[Flashback] The Glory Days, Day One (Xalet)

[Roah]

The Glory Days 6th Bell, 34th Summer, 505, Syliras, Wildlands, Jorrah, Roah and Xalet. The golden disc of the sun was just beginning to spread its warmth across the land, bathing Syliras' countryside in an aureate, soothing light as the young lad and his brother made their way to the gates of their home city. The soft crunch of booted feet upon loose stones and the clip-clop of shodden hooves were the only sounds that accompanied the two Human males that strode along the road to the city, two dun horses laden with packs and saddlebags plodding along behind them. On the left strolled the larger of the two men and clearly the elder, a handsome, affable looking fellow that could have been anywhere from his early twenties to his thirties, dressed in fairly casual clothing with a plain woolen cloak across his broad shoulders. The obviously much younger, smaller and apparently more exuberant boy on the right was clad in equally plain, muted tones and bland clothing, moving with an almost comical spring in his step, as if barely able to contain his excitement. The younger one chattered and gestured with all the vigorous enthusiasm of an excitable puppy while his elder mostly smiled, dispensing the odd reply with admirable amiability. Roah had been looking forward to this for quite a while now. Jorrah had promised that he would take his little brother out with him and another fellow for an extended trip into the wilderness surrounding the city. Jorrah's Grand And Educational Tour of Epic Adventure, he called it. His brother had always had a flair for the melodramatic, even if he tended to be a bit on the..Silly side of things. The young boy gave his head a languid shake that sent fair hair swaying, a faint chuckle welling up from his throat at the thought of how easily his brother could ensnare his interest with but a single sentence. He hadn't been expecting the third member of their adventure to be so very...Big. And purple. He had to admit, he'd been a little on the gobsmacked side when the huge Akalak had stepped into the family's dwelling, doing his utmost to not gape at the exotic being who stood taller than even his brother Jorrah. His family had taken the newcomer's appearance in their stride with admirable aplomb, sitting him down to dinner beside some of the younger children and treating him as pleasantly as they would any of their own. It had been a good evening, the young Roah reflected as he grew somewhat quieter upon nearing the city, and he had been a little disappointed when Jorrah had announced that he and his Akalak friend Xalet wouldn't be staying the night, instead returning to the city. Jorrah had come to fetch Roah before dawn, informing him that they would be meeting Xalet near the gates of Syliras before setting off properly. It was on one of Jorrah's more recent visits to the family dwelling in Mithryn Outpost that he had made the offer of taking him along, on the condition that he worked hard and was a good kid. Jorrah's definition of such differed from the norm in that he had rather exacting standards; You work to your utmost, until you dropped from exhaustion and you were a living paragon of good behaviour. Not exactly easy to accomplish, but Roah had nontheless thrown himself into his work, doing more than his alloted chores around the farm, and spending longer hours at the Ironworks than the tutelage of his instructor required. There was still a faint ringing in his ears from the constant pounding of metal upon metal, and his arms felt like particularly leaden deadweights. But he had succeeded! Jorrah had kept up with his progress via asking his parents and tutor if he had performed adequately, and to Roah's delight, his elder sibling had deemed him worthy to tag along. It was going to be glorious! Their solid footfalls slowed to as they approached the city, and he couldn't suppress the curving of his lips into a bright smile at the familiar sight of the Syliran gates, the comforting edifice a constant bulwark against all the nasty things a young man's mind could hope to imagine. But they wouldn't be sheltering behind those formidable gates for their outing, oh no! They would be courageous, daring the dangers and travails of the Wildlands themselves! Jorrah flashed the Knights manning the gates a quick smile, turning to give the third member of their little party an affable nod, coughing pointedly and nudging Roah in the ribs to stop his younger brother from gawking all around him and focus. Blinking as his attention snapped back to the matter at hand, he turned so that his gaze alighted upon the unmistakable figure of Xalet, the towering Akalak awaiting them at the designated meeting spot not far from the gates. Raising a gloved hand over his head in a broad, enthusiastic wave, sandy-haired Roah called out to him, "Ho, Xalet! Nice to see you again! Are you ready for our trip into the great and mysterious wilderness?" OOCSorry about the rustiness, Xalet, I'll get better as I get into the flow of things again!

[Xalet]

Xalet was a polite boy. 'Boy' sometimes seemed something of an inappropriate term for a person whom stood six foot seven, but developmentally Xalet was closer to a teenager than to the adult he resembled based upon his height alone. His face had the soft curves of a youth though, and his own inquisitions and naivety were spot on with his young Human counterparts. He was still highly reserved of course, having had something of a difficult time interaction with Humans throughout his younger years. The older he became, the more accepting the people he met seemed to become. Perhaps it was due to all those years spent living within Syliras, nearly two and a half decades now.

Roah had also found out the appetite Xalet had rivaled something more beast than man. Akalak's were known to eat incredible quantities of food, but it was unknown if this was due to some unusual way their bodies worked, or due to the sheer size and muscle mass an Akalak carried even from a young age. Though he knew not of his people back in Riverfall, Xalet could only hope he was making them proud as he too strove to live a life of action and tests, both physical and mental.

His large stride moved him through the city as he approached the gates, his horse eying him warily. Xalet had something of a history with equines, in that most of them found him intrusive, or detested him outright. The squire still knew not where their revulsion came from, but found himself similarly growing cautious around the creatures as a younger boy. Only recently did he have to overcome that hurdle in order to begin learning the proper techniques required of a squire.

Most of his gear was strapped to his horse, which was of a similarly large stature given the Akalak's own body weight. This may have been an adventure to Roah, but to Xalet it was training under the supervision of a Knight, and he had to treat it as such. His jet black hair was slicked back out of his eyes, which were the lightest color of any portion of his body, a strange steely color compared to the deep lavender of his skin. His hand gripped tightly at the reigns, his horse snorting once in a while as if to remind Xalet of it's discontent.

"Greetings, Roah, Ser Tartharion." Xalet's speech seemed somewhat rigid, it didn't have the typical rise and fall of tones that a Human might have. Some parts of an Akalak couldn't be filtered out, even with a change in lifestyle it seemed. There were times when even Xalet expressed the more extreme outward emotions, but they weren't as plentiful as a boy of his equivalent should have been. "This will be further than I have ever gone into Sylira. I am excited." he mentioned, feeling the need to respond further beyond a simple greeting. That's what a Human would have done, after all. His 'excitement' wasn't all that apparent, but the Akalak wasn't being sarcastic. Beneath his bland exterior his stomach twisted slightly, roiling those rolled oats he'd had for breakfast.