At the end of the road (Laria)

[Vileia]

The pause for water was much appreciated, but the mare didn't drink as much this time even if she probably needed it. The heat of the sun tormented her weak body and the water was making her stomach rumble in a not so good way; empty on anything else, there was nothing for it to work with, and the moisture absorbed poorly. Being cooled off felt good and made her thoughts clear for a moment; as they continued walking though, the head once more drooped low until the dainty horse stumbled blindly forward, guided by scent and touch only. The appearance of the tent city on the plains barely made her react; a twitch of an ear at the increasing amount of sounds in the wind was all, she didn't really see the blurry, white shapes for what they were. Fever raged through her body and made her feel sore, sensitive at the skin and all sounds ached in the head as if her nerves had been wrapped on the outside of the skin. The passing into the stables felt more like someone had blocked out the sun with a giant hand; at first there was only darkness, solid and black, until her eyes dilated enough to take up the fainter light of the shady location. The mare stopped as her two-legged host opened the stall for her; she regarded it tiredly, breathing in shallow bursts. Being in a stall wasn't familiar to her, not something she was used to. A memory tried to rise from beneath, tried to explain why, but she didn't want to hear; shaking her head, she stepped inside on sore feet, too ill to really care either way. If this was her offered place to be, then she could be there. The movement of her head had made a slightly foreign sound ring through the stable-tent, one that had been hidden by the wind while on the plains. It was a faint clinking sound, metallic in nature; something small gleamed within the mane of the mare, braided into the pale, silken strands. It was an amulet, a small pendant of gold decorated by simple vines, along with a larger pouch of worn leather that seemed heavy with its content; the horse didn't seem bothered by them, but it was a small clue to where she might have come from. Now that the silver-coated animal didn't have to move anymore, it was as if all strength drained from her legs. With a heavy sigh she closed her eyes and allowed the legs to bend, wanting to lay down on the ground. She ached all over, it hurt, it was so hard to think straight. A memory of a memory passed through her mind, a recollection of a hand brushing over her forehead, stroking pale curls away from her face and nudging a narrow nose in comfort, a smiling face glancing down on her with warm eyes... She wanted to feel it again, but a stabbing pain in her chest told her that it wouldn't be possible. Not like this, not while in this shape. And as if the stray thought had awoken something within her, the mare began to glow, a mist of pale light surrounded her for a moment, covered her exhausted frame for a moment; when it faded, it wasn't a horse that lay on the ground, but a girl dressed in nothing but dirt and her own skin. Starved and sickly, she coughed faintly and tried to push the pale hair away from her face, so unused to being in human form that she barely remembered how to move properly. Gilded eyes looked around in disorientation, but as they caught sight of the human a weak smile appeared on her face, trembling and uncertain

oocsorry if it's choppy or inconsistent, and for taking so long :3 I felt I had to reveal her, sooner rather than later..

[Laria]

Laria waited patiently as the silvery mare considered the empty stall before her. She reached out and gently ran a hand down the horses neck in a soothing touch. The door could stay open if the mare was unsure of the enclosed space; Laria was certain that the horse would stay put. She was exhausted and would likely not get far, but she also sensed that the mare had decided to stay on her own terms.

A quiet noise, a chinking of metal sounded in the quiet stable as the mare moved her head. Peering closer, something glinted in the horse’s dirty mane. It seemed to be some sort of gem, a piece if jewellery perhaps? She didn’t lean in too close as Laria didn’t want to crowd the poor creature, but it was curious. Was that a leather pouch tied to it? She would examine it later, Laria decided, since the mare had now moved further into the stall and proceeded to lie down.

Laria quickly turned on her heel and moved off down the stable, collecting two buckets. In one she put a small amount of feed; no more than she would give a weanling at any one mealtime. The mare’s stomach was likely contracted and any more feed than that would probably make her ill. The other bucket she filled with water. She would leave both with the horse so that she could have them when she needed them.

Laria returned to the stall and set the buckets down outside it before moving to the door again. When the mare came into view, the girl froze. It wasn’t a horse lying on the floor, it was a girl. A girl who appeared to be ill and weak, her hair and skin pale like the mare’s had been. Laria’s brow furrowed in confusion and her mind filled with jumbled thoughts and explanations. She had heard stories of people who could change into animals, who shifted in a flurry of lights. It sounded too otherworldly to be true. All the same, there was a girl there now and she looked sickly.

Laria grabbed her pack from where she had dropped it earlier and rummaged quickly for a blanket. She pulled it out and stepped into the stall, looking down at the faintly smiling face of the girl. The eyes caught her. They were the same, exactly the same as the mares. Could those tales be true? She gently wrapped the soft blanket round the girl’s body.

“I’m Laria.”
She had no idea if the girl could understand her. Laria was speaking in the common tongue, so she hoped that she could.
“What is your name?” Azure eyes found the golden ones of the girl again.
“How did you come to be in the grasslands?”
She spoke slowly and quietly, giving plenty of time for any responses. Perhaps there were better questions that could have been asked, but her mind was still busy trying to fathom how the girl could have been the mare she had left just chimes ago.

OOCSorry it took me so long to respond. I went away for the weekend.

[Vileia]

She tried to speak, but the words she wished to utter simply wouldn't form. It was as if the tongue no longer remembered how to shape correctly, as if the vocal cords had forgotten how to sing. The girl opened her mouth and moved it, but no sound fell from her lips; a look of frustration and fear slipped onto her pale features. She made a gesture with the head from where she lay on the ground, a jerk of the head as if she still were in the shape of the silver horse; it looked a bit strange, and seemed to exhaust what little reserves of strength she could have gained by changing to a smaller form. Thin fingers gripped the edge of the blanket and pulled it closer around her small frame, seeking what warmth she could find from it; the lack of clothing apparently didn't move her, but such were normally the case with people like her. A kelvic. It came to her now as she lay, shivering from fever and the malnourished state she was in. Memories she thought she had forgotten, things she had suppressed during the long season she had been running from the horrible things she had seen... She remembered. Her past, her present even though it was cloudy from tiredness and apathy. The eyes of the strange young woman was locked with the gaze of the two-leg, but seemed to look through her as much as at her.. She remembered her name. "V.. Vile.. ia. Vileia." The sound was faint, her voice soft and light and seemed almost as pale as she was, but she had been able to say it. Long time had passed from the moment of the question to the one of the reply, and perhaps her savior had begun to feel annoyed by now. Perhaps she had gone away... But no. Vileia could still see her there, patient and calm as before; it was comforting, the steadiness of her presence. A narrow hand reached out from under the blanket, long fingers seeking to grasp the hand of the other girl and hold it. She lacked all strength, but there was something desperate over the stranger, over the way she clung to the other with her eyes, as if she was afraid that the human would go away. She wanted to keep answering, wanted to tell about the long run. Her mind still shied away from the events that night, but she felt like she should be answering.. "Don't ask" was the words that slipped from her lips though, with difficulty and in shaky common, as if she had started to forget about the languages of the sentient. For so long she had been a horse, run with the fleet-footed and the wind-born... "La..ria. Don't ask, Laria. Please..." It was a plea, unjustly demanded from someone who had already done so much. The gift of water and shade was enough to place her in debt for a long time, and still she demanded more. Not at all like the generous girl from before, not at all like the laughing daughter of wind and rain. She was different now; this girl had seen fire and felt the breath of hounds panting at her hocks, she had listened to the screams of her loved ones as they fell for the hands of the wicked... The memory seemed to cast a shadow over the tent, as if the eye of Syna had been closed, unwilling to gaze at the horrible memories... The kelvic closed her gilded eyes and shuddered.

[Laria]

Laria seemed to have completely forgotten about the passing of time as she waited for a response from the girl. Her mind was still working overtime, trying to puzzle out how a person could be two beings at the same time. She recalled a tale that her mother once told her, but it was vague, incomplete. There was just the remnants of a story about a boy who could turn into a crow at will. She remembered it sounded elaborate, like a fantasy that could never be true. Surely that had nothing to do with the golden eyes girl before her now?

A slight movement from the girl bought Laria back to the present. She could see the shivers running through her. A warm broth of some kind was what she needed, not the horse feed that sat outside the stable door. Concern was evident on all of Laria’s features. She wondered if the girl would come inside of her family tent. It was surely warmer in there, and she would be able to have the proper care she needed to regain her health. But… what if she was a shape-changer? A horse surely would not fit comfortably. Another puzzle.

”V… Vile…ia. Vileia.”
The words were almost a whisper, but Laria was focused on the girl now, so she picked them up. She glanced down as a thin hand snaked from the folds of the blanket, as if searching for something. Laria reached out with her own, letting the girl wind their fingers together.
The girls next reply was short, though for some reason Laria had been expecting something like it. A firm, but gentle nod was given.
“It’s okay, I wont ask you anymore. It’s yours to know.”
She fell silent again for a moment, still grasping the girls hand.
“Vileia… would you come into the home tent? It will be warmer, more comfortable for you.” Azure eyes were almost pleading as she gazed on the frail girl. “I can get you warm food and we can get rid of your fever.”
Laria would do all she could to ensure that this strange girl recovered. It tore at her heart to see someone so weak. She wasn’t entirely sure of the best way to go about it, since she was more used to tending to horses. She had even formulated a plan of care when she had thought the girl was a horse. Laria was beginning to think she had imagined it all.

If Vileia gave any notion that she would tolerate being moved, Laria would help her up and carefully guide her to the home pavilion. She would carry the girl if it came down to it. The Drykas would give up her own bed for her and attempt to make a warm broth.
If, on the other hand, Vileia did not want to move, she would try her best to make the stall warm. Blankets, as many as she could find would be gathered and presented to the girl. The broth would still be made, though she wasn’t relishing the thought of leaving Vilea for a longer amount of time. Definitely not while she was so weak.

[Elysium]

Vileia

XP:
Observation +3
Socialization +1
Running +1

Lore:
How to Survive the Grasslands
Laria, the Merciful Two-Legs
How to Repress the Past

★

Laria

XP:
Horsemanship +3
Riding +1
Persuasion +2
Observation +2

Lore:
Vileia the Kelvic
Horsemanship: How to Approach a Wounded Horse
Horsemanship: Signs of Malnutrition
Persuasion: Offering Hospitality

Notes: This was a very sweet thread! I enjoyed Laria's gentle coaxing. If you two have any questions, please PM me!

and so, the journey continues...