Solo What?

[Alyra]

76th of Summer, 514 AV This was only Alyra's second time being to The Sanctuary. The first time she had been there, she had been a mess. Nash had been attacked, and Alyra took him to Kavala for healing. Her best friend, her partner in crime, her confidant . . . the thought of losing him had sent Alyra into a frenzy. Unfortunately, that made finding The Sanctuary the second time around much more difficult. She remembered certain landmarks--a split tree here, a oddly-colored rock there--but the exact route was fuzzy. At first, this didn't bother Alyra. She took it in stride, wandering the area around Riverfall excitedly. However, as time wore on and her appointment at The Sanctuary drew nearer, the frenzy began to take over once again. She had picked up the pace, but that made no difference; Alyra was still half a bell late. The woman shuffled about in the main yard, unsure as to exactly where she was supposed to be going. Steel blue eyes shot around the area frantically, but she saw no familiar face. "Shyke!" "What?" A small voice replied to her mumbling, causing Alyra to jump. Who? How? What? Her eyes searched for the source, only finding them once it spoke up once more: "What?" Alyra looked down, finding the eavesdropper. He was a small Akalak, obviously a young one. Light bounced off of his dark blue face as he looked up at Alyra. "What?" Alyra didn't know what to say. Clearly, the boy had heard something he wasn't supposed to have heard. How to back-pedal, though, Alyra did not know. She figured playing dumb was the easiest route. "What, what?" The boy's brow furrowed in confusion. It seemed that he was used to his questions being answered. This must be one of them, then. Alyra thought. If this boy was one of Kavala's children, then that would explain the independence. "What, what, what?" Alyra replied, crouching down so that she was eye level with the boy. If you can't beat them, confuse them. The Akalak eyed her cautiously. His face twisted as he thought. Alyra observed him with the same amount of care, twisting her face obnoxiously. She thrusted her bottom jaw out and to the side, pursed her lips tightly, and squinted her eyes until they were nearly shut. She placed her hand under her chin, stroking an in invisible beard in thought. "What," The youth finally asked with a laugh. "are you doing?" "Hmm..." Alyra leaned her head back, as if deep in thought, and continued to stroke her pretend-beard. She sat, crossing her legs beneath her, and hummed thoughtfully once more. "What?" The boy asked, his voice laced with concern. He looked behind him quickly, then, deciding that it was in fact him that she was evaluating, sat facing Alyra. "Interesting..." Alyra said. She fixed her face, then leaned back onto her hands. The boy grabbed onto her pants and shook them anxiously. "What?!" Clearly, he had forgotten completely about her previous slip. Now, the only thing on his mind was not a curse word, but, instead, what was on her mind. Alyra gave herself a mental high-five for a job well done. "Well," She replied, leaning towards the boy. "I was trying to decide if you were better at tag, or hide-and-seek."

[Alyra]

The boy looked at her with a look that was half caution, half curiosity. Alyra watched him as he thought, and she smiled. She didn't know much about this boy, but she liked him so far. She enjoyed meeting people, whatever their age or race, who looked at the world with the same sort of curiosity as her. In Sunberth, many of the children she had met were already bitter. They saw the world in threats and opportunities, what they could steal and what could steal them. This boy, however, clearly hadn't been exposed to the same type of struggles as those children. That made Alyra both happy, and intrigued. When the boy realized she was serious, he relaxed. His shoulders rose and fell casually as he answered, as if the answer was obvious and Alyra was silly for not knowing it. "Both." Alyra shook her head as she chuckled. "You have to be better at one." Alyra knew the risks. Trying to reason with a toddler was dangerous. She ran the risk of confusing him too much, which would obviously ruin the day for everyone.She could also be teaching him an equally difficult (for her, that is) lesson: the lesson of challenging those in charge. If he thought this arguing thing was normal, he could wind up challenging her on everything. "No." He shook his head. The youth crossed his arms before repeating himself. "Both." It seemed that this was heading down the wrong path. Alyra could see that the only way to talk logic into this boy was to show him his error. "Let's test it out, okay?" Alyra stood, dusting her pants off as she looked around. She was a little wary of hosting a game of hide-and-seek. She wasn't familiar with the area, and she knew she'd lose. That, however, wasn't the problem. This boy was obviously independent and strong-willed. If he hid and she couldn't find him, would he stay hidden until someone could find him? Alyra did not know, and that was the problem. That meant that tag was first on the docket. Again, she didn't know this boy well enough to trust that he would actually chase her instead of letting her run around by herself like a madwoman. This left one option: she had to be it first. "I bet I can catch you." To which the young boy laughed, and replied with a skeptical "okay." Alyra hung her bag on a nearby fence, then set herself up to run. "Alright. Ready?" The Akalak took a few steps back, then squatted slightly. He nodded, a goofy grin on his face. "Okay. 3 . . . 2 . . 1 . Go!"

[Alyra]

The boy flung himself forward, kicking up dirt and sand as he propelled himself away from Alyra. He reflexively swung his arms about as he ran, staggering around with his untrained running form. It was as if he was going on pure enjoyment alone, as if he ran on happiness and not food nor fire nor sunlight. His energy came from just doing. Alyra admired children for that; their ability to harness endless amounts of energy was amazing. Alyra, on the other hand, had no energy reserve to pull from. Her body lurched after him, but it was sluggish from inactivity. She rarely ran. In fact, after every time she ran, Alyra pledged to never do it again. It wasn't that she particularly hated running. It was just so tiring. After only a few chimes, she was heaving and huffing. Her legs ached, protesting against each and every step. "Can't get me!" In front of her, the boy stopped, turned, wagged his finger as he shouted his taunt, then bolted off again. Alyra furrowed her brow as she watched him run. How can he do that? How is he shouting, and running, and laughing? She groaned in disbelief. Despite her fatigue, Alyra continued to run. Thankfully, the boy was young enough where a full-on sprint wasn't required to keep up with him. Alyra knew that'd would change soon enough. She prayed to both Syna and Eyris that she'd find a better, more stationary game to play by then. Occasionally, she'd shout taunts up to the boy, and he'd respond with a giggle and increased speed. Sometimes, he'd hide behind a fence post or bush, and, for her lung's sake, Alyra would stop and pretend not to see him. It was a joyful game, but Alyra had had enough after a while. They'd been running around the main entrance of The Sanctuary for almost the entirety of a bell, and Alyra was dead tired. "Stop!" She shouted as she bent over. "You win! As the boy trotted back to her, Alyra plopped herself onto the ground. She was flat on her back, breathing heavily as the Akalak sat beside her. A victorious grin dominated his face as he looked down at her. "Hide-and-seek now?"