Animal friend, Are you here? [req. Kavala]

[Korali]

Korali was in her animal form, as she was often, as she walked around trying to find the one she had heard talk of. Her bright cat eyes saw much as she wandered toward the smell of horses. Her ears flicked in the direction of sounds. A great crash was heard and she couldn't help but flinch and stare at the direction of the noise. Eventually she found the noises all too much for her sensitive ears and disappeared into an alley to change into her human form. Bright blue lights surrounded her as she changed. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her hearing may be sharp in her human form, but being up higher was helping. This way, she could see where noises were coming from.
Korali rummaged through her bags and found her wrap dress. She did always love the color teal. Once it was on, she picked up her pack and adjusted the straps so she could carry it in her current form. A deep breath and she was back out into the street, on her way to the Sanctuary. She walked for some time, always keeping the smell of horses as her guide, until she reached a quiet zone. It was so pretty, she could understand why it was called a sanctuary.
"Hello?" she called in Kontinese. "I'm looking for someone. The animal seer. Hello?"

[Kavala]

30th of Summer, 512 AV.

The Sanctuary of old was not the current Sanctuary that somewhat reminded the Konti healer of a caterpillar that had crawled onto a cliff and built itself a chrysalis and was just now emerging from the structure to spread its wings. A massive wall lined the facility, open only in two places where stone gates with the name The Sanctuary was carved into them in multiple languages in a highly stylized design that was the silhouette of a horses head.

When unlocked they would swing wide, perfectly balanced, by even the hand of a small child. And today they were swung wide open because a pale Konti was herding what looked to be a herd of yearlings out the gate and into adjacent fields to graze.

When she spotted the woman, Kavala paused - afoot - and changed direction after seeing all the yearlings safely out of the facility. She approached with a swinging stride, a young boy clinging to her back. She offered the stranger a smile, and nodded. "I'm Kavala. A healer... what can I help you with?" She asked, carefully checking the woman over as if looking for injuries while she opened her senses to see if she could feel anything from the woman that would indicate she was either kelvic or injured or both.

[Korali]

Korali saw the woman coming through with the yearlings and she nearly purred at how cute they all were. A few of the yearlings were so darling that she wanted to change into her animal form right then so she could play with them, not caring that she would be smaller. However, they were all ushered out and the Konti she had heard about walked right over to her.
"I hope I'm not disturbing anyone." she spoke in common tongue. "I heard stories from my parents about a Konti who was what we call an animal friend. I'm Korali, a serval kelvic."
Hesitantly she took a step forward and saw the young boy clinging to her back. As young as she was, Korali was itching to play. Perhaps his mom would let them play? She smiled sweetly to the little boy, her elongated canines showing as her slitted pupils became harder to see due to her large smile.
"If I promise to be nice and not scratch him, can the boy and I play? Ever since I saw the yearlings I've been wanting to play. I'll even let him pull my ears and tail if he wants!" It seemed she was serious about wanting to play. Korali hated when her ears and tail were pulled.
Like a little kid she technically was, she gripped her hands behind her back and looked at Kavala with a pleading look.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded at Korali's words knowing she had a certain reputation among kelvic. Though, a serval, truthfully Kavala had no idea what one was. Her gut told her cat though, for the woman had a very feline quality about her. Opening her senses wide, Kavala could feel the woman's youth despite the age appearance and understood immediately that she didn't want to harm Tasival, but instead just simply wanted to play. The toddler on her back squirmed. He knew the word play, ruthlessly, and in multiple languages.

So he reached out towards the kelvic, his hand grasping though not anywhere near close enough to touch her, and uttered the word play in both tukant and kontinese multiple times. Kavala signed, gave the serval a sideways smile, and unslung the little guy from her back. Once he was on his own two feet he made a bumbling beeline for the newcommer though once in front of her for 'play' he had no idea what to do. So, in the true nature of his Akalak heritage the young Akontak dug into his pocket, pulled out a piece of pulled sugar candy, and offered it to the stranger. It was a sticky blue color, made from the juice of blueberries, and had obviously had a companion or two at one time if the color and consistency of Tasival's tongue displayed any truth.

"That's Tasival. He's my son. And you never usually have to ask him twice to play. Would you like to come in and find a place to play out of the sun? You look like you could use a cold drink of water and perhaps a meal or two. Been on the road long?" Kavala asked, even as the toddler circled the kelvic, giving Korali very little time to decide to take the candy or not, or to follow Kavala or not. It was obvious the child was quickly deciding on just what they were going to 'play' based on what he thought she could do.

[Korali]

Korali smiled happily at the little boy who came over to her. When he offered the candy, she couldn't help but giggle at the state it was in. She gently squatted, her long legs becoming more apparent, as well as the power retained within them. She put out a hand in thanks for the candy and nibbled on it thankfully. Her eyes widened at the flavor and the rest of the candy disappeared into her waiting mouth. Carefully, she reached forward for the young boy and if he would come into her arms, she would rub her cheek against his in thanks, a slight purr emanating from her throat, though slightly garbled from the candy in her mouth.
"You're so sweet!" she would say and then stand back up. "I may like the sun, but playing in the shade is always welcome. I have a hard time playing in this form, I promise I won't hurt him and you're welcome to splash me with a bit of water if I start to get too rough." Korali shivered slightly at the thought of water suddenly hitting her. She had inherited a love of water from her tiger father, but sudden water was not fun at all.
The Kelvic would follow Kavala anywhere, especially after the offer of food and cold water. "I've been mostly traveling around Riverfell for a year or so, though I visit my parents when I can. I was sired in a forest nearby, though I do not know if it has a name or not."
Once they were in the shade, she would set her pack down and change back into her animal form, so she could better play with Tasival. Blue lights would surround her and then she'd be no more than 40 inches high. Her feline form would then wriggle out of the dress material and pull it over to lay atop her bag. In a distinctly dog-like manner, she lowered her front half and wagged her short tail in a playful manner. Needless to say, Korali hadn't been able to play lately, and she was very excited to.

[Kavala]

Kavala watched the two size each other up and had to smile. She wondered at Korali's sudden appearance. Cats had huge territories sometimes and perhaps Korali was expanding hers to include the Sanctuary. Kavala didn't mind, but she was curious as to why the serval was putting in an appearance. She didn't ask though, preferring to let the two kids play while life was easy.

"That'd be the Fringe Forest. It's at least the name us folk give the woods near here. If you guys head this way, I'll have a lunch tray brought up for all of us. We can play in the courtyard.. there's a really great leather ball there that has a bounce to it almost as big as your head, Korali. Tasi loves chasing it. Perhaps you could indulge him in game with the ball. And there's shade and tables there right now too.

Kavala said, gesturing the pair should follow her. Tasi, who had been busy grabbing Korali's hair before she shifted, didn't seemed bothered at all when his companion went from being human to cat. In fact he squealed with delight and gently began to pet the big animal, muttering over and over in Tukant that she was pretty. Pretty. The toddler knew enough to follow his mom and Kavala made sure to pick up Korali's stuff and pack it with them leading the pair through the maze of construction that was Sanctuary and into the courtyard she promised. There were indeed inflated bladder and leather balls in the courtyard, some of which looked heavily used and abused. Tasi immediately went to one and threw it for Korali, letting her chase it of she chose.

Meanwhile Kavala stopped a passing groom, asked for a tray to be made, and in no time food was brought up and laid out on the table by Aweston. He left them, so that when they grew tired of their frolicking, they could indeed pause for sandwiches and cool water from the waterskin. Kavala never let Tasival out of her sight, but yet letting him play with Korali all he wanted too.

The boy was quick on his feet, both quick to chase the ball and wrestle the cat or to throw it for her.

[Korali]

Korali was young enough that she didn't quite feel the need for territory, and all she really knew that she was looking for was companionship. If that took her far from her original home, then it would. When Kavala's boy tossed the ball toward her, her eyes sparkled and she met the ball in the air, pouncing it with glee. Once she was back on the ground with it, a paw reached out and whacked it back toward the boy.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the food tray and could smell some of the treats that were awaiting them after their play. Her claws would stay withdrawn, just as she promised. Korali enjoyed the small wrestling matches that they had, as it reminded her of when she would play with her mom or dad's tail. Once or twice, she thought she heard something and had paused, only to be nearly knocked over by the small boy playing with her.
Eventually she got tired and licked his cheek before making her way over to his mom panting slightly. First thing she did was grab her dress and pull it over to a spot that would hide her nude form from view. Lights could be seen glowing as she became taller and she sighed as she put her dress back on. Sauntering back over, she smiled and sat on the ground next to Kavala's seat.
"That was fun, thank you for letting me play with him. That was really fun. I seriously haven't been this worn out in a while. You know, I've been wandering about this city with no real objective until I heard about you. I've never heard of a Konti with animal gifts. I think it's really cool!" she said with a smile and happy chuckle. "I thought maybe you could help me figure out where I need to go next or something. I'm really not sure what to do."