Closed A Walk in the Park (Khara)

[Zhol]

.











4th Spring, 516AV

It was cold. Of course it was. The towers might have announced to the world that winter had transitioned into spring, but Kalea was always notoriously slow on the uptake. Yet, there was something strangely pleasant about it: the light dusting of snow that had drifted down from the sky and settled on their hair and shoulders as Zhol and Khara had made the trek from their quaint and cosy home on Sharai to the more populous central peak of Zintia. The cold still bit at the flesh that he hadn't managed to bundle beneath layers of clothes, but that was all; the snow hadn't turned the roads into waist heigh battles of endurance the way it was back in Wind Reach, nor was the threat of Dira hanging in the air like condensed breath before anyone who even dared to venture outside. Whether it was the altitude, by design, or the influence of the divine-adjacent presence that called the city home, Lhavit seemed to shrug off the weather and merely carry on with it's business.

Zhol breathed in a slow, deep breath that chilled it's way down his nostrils and the back of his throat, and smiled. It tasted crisp, clean, and fresh; so very different from how the air had felt within the winding tunnels underneath Mount Skyinarta. It was only now, hundreds of miles away from his last surrogate home, that Zhol truly realised how much he had missed living out in the open air. While true, Zhol had hardly been a permanent prisoner within the walls of Wind Reach, it just wasn't the same: the long trudge from the Commons to his first breath of fresh air at the Skyhigh Stables each morning was a far cry from the mere seconds it had taken him to stride from bed to doorway today. It wasn't canvas, but after almost three years in the bowels of a mountain, it was close enough.

The smile insisted on lingering, and Zhol didn't try to stop it, despite the slight cracking that stung faintly on the edges of his chapped lips. His neck nestled a little deeper into the scarf that Khara had given him; his body leaned ever so slightly towards her, clinging to his arm as they walked.

"We is be soon at place," he offered, painfully broken words of Nari tumbling out of his mouth. He didn't need the Inarta's language any more, and yet there was something about it that felt right; something about speaking words that few beyond his beloved were likely to understand. "Not many big ways now."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

This template was made by Khara. She is part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor.

[Khara]

Khara was lost in a mixture of thought, wonder, and curiosity; much as she had been since he couple had first step foot within Lhavit. Everything was so new, unfamiliar, strange. They had arrived in the tail end of Winter, an unusually kind Endal they both might have considered a friend or guardian of some sort had timed the trip perfectly between harsh Kalean storms. It was a necessity, of course; home was now dangerous, too dangerous. But that was the truth of it in Khara's mind: Lhavit was a visit of circumstance, Wind Reach was home.

Still, her own feelings of homesickness were marginally kept at bay by the effects of their new situation on Zhol. There was no denying he seemed lighter somehow, as if the weight of Skyinarta itself had been removed from his shoulders. He wasn't the only one to benefit either, if she was honest with herself. As much as the caverns of Wind Reach were familiar and comforting in their own right, Khara had always felt more at ease when outside under Syna's watchful gaze or weathering one of Zulrav's storms. The wilderness called to her and while Lhavit was far more civilization than Khara had been ready for, there was something refreshing about having to travel outdoors if one wanted to get somewhere else within the city.

The city still made her uneasy, though. Their short time as residents of the city hadn't done much to acclimate the Inartan to her surroundings. She was trying though, and that had to count for something. Today was a small step in the continual task of familiarizing herself with the locations within the peaked city; and a bit of a chance to find it relaxing - if possible. It hadn't taken long for Khara to hear about the wild djed infused park, though what that meant in person was something she was determined to see for herself. Zhol had apparently heard of it as well, so it was a no-brainer when the two decided to visit it together.

Khara smiled under the bundled fabric of her crimson colored scarf at Zhol's continued attempts at speaking her home language. He was getting better, would probably become even decent if she actually bothered to correct him, but there was something overly endearing about his broken phrases. She wondered idly if he felt the same about her misuse of Common or her appalling attempts at Pavi.

"You are not scared of the park, are you?" She teased, the question half posed in earnest curiosity. "They say it is magic there, that will not..."

Her words drifted off and a gloved hand raised to wiggle fingers as Khara attempted to put her thoughts into words they both would understand.

"Muddle you?" Her lips pursed together and a slight wrinkle of her nose accompanied the question. "I mean, it is okay to mix, right? You will not be effected?"

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Zhol]

A different kind of smile settled on Zhol's features. It had been three hundred and twenty-two wonderful days since Cheva had joined the two of them together; Zhol had been keeping a grateful tally of each sunrise and sunset since. They hadn't been entirely blissful - Lhex and Wind Reach had made sure of that - but they had definitely been happy, for Zhol and, it seemed, for his beloved bride as well.

Things were different between them now. Stronger. The nagging doubt that they had both felt, the fear of loss and ending that had lurked in the back of the minds of both of them had slowly faded away. In it's place had crept a fledgeling sense of confidence, as if the Chevas mark that now adorned their necks was irrefutable proof of their respective worth. Anywhere else in the world, that feeling of having actual value as a person would have been a blessing; but the entire culture of Wind Reach was built upon understanding one's place, and there was no room for believing you were anything but worthless. Together, Zhol and Khara had broken one of the Inarta's cardinal rules: they had stood up for themselves, and now here they were, exiles together in an unfamiliar city.

While the city was unfamiliar, what Khara must have been feeling was not. Being forced to leave the only home you had ever known was an experience Zhol knew all too well. So was the guilt, the feeling that a dire mistake had been made and the blame was utterly yours, regardless of what logic and better judgement told you. It ate you up inside, hollowed you out, and led you to believe every bad thing that everyone had ever uttered about you. Zhol's salvation from that dark place was the woman currently embracing his arm, and he was determined to return that favour in any way he could.

Gently, Zhol reached across to where Khara's fingers gripped his sleeve, his hand resting atop hers. "I'm not afraid," he replied, making sure his smile thoroughly reinforced that. "I have my wife with me to keep me safe."

He let the sentiment linger in the air for a moment, drifting between them amongst the condensation from his breath. A nagging thought poked at the edges though; Khara's concern raised a good question, and it was not one he knew the answer to. He had been to places affected by the djed storm, visited the Hideaway in Wind Reach that had been scarred by Ivak's escape from beneath Skyinarta. He had felt the lingering djed crackling in the air in such places; but none of them had displayed anything even close to what the stories of Alheas Park described.

Still, he was confident that all would be well: not just because logic whispered that a city as flush with reimancers as Lhavit would surely have warned him if the Park represented any sort of danger; but because he was with Khara. Beasts, Zith, avalanches, the Unforgiving, marauding blacksmiths, necromantic jigsaw creatures, even the occasional psychotic huntress: every peril the world had thrown at them, they had survived by facing it together. No matter what it might have in store for them, the magical sparkly park didn't stand a chance.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

This template was made by Khara. She is part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor.

[Khara]

Zhol's optimism was infectious and even as the stray snowflakes that had found their way to her clothing melted, so too did Khara's worries seemingly vanish. It was easier here, somehow, than it ever had been at home. Maybe it was the knowledge that there were those in Lhavit whose job it was to keep others - any others - within the city safe, maybe it was simply the open air nature of their new surroundings, or maybe it was that on some level Khara was ready to look at it all as a fresh start with the past literally left behind her; whatever the reason, the Inarta girl found it far easier to let her cares simply float away for a time.

As they walked her eyes constantly wandered, taking in the unfamiliar plants and other sights. Wind Reach had been a place she was fairly certain she could navigate blindfolded if the need arose and Khara was determined to obtain that same level of comfort once more. It was difficult, however, while buildings and other objects should have proven to be landmarks that were far more easily distinguished from subtle differences in boulders and trees, Khara hadn't taken in the fact that her mind would continually be distracted by the sheer newness of it. Rather than memorize she was mesmerized and was only vaguely aware of the path veering left as they entered the park.

It was the first unusual sight that clued her in, a tree whose leaves were tiny and multicolored. She expected such a sight in the lower elevations in the Fall, not in the earliest budding of spring. The orange and pink weren't too unfamiliar, but the purple! The once-scout's eyes flitted from the top of one tree to the next until her gaze found itself drawn into the park properly. A soft gasp escaped her lips at the sight that greeted her. Where tones of gold and pink were to be expected in the early morning light that escaped through the cloud cover, she found herself seeing impossible illumination brought on by the wild djed in rich warm colors. It was as if seeing fire that wasn't quite there, or a partial rainbow. Either way, it was stunning and Khara's eyes widened in wonder as she took in the view.

"We never have things like this at home. Well, there was a place called the... moon grove?" - no, that wasn't right, but it hardly mattered right now - Khara waved it off with a slight movement of her hand. "Another place touched by djed. But I have never been, it was too dangerous to go on foot by self. But I do not think it is so nice as this, it sounded more caution needed."

Khara's quickened and broken words paused for a moment and she allowed herself to take a deep breath of the cool morning air and closed her eyes for a short moment, taking the opportunity to visualize herself breathing in all the colors that Alheas Park had to show her. The breath left her slowly and she tried to bring with it a sense of calm; the Inartan was only slightly successful.

"Yes, this is a good place. Thank you for bringing with me."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Zhol]

It wasn't just Wind Reach that didn't have a place like this: nowhere Zhol had ever been did, as far as he could remember. It certainly wasn't the kind of vista one could easily forget, either. Magical was the obvious word for it, and yet it suited Alheas perfectly. Lhavit was not bland or dull, not with it's skyglass structures and vibrant, living nature; but it paled by comparison to this place. It was as if that tiny winding trail had led them into a dream, their surroundings shaped more by imagination and fantasy than by the laws that nature and reality usually adhered to.

His hand reached out, fingertips brushing a cluster of multicoloured leaves that hung down from the boughs above them. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he felt as if he could taste the wild djed in the air; feel it seeping into his lungs with every breath; feel it vibrating in his bones. Perhaps Khara was right to worry, or at least to wonder; perhaps there was some sort of impact that this place might have on someone whose relationship with djed was a little different than the average person. For now though, it didn't seem to matter: whether it was the djed, the diffuse twilight that bathed everything around them, or just the tranquil surroundings and the pleasant company, all Zhol felt for now was refreshed and at peace, as his eyes drank in every detail that they could settle upon.

And then just like that, Zhol's trance-like distraction by his surroundings faded away. Khara was thanking him; as if the pleasure of her company was somehow an imposition upon him, rather than the addiction that it had become. His gaze shifted to her, but his sense of peace didn't fade in the slightest. For a moment he silently watched, an insatiable smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he saw Khara's admiration of their surroundings slowly unfold in front of him. In many ways, she had changed so much since he had first met her; but in others she hadn't changed at all. This Khara, comfortable and at ease, eager to know and to see; it had always been there, buried beneath the layers of culture, and caste, and stigma that Wind Reach draped across it's citizens to weigh them down. To see this side of her had once been the most precious of riches, glimpsed in private moments that were agonizingly few and far between. Now it was a wealth beyond measure, abundant enough to bask in each and every day; and he did, for as many seconds and fractions thereof as life would allow him to.

"You don't need to thank me," he countered quietly, almost embarrassed by the need to have to say it. His wife understood him so well, and yet there was one thing that he so constantly needed to remind her of.

Gently, he extracted her arm from his, just enough to raise her hand to his lips and place a soft kiss against the back of her fingers. A selfish impulse took hold, to reluctant to even consider letting go, instead adjusting her hand's poise so that it would rest against his cheek. "By your side is my favourite place in all the world," he continued, only a little above a whisper. He leant his head a little further into her palm, stealing another gentle kiss against the inside of her wrist. "And everything is more perfect when we are together. I wish I did not have to go anywhere without you."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

This template was made by Khara. She is part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor.

[Khara]

Gardens weren't an entirely new concept to Khara, even Wind Reach had it's share - though the only one she could recall currently was underground. But then again, so was the vast majority of the city itself. There was the cherry tree grove, though. She had loved it there. This place reminded her of it a bit, only at the cherry grove the displays of orange and pink and red had been because of a sunset coming through the blossoming trees rather than any sort of real magic. It fascinated her entirely. Almost enough to distract her from hearing what Zhol had said. Thankfully his actions had been more than enough to keep her focused on him rather than the plant life for the time being.

"In a way, you do not have to," she offered in rebuttal. "We both work on the same place now, or very close to that. We have lived together for almost a full year and I believe we will be spending lots of time with each another when we have no other duties. And if nothing else we are here," she gestured with her hand grandly as if to fully encompass all she meant. "We are alive and so we are never really apart, yes?"

A quick step was taken, and one swift movement later that had become well practiced allowed Khara to place a quick kiss to her husband's lips.

"So no more say such things, not right now, ok?" Her hand trailed down away from his cheek until it returned to it's usual spot with her fingertips entwined with Zhol's. "I want to see if we cna see what makes this place magic."

All it took was a gentle nudge before they began walking again. Khara had always been fond of nature, but if she was honest she had never really looked at plants until she had begun working under Ms. Solla. A newfound respect had been born - partially out of necessity - but it gave her a desire to really observe the typically unnoticed life around her.

As they continued, Khara realized she had seen the multicolored trees elsewhere in Lhavit. She hadn't paid them much attention at the time, but now she would have to give them a proper look to see if she could notice any differences between the ones within Alheas Park and those elsewhere. Maybe she would ask Solla...

"Do you think those that can do magic can make this sort of thing happen on their selves?" She wondered aloud, her lips turning into the briefest of frowns as she realized the question hadn't come out exactly as her mind had intended. "You can make fire and others can make water, you said. I wonder if there are those that can make colors in the air. I think that would be very popular if someone could do that. People would want it for their own gardens, I think."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Zhol]

Zhol couldn't help the smile that flourished on his lips, and didn't try. The list of things he adored about his wife was endless, but the way she viewed the world was chief among them. Zhol had spent his life thinking of magic as something that was done a certain way. In Wind Reach especially, certain magics had vital roles in society, helping to sustain the city's gardens, construct it's tunnels, and all manner of other practical purposes. Zhol's life had raised him to think that magic was something to be confined and controlled: with focus, with meditation, with glyphs.

Khara saw things differently. Magic was new, and fascinating. She asked questions that Zhol had never thought to ask; imagined possibilities that Zhol had never thought to entertain. For Zhol, he looked at these magical trees and just accepted that they were; Khara looked at them, and asked the world why. The more time they spent together, the more they spoke and the closer they became, Zhol felt that sense of optimistic curiosity reawakening in him: something from his childhood that Endrkyas and Wind Reach had quashed while ensuring he knew his proper place. How Khara's had endured underneath the talons of Inarta society he did not know, but he loved her for it. If this was the path that led towards the man their marriage would help him become, he was more than eager to scamper down it.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, wrestling his way past his smile to muster out a few words. He reached into the depths of his mind, searching through memories of Endrykas, of his journey through Kalea to Wind Reach, and to sights and experiences he had encountered along the way. Colours flickered across his thoughts, a rainbow caught in the spray of water cascading down from the mountains.

"Perhaps like a waterfall?" he speculated aloud, his expression shifting from contentment to contemplation. "I have not seen it ever done; but I have seen colours in the air after rain, or in the mist and spray of a waterfall when the sunlight catches it the right way. Perhaps a skilled enough reimancer could do the same?"

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

This template was made by Khara. She is part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor.