[The Sanctuary] The Cusp of A First Winter Morning

[Kavala]

Timestamp: Last day of Fall, 511 AV
Time: Near Midnight
Location: Sanctuary's Courtyard
Status: Open - a chance to socialize, perhaps a little romance in a magic moment at night.

Tasival was fussing. He wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't eat, and he wasn't wet. The child was if anything restless and there was nothing Kavala had yet found that would sooth him. She'd sang, she'd walked, she'd showed him assorted things in the clinic trying to get him to stop his crying and fussing... but he simply would not. The infant was on the verge of toddling, already sitting up and crawling on schedule. It wasn't his teeth, and there was no colic. No gas had built up in his system and here was no fever.

Kavala was simply at her wits end. So near midnight on the last day of spring in the quickly dropping temperature, she took him outside. The rain was thick, heavy, containing big drops that were half frozen already. Soon... as the temperature fell rapidly, the rain would turn to snow and it would be that simple breathless moment, that cusp, where fall would slide away and winter would be welcomed within.

"Look Tasi..." Kavala said, pointing upwards, both her and the child well bundled and hooded. "Watch son... watch the magic... Morwen walks this night. She walks the land finally leaving Avanthal. And we'll know... we'll know the exact moment her feet step forth and begin her journey." The Konti said, slowly beginning to sway, dancing her son around in the rain quietly.

"There... see it? See the rain getting heavy? She's leaving now.. getting ready... if we had a watchstone close, we'd see its color flare, Tasi. And the moment it does and changes to blue, Morwen will walk the world." Kavala said, moving around, dancing quietly with her son. Her heart was overflowing with love and staring down into his pale eyes, she could almost forgive everything that had ever happened to her to lead her to this point in her life... perhaps even the next child she suspected she carried even now.

"Love Tasi... this moment is about love... wait for it. Soon, you'll see. We need only dance and laugh and love and be patient, my son. As we welcome Winter and enjoy what is to come." The child had settled, his eyes wide. He seemed to understand what his mother said for his gaze was full of wonder. He danced there, with her, surrounded by her love and feeling his own measure of it as well.

Winter was coming. It was moments away.

[Kadrath Onktaka]

Kadrath entered the yard with Fidens walking quietly by his side. He was about to announce his presence, when Fidens stared hard at the baby in Kavala's arms. The Akontak followed the large dog's gaze and recognized the irritated, preoccupied look of arguing with your brother. Tasival had found his brother!

He signaled the huge, but friendly dog ahead of him, knowing how well his presence worked on Uruk. Maybe the young Akontak baby and his brother need something they can both focus on at once, instead of suffering the forever internal argument.

Uruk's clear green eyes sparked with interest as he watched Kavala with her son. Her long ivory hair always looked soft and tempting enough to just reach out and touch it. He kept his hands firmly at his sides, asking Wysar for the discipline to keep his hands to himself. As much as he wanted the exquisite Konti, he knew she was under contract already and untouchable. Instead of thinking of the unattainable, he turned his attention to his favorite weathers; rain and snow.

"Nice night."

Fidens walked confidently up to the baby and his Konti mother, wagging his curled over, bushy tail. The rain beaded up and rolled off the triple layer thick coat and the dog panted a large doggy smile.

"Tasival has found his brother, I see." they commented quietly over the baby's fussing. Baby or no, he was Akontak, and simply drawn to his own kind. Kadrath made sure his hood was fully up and snug enough to cover his iridescent gills, despite the refreshing feel of water he would always crave.

He'd keep his own nature as secret as possible, but the baby would come to enjoy rain as much as he and Uruk himself did. With icy blue eyes, he scanned the area for Raiha. There was no sign of her and he debated on whether or not to ask where she was. Kadrath decided not to mention it and change the subject mentally and vocally.

"Tasival, did you know that Fidens can dance really well? Would you like to see that?"

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

[Raiha]

If it hadn’t been for the big white Deerstalker, and the brown bitch that was infatuated with him, Raiha likely could have moved around unnoticed and unimpeded throughout Sanctuary. She was working on her sneaking, and with the tendency of the shadows to lurk around her from time to time, it was easy enough to hide in the dark. Her choice of attire was almost made with that in mind, but for the silly skirts she had chosen to wear. Her leathers would have been much more suitable, Kanikra had argued, because cloth merely disrupted. But Raiha had found that the more folds and pleats that there were in the fabric, the more there was for the shadows to hide in, and that was enticing of itself. But as it was, Diallo was on her tail tonight, although he lacked his chocolate-furred companion.Dara had been secured in the kennels. The bitch was in heat, and Raiha was not ready to mate her yet, even if it had been the better of a season and some. She would wait until next summer, most likely, and then see about it then. Raiha valued quality over quantity, and while she was deeply, deeply satisfied with Dara’s hunting skills, and the fact she was a swift learner and sound of conformation, she didn’t believe in mass-production of puppies for profit.

She worked her way along the walls like a wraith, moving with a quiet, feline-like confidence that Kanikra was busy inspiring and encouraging when it wasn’t her turn. They were on their fourth lap of Sanctuary, watching, checking, patrolling. Both of the twin souls of the Akontak had wanted to be out and about tonight, and the rain had put a stop to Raiha’s desire to sit on her favourite perch - the roof of her mews. So she just patrolled tonight, walking and watching the wetness, keeping her mind and ears open. Under her heavy, woolen tunic, she paid plenty of attention to what was around her. Diallo trotted after, tail low, padded feet moving easily over the grass and mud. But his white fur against the tiered black skirts were a dead giveaway, even if the shadows coiled about and underneath him, too, in the dark of the night. In some ways, he was an extension of her - but some of the shadows that followed the Shadowplayer so willingly were less prone to cloaking the dog while they desired her attention. She paused, straightening and leaning against a building, eavesdropping as Kavala spoke to her son. Some of them were curious. What was the Konti talking about?

"Morwen," she breathed in Makath. "The Goddess of Winter. The seasons change tonight." Time. It flew by, didn’t it? She had heard the infant fussing when Kavala had brought him outdoors, and had watched, a faint smile on her face, content to leave them to their moment as mother and son danced together while she made her way back to the mews. But when the blue-skinned male approached the pair and Diallo had spotted Fidens, there was nothing for it. The other dog would spot hers, and naturally the man would spot her, and there was no logical way that she had not seen them. To carry on, if she did, would be rude. She drifted over to them, silent and listening. Well, it made sense, truly told, that they would discover what she had a while ago, even if she had kept it quiet and savoured that bit of a secret. Nightstalkers, after all, had a genuine love of secrets, and absolutely hated to give them up. Now that the cat was out of the bag, as it were, she supposed she had better mention something as she approached the pair from behind. She moved quietly, in her usual boots, knowing from practice where the scratching stones that gave her presence away were.

“He has, yes,” Raiha was serene under the black woolen hood. Her own white hair had been braided from her forehead to the back of her skull, and left loose from there beneath the cloth. Her hands were hidden amongst the pocket at her midsection, as the long sleeves billowed out, though the ends were secured. But for her height and shape, and the Deerstalker following her, little that identified her could be seen to the plain eye until she raised her head. She had her hood angled enough to keep the rain at bay, but a slight tossing motion of her head allowed the taller Akontak to see under it. “But that’s not Tasival you’re talking to, you know,” her eyes went from Rath to Kavala, and then back to the child. “That’s Shayru.” She smiled faintly down at the boy and then at his mother, her fingers linked in the pocket. She half-expected to be need to be ready to defend herself from Kavala for not, well, mentioning that little (wasn’t that just the understatement of the year there?) fact earlier. “But I’m sure he would love to see it too.”

[Ragnor Matlian]

The rain poured, and so soaked the earth, turning hard, packed earth into soft mud that gave way with little resistance. It was something more than rain though, something he had seen in his years of life upon land when he stayed in port to dodge the ever fierce some winter storms that raged across the breadth of the Suvan Sea. It was heavier to be sure, and much colder his memory told him as he remember the cold sleet that had pelted the port city of Zeltiva that one year he found himself stranded there for the duration of the harsh season. Keeping warm through it all had turned out to be exceedingly hard, and the beer with a funny taste made for not such a welcoming night as he would have had with his wife, but it wasn't a horrible time though. He'd gotten to get hands on work on the ship after all, and learned more a thing or two about the about ship building from a resident shipwright and that was great to know for the day he had the miza's to build a ship of his own. Yes, that had been the big dream back then hadn't it? A ship of his own to sail the blue ocean, making his living from the work of his own hands and the goods he transported, his life one of his own making.

It was gone now, the dreams and hopes replaced with new ones in the promise of a better future for others than himself. There would be no ship built buy his hands, nor would he ever sail again, and feel the brine soaked air cling to his body as he climbed the ropes to repair a tear on the mast. No those days where long gone and he would not dwell on them for that brought only loathing. There was better things to do with his time after all, like see where Kavala had gone off to.

Through the halls he traveled silently, as his mind reached out to better understand the area around him, but no sounds reached out to his ears to point him in the right direction and instead he was faced with confounding silence. It hadn't occurred to him because it was raining outside that she might be out there. Perhaps these ones like to work in such rain like he did. Across the threshold he went and out into the open air, the shade willing his flowing form by at last into the courtyard of the sanctuary, his eyes immediately settling on the form of Kavala. He concentrated on his manipulating the mists flowing around him as he willed himself forward, shaping the plumes of smokey substance into a form more fitting of a sailor of the seas and within a few chimes he had found himself before Kavala fully manifested in that garb many of the Sanctuary had grown used to seeing him in.

A slight smile washed over his features as he looked to the child and then to her. "I take it your enjoying the rain?"

[Kavala]

Kavala saw the two dogs first - Diallo and Fidens - and turned Tasival to point them out. "Look, visitors." She said, still dancing him around and greeting the dogs then their owners. Then her eyes fell on Kadrath and smiled. He was a beautiful man, gentle and intellectual, and Kavala minded his presence not one bit. In fact, she was glad to see him. Maybe he had ideas about Tasi, though she hoped beyond hope the child's noisy voice hadn't woke up the others. "What?" She said, failing to take in what he was saying. ""His brother?" She said, glancing down at the heavy child in her arms, not seeing any difference in them. "I thought it took longer. The Akalaks have told me that they don't start seeing a second until they are well into their childhood, not as infants." Kavala said, turning to Raiha as she took joined them both. "Shayru? How... You named him? How do you both know this? I can see nothing different except his crying. Why is he crying so hard?" She asked, a note of desperation in her voice. "It's been hours and I've been trying to calm him down, but he won't be calm. He won't nurse, he wont sleep, he wont be interested in anything he normally is. I have no idea what to do. There's medically nothing wrong with him." The konti said, clearly completely and utterly out of her depths.

Her body might have nurtured and given birth to Tasival, but he was indeed a child of a completely different race. Kavala had no idea where to start to sooth him - or Shayru rather - to help him along. "I thought for sure it would snow tonight. I wanted to be with him for the first snowfall he's ever going to see... to show him. I love showing him things... but hes just so unhappy." Kavala said, her eyes brimming with tears. The new mother almost never cried, but her frustration was tangible as was her exhaustion.

Even Ragnor's presence, which always soothed Kavala to some extent, was having no effect this night. She only offered him a smile, gestured to Tasi and shook her head sadly. The boy continued to cry.

Kavala had a lot going on lately. Raiha knew the truth of some of it. She'd half poisoned herself attempting birth control when Cuga had started visiting, then in a fit of guilt purged her body of the poison that would kill his seed and had done even more damage. She was slow to recover and that in and of itself was contributing to her exhaustion. On top of that Cugacon was there daily, sometimes twice, and Kavala was playing broodmare to him which was hard on her even though everyone in the facility could tell she was starting to show signs of feeling things for him. It was awkward, at times, having to excuse herself from whatever task she was in the middle of to make time to have sex with the Akalak as he desired. Cugacon was polite though, and often waited or checked with her for her schedule before he visited. It was even worse, in some ways, to know that when she saw him and made her excuses, everyone knew that she was slipping away to lay with him. She needed a break, a rest, and some fun. Tasival and Shayru were giving none of it to her.

Even on the cusp of the watchtowers flaring. Soon, very soon, the thick rain would turn to snow and their dance would be something utterly magical. But Kavala wasn't sure she was going to hold out for that magic moment.

[Kadrath Onktaka]

"It takes two men to make one brother. Uruk showed up very early too."

The large man's eyes were a stormy mix of blue and green vying for dominance. Kavala was there, maternal, beautiful and ultimately feminine. Uruk couldn't keep his gaze from her even if he tried. She was everything insightful and warm that a Konti should be; at least to him.

Raiha and Diallo entered, wrapped in protective shadows like a silken gossamer veil. The young Akontak walked with poise and grace that belied her tender years, and her beauty held strength beyond the norm. Her dual toned voice was as cloying as a sweetly scented dessert he couldn't resist.

It was times like this he especially hated the dual nature of his heritage. Rath was determined to assert himself for Raiha, but Uruk would rather die before sitting back and letting his brother completely take over when Kavala was near.

For all of Uruk's violent and sometimes cruel nature, he tolerated strangers better than his brother. When a ghost materialized in the courtyard, his body tensed up, ready for combat. While neither of the brothers knew much about ghosts, the one thing they held as fact was they weren't alive or natural.

Kadrath's mouth tightened into a grim line at Ragnor's entrance and they pinned him with a hard, cold stare for a long chime. When the unnatural, not Akalak creature dared to speak to Kavala, Uruk surged to the fore.

"Shayru and Tasi are arguing and need something new they can both focus on at once. He's fighting a battle of wills with his weaker brother right now."

'Weaker?!' Rath argued in outrage, 'When you are the one who can't control his temper without -my- management?'

'Listen to yourself brother. Pot, kettle hm? Yes weaker willed, most definitely.'

'Offended, not weak. We bear the mark of Evantia so we are strong and disciplined.'

The green eyed brother gave in to the infallible logic, but held his position.

"Their struggle must end on their own terms Miss Kavala and is certainly not a lack of your mothering skills."

Rath shoved with all his willpower and the chime Kadrath's icy gaze turned blue, it moved straight to Raiha. His smile, as brief as it was, still had a semblance of warmth. As much feeling as they could allow themselves to feel in a stranger's presence.

"Thank you Raiha." The statement was simple, but heartfelt and his eyes lingered noticeably on the lovely Akontak girl.

Returning to his original statement to Kavala and her sons, he gestured to the enormous dog. Fidens was only too happy to show how tall and big he could make himself. He backed up, rose to his hind legs and waved around his fore paws playfully. His thick bushy tail wagged as he enjoyed his own display of strength and largesse.

The huge, furry dog went back down to all four paws, circled right quickly and then circled left, finishing up with a play bow. Fidens kept his mahogany eyes on the boy, somehow sensing Shayru within the baby Akontak. He offered a gentle but giant paw to the boys as a smile lurked in his eyes.

Kadrath nodded approval to Fidens' performance and behavior, walking closer to the group of people in the courtyard. He looked restlessly between the two women of choice, the Akontak boys of his own nature, and uneasily, to the ghost.

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

[Raiha]

She inclined her head in greeting to Ragnor when he showed up, smiling at him. Diallo just looked interested. Oh hey there, he remembered him! “Weaker?” Raiha quirked an eyebrow, and reached out, one finger extending from the long black sleeves, and she poked Uruk in the chest quite deliberately. There was a slightly different inflection that was both Raiha and Kanikra speaking together as one. “Balance. In all things. You complement him. He complements you. Neither is weaker than the other. Learn that lesson, because it doesn’t get any sweeter than the bitter pill it is now.” It was funny for her and Kanikra to be the ones saying that. But the last seasons had been good for them. For all that Kanikra was a manipulative, nasty bitch, she wasn’t stupid. Far from it. She may have been content to let Raiha do most of the work and come out when it suited her, to practice and train and touch the shadows, but while she wouldn’t pay a copper miza to watch an ant stack a ton of hay, she could find a needle in that stack if she had to. She could recognize a good thing and a lesson when she saw it. After, of course, she’d been forced to swallow it. The benefits outweighed the drawbacks for Kanikra, which, rendered this system more palatable for her. Kanikra stopped harassing her to the point of driving her to madness and oblivion, and Raiha accepted the necessity of Kanikra’s ways in the face of the world in which they lived in and worked harder towards them. For them, it worked. As Kanrath had said... they wouldn’t always agree, and the faster they had accepted that, the better off they were.

She waited until the dog had finished, and smiled at him, before reaching out to touch Shayru’s cheek with the warm heel of her hand, using a finger to stroke the boy’s hair under his hood. She would not take him from his mother to calm him, not when Kavala wanted and so desperately needed that moment with him. Because soon, she would likely be pregnant with another, and then... well, Raiha would likely be spending a lot more time with Tasival and Shayru then. She minded not. It was good for her, too, to look after him. She had never been entrusted with little ones on Konti Isle, after all. She lowered her hood so that the child could see her better, and smiled down at him, putting her face in his, widening her eyes at him, all blue skin and gold eyes, framed with white hair. “Chin up, brave little warrior. The sun will be there tomorrow too.” Besides, speaking to the child first enabled her to consider how to talk to Kavala about such a sensitive topic.

“They do not argue right now,” she spoke again, then, raising her head to include the man with her gaze, as well as Kavala. Diallo was looking at the bigger dog like he had lost his mind. “That is Shayru. He is frustrated. He is not content to be a child of emptiness. He wants to be loved. He wants what Tasival gets. He needs that affection. He simply does not have the understanding to get it now like his brother does. He is simply different. Not better. Different,” she emphasized the last bit. It had taken a lot for her and Kanikra to find some measure of balance, and for the most part, the two of them were and were not. It had taken their fathers, Kavala, Hatot and Radris, and Akajia Herself to teach them that lesson and cram it down Raiha’s and Kanikra’s throats. “It is better to be named than nameless, if only so that you have one thing to make your own in this life. They are children of two worlds,” she addressed Kavala. “It’s just seeing and knowing, observing and watching. On the outside looking in,” she smiled a bit. That often seemed to be the path she took. To watch, to observe, to listen. She had spent a lot of time with the boy, and would never complain about it - she liked looking after him, and just sitting there and watching him grow. The subtlety was not there, that one saw when they watched Raiha and Kanikra, missing who was who. Perhaps that was good, because it made understanding them easier. “That is how I know. How we knew.” Her sister had spotted it far sooner than Raiha had, but she was content to let Raiha handle this, if only because Kanikra loved being underestimated. Sure, it made her seem underrepresented, but it enabled her to hide just how well she pulled the strings.

People were so used to seeing and dealing with Raiha that they hardly noticed when Kanikra stretched the legs. It worked for her and in a lot of ways that surprised her, it worked for Raiha. It restricted Kanikra’s range of activities in as many ways as it freed her up. If she wanted to let everyone believe that she was Raiha... then why blow that sort of cover? The smart ones didn’t get caught. She looked upwards at the sky, tilting her head straight up. “The rain will turn to snow. Time and seasons march on. Children age and grow. New discoveries. New lessons,” her voice had grown distant, even as she brought her gaze back down to the earth, apparently well-recovered from the flash in her eyes of rebuke at Uruk. Even still, her gaze was far away. “New beginnings.” She lifted her eyes to Kanrath’s blue ones, and smiled up at him.

For all of them.