Flashback Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Mihiya once again encounters Lydan

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Mihiya Darkmane on June 27th, 2013, 12:54 pm

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The pat on her head was heavy, but not unpleasant and she smiled up at Lydan when it occurred. His question about the children in her household made her nod. There were plenty of them running around. Sure, Korso and Brinlin were older, but their sister, demon that she was, was not. Aside from that, Chastral's brother had moved into their Pavilion temporarily bringing with him his three wives, one of whom had an infant in the arms and was pregnant again. She sighed, she hoped to never have children if it was as much work as her cousins and "siblings" were.

"Babies not know strength? Easy to hurt woman, but not mean too?" This she could understand. There were people in Endrykas who did not understand that what they perceived as a hug was a bone crushing experience for the young Drykas girl. Though this metaphor was, somewhat, inaccurate, to Mihiya it made perfect sense. She listened intently as Lydan explained how the Akalak men often raised their young. This must explain their skill as warriors, for fathers, in her experience, often promoted the learning of fighting arts and demanded the best out of their sons. Perhaps Lydan was no different in this regard.

"Akalak live long time, longer than most," Mihiya murmured when he mentioned how men and women didn't often stay together, "They no want attachments because women die sooner?" This made sense in her mind. Briseni's sister had often complained that the man who had sired her baby had grown distant as of late. He didn't touch her, didn't come to her bed (a concept that Mihiya only just understood), and absolutely refused to hear any discussion on having another baby. The first had been dangerous enough.

"Konti need babies too," Mihiya said as she thought about it, "Make sense to pick Akalak for babies. Akalak treat Konti well, give babies they want." It sounded both romantic and interesting to Mihiya, who had never seen a Konti before. Perhaps someday she would encounter one on her travels and question her on her culture the way that she was now questioning Lydan. She wondered if the man thought her questions rude, but only briefly. If he thought they were, he would send her away, as did most of the adults in her life.

"Ahhhh," was Mihiya's response as he explained the Nakivak women. She had not thought of it that way, how well they must have been treated by the Akalak who wanted children to carry on their bloodlines. She considered again, how difficult it must have been to carry on a bloodline with only males. Nakivak were more than likely, incredibly necessary, "Not bad deal, then."

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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Lydan Verdjak on June 29th, 2013, 7:15 am

"So, too many kids for you to get any real attention?" He looked at her now, eyes raised realization the question might strike a nerve, or offend. Though an apology or acknowledgment did not escape his lips afterwards. In reality, Lydan was unsure whether or not too envy her or sympathize, though he truly doubted the girl would need or want either. Perhaps him giving her attention alone would be enough for the girl, or it was just plain and simply none of his business. He shrugged it off mentally, deciding on his best response, "You can always come and complain to me if you want, Mihiya. Or well, if you're ever bored." The offer was good-natured, and the man offered a smirk to affirm it.

"Sometimes the baby is born with .. mental complications, and it can become angered easily." He didn't want to explain the 'light' and 'dark' personality concepts to Mihiya, but if she wished to elaborate into it, he was not going to lie or withhold information. The girl simply needed to know, for she might be in the business of bearing an Akalak child one day. It is in this way that Mihiya becomes less of a naïve individual one day, but her naïve nature was arguably her most lovable trait.

As Mihiya uttered the question, something broke in Lydan's easygoing, permanently smiling and go-lucky nature. His brow lowered and his eyes grew narrow, "..Yes." He said quietly, "Compared to all other races, even Konti." There was a sorrow in his tone, a fear and something that he felt he was going to loose sleep over. It was a nightmarish fact that he would one day be at the death bed of the mother to his children, ripe and healthy while she was shriveling away. He knew much of his life would be inevitably spent alone, without a wife or love to keep him company through the dark times he would one day suffer. It was a horror only those of his own race would have, horror to some, irk to others. But Lydan was a man of pent-up affection, he wanted to find a mate, despite his dismissals of his father's pressure.

He looked at Mihiya finally, pushing the thought out of his mind and raising an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose it isn't. It's the highest position a female can have in our society, aside from wife." And that's being the short-lived, permanent slave to an Akalak, or maybe love is somewhat involved. The Akalak smirked finally.
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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Mihiya Darkmane on June 30th, 2013, 12:07 am

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His treatment of her was kind, though she sensed he might be mocking her as he spoke of her lack of attention. She shrugged it off though, willing to forgive anything that the Akalak might do or say. Besides, his offer of being available for complaint was kind. She almost asked him if he would be willing to teach her, but thought better of it. No doubt, the man would worry that she would be hurt and he was clearly much too big to teach her himself. She would have to find a different mentor. Still, she smiled at his offer.

"That rude," she laughed as she thought about finding the Akalak man every time she had a complaint, "also, Lydan will spend too much time listening." She wasn't even sure she would be spending many more days in Riverfall. Briseni was growing anxious to return home, but the girl had yet to thoroughly explore the land and she didn't want to go home where everybody stared at the strange halfblood girl. She didn't get stared at here, perhaps because the Akalak were so gentlemanly towards woman (even young girls) or perhaps because the Akalak were blue and saw no reason why a darker skinned girl with darker features was any different than her tanned relations. It was refreshing.

"Mental...complications," Mihiya tried to think back as to how the Akalak baby in her family was. He seemed sweet enough, always playing, though his father kept Mihiya from him much of the time. Perhaps this was the reason, these mental complications. Would the baby hurt her? She couldn't imagine the sweet blue boy doing any such thing. Still, she supposed if Lydan believed that the babies were dangerous they must be, "Baby sweet when not crying," she said after a moment, "Maybe no mental complication." She knew that Lydan was probably not wrong about his own race, but maybe this Akalak would grow up without whatever some Akalak babies had.

The sadness in his tone made her want to hug him. She took a hesitant step forward and then one back. She wanted to reach out to him, to have him share his pain with her, but she wasn't sure how to go about it.

"No worry, Lydan," she tried to comfort him, though she sensed that she was giving him only meaningless words, and no real comfort.

"Making babies makes woman valuable," she nodded. This too was a very common concept in Drykas society. Perhaps not as emphasized as that of the Akalak men as there were indeed Drykas women, but life in the Sea of Grass was difficult and procreation was necessary in order to prolong the race. Therefore, a woman with children was indeed a very high status woman.

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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Lydan Verdjak on June 30th, 2013, 6:11 am

He was not mocking her, he knew his tone of voice and actions may of made it sound like this. But Lydan thought of Mihiya in such a way the worst of his actions would be teasing. And such was why he offered to be a listener to Mihiya, and as for mentoring, his reaction was not predictable. His eyes widened in a smile, though his prior one hadn't really faded. His head tilted with inquisition as she spoke, "Too bad I have a lot of time." There was a sense that Lydan would be disappointed if she told him about her soon-to-be departure, he adored Mihiya's company so much he may suffer emotional consequences if she were gone. But he knew he only met the Drykas girl a short time ago, and yet he was attached so quickly.

"Sometimes the baby can be born with two personalities, an extreme premature, luckily it is rare." He eyed Mihiya worriedly, wondering if perhaps the baby may of been born with the darker personality. If so he imagined things would be chaotic, or just generally eventful within the child's life. He could not help but be plagued with worry, he pushed it away at the moment, but knew it would come back to bite him and force him away from sleep. "That's good, the father is always best at recognizing what might trigger these .. personalities." He smiled, reassured for the moment.

But when Mihiya showed her softness towards him, the Akalak could not help but tenderly slide his arm around her, and then pull her into a gentle hug, "It's alright Mihiya, it's something unavoidable." He pat her back, keeping her into the embace even when she made the last remark, "This is true, I ponder when the day will be when a woman carries my child.""
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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Mihiya Darkmane on June 30th, 2013, 1:47 pm

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"True, lots of time. I complain to Lydan, if he want," she flashed him a broad smile, "Mean older brothers in Pavilion. Act like Ankals when only boys." She frowned after saying that. It was true that her brothers did act that way, though she knew only one of them would likely ever be Ankal and that would not be for awhile, as Chastral was still healthy and likely to take another wife soon. He was a strong man, her Ankal and his death was unforeseeable. "Briseni say 'boys are boys' and let them be mean. Tell me what to do," she gave a small snort at that "I better fighter than brothers." This was also true, for neither of her brothers could be bribed nor threatened to practice their fighting whereas Mihiya sought out people to teach her or made clumsy attempts on her own often.

"Two personalities?" her eyes widened at the prospect, "Lydan two people?" This concept was amazing and otherworldly in its own, for Mihiya had never heard of such a thing. This was little wonder as she had encountered only Lydan personally as far as Akalak went and if any of her older relatives knew of the duality of Akalak personalities, they did not share it with her. She wondered if all Akalak had it or if it just happened in the babies born with mental complications. Perhaps Lydan would explain more, for as far as she could tell Lydan's personality was as consistent as her own. A pleasing, gentle giant who treated her affectionately. She enjoyed his company immensely and was devising plans to return to see him often.

The hug made her feel very...welcomed, accepted perhaps. She snuggled into Lydan's embrace, nothing that the Akalak was anything but soft and cuddly. She did not mind the hard muscle that Lydan had, however, and she was pleased to be in his embrace. He was so sad sometimes that she wanted to help him, but she couldn't imagine an Akalak warrior being anything but sad, for it would have been terrible to know you would outlive everyone who was not Akalak by so long.

"Lydan have babies soon?" she wondered of him, for she had no idea how old the man was or even at what age most Akalak began to try and have babies. Mihiya knew in a few years men would begin to come to her Pavilion and ask for her hand. She would be courted and eventually she would be wed. She would bare babies to her husband. It was a path she did not want. Her heart's desire was to travel, her curiosity sated by learning what she could about her father BEFORE she was tied down with husband and child. Mihiya knew of obligations, however, and often tossed and turned at night considering her position. It was a battle that would haunt her often in the coming days.

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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Lydan Verdjak on July 2nd, 2013, 8:01 am

He replied with a grin towards Mihiya, she was adorably cute when she smiled, and he was glad that she did this so often around him. "No surprise there, I imagine Drykas society isn't very fair to women .. given you told me polyagamy was allowed with one or more wives." It was an assumption, and likely an offensive one, but Lydan didn't really have much of a clue about Mihiya's society or race .. or races. And it didn't matter all to much to him, he cared about her society enough just to know about where she was from and to hopefully not offend her. Unfortunately he knew his shrewdness would get ahead of him sooner or later, Lydan's maturity had it's frequenting slip-ups, but he tried. "While some would say, 'knock some sense into them,' or 'they're just little,' your best bet would be to wait until they outgrow it. At least the .. 'little kid meanness.' Depends on their age really."

"Yes, in almost all Akalak, starting from around the age of ten; their dark personality is just the 'less common one,' it isn't necessarily evil or even bad willed." He heaved a sigh out, "I know mine isn't, for one, I actually get along fairly well with him and let him .. voice a few things. I accept him as apart of me." He sounded fairly cool-headed about this, he was truly speaking his mind, "And he enjoys your company same as I do." The Light Lydan respected the Dark Lydan, and somewhat vice versa, the two really weren't necessarily very different people; it could be very hard to distinguish. And Dark Lydan wasn't as immature or bad as he used to be, the two had grown to tolerate one another's existence, at the moment their worst negative interaction was spiteful sarcastic debates. They both mutually trusted and understood one another, and due to Light Lydan's .. pacifist approach to true conflict of any sort (spars excluded), were rarely fighting with one another.

Lydan was an exception to the aggressive nature of Akalak, like many, he had repressed potential for emotional problems and there were some things that could penetrate his calm demeanor. They were unknowable to strangers and topics that not even his Darker Personality wished to delve into. However, Lydan was mentally constructed like a lover and not a fighter (with the exception of his secondary personality), he has never truly disliked any being, let alone hated. As he embraced Mihiya he begun to nuzzle his slightly bristle face across her soft and bronze one. Though knowing the irritation this causes to almost everyone's skin, he pulled his whisker-laden face away and simply took to embracing with his burly arms and soft chest. He dared not cry in front of The Darkmane girl, he was not at that stage yet where he was ready to make himself so vulnerable to her.

He flushed at Mihiya's question, his skin a crimson tint. "I have not met any woman willing to bear my children yet." The Akalak was ripe at the age where many Akalak typically begun to start being pressured to have children. He was a young adult in Akalak years, of which were remarkably long compared to that of humans and the other shorter-lived peoples. His father was already eager to have grand children, for he wanted a rise in status and a new little boy to adore. Or maybe a girl this time. Lydan was eager to settle down, but the parental pressure was unwelcome.
Last edited by Lydan Verdjak on July 4th, 2013, 6:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Mihiya Darkmane on July 3rd, 2013, 2:32 am

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"Not unfair, not enough men." Mihiya explained as she thought it. She considered her next words, "brothers are mean. Briseni doesn't see." She sighed as he suggested they might outgrow their "childish" meanness. They were men grown, by Drykas standards. They remained immature. "Never grow up. Still act like boys even though grown, one is to marry in Fall." Her brothers were difficult, and she tried to love them. She knew, though, that they only reason they treated her like that was because she was different. They didn't like her strangeness. There were plenty of mixed blood humans, but that was the catch: they were human.

"Glad for that," Mihiya said as he explained how he got along with his "dark" personality. It did not sound so bad, but in a baby, perhaps a dark personalty would be quite dangerous. She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Lydan was actually two people. She hadn't met a second version of him, but if what he said was true, she probably wouldn't notice if she had met a second version of him. The man was polite and kind. She liked him, liked spending time with him. She had already decided that if she ever returned to Riverfall she would definitely seek him out. Of course, they weren't leaving until the end of the season so she would try and spend time with him.

The light nuzzle made her giggle in his arms as he held her against him. She enjoyed spending time with Lydan, enjoyed the way he could make her laugh and how free he was around her. She didn't have as many close friends as a girl her age would like, and now she had gained one--no two! A two for one deal! It was spectacular and that thought made her giggles come once again. She stifled them quickly and looked up at the blue face of the giant man who hugged her to him.

"Find one, one day. Lydan handsome, tall, good fighter, nice," she could have rattled off his good traits for awhile longer, but she felt that she had sufficiently covered them in that short, broken sentence. Her dark eyes appraised him. He would have strong sons, strong, blue colored sons. She imagined what it would be like to have a blue son and flushed, chasing that thought out of her mind. She was still young, but maturity had started to set in, and with that maturity the thoughts of motherhood and mates.

"I take babies for granted. Should be happier to have them." She had been selfish, she reflected, in thinking that babies were a burden. Lydan had helped her realize that babies were important and that they should be cherished and considered something to love and shower with affection.

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Spying Is for Children (Lydan)

Postby Lydan Verdjak on July 4th, 2013, 7:09 am

Lydan smiled at Mihiya passively, deciding it would be best to say nothing further on the matter. As he learned during his years as an Akalak, boys and men had a tendency to exhibit induced by a weaker judgment when around peers. Especially friends, that's for sure. At least around humans, Akalak culture is very much influential towards the youth, so the majority were .. discipline. One rotten apple spoils the barrel. Though this was untrue, for the most part; Cerulean were quite an example of the truly problematic Akalak being weeded out. Some will take longer than others, you know. It was true, despite being a small race, some things can delay and drag on. You're positivity is frustrating me.

"Well, sometimes we get along, he can be more stubborn than a jakri sometimes." He commented like a boy talking about his brother, he suddenly realized he did have a way to relate to Mihiya, though his situation was arguably worse. Yet he was making the best of it, as he previously explained. "Er, that's Zith shyke by the way," Lydan explained whilst simultaneously doing a combination of smirking and frowning at Mihiya. He really should avoid using profanity at her, though he imagined she might be slightly adjusted to it, Lydan was growing a little too casual; as if Mihiya were a male friend rather than the girl she was. In the back of his head, there was already growing a great desire to spend time with the Darkmane Girl.

He held back a grin as Mihiya first giggled, but when she giggled a second time. Lydan had to flush, realizing the possibility that he could of been sent a blow to the first weak point if Mihiya were someone else, or had trusted him less. But no, this girl trusted and cherished Lydan so dearly, and it was something he was .. unused to from people non-related to him. Despite his lax and calm personality, he had very few long or close friends, and fewer of them were female. "Maybe you'll find one taller and handsomer than me Mihiya, I'm sure there are no abundance of those in Riverfall," Lydan smiled at her. The plausibility of his statement, at least based on height, was up to debate. He wondered why she blushed, if it were just the intimacy of the moment or perhaps what was being conversed, he continued on. "You would make a great mother, and a great mate to someone one day, what I hope is that -THEY- do not take you for granted."
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