Closed Coming full circle (Kaie)

[Aider Silander]

89th Summer, 515 AV.

The sun had risen to its highest point in the sky. The perfect time for the Nykian to take a nearly private bath without having to pay for the private bath price. Aider stepped into the bath house where the three had gone the first day they had arrived in the city. Memories of the fight rushed into his head, as they often did when he came to this place. He shook his head and smiled at Anelda, he slid her the one gold and three silver for the bath and soap.

He slowly went about removing his clothing, small scars and scratches both fresh and aged laid upon his skin. Accidents from his small ventures outside of the city and practice with his bow. He had a lot of time on his hands since she left the city. He had felt sort of lost and did anything he could to keep his mind off of it.

He neatly folded his clothing and laid it on the floor, a short distance from the bath. He held the soap in his hand and slowly sank into the water, letting out a soft sigh as the warmth relaxed his body. The water slowly rose to his shoulders as he sank into it. He lathered the soap between his hands and then began to wash his body slowly. Echos of words from the past echoed in his head. Visions from a city long past showed in his head. He sighed and placed the soap on the edge of the bath. Cupping the water in his hands, he splashed it up into his face.

"How are you still so lost?" he questioned himself. He had been wandering for a long while now. Even when the two had reunited in Sunberth, he had no idea what it was that he was after. He had her, even if he believed that it was only temporary. But still he wasn't satisfied with it, he wanted more. She was gone now and he had felt just as empty as he had after their first meeting. "She's gone, she's not coming back for you" he mumbled to himself.

[Kaie]

Her world felt very empty. Strangers passed her in busy streets, sailors did their best not to bump her as they unloaded cargo from their ships, and yet she was very much alone. She had a family seasons ago in Sunberth, a lover, a purpose. All that was purged in blood and gore with an angry mob, and her own insatiable quest for rightful vengeance. With Matthew she'd departed from Zeltiva's relatively safe shores to pursue those she blamed for her misfortune and the exposure of her vulnerabilities. Filthy, impoverished streets were navigated with utmost paranoia. A Tigress had been born and well blooded, sinking her fangs into one target before moving on to hunt down the next. The final deed had been done. Her goal complete. And yet she sailed away from Baroque Bay without the satisfaction she'd set out to earn. The emptiness lingered. Her friends were gone. She'd lost track of Matthew in her crusade, so blinded by the task. So there she was again, wandering through Zeltiva with a few more scars to add to her bronze flesh. Part of her hoped when a head moving in front of her turned it would be a familiar one. Then again, perhaps it would be for the very best if were not.

There was only one direction in which the Myrian moved in the grand scheme of things: west. Home. Too long she'd been trapped in the barbarian lands against her will, and when that wasn't quite truly the case, it was guilt that kept her from her long anticipated return. Kaie could remain craven no longer. Plans were drawn and made. Coin was accounted for. Her sword was sharp. There would be no further hesitation. A few days in Zeltiva would be taken to prepare, and then she'd embark on her next journey. For now, that wishful side of the Myrian had taken her unknowingly back to familiar ground. Granted, that location didn't hold the most treasured of memories, but it held them all the same. Besides, she could use a good scrub.

The Zastoska Bath House impressed her each time she approached it. There was beauty in its ancient architecture, the attention to detail, and the overall looming of the place in general. The interior was just as stunning. Before long, Kaie had found her way to the same bath she'd shared with Aider and Matthew a season ago. Eyes caught the neatly folded attire that signaled she was not lucky enough to share the bath alone, but that did not slow her approach. Between the hot mist wafting from the water she spied the back of a man's head. Those hopeful whispers bubbled up in her mind, claiming the figure was indeed one of those familiar faces she so desired to meet again. Quietly, she went about her own routine as to not disturb the bathing man. It was nearly impossible for her to turn her gaze away from the back of his head even as she stripped. Fabrics were tossed nearby the stranger's along with her shoes, and soap was procured from her pack before it joined the rest of her belongings. Feet padded toward the edge of the bath, but the sound of the man's voice stopped her dead where she stood.

"You're not lost. I've found you," the Myrian breathed incredulously, a broad grin of relief spreading across her foreign features. She was moving toward him before she knew it, wading forward into the warmth of the bath. The hardness had left her eyes, replacing it a sort of soft awe as if they'd forgotten what it was like to behold something dear. The woman stopped only when there was a short sword's length between them. Breathing was slow, mind uncertain as if her eyes and ears could be playing a trick on her. "Would it wound your ego if I admitted I didn't come back just for you?" Sunberth had sucked something out of her. Something deep, and something sacred. Yet clearly the snark survived the mental onslaught that came with the experiences.

[Aider Silander]

The water was warm and relaxing, had he been anywhere else but Zeltiva he would have feared that letting himself slip into an unaware sense of relaxation would lead to his death. But in this city he feared no death from ill fated means. If he were to die it would be designed by fate and something he would not be able to fight. He sighed again seeing the water vapors of his breath turning to steam from the warmth that surrounded him. To his knowledge he was alone and had nothing to fear from his quiet mutters.

He heard the nearly silent patting of feet against the stone but didn't open his eyes. The few people in the city that he actually knew would have called out his name and those that didn't probably did not matter enough for him to pay attention to. The man continued to let his muscles relax. The heat and motion of the water soothed his aching muscles. His eyes quickly shot open as he heard the soft tones of a voice he had not heard for a while. One he thought would be lost in the mist of time, gone forever from his world. "You've found me? But I can't help but wonder if it is truly you or an illusion brought on from the steaming waters and the stress of life."he said with no intent to cause her harm.

Her bronze naked skin stood before him. Water slapping against her body reminded him of a dream. She was beautiful and the time they had spent away from one another had proved that his mind had not held up to the beauty that she actually held. He stared long and hard at her before standing up himself and walking towards her. His movement causing small waves and ripples through the bath. He reached forward, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She was there, the proof of soft skin igniting a yearning in him had severed at a proving point for him.

"What, if I may asked, has brought you back? Even if it was not for me. You stand before me like the hands of the gods have once again brought us together. That is more tehn enough for me to believe that we have a reason to be together. Even if it is one we can not see. I believed that I would never lay eyes on you again, my beautiful Myrian princess." The words sliding out of his mouth quickly and warm. His heart pounding inside his chest as he stood slow close to the one he called his lover.

His fingers slowly moved up her side, touching the skin on her body as he stared deep into her eyes. He wondered if he was dead, if his relaxation had caused him to parish. Or if he had died long ago, in the streets of that cursed city and that everything he had experienced in the city had been some cruel prank of the gods. He wanted some sign that she was indeed real and that he was not dead. She had defended him like she always had and that he had learn to protect himself along the way. His mind raced as he tried to keep himself together.

[Kaie]

An amused brow arched, crooked grin widening. Narrow shoulders gave a gentle shrug."An illusion? Maybe you should come see for yourself," she purred in her Myrian accent, amber eyes inviting him forth with a coy glimmer. The distance of uncertainty between them was crossed. The warmth of his embrace was met with the wrapping of her own arms around him. Greedy fingertips traced lustfully along his spine from the bottom of his shoulder blades to the small of his back. For a tick the Myrian could've let his affections swallow her whole, freeing her from reality and what it entailed. Had it really been so long since she'd found herself engaged in nonviolent contact with another being?

"I am tired of your world, Aider. I long for my own. Lucky for you, Zeltiva was on the way." A playful laugh was suppressed, body involuntarily tensing along with the movement of his fingers on her skin. She suffocated the space that lingered between them, nearing until their flesh pressed together. Lips met his with a new kind of hunger. They moved slow, savoring each soft touch like it might've been their last, or perhaps as if they had nothing but time. When she pulled away, she dared not separate. Instead she merely dipped her gaze from his to press her cheek against the hardness of his chest. Eyelids closed to better focus on the relaxing rhythm of his furiously beating heart.

"If the gods you so despise really are behind all this, I fear their plans for us. They wouldn't let the terrors in Sunberth lead us to our end. It makes me wonder how cruel of an end they've decided on for you or I. " Her voice was oddly calm and passive for such a morbid topic. She might as well have been commenting about the weather or Zeltiva's thriving economy. "I only hope they don't intend on slaying me in sight of Falyndar's shore. What a sadistic death that would be." Her breathing synced to his before long as she stood there, pressed against him. Light kisses trailed down from behind his ear to the base of his throat. Desire awakening in the thrumming pace of her heart.

"And what of you? Has Zeltiva been kind to you? You deserve somewhere good." If Nyka truly wasn't the home he claimed, the Myrian wished perhaps he could find where he belonged elsewhere. A safe place with opportunity that identified his potential. A place that found him just as worthy.

[Aider Silander]

She was tired of his world, a statement that he understood completely. She longed to be back with her people, in the land of trees and wild nature. She longed to walk among the people she was born to and he knew that he had no right to try and keep her in his world. His chest stung like she had stabbed him through the chest with a blade. He ran his fingers through her hair as their skin and lips joined together. He enjoyed it while he could. The soft, sweet taste of her lips flooded his mind with all his dreams of her. "I understand. I am tired of my own world" he sighed briefly.

Her head pressed against his chest, his grip tightened around her as he listened to her nearly silent breathing. He looked down at her with a smile."You are the greatest warrior I've ever seen, with the love of the Goddess Queen. I am sure that you will be fine. I am a wander who has found little place in this world. If anyone is suited for an ill fate it would be me." His smile spread across his face. His words were backed with strength rather then the uncertainty that they normal were coated with."But then again, I've been in situations before where I should have died and here I am. If Sunberth can't kill me, I think I can survive. He waited for a moment before he scooped his hand under her chin and lifted it so she looked into his eyes. His lips met her with a furry that she would have never felt from him before.

Passion mixed with lust, as he licked her lips as they kissed. "It has been kinder then most.. But I doubt I will stay for long. I guess I have yet to feel like I belong anywhere. But that isn't something for you to worry about. We need to decide how were are going to get you back to your people. As fast as we can" he said with a smile. He wanted her to understand that in this moment he cared more for her then himself. She had been away from her family for a long time, her own people were across an ocean. "But for now my dear we should relax. I want to hear about how your trip went."