Fated Stars [Khiara]

[Ronan]

Ronan smiled. Endrykas was a unique place. Foreigners here were treated very amicably indeed. In fact, if a foreigner was chosen by a Strider - the line between a true Drykas and the newcomer became irrelevant. "You're right, it's a good place. I sometimes wonder if I spend enough time here." He followed the path, letting Tairell take the iniative. He began to reflect on the past few years - and the amount of time he had spent away from civilisation, spirited away in the wilds. What am I scared of? He realised he had left Khiara guessing just what he was even talking about, he decided to give her just a little. He could never pour out his heart, but if the stars were telling the truth, perhaps he should share a fragment. "Endrykas has a lot of bad memories for me. I like to be alone a lot of the time..." In that moment, Ronan wondered. He wondered if he had become the very antithesis of what being a Drykas was about.

[Khiara]

As the drykas spoke about wabting to be alone, about bad memories, Khiara couldnt help but feel a swelling in her chest and a tightening in her throat. How familiar did those words feel to the young vantha. Swallowing hard, the girl stared ahead eith shifting golden eyes.

"Avanthal is...much the same for me. I couldn't stay there, not when..." Clearing her throat, Khiara looked at him and smiled.

"I thought you wanted to ride, not stroll!" With a sharp word in vani, she urged Vsenri into a run, allowing the cool night air to comfort her thoughts. What was she doing,  bringing up these old hurts. Hadn't she closed this door. Listening to the beat of hooves in the darkness, she slowed again as they reached the gently bubbling waters of a small stream. Vsenri lowered his head to drink as Khiara waited quietly. Fibally she spoke when Ronan could hear her.

"I used to want to be alone, all the time. It was the only way to keep going. Did...did something happen here?" It was asked in a careful voice, unsure whether he would want to answer or not. 
 

[Ronan]

The emotion in Khiara's voice was raw, and he knew that he had touched on something the moment she had ridden off. Now she had slowed, contemplatively, and asked him of his past. He looked up to the stars and inhaled slowly. "Where do I even begin...? But Endrykas is like a magnet to my blood - I could never leave. Not forever, anyway." He watched her with glistening green eyes. How strange, that he had allowed himself to reveal so much to a complete stranger. Yet he felt like he had known Khiara all his life. She had a gentle way about her, that made him feel at ease. Like Siyana... she was like that at the start. And then... His hand went to his pocket, and he pulled out his dagger, the hilt patterned with Drykas knot work. "This was my brother's," he said softly, "he left it to me... after he died."

[Khiara]

Endrykas felt like that, even to the vatha. It held people, drew the heart, captivate the spirit. Her eyes swirled between violet and gold as Ronan looked at her. He knew pain, she could read it on his face, in his tone. Curiously, she watched as the drykas withdrew a dagger for her to see. It was beautifully made, with intricate and well designed knotwork in the hilt. Khiara examined it in the soft moonlight, swallowing back the empathy that welled her eyes and caused a lump in her throat.

"It's beautiful, a true gift to be cherished. I am sorry for your loss...it's not easy to loose those you love." A gentle breeze whispered through the grass, and night insects began their melodic songs. Khiara reached up to touch the beaded necklace at her throat.

"This belonged to someone I lost...someone very dear to me. I am thankful to the Goddess for this small piece of him. It makes me feel as though he is still watching over me." Beneath her, Vsenri finished drinking and moved of his own accord across the small stream. Taking the break to compose her thoughts, the young brunette couldn't stop the feeling of familiarity she experianced with the young drykas. He was closer to her age than Vanator, and had lost family too. Confusion reared in her mind, and the woman's eyes swirled with gold. What was she doing out alone on this night with the handsome stranger. Where had she planned on going. Lowering her hand, the vantha offered a kind smile.

"Were you close, to your brother?" Her voice was soft, not wanting to pry, but willing to listen.
 

[Ronan]

Ronan took in the night, and relished this chance to share. A fleeting moment it might be, but it was like venting steam after such a long period of high pressure. Things built up inside, and kept bottled, they festered, calling to be let out. The question was so rhetoric - he almost felt like he didn't need to answer. But he did. This Vantha girl, with her ever changing eyes, and her soft expression. She willed him to talk. "We were close. Very close. As close as two brothers can be. He was older than me, only by two years, but he taught me everything. We used to crawl in the grasses and he taught me to hunt the rodents, and then Pa would come after us and he'd make me hide. He always used to take the slack for our mischief..." Ronan found himself smiling, and he also found his eyes welling up. He turned away from Khiara awkwardly. I am shaming myself! He cursed under his breath and frowned. "I'm sorry... I have to go." he turned Tairell round and made to hurriedly leave, aware of Khiara's eyes boring into his back.

[Khiara]

Khiara couldn't help but smile as he spoke, drawn my the infectious smirk on Ronan's face. He knew pain, but he was still able to remember the brother lost with fond memories. And then, the girl saw his expression, caught his ashamed glance away. Just like that, Ronan was turning to leave. Stopping Vsenri, Khiara watched his back.

"Ronan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." The vantha called out, Vsenri standing in the stream at her halt command. Sighing, the brunette urged the frostmarch back towards the coral. It wasn't safe to be out this far at might alone, and she didn't feel like riding anymore. How stupid to pry on something so private. But rhe drykas had seemed to want to talk, and Khiara felt a kinship to him. A closeness she recognized. Reaching up as she walked, the girl touched te chevas mark on her neck. Only a year ago, she had opened herself to Vanator's tragic story. He had helped her to open her heart again.

Lifting golden eyes to the man, Khiara frowned. Why had she come out here tonight? Had the Goddess planned for her to meet Ronan. Should she try harder to stop him. Picking up the pace, she urged Vsenri to try and catch up to the man.

[Ronan]

Ronan felt foolish. Wounded, and foolish. He had shamed himself, sinking to tears in front of a woman. He was too attached to long buried memories. Severance would be painful, but he knew it had to happen. He sat atop Tairell, galloping towards the fringes of Endrykas, the nearby river his destination. Something mad had taken him, and there was a baleful glint in his eyes. It was knowing. But Khiara... you seemed to understand my pain? He stopped, fighting the constrictive, choking feeling that had attacked him. He was drawn to the stars yet again. Those shapes were effortless and clear. He and Khiara's meeting had been fated - not just random chance. He had never opened up so much to anyone, and yet this beautiful stranger had unravelled him in moments. He began to catch his breath, his anger and shame roiling, then calming. Could I ever truly leave you behind Darus?

[Khiara]

Tairell was faster than Vsenri, any strider was, and it was almost impossible to keep up. Khiara saw him, heading onwards, towards the river, out where it was unsafe. Had maddess gripped him. Thundering after the drykas, the girl saw him slow. He was looking at the stars again. Allowing Vsenri to slow to a canter, then a walk, Khiara finally stopped. She slipped off the white stallion and approached Ronan on foot.

"I lost my fiance in a hunting accident. They never found his body, and when they came back without him, I died inside. I was so broken, I couldn't face anyone for months and months. Finally, when I came out, the world was lifeless. The Goddess had taken my heart when she took him. So I ran, and ran. All the way here." Moving closer, she looked up at the stars as she stood beside the man and his strider.

"I have found my light again, but it took time. And love. My only regret now is that my family in Avanthal don't know if I live or if I died." Closing her eyes, Khiara breathed deeply.

"I can see you loved your brother, and you miss him. If you need to run, then run. But don't make my mistake. I ran for too long, and I was so lost I nearly didn't come back."

[Ronan]

As Khiara poured her heart out, Ronan could only listen in shock. She was right. What was he doing? He could run away, but then he'd never face the problems here in Endrykas. That was what he always did. He frequently left the city, living in the Wilds for long periods of time. It was because the moving city held his past - and his future. He needed courage to face that. He needed Khiara's courage. He climbed off of Tairell and leaned against the soft coated Strider, folding his arms across his chest. "That must be tough," he finally said, "knowing that their hearts are probably full of worry and doubt." He allowed himself to look at Khiara again. By the God's she was beautiful! And she reminds me of Siyana so much. I can't even get the image out of my head. He breathed shakily. He'd been there - and been stung as a consequence. He raised an eyebrow and watched her. "Why did you follow me Khiara?"

[Khiara]

Why did you follow me Khiara?

The question threw her, and glancing away the young woman blushed. Indeed, why had she followed him? It wasn't that she intimatly knew the man, it wasn't even that she thought he couldn't look after himself in the Grasslands..but she cared. She knew the aching void he ran away from, her soul had been torn asunder by it so badly it was a wonder she still lived. She almost didn't. But this was her now, happy and alive. And compassion moved the young vantha. Her heart felt for Ronan. If she was happy, then Goddess didn't he deserve to be too?

A small knot formed in her stomach, a confusing rush of feelings. As the silence between them grew, Khiara began to feel the weight of an unknown guilt. She felt for this man, connected to him much like she connected with Vanator. Looking back at Ronan, the brunette took in his features in the soft moonlight. He was rugged, young, and admittedly handsome. But he didn't radiate the warmth and glow of his people, and his eyes were filled with a consuming sadness. Again, emotions she couldn't control flowed through the vantha.

"I...I know you. In here," Touching his chest, over his heart, Khiara placed her other hand over her own heart. Her eyes swirled, like golden smoke across a violet sky, as she looked into his own.

"I know what its like, to run. And the aching, so deep and so ragged that it tears you up inside." Her voice was thick with emotion and memories, and her eyes bade him to listen.

"There is nothing to gain, in running until the Goddess takes you, believe me Ronan I know. You need friends, people to care for you. Someone to talk to. I want to help you, if you'll let me." Gently the night air whispered past them, like some cleansing river. Khiara paused, allowing time to compose herself as the painful past she had finally overcome clawed at her. She smiled.

"I followed you Ronan, because it was right."