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[Evarista]

4th of Winter, 516 A.V. Evarista was not about to get used to this any time soon. The humid evening air wrapped thickly around her as she walked slowly along the beach just outside of Syka, more to flex her legs than to reach a destination. Her thoughts up to now have been occupied with the turmoil of recent events, but now that she could be away from the settlement, there could finally be some peace. Never having been away from Ravok in any meaningful capacity before this, the sudden change in environment was a huge strain. Getting the hang of both the overbearing climate and the unfamiliar social rules of this strange place was a mixed success so far. That's why this beach was a pleasant escape. It reminded her of the Ravokian lakeshore, even though there was next to nothing in common besides the abundance of sand. Well, to make herself feel a bit more at home, she could pretend this was the lakeshore, invaded by jungle at the behest of some whimsical divine will. The only truly familiar thing in this alien land was the boy walking next to her. His small hand in her grip made her feel a lot safer, even though she didn't actually trust him to protect her any more than she trusted herself to protect him. It was just the mysterious power of belonging. The fresh breeze sweeping in from the sea made the heat and humidity much more bearable. Evarista's long hair billowed like an unruly banner, and she has long since given up on keeping it out of her face. Paying a little attention, the jungle was teeming with sounds, made by countless indescribable creatures living their life in the lush flora. Nothing like the silently looming forest of the Ravokian lakeshore. The black silhouette of the jungle was like a deformed cousin of the Syliran woodland, warped and infested beyond recognition. Somehow, the girl wasn't afraid of any of it, but it was less due to any sense of bravery and more due to a dulled sense of danger. After all, her meager imagination couldn't paint a too terrible picture of the unseen denizens. Snapping out of her silent musings for a moment, Evarista turned her head to check how far they've gotten from the village. The modest firelight was getting a bit too distant for comfort, so it was probably time to turn back. Her lazy gaze skimmed across the jungle one last time before turning around. It took her several ticks to realize that there was something definitely out of place where she just looked. "Hmm." Squeezing Hwyn's hand to call his attention, she pointed at the soft glow seeping through the thick shrubbery just where the beach ended and the jungle began. It was a stone's throw away from them, and although the source of the light wasn't visible behind the vegetation, the glow was too cool and steady to come from a fire. Evarista's first thought went to the fireflies that were common at home. But as far as she knew, fireflies didn't quite bunch together like that. The girl's curiosity immediately overthrew her caution, and she went in the direction of the glow to take a look, pulling along her companion without asking his opinion. Protecting her hand with chitin to avoid touching the unfamiliar plants, Evarista carefully pushed aside the greenery and peered through the opening, eager to see where the light came from. What she saw made her freeze, not in shock, but simply in a struggle to understand what was in front of her. A large trench broke the ground abruptly just in front of them. It was inlaid with processed stone, so it was clearly artificial, but that wasn't what made Evarista pause. At the bottom of the trench ran a pair of trails, emitting an ethereal glow, soft yet imposing, spilling out of the trench and up into the jungle around it. This was one of the strangest things the girl has ever seen. No, this wasn't just strange. It was completely random and arbitrary. What could this construction possibly be good for? Was it built by the villagers? Judging by the heavy masonry, that was doubtful. So then... was this a part of the ancient ruins they told about? The Ravokian visitor had only the vaguest idea about what Syka was and why it even existed, but among the few things she was told, the part about pre-Valterrian remnants roused her interest the most. This had to be it. Once that was clear, the fatigue and melancholy that plagued Evarista since her arrival vanished in the blink of an eye. "Let's take a look." Her tone was casual, but her actions were anything but. Cautiously approaching the edge of the trench, Evarista inspected the stonework that propped up its sides. Getting down would be a simple matter. Sprouting a set of striped claws, she sat down and swung her legs over the edge, lowering herself into the trench. The weathered stone relief was easy to grip with her chitinous hooks, and the light coming from below provided great illumination of the climbing surface, despite of the gradually thickening darkness of the evening around them. In no more than ta few moments, the amateur explorer was standing at the bottom of the trench, dusting off her skirt nonchalantly. Evarista looked up at Hwyn expectantly, waiting for him to get down as well. Considering his rough-and-tumble background, clambering around this sort of architecture would be a mundane matter to him, she thought. Even so, she continued standing right below him so that she could catch him in case anything went wrong.

[Hwyn]

Walking the Bright Mile

He liked walking with his master, her presence while at one point felt forced, had long ago ceased to bring him discomfort, he was content, and felt no reason to change the status quo, though leaving Ravok had been a change that while not welcome per se, but it was at least something new, and since he didn't feel like hating it he decided to embrace it for lack of desire to disrupt the life he'd resigned himself to and to an extent enjoyed.

Walking hand in hand with Eva a silent companion a shadow of his mistress he spoke a little less than he used to, though it was a comfortable silence that he only felt the need to break when he thought a matter genuinely worth mentioning appeared. Following Eva ash she walked. he wasn't sure how long it'd been but as evening approached Hwyn began wondering when they'd return to their home when his master's attention was by a queer glow beyond some foliage, which she pursued without seeming to show any caution in approaching, though the light didn't see particularly harmful he still wondered what the source could be. As they approached still linked by hands Hwyn watched detached as his masters hand shifter and began to pull the foliage apart. He'd stopped being surprised by the uncanny ability she had, she didn't seem to attach much special meaning to changing her body, though that said most everything she did was nonchalant so that didn't mean to terribly much, and after all was said and done no matter how much her form changed Eva was Eva no matter what, so he had decided not to allow it to perturb him. That said what they found as being the source of the light, a pair of rails in a stone ditch, it confused him. it seemed horribly out of place amongst everything.

Though it was interesting if he'd had any say in the matter he'd have let them keep their secrets, but his mistress was ever the inquisitive one, and as such where she went he followed. as she morphed her hands and climbed deftly into the ditch Hwyn squinted and followed, dropping in would be easy, the issue he had in climbing down was the skirt he wore, if their was on perk that he appreciated with his master was the clothes she had him wear, he taste in fashion tended to correlate with his own, though she usually had him dressed in more garish clothes than herself, she had alway preferred more comfortable utilitarian dress. Though the issue at hand was that in climbing down he'd reveal his nethers more so than he would of preferred, not that he had much to hide from Eva but it was a kneejerk reaction to be abashed.

"You don't need to watch me miss Eva...."

Lowering himself one leg at a time Hwyn held to the edge of the ditch on the stone before dropping himself into the niche without much effort and immediately taking a moment to readjust his apparel while hiding a red tint his cheeks liked to take. Though his momentary embarrassment was beaten back when the wind changed.

"miss Eva.. I smell burnt... burnt flesh I think..."

It smelled like his home of Sunberth, the smoldering heap that scented the whole city... a smell akin to death and ash... it wasn't like burned meat, a similarly acrid smell.. like hair maybe?

Credit to Shimoje, the bestest buddy