Morning of the 18th of Summer, 517 A.V.
“You need help?”
Alek sighed heavily before giving a small nod to the man standing in front of her. The Kelvic found herself in an odd position—willingly seeking out help in order to get some kind of control over the stubborn beast that towed her wagon. As of late, the oxen had grown more and more resistant and the girl had no idea how to deal with such an animal, much less how to get it to work with her. She wasn’t even sure the creature had been properly trained when she had bought it. When the ox decided to listen to her it seemed to have no issues pulling the wagon, but getting the beast to listen to her, to begin with, had been stressing her to no end.
Normally the wolf was all about handling these sort of issues by herself. She had no training with other animals but she was hard pressed to mix with the Drykas people. In fact, she was pretty sure most of them who saw her trying to ask for help were impressed she spoke at all. Her silent existence along the edge of the city for nearly two seasons was exactly how she had wanted it at the time. Quiet and noninvasive.
But things had changed the night before. Days before the Kelvic had been trying to consider her options—to remain in the city and try to live amongst the people, or perhaps move on the next time the tents neared another city. Now that the wolf was certain she was remaining, she figured it would be best to get control of her ox before the creature caused her to fall behind. Being a burden was not something she ever viewed herself as and she wasn’t about to start now. The only problem was she had no idea who to go to for help.
The man in front of her made familiar signs with his hands, but unfortunately, the Kelvic did not understand them. At this point, she realized that the Drykas spoke with both words and their hands at the same time, but Alek had no idea what any of it meant. Yet another thing to add to her ever-growing list of things she needed to learn. Her bondmate used those very signals as well…
“I’m afraid I don’t understand… what you say.” The girl replied sheepishly, feeling her face flood with blood not in entirely in embarrassment, but frustration. The man frowned at the obvious language barrier between them before signing something at her again but with common words this time. “You don’t speak Pavi?” The Kelvic shook her head, noting the very name of the language she would have to learn. It seemed this posed a problem—not that it was very surprising. Getting help would require her to speak with someone that spoke common as well. The man pointed in the direction directly west of their position and the Kelvic glanced in the general direction before furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
“Amethyst clan. Jez Firetongue.” The man made another symbol with his hands, very slow before he repeated the motion a second time. “Means help.” He repeated it for a third time before Alek realized he was giving her a word that might help her ask for help. The Kelvic gave a small timid smile and carefully repeated the motion slowly. The man sighed and reached out to adjust her fingers and followed through with her before nodding when he was satisfied that she could repeat the motion without his assistance.
“Thank you.” It was a softly spoken word, but heartfelt. The man simply nodded in return and ushered her forward before returning to his horse. Breathing in deeply, and trying to ignore the already rising heat of the daytime, the girl made her way forward. She had no way of telling the difference between the sets of tents—not yet anyway. The city always shifted and moved, and while the tents were generally set up in the same fashion each time they stopped, it was never exactly the same way. Especially on the outskirts of the city.
It took more than a bell, and several more attempts at asking for directions before the Kelvic managed to stumble upon what she thought might be the family pavilion she was looking for. There were torches, unlit, on either side of what the girl considered the ‘entrance’. The lightly tinted purple tents were arranged much like a circle, with a stone pit residing in the middle. There were several animals—horses mostly—that noticed her appearance as she began to make her way towards the center. The wolf had no doubts her scent sent them into a state of caution despite her human form, but she did her best to ignore the animals. Making eye contact with them always seemed to make things worse.
Unsure of where to start, or even who to ask, the Kelvic stopped by the firepit. There was a man nearby and the girl drew in a deep breath before letting it out. In a fit of nerves, the wolf tugged on her gloves to ensure that they were well in place and covering her gnosis before she dared to speak to the man. She had taken to keeping her mark well covered in human form, though due to the heat she had resorted to using her kris dagger to cut the fingers off the gloves to keep her hands from sweating relentlessly.
“Excuse me?” The man turned to face her and Alek stood up a little straighter in order to try and preserve some of her dignity. Asking for help was never something she was good with. Lifting her hands she repeated the motion the man had taught her, help, albeit rather slowly before tilting her head off to the right sightly—the motion causing her hair to tumble off to one side as well. “I am… looking for a Jez Firetongue?”
Common | Vani | Pavi
