Closed [Flashback] The Cold has Come

[Crypt]

17th of Fall, 511 AV (Night, the 21st bell) "Ahh... This fire certainly takes the chill right out of these bones." Crypt sighed with relief as the flames merrily danced in front of him, drawing his fur jacket closer to him. Maras displayed his agreement with a snort, moving closer to the flames for warmth. It was night, pitch-black darkness except for the small fire, and Crypt and Maras were stopping for the night. He turned the skinned rabbit on a makeshift spit slowly, taking care not to char any flesh. The aroma emerging from the slowly roasting rabbit was not unpleasant, although it was admittedly not one to be found in any fine dining establishments. Crypt's mouth watered for a moment as he thought of the exquisive-tasting wine he had sampled weeks ago. Pity there's no herbs or spices I could find around here to make it taste real delicious. But still, meat is meat. Even though it'll taste rather bland... He paused for a while, rummaging through his leather backpack to take stock of all his equipment, taking them out one by one and arranging them neatly by his side. Hmm... Well, there's that other rabbit I caught with that snare yesterday. Nice and plump too, thankfully. My waterskin's only half-full. Hopefully I'll find a stream tomorrow. My rations are all right for now, most of them are still edible. Knife's all clean after the skinning. My mask? Damn cold, better not put it on now. I'll warm it in the ashes later. He turned the rabbit round again. It was almost ready. "Right then, Maras, have you had a good day?" He playfully slapped the flank of his Strider. Maras retaliated with a nudge, nearly pushing Crypt into the flames. Crypt jumped up as he felt the intense heat of his cooking fire, hurridly brushing off any embers before they singed his fur jacket. It was a particularly fine one and he didn't want to spoil it. "Damnit Maras! Do you know how much I had to go through to get that jacket? Not to mention how you almost made me fry! I swear, one of these - Hey, the rabbit's burning!" Crypt snatched up the rabbit with one hand and doused it in the snow. He held it up to his face to gauge the extent of the burn. An almost inaudible sigh escaped his lips as he saw that only a small portion was charred, burnt beyond the realm of edible objects. "Thank goodness, Maras," He bumped Maras' large nose gently with his other fist, feeling the cool, moist surface. "It's alright." He rested his back against Maras' shoulders and crest, enjoying the warmth that Maras brought. He took a bite out of the rabbit and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing, relishing the feeling of warm meat in his mouth and throat.

[Xiani]

Xiani had almost fallen asleep, drifting lazily from warm current to warm current, wings nearly stilling at the lack of effort needed. Her mind wanders as acres of seamless forest past beneath her cold, ominous gaze. Her mind wanders in and out of a dream between distanced flaps, some merry and some confusing. As she often closes her eyes, relying upon the day's steady Northbound wind to guide her, other senses come into a finer tune. Glazing over into one of her bouts of partial consciousness, she dreams of the scent of roasting rabbit, and something strange. Wait... not dream... She realizes, snapping to full alertness as she realizes that the scent is real. In fact, after a quick peripheral scan, she notices that a small blaze has been cultivated in the west. Adjusting her wings ever so slightly, she rides a current over the bonfire. The smell brings to mind a hunger she had been avoiding all day, and she takes in the scene, circling overhead as a scavenger bird would. The clouds above helped to break up Xiani's dark outline, but not entirely. She watches and listens closely, hearing some Common tongue, but not concentrating hard enough to understand it. The voice is male, but there is no response. Perhaps an escaped, weak minded slave-man? she considers, watching the fire, noting as a figure almost tumbles into it before taking a rabbit from the spit. She takes the loss in balance as sign of weakness and, stomach aching in anticipation, glides down upon silent wings to the forest floor some paces away, downwind of the stranger. After a few hunger-hasty steps, conscious of the brief ruckus an unfortunate step had caused, Xiani presses herself against the body of a great tree, peering at the man. And his... Xiani is bewildered at first by the site before her. At first, she considers that the man had befriended a cursed doe - the creature was of the same proportions. But finally, after sniffing the air for almost a moment, she remembers the smell. It had been upon one of the tattoo'd men they had captured once. He rode upon such a strange beast. It fed the colony well that night. Her mouth watering, she begins to step from the shadows, onto to have her head tilted by a strange behavior. Though her hunger-ravaged mind is too distracted to make out the words, the man speaks to his mount in such a way that she can only remember exchanges between she and wing-mates, and he shoves the beast in much the same way. If this oddity is not worth my time, the meal will be. Xiani consoles her grumbling stomach, tucking her wings in close and lowering her head slightly as she steps from the shadows. As the hunger clears from her mind, she manages to find the proper greeting and belay it with a tone of curiosity, eyes roaming the strange man and his beast.

[Crypt]

Crypt took another bite out of the roasted rabbit, filling his half-empty stomach. And then it happened. A creature of the Night, or so Crypt deemed it, had stepped out from the shadows of the forest before him, and she spoke a greeting which, Crypt detected, appeared to be tinged with curiousity. His longsword was out of the sheath even as he made the observation. Staring warily at the unknown one, he saw the sleek black fur she had (For she had the body of a female, something Crypt could not help but notice) and glanced at her mostly-hidden talons, revealed by the light reflecting off their polished surfaces from the fire. Her wings were tucked in; her eyes glinted in the flame-light. And he responded to her greeting. “Who art thou that come here hidden in the shadows? If you come in peace, thou art welcome to sit awhile by the fire. But if it be conflict thou seek, then come hither or not at all! My longsword hath felled foes more fearsome than thee; I will not fall here. Maras is not a youngling - He is Strider, proud and bold. Speak then, be ye lady or beast-woman.” In his dark eye, both iris and scelera black as the night around them, anticipation of a potential battle flickered. Still, he made no motion but a slight shift in his stance.

[Xiani]

The human's words were queer, she could barely understand but passing phrases: shadows, fire,foes, youngling - this great creature before her was but a youngling? Surely it would grow to the size of a tree in adulthoood - beast-woman. Despite the barrier in language, the threat of his weapon was clear as was his stance and the harsh, excited breath that is released by his not-meal companion. The shift in emotions for Xiani was instantaneous as she flew from curiosity to strong urgings of defense and mistrust. Rashly, she raises her wings high and wide, letting out a vicious hiss that warns this creature before her of her prowess. "Attack me and you shall surely fall!" this hiss says, and her hands come to ready claws at her sides. She remains like this for an instant, affixing the duo in her blood red gaze, eyes flickering menacingly in the dancing firelight. Once she feels that her strength has been proven, she lowers her wings, relaxes her snarl and puts her mind deep into conveying her intentions in common, having to pry it from contemplating different methods of consumption. "I mean no pain," she says, taking a diagonal step so that she is nearer to both the man and the flame. "Relax your longknife, so that we may share words." Cautiously, however, she runs a hand over her hip to rest upon the blade upon it, weary of this strange-speaking human and his monstrous not-deer. "What is this?" She asks, nodding roughly towards the creature, but unable to mask the curiosity in her voice. "Why do you treat it like wing-mate?"

[Crypt]

Crypt only smirked as he watched the strange female take a aggressive stance, hissing out what could only be a threat. Of little magnitude, no doubt. The dire bear he had faced weeks ago was much more threatening. And strong. But her next actions surprised him. She relaxed her body, her wings lowering so as to portray a less threatening stance. And she spoke her words slowly and carefully, as if she was attempting not to say something else. Crypt lowered his longsword slightly, but still kept in it his left hand. She was fingering a knife with a hand; it would not do to lower his guard before it was guaranteed to be safe. “Let us hope so.” Crypt spoke again, responding to her question. “What is a wingmate? Dost thou mean a partner of some sort? I shall enlighten thee on why I treat Maras not unlike a... wingmate.” He took one last bite of the rabbit before tossing it to the ground carelessly. “I found Maras when we were foal and stripeling; he chose me to be his Rider - he my Strider. It hast been nigh on ten years since then. We hath spent these years living in the Sea of Grass - Cyphrus undistilled! And wandering Mizahar in search of a cure and adventure. We twain hath shared weal and woe together; he was there when none were; naught did I go through that he did not accompany me in. It should no great surprise to ye that we are as close as wingmates.” Crypt paused and looked back at the female.

[Xiani]

She watched as the human tossed away the last of his food, befuddling her hungry mind. Once again, the male's speech was strange to Xiani, as if he spoke not the Common Language. Halfway through his explanation, she decides to close her eyes and focus only on what she hears. A sea made from grass? What fierce beasts lie within those depths. Red eyes soon snap open at what she interprets. "You... mate with this... Maras?" She gestures to the creature, wondering which one mounts the other; surely either sight would be scarring. Appalled, she takes a step away from the duo, sniffing distastefully at the air for signs of recent mixing. This man must be affected with some malady of the mind... Perhaps that is what alters his speech so and attracts him to beasts. She hisses at the pair, nose scrunching in annoyance. She should have just landed upon the man's head and killed him when she had the chance, ended his misery.

[Crypt]

Crypt threw back his head and laughed, long and loud. The sound echoed round the small forest clearing and sent a few roosting birds flying off their branches. His merriment ended a few seconds later, though the gaiety of the unintended joke still remained in his eyes, smouldering, waiting for another opportunity to emerge. He looked back at the strange female, lowering his longsword a tad more. "Gramercy for thine jest. Long hath it been since I was merry. I see that thou misunderstands my words much. Pardon me, I shall now attempt to control myself." Crypt stopped speaking abruptly. His eyes shining in the darkness, his body tensed as if he was about to pounce, he gave a short cry, trembling from head to foot before regaining his composure. "Aroint thee, Scoundre - Ah, that's better. My apologies, stranger, I was not able to control this malady of mine until you reminded me of it. My name is Crypt, and this is my Strider, Maras. We are not mates. We do not mate with each other. We are but companions, and we are extremely close to each other. We are brothers, you could say, but not in blood." Crypt watched in amusement as another hiss emerged from the winged lady. He stood his ground, and waited for her reply. Perhaps it will be as amusing as before... Though the way she's acting right now, she might be too amused. "You intrigue me, dark one. What is your name?"

[Xiani]

Xiani is utterly baffled by the shift that rolls through the man before her - one moment he is jumpy and speaks in rambles, and now he becomes jovial and speaks as she would have expected. Malady? What sort of sickness could cause a man's mind to be fractured so? When his speech changes, she is able to understand more easily his words and their meaning. A smile forms upon her lips at the mistake she had made. Despite the shift in his behavior, Xiani still finds words to be unusual, and not as easily understood. After he had finished speaking, she remains silent for a moment, putting things together in her mind. Beast-companion-Strider?-Maras all the same. Not-kin-brother of Crypt... Her thoughts are quick as image becomes name and relation. Relaxing further, she removes her hand from her knife and clasps them behind her back, rising on her toes for an instant as her mind puts together the Common words that would be her introduction. "My name is Xiani, youngling of Rychuus and Ki of the Kryis colony. I am on my..." She searches for the human equivalent but comes up short. "I must prove myself as a worthy member of the colony..." She smiles slightly, teeth a start white against their ebony setting. "[color=#80BFFF]But you are from grass-ocean. What brings you to tall-trees?"

[Crypt]

"Ah, finally you get it." Crypt smiled again, finally lowering his longsword to his side, assured that the female would not attack him any time soon. Her smile was beautiful, showing ivory teeth in sharp contrast to her dark body. "You are on your own, is that what you mean?" He watched her struggle with her words for a while, before speaking again. She really does look her age. Reminds me of a little girl I met back in Cyphrus... "Grass-ocean? Oh, you mean the Sea of Grass. It is quite literally an ocean of grass, though dangers abound there that are certainly more lethal than one such as you. I am here for adventure. I have walked long, ridden long on Maras and experienced much. I walk to Avanthal now, for it is said that winter is most beautiful there. And I wish to see it." He leant back against a tree, feeling its rough texture even through the fur jacket. "I seek to know more about this world and perhaps... find a cure for this curse of mine." A flicker of sadness and remorse passed through his visage before disappearing.

[Xiani]

"I am on my own, for a short time, I am sure. And then, once I have proven myself an adult worthy of being in the colony, I will return to Rychuus and my wingmates." Her voice displays a quiet conviction, comparable to a man's assurance that his god will heal his ailment, but in truth, there is no way of knowing if truth lies within those words. When he states his opinion of her is without fear or threat, she purses her lips, feeling again that bitter sting of being underestimated for her size. A youngling they had always called her, within the colony, worrying that some physical ailment would consume her as it had her mother when the height was inherited. Personally, she hated the winter.Food grew short and nights were colder, forcing the older and younger unbonded to huddle together during the shorter days. The youngest were not allowed to fly in the biting air, forced instead to mind the slaves. Siblings always traveled together through the caves, having someone to converse with and warm with at night. It was at that time that she most pined for a sibling, aggrieved that hers had been born broken."Your curse? I thought it only sickness of the mind. What trickster laid this curse on you? Do you seek revenge?" Once the man had taken a more relaxed stance, she assumed one as well, sinking to the ground where she can sit cross-legged.