Contemplation [Open]

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Day 59 of Summer, AV 511 Eldon was excited about today. He had been trapped in Syliras for several days straight, and the feeling of being engulfed by walls was beginning to drive him a little claustrophobic. But no more, it was his free day, his day to be free with Vanah and just ride. Eldon walked Vanah slowly through Syliras, staring upwards into the sky for the most part of the trip until the clicking of hoof against stone died away and the breeze once again, oh that much-desired breeze, was caressing his face, his hair. It was pleasant here, outside of Syliras. Eldon would go far, but he, and more importantly Vanah, needed to move around some. Vanah wasn't the same since they left Cyphrus. Eldon always heard tales that a Strider was never as fast as they were on the plains, but he had seen it for himself, Vanah wasn't as fast now, she was probably as homesick as he was. Endrykas, why did Eldon leave? There was so much he had needed to do, but he ran away from it all. Why? Because he was weak, selfish. He had to run, to escape Kashik, Edalene, Denen. Would they ever forgive him? Could they? Eldon sighed as he stared over the horizon, now from the back of Vanah. He knew, somewhere over that line that divided earth and sky, Endrykas was there, doing what it had always done. Surviving, and it was without him. That hurt. And here he was, Eldon, a lone traveler from point A to point B, considering, contemplating returning now, making another sixty day journey just to go home. Would they greet him, or was he already forgotten to them? Eldon wasn't certain he wanted to know.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

It was a glorious day, and Jaelyn was smiling as she walked into Windmount Stables. Days like these she loved to go out riding outside of the city, and that was exactly what she had planned to do today. Not wearing any armor, and only armed with her sword on her hip, she got a horse to use for the day. She was in a pleasant enough mood that she even hummed softly as she brushed and saddled the horse.

Once mounted up she rode the fine creature out of the stables and through the Main Gate. Breathing deeply of the fine Summer air she started the horse on a light trot along the road. Noticing a man up ahead, mounted on an impressive looking horse, she smiled and lifted her right hand in greeting as she spoke, "Good day to you, sir."

The horse wasn't the only impressive looking one however, and Jaelyn found her eyes lingering for a short time on the man. He wasn't as impressive as Dimitri or Markus when it came to muscles, but he certainly had the look of someone accustomed to hard work.

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Engrossed by the horizon. Entranced by the subtle thought "what if?" Eldon breathed slowly as he stared into the void of the forest, knowing somewhere in that direction, across countless miles of land, his people were still doing what they loved, what he loved. He must have been daydreaming even, as Jaelyn's greeting caught him off guard enough and pulled a gasp of surprise from him. He turned his head to find the owner of the voice, a girl, a and she was young. Eldon smiled. "Hello." It was the only greeting he knew, Common, why was it such a difficult language to grasp? Everyone used it, everyone except Eldon himself that is. His cousin was a wonderful translator, why didn't he drag Sama'el here with him? A ridiculous question of course. Eldon slowly turned Vanah around to face Jaelyn and her borrowed horse, the two beasts probably told each other so many tales while sitting the Windmount Stables, and no doubt were friends. Eldon figured that Jaelyn probably thought it strange that a Drykas would be out here, mounted, yet not moving. He didn't even consider that she probably didn't have any reason to assume he was Drykas. His shoulder tattoo was visible, but only barely as his shirt hid most of it. Clothing, if he were at home, he'd stalk around the plains shirtless, but here he wasn't comfortable enough to do so. Shyness had never been an issue with Eldon, not until he found the culture to be so different than what he was familiar with. "Eldon Sunkiss, Drykas." Eldon grinned as Vanah brought him close enough to reach out, offering his hand in greeting to Jaelyn. "Ride?" Eldon, who's vocabulary was severely limited, gestured to Jaelyn's horse, asking her something about the beast. Was he questioning her skill on horseback? Asking her to ride with him? Maybe wondering about the horse itself? Who knows, whatever he was trying to say was locked firmly in his Pavi-Cursed head.

[Runas]

Syna was beautiful, more so than usual, today. It was a fine day to rent a horse and go hunting. These musings crossed the Eypharian's mind as she bridled a strong mare with the used tack and gear of the Windmount Stables, running two of her six hands along the mare's dark, sweat-kissed coat. Of all the lives she had lived, the Eypharian remembered most the life she had lived in Eyktol as a painter. She had been a huntress then, too, and she co-owned a horse with her sister Rashiw. Such a beautiful beast Nak'niw was, but the Eypharian supposed he was dead.

After strapping her long bow across her back along with her quiver and twenty arrows, the Eypharian led the beautiful beast outside. In the sunlight, the mare was even lovelier, and the Eypharian was tempted to pain her hide as she had her own flesh, but the manager was watching her and he had strictly forbidden the Eypharian to do anything as far as decoration went, or else she would be the one cleaning off the horse later.

The Eypharian slung herself over on to the horse's broad back and patted her neck gently while taking the reigns. She hoped she wouldn't do anything as embarrassing as falling today, but that was beside the point. She wanted to hunt and to enjoy herself, and by Leth she would.

Kicking the mare, the Eypharian spurred her forward, putting her into a gentle walk until they cleared the outer reaches of Syliras and faced the Wildlands. The Eypharian breathed deeply in the air, feeling the wind rush through her painted hair and over her smooth skin. She loved this feeling, the freedom, the knowledge that no mortal could contain her soul.

Her eyes closed in the pleasure of Syna's glow on her upturned face. She loved Syna dearly, but she never cast her prayers to the Goddess. Her prayers were for Leth, Syna's lover, and Zintila and Makath. Slowly, her deep green eyes opened and they focused on two figures, a male and a female.

The bearing of the female positively screamed 'KNIGHT!', but that was unimportant. She had no interest in playing games today. The male was also uninteresting at this point. Even so, she urged the mare into a canter and trotted over to the couple. She couldn't resist her own curiousity about their activities. Maybe they were lovers? Time to find out.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

The man smiled and returned her greeting, and Jaelyn maintained her smile in return. For a moment it seemed that perhaps the man was content with the simple greeting, but then he turned his horse around and the two met at a closer distance.

"A pleasure to meet you, Eldon Sunkiss," Jaelyn replied to the introduction, and gave the man's offered hand a shake with her own roughened hand, "I am Jaelyn Baroth, Squire of the Syliran Knights," It seemed Eldon was not very comfortable with the common tongue, and so Jaelyn's words were slow and clearly pronounced to try and make it easier for him to understand her.

At Eldon's gesture Jealyn glanced down at her horse, and then gave a smile and a nod to him, "Yes, I am going out for a ride today. You are too?" she gestured at Eldon's own horse much like he had gestured towards hers.

The sound of approaching hooves briefly drew Jaelyn's attention away, and she glanced over her shoulder to catch sight of whoever was approaching. She was surprised to find that it was a six armed woman riding upon a horse. She vaguely recalled hearing of such a race, but couldn't recall the name at the moment. Whatever her race, the woman didn't seem terribly interested in her or Eldon, and so Jaelyn turned her attention back to the Drykas before her.

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Eldon smiled as they shook hands, and for safe measure, he repeated her name aloud. "Jaelyn the Rock. Good. Hello." Eldon grinned with such pride to himself as he was certain he got her name flawlessly correct. Little Eldon was a kid again learning the basics of reimancy, except this was considerably safer. Eldon, once retracting his hand from Jaelyn's, pointed towards the forest, or perhaps through it. Something in that direction, it was his destination. Not towards Endrykas, but a place he had found that he had come to enjoy. "Yes. Ride. Swim. Come?" Eldon offered to lead the young woman to wherever it was he was going. What harm could it be anyway? He was a foreigner, obviously unarmed (today at least, usually he had weaponry with him) of anything visibly lethal, didn't speak but a few phrases and words in Common, and he almost seemed excited when Jaelyn showed up. And he was simply because the only people he had encountered since he arrived had been work related. Eldon was in need of an actual friend, and even though the word squire was beyond his vocabulary, he was already feeling moderately better about having another's presence around him. And another? As Runas trotted up along side them, Eldon smiled. It was that six armed woman from the previous day! What were the odds he'd meet her twice in two days? The first, unfortunately, was for work. She wanted a massage, was a costumer, and Eldon was the employee in training. That was hardly destiny. Did she recognize him though? Perhaps, she didn't say anything though. "Hello! It me, Eldon." The Drykas chuckled to himself briefly, that phrase even sounded misspoken to him. "Ride?" Again, the single word question, this time offered to Runas rather than Jaelyn the Rock, who Eldon turned his gaze back to. He wondered if today was going to be a good day after all. Two possibly potentially new friends. He wondered if they would follow him. Eldon was still going to the Sacred Arch Hotsprings, whether they joined him or not. Eldon had found the place when he was first arriving at Syliras, but didn't get a chance to stop there. Now, today when he planned on relaxing, resting, and simply enjoying himself, he was going to find it again (which wouldn't be difficult due to its near proximity to Syliras) and go for a nice swim, or perhaps just a soaking.

[Runas]

Runas' eyes lifted as she heard the greeting called to her, and a smile immediately flashed across her face. It was the Drykas, Eldon Sunkiss, out for a ride with a woman. How cute they were together. She wondered, for a small moment, if they were both employees at the Soothing Waters, but then Runas' dark eyes settled fully on the woman and noted that she seemed a little too muscled for an employee masseuse. She was lean and seemed strong. How interesting. Perhaps she was some form of Knight.

She guided the mare up to them and slid her green gaze over both their forms. Courtesy dictated she introduce herself to the woman, as the female undoubtly had never met Runas before, unless she was a child of sorts the last time Runas was in Syliras, so she flashed her eyes to the woman's and smiled welcomingly. Even with women she sought the connection Hypnotism gave her, although she had no plans to hypnotize anyone today. It was just a habit, at this point, to meet the eyes of the person holding her attention.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." A smile flickered on Runas' lips at the word. "Is it a nice day for a ride or what?" Speaking like they were old friends was bound to have some interesting consequences. Who knew? Maybe the woman would play along, and then maybe she wouldn't? No matter what, how she reacted was bound to bring Runas enough amusement to last a few bells. Eldon had been the source of amusement the woman would be the day before. Perhaps that meant they were already friends, but she doubted it.

She turned her gaze to Eldon again. "Where you go to?" She asked in the simplest of Common she could manage. She wasn't being condescending, she just wanted him to understand, and it would be easier if she spoke as such. "I go hunt."

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Eldon's pronounciation of Jaelyn's family name brought a touch of amusement to her smile, and the amusement carried over to her voice as she attempted to correct him, "Ba. Ba-roth," she slowly spoke the sounds, exagerating them a bit to help make them easier to hear, "But you can just call me Jaelyn."

She hesitated at Eldon's question. It wasn't that she feared him or going off to the wilderness. Eldon hardly seemed dangerous, and with her sword she was confident she could protect either of them from any of the small problems that might be found near Syliras. What stilled her tongue was his third word. Swimming was definitely something the Squire was not comfortable with.

Before Jaelyn could recover her nerve the six armed woman was greeted by Eldon, and then she turned and greeted Jaelyn. Not wishing to be rude Jaelyn turned her soft smile to the woman and gave a small nod of greeting, "Yes, it is a lovely day out," she turned and offered her hand to the woman, "I am Jaelyn Baroth, and you are?"

It seemed this woman and Eldon knew each other, and Jaelyn briefly considered she might be interfering with a planned meeting between the two. Eldon had invited her along though, and she should respond, "I would be happy to ride with you Eldon. I am not very good at swimming however."

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Eldon could only shrug at Runas and her question, not because he didn't understand her, but simply because he wasn't sure of what the place was called. Jaelyn, who had been much more familiar to Syliras than the Drykas Foreigner, would probably know of the Sacred Arch Hotsprings by name where Eldon had only just discovered it a few days ago himself. That was his destination. "Swimming. Waters warm. Thay way." Eldon motioned with his head towards the springs, as if that was a complete, or even decent, answer to her question. "Baroth... Okay. Jaelyn... Baroth." Repetition, Calyna has revealed that it was the magical way of learning names, at least. Understand the pronunciation, then repeat it until you can't forget how to speak it accurately. "Jaelyn Baroth. Good." The idea of a hunt sounded wonderful at that moment to be honest, but Eldon already had plans. Eldon had left everything he owned back inside those dark and confining walls of Syliras, his axes, his spear, and he only had Vanah here with him. Hunting would prove near impossible with nothing but your hands and fists to kill prey. He wouldn’t be of much use, especially since his style of hunting was adapted to the great plains of Cyphrus. Here, in the woodlands, it proved to be more difficult for the Drykas. Still, swimming was his top priority today, which was actually supposed to include a bit of reimancy to keep himself up to speed, but if he was going to have a friend there, it’d be safer to drop that part of his plan. ”Yes, ride. Come.” Eldon grinned, not intending to sound like he was shouting out commands to the squire or demanding anything from her, but this language barrier again complicated things. Perhaps Jaelyn could understand. Never the less, whether Runas and Jaelyn decided to come with him to let him wander off alone, he and Vanah would trot off into the Bronze woods towards the Sacred Arch hotsprings, which was barely a five minute ride from the gates of Syliras themselves.