Closed daughter of ending.

[Caelum]

02 Spring 514 AV

Don't let me darken your door. That's not what I came here for.
No, it's not what I came here for. And I won't hear you cry when I'm gone.
I won't know if I'm doing you wrong. I never know if I'm doing you wrong.
A constant reminder of where I can find her, a light that might give up the way
is all that I'm asking for without her I'm lost; but my love, don't fade away.

So I watched the world tear us apart, a stoic mind and a bleeding heart.
You never see my bleeding heart.
And your light's always shining on, and I've been traveling oh so long.
I've been traveling oh so long.
- Mumford.

They were all children of the moving city, and Endrykas remembered them well.

Needle thin pillars of smoke were their first glimpse of an old home, stretching high into the curve of a dimming sky. Afternoon wasted on the prairie, sharp and redolent with all of the punishment of spring. The season was a slave driver in Cyphrus, flushing color back into the half frozen roll of grasses and suffusing the air with warmth it had shuddered for in snow falls. The gold of Syna was taking over the darker hues in Caelum’s hair, brightening all of him as the year came upon its new dawn. Poisonous hyacinth trickled through the pine forest colors of his horns and only his eyes maintained the same shade they always wore – gold, gold, and gold again, endless and interminable as the turning of the world around his first goddess.

They came on the backs of striders, to the last almost more comfortable there then on their own two feet. They used the complicated looking style of yvas as would any decent horselord and with them, among packs of supplies and trade goods, was the telltale tent wrap of a traditional Drykas pavilion ready to be pitched. And if roaming eyes were careful, they might be able to catch a glimpse of windmarks hinting out of the hems of clothing as the heat of the day still lingered on the land.

The Watch rose to meet them with these details in mind, perceiving the stranger elements of the arriving party in a silence that was more thoughtful than it was suspicious. The striders they rode were well groomed and cared for and that fact alone was enough to ease any initial concerns.

It was Vanator with whom they primarily spoke, Kavala yielding to him as her Ankal and Caelum willing to do the same in this circumstance. He did not care to introduce himself to the Watch as the ancestral Ankal of his clan for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that his penultimate grandson had been a member of the Watch last they had spoken and Caelum had no desire for rumor to creep and spread. It could act like kudzu at times, working to smother and strangle; and when Caelum had last been in Endrykas and even Zulrav’s wind had ceased to allow him room to breathe, he’d left.

In fact, he’d run and right into the arms of Nikali on a far flung shore.

Anyway, the sun was not yet set, but once it was and Leth’s face loomed over these barely tamed wilds, the story of Caelum’s past life and its ending would write itself in windmarks on his skin for any to see.

“I want to see her tonight,” he told his friends once the Watch had let them pass, having led them to the outskirts of the sprawling collection of tents and pavilions that could seem to an outsider to be lacking in organization. They would be wrong. “I at least want to take a look at the pavilion.”

The Watchman had told them that the Stoneshadow clan of the Emerald Pavillion resided in the northernmost part of the city. Caelum had heard that direction in the Pavi that was most familiar to his bones and turned his head north like a magnet, as if in looking alone he could settle all of the dead haunting his mind. He had a great many of them in Endrkyas – all of them did.

[Vanator]

The dormant emotions had slowly risen in the well of Vanator's soul with every league they drew closer to Endrykas. The Denusk heir had left the city one day with every intention that he would return within a few bells and curl up that evening in the arms of Kashik and Khiara and his infant heir, Zivatar, under the roof of his father's pavilion. Fate twisted that which Van had taken for granted into that which would be taken from him. He would never set eyes on his loved one's again. Vanator had left the tent that day the son of the Ankal of the Denusk Pavilion. Then, two years later, he returns as the Ankal himself, the patriarch of a new Denusk pavilion, one born out of tragedy, decimation, and hope-filled resurrection. Vanator and Kavala were vastly different people than the Denusk siblings Endrykas had known.

Vanator had observed the traditions as he greeted the Watch, formal Pavi with appropriate hand signs, as an Ankal would be expected to do. But the city did not feel like home. His heart ached within him. He had wanted to see the city again, secretly hoping it would it would be a triumphant return, to see the glory of his home, his people, and to don it all again like a comfortable cloak. But it was not the Endrykas he had left, just as he was not the Drykas son it had lost.

There were far fewer pavilions in Endrykas than when he left, and to Vanator's eyes, the perimeter of the city seemed to have been reduced to eliminate the painfully telling vacant spots among the clans. Endrykas was a city still rising from the destruction of the djed storm and the plague that came in its wake. Slaves had never been uncommon among the pavilions, but Van knew many of the faces he would look upon had been stolen from their loved ones in Sylira and brought here against their will to bolster the waning population. it pained him to think how far they had fallen.

Sirroco snorted, shook his head, his great brown eyes darting about as the riders entered the outskirts. Vanator had always assumed the Strider stallion had belonged to a pavilion, separated when herds were scattered during the djed storm. The horse was already well trained with the yvas when Vanator had rescued him in the grasslands. Indeed, even the animal had ghosts in the city.

As the trio rode further among the encamped pavilions, Caelum expressed his desire to begin his search, even as the sun was beginning to sink over the plains. "Of course," Van answered mustering a smile in spite of his melancholy. He was sympathetic to his friends anxious wish to find the girl. Nightfall would also afford the Eth the benefit of a much more inconspicuous form, that of the ancient Ankal. "I would like to set up in our place, among the Sapphires. We will go with you, if you wish. Otherwise, I have many old friends to look up."

[Kavala]

Kavala sat her horse with the ease of someone born on the back of such animals. Spitfire was excited to be back to Endrykas. So too were the other loose horses Kavala had brought along. There were striders but also a handful of mixed blood, two sturdy young seme geldings trained to drive, and all of them holding supplies. She was dressed as a traditional Drykas and had her hair in braids. Her cropped top showed off her windmarks as much as it showed off her scales. But she was busy, far busier than Caelum and Vanator, for she was minding the stock they'd brought - a variable wealth of supplies. Not only was the horseflesh fine, but upon it were crates of chickens, piglets, and tradegoods from Riverfall. All and all, there were a couple of thousand mizas worth of supplies.

When Caelum made his wishes clear, Kavala nodded affirmatively. She understood. But when Vanator spoke, the Konti laughed and shook her head. "Setting up camp is my job. You two go do a ride by. Your home fire will be burning by the time you get back. I need to get the herd settled, the animals unloaded and cared for, and the pavilion up. I'm sorry we could only bring the small one but I didn't want to drag the wagon out here. It would slow us down." The Konti said, automatically nudging Spitfire into action. She wove her way among the outskirts, looking for the Sapphire section, the herd of horses following her curiously. Some were native to the Sea of Grass, but most were new to the city and the idea of no fences.

She let Caelum and Vanator decide if they were going to do the ride-by or not, while she got busy unloading horses. They were patient, and an onlooker might have found it comical how the animals lined up to be unloaded, patiently waiting their turns. When she was done, there was a stack of crates, a row of gear, and enough cloth for two pavilions. One was for the people, and one was the smaller stable that would fit roughly half the horses they'd brought. Kavala had told them they were here to be rehomed, and though their riding horses were safe, the others might be traded or gifted, but only to a home she was happy with. Most of the horses were glad to be out. She'd chosen good stock. All of her stock was good, but some were more suited to the roaming lifestyle of the grass than the walls of The Sanctuary and being let out daily to graze on the plains.

Kavala slipped into her old role fast and comfortably. She picked a spot, pitched the pavilion, and had it all set up and the fire going within a bell. Unfortunately she had limited space for the trade goods, so in the end, the three companions were going to bunk in the inner portion of the divided pavilion and the supplies went into the outer portion. The riding horses were stabled and grained, and some of the more trustworthy animals were left to graze loose on the edge of the city. Kavala had brought along two of the big Imperial Watchers, so she left Ink and Indigo out on the edge to guard the herd.

Then, depending on what Caelum and Vanator decided, she'd get ready to receive guests, go visit the pavilion they'd been looking for, or simply make the men a meal.

[Caelum]

Night had crawled up out of the ground by the time Caelum returned to their camp. Ink and Indigo bounded out to greet him, swarming around the legs of his borrowed strider and snuffling softly in the back of their throats. Their noses crawled right up the strider's withers to gruff playfully at the ethaefal's calves and almost as unit their attention swung like a compass needle toward the approach of a second rider coming into camp. Caelum snapped his fingers so that the Imperial Watchers would look at him and when they did he made the grasslands sign for friend. The dogs shortly calmed, growls swallowed back in their throats, and Caelum swung down from horseback in a gesture so habitual and befitting of his windmarked night form that it ached with grace. The second rider remained horseback out of politeness, his rough face handsome and brooding with a shadow-smothered stare that moved over the camp with an accessing air. It was not with suspicion so much as with with wariness that came hand in hand with curiosity. Dirty blond hair was braided back from his temples and tied with strips of leather into a loose ponytail down his back. His strider was a mean but well cared for look, as if he would be quite the brute to tangle with well on his own. Together, drykas and strider created an intimidating picture, though no air of menace loitered around them. Instead, they seemed almost uncertain. "Kavala," Caelum said when the konti appeared. Firelight gleamed off the flecks of gold in otherwise dark eyes. He gestured backwards toward their guest. "This is Milo Stoneshadow, younger brother to the Ankal of the Stoneshadow clan." With the introduction, Milo swung easily down and moved closer to the light. He walked like a man comfortable with the kill, predatory and slow. Upon closer look, he also looked hungry, and his clothes were clean but well worn. Either he had been in hard labor and purposefully been wearing clothes he didn't mind potentially ruining, or the Stoneshadow clan was in dire straights. "Milo, this is Kavala Denusk. She owns the Sanctuary in Riverfall and is the lady I was telling you about." Caelum completed the introduction. "An honor to make your acquaintance, Kavala," Milo returned, respectful but brief. One received the impression he was a brief sort of man. "I've invited Milo to join us for a meal," Caelum went on to explain. Doubtless, he was driven to feed the man if he was in actuality as hungry as he looked. "And I've also explained a little bit of why we're here. He offered to answer our questions for us. Apparently, his brother the Ankal is out on a hunt and won't return until tomorrow." It was doubtless clear to Kavala that Caelum had not yet felt it good timing to ask to see or to speak with Lillian, but he certainly hoped to leverage that out of Milo tonight. He wasn't at all emotionally prepared to wait on the dawn. "Let me see your strider," he offered hospitably, determined to make sure the horse ate well too. After Milo acquiesced, Caelum clucked his tongue at both horses to lead them to the rest.