Closed Muscle Memory (Shahar)

[Hope Dawnwhisper]

* Hope * * 5th Day of Spring, 514AV The light of the sun’s rays warmed Hope’s back, and she was finally ready to be optimistic that Winter was well and truly over – in name, it had ended long ago, yet Hope always thought that the seasons changed too early, when the cold continued longer into the Spring than anyone ever really wanted. This cold was far more noticeable in Syliras than Endrykas, however, and Hope had found herself pleasantly surprised that, whilst she had felt the cool embraces of Winter, there was not the same level of discomfort. Yet Spring had always been her favourite season – it as warm and brought the promise of new life in both flora and fauna across Mizahar. She shared this throught with the horse Dainellas, whose back she was gently dragging her fingers through as she tried to bond properly with the creature again. “I was born in Spring, you know…” Had she known precisely which day, she might have been celebrating today. “Spring… Spring?” She tried the word out on her tongue, thinking, in private, that her accent was slowly beginning to improve. It was only when she was around people, and the nervousness set in, that she sounded just like the foreigner that she really was. “But Spring is also the season for new beginnings, Dainellas. So many new opportunities appear in this season, especially when you aren’t looking for them. Good and bad things, which can alter your life forever.” And the young woman spoke from experience; her mother had disappeared in Spring, as she remembered it, and she had flown from Taloba in the same season, many years later. Hope stood in silence for a while as she continued to brush the creature’s hair, following the grain. Dust and dried mud was becoming dislodged from the calm mare, though the girl was making no active attempt to remove the dirt. Having risen before Shahar or the others, she had been restless enough to not want to remain hidden in her tent until the area was clear – mostly the rift between Hope and her guardian had been mended, but Hope was still avoiding him a little, her stubborn mind causing her to over-dramatise the situation. A voice in the back of her mind rebuked her, and told her that there were better ways to deal with situations like this than denial and avoidance. But she didn’t have the emotional palate to deal with the range of emotions that she experienced when she encountered uncomfortable situations, so avoidance was the best scenario. She doubted she would be missed for the day, anyway. Though, after her last ride atop the mare, she wanted to try it again, and to do that she would have to ask Shahar for his permission. At the very least, she was sure that she would need his assistance with strapping the strange… yvas onto the horse’s back, and indeed help with even getting onto the horse. The idea of Going in search of the man was less than ideal, but it was necessary if she were to continue learning how to ride with a yvas. “Maybe I’ll go find him in a bit… what do you say, Dainellas, would you like me to try to ride you again?”

[Colt]

The day had dawned with a warm wind––at least, as warm a wind as could be hoped for this early in the season. Warmer than winter winds, certainly, although Shahar knew well enough that there would be warmer ones yet to come.

As it was, he’d found the early morning to be more comfortable than most in the recent past when he slipped out of his tent and into the crisp Cyphrus air. He pulled his cloak tight around his shoulders, as it was still early and therefore possessed a distinct chill, hoisted his javelins onto his back and set off into the open grasses. He didn’t really intend to hunt in the traditional sense of the word, but javelins were useful for more things than hunting and it would be foolish to travel any distance into the Sea of Grass without a proper method of defense.

It took about a minute at a brisk walk to reach his first snare, which was empty of prey. Shahar frowned and picked it up. He would reset it somewhere else.

The second snare had fared better, and he arrived to see it wrapped around the neck of a grouse. A lean one, to be sure, but this early into spring all animals were lean. He emptied the trap and reset it. He carved a wide arc back towards his camp, and when he spotted the telltale line of a rabbit path he knelt and set the first snare across it. Two pegs driven in the ground, one on each side, high enough to put the wire loop a full finger’s-length above the dirt, where a rabbit’s head would pass when they used the trail.

With his morning rounds done, Shahar angled back towards his camp. The grouse would serve as a fine breakfast, large enough for everyone and maybe even large enough for meat to be left over. The tail feathers were particularly nice, and he was sure someone in Endrykas would want them, but that was for later; now, it was time to return home and begin the day properly.

He angled towards where the horses were when he made his way back, mostly because they were somewhat in between him and the camp and he wanted to greet Akaidras. As he approached, however, he caught sight of an unexpected, but altogether pleasant sight: Hope had risen, and was fussing over the unmistakable yellow hide of Dainellas.

Akaidras raised his head at Shahar’s approach and whickered in greeting, forsaking the patch of grass he had been chewing on to meander over and bump his rider’s shoulder. Shahar smiled and rubbed the beast’s forehead, nodding amiably at Hope.

Greeting, he signed.

[Hope Dawnwhisper]

* Hope * * Surprised, Hope laughed as, after she had reached down to pick some of the grass off of the ground, the mare wasted no time in pinching the dry strands from her outstretched hand. It didn't matter where she was in Falyndar, Sylira or Cyphrus, all animals, including horses, acted the same. People... well people spoke differently, and acted differently. They were different, in appearance and culture and everything that came in between. Hope didn't have to adapt around the arguably more simple minds of languageless beasts. As she stroked the mare's long, soft neck, Hope muttered words that would be unintelligible to the approaching Drykas man. Even though Hope thought of her mother tongue as a relatively harsh sounding one, compared to the Common Tongue or Pavi, yet Hope was speaking in low, gentle tones, so it sounded soft to the horse. The whicker of the stallion not far away from Hope caused the woman to look up, always nervous around the beast she viewed as ill-tempered. The dark skin of the Drykas was what she saw first and a soft smile slipped onto her features as he greeted her. “Hello... uh... Hello. Good morning.” Her pronunciation still left much to be desired, but she was finding it far easier to switch between the two languages. Because Shahar didn't speak much Common, her knowledge of that language was beginning to teeter, only practiced when she and the bondmate were alone and too busy to focus on learning the language neither were proficient at. The two stared at each other for a long while, and the silence stretched on, reaching into uncomfortable levels. Hand still resting on the horse, her fingers ran through the length of the mane, untangling any of the loose strands. It was true that Hope had emerged from her shell substantially since Shahar had bought her, and she would answer any questions, rather than stare mutely whenever someone tried to interact with her. But she was not yet willing to initiate the conversation. The silence stretched further, and Shahar paid a little attention to his mount. Closing her eyes, she pretended that she was only talking to Dainellas, "I come to search more... lessons." She squeezed her eyes shut tight before opening them to look at the Drykas. "With the horse Dainellas? "

[Colt]

She responded positively, even going so far as to say good morning and causing Shahar to crack into a smile. A small smile, true, but large on a man that did not usually smile at all.

With the greeting done, there seemed to be little left to say. Shahar turned his attention back to Akaidras, who had a snarl in his forelock. Shahar absently began to run his fingers through the offending knot, pulling out strands here and there to separate it until it was a few smaller knots instead. From there, he could focus on each one individually and work them out slowly, rubbing Akaidras’ forehead to keep him still.

Shahar was not one for awkward silences––most of the time, he didn’t even percieve them to be awkward––but he was observant enough to see Hope’s discomfort. She had tensed and closed her eyes, as if she was about to do something frightening, but Shahar could see nothing around them that could qualify for such a fear.

“I come to search more… lessons,” she said finally, opening her eyes. “With the horse Dainellas?”

Shahar nodded, smile growing just a bit wider. “I come to search for more lessons,” he corrected, although his posture still said pleased. “That is good.” Pride. “Come.” Come. “I will show you the yvas, since you are already brushing her. It is in the camp.”

He finished smoothing out his Strider's forelock and turned towards the camp in question, posture curved in intent.

[Hope Dawnwhisper]

* Hope * * It was hard for the captive to keep the friend offs her face when her guardian corrected the small portion of speech that she had attempted to utter. Not that she was upset or ashamed at needing the correction, no, but the girl simply could not comprehend what she had said wrong, thus she could not place the new word in her slowly growing vocabulary. Was it her tense, or a further affix that needed to be attached to a word? No, Shahar was careful to speak clearly and slowly around Hope, and for that reason she knew that this for was its own entity. But she knew that the Dykas had not the Common vocabulary to plainly explain it to her should she out rightly ask. And even if he could, there was no guarantees that a hope had encountered the word in her own sparse knowledge of Common. Her frown deepened when she remembered the young girl Waisana try to explain to her what Hope meant in Common... a word she had only been exposed to in the Myrian tongue. No, it wouldn't do to question the word, so instead she decided that she would try to use this new lexeme in her own utterance... if she was corrected, it might teach her appropriate usage. The girl's guardian continued, mentioning the yvas device again. “Leave the horse this moment?” She asked, and then she turned to the mare and stroked her neck one final time, “see you soon, Dainellas.” As Hope turned, she offered another shy smile to the Drykas man and then attempted to use the new word, “The yvas for the horse...” The man turned, and it became clear to the girl that she was to follow him. Inside, a giddy sensation fell over her as she realised that the body language Shahar use was also becoming more and more easy for her to understand. Some signals were still so arbitrary that she could not guess them, but others were easier, more natural, just emphasised intent. Though her confidence was growing, some things had not changed, and she remained a step or two behind him, though her feet did not drag as much and she could keep up. As the tents came into sight, Hope slowed down to allow her guardian time to collect the devices.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S!

Shahar Dawnwhisper

Experience

• Logic: 1
• Body Building: 1
• Trapping: 1
• Tracking: 1
• Planning: 1
• Grooming: 1
• Teaching: 1
• Socialisation: 1

Lore

• Logic: Spring means warmer weather is on its way
• Traversing the Sea of Grass without a weapon is suicide

Loot

1 x Lean Grouse (food)

Notes

A shame this is the first of your threads I have come across and it went unfinished. I really enjoyed the start of what would have been a great story. Looking forward to seeing more from you in the near future. Remember to edit your grading request and as always, enjoy the rewards!