Highest Regards (Kendall)

[Venidus Larkspur]

68th of Summer – 511 AV Venidus sat lazily on the edge of one of Ravok’s many rooftops and looked into canal below. The Symenestra’s innate ability to scale walls certainly provided a fresh perspective. Looking down on the city made all of its vice seem so small and insignificant, but suspending his knowledge of the city’s true evil proved too great a challenge to overcome. A light breeze washed over the city and blew his dark hair into his eyes. No one ever looks up in Ravok. Perhaps the sun’s burning light is too much for their dark souls to handle. The preacher stood up and wandered from rooftop to rooftop. The narrow canals were a bit crowded and Ravosala made their way over the placid water slowly. Despite the city’s many flower laden window boxes, the city smelled rancid to Venidus, but once you learn of a person or place’s rotten core, it’s hard to see, or smell, its beauty. He stopped abruptly to examine the streets below. The Symenestra curled his toes as shingles sent waves of warmth into his feet and up his legs. A wealthy man walked below as his two followed obediently. One was a Konti and the other a Jamoura. Venidus figured the man had no reason to be on the streets other than to show off his rather rare pieces of property. Venidus scowled as the three walked boarded a Ravosala and drifted further and further away. One of those slaves could easily be him one of these days if he wasn’t cautious. A life of servitude to some cruel and greedy man didn’t appeal at all to the preacher. I would slit his throat while he slept... Another breeze rolled through the city as the Symenestra grabbed his large crossbow and pulled back the string. The Konti could easily pass as a Symenestra at this distance, which deepened Venidus’s sorrow. The breeze was creating a crosswind that made the shot difficult, but all he had to do was aim a little to the left. One of his long pale fingers rapped around the trigger. A shot of from such a distance was challenging but the preacher held his breath and narrowed his eyes. The fat man rested just above the crossbow’s end. The tension released causing the string to hum a long, sad note. The shot may have well killed its target if Venidus had loaded a bolt into it. I’m sorry my friends, but you must suffer a while longer. He slung the heavy weapon across his back and made his way down the side of a wall where no one would see him. Halfway down the wall, he jumped off, grabbed onto a tavern sign, and swung forward. He landed somewhat nimbly before the momentum forced him onto his knees and sent him rolling a few feet. “Ow...” He pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself off. A few people had noticed him unfortunately but most seemed drunk and the rest more annoyed than interested. I’m sure the crossbow is partly to thank for their disinterest. His pale hand wandered to his back to make sure he still had it and then to his side to check for the quiver. Venidus awkwardly made his way out of the alley and into the nearby canal area. He kept his eyes down and his mouth closed. With his ill-fitting clothes, he could almost pass as a human... Almost...

[Kendall Saarinen]

Kendall did not feel comfortable int he big city of Ravok. Of course, he did not feel too comfortable anywhere anymore. There was too much to hide and of course, there were his anxiety attacks. They were lessening as the days went on but they were still present, still clawing at him when he simply wanted to have a clear head. Things would get better. They had to. It was all a matter of time, although how much time only worsened Kendall's fear. In an attempt to lessen some of the frenetic thoughts in his mind, Kendall had decided to spend some time in the Silver Sliver, the tavern of Ravok. His time in the tavern was not too extensive, being that each moment he worried the patrons of the Sliver wanted nothing more than to mug him. These fears were irrational. Although he found himself to be odd and out of place he was at an advantage in Ravok. He was human, the favored race. The short stop in the tavern had done one thing for him though. It had given him a bit of time to try and convince himself no one was out to get him. It created a calm, although only for a few chimes. As the blond walked out of the tavern he was shocked to see a man descending from the rooftop. The fears came rushing back. People knew that he was scared and they were going to take advantage of that. "Petch!" His mismatched eyes grew wide as the man landed in front of him. He was scared to speak so instead he simply watched the man and took him in. He could have passed as a human, could being the operative word. There was something different about him. He was tall. As tall as Hadrian in fact! He seemed to carry the light and fragile look that Seven had. The pale skin, the long limbs, even the beautifully colored irises. He must have been a symenestra. As foolish as it was, Kendall found this exciting. He missed his friend more than he could express. It pained him to leave him back in Syliras, never knowing when he would see him again. Hesitantly, Kendall spoke up when the man voiced his pain. "Are you okay?" He kept his distance, not knowing if the man had any intention of being friendly. He let his features take on a concerned look although he was searching the man's aura. He was trying to see what the man was like past the race, past the skin.

[Venidus Larkspur]

He had only taken a few steps when he heard the voice. At first, Venidus didn’t realize that the person was addressing him. Why would some human inquire about his wellbeing? He couldn’t possibly have been mistaken for a human. I’m not nearly that good at pretending to be human... It seemed that a very friendly bunch of folks had found their way into Ravok this season. The preacher grinned widely, revealing his fangs, “I’m fine and thank you for inquiring.” He looked himself over one more time and took inventory of his digits and limbs. Venidus raised his hands and showed the friendly stranger that he was, in fact, in one piece. The person he was talking to looked of fairly average height. He had blond hair that humans found fairly attractive. The eyes were different though. They were two distinct and stunning colors. The Symenestra scratched his ear absently as he tried to sum up the person in front of him. Someone to take me to the slave markets or another foreigner to Ravok? I figure... foreigner... After a moment of debating whether to leave or stay, Venidus took a few steps back as if to retreat, but once he moved out of the buildings’ shadows and into the sunlight, he shifted his weight in a way that conveyed he would stay to chat. He stretched out his abnormally long arms and yawned. This single act in the sunlight revealed every possible trait that distinguished him as a Symenestra. The sun brought out the dark silver traces that ran throughout his black hair. His golden eyes and fangs, one of which was halved long ago, were in plain sight. The preacher laughed quietly after glancing around. The display could easily have been an invitation for someone to slap some shackles on him and drag him off to the slave market, but there were few people around and those few didn’t seem to notice or care. Venidus was pushing his luck more and more these days. In his mind, he told himself that the gods were smiling favorably upon him, but in reality, it was more of a suicidal death wish. He had no purpose and no friends in Ravok. His mission had started explosively but had died out after the first few day with the Rising Dawn. He couldn’t go on much longer at this pace. The preacher almost go sucked into one of his tangential thought vacuums when he remembered the strange-eyed stranger, “I’m Venidus Larkspur. Unfortunately, I’m a Symenestra, and I understand if you may want to take back your compassionate inquiry and give it to some human jumping off rooftops.” Venidus should have probably had some sort of alias by now, but in a city like Ravok, aliases wouldn’t do much. He could practically count the number of Symenestra he’d seen on his fingers, and concealing his name, when describing his race would narrow the suspects to barely a dozen, seemed like an unnecessary precaution.

[Kendall Saarinen]

OOCI am REALLY sorry this took so long. I promise it will never happen again. A small sigh of relief exited Kendall's lips when the man claimed to be fine. He was a bit too empathetic at times but he supposed it served him well enough. It made him easier to get along with at times. He smiled shyly back at the man. "Good… that was quite the jump." He was sure he would have nearly killed himself doing what the man had just done. Of course, he was also only human. From what he had heard, Symenestra were much more acrobatic than humans, and for good reason. When the man stepped fulling into Syna's light it was clear to see that he was indeed a Symenestra. He exhibited so many of the same features as Seven, even if Seven was a mixed blood. He watched as the man chuckled to himself, although as far as Kendall could tell nothing humorous had happened. When he introduced himself Kendall smiled back. "Very nice to meet you Venidus, I'm Ken." The blond rarely gave out his full first name, or even his surname for that matter. The less people knew about him, the better. "I could tell." Kendall chuckled at Vendius' comment about being a Symenestra. "One of my closest friends is part Symenestra." He could understand why the man would speak about himself as he did but it was not necessary. While he was not sure he would have trusted Symenestra too much when he was a girl, he figured there was a greatly lessoned chance they would try to kidnap him and mate with him now since he was male. "I have no reason to take back my concern. It would have been meant for you regardless of if you were a human, a symenestra, or even a Zith. Besides, I don't think you would want to kidnap me. I'm not great harvest material." He chuckled slightly at the words, hoping the man could tell he was joking or at least trying to be funny. "You are brave to be in Ravok. From what I heard, non-humans are not too safe here." It made Kendall wonder if the Symenestra had a master, although he hoped he didn't. Even when there was a chance Kendall was going to bond with Cathan, a wold Kelvic, he had disliked the thought of being seen as his master. "What brings you to the chaotic city, if I may ask?"

[Venidus Larkspur]

OOCNo worries! I honestly don’t mind people taking their time to post. Real life and everything gets in the way sometimes. “It’s nice to meet you too, Ken, and that drop was quite the jump... more than I had initially expected but manageable nonetheless,” Venidus said casually. The blond man was kind and Venidus could afford to believe it was genuine with his crossbow at his side. Everything was pretty good, if good was the absence of bad. He had had much worse days and meeting a friendly stranger was a rare treat, which he had acquired just a few days earlier as well. “Part... Symenstra?...” Venidus said in an overly dramatic tone. The overacted horror in his voice was obvious, but he wished to clarify in case Ken wasn’t particularly sensitive to such “nuances” in language and expression. “I am kidding of course. Halfblooded Symenestra can truly be marvelous creations of love. A female Symenestra and a human male... Some say it is bad for the population, but it is through that scorn that such relationships find such beauty...” Venidus added quickly, “Except in the case of rape and such.” Venidus laughed. Harvest jokes were hard to come by and especially rare among humans. Perhaps he wouldn’t have found it funny under differing circumstances, but their circumstances were the way they were and he indulged in a hearty laugh. “Honestly, my brethren are becoming so incompetent that I wouldn’t consider yourself safe, but I certainly would know better than to drag you back over streams and mountains to Kalinor. No danger from me.” He raised his hands again. This time showing the threat he didn’t present. “You’ve heard non-humans aren’t safe but I’ve felt it.” He revealed a few bruises and scrapes. “As for my business here, I am merely getting a taste of the surface world that I longed for so badly. Mmmmmm you are such a good person and you are in Ravok. Good people in Ravok should be careful divulging their business so I won’t press the matter, but what brings Ken to the city of vice, malice, and sin? Vacation? Business? Pleasure?” It was nice having someone to talk to again. Especially someone as witty and kind as Ken, but Venidus’s suspicions wouldn’t be so easily defeated. He would tread carefully. Treading so was always the intelligent way of proceeding.

[Kendall Saarinen]

Kendall smiled lightly. "Well, it was more of a jump that I could have done. At least without killing myself." While Kendall was not completely uncoordinated, at time he still had bouts of clumsiness. It had been a year since his accident but sometimes he still felt out of place. The blond's smile faded after Venidus' words about his friend being part Symenestra. He should have guessed that part Symenestra would be somewhat looked down upon by the full blooded. Kendall only had a basic knowledge about the cavern dwelling race but he could not have expected them to be warm and welcoming like humans. As time went on, human's had broken off into many different sub-races and cultures. Even some of the humans who seemed perfectly, well… human had some traces of other human races in their blood. Even Hadrian claimed he was sure his family had some Vantha blood in them. It would explain those bright blue eyes. Kendall relaxed a bit when the man said he was kidding. He did not want to offend someone he had just met! "I believe my friend was created out of love but of course, that is somewhat of a fantasy these days." There were a great many who simply made love for fun. Although that could hardly be called making love. A chuckle sounded from Kendall's throat. "That is very good." He almost said that he would have had a better chance dragging the Symenestra out of the city rather than it being the other way around. He had not been in Ravok long but he was sure the city would not take kindly to a Symenestra dragging a human from the city. The comment was held back though. It was meant to be a joke but he was sure it would have been slightly too harsh to be one. He was the safe race here and because of that he needed to be conscious of those who were not. "Oh my Gods…" Kendall almost wanted to reach out and touch the scrapes and bruises just to see if they were really there but once again, he held back. He could not believe someone, or even a whole city could hurt someone like that and not feel remorse. Of course, he was boasted to be the most peaceful and kind of his group, although he had reason to be. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I cannot believe someone would do that… Well, I can believe it sadly, but I don't want to believe. I've been told I am a bit to kind for the world outside of Zeltiva though." The man had showed his wounds, Kendall could release information about where he came from. At least vaguely. Kendall watched the man's aura as they spoke. He could remember a time when he would never never done so for the sake of wanting to protect people's privacy. This was Ravok though. No one was really safe, except maybe the Stryfe. Venidus' aura seemed calm enough, although it was not without threads of fear and suspicion. The man had every right to those feelings. Ravok was not a kind city. "I'm here to find someone and as kind as you appear to be, I cannot say more than that. I'm sorry." Kendall had been a bit more loose with his story back in Syliras. The people were kind for the most part. They would not lock you up or kill you because you were different. He was aware that holding his story back might make him seem suspicious but there were some things he just could not tell. As kind as he seemed to be, he was out for answers and if the answers were not given, blood. Kendall was by nature a very caring and peaceful person but when put up against the one who had taken everything from him, he'd put that aside. "Ravok seems like a strange place to start your tour of the Syna-kissed world, no offense of course." Kendall was not trying to change the subject because he was uncomfortable. He just did not see why he needed to stay on the topic when there was nothing left to say. "There have to be safer places for you to stay in, or were you just looking for adventure and danger?" He smiled, trying to show he was not trying to be rude. "There is nothing wrong with that of course. I wish I could be more like that. I am a bit of a scardy cat though."