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[Khida]

Fall 24, 512 AV The day wore on, sunlight gradually shading through gold to amber. There were some bells yet to sunset, perhaps two, and the air as warm as it would get this day. With the city's many tents acting to baffle the plains winds in all directions, the atmosphere in their midst was quite pleasant -- comfortably warm, free of all chill. Most agreeable, provided one did not take exception to the other major components of Endrykas ambiance: the sounds of a thousand conversations, of vendor and seller bickering over price, of horses nickering to one another and to the humans they lived with; and also the smells, in some areas stronger than others, ranging from the aromas of wool and leather through the scents of human and horse, here and there overcome by the odors of the very wares being sold. Khida had visited several parts of the city in past days, a generally little-remarked presence atop one tent pole or another. People tended to assume that the falcon belonged to somebody -- why else would it linger around human activity? It had good manners, too, quite and unobtrusive; if only certain people might take its example to heart! But Khida knew nothing of the little conversation which was conducted about her. She could see what the various people did, setting out goods for sale and barter, discussing terms animatedly with one another, closing deals and parting ways. The language of business among these Drykas remained unfamiliar -- oh, she knew its cadence well by now, but the rapid patter of fluent speakers was impossible for her to untangle. She could not pick out the meanings of words, when she could even distinguish one from the next, and so she remained ignorant. As of yet, she didn't find her ignorance cause for much grief. On this particular afternoon, Khida had found what might now be her favorite place in the entire sprawling city -- a cluster of tents filled with Drykas who had gone to the coast bright and early that morning, and now sold the products of their fishing to those souls who had remained behind but still wished to enjoy a taste of the sea. Cleaned and washed, the silvery shapes were laid out on a simple table in the shade of a canopy, as cool as might easily be managed. They nonetheless managed to gleam despite the lack of sunlight. From her vantage point atop the opposite stall, Khida could pick out three species she knew from the south, all the more memorable for her inability to catch them herself. They made for a sorely tempting view.

[Elvyne Shaakri]

Elvyne had never appreciated the stench of fish. Especially fish that had been lain out on market stalls for the entirety of the day - and with the stillness that had accompanied this afternoon, there was very little to push the smell out from under Elvyne’s nose. She approached the fishmonger with a slightly false smile on her lips - not wanting to cause offence.

But the podgy man behind the stall only laughed at her forced politeness, and tapped this nose of his own nose, ”You get used to it,”. He waited for Elvyne to inspect at his catches, then he lowered his voice, ”I’m sorry about your loss, Elvyne.”

Of course. In Endrykas, everyone knew everyone, or at least one’s spouse - be they alive or dead. Elvyne responded in the same way as she had done every other time someone spoke to her about her husband; smile a little, nod and say thank you. She hurried her choice of fish after that - something she didn’t particularly enjoy doing for the risk of sickness.

”…Terrible, really. I know the mother of one of them, and she’s sick with worry.”
“I would be too. When people go missing, they rarely come back.”
“Well, yes! Look at that Shaakri Clearstone, he never returned did he?”

Suddenly, she felt very sick to the pit of her stomach.

[Kai]

It was a well deserved break for Kai. She had worked all morning, very hard indeed, on her weaving and her mother was very proud that she managed to retain concentration upon her task for more than two hours this time. It was truly her record. Despite being a lady now, Kai still had the soul of a little boy who yearned to play in the sea of grass all day. But this was also a time of rest for Papus, her beautiful strider mare.

So without anything specific to do, Kai wondered though the tents and into the market. At once the stench of fish hit her nostrils. Ignoring it, she settled own in the shade of a nearby tent and precoded to eat an apple she had earlier stolen from her brother. He wouldn't be angry with her. After all, she was the little gem of the family.

Perhaps it was Kai's keen seances (but perhaps not) that allowed her to notice the large bird hovering around the tents as if they were trees. It's eye fixed on the silvery glow of the fish. Kai laughed to her self. She was tempted to throw the bird some fish, but she wasn't yet ready to get up off the round. A lazy afternoon indeed. And upon this thought she noticed that the bird looked somewhat familiar.

[Khida]

The glimpse of a half-familiar profile distracted Khida from her contemplation of the fish stall. The falcon turned her head to focus on it, and found below the red-haired woman she'd seen in the grasslands some days ago. She tipped her head, peering down at the woman, watching her interactions with the vendor. She thought, perhaps, that something made the redhead unhappy -- but the words told her nothing, and it was surely nothing to concern her besides. The peregrine redirected her attention back to its original target -- the fish on display. She didn't yet see the girl, off to one side and beneath the cover of another tent. What Khida did notice, most certainly, was the fish-vendor's distraction. He had a customer to sell to, after all... and a falcon across the way was no threat to his wares. Not usually -- but she was not a usual falcon. Khida shrugged her wings up, as if preparing to take flight. She hesitated, glanced at the vendor; checked the direction of his gaze, checked that the red-haired woman was focused on the fish before her. Only after that did she push off from her perch and swoop gently downwards, under the canopy shielding the fish from sun's light. With twitches of her wingtips, she wove in between the red-haired woman and a corner pole, landing in a flurry of wings on the tail end of a modest-sized fish -- one on the small side of medium, its flanks dappled in greenish-brown. She wasn't greedy, after all. Her talons bound in the flesh just before its tail, she made to take off again -- but the vendor, shouting in surprise and outrage, reflexively clapped his hand down on the fish's head. Khida didn't snap at him, but flapped her wings and pulled, trying to get the fish away, giving voice to her frustration when it proved difficult: chee-chee-chee. His grip by chance proved to be rather firm; firm enough that after a moment more of struggle, she gave up and unclenched her talons. In the same moment, his hand slipped. As the falcon winged back up towards her former perch, she retained enough traction to drag the fish away but not enough to keep hold of it after. The result of their tug-of-war was that nobody won: the fish merely fell to the dirt in a limp splat.

[Viper]

Aaden had been riding hard for some time when he finally had caught sight of Endrykas. Pulling back on the reigns and bringing his strider to a hault, he rested for a moment simply taking in the sight as he and his horse breathed heavily in the pleasant afternoon sun. He was technically in no hurry whatsoever. But ever since the loss of his wife and unborn child shortly after the massive Djed Storm, he had been searching for some way to make up for his "failing".

His family tried to comfort him, and explain his loss wasn't his fault, but nothing helped. He was unable to calm this depressing restlessness he now had. Finally pushing on, he was just entering the marketplace when he caught sight of the "falcon" attempting to steal the fish from the now angry fish vendor. He was taken aback by how brazen the bird was to go after the target head on like that. Still, although he admired the creatures tenacity, times were tough. Food was hard enough to come by without some bird snatching up what precious little was available for itself.

Abruptly bringing his horse to a stop, he quickly grabbed an arrow from his quiver, and bow from around his chest. Taking careful aim, Aaden simply followed the magnificent predator for a time, but didn't loose his arrow. A memory of his wife flashed through his mind in that moment. She had always wanted a falcon to train and keep. With a small sigh, he lowered his bow and put the weapon away.

He watched it for a moment longer before he turned and trotted up to the fish vendor who seemed understandably upset at the loss of his fish, now unsellable due to the damage from the bird and taking a roll in the dirt. Dismounting, he pulled out a few gold pieces and requested the fish he was about to throw away, much to the surprise of the vendor. The man wasted no time wrapping the damaged fish and quickly handing it over in exchange for the gold pieces.

Mounting up once more, he turned and rode a few paces to the direction of where he saw the falcon land. He finally raised his head toward the direction of the falcon and smirked. With a quick nod of his head, he tossed the damaged fish on top of a nearby building so it could retrieve the fish in peace.

"Come on boy." He said tiredly to his strider. "Let's go find a place to rest up, shall we?" With that, they began to head off into town to find accomodations.

ooc-4 GM for not so fresh...anymore...fish)

[Elvyne Shaakri]

Elvyne made a small, shocked noise at the sight of the Falcon. These are getting awfully common, was her initial thought - only the other day, she had seen one flying of the Sea of Grass. She grimaced as she watched bird and man scrabble over the fish, and quickly stepped aside when the fish landed with a somewhat comical slop into the mud.

She was even more shocked though, when a man purchased the soiled fish. Times cannot be that tough, surely, she thought to herself, gripping hold of her own purchased fish, suddenly aware of thieving birds dropping from the sky. Both Elvyne and the fishmonger watched the man ride off, seemingly happy with the purchase - until he threw it onto the top of a nearby pavilion. That makes more sense, she realised, a little relieved for the strange man - and his digestive system.

As she watched the charitable stranger ride off, her attention returned back to the gossiping women. Unfortunately, they had been even more disgusted by the falcon and fish scenario, and had moved elsewhere to continue their gossiping. Damn, Elvyne thought, desperate to learn more about these missing hunters.

[Kai]

Kai had watched the man's generosity with absolute pleasure. It warmed her heart to think that there were other people, apart from her, with so much love towards nature. And suddenly she was embarrassed that this random act of kindness was not performed by her.

Perhaps as a stroke of luck, yet perhaps it was the bird's doing; but a familiar head of red hair caught her attention. Without wasting a second Kai weaved though the crowd and reached the place where she was standing. "Hello." she said with a polite smile. "Was it you who I saw in the Sea of Grass last week?"

This was the nature of little Kai. Her curiosity knew no boundaries. Once she spotted something interesting, she would leave everything to investigate it.

[Khida]

The falcon settled back down on 'her' tentpole, working her way around until she once more faced the fishmonger's tent, talons digging into the wood. Her feathers remained fluffed out in disgruntlement, and she stared down at the tent -- even as the vendor, still half-stunned with incredulity, stared back up at her. He took a moment to get his thoughts together as the man with the horse abruptly paid for the soiled merchandise, but accepted the coin most readily. Khida watched him pay for the fish, watched him remount, watched him look up towards her -- and smirk, even; she could hardly miss the expression at this distance. Wariness cut through her irritated frustration, and the falcon poised for flight; when the wrapped fish came arcing up through the air, she didn't stop to gauge where it was going, but presumed the worst and launched herself upward. The falcon flew up and off to one side, banking around; as she turned, she saw that the fish had landed on top of the tent, not anywhere near where she'd been sitting. So he hadn't been throwing it at her. That was good to know. She didn't immediately settle back down, but continued to circle around their section of the market, apparently not as quick to accept the gift as she had been to consider stealing the very same item. Meanwhile, a boy of around eight or ten years old ran boldly up to the rider's horse, skidding to a graceless halt near its shoulder. "Hey, mister, is that your bird? Where'd you get it?"

[Viper]

As he began to trot off into town he noticed his actions had garnered the attention of a few bystanders. Not surprising he supposed. He guessed it wasn't often a person purchases a damged fish to feed a random falcon. Still, he gave a polite nod to the lady with the red hair, and then the youngster as he continued on.

The boy appearing suddenly by his horses side though, startled the strider and caused him to rear up a bit. Jerking the reins to the side the boy was not on, he quickly brought the horse back under control. "Easy Aeyan! He's just a child...easy." Turning his attention to the young boy, he smiled and said in a friendly tone, not angry at all by the surprise, "Better be careful there boy. Aeyan here, can spook easy sometimes. Now what was that about a bird?" He paused for a moment as his previous actions came back to mind.

"Oh right!" He casts a glance behind him to see the falcon having once again taken to the skies. With a small smile, he turned back to the child. "No sir. That is not my falcon. I'm fairly certain it is as free as you and I. And what is your name?"

[Kai]

For a very young age, Kai had been fed good manners by her parents. Always be polite. Always try to help out. And satisfied with herself at greeting the red haired woman briefly, her attension suddenly turned back to the falcon and the mysterious kind stranger. After all, it wasn't often that such a random act of kindness can be witnessed in Endrykas.

She stood on her top toes to see where the man was and could not see his head in the sea of other heads in the market. He disappeared... No! She had spotted him on the back of a beautiful horse in the distance. And upon further investigation she had realised he was talking to a young boy whom she did not recognise.

Feeding her curiosity Kai decided to approach the man and the boy, listening closely to their conversation. "No sir. That is not my falcon. I'm fairly certain it is as free as you and I. And what is your name?" said the kind man on the horse. The manner with which he spoke was so polite, so... simply kind. For a moment she could not help but wonder what kind of upbringing this man had. Surely his parents had to have taught him good manners, just like her own did.

Coming a little closer there was a smile on her face, hoping that the two would not mistake her natural curiosity for rudeness.