Completed A Winter Child

[Dasreide]

Dasreide closed his eyes, allowing the sweet sensation of half-sleep wash over him as he entered into a trance-like state of meditation, partially aware of the outer world while retaining the ability to rest up as normal. His thoughts drifted from many topics at a time, divulging insight to him about where to go and where not to go for the next day. His intuition became heightened, but he was still very much aware of the probability of an unseen consequence happening. Hours passed and little stirred the air besides a pair of squirrels that chattered in the trees above while the two rested. Darkness came and went, the snowfall slowing and finally halting altogether as the fire died down, the fuel used up and decayed. Dasreide felt the rays of sunlight grace his dark skin after peeking through the leafy overhead. The sun was just beginning to rise, and yet there was a strange lack of sound in the air. Dasreide finally perked open an eye to glance about the area, noting the lack of forest sounds and life. He frowned as he stirred from his spot, crouching low as he got to his feet and headed over to Ruby who still lay asleep. "Get up, child." He whispered in her ear as he placed a broad hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake. His eyes remained on the road that lay a few paces outside of their camp, the golden irises ever weary for intruders. They narrowed slightly as they caught sight of something stirring the dust ever so slightly upon the well-beaten trail. "We have company."

[Ruby Majalenka]

"We have company."

The Akalak's warning seemed to not ring any bell in Ruby. She deliriously stood up and brandished her mother's suvai which she pulled with little effort from the crumbling hard ground. "Let's not be disappointing hosts then." she commented dryly, taking in everything as they come, cold and indifferent like a machine.

Ruby's battle stance was basic, but sufficient enough for self-defense. She held the dagger-sized weapon with both hands to compensate for her small stature of a youngling with one feet in front of the other, forcing the body to half turn away from her front side to which the dagger was pointed with a degree of fourty-five, an angle flexible for hacking or stabbing. For every attack she'd take two steps. The first to gain inertia — as physics named the force —, the second to halt the body's movement, therefore letting out the accumulated force in a swing or stab of the suvai. Her mother had been the teacher responsible.

The first light had appeared on the horizon, a sudden orange flash which was blinding for moments, then came the gray period after sunrise, during which the earth seemed to lose its color into gloomy shades of gray, the hour humans were most vulnerable to ill thoughts and bad imaginations. The merits of a settled-down life was that you could sleep through these times.

"What creature are we expecting, master ?" she whispered, eyes casually but methodically standing watch.

[Dasreide]

The sudden combat stance of the young woman caused the wizened Akalak to frown and sigh, running a hand down his face exasperatedly. "Your kind calls them human."He stated with a frown, standing and moving in front of Ruby, a broad hand reaching down to force Ruby's weapon downward, as if telling her to stay her hand. The golden irises of the Akalak must have seen something that Ruby could not as they traced the edge of the camp, stopping at a shady spot near one of the trees. "Come out, Imira." Dasreide called to the edge of the camp. Silence over took the area as the Akalak waited. It didn't take long before his summons were answered. From beneath a tree came a mere blur of a humanoid figure as it dashed towards the tall Akalak. Dasreide's eyes narrowed and his figure began to blur as well for a moment before he practically vanished from the spot, flux magics fueling his sudden lurch forward as he grabbed the approaching creature by the neck and pretty much clothes-lined it. The figure stopped dead in its tracks as it was hoisted into the air. Ruby would see the figure clearly now. It was a woman, no older than twenty five years of age. She appeared to have a delicate frame, thin and loosely muscular sculpted thighs and bicepts and not much meat upon her bones. Her eyes were a tealish-blue and her hair was a fiery orange. She wore simple, tight clothing made of leather and linen. The clothes she wore were in shades of grey, black and green along with a dull brown here and there. The woman grunted in pain and tried to speak, but was only able to manage a gurgle. Her brow furrowed as she lashed out at the Akalak with a small knife, which was easily deflected by the unarmed warrior as he grabbed her wrist. He growled slightly and tossed her to the ground on her stomach, keeping ahold of her wrist as he wrenched it behind her back, straddling her rear and taking a seat atop her. "You are still sloppy, Imira." Dasreide growled into the woman's ear as he lowered his head next to hers. The woman chuckled lightly, coughing twice as she tried to catch her breath, the weight of the Akalak bearing down upon her. "It's hard to beat the one who taught you everything you know." She retorted with a smirk. Dasreide frowned and stood, letting go of the woman's wrist and stepping back. "Get up." He said to the woman, who complied by crawling to her knees and sitting down. She smirked again and winked at Dasreide. "It's good to see you too, sensei." She said with a chuckle, turning to look at Ruby. "Who's she?"

[Ruby Majalenka]

Sensing the lack of hostility and the violent greetings, Ruby quickly assumed she was a friend of the Akalak and stood down, though Ruby did wince a bit when she was tossed to the ground. Not long after, it was made clear that she was a former student of the Akalak. Now she casually inquired to Dasreide regarding the identity of the unknown Konti.

"I would prefer to be asked upon directly, Imira-san." Ruby replied curtly. She has never liked the habit of asking about someone in the presence of the subject. "I am Ruby Majalenka, currently travelling under master Dasreide's care. Nice to meet you." she bowed.

Ruby was looking forward to breakfast as she recognized how bad her temper was in the times preceding it, something that was sure to be delayed upon the arrival of the human girl. The girl was a few years older than her, and clearly not the type to dwell in the safety of a walled city from the girl's way of dressing. An idle notion of the girl being Dasreide's past love interest dashed into mind, but was quickly banished for being too silly.

In fear of her temper, Ruby tried to hasten the formalities and proceed to the meal that'd stabilize her mind. "Will you be joining us for breakfast ?"

'Why not.' she thought. 'Fire burns brighter with good wine and company, as mom always said.'

[Dasreide]

Imira's face reddened suddenly when the sudden realization that Ruby had called Dasreide 'master' dawned upon her. She frowned and stood up, taking a defiant stance, leaning slightly forward with her hands clenched into fists off to the side. "Don't call me Imira-san and stop calling my sensei 'master'!" She said rather loudly, drawing the gaze of Dasreide who had moved towards the fire pit to try and rekindle the flame. A catfight is best left between cats, Dasreide. Dasreide shook his head and returned to rekindling the fire, allowing Imira to take an advancing step forward and glare at the Konti, who was the same height as the human woman. "There ain't no way you're under sensei's care." Imira growled, eyes almost slits, "Sensei would never take a weakling like you under his wing!" "ENOUGH." Dasreide finally pitched in, silencing Imira's tempered words almost immediately, but she continued to glare at Ruby with a passionate hate. "Imira, Ruby is a student to me, just as you are. Now come and sit before your anger gets you into trouble." He said with a backed tone that said he wouldn't accept no for an answer. Imira fumed for a moment before turning away from Ruby and marching over to the fire pit, plopping herself down hard a foot from Dasreide as the Akalak continued to work on the pit. Dasreide was quiet for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly as he struck a piece of steel against a stick of flint. "Ruby." His words cut through the silence that fell upon the site, his eyes fixated on his work even as he spoke to his newest apprentice. "Do you know how to cook?" He asked, a passive tone lining his voice as he asked the question. He had little skill within the cooking department and could rarely get a good meal made for himself, let alone three people.

[Ruby Majalenka]

'I was simply trying to act friendly, twit.' Ruby said to herself at the human girl's agitation. She felt the anger rising, though it was quickly suppressed by a self-gratiating thought: 'Some things are not worth fighting over... I'm better than this human, it's not like winning over this argument will adorn me with laurel wreaths.'

"Then allow me to call you Mira." she replied lazily with ill-concealed contempt.

On the other hand, Ruby felt reassured that the girl was not a threat. At least she won't do harm to Dasreide, although Ruby felt the need to keep a distance from the Akalak starting now so as to not arouse the jealousy of a certain human being.

"My cooking skill is not much, but my medical knowledge makes up for the barely edible quality."

She ruffled through her mother's sack and brought out a bunch of bananas and a pouch of various nuts.

"Bananas have a complicated glucose structure, which means we'll stay full for an extended period of time, aside from the wide range of vitamins. And these nuts... well, they're full of protein which is good for the muscle. Also, they support the body's stamina by keeping the high body temperature by acting as a catalyst in the muscle's nutrition burning process."

Ruby paused and blushed, realizing she might have been a bit too detailed in explaining.

"...or I could prepare salted baked potatoes if you prefer a real meal." she added in a small voice. "E-Either way ! I need to restock on water and there's a frozen river a bit to the west, can you accompany me, Mira ?"

Ruby skipped on the part where she thought that it was more preferable to let Dasreide on his own rather than the human girl as he was stronger. Besides, she had some things to say to the creature.

[Dasreide]

The sudden and correct relay of the nutritional information about nuts and bananas caught Dasreide off-guard, having had expected a simple 'yes or no' answer and instead getting a full synopsis of how two measly foods affected the muscles and the body. Dasreide perked a brow as Ruby continued to studder over her words, her face redder than a beet after harvest. Dasreide let out a sigh as Ruby made and excuse to draw Imira away from the Akalak and sat back on his rear as Imira nodded.

"Err... sure." Imira said, looking crookedly towards the konti. "Let's go." She said, heading towards the supposed destination off to the west.

Meanwhile, the wizened Akalak watched with golden-rimmed eyes as the two women left, his eyes narrowing. "They are up to something..." He muttered to himself, frowning as he realized that he would end up disliking the result that followed.

[Ruby Majalenka]

After feeling that they were beyond earshot, Ruby started talking.

"Hear me out." her tone was cold and authoritative. "It doesn't matter how you see me, but I was assigned to him by my mother, therefore please bear in mind that I wouldn't do both of you harm."

They walked for some meters before Ruby resumed, in a softer voice. "Sorry, we might've started off on the wrong foot. Can we be friends ? It's for our well being."

They arrived at the frozen lake.

"After all, it's not that we don't deserve each other's retorts, but we deserve peace, right ?" she turned to Imira, smiling. Then she glanced at the river. "...would you like to take a dip with me ?"

[Dasreide]

Dasreide rarely ever stalked those he considered to be allies, but something about Imira and Ruby running off together made him curious. He followed as silently as he could, using his acute senses to pick a good hiding spot as Ruby and Imira made it to the frozen-over lake. Perched behind one of the toppled-over trees, the blue-skinned warrior watched with piercing golden irises as Imira shifted her weight onto her right leg and tilted her head at Ruby.

"You realize this is all your fault, right?" Imira said to Ruby with a resenting tone. "I knew something was up when sensei left Syliras as quickly as he did. It's obvious now. You and your mother must have been trailing him." Imira said coldly, her eyes locked on Ruby as she asked Imira if she wanted to 'take a dip'. "Are you insane? It has to be thirty degrees out! We'll freeze our asses off if we try to go swimming in this weather!" Imira protested as a light redness touched her cheeks, "Plus... I.. don't know how to swim." She said, turning her gaze away from Ruby to look out over the lake.

Ruby has some strange ideas... Dasreide thought to himself as he knelt down by his hiding spot, his blue forehead barely visible at the distance he was at. His golden irises watched Ruby more so than Imira, Maybe I was right about her... she could be of use to me...

[Ruby Majalenka]

'The Akalak was in a hurry to leave Syliras ? Something must happened... or about to happen ? Apparently I was not at fault as this human said, but could it be that mom was really following him ? Could be, she has a reputation of being whimsical...' Ruby pondered. 'Whatever it is, this human cannot be reasoned with, so might as well reply with ambiguity as mom would've done in this situation ?'

"...I just learned of master last night, when the White Scholar suddenly left me in his care." She paused, unsure how to voice her thoughts, then she spoke again in a more melancholic tone. "Besides, have you ever suspected that this is fate's doing ? So that by coincidences we could meet ?'

'Whatever, I can never be like mom. I am my own, therefore my words are also my own.'' she let out tiny amused nods.

"On the other hand, the river... I doubt it will be cold enough to cool our heads !" she burst out laughing. "If you'd like, I'll lend my back for you."