Completed [Lakeshore] Escaping The Noise

[Kaie]

Kaie couldn't help but flash a short lived grin at Ria when she mentioned a thrilling story. It was certainly an amusing one, looking back at it. In hindsight perilous and arguably unnecessary, but entertaining. She was almost glad she made a fool of herself in the Bazaar. Almost.

"Well that sounds like a worthy trophy, but careful with that whole "let's share stories over snacks!" It didn't end too well last time," She jibed as if searching for amends to her lost catch and reminiscing all at once. A tusked creature with a killer pelt? Sounded like someone dressed up a Tskanna. Kaie was just about to continue the gag when something caught her attention.

The savage woman arched a brow as she watched Ria make the strangest gesture. An inverted triangle over her heart and a wince following. Kaie had never seen such a thing. Immediately she took note and cocked her head a bit curiously. Her brow drew together like she was trying to make sense of it. Defeated, she gave into impulse of speech.

"What did you just do?"

[Kit Rowan]

Kit peered around Vanari, into the dark woods. She saw nothing, heard nothing aside from the ambient noise of the forest. "Maybe it was a boar?" Kit had heard stories. Did boars chase people? Kit knew little enough about them aside from that they had tusks and fur. Maybe she just hadn't been chased at all? Nothing like loneliness in the woods to call on the small madness. She shrugged. "Guess it doesn't matter, anymore . . ."

So far, she hadn't been a very apt liar since she came to Ravok. She gave false names, sure, but as of yet aside from that Kit hadn't done any real serious lies. There wasn't much need. It was easier to deal in half-truths. She stepped away from Vanari and raised an eyebrow. "You mean this?" Kit drew another inverted triangle over her heart, just like the first time, but this time deny the urge of habit built over years of practice that drove her mind to find an aura to peer into. "It's just the inverted triangle, the sign of my god. I got into the habit of it when I was little, after I met my father. I never stopped after. Never saw the need . . ." Kit shrugged.

The thought of a fire, a meal . . . It was not exactly a bad thought. Her first instinct was to ask exactly how they were to deal with the tusked thing if it was real. Then her eyes found Kaie again, gladius at her side, and Kit smiled. "I'm never one to turn down stories." Kit said, "though I don't think we've really got anything to eat out here." She shrugged and crossed her arms, turned her eyes toward Kaie. What was their history together? If Ari was a Vantha girl from where it always snowed, where had she met Kaie? Who was Kaie? What was Kaie? "Even without the food, I'd be glad to settle down for some tale-telling, though none of mine'll beat Ari's."

[Vanari]

Vanari cocked an eyebrow at her friend. No tales from an illusionist and acrobat living in the dangerous city of Ravok, casting glamours and leaping from roof to roof, to beat a bumbling vagrant's? Fah. They would just have to see about that.

She squinted and scratched at her soil-ridden chin for a tick, working out the end results of various scenes played out in her head. They could try to walk back to shore and get some food there, but all her mizas were gone...and she didn't think Kaie would very much like to walk around amongst so many untrustworthy individuals anyway, who would react equally as negatively to the unexplained presence of a fully armed Myrian.

Beside, there were Ebonstryfe. Vanari shuddered, then left those thoughts where they were.

Perhaps one of them could make the trek alone and come back with food. But, then that would take too long, and would risk unwanted attention all the same. That left relying on the forest or whatever lay within it, which was completely beyond the realm of her knowledge and abilities. The Vantha looked around, then down at her ankle. Rope...

Her face popped back up, the giddy excitement of an idea spread across her dusty face. "What if we help you catch something, Kaie? We could tell our tales as we wait, make up somewhat for destroying your trap in the first place, and perhaps learn a thing or two useful things about survival. That is, if you don't mind teaching us. And I promise I won't go about running into your snares again..."

Her toes wiggled a bit in her boots, still hidden behind leafy flora and fauna.

[Kaie]

A boar? Kaie shrugged at the idea, considering it a possibility. She knew them to be downright nasty creatures. It really wouldn't have surprised her if her if it turned out to be the mystery creature. Then again there were plenty of rumors around about even the most relatively docile animals turned bloodthirsty, touched by chaos. Just something to keep in the back of her mind.

The sign of her god...But which god?

The more Kaie considered the inverted triangle, the more it piqued her interest. Most deities had their own little symbols. Myri didn't have any sign set in stone. Anything wild and hostile was a beacon of the Goddess Queen, really. Bloodied weapons and claws, the mere presence of her people. And what was it that that man in the Rearing Stallion had on his hand, that dancing flower? Aoren, yes, that was his name. His gnosis took the form of a lily for the Goddess Avalis. But Avalis had no triangle, and neither did a single deity worshiped in Falyndar. Whatever follower Ria was, was she marked or just another faithful soul? All were questions that would remained unasked...For now.

"Eh. I can promise Vanari is a far better storyteller than I am," She shrugged, converting the topic of the conversation by latching onto Ria's proposed new one. It was true, though. There was something so bubbly and joyful about the Vantha. Sometimes Kaie swore Vanari's kindness and charisma was capable of getting a Dhani and a Myrian to shake hands. Well, maybe not, but she had brought odd combinations of people together in the past.

The Vantha's suggestion almost caused the savage woman to laugh out loud. Set up another snare? Or worse, the three of them frolicking into the Ravokian forest on a hunt? Considering by the looks of what was left of the rope, Kaie knew Vanari must've cut herself free. That meant there probably wasn't enough rope to make another twitch up. The latter option was just out of the question. She hadn't even thought to bring her bow with her. What was she to do? Chuck her gladius at the first thing that moved? They'd have to come up with something else.

"I had a little fire going not too far from here. It might take a minute to rekindle, but I'm sure we could get it going again," Kaie offered easily, remembering her leisure camp a few miles from the barn. If they did manage to catch something, it could provide a decent place to cook it. Plus it was warm anyways. "I think you chopped up the last of my rope, but I might have the wire to set something up. Might take a while though before we get something," Kaie considered carefully as if mentally checking her possessions. She was already crafting a squirrel pole in her head, visualizing how she'd set each section up and how. Remembering how to do it all."Share stories over the fire to pass the time then? You do owe me some kind of explanation still."

[Kit Rowan]

And just like that, the conversation veered away from her. Kit ran a hand through her hair, let go of a breath she had been holding. Trying to shake it off, she turned away from Kaie to Ari and tried to find some new thing to feel before her face betrayed her. "You know," Kit said, giving the pretty older a Vantha a sidelong smile . . . Yes. Good distraction. "I don't think you ever really told me how you got here. I'd love to hear it too."

Kit's eyes turned down to the snare around Ari's ankle and frowned, slightly. They'd done this Kaie some harm, destroying her rope like that. Did that make the pair of them in the savage's debt? Kit did not know. But there were few enough ways that they could actually help Kaie with setting up a new trap, all other things aside Kit was sure that . . . Well, maybe she was not so sure about Ari, but Kit would likely just get in the way. The one talent at her disposal that would be of aid would also be confessing her illusionism to a stranger.

Or perhaps not. Could Kit conceal the trap convincingly while excluding Kaie from the illusion? Kit thought she could, given time enough to examine it and play with its color and shape in her minds eye. Even if Kaie didn't known, the debt would certainly be paid. "A fire sounds good right about now . . ." The thought of debts made Kit blink, reach into her pocket and pull out the jumble of coins the thief had stolen from Ari. "I don't think I got to mention," Kit said, tilted her head in Kaie's direction. "Your old friend caught the pickpocket. You should have seen it! I thought she was gonna give him Lhex's smile." She made a cutting motion over her throat with a thumb to demonstrate.

[Vanari]

Laughing in surprise, both at the fate of the thief and Ria's grisly yet comical demonstration, Vanari gratefully accepted the mizas and nodded her head. The gesture sent bits of dirt and leaves flaking away to the ground, and she roughly shook out her hair to rid it of any remaining debris.

"A shame I missed it, then! I'm sure that rascal near shyked his trousers by the time Kaie was through."

She pocketed the coins and beamed, spirits strangely lifted despite their looming surroundings. At least now, if something were to chase her again and try to eat her or spear her like a roast on a stick, the chances of it succeeding were a little slimmer, now that she'd stumbled into the path of a very competent, very formidable old ally.

At her companions' requests for stories explaining how things came to be as the were, the Vantha picked at her brain for a moment, trying to remember if there were any significant highlights to mention. There was that rather eventful day at Pavi Lake...a stranger, then foes leaping in from every direction. She remembered the incredible rush of time as everything seemed to explode into action, and how not long afterwards, after they all had parted ways and said their goodbyes, something interesting had sent her pelting headlong on horseback towards the infamous city of Ravok.

Yess, something interesting indeed...

"I'll happily oblige an explanation or two in exchange for a fire to warm by and a chance for fresh game. Lead the way, my friend!"

[Kaie]

The Myrian arched a brow momentarily as if seconding Ria's notion. Apparently both hadn't a petching clue how the Vantha made it from Syliras to Ravok, especially with no one in tow. Not even a resourceful Kelvic tigress. There were plenty of holes worth filling in the story, and the savage woman was eagerly awaiting details. Besides how could anyone turn down a warm place to sit when winter was just around the corner?

Brown eyes brightened with amusement at Ria's gesture. She surely had her fun harassing the bastard. A bit of humiliation goes a long way, she often found. He certainly could use it. Yet the Myrian almost found it odd how highly they regarded her actions. Kaie didn't feel like some sort of hero, even if the deed was meager at best. A simple gesture. Perhaps that was because she knew had Ria not stumbled upon the scene harmlessly, and the thief had shown her a bit more malevolence, she might've given him the Lhex's smile after all. She might've just killed the man and looted his body. Pocketed their stolen Mizas. Was it some kind of born morality or newly implanted civility that stopped her from choosing that darker path?

"Yeah, I guess I just happened to be around at the right time then, yes? Follow. We should be there in no time," She shrugged and then turned toward the dim forest. Kaie readjusted her belonging once before starting off. Her footsteps were conscientious of their noise, working for silence that was not yet anything nearly perfected. There was still that ever present crunch under the balls of her feet. Still, she tried to keep away from the dryer piles of leaves and twigs. That wasn't to say there was no noise at all. "Let's hope we're long gone just in case your little friend comes back with some Ebonstryfe," She added for consideration, beginning to weave between the shadows of the trees thoughtfully. Being tracked by footprints was easy enough, but it was best not to be in plain sight if one could help it. She was completely alien to these woods. Kaie hadn't a clue what to expect. The woman's gladius was always at the ready just in case.

Several minutes later they arrived at their destination. A small opening laid before the three, the remnants of a dying fire smoldering before the group. There was hardly anything special about it. It appeared the Myrian had chosen it for no particular reason at all, other the fact she felt like building a fire. Regardless, Kaie paced toward the crackling embers, picking up tinder as she walked. With luck she'd certainly be able to get the fire going again in no time. The wind seemed to have died down enough.

[Kit Rowan]

Kit made a face, her lips pulling back into a rictus at the mention of the styfe. "Hear you, loud and clear. Petch the thrice-damned Stryfe. Let's get out of here." Followed in Kaie's wake, watching the undergrowth here and there, stepping in mimicry of the Myrian's own. It was only by following in her footsteps and correcting the mistakes the older woman made that Kit was any more quiet than the savage. It had been a long time since her days on the streets in Alvadas, pelting around corners and snatching fruits from stands. Was the forest just harder to move in? Or had she overestimated herself back then? Maybe it was both.

She allowed her attention to split after a short while, looked away from the undergrowth and toward Ari. Syna's light dappled through swaying branches, painting the shapes of shifting leaves and boughs over her. This was not what Kit had in mind when Ari had invited her out alone to the lakeshore, but Kit felt herself smiling regardless. Snap as her distracted steps brought her on top of a twig and Kit grimaced with annoyance and put her focus back on the ground.

It was all but impossible to actually walk without stepping on anything, wasn't it? There were twigs and leaves from Fall's passing everywhere. How did someone step over them without making a sound at all? Eventually Kit settled on an old friend's advice and put her weight on the back foot as she stepped. When there was no better way to walk the leaves still crunched as she made her way over them, but slowly, and more softly as they were gently pressed into the ground rather than smashed. "So," Kit addressed Kaie, trying to make her voice quiet. "Do you live out here?"

[Vanari]

Quiet. Stealthy. Sneaky. She chanted these words in her head, as though will alone could make her not the noisy, twig-snapping advertisement for "tasty flesh here!" that she was. While her companions more or less seemed to know what they were doing, Vanari kept her eyes glued to the ground with furious determination as she tried her best to emulate Kaie, walking as though the forest floor was covered in eggshells.

A curious feeling of being watched tickled the back of her neck. She looked up, just as Ria turned away. What had she been loo--Crack! Snap! Ahhhh, shyke, the Vantha mentally berated herself as she returned her attentions to the ground and listened, rather than watched, as Ria asked if this was where the Myrian lived.

The subject struck a chord of curiosity, and Vanari began to lose herself a little in thought. What would it be like to live here, she wondered, alone and constantly working to defend and maintain one's life against the raw, unpredictable forces of nature? Personally, she felt she would most likely go a bit crazy. As bad as things sometimes were in the city, there was a definite sense of security in having a body of people around her. A sort of predictability and functioning system of routine.

For those few yet seemingly endless days she had traveled on her own out of Syliras, she felt as though she was going fuzzy around the edges. Sometimes she would talk to her horse, just to hear the sound of human speech for a chime or two. It certainly wasn't a highpoint in her traveling career, and the Vantha could only imagine how steely Myrians were in general to be so constantly involved in the chaotic elements.

Something shifted in Vanari's peripheral. She risked a tiny glance to her right, quickly scanning the area for the tip of a tusk or a plate of black armor, but there was nothing. Must just be her imagination. Maybe. Probably.

She picked up her pace, less concerned now about the occasional crunch beneath her feet.

When they finally reached the little clearing, she could see the remains of a carefully built fire, just as Kaie had described. The Myrian was already bending to pick up tinder, and Vanari was distantly reminded of another time, another similarly dangerous place. She shuddered at the memory of glassbeaks; gods, how she hated those creatures.

Eager for some distraction against the tides of worrisome thoughts and fears relentlessly slamming against her composure, the Vantha asked Kaie as casually as she could, "Anything we can do to help?"

[Kaie]

The woman bent over, gathering a few twigs and dried leaves as she moved. Her motion was fluid and constant, simply grabbing and going. When she could carry no more tinder, she knelt beside the dying fire and dropped it in a heap beside her. Kaie leaned in toward the smoking base and blew air through its center. Gentle wisps of wind rattled the ashes and caused embers to turn a bright orange. And then they were gone. The Myrian dropped a few dried leaves when the embers burned brightest, added a few twigs, and tried again.

"No. I've been permitted stay not too far from here by my employer. Apparently he has some need for a randomly placed barn outside the city. You don't have to tell me that's odd for a businessman. I've already been wondering about it myself," She replied to Ria's question in a casual tone. Then she inhaled once more, and blew upon the embers. Again, it failed to catch. Now it was just getting embarrassing. Whatever she was doing wrong, she'd better fix. Something told her the wind would be returning its autumn breeze soon.

"Back there you didn't seem to be a fan of the Ebonstryfe. Is everything they say about them true?" Kaie decided to inquire both out of curiosity and to keep a conversation going. Maybe it was to keep herself from becoming utterly annoyed by the idea she couldn't get a petching little fire going again. This stuff was supposed to be elementary by now, right? Why in the name of the Goddess Queen couldn't she just...

The Myrian's head shot up from her work upon hearing the Vantha's voice. She hadn't even realized how absorbed she was in her own head, berating herself for incompetence. However, by the looks of it, help wouldn't be such a terrible idea. Maybe she was best off starting the whole fire over again anyways.

"Actually, look behind that tree. I was stacking up some decent firewood, you know, in case I caught anything in that snare," She started, eyes shining with amusement at her own joke of poor taste. She should really start being careful with suggestions of cannibalism. Some people might actually take her seriously."And bring it over to me. I think I'm just going to have to get this going from scratch," She admitted finally, trying to keep the tension from her voice. Always so hard on herself. If only she could allow herself to accept she can't always be good at everything.