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[Quzon]

1st Day of Spring, 517 AV.
7th Bell. Morning.

One after another the solid strokes made contact, and one after another Quzon let his fist collied against the ragged armor draped over the wooden cross that he called a training dummy. In a slow methodical style, he lashed out with a low left kick to batter his shin against the wooden base of the cross. A sneer pulled at his lips showing that he did his best to grit and bare the pain of willingly kicking a solid surface. As his leg returned to its proper position on the ground, his back leg swung around in a roundhouse kick to the rib area of the armor.

For Quzon, it was a pretty normal morning as he trained dressed in only a loincloth, standing with both of his fist raised in a practiced need to defend his face. Holding them up even while in the process of kicking, shift his hands into a better blocking position. After the kick, he let his eye drift to the area behind the dummy where his horse and wagon were stationed.

He'd named the Seme stallion at the head of the wagon, Zokoztli. And since owning the creature, had probably spoken more words to it than to any of the Drykas combined.

Taking a couple steps back, Quzon forced his knuckles to bash against the head of the training dummy with a quick left jab. Quzon had always invoked instinct when he couldn't rely on true judgment or fact. It was a natural reaction written into the pattern of his behavior and above all, his fight or flight reactions, if nothing else. When frightened, he fought. When unsure, he chose the first thing that seemed good. There was no hesitation or second thought.

She might not have known it at the time, but a females small gesture went a long way in securing their respect in the Myrian's eyes. Mainly because It was the first kindness that he'd been shown in Endrykas.

That alone made them the best people for him to want to ally himself with. If he had given it any further thought, he might have added other clan names to that list. But, had already moved on from the topic when the first option appeared.

It might have seemed like an aggressive move, but with the best of social intentions in mind, he decided to constantly be on the boarder of the Dawnwhispers personal space. Mainly to attract their notice so that he didn't have to initiate a greeting across his obvious language barrier.

[Khida]

The man Khida did not know -- one who did not look Drykas in any way whatsoever, and whatever was wrong with his left arm anyway? -- had settled himself rather closer to the Dawnwhisper camp than she quite liked. He was in what she considered her space, or very nearly so, and she had a feeling that was not by any accident. It made the Kelvic watchful, wary.

He had done nothing overt, nothing objectionable, nothing that gave cause for ire or any protectionist action. He didn't even look at them closely, didn't seem to study their family in any fashion that might be construed a hazard. He simply... stood there, and fought with the air about him. Which was to say, he sparred. Obviously. Ostentatiously.

All of which actions Khida watched intently from her perch atop the Dawnwhisper pavilion, armed with talons and wings and a falcon's keen vision.

It had become apparent in short order that the man was alone. He had a horse, one of the heavily-built Semes, and... no one else. Khida found not even the implications of a companion in such of his possessions as she could perceive. Just this strange man with skin paler than an Akalak and one arm unlike the rest... a man who seemed to want to draw their notice. And though it took some time -- and not a few bemused glances cast towards their wife, who sat out attending to her own concerns -- eventually, Khida resolved she would give him that notice.

Not to mention, possibly remove his strange self from their space, if it came to that.

The falcon launched herself forth on a direct line for the stranger, though one that would never reach him; she glided down to a point well out of reach even for his long arms and long strides. There the Kelvic shifted to human, for all that doing so left her bereft of armor -- even the merely social armor of clothing -- and her best weapons. Cautious though she remained, she didn't... quite... expect to need them.

The woman faced the stranger squarely, chin raised, amber gaze level upon him. He was taller than she, patently stronger, and had just spent the past bell or so demonstrating his martial prowess to the world, but her manner did not deign to acknowlege any of those potential concerns. She could not mantle as a falcon might, but she could stand as tall as her human height permitted and do her best to project presence right back at him. This was her space -- no, her nest -- and Khida would not yield anything of it. Not just because someone camped himself on its fringe.

Strange, caution, her hands shaped. "You are here. Why?" Khida spoke in tandem with the gestures, confronting the man bluntly. Her Pavi vocabulary was more than sufficient to the task of that simple challenge. But not having heard the stranger speak so much as a word, the one thing she didn't know was how much of it he might understand.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Quzon]

Quzon didn't really think about the implications of things, not where he was going to do, or what he was going to do when he got there. At the moment, he was only training to bide time until someone noticed him. Not to impress anyone. With a sudden twist of his hips, following through with a twist at the knee and ankle, he rotated his entire body on the ball of his front left foot as his flexed arm came around to use his left elbow like a slashing knife.

The strike landed directly against the side of the training dummies head. And in the warrior's own imagination, he'd struck the hinge of a future enemies jaw in attempt to brake it. He stepped in even close to the dummy as he lifted his right hand high, then brought the pointed end of his elbow down into the sternum area on the armor.

Quzon's blue hued skin only turned slightly darker at the elbows from where he'd struck the solid surfaces. He pulled his balled fists back into a proper fighting stance to strike at the dummy again until he heard the unique sounds of a bird landing. Quzon glanced to her a little leery at first, a half scowl settling onto his face as he tried to understand what the woman was saying. When the words actually started spilling out, and he was looking her in the face, the half-isur knew he needed to petching learn the Drykas language some day.

"You, female." The word echoed from his mouth with heavy gravitas. He didn't know much about the common language, but he spoke the few words he did know with purpose. Many heavy steps were made in attempt to close the distance between them until his scantly clad form loomed right in front of her. The woman's naked form meant nothing to him considering the fact that he lived in a warrior matriarchy. His eye glanced down to take a better view of her body to simply take note of where her hands where, then returned his gaze to lock with hers. As he stood there, Quzon sniffed the air around her like a tiger trying to learn her scent. Click, snip, click, click. He made the sounds by clicking his snarling teeth.

The kelvic wouldn't know it, but Quzon was talking to himself using the special animalistic sounding language used by the Taloban Military. The Myrian was simply telling himself to 'prepare for ambush.' In response to the woman's posturing, he tried to make himself seem more imposing by standing tall and flexing his pectoral muscles to add more mass to his form. "Bring head male of Dawnwhisper clan... For Quzon of Barbed Earth will forge ally."

[Naiya]

Naiya's eyes traveled round and round the same path as her hands busied between grinding grains and flipping the crisping rounds of bread. First to the flatbreads, cooking, crisping, better if they don't brown - it makes them bitter. Then to Shai, sleeping soundly in his woven basket, the red pelt spread as a shade rather than a blanket in the heat. Next to the man. She recognized him and had even sought his help in the past, but his proximity now was.. unexpected. His grunting and the heavy sound of his body connecting with the practice dummy were a less than usual soundtrack for their day. Finally her gaze slid to her wife, perched above their camp clearly watching the show as much as Naiya herself was.

She quirked a brow at Khida, little more than a twitch, a flash of humor. Then back to her work, flipping the flatbreads with quick hands and light touches to keep the heat from burning her hands. Grinding the last of the aging grain in the bags, because it would preserve most of the year if she cooked it into the thin, crisp rounds. Creating the batter, dumping the grain in with the water and the tallow, mixing until it formed a dough she could roll flat.

She checked the cooking rounds, good, done, she pulled them off the heat, adding them to the growing stack. She placed two more on the hot iron, then turned her gaze back to Shai, his shock of dark hair slowly gaining strands of lighter color, perhaps he wouldn't be his father's mirror image after all. Back to the man, his style of combat far different from the one she had learned in her family, or even under the tutelage of her uncle. It was all aggression, kicks and thrown elbows, a barrage of blows. He was not as kind as she in fighting.

Khida again, only this time she had moved, coming down to speak to the man, perhaps on similar thoughts of anger and frustration should his... show wake the baby. Good. It would save Naiya the trouble.

She flipped the flatbread, one of which was too dark already. It would be fine enough, especially in a morning porridge, or yogurt. Still, she would have to be more careful. She rolled out two more rounds, then poured a mixture of nuts and seeds into her bowl, a rounded rock let her smash and crack the mix until she had opened and made bitesize... or at least close enough. She poured the mix into the old grain bag, and began again.

Flatbread flipped, Shai sleeping - and that man was entirely too close to Khida. Naiya rose to her feet, alert and her motion disturbed Ashette who dozed nearby, bringing him to attention with her concern. He gave a low bark, and soon both he and Baluke were watching the confrontation with hackles raised.

This was a poor place to pick a fight - leave aside that the man was a walhak and the city would side with Naiya's family - just the number of animals here more than ready to defend their people made his position one without power.

His words, however, seemed to contradict entirely his stance. To forge an alliance. She shot Khida a look, did they want an ally who acted like this? She couldn't discern posturing from outright aggression, but Khida could.

"I'm the head of the Dawnwhispers." Naiya spoke calmly. She was close enough that he should hear her fine. "And you, Blue man," She reverted to the name used when they first crossed paths, "Are standing far too close to my wife."

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Quzon]

In a manner that almost seemed to emulate a bull ready to charge, his nostrils flared as he made a sudden exhale of air. In a slow methodical fashion, he turned his head towards Naiya with an annoyed look on his face. “This game? Test? ” The words were spoken sharply. “This not Taloba. Women not rule horselord clans.” Quzon hardly knew anything about Drykas culture, but he at least knew that much. His head rested at a tiled angle so that he could still see Khida in his peripheral vision.

It took Quzon a while to process what the word 'wife' meant in common. It wasn't a concept that he saw that often in Taloba since marriage was uncommon for his people. One simply moved in with a partner or moved out if they didn't want to see each other anymore. “If want, bird female can move. I not stop her.”


His head fully turned back to Khida as he took a moment to look her up and down, trying to gauge her intentions. He assume they were protective. And if they were protecting themselves, then they saw him as a threat. In a way, Quzon was flattered by it. Being a threat meant that he had some type of leverage should the situation turn violent. But that was all hersay, he knew that he wouldn't start any conflict with them.

The faint snarl on his lips turned into a small smirk and his posture relaxed just enough so he no longer stuck his chest out. Then in the most 'matter of fact' way, he spoke in as clear common as possible to Khida.

“If want help calm war urge. Hit me, Bird.”

He held his hands out to his sides, the smirk on his lips pulling into a smile as he wondered what she would do. Hoping that she'd just get whatever protective need out of her system.

[Khida]

oocSorry for the extended delay!

The black-armed man spoke Common, but not well; perhaps about as well as Khida herself spoke Pavi. He made other odd sounds, clicks and ticks having no significance whatsoever to the listening Kelvic. She didn't mind the sounds much. She did mind his long-strided approach, the man's considerable mass looming into her own personal space, but the curious way he sniffed at her also piqued Khida's interest. That was a thing dogs and cats and horses did, in her experience -- not so much people. Why did he?

Making himself look as big as possible, that was something just about all creatures did, though people were often less obvious about it. In another situation, Khida might have ceded him the space; here and now, she kept her heels firmly fastened to the ground, her chin up, and her gaze level upon the stranger. Her family was behind her; she wouldn't be intimidated away so easily, no matter how much bigger he was.

Khida really didn't know what to do about his demand. Her gaze flicked towards the western distance, that far-off place where the other half of her self languished far from home. If only he were here to be brought...

Fortunately, their wife stepped up to address the man's demand before Khida was forced to come up with some reply. From the edge of her vision, the Kelvic caught a look cast her way; it wasn't obvious to her what their wife meant by it, though. Not when so much of her own attention was focused on the man. He turned his own regard to their wife, taking on an annoyed expression -- but not actually moving, and continuing to talk, albeit with distinct pauses for thought. Perhaps on account of the language?

He looked from one woman to the other, studied them both. Some of the energy drained from his posture... even as he invited Khida to hit him. That earned him a mildly perplexed look from the Kelvic. She glanced briefly towards their wife -- and took a moment to mostly switch her own mental gears from one language to another -- before responding. "If you're talking and not fighting, I don't need to hit you." Not, came as silent accompaniment to that statement, tempered by persistent caution.

She still wasn't about to stand down, never mind move away. He'd shown a willingness to talk, but not sufficient bona fides for Khida to relax her guard just yet.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

[Naiya]

The man used a word in common she didn't know. She assumed it must be similar to truth. This not taloba, this not truth. Common was clearly not her own first language, and not this man's either, a barrier to this communication. All the same, she shook her head, not shaping her hands.

Khida's eyes turned to her own if only for a flash, mostly confused, perplexed. She was clearly comfortable enough holding her ground, something Naiya would have struggled with. So be it. Khida was perfectly capable.

The man was ornery, self-impressed like a young stallion. She liked him though, he was a good man to have at your back in a fight, and he worked hard at any task put before him.

She eyed him again, really taking in his tall frame, heavy musculature, and the marks that covered his skin. He was well taught in combat, clearly, he had been demonstrating such all morning. She knew he was a wielder of magic as well, having seen first hand both the benefit and the toll of such power. He was handy enough with a few weapons as well, making him a useful addition in their camp. He wanted an alliance. That was clear enough in his words.

Why then antagonize her wife? Why question whether or not she told the truth?

"Do you often forge alliances with people you don't trust?" She gave voice to her thoughts, asking herself the same question. Would she trust him to come and go freely in her camp, around her animals, around her child?

Perhaps she would know by how he responded to her question, or by his behavior in what was now a day of talk and negotiations.

"You think we lie? Or resort to trickery? Then why come here, why seek us?" Again she shoved at him with her words pushing back against his arrogance, her own form of posturing, she supposed.

"Most drykas have male leader, yes," a concession, she did not want him to give up on them, he would be an asset in the protection of their family. "But I have told you that is not the case for my pavilion. I am the leader here, my husband will take the title back when he returns." She raised a brow at the man, would he continue to question her?

She turned attention to her wife, catching her eye before signing to her. Is guest, unsure, familiar man. Eyes back to Quzon she spoke to him.

"Perhaps we should talk, if you don't mean to harm anyone here? We clearly have much to discuss."

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant