[Flashback] In the wake of Murder [Syllke]

[Nanithel]

Nanithel would have blushed at his words but she had never been someone that blushed easily, which was good in several ways, one being how her skin would look with pink on top of olive and blue, not something Nan could imagine the outcome off at least. She had never thought off her white lines like ice either, it was actually sort off fitting as Avanthal was a city of snow and ice, it made her feel a bit more connected to her home however weird that may sound to others.

"I see what you mean, it is scary to see life be snuffed out like candles without being able to do anything, even if a killer is caught it will never bring a person back. I do see the need of hunting for survival no matter how much I dislike killing but this seems so...cruel and unnecessary." Nanithel said and drank some tea, it was still hot but she'd long since learned to drink tea without getting burned. "But we can not forget that new life is born everyday, even if it is not near you at the moment maybe that new person or animal will affect your life someday. And you," she said looking directly at Syllke. "You create things all the time, right. They may not be living, breathing creatures but they are works of art that you pour your soul into. At least that is how I imagine an artist working and that is a bit like dancing is for me, I put my whole being into my dance to bring it to life. Maybe it can not make death any easier but there will always be new life and things that makes life worth living and that is always worth the risks of being alive." Nan fell silent for a moment, she believed in what she had said but at the same time she was afraid of doing just that, to open up and live despite the risks. She was slowly working on that part of her but her fear always held her back at the last minute.

Nanithel blinked in surprise at Syllke's question, ghosts. She never really thought of that but of course she had heard stories of people dying violent deaths that came back as ghosts intent on taking revenge or lonely spirits hanging on to life despite not being a part of the living. "I don't know," she said slowly. "I mean I have heard stories about ghosts and many claim they really do exist. But a part of me always wants proof before believing strange things despite me wanting to believe. So to be as clear as I can be; I would like to believe that something after death exists, though I have heard that ghosts mostly suffer, but a part of me will never be convinced unless I see one myself."

[Syllke Skyglow]

Syllke listened as she spoke, watching her expressive eyes that belied the more impassive lines of her face. “Yes, I guess you’re right, “ he said quietly, content to feel the warmth of the cup seep into his hands. “Over and over, yeh? Life and death, creation and destruction. The gods do it – we do it – the animals do it. Who knows? Maybe that . . . thing, was only doing what it did to survive.” That was an awful thought but it might be true. “I hope Nayayik’s spirit is free to go.” He said with great solemnity. “It would be awful if she had to remain here. But I suppose only time will tell. It was odd, though.” He paused and took a sip of tea, wondering if what he was going to say would sound mental. “When I woke up this morning, there were a few strands of horse hair on my pillow. You know – the coarse hair from their mane, or tail, I guess but this was short. Here – I shoved it in my pack.” He looked a bit sheepish. “I save all sorts of weird things. Sometimes I use them when I make something.” He rose and went to where he had been sitting, and reached for the pack at his feet. Opening it, his hand rustled about until he withdrew a small pouch made of cured seal intestine, which was water proof. Crossing back to Nan, he sat and plucked out five or six strands of coarse hair, about ten or twelve cm in length. Carefully, he laid them on her outstretched palm. “I swear they weren’t there when I went to sleep. Maybe they just – floated there from something. Does your hold make things out of this stuff? Things that would be in a bedroom?” He stared at the hairs waiting for the girl to offer some reasonable explanation.

[Nanithel]

Taking a few more sips of the slowly cooling tea Nan looked thoughtfully at the liquid in her cup briefly, gently moving the cup just a bit so the tea swirled around inside, before looking up again. "I guess humanity's compassion and empathy is a double-edged sword, we care deeply for our own, and even strangers is often welcomed, but we also feel the same for the animals we hunt." Pausing she took another sip, the warm tea spread through her body, erasing some of the bad memories for now at least. "Even if it is the law of nature we still feel sadness and empathy whereas animals quickly move on, some species may mourn as we do but they move on anyway, we are not like that." Nan finished, she'd spoken mostly out of a Vantha point of view but the same was true for almost all races in Mizahar she guessed.

As Syllke then mentioned Nayayik's spirit he went and fetched something from his bag. First Nanithel just looked at the light strands in Syllke's hand, that something so normal as horsehair could seem so strange all of a sudden. "As far as I know we do not make anything out of horsehair that could explain those strands, some of us can make an occasional braid from horsehair, I for one have a braid made of Windy's tail in my room, but other than that." She was puzzled but also curious, eyes brightening slightly to a more bluish turquoise. "You have not been grooming any horses recently have you?" Nanithel tried for all she was worth to find a logical explanation but for those hairs to be on Syllke's pillow wasn't so easily explained. But for sure they must've been dragged in with someone or maybe Ita or any other small animal had destroyed a horsehair braid, though none of those was very likely.

"Do you think it may have been...Nayayik," she finally said, the thought of ghosts actually existing, like so many insisted was enough to send small ice down her spine, like a cold hand along her neck and back. "If that would be the case, I hope she will be able to move on to the afterlife soon...for her sake." To Nan it wasn't so obvious but she believed more in ghosts and many other tales than she even realized herself, not that she lied to herself. But on some level she believed that holding on to logic was safer than to let go and just believe in what she wanted, even things she had yet to see.

[Syllke Skyglow]

Syllke listened, but he could tell that Nanithel did not even trust her own words. There really was no reasonable explanation for the presence of these hairs on his pillow. Finally, Nanithel said what he had been speculating on himself, and he nodded. “That’s what I was wondering. You said she loved horse and riding, so when I saw these, I thought maybe . . . “ He hesitated, but then plunged on. “I thought maybe she had placed them there, maybe she is trying to get my attention. Our attention.” He appended. “Nanithel – has anything odd happened to you today? Anything that seemed – out of the ordinary? Out of place?” Syllke’s eyes were swirling red and gold – always a sign for him that something was sparking his interest and his passions. He looked closely at Nanithel’s turquoise eyes, wondering if maybe they should just leave this alone.

[Nanithel]

"What do you think she wants then?" Nan asked, her eyes turning more golden green, her sign for curiosity and a bit eagerness. "If she wants revenge then none of us is really the right person for that. Or is she just dragging out her passing maybe?"

Maybe it was her Vantha inheritance that made Nanithel want to believe but she still craved some sort off proof, as if these events in themselves wasn't enough, and her curiosity wouldn't let this go either, she wanted and needed answers.

The question was why Nayayik had left signs for them, was it to say goodbye, to show she wasn't really gone or maybe the dead girl believed they could help her, but that must be wrong for how could they help a ghost? It should be the Icewatch or that bounty hunter from last night.

"No..." She dragged out her answer, thinking back. "Or well maybe. It isn't something strange in itself I just kept misplacing Windy's things today, finisng them where I couldn't remember placing them. I just htought I was being absent-minded though if added to this maybe it was something more or maybe not." Nan said and shrugged slightly, she was really interested now, wanting to find out if this was just their own minds playing tricks after last night or if there lay some truth behind what had happened lately.