Goodbye, Farewell, Until Another Time (Pygmy)

by **Kayiri** on June 11th, 2010, 6:21 am

(1st of Summer, 510 AV)

Kayiri was lounging lazily on the edge of his slowly moving Pavilion, examining the muscles he had built up working for Atticus through the Spring. It had been good, hearty, honest work, and he found himself thinking about just how much he would miss the old man. A smile played it's way across his young, heavily tanned features.

Kayiri was topless at the moment, he had simply been too lazy to put on a shirt for something as aimless as sitting on the edge of a moving Pavilion. With a loud yawn, he rolled over onto his back, closing his eyes, his head resting on the shaking wooden Pavilion. He didn't care, it was his home, and he found the constant moving ever so assuring.

As he was trying to drift off to sleep, a strange thought entered his head. Vanator was getting married, he remembered hearing the news, but he couldn't remember to whom. God, it had been ages since he had seen the man. Could it be Pygmy? She had been living with him, after all. With another yawn, he sat back up, his eyes scanning the horizon.

by **Dhanya** on June 19th, 2010, 7:01 pm

It wouldn't have been difficult to miss her at first, sitting stationary and looking out over the Sea. Her eyes were unfocused and red, blind to what was before her. Pygmy was barely a hundred yards away from Kayiri and yet miles away. The young man couldn't see her horse anywhere, so she had walked out on her own and away from the Emerald Pavilion. The only bright part of her was her tunic, which was a rich blue.

Kayiri could probably see how odd it was that Pygmy had yet to notice him, he had never seen her look so dull. Her wild anima seemed to have fled to newer pastures, leaving some sort of husk behind.

The wind spread out across the Sea, ruffling the grass into fluid waves. It carried the scents of distant regions with it, the cooking smells of the surrounding pavilions, the sounds of animals and men. The wind brought a leaf, which fell at Pygmy's feet, unnoticed.

It was a startling sight indeed. It was as if she was someone else, a statue or a changling.

Sorry! :

by **Kayiri** on June 20th, 2010, 3:36 am

There, not too far away, someone dressed in bright blue. Something called to him. He didn't know what, but something did. Tilting his head in that curious manner of his, he rose to his feet, jumping from the moving Pavilion and jogging casually across the open expanse of grass.

His suspicion was proven correct. It was someone he knew and, quite oddly, it was the person whom he had just a moment ago been thinking about. The Gods had an odd sense of humor indeed.

"Pygmy!" he shouted once he thought she could hear him, picking up his pace so he was at her side sooner. As he continued to get closer, he began to realize that she was looking more and more strange. Something was wrong, his gut declared it as simply as that.

"Pygmy, dear, what is wrong?" he finally declared worriedly, dropping to a knee before her, a frown of worry across his face. "Did you have no where to spend the night? All you had to do is ask! Come on, let's go inside for a moment, you look horrible. Parched, sad, hungry, and I have no doubt that you have a story to tell to explain all of this," his voice was kind, and overfilling with friendly worry. He rose to his feet, offering her his hand to help her up.

by **Dhanya** on June 21st, 2010, 12:33 pm

Pygmy heard Kayiri coming, pulled between her usual desire to be found and her self-imposed solitude. It seemed she had no space left around her melancholy. As with the days before, she was dwelling in it. She found it difficult to do anything else, while she grieved for old hopes.

"Hi." She said, trying to fake a smile for Kayiri as he was her friend. "I just went for a walk, I'm staying with a friend. I'm in a shitty mood, is all."

She wrapped her arms around her knees, feeling the tears well again. She could feel that speaking the reason for her mood would only upset her more, so she decided not to.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. Want to sit for a while?" She asked, looking at the older man and then her feet.

She felt as if she was walking tiptoe in the world and any mild unkindness would send her falling off her fragile balance. She had never been so fragile before. Pygmy didn't like the feeling.

by **Kayiri** on June 23rd, 2010, 12:02 am

Something was wrong, of that he was even more certain. Pygmy didn't act like this, ever. When he said ever, he meant bloody ever. He frowned, sitting down next to the girl, placing a friendly arm around her shoulders. Kayiri simply sat there for a long moment, before asking his next question.

"What brought on the shitty mood, dear?" he finally asked in a soft tone. "You've never been like this before. Something must have happened, and believe me, whoever made you this upset will have hell to pay," Kayiri was highly defensive of his friends, and he had every intention of somehow carrying out what he had said.

"Are you sure you want to go, Pygmy? You can stay with me for a while, we have more than enough room. In fact, any time you need some place to stay, come here, I'll let you stay for any time you want," Kayiri then added, nodding assuredly at the end.

by **Dhanya** on July 8th, 2010, 8:48 am

Pygmy buried her chin in her knees, even mumbled Kayiri could hear her perfectly well.

"Van's getting married to some lady." Pygmy said, voice raw and sharp. "I wanted him to be with me."

So badly it made her teeth hurt. She wanted to spend every hour of every day with him. She couldn't seem to help it. This wasn't first love but it was stronger than anything else she'd ever felt.

"I thought he wanted me too..." Pygmy pressed her forehead into the tops of her legs, tears now overflowing.

She cried quietly. It was a sad and sorry thing to hear.

She didn't reply to his offer to stay, the only thing she wanted now was to get away as soon as she could. She would miss him but she couldn't spend another week in Endrykas.

by **Kayiri** on July 12th, 2010, 7:14 pm

Heartbreak. Something Kayiri had only experienced once, and probably not to the extent Pygmy was experiencing it now. She had wanted him to be with her with every fiber of her being. He could hear it in the way she responded, the suddenness, the raw, unfiltered emotion, the tears that fell unhindered from her eyes.

So it wasn't her that he was to wedded to. It was to some other woman. He let a quiet shushing sound pass through his lips as she cried, keeping his arm around her shoulders in the brotherly, comforting way. He felt like he always did when someone was upset, like it was his job to make it right again, like it was his job to be their stalwart protector from whatever had hurt them.

But this time, he was presented with a problem. He wanted, more than anything, to exact some sort of vengeance against the person who had done this to her... but that person was another friend, and a dear one at that, one whom had aided him when he held no commitments to him, whom had aided him, yet gained nothing in the process.

Was it right for him to exact revenge against him on Pygmy's behalf? Was it right for him to pass on the chance as a silent form of repayment for what he had done for him? Kayiri decided he would have to ponder these things at another time, there were more pressing matters at hand right now.

Kayiri thought for a second of explaining the fact that his people often held more than one wife, but thought better of it. She probably knew, and he had no doubt Vanator would bring it up in his defense if she had not already confronted him.

He spoke without thinking.

"Pygmy, dear, listen to me," he said softly, ending the comforting hush he had been making. "The world is a harsh, harsh place, and I have little experience with the mistress love, but I can assume she sticks to the same principles as the world. I understand you're upset, anyone would be, even the most stoic individual, but maybe it just... just wasn't meant to be. We spend our whole lives searching for friends, acceptance, and love, and throughout our lives we feel we've found each many times, only to have them stolen from us," he paused, thinking.

"You just have to keep on going on. It's a test, a test to see if you can endure the darkest pits life throws you into while waiting for that one beam of light to break through. Don't let heartbreak change who you are, or being betrayed soil your opinion of a whole people or gender, if that betrayal be so extreme. Just keep on going, keep on being who you are, and someday, you'll find what you want right in front of you, be it friends who will care about you until you pass on, people who will accept you for who you are, flaws and merits both, or someone who will love you unconditionally, who will go to the ends of the Earth as long as you stand by their sides."

Gah, he felt like he wasn't getting what he wanted to get across out. That was the thing, he didn't know just what he was trying to get across. Kayiri felt like a bumbling idiot, like he always did when he was trying to get something emotional, something meaningful across. He fell silent for a long moment, and then spoke again.

"I guess I'm trying to say that you should keep moving, and anyone who says otherwise? Tell them to piss off, because you are who you are, to the day you die. You're a wonderful young lady. You're a beautiful singer, a wonderful dancer. You're kind, you're funny, you're a joy to be around, a bundle of energy... Don't let anyone change that, no matter how important you think they are," a chuckle escaped his lips.

"I talk too much."

by **Dhanya** on July 14th, 2010, 1:31 pm

There were some moments in life where the right words were the ones that made you weep. Pygmy's sadness, her desperation, was not going to dissipate then but for the first time, she could see that there was light at the end of this dark day. Kayiri had given her a more generous estimation of her worthiness than anyone had before him. It was worth more than all the money she had that he had looked at her and seen someone of value.

"No you don't." She sobbed, sniffling loudly as the tears dripped down her cheeks.

She threw her arms around him and wailed, sorry about the whole mess she had gotten herself into. Sorry too that it would be a long time before she saw Kayiri again, if she ever saw him again. His words had been overwhelming. Normally Pygmy's ego was a protective facade, at heart a joke and a lie. Her forceful nature was a necessity without a basis. She usually thought highly of herself because she though no one else would or could.

Now, it seemed someone did.

"I'm going to miss you!" She said, hiccuping her words.

All her crying was exhausting and no doubt confronting. Even if it was difficult to watch, Kayiri had given her some strength again. He had done her a kindness, one she would remember for the rest of her life when times were bad.

by **Kayiri** on July 14th, 2010, 10:35 pm

Kayiri continued to let forth the soothing shhing sound pass through his lips as she began to wail, closing his eyes once more. "It's okay," he said protectively, in his quiet tone.

"I'll miss you too, Pygmy. I honestly will," he said quietly, trying to stay strong. She was a great friend, and he would indeed miss her. Kayiri remained silent, deciding right now it was just best to comfort her some more.

When he felt the time was right, he spoke once more. "Where do you plan on going? Do you at least have someone to escort you out of the Sea of Grass? It's not safe to be out there on your own, Pygmy. At least let me show you some of the tunnels we still own that will take you whichever direction you plan on going," his voice was rife with concern, as he was very, very conscious of the dangers the Sea bore for all who traveled it.

by **Dhanya** on July 17th, 2010, 3:19 pm

"I'm heading out to the desert." She said, voice hoarse. "I'm going with a caravan, I think I'll be fine. Maybe you can show me just in case?"

She had thought of going to Riverfall but the word was that Van had a sister there and for all she knew, leaving now would just mean being followed. It wouldn't be unreasonable for him to go visit his kin after getting married and Pygmy just didn't want to see it. She was not sure she was mature enough to accept his happiness when it came at the expense of her own.

Her dreams the night before had centered on the world set to burn. Though her fear of the flames had almost overwhelmed her, she had welcomed immolation. She'd woken up hot and covered in sweat and disappointed she was still alive.

She kept thinking about it.

"Maybe I'll come back sometime..." She said, unsure of whether she'd offered the suggestion before or whether she was repeatedly trying to reassure the both of them that this wasn't the ending it was.