Timid Earth[Hana]

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave a nod to Ha’na as he began leading her back to the main road that would carry them back to Syliras. He slowly raised his gaze to the sky, taking note of the position of the sun as it filtered through the canopy of trees. There was still time, but some of the wild life would be starting their hunting cycles soon. It wasn’t likely that many of them would be stalking Ha’na or himself, but there was the off chance of an attack if they weren’t out of the forest or near a fire. “That’s good to hear.” Jaeden commented on Ha’na’s revelation over her heart. “I would pray to Cheva that it works out, but the Goddess who marked me………… well, let’s just say the two of them are somewhat at odds with each other, and I don’t know nearly enough about either to risk offense.” Jaeden then suddenly stopped as Ha’na abruptly ran into his back. Ha’na could see the muscles tense up along his arms and peering around him, she soon saw why as Jaeden stared across the tree lines to movement. The movement came in the form of a small pack of wolves, about six of them, as they moved across the ground at a casual pace, sniffing along the ground. Every now and then they popped their heads up to keep a vigilant watch of their surroundings, particularly the Alpha male who stood out in front of the pack. It was during one of these checks that it spotted Jaeden and Ha’na standing there. “Keep your voice low, and don’t look him in the eyes.” Jaeden instructed Ha’na in a calm voice. “Don’t run, either. They’re on the hunt, but we wouldn’t constitute as normal prey unless they felt they were at risk. You run, however, and that just triggers their prey in flight conditioning.”

[Hana]

At the sight of wolves, she froze. A hand went to grab at Jaeden’s side and tightly hold on. She would start walking when he walked again, but she wasn’t about to move on her own.

She didn’t know how aggressive the wolves in the area were, but she did have a very vivid memory of a pack of golden wolves tearing a goat apart. She rather cared not to think about what they would do to her. She swallowed, nodding. Looking something in the eye wasn’t an action she was very good at anyway.

She did as she was told, and better yet she tried her hardest not to even think of the animals being there. Her voice shook as she nearly whispered, “Which goddess?”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden continued to observe the pack of wolves as they continued to track whatever scent they had picked up, the Alpha of the group keeping a vigilant eye upon Ha’na and Jaeden for any signs of movement. It eventually moved on as well once the pack was more of a safe distance away. Jaeden simply waited there, letting them move on and out of sight before peering over his shoulder at Ha’na. “Nikali,” Jaeden finally answered. “Goddess of pleasure, addiction, lust, slavery and servants I learned. I tend to have a fancy for the fairer sex, and she took a minor liking to it. I was informed I have a greater purpose or calling. Though I’m not quite sure what that is.” Jaeden then slowly began moving forward again, pulling away from Ha’na’s grasp as he gave a slight exhale. It was difficult enough to resist the desire she emitted without her physical touch reinforcing it. “All in all, Ha’na, I love women, all women. Well, most of them.” Jaeden said before muttering something under his breath about women who were total sadists. “I guess that’s why it works out so well that I ended up working at the Soothing Waters.” Jaeden then slowly looked over the forest as he took in the scenery for a moment. “Still, I could never give up the open wild. It’s where I was raised.” Jaeden commented, letting a slight exhale go as a small smile crossed his lips.

[Hana]

“Ah, I should have known,” she said quietly. “In Ahnatep, I knew quite a few slaves and servants. Many worshipped her… It was quite a new experience for me, I must say.”

She pulled her touch away from him, glancing back warily in the directions that the wolves had moved. She started walking again when he did, looking cautiously at the wilderness around her.

“I’m…” She paused, considering how to say what she wanted to. “I’m a believer that we don’t always know what our callings are. Callings are like fate. Fate is out of our hands. Callings, though, can be so large or so small. Perhaps your entire purpose is to kill a bug that would otherwise frighten a pregnant woman, causing her to go into labor and lose her child. Perhaps your calling is to save the world. We all love something, I suppose. There is no reason why it shouldn’t be women. Many women need love… In whatever form you’re able to give it to them.”

For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine anyone being comfortable in this sort of environment, let alone loving it. But fortunately not everyone was like her.

“The forest still scares me horribly… Most things do. Were you raised here or somewhere else in the wild?”

[Jaeden Kincade]

“I never imagine myself to having some huge influence over anything.” Jaeden replied simply, looking over his shoulder at Ha’na as he did so. “I wake, I eat, I go about my daily happenings, then I sleep. If something big happens along the way, I’ll tend to avoid it if I can. The most conflict I get into is with slavers from time to time.” Jaeden them motioned towards some more morels growing at the base of a tree. There were six for the taking had Ha’na decided to. “The most frightening thing about the forest is what other humanoids bring to it most of the time.” Jaeden then said as he stepped over a fallen tree, pausing as he looked down at some tracks out of sheer habit along. Such a place would make a decent place to lay a snare. “Most of the wildlife and other creatures of the forest can be avoided once you learn about their habits.” Jaeden then just gave a subtle nod at Ha’na’s most recent question. “I spent a fair amount of years in the wild. My family originally had a cottage built at the edge of the Wild Lands until fate found them being killed and me spared. I was then taken in by a master Hunter, Gin Olevar.” Jaeden explained as he slipped both buckets into his hand for a moment, grabbing at his water skin. A slow drink was taken, refreshing himself during the trek. “He spent twelve years training me, and then I spent another seven roaming on my own. During that time, I’ve only spent time in the cities long enough to trade and supply myself of what I needed but couldn’t get from the wild at that time.”

[Hana]

“Modesty isn’t a horrible thing to have,” she said in response. She looked down at the mushrooms, moving to pull off one of the sacks attached to her belt. She began to pick and tuck them away, thinking a moment on the dinner she could make with them. “Elevating yourself to the level of the gods is a way to become cursed… But man can have such an influence on the world of man…”

She stood up then, looking up at the tree out of habit. “Do you think… Maybe sometime when you have a moment to spare you could teach me about being out here? How to do things?”

Her head moved so that her face could appear over her shoulder to look at him. There was an innocent blink or two given to what he was saying. She nodded slowly before starting to walk again, careful not to fall too behind. “Oh… I’m sorry to hear about your family.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden shook his head slightly. “It’s in the past.” Jaeden said with only a slight amount of conviction in his voice. “I’ve moved on since then. Training under Olevar has a way of doing that.” He then paused in his step as he looked back to Ha’na for a moment as she finished collecting the mushrooms. There was a hesitation in his voice as he gave a sidelong look over her form. “I’m not so certain you would enjoy my teaching. It’s not so much about being out here, it’s more about actual wilderness survival, and it would be a little hands on.” Jaeden confessed. “It would involve actually spending the night in a tent, outside of the city, in the middle of the woods. You would be learning to build shelters, to track dinner, to discern regular plants from poisonous ones, all the while making sure you aren’t eaten by bears and wild cats, to say nothing of slavers. A short time out here is low risk, but the longer you stay in the forest, the more likely it would be of running into some shyke who wants nothing more than to bind your ankles and wrists, and cart you off to be sold to some other shyke. Those are the nice slavers too.” Jaeden then took a couple of steps forward, leaning down as his face was left mere inches from Ha’na’s own. His pupils darted back and forth between hers as he kept watch over her face, studying her expression and keeping close attention to the lingering traces of her desires that Ranuri still kept. The sky blue iris' lightly reflected her own features as the continued to move. Then Jaeden finally asked, “So tell me Ha’na, is learning from me something you truly wish to do?”

[Hana]

Most assumed that since she was Benshira meant that she’d wandered the desert more than she actually had. That wasn’t a life she’d been born to. She’d been a city girl. Jaeden actually had her pegged on that one. And while she’d been a thousand other places, lived through things others would hardly believe, she didn’t think much of her own experiences. In the end she was just a city girl in her own mind.

She stood there, shoving her hands into the pockets of her dress. She peered back at him nervously for a moment. But then her eyes meekly dipped down to the ground. “Perhaps one day,” she said softly, “though I doubt I would last very long.”

She cleared her throat, careful to keep her eyes off of him. If it was possible for desires to completely melt away from a person, she seemed to have allowed them to puddle off somewhere else. No desires. No dreams. Nothing.

“But thank you for at least humoring me.”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly nodded as he stepped back, his hands still gripping the buckets as he motioned towards their trek once again. “It’s a harsh world outside the city.” Jaeden said as he raised one of his hands to push aside the limb of a tree for Ha‘na. Still holding the bucket, the muscles in his shoulder went taught as he did so, “If you were to seriously undertake such an endeavor, I’ll happily train you, but only if you’re sure. I’d suggest taking some lessons in the use of a weapons. Something akin to your grace as both a woman and artist. Daggers or a rapier perhaps. There are knights within the city who will sometimes teach citizens when they aren’t on duty.” “I don’t mean to be blunt, but with my own current level of skill, I just don’t feel I could protect you if we did happen along slavers.” Jaeden then said, releasing the branch as he stepped beside her in their walk. “It would crush me if you got harmed because I acted on a whim and said yes without thinking. Taking pain myself is fine. I've been bound, whipped, beaten, stabbed and cut, but none of that ever compared to seeing someone I cared about almost die simply because I wasn't good enough to protect them.”

[Hana]

“Daggers, perhaps. Though I really don’t have grace either as a woman or an artist,” she mused. “It’s funny… I’ve been so many places and in so much trouble, but I’ve always had someone there to protect me. I suppose I’m very fortunate in that manner. I’m sure that luck with wear off eventually, so…”

She glanced back at the branch, wondering what kind of plant that had been. She turned her attention back to him. “Thank you for your consideration. Both for my safety, but especially for your own. Daggers? Really?”