Eff Camels(Kalesse)

[Ehsan]

35th of Fall, 512AV A bell outside Ahnatep's walls There was a certain joy to manual labor. A type of raw satisfaction that no intellectual pursuit or power could match. To be able to say, with utter conviction, "I made that." held a type of bliss that was without peer. Ehsan knew this better than most. That's why Khar'jun was walking away from Ahnatep, towards the glistering river, the camel's heavy steps rattling his aging bones. He was far from competent with the beast. If it hadn't come with a built in saddle, he probably would have fallen off trying to mount it. Still, it got him from place to place. Touching back down on terra firma with a soft thud and a gentle puff of sand, Ehsan hiked his trousers up, waded into the river, bent down, and started sifting through the shimmering brown dirt at its bed. His not-quite-expert eye was still functional enough to know what would make good clay and what wouldn't. Some might think it odd, seeing a man in his fifties standing in the middle of the river arm-deep in silt, but the Benshira thought it nothing more than a very valuable part of the creation process. Other men might buy their clay, but it just didn't feel... Personal enough when sculpting with a purchased product. If that meant making a bit of a fool of himself to get his materials, so be it. In a similar fashion, Syna was being a bit too generous with her heat this day, and beads of sweat quickly formed on the wrinkled potter's neck and brow. Still, he kept scooping up clay with his hands, setting handfuls of the stuff down next to the ancient camel, who was busily quenching her thirst as Ehsan worked. It was difficult work, but cheerful.

[Kalesse]

It was hot.

Well, it was always hot, but this day was extra hot.

Kalesse had not been built for city life. The walls seemed to close in on her, the crush of people, the noise, the smells… it was suffocating. Even the smallest of crowds left her hands numb from the vibrations of it all, immediately putting the young woman in a terrible, ornery mood. She was not going to deal with that nonsense today; it was hardly mid morning and the air was already shimmering with the heat.

Haizea, however, didn’t seem to mind the heat in the slightest. It had been a good number of days since the young Chaktawe had been able to get out and ride, her beautiful gray mare nearly knocking her over in her excitement to get out and run; Kalesse practically had to jog next to the horse, jump and hope for the best because there was no stopping the stir crazy mare.

Hoping to leave the heat behind, the pair raced over the sands, leaving only a dotted trail of hoof prints and splashes of sand swept up into the air behind them. Kalesse couldn’t help but laugh as the wind whipped her hair back from her face, stinging her cheeks along with the long, black strands of Haizea’s mane. Letting the mare have her head, Kalesse couldn’t help but shiver at the feeling of raw power beneath her, the horse digging in and lengthening her stride as soon as Kalesse released the tension she had held on the reins. After that, they practically flew towards the river.

It had been Haizea’s choice destination, the Chaktawe woman letting her have her way for once, content to just lock her legs and crouch over that powerful gray neck.

It only took them a portion of a bell to reach the water, Haizea only slowing her clip when the approached the riverbank, turning sharply to run along the stream of water for a bit before finally slowing down. A gentle cluck and a nudge of her heels was all it took to send the mare directly into the water. Haizea bobbed her head once or twice before lowering it to drink.

Sliding from the saddle Kalesse splashed some of the grit from her face and arms, wetting along her hairline before pulling her horses head up; it wouldn’t do for her to drink too much after such a run. Knowing hands briskly felt down the mares legs for any sign of heat, patted her great sweaty neck before remounting and starting off again.

The going was slow as the mare picked her way through the muddy river, stepping over stones and placing each hoof carefully incase there were any pockets that could dangerously damager her legs should she slip. Kalesse relaxed, leaning forward on Haizea’s neck and burying her face in the coarse mane. This was the life….

All at once, the sky was in the wrong spot, and the ground was where the sky should be. A muffled thud followed the spinning of the world as Kalesse went flying from the mares back and landed half in and half out of the river, her face planted firmly in the sand, the impact knocking her cold. Haizea reared, her eyes rolling as they rounded the bend and the sudden movement of the man in the water ahead of him startled the mare. A few seconds of panic was all it took for the horse to make up her mind and flee back the direction they came, leaving Kalesse floating unconscious in the water.

[Ehsan]

Ehsan was jerked out of his peaceful monotony by a mare's frantic neighing accompanying a loud splash. Khar'jun roared angrily at the intruder while the Benshira's head snapped towards Haizea at around the same time the horse decided to run, before drifting down and settling firmly on the half-naked Chaktawe drifting towards him. The fistful of mud fell out of his hands with a wet thud. He simply stared at the girl floating in the water for a few ticks, before jumping with a loud curse that made Khar'jun flinch and roar again. Hooking his hands under Kalesse's arms, Ehsan heaved the girl to the riverbank, then laid her down on her back, pressing his ear over the Chaktawe's heart to be sure she was alive. He breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing a heartbeat. Relief that only lasted a few ticks before he realized they were bells away from any help, and he didn't know the first thing about medicine. Swallowing nervously, Ehsan did the first thing that popped into his head: he swept the wet strands of black hair off of Kalesse's face, then slapped her on the cheek three times in rapid succession, saying frantically in Shiber, "Wake up, Miss!" before doing the same to her other cheek, his earth-stained fingers tapped out soft squishes on Kalesse's copper skin. Khar'jun decided to lighten the mood by nudging the Chaktawe lightly with her snout, then billowing a cloud of hot air into both her and Ehsan's faces with a loud sniff.

[Kalesse]

Ugh, even unconsciousness was hot.

Drifting in a sea of inky blackness, Kalesse groaned as a wave of muggy air passed over her, her face turning away and her nose wrinkling in distaste. But the wind was persistent, blowing again, directly at her even as she raised her arms to try and shield her face. “Nooooooo….”

It was the snuffling sound that finally shook the remaining strings of unconsciousness from her, the camel banishing its old on her with his invasive investigation. Groaning again and rousing herself, Kalesse only managed to flop helplessly against where the mud man had propped her. Her cheek stung, her hand responding lethargically as she tried to feel the skin there. “Whaaaa…?” With her eyes still clothes, Kalesse tried to roll over onto her side, failing miserably; having face-planted pretty solidly in the mud, she fell from a great enough distance that it knocked her silly.

Then the camel sniffed again, sending a snotty cloud of hot air over her. This Kalesse immediately recognized, those onyx eyes flying open and looking wildly around for a moment before they were able to focus on the man stooped over her, the camel nosing its way into her personal space. It was all she could do to fight down the yelp that threatened to jump from her throat, the young woman scrambling backwards as best she could until she was out of reach of the both of them.

“What the petch do you think you’re doing?” She snarled in tawna, her cheeks reddening deeper from more than just the slaps she’d received. Her clothes were sopping and clung closely to her frame; though she had was scantily clad anyway, she somehow felt vulnerable in this sodden state, crossing her arms over her chest and partially turning away from the man. It was only when Kalesse was able to pry her gaze from her saivor that she realized her horse was gone. Thieves!

“Where ever your friends took my horse, give her back now or I’ll kick all your teeth down your throat!” If he was still here, that meant that someone else had taken Haizea away. “If she has even a scratch on her hide…”

[Ehsan]

The Benshira rolled his eyes and pushed lightly on his camel's snout as she continued to investigate Kalesse, smiling sadly. "Not now, Khar'jun. Camel breath won't-" Ehsan froze as he heard the Chaktawe moan. "On second thought, go ahead." he said with a nod, his shoulders sagging slightly. She was okay. Well, relatively. It was obvious, even to Ehsan, that the fall had addled her brains a little. "Don't move, Miss." the potter asserted, "You took a nasty tumble. We're going to get you to a proper doctor." Evidently, Kalesse didn't like that idea, because she started scuttling away while saying something in a language Ehsan couldn't recognize, and covering herself. He hadn't quite noticed how... Exposed... She was before. Her clothes were definitely lacking, and that had registered, but Ehsan was more than fifty years old, married, and was a bit more interested in making sure she wasn't a drowning victim. Now, however... Well, it was hard not to notice when the Chaktawe was making such a big deal of it. A faint flush of crimson tinted his cheeks, and the Benshira had a sort of spasm as he tried to both look away and keep his eyes on her at the same time. Judging by Kalesse's tone, she was a wee bit confused, so Ehsan waved his hands in front of him in what he hoped would register as a signal to stop. "Wait!" he cried in Common. "I friend!" Embarrassingly broken Common. Both of his index fingers pointed at Kalesse, before darting to the lake. "You fall," Ehsan explained, "I see, pull here." he pointed to the muddy bank. Once that was done, he waited anxiously to see if Kalesse understood what he said.

[Kalesse]

Kalesse couldn’t help but stare vapidly at the old man as he flapped his arms, pointed at himself and then her, gesturing wildly as he spoke with the vocabulary of a child; a stupid thief, clearly. Rolling her eyes and pushing herself up off the sand, the young woman grimaced as her wet clothes stuck and chafed at her equally wet skin. “Please stop.” Glancing up from her “work”, Kalesse raised a condescending brow as she waited for the man to fall silent.

It was only after he stopped speaking that the young woman realized he had been trying to talk to her in common. Broken common, at that. Though she didn’t show any outward sign of it, Kalesse cursed herself for her stupidity. So used to being surrounded by only her own people and her own tribe, the young Chaktawe was constantly forgetting that here, in Ahnatep, everybody spoke something different. Of course he hadn’t understood her Tawna.

Though she felt slightly abashed, Kalesse held up a hand and thought for a moment before speaking slowly in common. “Language block.” Luckily, she had been using the language a lot recently within the city. “I am Chaktawe.” It was instinct to try and supplement the words with hand motions, Kalesse stopping herself only at the last moment from pointing to her distinctive black eyes; it hadn’t even been a full chime since she was mocking him for doing the same thing. Clasping her hands over her bare stomach, she instead simply inclined her head and offered a somewhat forced smile. “I am Kalesse.”

It was hard not to fidget under the man’s gaze, still hyper aware of her barely clothed state a well as the surreptitious glances he had been casting her. But he was practically her father’s age! Or older! Yuck! But it was the curse of being an attractive woman, she supposed as they stood there on the bank of the river. You couldn’t choose who decided to look and enjoy what they saw. A sly little smile curled the corners of her lips anyway as she raised a hand to tug some of the clinging mud from her hair.

A silence stretched between them then, the man probably waiting for an apology while Kalesse refused to even think of giving one. Instead, after the silence became too heavy, and she ran out of things to look at, Kalesse asked, “So… where is my horse?”

[Ehsan]

Ehsan nodded slowly at the woman in front of him, smiling sheepishly back. Laying a hand on his broad, slightly pudgy chest, he replied "Ehsan." when she gave her name. When Kalesse asked where her horse was, the potter grimaced and shrugged. "Horse throw off and run." Ehsan was the sort of fellow who gestured even in his native tongue, albeit not quite as wildly. Khar'jun, rather irritated with the lack of action, decided to spice things up by attempting to lick Kalesse a few ticks later, prompting the Benshira to blanch and tug the curious camel away from the soaked Chaktawe. "No, Khar'jun!" he hissed in Shiber, patting the disgruntled animal's snout and smiling apologetically at Kalesse. "She very affectionate." he explained in common. "How feel?" Ehsan asked with a trace of worry. "Horse comes back. Health, not so much." If she was feeling off, then it was onto the camel and back to Ahnatep (if he could convince her). Otherwise, he'd offer to help find Haizea, with the assertion that, "I scare, I help."

[Kalesse]

Kalesse attempted to keep her temper in check as the man related the sudden turn of events that had lead to her unplanned bath in the river. She should have been paying more attention to what was ahead, spoiled from the solidarity of the Burning Lands. Someone else by the river had been the last thing she had expected, though retrospect pointed out that this had been a foolish assumption. Water naturally drew all matter of life forms.

“Must find-“ Sputtering and waving her hands wildly in front of her face in attempt to ward off the camel that had once again covered her face in slime, Kalesse choked out a growled few words as she stooped to splash some of the river water up to clean away Kar’jun’s love. “Obviously.”

Though she knew that her surprise companion was merely trying to help, the young Chaktawe woman grew weary of his questions about her health. It took all the patience she had left to not snap when she responded. “I am not weak like those… women in the city.” Unsure of the Common words to describe the affluent, made-up and extravagant ladies that were found within Ahnatep, Kalesse instead curled her lip as she put emphasis on the word, hoping Ehsan would get her point. “Can recover from small fall.”

To try and make her point, Kalesse stood back up and began to confidently stride away in the direction that her horses hoofprints lead, stumbling only once or twice when the world suddenly tilted; The woman wasn’t as well as she would like Eshan to believe, but it would take near death for her to admit it. “Yes, you help.” A point for him for that, at least, considering Kalesse was of the belief that it was valuable to know when one was in the wrong. If only she knew how ironic that was.

Not waiting for Eshan to catch up to her sudden headstart, Kalesse trudged through the stand in a weaving line that generally followed the direction of Haizea’s flee, every so often shouting her horses name and clucking her tongue as loudly as possible. If they were lucky, the spooked mare would have calmed down and return to find her mistress on her own.

[Ehsan]

Unfortunately, Ehsan was not one of those people. Once it had become obvious that Kalesse was lying her extremely sparse pants off, the potter pulled himself haphazardly onto his camel, nearly falling off before steadying himself unsurely, and took off after her, with every intention to head her off. "No matter strong or weak, bad fall is bad fall. Very bad!" Clinging onto Khar'jun's neck for dear life, Ehsan clomped his way in front of Kalesse's weaving path and dismounted again, nearly falling onto his keister as he did so. "Pride no good if kill you! Horse can not come back if dead! Better to... 'Hik, this is ridiculous. Do you speak Shiber?'" the potter asked, finally sick of stumbling his way through simple sentences. Around that time, a loud, panicked neighing could be heard in the distance. Apparently running away from scary Benshiran men meant not looking where one was going all that closely. Haizea had managed to get her foot stuck in the riverbed.

[Kalesse]

Ignoring the chastisements that followed her as the camel approached and quickly overtook the stumbling Chaktawe, Kalesse glanced up only when Ehsan planted himself directly in her path. “Shiber? Well enough.” It was true. While not as fluent as her own language, the Benshiran tongue had been one she was forced to practice since she was a child. Switching from common, Kalesse found the words rolling off her tongue with ease; her grammar might have been a bit rusty but she pretended not to notice.

“I don’t need you to tell me of pride, old man.” Balling her fists and propping them on her hips, Kalesse gave Ehsan an up and down before cocking a brow in his direction. “Are you going to prevent me from searching for my horse just because you think I am not-“ Both heads whipped around at the sound of the shrill whinny, Kalesse not wasting a tick as she set off towards the sound of her panicked horse.

Haizea sure was stuck. By the time Kalesse found her, the gray mare was a dark brown from the mud that clung to her coat; apparently she had stumbled into a section of the riverbed where the water didn’t run as freely. The mud that resulted was sticky and deep, sucking down anything that happened to land in it. Haizea, in her desperate escape, had run straight into the stuff and was stuck fast almost up to her knees. What was worse, she was completely exhausted from trying to escape, her efforts only trapping her more securely.

Rushing to her horse’s side, Kalesse started to wade out into the mud without thinking, desperate to reach Haizea’s side. It only took a stride or two before she stumbled, the mud unwilling to release her right leg, causing her to fall hard with her hands barely making it out front to catch herself. But it didn’t matter, for there was a gurgling slurp and the young Chaktawe woman was stuck as fast as her horse. “Petch!”