Not my favorite robe! (Amarhyl)

[Almech]

Winter 4 511

Almech was training, running through the ever shifting streets of Alvadas, perfecting his evasive abilities, something would get in his way and he would try to maneuver around it without slowing down. Not only was he doing it for training, but, he was a dog afterall, running was something that he enjoyed thuroughly and the shifting streets just happened to make for a very good training ground. He was at a full sprint when suddenly the street changed, a house was now directly in front of him, he ran up it slightly kicking off for a backflip, twisted his body and ran the opposite direction. He lunged over a few barrels, rolling forward as he hit the ground, without losing momentum he got up and kept running, he ended up going through a narrow alleyway. There was a brick wall near the end, he hopped to one side of the alley, hopped off the wall onto the other, then hopped off that wall to the other and threw his body over the wall.

He however didn't realize there was going to be a full 2 story drop after it though, he reached for a treebranch, but instead his robe got caught in it. His lower half was flung forward and he fell, he smacked several branches of the tree on his way down, and perhaps that was a good thing. If he hit the ground full force from the top of his fall he may not have survived his landing, he fell on his stomach, he looked around, red in the face, he was very embarassed. His robe was torn all to hell upon inspection, he kicked the tree in frustration "Aw man! come on! my favorite robe? just my luck!" he complained. He plopped his butt down at the trunk of the tree and ran his fingers through his hair "I can't even pay to get it repaired, damn shale, I have to coax my pay out of him sometime soon" he said to himself. The fact that shale was his previous owner was one thing, but his neglect of paying Almech for his gladiator fights was getting on his last nerve "Why can't things be earned instead of bought?" he continued speaking to himself.

[Amarhyl]

Amarhyl had been in the city for a meager two days, so exploring was definitely a must. The only thing was, exploring Alvadas was not an easy feat. She had heard that the city changes all the time, but she had refused to believe it. How can a house be in one place, and then be in another only a moment later? It seemed like a ludicrous idea! Upon her arrival though, she was forced to take that thought back. She had taken a turning, decided it was wrong and had turned back into the street she had come from. As she did so, a wall had sprung up in front of her, barring her way back to the street. It had taken her a good few chimes to regain her composure and continue onwards. Today though, she stepped through the ever-shifting city with a lot more care and attention. Amarhyl had come to find a very wide street with a few trees along one wall. She paused by one of them, leaning back on it and pulling her journal from her bag to scribble a few notes. A loud cracking and thudding caused her to jump, and she ended up drawing a line right through the center of her page. Wide eyes, she glanced round the street to see a young man face-down on the ground a little way off. She looked up. Had he fallen out of the tree? Her gaze returned to him, and she watched curiously as he kicked his frustrations out into the tree trunk before him. Concerned, she returned her journal to her bag and stepped over to him. Amarhyl is not usually one for approaching strangers, but if he was hurt she would want to help. ”Excuse me? Her voice was timid, so she spoke up a little. ”Excuse me, are you alright? Azure eyes were wide with concern as she waited for an acknowledgement.

[Almech]

Almech continued his inspection of his shredded garment, the sleeves were in pieces, the front of the torso had a massive rip in it exposing his scars from Zith claws and the whip lashes they gave him. He was truly frustrated that he didn't have the money to get it repaired or get a new one, it was around that time he heard a voice, female. It spoke to him with an innocent sweetness and beauty paramount to the song of a siren ”Excuse me, are you alright?". This made him forget about his troubles, if only for but a moment, he lifted his gaze from his robe to see a woman with eyes that showed genuine concern. He was quite taken with this, he hadn't been spoken to with such kindness since his mother passed, the only person who came close was Kale. That man was more like his father though, and in a way, thought of him as one, of sorts, especially now, after their night at the tavern together. Needless to say, the woman before him was striking to say the least and his face turned red, in his naivety he looked in every direction to see if she was actually talking to him.

His mouth fumbled as his mind boiled with words that he couldn't properly piece into a coherent sentence "Ah, er, derp, umm" you could see he was becoming frustrated with his own idiocy. Atleast, that's what he thought of it, finally he was able to speak uninhibited, but he had to force the words out "Yes i'm fine!" he hoped she didn't think he was yelling at her. It should have been obvious though, that his heightened volume in tone was out of annoyance with himself than anything else, his face grew even redder. He stood up quickly and brushed the dirt from his buttox, he then finally realized once again how damaged his robe was. Almech quickly grabbed the flap of cloth that hung from just a few threads near his pelvis and held the end where it should've been, covering up his abdomen, his scars were grotesque "I aplogize, a woman of your caliber shouldn't dirty your eyes with my deformed body" he didn't know what to do, he'd never been so embarassed in his life.

[Amarhyl]

As the young man lifted his gaze to meet hers, Amarhyl paused. His eyes caught her off guard. They were strangely bright, and each was a different colour; one of a deep ocean blue and the other as green as grass. Thankfully, he didn’t appear to have noticed, and he took time enough to respond to her that she hadn’t missed anything he may have said. She waited patiently as he tripped over a few words, before giving his answer rather forcefully. She blinked at it, but he appeared to have been annoyed with himself rather than her. Still, she wasn’t entirely convinced his words were true. What normal person falls that far out of a tree only to be perfectly fine? As he stood, Amarhyl took a step back. He was rather tall, towering over her 5’3” frame. She noticed now that the arms of his robes were rather shredded, and as he hastened to fix his garment, she could see that the whole robe appeared to have been damaged. ”I… no it’s fine. The girl had only caught a glimpse of what appeared to be scars on his abdomen; truthfully she had been more worried that he had injured his head from the fall. Her brow was creased in a light frown for a moment as she looked back up at the height of the tree. ”Are you sure you’re okay? That’s quite a way up…” She fixed her gaze on his again. ”Would you like to borrow my cloak?” She made to unfasten the clasp that held it over her shoulders. ”You don’t want to get cold…” A robe torn as much as his wouldn’t offer the least bit of warmth, especially now that winter was upon them. If she weren’t so worried, Amarhyl would probably be trying to stop herself from retreating back down the street. You could count the number of strangers she had ever approached on one hand. She seemed not to notice the young man’s embarrassment though, as she simply held the cloak out to him. It was purple, yes, but it was all she had.

[Almech]

Almech cocked an eyebrow and his body wobbled a bit, was this woman crazy? He had no idea, but her gesture was that of kindness and he couldn't pass it up. He took her cloak and put it on, it had retained the woman's warmth, it was comforting, he had a tolerance for cold, he wore it more to cover himself than keep his temperature tolerable. He gulped looking at her, finally, really looking at her, he started with her feet and worked his eyes upward, meeting her eyes with his own. He got lost for a moment, they were large and blue, comforting, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he noticed her notice him. He had to fight himself to bring his gaze away, he tried to look off to the side nonchalantly "I'll be ok" he said trying to sound cool and content. His heart raced but he didn't know why, his hand twitched with nervous jitters "I suppose I owe you thanks" he said looking at her once again. This time his eyes shifted all around, he didn't know what was coming over him.

He gulped again "My name is Almech" he said nearly choking on his words "Don't you know it's dangerous to talk to strangers?" once again a failed attempt at trying to act cool. His eyes kept shifting, if he held a gaze on her for too long it seemed he went into a cognitive melt down which by all means, was not something he needed to happen. A woman was in his presence and from what he learned in his time at Alvadas was that staring was considered rude. Perhaps he'd get used to this woman enough to where he wouldn't be ashamed to look at her in such a way, almost animalistic but with a high level of innosense. He couldn't help himself as once again their eyes met, he took a deep breath and smiled warmly "Really, thank you" he said with a slight bow, it was then he felt a sharp pain in his knee, which was the first thing that landed when he'd fallen. Completely by accident, he fell onto her, he caught himself though, gripping her shoulder gently with one hand, the other, on her hip, his eyes grew wide as he stumbled backward in a panic and tripped landing his butt back where it was before he had stood up.

[Amarhyl]

Amarhyl let her arm fall back to her side as the weight of the velvet cloak left her hand. It came up short on the young man; when she wore it the bottom of the material brushed the floor. On him it was more knee length. For a reason unknown to her, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Perhaps it was simply the nice feeling of helping someone out. Their eyes met, and once again she found herself fascinated with his dual-tones irises. She also noticed that his gaze flicked around an awful lot. Maybe he had been hiding from someone when he fell out of the tree and was now worried they had heard? ”I’m Amarhyl. And you had just fallen out of a tree, so I made an exception.” She blinked, surprised at herself for responding so freely. Her usual response would usually be a few mumbled words and an excuse to leave. His genuine smile made her feel comfortable though, and she still had the nagging sense that he did actually need some help. ”It’s no problem, really. She gave him a small smile of her own in return. However, the smile vanished pretty quickly as he pitched forwards. It was a miracle she managed to stay standing as he caught himself on her, being small as she was. As he tripped back again, Amarhyl was forced to take a step back herself, lest she follow him to the stony ground. She took a few seconds to compose herself before quickly moving over and kneeling just before the young man. ”You’re definitely not okay.” The worried light was present in her eyes again. ”What is it, your knee? Leg? Back?” Since he had stumbled with the bow, she was certain it was one of those things that had pained him. ”Should we find you a healer?”

[Almech]

Almech chuckled a bit at the young woman's words "Well i didn't exactly fall out of the tree, more like, i fell into it, and it softened my fall, in a way, i kinda owe this tree some gratitude". He looked up at her, into her eyes, gentle and warm, somehow made the pain in his knee fade away "I'll most definitely be fine, i just hit my knee pretty hard. It's going to bruise, nothing i can't take care of myself". He stood up again, using the tree to brace himself for just a second, Almech didn't know what came over him next as his hand slowly moved. It moved the hair from her face to behind her ear, caressing her skin ever so slightly, but not intentionally "What's a sweetheart like you doing in a place like this hmm?" he asked. He began to walk, he assumed she would follow, he was wearing her special cloak afterall, he limped along the street a ways and turned around "You said Amarhyl right? that's a lovely name miss"

His leg was half bent, only the tips of his toes making contact with the cold ground, his feet were bare, he prefered not to wear shoes, he would not completely assimilate to this lifestyle. He didn't know what was going on, reason he couldn't stop looking at her, a look on his face as if, he believed she would leave if he didn't, and for some reason he didn't want her to. He couldn't look away from those big blue eyes, which seemed to pierce into his very soul like an isurian's dagger, he could physically feel her eyes upon him, and likely, she could feel his too. It was an awkward moment there for a while, as the two stared at eachother in silence, finally Almech broke it feeling tension rise, atleast within himself, he had no idea about her "Are you staying anywhere?" he asked with a curious tone, if she had no place to stay, he could atleast offer her a place to sleep, he rarely used his bed in avain manor, usually he'd sleep in the courtyard and merely kept his belongings in his room.

[Amarhyl]

Amarhyl raised an eyebrow. Fell into the tree? How on earth had he been higher than the tree in the first place? She shot a glance back at the topmost branches and lightly shook her head. Crazy. She followed his example, standing quickly as he did. He seemed a little unsteady on his knee, but she wasn’t going to press the matter. He was likely one of those people who preferred to shrug off injuries, continuing on with whatever they were doing rather than seeking healing. She hadn’t been paying attention, so she almost jumped out of her skin as she felt something brush her cheek. She managed to refrain from moving, instead falling completely still. Even after he had started to move off, Amarhyl continued to stare at the ground. What was that?! She managed to shrug it off quick enough not to be too noticeable. The young woman was naïve, almost to the point that she still thought of things as one much younger than herself would. With the initial surprise gone, she figured that the stray locks of hair had been bothering him. Or something. She turned and quickly walked after him; he had her mothers cloak, there was no way she was leaving. It was then she remembered he had asked a question. ”I’m not really sure to be honest. I just wanted to leave Syliras.” It was the truth; she had no underlying reason, Alvadas just happened to be the end point of the boat journey she had been offered. ”Ah, yes, that’s right. Thank you.” She smiled at his compliment. As the pair walked, she noticed that he was hardly using his injured leg. She bit back yet another offer of a healer, knowing that he would likely decline again. She could feel him looking at her, and eventually she caught his eyes again. He seemed… flustered, quickly glancing elsewhere. ”Ah yes, I have a room at the Cubacious Inn. It’s… an interesting place.” Just this morning she had woken up to fine her window had a different view to the previous night. The city fascinated her, a fact that was outwardly shown; she let her eyes wander over every building and street they passed. Almech appeared to have a good grasp on how the city worked. He seemed to be pretty happy with his direction choices in any case. ”How do you find your way around? From the corner of her eye she was certain she saw a wall rise up to block off a small street to the left of them. Goodness knows if she would ever get used to it.

[Almech]

Almech took a deep breath and he spoke "You're a stranger to this city? I know how you feel, I came to this city as a pit dog captured by Shale who runs the coliseum, fighting for my life everyday". He stretched his arms outward and bent back, there was an audible pop in his back. He continued his story "A gladiator bought my freedom, he didn't know I was a Kelvic" he let out a slight chuckle.

Almost reliving it within his mind "You should have seen the look on his face when I took on human form" reminiscing like this, you could see the joy in his eyes, thinking about his first day as a free man for the first time in 2 years. Taking a few more steps the streets and buildings shifted again, halting right in front of him and Almech came to a dead stop, his sensitive ears helped give him better clarity of the city.

He'd learned by now to always be vigilant in Alvadas, you never knew what the next step would bring. Upon his inquiry about her choice of lodging, she answered and he replied. "I think you would enjoy Avain manor quite well, I don't even use my room, but I still pay rent, you can use my room, I sleep in the courtyard, it's much more...peaceful".

He turned right and kept going listening to her footsteps as she followed, and then came her question, this one he really snickered at "Really, you just trust in the city, that's all you can do, you don't find your way around, where you need to go finds it's way to you ". The was the simplist way to put it [b]"Being aware of what's going on around you is equally important, that's how I fell into that tree earlier, I wasn't careful enough" he let it sink in for a few moments "Do you understand miss?".

[Amarhyl]

Amarhyl began to nod, but quickly caught herself, confusion flitting through her eyes. Did he say ‘pit dog’?! As he continued speaking, the confusion left her. A Kelvic… why didn’t I notice? She had known another Kelvic before, back in Syliras. Her step was slower than his was, so she was a tiny bit behind him, and she took the opportunity to look for the signs she must have missed. She could see now hi fingernails were rather pointed, and there was that odd brightness to his eyes. His height must have something to do with it too. She caught up to him as he paused to watch the buildings shift. It unnerved her slightly yet made her curious at the same time. Her eyebrow rose slightly at his response on her lodging. ”I… no no. I couldn’t possibly stay in your house, that’s not fair for you.” The thought of somewhere peaceful was incredibly appealing all the same. She turned and followed him to the right, the corners of her mouth twitching as she heard him snicker. His reply was rather simple, and it actually made some sort of sense. Of course there was no point trying to remember the way around here. She nodded. ”Yes, I think so.” She paused for thought. ”So, if I wanted to find a library, I would just walk and take the routes the city leaves open to me?” She wondered idly where they were headed now, perhaps to this Manor he had mentioned earlier? Or maybe he was taking her back to her own lodging to save her getting lost.