Between Sunset and Sunrise the Forest Comes Alive (Abashai )

[Nya Winters]

Nya glanced up and offered a smile to the man as she finished rinsing the last of her garments and wringing them dry. She raised herself from the crouched position she'd assumed to do the task, and glanced at his altered attire. "Do you want me to wash your things as well?" She asked, curious and helpful. At home, laundry was one of her chores namely because it was something she enjoyed and something she was good at. It was also good practice for her to stay human. If he declined, she'd shrug and gather her wet things to drape around the fire after they made their way back. If he accepted, she'd take the extra time (and the harsher soap) to give his tunic and coat a good washing as well. Nya was amiable. To her, there was never 'work'. There was just a string of various and often changing activities to occupy her otherwise restless nature. It was one of the traits carefully developed in her kind by their maker, a strong trait at that.

When they were ready, Nya would wander back with Abashai to the camp. It was past time he checked on the mare anyhow. Hanging wet clothing to dry overnight occupied her next task until there was nothing more to busy her hands with. Some time had passed, and the sun had started falling far enough in the sky that she figured it was a good time to check the snares. Nya didn't say much, though if Abashai chose to fill the comfortable relaxed silence with words, she'd listen quietly. The kelvic had said more than her fair share and seemed to fall into a quiet pattern of settling the camp for the night before slipping off to check the snares. Abashai, however, could tell there was nothing wrong. She made enough noise without words, and occasionally seemed to shoo off something unseen... a bug perhaps... with a laugh or a hiss. One thing he would notice was that she touched everything. As she walked, her hands reached out and caressed plants as she circled the campsite, arranging her backpack, spreading a cloak, adding more fuel to the fire. It was as if she didn't trust her own eyes or missed some bodypart from her wilder form that gave her information her human body had no access too. It was true, if he came to that conclusion, for most of all Nya missed her whiskers to tell her where things where, when to bend, when to twist, what was safe and what places were too small. So she used her hands in place of them, though the digits of her fingers were pour substitutes.

When she disappeared, it gave Abashai a few minutes to himself. She had called over her shoulder as she departed - "I will check the snares. It will take but a moment." When she did return, which indeed was only a few minutes later, she had three large rabbits with her. One was a fat doe, and the other two were jacks of considerable size. She stood there for a moment, holding the dead creatures by their ears, and lifted them up for him to see. "Two in your snares, one in mine. I reset them again. Do you still want to clean them?" She asked, dangling the soon to be meal with a cat-like grin of anticipation. "Save the hearts and skins. I love the hearts, but can tan the skins to sell or to add to my collection. I am determined to have a mound of fur to sleep under this winter." She explained, glad he had volunteered to clean the creatures. It wasn't that she was squeamish - not in the least - but if she began cutting into them to save the fur and remove the organs, she'd probably simply eat the entrails and giblets and then move onto the corpses without waiting for cooking. Nya didn't exactly have the best control when it came to waiting for food. She was often hungry, not because she was a bad hunter, but because she was growing and maturing. Kelvics had high metabolisms that demanded constant food to sustain their constant morphing. It took next to nothing for one to get entirely too thin for healthiness. It was also rare to find one overweight unless their wilder form was a sedate creature as well.

So she handed the three prizes to Abashai and finally settled on her cloak near the fire in a sprawl as the sun sank below the treeline and darkness began to consume the forest.

[Abashai]

Abashai had taken Nya up on her offer to wash his clothes. He knew she didn't ask just to be polite, he believed she asked because that's was she does. She had given much to him already, personally cared for him. Just like the child's balancing toy Nya described, a good relationship was a balance of give and take. She had been giving and he had been taking. Tonight he would give back to her.

They walked the short distance to the camp in relative silence. So much had already been said. Now it was time to get down to the daily business of life. As Naya hung their wet clothes to dry, Abashai pulled a brush out of his sadlebags and walked over to Sus. He began to methodically brush the animal, starting at the top of the neck and working towards her tail. As he groomed the horse, he watched Nya go about the task of keeping camp. He studied her, the fluidity of her motion, the habit of feeling her surroundings as she moved about. he surmised now that those behaviors were part of her animal side. His curiosity regarding that side of Nya was growing, though he did not know when or if she would ever reveal to him what she was. His understanding of things kelvic was sadly little more than what Nya herself had told him. For all he knew, Maybe she had to keep it secret.

As Nya headed out to check the snares, Abashai dropped the brush back in the saddle bag and pulled out a comb. He began to gently comb Sus' mane. When Nya returned several minutes later, he had finished combing out the mare's tail. The girl proudly held the three rabbits aloft. Abashai gave her a big smiled of approval took the creatures from her. reached into his backpack to retrieve his knife, a length of rope and a couple small bowls and found a semi-flat rock at the edge of camp on which to skin their catch. One by one he would string them up by their hindlegs from a low branch, setting one of the bowls under it. He would then sever the animals head, allowing gravity to pull out the blood, which collected in the bowl. Once he drained them all, he would dig a shallow pit to bury the blood and the entrails. No sense in leaving the scent of fresh blood spattered on the ground to draw whatever predators roamed these woods.

He began to skin them, keeping as much of the hide intact as he could for Nya. As he worked, He began to speak. "I barely remember my parents. I have only a few mental images. I can remember their faces because I refused to forget. We lived in the tents of my father and two of his brothers in the deserts of western Eyktol. I have the distict impression of being loved, by both of my parents. One day, when I was six, my father was out tending to our flocks. I usually went out with him, but that day I stayed behind to mend tents with my cousins. My mother had made fig cakes, and took them out to my father with a skin of goat's milk. A sudden sand storm arose. It was a severe storm, what my people call a Hika-Zulrav, or Hikzu, which is Shiber for Zulrav's spit." Abashai recalled the mark on Nya's back that resembled the spiral of Zulrav. "My parents were unprepared and became disoriented, unable to find shelter. My uncles never found them." The tone in Abashai's voice was not mournful, but rather sober matter-of-factness. He paused to squeeze his hand inside the rabbit's carcass, pullng out the entrails and organs. He carefully removed the heart and placed it in the clean bowl, the rest were dropped in the bowl of blood. He set his knife to the next hare.

"To be honest, I was too small to remember much of that time. It was decided I would go to live with another uncle who lived in the Benshiran city of Yahebah. It was my aunt and uncle who raised me. I grew to love them as if they were my true parents, and their son, Omri, became as my brother. They sent me to a good school, where I learned about weapons and music." He paused again, realizing that if he continued, he would have to talk about his sin and his trial and Omri. He decided that now was not the time to recount that story, but he would share it with her eventually. He began to clean out the second rabbit. "When I was eighteen, I got into serious trouble. I made a very unwise decision and quickly left the city. I was ashamed of what I did, and how it hurt my family, and I just wanted to leave it all behind. I stole a horse, some supplies and weapons, and headed into the desert. It was very hard at first. I hadn't lived in the desert for eleven years. I almost died of thirst and hunger. But the nomadic Benshira helped me, took me in. I did not stay long with any family, wanting to avoid persistent questions about where I came from. Eventually, I made a place for myself among the various nomad groups, who helped supply me in return for news I had gathered of other tents, a few songs, and perhaps to hunt down some golden wolves. I was more heavily armed than the shepherds, and was able to deal with predators and intimidate raiders on their behalf." Abashai, picked up the last rabbit and thrust the sharp knife under its hide.

"Then, two years ago, another great Hikzu blew up. I had to hide in a tiny crack in a rock outcropping. I could not shelter my horse or belongings. When the fierce winds subsided, my horse and everything I owned was gone. All that was left were my father's penita scrolls, a kind of holy writings, still in their leather case thrusting up through the sand. Not long after that I was convinced that Yahal desired me to leave Eyktol, and began my journey."
He held up the last dressed rabbit and gave Nya a smile. " And here I am!" He had ommitted some details about why he left Yahebah, and Eyktol. They were better left for a more intimate conversation. Using his larger dagger, he dug a small hole and buried the contents of the blood bowl. Abashai then took the rabbits down to the stream to rinse them out, cleaning his hands, bowl and knife as well. Finally he gathered the hides, meat and hearts and carried them over by the fire.

[Nya Winters]

Nya watched him work. There was a subtle grace and strength displayed by the man as he moved about the campsite preparing to skin the rabbits and get them ready to cook. There was an ease between them now that surprised her. Even with her parents, she had been nervous and uncertain at times. But now, as the evening fell in the traditional time that cats like herself relaxed, Nya felt completely content. Abashai let the silence surround them for a while, then began to speak. Nya was saddened that he barely remembered his own parents. She could not imagine living without hers in her life, so intimately part of her day to day memories. He must have felt alone, and even though he moved on to live with relatives, she knew it wouldn't have been the same. Even now, he had stumbled upon her, and still he was alone. For a Forest Cat, this was not necessarily an issue. But for a man, Nya knew, it must be a hollow spot within him. A man needed brothers at his side, good friends and companions. Men needed wives and family. Abashai was far old enough to have all three of those things, and yet he didn't as far as she knew.

When he blooded the rabbits, her hunger rose. She began to salivate knowing soon there would be food. But her hunger was distracted by the mention of Zulrav and one of his fearsome storms. Nya closed her eyes and imagined it, wondering what the storms mood was exactly, and then hearing the rest of Abashai's tale ,she simply knew something she hadn't know before he spoke. Her heart pounded in her chest, her breath caught, and she froze as the knowledge surrounded her.

Abashai was the one.

Nya was deeply faithful, which was surprising for a Kelvic. That Abashai lost his parents to Zulrav was not only just a sign to her, but it was a clearly spoken message. The man continued on, his words flowing into the silence as if they were a measured part of it. Nya watched, absolutely still as the awareness of what she'd just found washed over her. Terror. Joy. The inability to breath... all of it kept her frozen.

His story continued, and to Nya, it felt like the forest held its breath with her as she listened. He had committed a crime. The way he spoke about it, and the pause, lead her to believe it was something so significant he'd been living with the weight of it for a while now. Nya didn't need to know though. Nor would she ever press him. Secrets shared, especially ones that caused weight upon someone's shoulders were secrets lightened. But Abashai's life was his own, his choices his to make. All but two. Zulrav had made the first by taking his parents. Zulrav had made the second, again, by cleansing his soul of weighty possessions and casting him adrift again. Her Lord could be demanding, harsh, ruthless... but his gifts were enormous as well. An outsider might have found delight in a child of the Storm Lord listening quietly to Abashai's tale and wondering why Zulrav had taken so much from the man. But Nya knew... deep in her heart that those things were gifts in their own way, however painful they might be. And now, there was a third - Zulrav was giving Abashai one of his children. Nya wondered who Abashai was exactly, that Zulrav favored him so much. But she knew enough not to speak. There was a lot of pain in Abashai's past. It would be for him to look back with new eyes later and decide if the pain was still there or if it was something else.

The Benshira man continued on, oblivious to Nyas thoughts, though she watched his face close enough in hopes of picking up his.

When he turned to rinse the rabbits, she rose and took her knife. Moving into the trees she carefully found young sapplings with appropriate forks in their lower branches and broke them off. She cut them to length and carried them back to the fire, driving them into the ground using a river rock as a hammer. When he returned, Abashai could thread the corpses through the makeshift spit and they could begin to cook. The hearts would go on a smaller stick, that Nya had cut to simply hold out over the fire as if she was roasting the small puffs of spun sugar her mother loved so much. The hearts would cook fast, and although she normally ate them raw, Nya would make sure everything was thoroughly cooked for Abashai's sake.

But the girl was still quiet. She'd help him with stringing the meat onto the spit when he returned, but other than that she'd not say much. And she'd claim the bloody pelts, laying them tissue side together and rolling them up for her to tan later. The truth was, Nya was still a little in shock. There was a stillness to her actions, a deliberate vacantness that left her breathless with the understanding she'd just come too. There were things she should say to Abashai... but she had no idea how to form words from concepts that she herself barely understood. And there was time. Like any good hunter, Nya had enormous quantities of patience. And ironically enough, no matter how many things Zulrav said to her - no matter how many ways he tested and demanded things of her - Nya by her very nature would never force something upon Abashai unless it was absolutely what he wanted. She simply couldn't. Designed to serve and protect, his needs would come first. Always. And if those needs not involve her, that would be the irony of her life, but one she would accept regardless.

The bond would come. She could already feel its beginnings. But it could not happen, nor should it, without Abashai's totally acceptance. Nya had never been bonded before. She didn't understand what exactly that entailed or how it would happen, but she already felt its pull. Protect him. Comfort him. See to his needs. Nya wondered if the man felt anything as well.

She spoke quietly then. Her words were soft, and her eyes were on the meat not on his. And though she might appear outwardly calm, inwardly she was trembling with this new found knowledge. It was... like a delicious and horrible secret. And she couldn't do anything about it, not really, except give him the tools he needed to perhaps understand if the feeling was mutual.

Nya waited for Abashai to finish whatever tasks he might be about - either putting on tea or otherwise organizing for the night to come - then watched him settle down to relax as well. It was only then that she quietly rose, circled the fire in the guise of adjusting the meat and turning it, and then abruptly joined him. Nya couldn't help it. It wasn't a conscious decision but more of a reaction to instinct while her mind was busy elsewhere processing new information. The kelvic settled down beside him, sprawling so that she leaned up against one of his thighs much like a pet would do. She made no other move to touch him, nor did she look at him, keeping her eyes on the fire. Although he was still the skittish horse, the Kelvic knew she had more freedom with him now because he knew what she was, at least a little, and that her actions were not what most men would think them to be. Instead Nya needed to feel his warmth, be surrounded by his scent, and somehow exist within his energy. Nya had no concept of boundaries then, although she was careful to follow all the rules he'd shown her. She wanted to say things, but she wasn't sure how.

"We are not so different, though your age and experience makes you by far the wiser. We are both looking for something. I came south because when a kelvic leaves their parents, they do so because they must find someone to serve. It is hard to explain to someone who is not Kelvic, but we believe there exists people that need us in unique ways out in the world." She did not tell him she thought he was the one she sought. Nya would let Abashai draw his on conclusions on that. But she did admit one last thing, one important thing. "I was born in a fierce storm that swept up out of Cyphrus about two years ago. It was the worst my parents ever remember being in. The tower was damaged somewhat, and I remember the day clearly though I should not. The storm was warm and full of the energy of the desert that spawned it. My mother said it sang to me, and instead of crying out like a newborn babe should, I sang back to it in joy at meeting it and at it having come all that way. I have heard them ever since. Zulrav speaks to me. He marked me at birth as well. When he took everything from you, he was giving everything to me." Nya said softly, then looked up into the desert man's eyes. She was sprawled out, catlike, at his side. Her green eyes were wide with speculation, and she reached down to nuzzle the side of his knee with her cheek before speaking again.

"I wonder, Abashai, how long it took you to find your way north. It is a long way." She said in a husky feline voice that sounded slightly hungry. Her eyes were on the meat sizzling over the fire, but her thoughts were not on it. Nya wondered, in that moment, if it had been the same storm.

[Abashai]

When Nya settled in beside him, resting against his leg, Abashai did not move in protest, allowing Nya to make herself comfortable. Earlier, as they had worked together to prepare the meal, she was uncharacteristically quiet. She had not spoken much since the falls, but after he had spoken, her silence grew deeper. She had not avoided his eyes, which assured him she was not offended. In fact, her gazes lingered, as if searching his eyes for something.

Resting against him, she had broken her silence. Nya spoke again of the Kelvic need to find someone to serve. She spoke of the storm in which she was born. Again her story took on the mystique of a mythical tale... a child born who speaks to the wind, marked by a god. But then it became very real to him. She had inferred that the same divine storm that heralded her birth was the same that took all that he had. She had not said as much, but Abashai sensed it. When she looked up at him, there was an expectation in her eyes. He could barely frame the suggestion in his mind. Nya's next question did. It hit him like a horse kick to the chest. His breath quickened. Yes, It was very likely that the time of her birth coincided with the sandstorm in the desert. He said nothing, but his mind swirled. He tried to process the implications. He believed that Yahal had been quietly directing his path and that Zulrav had interceded in his life, yes, for what purpose he did not know. For two years he wandered, growing closer to Yahal, searching for the god's direction and a freedom from his guilt. Now, meeting Nya, a woman marked by Zulrav, the intense emotion, amazement and challenges of the past few hours, rung of divine work. Could it be? Could the gods have conspired to bring them to this moment? If true, it was not to be taken lightly.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. The aroma of his spiced tea steeping over the fire and the roasting meat gave the moment a semblance of comfort and he allowed it to ease his mind. The power of the aroma always seemed to trigger those basic feelings of comfort and security that he associated with 'home'. Looking down at Nya, a desire to protect and comfort the girl welled up within him, and he reached up to carefully caress Nya's hair, but for only a moment. "Yes," He spoke quietly, but with conviction, "It is a long way. I began my journey about two years ago."

A long moment passed. "Do you think..." he found it difficult to put what they both were thinking into words, "That, maybe, we have been led to this place." He left that hang for a moment. His hand now returned to touch her soft thick hair. He looked down at her as she stared into the fire. He studied her face, though he could only see her profile. By appearances, Nya was different from Benshiran women of her apparent age... lightly tanned, unusual moss green eyes, brindled hair that seemed to pick up the color of the forest. Benshiran women were quite beautiful. Nya had her own beauty too. Yes, he knew he had feelings for her, but he could not explain to even hemself exactly what they were. Only two years old, he thought. As a human she would barely be a toddler.

She had grown from an infant to a young adult in that time. He marveled at how much Nya had learned since birth. The questions that he had put off now clamored for answers, answers that now may well have a bearing on his life. "Nya, I need to know more about you, about being Kelvic...about the 'bonding'."

[Nya Winters]

Kelvics, by their very nature, should have had a hard time holding onto a single thought longer than a breath or two. It should have been hard for them to dwell on the bigger pictures, lest they loose the purpose of the moment. To know that one was brought into being to be nothing more than a tool of another was a hard thing to move past, so their designer made such thoughts difficult. That Nya had pieced together Abashai's past with her own and linked the two was extraordinary for one of her kind, for they were developed against such broadscale thinking. Perhaps, if she had been produced in the time of her maker, Marcus Kelvic would have culled her like he did so many of the unsuitable results - for thinking creatures made poor servants. It also could have been that in the time between his existence and her own, Nya's race had changed in subtle ways even its founder could not have predicted. Perhaps the Kelvics as a whole were growing more sophisticated and adapting to a newer lifestyle that helped them survive far better than they would have on their own in times past.

Regardless of the truth of it all, Nya sat sprawled at Abashai's side with her thoughts in a calm turmoil as she enjoyed the little attentions he paid almost absently to her hair and voiced his own wonderment. The moment though, was hard for Nya to hold, hard for her to face so abruptly. Not knowing the answers left her hungry in a way she'd never been before, and frustrated because this was one hunt she couldn't easily undertake and have the utter confidence of being successful.

The same storm. Two lives. Nya trembled slightly for a moment and moved her head to touch Abashai's hand with her cheek for a moment. "It is hard, sometimes, for me to think like that, Abashai. But I find it hard, even harder than lingering on the why of it, to believe it is not so." Nya answered. She was afraid suddenly, of what it all meant. That would be for someone more human, someone well versed in examining puzzles, to figure out. "I can not know what your god Yahal or mine Zulrav must have wanted or meant. I can only enjoy that we have come together for now. Life is too short to do otherwise." Nya said, having too much new information filling her brain. She needed time to think things through, to process it, to absorb it. Her last few months of travel had been focused on one need, on a singular desire to find a bondmate. She had assumed she'd get to pick one, and had been meeting people and testing waters since. It was ironic, how the one person she had the hardest time talking too - her father - was the one person who could have actually helped her in that instant. She had never asked him, if for some reason it was meant that her mother and himself bonded, or if indeed it was his own act of choice. She'd always assumed it had been Ulvic's choice.

Nya turned her head again and looked up at Abashai for along moment, still silent in her own thoughts. There was no choice here. There was no need of a choice. She knew that on so many levels, but it still had caught her off guard. He could reject it though. He could balk at what was happening between them and not allow it to happen. The fear crossed her mind and left it again even as Abashai's hand ran itself through her hair once more. No... there would be no problem there. But she did wish she could hear his thoughts. And then, as if on cue, he shared a need with her... something she could satisfy.

Unwilling to move, too comfortable and lazy in her feline nature, Nya managed to smile. "I know all about being me, about being kelvic and I can tell you about that. But I know nothing about bonding. I've never had a bondmate or belonged too anyone." She said and then looked thoughtful. "I would like to know about you being Abashai too... about being Benshira. We should trade. I do not know where to start and what to tell you, but I do know what I want to ask you. How about we trade questions? You ask me one, and I will answer, and in turn I get to ask you one?" She said, pleased with herself for thinking up a way to lighten the mood... to inject a game... play... into the evening so they both weren't so overwhelmed. She leaned up then, scooting forward to turn the meat (careful not to bump the tea) on the spit. Burnt food wasn't her idea of a satisfying meal. She preferred it raw, or at least warm and bloody.

Nya settled back to where she had been again, and waited for him to agree or not.. and to think of a first question.

[Abashai]

Abashai began to see how the young kevic's thinking differed from humans, and his. Where he would stare into the fire and conduct a dialogue within himself for hours trying to discern every possiblity to explain the current situation, Nya simply went with what she knew. She knew that something had brought them together, and that some kind of bond had been formed. Other humans may have found that oversimplified and naive. Abasha found it to be refreshing, satsifying and very 'Nya'. The 'seize the moment' attitude must be a kelvic trait.

"Very well then Nya Winters." He teasingly mussed up her hair. "I'll go first." He liked the question and answer idea. It deferred the heavy questions they could not answer and brought the conversation down to a personal level. if there was to be any kind of relationship, they would have to get to know each other better. He leaned back on his hands, looking into the fire. He liked the weight of her head on his leg. It made him feel, wanted. He had not had a family, a mate, anyone to show him that kind of acceptance in a long while. For the first time he appreciated her forwardness.

Abashai left the big question for later. For some reason he was hesitant to ask about her animal form, maybe the concept was still too new for him to fully accept. No, he would work up to that one. He would start with some of the basic questions he'd had since he first saw her. "How do you live out here in the woods, do you just sleep out here? How do you protect yourself? After spending the afternoon with her, he had no doubts she knew how to provide for herself, but a young woman with no means of protection or shelter didn't seem to have much chance of survival, he thought.

[Nya Winters]

She was comfortable. Perhaps sitting there by the fire with Abashai came as close to peace as a Kelvic was able to hope to experience. Nya sighed softly, relaxed even more, and let her eyelids half cover her irises so it seemed as if she might be dozing. She wasn't though. Instead she was listening to the pulse in Abashai's leg, paying attention to his breathing, and memorizing his scent. It was a very distinctive scent to her, pleasing and soothing all at the same time. He gave off no sense of wariness or fear, and instead seemed simply as curious about her as she felt towards him. When he accepted the game and asked his first question, Nya's lips curved upwards into a smile. She thought a few minutes about his words and what exactly he meant, before she spoke.

"I live well here. There is so much food I will never go hungry, and so much water I will never be thirsty." She said, being honest with him. "I am not afraid, if that is what you mean, to sleep out here. It is peaceful and warm, especially in this season. It will be colder soon though." She mused, as if a bit mournful of summers passage. "I made a place for myself though, because the snows will be deep and the rains long. I like the snow, but I dislike being wet unless it is my own idea. Sometimes it rains for a long time, and I like to sleep where it is dry. So I found a warm dry place and I have been making it nice for the winter. It is in the stone beneath the ground. It is a large place, and there is fresh water. I am making pelts so I will have a large pile to sleep in when it is very cold and I want to be human. It is not so easy, being without shelter, when I wear this form." She said thoughtfully. And then she thought about the last part of his question.

Protection? He thought she needed some?

Nya chuckled slightly, then twisted her head to look up at Abashai. "Protection? Why would I need protection? I worry about men with weapons, especially bows. I do not like bows at all. But if anyone else bothered me, I would simply eat them. Remember? Born to serve and protect... that is our nature." She said with a wicked grin that left him unsure of whether she was telling the truth or joking with him.

Then it was her turn and she reached out to capture his wrist gently. She held it in both her hands and twisted it so the tattoo showed clearly. She rubbed at it curiously, then glanced up at the inkings on his face. She reached up, still holding onto his wrist, and touched the mark on his face as well. "These markings do not wash off. What are they exactly and what do they mean to you?" She asked, curious about his tattoos. Nya had never ran across anyone who had tattoos. She knew what gnosis marks were, but Abashai's were different. And she wondered if they were sacred all the same.

[Abashai]

Abashai listened to Nya's answer with curiosity. It occurred to him he had to changed how he looked at her. She appeared human, but she was Kelvic. She seemed almost surprised he would ask such questions, as if living in the woods was perfectly natural for a person. She spoke of a home 'in the stone beneath the ground.' He assumed that was a cave. She was able to survive just as a animal would. Because she was, he knew, an animal of sorts. It intrigued him, no, it fascinated him. But then there was the comment about eating someone that bothered her. Was she having fun with him? Nya had to know how curious he was about her animal form. Let her have her fun, he laughed to himself. He knew, eventually, she would have to tell him.

He pondered a moment before answering Nya's question. To answer, he would have to describe some of the history of the Benshira. He wondered if it would hold the Kelvic's attention. He decided to proceed, Nya had said she wanted to know. He looked down at his wrist in her hands. The black-inked marks on the back of his hands were the shape of a line with three points projecting toward his fingers."These are tattoos. It is ink, like you write with, but it is injected under the skin with a needle. It will never come off." He watched her as she turned his hand towards the firelight to study the tattoo closer. "Because they are permanent, people get a design that has significance to them personally.

These are called the 'Bands of Freedom'. Before the Great Shaking, some call the Valterrian, my people had drifted from their faithfulness to Yahal. Many allowed themselves to be lured away to live with the powerful and wealthy Eypharians in their great city and worship foreign gods. They were then enslaved by the Eypharians, who were harsh taskmasters. The slaves finally cried out to Yahal, pleading for him to deliver them from slavery. Then the Valterrain came. Much of the Eypharian city was destroyed. The Benshiran slaves fled, escaping into the desert to return to their holy city. After that, many Benshiran men took the Bands of Freedom to commemorate their deliverance from slavery. The marks are symbolic of a slave's manacles being broken. Not many take the mark now, but I did. I wanted to commemorate how a disaster had 'freed' me to seek a life more faithful to my god."

Staring into the fire, he reach up with his other hand to touch his face. He had not seen the symbols etched in his forehead and cheeks for a while. "These speak of the goodness of Yahal, literally 'Yahal is Faithful', 'Yahal is Just' and 'Yahal is Merciful'." His fingers moving over each symbol as he described them. "I took these because I had turned from Yahal, as my ancestors did. These are my outward confession that I now follow the Holy One, and that I want to put my trust in him." Abashai thought a moment, remembering the excitement and anxiety of starting his journey, two long years ago. He found that he enjoyed sharing with her what meant so much to him.

"My turn." She had asked about his marks, he was going to ask about hers. He touched his hand against her back, side and thigh, indicating where he had seen the curious marks. "The scars, so many for one so young." He paused, realizing he was comparing her again to a human girl. A Kelvic's life must be dangerous. "How did you get them?"

[Nya Winters]

Nya listened carefully. Abashai's assessment of her attention span was in essence very accurate, but he'd find her attentive for longer periods of time than normal when he found himself telling her something of himself. She truly longed to know more, and rather than make assumptions or guess about things, Nya would rather have him tell her. And for that telling, she'd listen. Besides, she loved stories. Abashai had a bards voice, smooth and animated, the best kind for relaying a tale. Music, stories, even singing was something the girl could focus on for hours.

And his story was fascinating. She listened carefully, noting the names of his tattoos and what they were designed for. The kelvic thought about the Eypharians, though she had no mental image of what they must look like or who they really were. Humans? She doubted it somehow, but that was a question she'd ask later, when she wouldn't interrupt him. He seemed to be very proud of his markings, and when she looked again at them, she understood why. His last sentence though, touched her again. Disaster had a theme in Abashai's life, and with each one he seemed to move on and find more of his path. She wondered what that path was now, and how it would effect her.

"There are circles upon circles upon circles in your life, Abashai. They are all interconnected somehow, and my mind spins trying to think of what they mean. But somehow they seem important. Very important." They had something else in common too. Slavery. Her people, even now, were mostly slaves. He understood the burden of such things because his people had been slaves in the past as well. She shifted, rolled to her side, head still touching him, bent her knees, and stared up into the sky as darkness completely fell. Nya was the picture of relaxation as the long shadows settled in around them. She would have to do more thinking on it. The kelvics thought best when they weren't trying, and she knew the pieces would all fit together neatly eventually.

He had another question for her. She smoothly twisted her head so her eyes met his, and then just as quickly closed them in pleasure as his hand as it skimmed her back, side, and thigh. Nya nodded, understanding his question. "Learning to hunt. I had no one to teach me and it was difficult at first. I had... I knew inside how to do it and what felt right, but there is still a long way between instinct and reality." She said, then thought about where he had touched her. "My back was from a wolverine. I was very young and thought I could bully it from its lair so I could see where it lived. I was wrong. They are extremely angry creatures. If I had not been so well versed at climbing, it would have eaten me for breakfast." She sighed, remembering how angry her mother was. "My mother was so angry when she saw the cuts from its claws. She yelled at me, then cried. She cried so hard I thought she would be sick. She couldn't stop. My father stitched my flesh together because my mother was too upset to do it. He is not very good at sewing. They locked me in my room for several days." Nya said, sighing. She had regretted making her mother so angry, but she wasn't certain even now exactly how she'd done so.
"I don't remember how I got the one on my side." It was the second place he'd touched her. "But the one on my thigh was from a Talderian Bull Elk. I did not understand their herd ways very well. One of his cows was hurt badly, lame, and I took her down and killed her. I did not know he would defend a lame cow. He was too big for me, too skilled at defending his harem against predators. He must have liked this cow a lot because he was very angry too. I almost died. It was an antler that caught me, then his hooves. I haven't tried to hunt Talderian Elk ever since. At least when they are not alone..." She said, shuddering to think of the pain in her leg. She had to stay a cat to come home because she couldn't walk two legged to thetower. It had always been a rule that she needed to be human within her home... and yet she had been too hurt to shift. Her mother had gotten hysterical again too, though this time she'd calmed down enough to close the bleeding wound, pack it with herbs, and pray Nya survived it. Nya had, healing remarkably fast. But she'd taken a long time to recover her guts to go hunting again.

The kelvic started purring, possibly at being upset remembering both her mother's hysteria and her own failures at the hunt. She nudged Abashai's thigh again, rubbing it with her head, and settled closer. Then she thought about what else she wanted to know about him.

"Why did you come north. You could have gone almost any direction, but why ride north? I wonder if Yahal told you to come this direction or if there was another reason. You seem so strange here, so out of place. I... there is a word... but I can not... " Nya thought for a moment, then tilted her head. "Exotic." She flashed him a smile. "Why here? Of all the places?" She asked, then rose abruptly to turn the meat. It was long past the point where she liked it, but in terms of cooking, it was still rare. She'd only take it off when it was good and medium unless Abashai told her otherwise.

[Abashai]

Nya continued to puzzle Abashai. She could be both incredibly naive and sharply insightful. 'Circle upon circles' was a good description of his life. She gets me, Abahsai thought. More so then he understood himself.

He looked down at her again, thinking about the scars. He did not like the thought of her being so wounded. He could not imagine how horrified her mother must have been. But the story did reveal something, Nya was a hunter. She said she hunted in animal form. That would make her a predator. He didn't know how big Talderian elk were, but the elk he saw in Cyhprus were large beasts. So, a big predator. He had a hard time seeing the sweet girl stretched out before the fire as a ferocious killer, but if there was one thing she had proved to him, it was that she was full of surprises.

"Before I answer that question, lets take a look at the rabbits, if we cook them too long, they will get dry." He was quite comfortable as Nya leaned against him, but he had noticed the way she stared at the meat. She was hungry. He was hungry too. He truly didn't mind the meat pink in the middle. "if you get the meat, I've got something to go with them." He carefully slid out from under Nya's head. He stole over to his saddle bags and pulled out a leather pouch and two wooden cups. He returned and sat down again by the fire, opening up the pouch. "These are dates, they are sweet, but be careful, there is a large pit in the middle." He took the two mugs and poured some of the steaming tea into each. The spiced aroma lifted in the swirls of steam to fill his nostrils, he inhaled deeply, bringing back a familiar comfort. He sat one mug down beside himself and one for Nya.

Abashai took a sip of the tea, allowed its rich flavor to dance around his tongue, then swallowed. As Nya got the rabbits off the fire, he addressed her question.

"Why did I come north?" He repeated the question. "I never thought about that. I just went, I always assumed that was the way to go. After I made my way north through Eyktol I just headed up the Kadrin Road. Since then I've worked my way gradually north, not stopping anywhere for long. I didn't even feel like visiting Syliris." He stopped to take another sip. What did drive him all the way into these woods? He did remember how the beauty of the moutains and vast forest drew him in. He had never seen such things before. "I had left home with the intent to trust myself to Yahal. Maybe Yahal did lead me...here. I am far from my home, my people. Maybe I had to be totally alone to learn what I have to learn, to be whatever I am to be....a lot like you."

He looked up at her and smiled. He had finally let go of his apprehension around Nya, at least around this fire. He allowed himself to enjoy her company and her closeness. Night was falling, the fire was lively, there was fresh food and great stories. This was his element. It was as good as a masha under the desert stars, except for music...later he would remedy that.

"Now, I get to ask another question." He had questions like where did kelvics come from, did they have a 'homeland', but he was more interested in learning more about Nya in particular. "Nya, why did you invite me into your camp? I was a stranger and armed. You yourself said you fear men with bows."