Appointment with the Valintar!

[Ven]

Day 50, Spring 511

Ven had waited for quite a long time, or so it felt like it was a long time to say the least. The red head was probably going to be back sometime soon, but if he wasn't then Ven would eventually have to venture out for food...

Starving with a stomach that never would shut up, Ven had to be extra cautious of people that would walk by; hiding behind some large crates just in case they could hear the muffled cries of his belly calling for food. Time is of the essence, and is wearing out his patience.

Come on hot head....surely your job doesn't take as long as it does! He whimpered as his stomach began to ache at the sheer emptiness inside, it felt like all of his insides would be devoured by his stomach if nothing was eaten soon.

"Come on!" He whispered, "Just quiet down and give me a break, and I promise I'll fill you up as soon as hot head-" He cut himself off as the sound of footsteps grew louder in a fast pace, someone was either hurrying here or passing by quickly....

He heard another shuffle of feet meet up in front of the door, both had stopped directly at the entrance. He could hear two men talking outside, and wasn't sure what to do. Then without time to react the door nob started to twist, alarming him with what to expect next.

He swiftly positioned himself on all fours, laying low while hiding behind the crates. If it comes down to it then I'll have no choice but to morph into my original form....

He looked down at the bandage, knowing the risk of opening the wound again he had to make sure it would be a last resort. Slowly the door creaked open, and light hit the wall above him where two shadow figures were made out.

[Ronin]

Ronin was finally coming back from the Glass Reverie after a long day of work, and he was utterly worn out. Still, he knew he had the task of helping the fox-boy he had met earlier get on his feet in Wind Reach. Ronin considered letting the Kelvic stay in the small room over night while he got some sleep. However, he didn't want Ven wandering off and getting in trouble. As he walked the halls approaching the room in which he left Ven, Ronin heard a couple of voicing coming from ahead of him. At first, he thought nothing of it, but as he got closer he heard one of them saying, "I think I heard a noise from in here." 'Of course that boy found a way to get himself in to trouble,' was all Ronin could think to himself. Picking up his pace, he hurried over to where the two men, both a little older than Ronin but neither looking to be of a higher caste, and placed cleared his throat to get their attention. Now, Ronin knew it was frowned upon to even suggest you are of a higher caste than you actually are, but this situation needed a quick fix. "I don't believe this is somewhere you Chiet have permission to be snooping, now is it." Ronin tried to act as though he had authority to tell them to leave. The light tan he was starting to get made it clear that he was a glassworker, a common profession for an Avora. He hoped this would give him the edge he needed to be taken seriously. Luckily, whether by his good acting or the stupidity of the two men, they were fooled and both went away apologizing and trying to be respectful. Once they were out of sight, Ronin entered the room and found Ven. "I hope you realize what I just did for you. If I was wrong about those men being Chiets or if either of them had recognized me as not being an Avora, I could get in a lot of trouble." Ronin decided to stop there an not lecture the boy on how he had told him to stay quiet. Instead, he decided to settle the task at hand. "Okay, follow me, we need to get to the Valintar before it gets too late. If you have any questions you can ask them on the way." With that, Ronin turned around and started leading the way back toward the gate and the Valintar's office.

[Ven]

Tears of joy nearly rushed in Ven's eyes as a familiar voice had commanded the other two to leave, as the red head finally came around the crates to nearly lecturing him of what he done. However he instead initiated that they went ahead to the office, which made Ven think that it had to have been a long day.

As he got up to follow the red head he felt a wave of fatigue crash on him from the hunger he held back, and as this happened his stomach roared for food. Loud enough for the red head to hear, which made Ven stop in his tracks and cringe while holding his stomach. It didn't really embarrass him to be so hungry, but it was the fact that the red head already went through so much in one day that Ven was tired of being a burden.

As the red head turn around to see if it wasn't Ven growling or anything Ven chuckled to try and lighten the situation, which didn't appear to help one bit. "Sorry...I was too focused on remaining hidden that I almost forgot how hungry I was." With that remark his stomach let another rumble out, making him frown at his tummy. He looked back toward the Red head with a innocent look, hoping that he was proving that he wasn't intentionally trying to stall for time. "Got a snack at least?..." He joked, but it still didn't seem to lighten the mood either.

This guy is too hard to tell if he's too serious or if he knows when to laugh.... He thought, as they walked. He didn't know if he was being led to food or to the office but whichever would come first would hopefully be food. Otherwise the appointment would have to be quick, unless this Valintar wanted to deal with a complaining stomach.....

[Ronin]

At the sound of Ven's stomach, Ronin looked back and saw that he had stopped. He waved for the boy to keep walking, listening as he complained. Sure, he was obviously hungry, but the Valintar was probably the busiest man in Wind Reach and Ronin wasn't going to make him wait on account of a snack. "You can attend supper with everyone else after our meeting with the Valintar." Ronin kept walking toward the Sanikas gates. This was a path that Ven would probably take a lot so Ronin hoped he would pay attention. However, he had more important instructions for him. "Now, when we get to the Valintar, you need to be on your best behavior. I am taking responsibility for you, so if you are anything less than respectful, it reflect badly on more than just yourself." Ronin paused, waiting to see if Ven had anything else to say. If the boy remained silent he would continue. Otherwise, he would finish his speech after answering his questions. "You will refer to him as sir. In fact, I think you should call me the same. And you will only speak when you are prompted to by one of us." Assuming there was nothing else he needed to say on proper behavior, Ronin went on to what would be discussed. "The Valintar will most likely want to know if you have any useful skills. Are you good at hunting? Maybe he can assign you to one of the Endals as a hunting assistant." Ronin didn't know what else a fox-boy would be good at, but if Ven had any other ideas Ronin would be happy to hear them.

[Ven]

"Uh, yes sir." All of the instructions were no doubt very important, and no doubt this Valintar must be important to everyone. However his stomach disagreed, grumbling noisily as they continued. He ignored it so he wouldn't appear rude or selfish to the red head.

"I can hunt yes, but I can also hide real well. Also running and sneaking are things I'm pretty good at." He put some thought into the next idea that came to him, being smart enough to survive was something important too. "I guess I'm pretty intelligent when it comes to those things....but even more so I like to strategize how I do things."

Now that he thought about it more than anything he did enjoy making plans that allowed him to earn food or easily get away from danger, and using this was one of the things he learned well over the time he spent growing adapted to the wilds. His parents taught him much, but the rest was up to him. He didn't understand until he was out in the wilderness, but it didn't change the fact he was always alone.

His master was the one that found and took him in, even though it wasn't very long ago it still felt like ages to Ven. Thinking of his old master now made him feel sad, so he turned his attention to the red head. He was still more concentrated on getting to the office apparently, either that or figuring out the future that Ven would have.

"You know I was in a real pickle earlier today...and even though it wasn't very nice of you to treat me the way you did you still saved me. So can I at least know your name so I don't have to call you hot head all the time?"

[Mercury]

“My name’s Ronin.” The tired chiet responded a little gruffly. “And you’re welcome…” He added as an afterthought. They continued to walk down the sparsely populated hallway in relative silence, few bothering to look up at the unlikely pair. Ronin opened the doors to the Valintar, motioning Ven to walk in ahead of him. Before walking up to Kaden’s office, Ronin took a moment to bask in the fantasia of light fashioned by the awe inspiring display of ethereal glass panes, channeling the fading sun light. He closed his eyes, breathing in the silence of the cavernous atrium. Once he got his fill of peace and beauty, Ronin set out to finish what he started. His steps, while sure and steady, were unhurried in its pace. Ronin rapped gently against the ajar door of Kaden's personal office. “Come in.” A clear voice said with awe inspiring authority. Ronin stepped in, beginning to feel a little unsure of himself. Before he could even open his mouth, Kaden interrupted him by just nonchalantly raising his right hand. “Thank you Ronin. You can go now.” Kaden offered the hard working chiet an approving smile before turning to the young stranger. Ronin left without another word, not held back by any lingering feeling of loyalty. He did offer Ven a supportive pat on the back, just before rushing to the softness of his bed in the comfort of his room. Ven was on his own. “Hello outsider. My name is Kaden Avin. What is your name and your business here in Wind Reach?” He asked in curt Nari. Kaden leaned back into his chair, taking a casual sip of his piping hot tea. As he relaxed, so did the pressure seem to drop from Ven. A casual feeling fell upon the room, as if it was a meeting among friends. Kaden, while quite relaxed in his manner, knew more about the stranger than he was letting on. Kaden was testing him. Mod Note : Kaden is speaking in Nari. Ven can barely understand our language. You will have to ask him to speak in common. Kaden can speak in common fluently.

[Ven]

Ven felt the good comfort of the office as the man before him began to speak, he couldn't really make out what was being said of course. He understood little, if any, of the Nari language, therefore when he tried to understand he only ended up in confusion. He remembered the words Ronin had told him well, and that he should definitely show respect to this man.

"I'm sorry to sound rude by asking this if it offends you, but I can't quite grasp what your tryin to say exactly. Perhaps if you know the common language well then I can happily answer any question with ease." He asks politely, though unsure that his request was in the slightest way polite to the Inartan. He still felt a calm and easy feeling, a comfort that seemed to stay within his mind. With this in mind he also felt the same hunger he held to keep silent for so long slip a low grumble, and tried to cover his stomach so no sounds could hopefully be heard from the empty pit he knew as his belly.

[Mercury]

Kaden smiled, taking another sip of his tea. He was right, but he still didn’t know as much about the new comer as he would have liked. And he didn’t have time to waste – he would have to make this quicker than he would have liked. Kaden switched to common without missing a beat. “My name is Kaden Avin. I represent the Valintar, Wind Reach’s governing body. What is your name? And What is your business here in Wind Reach?” He put his tea down, baring his gaze upon Ven as he waited for the boy’s answer. He did not offer him a seat.

[Ven]

Ven was a little thrown off at how well Kaden could easily switch to the common language with no trouble at all, but it is expected seeing as how he is a man who must communicate with nearly everyone that is trying to enter Wind Reach. Ven took a brief moment to think how he would explain things clearly, so as not to lose Kaden from any details left out or confusing.

"My name is Ven, that's just it really. I have no last name because I'm a Kelvic fox, and I was on my way here to Wind Reach with my recent master. That is until we were both attacked by wolves and he didn't make it." Ven showed his bandaged arm to Kaden, who didn't seem too surprised by the situation. Either that or he was just looking for a far more direct answer, which made Ven feel sort of stupid for not being able to decide which ever; so he decided to continue. "I was saved because Ronin brought me here, and got my wounds treated. I couldn't really pay him in your form of currency so I just gave him a few of these." He pulled out a handful of GM's and placed them next to his tea.

"My original business sir was to come with my master and trade for some of your fine glass art, but now it seems that I...." He paused as a unsettling disturbance in his stomach settled, the next words were harder to say than he thought. "Now that master is gone I'm in need of a residence here in Wind Reach."

[Mercury]

Kaden was not cruel or callous; he was a practical man. Everything he had suspected was true: there was a strong chance he might have to place the boy amongst the Dek. He did not want to. Kaden never liked condemning his citizens to a slow death. And even if he was a stranger, he was still a boy. Kaden wanted to give him a chance… and he thought he knew just how. “Don’t worry Ven. Your Mizas are not worthless here. I can have one of my staff to change that to proper Pinions for you. I am sorry for your loss; I am glad that you have been able to move on so quickly. I know what happened to your master. Patrolling Endal alerted me to the… affair.” Kaden cleared his throat, bowing his head to offer a moment of silence. “Now to your residence, that will be a direct corollary to the job you will need to take up to be accepted here in Wind Reach. Before I offer you any open assignments can you tell me your skills and any relevant job experiences.” Kaden nodded encouragingly for Ven to speak freely.