[Flashback] For the First Time - Aren [CLOSED]

[Meera]

"It is," Patros answered. "It's not ideal, but it's a better place for her to be than here." Patros did not elaborate. It was not his place to share and he certainly wouldn't divulge what was not his to tell. Instead he simply gave the Akalak a look that was intended to signal the end of the conversation. Patros' eyebrow quirked as he came to the realization that the blue man had yet to share his name.

"Sorry, don't think I caught your name? And besides, if you think about it, this city is in the Sea of Grass. Endrykas roams the plains, and I have roamed outside the city walls since Meera's age. Young, yes, but cannot coddle children. Makes them weak, I always say." Meera had definitely not been coddled, either. Her fingers were a constant state of pain due to the fine work they made her do, and they had been tolerant to ignore the decoration in her hair. Patros' mouth fell into a firm line of disappointment. After all the stigma against Meera she never lost her smile. It seemed more likely that in spite of the difficulties, she was more resigned to be happy. She was a weed: growing despite all odds. He hoped her childlike qualities would stay with her forever.

"So what are your plans here in Endrykas? Going to kill your Glassbeak?" Due to the age differences in Akalaks to humans Patros had difficulty discerning the actual age of the Akalak men.

[Aren]

At Patros' question about "hunting his glassbeak" Aren laughed loudly, truly amused by the thought. "No, I did that a long time ago. Probably before your father was even born," the akalak replied, jovially. Unfortunately, he wasn't all that good at determining the age of humans, but he figured the statement was likely factual. Humans were so short lived, after all. "Oh, excuse me, manners were never one of my mother's principal lessons," the akalak stated, with an apologetic bow. Aren loved invoking his mother's "principal lessons" as an excuse for pretty much anything. In fact, he'd likely blame her lessons for the Valterrian, if he thought he could get away with it. The truth, however, was that his mother was almost wholly responsible for his upbringing, and any lack of proper etiquette on his part could only be blamed on her. The only thing his father ever taught him was how to fight and train, probably because that was the only thing the man knew how to do. At least he was a good teacher, the akalak was forced to concede. "My name is Aren Anazasz. Just call me Aren, though," he offered, extending a handshake towards Meera's guardian, who's name had yet to be given.

[Meera]

"Patros," He returned with a smile poking out above his goatee. The man shook Aren's hand firmly, analyzing the tall man carefully. Before his father was born, huh? Akalaks were known to live long, Patros was well aware. He took no insult from Aren's comment as it was likely the truth, but in a lot of ways Patros was the elder in the conversation. Akalaks had forever to grow up, and they were so typically focused on their training that some knew of little else.

Patros had a wisened eye, a father's heart. He knew the pleasure of a woman, the heartbreak of loss. What did Aren know of these things? If he was older than his father, likely he meant to say that he was over a hundred years old, despite the fact that most men in Endrykas don't usually live to be Elders, and Patros' father was not an Elder, and likely Patros would not be an Elder himself. Aren could be fifty years old and be alive before his father was ever a thought in his grandparents' eyes.

Aren may be older, but Patros was the adult.

"Meera seems very excited to go on patrol. We have message to bring to Kenash. Might circle around to Riverfall. My sons never did seem half as eager as she." Patros said without thinking, smiling and staring off into the distance.

[Aren]

"Riverfall, huh? Haven't been there in a long time. Coming up on half a century, I'd wager," Aren mumbled, not at anybody in particular, "and not figuring to be visiting anytime soon," he continued, almost absentmindedly. "If you'd like, I might be inclined to accompany you and your's to Kenash. I mean, if you wouldn't mind the company, and all," the akalak offered, suddenly coming out of his reverie. Of course, he was uncertain as to what Patros' reply might be, ignorant as he was about drykas culture and any hidden meanings the trip might possess. Aren generally didn't have any destination in mind when he traveled, so one place was as good as any to him. He had to admit, however, that his concern over this odd pair he had met might have influenced his decision. What small thing was it to him then, to see them safely to Kenash? The city was likely as good as any other he had been to, and the trip would be safer and more enjoyable with company. If they refused, Aren would probably head that way anyway, at about the same time, out of sheer stubbornness.

[Meera]

"Oh, no no no." Patros laughed and shook his head. "There's no need for you to join in. I'd hate to trouble you, even though the young one will enjoy the company." Instinctively he looked around the small street for her, knowing she couldn't be taking that long to wash up.

"It won't be the first escort I've done to another town, that's for sure. To Kenash? Don't want to go back home?" Patros' head tilted as his eyebrow rose to show his interest in Aren's answer.

A small hand tugged on Patros' white shirt. To look down they both would not see a child with a blonde nest upon her head. What Patros saw was a lovely young girl, her blonde hair combed and braided in a simple, thick length. Her beads had been properly hooked into her hair at proper intervals in quite a pleasing pattern. Her face was cleanish, but not totally pink yet. She had been sloppy in cleaning her face, hoping for more time to braid her hair.

"Meera," Patros said in a warning voice. "Did you bug Patricash?" Meera did not hide from the irritation in Patros' voice, regardless on if Meera could understand. She nodded.

"Cashie braided my hair. Said it only cost 2 sm, but that I could repay him later."

"In Common."

"..." Meera opened her mouth and hid her eyes from Aren. Colour crept up to her cheeks as she struggled to think of words. "Cashie braid," she pointed to her hair and held her braid. "talked 2 sm, I pay back later." Her sentence grew in confidence the more she talked. Her gap tooth smile shone again in her pride.
Patros shook his head gently at her.

"Mr. Aren wants to ride with us to Kenash." Now this was a sentence Meera understood.

"No!" Aren would leave to Kenash and wouldn't come back and he's all big and stupid and she wouldn't see him ever again and he gave her delicious fruit that made her skin blue and he couldn't just leave -- He couldn't!

[Aren]

Kneeling to meet Meera's gaze on a more level playing field, Aren smiled warmly "You look very beautiful, with your braids," he said, genuinely, realizing that she knew more common than he had thought. The akalak tried to memorize the little face, so that he might remember it, but it was hopeless. He knew that a year from now, or a two, or ten... it would be gone. Even now, his own mother's face faded from his memory, a fact that troubled him deeply, yet it was a problem without remedy. Erecting himself, Aren laughed loudly at the little drykas' earnest reaction to the notion of having him accompany her and her guardian to Kenash, "Well, I guess that's that," he mused, with a grin. The blue skinned akalak sincerely hoped that they would fare well on their journey, which he knew was fraught with peril. He would not care to encounter their bones picked clean by a pack of glassbeak, or their bodies ravaged by the zith who plagued the grasslands, as he made his own way to their destination. "Well, good luck in your travels, friend," Aren offered, once again extending a hand, this time in farewell.

[Meera]

Patros patted Meera on the head, threatening to ruffle her hair in its braid. Meera's hands were immediately protecting the sacred rope of hair, swatting at his hands.

"He says you're pretty with your braid. What do you say to that? And say it in Common." Patros told her, hoping she would say 'thank you' or generally be polite, however he would have no such luck. Patros was fond of the child for many reasons; her knack for manners and etiquette was not one of them.

"I..." She started, hesitant. Her hands had dropped to her side and she chewed her lip thought, her eyes staring at Aren's scar on his arm. After a few moments silence as she thought of the word, Patros comforted her.

"Meera, you know the words."

"Know. I know." She was satisfied with that answer. She was pretty? She knew that already.
"I know." She said with more determination behind it, her eyes finding Aren's lemon eyes. Patros flicked her ear and they shared a look as she rubbed the cartilage. Patros gestured to the Akalak with an open palm.

"T'ank you, Aren." Not pronounced perfectly, but the point was across.
"Is he really going to ride with us? If he goes to Kenash he won't be here when we come back!" She whined. With a look to Aren, a small crooked smile, Patros spoke to his ward.
"The Sea of Grass is dangerous," He warned. "Best to have company, right? And besides, child. It'll be so funny to see him ride a horse. Maybe he'll have some stories about being an Akalak, the tall blue men of Riverfall."
Meera laughed and nodded both to Patros and Aren.

"She says you can come with us. I'm fine with the company. Maybe you can teach her a few words in Common and tell her some stories. She's a quick learner."

[Aren]

"You're very welcome, little miss," the akalak responded to Meera's gratitude with a smile. Aren noticed that Patros and Meera seemed to be discussing something, possibly his presence on their journey, and the little drykas finally came around to her guardian's point of view. The child had not been very difficult to convince, it seemed, demonstrating the man's aged wisdom. At the suggestion that perhaps he could tell her some stories, and teach her some common, Aren nodded in agreement. There were definitively many stories he could share, and common was certainly what he best spoke. The akalak had simply spent so much time away from Riverfall, and his own kind, that Tukant almost seemed like it wasn't his native tongue, and never mind his mother's language. "I will endeavor to enlighten her, but I'm no teacher," Aren noted, with a slight cocking of his head in acknowledgement of his shortcomings in this area, "I'm sure, however, that I could at least come up with some interesting events to suitably awe and mystify her with." The blue skinned giant grinned at the tiny little human girl who smiled at him through missing teeth, and knelt once again to more level their gaze, "I could tell you of things I have seen that will make you afraid to close your eyes at night, of things that will make you wish you'd never known anything about them. Would you like that?" Aren murmured, his eyes blazing with intensity as if he was reliving the moment at this very second. If his guess was right, she was not the type to shy away from these kinds of tales, and Patros did not seem the type to shield her from them.

[Meera]

Meera stared intently at his shiny yellow eyes. Something flickered behind there, something mischevious and playful, with hints of danger. Aren spoke much too quickly for Meera to grasp on to any of what he said, so she focused on the tone of his voice, and his facial expression while Patros looked on.

He seemed so serious for a moment. It simply wouldn't do. Meera's smile faltered into a blank line of neutral expression as she darted her focus to one eye then the other.

Suddenly and without warning Meera threw back her head to giggle. She simply couldn't keep staring at his serious grin and taunting eyes without laughing herself blue in the face. The thought itself made her laugh harder.

"That's my ward," Patros said proudly. "Laugh in the face of danger." He turned his attention to the Akalak while Meera near died of suffocation induced by laughter.

"We leave tomorrow morning, just before dawn. Meet us at just past the entrance and we will be off."

[Lariat]

Meera

Experience:

Observation: 2 xp

Lores:

Blue Men= Akalak

Aren

Experience:

Rhetoric: 2 xp

Lores:

Drykas children: Free-spirited

Comments

I noticed you mentioned walls around the city in one of your posts that may have been a slight. Endrykas is a place where all the pavilions gather, and it changes with every season and is hardly ever in the same place twice. It is only referred to as a city occasionally because of the sheer numbers that gather there. Hope this clears things up, if you have any questions just send me a pm!