Closed [The Market] Black Sheep (Fraha)

[Kovac]

“hmm I wonder what’s that cotton cloud, if it’s good I’ll take one of those”

The Benshiran pointed to the pink puffy confection wrapped around the stick, Kovac gave her a nod and smile. "Oh yes, it is good!" Turning to the attendant, Kovac ficked up two fingers on one hand and pointed to the cotton candy with the other. "We'll take two."

Fraha tried to explain her journeys to the half-inartan, mentioning name so of cities he did not recognize, apart from Syliras. All the man really gathered is that the woman seemed to have travelled the entire world, and probably had not seen twenty winters. He knew grown men who would not dare such travels for fear of their very lives. Yet, this petite, attractive girl had managed to do it barely into womanhood. It intrigued the hunter.

However, once she asked about his travels, Kovac realized, in comparison, he was untravelled and overall, uninteresting. He would have to make some effort to sound like more than a simple hunter and archery instructor.

"I ride Wind Eagles," he blurted out..then shrugged and added in a quiet voice, "...well, sometimes, with a rider. I am a hunter and an archery instructor. But I have been all over the Unforgiving, and spent the summer at Water Reach." He added with some enthusiasm. Having taken the treats from the vendor and laying down a pinion, Kovac handed one of the sticks of candy to Fraha and began a leisurely stroll.

"Hobbies? well, I like to play the lute...and have a good time." The half-breed gave the girl an ornery wink. "My adventures? Well...those stories can be shared sometime over a drink."

He may have been playing things up a bit, he was not sure what adventures he had to share..but it sounded good.

[Fraha]

As he mentioned the Wind Eagles Fraha’s eyes widened, did he mean one of those giant birds she saw? That was beyond awesome! Her happiness grew further as he confirmed to be an archer as she supposed, and not only an archer but an instructor as well. This was getting better and better, a guy like him should know a lot of people, not to mention he rode ”Those giant birds you mean? Wow, are they…how did you get one?” This guy was interesting, or at least he knew how to appear as such. Her eyes were screaming interest and even though she was friends with a birdy fellow, the idea of having an own giant eagle was definitely intriguing. She took the candy stick and gently bowed her head to Kovac “thank you”. Now, not sure how to consume it properly Fraha assumed that ripping it piece by piece would be the most elegant variant. She began to follow him wondering what is the Unforgiven, she thought it could be a good title for a song but that’s it. Speaking of music, she liked the sound of a lute, if well played. She remembered a particularly nice set of song a bard once played during travels. “Flute ah? I’ve heard some good songs, there was this guy, forgot his name but he had a project, he called it ‘The Dark Side of Leth’ those were some good pieces!” involuntarily Fraha completely ignored the wink, busy with the candy which by the way was delicious. She gave out a short moan as sugar melted on her tongue, that stuff was awesome and she wondered why she never try it before. “This is some good stuff! Mmh, but yeah, a drink might be good” She was drinking too much lately, specially since meeting Hoot. “But it is a bit too early right now to drink isn’t it? People sure do like drinking here ahah, it's incredible” that was implying he meant alcohol. Not a clever move, she could pass for an alcoholic like this. She blushed slightly without realizing.

[Kovac]

”Those giant birds you mean? Wow, are they…how did you get one?”

Perhaps it was a matter of language, as both of then were speaking Common, a tongue Kovac did not get an opportunity to practice often, and the stranger spoke with a heavy accent. Fraha's eye's had sparkled when she believed him to be an Eagle Rider, misunderstanding his explanation. Of course he wanted to impress the exotic woman, but to pretend to be one of the arrogant Endal was distasteful. He shook his head slightly.

"Now, I don't have a Wind Eagle, those are the Endal, the Riders. I am of the Avora class. I am a hunter, but the riders take us out to the hunting grounds, so I get to ride the eagles." Kovac explained, confessing his lower status. "To be honest, I would not want to be one of those bratty riders."

The half-breed nodded when the Benshiran thanked him, starting a leisurely walk back through the market. “Flute ah? I’ve heard some good songs...

Another misunderstanding. "Lute, not flute. Its a stringed instrument, kind of shaped like a pear. It was my mother's." He really did need to bone up on his Common. "Maybe I will play for you sometime." Kovac picked at his own spun sugar stick, tilting his head back and lowering a big puff into his mouth. His eyes shifted to the girl as she continued.

“... yeah, a drink might be good...But it is a bit too early right now to drink isn’t it?"

Though Kovac had meant they should have a drink 'sometime', he certainly was known to open a wine bottle at this chime. It was a habit his friends had subtly discouraged, and in the past year, after dealing with some issues, he no longer drank to forget his woes. But he did still drink, often.

"Yes, we do like to drink, some of us more than others." The man did not notice Fraha's slight blush. "Winters in Wind Reach can be especially hard. The harder the times, the harder we enjoy ourselves." Kovac glanced over at the attractive young woman and winked.

"So, Fraha of Yababa...Yahe...Yaheba..." he paused to make sure he remembered it right, "... how long are you staying in this crazy place, and what do you plan to do here?" He plucked another pinch of cotton candy from his stick and popped it into his mouth, sucking the sugar from his fingers.

[Fraha]

"Now, I don't have a Wind Eagle, those are the Endal, the Riders. I am of the Avora class. I am a hunter, but the riders take us out to the hunting grounds, so I get to ride the eagles." Classes again, Fraha heard about that many times now, a classist society was something rather new to her, although at the end every society with structure implies classes...yet here it was somewhat more relevant and it also looked like one had certain advantages like flying on giant birds. Fraha would indeed like one of those for her travels. " I see, I heard about this class thing, what about it? I mean, if you want your own eagle can't you get one or buy one?" he didn't seem to like the riders, but then again he was hunting with them so she added "Are the riders considered badly in this town?" Many wonders and many questions about this, definetly interesting, giant mountable eagle thing. She was guessing that getting one of those0 probably wasn't as obvious as buying shoes but on the other hand, you never know. "Lute not flute ... maybe i'll play for you sometimes". Fraha facepalmed gently "right, sorry the f is too silent there. That'd be nice, I could tap on some bongos meanwhile " added she while realizing that her musical knowledge level was below her shoes. Words of wisdom though, Kovac was goddam right about the hard times hard party thing. In fact as she heard those words, a deeper and more sophisticate picture of Kovac drew itself in Fraha's mind. She gave him a look, that kind of look you give to a person you suddenly realize you might have a mutual understanding with. She slightly shook her head as she smirked "that is very much so, yeah." she ripped another big piece from her sweet and waited for it to melt in her mouth as he spoke again. She nodded when he said the name right "I don't know actually, at least the winter, not much choice there heh, my plans here are not important, no real plan really, I guess you might say I'm a traveler, a wanderer of some sort, seeking things now and then. Nothing interesting really. What about you? How do you spend your life when not hunting and playing pear shaped instruments? "

[Kovac]

The more the stranger spoke, the more perplexed Kovac became. She had no understanding of how Wind Reach worked, its social structure or culture. The Avora' s brow knitted a bit as he lookd to the lovely young woman.

"Serious? You really don't know about Endals, or what life her is like?" he laughed derisively. "How did you ever find yourself here? This is not a vacation place honey. Damn right you will be here through the Winter. We are going into the most desperate season of the year, snowed in. Good chance some people will starve this winter, if food supplies don't last. And every one," he pointed a sticky finger at Fraha, "everyone has to work."

Kovac lightened his tone, flashing another smile at her. "Again, good thing I found you!" The snarky mongrel gave Fraha a wink. "Alright, so, the Endal are at the top of the chain here, with the Wind Eagles, they are the riders. They are not the 'bad guys', just most are arrogant. Below them are Avora, those of us who are gifted in a certain craft, such as me, I am a hunter. Then there are the Chiet. You might call them the commoners, they perform somewhat less skilled tasks, but no less important. Then there are the Dek. They are the poor wretches that do the dirty work. You don't want to fall into that class. So no, you can't buy an eagle, they are not just animals, they...think like people. One has to chose you."

Having given his lecture, Kovac moved on to answer her more personal questions. "What do I do when not working or playing the lute? Well, not much time for more, but, I managed to find thinks to ....occupy my time." Kovac flashed another wink to the naive foreigner.