Knife Edge (N'all)

[Min]

Min repeated emphatically, “I will pay you. We can talk about price later.” N’all still seemed so…uncomfortable, glaring at those around them. Min could empathize with feeling like a stranger here in Syliras, and thus out of place and relatively alone. But N’all seemed downright nervous. Perhaps he needed to be outside. “Come, take me to your horse, if you have time today to teach. I can lead a horse. I led horses on my journey here, to Syliras. But riding is…different. The horse is…tall." Tall and bouncy, Min had found. Walking was bad enough, but anything faster and she could not help but trying to ball up and cling, and that seemed the best and quickest way to end up in a heap on the ground. Somehow, she would have to get over this fear, for if she was to move on, to other cities, in search of her quarry, it would be necessary to ride.

[N'all Rivent]

Tall, N'all thought, to him a horse was of average height, but he guessed that came from his animal half. "One moment", he said before looking around himself for another moment, ignoring the passerby as he got his bearings. "Follow me", he said as he began to pick out a path between the people, heading towards his camp.

"I have nothing to do, so I have all the time you need to learn," he said as they walked. He really didn't have anything to do, he had been looking because of this very reason. Nothing to do, with a small amount of mizas to spend, and apparently earned from what Min kept saying about paying him, even after he said he didn't need it.

[Min]

It occurred to Min, as they began to walk out of the bazaar, and thence into the street, that N’all must either have a good amount of money, to be able to simply ‘hang out’ in Syliras – or he might soon find himself in need of employment. His statement that he didn’t have anything in particular to do seemed to support this notion – that he was currently unemployed. But she thought she would ask. “You do not work? What did you do before – can you remember? Will you be seeking work here, in this city?” If he couldn’t even say where he was from or why he was here, she thought it likely that he’d have no better answer for these newest questions. It intrigued her, but it also made her feel sympathy for the kelvic, and she wondered what it must be like to have no memories. Strange, indeed….

[N'all Rivent]

N'all was surprised by the question, but this was one of the things of his past that was crystal. "I delivered things," he said as he looked at Min, "Small not so important objects, but objects nonetheless." He looked around them, realizing that they now stood mere feet away from the gates. As the passed the threshold he decided to answer the first question, after sighing loudly.

"I don't have a job yet, but I plan on getting one soon," he said in a very slightly ignored tone, the Myrian was nice, but she was also very inquisitive.
It didn't bother him that much, but it was still slightly annoying.

[Min]

Surprisingly, the crow kelvic had a prompt reply to this particular question, and the job he mentioned wasn’t so very odd, or dangerous or risky – not to her way of thinking. Playing delivery boy usually didn’t entail so much that would have caused N’all any injury or trauma such as would force his memory to go to ground and hide. But of course, that would depend on what he was delivering. There might be those things that in themselves were …explosive – literally or figuratively. Or there could be things of value that might make a person covet them and attack the one carrying it. But she could not decipher more about his past from this scant information. Min supposed that Na’ll could make deliveries here as well – Syliras was big enough for that, it seemed. They had reached the city gates and began to pass through the double set, and as she set foot in the inbetween courtyard, Min realized this would be the first time she had set foot outside the walls since her arrival, two weeks prior. That thought was both invigorating and strange – she didn’t care much for her newly adopted city, yet she was bound to stay, for a while, regardless of her personal preferences. They walked on in companionable silence until they reached the outer gates and Min looked curiously about. “That is where your keep your things, and your horse?” she asked, gesturing to the tent encampment pressed right against the outer wall.

[N'all Rivent]

N'all looked ahead at his poorly built camp. Sure it was organized, but he would need more skill before he set it up in the way he wanted it to be.

"Yes," he said as they came closer and closer to the site. He rummaged through his possessions for a moment before finding his riding gear. He then went through the task of fitting the gear onto his horse, after finding the animal of course. He made sure the animal was calm around Min before motioning for Min to come closer to the animal. "This is Pak," he said as he looked the horse up and down, patting it before turning back to Min.

[Min]

They had continued to walk along, ostensibly in the direction of where N’all had his tent pitched. And with each step, Min had begun to feel those nervous flutterings that arose in her stomach whenever she thought about riding a horse. Her experiences on the trip from Riverfall to Syliras had especially soured her on the obvious benefits of riding versus walking. But she was a realist and knew, this would be good for her. She just had to keep telling herself that, over and over. They reached a tent and Min waited patiently while N’all fetched out his tack – saddle and pad, bridle – the standard accoutrements for riding a horse. Then he wandered off aways to catch up the horse itself, which had been tethered close by. Min watched him approach, leading the horse by a rope attached to its halter, and she felt her hear begin to race in her chest. Of course, this would be OK, she told herself. She had ridden before – though not for some weeks now. And she felt like N’all would not push her too hard – that he would not let her reservations fall on deaf and uncaring ears. Maybe, if they took it slowly, she could actually get over her fears. N’all was now standing before her and Min looked into his light eyes, hoping to see there some…compassion? The horse stood quietly – ah, but didn’t many of the tricky devils do just that and then once you mounted… Min forced herself to calm down and breathe slowly, and N’all let her take her time to do so, for which she was grateful. Still, the horse remained steadily in place and N’all said its name, as he motioned for Min to come closer. Min forced herself to approach them, her hands stiffly by her side, her face looking a bit frozen. Honestly, maybe walking to Ravok, or Zeltiva, or Sunberth, would not be so difficult, would it?