Honoring the promise (Rista)

[Kikue]

The Avora raised an eyebrow at how Rista replied. It was quite amusing to her to see her react so akwardly. She couldn't help but chuckle a little. "And you have no feelings for either one of them? That's a bummer. Not really fun." Maybe she should push a little more, it was just too much fun for her to tease Rista right now. "Well, I've never had a lover myself, but I did have a crush on someone before. Too bad that he was already seeing someone else. Ah well.", she said as she shrugged. Kikue looked around for a second to see if there was someone she could tease Rista with a bit more and saw a fellow Avora. The guy was good looking, but she knew his personality. He was a womanizer and it was often that he was seen with a Dek woman entering his room. "What do you think of that guy? He's handsome isn't he?", she said with a sly smile as she pointed at the Avora. "I could introduce you if you want... Ah look, dinner's coming", she then said as she saw a dek carrying a tray. He put the plates in front of Kikue and Rista, put some cutlery down and then left again after saying: "Please enjoy the meal. Avora and Yasi." Kikue's face darkened a bit as she heard the dek call her by her caste, but she couldn't really help it. Better to have that then to have them beat up for not being respectful enough.

[Rista]

"Feelings? The first is my teacher and the other is a friend.. They're nice to me and I like them. What other kind of feelings is there to have? They're a lot older than me to that. I don't think they'd be interested in.. that kind of thing, even if it was suggested." The blush deepened on her cheeks, and her voice staggered a bit even though she tried to sound calm and casual. The thought of getting close to either of the two men felt awkward and wrong, and the girl quickly pushed away the images of the male Endal she had acquainted just recently. It wasn't anything like that, not at all; he was at the same age as the other two and besides, Fois was.. quite scary, in his own way. Not so much as Sairque, but still... This was definitely the kind of conversation Rista enjoyed having.

Her attempt at turning the conversation towards the other didn't go very well, and the yasi shifted restlessly on her seat when Kikue once again dived back into the subject. The woman looked amused, and Rista had a feeling that she was laughing to herself even if nothing really could be heard. Only sparing the chef a tense smile and throwing a glance at the seemingly abundant amount of food that was placed before her, she gave the suggested man a glance and grimaced uncertainly.

"It's not that he looks bad, but.. Why would I want to talk to him? Or rather, why would he take the time to speak with me? I don't want a.. a lover, or anything like that. I don't get why people make so much fuss about it."

Trying to make her thoughts go somewhere else she picked up her utensils and began carving into the meat, her concentration rather amusing in its intensity; love and relationships wasn't a subject the girl was used to discussing. She hadn't even considered it to be something she would ever have to face, and wondered why the other found it so interesting. To the yasi, the gossip and scheming of the girls around her age about boys and favors seemed quite ridiculous, she rather placed her time practicing her skills. It wasn't like she had any interests in the subject, since no boys ever had looked at her with anything but hostility.

[Kikue]

Kikue couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing loud. It was a joyful laughter and showed that she was really enjoying herself. "Ah, sorry, but you react just so funny.", she said still laughing a little. Tears had formed in her eyes as she laughed. It had been a while since she had been able to laugh like this and she enjoyed it fully now. Wiping the tears away, she then calmed herself down by taking a deep breath. "Well, thanks. It's been a while since I've been able to laugh so freely. Ah well, time for dinner.", the small woman continued, [b]"Well, it's not like I'll push you since I've never had a relationship either. Didn't have the time for it. I'm usually away from Wind Reach and otherwise I avoid crowds." The huntress picked up her fork and knife and started to cut her meat up decently. After taking a bite of the meat, she asked: "Oh, those teachers... How are they? I've got almost no connections in here, so it's always nice to hear about the others." She was toying with her food a little, but was emptying her plate quite fast despite that.

[Rista]

Huffing slightly from half-hearted indignation, Rista leaned back and brought the fork to her mouth, chewing slowly on the delicious food while she waited for the other to collect herself. The amusement made the girl confused. What exactly in her reactions were funny enough to provoke laughter? While it was nice to see Kikue smile, Rista wasn't sure she knew how to repeat the feat, nor was she certain of what part of her answer in was that caused the reaction. Was it that she didn't want a lover, or that she didn't like that particular person? It made absolutely no sense, and the girl was honestly quite glad when the huntress decided to change the topic.

Though, it wasn't entirely clear if it was to the better. Teachers? Rista couldn't only really think of Kovac when it came to that position, and while she could say some thing about him... She swallowed and brought another bite of food to her mouth, chewing thoroughly to stall for time while she tried to formulate some sort of answer. What should she say, really?

"Well.." she started eventually and looked down at the plate, noticing how much slower she was eating compared to the other. "There's only one worth mentioning really, and that being Kovac Avora. You should probably know of him already; he's a half-breed like me? No? In any case, he's the one that's teaching me archery. I'm not sure what to say... He's not all that bad. He's good at what he's doing, and while his mouth is sharp and a bit rude at times, I think he actually cares about whether I do good or not." In terms of adults he was one of the more pleasant ones, and she had to confess herself quite fond of him. If she'd ever had an older brother... The girl shrugged and looked up, smiling a bit as she looked over at Kikue.

"You should try and meet him sometime, I think you'd get along. He's a hunter too, so you would at least have something to talk about. Perhaps it could help you feel more comfortable at home?" She didn't know why Kikue disliked being in Wind Reach so much, and Rista wasn't too keen on asking. The woman would tell if she wanted someone to know, and to be honest the girl hadn't forgotten how she had talked funny about the Endal. Her own admiration for the higher casts had probably become a little more down to earth, but had by no means lessened in intensity; rather the opposite, as she got to see up close how amazing those people really were. Strong and capable and intelligent... They were everything Rista aspired to be. She was sadly quite blind to the flaws of her idols, as any young person could be when they only wanted to see the good sides.

[Kikue]

The Avora started to eat a bit slower as she was sinking in her memories of Wind Reach. They were mostly bad ones, except for the ones she shared with her master. But she couldn't enjoy the good ones for long as Rista started to talk again. "Hmm, seems like she likes him a bit. I could tease her with that, but meh... had enough." As the mongrel started to talk about a possible meeting for the small woman and this Kovac Avora, Kikue started to pay a bit more attention. It was actually so that she wasn't too keen on making too many relations right now since she was still playing with the thought of leaving. But it couldn't do any harm anyway. "Where can I meet this Kovac then?", she asked interested. "Ah hah... I want to get out again. Perhaps I should plan that out a bit more.", she said as she lost herself in thought again. She ate her dinner methodically and fast. After she noticed there was no meat anymore, she continued with the rest of the food, a little disappointed that her meat was gone already. "Geh... it's gone already.......", she cursed herself a little. "I think I'll leave around the 70th. But where to go and to find someone to travel with...", she thought as she started to plan her escape from Wind reach.

[Rista]

Bringing the larger portion of her focus to the food on her plate, Rista spoke between the bites as not to ruin the experience of eating such a high class meal. There certainly was difference between the dish sizes even though the yasi were fed well, and there was no way she would waste any single crumb of this feast. Taking her time to reply, Kikue was made to wait quite a while before the hungry girl had sated enough of her appetite to deign lift her head from the plate.

"He's usually around the yasi archery ranges, down by the Fletcher's Corner you know? He holds some of the lessons, and I think he's teaching someone else too when he's not hunting. I know he doesn't live in his room though; there's only a bed left in there, so I think he's staying with someone else most of the time."

She'd rather not remember more than she had to when it came to that event. Rista had been sick and beaten after loosing a fight with some other yasi, and because of it she had missed out on so many appointed lessons that Kovac had gone to look for her himself. It had been embarrassing beyond words, and the memories still made her cheeks catch on fire; she didn't realize how peculiar it appeared, that she had such knowledge about the mans room and blushed in that manner when talking about it.

"Will you go and talk to him?" Strictly it wasn't any of her business, but Rista found herself rather fond of both the Avora. It was strangely easy to talk to the both of them, and if they got along with one another it would be excellent. Then her group of friends would increase even more - the logic was a bit off, but who cares - and her sense of belonging would become more firmly rooted. The half-breed had spent most of her life at the bottom of the yasi pecking order, alone and rejected by her peers; not until now had she begun to find friends and people that cared about her as much as she liked their company. It couldn't be helped that most of them were elder than her, even if it did make her feel a bit left out at times. They tended to talk about things that went over her head... Like now, with Kikue and the talk of romance.

Unaware of the thoughts that moved through the other womans mind, the girl soon returned down to her plate, quietly enjoying the food while she could. Her thoughts strayed quietly from topic to topic, never staying on one for too long before moving on; she still hadn't calmed down from running all those errands, it felt as if her mind still rushed back and forth between all the things that had to be done. The silence was good, but it also made the short girl a bit restless. She could use something decent to do, once the meal was dealt with...

[Kikue]

The Avora finished up her meal rather quick, having it finished just as the Yasi started talking again. She hadn't really tasted much of it as she was deep in thought, planning out how to get out of Wind Reach. "I should at least have my supplies together for a couple weeks travel, my horse should be in good condition and what else.... Hmm.... Oh right, my arrow should be stacked enough and I should have one of the blacksmiths look at my Talon sword. I don't want to be without protection out there. Maybe I should train a little with horse riding." "Will you go and talk to him?" After hearing that, Kikue snapped out of her thoughts. She hadn't heard what the small Yasi had said at all and had a puzzled face. "Eh..... Sorry? I didn't quite follow what you said.... I was............. deep in thought.", she said as her cheeks went slightly red from embarrassment. Scratching herself behind her head, the small woman turned her head away. How could she look properly at Rista now that she embarrassed herself like this? The huntress put her cutlery down on her plate and leaned on her elbow, drifting off a bit in her thoughts again. It was a bad habit of hers to do this, but she had never really unlearned it. She always knew that it was rude, but that didn't stop her from drifting off at all. "Isn't there something I'm forgetting? Ugh, it takes so much to travel. But that will free me from this damp place."

[Rista]

Rista frowned slightly at the other when she realized that she hadn't been listening. Leaning her chin into the palm of her hand, she fixated Kikue with her eyes and chewed her lip for a bit, resisting the urge to repeat herself.
"You've been gone in thoughts a lot. What are you thinking about? If I may ask.."

She didn't like being ignored, but perhaps there was a reason for it. Scraping up the last crumbs on her plate, the girl soon leaned back on her seat with a content sigh, longing for something sweet but feeling a bit too full to really stomaching anything more than she already had. Perhaps it was a good thing that she wasn't living as an Avora. With her taste for food it wouldn't be long before the yasi grew fat and had to roll down the corridors instead of walking... The thought of her coming bouncing down the stairs and knocking people over brought a humorous smirk to her lips for a moment, but it soon melted away again as she focused on her company.

It was a curious thing, really. The two of them had met only once before and yet here they were, chatting as if they had known each other for a long time. It was puzzling and intriguing, and Rista found herself quite fascinated by the situation, and busied herself thinking it over as she waited for a reply. If there were to be one. People were so unpredictable..

oocsomehow it feels like these posts get shorter and shorter. We need to wordpoop more!

[Kikue]

The Avora snapped her head towards the small Yasi. She blushed again as she repeated the same thing she did only minutes ago. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking of leaving Wind Reach. It takes quite a bit of planning since traveling is not really safe at all.", she explained. "I've been restless for as long as I can remember and I love being out in the open. That's the reason why I don't feel at ease when in Wind Reach. I know I'm a weirdo, but I can't help it." Somehow she wanted to talk about herself right now. She wanted to empty her heart and let out what she had never really been able to get out. Taking a deep sigh, the huntress then continued: "I want to get out and explore. I care for Wind reach, don't get me wrong, but..... well..... I can't really explain it. I sort of feel... misplaced? You know how I've talked about the Endal right? Well, I don't feel at ease around birds. I'm jumpy and insecure around them somehow. That's part of the reason why I'm not an Endal. I'm no good at ordering people either. I hate being in the center of the attention." Noticing how she was ranting her cheeks caught fire and she looked away bashful. "Sorry about ranting like that, I just suddenly felt like talking about myself. And I feel strangely relieved now." Giving the mongrel a smile, she then continued to talk: "But anyway, I hope you can stay quiet about this. I don't think the Endal would like it if they knew what I was planning." Kikue then remembered that they still had to request a trainer for the both of them, so they could train with the Talon. "If you're done, we should go to the Valintar. We still have to make that request for a trainer. We can decide on what days to train on then and at what time." She stood up and looked at how Rista would react to her rant and suggestion.

[Rista]

"Leaving Wind Reach..." The phrase was dropped so casually, and yet it shook the entire structure of the young girls mind, tore and shook the very foundation upon which she built her knowledge of the world, the society and her own soul. How could she say it so casually, when the mere thought made Rista tremble and perspire from anxiety and horror? One didn't just leave Wind Reach. She didn't know of anyone who had done so, nor of anyone that wanted to, or even speculated the idea as a theoretical idea.

The explanation, the quickly dropped excuses could just as well have been spoken to a wall; perhaps a rocky structure or a goat would have picked up more of the sentences that spilled from the womans lips. Rista certainly didn't hear it. Nor would she have cared; the phrase had shocked her beyond belief and all she could do was stare at Kikue with the face pale from shock, her mouth left open between one word and the next.

Had she ever thought about it? For real, actually pondered the thought of setting foot on the Road with the intent of never coming back? No. Never. Only once had the idea of leaving the volcanic city and the red-haired people that lived within it crossed her mind, and even then had it been with the reservation of returning, no matter what. To leave, to turn her back on the people, on the eagles and the life between heaven and earth... Slowly Rista began to shake her head, confusion and disbelief battling over the control of her features. Even her brief thought, to leave and get to know her other half by meeting the Chaktawe of the south-eastern deserts, had left her ashamed and guilt-ridden.

"How.. How could you? How can you even think the thought of leaving!?" The voice of the young woman came out louder than she had wanted and in the relative quiet of the large hall her voice echoed between the walls. Quiet conversations halted and heads turned towards the odd pair, faces frowning in annoyance, and some cases the same disbelief that stained the visage of the yasi. Had they heard correctly? Impossible, it must be a mistake. Or was it..? The accusing tone of the dark-haired girl couldn't be mistaken, and even though she felt the color of her cheeks deepening she didn't make any attempts at lowering her voice; how could she? Feelings rose within her like lava in the deep magma chambers, impossible to hold back. She had to say what crossed her mind, even if it would end up costing her a friend.

Pushing herself up in a half-standing position with the hands firmly planted on the surface of the table, eyes burning as they locked on to the other woman. "You.. You can't be serious, Kikue. Aren't you Avora? Aren't you one of the hunters that keep us alive, with a life only few of us could ever dream of? I don't understand, how could you ever think of abandoning us like that. Where's your sense of pride, of duty? Of family? To think of turning your back on Wind Reach... Are you even Inarta?"

The accusation made the room go silent. One would have been able to hear a needle fall, a breath or a nervous shift resounded loudly under the stone roof as eyes watched, studied the conversation between the little yasi and the red-haired woman. Some of the faces of the spectators had turned stern; while it was fine to get upset at things, speaking like that to an Avora was improper. And that question, could it even be tolerated from anyone? It didn't take more than a person with a pair of eyes to see that the dark-haired, copper-skinned little girl was the one with least blood in her veins; where had she gotten the guts to question the nature of the red-haired huntress?

Rista didn't care, not even as the silence dragged out. She kept her black eyes fixed on Kikue, trying to nail her into place with all the anger and disappointment and disbelief she had within her. The stare was piercing, the expression intense; if she hadn't been so small and so young, it would have been enough to make an unprepared person recoil from the sheer power of her stare.

Within the girl confusion surged through the faint cracks of her anger. Memories of a frightening dream floated up to the surface, the scene of herself staring in a foreign city with the knowledge that her travel had gone well so far, and that her goal was now one step closer to her grasp vivid before her inner sight. Once again the image of two doors, blinding white and alluring with their promise of salvation appeared before her inner sight, and the echoing words spoken through someone else's mouth came back to her. 'Your actions, your very thoughts affect heavily'.. 'make something of yourself in this'.... 'We are watching.'

A shudder passed through her and something flickered quickly over her face; fear, restlessness, a sense of need... Then it was gone, and Rista continued to stare Kikue down, expecting, no demanding an answer to her questions. She wouldn't go anywhere. The Valintar could wait until later; everything could wait, until this woman had given her a sufficient reason for this betrayal. She couldn't see it in any other way; why it was like that, she didn't even know.