Stranger in a Strange Land (Ha'na & Sam)

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Ravok?" he asked, curious. "I avoided that place. Didn't want to end up, you know, a slave or something. Ooh! Did you ride one of those eagles or whatever they ride up in Wind Reach?"

He was slightly envious of them, even though riding a Cyphrus Strider was much like flying low to the ground in his humble opinion; not that he had done so since Hasieran was killed, but he still remembered it perfectly -- or hyperperfectly -- in dreams.

[Hana]

“Ravok is very beautiful,” she said quietly, clearly thinking over her words as she spoke them. Her eyes didn’t move from him. “I think perhaps being human is not quite so dangerous… I didn’t travel alone, though. And when I needed to, I acted the slave.”

She was quite good at that.

“As for Wind Reach…” She just chuckled and nodded a little. Not much was said about it.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Of course, the mere mention of Wind Reach, the mysterious chuckle and all, that made him all the more curious. But he had been raised not to delve too deeply in the business of others when they made it clear it was none of his.

"I'd like to go there someday."

Perhaps tomorrow.

[Hana]

"It's beautiful. Very, very beautiful... Like a land covered in the glass the people there make..." She smiled softly at some unspoken memory and looked downwards again. "I loved it enough to be there twice. It isn't really just a place you stop simply to stop. You have to intend to go there."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"That might explain why I've never been. Horse and I just wander, and getting all the way over there... well, that would be some extreme wandering. The winters are so long up north and so I never spent all that much time up there. Sylira is wide, and there are cities and towns and wilderness enough for everyone, I think."

So what if his soul yearned for the endless grasslands teeming with danger? Was he not the captain of his own destiny? Wasn't he?

[Hana]

"Man tends to have a purpose in wandering such great distances - To gain, to discover, to escape... You're most likely not old enough to be driven to such extremes yet."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

He bristled slightly at an imagined insult, but he calmed his own ruffled feathers quickly. She didn't seem like the type intent on emasculating him.

"Perhaps someday. I'd rather ride a huge bird than Horse anyway," he said loudly for the windrunner's benefit. Horse snorted in response to Sam's voice.

[Hana]

She watched the interaction between Horse and Sam with a careful eye. It reminded her of something... She couldn't place her finger on it... Something from the past...

Something...

She smiled softly, letting the search for history in her mind fade away.

"I found myself to be absolutely terrified of heights. I suppose I'm meant for the earth below my feet."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Well, you work with the clay. I suppose it is your element." He grinned, then thought more on the subject. "Though I guess you use water and fire to shape the clay too."

He mused, absently rubbing his jaw.

"I don't know. Nobody ever taught me wisdom."

[Hana]

The smile forming on her lips said that she was utterly delighted by him. He made for good company. She put more bread onto his plate.

"Wisdom isn't something that can be taught, or so my grandfather told me as a child... But yes, I work with all the elements. From the earth I take my clay. With water I purify it into something usable and keep it pliable. With the air it hardens. With fire I turn it into glass."