Closed Chickening Out

[Mayra]

81st of Summer, 515AV

Letting the chickens out of their cage was a tedious job. Unlike Txiro, who rarely wandered far, the girls were a different story, they didn't care where they went, and they didn't care to stay.

Opening the wicker door slightly, Mayra blocked the entrance with her body as best she could, reaching in with both hands. She felt the sharp jab of a beak on her hand and cringed as she wrapped her hands around the first hen's wings. Quickly maneuvering the door shut with her knee, she flipped the hen over on her lap. An angry squawking answered her as she threaded the twine across the hen's leg, tying it securely but making sure it wasn't too tight. Once the firs hen was secured with the twine, she let the angry bird go, and watched for a second as she waddled away as quickly as possible. It was only a few ticks before she felt the tug of the rope in her fingers and the chicken stopped, waddling in circles with confusion. Reaching into the bag beside her, she tossed some of Txiro's oats at the hen, distracting her from her dilemma.

Tucking the rope under her foot, Mayra tried again with the second hen. The second time was not as easy as the first time, since the Cockerel was more preoccupied with rushing the gate then the hens had been. But eventually, with a little more struggle, she got the second hen tied. Latching the cage, she moved over towards her tent, threading the rope around one of the stake now to secure one hen. Making sure the three hens wouldn't tear up one of her poorly laid stakes she tied the other one to a separate stake. Both where preoccupied with the oats now, so she didn't worry about them.

Feeling a little proud of herself, she turned back to the cage. "Now you." She spoke in her mother's tongue before switching to common. "Should really be left in the cage for biting me." She complained as she opened the latch once more, preparing her last length of twine for the cockerel. Of course when she reached for the chicken, she felt another tear in her flesh when he bit down. "I'm going to eat you." She snarled, flipping the rooster over as well. She pinned the struggling chicken between her knees and threaded his leg as well, securing the creature. She let him go, standing up and walking back over to her tent. Immediately the chicken rushed towards the girls, clucking irritable and shaking his rope-knotted leg. But of course the dumb animal was quickly distracted by the oats while Mayra secure him.

There, now you aren't stuck in a cage all day. She nodded to herself, moving back towards her spot in the shade to relax.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

It was quiet in the tent as Dravite’s consciousness ebbed between dreams and reality. The soft footfalls of his son's feet caused him to stir and he lay on his left side to find that Pearl had already taken her leave for work at The River Flower. He felt the warmth of his first wife at his back and smiled as Kyanite tip-toed closer, as if hesitant to wake the bear. The horse lord smiled slowly and the boy knew then that his game was up. "Da," Kyanite grinned, his toothy little frog smile warm, playful. Suddenly, Dravite sat up on the furs and grabbed his son, pulling him down into a bear-hug; Kyanite's gleeful laugh unrestrained and infectious.

Belkaia rolled over and smacked her husband’s shoulder with the back of her hand, "you woke first, he is yours today."
Dravite gave Kyanite a guilty look, "I have business today."
"You also have your son, work it out."

Dravite grunted, Belkaia was in a foul mood it seemed, "and Garrison?"
"Yuki wants to take him for the morning; she's trying to make him a hat," Belkaia yawned.
The horse lord looked across the tent to find that Garrison was still sleeping, ride, fun, friend? He signed quietly to Kyanite, who nodded eagerly.

Dravite pulled on a pair of black, leather pants and Kyanite went to fetch his father's belt. The man couldn't help but laugh when he saw the boy dragging it back, the tools too heavy for him to lift. Big, strong, proud, Dravite signed, reinforcing his son's lessons in grassland sign. He put on his belt and checked that he had everything; hatchet, dagger, hunting knife, before trying back the mess of matted, wheat coloured hair. Kyanite's hair was getting longer and he marvelled at his father's unruly locks while fussing with the yellow mop of hair on his head in an attempt to mimic the man’s actions.

After leading Cree out of camp, Dravite put his son on the stallion's back before pulling himself up. They weren't going fast enough that he would be forced to hold onto the yvas, so instead he encouraged Kyanite to take hold and used his bare feet to steer the animal, drawing his right heel back against the Strider's soft belly to turn right and the opposite for left.

The woodpile near Mayra's camp had dwindled down to nothing but a few odd sized pieces over the summer and when her tent finally came into view he couldn't tell whether she was home or not. Cree was left just outside of camp and the man went in with Kyanite running ahead of him after catching sight of the tethered chickens. He picked one of the hens up proudly after a scuffle with the rooster and showed it to Dravite. "Down," the man scolded in Pavi, not yours.

Kyanite dropped the chicken who flapped and ran back to join the scattered group slowly reforming across from them. They found Myra sitting in the shade and the boy ran over to her, remembering the stranger’s hair and black, colourless eyes from earlier in the summer. Dravite watched from a distance as Kyanite leaned against the girl's shoulder to show her a scratch he had received on his finger for getting too close to the rooster. The horse lord put his hands on his hips and tried to work out what was keeping him from approaching any further. He had come to offer Mayra the last of his spring wages for her safe passage to the stone city of Syliras before season's end, but something about her little campsite, chickens, the useless looking pony, and the way she sat in the shade so contented left him torn; she was setting up a life for herself here and for most native Drykas, that was really all they wanted of the foreigners who chose to stay.

"Mayra of Kalea," Dravite greeted her, hello, in grassland sigh before moving any closer. As he crouched down his leather trousers sighed where the material rubbed at the knee and he knelt down on one leg. "Here," he offered, holding out fifty gold miza to the girl, "if godless woman want leave for home to mountains."

Kyanite looked at the gold but did not make a move to touch it, instead he looked up at Mayra and put his little arm across her shoulder, signing with his free hand to Dravite, fun, friend, play?. The horse lord smiled warmly at his boy, "yes, Mayra is friend," he told him in the common tongue.

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[Mayra]

With laziness being a specialty of the halfbreed it didn't take long for her to close her eyes, but Mayra wasn't allowed to slip into a nap so easily. There was a pressure on her shoulder and Mayra's eyes flew open, thinking that Reo had climbed out of the tent. She didn't expect the diurnal Ixam to even be awake, so she didn't expect to be worrying about him being seen. But it wasn't an Ixam that stuck his hand in her face, it was a child.

A grin split her face when she saw Kyanite's scratch, which was a replication of the few pecks she had received earlier. "Where you messing with my chickens?" She asked in common, tsking with her tongue, knowing he didn't understand much. She compared the shallow bites, where the skin had pulled up but no blood drawn. "Here." She twisted to grab the bag of Txiro's oats. The pony had wandered to the other side of her camp fire and was content with ignoring her as usual. So he wasn't yet noticing that she was taking his treats for the chickens. She reached in, scooping out a small handful of grain and holding it out for the child.

As she did so, Mayra glanced up, looking for his father. Of course she would never see the child without the barbarian hovering close by, except he wasn't. When she looked up, he walked forward, greeting her in his usual odd way.

"Dravite of Cyphrus," She returned the odd greeting, pulling her legs into herself so that she could straighten up. She felt too comfortable lounging near the horselord. Dravite and comfortable never seemed to mix, but somehow it didn't seem such an issue now. At the presentation of money, Mayra scrunched her eyes down. Unable to process she lifted a single miza up to look at it. She only recently understood the value of the shiny scraps of metal, but she couldn't figure out why he would be paying her. "Here, if godless woman want leave for home to mountains."

Of course it would come to this. He had been pestering her to leave since she first met him, which hadn't been a very friendly introduction anyway. But for some reason, that the half-breed couldn't find the answer for, she felt hurt by the action. Kyanite asked something in the strange language and Dravite replied by telling the child she was a friend. So why does he want me to go? Frustrated and confused, she dumped the oats back int their burlap bag, peeling the boy's arm from her shoulder's and standing up.

She would have been delighted to be called Dravite's friend. He was the only barbarian who bothered with her, and even though they might'e started on the wrong foot, she still would have been happy for the title. Except that ounce of joy was smushed by the previous news. Ground into the dirt and forgotten about as the realization of the first proposition set in, boiling anger in the bottom of her stomach.

"What is this?" She placed a hand on her lips. "Call me a Friend? And then you do this? " She glanced at Kyanite, realizing she didn't have a real good reason for blowing up. She had expected this. They had both expected this, of course only Dravite followed through on it. "Chopre he randi." She cursed at him. "You're going to pay me to leave. And have be go back to Kalea? Open you're eyes! Don't you think I left for a reason? Don't you think I don't feel welcome here as it is?" Mayra reached down to snatch the bag of oats, spilling some as she tried to tie the burlap together once more with fumbling fingers.

Mayra wanted to yell more. She was hurt and she was confused, but she also had very little reason to do so. The reminder that she intended to leave from the start still bugged her. She didn't know exactly what point she decided to stay, or even the conscious act of doing so. But she also couldn't remember the point in which she wanted Dravite to accept her. His rejection to her unasked question was worse than a slap in the face. Instead she bit her lip to hold back a snarl of anger. "And you wonder why you work so hard and live with so little." She spat, determined to lash back. "You don't care about anyone but your own family. Where is your Pavilion Dravite? Aren't Drykas supposed to have more than just the sad wife and an outcast kid to drag through your failure with you?" She remarked on his home. She knew very little about the Drykas, but she knew family was important. His lack of only just started to seem odd.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Dravite]

"No," he tried to protest, "know Mayra pain for horse people; don't want sad," but it was too late, he had offended her, it wasn't so much that he wanted her gone from the city anymore, because deep down he knew he did not; but did Mayra like this place, was she happy here?

Kyanite looked confused, he backed away from the woman before going around her to his father, who in turn encouraged the boy to continue on and watch the chickens. Dravite put the gold away as Mayra spoke, words that cut like knives, all pointed at him. Like a lone wolf he stilled while his grey eyes moved to follow her and the skin across his shoulders horripilate, a tightening visible between that blades under the ink carved lion's mane scarred across his back.

What are you running from, what are you hiding, why are you so content with your silent pain? The man wondered about Mayra but had never voiced these things and still he would not for fear of hurting her further. When he finally rose to stand it was a menacing stare he pointed at the godless woman from the mountains, an arsenal of weapons at his fingertips.

He was a storm, dark, mysterious, unpredictable; a strange electric feeling raced up his spine. The horse lord's jaw tightened as he grit his teeth together, the muscles in his neck protruding like that of a stallion facing down his rival. "A man with so little," he barked at her, using the words she had chosen for him, "to give Mayra his last; still not friend?" He spoke with a voice like thunder and those who lived near raised their heads to see before busying their hands or slipping away, "what no one defends her?" He turned his anger in Pavi on those stubborn enough to look on only to watch them shrink into the background too.

"Dravite have little," he pinned the woman again with his gaze, "Mayra have nothing. No miza, no Pavi, no friend, no Strider. Pony Mayra don't ride, chicken Mayra don't catch, tent," he flicked the fabric and threw his hands up, "no oil, don't last winter; Mayra die."

And just like that the storm subsided and fell silent, his gaze cast aside, the cogs in his mind turning; he knew exactly what he wanted for Mayra but their language barrier made communication frustrating. He thumbed something away from the corner of his eyes, he knew what she thought of him now; who are you, Dravite Blackwater, to act so proud when you are left with so little? He closed his eyes and thought of Lazuli, he concentrated on her face, the yellow hair, the endless blue ocean in her eyes, her smile; and again he found peace.

When he moved to collect his son Mayra was talking and he did none but listen before speaking again, "Mayra need Dravite," he lifted his little lion and looked back at her, "Dravite need Mayra too."

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[Mayra]

Good. He was fighting back. It was almost routine for the two to jabger back and forth with insults, but for now it seemed real. The half-Zith almost grinned with a sort of giddiness when she saw the fire in his eyes and the promise of a fight, but his words came out different than she expected. He was explaining himself.

No, no, no! She protested in her thoughts, her anger faltering as she took in his words. Anger turned in to guilt as she realized what he was saying. He wasn't supposed to explain himself, he was supposed to fight back. Wasn't that the Dravite she knew? One who could take anything and turn it into an insult, whether he jests or is serious. Mayra reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes flickering shut for a moment. She held the bag of oats at her side, and glanced at Kyanite, he didn't need to watch this.

A softer expression accompanied the outstretch of her hand as she offered the boy the oats, perhaps to distract him. But Dravite was talking again, and finally giving her what she wanted. And he was right, she had nothing. She had no skills or concept of how to survive on her own in the foreign land, but it was the most she ever had. Mayra clenched her jaw. She wanted to call him a hypocrite but doubted he would recognize the word. Cursing at him in Tawna would only go so far, so she took a deep breathe, collecting herself.

"Fine. You think I have nothing." Her thoughts flew in circles as her anger surrendered to silence. She wasn't going to explain to him how much she thought she had, but he had different standards, and Mayra assumed he knew that as well. She searched for an adequate reply, but it boiled down to a very simple fact. A fact she had ignored until reality had nearly slapped it in her face in the form of gold mizas and a request to leave. She needed him. And although she wasn't sure if he needed her, she might as well slip out of existence when the snow came if she didn't have his support.

But of course those thoughts would never leave Mayra's lips.

"Are you so stuck in your barbarian ways that you can't look at this for what it is?" She extended an accusatory claw towards the man as he scooped up his son. "You, are running yourself into the ground." She turned the accusation back towards herself. A relationship required two. "I, am barely holding on." Mayra understood what she was saying as she pointed it out. "We are imbalanced, Dravite!" She concluded, and as she did he spoke up.

"Mayra need Dravite," He said as if he was continuing her own thoughts into words. "Dravite need Mayra too."

Mayra raised her chin, her neck wobbling for a moment as she debated the necessity to swallow past the stone in her throat. What he said was true, but didn't want to have to say it out-loud, so she allowed herself to nod.

It was a short spat, and perhaps the truest one sine their first encounter, but somehow by saying the words out loud a tremendous weight was lifted of her stomach. Mayra blinked a few times, focusing on Kyanite now, who seemed more anxious about the fight than anything. The boy, perhaps, hadn't understood much of it. So more for the child's benefit than her own she brought two hands up to form one of the few practiced signs she had picked up to replace the verbal 'sorry' she often had to mutter. Guilt. Mayra glanced down, not looking at Dravite. "I didn't mean to yell."

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

This is an option for speech.
This is an option for speech.
This is an option for speech.

[Dravite]

Guilt; grassland sign was a powerful, unspoken language and a single hand gesture had the power to say so much, but coming from Mayra it was completely disarming. The hard lines across the man's brow, and wedged at the start of his nose softened, his shoulders visibly relaxed, and that hair raising, electric feeling in the air melted away. Forgiveness, he returned with the wave of a hand, guilt.

One of Kyanite's little hands were raised to form the sign for friend and Dravite couldn't help but smile, "yes, Mayra friend," he reiterated.
"Mayra," Kyanite smiled, "look," he pointed to one of her chickens, the rooster, who seemed to be missing one or two of his pretty tail feathers.
Dravite felt Kyanite tickle his back with the missing feathers and scolded half-heartedly, "Kyan!" Before laughing so hard Mayra would think he was mad.

Kyanite looked shamefaced and held the feathers out to Mayra which made the horse lord laugh even more over the sudden admission of truth. He put his son down to walk the feathers over to the woman and folded his arms when the boy looked back as well if to say, 'will she bite me?' without speaking. When Kyanite realised that he was in the wrong, he pursed his lips, turning the lower one out and held up the feathers.

"Fall time of big hunt," Dravite spoke up, "city trade none, Mayra hunt with Dravite; need horse," he looked at her pathetic little pony and snorted, "Mayra ride Cree, Dravite have other horse," he looked over his shoulder at the stallion who turned to look back at the mention of his name, "Mayra must ride, fall camp dangerous," he signed the last word as he spoke it.

Kyanite ran back into his father's arms, minus the feathers, and Dravite lifted him without trouble; all of the pain had gone from the broken rib he had suffered at the end of spring and he was now free to push his body hard just as he used to. "Blackwater make camp with Diamond Clan, Mayra camp close," he insisted if she would not join them, knowing she camped nearby was good enough for him, "meet Dravite fifth morning, north gate."

Finding it hard to read the woman's eyes, when he got the odd glimpse at them, Dravite took Mayra's lack of protest for her understanding regarding his instructions. The whistle he summoned Cree with was short and high-pitched; the stallion wandered into camp slowly, careful not to step on any other of the chickens, and nuzzled Dravite's shoulder with the end of his soft, black nose. The horse lord put Kyanite on the Strider's back before throwing a leg over with relative ease and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth a few times to get the horse to back up.

Kyanite sat watching the chickens pluck up the scattered oats from the grass as Dravite leaned back comfortably with hands free to sign his farewell. "Mayra," he waved before turning his mount to point the animal home and nudge his side with a bare heel in order to get him to trot.

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[Mayra]

The side of Mayra's mouth pulled out and she was unsure to smile or to be confused. She still had little idea of what he was saying when he moved his hands, and without him speaking it out loud, she wouldn't, but the half-breed had a feeling he hadn't denied her apology. Of course when her attention was drawn to the rooster, who's usually birght fan of a tail was put together seemed ruffled, as if it was a physical portayal of the rooster's annoyance. Mayra sighed, as if the damn bird didn't hate her enough.

Dravite earned a thoroughly confused look as he laughed. Eyed wide and an echo of a question on her lips as he laughed for no real reason at all. Well... he is still a madman. That hasn't changed. When Kyanite revealed the feathers, she smiled though. He looked a bit shy to walk towards her, so she crouched to reach his height. The comical look of childish guilt made Mayra giggle. When he handed her the feathers, she silently took them, but reached up to stick the roots in his hair, sticking out like bunny ears. Chuckling some more she curled her hands up under her chin and wiggled her upper-lip to act like a rabbit and try to make the boy both smile and realize what she had done.

When the exchange was done, Dravite spoke something. The short broken common made littel sense to her. When he snorted at her pony, her eyes narrowed. She didn't much like Txiro as was, but she was a little defensive over her crappy camp. Dangerous. She noted the sign, unsure if she would ever use it. He continued on with something about hunting and moving on to the fall grounds. The halfbreed hadn't thought about it, but she realized it must be around that time. If she was lucky, she could catch up with The Pride this time, help them move the livestock and get herself some help moving as well.

When he asked her to camp near him, she tried to figure out what he wanted. Of course Dravite's questions were more demands, as far as she knew. But Mayra didn't protest, shrugging and rolling her eyes away from his gaze as if he could see that she was looking directly at him. "Fifth morning." She repeated to confirm.

Almost instinctively, she stepped back twice when the Strider approached. The half-blood had long stopped noticing, but the Strider's unsettled her like the other grass beast's couldn't. At the thought of it, her mind wandered to Reo, and only waved a goodbye to Dravite, waiting until she was sure he had turned around before diving back into her tent to check on the newborn Ixam.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Pearl]

MAYRA

Experience

• Animal Husbandry 1
• Wilderness Survival: Plains 1
• Endurance 1
• Intimidation 1
• Observation 3
• Socialization 3
• Childcare 3
• Logic 3
• Rhetoric 2
• Intelligence 1
• Acrobatics 1

Lore

• Chickens wander wherever they feel the urge
• Cockerels are more aggressive than hens
• Mayra: Enjoys naps
• Mayra: Wants to stay in Endrykas
• Dravite: Has a small family
• Dravite: Can turn anything into an insult
• Mayra: Needs Dravite
• Dravite: Needs Mayra
• Dravite: A madman
• Grassland Sign: Dangerous, knows how to make and recognize

DRAVITE

Experience

• Detection 1
• Childcare 3
• Teaching 2
• Organization 1
• Cosmetology 1
• Riding Horse 1
• Horsemanship 2
• Logic 1
• Intimidation 2
• Intelligence 1
• Planning 1
• Leadership 1

Lore

• Pearl: Leaves early for work
• Belkaia: In a foul mood
• Drykas: Want foreigners to establish a home if they intend to stay
• Dravite: A generous man
• Mayra: A Friend
• Mayra: A tongue as sharp as a blade
• Mayra: Will not survive the winter without help
• Lazuli: A mother's peace has no boundaries
• Mayra: Needs Dravite
• Dravite: Needs Mayra
• Grassland sign is a powerful, unspoken language
• Children have a way of breaking the tensions of adults

Another amazing thread. I love the interaction between Mayra and Dravite and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Thank you for allowing me to grade your thread. If you feel I have missed something, please do let me know.
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