Closed The Kyper Conundrum (Azira)

[Khara]

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66th of Fall, 514av

It was a brand new form of awkward when a Dek showed up looking for you in a slightly embarrassed and flustered manner somewhere other than where you were supposed to be living. Especially when that place was someone else's room. If she had managed to get out of bed earlier it wouldn't have been such a problem. She would have been out of Zhol's room and with the other game scouts and that would have been that. But no, she had lingered curled in a blanket on the bed even after Zhol had left for his own daily tasks once she had assured him she would get ready and leave shortly and more importantly that she was okay. Thankfully he hadn't pressed the issue. It was endearing when he did, and Khara knew it wasn't unfounded, but some days she didn't want to be treated like she was as fragile as she feared she had become.

It was hard to ignore the sympathetic and curious hints in the Dek's eyes as he looked at her once the door had opened. Was it really that obvious what had happened? Had rumors spread so quickly? Was the blacksmith out there bragging around Wind Reach of the fact he'd stumbled across some Chiet girl who hadn't been experienced in such things? Or was it worse? Did the Dek think that she was here against her will? The thought was enough to cause Khara to suddenly straighten and take on a more authoritative posture. Damn whatever Wind Reach thought of her, but she refused to allow anyone to think anything of the sort about Zhol. They had already labeled him an outsider, Khara wasn't about to tolerate any assumptions.

"Why are you disturbing me?" The question was shot out, emphasizing annoyance that didn't exist, not leaving any room for misinterpretation that she was being held against her will and he was offering a means of escape. It felt unnatural, over reactive, but Khara knew it was necessary in that moment.

The fleeting shocked expression that flashed across the drudge's face proved it worked, at least, and all hints of pity he had faded as he bowed his head just barely to her in deference. It wasn't nearly the rest that would be shown to any of the higher castes, but it was perhaps a bit much for addressing a Chiet. "Avora Azira has requested you meet her at the Sanikas Gates," he muttered.

It was enough to snap Khara into action and pull her away from whatever conflicting mix of pretended conceit and genuine mild anger at earlier conceived possibilities. A hand waved off the Dek as she retreated back into the room to quickly gather her supplies. Azira calling on her was exactly the sort of break her mind needed from it's constant dragging her back through the last sixteen days of her life. It was even enough to brush off the feeling of dread the warrens had begun to have when she traveled through them alone.

The effect was only temporary though. Elation and an objective sense of duty slipped as she reached the Gates to find herself alone. No Azira and late enough that there wasn't anyone else either except for Val who was enjoying a cup of tea and seemed to be deep in conversation with a blue jay that sat perched on one of his fingers.

Khara retreated a ways back into the tunnels as she began fretting over the possibility that the Dek had taken too long to find her, that Azira had left without her, that she had destroyed whatever small credibility she had in the huntress' eyes. As her back came to rest against a wall she found her arms wrapping around her, tugging her katinu tighter around her small frame as other thoughts began encroaching into her already anxious mind. She was here, alone, she had no idea where the other game scouts had headed out to. It suddenly dawned on her how empty the warrens would be if she tried to head back to Zhol's room and she didn't want to anger Hansi and go to the stables. Each thought quickened her breath and caused the girl to retreat within herself further and further until she became barely aware of her surroundings.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Azira]

Today of all days was a day that she needed a distraction. She needed to hunt, she needed not to think and bringing Khara seemed like the best way to keep her mind occupied for the day.

She'd sent a Dek running off to get the girl to save her some time while she had breakfast. Her gear had been left in her room, ready for her to collect when she was done. It was all perfectly planned out but Lhex had other ideas. As soon as she finished eating, she set off towards the Darniva Commonrooms at a brisk pace. She had no idea how long it'd take for Khara to get down to the Sanikas Gates but she had no intentions of leaving the girl waiting; she didn't like to be late.

As soon as she rounded the corner to the stretch of tunnel that held her room she spotted him. He wasn't looking her way but she could recognise his profile now. The huntress had watched him a few times when she was sure she wouldn't be seen, had burned his image into her memory. He was leaning casually against the wall and talking to a girl, too softly to make out the words although she could catch the tone and know that he was flirting with her. Why had he chosen to do it a few feet from her own door? She couldn't walk by him without attracting notice and not only would he see her but worse still he would know which room was hers. He could find such information out easily enough by asking - a fact she didn't want to dwell on - but that didn't mean that she would so blatantly give him it if he didn't already know.

The huntress retreated back into the Warrens at large, putting distance between the two of them as rapidly as possible as she wondered what she could do. All of her hunting gear was in her room and she had no idea how long it would be before he moved from that section of tunnel. Khara had already been informed that they were going hunting and was no doubt waiting for her now at the city's entrance but she couldn't go down to her and tell her that she was too frightened to enter her own room. She just needed to kill some time and hope that he would go away in the meantime. The teen had a good idea in mind.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A little over half a bell later, she was leaving her room with her gear and a cage covered in cloth in her hands. Furtive glances were thrown around her as she hurried down to her meeting with Khara. The Endal had done a disappearing act after she'd gone to borrow the creature in the cage but she had no idea where he'd actually vanished to. She wasn't going to let him catch her off guard when he might very well be nearby. The girl was still on edge when she spotted the scout's anxious face ahead of her in the tunnel. She'd come partly back into the city rather than waiting outside and Azira assumed that it was because the girl had been considering leaving. She couldn't blame her for that, she'd been left waiting long enough to be more than a little anxious after all.

An expression of relief crossed her face and she offered the other an apologetic smile. "Sorry for the delay. I got caught up," she informed her, glancing back anxiously one last time. "I had to borrow my little friend here off someone." The large cage that she carried was held up although the scout wouldn't be able to see into it. She balanced it precariously on a raised knee and pulled the cloth back to reveal the curled up form of the kyper within. Once exposed, it straightened itself out and placed its front paws on the cage to look at Khara. Its white throat stretched as it strained to get closer and it watched the scout with intelligent eyes banded in black fur. "It's a kyper. I thought we'd bring it rabbit hunting. It'll do a better job than a fire, or so I've been told."

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

[Khara]

The sight of Azira didn't quite register with her and it was only when the huntress offered an apology that Khara felt the world drift back into focus. Why was she being apologized to? Avora didn't apologize to Chiet. They just didn't! Something was wrong, something had to be wrong. This was a test of some kind. This was a trick. This was…Azira, she reminded herself, the usual internal jumble of thoughts managing to spit out a useful piece of information. The huntress wasn't just some random Avora, this was someone who Khara trusted with her life on multiple occasions, someone whose fears she had stumbled across, someone who understood what it was like to have the sense knocked out of them at the smallest possibility of encountering their tormentor. Azira wasn't alone, however, and before Khara could piece together all the bits of info that would actually let her relax, she found herself looking into the keen black eyes of the kyper. The lingering remnants of fear began to dissolve quickly as girl and animal regarded each other with equal curiosity.

"How does it work?" Khara asked, a bit more plainly than normal until proprietary caught up with her. Just because Azira was becoming closer to friend and mentor than simple taskmaster didn't lesson the need to show her the proper amount of respect. When the scout spoke again, her overall tone remained relaxed but took on the more typical deferential undertones. "Is it like using a falcon?"

Khara didn't have a lot of experience with the hunting birds. She'd learned the very basics as a Yasi but had always marveled in how hunter and raptor would work as a team. The first time she had watched a demonstration had sparked an interest in her that sadly never amounted to much. She could remember it distinctly; how the hunter stood at the edge of a clearing with several rabbit burrows, it had been over in an instant when the first cony tried to run from one entrance to another, it's back legs barely clearing the burrow before the falcon had been upon it. The time between when the bird had left the hunter's arm to when it had it's prey had seemed instant.

The girl wasn't sure how a kyper was used to hunt, if it was similar or entirely different. Azira had made mention of the fire they had used to flush out the rabbits earlier in the season and it was that memory that seemed to answer part of Khara's question before the huntress did. So, the large weasel-like creature would go into the burrows, then? Perhaps it worked a dual purpose, snagging some of it's own prey while scaring out the rest for the hunter.

There were still traces of her earlier panic marring her golden gaze as it turned on the huntress to await the answer that Khara wasn't entirely sure would come. Either way, she had a feeling she would soon find out.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Azira]

It was amazing just how much Khara reminded her of a wild animal. The young woman so often had the startled and frightened eyes of a creature that found danger had snuck up on it. It was oddly endearing. It was also a little irritating. They had worked together a few times now and yet the girl still persisted in her fearful reactions whenever she appeared. The Chiet became flustered whenever Azira asked her to do things or put her in unfamiliar territory. She got flustered over a lot of things. Just once the Avora would like to see some confidence in her hunting companion, a bit of fire but she didn't know if the other had any spirit in her at all. She's Inarta, she has to have some, even if it's only buried, she thought, her mind becoming calmer now that she was occupying with thoughts that didn't involve Cedrin.

"Hm?" she sounded, staring at the game scout as she tried to work out what she'd asked. She really hadn't been paying much attention, her own thoughts too good of a distraction. The other teen was looking at the kyper with interest so presumably she'd asked something about it. Maybe she wanted to know how it was used in hunting. "Oh. I haven't used one of these for hunting before by the way. I know how to use them but if things don't go to plan, well... you should be used to it at this stage. We can improvise if we have to," she explained.

The cloth was dropped back over the cage, the kyper hidden from view once more with a soft comment, "Be quiet and go asleep." She turned her attention back to the Chiet with a sheepish grin. "So we block up most of the entrances and we send this little girl in one hole and the rabbits come out of another. She might try to eat them but I've been told that females are less aggressive so we shouldn't end up with rabbits that have been chewed. When there isn't anything left in the warren then the kyper comes out and you catch it," the huntress told her.

The girl cast a last look behind her in search of the Endal before she offered her companion an overly bright smile. "Off we go then. We can work out things on the way there. We'll head off a new way and hopefully turn up some rabbits somewhere. I'm sure you can do some tracking and find us some prey. The sooner we go, the sooner we hunt." The huntress set off out the gate, lugging the kyper's cage along as well as her own gear. Stealth wasn't going to be something that she'd be good at today. She was too weighed down, too unbalanced by everything she was carrying to keep her steps light. Walking was a difficult enough task given her load. She wouldn't force the Chiet to take the cage or any of her hunting equipment. It was good to be doing something so physical, it didn't leave much room for thinking. Today was not a day for thinking and that need for distraction hadn't been caused by her near encounter with her old adversary.

Her birthday was not something that she wanted to dwell on. She didn't want the misery that it caused to seep into her everyday activities, she didn't want it to affect her. The teen had no intention of letting Khara know that today had any significance to her and there was no way for her to know without her saying it. There was nobody else who knew.

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

[Khara]

A flicker of a smile came upon her as Khara heard Azira mention improvising if the need arose. No doubt it would, it always seemed to when the two of them were involved. It wasn't such a bad thing, not really. Anyone with any amount of skill could hunt and bring in kills the way you were supposed to when things went easy, Khara figured. There was a certain amount of challenge in being forced to find new ways of doing things, and while it didn't always end pretty, Khara couldn't help but feel that there was a certain amount of pride to be taken in finding more creative methods of dealing with the unexpected.

As Azira began to head off, Khara offered the warrens behind them one last glance. She felt her chest tighten in anticipation as her vision caught sight of a man with close cropped red hair. It wasn't him, but the same panic threatened to flood through her all the same, something that was more than enough to have the Chiet quickly scurrying to catch up with the huntress.

With Wind Reach fading behind them the girl was once more able to turn her thoughts towards the upcoming hunt, specifically her part in finding the rabbits to begin with. When Azira had taken her rabbit hunting last time the Avora had a specific place in mind so there wasn't a lot of finding to be done by the Chiet. The colder weather that had been settling in had most animals moving towards their Winter grounds, but rabbits didn't migrate like other game, did they?

Khara let a small hum leave her in thought as she took up pace near Azira, a glance at the huntress had the other teen wondering if she should offer to help carry anything, but the look of determination that had settled across the Avora's features left it unsaid. Instead the Chiet turned the conversation towards the task at hand; after all, work was about the only thing that managed to actually pull her mind fully away from everything back at Wind Reach that she rather forget about.

"Do you think we should stay close to Skyinarta? I don't know for certain, but I'd be willing to bet that some of the rabbits probably move in closer to the volcano in the winter," Khara offered with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Our warrens never get as cold as is it outside, there has to be at least some rabbits that are smart enough to take advantage of the same thing."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Azira]

There was a vague thought in her mind of how nice it was when Khara smiled, even if it was only a brief flicker rather than a fully realised one but it flitted into a distracted mind. She didn't consider what had prompted the display and it was only something that hovered at the back of her mind as she explained herself. She didn't want to think about anything but she found herself thinking about it in retrospect anyway. What had she said that had prompted the expression? It was something to do with their hunt obviously but what had it been? The fact that she hadn't used a kyper before or the possible need for improvisation? She decided that the latter was the more likely. The scout wasn't likely to be outwardly amused at her inexperience but they had gone through enough improvised hunting together for it to be somewhat of a private joke between them.

The mystery solved her mind turned to other matters that she was less willing to dwell on. Thoughts of her past persecutor, her birthday and her forever absent mother. She could almost have embraced her companion for giving her something to distract her from her thoughts. Total focus on the hunt ahead of him would get her through for the time being. The distractions just had to keep on coming. The girl had asked an extremely valid question and one that she had to seriously consider.

"Well I hadn't considered before that they might do that," she admitted. "When you put it like that though it seems to make sense. It's already getting cold so I suppose it isn't too early for them to be making a move if that's what they're going to do. I don't know how good the numbers are nearer to home. We can't possibly have killed off every rabbit in the area so we should be in with a chance at least." She lapsed into silence, considering the unfamiliar weight of the cage and its occupant in her hand. If she had to trudge this all over the mountain then it was likely to leave her arm sore sooner rather than latter. She had strength in her arms but that didn't mean that she was immune to feelings of strain. Better to travel a shorter distance so she didn't have to face a long journey to and from her hunting location while holding it.

"Closer is probably better anyhow if I'm carrying this. I'd say she'll stay quiet however far we bring her but I don't know that for sure. She might get agitated," she commented on the kyper. "Your idea is a good one so we'll just have to see if the rabbits think like you or if it's the other way around," she joked, a smirk directed at the other teen.

The huntress slowed her pace as she considered the direction they should go in. She'd been moving with the intention of heading further down the mountain and looking around after that but now she was considering locations closer to the city. She contemplated their location in relation to the entrance to Wind Reach, working out at what point they'd entered the woods and what direction they'd headed in from there, bearing in mind that they might not have moved in a straight line. The mountain and the sun were used to orientate her before she set off in a northerly direction. The Avora was all too aware of the sound of their own feet as well as the other small sounds around her in the absence of conversation and it grated on her nerves. Maybe it was the fact that Khara was there or maybe it was the near encounter with Cedrin that was making her so edgy but she couldn't find solace among the trees today.

"So how have things been for you since I saw you last?" she blurted out, shattering the silence. That had been the best topic she'd been able to grasp at in her desperation to do something to distract herself from thinking too much. It was just senseless noise really. "What is it you even do when you aren't working? I don't know what the Chiet like to do. You don't go to the Inclement Weather and you don't drink, that much I know so what do you do when I'm not dragging you away against your will?"

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

[Khara]

It felt strange to not find herself immediately questioning why it was that Azira thought her idea was good, more so the fact that she wasn't shocked by it. There was still a small swell of pride that could be taken from having an Avora agree with your assessment, but it didn't feel the same. As Azira set off in her chosen direction, it didn't feel like she was just obediently following but actively being a part of what was happening. Maybe it was wrong to feel that way, but if nothing else it let Khara feel more herself than she had in days. A laugh even managed to work its way out of her throat with the joke Azira had aimed at her.

Khara hoped it would remain that way, the two of them able to work and be... Well... Friendly with each other. Not an obscene amount so, but at least they could talk a bit before they got into an area where silence became the optimal. Only problem was she wasn't quite sure what to talk to the huntress about, all things considered. There were more topics of conversation to avoid than to engage in and there was that ever present worry of crossing a line. True, in recent times Azira and her had become quite a bit less formal around each other, but the rules laid down in The Enclave earlier that season still managed to echo in her head each and every time the pair set out.

It didn't seem like Azira knew what to talk about either, or had decided that they had talked enough as silence settled between them. It was a bit early to be looking for signs, but still Khara let her eyes wander over everything, trying to pick out small trails or teeth mark on trees or other small evidence of their small quarry. So far it was nothing worth noting, a few nibbled on pine cones no doubt left by squirrels in search of their last desperate meals before the snows fully moved in, a bit of flattened vegetation that something had made for a bed at some point, and other small things that didn't quite point towards rabbits. They weren't quite where Khara figured they ought to be, though - the landscape still a bit too open and free of good hiding places for their burrows - so she wasn't too discouraged.

As the silence was broken between them, Khara turned her attention back to Azira, a small bit of reluctance tugging at her before the feeling took full hold as the huntress continued. The Chiet stumbled, mentally and physically, an tenseness etched itself up her spine and she felt as if the air had been driven from her lungs with a sharp blow.

"I... I..." Words were struggled for that refused to even fully form in her own head, each attempt followed with a sharp intake of breath as if she suddenly found it near impossible to do such a simple mindless thing. I've been hiding, came the thought that refused to be spoken. I work and I hide because I don't want to be dragged away. Not again. Not by him. Please, gods not by him. Not by his friends. Not by... by...

"I g-go to the archery ranges," Khara barely managed to sputter out. Not anymore, her mind followed with quickly and that was all it took for the rest to tumble after. "I'm not trying to become an Avora, I promise. I know I can't be and that I never will be and I'm not good enough and... and I'm sorry and I'll stop talking now, I swear it."

Shyke, shyke, shyke... She'd gone too far. Said way too much when she should have just told the Avora about the boring mundane things she did or actually just hinted that they were as such and not get into anything else. Khara fully believed she was done for. That was it, after that sort of outburst the huntress would want nothing to do with her, she wasn't useful to her anyway. There was only one thing she was good for, after all, or so the mocking voice that crept into her head insisted once more.

Her gaze had been firmly planted on the ground in front of her but now it lowly rose to look towards Azira, the initial wave of panic having crested and washed over her, now threatened to tug her back under into itself fully. Why was she being like this? This was Azira, and it had been a simple harmless question that had been asked and that was how she reacted? The unconscious grip that Khara had taken of her own arms was slowly released, nails withdrawing from where they bit into skin. No, if anyone could even remotely begin to understand the fear that had caused such a reaction it was going to be her. Khara wasn't looking for sympathy as her thoughts recollected themselves, hauled desperately up from the void she was trying to cast herself into.

A staggered breath was taken. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I didn't mean to explode like that." Another deep breath was forced from uncooperative lungs and Khara stiffly shrugged a shoulder. "It's just... Apparently I didn't do so well with going unnoticed lately as I thought I had been."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Azira]

She was being far too obvious in her attempts at making conversation, far too artificial. Herself and Khara didn't know each other all that well but the scout would surely know that this wasn't how she normally spoke. The Chiet's reaction was unexpected though. She was surprised no doubt but Azira wouldn't have expected her to stumble, to stutter, to look as if she'd been struck a physical blow. It wasn't a mistake either, a trick of the eye that had made her see such a thing. Whatever she'd said had struck some sort of nerve although the huntress couldn't imagine why. She could only stare at the other teen, her gaze mostly curious but also a little concerned.

Spluttering attempts at communication, a nervousness that seemed to be explained as she chattered on. She went to the archery ranges and she felt that she shouldn't. A guilty reaction then? That's certainly what it seemed to be although it seemed silly. The ranges were open to the Chiet, there was nothing stopping them improving their archery skills in their free time. There were even some Chiet who could use the Avora range if they knew someone willing to sponsor them. The teen couldn't say that it was a bad thing. She'd actually been helped a little by a Chiet butcher although she had been a little resentful of such aid at the time. There was no reason for Khara to feel so guilty about it but yet she was. Her words undermined themselves. She wanted to be an Avora, was trying to be one, but she wasn't sure if she was simply trying to reassure her or whether she felt truly unworthy of the position.

The huntress considered whether or not she ought to reassure the girl, tell her that she could wish to be an Avora if she wanted to but she didn't know if she could sound genuine. Would she sound like she was lying or would her words hold weight with the game scout? Did she want to tell her that? Yes, the girl could be allowed to dream, more than that she was better than her caste of Chiet allowed. It was a waste. She had shown hesitancy when she had killed the rabbit earlier in the season but she had also stubbornly finished the job. Her own ingenuity had helped them get moose meat back to the mountain. The girl certainly had potential.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to be an Avora," she replied simply, attempting a shrug but finding it difficult with the weight of her gear and the dangling cage. Teeth worried at her bottom lip as she considered elaborating, glancing Khara's way to judge how she should proceed. The response was wrong. It wasn't guilt. Nobody clung to themselves so tightly, trying to comfort themselves through self-hugging. She was beginning to unwrap from it now but the signs were there. Azira could even see the white crescents on her companion's arms where nails had dug in. It was fear. What was she afraid of? Surely it couldn't be her! Gods, even her breathing was ragged. The Avora slowed, watching the other closely now and with real concern. It stunned her to find herself so far out of her depth with no grasp of what was going on.

She came to a complete stop at Khara's final words, considering the implications of what she'd said. Chiet women went unnoticed if they wanted to avoid the attentions of the upper castes. The scout had given her such advice when she'd found her in the Warrens in the midst of a panic attack regarding Cedrin. Unnoticed meant that you didn't get used and abused by some Avora or Endal who took a fancy to you. There were different degrees of notice though. So the Chiet might have been getting some attention from someone, sexual harassment or it could have been something more. How many Chiet and Dek suffered harassment though? Why harass when you could just get what you wanted? Her thoughts were thinking more along the lines of something more but she couldn't be certain without asking. Asking didn't seem particularly tactful in this situation. If she didn't ask something though then what was she supposed to say? She couldn't remain silent either.

"Khara? When you say you haven't done well at going unnoticed lately," she began cautiously, putting the kyper down carefully so as not to jostle it too much, "how noticed are we talking? If someone's been bothering you... they can be dealt with, you know. It can be arranged." Somehow, her mind added softly. Beyond intimidation, she didn't know how to get rid of a troublesome person and if it turned out to be an Endal then what could she possibly do?

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

[Khara]

Khara wasn't sure what sort of response she was expecting, but Azira telling her she wasn't doing anything wrong wasn't among those imagined. Of course, her imagination was currently trying to run away with coming up with the worst possible case scenarios, completely ignoring the fact that Azira had stopped treating her like just another Chiet quite a while ago. She didn't know if they were friends, but Khara certainly had come to see the huntress as someone she could - and should - trust.

Her fingers went to her wrists and a small frown tugged at her lips at the lack of what had become a familiar piece of fabric. The makeshift bandages weren't needed anymore by any means, but they still helped somehow. In it's absence she considered tugging her katinu back out of her pack. It was probably cold enough for it, but she really wanted it more for the covering it offered. A timid glance was given as Azira came to a stop and a hard swallow followed her question. "I..."

Her voice faultered as her breath caught in her throat. Why was this so hard? Telling Zhol had been effortless, not that she gave him any details, those he managed to piece together all on his own. Her mind couldn't make sense of it, if anything telling Azira should have been easier, shouldn't it? Khara had seen the way that the huntress had reacted to Cedrin's advancement to Endal, knew there were other darker things in the Avora's past even if she hadn't pried about them. So why couldn't she just say it? It wasn't a big deal, after all. All Khara had done was obey an upper caste member, after all. Right?

"In Summer, one of the Endals was nice enough to take me to the Second Quiver. We both kind of stuck out since it's your range. One of the men there laughed at me since I'm not very good. He was told to keep quiet, I don't think he liked that much." It was the beginning of a long winded reply and Khara knew it, but it seemed like it was the only way to get it fully out. Her usual nervous stuttering at least was kept under control, even if she spoke far more quiet than typical. "I kept seeing the Avora at the outdoor range and I didn't really think a lot on it. Then he asked me to help him with something one day afterwards and I followed him, I didn't really have a choice, you know?"

Khara paused and ran a hand up into her hair, fingers tangling around a few strands as she pulled them through. "And... and when we got to his room, he told me that other Chiet were talking about me, said that I thought I was good enough to be an Avora. He didn't really agree. Said I was barely good enough to be what I am. That there was only one thing I was probably good for..." The explanation drifted off as her breathing quickened, the Avora's taunts sounding clear in her own head and thankfully never made it to her mouth. He'd seen her and Zhol at the range together, told her that the horse boy was only keeping her around until he was desperate enough to-

A sudden squeeze of her eyes shut was done in an attempt to quiet the endless repetition in her head, trying to remember something else, anything else. When she reopened her eyes her gaze fell to her hands as she traced over where faint lines had once been on her palms. "I told him 'no'. I know shouldn't have. It didn't end up mattering anyway, though."

A long shaky breath was drawn in before Khara cast another quick glance at Azira, this time she felt like she was blushing, not from embarrassment or anything like that. Shame then? Not so much for what had happened as perhaps letting her emotions get the best of her at what was probably the most inappropriate time, though. "I-I'm sorry. I talk too much," she quickly added, a small forced laugh following as her head nodded towards the cage. "W-we should probably get going. Don't want to end up trying to find her in the dark, do we?"

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

[Azira]

She expected the worse, of course, knowing that rape was a common crime perpetrated against the lower castes. It wasn't called rape though and wasn't usually discussed in fact, but it was a highly probable and unpleasant possibility. She prayed it wouldn't turn out to be as bad as that but she didn't hold out much hope. The Chiet's hesitance to speak sent the small spark of hope diminishing rapidly. It was more than hesitance though, what she wanted to say was simply choked off. It sent Azira's heart racing, the huntress having to swallow a lump of dread forming in her throat. She couldn't be sure that Khara would tell her anything at all, she didn't have to after all, but she looked as if she wanted to do so.

As soon as the word "Endal" escaped the scout's lips, the Avora visibly stiffened. Her thoughts immediately went to Cedrin, the fear of sexual advance that she'd always associated with the eagle riders and it was difficult for her to draw herself out of her own head to actually hear what Khara was saying. She wasn't talking about an Endal; she was talking about an Avora. The girl couldn't bring herself to look up as she gave her explanation or she would have seen the widening of Azira's eyes, the way her front teeth clamped down on her bottom lip as the inevitable conclusion approached. Horror and shock flitted across her features until the other finally looked up again, however briefly, and jolted her. The previous emotions were replaced by disgust then indignation and finally rage as her companion forced an apology out of herself for talking too much!

The kyper found itself deposited on the ground none too gently, letting out a terrified noise as it was shaken violently but Azira took no notice. Before she'd given it any thought she found herself grasping the other's shoulders to shake her violently. "What have you got to apologise for? Why do you have to act like you're petching worthless? Stop it!" she screamed into the girl's face. "You have nothing to apologise for! If anyone should be apologising it's that bastard and I wouldn't accept it from him either. That is not all that you're good for, you didn't deserve that and he's a sick, disgusting vagik. Do you understand?"

The rage drained rapidly from her then as red in the face she comprehended what she was doing. Given what they were discussing, invading the other's personal space probably wasn't ideal. She released her abruptly, looking at her hands in near disbelief as if they had carried out the actions all by themselves. The Inarta shook her head. "I'm sorry. I got a little... carried away. I shouldn't have touched you." Azira stepped away from her, still shaking her head, and almost tripped over backwards across the cage. The kyper within let out another animal howl, no doubt deeply unhappy with its rough treatment as the huntress spat curses at her own clumsiness.

The cage was retrieved, rattled by the movement of the terrified animal within and the Avora found herself peeping in to check on the disgruntled creature. She tried to reach in to stroke it and calm it down but received the nip of little teeth for her trouble and tugged her hand away before it could do any real damage. She sucked the injury, tasting metal on her tongue as she gazed disapprovingly at the animal. "I suppose I deserved that," she grumbled. Her eyes rose to her companion at last, the drama with their little hunter no longer an adequate distraction. She couldn't ignore this anymore although she had no idea how she was supposed to deal with it either.

"You shouldn't have to feel as if... Should you need someone to talk to I... Yeah... you're right, w-we should get going," she choked out, cheeks ablaze and her gaze dropped to the ground as she continued moving onwards. She'd tried to offer her support but it hadn't come out right so she'd just given up. This sort of thing was far from her comfort zone but she felt as if she owed the girl. Hadn't she looked after her when Azira had learned of Cedrin's promotion? Wasn't the girl her companion, someone who genuinely seemed to care for her? She had to offer her something but she was too much of a coward to get the words out. Later maybe she'd be able to manage it but not now.

In light of what Khara had said, her own worries about Cedrin seemed trivial. He hadn't come looking for her on purpose, he hadn't shown any sexual interest in her or any interest in her at all except for that brief meeting in the Kitchens so what was she concerned about? She was making a big deal out of something while her companion was making little out of a very big deal. Azira was quite lucky in fairness and she was only just beginning to see that. At least, she didn't have someone out there who definitely wanted to cause her harm unlike the game scout.

Nari | Common

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