[Open; Outside the City] A moment of clarity

[Sorian]

Sorian balked at the thought of Sivak being only 2 years old, and his eyes widened with surprise. A rough hand again coddled the Seme stallion's neck, his mind skeptical yet amazed at the revelation. "Uhh... Wow." he said with a voice that didn't tingle with his true, colorful emotions inside. He looked at Windsong, and then at Kavala. They both looked so small compared to him and his conspicuously massive mount, yet he offered the smaller horse a gentle pat on the head when he and Sivak rode close enough to each other. Seeing all the wonders around him, he contemplated on how starkly contrasting his former life had been in comparison to the peacefulness around him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he gazed at Kavala, who looked majestic against the backdrop of the sea. He wondered... Perhaps, just maybe, she-and Navis, would let him stay. Let them stay. His mood grew rather curious when Kavala started to talk about a business for him. It had not been necessary for him, not in a hundred years, to earn money. It would be the final blow to his wild nature, the last nail on what he had grown accustomed to, which is being out and about the bounties which nature and creature provided him. His smile grew awkward, but he did not say anything for a while, preferring to listen to her questions rather than answer them. "Uhm... I think I shall stick to... collecting for now. And Sanctuary. I have not been to... Any settlement in such a long time, much less Riverfall. It's too... Dangerous. For me." He did not expound on the dangerous part as of yet, waiting for Kavala to zero in on it before he said anything further. When she came to the part pertaining to Navis however, he was plunged in thought. He had never really given any thought to it, for he had been so filled with hate for Navis that all he had ever thought about was doing exactly what he hated. What does that... Navis like, besides the usual discourse with which he dealt with things? What Sorian knows of his other side, he never had bothered to find out, but Kavala seemed interested enough, so he searched his head for anything more positive to tell her. Nothing. "Uhm. I truly don't know, Kavala." he replied after a while, his head bobbing sideways with every movement Sivak made. The great horse was calmer now, and he was now having a much easier time controlling him. "Perhaps... You should ask him yourself, the next time he comes out. But..." He left the 'but' part hanging, biting his tongue discreetly to shield him from saying what he was about to say. It would have led to another sharp change in her mood if he had said it. As they both rode on towards the vast expanse of rocks on the far side of the cliffs, Sorian was locked in debate on what to say next, but the waves kept drowning out his thoughts. He settled for small words, letting Kavala take the lead on their conversation. "Well... I hope he answers you succinctly." he whispered to her. His smile, which had been growing somewhat smaller, grew wide with glee at the sight of a pretty shell on the wet rocks near the mouth of the bay. He dismounted Sivak, the stallion shrugging in relief at the opportunity to straighten its back from the heavy load that is Sorian. He merely laughed as he splayed some water on the stallion's face before he crouched down to pick up the shell. It was pearly white, with the etches of the exterior smooth yet hard. He picked it up gently, trying to peruse whether it had some inhabitant inside. True enough, a tiny crab crawled out from inside it, jumping onto the sand and running straight into a burrow. His eyebrows knitting, he let out a snort, then held the abandoned dwelling against the waves to clean it out. Once the dust, mud and sand had been eked out, he held it up against the sun, the image forming a nice shape against the shadow of his hand. Nodding in approval, he offered the shell to Kavala with an open palm, the white looking rather splendid against his blue skin. "Its... A nice specimen." he told her, a gentle smile marking his lips.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded, moving Wind around into a large circle around Sorian, looking thoughtful. "I... only thought maybe you could cut them, make something of them. You wouldn't have to have your own shop. I should have thought. That wouldn't have worked very well would it? But if you can learn, Sorian, someone else might take your pieces on commission someday for their own place. It's something to think about for the future. There's nothing that says you have to do anything now or make any decisions." She said softly, nodding. Kavala felt guilty suddenly. She was pushing him when she had no right too. It was something the Konti as a whole often did, but not something she in particular though was used to doing. They were advisers, mentors, sounding boards. They were lovers and healers and seers. But she was none of that. She was a Drykas, not belonging truthfully to the Mura Sisterhood at all. Nor because of her pale skin, did she truthfully belong to the Grasslands either.

Maybe it was fortunate she had ended up here. At least at Sanctuary, she could really have a place to fit in, carve a niche for herself, and do some good. But she was wrong, somehow, seeing Sorian as one of her charges, and she knew it. Though she resisted because to see him and Navis as men was somehow frightening. There were things she could deal with, easily, and things she couldn't even remotely think about. Not yet.. not now. But he and his brother were so much more, and sooner or later she'd have to deal with what they were. And she had to help him get ready for whatever his destiny was. Kavala firmly believed all people had one, whether they knew it or not. And though she had no idea what Sorian's was... she was certain it had nothing to do with bending his back in hard labor like the konti did daily. She was not much good for anything else these days, but Sorian had his whole life ahead of him.

He just had to get better first.

And getting better meant starting to interact with other creatures... other people... relearning what it was to be an Akalak and to have a brother.

And as she watched him ride, looking around the world as if it were someplace new, she couldn't help but admire him. He was beautifully built, strong, with an unconscious grace he wore only when he wasn't thinking about things so deeply. He was a lot like a child too, rediscovering life as if he had walked outside of it for a long long time. Kavala had no idea how long he'd been gone from civilization. She'd been afraid to ask. But she sensed it had been too long, too damaging, and she wondered if the road she tried to put Sorian on was one he could walk - and return from the place he'd been for a time.

She hoped it wasn't too late. It didn't seem to be. But then again, here with her, things were safe. In town, it might be something wholly different. She even suspected the Cerulean might be looking for Sorian. They were frightening creatures she'd caught glimpse of only once, but their harshly tattooed faces had scared her. They were taking a young akalak boy into custody when she'd seen them... a boy who's face was twisted with cruelty and rage. It hadn't seen normal, when she'd come upon the scene, but she wasn't certain what was in Riverfall. There were so few young males. There were so few women too. And the honor of the society the city emerged itself in was evident in even the very air she breathed.

Kavala didn't like going to town... she got stared at, talked too, invited to social events, and was often given gifts. She couldn't choose to eat a meal in the city without the owner of the restaurant refusing to let her pay for a meal. And if Awston didn't routinely order their supplies, there would be difficulties there too. And they all stared, as if wondering when she'd be ready to choose.

Kavala was half tempted to beg Sorian to accompany her the next time, for if she was seen in the presence of one of their brothers, the whole of the city would stop their speculating and calm down. But it was not a favor she could ask him, not yet at least...

And so she rode, beside him, confident that maybe the time would come when she could ask him the favor and have him be able to do it. And when he spoke again, her head snapped back to the present, and she smiled. "I will... and maybe you should too. I.. hope I get to see him again. There are things he knows about me that I told him and no other. It was... almost a relief to tell him, even though he didn't much like it. Sorian, your dark side is very dangerous, but he's also very appealing." She would have said more, confessed something else, but the Akalak spotted something and dismounted.

Kavala joined him on the ground, sending the two stallions off to frolic on their own. She laughed as the tiny crab crawled out from the shell, running for its life. The Konti didn't blame the creature at all. She would have chosen relocation over being pocketed any day as well. When Sorian offered her the shell, Kavala stared at it a moment then delicately took it from his palm. "Thank you... it is beautiful." She said, turning to walk onward. She figured Sorian was a little sore by now and could use the walk to stretch his legs out.

"I come down here sometimes to swim. I never really realized how much I missed growing up on the grass not having the sea close. It feels so natural being here with the wind and the sand. I can hardly sleep without the pounding surf sound coming through my window." She said gently, then laughed at herself. "Well, that's not exactly true. I hardly sleep at all now." She studied the shell as she walked, letting the brisk breeze play with her long locks of hair which were slowly coming free of the careful braiding. In a single moment of time, the shell's nature and usefulness had abruptly changed. It went from being someone's home to someone's gift to someone's cherished possession. Which was more important? The konti didn't have a clue... but it bothered her somehow.

"When its warmer, I will take you swimming if you'd like. The cold doesn't much bother me, but I think the water would feel freezing on your skin until spring brings warmer currents. It's beautiful beneath the sea..." She said, as if the girl was somehow surprised by this.

"I never realized how much of a child of two worlds I was, neither fitting in to my Konti linage nor my Drykas one. Somehow, Riverfall is a fringe, perched on the edge of both places. I fit in better here than I ever have anywhere else. But even here it's not much. I can only imagine how you and Navis must feel... " She said, still walking along, occasionally glancing back at the footsteps they were leaving in the sand. His was a long stride with a deep impact from his weight. Her's were shorter, faster steps, leaving barely an impression at all.

She walked on in silence for a while longer, then glanced at him. A pale white hand lightly patterned with iridescent scales slipped into his own rough palm. It was an unexpected gesture, one the Konti hadn't meant to do. To cover her awkward surprise, Kavala spoke abruptly. "What are you thinking about?" She asked, curious to know where his mind had wandered off too. The shell she'd slipped carefully into a shirt pocket. Later, she'd make the tiniest of holes in it, up near the top, and string it around her neck as a necklace. Kavala had no other jewelry, but somehow the shell seemed fitting. It reminded her of change.

[Sorian]

Sorian's eyes followed Kavala as she walked on ahead of him, her plain work clothes and tantalizing silvery hair starkly contrasting with each other against the blowing winter breeze. He tried to walk slowly, letting her keep her own pace without being hindered by his massive shadow looming over her head. He could tell that she liked his present, and it somehow made him rethink her words; he has a keen eye for things like these, things that only come to consciousness when they are picked up and handled with care. Perhaps he could use that to help her run her little paradise as well. A thoughtful smile graced his lips when she offered to take him swimming. During his younger days he used to be a powerful swimmer, having swam half the length of the Bluevein during one of those Akalak festivals that take place during summer. The water was fresh though, as opposed to the salty tides that hem the Cyphrus plains in on both sides, and the taste of sea water was rather unappealing to a fellow with a diet that had not seen salt in the longest time. Kavala seemed to glide more above the white sands than anything, her image casting a lure on Sorian's mind. She truly is a beautiful woman, no doubt about it. But unlike most Konti-which he rarely ever saw anywhere anyway-her beauty is like that of some uncarved crystal in a cave. Rough to the touch and shaped more by disaster than by natural circumstances, but precious and beautiful all the same. It was then that he remembered that only last night he had pledged his life to her service, the vision of his kneeling figure taking on the allure of a fairy tale story. It made his smile even more prominent. It was a choice he knew he had made with both his consciousness and by the touch of destiny. She started to walk more slowly this time. as if she was backpedalling in order to walk beside him. He listened to her words attentively and nodded in appreciation at her willingness to confide with him. "Appealing?" he repeated, not with hostility, but with obvious curiosity. He did not expound on it more though, as he let her muse over their encounter in her thoughts. Since he respected her rather private mind and nature, he stayed silent, never inquiring, always more willing to listen than peruse. Sorian stretched his right arm to release some built-up tension, his honed muscles and prominent veins running once more like subterranean lava flows, though less angrily this time. He closed his eyes for a moment, only to open them again in surprise when he felt a gentle presence slip inside it. His head snapped down to Kavala's direction, a feeling of both happiness and shyness enveloping him as he carefully retracted his eyes back to the distant horizon. He did not pull back his hand, but rather, he closed it on hers sweetly and lovingly, like a father's hand clasping his daughter's. The feeling was not the same, however, being more akin to a particular emotion that neither of them welcomed at the moment. He denied it within him, it just can't be. "I... have no words for it, Kavala." he mouthed to her, rather unsure of what to say to her. His voice was filled with hesitation and guardedness this time; his thoughts serenaded him with memories of what great love he used to possess, what he used to be able to give. His devotion he can give, his companionship he can provide. But what about his love? That long-forgotten shape that time and torment had carved into something so twisted and morose? Was it still there? Was there really any chance at all? "I... Just want to say... That I will always be here. For you."

[Kavala]

Kavala smiled slightly but said nothing as the big akalak said something about 'Appealing...' She wasn't going to explain to him anything more than she already had. And Kav suspected Navis wasn't going to be exactly forthcoming about Kavala practically begging him to cut her flesh. A deep flush crossed her features. Yes, that was right before she offered to drag him to her bed. Impressive by any standards, Kavala girl. She could almost hear her brothers voice whisper teasingly in her ear. Vanator had become something of her inner voice these days, the one egging her on and forcing her to get up in the morning to face the coming day.

It was almost as if she asked him his thoughts to give herself a reality check over what her own mind was thinking. It was stupid thinking. She'd been feeling safe. She'd been feeling happy, almost, there for a few moments walking with Sorian and looking at the shell. In fact, it was such a strong feeling she'd instinctively reached out and took Sorian's hand much like she used to do with her father when they were out walking on the Grass. Akela and Kavala learned almost everything they knew from Eachann, the Ankal of the Denusk Pavilion of the Sapphire clan. What Eachann hadn't taught them, Nadra or Vanator had. Their own mother had been far too busy. Kavala always suspected it was because Ay'aka had thought there would be plenty of time later... but she'd been wrong. There had been no time. And both girls had been left alone and almost alienated on the Sea of Grass among the Drykas who tolerated them politely, but never truly had accepted them wholeheartedly.

What would her mother think of her now? Or even her brother or father or sister for that matter? Kavala missed them all terribly, but she wasn't fit company for any of the Denusks... not now, probably not for a long time. And there was nothing in her but darkness to share with her family anyhow. It was a darkness they wouldn't understand.

Kavala was slightly disappointed that Sorian hadn't shared his thoughts. She didn't doubt for an instant he was lost in deep thought, but she understood what it was to have no words for something. It was one of the reason she'd finally decided to sit down and work full time with animals. They didn't talk back nor did they require much dialog. She could sooth them with a touch or a soft word, but didn't feel compelled to mar the perfection of silence with empty meaningless conversation.

"What?" She blinked, drawn back to his words, her head turning abruptly. She halted in her own footprints, pivoted on the sand, and stared at him. Anger coursed through her suddenly, white hot and deep. It startled her with its abrupt fierceness. "What in the name of the Ukalas makes you say that? You don't even know me. You don't even know anything at all about me really!" She reached out suddenly, surprising even herself, and struck him abruptly. There was no force behind it for she was a small thing. Had it been her sister Akela, most likely there'd would have been a blade in his shoulder for rarely was the fiercer older konti unarmed. But it was only Kavala's sad outlet of her own sudden rage. A pathetic attempt to wound - to get his attention - to make him look at her and think. It was only a shove, her palm meeting his shoulder and pushing at him abruptly, angrily. Her azure orbs met his reminiscent cold glittering twin gemstones.

Kavala took a deep breath, then another, then another. It didn't help. The girl had once been so meek, so mild mannered and un-phasable. But Sorian enraged her in that instant, and it wasn't a feeling that was receding with any alacrity.

"You don't know a single thing about me... you think what we've talked about over the last... DAY... makes you an expert on protecting someone? Guarding someone? You think just because I have told you a few things about myself that makes me worthy of being your friend? You shouldn't give a sliver of a glassbeaks claw about what someone wants or needs! You don't even have your own life together enough to look after someone else... someone who doesn't WANT LOOKING AFTER. No! Just no. You don't know me at all Sorian. I don't need a friendly ear. I don't need a laborer. I don't want a protector. I brought you home because you needed some attention. You needed some help. You needed something to focus on other running away from yourself. I think you going to be fine. I think you just needed to get out of the wagon rut you were stuck in. But that doesn't involve pledging yourself to a stranger, to their defense, and to their well-being. You cannot protect me from life. No one has any control in life unless they take control of it themselves. It's not even fair of you to try and delude me otherwise. " Kavala punctuated her words with a soft acid they were slowly getting softer as the anger bled out of her.

"If you really want to do me a favor... if you really want to help me... there is something you can do. In fact, its something uniquely suited to you. But I don't want any promises from you. I don't want any lengthy drawn out pledges or vows that are easily broken through death or circumstance. If you really want to make me happy, you'll do one thing for me then never look back." She said finally, then turned and began walking, this time back towards the road that lead up to the cliff and ultimately back to Sanctuary and Riverfall. In the distance, hoofbeats sounded on the sand and the two stallions came frolicking back into site. Wind caught sight of Kavala, flattened his ears, and fell into step behind her. He looked as though he'd done something wrong or was trying to figure out what he could kick to sooth his mistress. She didn't acknowledge him other than with a soft word of greeting.

The Seme, not bonded to Sorian, simply awkwardly trailed the slightly older and considerably smaller stallion. Sivak looked as confused as Wind did.

[Sorian]

The intensity of Kavala's anger shocked Sorian, his eyes losing its luster as he conceded their happier mood to her wrath. She pounded on his chest with her delicate fist, yet he stood his ground looking pitifully incredulous at what was happening. As she kept on ranting at him, hurling all the miserable facts of his life - that, for a moment, had left him - back at him, all he could do was let his face crease in confusion and guilt. His mind rummaged through what he had said, trying to find what he had said wrong. Alas, to the deepening of the debacle tossing around inside of him, he could not understand. Kavala surely knew that her palm shove at him wouldn't have hurt the big Akalak, but that ended with the physical part. Sorian yet again received a festering wound inside him to compound what had been a seldom-forgotten misery. Just when he thought that he had found peace, Kavala's own tear-drenched ghosts came crashing down on his head. "You don't even have your own life together enough to look after someone else!" These words drowned out every other one she had said, exploding again and again in his head like a ferocious naval bombardment on some innocent, peaceful coastal town. He turned his head to the side, his eyes still wide open with the shock and pain he felt. He should have known better, he should have thought of her feelings before saying such stupid things. The damage has been done, both ways. He said nothing as the fuse of her anger ran its course, the waves and the sun now rather bland and lifeless in its tone to his senses. The feeling felt so numbing; he had not experienced such a scathing reprimand in more than a hundred years. He had been so accustomed to doing what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted to. It was the first rejection of his life, counting out his rejection of himself. And it stung him. It stung him as if a glass of corrosive acid had been poured on his disillusioned heart. When she started walking away, Sorian did not budge, nor did his eyes even followed in her direction. He simply stood there, feeling the waves burying his feet into the soft sand with every repetitive pull. The wind played with his hair, now seemingly even more unruly, and his head bowed in defeat. He could have chased after her disappearing image, or he could have shouted what his heart - or Navis - was telling him to then. "I just wanted you to find home too!"Yes. He could have screamed that at her. He could have roared it out like he would have before he had ever come to Sanctuary, but the words twisted around him like a robe of pain, and he was lost in the deep of his thoughts. Kavala soon disappeared into the path they had descended from, the distant figure of her and her two stallions clear in his peripheral vision until the vegetation of the upperworld shielded them from him. He simply stood there for what seemed like an eternity, the sun beating down its own rage on his flush blue skin until it too had died down. It was as if he had died in himself; he knew not what to do, where to go, whether to just let Navis take over him and allow him to run rampant to do as he wished. He was so vulnerable then, but he heard not his other side's tirades. It was as if he too had come to sympathize with him, though he still suspected that he would be laughing instead. The wind had been cool earlier in the day, but now that the great white orb of Akajia's eye was in total control of the sky, it was freezing. He had never felt such cold in his life. His strength finally gave way to the brittleness that encased his bones in fatigue, and he slumped down into a sitting position that hinted at the pain he felt, both physical and emotional. He buried his face into his knees, his arms embracing them together, like a child hiding in a corner, every bone and tight muscle in his body clattering in his dejected state. Even without Kavala telling him, he knew what she would have asked of him, and it made him feel even more alone.

[Kavala]

It was... frustrating. She never meant to loose her temper, and indeed rarely did. That was Akela's job. She was the spirited older sister. Kavala was the quiet introspective younger one. Kavala prided herself on her endless patience and her ability to adapt to almost any circumstance. This was not her typical behavior. This was not appropriate. The girls anger carried her footsteps all the way back to the road leading up to the beach before she paused in her steps and realized suddenly how good it felt to be able to leave something that was frustrating her in the past.

She didn't blame Sorian. Not really, so when she turned to make sure he was actually coming with them back, it surprised her that he hadn't followed. The Konti swore softly under her breath, and pivoted on her heel to return to where he was sitting in the sand.

It was a long walk.

When she got there, the two horses in tow, she put her hands on her hips and glared down at him. Alright, well there wasn't so much glaring down involved. Sitting he was almost as tall as she was standing. By the Ukalaks he was big. She regretted hitting him then, thankful that he was gentle enough not to strike her back. "I'm sorry I hit you." She said abruptly. "I hope it didn't hur ... " No, of course it didn't hurt. Kavala couldn't hope to ever hurt him physically. He was a stone wall, thicker than the ones that enclosed Sanctuary. "And I'm sorry I have no patience and am frustrated a lot these days. You were being nice and I took out my frustration on you. The truth is, I'm just too angry to think straight sometimes. An offer like that... makes me doubly so. Because all I can think of is why did no one protect me before.... why now after there's nothing left to protect?" She said softly, then called Wind over. She mounted him gently and settled into her seat. Wind bowed his head, blew softly through his nostrils and pawed the soft sand.

Sivak nudged Sorian, thinking it was his turn as well.

"Come back to Sanctuary, Sorian. Sivak is still wondering why you abandoned him for your own two feet. Everyone knows four are better than two." She said, smiling then made a soft joke at her own expense. "I'll start something in the kettle for dinner." She said, grinning suddenly, slightly mischievously. Anyone who truly knew her knew that this was not a lure at all, but rather the promise of digestive punishment to come. The konti was joking with him, making fun of herself, whether Sorian realized it or not.

[Sorian]

The darkness seemed a bit overwhelming sometimes, especially when Sorian was at the helm and not Navis. It was cold, frightening and rather lucid for him, filled with vivid images of the things and people that he used to love, that he has now lost. Over and over he mused over them, peering over each story and face like he was reading some tragic book. The silence of the night, broken only by the sound of waves, contributed to the feelings that gripped him, broken only by the sound of a rather feisty voice that brought light back to a down soul. Sorian's eyes slowly turned to Kavala's direction, the expression on his face blank and seemingly trying to discern why she came back. Wasn't the latent fury in her earlier supposed to abandon him now? Wasn't solitude what she wanted? He was confused, and he couldn't help but doubt the sincerity of her words, if for but a moment, as he sadly returned his eyes to the shallow breathing of the sea by his feet. Her words wafted through his ears like the breeze of the wind until she spoke the words "Come back to Sanctuary, Sorian." The words rather softened the pain which had wracked him. He huffed in a great breath, the dry sea air filling his lungs, then let it all out. Somehow he wished it were so easy to breathe out the pain, but at least, for now, her invitation to 'come home' sufficed. "Sanctuary." he repeated, his voice hoarse from clamming up too long. He looked up at the moon and wondered how long he had stayed there, and he had a little difficulty standing up due to the numbness he felt. He swayed and faltered in his steps, but he did not stop, determined to follow Kavala home. Perhaps she didn't want a protector. Perhaps she no longer needed one. But one thing he could keep in mind without hesitation was that she wanted him to stay, otherwise she wouldn't have come back for him. The promise shall no longer be said, but done. He was always going to be there for her, if but to keep her company. She wants it, he knows she does, and he both wants and needs it in turn. It gave him strength to let go of her scathing words from earlier, and he looked at her for a serene moment for what appeared to be a very long time, simply letting the wind play through them. A smile finally broke through his flat-lined face as he climbed on Savis' back. "Dinner. Let us... go home." he muttered, the smile still playing on his lips. It has been a long day, one filled with a lot of memories. Whatever the future held for him in Sanctuary's grounds, he did not care. As long as he could keep that silent promise he had made, whether it was wanted or not, he knows it was going to be a better life. Thread Ended.

[Cayenne]

Thank you both for an incredible read. I absolutely love it - the writing was fantastic, the characters were engaging... its just an absolutely incredible thread. I didn't think I was going to get through all of it in one night, and it did take a while, but it was so very, very worth it. I hereby award the following: Sorian Storytelling - 1 XP Horseback Riding - 3 XP Dagger - 1 XP Lore - Konti Kavala Storytelling - 1 XP Singing - 1 XP Dagger - 1 XP Medicine - 1 XP Carpentry - 1 XP Horseback Riding - 3 XP Lore - The Dual Natures of the Akalak