The fire danced against the aurist's pupils, fanning the flames of two dark, smoldering coals. "Care?" Aello asked as her forehead wrinkled, her brow, a thin, furry chestnut colored caterpillar falling against the thinly etched lines. Stark, against such a pale white canvas. The occasional droplet of rain still seemed to cling to the undersides of some of the fine strands, magnifying the lines, although, given the light or lack thereof, it would prove difficult to see. "About what exactly, might one ask, dear stranger?" Aello inquired, before pausing a moment, giving each person present a chance to choose their own words. "About them?" she went on, before pausing another moment, turning to face Kyra as she did so. Settling muddied irises upon golden orbs, likened to the sun. "Why no, I do not suppose either of us would. They are not precisely what one would call good company, or even willing companions." She smiled wickedly then, her eyes sparkling with her amusement. "So let them freeze and starve for a night or two, I will not sleep any less on the thoughts of it." She paused again, as she licked her lips, wetting that which threatened to grow dry by the fireside. As she drew her tongue back into her mouth, the huntress spoke again, "but about many other things, yes." Her eyes darted over the carcass in the distance, that which she kept close as she spoke. Each word measured, precise, uttered with slight inflection. "Life which leads into death, Dira's will, Tanroa's, whether their favor is garnered in this life. Lily. Nex. Alenias. What remains of the past, as it falls into the present; the future." She smiled weakly, "the one served at the end of the day... Kelvics..." Although Aello had not yet picked up on the woman's secret, Kyra may have noted the way the word was spoken. Softly, as though it were meant to be little more than a whisper. And yet it was given such a strange inflection, as though she offered the word some sort of reverence or protection in how it was noted. A defense against those who could never understand the sacred bonds. The senses which awakened with a coupling, at the level of friendship as opposed to romance. Perhaps it would have put Kyra at unease, but Aello would never have noticed, having drawn her gaze back over to the fire. Her ears to its incessant crackling. The slight pop of it, when it spat out another series of sparks. Flying in circles around the cavern, before sputtering out as though they were little more than a firefly's behind. Set to certain whims and flights of fancy. As she began to lose herself to another far off, meditative state, her senses were roused by the clamor of the Kelvic, closely followed to the outrage of the small clay woman sitting upon her knee. Red pigmentation flooding her burnt cheeks as her tiny hands balled into fists. "By Rhysol what am I?" Lily growled as her body began to tense. Her cheeks puffing out as her unblinking gaze settled upon the Kelvic. "I am a pycon," Aello's companion explained. "Have you yet to hear of us?" Lily asked. "We are creatures of alchemy, cast in bodies of clay. Compact creatures with a heart for adventure, seeing as they are neither witless nor blind like you overgrown lot." Aello, frustrated, and perhaps slightly embarassed as well, lifted her right hand and set it against her pycon's back. "Hush now Lily," the huntress near cooed. Her voice meant to be both soft and soothing. "Your kind is not common, and strange to the eyes of man who think you a deception. A mere figment of their imaginations." She paused. "How could you fault her ignorance? Yell at her when she has obviously never seen a pycon before?" The huntress fell silent as her eyes danced over the pycon's form. As she felt the etchings of a clay spine pressing up against her palm. "It still frustrates me," the pycon grumbled under her breath. Causing the huntress to smile weakly as she stifled a chuckle or two. "I know, it would be no different if one thought me a dhani," Aello replied. "But still, calm your heart Lily. I am sure she meant you no offense," with that, she pulled her hand away from the pycon's back, and looked up at the Kelvic with a cold, piercing gaze. One that was well practiced, and seemed to peer through her very flesh, into her soul. "Isn't that right, stranger?" OOCAngry Lily is angry, which makes Aello angry, and you will not like it when Aello is angry. =S |