Was Feeling Fine [completed]

[Dhanya]

Pygmy reached out to touch Serenity's neck, sniffing as she did so she would remember her scent later. She did seem to be quite a friendly horse and though Pygmy knew little of horse breeds, she could see the resemblance between Serenity and Backlash. She broke it down into pieces could understand, like the shape of the head, their height and proportions. Perhaps she would be able to spot a Drykas horse in future. Striders, he had called her a Strider.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kayiri of the Drykas and Serenity of the Striders." She said, voice less wooden than it had been when she'd met Vanator. She bowed as she had before, to them both, before dropping her momentary poise.

It was like a itch she had to scratch. She couldn't help falling into the old habit when meeting people. She wondered if one day she would.

"I guess my name does fit me." She said in response to his compliment. "It means unsually small."

She blinked up at him for a moment. She was a very literal girl, at times.

"Does your name have a meaning?" She asked. "Maybe you could tell me while we go look for Vanator."

She wasn't willing to let go of the search yet. It seemed finding Vanator was another itch and she had no way of reaching it without Kayiri's help.

[Kayiri]

"A please to make yours as well," Kayiri said in response. He couldn't really tell which had brought about this change in attitude: The stern talking-to or the gentle apology. As she commented on how her name meant she was unusually small, he frowned. "That's not true," he countered softly, "You're an average sized young woman," he smiled, and then thought into his name.

"I don't know, but if it means anything, it'd mean 'The Cursed One', because everyone was so superstitious when I was a kid," Kayiri then explained. "I was born on the Ninety-Second of Winter, 489 AV. When the food went short in 500 AV from a mix of everything, when I was 11, they blamed me for it, because 9+2, the day of my birth split, is 11, my age, and that reached 500. It was stupid, but I was blamed for the shortage and exiled from that clan. I wandered for a bit, and found my current family... and well, here I am," at the end, he did that cliche little wave around them.

He then rose to his feet, slinging his sheathed sword back over his shoulder. "Would you prefer to get on Serenity and ride her while we look for him, or walk and look for him? We'll have a higher point of view on Serenity, might make him easier to see in a crowd."

[Dhanya]

Pygmy had been about to reply that, no, she really wasn't average size because Kelvic were a lot taller than she was and she knew because she'd met a few but his next words stopped her cold.

What could she say? They'd exiled him because of a number? Pygmy almost couldn't add numbers that big in her head. She nodded, her mouth opening in a soft, "oh..." and closing again. She'd almost been sold because Jenon hadn't wanted her anymore. Was that the same?

She felt lost. She didn't understand how he could be so glib about it. Pygmy wished that someone would just appear and make things simple, sooth her sparking nerves. It wasn't going to happen.

"No, I can walk." She replied, turning towards the city again.

Walking gave her time to think. She wasn't sure she'd feel comfortable riding Serenity today. She wondered how Pon was doing. He was probably fine, munching on grass and being chummy with the other horses. Lucky Pon.

[Kayiri]

"I'm not upset about it, don't feel sorry for me," Kayiri then clarified quickly, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. "If anything, I feel liberated, free from the people who were stupid enough to believe that a couple of numbers could cause starvation." When she commented on how she would rather walk, Kayiri nodded, and turned to face Serenity. He whispered softly to her once more in Pavi, stroked her neck, and let her head back off into the herd.

"Now, let us go and find Vanator. Move onto the brighter future, no?" Kayiri then announced with a clap of his hands. He started his walk at a simple pace, making sure he regulated his normally faster pace so that his new-found friend could keep up. "What about you? It doesn't sound like a name parents would give such an attractive young lady," Kayiri then commented, adding the last bit not in a flirtatious fashion, but in a matter-of-fact tone.

He paused for a second, and then spoke again. "In fact, you never told me just what you are. You most certainly are not Drykas, you know too little of us, and I doubt you're a human from your eyes. Beyond that, I'm not too learned on species. So tell me, Miss Pygmy, what exactly are you, species-wise?" the tone was that of an extremely gentle inquiry.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy's gaze was mainly at her feet, glancing up every moment or two to look at Kayiri. She did feel a little better after being reassured but she didn't feel quite right yet. She felt strange in her skin. It was an ironic thought, normally she would have said that it was her skin that was strange and not herself.

"I named myself. It's a good name, I think." She replied, not willing to tell him the name she'd been born with.

Pygmy knew what she was. The name her mother had given her meant hope, an abstract idea. Pygmy was concrete, definite, sturdy. Pygmy didn't even know why her mother had named her as she had. Names weren't important, just interesting and of practical use. If she found a name she liked better, she would choose it instead.

Her eyes snapped up when he asked her what she was.

In a polite conversation one does not inquire as to the direct origins of one's speaking partner. One may pursue topics such as schooling or interests but never to the point of prying. To pry is to cause offense in Zeltivan culture, to acquire knowledge is to be wise. You must know the difference, Amala and you must always answer politely.

Well. Jenon wasn't there to see it. What you didn't know couldn't hurt you.

"I'm a mutant." She replied, her smile sharp. "I'm what happens when cousins marry."

She pointed at her eyes then picked up her pace. What was she? The cheek. Nobody would have asked her that in Zeltiva. She was a person and a Kelvic and proud of it. And, and! She was almost human. When she wanted to be she was.

"Where should we start looking?" She asked, trying not to sound grumpy though it came out a little anyway. It was clear she was looking for a change of topic.

[Vanator]

The Tooltuk's were popular supplies merchants, and today their tent was humming with business. Vanator perused the tables, searching for his particular desire for the day. A cool, early spring breeze wafted through the open tent walls, carrying a myriad of scents, from baked goods to wet leather to the dung of the ever present "pick-up" carts that patrolled the makeshift streets for piles of manure.

The Tooltuk's kept an impressive variety of soup stock, specially packaged for travel. Stew was the mainstay of Vanator's diet when he traveled, and his winter adventures had all but depleted his inventory. He leaned down to smell several samples, carefully arranged in wooden bowls. One caught his senses, a sharp, spicy aroma that reminded him of his friend Hex. Perhaps he would invite her for some stew. He knew she was still around Endrykas, though she seemed to come in and out of the tent city quite often.

After several more samplings, Vanator settled on the spicy stock and an earthy one that reminded him of the curious Kelvic goat girl he had met a couple ten-day ago. He settled up with the shopkeeper and headed back out into the market street, stock in hand.

[Kayiri]

She was most certainly annoyed by his question, and he slapped himself mentally. "My apologies. I keep no secrets, and sometimes I forget that others don't do the same. I'm a miserable conversationalist," Kayiri defended, glancing downwards in a shameful way, falling silent, a frown decorating his normally happy face.

"He'll probably be in the middle of Endrykas, the market, if anywhere," he then responded quietly when she addressed him. He fell silent for another few seconds, and then sighed. "I didn't mean to pry and offend, Miss Pygmy. I'm sincerely sorry if I did do either of the two, as they were never my intentions," Kayiri spoke apologetically. They soon reached the market, and Kayiri became more focused on the task at hand, eyes searching high and low for Vanator, and anything that he just might want to buy in a short little detour.

A stew shop. That sounded like something tasty. He turned to the left, quickly explaining his intentions to her, while turning his head the opposite way to maintain eye contact as he walked away. As he swung his head back around, he found himself a little more than a few inches from Vanator. He stepped back, to create a less awkward distance between them, and then as if no time had past between their last meeting, he said, "Hey! I was just looking for you!" The smile on his face had returned, and he jerked a thumb back in Pygmy's direction. "She was too. She says she met you a while ago." The way he treated the reunion was somewhat disturbing. Normally, when friends met after such a long time, one or the other would berate the long lost friend with questions, but Kayiri nonchalantly cut to the point, as if an hour had passed instead of weeks, months, a whole season, even.

[Dhanya]

Pygmy contemplated turning back into a goat but decided against it. She didn't reply to him right away, still annoyed that he had asked her what she was, when in Pygmy's mind the who was more important. She did keep secrets, mainly ones she had no reason to tell but her Kelvicity... Kelvicness... Whatever, being a Kelvic wasn't one of them. Having it pointed out, as if she were a breed of dog from her perspective, had made her cranky as anything.

She looked up, her lips thin and her mouth stretched out wide as he apologised. She nodded, still looking a little like she had eaten something sour, though this time because he had apologised and she had no real reason to stay angry. She just wasn't ready not to be.

Then, Kayiri found Vanator and all was forgiven. He had barely finished speaking before she had sprung forward, latching onto him as the limpet to the rock. She was careful not to jostle the soup from his hands but no gentler than that. Pygmy was near bleating with happiness. It was like a purr, only... bleatier.

"Vaaaan! I told you I'd find you!" She said ecstatically, pleased to have proven her boast true.

She ignored the fact that she'd needed outside help once she was in the city. That was just splitting hairs, surely.

[Vanator]

Vanator was startled but pleased at the sudden appearance of Kayiri. He thrust out his arm towards the tall young man, the two men grasping each others forearms in greeting. "Its good to see you friend!" The older Drykas had barely exhaled his greeting when he was rocked by the impact of Pygmy's embrace. He laughed loudly, releasing his clasp with Kayiri and wrapping his free arm around the stout Kelvic. He leaned his head down to rest his cheek on the top of her head.

"So, you did find me indeed! You must be quite resourceful Pygmy, you have impressed me once again!" He squeezed her, turning his head back up to Kayiri. "And I see you have found my friend as well. You are good!" It was good to see Kayiri again, after the harrowing events at Din. Vanator was very pleased to see Pygmy, it was a reunion he honestly did not believe would happen.

Vanator released Pygmy and looked down at those goatish eyes, still startling, but pleasantly familiar now. He also noted the ill-fitting cloak and makeshift belt cinched at her waist. He held up his sealed containers of stock. "Would you two walk me to my pavilion, and you can explain how you two ended up here. Then, Pygmy, maybe we should get you some proper clothes." He looked up at Kayiri with a sly grin, tilting his head at the goat girl. "I assume the cloak is yours?"

[Kayiri]

Kayiri simply watched as the two embraced and exchanged greetings, not really throwing in too many words until the assumption was given to him. He nodded, speaking softly. "Aye, that cloak is mine," he chuckled slightly as he looked over her makeshift garment again, and then spoke in regards to the prior statement. "I'm a Drykas, we always end up here. See? You didn't even have to wait for mine!" Kayiri then joked with a childish grin.

"Lead the way, I'll follow. We can go more in depth about my journey there. Maybe you'll manage to add a few words to either side, with the right question," Kayiri then said, still with his sarcastic tone of voice that was all too common whenever he spoke.