Trees Need to Smile Too[Sseevrakressha]

by **Faval** on June 24th, 2012, 5:37 am

Faval was any mixture of the words stunned, mesmerized, confused, and star struck at what was happening here and he could only watch in stunned, mesmerized confusion as she gently brushed against his hand and brought it and the arrow up to her face as she rubbed her cheek against it, which logically made no sense at all to Faval as to why she would do that…it also made no sense as to why it affected him so greatly. It took him that long to figure out what she had even asked him and no, he didn’t want her to move away but he didn’t really know why she was so close either. Faval, his face darkening by the second, and becoming almost unhealthily so when the girl let out a groan that completely caught Faval off guard, snapped out of his trance a few moments later. Relinquishing the arrow that the girl was so lovingly caressing her face with, Faval quickly and frantically slid away from her, hoping that some kind of distance would allow him to clear his head. It did, a little bit, not enough to make any lasting impact but he felt the blood circulating through his brain a little more efficiently. He was afraid he had offended her though by trying to feel so suddenly and returned her gaze with an apologetic, confused look as he desperately tried to shake loose the cobwebs in his head. Faval had never seen a snake person in Zeltiva before and considering that she had managed to wander in to a spot no one ever went to, he wasn’t sure she was really from around here. So, as per usual, Faval extended an invitation whose implications he was ignorant to. He simply wanted to make up for offending her by running away when she got close. He didn’t want her to think that he thought she smelled or something...yes that’s the reasoning they were going with.

“Do you have anywhere to stay in Zeltiva? I need to get back and I don’t want to leave you out here by yourself…I’m afraid you’ll actually get hit by a stray arrow or a sword or something…”

Faval only realized after he said that how it could be possible interpreted as offensive. He had no idea how sensitive people of his own race were, much less those of others and he knew plenty of humans who were fiercely proud of their ability to survive on their own. Faval, quickly trying to cover up his potential blunder, quickly stammered out more words.

“Not that you couldn’t find a place to stay on your own or…something or yeah…I just figured giving you a roof for the night would be the least I could do for almost shooting you…if you want to find something on your own more power to you and…stuff.”

by **Kressha** on June 24th, 2012, 6:05 am

Kressha blinked as the arrow was released and she left holding it. That hadn't been what she was aiming for, and she looked down at it confused for a moment. How strange, just that simple act of releasing the weapon to her had her... Well, confused. She heard Faval move away a moment later and she lifted her gaze back up to look at him. A smile touched at her lips and she shook her head as she slowly pushed herself back up to her feet. "Ssso jumpy." She said, a playful tone in her voice. Stepping closer to him again, she stops about a foot or so away from him and holds out the arrow he had left with her. She was nearly a foot shorter than him, not quite, but close. "Here, I have my own, ssough I ssink yoursss get put to better ussse." She felt her head tilt a little again and her smile grew. "Maybe if later if you feel better around me, perhapsss you can help me get better with my bow?"

Once the arrow was returned to him, she turns and walks away from him back over toward her boots she had left in the sun. Her grin returned to her lips and she actually did a little almost excited jump. The leather would be nice and warm around her feet after soaking up the sun. Not that she was cold or anything, just she just so very much loved being warm. Guess that was another bit of her snake side that showed through. Slipping her feet in, she peeks back over at Faval. "No, I don't have a place yet, I jussst got in off one of the ssshipsss before I met you. I wanted to relax a little before trying to find a place to ssstay." Standing again, she turns and looks at him. "You'd let me ssstay wiss you even ssough I ssscare you?" She didn't comment on his statement of her getting shot or stabbed or any kind of maiming getting done to her while out here. She knew better now. Perhaps she she was just sleep and that was why she hadn't been careful on coming up to him? "A place to ssstay would be much apprechiated. Isss ssere a place I can keep Rahhala?" She didn't elaborate on who Rahhala was at first before she scrunched up her brows and shook her head a little. "Rahhala isss my horssse. I mossst likely would have ssrew up a tent out here sssomewhere after exploring."

by **Faval** on June 24th, 2012, 6:00 pm

“No, it’s alright; you don’t really scare me so much as…make me nervous. Let’s go with that. I don’t mind putting you up for a few days until you can find something more homey.”

It was really the only question Faval directly knew how to answer. He had no idea what kind of bow she used and the techniques for wielding a long bow were, while similar, not synonymous with the use of something like say…a short bow. There wasn’t much more that Faval could impart with that weapon outside of basic techniques that were applicable to all bows and…most people who practice archery would know those. Faval took his arrow back and threw away the broken one before returning the ammunition to his quiver while he pondered what to do with a horse. He had never ridden one before so he never really had cause to know. He imagined there was a stable somewhere for travelers to the city that would take care of the horse for her. Then again, Faval didn’t know transporting horses was a normal occasion for ships and he was kind of surprised that it happened. Perplexed, Faval put forth the best and really only answer that came to mind.

“Well, there’s probably a stable of some sort near the city gates, traveling by horse is pretty common so it’d make sense for there to be one. We can go check if you’d like. If not, I should probably be getting home.”

And it wasn’t a lie just to get out of an awkward situation either. Faval really did have to get home soon here. He had to set out to look for a new job in the morning and it was not going especially swimmingly. He needed to find some sort of mercenary work and quickly if he wanted to be able to keep paying for the place he was inviting her to. Life kind of sucked that way.

by **Kressha** on June 24th, 2012, 6:34 pm

Kressha smiled at his answer and gave a small nod of her head. She didn't really see the difference between being nervous and scared, both made you uncomfortable. Mentally shrugging her shoulders, she moved closer to him. "I really appreciate it, I will try to find a place for myssself asss sssoon asss I can." She didn't know the city all that well and honestly didn't know how long she would be staying there, at least through the summer that was for sure. Once it got more toward fall would be when she'd decide if she'd stay through winter or head south.

She didn't press him with her suggestion that he help her with her bow. Even though she's had it in her possession for some time now, she'd only used it a few times and, lets be honest, her aim wasn't that great. It'd probably do her some good to do as he had done, just find a tree and make it smile, but she didn't have that kinda patience. Going out somewhere alone to work on a skill just to improve it sounded boring. She needed something to help spice up the time. When she traveled between cities, she often found herself occupied with meeting the people, chatting and having a little fun off to the side. One could sure tell where Kressha's priorities stood.

"Isss the ssstable on the way to your houssse?" She asked, starting toward the beach again. Father down the beach she had left her mount along with all the stuff she carried along with her. Rahhala had her lead tied loosely around a tree just inside the treeline while all her supplies sat on the ground beside her. All of her things were packed neatly in the assorted bags that hung from either side of her saddle while her bedroll, tent and tarp were rolled up tightly and secured just behind the saddle. She hadn't been sure how long she was going to bask in the sun, so she had removed the saddle from the mount so it could be at ease too. Venturing so far away from her hadn't been planned though and as she got closer she let out a small sigh as she saw her pack hadn't been touched.

Stepping up to the mare, she smoothed her hand down the side of her neck before looking back at Faval. "Thisss is Rahhala." She said before turning to admire the beast. Rahhala's coat was a pale cream color that ended at four nearly even socks down toward her hooves. Her mane and tail were both a dull white color and hidden just under her forelock was a small white star in the center of her forehead. Kressha took pride in her mouth, she liked pretty things after all and the mare was defiantly pretty.

by **Faval** on June 24th, 2012, 7:43 pm

Faval nodded in acknowledgement as she accepted his offer of room and board for a short while and promised to find her own place which, despite him only knowing her for an incredibly short time, made Faval a little disappointed that she’d possibly be leaving soon. It wasn’t often that you stumble across a beautiful woman in the middle of nowhere who wanders in to town and happens to be interested in rooming with you for awhile. That thought led to the next however, what the hell was Faval thinking? He was right, it wasn’t often that this sort of things happened and that was because people usually weren’t idiotic enough to invite complete, weird strangers in to their home so easily and readily, despite how attractive they were. It was an incredibly dumb thing for him to do, but he had already done it and despite the misgiving outrage in his head at the fact that he had done it, a rather large part of him was glad that he threw sanity to the wind and offered it anyway. He was interested in learning more about the snake people; he was woefully ignorant of many things she could teach him.

Faval followed her as she set off down the beach, leading him toward her horse and what could be assumed were her possessions. Thankfully, Faval could not read minds well enough to be annoyed at the horse being defiantly pretty instead of definitely, because the former means that someone else demanded it be ugly and it was rebelling. The horse was a rather beautiful creature despite Faval having less appreciation for them than he probably should. Faval had grown up poor and had never left Zeltiva, there was no reason for him to own a horse and consequently, he knew very, very little about them. Faval stretched out his hand and gently touched the mane of the horse, that he was reminded was named Rahhala, a childish fascination in his eyes. Not interrupting his contact with the horse to speak, Faval answered her question.

“Not directly, but it isn’t really that long of a detour, five minutes tops.”

Faval finally broke contact with the horse to look back at the other beautiful creature on the beach, his face getting slightly red at the thought before bringing himself back on track. He had already did something stupid and invited her to use his apartment to stay in until she found better lodging without knowing anything about her, but that shouldn’t stop him from finding out more about her after the fact either.

“What brings you to Zeltiva anyway?”

by **Kressha** on June 24th, 2012, 8:20 pm

Kressha didn't mind him touching Rahhala as she moved around and crawled under the mare's head toward her pack. Bending down, she did a quick inspection to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be before she stood, the saddle pad in her hands. "I will have to find a way I can repay you for your kindnessss." She said as she stood on her toes to make sure he wasn't right up against Rahhala before she threw the pad in place. Making sure it was right up against the base of her neck, she picked up the saddle next. With all the stuff she had packed onto it, it weight a bit much, though it wasn't a problem for her. Lifting it high enough over her head to get it on Rahhala's back was a different story. Being short did have its downsides. Occasionally she got lucky and there was something she could stand on to get the pack up, but the beach looked rather scarce of larger rocks or inclines. So instead, she made a small clicking sound with her tongue and Rahhala's head lifted for a moment and turned to look at Kressha. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you know what I want you to do." She said, the lack of ss's in her statement making her nearly sound human for the most part again. She made the sound again and Rahhala let out a snort before jerkedly lowering herself to the ground. Bracing the saddle against her knee, she readjusted the pad as it had shifted in Rahhala's movement before lifting the saddle and setting it in place. She shifted it around a bit until it set nicely in the curve of the mare's back. "Watch out..." She said, glancing over at Faval as she kept one hand on the side of the saddle while the other went and tapped Rahhala under her neck. Two gentle taps upward was her signal to get back to her feet and she did just that.

With the saddle in place, she went about securing it around her stomach as she spoke. "Itsss a new city." She said vaguely before jerking on the belt for the saddle to make sure it was as tight as it was going to go. "I like to travel and sssee new placesss, meet new people..." She buckled the strap into place then lowered the stirrups into their right place. "Wasss in Sssunberth last. That place isss interesssting." Moving from the other side of Rahhala, she came into Faval's view again and smiled. "Do you like to travel?"

Looking behind her, she scanned the area her pack had been, making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind before she undid the lead from the tree. With that in hand, she pulled Rahhala away from the tree and turned in the direction of where the city was. Hopefully the stable prices weren't too high. If she couldn't afford it, she'd have to turn Faval down at his offer to stay at his place and camp out on the beach like she had originally planned on doing. Peeking over at the boy, she assured herself she'd at least have enough for a few nights. If not, it wasn't like she couldn't off to have him stay out in the tent with her. She smirked at the thought. Her tent was plenty big enough, she'd made sure she had one large enough that she'd still fit comfortable inside if and when she shifted to her Dhani form.

by **Faval** on June 24th, 2012, 9:32 pm

"Don't need to repay me; it's the right thing to do."

And it was, even if it was rather stupid. It was annoying how often the “right” action was one in the same with the “stupid” one. Faval stepped away from the horse and watched quietly as the woman arranged her gear and placed the saddle on to the horse’s back, Faval paying especially close attention to how she prepared the horse. The boy tended to be fascinated with things he was completely ignorant to and he did wholeheartedly enjoy learning new things. He had no doubt that he would eventually be stuck riding a horse, so it was probably in his best interests to learn as much about them from just watching as he possibly could. Faval took a few more steps away as she called to him and made sure he was clear of whatever was going to be flying his way. Faval continued to study closely as she answered his question while she was finishing up saddling her horse, both due to the aforementioned eagerness to learn and because he honestly did not know how to answer her question right away, the horse was more interesting to him.

Faval was born in Zeltiva, raised in Zeltiva…the word raised being used very, very relatively, and had spent his whole life in Zeltiva. He had often dreamed over visiting other places or finding exciting discoveries out there in the world that didn’t have to do with mercantilism, ships, or things like reading and writing. Oh how he loathed how many books were in Zeltiva. Regardless though, Zeltiva was all he knew and he did thoroughly enjoy it here and every time he dreamt of leaving, he remembered that he was in fact happy here and there was no reason to risk the venture. Even after he was left unemployed he continued to always come back to staying in Zeltiva as the smartest choice, regardless of his traveling dreams. Faval let a light sigh escape him as he worked out the words to answer her question.

“I don’t know if I like traveling, I’ve never done it. I’ve been in Zeltiva my whole life…I don’t know what other places or people are like so…I have no idea if I’d like anywhere but Zeltiva.”

Faval had been too busy formulating his answer to notice the smirk on the woman’s face, but his apartment certainly was not big enough to facilitate a transformation in to a giant snake monster so for the sake of everyone she should probably keep the attractive, human form she had now unless they were back in her tent. Faval didn’t have the money to pay for a destroyed room.

by **Kressha** on June 24th, 2012, 10:07 pm

Kressha smiled and gave him a soft nod of her head. Despite him being 'nervous' about her, he was trying to do the best thing, be nice to her. That defiantly gave him brownie points. She missed the look of fasination on his face as she went about getting the gear all in the right place on Rahhala's back. "Well, don't ever sssay you don't like sssomessing jussst becaussse you've never tried it. Could be sssurprisssed at what one actually enjoysss doing." She knew that from experience. One of her more favorite activities she had grown up thinking she wouldn't like.

Moving around to Rahhala's other side so she wasn't walking between them, she gave Faval another smile before tugging slightly on the lead and started for the city. "Other placesss are nice, I've been to a few. I'm sssure you can imagine I prefer sse warmer areasss." She holds up on of her hands while walking. "Like ssat place up north..." She looks over at him, her brows raised a little. "Do you know ssat it alwaysss sssnowsss up ssere?" She scrunches up her nose and shakes her head. "Nope, didn't like it ssere at all, didn't even ssstay a full ssseassson. If you like warmss like I do, go sssouss. Ahnatep in sse desssert isss wonderful." She smirked and looked down at the sand under their boots as they walked. "Ssisss sssand isss warm, but sse sssand down ssere getsss ssso hot, almossst feelsss like your feet are on fire."

She talked a little more on Ahnatep and how warm it was, that was clearly what determined if she liked a place or not. Coming up to the city gates that faced out onto the beach, she glanced over at Faval. "Ssso isss sse ssstable clossse by here? If you need to return home sssooner, I can find it on my own." Stables were stables, they didn't normally differ from one city to the next. The question on if she'd be able to find where he lived afterwords was the question. Even if he gave her a map, she'd probably get side tracked easily and not end up making it there at all.

by **Faval** on June 25th, 2012, 12:05 am

Faval nodded in response as she said what he had already known. He had no idea if he would like travelling, so that’s what he said. He wasn’t closing doors or anything of the sort and it wasn’t from a place of enjoyment that he stayed in Zeltiva, it was from a place of practicality. He needed things like money and transportation if he wanted to go anywhere and those were things he did not actually have. He didn’t have the means to even take care of a horse for transportation if he could afford to buy one, so there was a whole laundry list of reasons why he hadn’t traveled at all in his life and none of them were because he disliked the concept. Faval’s eyes swerved to see her move around her horse and closer to him and oddly, it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as it was before. Faval was actually starting to like being close to her as strange as that was, but the thought was put from his mind as she started speaking in a manner that Faval struggled to keep up with. The boy craned his neck slightly to see her face as she spoke, hoping in vain that being able to see her lips moving would help at all in understanding what she was saying. It might be that he really just wasn’t familiar with any climate other than Zeltiva’s and consequently her rambling was hard to follow, but he had been struggling with the woman’s peculiar speech for much of their encounter and the rambling wasn’t helping him keep track.

“Is Zeltiva considered warm or cold…? Comparatively? I also can’t just leave you out here, you’d have no idea where to go in Zeltiva if I did.”

Having been nowhere else, Faval had no idea whether or not Zeltiva was hot or cold compared to other places. To him, it was just always comfortable. Faval signaled for her to turn and gently, without thinking, slid his hand in to hers and pulled her by the hand to his right, signaling the turn they needed to make to get to the Narvaen Stables. Before they made it all the way there though, Faval suddenly stopped and turned back to the girl and the horse, a concerned look on his face.

“I…sorta just remembered. The Stablemaster doesn’t usually board horses, the business is usually selling and raising them. I dunno if this is gonna work…”

by **Kressha** on June 25th, 2012, 12:37 am

Kressha smiled as he didn't move away from her as she got closer. Perhaps he was starting to like her? She really hadn't given him any reason to fear her, well, except that whole crawling stalk that she did. She smirked at that small recent memory. She saw his head move a little and felt his eyes on her lips. She figured why he was looking was because of how she spoke. Though, since she had his attention there, she slipped her tongue out momentarily to moisten her lips a little.

Figuring she was probably talking a little to much, she went quiet for a little bit before she heard his question. "Well, itsss not asss warm as Ahnatep, but it isss ssstill comfortable. But it isss sssummer now, ssso I don't know what it will be like once fall or winter come around." She shrugged her shoulders a little then smiled. "Ever sse gentelman, aren't you?" Here she kept giving him chances to back down out of his offer but he wouldn't take them.

She was busy thinking on all the little things she had started to like about the boy; his hair, his eyes, his skill with the bow, how he blushed... She was caught off guard as her hand was grabbed and he pulled her to the side. Laughing a little, she pulled on the Rahhale's lead to get the mare to follow along so she wasn't in the way of any other citizens in the street. Letting her fingers curl loosely around his hand, she didn't mention his little action and just followed along with him. It gave her the chance to watch him from behind without having to watch where she was going, which she didn't complain about.

When he suddenly stopped and turned to face her, Kressha nearly walked right into him before she stopped herself. Her mind had been... elsewhere. Rahhale didn't make that goof and came to a slow stop just behind her, her larger head hanging over her shoulder now. The look of concern on his face had her head tilting a little. "What'sss wrong..." She said before raising her brows a little and smirking. Here they'd walked nearly all the way there, or well, that's what she figured, and they probably wouldn't even be able to watch Rahhale for her. "Well, ssat could be a problem then. If ssere isssn't a place at your houssse for her, I'll have to ssset up my tent back on the beach. Can't jussst leave her to wander the ssstreetsss. Itsss ok, I don't mind ssstaying in my tent." Looking down at his hand that was still clasping hers, she smiled and brushed her thumb over the back of his palm, drawing his attention down to where he was holding her. "You could ssstay with me, ya know. Ssat clearing I found you in wasss rasser nice and sser would be ssshade for Rahhale."