A Vantha Union ( Aleath & Merikanz )

[Talhar]

65th Day of Spring, 510 AV

It was at the Sacred Arch Hotsprings that Talhar went for a relaxing bath before setting out for a few days of hunting. He had stripped himself naked and slipped in the hot springs for cleansing, he wanted to get rid off the city odor that would otherwise possibly interfere with his hunting.

He enjoyed the quiet and calm of the Sacred Arch Hotsprings tremendously, it was like he sank in a warm towel of the finest fur. Eventhough it was a bit late in the afternoon he had thought there'd be a few straglers left here. Luckily he had been wrong for he was not in the mood of the overzealous sound of playing children. He wanted some calm before the storm.

He had left his belongings right behind him and rested his head on his backpack, which was filled with food, water, tools to light a fire, a tent and a rug to sleep on. He had also brought with him his large quiver filled with half a dozen javelins and his large Vantha-crafted spear with a sturdy, wooden base and strong, white whalebone tip. He had left his Morwen's Lights - Cloak at the room he boarded in Syliras because he was afraid he might get it thorn in the woods.

He let out a heavy, relax-induced sigh and let his head rest on the backpack, closing his eyes.

[Aleath]

Aleath was walking through the wonderful nature in the Cobalt Mountains. It was her first time here and she wanted some rest from the city. She stopped every now and then to breathe in the forest air. She immediately take the forest in liking.

Her dog was happily running about the forest, sniffing every flower or tree. She relished in the calmness of her surroundings, she closed her eyes and nearly fell into a hot spring. In the last moment she found her balance and then she looked around.

It was peaceful here, like the rest of the forest, but then she found somebody lying on the ground close by. At first Aleath didn't know, what to do and she thought that he was dead, but then she noticed that he was breathing, so she gave her dog a sign to stay behind and she was carefully approaching to the man on the ground.

[Talhar]

Talhar lifted his head as the sun was blazing too hard and shone too fierce, piercing Talhar's eyelids he was forced to put his arms over his face but it was less comfortable. For a split second he forgot he left Avanthal for he saw a Vantha woman approaching him, she had shimmering straight, blonde hair which was actually nearly white. She was of relatively small stature but not small enough to be called short either.

Talhar quickly put on his pants out of politeness for he did not wish to scare the woman off or make her uneasy, she was the first Vantha he saw since he had left Avanthal. After he had put on pants he turned back towards the woman and saw there was a beautyful grey dog in the seated position a bit behind her.

" Hi there, I can't express in words how surprised I am to see a fellow Vantha here. I'm Talhar, pleased to meet you. "

[Aleath]

When the man lifted his head, Aleath realized with a jolt, that he was a Vantha. Like her! She was looking at him with wide eyes. She looked at him more carefully. She thought that he was quite handsome. He was slightly taller than her and he had black hair with some white strands in them. He seemed to be approximately her age.

When he stood up, her cheeks reddened, because he had no pants. She quickly averted her gaze, because she didn't want him to think that she was staring at him. When he spoke, she knew that it was safe to look at him again, so she fixed her eyes at him again.

"It is quite surprising for me, too." she replied, still a little shocked from this sudden encounter. Then she remembered to introduce herself. "I'm Aleath and that dog there is Shade." she motioned with her hand. The dog came closer to them and he was regarding Talhar curiously.

Aleath then spotted Talhar's spear, lying nearby.

"Are you going hunting?" she asked and looked at him in surprise.

[Talhar]

Talhar was still a bit flustered at the sudden appearance of the Vantha woman. Now that the sun was hidden momentarily behind a cloudy carpet of shapes and forms he could see the woman more clearly and he quickly realized she was a stunning beauty. It was a long time since he had seen a Vantha and he was lucky enough to meet such a beautyful Vantha woman. But he didn't try to smoothtalk her or act sly, he was far too happy to be able to talk to a Vantha and in no way wanted he to scare her off.

" By Morwen, Shade is a great name for such a companion. If he had a bit more brown on his snout and fur he would be the exact replicant of my dog Joukka, which used to be my companion when I still lived in Avanthal. "

" Are you from Avanthal or another part of the Taldera region ? "

" And yes, I am going hunting first thing tomorrow, tonight I'm going to camp out on the beach nearby here. It's been a while since I've been hunting and I heard there were boars and even bears in the Bronze Woods...unfortunately I also heard there are even fiercer creatures who lurk in the forest. I must admit I'm slightly nervous about the hunt but I'll manage. "

He said with a smile. He noticed he was staring at her eyes the whole time he was talking, like in a trance. He quickly averted his eyes and scratched the back of his arm.

[Aleath]

Aleath scratched her dog behind his ears and smiled as Talhar praised her choice of the dog's name. When Talhar asked his question, she became shy all of a sudden.

"Um...I am from a small village near Syliras....It’s about 20 miles from here. I was brought up in the Human society, so I don’t know many Vantha things. I’ve never been in Avanthal, but I’m planning on going there someday." she looked at Talhar, hoping he wouldn’t cast her away, now that he knows, that she knows practically nothing about her race.

Then she added: "If you wouldn’t mind, I would go with you. Hunting I mean...You shouldn’t go alone..." and she was eyeing Talhar with hope in her eyes. She didn’t know why she was so protective of this unknown man, but she figured that it was because they were the same race.

[Talhar]

Talhar's vision was struck by an adorable sight of a crouching whitegolden-haired woman petting her dog.

When she responded she was raised as a human and never set foot in Avanthal yet he was struck with sadness for the woman, but surely she has had a good life even if she was raised outside of Avanthal he thought.

" Ooh I see, I would have never guessed if you hadn't told me. Forgive my impudence for instantly thinking you were raised in Avanthal. But let me add that not being raised in Avanthal makes you no less Vantha in any way. You're one of Morwen's children and one of my comrades, no matter where you were raised.

He smiled as he said those words, this woman is a Vantha to him and he was sure to all Vanthas. Place of origin is of non-importance to them, as long as they're a Vantha on the inside.

He thought for a moment, he wouldn't want to endanger Aleath just because it might be dangerous to go alone. But the emotion in her eyes showed that she really wanted to go, and again he found himself entranced by her eyes.

" Aye I'll gladly take up your offer on joining me on the hunt. But I'd like to know if you have any hunting experience under your belt? It won't change my answer but it's best to know beforehand. "

He started putting on his shirt as he suddenly became quite selfaware. He bend over and let his hair and dreads hang over his head, he dried them fast with a towel, put on his shirt and flung his hair backwards.

" Sorry, it was getting chilly. Could cut glass with my nipples. " He said jokingly.

[Aleath]

Aleath was truly moved, when Talhar was so genuinely apologizing and telling her that she is a real Vantha to him even that she grew up in human society. She fought off the tears, which were coming to her eyes. Nobody has ever said that to her...

For a moment she wanted to hug him, but she didn’t know how he would react, so she only whispered.

"Thank you. It means very much to me."

Then she cleared her throat and smiled when he accepted to take her with him for the hunt, but she had to shake her head negatively, when he asked if she had any experience.

"I'm sorry, but no...But I like learning new things, so you could teach me. And I think that Shade would gladly help you." And the dog barked in answer and started running around happily. Aleath laughed.

"I think that he doesn't have a lot of fun when he is with me, because I think he would like to go hunting often, but I can't."

At Talhar's last comment, she chuckled a little.

"Yes, it can be cold, when you fall asleep in the water." she joked and sat on the nearby stone to wait for Talhar's decision.

[Talhar]

" It's ok. " Was all Talhar could say after seeing Aleath get so emotional from hearing she was a Vantha. Talhar found it beautiful and sad at the same time, sad because he didn't want her to cry but beautiful for it meant she was really fond of her Vantha heritage and that made it all the more clear to Talhar that she was a Vantha, it made him proud that he was of the same race as Aleath.

" I'll teach you how to hunt wildlife, I'm not sure if I'll be an able teacher but I can promise you I'll do my best. "

" I have some experience with hunting with a timberwolf pet so I'm sure hunting with Shade will work too. "

He walked over to the big, furry dog and started petting him on the side and scratching him under his chin.

" You'll be a great hunter Shade, won't ya? Yes you will, yesssss you willl. "

Talhar coughed and scratched the back of his arm again, as he often does when feeling embarassed.

" Oh and by the way, I wasn't sleeping... I was totally aware of you, I just wanted to ... surprise you, yeah that's it. .. Surprise! "

He grinned as he went over to his belongings and gathered them.

" We'll leave first thing in the morning, you can choose to come with me to the beach or meet me back here tomorrow. Whichever is best for ya. "

[Aleath]

When Talhar started to pet Shade, the dog closed his eyes. He seemed to enjoy it. Aleath was watching with smile on her lips. When Talhar stopped, Shade seemed to be disappointed and he pushed his snout into Talhar's hand few times, but then Talhar started to talk to Aleath, so Shade sat down and listened.

Aleath considered Talhar's two suggestions for a while and then she said.

"I would go with you, if you don't mind. I wasn't on the beach, yet. And you would not have to wait for me tomorrow. Like that we would move off immediately together." she suggested.