An endless expanse of golden brown swayed lightly as the wind blew through the grass. Birds called out to each other, hidden among the tall grass that was their home. All was as it should be. Peaceful. All was right with the world, and everything in it.
Then reality...shifted. Heat, intense, and oppressive seared Lian's lungs. Thick, acrid black smoke filled the air, turning the once familiar world into a terrifying nightmare. Birds exploded into flight all around him, screaming in panic as they flew for safer territory. Predator and prey alike fled before a wall of red that consumed everything that it touched. Neither took note of the other as both had far more to fear than each other. Even the deadly glassbeaks, and night lions gave way to this implacable threat. And the world burned.
Red consumed golden brown, turning all into black ash. Lian fled like the animals that called the Sea of Grass home. But unlike most, he knew that there was no outrunning a grass fire. Unless he could make it to the lake he was dead. And with his injured ankle, that seemed a very frail hope.
Until she came. A beautiful young filly exploded out of the grass beside him. She reared, pawing the air with her hooves as she screamed a challenge at the fire. Her ears were pinned back against her head as she defied the deadliest of predators. And she stood between him, and death. When she dropped back down to the ground, Lian grabbed her mane, and managed to drag himself up onto her back. His lungs burned, and he coughed harshly against the smoke that tried to smother him.
The filly ran. Lian guided her panicked flight towards the lake. It was the only hope that either of them had. But at least together, there was a chance.
Lian woke with a startled cry. He half expected to feel the intense heat of fire surrounding him. But then the dream faded, and with it, the fragment of memory it had stirred within him. What was that fire? How old had he been when he'd been caught up in it? Were there others with him? And if so...who? Family? Friends? Had they survived? Or were they forever lost, existing only in the fragmented bits of memory that were mostly lost to him? The only thing he was certain of was that the strider filly that had saved him was Talise. That, and the fact that he had saved her from that fire as much as she had saved her.
There was no chance of sleep returning to him, so Lian gave it up as a lost cause. He left his room, and went in search of something to eat. Then he made his way through the tunnel leading out of the Within, and into the riding arena. From there, he entered the boarding barn, and found Talise. The beautiful strider mare was a very welcome sight after his nightmare. Even now, the vague images lingered, making him uneasy. He half expected to smell the acrid smoke.
Lian opened the stall Talise was staying in, and gestured for her to follow him out into the riding arena. He stopped just long enough to pick up a curry comb. After his nightmare, he wanted nothing more than to spend some good, quality time with his strider. With slow, gentle strokes, Lian brushed the dirt out of his strider's mane. Talise leaned into his touch, clearly enjoying the attention. Lian chuckled.
"You'd make me do this all day long if you could, wouldn't you?"
The answer was a strong, definite affirmative that left Lian staring at his strider in shock. Had he just heard her answer in words...? Deciding that he must have been mistaken, Lian dismissed the thought, and continued. Using circular motions, he started with her neck, then moved slowly from her neck, to her shoulders, to her sides, and finally to her withers. Lian slowly brushed Talise's back, before moving on to her croup. While brushing her croup, he was especially careful not to startle her. Talise was so content that if she were a cat, she would be purring. As it was, Lian felt a very strong desire for him to keep going.
When he was done with her croup, he moved to Talise's other side, and repeated the process starting with her neck. Finally, he wiped away the dirt and hair he'd stirred up with his hand.
"That's better, isn't it?"
Talise whickered in agreement. Again, Lian got a strong sense of agreement and contentment. The sensations he was getting from his bond with his strider were far stronger than he expected them to be. Lian moved to put the curry comb away.
Don't go. came the wistful response.
Lian dropped the curry comb in sheer shock. There was no dismissing it as his imagination that time. Talise had spoken to him! He had heard words in his head!
"What? But how...?" he asked as he stared at his strider.
Please don't go.
Lian couldn't ignore the plea even if he wanted to. So even though he had just finished curry combing his strider, he brushed her again. As he worked, his mind raced, trying to figure out what was going on. Could he still be dreaming? It didn't feel like a dream...but what else would explain the fact that Talise was talking to him? Maybe he was insane, and this was all in his head. He had lost his memory due to an injury. That was what the healer who traveled with the trade caravan that had brought him to Riverfall had told him, at least. Could the injury have damaged more than just his memories? Was it possible to be injured in such a way that his mind was damaged enough to cause him to go insane, but have the effects of such an injury show up well after the fact? How would he know if that were the case? Could Kavala tell him if it were true? She was a healer, after all.
Talise seemed to sense the way his thoughts were headed, and she snorted.
I always talk. You just not always listen.
Lian blinked, startled at that thought. Was his strider right? Talise had always been able to communicate with him through their bond. Lian didn't need his memories to be able to know that much. It was simply the way between strider and their bonded Drykas. It always had been, and it always would be. It was also true that striders were more than just horses. Could this new ability to hear Talise speaking with words be a new aspect of the bond between strider and Drykas? A deeper connection of some kind, perhaps? Again...how would Lian know if that were the case? Still, it was better than the thought that he might be insane.
When Lian finished brushing Talise for the second time, she asked him to stay with her again. Lian got the feeling that she missed being with him all the time. Or at least more often than they were able to spend time together now. He got the impression that she was always nearby, no matter where he was. But as tempting as it was, Lian couldn't stay in the arena all day. So he promised her that they would go on a nice long ride together sometime soon. Then he let his strider out into the east pasture behind the boarding barn.
Once he had seen that Talise would be comfortable, he made his way back into the Within. When he looked for Kavala, he was told that she was out getting a costume for the Winter Blaze festival that would be held in the near future. That reminded him that he needed a costume for it as well...and that he had no idea what kind of costume to get. He had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't the costume wearing kind of guy. Still, the festival sounded like it would be a lot of fun, and it would be a good chance to learn more about the city he was living in.
Lian asked for directions, and got exactly what he asked for; directions to a number of shops that might still have costumes left. So he made his way out of the Sanctuary, and headed towards the city. Once there, he walked through the crowds, trying to keep out of everyone's way. Many of the people seemed to be out on the same errand he was, based on snatches of conversations he heard as he passed by.
The first three places he tried were all sold out of ready made costumes. One had material for sale that someone might be able to make a costume out of, but that someone wasn't him. Memory loss or not, he knew that he didn't have the slightest idea how to make clothes of any kind, much less something as elaborate as a costume. So he began his search once more. As he walked, he thought about what kind of costume he wanted. The theme was fire and ice. That helped somewhat since it gave him ideas to focus on. Even so, he had very little idea of what he was looking for. How did one dress up as ice, anyway? Or fire, for that matter?
The more Lian thought about the matter of a costume, the more he began leaning towards a fire theme. His dream earlier had been a very vivid one, and it influenced him now. It even gave him an idea to work with. Fire raging through the Sea of Grass. Red consuming golden brown. How that idea could be turned into a costume eluded him. But it was all Lian had to work with. Maybe he would know what he was looking for when he saw it?
Lian looked around, and realized that he had managed to get himself completely lost while he had been lost in thought. He was debating whether he should ask someone in the crowd for directions, or simply wander around on his own for a while when he heard Kavala's distinctive voice nearby asking someone if some guards were bothering them. Uncertain as to whether there was trouble or not, Lian headed in the direction he had heard Kavala's voice coming from. The woman had given him a job and a place to live when she knew nothing about him. He didn't even know anything about himself when he first met her. So he felt that...not that he owed her, exactly. He was earning his keep, after all. But she had given him a chance when others might not have. And for that, he would do what he could to help if there was some kind of trouble.
When he got there, he saw that Kavala was talking to a tall woman with long black hair. He also noticed that a group of blue skinned men that seemed as if they might be watching the woman. Were they the guards he heard Kavala asking about? Were they expecting trouble from the black haired woman? Was she trouble? Or were the men hoping to cause trouble? Lian was wondering if he should ask when he felt something watching them. He looked around, and saw a cat glaring at them from underneath a nearby table. He didn't know how he knew, but he got the distinct feeling that it was frightened of something. And from the way it was watching the two women, he got the feeling that one or both of them had frightened it somehow. That realization demanded the question of how he knew the cat was afraid instead of angry. But there were more important matters at hand than a frightened cat.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but do either of you know where I might be able to buy a costume?" he asked politely, in heavily accented Common.
He signed a quick sincere apology as he spoke automatically. Only afterwards did he realize that his pavi sign wasn't likely to be understood. Lian didn't understand what was going on, so he would watch and learn. If there was trouble of some kind, he would do what he could to help. And if not...maybe they could help him find some place he could buy a costume for the festival.
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