Clearing the Air (Azira)

by **Khara** on September 18th, 2014, 6:31 pm

Khara was dumbstruck. Of all the responses she could imagine, the way Azira had spoken to her was about as far from her thoughts as possible. Anyone else would have if they'd had dealings with me before. The words struck and hit, lodging themselves in her mind . They weren't exact, but they certainly did seem to echo sentiments Khara felt. And then came the phrase that left her feeling as though she'd been hit in the back of the head with a rather large tome - Thank you.

The Avora had turned from her and spoken the phrase with seeming little sincerity, but to hear it from such a fierce person was entirely jarring. The Chiet had to forcefully pull her attention back to the shelves in front of her to keep from staring slackjawed at the huntress. Khara's mind raced over replies, tumbled over insistences that the thanks weren't necessary, that she hadn't done anything to earn such a thing, that the Avora shouldn't thank her but that the scout realized she wasn't in any position to tell the other teen what she could and couldn't do. Indecision kept her silence in place and her gaze practically bored into the small journal in her hand until the sound of russling papers and bindings colliding with the floor snapped her attention back towards the other girl.

Khara's eyes followed one of the pieces of paper as it floated towards her, coming to rest with a corner just barely touching her boot. She wanted to sigh, though not out of frustration. Some part of her genuinely felt bad for the Avora. Everyone had their bad days and it seemed the scout had unknowingly stumbled right into Azira's. It left Khara wondering just how many bad days the huntress had, or if maybe there had just been a series of really bad ones and that accounted for her seemingly endless supply of anger.

A sudden knot of guilt twisted her stomach and Khara quickly shoved the small bound volume in her hands into its place before bending down to begin picking up the pieces of paper that had come in her direction. It wasn't the renewed guilt over having spoken poorly of the huntress, it was the fresh ever present guilt for even considering to empathize with the Avora. How dare you try and compare yourself to her, the backlash came, not sounding entirely like her own voice. It was stronger, meaner, older, entirely dissapointed and disgusted... Petch off! The scout cringed, tensing for a second as she poured every bit of will into demanding an end to the continual negative onslaught.

Recovery was slow, and Khara found herself glancing towards Azira again, the same twisting sensation threatening to rise once more. A new struggle came with trying to decide if she should hand the papers back or try to gather them into some sort of order first. Nervous fidgeting resulted in the latter and she scanned the beginning and ending phrases in an attempt to match them up. Real comprehension was lost, however, as Khara warred with the thought of speaking again. In the end, the far more troublesome part of her brain won out.

"You're welcome," she half mumbled and tried to not stare at her ink stained fingertips as they clutched the papers. "But, really, I kind of owe you. A lot."

Her voice was kept quiet, not daring to trust herself in speaking any louder and coming off as more irritating than she probably already was. "You know, for showing me all those things during the hunt and," Khara swallowed uncomfortably before continuing. "For telling Orthin that I wasn't a complete krric troo."

"Nari" | "Common"

by **Azira** on September 18th, 2014, 8:26 pm

x

Her irritation at the situation didn't help much with the clean up. Vicious grasps at leather bindings merely resulting in them slipping through her fingers and increasing her frustration in the process. Why don't they just explode and shoot pages everywhere? It's the only thing that they haven't done on me. Her thought did little to improve the situation and so the teen was still left grasping at tomes and papers and scrolls, a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye catching her attention. Khara. The scout had come to her aid once again. It made the huntress want to crawl into the bowels of the city, into the Deep Warrens, and never emerge for pure shame. What a chick she must seem to the girl, unable to carry out even simple tasks without requiring the help of someone else. She couldn't even do her job without the aid of a lowly Chiet and now she was making herself seem even more useless.

Cheeks flushed and her head bowed out of habit but there was no long hair to hide the colour. Hopefully the other wouldn't notice her embarrassment although Azira sincerely doubted it; she wasn't that lucky after all as the last few chimes had shown. There was no sound between them at first as they set about cleaning up the Avora's mess together once more, the huntress didn't even glance up to acknowledge that she knew of the young woman's presence so near at hand. But then the scout's natural behaviour shone through, the girl choosing to fill the silence with her nonsense. Except that it wasn't nonsense this time. Her eyes flickered over towards the teen, wondering exactly what she was referring to although the girl didn't leave her without an answer for long. The Avora didn't know whether to laugh or flush a deeper red. All the things that she'd shown on the hunt. She'd shown how reckless and inexperienced she was and how much of a bully she was. What an education it had been for Khara.

The teen owed the Chiet more in her own opinion. She would never have found the moose, wouldn't even have attempted to find it, if it wasn't for the girl. Not only would tracking it have been impossible but so would trapping it, killing it, butchering it and bringing the meat back. The teen owed the girl for one successfully pulled off hunting trip and the Chiet had only gotten misery for her trouble. Except that Orthin had told the game scout something about what Azira had told him after the hunt. She'd bumped into the unofficial scout leader the middle of the previous season and although she'd given some criticism on Khara's performance during their hunt, most of it had been well deserved praise. It was to be expected that the man would pass on her words, although she didn't know if it had been a summary or a detailed breakdown of her review of the girl's performance. She didn't want to ask.

"Oh yes. That." A feeble attempt to keep her tone offhand but it didn't fool anyone. She swallowed, her gaze decidedly fixed on the materials in her hands as she rose to replace them. "Well it wasn't anything really. I just hunted and you were there and as for Orthin... he bumped into me, wanted to know how you'd gotten on and I told him. Most of it." That was the truth. She had told Orthin most of it, she'd just neglected to mention just how necessary the scout had proved in the kill itself. The teen shoved a tome into the nearest space that she could find even though it probably wasn't the right one, just trying to free her hands as quickly as possible so that she could make her escape, so she didn't need to deal with the Chiet's conversation. "Don't mention it and I mean that, really don't mention it."

x

by **Khara** on September 21st, 2014, 2:00 am

"Okay," the reply tumbled from her, somehow tripping up the rest of her thoughts. Khara mouthed the single word to herself silently in disbelief that out all possible responses in the known world, that had been the utterance that had come to her.

She found herself questioning why Azira didn't want her saying anything, internally of course. Voicing it was entirely out of the question. You didn't question an Avora, after all, even if their request seemed detrimental. Khara couldn't wrap her mind around why, though. Maybe the huntress had a reputation she wished to keep, but she couldn't think of how telling anyone that Azira may have been responsible for something going right in the Chiet's life was a bad thing. Except that it lets people know she helped you. Do you really think anyone would want to have that sort of thing publicly known? It's not an act of kindness to take pity on you, sparrow. It shows a lapse in good judgement.

As much as the hurtful notion couldn't be blocked out, Khara found herself retorting with the fact there were at least two people she could think of that would argue against it. One of whom actually may have won in an argument against that meaner inner side the Chiet had, if only temporarily.

Khara cast a wary glance back over at the Avora and frowned. No, this wasn't about the scout, there was something uncomfortably hauntingly familiar about how the huntress was carrying herself. Her embarrassment was easy to see, Khara had caught sight of herself battling her hair for redness on more than enough occasions to know what that meant. But like the reasoning for wanting the Chiet to keep silent, Khara couldn't fathom why that would be. Okay, so the whole thing with the books was probably pretty humiliating but it wasn't like Khara had laughed at her, she hadn't even been tempted to! That had to count for something, right?

The question bubbled, spawned from a nagging sensation that something wasn't quite right. She didn't want to care, she didn't want to ask knowing full well that it could result in nothing more than another bout of shouting at her, but still Khara felt compelled.

"Are you okay?" And with that it was loose before Khara could grab it, hold it in, and smother it until it ceased to be.

"Nari" | "Common"

by **Azira** on September 22nd, 2014, 6:43 pm

x

In hindsight she realised that she shouldn't have said it like that. Although the Chiet agreed to keep it quiet, the huntress was certain that her words would have piqued Khara's curiosity. Obviously Azira knew why she didn't want the girl to say anything, she couldn't stand to listen to the young woman go into detail about how grateful she was towards the Avora. The scout's gratitude had been off-putting to her, leaving Azira unsure how she should react to it other than to ignore it. That didn't stop the girl from watching her though. She wanted to snap, to frighten the girl away but at the same time she didn't want to lose such a helpful resource. The services of a game scout weren't something that she'd used before but this one she knew was reliable. Not only could she do her job but she had gone above and beyond her job description. There was no sense in scaring the girl to a point where she wouldn't be willing, or able to work with her again. As much as she just wanted to tell the other to leave her alone she held her tongue instead.

She should have realised that the silence would give way to some sort of attempt at conversation on Khara's part but the question threw her as much as the gratitude. The girl actually cared. She had to or there was no way that she would have asked. It wasn't expected, it wasn't required and yet the query had been made. Eyes moved to the scout's face slowly, a wariness in her gaze as an uncertain answer left her. "Yeah... I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" The stare was held for too long, she knew before her gaze was finally dropped, fixing on some point on the floor. It seemed the game scout's mission was to make Azira feel as guilty as possible. She'd treated the girl like dirt on that hunt and thanks to a few unthinking phrases of praise, the teen had acted as if the huntress had done her a great kindness rather than making up for her former treatment. Now she'd treated her as nastily as before and the Chiet had managed to muster some concern for her. Ignoring it wasn't the way to deal with this, she'd have to try to repair some of the damage. The scout certainly seemed willing to be friendly with her but Azira would have to open up to her and try to repay such treatment in kind.

Weight shifted from one foot to the other, the teen doing small hope between them on the spot before she finally managed to form words. Each one came slowly, laboriously as the teen managed to force the sentiments out. "You were useful on the hunt and I told Orthin that. He suggested that I might bring you out again sometime if you wanted to go. For the experience. You could work on your skills and provide me with a little more to kill. I said you wouldn't hinder me." She'd suggested no such thing but hopefully the other wouldn't recognise the lies for what they were. Her gaze was elsewhere anyway and her voice was a near monotone so there wouldn't be anything to give it away, she hoped. Did it sound believable though? "I could do with improving my tracking anyway so it wouldn't be to my disadvantage to bring you." It left an offer open to the scout. The huntress hadn't directly asked her to go and hadn't implicitly said that she'd be willing to bring the girl but if the teen was brave enough to seize the chance while it was there then there was a chance that Azira might find out more about the Chiet and whether or not her concern had been real. As long as she didn't question the leading game scout then the huntress couldn't be caught out. She could only hope that if Khara did jump on it that she wouldn't be willing to investigate the truth of the Avora's words.

x

by **Khara** on September 25th, 2014, 4:00 am

Is she joking? She had to be joking.

Was she?

All motion in putting the remaining materials back in their places was halted. She didn't stare, her over awareness of the fact she might have been caused the Chiet to look away, to look at anything other than the huntress for longer than a tick or two. She couldn't bring herself to answer the question that had been posed, couldn't bring voice to the fact she noticed the Avora seemed a bit more distracted, even perhaps a bit more edgier than she had before. The incident with the ink was to blame she was certain, but the fact that Khara genuinely felt some sort of concern for the other teen's well-being was something she was entirely certain wouldn't be appreciated in the slightest.

It was dawning on her as to why that might have been. It wasn't hero worship, not exactly anyway. But Azira had been the first hunter who had directly asked for her, regardless of the reason. The first hunter who she had actually worked alongside of rather than being just another scout in a small group. The first person she had helped make a kill. Of which there was no doubt that her part in playing was miniscule at best, but the experience of it was still there in her mind. It was the closest she had ever been to doing what she had always wanted and Azira was the one who had made it happen.

And all you could do after was talk about how she threatened to kill you. The thought brought on a new wave of guilt. It wasn't that she had entirely neglected to mention everything else, it was only that after the long and weary day that simple thought had persisted, accompanied by every self aware notion that the huntress hadn't been exactly wrong in all her reasoning that seemed to be behind the threat. She had messed up, after all. Had put them both in a potentially dangerous situation...

And now the Avora seemed to not entirely detest the notion of doing it again? There had to be a mistake somewhere along the line.

"If-if you'd be willing," Khara struggled to speak, but the sincerity in her tone was plain. "I would be grateful to have the chance to accompany you again."

"Nari" | "Common"

by **Azira** on September 25th, 2014, 11:06 am

x

She'd stunned the girl but that wasn't at all surprising. Her abrupt change in behaviour and attitude was sure to have unbalanced the Chiet. It unbalanced her a bit although she understood the reasoning behind it. There was no guarantee that the girl would grasp at the chance but Azira hoped that she would. It'd probably be good for the two of them and what the huntress had said was true, she did need to work on her tracking. Sure the scout was only a Chiet but if they could become friends then it would be good for the Avora and she knew it. So the effort had to made, even if the girl didn't accept although if she refused then she'd have to be mad.

But no she wasn't mad. Khara was obviously overwhelmed by the offer but she was able to show her eagerness to accept such an invitation if Azira was willing. The huntress knew from experience that the Chiet wasn't a liability as she had almost expected her to be and so would make a welcome addition to one of her hunting trips. Provided that the girl would be silent rather than trying to chatter as she had done before. Ground rules could be set down and if the Chiet could accept them then the huntress would have every reason to allow her to tag along. No doubt the scout would agree to comply with them rather than allowing the opportunity to slip through her fingers.

"I'd be willing to bring you but there are conditions," she told the girl plainly, beginning to count them off on her fingers. "One. If I ask you to do something, you do it. You don't question me, you don't hesitate, you just do it. If it makes no sense, if you feel you're being put in danger, you still do it." While obedience to an Avora was expected, there were still some Chiet who would wriggle out of an order to save their skins. She had to ensure that the girl was perfectly willing to put her trust in the huntress, to follow blindly in the belief that Azira would keep her safe. She'd assume that that was the only condition that'd make the girl hesitate when considering her offer.

"Two. I don't want you chattering away and distracting me. You speak when you're spoken to or if I give you permission to speak. If you break that rule then there'd better be a damn good reason for it, like my life being in danger if you keep your mouth shut for instance. Other than that, I want you silent. Three. I have the right to give you no prior warning that you're coming out with me. I'll check to see that you haven't been picked up by anyone and as long as you're not going anywhere, I will send word that you're going. I don't care if you're in the middle of something, I don't even care if it's your day off. You come when you're called, or not at all. Four, last but not least. You make sure that you have any equipment that you might need. A knife for instance. Rations, bed roll, rope, anything like that. Have them and be prepared. Will you agree?"

The young woman had turned her amber eyes to the other, the seriousness of what she was saying plain to see in her gaze as well as clear to hear in her tone. It was clear that the scout was to accept everything or the opportunity was gone and there was no guarantee that Azira would be willing to offer it again. She'd set out conditions that she saw as reasonable and necessary to her. She couldn't see the unfairness of them although an enforced silence and the possibility of having off days taken away would probably seem harsh to the Chiet.

x

by **Khara** on October 1st, 2014, 1:07 am

There was always a price to pay, some harsher than others and some quite literally; apparently Azira saw fit to make sure both were covered. The Chiet's mind rushed over each of the conditions, though not in the order that they had been presented.

The fourth condition was simple enough, the only stumbling block was that Khara knew she would be working the next day and wouldn't be able to attend the market. She could always beg someone to pick up the items for her, pay them for the favor. The other game scouts weren't exactly friends but for the right price they could probably be coerced. Ideally, Khara would go by herself, maybe if she managed to get back to Wind Reach early... Either way, it would be done. Of course, there was the issue of not knowing exactly what to buy aside from what the Avora had already mentioned, but Khara guessed a few more pinions could probably pry that information from someone as well.

Two sounded easy enough, though Khara had the feeling it would be far harder in practice. The girl never had been very good at managing to hold her tongue but now was as good a time as any to begin learning. With that settled her mind reversed back to the first thing the huntress mentioned, standard fare for dealing with an Avora, really. Except maybe the part about not hesitating if she was being put into danger. The Chiet wasn't exactly fond of the concept, but it wasn't new. After all, she basically put herself in danger every time she stepped out of the Sanikas Gates and into The Unforgiving.

That only left the third item to consider. A season or two ago she wouldn't even have considered it an issue. Even now she spent most of her days off trying to better herself, expanding on both knowledge and skills; going out on hunting trips with Azira would be no different, if anything it would fit that role even better than anything Khara could do on her own. The problem was, the Chiet suddenly had reasons - well, only one really - to actually want to have free time. The thought of making plans, promising to do something and then having to explain she suddenly wasn't able to follow through made her stomach clench. Not that she made a lot of those sorts of plans, and it wasn't like he wasn't going to be understanding of the fact she was doing something that could possibly lead to better things. Still the thought gnawed at her, sticking out as the single thing that made the decision far more difficult than it should have been.

Khara looked up from where she had been idly letting her hands fidget, it only had been a tick or two since the huntress had spoken but it felt like she had been weighing the option for ages. As her gaze reluctantly met that of the huntress she knew what her answer had to be.

"Yes," the Chiet replied. The first exercise in keeping her tongue in place was utilized to keep her from saying anything further.

She had sounded a lot more certain than she really felt, but there was no going back from it now. Even after the Avora had proven to have a temper that could quite possibly get her killed, Khara still couldn't help but feel the arrangement would be overall beneficial. Who knew, maybe she'd even get to know the huntress past her rather ire-filled exterior.

"Nari" | "Common"

by **Azira** on October 4th, 2014, 11:01 am

Once her terms were laid out, the huntress expected Khara to ruminate on them. There was sure to be something that she'd disagree with after all, even Azira was aware of that and she almost anticipated it. There was no protests from the scout though, no questioning the conditions that the Avora had put in front of her. There was just a fidgeting of hands and then a simple acceptance. The huntress blinked, surprised that it had been that easily sorted. The girl said nothing more and so the huntress was at a loss for what to say.

Her own hands took on a mind of their own, fingers intertwining and twisting at the level of her waist as she searched for anything more that she could say herself. "Good! Glad to hear it! As long as we're in agreement." The need to say something, anything at all, had gotten the better of her and so her mouth had taken over where her brain had failed her. She managed to get some sort of a grip upon herself as she continued. "Well I know where your room is if I need you and I know where the game scouts hang out as well so I won't have trouble getting ahold of you if I want you for anything. Unless for some reason you go elsewhere. You don't have any plans of vanishing on me, do you Chiet?" Familiarity had seeped into her demeanour during their hunt together but it was now quite absent. Khara had been reduced to her rightful status as a subordinate of Azira. The Avora wouldn't allow the teen to think that she was desirous of her company. She couldn't show herself to have even considered befriending the Chiet.

It seemed fairly settled but yet the young woman wasn't quite ready to leave. She'd gone off the idea of doing research now, the mishap from earlier putting her out of spirits as well as out of ink. The liquid would have to be replaced and perhaps she could buy a small blank book while she was at it, have something better and more together than the loose sheets she was always tearing out of things. After the damage that she'd caused as well she wasn't keen on the idea of taking anything out of the Enclave either. She wouldn't be surprised if her bad luck continued and something worse happened to whatever she removed from the place. No, her business was done here for now but yet she was reluctant to detach herself from the Chiet and just leave the place.

Wild ideas of asking the other to come eat with her so that they could be friends by the end of the evening came to mind, even a suggestion to get a drink together in the Inclement Weather wormed its way in. She'd been to the dance club twice and had hated the place yet now she considered it. Why such ideas had come into her head she didn't know. Quite out of character. It wasn't like there was some reason for her to have such a suddenly strong desire for the Chiet's company. It wasn't like Azira was attracted to her, not to say that she wasn't attractive but... The teen froze, staring at the young woman with some intensity. No, she doesn't interest you, she's just a Chiet. She's not Zahlia. The thought brought colour to her cheeks at the acknowledgement that she was interested in her Endal acquaintance. She hadn't admitted that to herself before even though thoughts of it had often hovered in her mind in the woman's presence.

Maybe I'm not admitting an attraction to Khara either. It wouldn't be the first time. The final thought was the last straw she was sure. She couldn't remain in the other's presence any longer. She could reflect on this later when she wasn't actually standing in front of the girl. Such reflection would confirm her initial thoughts that the scout didn't interest her and that would be that. Yet the need to go was a desperate one. "When I want you, I'll find you," was all the goodbye that Khara was likely to get as the huntress grabbed her few belongings and hurried out of the place.

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

by **Khara** on October 5th, 2014, 12:11 am

One moment she was shaking her head in response to the Avora's question and the next... Well, Khara wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Watching Azira's hands wring themselves in an overly familiar fashion was a bit unnerving, but not quite as much as the stare she caught a glance of. It wasn't one of the huntress' usual glares so much as it seemed she was appraising something, weighing the girl on some sort of mental scale. It left Khara feeling exposed, as if the sudden and simple answer was wrong somehow.

Her mind ran in circles, trying to think of what to say while the warning against her chatter came back to haunt her. The fact Azira seemed a shred as uncomfortable as Khara felt wasn't helping matters. Say something! Anything! Even if she yells at you it's better than... And just like that the Avora broke the increasingly awkward silence between them.

A quiet, "Okay," was managed in reply. The Chiet raised a hand slightly, not even above shoulder level, and felt her fingers wave a slight goodbye in response before she could halt it. The movement was foolish as the huntress had already turned away from her and was well on her way out of the library.

A small uncomfortable groan left the Chiet when she was alone, wondering just what all she had gotten herself into, her mind dredging up the worst thoughts of how the Avora must perceive her now. Still, the huntress had said When I want you, the phrasing of which made Khara both uncomfortable and somehow... Happy? No, that wasn't the right word but the scout couldn't exactly come up with anything that accurately described the mixture of nervousness, excitement, optimism and dread that she was feeling in that moment.

An edgy single laugh left her, far louder than Khara had expected, producing a cringe that seemed to work it's way through her entire body. Her eyes slowly moved back towards where she had initially found the huntress, spotting the bucket. The Chiet felt her shoulders slump and looked back down at her ink stained hands. Oh gods, please don't let me regret this.

"Nari" | "Common"

by **Neologism** on November 16th, 2014, 4:49 am

Khara :

Azira :

Closed Clearing the Air (Azira)