27th of Summer, 507 AV
It was a day like many others, the lazy passing of snow flakes from the sky highlighted by the dull shine of the sun blocked by a thick barrier of cloud cover. Still yet it managed to peak out, alighting the snow aglow with a brightness not unusual for a native of Avanthal, and it was the reason that even now the young girl of 14 winters wore a satin cloth over her eyes, tiny slits carved and evenly spaced on the middle of the blindfold to allow her eyes to see even in the blinding light of the sun. Going blind from the refracted sunlight off the snow was rare among the vantha that knew better to stare, but for a young girl with still developing eyes, it was a precaution her mother insisted on.
So there she was, bundled up tight with three layers of clothing, the last being a warm cloak stitched together by her mother, with a soft fur inlining that kept her body heat hers, and a white satin blind fold tied tight around her head over her eyes. The well accounted wind blew its customary notes through the sparse trees that resided near her hold, painting its melody over the silence that would have filled her ears where it absent. Even with the limited vision she possessed she danced, hopping into the air repeatedly with the boundless energy that so filled the young, twirling her cloak side to side as she whipped into a spin when her feet once more touched the ground. Still, silent and vigilant, her older brother stood in the shadows of a tree, watching the little girl at play with no small bit of contentment, but at the same time making sure she didn't hurt herself inadvertently. Corrien of course knew nothing of the still shadow of her brothers that loomed over her for if she did, he knew she would pitch a fit like no other, and insist she was old enough to take care of herself.
In the brief moments of her twirling, she thought she could glance someone by the tree not far from where she pranced, but paid it no mind. She was dancing, and quite contrary to her brother's belief, she didn't mind being looked over as long as he didn't think she knew that he was there for that very reason. It was nice to have a watchful eye over you, as well as one to appraise your dancing, but if she was to maintain her independence she had to keep up appearances. Her right inexperienced foot slid to the right interrupting her thoughts, and caused her legs to spread uncomfortably before she lost her balance and fell firmly on her bottom, likely earning a nice bruise there.
Corrien cried out.
It wasn't the first time she had ever fell before but the shock of cold snow pushing its way under her cloak, and wool pants combined with the embarrassment of falling in front of her brother made her almost want to cry. In a effort to try and massage the pain away, her hand planted itself where it hurt the most and rubbed it for a brief moment while looking out towards where she thought she had seen her brother last. The large man of several years that had picked her up so many times when she had fallen wasn't there. Little did she know was that during her routine a girl from the Whitevine hold who had caught his eye lured him away briefly from his post so they could express there simmering affection for each other. To Corrien though, it looked like her brother had just got bored watching her dancing and left for inside the house likely to practice his own talents, or work with that dagger he had purchased recently.
Sadness filled her as the loneliness that surrounded her became apparent. She wasn't exactly the most social child, thus had made next to no friends, but it was just scary to her to meet people that she did not know. Perhaps she would be forever be without friends, only sticking with family who she knew well and made her feel safe. It wasn't a bad prospect.
Struggling to her feet, and still yet rubbing her backside her heart skipped a beat. A flash of green leather she swore she had seen behind a tall pine tree was no longer there. Anxious hands pushed up the satin eye fold so that she could see better, though she had to blink a few times for the sun seemed to be attracted to her face at that moment. Fear creeped down her spine as she took a hesitant step back, her eyes wide, and heart slowly increasing its place from within her chest. "Come out Now!" Corrien shrilled, her developing voice hitting a anxious high note.
Silence was all that came back to her for what seemed like a bell.
There was a shift behind the pine as a tall, tanned skin man stepped out from behind the natural blind. His dark green cloak with it's cowl pulled low obscured much of his form but still yet she could barley make out the deep green leather cuirass peaking out from the folds of the heavy dyed wool. Long braids with silvery charms dangling from them, and a square chin absent of facial hair also revealed itself even though it looked as if the man was practically looking straight down at the ground to obscure his face. Why would anyone need to hide so?
"Name is Malki, sorry for the fright little miss" his gravely voice echoed over the song of the wind, the bottoms of his lips becoming just ever so slightly visible when he spoke. Corrien understood not a word of it. "Common. Bad." She parroted, taking a shaky step towards the man with her clenching the folds of her cloak. His accent was otherworldly, his looks strange and like nothing she had seen before, and the secrecy he kept about him disquieting. At her words his head shot up, his silvery grey eyes catching hers a moment before she reflexively looked away. Her heart seemed to pulse in her hand. He made his way for her, and frozen in fear she moved not a inch but did let out a tiny cry when he grabbed her wrists and shook them.
"Help!" He grunted, shoving a leather bound book into her hands, something she wouldn't be able to read for still yet a few more years. With that simple gesture finished he released her, letting her drop into a pile on the ground while he turned and strode to where she knew not. She didn't know what the book said, but she knew the word he spoke of and took it most seriously. "Yes" Corrien blurted loudly after the man, but was unsure if he would hear her over the song of the wind, and watched for the few moments it took him to disappear in the distance. Shaking, afraid, and unsure she shoved the book under her arm, and coming to her feet shuffled off back towards her hold and room to store the book away for safe keeping in her bed.
Honey dreams blessed the girl this day as she lay in the fragile bed next to her mothers, animal skins pulled tight around her to ward away the chill. The thin pine frame that was the foundation of the bed creaked as she rolled over, the thick layer of skins bowing slightly more inward with the shift in weight. A calm voice echoed into her mind bringing her from her peaceful slumber.
"Wake up Corrien, there is a man here to see you" Her mother said, words blossoming like flowers in spring.
Corrien shivered in fear, but thankfully her mother didn't seem to notice for no strange look came to her face. Instead what was there was what seemed like a strained happy smile, as if the woman wanted her daughter to feel as comfortable as possible, but why she did not know. Uneasily she sat up, thoughts of the man she encountered only a few days ago still swirling in the mind, and acutely she could feel the book underneath her thigh, it felt hard and uncomfortable and was filled with words she didn't understand in a languages completely foreign to her. Common a language she was struggling to learn was only barely smattered about in the sheaf of pages of the book, and even those words she did not recognize. Whatever help the stranger wanted, she couldn't give it if they couldn't communicate. It tore at her insides, festering a mixture of anxiety, curiosity, and fear all rolled up into one. Best no to think about him. She can't be talking about him after all could she?
"Who is it?" Corrien asked, her words drawn out with the drowsiness that that still kept a strong hold on her after she awoke. Her eyes searched her mothers, the brilliant orbs there a mixture of purple and yellow though she really wasn't sure what that mixture of color meant.
"Someone from far away. He just wants to ask you a few questions." Her mother answered, her eyes softening a moment before she turned and left to see to the guest. Corrien's eyes flickered to the ground below her, and with a minor exertion of her arms she pushed off her bed to step onto the cold floor, a wave of goosebumps shimmering up her legs. With speed born of urgency, and thoughts of the man filling her mind, she dressed quickly, and ate a small snack of dried beef jerky before heading up to the common room, and meeting once more the strange man.
Voices could be heard just around the corner, and as she turned it she was greeted by a sight she hadn't expected. In blank surprise, her jaw drifted down as she stared open mouth at a man standing with his back to her, his eyes apparently focused on the fire before him the fire silhouetting his form and casting his shadow long across the stone floor. In ways she couldn't explain exactly he looked very similar to the stranger, thick braids draped down his back with charms glinting in the glow of the fire, and he wore a white leather armor all over, but he was also much thinner, shorter, and less muscular than the fellow in green. Perhaps they knew eachother?
Her mother coughed quietly and the man turned around, his eyes flickered first to her mothers face and then to Corrien. With all her will power she tried not to flinch under the sweeping glare of his beady dark brown eyes. It also didn't help his case that she could now clearly see the weapon sheathed at his side, a short sword with a grayish casing over it. She could also see the tattoos that covered his arm, patterned in such a way that it looked like spikes where jutting from his forearms for the brief moment she looked at them.
"Hello little girl, I'm guessing you are Corrien." he rumbled, crouching low to get on her level, and holding out a hand as a sign of greeting. She took the strong hand shakily only a moment, before withdrawing the hand shyly and glancing away at her mother. Hello, and her name was the only thing she understood out of his mouth, but she got his point well enough. "Hello person" she stuttered out, biting her tongue once to silence the stammer that had taken her voice. The man glanced at his mother and nodded before looking back at her, drawing himself up to full height before the young woman.
"Have you seen a man like me?" The man asked, and waited patiently for her mother to translate.
Corrien stiffened at the question, and shook her head curtly from side to side. "No, No person look strange you" she replied, her voice cracking as it was with nervousness, and anxiety. She wasn't sure why she lied, but it didn't seem this man was a very good man to her, everything about him smelled of indulgence, greed, and loathing. A sigh escaped his lips, and it seemed his shoulders sagged just a bit, but to her his eyes smoldered with what could only be taken as annoyance. Even so, he controlled his voice well with his next response. "All is well then I suppose, sorry for your time" he replied, and waved off to accentuate his point. It took her only a heart beat to decide to shuffle off.
She lay yet again in the warmth that was her bed, the pages of the book gotten only a ten-day previous resting splayed out before her. The house was yet still a buzz with talk of the honor bound drykas that had come to visit them, and Corrien was sick of the talk as much as she usually liked such tales. As soon as it became clear just who the man was she realized it had been good that she lied, even though her parents had buried her with questions as soon as the man took his leave of them. She hadn't shown them the book yet, but she had admitted that she had met the other man, and her parents soon followed that admission with orders for her to not go outside without a escort. Like a mature young lady she did as she was told, and stayed inside for the rest of the time, not wanting to admit defeat to her parents ruling.
The man claimed to be in Avanthal searching for a man that had severely wronged him, though what exactly he had done the man would not explain other than he was honor bound to hunt the man down and make him pay for his 'crimes'. Her parents thankfully hadn't bought it either, but her siblings seemed to embrace the idea, partly because they where fans of the tales of war and knights their mother told them some nights. Corrien, always a lover of those tales of magic, and love didn't much like the heroic ones and mostly contented herself to think of her own stories to put herself to sleep. Staying to long inside though had quickly worked to make her desire the outdoors so much that her stubborn walls crumbled, and even now she mused about begging mother to let her go outside on her own to dance. The same response as always would come. Take your brother.
Under a watchful eye the disgruntled Corrien danced along the snow, tossing her arms up in a chaotic fashion just for the sake of moving the limbs, her vibrant red hair swirling to its length as it spun around her. She wore no satin eye fold this day for it was late afternoon, and the glare off the snow wasn't as harsh as it had been. Her steps in the snow followed her perfectly, her shoes crunching quietly the white dust that rested evenly along the ground, yet around mid spin once more her footwork tripped her onto her backside, sending up a cloud of dust around her, and a wave of red to her cheeks. Of to the side she heard her brothers amused chuckle, and she scowled. " Stop laughing and help me up!" Corrien called out, her eyes narrowing a brief moment before softening, and then she too laughed along with her brother. It was yet another reminder about how it was good to practice such moves indoors, something her brother observed quite keenly.
"Why don't you not clean your self up, and join me and sister for lunch?" He replied, still shaking his head, and chuckling softly even as he disappeared back inside.
Standing up on her own two feet again Corrien moved to follow follow him inside when she heard the snap of a branch and looked quickly to the right at the man standing much in the same spot as she had seen him last. Instinctually her hand went into the folds of her cloak, and her thin fingers wrapped firmly around a rock she had stored there just in case. Violence was not something she liked at all, but perhaps it would be enough to scare away the man if he tried to hurt her though her real intent was to pitch it at the door to the hold and hopefully gain her brother's attention. She took a step backwards, her eyes never leaving the man even as he raised a hand to his cowl and pulled it slowly black. Locks of golden hair poured out from the cloth covering his shoulders only a little bit, and on his neck he wore a chevas mark, something that oddly comforted her.
Something flew through the air from his hand as he tossed it, and the dagger landed squarely in front of her, depressing the snow and almost completely disappearing in the white. "No harm" the man echoed the movement, holding his hands out wide, and making Corrien feel a little guilty for believing in the tales. HIs cheeks where less full than when she last met him, his belly shallow, and his skin having taken on a twinge of paleness that marred the bronze. "Sorry he apologized before collapsing to the ground.
Edit:
Her eyes went wide, and for a moment she wasn't sure what to do as she continued to stand there dumfounded with her jaw slightly a gape before rushing to the man's side to see if he drew breath. Corrien, heart hammering in her chest, held her small hand before the man's lips, and was a bit relieved to feel the warm breath against her palm. A sigh escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms under his and pulled with all her strength, the muscles in her back tensing up as they where pulled taut with exertion. Her breath came in gasps as she heaved with ever little bit of her strength backwards, moving the man a few inches before falling back to the ground on her knees. It was simply that she wasn't strong enough, the man far to bulky to be lifted by herself alone. With the help of her brother it wouldn't be to hard of a job, but it would mean having to admit she had seen the man outside, and perhaps keep her in the house for the rest of her days.
Corrien gritted her teeth as she pulled him across the snow another inch. It was futile, she knew, and turning her head to the side, opened her mouth to call for her brother when tender hands wrapped around the man's back, and not bothering to look who it was that was helping her, Corrien lifted too as best she could, the man seeming much lighter now. Her crystal blue eyes wandered to the person helping her, settling upon a figure cloaked in a threadbare cotton cloak that looked like it had seen one to many winters. Her other dress was also well worn speaking of much travel, and much in need of stitching to fix the fraying edges.
"Thank you" Corrien rasped while helping carry the man along all the way up to the front door of her hold. There was a gentle tug as the woman pulled the man from her grasp, and gently set him down beside the door. "He sickens from no food or water, give him that and he should be well" the woman spoke, slowly turning around to face Corrien. Her eyes still wide from all that was going on watched the other woman's face intently, and silently thankful that the vantha woman came when she did. With quick hands she took off her cloak and offered it to the woman, who had now moved to the side of her looking as if she was about to depart.
"Take this, to ward off the chill on your way back, unless I can tempt you to stay and enjoy our hospitality." Corrien said in a breathy and high voice, holding the woolen cloak out at its length towards the woman. It was the least she could do for a woman she owed so much. The woman took the cloak, but shook her head slowly. "Before you know it, we will see each other again" She said softly, a tiny smile on her lips. Corrien released her hold on the fabric as the woman took it to put on, and quickly shifted about to face her door and knock for her family to come outside and help the ailing man, the loud banging resounding through the hall and summoning all who where near. Immediately she turned about to see the woman no longer there, and in fact nothing in sight except her cloak folded neatly in a pile on the snow. She took a hesitant step forward, but a look back, and the faint thump of footsteps kept her rooted in place. Where had the woman gone?
Studiously Corrien attended to the man that lay in the animal skin cot, wiping his brow periodically with a warm rag, and doing what she could when her mother asked her to retrieve other things from around the hold. Soon as she had spread the word of the man in need of help, all chaos had come to their family, her brother and sister crowding against the window while her uncles and father went outside to check on the man, and then upon the insistence of Corrien and her mother finally brought him in and set him up near the hearth. The journal had been made known as well, Corrien figuring it might be important to what was happening even if she couldn't read a lick of it, and yet would earn her some kind of punishment somewhere down the road when things where settled. She dreaded what sort of chores her mother might think of while she continued to take care of the man, her sole task for the past few days.
Her father, busy reading the writings scrawled in the book came in only to take a look at the man as if checking something, while her mother usually did most of the work of helping the man, playing her lute when she wasn't. Even this late in the afternoon she could hear the sweet music carry down the hallway almost lulling her to sleep, yet stubbornness kept her up and taking care of the man. It was decided it would be a secret that they where holding the man for fear of what the other would do should he find out. While her father had been skeptical at first he was still yet loathe to hold a wanted man, innocent or not, and would have been fine with leaving him in the cold or turning him over the the drykas, but her mother had been firm on keeping him till he was healed, and for her the man was allowed to stay.
It had taken a while to bring him back from the near starving, dehydrated state they had found him in, but now that he was stable Corrien was most of the time allowed to attend him all by herself. A murmur echoed from the fever ridden man, causing her brow to twinge in worry. They still didn't know who the man was, or what he had done to earn the ire of another drykas for the writing was in a language not before seen even by her father who was the most well traveled among them. All that could be said was that somewhere in his past, he and the other man came at odds wit each other and for that reason the other man wanted justice. Who are you?
Corrien was quick to get dressed that morning as soon as her sister had woken her up and fold her that the man was up and about speaking to father. Her bare feet slapped against the cold stone reverberating on the walls that amplified music so well as she made her way for the main floor where the outsider was being kept. Excited voices greeted her, the man and her father conversing about something it common she couldn't discern but it obviously sounded like they where both quite engaged about something. Finally her father through up his hands scowling before storming away, his hand running through his hair exasperated as the man simply shrugged and moved for the door. Corrien tried to take a few steps forward to stop the man, but the slender arms of her mother wrapped themselves around her waist and stopped her in her tracks.
" The man goes because he has to. There is no other way Corrien. For him, life here is not possible, and he has made it quite clear that his life is destined to be this way. There is nothing we can do about it." She said softly the words sounding as final as anything she had ever heard from the woman. "You, place here all round" she blurted after the man, her eyes sparkling with tears and confusion. She hoped he would understand her and stay, but such things where not always the case. With a sorrowful smile not seen the man left without looking back, disappearing out into the snow from where he came.
2nd Edit:
It didn't make since. He couldn't leave.
Corrien, heart aching and head confused used a second burst of strength to pull away from her mothers grasp, clearing out of the doorway just chimes after the man had passed through the threshold. She wasn't greeted with the back of a man wandering off into the distance, but instead that same vantha woman who had refused to take a cloak or come inside. "Did you see where he went? Maybe we can still find him before it is too late." She called out, not really wondering what the woman was doing back here, and walked till she was right in front of her.
A simple upraised hand was all that the lady offered in reply, and it was enough to silence Corrien for the moment that she stood wordless, as the woman's other hand tenderly rested on her shoulders causing the fear and anxiety to seep away from her body instantly and leaving warmth in it's wake. "You have done what you could, it is his own path he makes now, and it isn't ready to be followed yet" the woman replied at last, her eyes tender and so full of care, and at her words Corrien felt a grudging acceptance of the words within her. She was right.
"Keep safe, and know you are never alone." The woman's hand drifted of her shoulder to hold her hand and in a brief indescribable flash of light spread the warmth powerfully to her hands before slowly removing them. The warmth didn't leave her with the absence of the woman's hands, and drew Corrien's eyes to the curious golden swirl now in her palm, apart of her skin like a kind of tattoo but she had felt no pain. Her eyes shot up to look at the woman and ask her so many of the questions that swirled in her head, but no longer was she there. Cradling the hand to her chest, she made her slow walk back to her home, her head kept bowed as she tried to answer the questions that had so filled her head.
It was a day like many others, the lazy passing of snow flakes from the sky highlighted by the dull shine of the sun blocked by a thick barrier of cloud cover. Still yet it managed to peak out, alighting the snow aglow with a brightness not unusual for a native of Avanthal, and it was the reason that even now the young girl of 14 winters wore a satin cloth over her eyes, tiny slits carved and evenly spaced on the middle of the blindfold to allow her eyes to see even in the blinding light of the sun. Going blind from the refracted sunlight off the snow was rare among the vantha that knew better to stare, but for a young girl with still developing eyes, it was a precaution her mother insisted on.
So there she was, bundled up tight with three layers of clothing, the last being a warm cloak stitched together by her mother, with a soft fur inlining that kept her body heat hers, and a white satin blind fold tied tight around her head over her eyes. The well accounted wind blew its customary notes through the sparse trees that resided near her hold, painting its melody over the silence that would have filled her ears where it absent. Even with the limited vision she possessed she danced, hopping into the air repeatedly with the boundless energy that so filled the young, twirling her cloak side to side as she whipped into a spin when her feet once more touched the ground. Still, silent and vigilant, her older brother stood in the shadows of a tree, watching the little girl at play with no small bit of contentment, but at the same time making sure she didn't hurt herself inadvertently. Corrien of course knew nothing of the still shadow of her brothers that loomed over her for if she did, he knew she would pitch a fit like no other, and insist she was old enough to take care of herself.
In the brief moments of her twirling, she thought she could glance someone by the tree not far from where she pranced, but paid it no mind. She was dancing, and quite contrary to her brother's belief, she didn't mind being looked over as long as he didn't think she knew that he was there for that very reason. It was nice to have a watchful eye over you, as well as one to appraise your dancing, but if she was to maintain her independence she had to keep up appearances. Her right inexperienced foot slid to the right interrupting her thoughts, and caused her legs to spread uncomfortably before she lost her balance and fell firmly on her bottom, likely earning a nice bruise there.
Corrien cried out.
It wasn't the first time she had ever fell before but the shock of cold snow pushing its way under her cloak, and wool pants combined with the embarrassment of falling in front of her brother made her almost want to cry. In a effort to try and massage the pain away, her hand planted itself where it hurt the most and rubbed it for a brief moment while looking out towards where she thought she had seen her brother last. The large man of several years that had picked her up so many times when she had fallen wasn't there. Little did she know was that during her routine a girl from the Whitevine hold who had caught his eye lured him away briefly from his post so they could express there simmering affection for each other. To Corrien though, it looked like her brother had just got bored watching her dancing and left for inside the house likely to practice his own talents, or work with that dagger he had purchased recently.
Sadness filled her as the loneliness that surrounded her became apparent. She wasn't exactly the most social child, thus had made next to no friends, but it was just scary to her to meet people that she did not know. Perhaps she would be forever be without friends, only sticking with family who she knew well and made her feel safe. It wasn't a bad prospect.
Struggling to her feet, and still yet rubbing her backside her heart skipped a beat. A flash of green leather she swore she had seen behind a tall pine tree was no longer there. Anxious hands pushed up the satin eye fold so that she could see better, though she had to blink a few times for the sun seemed to be attracted to her face at that moment. Fear creeped down her spine as she took a hesitant step back, her eyes wide, and heart slowly increasing its place from within her chest. "Come out Now!" Corrien shrilled, her developing voice hitting a anxious high note.
Silence was all that came back to her for what seemed like a bell.
There was a shift behind the pine as a tall, tanned skin man stepped out from behind the natural blind. His dark green cloak with it's cowl pulled low obscured much of his form but still yet she could barley make out the deep green leather cuirass peaking out from the folds of the heavy dyed wool. Long braids with silvery charms dangling from them, and a square chin absent of facial hair also revealed itself even though it looked as if the man was practically looking straight down at the ground to obscure his face. Why would anyone need to hide so?
"Name is Malki, sorry for the fright little miss" his gravely voice echoed over the song of the wind, the bottoms of his lips becoming just ever so slightly visible when he spoke. Corrien understood not a word of it. "Common. Bad." She parroted, taking a shaky step towards the man with her clenching the folds of her cloak. His accent was otherworldly, his looks strange and like nothing she had seen before, and the secrecy he kept about him disquieting. At her words his head shot up, his silvery grey eyes catching hers a moment before she reflexively looked away. Her heart seemed to pulse in her hand. He made his way for her, and frozen in fear she moved not a inch but did let out a tiny cry when he grabbed her wrists and shook them.
"Help!" He grunted, shoving a leather bound book into her hands, something she wouldn't be able to read for still yet a few more years. With that simple gesture finished he released her, letting her drop into a pile on the ground while he turned and strode to where she knew not. She didn't know what the book said, but she knew the word he spoke of and took it most seriously. "Yes" Corrien blurted loudly after the man, but was unsure if he would hear her over the song of the wind, and watched for the few moments it took him to disappear in the distance. Shaking, afraid, and unsure she shoved the book under her arm, and coming to her feet shuffled off back towards her hold and room to store the book away for safe keeping in her bed.
* * * * *
Honey dreams blessed the girl this day as she lay in the fragile bed next to her mothers, animal skins pulled tight around her to ward away the chill. The thin pine frame that was the foundation of the bed creaked as she rolled over, the thick layer of skins bowing slightly more inward with the shift in weight. A calm voice echoed into her mind bringing her from her peaceful slumber.
"Wake up Corrien, there is a man here to see you" Her mother said, words blossoming like flowers in spring.
Corrien shivered in fear, but thankfully her mother didn't seem to notice for no strange look came to her face. Instead what was there was what seemed like a strained happy smile, as if the woman wanted her daughter to feel as comfortable as possible, but why she did not know. Uneasily she sat up, thoughts of the man she encountered only a few days ago still swirling in the mind, and acutely she could feel the book underneath her thigh, it felt hard and uncomfortable and was filled with words she didn't understand in a languages completely foreign to her. Common a language she was struggling to learn was only barely smattered about in the sheaf of pages of the book, and even those words she did not recognize. Whatever help the stranger wanted, she couldn't give it if they couldn't communicate. It tore at her insides, festering a mixture of anxiety, curiosity, and fear all rolled up into one. Best no to think about him. She can't be talking about him after all could she?
"Who is it?" Corrien asked, her words drawn out with the drowsiness that that still kept a strong hold on her after she awoke. Her eyes searched her mothers, the brilliant orbs there a mixture of purple and yellow though she really wasn't sure what that mixture of color meant.
"Someone from far away. He just wants to ask you a few questions." Her mother answered, her eyes softening a moment before she turned and left to see to the guest. Corrien's eyes flickered to the ground below her, and with a minor exertion of her arms she pushed off her bed to step onto the cold floor, a wave of goosebumps shimmering up her legs. With speed born of urgency, and thoughts of the man filling her mind, she dressed quickly, and ate a small snack of dried beef jerky before heading up to the common room, and meeting once more the strange man.
Voices could be heard just around the corner, and as she turned it she was greeted by a sight she hadn't expected. In blank surprise, her jaw drifted down as she stared open mouth at a man standing with his back to her, his eyes apparently focused on the fire before him the fire silhouetting his form and casting his shadow long across the stone floor. In ways she couldn't explain exactly he looked very similar to the stranger, thick braids draped down his back with charms glinting in the glow of the fire, and he wore a white leather armor all over, but he was also much thinner, shorter, and less muscular than the fellow in green. Perhaps they knew eachother?
Her mother coughed quietly and the man turned around, his eyes flickered first to her mothers face and then to Corrien. With all her will power she tried not to flinch under the sweeping glare of his beady dark brown eyes. It also didn't help his case that she could now clearly see the weapon sheathed at his side, a short sword with a grayish casing over it. She could also see the tattoos that covered his arm, patterned in such a way that it looked like spikes where jutting from his forearms for the brief moment she looked at them.
"Hello little girl, I'm guessing you are Corrien." he rumbled, crouching low to get on her level, and holding out a hand as a sign of greeting. She took the strong hand shakily only a moment, before withdrawing the hand shyly and glancing away at her mother. Hello, and her name was the only thing she understood out of his mouth, but she got his point well enough. "Hello person" she stuttered out, biting her tongue once to silence the stammer that had taken her voice. The man glanced at his mother and nodded before looking back at her, drawing himself up to full height before the young woman.
"Have you seen a man like me?" The man asked, and waited patiently for her mother to translate.
Corrien stiffened at the question, and shook her head curtly from side to side. "No, No person look strange you" she replied, her voice cracking as it was with nervousness, and anxiety. She wasn't sure why she lied, but it didn't seem this man was a very good man to her, everything about him smelled of indulgence, greed, and loathing. A sigh escaped his lips, and it seemed his shoulders sagged just a bit, but to her his eyes smoldered with what could only be taken as annoyance. Even so, he controlled his voice well with his next response. "All is well then I suppose, sorry for your time" he replied, and waved off to accentuate his point. It took her only a heart beat to decide to shuffle off.
* * * * *
She lay yet again in the warmth that was her bed, the pages of the book gotten only a ten-day previous resting splayed out before her. The house was yet still a buzz with talk of the honor bound drykas that had come to visit them, and Corrien was sick of the talk as much as she usually liked such tales. As soon as it became clear just who the man was she realized it had been good that she lied, even though her parents had buried her with questions as soon as the man took his leave of them. She hadn't shown them the book yet, but she had admitted that she had met the other man, and her parents soon followed that admission with orders for her to not go outside without a escort. Like a mature young lady she did as she was told, and stayed inside for the rest of the time, not wanting to admit defeat to her parents ruling.
The man claimed to be in Avanthal searching for a man that had severely wronged him, though what exactly he had done the man would not explain other than he was honor bound to hunt the man down and make him pay for his 'crimes'. Her parents thankfully hadn't bought it either, but her siblings seemed to embrace the idea, partly because they where fans of the tales of war and knights their mother told them some nights. Corrien, always a lover of those tales of magic, and love didn't much like the heroic ones and mostly contented herself to think of her own stories to put herself to sleep. Staying to long inside though had quickly worked to make her desire the outdoors so much that her stubborn walls crumbled, and even now she mused about begging mother to let her go outside on her own to dance. The same response as always would come. Take your brother.
* * * * *
Under a watchful eye the disgruntled Corrien danced along the snow, tossing her arms up in a chaotic fashion just for the sake of moving the limbs, her vibrant red hair swirling to its length as it spun around her. She wore no satin eye fold this day for it was late afternoon, and the glare off the snow wasn't as harsh as it had been. Her steps in the snow followed her perfectly, her shoes crunching quietly the white dust that rested evenly along the ground, yet around mid spin once more her footwork tripped her onto her backside, sending up a cloud of dust around her, and a wave of red to her cheeks. Of to the side she heard her brothers amused chuckle, and she scowled. " Stop laughing and help me up!" Corrien called out, her eyes narrowing a brief moment before softening, and then she too laughed along with her brother. It was yet another reminder about how it was good to practice such moves indoors, something her brother observed quite keenly.
"Why don't you not clean your self up, and join me and sister for lunch?" He replied, still shaking his head, and chuckling softly even as he disappeared back inside.
Standing up on her own two feet again Corrien moved to follow follow him inside when she heard the snap of a branch and looked quickly to the right at the man standing much in the same spot as she had seen him last. Instinctually her hand went into the folds of her cloak, and her thin fingers wrapped firmly around a rock she had stored there just in case. Violence was not something she liked at all, but perhaps it would be enough to scare away the man if he tried to hurt her though her real intent was to pitch it at the door to the hold and hopefully gain her brother's attention. She took a step backwards, her eyes never leaving the man even as he raised a hand to his cowl and pulled it slowly black. Locks of golden hair poured out from the cloth covering his shoulders only a little bit, and on his neck he wore a chevas mark, something that oddly comforted her.
Something flew through the air from his hand as he tossed it, and the dagger landed squarely in front of her, depressing the snow and almost completely disappearing in the white. "No harm" the man echoed the movement, holding his hands out wide, and making Corrien feel a little guilty for believing in the tales. HIs cheeks where less full than when she last met him, his belly shallow, and his skin having taken on a twinge of paleness that marred the bronze. "Sorry he apologized before collapsing to the ground.
Edit:
Her eyes went wide, and for a moment she wasn't sure what to do as she continued to stand there dumfounded with her jaw slightly a gape before rushing to the man's side to see if he drew breath. Corrien, heart hammering in her chest, held her small hand before the man's lips, and was a bit relieved to feel the warm breath against her palm. A sigh escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms under his and pulled with all her strength, the muscles in her back tensing up as they where pulled taut with exertion. Her breath came in gasps as she heaved with ever little bit of her strength backwards, moving the man a few inches before falling back to the ground on her knees. It was simply that she wasn't strong enough, the man far to bulky to be lifted by herself alone. With the help of her brother it wouldn't be to hard of a job, but it would mean having to admit she had seen the man outside, and perhaps keep her in the house for the rest of her days.
Corrien gritted her teeth as she pulled him across the snow another inch. It was futile, she knew, and turning her head to the side, opened her mouth to call for her brother when tender hands wrapped around the man's back, and not bothering to look who it was that was helping her, Corrien lifted too as best she could, the man seeming much lighter now. Her crystal blue eyes wandered to the person helping her, settling upon a figure cloaked in a threadbare cotton cloak that looked like it had seen one to many winters. Her other dress was also well worn speaking of much travel, and much in need of stitching to fix the fraying edges.
"Thank you" Corrien rasped while helping carry the man along all the way up to the front door of her hold. There was a gentle tug as the woman pulled the man from her grasp, and gently set him down beside the door. "He sickens from no food or water, give him that and he should be well" the woman spoke, slowly turning around to face Corrien. Her eyes still wide from all that was going on watched the other woman's face intently, and silently thankful that the vantha woman came when she did. With quick hands she took off her cloak and offered it to the woman, who had now moved to the side of her looking as if she was about to depart.
"Take this, to ward off the chill on your way back, unless I can tempt you to stay and enjoy our hospitality." Corrien said in a breathy and high voice, holding the woolen cloak out at its length towards the woman. It was the least she could do for a woman she owed so much. The woman took the cloak, but shook her head slowly. "Before you know it, we will see each other again" She said softly, a tiny smile on her lips. Corrien released her hold on the fabric as the woman took it to put on, and quickly shifted about to face her door and knock for her family to come outside and help the ailing man, the loud banging resounding through the hall and summoning all who where near. Immediately she turned about to see the woman no longer there, and in fact nothing in sight except her cloak folded neatly in a pile on the snow. She took a hesitant step forward, but a look back, and the faint thump of footsteps kept her rooted in place. Where had the woman gone?
* * * * *
Studiously Corrien attended to the man that lay in the animal skin cot, wiping his brow periodically with a warm rag, and doing what she could when her mother asked her to retrieve other things from around the hold. Soon as she had spread the word of the man in need of help, all chaos had come to their family, her brother and sister crowding against the window while her uncles and father went outside to check on the man, and then upon the insistence of Corrien and her mother finally brought him in and set him up near the hearth. The journal had been made known as well, Corrien figuring it might be important to what was happening even if she couldn't read a lick of it, and yet would earn her some kind of punishment somewhere down the road when things where settled. She dreaded what sort of chores her mother might think of while she continued to take care of the man, her sole task for the past few days.
Her father, busy reading the writings scrawled in the book came in only to take a look at the man as if checking something, while her mother usually did most of the work of helping the man, playing her lute when she wasn't. Even this late in the afternoon she could hear the sweet music carry down the hallway almost lulling her to sleep, yet stubbornness kept her up and taking care of the man. It was decided it would be a secret that they where holding the man for fear of what the other would do should he find out. While her father had been skeptical at first he was still yet loathe to hold a wanted man, innocent or not, and would have been fine with leaving him in the cold or turning him over the the drykas, but her mother had been firm on keeping him till he was healed, and for her the man was allowed to stay.
It had taken a while to bring him back from the near starving, dehydrated state they had found him in, but now that he was stable Corrien was most of the time allowed to attend him all by herself. A murmur echoed from the fever ridden man, causing her brow to twinge in worry. They still didn't know who the man was, or what he had done to earn the ire of another drykas for the writing was in a language not before seen even by her father who was the most well traveled among them. All that could be said was that somewhere in his past, he and the other man came at odds wit each other and for that reason the other man wanted justice. Who are you?
* * * * *
Corrien was quick to get dressed that morning as soon as her sister had woken her up and fold her that the man was up and about speaking to father. Her bare feet slapped against the cold stone reverberating on the walls that amplified music so well as she made her way for the main floor where the outsider was being kept. Excited voices greeted her, the man and her father conversing about something it common she couldn't discern but it obviously sounded like they where both quite engaged about something. Finally her father through up his hands scowling before storming away, his hand running through his hair exasperated as the man simply shrugged and moved for the door. Corrien tried to take a few steps forward to stop the man, but the slender arms of her mother wrapped themselves around her waist and stopped her in her tracks.
" The man goes because he has to. There is no other way Corrien. For him, life here is not possible, and he has made it quite clear that his life is destined to be this way. There is nothing we can do about it." She said softly the words sounding as final as anything she had ever heard from the woman. "You, place here all round" she blurted after the man, her eyes sparkling with tears and confusion. She hoped he would understand her and stay, but such things where not always the case. With a sorrowful smile not seen the man left without looking back, disappearing out into the snow from where he came.
2nd Edit:
It didn't make since. He couldn't leave.
Corrien, heart aching and head confused used a second burst of strength to pull away from her mothers grasp, clearing out of the doorway just chimes after the man had passed through the threshold. She wasn't greeted with the back of a man wandering off into the distance, but instead that same vantha woman who had refused to take a cloak or come inside. "Did you see where he went? Maybe we can still find him before it is too late." She called out, not really wondering what the woman was doing back here, and walked till she was right in front of her.
A simple upraised hand was all that the lady offered in reply, and it was enough to silence Corrien for the moment that she stood wordless, as the woman's other hand tenderly rested on her shoulders causing the fear and anxiety to seep away from her body instantly and leaving warmth in it's wake. "You have done what you could, it is his own path he makes now, and it isn't ready to be followed yet" the woman replied at last, her eyes tender and so full of care, and at her words Corrien felt a grudging acceptance of the words within her. She was right.
"Keep safe, and know you are never alone." The woman's hand drifted of her shoulder to hold her hand and in a brief indescribable flash of light spread the warmth powerfully to her hands before slowly removing them. The warmth didn't leave her with the absence of the woman's hands, and drew Corrien's eyes to the curious golden swirl now in her palm, apart of her skin like a kind of tattoo but she had felt no pain. Her eyes shot up to look at the woman and ask her so many of the questions that swirled in her head, but no longer was she there. Cradling the hand to her chest, she made her slow walk back to her home, her head kept bowed as she tried to answer the questions that had so filled her head.
END
