Full Circle - Aren, Tahl [CLOSED]

[Aren]

Aren laughed at Tahl'dhon's rather blunt assertion, and nodded in appreciation of his forgiveness for the events of the night before. His new acquaintance's revelation of his past, and status as an ex-slave, did not seem to faze the blue akalak in the least. His people welcomed slaves of any kind with open arms, and a lost son of Akajia and Wysar would not be an exception. Catching the hot peace of meat that Meera had thrown him, Aren juggled it from one hand to the other, "Ask your questions, and if I have any answers, then so shall you." He had been gone from Riverfall for a long time, but he still remembered how things worked. Assuming things hadn't changed much, which seemed likely from what he saw, he would be able to enlighten Tahl'dhon on his destination. He would certainly be able to tell the red akalak something about his people, if nothing else. Of course, that assumption was based on the prerequisite that they were all traveling together towards Riverfall. Aren glanced at Meera, wondering if that was something she was inclined to do, which she seemed to be, from her words. He would hate to owe the man a debt, but he wasn't willing to let the drykas girl go over it. Hopefully, she was going to return, at least for a little while, and he wouldn't be forced to choose.

[Meera]

Meera regarded Tahl'dhon curiously. He had taken hold of the gold necklace Meera had been so interested in and she had noticed it was broken, and now as he spoke he clarified, and Meera had to wonder if the necklace was some sort of marker of his former status. Her eyes narrowed and her head cocked to the side in her curiosity, still chewing away on the soft meat. It wasn't overdone or tough like Meera would have cooked it, it was soft and red juice had run down her chin. She dipped her head to run her chin along her cloaked shoulder.

"Like said before, will return to Riverfall but in few days. Do not wish to stay in Sea of Grass much longer, but risk too great to return so soon." Her voice showed her slight frustration. "Soon I wish to cross the water, explore this world." Whether or not him or especially Aren were invited, she did not divulge, but she did turn her face - the half-frozen curtains of wheat blonde hair moving with her direction barely - and cast her eyes against Aren's features. No sooner had she done so did the colour return to her cheeks and she quickly turned her face away.

The sun had finally risen by this point, spreading fingers of orange throughout the sky in the clearest of blue skies. Tahl had kept speaking and he requested knowledge of his people, having been a slave he naturally would have no clue of his lineage or history, and that was sad. This way, Meera could gain her own insight and fill the gaps in her knowledge. She had sat in front of Aren and slightly to his side, right beside her fire. With the sun shining nicely on her hair she could already feel the battle of warm against the cold winning. Not much longer, Meera thought as she felt her breeches, would she be dressed completely. Her chemise, being of a thinner material, was near dry already and parts of it were so hot she worried it might catch ablaze. She shifted the material around to get an even temperature, including her breeches. She was most concerned about the pants. Sitting out in barely anything but a large cloak and boots to cover her was rather ridiculous and not to mention dangerous. She hardly knew Tahl, and Aren was only ahead by a week, but that did not mean she knew them to trust them.

With damp hair Meera wanted to braid it as soon as possible, but to lift her arms would be to expose her body. She wouldn't allow herself now to braid her own hair until she was dressed. Another look to Aren with a quizzical brow, suddenly missing her sisters and their talent to braid her unruly hair.

[Tahl'dhon Rashaud]

Tahl sat and inquired of Aren everything Akalak from biology, culture, rituals, politics, military, and even some history. Of course Aren could not tell him everything that his life in Riverfall experience had provided, but a basic overview and knowledge of his people could only be to his benefit. He fidgeted constantly, finally he brought out his knife from his bag it was a sturdy all round item uses varying from eating, to weaponry, to hygiene. He picked up a large stick that was to be used for the fire and started to whittle away at it, not even having a designed of any kind in his mind other than to keep his hands busy so he could focus with his mind. Tahl inquiry was filled with sarcasm and dry comments some at Akalak size, even making fun of such things as there ways of gaining Nakivak. It was not malicious just simply Tahl's personality and how he approaches everything; cynicism and sarcasm. When it finally arrived that Tahl had exhausted all other questions dreading the answer to this, not even sure why, not even sure what answer would be good and what bad, finally after staring into his sliver of what was left of the stick he threw it away stabbing his knife into the ground he lifted his eyes to bore into Aren's. "I have one last question, and I dread the answer." He paused waiting, then taking a breath continued trying to keep his voice level and his breathing calm, "Is there some sort of secret with our kind?," He paused again trying to word it properly, "Erm, do we have an odd personality..quirk?" Tahl wasn't sure what to call it; insanity? Well Rashaud was truly insane, but could he be apart of Tahl'dhon or was he another being and if so why? Rashaud stirred in his mind, he himself wondering the answer to this question as well. He had his emotions under control, but his curiosity was building and if he didn't get an answer soon it would burst.

[Aren]

Aren faithfully answered any questions Tahl posed, if their knowledge was within his purview. He realized, however, that though this young akalak may now feel more satisfied, the truth was that he still knew nothing of his own kind. Tahl'dhon was now privy to information that any decent library could have provided. These answers Aren had provided couldn't possibly tell him what it meant to be an akalak, however. At the red akalak's rather nervous question about personality quirks, his kinsman smiled subtly, giving Meera a cautionary glance. The dual nature of the akalak was not some closely guarded secret, but it wasn't something they advertised, either. Thinking about how to broach the nature of the answer to Tahl's question, Aren realized that perhaps the man was not looking for an answer at all, but merely confirmation. "Mine is called Seros... and he is not someone you would like to meet," the blue akalak stated, not wanting to be too blunt amidst present company, yet hoping that Tahl would see his meaning. "No matter your past," Aren added, after a few moments, "The best place you could be is Riverfall." He shot Meera a glance as he completed the sentence, giving the impression that he was not simply talking to his fellow akalak, either. It was certainly much safer than lingering in the Sea of Grass longer than one needed to, whatever the reason.

[Meera]

Meera idly stoked the fire while the sun continued its steady climb into the afternoon. Meera had stayed close to the Akalaks throughout the morning, whistling to Darksand when she needed to tend to him. Should there be a predator that the twig could not stave off, the protection of the two warriors would be most beneficial, as well Meera was interested in hearing more about Aren - but she would never admit that.

Even when her pants were dry and warm, Meera silently slipped into the tent where canvas could not protect from the sound. All the while she absorbed what she could from Common during their question and answer, which did fare out to a decent pile of information. Thankfully, Tahl seemed to be apt in conversational Common like Meera, and Aren did not frequently use large, imposing words - likely for benefit - but when Tahl finished his interrogation, Meera had found it confusing.

She had changed by this point and sitting now near Tahl'dhon, across the roaring fire and across from Aren.

"Quirk," Meera repeated in her head. She did not know this word, but she understood "personality," and she gave a look to Aren in hopes to display her confusion. When Aren answered Tahl, she deciphered from his words that "quirk" would mean "split," for Meera had known of no one that would name a side of their personality. While it was true that Meera, like her brethren, had identified now with several names, her personality was unchanged.

Was it Seros that had kissed her? Because she certainly did not like that. Who had followed Ysane into the Sea of Grass? Was it Aren or Seros that made her laugh? --And Tahl'dhon, too, or else he would never have asked! Who had cut open her chemise?

For a flash of thought, Meera worried the split personality might be contagious, but it did not take her long to come back to her senses. This obviously was an Akalak oddity, their trait.

She hadn't realized she had been staring at Aren as she was lost in her thoughts.

"...best place you could be is Riverfall." Meera only caught the last bit of Aren's speech, but he looked directly at Meera, so she nodded. Hearing now what the Akalaks were - these tall men with intense training and discipline - it made perfect sense to return. Meera stood in hopes to prepare to pack up and return.

[Tahl'dhon Rashaud]

Tahl quirked an eyebrow at Aren ad he smiled subtly, his mind going wild trying to understand the meaning. He followed Aren’s gaze to Meera and back, he thought he understood; it was a secret. When Aren confirmed Tahl’s suspicions he smiled clapping his hands together relief washing through him, his muscles relaxing after tensing unconsciously. Rahaud also relaxed mentally his relief and joy took over him and he started to mentally hum a happy tune. Tahl was glad his brother was taken by a good emotion this time, but it was annoying so he shut out the sound. He refocused on Aren as he mentioned Riverfall. Tahl nodded, he already knew this. Riverfall was a sanctuary, and he was going there. Tahl glanced to the side when Meera stood his smile going even wider. Jumping up he stomped his boots into the ground, letting the dust fall off his pants. He reached down and heft his pack his eyes going in the direction of the road. "Can we get going now? Or do we have to wait for spring?" He commented an eyebrow raised, his mouth a one sided smile. He was impatient, but he wasn’t trying to be rude, simply friendly teasing. He glanced around the camp, he didn’t really feel any responsibility for the tent and Meera’s things, but he had used the fire. He kicked some dirt into the fire, and once mostly quenched he stomped his foot into the fire pit trying to smother the embers. He glanced around at the others as they cleaned up. Feeling that he had done his responsibility he looked for something to do, catching site of Darksand he smiled. He strode over through the trampled grass towards the horse, once there he stood there around a metre from the beast inspecting it with his eyes. Once Meera came over he looked at her a genuinely curious look on his face, "What is its name? What kind of horse is it?" He had never really been allowed to interact with animals as a slave, he had maybe been able to lead it, but he had never been able to spend much time around them. He was curious, and he liked animals; at least what he had experienced of animals. He would reach his hand out slowly out for the horse to smell, hoping it didn’t bite him.

[Aren]

Aren caught Meera's silent agreement to his indirect proposal, and was pleased that she was willing to return to Riverfall. The Sea of Grass was never safe, even in winter, when the animals that inhabited it were forced to be less active to conserve energy. Getting to his feet, the akalak wandered into the tent to retrieve his belongings. His scythe was strewn about the floor, along with his pack, which found itself mostly empty. Picking them both up, he strapped them to his person in a few moments, and was outside again shortly. Though Aren still felt the lingering effects of fatigue, the morning air did much to revitalize him, as did the food in his stomach. He was not back up to full strength, but the akalak felt that expediency was worth the risk. The grass was simply too dangerous a mistress to trust for long. "I wouldn't count on a group twice our size to survive out here, in Spring," Aren commented, in response to Tahl's well meaning jibe. Next season, all those beasts that had depleted their stores of fat to survive the winter would become much more active, looking to replenish those stores. "So it definitively had better not come to that," he added, in a more jovial tone of voice. Aren's eyes focused unwittingly on the drykas, as she made her own preparations to leave. Would he risk the spring for her, if he had to? The answer to that question frightened him. To Seros, however, hiding in some dark corner of his mind... that was simply unacceptable.

[Meera]

Meera was taking the last two steaks that Tahl was cooking off the rock and she wrapped them in her cut open chemise by the time Tahl started to douse the fire with sand. Once they were wrapped up, Meera started to break down the tent, by rolling her bedroll as small as she could. Once that was done Meera picked up all the loose items on the floor -- hair brush, some odds and ends, ribbon - and put them in her pack, which was then swung outside the tent's flap, so she could deconstruct the tent.

The tent's deconstruction was simple and she managed to fold it up nicely without needing anyone's help.
Now that the campsite was bare, she bundled up her large items to tie to her back and horse. Everyone would walk, she understood that to be fair. A glance to Tahl showed him on the path to her horse, and she tensed. She didn't like him as far as she could throw him, and quite frankly, she could not throw a rock all that far.

Tahl had approached her horse and beat Meera, and so he waited for her to arrive. He - in Meera's paranoid mind - was suspicious in his questions and direct approach to her horse. She sneaked a quick glance to Aren as her hands threatened to drop her supplies if only to free her hands to wring the red Akalak's neck.

"My black and tan is not food," she warned. "Kill Strider is to kill its rider." Meera did not want to trust the red man, but Darksand bobbed his head and brushed Tahl's hand along his snout. The softest pleased neigh came from her horse then, and Meera softened. Her horse wasn't so paranoid as his rider, and she trusted her horse's opinion on people.

"He likes you." She said sharply. "But I do not, not yet." The Drykas secured her supplies on the back of her black and tan and turned to the group. The campsite was bare, save only for the small pile of sand and ember, which created a column of black smoke.

Identifying the small trees around her as landmarks, Meera was easily able to identify the proper direction. She started to walk and she did not have to signal her Strider, for her black and tan followed immediately.
"Let's go."

[Tahl'dhon Rashaud]

Tahl had his hand stuck out and the horse was brushing its snout along his hand. Tahl smiled happy, but when he heard Meera’s comment on eating and killing he blinked and looked at her confused, a smile slowly spread across his face, “Why? Does it taste good?” and finally he burst out laughing. Once he had it under control to a chuckle in his stomach and he had wiped the tears out of his eyes a smile still on his face, he heard her comment on the horse liking him and her not liking him. He just chuckled, shaking his head at the direct drykas girl. He looked at the horse who was now being led by Meera, “Black and tan eh?” He continued to chuckle as he strode over to catch up with Meera. Once he caught up to them he heard Meera say let’s go, he smiled. “Indeed, let’s get going.” OOCAren its your turn to start the next thread. Start it when we camp for the night. Aren if you want to post again go ahead. I will send the thread in for grading once the other one is up.

[Lariat]

Meera

Experience:

Wilderness Survival: 2 xp
Observation: 1 xp
Rhetoric: 1 xp

Lores:

Intuitive guess: Some Akalaks might have a personality quirk.

Aren

Experience:

Observation: 2 xp
Rhetoric: 2 xp

Lores:

How to answer a brethren subtly

Tahl'dhon Rashaud

Experience:

Observation: 3 xp
Investigation: 1 xp
Rhetoric: 2 xp

Lores:

Confirmation of other half

Comments

To earn lore about culture Tahl, you'll need to actually ask questions about like you did when you asked about your twin soul. Just mentioning asking about it doesn't work for gaining loses or skill points. Also to improve your common Meera you'll need to actually be taught about it by another because use can only get you so far without the concrete knowledge to back it. Good thread from all three of you. It was an enjoyable read. If you have any questions about how I graded or think I missed something send me a pm.