Was it East or West at that River? (Nya and Friends)

[Nya Winters]

Nya glanced at Abashai, wondering what he was thinking, then turned back to Ayla. "I think we can take you wherever you may want to go. Syliras is only a short distance from here. There are many people you can meet and talk to there if you would like too. But you look tired and I am very curious about this Charbosi you talk about. A place is it? I think we would..." And here she was treading on thin ice, but she suspected Abashai would not mind, it would have been better to ask him first though... "really like it if you came back to our place, ate a good meal, and rested over night before going into the city. It is safe there, though not fancy. I would very much like to hear you sing more, and we can trade our stories for yours? Then after we rest well, we can take you to see the city and the castle where everyone lives. There are important people there that might speak with you too." Nya figured her bondmate could really use the company. He'd never voiced any displeasure or gave any indication of being unhappy, but Nya assumed spending day in and day out with a young kelvic drained on him somewhat. But having someone else, even someone not human, to spend the evening with around the fire might be a pleasant deviation from their current life.

She rose, Abashai's tunic covering her like an oversized dress - one still warm from his body heat and filled with his scent, and smiled. "An Acquitor's life seems very interesting. I cannot imagine the distance you have traveled or the things you have seen. I think it is nice to share words with someone from so far away. I just ... am surprised to find you here. It is hard not to stare and loose the words I so easily usually find." Nya grinned, then glanced over at her bondmate.

"Shall we take her home, Abashai? I would not want anyone to trudge into Syliras tired. And you can swim in the pool if your body needs... to be wet?" She said helpfully. And even though her words were gentle, playful - the question in her eyes to her bondmate was clearly evident to him. She was asking his permission to bring the stranger into their place. If he gave any indication at all that he didn't think it was safe, Nya would take them to one of the many campsites she knew of and return with supplies. Though she meant the pool deep within their cave, there were numerous other streams and pools nearby that would substitute nicely for Ayla's needs. If she indeed even needed water... but thats all Nya could think of after seeing her submerged.

[Abashai]

Abashai smiled knowlingly at Nya, then shared his smile with the Charoda. "Yes, Ayla, please join us. Rest, eat and then we will get you to Syliras safely." He admitted both he and Nya could use some company. the Charoda was very intriguing and Abashai could see Nya was fascinated with her. This would be a great opportunity for the bondmates and Ayla to learn about each other. "We would greatly enjoy hearing more about you and Charbosi, and will help you any way we can."

[Ayla]

Ayla smiled at the two and then nodded her head, causing the short tentacles to bounce about. "I would very much like to visit your place, and eat with you. And I appreciate the offer to use your water, but I only truly need to do that every five or so days. Though, I will always be more at home in such."

"And I assure you, my life is not nearly as interesting as it may seem. I have just had some... strange luck, I suppose you might call it." She let out a chittering laugh and then shifted the rucksack on her shoulder into a more comftorable position. "But I would be more then happy to share stories of Charbosi. I enjoy talking about my home and its environs. Forests of kelp, homes made of living coral, volcanic heat zones." She smiled particularily wide at the mention of the heat and let out a mixture of a purr and her bird-like laughter. "I think I will need to visit your desert someday Abashi, I do love heat."

She gazed at the two, taking in their knowing smiles and unspoken gestures between each other and smiled again. "It must be nice to have a home to share with another of your kind. It is the one thing I have missed most in this journey of mine, my fellows in Charbosi." The Acquitor then crossed the stream to the side the two had first arrived on and looked about. "So, which way is home?"

[Nya Winters]

Nya, who was a sucker for a good tale, was already hooked by the teasers the Charoda threw out at her. As Abashai had discovered, the kelvic was a lot like a child who would often beg a tale - in trade normally - for one of her own (usually outrageously fantastical and completely made up) when they settled from their day around the fire at night. It was a new tradition for Nya, and an old one for the Benshira - but one they both equally loved. A source of new material was a delicious possibility that Nya didn't want to pass up, and so she was grateful for Abashai's agreement to bring Ayla home. Nya liked Ayla's name too, it was close to her own and very easy for her to say.

Nya glanced at Abashai at the mention of his home and heat. The girl often worried the Benshira missed the deserts more than he could imagine. In the fall in Syliras, rain was not uncommon, and she'd catch him sometimes standing incredibly still and silent at the opening of their cave, looking out into the rain. He seemed, in those instances, so incredibly distant. Nya guessed, though she couldn't be certain, that his mind had traveled south to where no rain ever fell. It was strange, to her reasoning, to think that Ayla was from near where Abashai lived, but in terms of climates, they might have been clear across the world. And yet, both had to travel to Syliras to cross paths. Interesting.

At Ayla's next words, Nya laughed lightly. "I think that is the hardest thing of all, making a home. And it is rarely with one of your kind. Abashai and I are as different as you are from us, but it does not matter in the end about what your shape is like or the color of your skin, or who your original people are. Home is what you make of it, where you make of it, and the friends you choose to occupy it with." Nya said, then reached down to pull off Abashai's tunic.

"Do you want to ride back? Our home is only a few miles west, upslope... twenty minutes by foot, five if you ride?" She asked, then tossed his tunic lightly back to him (wet hem and all) and lost her human shape in a swirl of tiny lights that rearranged themselves back into the forest cats form. Her shape and mass was roughly equivalent to that of a horse, well easy to carry one or two - though the real reason she lost her human shape was to indulge in the senses of the cat, viewing Ayla fully in her original form and lifting her head to scan the woods, making sure they were alone and there was no other danger. Nya had heightened senses as a human, but as a forest cat, she had better means to process the information she received through her senses. And she already assumed Ayla had seen her change before... so there shouldn't have been any problems. She'd dance impatiently waiting for the two to start walking or take her up on her offer of a really short trip.

[Abashai]

Abashai unslung his sword from across his back, slipped on his tunic and replaced the weapon. He looked up with a broad smile. "My dear bondmate is right, we are about as different as two people can get. But we were both far from home and both needed...someone, family and a home. Now, I feel more at home with her than I ever have. I am very happy you will join us." Life with Nya was always an adventure. But there were times he missed the desert. He did not bring it up for fear of worrying Nya. It was not often and she fretted over his feelings, concerned that he was not happy. But she knew, some how she always knew when he was a little homesick. Then she would make a special effort to cheer him up, which almost always worked. Someday he would show her the desert. They would see Mihazar together.

He walked over to the forest cat and reached up to run the back of his hand along her soft dark jawline, then his palm down her powerful neck. He looked back at the Charodan, who was examining the large cat. He in turn examined the stranger. He wondered what her smooth skin felt like. It looked like the hide of a sand ray, but glistened with moisture. He wondered how she would fair in the desert. "Ayla, I would recommend you accept Nya's offer. It is a rare treat to ride a Talderian forest cat." He gently pulled the cat's head to his, whispering in her ear, "If she chooses to ride, be gentle, riding a Talderian forest cat and getting flung across the forest may be too much for our guest so soon after meeting us!" He grinned and ruffled the fur between her ears.

Turning his attention back to the Charodan, he waited for her decision. If she chose to walk, he would walk with her.