[The Wildlands] Today Was Not That Day (Sondy <3)

[Ethan]

31st Day of Fall, 511 A.V. Early afternoon, North of Ravok They had been walking for a few days now. Camping in hedges and the crags of small cliffs to escape the cold winds blowing from the north. Ethan often worried about Kendall and Hadrian. How they would be faring as they traveled closer to Avanthal and its eternal winter. But he doubted the heat would bother them. Kendall was the best bed warmer there was. He had hoped to be warming Sondra's bed by now. He had made offers and suggestions but she would have none of them, as usual. She only liked him nuzzled in her chest when he was feathered. Which was a shame. She was so uptight, she could use a little loosening up. "Fucking a Kelvic on the road isn't a bad thing. Everyone does it. We are known for the energy in our loins." He said a few days before. Not caring if she hit him. It needed to be said. "You need the attention Sondra." He could only offer and hope that one day it might work. Today was not that day, unfortunately. They walked North on the Karbon Road. A slow crawl compared to his descending trip. How did Humans stand going this slow? Did they see time differently than he did? Surely they must feel their life wasting away. "Walking sucks. My legs ache and my feet are blistered." He complained loudly. To no one in particular. "And it is so Slow. I can feel myself aging on this pitiful road. If only you where a master or morphing. I could carry you in my beak." He laughed. Thinking about the fuss Sondra would give to being carried. She was such a stubborn person, and he loved her for it. "Tell me more about yourself Sondra. This trip is boring me." He whined. Hoping to irritate the Konti. He didn't mind walking, as long as it was with her. She was pleasant company. But he loved to annoy her. Playfully of course. She was so cute when angry. And it was starting to become his favorite pass time.

[Sondra]

As the days passed, the question of whether Kelvic tasted any different from normal fowl quietly crossed Sondra's mind. No, she wasn't going to eat that. No, he couldn't help her dress. No, she did not want to cuddle. No, she wasn't going to petch, either. No, not even a little bit. Her snaps of temper gave way to grumbling and by evening the grumbling gave way to a hollow, stony silences that were far less entertaining than her outbursts. She stared at the campfires for too long and had fallen into thrusting her hands in the flames for no reason, only to prove she could. Ethan had begun to learn her erratic sleep patterns. He had caught her stark awake in the middle of the night several times, fitfully searching her scrying mirror. In the comfort of daylight, she had a measure of normalcy, whatever that was for Sondra. She knew full well Ethan was doing her a service by accompanying her, so she tried to force her patience to expand. The Konti was not so fool as to travel alone in dangerous lands when company presented itself. Despite all his efforts to break her trust with aggressive advances, Sondra still believed Ethan to be someone who would be there for her in a moment of trouble, and odds were good trouble would hit them out here. "Yes, Ethan. Walking is rather slow if you're accustomed to flying," she flatly echoed. "But why don't you bitch about it more? I'm sure that will help." More about her? Her own life was dear to her, like most, but even she did not find it as interesting as the Kelvic. She didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed. If he got her talking, gods knew what might slip out. She didn't care for the idea of unburdening herself like some insipid child. "Me? Here's a fun one," her voice had a little bite, "I'm petching forty-one years old. Likely five times your age, since Konti reach adulthood slower. Another reason why we will not be sleeping together. I like young, but there's too young."

[Ethan]

"Oh, your just as bad as the rest of them." He scoffed. A smile creeping up on his lips. He liked her when she was aggravated. But there were limits to her patience. Along their trip he figured out which buttons to push. And when to keep his mouth shut. Their had been moments when she worried him. Stared off with a closed look. Or stopped talking for the night. And when that happened. He would ease off. Letting her cool down for some more poking the next day. If he was going to know someone as complicated and welded shut as Sondra. He had to test her boundaries. And find the flaws. It would take patience to wear her down. Fortunately for him. He was taught patience in the wild. First you had to find the right carcass. Old enough for the predators to be gone and the scavengers to arrive. You had to wait for them to pick the bones clean of flesh and sinew. Last, but most importantly. You had to soar high above the world with bone in claw. To drop it just right. So it would crack in half on a rock bed or cliff's edge. Exposing the delicious marrow inside. And allowing you to swallow the pieces whole. Right now... the beast hadn't even died yet. Sondra was a tough woman, but when she cracked. He would devour her whole. "Human's always think just because they have years on me. That they are somehow smarter. My mind developes far quicker than most, if not all races. One year for you is two and a half for me. By the time I'm eighteen I will have lived longer than you. Let me ask you M'lady. What where you doing when you where eight years old??" He smiled. "Oh let me guess, you weren't escorting a breathtakingly beautiful Konti threw the woods. You were probably still wetting your bed though." Despite his competitive nature when it came to Kelvic pride. He was having fun. Hadrian and Kendall were humans. And despite their efforts at making him feel equal. They were still human. He could only trust Sondra to insult his race without having a sly feeling of superiority. There was no pity in her words nor fake sympathy. She called it as it was. And it made him feel normal for once. "You won't bed me for a multitude of reasons. But my youth isn't one of them. I'm thinking... you have a problem with having sex with people you know and care for. Somewhere deep in your little cold, but beautiful fishy heart. You find my bludgeoning advances endearing." He gave her a coy look. "In fact i can almost sense it at times. Buried beneath your constant annoyance and sour, yet adorable demeanor. That surrounds you like a warm winter coat. Keeping you comfortable and away from others. How could you not have feelings for me! The one that flew back to rescue you. Knowing full well i could be enslaved if others knew my nature. The one stealing you away from Ravok. Watching over you faithfully. As you sleep to keep you well and warm. Letting you pet my precious and extravagantly beautiful plumage. Without ever a complaint about how you pet my neck feathers the wrong way. I am selfless in spoiling you." He was getting a bit full of himself. As he was want to do. Sondra's serious and often aggressive behavior. Was perfect to let out his more playful and flirtatious side. "Even when you turn me down time and time again. I do not falter in my appreciation of your company. I'm patient as I peck at the little chinks in your emotional armor. Waiting to get the delicious fruit inside. So when i ask you to tell me a little more about yourself. I do not mean the reasons why you wont have sex with me. If you won't you won't. But I do want to know a little more about the glimmering beauty in front of me. Because i care about you. As a friend if not a lover." Ethan paused and looked at her again. Gently smiling, trying to look as sincere as possible to get a deeper knowledge of Sondra. Dominance had little affect. Flirtatious advances where less affective than he first thought. Stepping over boundaries in a charming way. Was the worst. Everything that worked on regular and often stupid women. Had no effect on Sondra. And maybe that was the beauty of her.

[Sondra]

She laughed. It started as a bark and devolved into her disarmingly silly guffaw. The lack of elegance belied its sincerity. “Petch me, bird. You have a tongue on you.” Her laughter trailed into a chuckle, “I won’t lie. It is some glorious plumage. Perfectly wasted on a dolt like you.” Shrugging she offered, “Just like some gifts are wasted on Konti who were still hip high at eight.” His commentary on why she wouldn’t welcome him to her bed was left alone. Sondra had nothing to say on the matter, and if she did, she was wise enough to bite her tongue. Her expansive smile narrowed into something wry. “Clever thing. You’re tossing rocks at every wall, seeing if one will give.” She grinned, relishing the dance or perhaps the pending refusal. “But one won’t,” her eyes had a flare of something white and infernal, “Not like that. And I’m not talking about getting at a warm petch.” She took something out of her pocket that had long passed a state where it was recognizable as food. It could have been a root or a wire of dried meat. She wincingly bit into it with the side of her mouth and worked it over in her teeth. “I don’t want to talk about my life with someone who won’t swap stories,” she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Not like I don’t get bits of your memory, already. But there’s something to volunteering. Bits of trust make me feel all coddled inside.” Her body mirroring her play, she pressed on a little harder, so as to outpace Ethan a few strides. “I’m not so uncharitable, though, to tell nothing to one so loyal. I have been dreaming much lately. Can’t you tell?” Only a deaf, eyeless thing would miss her troubled hours in the night watches and by the tilt of her mouth, she knew it. “Fire and silence. More of what struck me in Ravok. Old years finding me, birdie. With more power than any old life has the right to wield over the new.” Craning her neck, she looked at Ethan. “We can walk in silent companionship, or we can trade. There’s my little wager on the table. Where’s yours?”

[Ethan]

It was a tempting offer. Secret for a secret, a fair exchange. But could he bring himself to tell others about his life? He had to look at this logically. Without feelings mucking up his thoughts. He liked her, that was simple enough. She was a good strong willed woman. But was she really worth his past? The old memories better left to gather dust in the dark recesses of his mind. Was the pain really worth it... Could he bare to retell the stories of rape and abuse? He looked Sondra over once more. Trying to get a feel for her. Not her Aura or any other magical sense. But his gut instincts. The intuition that kept him alive so far. The true magic inside his body. "That seems fair..." He said, keeping pace. "Although life is hardly fair. It wouldn't seem right to go against the natural order of things. But... You're being generous and I'm a sucker for a good bargains." He thought for a moment as they walked. Trying to conjure images of happier times. Of sea foam and wispy clouds. Salt stained boots and hard biscuits. But it was no use. Everything was shadowed by Grimm. No memories where free of his taint. "There was a woman that took care of me when I was younger. My wet nurse, but she was good with poultices and salves. So he kept her around." It wasn't much, but what did she want? His whole childhood was warped and it nearly killed him before he escaped it. "She was a close friend, one of the only humans to look past my 'disease'." He snorted ruefully. Seeing Ravok put in perspective the harsh reality of what people thought of Kelvics. "There. A little tit for tat. Now tell me more about this old life. I have been tempted to read your Aura to see whats the matter. But I know you wouldn't't approve. Is there anything I can help with?" He left out the part of how he watched her as she slept instead. But he knew she definitely wouldn't approve of that.

[Sondra]

Unlike most, Sondra wasn't sniffing for the sordid details. Not because she was an especial pillar of virtue, but because she'd had more than her fair share of wretched recollections. She smiled, soft and passing, as she absorbed this picture of mothering. "There, that wasn't so bad. I like the thought of you coming from somewhere, Ethan." She didn't say why it mattered to her, but the solid memories overwhelmed the ephemeral nature of a Kelvic's life. He was not just a creature falling from the sky and returning to it just as rapidly. Without noticing, she had used his given name. "Help?" Sondra's smile had equal parts appreciation and rue, "Can you persuade Nysel to send me a pretty dream?" She stumbled over a stone, sliding a pace back down the incline. The gravel rattled and scraped under her boots. After steadying herself, she began the upward trudge again, leaning into her steps. "He was a mage. That and Ivak were his life. Those are the intelligible parts. The rest is..." Sondra involuntarily clenched her hands. "Fire. It feels like fire, like madness, like desire-- like all the things that can rage so hot in a person that they eventually turn the mind that holds them to cinders." The Konti's hand relaxed, releasing energy into the air. "I don't look it, but I'm feeling especially tough lately, birdie. I'm a bit trod over, but I'm not out of the fight. Fire, ice, water-- nothing's done me in yet." Her head turned, flicking white hair away from her face. "Tell me about the first thing you loved, birdie."

[Ethan]

Convincing a deity to do anything was no easy feat. But Ethan did have a lot of time on his hands. More so than most. It's not that he wasn't busy. On the contrary, with watching over his companions and learning magic. He was constantly tied up. But he had one thing that humanoids didn't. Flight. You could do a lot of thinking while you where airborne. A lot of planning. And no doubt a couple hours would be devoted to Sondra's little problem. But he kept quiet. Not wanting to promise anything he couldn't do. Instead he continued to listen. "Are you sure you didn't know this mage?" It was odd but he thought of Kendall. Emotions where strong in that girl and she fit the description. But Sondra said past life so it couldn't have been her. The Konti's next question threw him off guard. "Grimm" He said without hesitating. It was an easy question to answer. He was bonded at birth practically. "But I'd rather forget that." He chuckled as his stomach twisted painfully. "I didn't truly love anything until i was free of him." Again his stomach clenched uncomfortably. "Love isn't real when it's forced upon you by some ancient magic. So I guess the first thing I ever loved was..." He paused. Really thinking about the question. There where so many things he liked over the years. A few young love interests but nothing too special. Sondra was very important to him. Hadrian and Kendall obviously. Magic would be up there as well. but nothing ever drew out love. Love like many things human. Was just a concept. An emotion to be documented and examined for his Auristic studies. But was it something he had felt before? The answer that came to him was a simple one. But solid nonetheless. "Bones." He said with a smile. "It may seem primitive, but I never had one until I went into the wild. Grimm didn't know or didn't care what a Lammergeier should eat. So when I found a carcass out in the wild. Saw the bones just lying there. Something clicked. I swallowed the bone whole and for the next season. I ate nothing but cartilage and bones. I must say, it was a beautiful moment. When I ate that first bit. I knew I was finally free. I think I cried for an hour at least. Course when your a bird tears don't form the same. So it was more like dry heaving." He laughed. Thinking on how stupid he must of looked. A bird weeping over bones.

[Sondra]

Sondra laughed too, but it was diffused with goodwill. It was another of the broad silly sort that tumbled from her when she was careless over who saw her happiness. "Bones," she grinned against the cold, "Simple pleasures, are often the best." Kelvics were an effective reminder of how complicated other races could make living. Most times this complexity was progress, but in matters of happiness the half-wild creatures had a better approach. "As for loving Grimm," Sondra shrugged, "Even false love can mean something. Children pretend their pets love them, though it's more instinct than understanding. Doesn't make it any less dear to them." She tried to wrench another fragment of her dried sustenance off between her molars. All elegance this Konti. "I hear what you're saying, though," she confessed with a shrug. "But do you think real love feels any different for you? Will you be able to find and discern the Kelvic compulsion?" The Konti was oddly intrigued by this strain of thought. Perhaps it was a reflection of her race's own need to serve under a call. Her love for Gregoire had felt separate from that instinct, but was it? Did the composition of the emotion even matter; were all the types necessary elements for a complete love?