[Training] A better shot (Nehsmay)

[Alistair Trevon]

"Being free here is easy for you to say." He stated, mainly to himself. "We drykas are bound by the laws of our people. We are to be present if duty calls. For that reason, I must never leave Cyphrus. I fear that if I leave, I will be needed. When I return, I will be punished for my absence."

These words he had never spoken aloud to anyone except for Bay. Long had he toed the borders of Cyphrus, longing to see what lie beyond. But every time he came close to the decision to leave, his courage failed him. He lifted the bow again to take another shot to distract him before anymore of his thoughts escaped. Taking careful aim this time, he fired an arrow at the tree. He saw a bit of bark fly off to the left of the target where the arrow had skimmed the tree.

With a deep breath, he turned back to Nehsmay with a soft grin. "Great, we'll head out soon then, before the city moves in the spring. I need to get some more rations. It is a long way to Riverfall. The journey will take at least a fortnight."

He estimated. It had been a long time since he had travelled from the southern borders of Cyphrus to Riverfall. He could make it there on his own in about a week if he isn't attacked, but traveling with somebody...

He listened to her talk about her own horse with interest. Bay was the only living being in his life he could truly trust, and listening to someone else tell a story about her horse was interesting. He looked over at Bay who was now eating a bit of the grass and smiled a bit. He turned back to Nehsmay as she finished her story.

"I would imagine that you have had an interesting time, traveling from Avanthal."

[Nehsmay]

"I'm sorry," she stammered, blushing in embarrassed, "I didn't mean..." She stopped and frowned a little to herself, then added. "I guess it's the same everywhere you go, freedom is just an illusion." Shaking away her gloomy thoughts, she added: "I am sorry I did not mean to offend. I should have known better than to speak nonsense." Nehsmay headed towards the tree and retrieved her arrows. One of them was pretty blunt, but she took it anyway. Those had been her father's arrows, among the last things she had that reminded her of him. Freedom, she her thoughts wandered back to the notion... would she ever grasp its meaning in its fullness? Snapping out of her musings she glanced back at Alistair who had shot another arrow at the tree. A fortnight to Riverfall... that sounded all right. After that she vowed to remain for a while in Riverfall and head onward. If she was lucky maybe she would be able to find Nida and Sel along the way, somewhere. "Interesting time?" she chuckled darkly. "You could say that even though it was clear from the beginning that Shade was the lucky one. I got in all the messes while he hid," she recalled fondly. "Though it was interesting... during this trip I almost became meal for the wolves for the second time in my life. And I reached Endykas through a deep, underground tunnel. That was frightening to say the least."

[Alistair Trevon]

Alistair held up a hand to stop her. "Don't apologize." He told her. He set down his bow and looked out at the sea of grass behind them. To anyone who had not grown up in this region, this was freedom. But to him, it was his prison. Sure most Drykas were happy here in Endrykas. This place had never been home to him, just like it was never truly home to his father. They both were rebels to the ways of the Drykas, always wanting to explore.

"Freedom...does it truly exist?" He muttered. He turned back to Nehsmay. "You didn't offend me, you were not talking nonsense at all. Never be afraid to speak what is on your mind." It was something else his father had once told him. It was one of the few pieces of advise that he had not taken to heart. He hardly ever spoke much.

He listened as she described the way they had taken in reaching Endrykas. It seemed to him like whoever had been her guide had lead her there the hard way. It was almost as if they were trying to scare her, or get themselves killed.

"You won't have to worry about too much on our trip to Riverfall. Its just a straight shot across the sea of grass. The only thing we'll have to worry about are glassbeaks and the Zith. The Zith are nothing to worry about as long as you stay away from their city. I'll try to keep us away from any glassbeaks. Those are nasty little beasts."

Using the word little was perhaps not the best word. Glassbeaks were not little at all. If they were stopped by one of them, it would mean trouble. Again he looked down at the scar on the back of his hand from the last time he had dealt with one of them.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay took another arrow and moved in place. Eyeing the tree in front of her she decided she wanted to try a cleaner shot. Gazing intently at her target she waited until she was sure she had pictured it in her mind. The string was tensed, waiting for the arrow to be released. The Vantha woman closed one eye and fired. The arrow flew in the air and landed between the center of the target and its margin. Nehsmay sighed... it was better than nothing. "It's good to know," the Vantha nodded upon hearing that their journey would be an easier one than the one coming to Endrykas. "When we came," she paused at the we, but continued nonetheless, "we tried to travel the Sea of Grass by ourselves without a guide. We met slavers halfway down our road and hit in one of those underground tunnels. There we met Tain who offered to show us the way..." Nehsmay shivered although it was not cold. The road to Endrykas was something she wanted to put at the back of her mind. Zith... she had heard that term before, but she was unaware what kind of race they were. And the other things he mentioned... glassbeaks? "Umm," Nehsmay shuffled from one foot to the other and turned her attention to the tree launching another arrow which missed the tree by an inch. She stepped aside and glanced at him, "Not to sound clueless, but what are Zith? I may have heard of them before... And glassbeaks?"

[Alistair Trevon]

He watched her take another shot at the target. "Slavers, huh? Won't really have to worry about them much...more often than not if they cannot fight worth a damn. Their cowards, they are. That's why they travel in packs." He said with a slight grin. The expression on his face looked as if he wanted to find some of them to mess with.

He turned to face the open fields of Cyphrus. "I've only dealt with one or two in my travels, nasty little buggers the Zith are. They attack you at night when you are most vulnerable. Their heartless to boot as well. And they don't ever hunt alone. From what I've heard from the storytellers here, they were once human before the Valterrian. Whenever you are by yourself at night, watch the sky." He offered the last bit of advise with a grave look. It was because of these that he would not be getting much sleep during their journey to Riverfall.

"Glassbeaks..." He didn't quite know how to describe them, "let's just say we don't want to find one and that be the end of it." A chill went down his spine. He turned back toward her, the grave expression still on his face. "There are a lot of dangerous creatures out there...and the glassbeaks are some of the worst."

He walked over to Bay, putting the quiver of arrows in one of the empty saddlebags before tying the bow to her. Alistair turned back to Nehsmay. "I think I am going to head back to the City. I'll let you know when I am ready to leave."

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay did not look so sure when he mentioned the slavers. She had seen some of them in her travels with Nida and Sel, but they had always managed to outrun them before they met them. The Vantha had known her Kelvic friend hated them with a passion and she shared that hatred as well. Still that did not mean she wanted to meet them like Alistair clearly did. Taking another shot at the tree and watching it miss the target again she decided enough was enough. She retrieved her arrows and placed them back in her quiver while listening to Alistair's description about Zith and glassbeaks. Nodding in understanding she realized that perhaps wolved were not the worst things she could meet in the wild. "Thank you for offering to be my guide to Riverfall." Nehsmay added watching as Alistair prepared to leave.

[Alistair Trevon]

Alistair turned back around to mount Bay when he heard her thanks. He turned around slowly with a grin on his face. He wasn't used to people thanking him for much. Of course, since his father died, he really hadn't interacted with too many people. He was used to traveling alone, without having anyone around. Now he was a guide, like those in the Amethyst Clan.

"Er...you're welcome." He nodded to her as he lifted himself into the saddle and began to head back to the city. He stopped Bay when they were right beside her. "If you need anything, come and find me." He told her. He kicked Bay in the sides and she took off in a trot toward the city entrance.

[Lariat]

Alistair Trevon

Experience:

Shortbow: 3 xp
Rhetoric: 1 xp
Observation: 1 xp

Lores:

Avanthal (Poor)

Nehsmay

Experience:

Shortbow: 3 xp
Rhetoric: 1 xp
Observation: 2 xp

Lores:

Zith (Poor)
Glassbeak (Poor)

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