From the Wild [open]

[Sanibelle]

20 Winter 510 AV

It was with a heavy sigh that Sanibelle looked down at the bones left from the rodent carcass that had been her meal. It had been an easy enough catch, and satiated her hunger for the time being. With a hop, she hefted herself onto the back of her steed. He was a fine one, a Frostmarch, standing seventeen hands and covered in beautiful white hair. Across his back were a large set of black, charcoal, and emerald saddlebags. If she didn't think the bag set would come in handy at some point in time, she would have discarded them long ago. She loved the way the horse's hair felt along her inner thighs. She could feel his warmth, his belly contracting with each breath, his shivers from the cold.

Sanibelle kicked his belly and sent him walking forward. In the distance she could see the fortress known as Sylrias. At least, that's what she assumed it to be. She had been debating for days about entering the city. Would she be allowed entry? Would she be - ?

Wait, She thought.

She looked down at her bare body. She knew certainly this would not be acceptable. And surely no one with common sense would allow a wolf to pace the streets of the city. She crossed her legs and balanced atop the horse's back. It seemed her plan had been foiled either which way she looked at it. There didn't seem to be any further debating the subject. She was stuck, and afraid to even make the attempt.

[Coba]

Coba needed air, ever so badly. She'd been cooped up in the city for far too long, and that feeling of the ever squeezing walls, pushing crowds, like a Dhani had thrown their loops around her area and was drawing the circle of death closer, and closer, around her. She wanted to get out, to walk, run, follow the trail of quarry, anything. Never one to calmly submit to claustrophobia, but unable to swallow her discomfort, she'd dressed in coat and winter scarf, drawing the red material over her ginger hair and the around her neck, slung her sword sheath across her back to hang across her body and rest on her back, scimitar inside, and over top placed her pack, and headed towards the gates. She slipped out with the trickle of people, stepping out into the fresh air, feeling with exhilaration the bite of chill. The cold was a welcome invasion compared to the heat of bodies in the streets. Even the memory of being shoved against other forms made her feel unease. Drawing a breath of fresh air, she cleared her thoughts and allowed her thinking brain to fall into auto pilot, her senses ever aware for trouble so easy to find outside the reach of the Knights, even on clear roads. Her hand snaked over her shoulder to trail her fingers over the well worn grip of her scimitar with affection; she could handle herself out here. As she walked away from her troubles, she occasionally flipped a glance over her shoulder to cast a look at the ever shrinking castle of Syliras. She wondered if she could just keep walking, away to new places. Pssh. You have 500 GM worth of equipment sitting in you're room and a horse in the stable. The rest of her rolled it's eyes. Stupid voice of reason. Speaking of stupid. . . Chimed that same voice. Her small battle of wills within her skull didn't stop as she walked past the mounted humanoid, to preoccupied with herself until, as she passed and saw in her peripheral vision, noticed that the rider was nude. Even though Coba was rather unflappable, this caused her a misstep. She rounded to peer up at the woman, slightly in awe of someone who could be in this chill in such a state of undress. Her curiosity peaking, she jogged back to the mounted that she had passed. "Hello?"

[Sanibelle]

Sanibelle had watched the armed figure make it's way fromt he city gates to her current position. She could not be sure if this mysterious figure meant her harm or sanctuary. Had she been spotted by some sort of official? She tensed, her brow furrowed with deep creases, and she dropped her legs to either side of the horse's bell. She sat with anticipation until the figure grew closer in proximity.

Upon closer inspection she found that the figure was female, and did not seem to take full notice of her being until she came closer. This eased her anxiety some.

"Hello?"

She cocked her head curiously at this calling.

"Hello," Sanibelle responded.

[Coba]

Air she had desired, and air she got, not to mention a situation. Being at a loss for social graces, Coba merely stared at this new object of interest openly, her scrutiny intense her her gold-brown eyes. Beneath her gaze the cogs in her brain whirred with questions and potential explanations, running through her mind quickly as she sought reason for someone to be naked, on a horse, in winter, outside Syliras. She was silent beyond her initial greeting for a couple moments. It didn't seem to occur to her to merely ask, but within a minute of meeting this new creature she thought she had grasped the concepts that faced her. Cocking her head to look up, for being 5'4 didn't lend itself to looking many people in the eye, let alone being at more then knee height to the mounted woman, she observed this woman's face, looking for hints that she was right. A portion of her not preoccupied to her growing idea noted the handsome beast she rode, and admired the fine creature. "I would ask, but I can think of a few whys." For the first time her eyes strayed from the woman's face and glanced around the surroundings, noting the picked over carcass. "Been hunting, Kelvic?" This was said with mere curiosity, tinged with the air of someone who was already fairly certain she knew the answer. Coba looked down on no one who could be out in this weather unclothed, and didn't in the first place deem certain races automatically lower then others as she had seen some do. It was your internal fortitude that proved you worth anything. And she liked something about this one's fortitude. "I'm Coba. Heading the city, are you?"

[Sanibelle]

Sanibelle swung a leg gracefully over the side of the horse and sat looking down at this character. This character, who grew interesting with every passing moment. It had been a while since she had been anywhere near another being who possessed conversational potential. She sat forward slightly, unhindered, as her horse bore no saddle. She sniffed at this... this... Coba...

She pulled her feet up under her body, standing low and crouched, then hopped down from the horse. She stood to her full height: five feet even. She was small, even for a Kelvic, but was certainly not finished growing. Speaking of which, this Coba had known she was a Kelvic. She looked over at the carcass that she had practically sucked dry.

"I'm not sure where I'm going... Somewhere, for certain. Coba." After a pause she added, "I'm called Sanibelle."

[Coba]

She quirked a smile, as crooked as her nose, watching the woman twist on her horse's bare back this what and that, being given an exploratory sniff. She had been right. And it seemed that at least some of her own curiosity was reciprocated, she hoped that there was a possibility that she had found some interest here. The Knights did their job a little too well in her opinion, and within the walls she found nothing less then what was to be expected on a day to day basis, and few things to occupy her active mind. The evidence of her boredom showed on her personal effects, her busy fingers constantly worrying at the hems of her blankets or picking at the fraying edges of one thing or another. As the little woman jumped down from her mount, she found the kelvic to be of her height, shorter even. In this she found some humour, to have someone's eye level to be closer to the ground then her own. She observed the woman's gaze flick to the carcass that had given her away, paired with the lack of clothes. Coba's own eyes danced over everything in the area, taking in the saddle bags that seemed rather empty, and the lack of clothes anywhere. The woman must spent a lot of time on the move, for nudity, while forgiven and overlooked in most cities of kelvics, was not generally smiled upon. This woman had a name, she found. Sanibelle. "Well, Sanibelle, going somewhere, would you find yourself unwanting of company for a short period?" She asked with humour, wryness even, colouring her speech. Weren't we all headed somewhere. She didn't hold out a hand to shake, and was glad that Sanibelle hadn't either. It didn't seem good grounds for something friendly to have to pointedly ignore the gesture. All the formalities tied to the touch made her head spin when she thought of the repercussions. With some of the awkwardness expected of undressing, she slipped out of her shoulder slung pack and sword, and then out of her coat. Holding the garment in a hand outstretched towards Sanibelle, she judged quickly that it would fit, in a loose fashion. Coba liked all her clothing to fit in such a manner upon her own frame, and in this case the oversized nature was useful. "If you are headed towards the city, you might find yourself in need of cover."

[Nyahna Sasin]

"Fooooddd...."

From deep within the forest, where neither of them were able to hear it, a young dhani was seriously considering slamming his head onto the nearest tree. This was not fun. He was cold, and tired, and sluggish, and really was, really not in the mood for this. He had not been able to catch anything to eat. Wonderful.

Slithering out of the forest, he started grumbling and muttering to himself. He crossed the road, right in front of the two women, not seeming to notice them. At the edge of the road, he paused, then slithered back into the middle of the road.

He glanced at them, from the human (as Coba seemed to him), to the nude kelvic, sitting astride the horse. Curious.

Actually, this was more than curious. But right now, nothing really registered in his mind. He just felt tired. Much more tired than was healthy, actually. "You're not cold?" He hissed. "Clothessss would help an awful lot, you know."

[Sanibelle]

Sanibelle cocked her head at the coat, sniffing outward at it as she had done before. She had not expected this gesture of such kindness from a stranger. She looked into the eyes of this stranger, Coba, feeling at ease, for some reason. She hadn't expected it to be this easy. It was as if on cue that Coba came from the city gates to help her.

As she cautiously reached for the coat, she heard a noise. A noise? No, a voice! With a cross between a growl and a yelp, Sanibelle turned and assumed a defensive stance. A Dhani, before her and her acquaintance. Her nose crinkled in mild disgust.

[Coba]

Coba meet the inquisitive stare with a one of her own, searching in the other's eyes for a reason as to why she was disrobing for in the first place. Why was she being so. . . . nice? It was not really something Coba extended to people, let alone utter strangers. She hadn't said one patronizing thing so far, nor mocked overtly. It was. . . A bit strange, to be honest. Something about the Kelvic seemed to have Coba taking a shine to her, elicited kindness. She could ask why, but it was not in her nature to dwell on such things. Brushing away thoughts that couldn't be answered with efficiency, she was just about to release her grip on the coat to transfer it to Sanibelle's when she saw 10 feet of Dhani viper slither across the road behind Sanibelle. The coat, of course, with no one really ready to catch it, and Coba hands flying towards her weapons, fell into the dirt. Coba let loose a string of colourful expletives that really didn't seem to suit the small woman, things one would expect to hear from someone from a sailor, or soldier. She didn't say these quietly, either. She ran backwards to get well beyond striking distance, swiftly threw her pack away, grabbed her sword's sheath and whipped out the blade, eyes narrow and heartbeat thumping in her ears. She was not such a fool as to charge, having far too much respect for poisons employed by the smallest, but no less deadly, sect of the Dhani race. Perhaps it might have been something of an over reaction, but most people disliked having things slink up behind them, and Coba really despised such things. Nothing against Dhani. Or more specifically nothing against well fed, happy Dhani. This one didn't look particularly well fed at the moment, and it was that that had her keeping well away from the fangs, sword between her and it, besides the fact it had just appeared and didn't seem to be going along it's merry way. Secondary considerations brought forth thoughts like: It's something below zero. Aren't these tropical reptiles, and holy (fill in blank), it just spoke. Do Dhani talk to their food? Potential prey? Things they feel like torturing?

[Nyahna Sasin]

He grinned slightly as the two women before him assumed defensive positions. Very smart. It had been kind of his fault really though. He wasn't entirely sure why he had stopped. He smirked inwardly as the human backpedaled furiously. If he wanted to, if he was awake enough, if it hadn't been so darn cold, he probably could have gotten her. Still, there really wasn't any reason to. She was too small to be a meal, and the kelvic…. he didn't feel like eating kelvic.

He eyed her sword curiously. A scimitar. Cute. A nice, curved slashing weapon. He wondered how good she was with it. Not that he intended to find out. He was vaguely aware that there had been a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Hi." He hissed. It was…awkward, to say the least, but he wasn't sure what else to say. "Uh… I come in peace?" He offered. "At least, I don't intend to eat you. Sharp things don't go down my gullet very well."

As he spoke, he shifted back and forth, tail winding and unwinding, the serpent half of his body in constant movement. He was cold, and he found that moving his muscles helped keep them from freezing up, if nothing else.

It occurred to him that he really should be a little phased by the fact that he was facing two potentially dangerous women. It was cold, he was tired, and frustrated, and they…..were not so much, at any rate.

His gaze fell back on the Kelvic. For some reason, it really bothered him. "Are you a polar bear or sssomething?" He asked. "I can't think of any other creature that could go naked in thisss weather."

Actually, fish might be able to do it. But he didn't know if kelvic's could be fishes. Hmm...