Off To The Taverns (Kalila, Anda, Lyalya){Complete}

[Andalusia]

"It's fine," she turned to Kalila with an understanding nod. The woman let her veil down to reveal quite a pretty face, with skin as light as honey, and long hair in thick curls. Before she could giggle and begin a conversation about ale, the woman with the sea-blue eyes and silken blond hair approached them. Andalusia furrowed her brows at the woman when she mentioned the unfamiliar word. "Dhani?" she said, looking from Lyalya to Kalila. "What's a... Dhani?" she inquired, was it the sickness that caused the woman to speak with a lisp? Have to cover her body due to swelling sores, or something? Or was it another race? She had been meeting a lot of different people from entirely different worlds, how big could it be... She watched as Kalila spoke to Lyalya with a tinge of discomfort, but she could only assume that it were due to whatever sickness she was inflicted with, if it indeed was a sickness. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought she heard the woman imply a indirect threat, though she shrugged it off as simply her way of defendng herself. She wanted to defend Kalila, tell Lyalya that she was deeply mistaken and that the woman was either simply sick, or born with the lisp. But she wasn't even sure if this was truly the case. Her train of thought was cut short when Kalila called her a friend with genuine smile. Andalusia's insides warmed up and she felt a little blush creep up her cheeks, the woman's contagious smile caused her to return the sentiment with her own warm, infectious smile. "I-I don't mind," she ended up grinning as she spoke, eyes glittering with excitement as she turned to Lyalya with a welcoming, yet timid expression. "I'm Andalusia," she faced the young woman. Her eyes were quite mesmerizing, reminiscent of the sea and almost deep enough to drown in. It reminded her of her own eyes, as glistening and green as the forest, and just as easy to get lost in. "And, this is Kalila," she gestured over to her, turning to the woman draped in so much, eyes as golden as the afternoon sun.

[Lyalya]

Ahh, so she wasn't mistaken. By the panicked look on the serpent woman's face she realized the woman had hoped to keep it hidden. With a look around, she realized no one else had heard. "Your secrets safe with us, I'm just a little overly curious."

Lyalya smiled, turning towards the human mix, Andalusia, "I'm Lyalya, nice to meet you. I haven't been in Sunberth all that long. What brought you here?" That last question Lyalya directed towards Kalila. She was always curious, branching out her knowledge like vines creeping up a building. Slow and steady.

Atleast Andalusia hadn't freaked out, she had forgotten for a minute the fear and horror being near a Dhani usually brought. It wasn't her fault that she had looked past it, Lyalya was basically fearless. Her need for excitement and companionship barreling over silly worries.

[Sahashkalila]

Kalila purposely avoided answering Andalusia's question regarding her race, not wanting to give away any secrets about her race lest they reveal her. She pushed her mug away, not wanting any more of the disgusting beverage since she only ordered one to be polite. She gave a brief smile to Andalusia, her innocence to what was really happening refreshing to Kalila, there were too few people now that did not know what a Dhani was and Kalila planned to keep it that way, at least for today anyway. Kalila turned back to face Lyalya, who seemed to have taken such a keen interest into her. SHe would have thought that Andalusia would have been the one she would have been interested in, because the huntress looked more of a threat than Kalila did, but she supposed she was once again the exotic oddity and she would always receive attention.

She clasped her small hands in front of her, her features calm and composed. It seemed that lying was going to be something that she was going to have to do quite often around this blonde woman, at least until she proved that she was trustworthy. It would be nice to be able to reveal herself for what she really was, to not have her companions shy away from her because they were frightened. SHe missed the constant companionship that she had with her brother Nasim, of course they were both Dhani, but she missed being able to just be herself.....but she let none of her inner thoughts show on her face.

"I can asssure you that there are no sssecretss,"she said to the blonde woman, the challenge clear in her voice,"but your curiossity is amussing sso I will indulge you. My sstory iss rather boring, truth be told, for I have not been in thiss city long. I traveled here with a group of traderss from Ahnatep, who turned out to be jusst ass dubiouss ass there goodss, and in turn dumped me here to fend for mysself. I managed to get a ssmall housse in Ssunsset Quarterss and from there I would treat the local urchinss for minor woundss or coldss who could not afford to go to the clinic....I do not like to sssee children ssuffer." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts once again. Her story was true, all of that really did happen once her and Nasim parted ways, but she wasn't about to reveal her life story to these two woman. Her hands tightened in her lap for a moment in her lap and pain crossed her face before she composed herself once again and spoke. "I cannot ssurvive in thiss city on treating poor children alone, ass much ass enjoy doing it....but I do not know where to take my talentss sso they could be usseful." This was also true as well. The clinic would not take an exotic stranger who nothing of this region.

"Ssso that iss my ssordid sstory,"she said with a small laugh, hoping the two women would buy it, and perhaps they would know of where she could go to be helpful.

[Andalusia]

It didn't sound so far-fetched at all, yet brief look of pain on Kalila's face led Andalusia to believe that there were a lot of things left out of her story. She didn't want to offend the woman, she understood that she might simply just be protecting herself. After all, no one in this town knows how she'd turned up, either. Until now, she still finds a lock forming in her throat whenever asked of it. A tent, in the wilderness, a dog and a horse. A huntress, unable to speak properly to humans, yet she speaks fluidly and naturally to animals. A young woman, beautiful enough to have not even an ounce of insecurity, yet she has the anxiety of a prison escapee. "I-Is that why... you have a lisp? Are you, are you sick? From all those children..." she trailed off, paused, and stumbled with her words again, suddenly unsure of herself once more. "When... when my father was sick, he had a lisp, h-he, he had a lot of mouth sores," her eyes seemed to suddenly well with tears, but she feigned a yawn, pretending that the tears had come from that. "I'm sorry, to hear about what happened to you, I mean," she paused for a moment, hands reaching over to pat Kalila on the shoulder lightly, "I know how it feels, at least, I think I do."

[Sahashkalila]

Kalila froze once again at the mention of her lisp, her hands tightening in her lap before she willed herself to calm down, not wanting to appear upset in a public place. She forced a smile on her face, nodding in thanks to Andalusia for her concern.....and her innocence. The blond woman's reaction however, was something that she was much more worried about.

"I am not sssick Andalussia...although I appreciate your concern,"she said softly, her hands reaching up to wrap the veil around her once more, hiding all of her face except for her eyes. She then reached out to place her hand on Andalusia's forearm, squeezing it lightly before she returned her hands to her lap. "It...it iss jusst ssomething that...I wasss born with." Another truth and a lie all at the same time, and her body was strung with tension, waiting for the Lyalya's reaction.

[Lyalya]

This women clearly wanted what and who she was to remain private, and trying to figure it out may turn out to be much more fun then a simple explanation. Lyalya had her own secrets. "I'm sure we all have our own sorbid stories, our own weaknesses and secrets," Lyalya shrugged, sympathisizing with the woman. But with her face turned so only the covered woman could see, she winked. She wouldn't let this woman have her secrets. "But look, we're all here now. The pasts behind us, the future unfolding. For the moment no one's trying to kill us or hurt us. Anything could happen, for that I'm grateful."

With a smile, she took a swig of her ale. She wondered what the woman looked like beneath all her layers, but she clearly wasn't trusted enough to be shared that information. All the same, Lyalya was glad for the company.

[Andalusia]

"Finally," Andalusia thought with relief, glancing at Lyalya and then at Kalila, with the latter's comforting gesture having made her a little startled. "She's stopped pressing on about that... D-Dhani? Dhani thing..." she turned to Kalila with a reassuring smile. "I kind of have, this unbreakable, habit of speaking too fast when I'm excited," she chuckled lightly, her voice soft and soothing, "I was born with it too." Everyone had their little quirks; some from birth, some developed from their youth, and some taken in as they grow older. The same way Andalusia developed a knack for stumbling with her words - it was only due to her social anxieties, but it has never stopped her from trying to make friends. "I'm sure we all have our own sorbid stories, our own weaknesses and secrets," Lyalya said. She seemed to be directing the statement a little bit more to Kalila, and Andalusia could not fully understand why. "Did she still believe that she was a Dhani?" she pouted a little bit at the thought, "it's just a lisp, and beautiful eyes, maybe she's a Kelvic." She remembered the golden eyes of the fox Kelvic she'd met not too many days ago. He was unusual, and stood out just like Kalila, but not in a bad way, no. She could be Kelvic, or a Dhani, or even simply a misunderstood, eccentric-looking woman. Andalusia, more than anything, wanted to believe in the last possibility the most. It was best not to assume things too much and to pester, because she obviously didn't want her true nature discovered. It was something to be respected. "But look, we're all here now. The pasts behind us, the future unfolding. For the moment no one's trying to kill us or hurt us. Anything could happen, for that I'm grateful," the blonde added with a smile, taking a swig of her ale. The smell of alcohol was strangely pleasant, and it always has been for the raven-haired girl. She nodded politely at the girl's remark, but chuckled quite a bit. "Anybody lurking around Sunberth after sun down, is someone trying to kill us or hurt us," she wanted to laugh, but instead she chuckled mildly, a little blush forming in her cheeks. "Sunberth is not to be taken lightly, n-no matter how well y-you can defend yourself... Th-there's nowhere wholly safe," she added, expression turning grave. Confidence was an asset, but when not paired with carefulness, it will inevitably lead to one's demise.

[Sahashkalila]

Andalusia still seemed to not have any idea as to what was really going on between the women as Kalila listened to the woman prattle on, trying to make Kalila more comfortable. The woman was endearing, and Kalila couldn't help the fond smile that appeared behind her veil before her eyes narrowed at the blond woman. Lyalya. This one was tricky, and one day if she wasn't careful, her curiosity was going to get the better of her, getting her into pointless fights. Half of her wanted to confess to this woman that she was right, that all of her assumptions were true, and that it was extremely rude of her to come up and carelessly announce her assumptions where everyone could hear. The other half was her fear of getting exposed, and all the consequences that entailed. At best, she would just lose her home and get run out of the town. At worst......she would have to put up a fight, and she did not want to hurt any of these people here. But then again, she was a Dhani, and who was she to be frightened by two mere humans? She could easily slither into their homes at night and....solve the problem. One bite was all that it took from a viper. It would pain her to have to do that to Andalusia.....but she had come a long way in her long life and she wanted to finally be able to stay somewhere in peace. She would do it if she had to, but only if she had to.

She looked at both women before she answered, her mind made up. "Yess, we all have out little...quirkss. Some of them endearing,"she said, nodding her head towards Andalusia,"and otherss....rather annoying." She looked back a Lyalya, the comment obviously directed towards her. "But if you are sso interessted in finding out my ssecretss....then let uss retire to a table." And without waiting for the other women to answer, she got up form the bar and walked over to a table near the back of the tavern, settling herself down in a chair with her back to the wall so she could watch all the other patrons.

[Lyalya]

This just got better and better. Lyalya wasn't a prideful woman, she knew her faults and choose not to change them. The snide comment was less then cute but Lyalya still choose to follow the woman to a table. She admired the woman's fire, but still, she knew when enough was enough.

Once seated she leaned back, making sure her weapon was within reach, this was still Sunberth after all. "How did you both wait out the storm? It was pretty bad here, I hear, but far far worse elsewhere. I've heard talk that it originated in Wind Reach." Lyalya changed the subject, hoping to warm them up for more interesting conversation later.

This Andalusia woman had so far escaped Lyalya's interest, but now she took a look to examine her. The woman was quiet which was why she hadn't taken notice, but she was in fact very mysterious. Her eyes were green but speckled with gold and the way she looked at the world was... calculated. Like the woman wasn't sure what to expect so she just tried to take it all in and learn from it. Lyalya was the exact opposite, she knew people all too well. When she truly needed to, she could pretend to be whomever she choose. The blonde blue-eyes woman was easily a charmer. But, they both had one thing in common: they both liked observing, Lyalya because she wanted entertainment and Andalusia because she wanted to learn from it.

[Sahashkalila]

Once the women got comfortable, and Kalila wasn't surprised that Lyalya followed her, she listened to Lyalya's question, something that she was curious about as well. The storm was an odd once, and Kalila attributed it to magic, for it wasn't something that seemed natural to her. All in all, she did not know much about it, she was still traveling at the time and one doesn't usually see many travelers while on the road. So her knowledge of it was limited, only knowing what little pieces of information that she was able to overhear in conversation.

She clasped her hands in her lap, thinking back to when the storm had passed over the trade group. "I wass sstill traveling when the sstorm came up, I had not yet reached thiss city with the traderss sso we were sstill out in the wildss. Thankfully, we were able to take sshelter in a cave, and the whole experience wass rather frightening. It did not sseem like a natural sstorm to me, but while traveling we did not hear any ssort of information on it." They had spent a long three days in that cave, each person trying to come up with a reason behind the unnatural storm, and each person coming up short. "We took ssevere lossess in our goodss, but we had our livesss, I wass at leasst thankful for that. The idiotss I traveled with sseemed more concerned with their losss of profit." Kalila snorted in contempt about her previous companions, not understanding why she had chosen to travel with them. It had seemed convenient at the time.

"I hear that it hass affected the world, not just here. At leasst that iss the talk that I overhear."