[Sanctuary] Loose Tongues, and Lucid Hearts (Kavala, Raiha)

[Ronan]

OOCHope you didn't mind me posting out of order Kav, I figured it wouldn't make too much of a difference!

Ronan dreamed like he had never dreamed before. Sleep came naturally, thoughts of his moments with Kavala filling his mind as he slept. There were darker moments, ones where his body shook and sweated, knowing he would have to let go in the morning.

The time was one of reverie though. An ageless space, where epochs and eras swept by, and he could only dream in the moment. He was lost in it -- until the water came splashing down on his face.

He gasped awake, shook violently, and opened his eyes. He had a splitting headache: the after effects of copious amounts of wine no doubt. He was... naked. He scrabbled for a moment, and then stopped dead, moments away from impaling himself on a pitchfork.

A blue skinned woman glared down at him. Raiha. Kavala had introduced him at the wedding. She did not look like she wanted a chat though. Her eyes burned with fire. She shouted, asking him and Kavala - who now stirred beside him - if they had lost their minds.

He... he didn't know what to do. He couldn't even speak. He was aware of his nakedness, and just wanted clothes and water, and to go back to sleep to get rid of this headache. He finally managed to verbalise, speaking in common because he was unsure if she knew the Pavi tongue.

"What have we....? What do you mean?"

Though he asked, he knew. Of course he knew. Had Kavala broke her contract? They had been careful -- but they were naked in the straw, and to Raiha, that would look like only one thing.

[Kavala]

Kavala would have loved to languish in sleep curled up against the warm presence half beneath her and half curled around her. Her talvis' never stayed the night, never shared like she had with Ronan, and certainly were never there to wake up with when the sun rose. But of course, that didn't happen either, not this time, because the sudden icy chill of water dosed across her roused Kavala abruptly and caused her to sputter and roll to her feet. She didn't care that she didn't have so much as a stitch of clothing on.

All she cared about was the pitchfork lodged at Ronan's throat. It took her a moment to recognize it, understand what it meant, and figure out what to do. So for an entire breath, maybe two, Kavala stood trembling, staring at Raiha before she reached out and hands in the air, fingers splayed, as if she could do something about the pitch fork immediately.

"Raiha no. Gods no. Put it down. Please." Kavala's voice was not devoid of emotion, empty like it would have been had the konti been in any other crisis. Raiha was used to Kavala's neutral almost dead voice when she was scared or angry or concerned. But this was something different, something unusual, tinged with a fractiousness that Raiha rarely heard from the Konti unless they were alone.

"This is me... all me.. .he doesn't know. He doesn't understand." Kavala said suddenly, taking a step forward, half in front of Ronan though she couldn't risk pushing the pitchfork out of the way. Raiha was fast, determined, and an unknown ... Kavala

"Kani... Gods Kani... Raiha... No. Just no. Don't hurt him." Kavala said softly, her voice full of pain knowing full well the teen was more than capable of it. If she thought Sanctuary was threatened, Kavala compromised, Tasifal in danger, any or all of the above, she'd kill. And Kavala knew what Raiha saw in Ronan. He was just a human, short lived and useless. But gods the girl couldn't understand, couldn't know, the closeness that Kavala and Ronan had somehow miraculously wove together in the darkness talking all night long.

"Nothing happened. Everything is as it should be, Raiha. I know you want to protect your people and your interests, but I swear it... put the pitchfork down. He's innocent of all of it. It was me. I wanted a stolen night, one with him, just relaxing and getting to know him. I know how it looks, but its not what it seems." No, it was more beautiful, more pure, than anything that it could have been if they'd simply been rutting in Windsong's stall. There had been no sex, no vows broken, no shame.

Kavala stepped forward, towards Raiha, intent on retrieving the pitchfork.

[Raiha]

For all that she was a teenager, she hardly looked like one now as she utterly glowered down at Ronan with an expression that suggested if he slit his throat on the pitchfork, she would not mind at all. Matching the cold look on her face was the icy eyes that, unless he was remembering through the hangover wrong, had been warm and fairly friendly just the other day when Kavala had made the introductions at breakfast. It had to be Raiha, because Kanikra, pulling something like this, would have had the most expansive smile Kavala had ever seen, if only to mess with their heads.

The look on his face, Kanikra was satisfied by this. The look on their faces. Well done. We’ve discovered some secrets, you just alienated your friend, freaked out her friend, and it’s not even breakfast time yet. We’ll really have to ask the shadows what did happen... Cover our asses, after all.

I did, didn’t I?

Don’t feel too badly about it. It’s for their own good. Better for all involved, really. For all of her cold cruelty, Kanikra could see the big picture. And for now, for as long as for the rest of the foreseeable future Kavala was the property of Riverfall, that meant she was seriously off-limits to Ronan or any other male that didn’t have or bid on her contract. If an Akontak son hadn’t changed that, than what would, really?

Even as he spoke, she didn’t answer, didn’t move... she just kept the pitchfork in place, her body ready to strike. It would be so easy to push just a little more, to shift her weight, and then she’d be putting a body in the ground later, and turning the mood from jovial to funereal. Her lips set in a thin line as she listened to Kavala’s quiet plea. She didn’t remove the pitchfork until Kavala reached for it, but the movement was swift as she withdrew the farming tool-turned-weapon and banged the iron spokes on the floor of the stall, straightening up to her full height. Anything to aggravate the hangovers. Then, and only then, did she look at Kavala, her tongue against the roof of her mouth as the Konti cleared Ronan and proclaimed the situation her fault entirely.

It took two, Raiha knew, but if Ronan was ignorant of Riverfall’s laws involving Nakivaks...

Still, there was no time like the present to learn. Trial by fire might burn, but the scars were neat reminders. The Cerulean likely wouldn’t give two blind damns about that little fact. Kill first, question later. Wonderful policy.

“Do you want to get him killed?” she addressed Kavala, then, her voice a hair off of Kanikra’s, not that Ronan knew her well enough to know the difference. Kavala might pick it up from years of experience with the Akontak teenager. “Because the pitchfork would be a kinder mercy than Woredev and his maces. You don’t know that they come and look around, do you? Because they do. What if they had discovered the two of you rather than me? They would have thrown you into the Oathmaster’s tender care, and he would be killed on the spot, or used as target practice, or thrown into the Gideon.”

Raiha sighed. “It doesn’t -matter- how much you did or did not do. Anyone could have assumed about what happened in the dark when you’re alone,” now, her golden gaze was directed at Ronan. “And what does matter is that you’re open and exposed where you can be seen easily. You’re not somewhere in a pavilion on the grass with your privacy.” She eyeballed Kavala, then, for good measure, but the young woman was not about to let go of the pitchfork right away. She needed it to muck out stalls, after all. “For that matter, should you even BE drinking like that while you’re pregnant?”

[Ronan]

Ronan could only look on with suspended breath, the pitchfork still moments from skewering him, as Kavala rose and moved toward her friend with a plea for mercy.

Raiha was a blue-skin after all. Though not the same as the other Akalak, they were a people ruled by their passions and fury, and a strict code of life. Ronan had seen enough to understand.

When Kavala reached out for the fork, Ronan's heart skipped a beat. Raiha's arm moved, and for a moment he thought to close his eyes. But she pulled the implement back and slammed it on the stable floor instead. The bang split his head, the wine still taking its toll.

He listened to her words though, and the reality sunk in quick enough. Last night had seemed an eternity, and in its thrall, knowing it would never end, he had said things and admitted to things. But now he understood. He had endangered the Konti's life. The sooner he left Riverfall the better.

Ronan was going to apologise, but he thought better of it. The time of meek apologies and bowing and scraping was over. It was time to be clear about how he felt, and what he wanted.

"Perhaps you should think about your friend a little more. Do you understand how this feels to her? She is bound. She is bound like no other, Raiha. Nothing happened, and that is the truth of it. What I feel. What Kavala feels. I will not share unless she wishes to."

He looked to her with a comforting and wan smile. Then he turned and slowly pulled on the clothes he had lost so easily the night before. There was no shame in the gesture. He would not be ashamed, for Kavala deserved more than that. So much more.

[Kavala]

For a long moment, Kavala simply stared at Raiha. She had a thousand denials on her lips. No, they weren't out in the open. No they weren't exposed. No one was going to see them. No one here would betray them. No Akalak would come sneaking through Sanctuary's gates to see if its Mistress was lying in the arms of a filthy human rather than spreading her legs for an Akalak. Anger roared to life in Kavala and she wanted to explode across Raiha, unleashing all her pent up frustrations and the rage that resided deep in side that was tightly contained.

But it wouldn't be fair. Even as the Konti stared at Raiha, shaking with rage, there was nothing that would come of it had she unleashed it on the pair trapped within one form. It wasn't Raiha's doing, the rules, the restraints and restrictions, the gods-cursed Talvas'. No... she was just pointing out the truth.

Kavala's eyes emptied of all emotion as Raiha turned the pitchfork and tossed it aside to spear the ground. Windsong snorted, the horse upset, and tossed his head before pawing at the straw and then circling the far side of the stall. Kavala said something softly to him, her eyes still devoid of emotion and turned to Ronan, but he still did not settle down.

Her voice was lifeless when she finally spoke, letting the truth was over her and poison her soul all that much more. "I'm right here. There's no sense talking about me as if I am not. She's right. I'm sorry. I have endangered you, and they will kill without thought since I am their property and it is the law. Thank you for last night, but it can't happen again. Slavery has its price and not owning one's body is just one of them. You two enjoy the day. Thank you for all the help at the Wedding." Kavala said softly, very softly, so that it was almost hard to hear her. She noted and was proud that Ronan didn't race to dress or seem embarrassed to be found without clothing.

And with those soft words, she slipped out of the stall at a brisk walk, leaving her clothes, the horse blanket, and everything... headed out the gate and towards the Sea.

[Raiha]

“I do think about Kavala, and her welfare. About the welfare of her child, of what she has here,” Raiha was icy. “But I know how Riverfall works, and the seriousness of her situation. You do not know me, nor what relation I have to her. My being soft is of no use to anyone in this world. Else I’d smile and suggest in shaded words when you two eventually woke up that that we start planning a second wedding. Unfortunately, none of us have the luxury right now.”

She fell silent as Kavala spoke, a faint purplish colour appearing around her neck and gills. Sometimes, she really didn’t think things through. You did what had to be done, though. It doesn’t always mean you will be loved for it. Sometimes, it’s all you can do to save someone from their self. Doing what has to be done never endears you to the ones around you. A sense of duty is useful in work... but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not endured with patient resignation. There is no moral rule that doesn't come without inconvenience if you trouble yourself to care about them. Kanikra told her. Consider it another lesson in this thing we call ‘growing up’. I learned it long ago. Now it’s your turn.

“Put some clothes on!” Raiha shouted after her, and let out a quiet, and short-lived growl of frustration. She turned back to Ronan. “The world is a dangerous place. Not just because of those who do evil, but those who watch and do nothing. What I must do is all concerns me, not what people think. People always think they know your duty better than you yourself,” she was still icy, but now she was more matter-of-fact. “Perhaps I do the wrong thing by trying to shelter her from herself, but sometimes, that is what friends have to do. Sometimes, we do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do. I would break my oath for her. So don’t you ever tell me I need to think about her more.” She looked after the way that Kavala had gone, and knew that the shadows would watch her. She stepped out of the stall, leaving Ronan to dress, and made her way up the stable back to the stall where she had been working before. As much as she wanted to go after Kavala, she knew what that tone of voice meant.

[Ronan]

Ronan's bristly posture softened somewhat as he pulled his shirt over his bare chest. Raiha's initial words had been frosty, but a glimmer of the heart that existed beneath the ice came through afterwards. She did not act out of spite. It had taken a few minutes for Ronan to realise that.

He turned to Kavala. Her face hid rage beneath. She looked like she was holding back so many words she wanted to say, so many feelings she wanted to express. In the end, there was no explosion though. Then she turned, and spoke to him directly, a hand comforting Windsong the equine.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in Pavi, "I didn't mean it to sound like that."

Her voice quietened as she finished her sentence. It was half-delirous, a promise to forget, yet a promise he knew Kavala could not keep. Was she holding back tears?

"You did not force me to do anything. I acted of my own accord."

She bid them a good day, and then fled from the stables, naked as a babe. Raiha shouted after her, tempestuous, then softening again like a spring storm. For a moment he was compelled to follow her, but he turned to Raiha, heart thumping, and thought better of it. He would give her space, since she didn't need him clouding her thoughts again. And she was right. He had endangered her. He cared little for his own safety, but he would not put Kavala's life on the line for his own desires.

Raiha spoke to him again, and he remained silent, listening. He felt chastised by her words, censured by her truths. She was not the mad woman he had thought her to be. She was deeply devoted to her friend, and respect swelled inside him. He closed his eyes, head pounding, hands on his temple in despair.

The blue-skinned woman left, a bitter taste filling Ronan's mouth. Bile. Not just a reaction to the alcohol, but a reaction to what was happening, and what he had done.

Eventually, he looked Windsong in the eyes, not as a challenge, but for respect, and then paced the stables to find where Raiha had gone to. When he did set eyes on her again, he found that she had resumed her work as if nothing had happened.

"I can see you care," he announced in Common, "I was wrong to judge. I will leave Kavala, as I will leave Riverfall with Sama'el and the others. I will return though. Do not think me stupid. I care for her too. And now I understand, I won't do anything to endanger her life."

He moved closer to her and held out a hand. An olive branch.

"I promise, Raiha."

OOCPerhaps it would be a good time to wrap this thread up now or in the next few posts? I had so much fun doing this one!

[Sojourn]

Ronan's Rewards Skill XP Award Rhetoric +4 Investigation +4 Observation +3 Seduction +3 Drinking +2 Philosophy +1 Lore Award Pretending to be something else for a moment, Kavala: Her painful history, How to use a stable as a hiding place, Nudity doesn't always lead to sex, Kavala's games, Kavala's dreams, Keeping one's head in spite of temptation, Unrequited love, Water makes for a rude awakening, Unspoken truths of Riverfall Kavala's Rewards Skill XP Award Investigation +4 Observation +3 Seduction +3 Drinking +2 Philosophy +2 Lore Award Cleaning isn't always a priority, Ronan: His broken roots, Breaking rules for love, How to use a stable as a hiding place, Nudity doesn't always lead to sex, Ronan's heart, Skirting the limits under the covers, Unrequited love, Water makes for a rude awakening, Being a good friend means saying hard things Raiha's Rewards Skill XP Award Intimidation +3 Leadership +3 Scolding +3 Investigation +2 Rhetoric +2 Lore Award Water makes for a rude awakening, Showing restraint with a pitchfork, Being a good friend means saying hard things, Notes: Ah! Such a "awwwwwwwwwww-worthy" thread. I read it a handful of times just to make sure I didn't miss anything and I really did love the rather tender, though obviously rebellious, relationship between Kavala and Ronan. Durrr. Hurry up and fix that, would you? Jeez. Raiha was a fantastic addition as both a wake-up call (literally & figuratively) and a voice of stern reality. Really great, delicate balancing act. Thanks!