Wandering Jewel (Akarn)

[Natane Skytears]

The girl fought back a laugh but was unable to hide her smile. She had always found men and their obsession with ones pride humorous, Natane could not understand why all men had to seem so strong and brave. It made them seem uncaring and somewhat emotionless. But, living in such a deadly wasteland and appearing weak was a sure way to get yourself killed. Where did you draw the line? Perhaps the reason she did not understand was because she belonged to the more sensitive and overly emotional sex, though the girl knew as much about women as she did about men.

Like Chenoa had said, she was doomed...

Natane watched as Akarn set up another shot, she sighed seeing that his emotional barrier was back in it's rightful place. The young man had let the protective shield around himself fall, only for a moment but it was long enough to make Natane curious. What was this man like beneath his hardened defences?

There was silence for a moment while Natane thought; she glanced over at Endrykas, it's inhabitance fully awake now and going about their daily routines. So many people...
She bit her lip turning her attention back to the boy and mumbled, “It will be safer, won't it?... Okay, I'll move closer...”

[Akarn]

The arrow slid back silently upon the polished wooden bow, the actually art of aiming took longer than the actual journey of the arrow once released. This time it took particularly longer since he was trying not to be distracted by Natane's smile. The girl had obviously become amused by something, as much as he tried to ignore her smile he found himself dwelling on it all the more. He just closed his eyes and cleared his mind to finish the task at hand. When all else was just a faint whisper in his mind, he opened his eyes and let loose the arrow.


With the shot finished Akarn turned towards her, he pushed back a dark strand of hair that had somehow managed to work its way in front of his ear. "Yes, a lot safer." He said reiterating her point.


Then his eyes wandered back over her camp sizing up the chore ahead of them. "Perhaps we should start breaking down your camp so we can be finished by mid-day." He looked to her to see what her thoughts were on the plan.

[Natane Skytears]

Placing her bow and quiver safely on the ground, Natane answered the young man's question though speaking mainly to the ground, she felt her stomach knot up and once again the girl vowed to rid herself of this irrational anxiety as soon as possible, “Packing up should not take that long, I do not own much”
Though Natane considered it strange that during the time spent training with Akarn, even if it had only been for a short while, the nauseating feeling she had grown so used to had vanished. It was odd that she would feel so comfortable around someone she knew so little about. She felt her cheeks flush; quickly the girl turned away muttering to herself, and questioning her sanity.

She disappeared inside the tent, wanting something to take her mind off the Drykas male that stood outside, and stared at the chaos that lay before her; breathing out a deep sigh, she ran a hand through her hair murmuring, “I take that back. This may take some time...” So few things, yet such a big mess...

[Akarn]

The fellow Dykas watched the young woman enter the tent and disappear from view. Akarn heard her make a few comments about the amount time that it would take to get things done and he smiled wondering what all she had in her tent. He had wanted to offer to help but did not want to invade the privacy of her own space. "I am sure it will not take that long." Besides, he thought, with two striders things probably would not have to be neatly packed away and the move was not a long distance at all.

While he waited the stocky Drykas warrior turned and waded through the grass towards the target. He set about gathering Natanes and his own arrows making sure he kept them separate. Akarn retrieved the rope from the makeshift target and inspected the outer threads of the hemp. Satisfied that it was not damaged he headed back to young woman's camp.

Akarn returned to the front on Natane's tent and he waited for her to emerge again. While he waited he placed her arrows neatly by the side of her tent and he put his back in his quiver. He could start to hear the grumblings of his stomach. Finally he just asked, "So where should we start?"

[Natane Skytears]

Natane answered Akarn while she picked up her clothes that lay around the inside of the tent, “If you don't mind, you could help me in here? Perhaps take the tarp and ropes and things outside?”
To make things easier to track, the young woman kept all of her things inside her tent when not in use. That way she did not have to worry about her belongings disappearing.

She found her saddlebag beneath a shirt and began shoving whatever she could lay her hands on into the bag, not bothering to fold or tidy any of her clothes. The girl gathered up her blanket, glared once more at the sword and all it's memories before shoving it aside to roll up her bed.

[Akarn]

Akarn looked towards the tent and then thought better about entering. he nervously rubbed his hands together. He looked about the encampment and noticed there was not much to get started on out here but it sounded like most of the work was inside. So he slowly exhaled and entered the tent.

The young Drykas male cast a glance towards Natane before finding the tarp. With a small heave he placed it on his shoulder and then scooped up two poles with his free hand. Then he stopped noticing the metallic glint off to the side of the bedroll that Natane was working on.

He could not help but to comment on the object. "Nice sword, it looks well crafted." He said not really knowing much about craftsmanship or the quality of swords. It was just something that was said when people admired others weapons. With that he continued back outside with her gear.

[Natane Skytears]

“Wretched thing...” Natane murmured in reply to Akarns comment. It was clear that she disliked the weapon, but her feelings had little to do with the blade itself and more to do with the memories it held.

The girl pushed the saddlebags and bedroll out of the tent and continued to gather all the other odds and ends, placing them in alongside the rest of the gear outside. Natane had never cared much for organisation or presentation, and this had lead to quite a few arguments with her parental figures. According to her aunty and father’s second wife, being organised and presentable were both part of being a woman. Since she lacked both those skills, Natane decided that she was just going to have to stay a child for the remainder of her days. Which was fine by her if it meant she did not have to marry someone.

Having removed the contents of the tent, Natane stood and brushed the dirt from her front. She glanced once at the pile, Niabi seemed to have taken a liking to something within the saddlebag and the strider now trying to get her nose under the leather, before making an attempt to dismantle the tent.

“Could you give me a hand?” Natane asked, “I am not very good at this...”

[Akarn]

The young Drykas man was not sure to make of the girls distaste for the sword. It looked like a fine weapon but he decided not to approach the subject for now. He finished gathering something from inside and stepped back out in to the camp.

Then he watched her for a moment just kind of put everything into a loose pile and he smiled. He watched her long chestnut braid whip about her while she finished her task. He marveled at how her eyes while almost matching her hair were not quite the same color or perhaps it was the way the sun caught them occasionally.

He turned his head away realizing he was probably still grinning like an idiot. He focused his attention on her strider who was busy trying to obtain access to one of the leather saddle bags in front of them. He could feel Maverous's eyes upon him , the horse hungrily pulled up some more stalks of grass, ripping them from the ground.

The he heard her ask him if he could give her a hand and he nodded moving over towards the tent. He looked over the knots holding the tent steady and began to undo the hemp lashings. "Perhaps we will be done with the move by mid meal and we can take a small break." He smiled while he was busy at his new task. "So We can take a short stroll around Endrykas and see what delicious tidbits there are available for lunch ."

[Natane Skytears]

The girl stole a glance at the young man assisting her and wondered what he was grinning about. Yet, Natane found her own lips turn up in a smile and she looked away quickly. Akarn's smile seemed to highlight his handsome features, and his emerald eyes gleamed in a way that made the girl's cheeks flush. But the way his hair was tied irritated her greatly.

Akarn's suggestion brought her back into reality, she nodded remembering that she had not yet eaten this morning and her stomach was growling.

“I like that idea” the girl murmured, though still finding it hard to look the man in the eye, “But afterwards, you have to let me braid your hair. Properly” she chuckled and said, “I can not stand it being so... untidy”

[Akarn]

Akarn raised his brows and wondered what his hair looked liked. He strolled over towards Maverous and draped a few items over the muscular steed. He gently rubbed his oldest friends neck and gave him a quick pat. Then he looked back towards Natane and nodded. "It is the least I can concede to since I am uprooting you." He chuckled a little and then quickly looked away. He busily fidgeted with securing the items to the Yvas.

He looked back towards the tent city and wondered if Natane would fit in better than he did. Then again he spent too much time trying to set himself apart from the settlements activities. He glnaced back over at the brown haired maiden and knew she probably would. He looked around to see if he could load anymore of the young woman's things on to his strider.