[Flashback] Journey through the Grass (Closed)

[Aren]

Aren stood, suddenly deciding that the fire needed more grass. As he turned his back to the flame, and to Patros, he looked back for a second, "I thought you were fighting for her," he mentioned, rather nonchalantly. "Perhaps I was mistaken," he added, as he walked off into the darkness of the night. The akalak had kept his cool, but it galled him that the man responsible for another person's welfare thought she was nothing if she didn't get some mark. He realized that the nuances and meaning of drykas' culture escaped him, but he couldn't accept such a fact, no matter how you tried to justify it. Out in the darkness, Aren ripped chunks of grass, his clenched jaw muffling the sounds of growls every time he uprooted more kindling. He tried to center his mind, to push out these problems that were none of his concern, but found himself unequal to the task. His thoughts were drawn to the fate of a helpless child with nowhere to belong. Perhaps, he mused, it was because he was that child, too.

[Meera]

Patros was not dumb. He may be old, but he certainly wasn't deaf. As Aren gathered more long grass that was sure to burn, Patros unburdened his mare from his pack and her yvas and blanket, letting her relax. He searched his belongings to find a nice ripe apple. Idly he rubbed the sweet pink flesh on his collar before biting into the meat.

"Think I'm not?" Patros said through bites of his apple.
"If an Akalak failed to kill a Glassbeak he wouldn't be a man, correct? If Meera fails to get her windmark, she simply would ... fail to be a Drykas." It was harsh of him to say, and in doing so he had raised his voice.

Unbeknownst to Patros who lacked infra-red vision and therefore the ability to see through the tent, he had woken Meera up.

She rubbed at her eyes as stared at the roof of the large tent, her tiny thin arms falling to her side with a thud and a sigh. She had heard all of this before - from Patros, from Sana, from everyone. There was so much pressure for the windmark. But it was alright. She still had time to get it one day. Now that she had Miss Filly it was likely she was going to get it anytime soon.

Miss Filly! She forgot to turn down the horse for the night! Quickly Meera scrambled, knowing Patros would not have done the horse's care for her. She was still dressed in her clothes and boots, and she kicked wildly as she ran out of the tent, stumbling a little when the hit grass.

"How long have I slept for?" Meera yelled.
"Common, Meera."
"Sleep time?" Patros soothed her worried mind that she hadn't slept for too long of a spell.

"See what I mean, Aren? She needs to do these things for herself. If I coddle her she will never gather her own strength." Meera pulled off Miss Filly's yvas and let it crumple to the ground in her haste. The bright purple and green blanket was pulled back from her pony's neck from the nearside to the farside, and Meera checked the blanket for stains. It was Summer, and naturally the horse had sweat, so Meera made a note to herself when she saddled her up in the morning to flip the blanket, unless her pony would chafe and grow sore.

After folding the blanket, Meera dashed to the tent again to pull out her water skin and a small square of thick cloth. Returning to Miss Filly's side she poured water over the square to soak it, and used it as a method to wash her horse of all the grime and sweat she had accumulated over their day of travel. Satisfied, she turned to Patros, still talking to Aren.

"It's simply a matter to ensure our race survives. Akalaks have their rites of passage, just like we do." Catching Meera's eye, her arm out spread almost as though she were presenting the horse as a brand new item or prize, Patros smiled.

"Good timing. Good thing you remembered. Still hungry, Meera?" He asked, before turning his body to reach into his pack. She shook her head no, despite the grumble of her stomach at being woken so late and having only a slice of jerky for dinner. She could fend for herself.

"Meera, here, eat this," He demanded, handing her a handful of dry mushrooms. "You'll need to eat, too. You can't eat the grass like Miss Filly." Patros teased, before tapping her nose as she steadily chewed on a few mushrooms. She nodded and used a bit of Grassland Sign to say goodnight while her mouth was full. Patros smiled affectionately as Meera said her good nights officially.
"Don't forget your prayers," he called after she slipped through the tent. A child's voice in Pavi could be heard softly several moments later, steadily quieting and slowing in cadence until it fell into a snore.

"If that makes me a bad guardian, Aren... You can take the rest of the trip alone."

[Aren]

Aren didn't reply. He just stood there, in the dark, his thoughts his own. The akalak didn't dare look at Patros, for fear of doing something he was immediately going to regret. He didn't understand why having this supposed windmark changed the way people treated you, much as in akalak society. Aren didn't agree with some of the rites of his people any more than he agreed with this drykas business. "If an akalak failed to kill a glassbeak, he'd still be an akalak," he finally said. Perhaps his own kind wouldn't agree with him, but that's the way he saw it. As he noticed Meera's brief awakening and subsequent return to sleep, Aren pitied the poor girl, "If you teach her not to care... she'll be the stronger for it," he offered, realizing that advice was the only thing he was in a position to give. In the end, however, Patros had to decide for himself whether the girl was a drykas or not, windmark or not. If he treated her like she was less than worthy because she lacked some decoration, even if it was true, then did he really care for her? Aren thought the old man had better sense than that, even if he himself didn't see it.

[Meera]

It was not how Patros saw things. People that lacked motivation were lazy and Meera was a child - hard work was the bane of her little existence. She, like all children, had to be offered a reward for their hard work, Patros justified in his head, before shaking out his hair.

"It's simply how things are, Aren." He sighed. He certainly was not hoping to get into a philosophical debate about his clan's way of life. The Drykas have been here long before the Akalaks, and we'll be here long after, Patros thought but decided it was best to keep that to himself instead, despite his desires to smack the stupid out of him.

Aren and Meera were a lot a like, and that scared him to the very core as her guardian. Looking at Aren, Patros saw the years of hard work pressed upon his body, and yet here the giant was, denouncing and insulting his upbringing and consequentially Meera's rearing as well. Aren couldn't possibly think to have a say in Meera's life? Surely he wasn't so naive? Patros checked himself - he had already said Aren and Meera were alike.

"It's been a long day," the Drykas stated, "I'll take the first watch. Get some rest, son."

[Aren]

He had finally figured out why the old man made him so angry. It was because the drykas reminded him of someone. Aren gazed back at Patros, a wide, knowing grin on his face. He said nothing, but he looked like he had just won a long game of strategy, and his opponent simply didn't know it yet. The akalak had lived a hundred long years, and he knew this road the old drykas was taking. It was the road of a man who was clinging to his beliefs, not because they were right, but because he had nothing else to believe in. Aren knew that, eventually, all such men come to realize the error of their ways. One day, Patros would see that some sacrifices are too great to make, and on that day he would have to forsake everything he knew. "No... you rest. The hours of my life are long," the akalak said, hinting at the fact that he would likely live to see the day that Patros recognized that Aren was right. The blue skinned giant would probably never know for sure, but he was confident in his prediction.

[Meera]

It would seem both opponents of their debate would leave their seat believing themselves right in their argument, and as it so happened, they were.

Patros had seen many things in his days. He was lucky thus far to have lived as long as he had - males in the Drykas community were a touch too scant, their lives typically sacrificed back to the Web. Aren had a child's mentality. It was why he wandered, with little purpose to his life. That was the saddest thing of all. Aren had no purpose, no reason for living. One day he would find it and he would look like a fool, Patros was almost certain of it.

Without another word, the Drykas gave two loud pats on his thighs before standing, a crooked and knowing grin on his face. Slowly he shook his head as he turned towards the tent, still in disbelief over their conversation. How he managed to escort two children - who both should not still be children - was beyond his capability to understand.

[Lariat]

Meera

Experience:

Riding: 2 xp
Horsemanship: 2 xp
Shortbow: 1 xp
Observation: 1 xp
Rhetoric: 2 xp

Lores:

Akalak Right of Passage

Aren

Experience:

Battle-Scythe: 2 xp
Observation: 2 xp
Rhetoric: 1 xp

Lores:

The importance of windmarks in drykas society

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