Closed Joining the Fold

[Khida]

Spring 65, 515 AV
midday

They plodded towards Endrykas at a slow pace, two men of the Watch on their Striders, a woman in borrowed shirt riding double, a third Strider and her foal trailing behind. At first glance, it might seem the foal was cause for the party's unhurried travel; a yearling filly, she moved with halting steps and lowered head, the look of bone-deep weariness. Combined with the liberal layer of mud which dulled her coat to uniform brown, some explanation of that weariness might be inferred.

Mud also splattered the coat of her mother, though not so completely -- and it coated nearly every part of the woman who rode as passenger with the Watchman, save for her quickly-scrubbed face and a few patches of grass-green cloth. The woman rode with bowed head, one hand clinging determinedly to the yvas and the other tucked away from view. Khida, too, was tired.

The Watchmen and their Striders, by contrast, were only lightly marked by their own travails, though one bore an injury of his own. They rode alert and attentive, as Watchmen should. Together, the group traveled on, progress slow and steady and constant. They passed from the vast open grasses into the sparsely populated outskirts of Endrykas, curious onlookers pausing their tasks to watch the group amble inwards, speculation passing in a quiet buzz from one to the next.

Sounds intruded into Khida's awareness -- sounds of animals in proximity, unafraid and casual in their communication; syllables of Pavi cast out broadly upon the air; even the rustle and snap of oiled canvas being toyed with by the midday breeze. She had not been paying attention to the passages of either distance or time around them, trusting the Drykas men to take them all home -- but by these sounds filtering into her weary thoughts, she knew they had arrived, and it was not time to rest anymore. Recognition brought her head sharply up, the woman blinking her eyes into focus. "Wait," she bid her escort, looking about for landmarks by which to take her bearings. Most clearly of all, they had come further in than where the hunter preferred to camp.

The Strider she rode slowed its pace even further, one ear angling back towards her as if in query. By contrast, the man behind her shook his head and bid the horse continue on. "We go to the River Flower first," he countered, in a tone that brooked no argument. "Then we can see you to your Pavilion."

Khida supposed it was too much effort to argue against that resolute statement. Not when, one way or another, she would get where she wanted to go in the end.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Lian Windrunner]

Place holder.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

It was time to bring the twins in for their check up, so Seirei carefully bundled them up, and brought them in to the River Flower. She was hoping that Waisana would be there to see to them. Unfortunately, she either wasn't working that day, or Seirei simply couldn't find her. So when another healer asked her coldly if she could help her, Seirei explained the reason she had come.

The healer simply stared at her for a long chime, then her eyes softened, and she nodded curtly. As she gestured Seirei into one of the patient rooms, her stance, and gestures made it clear that she was only willing to deal with her for the sake of Lukar and Lira. The twins were the important ones here. Seirei herself was less than nothing. It was a common view, and Seirei was well used to it now. But it still hurt. Especially when there were days when Seirei believed that the people who thought that way were right.

The healer was quick, but through in her examination of the twins. And to Seirei's relief, Lukar and Lira were pronounced healthy. Once the examination was over, Seirei took a few chimes to cuddle her children, reassuring them that everything was okay before bundling them back up again for the walk back to Lian's tent. As she emerged from the River Flower, Seirei caught sight of a vaguely familiar woman. It took her several chimes for her to realize that she had met the woman last season. The woman had injured her arm, and there had been another woman there too, along with a strider, and a hunting cat...and that was all the information that she could recall about the brief encounter.

But it was enough to make her slightly curious now. The woman looked exhausted. She was riding a strider, and a foal tagged along behind them. All three were spattered with mud, and the striders looked as tired as the woman did. Others rode with them. Men who looked to be in authority. Was the woman in trouble of some kind? Seirei was too intimidated by the men to approach and ask, but she lingered in the crowd, wanting to know if everything was okay for some reason.

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[Naiya]

Wildfire tossed his head impatiently, the man was frustrating his rider, and he was clearly displeased. The man turned a nervous eye towards the strider's head, large and close as Naiya had refused to dismount.

"The oats are rotten," She told the man, anger clear in her form, but the walahk was left to assume Naiya's upset. "I want my coin back."

He shook his head, making a show of looking quite offended, tossing his hands and blustering with anger of his own. "My oatss are good, if yours are rotten you did not store them properly, that is no fault of mine."

Naiya urged Wildfire closer to the weasel man's table, her leg and his shoulder brushing against it, Wildfire whinnied loudly, calling his upset to the man. If the merchant wouldn't be reasonable, perhaps Naiya could intimidate him into changing his mind.

She dropped the pitch of her voice, speaking lowly and slow, treating each word as a weapon against him. "You sold me a bag of rotten oats with a scoop of fresh oats on top."

"I would never! You insult me, girl." He spat the last like an insult, Naiya clenched her hands into fists.

"Do you imagine Drykas so brainless?" She questioned through gritted teeth, swinging down from Wildfire's back to crowd the man's personal space even further. It was a mistake, however, for as she approached and the man towered over her, he grew more confidant.

"Perhaps if you had a husband to teach you, you would know how to store oats to keep them from rotting." Undeterred by her obvious anger, he continued, "I'll sell you a second bag if you promise not to let this one rot."

She glared up at the weasel of a man, and he had the audacity to grin, confidant that he had won. She bared her teeth at him, "Walahk, weasel, cheat!" She spat the words at him, and when he faltered at her switch of language, she wrapped her thumb around her fist and swung it forward to connect with his jaw.

He faltered only a moment, swinging his own fist back at her. She tried to avoid the blow, weaving to the side as she readied herself to strike again, but his blow still caught her cheek, splitting the skin.

She could hear the voices of the others in the market, but she ignored the specific words as she punched again, aiming for his gut. She threw her fist, pressing forward with her leg to rotate her body and add force.

She had seen him add the proper oats from a bag beneath the table. 'Topping it off' he had called it, but she knew better now. He slammed a measly paw against her back as she turned for the bag of oatss, but he was soon distracted by an angry call from Wildfire as he followed his drykas into the booth swinging a heavy head like a weapon.

The man shouted, but Wildfire reared, frightening the man back long enough for Naiya to swing up onto Wildfire's back with the bag of proper oats in hand. She pressed a strong leg to his left side, an urging leg to his right, and he reared once more to pivot, Naiya keeping herself in place with a strong grip on the yvas, and a careful leaning forward to keep balance.

They didn't have to canter like wild horses through the streets, simply trotted towards the gates so that they might escape the man's grasp in the sea. A watchman from the market followed them, trotting up beside them with a command to stop.

Naiya obliged, sitting up in her seat to slow first to a walk then a stop. The man stopped his mount as well, inquiry clear in his posture.

Traces of anger lingered in her movements as she began to speak. "That walahk cheated me out of my mizas, I bought oats for breakfast, took them home to feed my family, and when I took my first scoop from the bag it was rotten." She explained, "He told me I stored them improperly, that he sold me good oats, and refused to give me my coin."

"Perhaps the watch will have a word with him," The man told her, "You've paid for a bag of oats, and now you have one, ohs tratche, yes?" Naiya grinned, the motion reminding her of the pain in her cheek. As she reached up to touch it.

Agreement she sketched with her free hand, looking at the blood on her other.

"A healer should take a look at that." He said, and Naiya nodded. The watchamn departed, and Naiya took a moment to secure the bag of oats to her yvas. She steered herself and her mount with a careful turn of her body, asking the stallion to walk with a gentle squeeze of her legs. She headed towards the River Flower, only because the man had asked, but she was not the first to make an impression on the city that day, as she heard the words of the drykas around her.

A group of watchmen escorted a woman to the River Flower, a strider and foal in tow. How odd that it make such fuss. She was nearly glad now for her trip, to see what the fuss was about. Her arrival was not greeted by curiosity, however, but rather concern.

"Khida!" Naiya called to the woman, who sat nearly collapsed on the front of the Watchman's strider. She spurred Wildfire into a trot, attempting to join the group of watchmen as they neared their destination. Concern, my wife, Naiya signed strongly, "Please, what has happened?"

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[Khida]

Khida had let herself drift as the Strider paced its way farther into the city, her thoughts shapeless, floating on clouds of fatigue and discomfort until a familiar voice pierced the haze. She blinked her eyes open to find that they had arrived at the River Flower, the horse coming to a halt before the distinctively ornamented tent. Twisting to find the speaker evoked a hiss as the action jostled her injured arm, but she still looked -- and there was their wife, looking distinctly concerned, asking worried questions of the Watchman.

Her companion raised a hand, requesting a moment of Naiya and asserting all ends well to soothe her worry. The Watchman dismounted smoothly, then stood back to allow Khida space for her own dismount -- but not so far that he couldn't provide aid, if it proved needed. Khida blinked somewhat blearily at the red-haired Drykas before finally signing half a greeting in her direction. It wasn't an answer, but at the moment, it was all the vocabulary the Kelvic could marshal to offer.

Then she turned her attention to the horse and the ground, reminded of her immediate task by a twitch of the Strider's shoulder and a toss of its head. Dismounting with only one useable arm wasn't nearly as tricky as mounting in the same condition... but it still wasn't exactly easy for her. Khida braced her good hand against the yvas, brought her leg back over the horse, and more or less hopped down... except not nearly so gracefully as all that, and the only reason she landed on two feet was because the horse's flank put a stop to her impending fall.

The horse's pelage didn't smell any better up close and personal, to her nose, than it did from half a body-length away. But the muscle and bone beneath it provided sturdy support against which Khida pushed herself back upright. Looking around, she considered the audience they had acquired -- not only their wife and the Watchman who had escorted her, plus the two horses that had followed, but also several recently emerged from the white tent, and other gathering onlookers curious about the unusual procession. Her gaze hung on one with dark hair who looked familiar, but Khida's weary mind couldn't place her. Not in the brief time she had to consider before the Watchman, assured of her ability to keep her own balance on the ground, continued with his answer to Naiya -- and to the inquiring gossips hovering around them all.

"It is a time of celebration for your Pavilion and your Clan, " he said, his youth showing in the pompous pride with which he delivered the news. "We found your wife rescuing that filly -- he nodded in the direction of the foal leaning against its mother's legs, looking no less weary than the Kelvic "-- out of a flooded field, after taking an injury in its defense. Its dam has recognized in her the soul of a Drykas; rejoice, for your wife is now truly one woven into the Clans."

His words, nearly one and all, passed right over the Kelvic's head. Whatever it was that had the audience abuzz with surprise and excitement, she didn’t want any part of it. Unless it involved her sleeping. She just had one preempting concern which had to be addressed first. Small horse, she signed around the Watchman at her wife. Small horse query well...

The gossipy people could do whatever. Khida just wanted to get their business done... and go home.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A man spoke, telling the crowd that had gathered that the weary looking injured woman had rescued a foal, and that the foal's mother had "recognized in the the soul of a Drykas." Seirei wasn't sure what that meant. Was the soul of a Drykas different from the soul of another race somehow? The man seemed to think so. And by his tone, it seemed that he believed that the soul of a Drykas was better than the soul of another.

If that were the case, it seemed to fit in with the Drykas' belief that they were better than outsiders. The man's words "one woven into the Clans" suggested that the woman had bonded to the foal's mother. And judging by the crowd's reaction to the words, Seirei was inclined to believe her guess was right. Both the man, and the crowd seemed to think that this news was worthy of great joy, and celebration.

Seirei remembered how her father used to tell her that striders were far better than the "mere" horses that her caravan used to pull their wagons. And that bonding to a strider was incredibly important to a Drykas. So despite knowing that the woman would likely scorn her for being a worthless captive, Seirei couldn't help feeling happy for the woman's good fortune.

Not for the first time, Seirei wondered what it would be like to bond to a strider. Would it be like having a friend who would never leave you? Or a sibling who would always love you? One who would never betray you? It seemed unlikely. A strider was still a type of horse, after all. Special in some ways, perhaps, but still a horse. And horses weren't people.

The whole idea was a ridiculous one. Why waste time wondering what it would be like if she were bonded to a strider when it was never going to happen? She was a captive. A worthless slave. No strider was going to want anything to do with her. And she had more important things to worry about.

Part of Seirei wanted to leave. Her business at the River Flower was finished. And even though she was truly happy for the woman who had bonded to a strider, it hurt to see someone being so accepted. It was like joining a family. At least it seemed that way to someone on the outside looking in the way Seirei was. It was a painful reminder of the love and acceptance she had once had, and lost. Deep down, she feared that even if she did manage to escape some day, she would never find such acceptance for herself again.

Despite her mixed feelings, something prevented Seirei from leaving. Rescuing the filly must have taken a great deal of courage. Especially if the woman had been injured in the process. Such courage deserved to be rewarded. Seirei found herself wanting to know if both the woman, and the filly would be okay. So despite her nervousness about being in the crowd, she lingered in the hopes of finding out.

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[Naiya]

The man reassured her, asking her to give him a moment. His words did little to soothe her worry, however, the state of her wife as she stumbled down off the back of the man's horse was not one to celebrate as the man said, regardless of what had happened. His pride only served to anger her, celebration, grand announcements, they could wait until Khida was safe, and she looked far from that, covered in mud and hardly able to stand.

Still, her wife further proved the mare's decision to choose the kelvic was a good one. The woman, barely on her feet peered around the man to inquire after the filly. Reassurance, small horse look well, tired she signed in reply, moving forward past the watchman to reach for her wife.

You, inquiry, well Naiya turned the question back on her wife, for it seemed the watchman's priorities were not focused on the woman, but rather the misplaced pride of finding her. She offered herself to the woman, the accompanying signs indicating her body and strength should Khida need it. Naiya's own wound seemed hardly of note in comparison to the mud caked wound on Khida's arm.

Hurt inquiry, shaped with great concern. "We'll see a healer, the strider will wait for her here. She turned to the man, "Thank you for returning my wife safely." The words came louder, speaking over any further words the man wished to share, dismissal clear in her words and posture. Her priorities were not skewed by pride, first they would tend her wife, then the filly who may just have been in need of sleep, then once everyone was well, they could celebrate Khida's new bond.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Khida]

Their wife assured her the foal was well, and dismissed the watchman who had come home with them, herself stepping forward to attend to Khida. The Kelvic leaned on her arm, grateful for the support. Up close, beneath the muck, she mostly appeared weary; the only significant injury was to the arm still hidden by her borrowed shirt.

The watchman departed to his own business -- attending his injured partner, perhaps, or regaling the gossipy people with the events of the day. One of the Opal medics now drew near, expressing professional disapproval at the Kelvic's mud-spattered state and directing them into the River Flower proper for attention. Khida's heels initially remained fixed to the earth; she didn't like all the people, and she really didn't like leaving the foal here, untended by anyone she knew. Not when she had spent many of the past bells so tightly fixated on ensuring its well-being; letting go came with great difficulty.

Looking about, her eyes found that familiar face again, someone she could not put a name to but whose image her mind wanted to put in the context of horses. Not family, not one of hers, but Khida's memory had only positive associations for the girl. She would be content if the girl stood watch in her absence.

You, she signed with her good hand, beckoning the dark-haired girl over. Stay, you here, small horse watch, query? Even the effort of shaping those words was kind of wearying, or maybe it was that they came in a sudden burst. Khida paused, leaning into their wife's shoulder, watching hopefully for signs of assent from the girl. Or negation, even if that wasn't the answer Khida desired.

In either case, once the issue of the horses was settled, the Kelvic allowed the medic and her wife to direct her inside. Sitting on a chair, she allowed the medic to (carefully) remove her shirt, the man making more chiding sounds as he got a look at the rest of her. Which was also muddy, except where riding had rubbed much of the flaking earth away. He spoke of cleaning, emphatically and repetitively stressing its import in simple terms even she could follow. She had made some attempt to clean her arm, but evidently not well enough -- or perhaps it was just that she hadn't cleaned everything else. He also dispatched another of the tent's attendants to fetch... something Khida didn't quite catch, but undoubtedly meant to treat the abraded skin of her thighs.

Then he moved on to her arm, examining the injury with eyes and fingers. His prodding made her flinch at several points, but she did her best to keep the arm itself steady. And not to fall asleep. All things considered, the bite could have been worse; the coyote had bitten down and let go without tearing, and it hadn't broken the bone. The medic determined it didn't need healing, just diligent care -- and cleaning. He reemphasized the cleaning, even as he proceeded to clean it himself with cloth and heated water.

As he did so, the medic gave directions -- not to Khida, but to their wife. Just as well; the words floated past the Kelvic's weary mind, even less comprehensible than usual. The only word that stuck with her was clean, due to its repetition, worked in multiple times around mentions of bandages, ointment, concern for infection. At the end, he applied some kind of ointment and wrapped the wound himself, before providing to their wife the things that would be required for ongoing care -- additional bandages, more ointment, and the liniment his assistant had retrieved.

Finally, they were allowed to leave. To gather themselves and the horses and go home. Then Khida could at last sleep her weariness away...

SeireiFeel free to make friends with the horses, if you like!

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi