Sparkles and Stripes (Firenze)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Summer 36, 515 AV It was time. A black blanket had descended from the hidden places beyond the clouds, covering Mizahar in a mixture of darkness and shadow. The entities themselves seemed endless piles of grey fluff, behind which the pale sliver of the moon was sheltered. Its furled point poking out from the depths of its cover periodically, as though it were playing a game of hide-and-go-seek with the world, that only it was in on. Its glow was a deathly pallor, a milky white, which made the contours of each of Zeltiva's buildings extend to greater proportions, while it crippled others, leaving them a misshapen mess of constructed building materials whenever Talya's lavender eyes passed over them, and eventually, the buildings gave way to rocky passage, which led ultimately, into the woods. The Wildlands directly surrounding the port city of Zeltiva. In this place, everything seemed to be fifty shades of grey. The tree's bark an interwoven diamond pattern, if not the pale shavings of a birch. Their limbs seemed to dart in lightning shaped angles; weaving themselves in and out of shadow just as Talya did the moonlight wrought trees. Their roots seemed to snake against the ground; and their leaves seemed either black or white as opposed to green, leaving the forest a ghastly place to be for one unprepared. But luckily for Talya, who had decided that today was as good as any other to go out and look up at the moon and stars, (as the clouds could clear in some areas and not in others), she had come prepared, for she knew of the darkness and the treachery of the forest, after having spent so much time within its folds over the past two seasons. Thus, she had gathered some kindling and fallen sticks to use as firewood while making her way out of the city of Zeltiva, while it was still light, so that she wouldn't have to go looking in the dark if she made it into the forest a bit later than planned. (Which she ever so conveniently, had). Now, she was forced to traverse the land through poorly lit conditions, until she could find a place large enough to build a fire, and set up a camp for the night, before she settled in to look up at the sky, and enjoy herself to the best of her ability. Luckily for her, she didn't have more searching to do, and located a small clearing, of about five feet by another five, ringed by several young birch trees, which she could use. At the clearing's center, she set her bag down, pulled out her waterskin, and took a few sips although she wasn't thirsty, just to keep her throat from getting dry. When she was done, Talya put it away, and pulled out all the sticks and kindling she had gathered. With them all lain out on the forest floor, she began to pick out the things she would need to build a fire. So, she picked out the sticks first. When she had found two of about the same time, she took one in each hand, and placed their points together at the center of the clearing. When they seemed to be leaning against one another in a relatively stable fashion, so that they formed a triangle with the ground, Talya retrieved another two sticks of about the same size, and added these to the triangle, so that a stick corresponded with each of the four cardinal directions, and a teepee began to take form. Talya then reached for another stick to add, but wound up knocking her structure over, and having to begin again. So she did, and kept adding sticks to her structure until all had been used, save for one small one, which she didn't suppose could have been incorporated very well anyway. This final stick she set aside as she surveyed her teepee. It seemed a slightly lopsided, but fairly stable structure, with a small opening on the side closest to her. Satisfied with her work, Talya decided to move onto the next step, and retrieved the kindling she had gathered. This she stuffed into the teepee's opening rather unceremoniously, so that it filled the base as evenly as she could manage, covering the dirt floor from view. With this done, she retracted her hands and dry washed them, before retrieving her flint and steel from her bag. As the moon flashed; causing her skin to sparkle, she adjusted her grip. In her right hand, she tightly held the steel, in the left, the flint, on a downward diagonal angle, so that as she knelt closer to the fire pit, the edge of the flint was directed into the opening of the teepee, where the kindling had been lain. Talya took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, before raising the steel, and then bringing it down on the flint over and over again. She could hear a faint clicking sound as she did this for the next ten minutes, until sparks began to form. None took to the kindling however, until about two minutes later, at which point, Talya put her things away, and bent down to blow on the flame delicately, fanning it until the orange element licked the underside of all the twigs she had placed in the teepee. Until a thin tendril of grey smoke began to rise through the open spaces between logs, and the kindling began to crackle and burst- shards of leaves being tossed around inside, like a stew, while the twigs curled and blackened. Ash, (presumably from their bark), trickling down to their base. Talya pulled herself up at this point, and moved away. She surveyed the fire for a moment, and satisfied that it wouldn't go out for awhile, turned her attention to the sky. She picked out the north star rather quickly, as it glowed the brightest out of any of the stars that could be seen past the roving of the massive clouds. She decided then, that she would use it to find any other constellations that could be seen that night, and set to work.

[Firenze]

The Wildlands. Heart beating hard as she moved further into them than she’d ever been. Her natural instinct normally kept her close to the city when she’d been in Sunberth, not venturing out as far as she was going on this darkening eve. During spring she’d generally kept as close as possible to the city, her cave only a quarter bell away. Food had become particularly difficult to find in the area where she normally hunted and thus decided to take chance and move deeper into the wildlands.

Although most animals that she was familiar with moved during the day, she decided to use the cover of night while going into unfamiliar territory. Her vision better at night, any movement nearby she’d be able to catch and focus on. The darkness a way to keep her hidden in case she ran into something unfamiliar.

Paws touched down softly onto cold dirt, lean muscles moving the much larger frame forward. It had been awhile since Fire had gone for a good run and stretching out her legs seemed enjoyable. The area didn’t seem too heavily populated with trees, bushes were easily pushed out of the way and if an animal chased her… she’d already be running.

Stopping momentarily she stretched her front out, her hind end reaching into the air, muscles loosening themselves. A yawn flashed large canines, a deep breath flooding her body with oxygen. Slowly at first she loped through the woods, dust puffing out from under the soft pads of her feet. Her belly brushed the tall grass, tail moving back and forth aiding in her balance as she weaved through trees and bushes.

It was so quiet, her ears could pick up things further than she normally would during the day when everything and everyone was going about their daily business. A clacking was heard before she even saw the trees start to widen their paths between each other. A small empty area, void of trees, came into view through the branches. Sparks flew bright against the pitch black, giving signal to whoever was in the clearing's location.

Her pace slowing to a walk, crouching low, she moved through the grass and into the clearing. The flames caught and started to lick at the wood that the person had gathered and began throwing a soft glow onto their feature. This stopped her in her tracks as she watched the woman, her skin glowing gently under the moonlight. The glowing skin was not what had stopped Firenze, but the horns that were protruding from the head of the woman, both hair and horn dark as the surroundings, the horn shimmering lightly with green from the reflection of the fire.

Eyes wide and focused she moved one paw in front of the other, trying to get closer to get a better look. She’d never seen a person, human or otherwise, that had horns before and the fascination kept her wary but intrigued. A twig popped under her weight and she stopped immediately in the path, ears perking forward quickly, wondering if the other had heard. Dropping her weight, the grass separating under her girth she kept her eyes focused through the tall strands as best she could.

Heart beating quickly, she wondered if she should shift before the other person could catch her, hoping that the appearance of a human would be more appealing and less likely to have them attack her. On the other hand, she’d be unarmed if in human form, whereas claws in her natural state would be the best defense if needed.

Others | Firenze | Thoughts

[Talya]

Talya scanned the sky for quite awhile, until she came upon another constellation that she actually recognized. It was a grouping of six stars, that each shone a bright silver in color. The constellation was known as cartiene, or maybe it was carteene? She could never quite remember. But in any case, it was a constellation that depicted a quill. It was said this quill belonged to many owners. Many famous people throughout the course of its history. But it wasn't the owners that made themselves famous; or in any way distinguished themselves, it was the quill that did it for them. For when one held the quill, and filled its point with ink, ideas would flow freely from their minds. So easily, that it was said the owner could write poem or prose easily, even during the time in which they slumbered. It was also rumored, that at times the quill would show its current owner images- landscapes mainly, that they would then be able to print perfectly, with its help. Creating anything they saw within their mind's eye. Of course, no one knew of the extraordinary powers the quill was said to possess. No one thought of it as anything more than a quill. For this, it was disregarded, to the detriment to mankind. For the quill's power was vast. Great, but also tainted. Evil. For with each great gift, came a price to be paid. It is said that the quill was human in some ways. That it had feeling and a will of its own, but unlike a human, it had no need to eat or sleep. No need to rest or take a break. No need to think about its own care. It is due to this fact that the quill was said to drive its owners mad. That it forced its will upon them. A will to create; a will to fill the world with a beauty that only it could envision, that only it truly knew. So whoever held it; in a way, it owned. As gradually, it would fill the mind with ideas. Poking and prodding. For awhile, the "master" could hold off, tell themselves that a project could be finished upon the morrow. But over time, the quill's hold over them, and their feeble minds intensified, until the man or woman could no longer resist. The quill would drive them to write for hours upon hours. Until their hands ached. Until it trembled and the words became nearly illegible. Until their eyes burned, and their ink supply had run low. Day in and day out, it would force them to create until they collapsed at their desks. Over and over again, it would deprive them of sleep as it whispered in their ears, telling them to keep going and going, as there were still so many stories to be told. The people of their respective areas were always amazed by the amount they produced. Amazed at the wonder of it- the images they created with their words, the questions they asked, the things they urged their peers to think about and question, the beauty and brilliance of it all. Not only in composition, but in every way that they could possibly imagine. On the off chance that they saw the owner of the quill out, writing or doing their work, they'd notice the bags under the eyes, the fervency by which they wrote, but think it nothing more than insomnia accompanied by a spark of brilliance, and left them well enough alone. Eventually, the quill would exhaust its master, sap every last bit of energy they possessed until there was nothing left. It was in this way that the quill finally mastered its master, and the owner died. After which point, the quill would find a way to pass itself on. It is for its legend; its greatness, and its evil that it found a place in the sky. In part, in warning to the world, and in part, to urge them to keep on writing, but perhaps, not to the point onto which they killed themselves. Talya smiled pleasantly, as she chose to scan the sky again for something else. She thought she had just landed upon something when she heard a twig snap, at which point, her breath caught in her throat, and she gasped, as her heart began to beat faster and faster. She tore her gaze away from the sky, and searched the forest until she found the culprit- a tiger crouching in the shadows, its eyes glowing eerily. The Ethaefal smiled uneasily at the sight of the Kelvic, "well hello," she commented, "now don't you seem out of place," she added, as her hand fell over the hilt of her concealed dagger, (on her upper right thigh), just in case she were in any danger. She wondered what a tiger was doing all the way out here- if it had come from its more natural climates, or if it was someone's pet and had escaped. Maybe it belonged to a zoo? Or maybe... it was a Kelvic. She supposed she would just have to find out over time, and that made her uneasy. She didn't take well to not knowing things.

[Firenze]

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The woman with the horns spoke and Fire readied herself to run, she didn’t know if she’d be friendly or foe. Her muscles prepared themselves for the later. Golden eyes and dilated pupils followed the hand that moved to her side the fire nearby casting light caught the glint of a weapon. Ears flat, she started to back away slowly, a low growl escaped her lips. She’d gotten too close and the element of surprise had been ruined. The woman knew she was there, her hand now on her weapon. Would she use it?

The grass split and divided around her as she took a few steps back, trying to create distance between the two. She chuffed and another low growl came out, hoping that would deter the woman from coming closer. The disadvantage of being in this form made communication between the two impossible. Fire knew that she spoke common, her initial words gave that away, so if she were in her human form then they’d be able to communicate.

She paused for a moment trying to decide whether she should stay and use her claws as defense or flee and shift so she could come back and try to speak with the woman. Fire had initially planned on staying over the night in her natural state, her human state would leave her without the necessary items that she would require.

It was a tough decision, there was no way to know that if she did shift if the woman would be willing to share her amenities for the night. Perhaps though she could shift, speak to the unusual creature that she’d never seen before, find out what she was and what she was doing and then make the trek home. It hadn’t been too long that she’d ran, she had the chance to be able to make it back to town before day break and hopefully no one would be awake at the hour that she walked into town so they wouldn’t see her naked. It wouldn’t bother her so much that she was naked, as it would bother other people to see her in that state.

Backing up further, she was far enough away that she turned and bolted for the edge of the trees. Using the momentum from her run, she pushed off the ground, sank her claws into the side of a tree and shimmied her way up to the lowest branch, about three to four feet off the ground, trying to hide among the leaves. She hoped the woman wouldn’t follow her but if she did then Fire would continue to ascend through the branches as high as she could make it, for whatever branches she could reach.

She hoped that the cover of the tree would give her enough time to shift before the woman caught up, her orange light flashing quick, black sparks flying. The light possibly noticeable through the leaves if someone were watching the tree, if only for a brief moment. Her foot slipped on the slick bark of the branch and her arms reached out, grabbing the trunk she tried to hold on. She never had to shift in a tree before she didn’t know what to expect, obviously the shift had thrown her off balance, her energy draining slightly.

The foot that was trying to balance on the branch shifted precariously, her other hanging off the backside throwing her off. Her arms started to slide against the slick bark of the trunk, her nails not long enough to dig in. Giving it a moment to see if it was safe to move when she thought she’d finally caught her balance she tried to push up with her foot enough to get her back leg back onto the branch.

Unfortunately, the shift in her weight and the pressure from pushing had her foot sliding along the branch, her legs almost scissored with no contact on the tree, except for her arms as they slid, the majority of her weight took her to the ground and she landed with an oomph, stars danced in front of her eyes, other than the ones that were in the sky above her.

Others | Firenze | Thoughts

[Talya]

Talya's eyes settled on the two golden, glowing orbs. They were eerie; reminding her of that of a hawk, or small reflections of the sun. She shifted uncomfortably against the ground, they made her uneasy in the way they seemed to scrutinize her. There was no further explanation as to why chills shot up the length of her spine as her hands clutched at her thighs, her nails digging softly into a mixture of the fabric and exposed skin, until they had etched lines within her flesh. Talya fought to breath deeply, in through her nose and out through her mouth as she listened to the tigress grow. The sound low and rumbling; emanating from the base of the throat, she thought. A warning. Her body growing all the more tense and rigid as she watched, and the beast watched back. Her eyes developing a far off state, a sort of trance, as she continued to keep them trained on the tigress, and let them settle. That was until her magic was reborn, and the Kelvic's aura became visible. It hovered over every inch of her body- a thin layer of misty material about two inches thick, that flowed over her as though it were a river. It was yellow in color. Not particularly bright in shade, like the sun, but not very dark either. It was closer to something in the middle, kind of like mustard, but not quite there either. Talya sniffed the air. The aura had a scent to it she realized, something outside the realm of what the forest carried- namely the smell of pine intermingling with animal droppings and dirt. Then of course, the smell of smoke and the fire she had created. No this was something deeper. Something more base and primal, sweat. The tigress was afraid, Tal felt, but why she did not know, as she was a great big beast with claws and big teeth and massive strength, and she was just a long, lithe Ethaefal who was seated, and had yet to draw her blade in defense, (should she need to). Her brow knit into one of confusion as she continued to study the aura, her eyes dilating further as her heart began to beat faster and faster, and her breath became increasingly shallow, until her chest rose and fell rapidly. She licked the roof of her mouth. It tasted like blood and fur. She supposed this was part of the aura, as she didn't remember having eaten any meat, and she was certain she hadn't caught any hair in her mouth. Maybe it was an allusion to how the tigress was a carnivore, and liked the taste of meat. She wasn't sure, especially considering how the beast began to back away, and eventually was swallowed by shadow. Disappearing into the night. As the Ethaefal lost eye contact with Fire, the aura naturally fell away. The mist disappearing; leaving Talya with nothing more than the heat of her own. She wondered what had spooked the tiger. Was there something more than her? Was it the fire she had crackling before her feet? Or was she one of those few who hadn't been exposed much to humans and their like, and as such, feared them, no matter how unimposing they appeared or actually were? Talya shrugged as she looked around the clearing. There didn't seem to be anything about, so with another shrug, she determined the tiger to be nothing, and resumed her study of the stars through eyes that seemed as though they wanted to stay open less and less, despite the form she now bore. The late hour. Talya scanned the sky for a few moments, until she picked out a constellation she called Aliki. It was a grouping of five stars that depicted a glass of water. Now the story behind it, she thought, as that there was an old woman who lived in a village, who could always be seen sitting outside her hut. Each day she would knit a few stitches in a quilt she was creating, and then take a sip of water. Each day, for years and years, until it came to the point where everyone called her the knitter, and the children became curious as to how she could keep the same behavior up, and lead a life they deemed to be so darned tedious. So one day a little boy- There was a large thud. Something had crashed into the ground. Maybe it was a tree branch, although it sounded also, as though it could have been something far larger than that. Talya's eyes tore away from the sky, and looked over toward where the sound had come from. A part of Talya wanted to go investigate, although the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, her eyes had grown wide, her palms sweaty, her breathing increasingly shallow even after the cessation of magic use, and her heart was beating erratically. But a part of her knew she would be near blind out in the forest without a torch, and whatever it was could be dangerous or nothing at all, and she could make herself completely crazy over it- trying to find out- for no darned good reason. So she stayed put and waited for a few seconds, when nothing sounded, she called out into the night, "you alright?" Seeing as the tigress already knew where Talya was, it didn't seem it would do any more harm to her by being loud. Besides, if she were a Kelvic, now they could communicate, if not, they could fight to the death. It was all the same to Talya, although she was tired now, and might not be in the best shape she could for combat. OOCSorry there isn't a whole ton to work with. Wasn't sure what to do with this one.

[Firenze]

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Her naked form laid on the ground for a moment, hoping that the woods would give her a moment of peace so that she could regain her wits. The stars that danced in her eyes started to recede as she focused on breathing deeply, inhaling through her nose and out through her mouth, clearing the fog in her brain.

The ringing had started to recede as well and her ears picked up a call out. Did she hear what she thought she did? The person that she’d ran from in natural form was asking if she was okay, how would she have known that Fire was there? This piqued her curiosity further as to what the horned person was. She could speak common, so that was a benefit to Fire so she could determine why such a person was out in the middle of the wilderness instead of at home in their bed.

A hand came up and rubbed slowly on her ribs, checking to make sure that she didn’t do and serious damage. Popping her head up carefully her eyes inspected her body. It appeared that everything was okay, but she was going to be a little sore and probably have some lovely bruising. A chuckle came out when she thought of how she was going to explain it to Pulren. He didn’t know what she was yet and mysterious bruises weren’t going to help hide that.

A groan followed the soft laugh as pain slid through her muscles above her ribs. Sitting up she rubbed her side trying to work the slow ache there. Moving slowly she began to pick herself up, rising to her full height. Dirt stuck to the backside of her, leaves and twigs decorated her messy mane. She wanted to laugh again at how she might look but didn’t want to risk the ache.

Rubbing the dust from her eyes, a hand wiped over her face and then began to pluck the items from her hair. Bare feet made their way back toward the unusual woman’s direction. A hand brushed her backside as she called out as loud as she could without angering her ribs, “Ahhyeaah. I’m good.”

Her feet walked through the tall grass that she had previously ran from only a few chimes prior. The tops were as tall as her waist, her top half was bare to the sky and it didn’t register that the other company may be offended. A wave was given over her head, letting the other person know where she was located so that she didn’t startle them. A wince, quickly putting her arm next to her side and being ginger with her ribs.

As she approached, the fire still going strong, she could really see the outline of the woman. Her horns were curved along side either side of her head and it fascinated Fire, now that she could get a better look and she could present a less… hostile form to the woman. She wasn’t sure what she’d think of her walking up on her so she still kept her distance, at the edge of the opening, just past the tall grass.

A small wave of the hand, “Hey,” was the greeting that she gave to the woman. She wondered if she knew that it had been her in form. It was pretty obvious considering that a tiger ran up on her, ran away and then a naked woman came back a fourth of a bell later. If that didn’t scream out that she was a Kelvic then she wasn’t sure what would. The only she she was concerned about currently though wasn’t so much that she was Kelvic as that she was completely unarmed now, the other had the sharp looking blade at her side. She was at a disadvantage and hoped that this was more of a friend than foe.

If she presented to be a foe then Fire would take off again, running back toward the town and definitely calling it a night. If not then she would stay, weary, but curious of the person that stood before her. The moonlight casting it’s glow on her dark mane and deep green horns.

Others | Firenze | Thoughts

[Talya]

"That's good!" Talya called into the night, unsure as to what else to say. She fell silent shortly thereafter, and when no more sound was forthcoming from the depths of the trees, turned her attention back to the stars. She scanned them swiftly, trying to discern another constellation. She thought she had found Taurus not soon after, but realized that there was a grouping of too many stars for it to be so, and she had mistaken it for something else, but she knew not what that was. By then, she could just begin to make out the sound of footsteps, padding softly on the soil. She diverted her gaze from the stars, and looked to where she thought the source of the sound was coming as the steps gradually grew to be louder and louder. That was, until they stopped, and the Ethaefal blinked a few times as the Kelvic came into view. She was naked, that was the first thing she noticed; bathed only in shadow. The second, was that she was tall. The third blonde. Then came the smattering of other details- her golden eyes, her pale skin, her small, slender nose. Her thin pink lips. The shade of them; as they leaned lightly into her cheeks; her high cheek bones. "Hello," Talya said simply, as her cheeks began to feel a little warm. She wondered if they were turning red. "Would you like to come and sit? You must be getting cold," she added, as her hand moved away from her thigh, her concealed dagger. She turned her gaze back to the fire, held out her hands as though to display it was a good source of warmth. "You must have come out here for a hunt," she continued, her words coming naturally, although she knew not how. "Did you find anything, or has the forest been to light for concealment of late?" she asked, "with all of the stars?" she paused. "I come out here to get away from the city. To see them as they were meant to be seen sometimes." Talya smiled broadly. "They're rather beautiful, don't you think? And to know that each has its own story... well the ones that have constellations anyway." Talya chuckled to herself, now she was beginning to ramble. She forced herself to stop talking. She was going to make a fool of herself if she was not careful. She waved her hands, as though pushing away the thoughts she had been having of the sky. "Do they speak to you too?" she asked. "The animals I mean. While you're out looking for them. Or is it as impossible to discern their words as it is the sounds of this fire?" she asked, gesturing toward it, while making a point of listening to it crackle and pop as it continued to spout thin pillars of smoke into the air.

[Firenze]

The woman offered her to have a seat by the fire. She wanted to sit by the Fire because the cool air was starting to raise the hair on her body. Eyes flicked to the hand that moved away from the weapon at her side and she wondered if the woman was becoming more relaxed. Although she’d come back to the site she was still weary of the other. Unsure of what kind of person would camp out in the middle of the Wildlands… but then what kind of person wandered naked out in the middle of the Wildlands. She wondered if she looked just as strange to the lady as she looked to Fire. It was quite the odd meeting.

Slowly she stepped closer to the warmth of the fire, eyes still on the woman, skirting the area that she stood. “Sure, thanks.” It was a short reply, her focus more on trying to determine if the woman was a threat or not. She’d not followed her back toward the tree, which was a good sign. But, she still had the upper hand with the weapon.

The woman spoke again and asked if she was out hunting, it was strange how she might know and wondered for a tick if she could read Fire’s thoughts or something. Questioning eyes followed the woman as she moved. Then she mentioned the stars and started to talk about the stories of them. She’d never heard stories about stars. It was just a bunch of little lights in the sky that sometimes helped light the path. Fire had never really thought about it before. They were pretty, sure, but anything beyond a simple acknowledgement of their presence had not occurred. She had no clue what a constellation was but figured it had to do something with the stars. “What are constellations? Do you know the stories?” Her curiosity over what the woman had mentioned pushed her to ask. She stayed where she was and she was still leary of the stranger, but it never hurt to ask questions.

She asked if the stars spoke to Fire, pausing her eyes flicked briefly up toward the dots in the blackened sky and then straight back to the woman. “The stars don’t speak? Do they speak to you?” It was then that the woman clarified the question, if it was the animals and not the stars that spoke. Did they speak to her? Not particularly. There was a cat that had yelled at her once for scaring her but the other animals all spoke differently than she did, similar to how a human from a different place might speak differently. Did she know that she was the Kelvic though? She must if she was asking if the animals talked to her… right?

“I can’t speak to the other animals, no. It’s like… trying to talk to someone that speaks another language. Just like I would try to talk to them in common and they would call back in their language. We would try to speak to each other but the meaning is lost in the translation. Although… I can some what understand cats… but they’re more like... “ She paused for a moment trying to think of how best to explain, “Like if I only spoke a broken language and tried to talk to someone that was fluent in the same language. Make sense?”

Her hands turned out toward the flame and she scooted a little closer, rubbing her hands together. Thoughts went back to what the woman had said about the stories of the stars. Curiosity sprung it’s devious head again and decided that it wanted to hear a story, “You said the stars have stories. Do you know a story? How do you know? Did they tell you?” The line of questions was shot toward the woman as she bent down and crouched near the fire, wanting to keep the heat with her skin, the cool air on her backside and the warmth on the front.

Others | Firenze | Thoughts

[Talya]

Talya chuckled. "A constellation is simply a grouping of stars, that when put together, create a picture," she explained. "Some have stories as old as the world, perhaps even older- written down and kept safe in books and in scrolls." She paused. "Some of them are known, and others... not," she explained, "although, sometimes it is nice to simply come up with your own," she added before falling silent so that she could listen to what the Kelvic had to say. She nodded at her words. "It makes sense, of course," she said. "One shouldn't expect animals to be able to talk amongst themselves any more than the uh..." she was searching for a proper word or phrase, "races with their separate languages- both written and spoken. If we can't communicate as a whole, why should they?" she asked with a small laugh, as her eyes returned to the sky once again. It always drew her, she just couldn't keep away from it. It was just so beautiful, and so mesmerizing, that it nearly hurt to have to keep looking away, or to have to stop looking when the sun took over during the day, ridding the world of Leth's rule and his wondrous night. Talya scanned the sky again, looking for another constellation. "We assign the stars stories, I think, and not the other way around," the Ethaefal explained. "Take that cluster over there, for instance," she said as she pointed to a space in the western portion of the sky. "That would be Atila, if I am not mistaken. He's a grouping of fifteen stars. One of the bigger constellations, really." She paused, as she stopped pointing, and took the hand to run through her hair, forcing it to pull apart several knots as she did so. "His story goes like this- it is said once, before the world was as the world is now, that there were vast plains scattered across the earth. Upon those plains lived a number of tribes- each with a leader that thirsted for power. For each tribe, balanced the others out, and none could gain any sort of hold over the others. That was until, one day, a man named Atila was born into one of the clans, and raised to be a warrior. Eventually, with his cunning and ruthless training, he climbed to the rank of general within his clan, and as such, began to lead his kinsmen into battle." "One by one attacked each of the rival clans. Going around the plains in a straightforward fashion, that took each of them- one after the other. He wouldn't stop, you see, unless he had claimed a rival clan- either eradicating them, or enslaving them." She raised a single finger, "he never swept them into his own, fully however, as he feared where their hearts truly lied, and an insurrection," she explained as she dropped her hand. "Anyway, one by one, all the plainsmen fell but a few- but by then, it was too late. Even though they tried to join forces to stop him, his military strategies turned the tides in many a battle, and they all crumbled before him. With the world as it was conquered, Atila ruled over it until his death, when everything began to fall apart, as there was no protege to follow him. It saddened him, as he watched from the stars, as he had already found his place. His soul immortalized within the stars- emblazoned in his memory, as both warning to others, and hope- as he spurred many to fight to the best of their ability numerous times since his day." Talya blinked as she turned away from the stars to face the Kelvic. She wasn't very good with tellings, but she supposed it would do all the same. "And what do you think?" Talya asked, as she never allowed her eyes to wander from the other woman. Even as the leaves within the trees rustled in the breeze, and it became all the more difficult not to find it very, very distracting.

[Firenze]

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Eyes glance back up toward the sky full of stars. She couldn’t see any pictures, it just looked like a blanket of little glowing dots. The woman continued speaking about her comment and she looked back to her. The dark horns on her head curved back as Fire inspected the woman, it was quite a noticeable feature, but other than that she seemed almost just like a normal human person. The Gods knew that Fire was anything but pure human, she didn’t want to be that way either, it seemed so… mundane. She wondered if that was what the other woman was like. If she was just a more enhanced form like herself.

Her attention came back as the other woman laughed softly. She talked for quite awhile and pointed out a group of stars in the sky. It was as she said, but Fire couldn’t decipher a picture out of it. As she wove her story though it started to become quite clear that it might night actually be an image but a representation of what the story meant. It was quite an odd thing. She’d never really looked at the sky, especially at night, her focus always closer to home.

The story didn’t completely make sense to her, it was odd that someone would want to destroy people just for a title. She wondered how many innocent people had died because of the glory that one man wanted. It flared anger in her for a moment and she glared up at the gathering of the stars, brow furrowed. It reminded her of how people could be sometimes. Choosing glory and gain over what might be right.

A thought occurred and she realized that maybe the weird story had somehow taught her a lesson. That people have the tendency to strive for things that can hurt others, but in the end they only end up hurting themselves. That was how she took it anyway.

She was asked of what she thought of the story and Fire shifted, shuffling her feet and rebalancing herself in her crouch. Hands still outstretched toward the Fire she pulled them back and rubbed them slowly along the length of her arms. “It’s… an interesting story. I didn’t particularly like it because the man killed for almost no reason other than gain and glory. That just seems… wrong, to me.” Golden eyes stared into the fire a moment, the flames reflecting as they licked at the wood.

“How do you see the story? Do you see it differently?” It was a curious thing how other people thought and could interpret the same identical thing as someone else and come up with a completely different answer. Fire was open to other persons opinions and thoughts and was actually interested to hear what the other had to say.

Just as she thought that she realized that she didn’t know who… or what, the other person actually was. Yet here they were speaking of the stories of the stars so nonchalantly and the woman hadn’t even really had a reaction to her state of dress.
Quite the pair they were.

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