Open The hunter and his dog

[Syren]

Day 20 of Spring, 513 AV "Don't you look at me like that." Syren said as he looked down at Maliyah in her animal form who was staring at him with big, brown accusing eyes Look, I know you don't like the dried meat, but i'm not the best hunter yet okay? Stop being such a guts." Syren felt the dog bite his arm "OUCH, Meli! What the hell?" He shook her off pointedly, and rubbed at the part on his forearm she had bitten him. She hadn't even broken the skin, but she'd gotten her point across well enough. It had been dissappointing to come back with nothing for Sy as well. He'd seen how some of the Drykas sniggered at him when he turned up with nothing to show, and he sure didn't need Meliyah to give him a hard time as well. "I'm going for a walk. Stay here." He said, switching to common, and getting to his feet the irritation clear in his tone "I mean it, Melie" Syren got up, shoved his hands in his pockets and left Meliyah do do whatever she wanted. Usually he didn't want to be apart from her, but he felt like being with his own company, at least for a little while. He was angry with himself for missing the dear he'd aimed at. It had run off with such a fright that it had scared anything else he might have had a shot at away as well. He'd never had such a fruitless hunt before. He milled around for a little while, people watching. When someone caught him looking he'd just walk the other way, or simply pretend he'd been looking past them. Faces past, mostly the long-haired Drykas, with their tattooed torso's and strong physiques. He thought about when He and his bondmate Meliyah had made it to this place. It had been a stroke of pure luck really. Days longer in that damn sea of grass, and they might have perished. Meliyah already had a scar on her shoulder from one of the deadly animals that hunt in packs out there. He found he could fit into this place though. He'd lived very similarly with his people. Of course, they were all alot more friendly, and welcoming, and he'd been pretty high up on the social ladder, where as here, barely anyone knew him or cared about him. The ones that did know him probably saw him as a loser. So maybe he didn't fit in at all. But he would build his skills, and some friendships here eventually. It was a good thing he was such a patient, level headed guy. Oh wait. No he wasn't. He was extremely easily frustrated, and it was easy for him to become discouraged. Which was how he felt right now. He didn't exactly hide those feeling either with his downtrodden expression, and crinkled brow. Maybe if he made some more friends here he'd feel better. Meliyah was great, he could tell her anything, but another couple of buddies wouldn't go amiss. He'd had lots of friends back home. He'd always missed them. Maybe one day he'd see them again. Maybe they would forgive his alleged betrayal. But for now he was a long way away. So, if there was anyone worth talking to around here, maybe he could strike up a conversation with them? So he would stop, and wait for a target. Who looked interesting?

[Colt]

Today’s hunt could have been better. Then again, it could have been worse. While he had managed to flush a covey of groundfowl for the falcon, he hadn’t been able to strike one down while they were fleeing and so was forced to rely on the one that she had killed. Only one snare had been successful while the other had had yet to be sprung, and so he had reset both and grudgingly headed into Endrykas.

The rabbit from the snare was fat and unmarked, and its price had been high. The pheasant, however, he didn’t even try to sell; the she-falcon had gorged upon it, as she did every day before he took her kill, and few people wanted a half-eaten animal. The bloody bird remained on his belt, earning him a number of odd stares. Still, it wasn’t a particularly large loss; maybe Slither would like it.

But with high noon approaching, the hunter could feel the lazy time approaching. With snares set and hunting forays finished until sundown, he often found himself with hours on his hands and nothing to do but lark about uselessly. Those were some of the times he hated the most, and so today’s trip to Endrykas had been about more than the simple barter of his kills, evidenced by the leather bag now in his hands.

His offer-crafting during the Feast of Life had awoken an unexpected penchant within: a penchant for woodworking. True, he knew absolutely nothing about it, but when he had been carving staves he had marveled at the tranquility it gave him; his hands had moved almost on their own, over and over again to take bark away, and his mind had been free to wander while he worked. It was a very enjoyable pastime, and one he wanted to become more skilled at.

Granted, he wasn’t quite sure what most of the things in the kit were for; his original tool of choice had been his hunting knife, and there were a great many things in the bag with purposes that completely escaped him. Oh, well. He would figure them out in time.

But the hunter was not a very observant fellow, at least when he was in Endrykas proper. When his thoughts wandered, he could ignore the cacophony that so often gave him such a huge headache. He could let the people drift by and restrain himself from fleeing outright. But of course, this also meant that he wasn't always aware of what was going on around him, this he would readily admit.

But he still cawed in surprise when he collided with the blue-eyed man, then mentally chastised himself for not paying attention to where he was going. Again.

He backpedaled hurriedly, ignorance dissipating and a sudden, very uncomfortable expression on his face.

Apology, he signed.

Shopping!-50 gold mizas for a woodcarver’s kit.

[Orkis Strongwind]

Orkis was in a foul mood, he had got a bad price for the 2 fat rabbits he had shot and he had made a terrible attempt at skinning the 3rd, mainly due to the fact he attempted it with his longsword. And to top it all of he had not had a good scrap in days. He stalked among the canvas of Endrykas, glaring at anybody that glanced at him for more than he felt necessary.

He sat down on the floor, not careing if he was in anybody's way, took out his longsword and a rag and started to clean the blood from the rabbit off it. As he absentmindedly did this his eyes wandered about the throng of people around him, all with some purpose that to them seemed the msot important thing in the world. Orkis was about to loose interested and wander back to his strider for a ride in the sea of grass to see if he could find anything to spar with, when 2 men not far away from him collided together. Orkis looked at them intently wondering if a fight after all was on the cards.

[Syren]

Maybe just stopping in the midst of a fairly busy area hadn't been the greatest of ideas, in hindsight. Syren hadn't been stood there for long before he was pused forwards, roughly by another who had crashed into him. "Ouch" he proclaimed in his natural language. Syren turned to see who this person was and saw a man, of a similar age to him by the looks of it. He looked kinda awkward, though Syren wasn't sure how anyone could be more awkward than himself, as an outsider still struggling with common, let along Pavi, the wondrously petching difficult, visual language. It took a liitle while of rather idiotic staring and thinking to figure out that the sign the man made was an apology. He couldn't think how to reply. Wow, he must look like a gormless fool "u-u-um, no worry" he said clumsily, not even daring to sign, knowing it might lead him into a ditch. This was difficult, he knew very litle of this signing business. "Don't suppose you know any common?" He said grinning apologetically, trying to laugh his way out of the embarrassment he felt. "My name is Syren, I speak only little Pavi" He said as clumsily as ever. he coppied the sign for apology at the end of the sentence, hoping it would come across as 'My apologies'. But he couldn't be sure. Much of his confidence had gone, but he prevailed with the language anyway "What is your name?" He asked, trying to sound friendly and as confident as he usually was, though it was difficult with his slow, and stuttering tone as he tried to peice sentences together. How long had he been living here again? A year or so? Maybe a little less than that. He felt he should have focused more on signing, as he barely knew anything. As a distraction, out of the corner of his eye, he saw another man, that had apparently plonked himself down in the centre of the throng. Syren only spared a glance at him, hoping the man wouldn't also come over and begin badgering him in Pavi.

[Colt]

The man didn’t seem to take offense, and for that the hunter was thankful. The man stuttered in Pavi, then in common, then changed back to Pavi.

Unsure what to make of the situation, the hunter shifted his feet uncomfortable as the man introduced himself.

Hello… he signed. The sounds tumbled around in his throat as they always did when he tried to speak out loud, and the name came out as more of a hiss and purr than what the man had actually said.

“… Sss-rrn.”

This was not turning well, and it seemed to slope even more downhill when he was asked for his name.

The hunter shifted his weight again, even less sure how to respond to this question.

I am… he thought frantically for something to put at the end of the sentence. He had been in Endrykas for two, no, three seasons now, and even though he had done his best to reintegrate with the city and his people, his state of namelessness had remained. Not that he was particularly concerned about it; humans had a strange need to name everything, a need that he did not share and actually found rather frivolous. But until now, he’d never been directly asked for his name, and so he had no answer prepared.

I… am a hunter, he said. That much was true, at least, but it was not signed in such a way as to say that his name was Hunter, but that he, himself, was a person who hunted.

[Orkis Strongwind]

Orkis watched in amazed amazement as the 2 men awkwardly tried to have a conversation, of which he could just about hear over the noise of the crowd. Neither men spoke each others languages very well at all. As a child his mother and father sometimes traded with people that spoke the common language, and when not training his physical skills, his mother spent the evenings teaching him common, until he was of a competent enough level to have basic conversations. Thinking about his mother brought a flood of unwanted emotions onto Orkis, and at that moment he resented the man that spoke common for bringing back painful memories and had an over whelming urge to thump him.
However in thinking about this it also reminded him of what his father had told him throughout his lessons 'the skills i teach you are to help others when they are in need and are not to be abused'. Surely that doesn't count for languages as well, he thought to himself, and so started an internal battle between his honorable side that told him he should help these two men communicate, and his other egotistical side that told him he should just leave the to men in there ignorance.

In the end his honorable side when, and with an annoyed sigh he pushed himself up and made his way to the men, the crowd parting as he walked, he struck quite a figure with just his leather breeches on, bare top showing his toned physique, and bow spear and sword strapped to him.
When he reached the men he spoke to the one that spoke common first, and addressed him in common, "my fellow Drykas here said that he was a hunter, not that his name is hunter but that he is a hunter". Without waiting for a responce he turned to the Drykas, speaking and signing Pavi, "He said his name is Siren, i can appologise to him for you, then this whole thing can be over with, you can go back to contemplating your navel and he can go back to wondering around looking depressed". Orkis was still in a foul mood and unfortunately that was being taken out on these to men, however something interested him about them, otherwise, honorable or not, he would have left them to it.

[Syren]

He was about to respond to the man who had called himself a hunter instead of saying what his name was when that angry looking Drykas he'd glanced at before hauled himself from his position in the middle of the road, to come over and translate "What is his problem" he muttered in Shiber. He looked at the guy with a mix of irritation, and interest. Well, at least he could communicate with this one, but he didn't seem like the most friendly guy. Not to mention he seemed like one of those 'tough guys' who thought themselves better than everyone else. Sy was judging a book by it's cover here, but he immediately felt an wave of annoyance towards the guy. Sy could see the way he scowled, and looked exasperated, like the both of them were stupid. He didn't catch anything other than his name when the sour Drykas talked to the hunter. He knew imediatly that what he'd said was probably some kind of insulting remark. Of course, he really had no idea what he'd said so he couldn't exactly come up with any witty response to fire back. Language really was power, wasn't it? "Thanks for the help, I guess. Syren said, with a somewhat half-hearted mirror of the friendly tone he'd used earlier Any reason why you were sitting in the middle of the street in a little huff?" His tone was a little irritable, he knew it was inviting trouble, but it was this guys own fault. If he'd wanted to help them, simply because it was the honorable thing to do, he'd have said what he had to say in a less irking fashion. and anyway, it was a pretty fair question, Syren thought.

[Colt]

The hunter flinched visibly when a third, unexpected voice appeared at his shoulder, and one hand automatically lurched towards the javelins at his back. He managed to halt it at his chest, and when he turned to look at the sudden newcomer his eyes flashed with a feral heat.

Everything the Drykas said went in one ear and out the other; all the hunter knew was the tense caution of a possible threat.

He squared to fully face the unknown man, both hands held out slightly away from him and ready should they be required for any reason. All of the words thrown about were not even heard; to him, the language of the body was much more intriguing.

The new Drykas’ face was drawn in a mask of annoyance, which concerned the hunter greatly. He seemed to feel that the hunter and this Syren were somehow the cause by the way his gaze was steeled, though the hunter could not imagine why. It didn’t matter; the irritation was still there, directed at him, and that made all the difference.

When the Drykas turned to him, the hunter made no attempt to hide his opinions with propriety as Syren had. He rolled to the balls of his feet, poised to fight or flee and half-curled his lip; not quite enough to bare his teeth, but enough to display that that was exactly what he wanted to do. A barely audible snarl rumbled from the depths of his throat; he’d already put up with enough of Endrykas today, and he was quite finished with the ridiculous affairs that humans inevitably stirred up.

[Orkis Strongwind]

Orkis watched in interest as the men responded. The man that called himself Syren responded with a mixture of annoyance and with a sarcastic, but witty, defensive remark in the common tongue. And then The Drykas who called himself a hunter reacted and it was his reaction that most interested him. The man reacted like an animal backed into a corner, his hands went for his weapons, his lips curled into a snarl and he looked as though he was ready to run or pounce but hadn't quiet decided himself. Orkis looked at them both for a moment and then doubled over roaring with laughter.

"The men have balls" he said between fits of laughter. Once he had pulled himself together enough to speak he looked at them both again and simply said "I like that" speaking in common but signing in pavi, still with a huge grin on himself wondering what fate had in mind, as fate was clearly involved in a meeting of 3 people as unique as the three that were gathered.

[Syren]

The expression that the Drykas made, the snarling and the half curling of his lip was actually familiar to the Benshira. He lived and travelled with a kelvic after all. Meliyah did this anytime she felt threatened, or if the two of them were to get into a fight. Although, he had to admit, on this man, it was a little more fearsome. Melie looked cute, even when she was trying to be intimidating. Still, it was a little amusing for Sy to see the animal like expression cross his face. It was easier to find it comical knowing that it was directed at the other man. The deep rumble in his throat, that was pretty much the same sound as his companion would make in her canine form. Although when the other man began roaring with laughter, and amusement died on his lips. He wouldn't laugh with that guy. He'd much rather be on the hunters side if things got to a fight. It felt like a bit of a stand off. This cocky little patch was irking Syren to no end, but not to the point where he'd act like an animal. Though this guy did seem to be all about body and facial expressions rather than speech. So, Sy changed his body language visibly to something a lot more relaxed, if not slightly tensed. It did not mean that he dropped his guard, just that he wasn't actively looking for a fight in the middle of a place like this. "What do you want, did you come over to start a fight? You never answered my question before." Syren said this carefully. His tone was sharp, but not aggressive. Suddenly there was a loud, furious series of barks and Sy, to his shock, and horror, saw Meliyah bounding towards him on all fore furry legs. Oh great She came, obviously seeing the situation as a bad one, to 'protect' him, and so, was currently growling at both Drykas. Yeah, because that was going to make everything better. "Meliyah! What is wrong with you? Get back behind me. I told you to stay!" He said switching to Shiber without even thinking. Not that it would matter, one wouldn't have to be a genius to guess what he was saying. The dog looked up at him with annoyance and bit his leg. Syren yelled and grabbed the loose skin at the back of her neck and dragged her off of him. "Mellie! Stop it! I swear i'll-" The dog finally, with intelligent eyes, and its nose high up in the air looking very pleased with its self, sat down by her companions legs. Syren cursed in Shiber and looked back up sheepishly. Maybe, at his expense, this comical display might ease some of the tension. Damn Meliyah ruins everything, stubborn creature! "Gods, I'm sorry about her. She's Maliyah, a very troublesome kelvic who rarely listens to anything I say." Meliyah just wagged her fluffy black tail and stuck her tongue out as if to say 'Like I care' This was not a good day for him. At all.