Flashback First Day Alone

[Kaitanu]

For a moment, the kelvic would have looked rather startled at Jasmine’s questioning, or as much as he ever did. There was a sort of omnipresent calm on his pale face that few ever saw completely disturbed. For Kaitanu, raising both eyebrows slightly as the color of his eyes went a bit darker were the only visible signs he gave. Even his stance didn’t change, except perhaps that his back seemed more rigid than before.

Meanwhile, behind the calm mask and polite words, the slave’s mind was whirling madly between the walls of its prison, as it always did whenever anything unexpected happened. Never before had the kelvic met with so many people who asked questions no one in his life had ever asked. First Dravite and his family, and now the young blond Drykas woman, who seemed almost wholly innocent of the rules Kaitanu had always taken for granted. He ought to have been as curious as her, but what inquisitiveness his mind still possessed had been severely limited to matters of survival. New experiences were not exciting chances for discovery, but traps laid before his feet. One mistake- one wrong word or move- and pain would be visited upon his already battered body. Not knowing Jasmine, Kaitanu had no idea what answers she wanted, and for a fraction of a moment he hesitated and thought furiously about what he should say. Diplomacy had ever been his friend in such crises, so he chose that over being truthful.

“It is my duty to provide swift and efficient service to Kelna Nightrider and her associates.”

Kelna. There was another one who didn’t seem to like the term “mistress”. Perhaps it was not an acceptable one here? But he had been given no alternative and had gone back to form, until Kelna insisted he call her by her first name.

“I shall call you by whatever name or title you wish, mistress.”

At this, his head bobbed politely, though he didn't stop brushing Prince’s coat. Jasmine’s protestations of not wishing to ever own anyone else made Kaitanu nervous. This was more out of training and habit, since any talk like that was forbidden around slaves. It was seen as nigh unto subverting the natural order of the universe to not only not want a slave, but to speak of it in such a flippant manner. He couldn’t tell her openly not to say such things, but his senses were on alert lest anyone else should be listening. Jasmine might get a telling-off, but Kaitanu’s punishment would be far worse.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Jasmine looked at the young kelvic as confused as ever. She couldn't wrap her mind around slavery or its rules though she did not know them. "You can just call me Jasmine. Mistress makes me feel like I own you and I don't. If I may ask one more question will you tell me your hopes and dreams?" Jasmine wanted to get to know the young boy. She didn't have another horse at the moment to groom till their boss called for her to return inside or to call for their lunch break.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.

[Kaitanu]

“As you wish.” Kaitanu answered her first statement, which had been given not as a demand but a suggestion. Indeed, Jasmine’s tone seemed more appropriate to one meeting a new acquaintance for the first time. Kaitanu could not account for it. Jasmine knew what he was, but spoke to him as though they were equals.

The kelvic moved on to Prince’s tail, glad to have something else on which to focus. He was becoming ever more disconcerted by Jasmine’s presence, and by her whole manner. Only young children had ever shown the sort of curiosity that seemed to fuel her questions, without any of her sophistication of thought. Older children and adults had already learned not to talk to any slave as one might a peer. Obviously, Jasmine had not.

As she continued to speak it became difficult to keep that appearance of calm which marked the horse kelvic out among the rest of the workers. Kaitanu found himself casting furtive glances in her direction, wanting to figure out what her game was. He had been floored already by her, “May I?”, as though a slave could give permission for anything, when she ended with a most penetrating query.

Will you tell me your hopes and dreams?

Jasmine may as well have asked him what matter constituted the universe, and how it might be organized in the form of a ham sandwich. Hopes? Dreams? As slaves had no business with either concept he could not answer, but was so caught off-guard that his hand ceased brushing for a moment or two. There was no well-trained, automatic reply for something like that. He was almost tempted beyond fear of punishment to ask if she might repeat herself, but kept his pale lips tightly pressed together. Kaitanu was trying to come up with the proper answer, or anything at all, to a question no one had ever asked.

“My hope is to serve my master well.”

That would seem a pitiful response, but he honestly didn’t know what else to say. Kaitanu had never had any hopes beyond getting through a day without severe punishment, and perhaps with food in his stomach. As for dreams, his didn’t bear thinking about or repeating. It didn’t occur to the kelvic that she might mean something else by that word.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Jasmine looks at Kaitanu gently, "would you like a hand?" She asked smiling gently giving Prince a carrot for being so calm for the young boy. Chaser grazed quietly beside the two young ones and the other stallion. Jasmine looked when she heard the boss shout for every one to go on their lunch break. "Chaser and I are going out to the rocks would you like to join us for lunch?" Jasmine asked with a smile to the young boy watching him as Prince shook out his mane watching the two legged creatures as they walked around. Chaser neighed throwing his head up and down to show his approval. Jasmine laughs looking at Chaser. "Im coming," Jasmine said with a smile and went to grab her bag that has her and Chaser's lunch in it.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.

[Kaitanu]

Another strange request from Jasmine, though this one was less so after the week or more he had spent with the Blackwater pavilion. Dravite had insisted that Kaitanu eat along with the rest of his family, something the kelvic was not used to. In his experience, slaves were always separated from freemen during mealtimes. He reasoned that it must be a Drykas thing for bond and free to eat together. Anyway, Kaitanu wasn’t about to refuse Jasmine’s offer, whether he understood why or not. Beyond a sort of vague musing on the subject he didn’t think much either way.

“Allow me to finish my task and I shall join you, if it is your wish.” He was nearly done with prince’s tail; a few more strokes with the brush would do it. Prince was already feeling enough like himself that his horsey grumbling had ceased, though a sort of impatient whinnying to be out with the others had replaced it. Kaitanu had barely done with him and untied his tether when the gelding was off at a trot to join his fellows.

For the kelvic there was no such longing; he only wanted some grass to fill his stomach. Now that he had completed his duties he could finally indulge his own needs, though he would be doing so with company. That would be strange, as Kaitanu had spent that week eating alone. Solitude was his natural inclination. However, having no notion that he might decline, the kelvic made his way over to the collection of tall boulders near one end of the huge paddock. Jasmine and a few of the others perched, enjoying whatever meals they had brought with them as they watched the horses gambol or graze at their leisure. From such a vantage point one could see across the vast plains in nearly every direction. The shoulders of rock rose above the short-cropped and much-chewed grasses like sentinels of some long-forgotten age, or the result of an ancient violence of the earth. Right now they were the perfect warm spot for a good lunch.

Kaitanu had no intention of climbing up with the others, though his approach gained him a few brief quizzical looks. Whenever mealtime was called he tended to wander off on his own. His being completely nude didn’t seem to bother them at all. Whether it made any difference to Jasmine was a matter of personal preference, since most Drykas seemed to be indifferent to clothes when the weather suited. Kaitanu was carrying his shirt and trousers under one arm, and had the loops of his boots in his other hand. To all appearances he was as unconcerned as any at his pale skin and multitude of scars being on display.

Yet Kaitanu was no exhibitionist, and had a practical reason for being unclothed just now. Placing his discarded garments in a carefully-folded pile on a low rock, he turned to look at Jasmine, bowing respectfully.

“I am here at your request.”

He still had no clue why Jasmine wanted him near her at all, and she might well wonder at his not having a lunch sack with him. The young woman would soon see why as, with a bright white flash, Kaitanu disappeared altogether. In his place stood a pale horse, a bit skinny and covered with dark marks which interrupted his white fur. Jasmine might notice that these marks were like the ones on Kaitanu’s bare skin. The horse’s eyes, an unusual vivid blue-green, were just like the kelvic’s as well.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

"Cool! You are a gorgeous horse kelvic!" Jasmine said with a bright smile seeing the young kelvic's true form. She was unaffected by the appearence of the young boy as he had walked up to the group. Her eyes became narrowed at those around her as the rest began to whisper about the marks. "Leave him alone! He has had a hard time as a slave but I dont want to see him be treated the same way by us! All of you know that none of your families would harm a "Slave". That is just not how others treat them! If this who all of you really are then I am disgusted by all of you," Jasmine said with a growl at all of them as they looked down lowering their heads some at the young girl. She knew that none of them would treat another creature the way he had been treated most of his life. Chaser snorted glaring at the other Drykas also disgusted by how they were acting. "Come on Chaser. Let's go eat somewhere else," Jasmine said sliding down and getting on Chasers back clicking her tongue. Chaser snorted and trotted off walking away from the rocks with his rider hoping that Kaitanu would follow the two of them so that he wouldn't be insulted further. Though Chaser was not sure if the young kelvic was insulted or not; all Chaser knew was that Jasmine was insulted and disgusted by the other Drykas behavior.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.

[Kaitanu]

If Kaitanu had a stronger opinion of himself, he might have wondered at Jasmine’s applying the term “gorgeous” to his scarred hide. She was either taken by the fact that he was kelvic, or had some ability to see beauty where others did not. Any judge of horse-flesh would have had to knock coins off Kaitanu’s selling price at market. Certainly, he was not as tall or well-filled-out as most of the other horses in the paddock. However, Kaitanu was used to accepting whatever labels others placed upon him without question, so her words were met with a wordless acknowledgement. Inclining his large head, the kelvic mimicked a bow he would have performed as a human. Jasmine could have called him ugly or stupid and she would have gotten the same response. He still didn’t understand the concept of kindness. Maybe someday the girl’s heartfelt words would mean more, but Kaitanu’s experiences at being complimented were not pleasant. Often, taking notice of his peculiar sort of beauty was followed by acts which did not bear thinking of. Kaitanu didn’t. Instead, he took her words as they came and boxed up whatever unpleasantness resulted from the workings of his own mind. Mistrustful as he was of everyone, the kelvic could at least see that the girl was innocent enough, and meant nothing else but by way of observation.

If Kaitanu had understood what she said to the other hirelings, he might have further wondered what to make of her. She seemed angry about something, but what he could not tell. The mix of Pavi and Common was rather bewildering to the kelvic. It did not occur to him that she was angry on his behalf, or that her words were connected to the stares and muttered comments he had gotten from the others. Kaitanu was used to such behavior; being discussed as though he was totally deaf or otherwise incapable of understanding. In this case it appeared to stem more from curiosity than anything else. Such open commenting always turned to indifference, but it was neither here nor there for Kaitanu. All he wanted was to avoid trouble. Jasmine was the one behaving out of his experience, and so the kelvic didn’t know what to think of her.

The young woman’s strider was a bit more informative, but maybe Kaitanu could read a horse better than a human. As Jasmine and Chaser moved to another spot for lunch, the stallion indicated that Kaitanu should follow. In reality, Chaser was giving him a choice, but Kaitanu saw only imperatives, and so he followed behind as though on a lead. If he had cared at all, his sharp ears would still have been able to pick up the other hirelings’ talk, but even if he had understood them Kaitanu wasn’t offended in the least. He didn’t have the capacity to be offended. Almost the moment the other hirelings were out of sight he forgot that they had said anything at all. The last of the summer grass was about them and he was still hungry. As soon as Jasmine and Chaser halted, he did as well, waiting for them to begin eating before he tucked into a nice patch of grass. Unconsciously, he left the better stuff for Chaser.

Dravite, the ankal of the Blacwater pavilion, would have been pleased at Jasmine’s kindness to Kaitanu if he came to know of it. As for the object of this kindness, the poor kelvic still couldn’t wrap his brain around Dravite’s gentle treatment of himself, much less Jasmine’s. His strangely-colored eyes still kept a wary- if not direct -watch on her, but he was feeling a bit less nervous in her presence. Kaitanu did wonder, in his scattered way, if she knew his “master”, Dravite, what pavilion she belonged to, and where she had gotten her strange notions about slaves. Even if he was in human form, Kaitanu would not have asked the girl directly. That was not his place. Chaser, on the other hand, could be approached. Even so, the kelvic spoke to him with the humble manner of a low-ranking herd-member.

“In your human’s herd are no tied humans?” Horses had no words for ‘slave’, but they understood being tied. In addition, Kaitanu didn’t yet know Chaser’s term for Jasmine, so he stuck with the generic descriptor. To Dravite’s horses the ankal tended to be known as “leader human”.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

"No the leader of her herd is very kind making sure everyone is welcomed as family not as a tied human. He has taught this to Jasmine as well, she gets furious about how others are treated by the other drykas often forgetting they were not brought up the same as she," Chaser explained while shaking out his mane as Jasmine mumbled in Pavi while eating still mad. "She is a kind gentle person who will answer any questions all you must do is ask. She will not tell if it will get you in trouble," Chaser spoke once more before shifting so he can graze on the good grass as well.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.

[Kaitanu]

Kaitanu had forgotten for the moment that Striders possessed a wider vocabulary than most other horses. There were still concepts for which they had no expression, but the conversation was not so limited. He was surprised to hear about Jasmine’s family attitudes regarding slaves, though eh should not have been, given how she had behaved toward himself. Perhaps he was most shocked at the idea that any free person would choose to be against slavery in the first place. He had heard whispers of such, but never believed them to be true. After all, how could anyone with sense eschew the notion of absolute power over another being? He had thought that would be too tempting to anyone to resist. Perhaps he had been wrong. Jasmine and her people seemed proof of the contrary… And they might not be the only examples. His mind went almost at once to Dravite, whose purposes had as yet been inscrutable. Could he be another who, for reasons unknown, did not accept the conventions of slavery? Impossible as it seemed, his behavior would make more sense that way. Yet the very notion that there could be any other pattern of thinking was beyond his ability to accept. Kaitanu decided to ponder on this at some later period; the concept was almost too overwhelming to let it run rampant in his brain. He would have to let it gradually seep in slowly, lest it burst the walls of his thought and drive him into madness.

Kaitanu had not answered at once, as his mouth had been full of grass when Chaser spoke to him. He then had to consider whether the stallion’s invitation to question his owner ought to be taken as a command. With other horses it was less clear than with humans, since they were “owned” as well, in a manner of speaking, and might be considered slaves. Only they were often far better treated than actual slaves. Such were the paradoxes that attended the lives of the owned. It was therefore not difficult for him to believe that that Jasmine could be kind and gentle to Chaser while being cruel to those beneath her in dignity. Not that she had been to Kaitanu, but he still couldn’t quite trust her. This was not for lack of trying on the girl’s part. Chaser’s commendation was enough to make him less wary, and that was something for the brow-beaten kelvic. Trust, if it happened at all, would come later.

As far as questions went, it took Kaitanu awhile to gather his courage for the venture. Neither being used to prying into others’ affairs, nor giving in to curiosity, he would have just kept everything to himself as always. It was Chaser who gave him to understand that Jasmine might want him to ask questions; that it would please her in some way. It couldn’t hurt to be on her good side, but what would his questions be? Jasmine might be surprised to learn that the kelvic had never inquired anything of anyone, unless he required clarification for some task set by his masters. Even then he tried not to do so. It was better just to go forth and figure things out on the job. What ought he to do in this case? Would she be gratified or affronted by a personal query? Ought he to stick to more general topics? Kaitanu had never even gotten into the habit of “small talk”, so he was at a bit of a loss. He had to wrack his brain for any memory of interaction between others, and the sorts of things they spoke of.

It was a quarter of a bell before anything occurred to him, and then he had to set aside eating in order to shift. However, shift he did, standing naked under the bright sun in his usual, submissive attitude. Facing the girl, Kaitanu inclined his head slightly, white-gold hair falling in his eyes as he did so.

“I beg your pardon, Jasmine. Your excellent horse… He indicated that you might like for me to ask questions.” There was, perhaps, one rather important one on his mind, but he hesitated to bring it out for a moment or two. His pale brows furrowed slightly. “If I might… Forgive me if this is out of place... but, why does your family have no slaves?”

As these words left him, Kaitanu held his breath and waited for the inevitable punishment. He was a slave, not supposed to think, or to question… Yet she had required it of him, as far as he could tell. Any freeman would scoff at the fuss he was making over such a simple thing, but to him this was new territory. Fear crept up his spine, but also a strange sense of daring.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

"Hm thats an interesting question, I suppose the concept was bred into me from birth so I've never truly asked father. But I do know that he does not think himself higher than any other creature on this world. He wants our clan to make a difference by accepting slaves and showing them another life from that one. We strive to show that not everyone a slave or i guess the proper term would be ex-slave that there are people creatures that do not see them as anything but who they are. Father once asked me if a glassbeak saw the difference in eating a slave or what a slave would call a free man. I told him that i did not think the glassbeak saw a difference. He said I was right then asked if a glassbeak could see no difference why must we? I went to bed that night pondering father's question and finally decided that I would never let another person's race or up bringing define who they arte to me," Jasmine said looking over to the young boy with a soft smile. "I do not see you as a slave. I see you as a kelvic who is kind, shy, content and happy around other horses. You are a person with hopes and dreams even if you havent thought about them yet or dreamed them yet." Jasmine said with a smile unaffected by the nude boy before her.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.