Closed Seeking Shahar (Khida)

[Waisana]

The teen caught a brief glimpse of something that looked like amusement in the woman's posture but it vanished so quickly that she couldn't be sure. Besides, there didn't seem to be any reason for the emotion, especially considering the former annoyance of the Kelvic. The girl watched her with a puzzled expression on her face, catching each sign as it came. So Shahar was coming but she wouldn't be able to see him yet. How did she know that he was coming then? The confusion deepened and the Opal teen scrutinised her in search of an answer. Her eyes travelled skywards, squinting at the bright orb of Syna. It could be used for time keeping. Maybe the two of them did so and it had reached a point that they two of them had agreed upon, a time that would mark Shahar's return. It was the only explanation that made sense to Waisana.

The other had clearly washed her hands of her. She was Shahar's problem apparently and so she had to wait for him to put in an appearance. Hopefully he wouldn't be long in coming because it didn't seem as if she was going to receive any hospitality from this shape shifter. She disappeared into the tent and returned fully clothed. It was as if the Drykas had been forgotten about altogether or rather was being purposely ignored. The woman didn't so much as glance in Waisana's direction, just set about doing some sort of work that involved cutting rope into smaller sections. She had no idea why she was doing it but it was apparently more pressing than occupying a young woman that she'd taken a dislike to. It was hurtful to the girl as she didn't like to upset anyone or to have someone not like her but if she said anything then she was only likely to make it worse. At least it gave her a chance to examine the woman in greater detail and to consider her.

She was living with Shahar so she must be connected with him in some way. She didn't think that they were related because they didn't look similar but that wasn't a sure thing, especially as she couldn't compare them directly. Relatives didn't always have to look alike. They seemed similar enough in age though so were they married to one another? The teen moved back and forth, restless as she waited for Shahar's approach. Moving around made her feel a bit better but it also afforded her a view of something on the right side of the neck of her silent companion. There was a mark there, a tattoo by the looks of it. Windmarks? The marking looked familiar somehow although she couldn't imagine where she'd seen it before. Someone else had the same marking on their neck. The teen saw a lot of people on a daily basis and tattoos were a common enough sight but on the neck? The same or similar to the markings that this woman had? That seemed a bit of a coincidence. It had to have some sort of meaning but she couldn't remember who she'd seen it on.

"That's nice. On your neck," she commented, trailing her fingers along her own skin where the mark would be on her. She signed her appreciation but her hands remained poised in the air as if she wanted to add something more. Her posture showed her discomfort before a tentative question was put forward. "Is it important? It's on display. Proud? Meaning?" Waisana chewed her lip anxiously. She wasn't sure if the other was going to bother to communicate with her at all. She might well be left clueless and talking to the air.

[Khida]

As Khida worked, the girl remained a palpable presence, her tension or anxiety or whatever seeming to radiate through the air. She paced and fretted and stared in a way that made the hairs on the back of Khida's neck stand upright. The Kelvic kept track of her all the while, as much because the girl made such a presence of herself as out of any innate caution. The girl's fidgeting made her fidgety. She paused in her measuring and cutting, tapping free fingers against the skin of her other arm; then resumed again, deliberately measuring out one more length.

It wasn't too long before the girl spoke up again, shattering taut silence with an observation and a question. What was on her neck? Khida blinked towards the girl, momentarily nonplussed, brushing her fingers across her own skin to figure out what she was referring to. The slight rise of the Chevas mark met her touch. Oh. That. She would not have called it on display -- it simply was, as a peregrine's hood was dark and a horse had a tail -- but she could agree with the important part.

Surprise shaded her expression and the tilt of her head, the Kelvic baffled that the girl didn't recognize the significance of the mark. Didn't everyone? "It is marriage," came the level answer. Surprised she may have been, but she did not disparage the question. "Also we are... bonded," Khida made a decided point of adding, for that was the more important connection in her opinion. Even if she had to use the Pavi word that she associated with a Strider bond, for she didn't know if the language had an analogue more appropriate to Kelvics.

She regarded the girl for a moment longer, reflecting on the strangeness of the moment. The subject of marriage, in conversation, had always been broached to her by Drykas; funny, now, that one of them did not recognize the sign that was plain to see.

That subject addressed, Khida swept up her lengths of rope and re-coiled what was left of the source. She was done with this for now, and she didn't want to work on the knots while the girl was pacing around the camp. She just didn't know what to do to make the girl stop. Sit, her hands finally directed, before the thought was even fully formed in her mind. Though the girl had at least slowed down by now, in order to make her query. Sit not run.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Waisana]

OOCI'm sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this. Many, many things came up

Waisana didn't know how she'd expected Khida to respond to her question, but she hadn't anticipated the woman would have no idea what she was talking about. Her lack of understanding seemed proven by the way she reached up, as if investigating what could be on her neck to garner the doctor's attention. Khida's fingers paused on the mark, which meant it must be noticeable to touch as well as sight. Did her own windmarks rise to the touch? Waisana wondered, her own fingers coming to rest on her left side. Through her clothing she could feel nothing but it was something she would have to check later. If there was a rise in the skin where she was tattooed then she had never been aware of it or else her awareness of it had ceased.

Once the Kelvic realised what the doctor had inquired about, her surprise was so great that the teen suspected she'd been quite dense. She realised the depth of her own stupidity when Khida pronounced "marriage". A Chevas mark. Her father and his three wives each had identical marks although she'd seen them for so many years that she hardly took note of them anymore. There were plenty of others she knew with such marks although they were different for each married couple or group. The idea this Kelvic might be married hadn't crossed her mind and she'd assumed it was a very beautiful but ordinary tattoo. Now she knew she'd made a very foolish assumption. Of course, Kelvics could marry, why wouldn't they? They had a people part and people married so it shouldn't have seemed peculiar to her. The blonde flushed, nodding her understanding.

"Of course. I hadn't thought..." Stupid. Forgive. "Bond is like Strider bond but... stronger?" More. Question, she added hesitantly in sign. She knew relatively little about Kelvics but she had heard they connected to humans in a special way. It was more intimate than a bond with a Strider because a Kelvic could be human at times, but she was ignorant about the details. Khida's bond with Shahar must be a sexual one if they were also married. She'd learned the error of her ways where assumptions were concerned so she didn't rule out the possibility that they might have children.

The blonde took the offered seat and watched Khida through wide and curious eyes. She regarded the woman's work with interest, wondering what the rope was for. Traps, perhaps? Waisana had very little to do with hunting and hunters. The most she ever saw of the act was what came out of it and the injuries that sometimes came as a result of it. Anything she asked about what Khida was doing would only show she was an idiot.

As if you haven't made yourself look like an idiot already, she thought gloomily. She shoved the thought away and moved on to something she was more familiar with.

"How long have you and Shahar been married? Is marriage or bond older?" she asked, injecting a note of confidence in to her tone. She knew what she was talking about, she would not be hesitant in this area. "Any children?" This time her head turned automatically towards the pavilion as if in search of some sign a child was present. She hadn't seen anything to indicate such a thing.

[Khida]

oocNot to worry! No different here.

The girl seemed flustered by her answer, signing apology or something near enough that it seemed as good as the same. Khida merely nodded, as they both agreed that question was resolved. The girl went on to ask other questions, almost as if the exchange had undammed some flow of curiosity -- or if her physical energy needed another outlet, now that her body had been quieted. Regardless, the Kelvic breathed quiet relief to not have the girl hovering and flitting about like some frantic bee.

She didn't lay the cords back out, however, as her hands found themselves occupied with answering the girl's rapid-fire queries. Bond is, Khida supplied in prompt response to the first -- though not a complete answer, as her posture bid the girl wait. The Kelvic considered what she lived and breathed, the place where her bondmate lived within her heart; and what she knew of Strider bonds, which was little and only from the outside. That they existed; that the hunter loved his Strider as family; and little else besides. She could not give anything more in answer. No Strider, me, she concluded at last. Not know.

But perhaps the girl could say what it was like to be bonded to a Strider, this tie that defined the Drykas so. Bond, Strider bond, is? Is like?

With as intently as the girl studied Khida's hands and the cord within them, she expected that to be the subject of her next queries. It wasn't. How long, she asked, speaking of bond and marriage again, and children; those words, Khida understood plainly. The Kelvic frowned in consideration, uncertainty and pensive thought shading her posture. She paged back through the seasons of her life, counting them in a way she was not often wont to do; Khida lived in now and before and next, and was not given to dwelling on how long in any direction.

Her fingers counted in time with her mind, displaying the final number for the girl to see. Bond, five seasons, she elaborated, giving a context to the number. Marriage, small. Four is, mostly. Quite possibly the only reason Khida even remembered when their vows had been exchanged was that they had occurred in the same season as the bonding, but at the opposite end. To her, marriage had been only a formality, an affirmation of their regard.

Her mind moved on to the last query. Children. He had not spoken of children since their vows; but Khida did not mind that, and this unconcern was reflected in her bald reply: No child. He would broach the subject when it was time, the Kelvic trusted. And if that time never came... that suited her equally well, in truth.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Waisana]

The woman's way of communicating could best be described as brief. She would never give a complete, fully formed sentence when a few simple signs would do. Except for the doctor, it wasn't enough, not nearly enough to satisfy her curiosity or adequately answer her questions. It was a very frustrating manner of talking in Waisana's opinion and it reminded her of Shahar. It was difficult to get anything of substance out of the man; it seemed his partner fitted him well.The Drykas could converse entirely via Grassland Sign of course but it was limiting, in the same way that one could not exclusively speak Pavi without losing a whole wealth of meaning. She could understand the necessity of remaining silent of course; hunters and members of the Watch often had to communicate without saying a word out of necessity. To speak almost solely in sign was a peculiarity to which the girl was not accustomed. It didn't help that the woman seemed to have issue putting certain things into words, namely the nature of her bond with Shahar. She questioned the doctor about how the bond with a Strider worked and the teen considered her answer carefully, even as she continued to pry into the nature of Khida's relationship with her mate.

It took the other some time to calculate the length of time herself and Shahar had been together, which the teen found a little strange. The Drykas did a reasonable job of timekeeping and without a written means to record things, they had to rely on their memories. They tended to remember significant dates from year to year but she could understand how a few years could be forgotten here and there. The notion that they had been together for a year and a season and Khida had had difficulty recalling the number was strange indeed. It sounded like an occasion you'd want to mark and remember, even only quietly but that was only her opinion; perhaps the couple did not feel the same way as Waisana in regard to such matters. They had not been married that long though but the marriage and the bond were clearly intimately connected to one another for them to have occurred so close together. A bond with a Kelvic and one with a Strider were clearly different if such a ceremony and commitment were needed to acknowledge a Kelvic bond. The Drykas did have an outward sign of their bond with a Strider but such a thing was self-inflicted rather than appearing magically; Chevas marks and wind marks did have some similarities then.

As soon as Khida told her that there was no child and in a tone that suggested she didn't care about having one, the doctor couldn't suppress her surprise. She didn't utter a word but her body so clearly displayed shocked skepticism that it wasn't necessary for her to utter a syllable. The teen flushed a little and signed apology before trying to play down her reaction. Waisana didn't want Khida to think that she was being judgmental after all.

"I think of marriage and children as being connected." No offence. "I was just surprised, especially as Drykas, to have a wuepa is..." Important. Vital. Necessary, she signed, moving from that to a shrug and a gesture that showed she didn't know what else to say on the subject. She decided that it was probably best to get as far from this topic as possible and quickly. Answering the woman's earlier question concerning the Strider bond seemed to be the best course of diversion.

"Your marriage is important to your bond." Question. Uncertainty. "Your bond is deep but different to Strider bond. Strider bond is about what's in here." She tapped her chest in a spot over her heart. Heartbeat. Emotion. "We do not think the same, we do not feel the same but we know one another. It is a deep knowing. It is difficult to explain." Trust. Love. Familial love. Friendship, she signed rapidly, searching for right way to describe the emotional entanglements that a Strider bond involved. She stood and unbuttoned her shirt, starting from the bottom and moving her way up to a point just below her breasts. She lifted the material, angling her body so the skin was stretched taut and the filigree swirls of her tattoo were clearly visible. She traced the large mark absently, giving Khida plenty of time to see it before dropping her shirt and buttoning it again. She resumed her seat.

"Life is hard. There is pain and death and suffering. Drykas needs Strider and Strider needs Drykas. We need each other." Skin marking. Suffering. Pain. Important. "It is hard but the hardest part is over when you have a Strider." True Drykas. "It is a reminder of the pain you have before a Strider. It can never get so bad again unless a Strider dies." Great sorrow. Grief. Tragedy.

The girl fell silent, a shadow seeming to have descended over her features at the mention of such dark subject matter. The desire for conversation died as the prickling fear of losing Drusine settled upon her. What if a Glassbeak wandered into Endrykas and killed her Strider while she wasn't with her? How could she deal with such heartbreak? It would mean the loss of status and effectively the loss of her people as she would be cut off from them but it would also mean losing her friend. She shuddered slightly at such grim thoughts and tried to rid herself of the feelings they brought.

[Khida]

oocA reply for you at last!

The revelation that they did not have children seemed to strike the girl hard -- not merely a surprise, but a shock. Khida regarded her with mild puzzlement; but the girl did not dwell on the subject long, moving the conversation on quickly. The Kelvic let it go as she directed.

The girl went on to describe a Strider bond... which, truly, sounded much like a Kelvic bond. Trust, friendship, love; was that not what lay between the falcon and her bondmate as well? The girl displayed the tattoo on her skin, clearly indicating it had some association with the Strider bond, though Khida did not understand enough of the girl's words to follow the nuances of it. Need. Difficulty. Memory. The Kelvic recalled when the hunter had gone for his own tattoo, larger and different than the one the girl displayed; she had not asked why, not thought anything of it save that he desired it. But it, too, must have had meaning beyond ink and pattern.

Silence followed, the girl's thoughts evidently passing inward to dwell on seemingly unhappy things, if her manner was any indication. Death and sadness, perhaps, those being some of the last words she had spoken. Khida reached out to brush fingertips against the back of the girl's hand, hoping to draw her attention back to the present. There was something of sympathy in the act, albeit of a detached sort, untempered by either personal concern or piqued curiosity. It was not specific events the Kelvic sought to understand.

Bond all, she signed. Family. Together. Wholeness. And there Khida's vocabulary failed; she did not have the words in Pavi to even begin to describe the knowing and feeling that came with her bond to the hunter. The sense of completion. Her fingers plucked at the air for a moment, then spread in helpless frustration and apology.

Not that any words would have ever sufficed, in any tongue.

Bond all, she reiterated. Living, love, need, family. All given, shared. All together. Marriage is... She had no Pavi word for formality, signed or spoken; no way to easily call it a footnote to the bond that already encompassed everything she had to give. Such was her perspective on the matter. The Kelvic waved her fingers towards the girl's now-covered tattoo. See what is. Others, all.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Waisana]

The Kelvic seemed genuinely shocked by Waisana's distress concerning her lack of offspring. The woman was a foreigner, an outsider in origin and while she was accepted among them, she did not seem to understand the mentality of the Drykas. Khida hadn't grown up believing that marriage and procreation were vital to the survival of the horse clans. Waisana had seen the misfortunes over the years that had befallen the Drykas, disease, raids, attacks and everything in between that took a toll on their numbers. The teen didn't have the desire to marry and be trapped in a life where she must carry and birth children while also dealing with her other responsibilities. The doctor often repressed guilt concerning the failure to fulfil her duty but she had resigned herself to the fact that if the need or the desire to marry arose then she would have to become a mother. The concept of marriage without children was unthinkable for her and even horrifying. A childless marriage was either a sign of neglected duty or else barrenness. If a marriage wasn't fruitful then it might continue for the sake of love but in such cases an Ankal would still take another wife who could bear to make up for his first wife's lack. As a doctor, Waisana knew that it was sometimes the man who lacked the ability to sure children but such things were rarely talked about, given the shame and tragedy of such a circumstance.

The blonde moved quickly onto other matters, not wanting to dwell on something that seemed to escape Khida's understanding. The language was a barrier between them and if she should pry into her reasoning, Waisana wasn't sure that she could explain it adequately to make the other understand. Judging that children were far from ideal as a topic of conversation, she was forced to discuss the complication concept of Strider bonds. This was difficult to explain as well, and it made the cultural distance between herself and the Kelvic apparent. If Khida was true Drykas then she would not need this explained to her. If she had grown up amongst the nomadic people then she would have at least some degree of understanding in spite of the lack of a bond. It was an exercise in frustration and the teen thought she'd failed completely in her attempt at conveying things to the woman until Khida reached out to her. Even if she didn't fully comprehend what Waisana had spoken about, the sympathy in her gesture was gratifying and the Opal girl smiled her thanks.

Khida tried to explain something but it was clear that she was having issue with finding th vocabulary. Waisana waited patiently for her to overcome the obstacle in some way. However, this time it was the blonde's turn to express sympathy in response to the Kelvic's frustration. She wished that she could do more but she was having great difficulty understanding what the woman was getting at. The woman seemed to be explaining the bond between herself and Shahar. She only seemed capable of talking around the issue in a vague sort of way. The gesture to her wind marks helped matters a little so she hesitantly offers a better explanation hoping that it Khida would understand and be able to agree or disagree.

"Are you saying the marriage is for other people?" she hazarded. "Are you saying that people can see the marriage and the marriage reflects the bond? An outward sign of an inward commitment?" Understand. Question.