Closed Birthday Celebrations (Turrin)

[Drusilla]

Drusilla became quiet. She bit her lip, "Turrin, do you know what would happen if I took a Symenestra mate? An innocent woman would be taken from her home and forced to carry 'my' child and the taken surrogate would die durring birth. Because Symenestra kill their mothers as their first meal. Either that or I would carry my own child most certainly against my mate's will, and I would die. Leaving that poor infant without a mother. Alone.If my mate is a different race, the child's poison will be diluted and I will live. A Symenestra mate means my death as I won't take a surrogate. I will carry my own and on that child's birthday I will die. That child will kill me.....As I did my mother on my birthday 23 years ago." Drusilla smiled burying her face in Turrin's back and in said hair, "I have my mother's hair my father always told me. I have her hair comb it's my inheritance one could say, I always keep it with me. I love hair and maybe I am flirting with you. Then what? As for lust and love.. Lust is something I don't need and as for love, maybe I have made some gambles. Maybe I have tried." She thought back to two men in particular. Both had gone before their times. One an Endal the other a Dek. As Turrin spoke of the glassblowers Drusilla listened, she didn't know any of the glassblowers they worked in a different place than she did.In her mind she grumbled. What was so great about glassblowers? It seemed all the popular girls were glassblowers. She had once known one, a nice girl a little too interested in Symenestra. Drusilla wondered what had become of her. The colors of the mountain intensified around Drusilla beautiful leaves and picturesque mountainscape. "Oh! The colors! I wish thread and yarn could capture this color." She turned to listen to Turrin, "A savage? Well then they must not know you at all to say that. You are the kindest man I know and a hard worker. Funny too. Humor always wins in my book." Drusilla nodded to herself, she wasn't flirting with Turrin anymore just stating a fact. "Always up to something like taking me pretty much around our little mountain world." She paused, "Did I tell you I'm learning archery from a hunteress, Azira? I was gonna wait until I got better at it and show you. I feel like I need to be able to protect myself with more than just claws and venomous fangs and Symenestra lashes are hard to find in Wind Reach."

[Turrin]

Turrin stayed silent when Drusilla told him about the horrors of Symenestra courtship. The Endal back tighten when she mentioned that the Symenestra kidnapped women to impregnate them and to be cast aside like garbage when the child ate through the poor woman. It was monstrous! He was glad that Drusilla couldn't see his face otherwise she might see the anger and disgust in his eyes. However, the Endal's eyes softened when he heard that she would have choose to carry the child to term, but her fate would surely be death in the end. Suddenly, he was hit by a invisible boulder when Drusilla told him that her mother carried her to term, and at her birth, Drusilla killed her mother. At the moment, the Endal wished he could stop the wind eagle, so he could hug her, but at the moment, he couldn't, so he pondered what he could say to her in the mean time, but he put a hand on her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. When Turrin felt her head on his back, she told him that the only thing that she had left of her mother was a comb. He really wished that he wasn't flying, so he just sat there helpless not sure what to say. When Drusilla admitted that she was flirting with him. Turrin went wide eyed in shock. He didn't know what to say since he always thought about her like a sister. Drusilla was Drusilla in his eyes, and she had always been their for him. He remembered his first meeting with strange, but beautiful girl on a cold snowy day in the Courtyard of the Sky, and he had to admit that they were almost inseparable since that day. It was strange thinking of her other than a friend, but what if she wanted more? He wasn't even sure if he could answer the question. Turrin told Aponivi to fly lower into the valley, and the wind eagle flew about thirty feet over the multicolored canopies. He felt like he could almost touch the top of the tress with his hands. When Drusilla changed the subject to the colors of the trees, Turrin looked back at her and said with a smile, “Maybe you should try to weave a tapestry, Dru?" He knows that he was changing the subject, but he couldn't really say much about Drusilla and her mother while they were flying. When she complimented him, Turrin couldn't help himself from smiling and said without turning around, “...I think your the only one in Wind Reach that actually understands my humor Dru.” When Aponivi banked left out of the valley, Turrin had to lean into the turn as the giant bird flew towards a lone treeless peak over looking Thunder Bay. When he flew closer, he noticed the grass on the barren peak was starting to brown, but unlike the snowy valleys, God's Perch was completely devoid of snow. Turrin circle around the peak looking for a good place to land Aponivi. Nobody was on the peak since it was getting closer to winter, and it meant the winds were going to start to pick up. Turrin looked at grassy spot and motioned Aponivi to land. The large bird slowly descended onto the peak. The wind was stronger than expected, but it wasn't as bad as the winter. Turrin jumped off the wind eagle and landed on the ground on his feet. He raised his hands up to Drusilla and said with a smile, “I know you are stuck in the mountain all day, so I figure it would be nice for you to see the natural beauty that surrounds you. Would you like me to help you down?"

[Drusilla]

Drusilla's eyes which had been a tad puffy from her story on the way over, not that she'd admit she had cried softened and she smiled. Not her normal sad smile, but a warm honest smile. She could feel the tips of her fangs sneaking out from beneath her upper lip and she tried her best to keep them hidden. Drusilla knew they didn't normally bother Turrin, but living day to day among the Inarta it was safer to hide one's fangs from the masses. Lest her be called that word that rang in her mind, the word she had dubbed herself, monster. She reached out a slender ashened hand to Turrin, then noticing the black claws the adorned each of her fingers, she pulled back. She rubbed her fingers with her other hand thinking. It had be like this at Siri's babyshower. Her hands. Working up some courage she gave Turrin her hand and slid off Aponivi. After dusting off her dress she turned and thanked the eagle quite formally. Curtsy and all. She turned away from the giant eagle and for the first time looked out into the canopies below them. It was awe inspiring. Drusilla watched as way down in the canopy she spotted a bird, she was watching it intently when the wind blew just right, giving her long hair life of it's own. Like wings dancing in the air, she turned to Turrin and smiled.

[Turrin]

Turrin smirked up at her when she gave him a toothy grin; however, she quickly hide her fangs from him. The Endal remembered the woman in the corridor, and he felt a pang of sadness at the realization that the beautiful woman felt like she had to hide what she truly was from the world. He knew personally the Inarta were racists, but he always had the physical and emotional strength to deal with them out right. Drusilla seemed to deal with it by slipping out of sight. It was sad life, and he wished that she didn't have to experience it. Turrin frowned at her slightly when she stuck out her ashen hand and pulled it back. She seemed uncomfortable about her claws, but he said nothing. When the Symenestra woman found the courage to let him help him off, he grabbed her waist as she slid down the giant eagle, so she wouldn't fall. Turrin smiled at Drusilla as she gave the Aponivi a respectful bow, and the Endal said out loud in jest to his feathered friend, “Don't get it in your head that I will bow to you, Wind Eagle...” Aponivi turned his great head to Turrin and spoke in the minds of both of them. I am not surprised, Turrin. Drusilla is far more civilized than you will ever be. At least, they teach her manners in Kalinor. Turrin ran a hand through his burgundy hair and said out loud with a laugh, “I already know that she is far more civilized than me. You are just preaching to choir bird.” Laying down on the ground, Aponivi laid his large head on the ground and gave Drusilla a defeated look and said in her mind. You see what I have to put up with, Drusilla? Why did I ever bond with a Myrian? Turrin watched the white haired woman as she looked over the multicolored valleys below them, and in the morning wind, the Endal had to admit the seamstress was truly breath taking. Turrin looked over the valley, and he noticed the morning sun made the colors seem more vibrant. He noticed his friend smiling at him, so he walked over to her and complimented her with a warm smile, “The valleys might be the second most beautiful thing around us. Do you know that you are truly breathtaking, Dru?” Turrin knew it might have been impulsive to say it, but he always thought his friend was a beautiful woman regardless of her race. He just wanted her to hear it from someone else, and maybe she would believe it to be true. Turrin walked up beside her and looked over the valleys and the mountain peaks surrounding Thunder Bay. The half-breed put his hands behind his head and said softly knowing that he needed to say something regarding the conversation earlier about her mother, “Drusilla, I was thinking about your mother during the flight, and I am starting to realize to myself. How much she must have truly loved you if she risked her own life to give birth you. I don't think you should blame yourself for her death since she was the one who sacrificed herself for you to live. She wanted you live a full and happy life, Drusilla. Regardless of the consequences...” Trailing off at the end, the Endal didn't know if it was his place to say anything to her, so Turrin kept his eyes on the orange valleys as he waited for his friend to answer him.

[Drusilla]

Drusilla laughed wholeheartedly at Aponivi, "I came from a very well to do family, so manners were a very reinforced topic. It's why I still use Symenos honorifics from time to time." She gave the giant bird a pat on the head. "Dovna Aponivi." A surprised look crossed Drusilla's face with a tinge of red which her pale skin made hard to hide to a confused expression to a sad doubtful glance toward Turrin. "I believe you may be the only creature on the face of this planet who thinks that. Even back in Kalinor... No one thought that." She turned out to the valleys once more, looking far into the distance. As Turrin began to speak again, something happened. A wall that the Symenestra had been building her entire life, cracked, shattered, and collapsed around her. Drusilla turned and in one swift motion clung to Turrin, buried her head in his shoulder and allowed herself to cry. "Turrin, I don't get a happy ending! I either suffer my mother's fate or sentence another woman to that fate! Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. I want to be a normal woman, not the monster under some child's bed!" She stood there holding Turrin, even after her crying had subsided. It was comforting... Holding onto him. Human contact was something she rarely had or wanted. But, for just this once it was soothing. She suddenly realized how uncomfortable Turrin must be and let go with haste. Drusilla looked at him, her cheeks a deep red she looked to the ground, "I apologize for my actions!"

[Turrin]

As the Endal stared out into the orange and yellow canopy of the valley forests, Turrin was caught off guard when turned to look at him. Drusilla's ashen cheeks seemed have a hint a pink in them. He wondered if his compliment struck a cord with her, but the sad expression on her face and the words that she spoke told him a different story. The Symenestra didn't think herself beautiful. He wondered if he just gave the sad eyed woman a hallow compliment. Turrin was about to say something, but he couldn't find the words, so he just stayed silent and stared at the autumn colors. When the Endal started to speak about her mother, Drusilla stoic nature started to crumble around her. Suddenly, the Symenestra flung her arms around him, buried her head in his shoulder, and started to sob. Not sure what to do, Turrin decided to wrap his arms around the woman and held her tight as she poured her heart to him. Brushing her white hair with his hand, he listened to her reenforce her claim that she was just a monster, and she won't ever be a “normal” woman. The Myrian wasn't quite what she meant by a normal woman, but he figured it had something to do with her being a Symenestra. When Drusilla finished crying, she pushed away from him, turned away from him, and apologized. Turrin raised an eyebrow at her and said softly, “No need to apologize, Dru. I will always be here for you.” Turrin walked over to her, put a hand on the back of her shoulders, and said with a smile, “Besides, you are the only family that I have left.” Walking in front of her, he placed a finger under her chin and gently made her look at him. With a warm smile, Turrin said gently, “First of all, monsters tend not to cry on other people's shoulders, so I don't want to hear any nonsense about you being a monster because you are clearly not one.” Turrin shook his head and said softly, “Secondly, you are a normal woman. You just have to let yourself let yourself be one.” Letting his hand fall, Turrin just stared at her said plainly, “When I gave you the compliment, I wasn't lying, Dru.” Feeling awkward, the Endal started to wonder if he was to close for her comfort, so he took a step back from white haired woman. After a chime of staring at her in silence, Turrin turned his head to the valley and apologized to her without looking at her, “Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you those uncomfortable questions. I just worry about your well being. You always seemed sad and alone especially on your birthday. I just wanted to know, why, so I could help if you needed it.” Turrin always felt awkward in intimate situation like this moment because he tended to keep to himself both in Taloba and Wind Reach. Most people never accepted him for who he truly was because they only saw a savage, a worthless male, or half-breed. He felt a kinship towards the Drusilla because she was a outcast like him. Turrin gave her a sheepish look and said softly, “Sorry for making you cry on your birthday.”

[Drusilla]

Drusilla collapsed to her knees, emotionally drained. "It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want..." She gave a sigh, "No, don't be sorry. I've held all this in for too long, too too long. You see, I want to be normal like any other woman. I want to fall in love, I want to marry the love of my life, I want a family, and most importantly I want to be alive for my family. Symenestra speaking it would be no big deal." Drusilla waved her hand absently. "Just have my husband go and find me a woman of my liking and have her carry my baby. Let her die. They consider it killing two birds with one stone, increase our numbers and dwindle the competition's numbers. That's the Symenestra way of thinking." She paused before continuing, "But, in my mind thinking I can't help but wonder... Would that child really be mine? Even if I had nothing to do with conceiving or carrying it or giving it any of my genetics.... Would it be mine? To most Symenestra the answer is yes. To me however, I'd have no connection to this child. I feel the child would be this foreign being placed in my care. I don't know if I could love a child within that situation as if it was my own." "Turrin, I want to marry a nonsemenestra because I can live and raise MY child. However, the life of a Dra as they call them is a hard one. They look like a Symenestra but lack our climbing skills and have a hard time digesting food because of a less potent poison but they still eat like I do. Most Symenestra frown on Dra and treat them as lessers to full-blooded. But almost all humans avoid us like a pox or plague, and I don't blame them. Drusilla made herself comfortable sitting on the ground and patted the space next to her, looking to Turrin. "Come sit down, I have something to tell you, a secret I've kept for almost eleven years. But first a question; As a child who was your first love? The first time someone gave you butterflies in your stomach when you looked at them? Today is as good as any day to tell you this. When I met you that day in the snow doing whatever it was you were doing. I was smitten with you. As a child, you were my first love." She didn't turn away from him but kept her gaze straight ahead and with all her power tried to push away the redness collecting in her cheeks.

[Turrin]

When Drusilla collapsed to her knees, Turrin tried to catch her, but she was already on her knee pouring her out to him. The Endal knelt down, took her alabaster hands, and listened in silence. Drusilla told him that she wanted to marry for love and be alive to raise her children. Turrin already learned that a Symenestra woman being pregnant with a another Symenestra's baby was a death sentence for the mother, so the Myrian could understand why Drusilla didn't want to have a child with her own kind. When she asked herself if she would have a connection to a adopted child. Turrin silently disagreed with her. If Drusilla raised him or her like her own from baby to adult, it would still feel a connection to the child, but he knew Drusilla had a kind heart, so he doubt that she could live with herself if the birth mother had to die for her to be a parent. It was a cruel hand the gods dealt the Symenestra race. In the end, their fate made them creatures of nightmares to the other mortal races around them. When she started to talk about the half-breed Symenestras, Turrin remembered the first time that they met, and the Drusilla showed off her ability to climb just about anything. Turrin said quickly with a giggle, “Well, it must be easier to keep track of Dra children because you don't have to worry about them climbing up the walls, walking on the ceiling, and pouncing on you when you least expect it.” When Drusilla told him to sit down, Turrin sat down next to her. The Myrian looked off into the valley and started to let his mind wander, but suddenly, Drusilla asked him about the first time a girl made him feel butterflies in his stomach. Honestly, the Myrian didn't have much time to think about love when he was trying to prove in the Endal circles. However, Turrin and the rest of his flight knew that the Myrian had romantic relationship for about one year, but they mutually decided to break up. He never told Drusilla about the Endal woman because Naime and him wanted to keep it a secret. When Drusilla told him that he was her childhood love. Turrin just stared at her with his mouth open in shock. He was about to say something, anything, but nothing came out. The Myrian stared at her dumbfounded. In his mind, Drusilla was his best friend, and she was like a second sister to him. Thinking about her as a lover seemed almost alien to him since she was Dru! Yes, he had to admit that he did have feeling for her, but he didn't want to complicate or damage their friendship that they have right now by jumping into a relationship when he didn't really understand his own feelings for her at the moment either. As she looked at him, Turrin just watched the white hair dance around her slightly rosy alabaster face. Her amethyst eyes seemed to waiting for a answer to a long awaited question. Turrin knew that he didn't want to hurt her, but he really didn't want to complicate their friendship with something romantic either. However, he didn't want to come off as a complete jackass either. Turrin sat there staring at her for a few chimes and opened his mouth, “Well...I had a few romantic entanglements throughout the years, but I never really fell love with anyone.” Completely failing at sounding like a complete jackass, Turrin inwardly groaned at his blunt honesty. He wasn't the smoothest banana on the tree when it came to women, and the last statement was a great example of it. The Myrian knew Drusilla didn't want to hear about other women at the moment, so he took squeezed her hands and said gently, “I care about you a lot Drusilla, but...you are my best friend.” Turrin let go of her hands and looked off in the multicolored valley and muttered to himself, “Why is this so hard...?” The Endal ran a hand through his hair and said softly, “I know this might sound selfish, but...I want to keep what we have at the moment, Dru.”

[Drusilla]

Drusilla laughed lightly, "I wasn't trying to change anything. Just stating a fact is all. Besides you have that glassblower girl, right? I was just... reminiscing over things." She leaned back and laid on the ground, looking up at the sky. Drusilla closed her eyes with a sigh, "I'm gonna have leaves everywhere in my hair." She opened her eyes, "Oh well... I'm not going to worry about it." Drusilla lay there enjoying the sun and the gentle breeze that picked up every so often. She contiued the conversation in Symeos to herself.I just want you to know I'm here, that's all I've ever wanted. Just to sparkle in your eyes. She exhaled, "It's calm here, and quiet too. Not like the quiet in the warrens." She paused relizing the wieght of what she had done. "I believe what I said may have disrupted the universe. What did I just do? Turrin, I'm sorry. I made this uncomfortable. Even though it was just a memory, it distorted something. Had I known this I would of withheld that memory." She rolled over onto her stomach and into even more fallen leaves. She could only imagen how she looked rolling in leaves. But, she loved the way they smelled. Earthy with a tinge of saltiness. Leaning on her elbows, she played with a leaf. Twirling it between her fingers. "Fall was the perfect time for my birth. I feel as though we have so many things in common." Why hadn't he just laughed it off? Or just been flattered? She had said he had been her first love. Sure, strange emotions still swirled within her stomach. But she had learned to ignore them. Why had he paused to think? He had a girlfriend apparently. Did he? Had he? No, there was no way Turrin had ever held feelings for her. But he had paused.

[Turrin]

Turrin breathed a sigh of relief when Drusilla when the Symenestra let out a small laugh at his statement. When she spoke about having a relationship with the glassblower girl, the Endal chuckled to himself and said with a smirk, “Drusilla, I only met Syveris once. I doubt she even remembers me. Besides, I doubt falling off the climbing wall impressed her at all...” The way she acted sounded like she wanted to come clean about a long forgotten crush from her past. Looking off into the colored canopy, Turrin wondered if his friend was just messing with him. He wouldn't put it past her, but the way Dru looked at him when she asked her question didn't seem playful or mischievous at all. She wanted an answer. Turrin watched as Drusilla laid back on the ground, and he had to admit that his friend was strangely attractive laying on the ground with the leaves and dirt clinging to her hair. Turrin quickly pushed those thoughts from his mind. When she started to talk to herself in Symenos. Whenever she spoke the native language of her people, he always tried to pick up on common words used. He didn't know the meaning, but the words seemed to almost poetic when they were spoken. Turrin gave the white haired woman a smile and said softly, “You know, Drusilla. You should teach me your language because I think you have a unfair advantage over me. How do I know your not making fun of me?" When she rolled onto her stomach, Turrin saw that she had few orange and brown leaves stuck to her hair. He was about to plunk one, but she started to say in common about the season of fall was the perfect time for her to be born. The Endal knew the woman was going to become melancholy again, so the Endal said playfully, “Are you trying to say that you are full of color and smell like moldy dying leaves?” Turrin plucked a red leave from the ground, dangled it over her head, and said with a smile, “I think your to hard on yourself. You still have me and your family in Kalinor.” Turrin looked at her and said with a smile, “You know! I will be starting up my trade routes again in the spring. Maybe you can show me around Kalinor if I decide to go there. When we first met you told me about the aerial dancers, it could fun to see a show.” The Endal was always curious about Drusilla's home city since she told him about it the first day that they met. He was always curious about the aerial dancers since he was a amateur acrobat. Suddenly the myrian dropped the leaf onto of her head, and Turrin gave her his best little boy look and said with a pout, “Pleassseee Dru. Can you taakkke me to the show?”