[Outside Endrykas] Outriding (Denen)

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam blinked. He hadn't really gone into any sort of detail, and this fellow looked like someone had stolen his heart's desire. Opal Clan, he reminded himself. Healers. There were healers of the body, and then there were healers of the mind and spirit. Sam tried not to close off too much, but his gut reaction was still to fold over and hide his spiritual wounds like a cornered, wounded animal. But all this was likely too subtle to be noticed. He managed a bit of a dazed smile. He had avoided telling Denen what it was like to stumble out of one's pavilion, barefoot and half-dressed, sword drawn but too late to protect one's Strider, that proudest of young stallions dying in one's defense. Hasieran. His soul still bled for that one. He had tried to protect this one from such horror. Nobody should know that, nor the harrowing tales of children sold into slavery. He had been a man at seven years old, though. The windmark hidden on his wrist marked him a man. But with his Strider and his pavilion slaughtered, he wasn't much of a Drykas. But he had to stop thinking like that if he was going to rebuild. "You are very kind, but I do not know what anyone can do to help. The dead are dead. I must live on and preserve their memory, rebuild." He shrugged. It would be a lifelong task, but he would manage it somehow.

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen didn't need detail to understand the pain that Sama'el must have been feeling. It was part of the nature of how he had been raised. In order to heal wounds, even spiritual ones, one needed to understand how they felt. It was part of the reason they were so open. Hiding the pain meant it was all but impossible to heal. Denen had been told once that there were some people who did not want to be saved, and though he had not yet seen it, he accepted it as truth. Denen imagined himself in Sam's shoes. What would he have done if he lost his pavilion? His very heart would have been broken into little pieces! He had only been gone from his family a few days, and already he missed them. He could only imagine how much it would ache to lose them entirely. He hardly even wanted to think of it, but he compelled himself, so that he might better understand how he could help Sama'el. He smiled softly, hearing Sam's response, and he slowly shook his head. "You did not have all of your life among the Drykas. Surely there are things you must learn. I, however, have never left our lands. Maybe...Maybe I could help teach you." And what was more, it would, no doubt, help him to have someone with him who had spent their entire life upon the Sea of Grass. Denen had never known anything different. "I promised you a story. What would you like to know?"

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"You really..." He blinked and remembered to speak in sign. "You really want to help me?" Though Sam had not lost his kindness, nor his cheer, he had grown to his second manhood in a place where girls were raped and two boys would knife a third, a place where promises weren't kept and few were the people who would weep because another wept, and none of them had any power at all. Still, he was far from Sunberth now, and he would have to recognize that and move on if he was going to become Sama'el again. "I apologize," he signed. "I have been alone for a long time and I have grown accustomed to looking askance at anyone offering to help for nothing in return. I... was just going to return to Endrykas. Horse just needed to stretch his legs. Would you like to accompany us back?" He assumed Denen's pavilion was back there, unless they were ranging farther from Endyrkas. But Sam would share his campfire with a new friend anyday, even if his tent was a far cry from a pavilion. Still, it was warm enough to sleep under the stars if need be. "I... you can tell me your story," he signed. "You can be as brief as I was. I sort of skimped on the details."

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen smiled and nodded eagerly when asked if he really wanted to help. It wasn't so very unheard of, was it? Kindness was something he was always willing to show others of his kind, especially those who stood in great need of it. And what was more, Sam was a Drykas, one who was seeking to reclaim the life that had been stolen from him. Denen, despite being an adult in age and mark, did not truly feel that he was yet a man. He was inexperienced to the point that it was embarrassing. That was part of the reason he travled now. He wanted to know things, to live his life. But he couldn't do that at home. No. He had to travel. He couldn't experience things within the close confines of his clan and under the watchful eye of his overprotective father. He had been warned that the world was cruel beyond the embrace of his pavilion, but he knew, too, that the world was cruel even in his family. It had, after all, robbed him of two mothers. "I understand," he assured. "Your life does not sound like one that would give many opportunities to trust." He smiled widely at the offer. "I would like that. A lot. I'm not...planning on returning to my family for some time." He was excited by the concept of meeting others, of learning as much as he could of what went on outside of his pavilion. Denen hoped he would be allowed to stay for awhile, so that he could see and learn more, and he prayed he would find friends in Sam and his horse. "My story...Well, I'm of the Opal Clan, like I said. My mother died when I was born, and my father's second wife raised me. Reth was my mother's before he was mine. He bonded with me when I was six. Jada, who raised me...she died a little while back, and my father has allowed me to go wandering. Oh! And I'm deaf. I have been since I was little." He said it as plainly as one might state that they liked a color.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I'm sorry about your mother," he signed after a while. "You're welcome to make camp with me. The others might scoff at my tent, though. It's a sorry excuse for a pavilion, but if I ever... well, I want to rebuild my pavilion, but I'm starting from scratch so it will be a while. Also, I'm not fit to be an Ankal yet..." There was so much to do and so much to learn. He had been keeping mum about the pavilion-rebuilding idea, but Denen seemed like the trustworthy sort. It was a large dream, and he hoped that he was man enough to fill it. Time would tell.

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen gave a soft smile. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Sometimes, even in the Opal clan, things happen. I don't remember her, so I can't really miss her. But I do wish I had known her. My dream is to one day discover ways that help women with childbirth. That way...other children won't lose their mothers." His eyes seemed to dance as he listened to Sam. "If you put such effort into it, there is no way it could be a sorry excuse." He saw potential in Sam, a strength he didn't have himself. It was inspiring, and a bit unnerving at the same time. He felt weak and inexperienced in comparison, though he didn't come out and say this aloud. Would he have the courage to try and rebuild his Pavilion if it were to fall apart? He was the youngest of seven children, and the son of the third wife. Responsibilities had never been his, at least...not major responsibilities. "I am sure it's a fine tent, too," he informed. "Better than mine, anyway."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I suppose we can compare tents when we return to Endrykas," he sighed with a grin. "It's strange being back there. Even when I was young, our pavilion didn't spend the whole year with the clans. There was a certain amount of freedom to that, but also... obviously... drawbacks. My grandfather, the Ankal, was a great web mage. At least, I thought he was. He was always patching up parts of the web that didn't get a lot of attention, he said." They began to ride back toward Endrykas. He didn't want to spend too much time away from his new Strider. Already he was prone to zoning out in her presence, like she was a gift he hadn't expected to receive. He had called her Dohaina after his mother. "So... are you a midwife or a midhusband? he asked with gentle humor. If Sam had a mean bone in his body, it would surely take some digging to find it.

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen laughed, a strange sound and sight. He didn't make a lot of sound when he laughed, but his entire body seemed to shake with it, and his features were split in a wide, sparkling grin. "We had very different childhoods, then," he informed. "This is my first time away from home. It's a little scary, and I'm...not even beyond the Sea of Grass. It's a bit pathetic, really." He wished, sometimes, that he had more experience. That way, he wouldn't feel like a complete baby when faced with people he felt the desire to impress. And he wanted to impress Sam. Sam was new, and Denen didn't feel so completely pathetic around him. Denen was good at medicines, though he was nothing but an amateur when it came down to it in his clan. He leaned forward, resting against Reth's neck, and smiled to his new friend. He laughed again at the next question, only this time his cheeks flushed and he buried his face in Reth's mane, letting the scent fill his nostrils. His body continued to shake with his silent, huffing laugh. "Neither. Yet. I haven't ever delivered a baby, but I've seen some be delivered. I don't...know what that would make me. I've only ever heard it termed midwife. But...But that makes me sound girly." And secretly, that thrilled him, but he wasn't about to admit that aloud.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Well, it is scary for me too, being back here after all these years. We can look out for each other, yes?" He smiled back at the other lad, glad to have made a new friend among the horseclans finally. This was no attempt to entrap Denen into keeping an eye out for Sam forever, but it seemed that, at least for the time being, they could both use an ally to look out for them. There was something feminine about Denen, however. Not something bad or emasculating, but a sort of compassion or empathy, perhaps. It might have something to do with the fact that he was a healer of the Opal Clan. That must be it. Sam smiled back, hesitant at first, but then broadly. "I suppose you can think of a name for it later," he signed. "I imagine babies would come into the world singing for joy instead of crying indignantly if you were catching them. You are so kind."

[Denen Sunsinger]

Den was glad he wasn't alone in being frightened. This was so much to take in. He wasn't really sure of what to do, so he just sort of...wandered. It had, after all, only been a few days. He had spent most of his time trying to catch food, or gathering herbs. He wasn't so good at the food catching part, but he had a lot of nice herbs, and he was wanting a place to dry them out. He hoped Sam wouldn't mind if he did so when they got to camp. He would have to change his clothes, too, as they had gotten dirty when he went after a bundle of Field Balm. He had managed to slip and coat his entire body in mud, most of which had been washed off in a stream. "I would very much like that," he signed. Stupid mud, anyway! Denen was aware that he was feminine. Everything from his delicate structure to his pretty features spoke of it. He didn't like doing manly things, and usually stayed behind with the children and women. Jada had always been overly protective of him, coddling and babying him. He figured he was paying for it now, though he still new things were going relatively well for him. It was when he was given such a compliment that his cheeks burned bright red and he looked down, biting his lip. Now, he spoke aloud. His voice was hushed, a bit awkward, but pretty in its own way. "I...I...That is so nice of y-you to say. B-B-But..." His entire face was a brilliant shade of crimson, even to his ears. "That w-would be something to see, wouldn't it? Better t-t-t-to hear, I imagine."