Blessings of Caiyha(Naemi)

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

Day 6 of Spring, 511AV The spring was the most glorious time of any year, and always refreshing after a long dragging fall. Jarhal could appreciate any time of year, and any climate, for it's natural beauty, but if he had a bias then it was for spring. Winter saw him freezing, shivering himself to sleep, and Fall was always a difficult time to find good camouflage. Even the Summers left him sweating like a pig and hoping his scent didn't scare off anything for miles... or attract something, for the matter. His ever-present dog, Chural, agreed wholeheartedly. The short hairs of his fur weren't made for the cold, but in the warm weather he thrived and seemed years younger. The whip-like tail wagged a little with every few steps, unable to contain himself even on the hunt. It warmed Jarhal's heart to see his scarred companion happy, as though they shared some direct emotional link. Today Jarhal was dressed in his lighter clothes, all natural shades of green and brown of course, with thin brown leather bracers on his forearms. On his back was his green cloak, which was clasped at his neck with an emerald gemstone pin wrought of dull iron. Over the cloak was slung a quiver brimming with green-feathered arrows for the simply made composite bow in his hand. Whether out in the wild or in the Tent City of Endrykas, Jarhal always dressed for the hunt. Hunting was not precisely what he was doing today, it was not quite that focused. He stalked lightly and looked for tracks in the ground, broken reeds of tall grass, and other signs... but he did not pursue any old tracks. If Caiyha blessed him with some prey to cross his path, then he would pursue it. Short of that, however, he was content to just take a walk through the grasslands. Some of his brothers and sisters in Endrykas did not leave the tents long enough to appreciate the land they lived in, and when they did leave they were too focused on other things. Jarhal didn't much care about women, family, wealth, or power. He was content with just a good view of a nice sunset. Looking to the sun, waning in the late afternoon, Jarhal stopped walking and looked to Chural at his heel. "Looks like it's time to head back, mutt." He said, and paused there as though allowing the dog a chance to respond. Reply not forthcoming, he shrugged and started heading right back the way he came from Endrykas, pushing the tall stalks of grass out of his way and scanning the horizon.

[Naemi]

Naemi felt free. She had been forced to help her father all day with petty chores but now she was finally able to enjoy her beautiful surroundings. Every time that she assisted him, she saw how much he appreciated it. He was no longer a young, fit man but he liked to think he was. Naemi saw this, and tried as best she could to help him without making him feel useless. It was a difficult task, but one that Naemi was willing to work for due to her love of her father. Although she did love helping the man, the times she spent alone hunting and just being in the wilderness were better. She felt more at home with nature than with the people of her clan. It was a phenomenon that Naemi had given up trying to understand. Her father did not understand at all, and sometimes teased her about it. Naemi tried not to mind the mocking, but sometimes it got to be too much, and she would just leave. When she needed a break, where else would she go besides the wilderness? Naemi’s attire always made her nearly invisible while walking through any sort of underbrush, but today she was in a sea of grass… she laughed softly to herself thinking how the name of these plains was so fitting. Her green blouse was a little too dark to blend in with the grass but her light brown pants and tall boots blended a bit better. To go hunting, Naemi generally used her father’s bow, but she wasn’t going hunting today. The sun was low in the sky, and she simply wanted to enjoy the sunset before returning to her father once again. Walking slowly through the grasses, Naemi didn’t notice a man standing in the field before she was about ten feet from him. He looked like a hunter from the Emerald clan based on his clothing, but Naemi had never met him… of course she preferred not to interact with most people but she was feeling strangely friendly today. “Hello!” her voice rang out over the distance between the two, “Going for a hunt?”

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

Jarhal gradually came to a stop when he was close enough to get a good look at her, and held up his free hand in a greeting to Naemi. He gave her the same once-over examination he gave most people, but more for the practice of being observant than any suspicion. The girl's clothing was of an Emerald, which made her remarkably green eyes only more fitting. No foreigner would have been able to get this close without causing as much racket as a pack of Glassbeaks, so that idea was immediately out of Jarhal's head. A Drykas was a Drykas, what blood flowed in their veins was of little consequence beyond that. "Hello cousin." He finally answered back, letting his hand drop back down. "I wouldn't call it a hunt, no. Just a walk really." He smiled and brought his bow around, sticking one end into the ground and placing both his hands on the top. Thinking it only polite, he pulled back the hood of his green cloak to show his face better in the light of the drooping sun. Why was she out here? It was too late to set off for a hunt. Could she be enjoying the view too? That seemed most likely. "My name is Jarhal of the Treeshadow Pavilion. I'm sad that I don't recognize you, I would remember those eyes." Touching a hand to his heart and inclining his head a little, he gave her a chance to introduce herself in return. Chural, meanwhile, sat near Jarhal's leg and sniffed at the woman from afar. The dog was always a mistrustful sort, mistrustful of anything that moved in fact, but he was not threatening. Merely grumpy, like an old man. The jagged scar on the hound's head would have looked out of place on a happier face anyway.

[Naemi]

Naemi glanced at the man as he spoke. He introduced himself as Jarhal of the Treeshadow Pavilion. He didn’t seem angry at her for interrupting his evening stroll, so his smile was returned with a grin. He was accompanied by a dog that didn’t seem to like her much, but he was probably just wary of all strangers. He had said that he wasn’t hunting, and she wondered if, like her, he was enjoying the beautiful evening. She was now able to see the man’s face better, and she quickly glanced at his face, noticing his dark brown hair and his green-grey eyes. He wouldn’t stand out in a crowd, but he certainly was not ugly. Naemi tended to notice very small details about people, and then try to decide what they were like even before engaging them in conversation. She could not decipher much from this man, however. He was definitely a hunter, but that is about as much as she had gotten from his appearance. “I am Naemi of the Jaydefire Pavilion.” She spoke a little quieter out of habit. “It seems we are both out here for the same reason…” Her hand motioned to the setting sun as her eyes looked away from his form and at the pretty scenery. She moved a bit closer to the man, and slowly held out her hand for the dog. She understood the feeling of being wary of new people, and she hoped the dog would trust her.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

The dog was mistrustful, but not taught to be rude. He gave her hand a sniff and then a little lick before laying down. Jarhal had once wondered if animals appreciated beauty, the beauty of a bending river or a setting sun, but he was now quite sure they did not. At least, neither Chural or Topher showed any indication of it. Perhaps it was difficult to see the beauty when you were fully immersed in it so often, like the figures in a beautiful painting. "Pleased to meet you, Naemi of the Jaydefire Pavilion..." He said, a tad absently, as he turned to check on the sun's sinking progress. He'd always wanted to see a forest, full of his own Pavilion's namesake, but the grasslands did hold the advantage of a beautifully flat horizon. How long would it be until he was back in Cyphrus, observing a sight like this? The emerald hunter was not a man to get too excited about a trip, but it did stick to the top of his thoughts often as of late. "You have good taste coming here. I like this spot." The sun was not the only beauty here, the jagged rocks sticking from the tall grass at intervals just yards away added a dash of dark color to the otherwise green mural of tall grass. In the distance was the snaking of a creek, where Jarhal would be hiding to ambush thirsty prey if this were a hunt. He couldn't help but recognize good places to camouflage himself, it was as automatic as blinking. The sun was getting close now, soon it would give up it's last rays of sunlight. It would be an oddly nice change of routine to observe it with someone else, though he wished it wasn't with a total stranger. Maybe there was time to rectify that. "I actually wandered a bit too far and almost missed it altogether, to be honest. I'm not usually so..." He paused to think up the right word, even while wondering why he was telling her. "Absent-minded. Have you lived in Endrykas your whole life, Naemi? Please, tell me about yourself before the light is gone."

[Naemi]

The dog had come to sniff her outstretched hand and then give it a small lick. He had then lay down, and it gave Naemi comfort to see the dog in a more relaxed state. Some animals had a way of knowing a person’s true intentions just by being near them. While those types of animals were good guard dogs, they often were mistrustful of others. The dog before Naemi seemed intelligent enough, and she saw his acceptance of her presence as a good sign. The man in front of her had greeted her, but he seemed restless… like his mind wasn’t fully there. Naemi wasn’t one to press into another’s thoughts, so she didn’t mention her observations. It seemed she didn’t need to mention it, for he admitted that he had been wandering absentmindedly. Perhaps he had been searching for somewhere peaceful to enjoy the evening before letting sleep set it. It probably was not for that was the reason Naemi was out, and he didn’t seem as solitary as her. He had gone on to ask her about herself. It was a question that Naemi did not mind answering, but her story was not very interesting… or at least to her. “Well I was born in Sunberth, but after that I have lived in Endrykas. My father is a full Drykas but my mother… she was Benshira.” Generally Naemi didn’t share this information with many people for it was very personal, but this man seemed nice and genuinely interested in her story. “My mother died during childbirth though,” her gaze had traveled to the horizon as her short life story came to an end, “I don’t know where I would be now if my mother had survived,” Naemi’s hands fiddled with her numerous earrings as she slowly watched the sun set. She certainly was part Benshira… the part of her that loved jewelry came from her mother, or so her father had said. He also had mentioned that Naemi had her mother’s eyes. Being a stunning green, they also revealed the Benshira half of Naemi. When she had first begun wearing green and brown a lot due to hunting, Naemi had thought it funny that her eyes had matched her clan’s colors. Of course that was quite a few years ago, but every once in a while, Naemi got a laugh out of the memory. The small jewel in Naemi’s nose was not visible to most people, especially if they saw her from afar. It matched Naemi’s eyes, being a dark green.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

"Benshira..." He said slowly, drawing his eyebrows down as though searching his memory. "They are a people from the Ekytol, aren't they? I've always found the desert interesting. It is a shame you never got to know her, but do you enjoy your life here? Or do you lust for something more?" It didn't occur to him to avoid discussing the girl's dead mother. It didn't seem like a fresh wound, and she didn't seem like a girl too prone to crying. Besides, it was good to remember the dead however you could. It was far worse to forget them, then they might as well have never existed. Jarhal sometimes wished he had someone to talk and reminisce about his brothers with. What did occur to him, eventually, was to tell her about himself in return. You couldn't really be acquainted with someone if only one side revealed themselves, after all. "Sorry, was that too personal?" He inclined his head a bit, as though in a small apology. "Well, my mother and father are Drykas, and both fine last I checked. My father says our Pavilion used to be well known, but we've been diminishing ever since he was a boy. Nature is as kind and beautiful as it can be harsh and ugly, as I'm sure you know." The view they both were sharing seemed like a good compliment to that sentiment. Would it count as ironic if a giant grass serpent came right this moment and tried to eat them? Right now the world, or the small part of it the two Emeralds inhabited this moment, seemed like the sort of place where people didn't get torn to gorey shreds by beasts. Finding the beauty in nature was always important to Jarhal, but he was pragmatic enough to know that you could get yourself eaten by stopping to admire the scenery. When it all came down it it, no amount of pragmatism could make you completely safe from that fate, though. He could only leave it up to Caiyha herself to bless him with her protection or curse him with her scorn. Did she even hear his prayers every time he killed? Was it just some droning like an annoying fly to a being that powerful? He decided he'd ask someone. "You worship Caiyha, don't you, Miss Naemi?" He asked, turning his eyes back to her from the sunset. The strange slanting light illuminated the little green jewel in the girl's nose for a moment, and Jarhal was a tad down on himself for not really noticing it before. It was quite pretty, but he wondered how painful it was to have done.

[Naemi]

Was she fine with life here or lust for something more? This was not the kind of question she expected from a man who, just seconds ago had been unaware of his surroundings. It took a few moments for her to think about his question before she replied, “I love it here… but even so I do wish to travel outside my clan, to experience many different things and surroundings.” A deep breath was taken, “But my father needs me here at least for now, so that is only a dream.” Although her father was getting old, Naemi knew that it would be awhile until he died, forcing her to stay here with him until he did. These thoughts sparked some guilt inside her, but she brushed the feeling aside. She truly did want to explore. The man continued talking, speaking of his past which was not exceptionally interesting, but at least he knew his mother. And she truly did know how harsh and ugly nature could get. Only a few times had she experienced the truly worst natural conditions that were known by Drykas, and they were not pretty… at all. Naemi glanced at the sunset again, reminding her of how beautiful it could be as well. She nodded to Jarhal in agreement with his statement. “I do worship Caiyha,” Naemi replied softly. Ever since she was little, her father had taught her to worship the goddess, and now Naemi was old enough to worship Caiyha on her own. Many times while in worship, Naemi felt as though the goddess did not care. There were many evil gods and goddesses, and while Naemi did not view Caiyha as one of them, she did sometimes believe that the goddess didn’t pay any attention to the individual lives of her followers. Many days Naemi would pray to Caiyha, her prayers would go unheard, like Caiyha intentionately did not listen, and would never really listen. “But recently I have been praying less. Its truly disappointing to myself. I should work on that…”

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

This was difficult territory to comment on, even if it was a topic he himself held similar views on. He took a few moments to think, scratching at the fuzzed hair on his cheek and looking at the vigilantly watching Chural. Did the animals worship, in their own way? Or were they the real beings of Caiyha with humans being more foreign beings looking in? Humans were a part of nature as anything, but one would have to be blind to not see the differences that separated the human from the glassbeak or the deer. Nature was ruled by instincts, and humans were primarily ruled by thought. "Do you know a man by the name of Ranger Bolai Fionse?" He looked back to the woman, and smiled at the three green glints of her eyes and the jewel in her nose. The piercing was growing on him, would a man look silly with a jewel in his nose? "I've studied him. I've even read copies of the notes he wrote about the Zith. I've always wanted to live much the same way he did, wandering the world and discovering things that no man or woman has ever seen before. Maybe I will even call myself a Ranger, too..." The emerald hunter cleared his throat, realizing he was going too far off-topic. He did have a point. "I don't normally tell people my dreams so openly, but I feel a strong understanding with you. My point is that I am certain that this Ranger Bolai had the blessings of Caiyha on all his travels. Any person without them would have been killed a hundred times doing the things Bolai did." He nodded to match his confidence. "So, I know it is possible to catch the eye of the Goddess. What I've begun to think, though, is that you cannot hope to do it with..." He trailed off, waving a free hand in a circular searching sort of motion, "With just words, you know? Words are just noise to the First Druid. The best way to worship her is to show your love of the wild, and to bring that love to others. The way Ranger Bolai did." This was quite a lot of talking for the Hunter, who was much more used to stalking quietly through the tall grasses or waiting in camouflage. After his rather long monologue, he withdrew back into himself and seemed to reel in the warmth and passion he was close to displaying. His grey-green eyes seemed to lose some color, if such a thing were possible, as they returned to a more passive observation. He enjoyed talking to someone that shared a surprising number of his views, someone that seemed to live the same life as him, but he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable being so open. "What do you think, Miss Naemi?" He asked after his moment to gather and withdraw himself.

[Naemi]

Ranger Bolai Fionse? Naemi had never heard a name like that before, but generally an interesting person had an unusual name like that. As a devout follower of Caiyha, Naemi listened to Jarhal describe what the ranger did to worship the goddess. Instead of simply praying, he was able to worship Caiyha by showing his love of the wild to others and to the goddess herself. It was profound… that idea. Never had Naemi thought of worshipping Caiyha in any other way than praying for it was what she had been taught to do from an early age. Of course, praying was still a good way to worship, but it wasn’t enough. Now Naemi realized what she had been missing in her praise of the goddess. Naemi had always appreciated nature in all its forms, good or bad. She was taught to never provoke the wrath of any god or goddess especially the ones worshipped daily by Drykas. Her time spent hunting, tracking, or simply enjoying nature was appreciated and thanks to Caiyha was given after every hunt, whether successful or not. The idea that, for so long, Naemi and her father had been missing something in their praise astounded the woman. This man seemed to have a lot of insight about things like this, and for an Emerald hunter, he had a lot to say. Most hunters that Naemi met were quiet, they did not talk unless she initiated conversation. Speaking with this man about intelligent things was very enjoyable. “No, I’m afraid I have not met that man, but he sounds very interesting. I would love to meet him. His insights about worshipping Caiyha are profound.” Her quiet voice traveled to his standing form with some assistance from the softly blowing breeze, “I have worshipped Caiyha ever since I was little, and I always felt like I was missing something. Now I know what I was missing, and the answer to my troubles was so simple…” Her green gaze traveled around their beautiful surroundings, silently enjoying the natural beauty. An idea crossed her mind as the flat expanse of grass in front of her seemed even bigger than it did before. Initiative steps were taken, increasing in speed with each footfall. She probably seemed so childish in front of this man that she didn’t even know, but Naemi didn’t care. Her body was moving swiftly now as she ran, feeling the wind in her hair. Naemi could feel Caiyha closer to her than she had felt in a long time. But it had to end, for Naemi had rudely left the man standing all by himself. Her run continued, but in a gradual arc so she ended up running back the way that she had come from. It was only a few seconds before she saw Jarhal, and a smile broke out on her face as she completed a graceful spin and stopped in front of the standing man, a bit closer than she had been before.