Closed Once Upon a Time [Kat]

[Oryani]

The elderly woman snorted as she heard Kat’s explanations (translated by Kalikar), but didn’t say anything. ”Keep drinking” she instructed, thrusting another flagon into the woman’s hands once the first was empty. For once, Oryani was glad her grandmother’s attention wasn’t on herself… the woman could be incredibly intimidating. However, that didn’t last for long, as Jyomica turned to the Chatakwe. i”You. How are you feeling. Headache?” Oryani shook her head, grinning to herself. Since she got sick so easily, whenever another member of the pavilion came down with something… she was kept far, far away. It was a miracle that she’d survived the plague at all.

Content that no one was going to die on her, Jymocia left, returning to her earlier conversation. It left the trio in silence, until Kalikar decided to break it . ”So… you want to learn? Maybe… forage, Yetrian can do that. Navigation will help. Or you can help me with pottery!” he seemed to really enjoy this idea, but it was up to Katerina to choose. Still, the Drykas hopped up and went over to a small chest, pulling out a chunk of clay from it. He rolled up his sleeves and ripped it in half, the Windmarks on his arms- and muscles- now obvious. Sitting back down on the grass, he passed one of the halves to Kat. He knew his niece wouldn’t bother with the stuff, so didn’t think of letting her try. Oryani was content with that, instead with another plan in mind.

”Here… so push and poke it with your fingers, and make it into shapes. Play with it right now. If you want a bowl…” The man stopped speaking and demonstrated, sticking his fingers into the center of the ball he’d created and pushing. He pulled the thick walls it created out, thinning and lengthening them, but barely touched the bottom. Soon enough, he held a small, shallow bowl, and pointed it at Kat. ”See! It can be very fun. Try it yourself.” his demonstration done, Kalikar squished his creation, before repeating the process. Oryani had watched this more than enough times, and decided it would be a nice time to practice her webbing.

Focusing on the Web, she let her mind enter it drifting out of her body… but keeping a firm hold on reality at the same time. She was determined not to repeat Uay’s mistakes… the Web could be very dangerous to an unwary venture. Sending herself out, though not too far, she focused on her bow. There were glowing lines covering the pavilion, but she ignored them, a plan in mind. She didn’t plan on ever losing her bow… and attaching a strand of the web would help her prevent that. The Chatakwe spun a small strand, and though it was loose and rough –she barely ever created threads- she stuck it onto her wooden weapon. She then took the other end of the strand to herself, trying the weapon to her very being. This way… next time she wanted to find the weapon, all she had to do was glance at the web that tied her and the bow together.

[Katerina Deveraux]

Day 10, Season Fall, 513 AV

While the headache itself was starting to wane slightly, Kat wasn’t entirely sure she could drink that much water. But she might as well try—the old woman was a little intimidating to her for reasons she couldn’t name. Probably just that grandmother kind of stance. The silence helped with her headache a little too. Just the thoughts swimming in her head. But those had even quieted a little. It helped though that these people seemed genuine. There was absolutely no reason for them to fake it either. Technically even if she was to become part of their family at some point, she wasn’t now.

She could imagine her brother would have been very upset by her relative acceptance of everything going on. Kat didn’t know what she wanted really, other than she didn’t want to go back to Syliras. But the rest of her family would. And that would leave her torn depending on if they ever got that choice. Of course, that was also if her siblings ever forgave her in the first place. But there was no way of knowing any of that; it was part of a future that didn’t exist yet. If she let herself dwell on it, then it would just eat at her.

Thankfully Kalikar finally spoke and Kat let herself focus on something else that wasn’t as depressing as the fact where she stood with the rest of her family. He mentioned foraging, but she didn’t even get a chance to think on it before he mentioned pottery. It had already slipped her mind over the mention of her headache what he did for a living. Kalikar stood and Kat felt almost instinctively that she should follow, which was stupid because really she was afraid of being left alone here. Her brother was going to be furious if she got attached. Lovely.

As he returned not moments later with the clay, Kat’s eyes locked on the Windmarks across his skin. She had noticed that most of the people here had them, and she tilted her head a little. Taking the clay from him, she rolled it back and forth between her fingers. Kalikar went about trying to explain a little how to work with the clay, showing her how to mold it with what appeared to be simple strokes with the fingers. He motioned for her to try and after a tick Kat shrugged. Why not… it’s not like the clay was going to bite her fingers off.

But he made it look so easy. Kat pressed her fingers into the clay and tried to mimic his earlier actions. Which failed in a terrible sense of the word. One end of the bowl just wouldn’t thin out for her, and the other was too thin and split when she applied too much pressure. She tried to fix it, by drawing clay up from the bottom, but she soon realized that wasn’t going to work either. When she poked a hole through the bottom of the ‘bowl’. Flushing slightly, Kat pressed the bowl back into ball of clay and instead did as he mentioned before. Rolling it between her fingers and pressing against to make odd ball shapes.

Looking up at Kalikar, she laughed slightly with an embarrassed grin. "It’s harder than it looks. But uhh… this could be fun to learn.” And she was honest about that. Not only was it something to do, it would probably be a good chance to at least learn about her future husband. Pointing out with a clay covered finger, she motioned to the Windmarks now exposed to her. "What are those? I see a lot of you have those… tattoos? Do they mean something?” Kat asked curiously. Now that her attention was no longer focused on the bowl, she noticed Oryani moving.

"What is she doing?”

[Oryani]

Kalikar had grinned at Kat’s progress, despite the failure. ”It is hard when you start. But practice helps. I practice… I make bowls. I make nice pottery.” he shrugged, molding the clay absently between his fingers. ”I am happy you want to learn.” he added happily, awkwardly patting the woman on the knee. His smile was slightly crooked, but he quickly retreated, apparently not wanting to interfere with his wife’s personal space.

”Tattoos? Oh, these.” He patted his upper arms, where the dark marks spiraled around his biceps. Oryani’s were slightly different, but with a similar pattern… though hers reached all the way to the backs of her hands. ”These are Windmarks” He explained, using the Pavi word for the tattoos. He wasn’t quite sure what the word was in Common… but there was no reason to know it. Anyways, Kat would do well to learn Pavi as quickly as possible. ”When a Drykas…” he waved his hands around, trying to find the word, but stuck with the Pavi one. ”Bonds with a Strider… or horse, you saw them outside…. They become true Drykas. They get Windmarks to show it.” he nodded, also using the Pavi word for ‘strider’. Kalikar shrugged, before adding as a side comment ”Maybe you get Windmarks one day too!” He grinned at the thought, but settled down again, his fingers once again resuming the shaping and reshaping the clay. Most of the time he created balls, flattening them and re-rolling them, but a bowl turned up once, as well as a long roll.

Oryani had left the web by the time the last question was posed, and frowned at the question. She mostly understood it, and instead instructed Kalikar of her answer in Pavi. ”I was Webbing. Attaching my bow to myself. So I won’t lose it” The Drykas knew it was partially for the practice as well… she was addicted with practicing, knowing that once her skills were good enough… she could move up to a Tayvekh. Kalikar nodded, before translating it into Common. ”She is Webbing.” again, the word ‘webbing’ was in Pavi. ”Using a Drykas magic to attach the bow to herself. If she loses it, she can look at the Web, and find it again.” He gave Kat an apologetic smile, before adding ”Webs are a strange concept. Hard to understand. I will answer any questions though.”

The Chatakwe herself had moved on to another exercise, this time planning on doing a little stretching. She wasn’t entirely flexible… but it was good to practice. She would have liked to have worked with her bow, or scimitar, but that was impossible in a tent… and Kalikar needed the company. Maybe when Yetrian came back… Leaving that thought, she stretched her feet in front of her and leaned forward, attempting to touch her toes. Of course she failed, fingers flailing awkwardly for her feet. Oryani could feel the pull of muscles in her back, and the base of her knees, so knew that something was happening… even if it didn’t look like it. After counting to 30 steady ticks, she sat up, groaning at the pain in her muscles. That had hurt more than it should have. Grumbling to herself, she grabbed a bicep and pulled, stretching that part again. Another 30 ticks, and she switched arms.

[Katerina Deveraux]

Day 10, Season Fall, 513 AV

Kat didn’t squirm under his touch like she thought she would, but then it was probably because he seemed unwilling to make her uncomfortable, he was careful not to push. Twitching her nose slightly she continued to experiment with the clay between her hands, twisting under her fingers before collapsing it back into ball. Based on how easily he made a simple bowl, she could imagine how intricate he could make a bowl with actual focus. "I’ve got quite a bit to learn, I can tell already.” She murmured, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

It became even more obvious as he tried to explain what the Windmarks were. Even with some of the words being completely foreign to her, she was getting the general idea—at least she thought she was. His people bonded to a horse, and she supposed that was like a rite of passage. You could be raised as Drykas, but bonding to a horse was apparently very important. The markings on their bodies signified those who had done so. Kat nodded slightly, trying to imprint the words he spoke in Pavi into her mind, but she realized it wasn’t going to be that simple either. Especially when she considered the fact that hand signals seemed to be a large part of their language, if the conversation between the other three had anything to say.

At the mention of her becoming Drykas someday, Kat sighed and kept her eyes firmly locked on the clay in front of her. "Maybe. Though I cannot imagine my siblings being entirely happy about that…” She shrugged again. Being accepted into a culture that had taken them from home—Kat frowned slightly. She instead tried to focus on the second answer he gave her. Her eyebrows raised in surprise slightly at the mention of magic. "No that… well if I could understand more fully what—webbing?—was… I guess it just makes sense in simple terms. You lose something, you can find it. But I would guess you can tie more than just objects to this right?” Kat tried to mimic the Pavi word this time, though she had a feeling she might have failed.

Kat watched Oryani shift and reach for her toes. She couldn’t help but grin slightly. If she had been more comfortable with the situation, she would have offered to help her stretch like Lea did for her. Kat enjoyed her acrobatics, though she wondered if practicing that here would be easier than home. She would have to find a more wide open space if she wished to exercise herself. Another thing to add the long list of things to figure out while she was here. Her brother thought it wasn’t a very useful talent—being that she couldn’t use it other than to possibly entertain. If she could be dedicated enough to actually make use of it that was.

At the thought of her brother—again—Kat looked back at Kalikar and swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew exactly what was going to happen to her sister, the same thing that was going to happen with her probably. But Nate… "My brother… what are they going to do with him?” The question was quiet, almost afraid, which in some ways she was. He wasn’t as useful as the captive females. The Drykas had accepted his presence to accompany them, but Nate was obviously not happy about it. She didn’t figure he would cause too much trouble—yet, but it was possible he would later in his unhappiness. But she couldn’t help but worry that if he wasn’t useful enough…

[Oryani]

Kalikar grinned at the ‘maybe’, finding it better than a ‘no’. Sure, it wasn’t total agreement… but no one could expect that of the woman. Some of the new ‘family’ members despised their situations, and would never, ever, want to take full part in the Drykas culture. Maybe her siblings were like that, but Kat… she seemed to quite like things so far, which was a good thing.

”Webbing is… complicated. It will take a while to explain. Tomorrow? Or do you want to know now? Anything can be ‘tied’, but it can be used for more than finding…” he shrugged, before commenting on her use of Pavi. ”W-eh-bing, not W-a-bing” he corrected with a smile, fiddling with his clay.

Kalikar frowned when Katerina asked about her brother, but it was more one of thought than disapproval. As he slowly tapped his creation, squishing the slightly rounded cube, he mused, trying to come up with a sensible answer. Oryani had begun paying attention again, her arms a little stiff, but she ignored the pain. She swiveled around to face the pair, lips pursed as well. She’d mostly ignored the conversation, not understanding half of it, but she’d understood the last question. It was about Kat’s brother… and where he was.

”We do not know where your brother is” the Drykas finally conceded, his frown changing into an apologetic smile. ”But we can find him. He will probably join a pavilion, and maybe become a Drykas. He will work… all should work… hunt? Can he hunt?” Kalikar looked curious, wanting to know about Kat’s family and siblings. ”You’re siblings. What do they do? Brother and sister, yes? What are they like? You have met all my family – not my sister, she married a Topaz man. Oryani’s brother is out too. He will come back soon though… you will like Yetrian.” he nodded, as if this was a certainty.

”Speak of the idiot, and he shall arrive” Oryani commented dryly in Pavi, as said Drykas slipped through the canvas doors. He immediately bee-lined for the newcomer, his face split in a wide grin. Despite being nearly marrying age, the kid was just a little bit too immature for his own good. At least he had a job though. ”Hello!” Yetrian exclaimed, his Common as good as Kalikar’s He sat down in the same position as the others and grabbed Kat’s hand to shake it. ”You’re Kalikar’s new ‘friend’. How do you like the Drykas?” He was a little too bouncy for his own good, in the Chatakwe’s opinion, and she groaned when her brother launched a wink at the man twice his age. Instead of a smile, he received a short glare, but it quickly faded. ”Kat, this is Yetrian. Yetrian, Kat.” he introduced the two, pointing to one than the other.

”Hi Kat!” the forager burst out, before ‘sneakily’ stealing his uncle’s clay. The potter awarded the boy with another glare, but didn’t say anything as hit creation was ripped out of his hands. Instead, Yetrian began attempting to roll it into a ball, occasionally giving the older man mocking glances. Tiring of this foolishness, Oryani snatched it out of her brother’s hands, and passed it back to the original owner. This created a small pout, but that faded as fast as it had appeared.

[Katerina Deveraux]

Day 10, Season Fall, 513 AV

Kat did her best to file the information away into her mind, especially the correct pronunciation of webbing in Pavi. His offer to continue learning what webbing was another day seemed like a much better idea than trying to cram knowledge in today of all days. But she knew why she was so focused on learning new things, not just for the fact her future quite possibly lay here. It was a way to avoid everything else that came with it. Kat just nodded along in agreement, almost as though she was only half paying attention.

At Kalikar’s frown over her brother plight however, Kat frowned in response. Apparently even Oryani had taken up attention to her question and it made her worry all the more. She had already gathered as much that they really might not know where Nate was. Lea had been sold first—much to Kat’s ire—and neither of them had seen Nate before that. She tried to imagine Nate accepting work with the Drykas—though she highly doubted he would ever accept to be one. At Kalikar’s question though, Kat snapped out of her stupor and nodded meekly.

“Yes, my brother hunts very well. He didn’t exactly get a choice in that though. Lea and I were too young to take care of ourselves when our parents—passed.” Kat wrinkled her nose slightly. They didn’t really talk about their parents anymore; it was just how it was. The three of them. “My brother is… stubborn. And sarcastic… and prideful.” She huffed lightly. She loved her brother dearly but this was going to be a difficult transition for him. And quite possibly for Lea.

Looking down at the clay in her hands, Kat pressed it between her palms. “Lea often cooked what Nate brought home when she could. I don’t know how well she’ll take to this place either. Neither of my siblings were—unhappy back home. Only me.” Kat’s mouth snapped shut with an audible sound. That wasn’t something she was willing to share just yet. Her unhappiness at home wasn’t a good conversational center right now. It just made her feel worse about getting her family into this mess—even if she hadn’t actually meant for it to happen. But Kat only realized Oryani said something in Pavi, as another Drykas joined them. She didn’t have to guess that this was—Yetrian?

“Hello…” Kat muttered in mute surprise at his common. The younger man grabbed her hand and she didn’t bother to try and stop him. He seemed a complete opposite from his sister. Not that she didn’t mind Oryani—she just couldn’t really communicate with her yet. “Uhm... that is a difficult question to answer at the moment.” Kat tried to keep her own sarcasm at bay, but her brother’s influence leaked through just a little. She was insistent at ignoring his comment about being Kalikar’s ‘friend’. They almost seemed on the verge of another awkward situation as it was—that would just make it worse.

Kat watched Yetrain snatch the clay from Kalikar and she couldn’t help but raise a brow slightly. And then in a sisterly fashion, Oryani return the clay. Clearing her throat slightly, Kat offered hers to Yetrain in a half hearted attempt to be—well anything but stagnate really. The more people added to the tent, the more she felt out of place. Which wasn’t hard at the moment. “I realize finding my siblings right now would probably take quite a bit of time. Hence why today isn’t exactly a wise idea. But…” What was there to say at this point. That she had to find them? That was obvious. The consequences were not. “Honestly I have no idea what to make of this whole situation. There isn’t anything I can do to change it—much less stop it. Fighting it seems… pointless as well.”

Leaning forward a little, she rubbed her fingers over her knees to keep them from twitching across her skin. “I… I don’t know if I can stay here. Right now I know you have expectations and I also know that it’s not happening right away but I—I don’t think I can fit here. I don’t know if I can give what you need.” There was anxiety in her voice, slowly causing her voice to rise. In the back of her mind, she realized she was about to break. Perhaps just freak out over her situation, but it was building in her chest—and she wasn’t sure if her instinct was to run, or to fight, but it made her incredibly antsy none the less.

[Oryani]

Yetrian grinned widely at Kat, before patting her hand and dashing off somewhere else in the tent. He was a little... excitable at times, and being the youngest in the pavilion flaunted his immaturity more often than not. Kalikar chuckled quietly at the actions, shooing away the younger Drykas with a wave of his hand. When Kat began speaking about her siblings again, sounding a little.. depressed... he patted her shoulder with an awkward hand, unsure of what else to do.

Both he and Oryani listened politely to the next statement, and though the latter barely understood it... she got the tone. Kalikar smiled sadly, politely removing his hand (and refusing the clay) to mold his own thing. "It is ok. And we will not stay here... Endrykas is the moving city, and we will move on to a new place soon enough." He turned her comment of 'stay' into a joke, but his voice said he understood the real meaning. His fingers pushed and pulled the clay more rapidly and tensely, as he attempted to figure out what to say.

"You can have time. As much as you want. You can get used to it, find something to do, a job, before doing anything. And anyone can fit here... do not worry. It will work out." He raised his hand to pat Kat's shoulder again, but seemed to think better of it and lowered the appendage. He continued to fiddle with the clay for a moment, staring blankly at his lap before speaking again. Oryani watched him carefully, and though she barely understood the conversation, she knew things were getting awkward. Everyone was fiddling with things... and in her family, that meant people were getting tense. Kalikar was always a really obvious one, with his clay in hand.

[Katerina Deveraux]

Day 10, Season Fall, 513 AV

Kat was a little startled by Yetrian’s energy. One moment he was stealing clay and seemed almost eager to speak, and then he was up and moving again. She stared after him for several ticks, obviously a little confused by his actions. No one in her family acted like he did. There was sarcasm and teasing—but that sort of energy was left to children in the street. Well—when she herself wasn’t causing trouble anyways. In some ways she could see herself getting along with Yetrian… possibly in the future.

Kat couldn’t help but blink at the two of them however when Kalikar mentioned the city moved. She had guessed that the city was possible to move if they had to, but he made it sound like it was a common thing. The tense pressure in her chest lightened slightly. ”You… move the city often?" The surprise in her voice was clearly evident. Licking her lips, she looked at Oryani for a moment before she realized she might not have understood her, so she looked back at Kalikar with wide eyes. Despite the fact that the city had an outbreak that apparently took their numbers quite low, Kat couldn’t imagine the amount of people that would move with the city. ”Just how long does that take? Taking down the tents and packing it all up and actually moving? And just how far do you go at that point? Why bother setting it all back up just to move again?”

Kat didn’t even realize she was rambling questions at the two of them again. Her face immediately turned red and she looked back down at the clay in her hands—forgotten in her moment of stress. It was still there of course, but layered back down beneath curiosity. Better to remain there for now than break. Even they seemed tense by the whole situation and Kat had to remind herself that she wasn’t exactly the only one being forced to do something they weren’t comfortable with. Sighing slightly, she finally placed the clay down—having no idea what to do with it by this point—and stretched.

The tense few chimes had made her headache reappear. Nothing like before, but she was beginning to think that maybe she should try laying down. Taking some time to accept and readjust her priorities. Or at least start to work towards that goal. It was going to take some time and she knew that. ”I appreciate the idea of giving me time. I hope I can… at least be comfortable here in the future.” Shrugging slightly, Kat looked between the two of them, before sighing tiredly. ”I think maybe I should lay down now. Just… rest.” Whether or not rest would come Kat knew it didn’t actually matter. Right now everything else was put on hold—including finding her siblings. They could figure out the rest with time.

[Oryani]

Kalikar frowned at the moving question, having to think for a few moments. ”Often…ish” he decided, shrugging awkwardly. ”Over a year, we move in a full circle around Cyphrus. Nearby Riverfall, Claridon, Ekytol, Syliras.” It was a complicated system to explain. They went south in the winter, and north in the summer. ”We move because… we move. It is the way we live. Always moving.” He gave Kat a look as if hoping she understood the statement, before returning to the awkward molding of his clay. ”It does not take too long to move. We pack up the pavilions, put them on carts, and… move.”

When she asked the lie down, Kalikar nodded in surprise. ”Yes, yes! The room… follow me.” He led his companion through one of the two back flaps. ”You can sleep here… Jyomica does too. Oryani and Yetrian like to sleep in their own tents… their mother will sleep with Oryani for now. My brother and I have the other room. We will arrange other sleeping ways, if you wish.” The area itself was small and cozy. A few pillows littered the floor, but two bedrolls and blankets were the main scene. The right looked slightly rumpled, with a pillow at the head, and a bag nearby. The other, however, was quite neat, sitting at the furthest left of the vaguely circular tent.

When the other two left the main pavilion, Oryani took it as her leave to slip out. Now she could get a little more practice done. She left the tent quietly, leaving the other four to talk among themselves. Her mother had started cooking something over the fire, and was ordering Yetrian to chop something up. Overall, it was a pretty mundane day. Her family was trying to act as normal as possible, to make their new member feel more at home. The Chatakwe wasn’t quite sure what to think of Ket yet… but she liked the woman, and hadn’t found anything negative to point out yet. She was certainly strong… that much could be seen by her attitude. And that was something the archer seriously respected…

OOCSince I guess this is closing, just one more post each? I want to do a little training with Oryani before we finish

[Katerina Deveraux]

Day 10, Season Fall, 513 AV

Oftenish? Kat wasn’t even entirely sure that was an answer. However by the sound of it, the wide circled arc they traveled in left little time to remain anywhere too long. Though why they moved… well she couldn’t understand that. ”But...” She started, but couldn’t quite figure out how to form the coming question. He seemed to be having a hard enough time explaining it in the first place. And really the reasons why were moot point. It wasn’t like she could put her foot down and remove to budge. Well—she probably could, but they certainly were not going to stay. And Kat was no fighter to begin with. The wilds would eat her alive—literally.

Kat followed after Kalikar, ducking through the tent flaps after him. The ‘room’ looked comfortable enough, though she wasn’t entirely sure if she was comfortable with sharing with someone other than her sister. Asking for other sleeping agreements, despite his offer, seemed rude. So she shook her head quickly. ”No this… thank you.” Kat mumbled shyly, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand awkwardly. She felt like she should say more—feel more. With how lucky she was compared to some of the others—at least that was her guess—Kat would guess she really did land in good hands.

”For everything. Thank you for everything.” Kat shot him a genuine smile. A little small, but she meant it none the less. Reaching out, she patted his shoulder a little awkwardly before she made her way over to the bedroll. She wasn’t sure if she was going to even be able to get any sleep, but in the very least she would have some alone time. Enough she hoped to fully process the whole day, and maybe even get a plan together to find her siblings. She wanted to know if they were alright. Probably not.

Arranging herself on the bedroll and snagging a spare pillow to hold to her chest, Kat sighed heavily and closed her eyes. Hopefully sleep would be the last thing to worry about.

OOCSorry this took so long, NaNo kept me occupied.