Completed Tripping Out (Nira'lia, Sylkra, open)

[Kuvarakh]

18th of Summer, 512

'Spinning cubes, there, beyond the stretch of magma feeding the central plaza.' Kuvarakh thought with a grin. 'Magma, amid summer blizzards; Ionu never ceases to contradict and amaze.'

He made his way around the magma pools, sweating on the near side, chilling on the far. Ultimately, he came to an ice bridge over the river of magma. As he crossed, his steps brought accelerated thaw to the ice beneath his feet. The water dripping explosively into bursts of fire-spattering steam from the magma below. He had to run to stay in advance of the melt and finally leapt as the far span sank, roaring in a pillar of steam to obscure his vision.

He felt his feet hit turf and rolled with momentum. He could only guess that Ionu was gratified with his rush and decided to show mercy, for the Cubacious Inn was right before him, in defiance of the position it had occupied before he had crossed the bridge. He stood, looked up and around and bowed, "Thank you, my lord, it is my pleasure to entertain." and in truth, he meant it. It kept his reactions sharp. Nuit needed such, to maintain even the sub-standard of physical prowess common to their kind.

He walked through the front door and turned towards the counter and the smiling woman there. "Hello sir, and good afternoon. Are you needing accommodations today?" The woman said, her voice lilting with kindness.

"Thank you, no, Miss Delnar, not a room anyway. But if you could point me in the direction of a tenant named Nira'lia, my appreciation would rival the bright pleasure of your smile." he gave an exaggerated bow.

"Oh you! My goodness, such flattery almost convinces me to disregard my own rules of privacy. But I'm afraid you will have to take a seat over there and wait." she waved towards an arrangement of chairs and settees arrayed throughout the lobby. "I will go so far as to say she is not in at the moment. You will have to choose between waiting or leaving a message."

"Then I shall wait, thank you. Lord Inou is most playful today, yet he seemed to approve of my arrival, so I would not wish to appear ungrateful by leaving too quickly."

Her eyes twinkled and he chuckled at the endearing illusion as he took a seat and awaited Nira'lia's arrival.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia was heading back to the inn. She had a book in her hands which she reviewed with much interested. The book barely had anything in it, though there were pages with drawings and notes about different types of medicinal plants. They were mostly written by the hand of her older sister, Cecilia. Nira'lia was attempting to find most of the ordinary plants, but she found out that Alvadas was unique in so many ways—and that included the plant life. The Konti found new plants almost every day, but she had no notes about them. '...Maybe in the mountains...?' she mused to herself as she flipped to another page. She had no qualms about the plant life in Alvadas. In truth, she was very much intrigued by its oddities. However, she doubted that the plants could be found almost anywhere else, and as such it the knowledge about these plants would lose its purpose elsewhere. Her sister who knew a lot about plants didn't even list down any plants from Alvadas. Looking ahead, Nira'lia saw the Cubacious Inn. The streets were laden in snow, even if just a minute ago greenery was around her. 'But I can't survive in the mountains...' thought Nira'lia. 'Perhaps I can ask Sylkra to accompany me? Hm, maybe I can find her at the Cubacious Inn...' Nira'lia knew that the wolf Kelvic was still in the city, and if she remembered correctly, she was staying the Cubacious Inn as well–with Sariana.. The Konti had travelled with Sylkra, she knew that the Kelvic was efficient in the wild. Being with someone like her would make Nira'lia so much more at ease. The Konti entered the Inn. Before going to her room, she thought about passing by the innkeeper first to ask about Sylkra. However, she was surprised to see another familiar face—Kuvarakh! "Hi!" said the Konti enthusiastically. She shut the book in her hand and held it to her side. Smiling, she walked up to the Nuit. "What are you doing here?"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh saw Nira'lia approaching, greeting him with a smile. Not a feigned smile, either. He was relieved to see no hesitation in her step. He knew his behavior had been erratic of late. His glum moodiness after aiding Natalie-the-rose, followed by his near manic playfulness in the snowball fight.

"I'm not doing anything for a couple of days, actually. My employer is on a purchasing trip and is not yet certain of me being the face of her shop." he chuckled at the implication. "Not, I think, that she considers me frightful in appearance, so much as I do not know what contracts she would take. I have more acceleration at the ring, but she has a far superior variety of recipes, and I am unfamiliar with many of them.

"I wished, primarily, to apologize for my attitude regarding the possibility of your touch and what memories you might see. I have justified many things on the basis of "The Greater Good", and worried that these these would be what you would see. Many would be understandable, perhaps, when viewed in that context, but there are some..." he let the statement hang.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia was puzzled at his words. It was evident in the childish way that she tilted her head as she listened to him speak. A frown graced her lips as she stared at Kuvarakh. What was he even talking about? Her Gift wasn't well-liked by people because it was an invasion of privacy -- and that was it. She couldn't control the memories that she saw, but they were seldom memories that people would be scared showing. It was often sentimental and private, and nothing more. "Kuvarakh..." started Nira'lia. "My gift only lets me see positive memories... happy memories. I doubt your most joyful memory would be dark and would make me judge you in a bad light. I don't touch people because I wouldn't want people to see my most private moments as well, because they're mine, and only mine... so I like to return the favor. That's really all it was." She smiled. Talking about her thoughts about her gift made her feel uncomfortable, and it was very seldom that she spoke about them. Nira'lia quickly changed the subject. Clasping her hands in front of her, she grinned widely at the Nuit. "Hey, do you know your way around the mountains? I was thinking of going on a camping trip to study the plants, but I... well, I don't know my way around, nor do I have much survival instincs. Would a hike up the mountains interest you?" Fun and dangerous. She knew he probably knew about the latter already, so she chose not to say it. Nira'lia didn't want to put a damper on things. "I was actually going to look for a friend... her name is Sylkra. I know she likes the wild, so I hope she'd want to go with me. And you? Would you want to go?"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh reeled in embarrassment. He rolled his eyes at his own stupid presumption. 'Happy memories only! Good Gods, he had been worried for nothing.' He heard her explaining her simple, obvious, courteous reluctance to invade people's memories. All at once, he felt bad for her. And yet, she stood before him, smiling! Such natural kindness. The woman was an inspiration.

He was about to promise never to mention it again when she changed the subject. A camping trip? He needed no more than a moment's thought. 'Why not? He had a couple days free. He had enjoyed occasional outings with his daughter in the relative safety surrounding Zeltiva. She had a friend to come along. They knew he was a Nuit, so there wouldn't need to be any awkward concerns of romantic intent.' He grinned at the thought. Her grin grew wider in response.

"Nira, I would be happy to go camping. I don't have a tent or anything, but I can tell stories around a campfire with the best of them. And you can have my share of the beans and potato salad."

[Nira'lia]

The Konti couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’d love to hear your stories, Kuvarakh!” she said with a wide grin. “Hold on, let’s go see if Sylkra is around, then maybe we can plan it out…” Nira’lia walked away from him and went over to the innkeeper. She inquired about the wolf kelvic, and the innkeeper was familiar with Sylkra, though she was told that Syklra had gone outside earlier that day. With a dejected expression, the Konti walked back to Kuvarakh. “Well, turns out Sylkra’s not here… do you want to wait here with me? We can pass the time by talking.” Without waiting for him to agree, she sat down across from him anyway. Nira’lia placed her hands on her lap daintily, and she stared right at the Nuit. She couldn’t think of anything to talk about at the moment, but she knew that Kuvarakh was a talkative person – he surely was going to think of an interesting topic while they awaited the Kelvic.

[Sylkra]

The Kelvic girl ran as fast as she could, fear strikes through her straw-colored eyes. Her paws wouldn't stop moving, as she ran as fast as her legs could take her, away from the forests she was hunting in, away from the bear that was chasing her. It had come so quickly, Sylkra had barely managed any time to escape. But, luckily, she was right next to the city walls so she had just barely gotten her way through the gates of Alvadas.

She stopped to take deep breathes, as the guards of Alvadas saw the predator and began attacking it immediately. Which made her wonder, Don't they see me as a predator too? But hey, she wasn't about to make them. She quickly shifted, and a swirling pink mist came over her. Her limbs grew, her fur shortened, her face became more human-like, until she was a full blown, naked woman standing in the streets. She giggled as they speared the bear straight in the heart, and walked to a nearby barrel to retrieve her things.

She rummaged around it it, and at last, got a hold on a bag. She pulled it out, and then slipped on skin clothes that were inside. She felt the necklace around her neck, embroidered with pearls, and made of a fine string, that was given to her by the one and only Sariana. How Sylkra worshipped Sariana, as if the Drykas was a god.

She hooked the sack around her one arm, before setting for towards the inn where she would call it a night. When she arrived there, she opened the door, and was surprised to see Nira'lia! She squealed, and ran right one to the Konti. She gave her a warm hug, and howled, "Nira! Nira!" She saw the other man, who gave off a strange... Feeling and scent. It sent a shiver up Sylkra's spine. She had only experienced it once before, back at Zeltiva where she had met a strange man who made her feel the same exact way. She stopped hugging Nira, and asked, "Who's this?" Her eyes were sparked with a bit of fear towards the man. The better question was: "What is this?"

[Kuvarakh]

Not missing a beat, Kuvarakh took a step forward, leaned into an extravagant bow and pulled back with a smile. "I am Kuvarakh, and I will be your entertainment for the evening. I neither sing nor dance. Poetry finds me an abomination and my ear is of only the finest tin. Beyond that, I fear I am utterly without talent, though I am capable of making an extraordinary fool of myself." he beamed with genuine mirth.

If he had not already been looking at the new arrival, he might have fractured his neck with his ensuing double-take. "Wait a moment. I saw you just yesterday! In fact, it was both of you." His face combined equal parts hope, regret and embarrassment. "I...uh...I hope I wasn't out of line with those snow cannons. I had a terrific time" he suddenly grimaced, "and I certainly got my comeuppance there at the end."

He swung his gaze to Nira'lia, anticipating a sympathetic remark, and held his hand up to forestall it. "Now, now, that icicle was not your fault. If I could have stayed on my feet while you were chasing me, it never would have happened." He chanced a look back at the other woman, whose name he was unsure of, and was glad to see a look of curiosity beginning to replace apprehension.

He knew his behavior and outlook were in almost direct contradiction to the standard stone-faced, humorless disregard most Nuit displayed towards their fellows, living and unliving alike. He wouldn't have it any other way. Now, if he could just manage to charm his way past the understandable revulsion a living person instinctively feels in the presence of a corpse, moving or otherwise, there should be no problem. He decided it might be best for Nira'lia to mention his invitation to go hiking or camping with her.

[Nira'lia]

Nira’lia enthusiastically returned Sylkra’s hug. The cheerful way Sylkra greeted her with never failed to lift her spirits. After greeting the Kelvic, Nira’lia didn’t miss the wary expression she wore when she saw Kuvarakh. The Konti knew that Sylkra had a way of knowing about odd traits. Did she know that Kuvarakh was a Nuit? She was pleased at the way Kuvarakh spoke to Sylkra. The Nuit often spoke with a tone of friendliness and approachableness… and his words led Nira’lia to remember that they had met before. Clapping her hands together once, realization hit Nira’lia as well. “Oh, that’s right…! It was pretty difficult to recognize anyone in all that mayhem. Oh, yes… this is Sylkra, she’s a good friend of mine, and as I told you, she knows her way around the wild. Sylkra, this is Kuvarakh. He’s also a good friend of mine, and he is a good source of entertainment, don’t you think?” Giggling, the Konti looked between the two, trying to get rid of any negative feelings—if there were any lingering around. Then, she turned to Sylkra to explain why they were there, and why she had so specifically pointed out the Kelvic’s knowledge in the wilds. “We were actually waiting for you! We’re thinking of taking a trip to the mountains, and… well, I thought it would be nice to have a guide like you… what do you think? It will be fun!”

[Sylkra]

Sylkra's lips almost formed into a snarl at the man. His presence was cold and uncomfortable at the same time. If it weren't for Nira's question aimed toward Sylkra, fangs would have been flying. She stopped her hard stare at the man, and with sweet eyes looked down at Nira, completely ignoring whatever the man said. "I guess...." she trailed off. She sat down on the floor, and then looked up at Nira.

Hiking? That sounded like a lot of fun. Going to see the beautiful nature of Alvadas with others sounded interesting. Especially with Nira coming along. Sylkra always adored Nira, the Konti was so sweet and friendly. Sylkra would save Nira if it costed her life, but of course, her loyalty to Sariana stood above all. There was nothing more powerful, or more unbreakable, then the endless bond between Kelvic and master. No matter how hard you tried, it would not break, or even bend.

The wolf panted, her longer than average tongue rolling out of her mouth. She was getting hot from the humidity inside the bar, all the body heat had really warmed it up. "Well, that sounds like fun! Lets go right now!" She stood up from her "seat", and grasped Nira's hand gently, smiling and giggling the whole time. She gave it a friendly tug, and waved her hand, gesturing Nira to come on. Sylkra realized the trip would be hard with her pack. She stopped, and then looked at Nira with more serious eyes, but of course, they still had their glint in them. "Could you carry my pack?" she asked politely. She would wait until they were in the forest to strip and shift... She knew the people here didn't take kindly to nudity. No one ever did.