavala came outright and asked her. It seemed a bit odd a kitten was out here by itself, no mother in sight, and no one on the sand that wanted to help it but a konti who seemed to maybe need a little attention. Hysterics were one thing, but complete helplessness over a half-drowned ball of fur was another.

[Blythe]

Upon hearing that the kitten may get to cold in her lap, and go back into shock, Blythe immediately picked it up again, and held it to her breast, cradling the kitten in her arms, "that better?" she asked, looking for a little reassurance from Kavala that she wasn't a complete idiot. Well, scratch that, Blythe wasn't an idiot, she was just clueless when it came to animals. Fortune telling, poetry, and people made far more sense to her than cuddly creatures ever would.

"Mura isn't like that, it just gets to be rather hot, and more humid the closer you get to the sea... I'm pretty sure we don't get many zith around here, although, we do have the occasional outsider, who tends to bring something vile or sorrow-filled to this area... although, Mura is nothing in comparison to some places in that regard... Sunberth was just awful, but I haven't been for many years, hopefully it has improved at least a little since then..." Blythe said, her voice trailing off as she silently recalled her time in Sunberth nearly 10 years ago now. The little boy she had named J'kar, she wondered if he was even still alive, he must appear to be at least her age by now... and Adder, the slave market, her OBE, Blythe shuddered, that was certainly not something she wanted to think about. Silently, she pushed the thought to the inner reaches of her mind, where the memory could no longer be accessed.

"That would make sense, though, it seems like all of our people learn medicine there, although I never have myself... much prefer poetry," Blythe said, as she shifted the tiny kitten in her arms as they started to hurt. The kitten's nose was still twitching, as were its whiskers and ears from time to time. Its eyes seemed to scrunch shut more tightly at times, before going back to their usual state, and then back again, Blythe wondered how much longer it would take before it finally opened its eyes. She bet that Kavala would know, she seemed to be far more knowledgeable in this regard than she, and if what the woman had said was true, her gift certainly gave her an edge in this matter as well. Blythe couldn't help but wonder who gave it to her- Avalis or Rak'keli, she had heard it said that sometimes Konti were born with a mark or even a gift from Rak'keli as opposed to Avalis, but she had never met one with that gift.

Kavala had risen so that she was now looking down at Blythe, towering over her really. The woman had seemed to have taken Blythe's endless stream of questions rather well, almost brushing them off as though they had been nothing; child's play. It was then that the woman's last question truly hit Blythe, like a smack in the face. Had she hurt the kitten? No, of course not, she had seen it wash up on the beach. Blythe looked up at Kavala, slightly taken aback. It made sense that the other Konti would suspect her; after all, she was the only person on the beach other than Kavala, (and her horse), and she had been found hovering hopelessly over the poor creature looking around frantically and wondering what to do. But still, it came as a bit of a surprise considering the general nature and disposition of the Konti people, something which she wondered if Kavala truly understood having grown up so far away from the Konti's natural home.

"No," Blythe began, holding the kitten a little closer to her chest, and a little tighter, "I found it washed up along the shore while I was out walking, honest," she said, looking up at Kavala, wondering if she had the ability to sense the truth. Wondering if the woman would know the truth when confronted with it, or if she would allow her mind to get the best of her.

Blythe sat in silence for a few moments as Kavala looked down at her, perhaps deciding how to proceed. Blythe couldn't tell from her expression what she was thinking or feeling.

Blythe scratched the kitten behind the ears absentmindedly with her right hand while the other cradled the kitten. She looked up at Kavala again, her voice was wavering as she said, "are... are you going to yell at me now? Or simply ride away on your horse?"

[Kavala]

Kavala studied the young Konti and the kitten in her charge. There was a lot to think about and reflect upon. She was pretty convinced Blythe was a little touched though. Mura was an island. There was no way to truly get away from the sea and its climate didn't change because of it throughout the island. Sure there were inland forests and a lake, but if it was sunny on the beach, it was sunny in the woods. Konti Isle simply wasn't that big.

So what was she really talking about?

Kavala always felt the women of Mura were slightly alien to her. Growing up Drykas, she was not sheltered like the women here were and felt a little distanced from them because of what she perceived as nativity. But what was to be done? Mura was what it was, and Kavala wasn't planning on staying here long. She loved the peace of the island, the aquatic and terrestrial living, and the welcoming atmosphere of the people here. But Konti Isle wasn't the Grasslands and those were Kavala's home. Once she was done studying, she'd return to Cyphrus and make a life for herself - perhaps marry well - and support her pavilion as a healer.

"That doesn't make any sense though. Why would it be here without a mother and near the water. Cats almost always hate water. If it had truly been in the ocean, odds are it would have drowned. " Kavala didn't want to argue the point though. It was all suspicious. "Well, it doesn't matter does it? She has a new home now and someone who will take care of her. Lucky girl." Kavala said, shaking her head slightly.

At Blythe's words, Kavala smiled. Ah. A child then. It was so hard to tell with the Konti. A sharp short whistle brought Windsong back to her side and Kavala swung up on him. "If you consider that yelling, I feel really sorry for you. Good luck with the kitten." She said, then turned the strider and set him out off along the beach. She left the girl to her ignorance and her drama having better things to do than sit around babysitting her and answering her questions. The kitten would survive and hopefully thrive. And maybe along the way the tiny creature would teach Blythe some responsibility or manners, something her mother had decidedly slacked on.

OOC: Thank you for the thread.