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[Sae]

The 22nd of Winter

Sae's slim-fingered hand waved to and 'fro to the distant figures. If one were to look at the ship that slowly sailed away, they might be able to make out five figures that waved back, but as the distance became greater, they became fuzzier. The woman stood on the beach still and watched, even as the distant ship became no more than a dark blot on the horizon. The brown-skinned female was dressed in a light linen cloak that reached to just above her ankles, her black leather pants somewhat form-fitting around the thighs but looser at the calves. Strapped to her back was a normal pack filled with items, yet still, there was some large gear on the sand.

In each hand, she held a single rope, and each rope led to a leather collar worn by average sized jungle dogs. They sniffed about her legs and the gear on the floor, but the woman seemed too daydreamy to stop them. Her eyes were clouded and seemed close to tears. But the tears never fell, and her eyes returned to a relatively normal state as she snapped to reality. She moved the rope in her right hand to her left hand and then ran her now-free fingers through her kinky-curly hair in exasperation.

Why the hell had she not continued with her group? She was supposed to be bound for Riverfall to wrestle giant men and play with tiny women, but here she was, stuck on the sandy beaches of this odd settlement. It wasn't a territory she was familiar with, and it didn't hold the types of people she was used to. The new land was daunting and seemed to mock her absolutely dumb---

No.

Her jaw steeled as she turned back to the items strewn across the ground. She wasn't going to allow herself to regret her decision. As mother always said, a true serpentess never doubted herself. She wouldn't allow herself to wallow in whatever negative feelings others would think she had. She didn't need anyone at her side because she was her own greatest ally.

I could use a horse, though... She thought as she sighed. While it wasn't an incredible amount of stuff, there was still too much of it to carry about. She would have to set her camp somewhere, and soon so that she could get everything packed away before night fell.

[Aladon]

Aladon was walking, with a slight limp, down the beach. Once again it was a beautiful day in the tropical settlement, but the lack of rain concerned the Isur. This was supposed to be a rainforest, and with a lack of rain. The Isur wondered if it was affecting the plant life and wild life in the area. Normally the blacksmith wouldn't care about the weird weather because he would be working in his forge, but the strangeness of the season didn't just effect the weather. People have been finding strange burnt marks in the trees, and he had a theory that he was violated personal by the same tool that burnt the trees if it was even a tool. Regardless, his new home that he just moved to had a whole lot of strangeness around it lately, and the down to Mizahar Isur didn't like it at all. The heat and humidity was high today, so the Isur was just wearing his loose flowing pants and his wide brim hat. He loved his hat, and he spent a bell couple nights ago cleaning the monkey spit off of it. To make matter's worse for his hat, the damn primate left teeth marks in the leather brim. He had this hat for fifteen years and not until a couple days ago that it was abused in such a manner. Regardless of the monkey attacks and being shot in arse, he loved his new home. Syka seemed to be attracting all sorts of interesting people from all over the continent, and the strangeness just added to the mystery of this quaint settlement. The Isur continued walking, and he noticed a very tall woman standing on the beach by the main dock. As he got closer, tall was a understatement of her. She was a foot and half taller than him! All Isurs male and female were the same height, so when he left south and east from Wind Reach. He was surprised at how tall the human got bigger as he travel east. However, she was probably the tallest human woman that he met before, and with her dark skin and elaborate hair style, she was quite a enticing newcomer to the beach settlement. Looking at the bags at her feet, Aladon stopped in front of her, tipped his leather hat to the woman, and said in common, “Welcome to Syka. My name is Aladon Blackforge Sultros, town blacksmith. Do you need help with your bags? With your dogs, I doubt you will be able to carry them all with only one hand. However, I am off of work, so I don't mind if you need assistance.” The Isur hoped that she didn't think that he needed anything in return. He was just being nice, and he was new to the city about twenty-two days ago, and he was quite relieved when someone came out to greet him. It made him feel less alone in a new place.

[Sae]

Synsae looked up quickly as one of her short-eared dogs alerted her with one of their odd roars. While the dogs weren't ready to leap on the offensive, they still remained on guard as the stranger got closer, their eyes trained on him and their bodies still but not relaxed. Sae clicked her tongue twice, which caused both dogs to retreat and look back up at her almost expectantly.

The woman unlatched and opened a small pack that was attached to her hip with a length of leather. She pulled out two pieces of meat that appeared to be rather dry. She dropped to her knee next to the dogs and fed each one a small piece, obviously a reward for their most recent actions; after all, it was always best to make sure a dog still being trained knew that they did well. Slyssisynsae rubbed each of their heads as they finished their treat, though her eyes had never left the man that walked towards them. He was short, much shorter than herself, but much broader.

The lack of tattoos and piercings made Sae doubt that this man was Myrian, and that feeling was further supported by his odd left arm. The dark red limb looked as if it could have been a slab of stone carved into such a shape, but it looked fully functional. As he got closer, she noticed the odd silver veins under his rather pale skin. She briefly wondered if metal ran through this funny creature's veins.

She stood tall as he got within speaking distance and stopped. Though he looked at the items at her feet, she never broke eye contact with the blue-eyed man. An eyebrow might have cocked when he did some bit with his hat, but she never stopped the eye contact. Though her Common was haphazard at best, she understood the basics of what he was trying to say. This land was called Syka, and he was Aladon Blackforge Sultros (an unreasonably long name, to the Dhani).

She didn't immediately doubt the fact that he acted as a blacksmith. In fact, Synsae believed him almost fully, as he had the sturdy build most blacksmiths had. She looked at the items that had been quickly tossed about her feet and had to admit: she couldn't take all this by herself in one trip, and she wouldn't have felt safe to make multiple trips even if she left her dogs to guard them. They weren't guard dogs yet, though she felt their earlier behavior showed decent progress.

"Sae," she stated simply, without movement or gesture. "Get tarp, torch, bedroll. Show Syka next," she commanded firmly, then only now broke eye contact to look at her items. She untied the lengths of rope from the dog's collars to allow them to roam free and proceeded to stuff the makeshift leashes into her pack. After a bit of contemplation, she picked up her fishing tackle and hooks and put them in the center of the large and still folded tent. Synsae wrapped the tackle and hooks in the tent, threw her remaining blanket over her shoulder, and picked up the tent bundle in both arms.

She never looked back at the oddly-featured man as she did this, though she turned back to him as she finished and got her items up and out of the sand.

[Aladon]

Aladon knew that he suggested that he offer to help her, but the broken common made it sound like a order when she told him what to help her carry. The Isur just stared at her for a moment as she gathered her things, so he went over and picked up her bedroll, tarp and torch. He put the under his left arm and waited for her give him the order. The blacksmith wasn't normally keen to be ordered around and ignored like a common servant even if he came from a poor family in Sultros. In Wind Reach, he was ordered around plenty of times by worthless Endals, so it didn't sit well with him, but in his bout of irritation, he wondered if she sounded like that because she didn't know enough of the language to sound polite. He knew that he was being petty, and he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt. Until she proved him otherwise.

The Isur decided that his irritation wasn't warranted, and as a dog went to go sniff him, the Isur put out his red left hand to the dog for him to sniff and get his scent. He wanted to pet the dogs. He never had a pet in Sultros, Wind Reach, or Riverfall, but he might have to remedy it one day here in Syka. Maybe a cat or iguana. A animal that could thrive in a exotic environment of Syka. Aladon looked at the tall woman, and he decided just to talk to her like she was fluent in common. Maybe she could pick up on some of the words and sentence structures. The blacksmith watched the dog nuzzle his hand when the jungle dog finished nuzzling. The Isur started to pet the dog on the back of his head and said to the tall woman, “You have some beautiful dogs, Sae. I never seen dog so well behaved before. Did you train them yourself?”

Standing up, Aladon looked at the dock looked at the pretty human woman. The Isur wondered for a moment if she was more accustom to the climate in Syka. Unlike himself, the Isur wasn't accustom to the heat, humidity, or the sun, and he often found himself in a need of trying to cool down. At first impressions, Sae wasn't all affected by the climate of the tropics. The blacksmith smiled at the woman, and he decided to keep talking in common to her, “Sae, where are you staying? I can just follow you there. I only arrived in Syka about twenty-one days ago, but I can show you the places that I do know. It not many.”

The Isur knew that he wasn't going to strike up long conversations with the tall human woman, but he wasn't going to treat her any different from the other citizens of the tropical community. For a moment, he wondered if Sae was a permanent resident or if she was a visitor passing through on her way to the larger cities out east. Regardless, at the moment, she was new to his new home, so he should at least give her the welcome that she deserves.