Forging ahead [Kavala, open to Sanctuarians]

[Akela]

Timestamp: to be provided by Kavala Akela had taken a sabbatical in the Sea of Grass. She'd returned with blood on her clothes, most of which not hers. When asked, she'd said she was walking with her blade out and someone had stepped into it. Which meant it was bad enough she wanted to keep it at least semi-secret. Kavala would not be surprised; it had always been like that with her older sister. It was no mystery that the Drykas clansmen openly accused her of not fulfilling her duties to the clan; one could never count on her being where she was supposed to be. All the sense and the reliability had been bestowed on Kavala, leaving Akela without a care in the world - or at least that was what it looked like. So she was back, and Sanctuary looked more crowded every time Akela turned her head. So many new faces. Kavala collected companions like others did pretty shells or butterflies. Akela wasn't entirely sure how she did it, or if the mark of Rak'keli was to blame, but people flocked to her sister. A part of her wasn't fond of sharing Kavala with strangers, especially now that she was pledged to her through Nikali's mark, but if that was Kavala's wish then it would become Akela's law. While these people knew her in passing, if that much, one thing stood clear about Akela: she was the 'don't petch with me' type. She was also the 'make Kavala suffer and die' type. Akela didn't like people in general, but she loved her sister dearly. With Kavala wishing to start working on the new forge on this day, even Akela's wanderings in the Sea of Grass had come to an end. Riverfall had been somewhat of a disappointment to the girl; the Akalak didn't want to duel as much as she did, and the skin color put her off. So yes, she was racist like that, and the rain festival hadn't done much to change her views. She had risen very early, back against the outer wall of Sanctuary to wish Syna a good morning. Dressed in simple working clothes and with her pale hair tied in a ponytail, Akela waited in silence for another day to begin at Sanctuary.

[Kavala]

TS: 15th of Spring, 510 AV
Location: Sanctuary

The facility woke early. For Kavala that meant getting up when the onshore breezes slowly changed to offshore breezes well before the sun rose. Horses needed fed, so too did the chickens and cow. The work never ended, but in some ways that was incredibly helpful to the Konti. Kavala wasn't happy, generally, unless she was busy from early morning until the sun decided to dip back over the Suvan once more. And though she was no slave, the young woman worked like Sanctuary itself owned her. From making the bed and putting the upstairs to rights from whomever stayed the night and shared the space, to prepairing meals and making sure whatever was on the agenda for the day was tended too... Kavala worked.

It was one of the only things that had kept her sane, truth be told, since the rescue. She had to have goals, a driving need to improve things, and people and animals to look after. In many ways they became far more important to her than her own wellfare. Akela might have seen it from her blue eyes as Kav's ability to make fast friends and collect companions. But the truth was, Kavala needed others to look after. In many ways she was as bound by that need as Akela was with her Ranuri.

Which proved to be another problem. As Kavala slowly fed and watered the horses along with the other livestock, she rubbed her shoulder beneath a line of scales where fingernail marks had been etched like half moons into her flesh. Akela had curled up, when she'd arrived yesterday, to spend the night with Kavala as the sisters had done much of their lives. Akela was protective, but because of her ranuri mark, she knew things about her sister that no one else had. Some were dark things, whispered in the shadows and never exposed to the light. One of those things was the nightmares Kavala routinely had. And she felt bad having them in Akela's presence because her sister's slavery had been in many ways (as far as Kavala was concerned) far worse than her own. So it seemed somehow wrong to be wracked with fear and pain when someone else went through something so much worse. But the youngest Denusk sibling couldn't help it, and when she was locked deeply within a nightmare there was often no waking her. The best one could hope for was to sooth and settle, rather than fully wake.

Kavala wasn't one to sooth easy. And though Akela had a softer sweeter side, her Nakali servitude had brought forth the ability to know what people truthfully wanted. And that gift was a double edged sword when it came to wants that were darker, more tainted somehow. Kavala craved pain. And though her sister wouldn't stoop to carving her up like the younger Konti truly desired, well placed nails dug into her skin would often settle Kavala out of a nightmare and into something smoother, deeper, more restful. But she had to do it so forcefully that it left marks in the morning, marks that Kavala could read easily enough. For as horrible as her nightmares were while she was in the midst of them, Kavala rarely remembered them.

It was probably a good thing.

So as the sun was rising, Kavala came to the end of her immediate chores and found Akela lingering out where the pallets of forge stone and bags of mortar were stored awaiting a time when they could actually start assembling the forge. Kavala had waited for Akela's return, and though she wasn't gone long - she'd managed to gather everything they'd need to create a proper station for working iron. The konti hoped that her friend Hatot would also drop by for he he was rumored to be no stranger to working iron and might be incredibly helpful in working out a useful design. Kavala had really only seen one or two forges in her life, but from what the masonry supply had indicated, it wasn't actually that hard to build one.

So, she smiled at Akela, gave her a quick morning hug, and leaned a hip against the stone piled up on the pallets. "Did you sleep well? I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again. I wasn't sure you were coming back." The silence was awkward for a moment, then Kavala sighed softly. "I missed you, sister. Badly." She said glancing downward then only peering up at Akela through the screen of her eyelashes. "I mean... I waited for you to work on the forge. You'd know better than me how to put it together. And I know how you are... if I'd have done it, you'd just have torn it apart and redone it to your own specs anyhow." Her grin was teasing, but there was truth in her words nontheless.

[Akela]

Akela shifted the weight of her body on the other leg as her sister approached. She looked fine in the rising sunlight, though the Konti swordswoman knew a deeper and darker truth. Akela could not help but wonder if what they were doing here was no more than stitching a wound that had been allowed to fester deep down. Perhaps they were just treating the symptoms instead of going straight to the root. She had given it a lot of thought while in the Sea of Grass, both before and after killing the Drykas man from the Pavilion. He'd accused her of bearing the curse. Apparently he had lost a wife to a glassbeak ambush just like Vanator, and he still blamed it on the Konti sisters even after all those years. Akela did not care enough to mind the insults, but when the man ordered her to take him to her sister, she decided enough was enough. The curse was one topic Akela would gladly spare her sister. Killing for Kavala's sake came as easily as breathing to the girl.

"Like a corpse," she gave a quick grin at being hugged, "which is what we'll be by the time we are done with this forge. Good thing I'm finally back to my old shape." Construction wasn't her strong suit, but she supposed it could not be too hard. The thought of forging her own weapons appealed to her in some primal, animalistic way. It was like killing prey with your own claws instead of borrowed ones. Kavala, on the other hand, would be using it to pay regular visits to the exciting world of horseshoes - yawn.

Akela stood before the assembled construction materials as if she'd been facing off against a treacherous enemy. "Really, Kav, I just needed some alone time. Sometimes I have thoughts lurking in every corner and it takes a little while to sort them out. The Sea of Grass is good for that. There's nothing unnecessary out there. Everything that lives under its sky has earned its place where it is. Much like you, actually." She turned her head and studied her sister. Akela had sworn to give Kavala happiness and keep the stormy clouds away. She was already a failure as a Drykas and as a Konti; she would not tolerate failing as a caretaker.

"Anyways, we should get to work. Petching thing won't build itself. I say we need to think big on this one, make it as large as we can. Even if we can only make small stuff right now, there's no telling what we might be doing later on. Besides, you've got a village of blueskins to impress. May as well go the extra mile." Swords obviously required bigger forges than horseshoes due to the long bars involved in their smithing. "First thing first, we need to decide on the general layout, where to place the furnace, and so on. Did you already have a plan? I'm not as demanding as you may think, sister dear. As long as there's plenty of room for two people to work and a quick escape route I am going to nod my head happily at your ideas."

She put a finger to her mouth. "I wonder if we can make it big enough to build siege engines some day," her voice trailed off with some kind of childish wonderment that wasn't often seen on Akela's face. Never mind that she seemed to have kind of lost sight of Sanctuary's purpose as her imagination pictured the forge and other workshops outputting enough weapons and armor to fight a war or two. That would be something to see.

[Flick]

Flick had heard the voices long before she saw the faces. Finishing off the last of the dried jerky she'd been chewing on, the kelvic shimmered into her human form and pulled on the light white dress she was so fond of. Walking barefoot through the Sanctuary, the young creature followed her ears, looking for Kavala and curious about the other. She remembered the voice from when she'd first appeared, but as of yet, Flick had not spoken to the frightening woman. It was a contrast to the place itself, a haven for the hurt filled with frightening people. The akalak, and this konti. Kavala's sister, she knew this much.

Taking the steps at a brisk pace, she stopped before she reached them, peeking around the side of a wall. Curiosity always got the best of her, whether it was for good or bad, and slowly she leaned further to watch the konti - unsure of the sister of Kavala. Her glittering eyes watched for any sign of hostility as she slowly revealed herself, wide smile on her face. It was a facade though, at the mere possibility of a threat, she would shimmer into her fennec form and dissapear before swords could be drawn.

[Hatot]

A muttered grunt exhaled complaints of physical labor as eyes with hues of red shining in the iris’ peered forward, the strong hands gripping the handle of the cart. Blue skin stretched over the taught muscle of his arms as Radris climbed that steep hill that lead up to Sanctuary, the step in his left leg being favored a little as the wound that he had received a short time ago still left a lingering twinge of pain. “What are you complaining about?” Hatot spoke, his voice ringing inside Radris’ head. “What do you think?” Radris said, almost snapping at Hatot. “I at least let you take control, willingly.” Hatot remarked. “Yeah, to do grunt work. What the hell do I know about building a forge?” Radris growled as he looked up, seeing he still had a third of the hill left to go. He peered over his shoulder, making sure none of the bricks had fallen out of the cart. “Would you prefer I take over then?” Hatot said. “Get bent you hairy backed Mary.” Radris simply then replied as he gave an exerted yell, using his full strength as he hit the steepest part of the hill. It would take another several moments before he cleared the top of the hill, bringing Sanctuary into full view and finally on level ground. He came to a short stop, almost laying over the handle of the cart in front of him, breathing and gasping heavily in almost growling like sounds. Peering forward, he spotted Kavala, as her and another Konti, who Radris and Hatot could only assume was her sister at that point, peered at him and waited patiently for him to clear the final distance. Radris slowly raised his hand, as if requesting a moment of rest to the pair in the distance before he resumed his lean along the cart. “Radris?” Hatot then echoed in his head. “What?” Radris almost snapped, his teeth gritting slightly as if he found Hatot’s voice in his head grating. “Did you notice the cart brakes were still engaged?” Hatot then simply said. Radris’ head snapped around, peering down at the latch along the side of the cart, seeing it pushed forward, indicating that indeed the brakes for the cart was still locked down. “Why you glassbeak loving whore! You knew this whole time, didn’t you?!” Radris said aloud. “I wanted to say something, I really did, but seeing you struggle this whole time, when the simple practice of releasing a brake could have made things so much easier?” Hatot then said, a hint of laughter mixed in with his voice. “Well, it was just to amusing for me to watch.” “And they say I’m the dark one.” Radris grumbled as he reached out, releasing the brake on the cart as he resumed his task of getting the bricks for the forge to Sanctuary. “If they don’t have the mortar there already, you get to cart that crap here.” “Fair enough.” Hatot said, amusement still lingering in his tone. “Remember, behave.” “You’re not the boss of me, take “behave” and cram it up that your uptight blue ass!” Radris replied with a growl as he brought the cart to a stop in front of Akela and Kavala before looking to the pair of them and saying, “Hello. I’m tired. Resting a moment.” Radris then made his way over to sit along a vacant chair near the table, a slight limp in his step now. He settled into his seat, a slight grumble in his voice as he gave a slow exhale, his hand stretching down to rub at his calf along his left leg.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded thoughtfully. "I thought you looked like you'd lost a bit of that baby fat you'd gained indulging in all that leisure." Kavala said with a grin. She'd learned that Akela wasn't to overly sensitive about her time away. Akela was just... matter of fact about it, which truthfully was slightly disturbing to Kavala. Her own experiences had left her traumatized to the point she could barely talk about it. In a way, it made her hate herself on so many levels that she was only starting to tap the surface of the damage within. But Akela seemed to rise above it all, with a strength she got mainly from their father.

Kavala hoped, in some silly way, that building the forge would somehow rebuild some of their lives.

And so she smiled. She couldn't help it. Not really. For all the sadness and trouble they'd been in within the last year, they were still together. Kavala loved her sister - admired her - and in many ways elevated her to an unfair status in her mind. Akela could do no wrong. Akela was strong. Akela was... there were no true words for how much Kavala loved her sister. She blinked a moment, feeling sentimental, and then studied the pile of bricks and mortar they already had assembled. "I'm sure it doesn't help me hanging about, asking if you are alright, wanting you to talk to me... waking you up at night. Sharing sentimental memories of Mother." The youngest Konti smiled again. "I know I can be a pest." She said with a laugh, glancing at the supplies again, wondering how in the world to get started.

"Well.. I talked to the blacksmith. He said three layers of brick this size a day.. no more or else it won't set right." Kavala said, glancing at the pile of materials. "Unless he was just teasing me. But he said we had to be careful of too much weight on unset mortar. Do you know anything about it?" The Konti asked, then turned at the movement. Flick skidded into view, peering at them curiously.

"Flick, come meet Akela. Akela, this is Flick. She's staying here for a while." Another stray. The statement was implied because one sister knew the other well enough to know that they sometimes finished each others sentences. "She's a kelvic and a little skittish so mind your manners, Akela." Kav said teasingly, grinning and pulling on a set of work gloves. "You doing anything, Flick? We're going to put together a forge.. or at least start too. You can help if you want." Kavala offered, gesturing to a basket of gloves and spare cloths and a few masonary tools Kavala had assembled by the pile for todays project. "I would recommend gloves though if you want to help. We're moving brick." The Konti said, having to raise her voice over the noise a pushed cart was making coming through the gate.

She turned to see who it was and smiled at Hatot. No, not Hatot. As soon as he spoke she knew it wasn't her friend but his darker half. "Akela, this is Radris... Radris, my sister Akela. Flick, Radris.... Radris, be nice to her... this is Flick. " Kavala had a measure of warning in her voice. She'd be sure to keep her eye on Radris, but in many ways she was glad Hatot trusted him enough to let him come help. "Did you push that all the way up the road yourself? Good Lord... I'd have brought one of the horses down if I'd have known." She said softly, concerned. "How is Hatot?" She asked, then it struck her that the pair had brought more bricks. "We didn't have enough did we? He's alway's so kind without being critical..." She muttered softly, under her breath, as she noticed the brick Radris had brought was exactly a match of the brick she'd already traded the colts for. Hatot had probably checked with the mason before coming up to day to make sure.

"Sit down a minute. I go get some water..." Kavala said, turning to fetch a waterskin from the clinic while everyone made their introductions. When she returned, she'd offer the waterskin to Radris to finish cooling him off before they started on the forge.

[Hatot]

Radris slowly rubbed his leg as Kavala began making the introductions. His eyes then rolled as Kavala told him to be nice with that tone her voice. “Why the hell is everyone telling me to be nice today? It’s not like I came out a killed someone. Yeesh.” Radris said as he rubbed his leg slightly again. “Oh, Hatot’s all find and dandy. He let me out just so I could cart the heavy crap around while he makes rhetorical comments, like some petching director of work.” “I heard that.” Hatot echoed in Radris mind. “That’s because I said it out loud.” Radris echoed back. Radris’ skin went flush for a moment, showing signs of purple in his skin when Kavala mentioned having a horse host the burden of the bricks. “Like the break on the cart Hatot mention, another bit of information I could have used over a bell ago.” Radris mumbled under his breath as he shook his head slightly before looking to Kavala with a quirked brow. “I have no idea how much you need. I was just pointed to the bricks and told to wheel them here. I break things more than build them.” Radris then continued to rub his leg as Kavala moved into Sanctuary to get some water. As she did so, he looked between Flick and Akela “Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” Radris said, trying to keep his usual banter to a minimum, though he wasn’t entirely sure why, his gaze settling first on Flick, “I’m to be nice to you. If I’m suddenly not, I’m not likely to recognize it right away. It’s generally not my forte. If I’m not, let Kavala know so she can yell at me and I can just scoff over it before calling you a timid little something or other.” His finger was then pointed towards Aekla as one of his eyebrows rose, studying Akela for a moment. “You,” Radris then said, his hand slowly lowering, “must be the rough housing sister that Kavala mentioned briefly in her conversations with Hatot. If you want a spar sometime, I’ll be happy to oblige. I’m not looking to get you pregnant, so I won’t hold back like those other blue Nancy boys in the city.”

[Flick]

Flick smiled broadly at Akela, before moving closer to Kavala. She gravitated towards the woman like a warm fire, or a beacon, because of all she represented. Safety, kindness, warmth, affection. The kelvic adored her for it. Looking down at the bricks, she tucked her hair behind her ears. There was someone coming, had been for a while, a grinding clunking wooden cart being pushed by someone. Lifting her nose, she sniffed. Someone new.

"I can help!" She announced brightly, before looking for a pair of gloves. There was no reason to let the konti know about the new comer, he was loud enough to be heard by everyone. Taking up a pair of gloves, she put them on. They were about three sizes to big, but she wanted to help none the less. Looking at the man as he entered their vision, Flick's smile faltered a little. An akalak, not unusual in Riverfall and not a problem for the fennec fox. But he wasn't....right. Moving back a little as he came closer, she half hid herself behind Kavala. Radis...it sounded ominous, as did Kavala's tone. This was not an akalak, this was the other half. The darker side. He even smelt wrong.

Looking after Kavala as she left with wide dark eyes, she quickly turned back to the man as he spoke, frozen in place. He spoke to her, and the kelvic visibly cringed, heart thrumming in her chest. It wasn't threatening..it was just...the voice, the presence. She knew this type of presence. It had collared her, and beaten her. One just like it, dark and cruel. Nodding - it was all she could do - Flick kept her distance from Radis, not coming a foot closer. If he moved, she moved. Thankfully his attention was more on the other konti than herself. The timid creature listened carefully for Kavala, every nerve on edge, ready to shift.

[Akela]

"Of course you can be a pest," Akela retorted lightly, "I taught you. And for your informaton, I'm always pretending to sleep. I just love snoring the Ukalas away and watching you press your head between two pillows." She lifted a brick to sample its weight and get a feel for the work ahead of them. Akela's experience with construction was close to absolute zero; upon coming to Sanctuary she'd had to get accustomed to the idea of sleeping under a roof of mortar and stone. What if it fell down while she was in bed? Getting used had been a minor paradigm shift in its own way.

"About construction? I know you build these things from the ground up rather than the other way around. And you should leave holes for doors and windows... that kind of stuff. There can't possibly be much more to it, right?" Right. With Akela, it was often hard to tell truth from sarcasm. Sometimes it was both at the same time. She put down the brick and slapped her hands together to swipe the debris off her skin. Around that time the first Sanctuary guests began to arrive on the scene.

Flick the Kelvic was a tiny slip of a girl who seemed unable to hurt an ant if she stepped on it with her full weight. Akela could smell a desire for safety coming from the woman, meaning that it had to be very strong or it would not even register. She was constantly chasing Kavala's skirts, or would have if her sister were ever seen wearing one. "Hey, Flick," she brought two fingers to her forehead as a greeting, "I used to eat Kelvic for breakfast when I was younger - breakfast of champions and all - but I've since grown out of the habit." After a second, she had to grin and add, in a lower tone of voice, "just kidding."

The snark was strong in Akela today, probably because she was in such a good mood. Gloomy Akela was silent or philosophical, but happy Akela had a mouth too big and fiesty for comfort. The sun was shining, her sister seemed untroubled enough by her standards, and they were about to break their backs on a thankless task. A big Akalak joined them with a cartful of bricks, but much to Akela's surprise he wasn't Sorianavis/Navisorian. In fact, you didn't want Navis to help you build a forge at all; he was more likely to just punch the half-finished wall and make it tumble down like a house of cards.

After the introductions, it did not take long for Akela to figure out Radris was the jerk and Hatot, the wuss. Most Akalak had the wuss on display by default, though a few could be seen wearing the jerk on most social occasions. The problem with the Akalak was that their personalities lacked the happy medium between the extremes. One could only wonder if there was such a shortage of bodies on Mizahar that they really had to cram two souls into a single package.

"Why yes, I am my sister's sister. You are very observant indeed," she smiled, showing that she truly looked almost identical to Kavala, "We are like two souls in one body, except we've got two bodies. Some day we're getting tied together, back to back, and stroll around Riverfall talking to ourselves and doing our best Akalak impression." Now that would be something to see, not the dumb rain festival.

"We'll see about the spar, big boy. I like to thoroughly annoy people before I fight them. Let me know when it's working, hmm?" Akela knew how to make friends, all right.

[Kavala]

Kavala immediately realized her mistake when she'd changed her tone of voice and introduced Radris. It wasn't fair to him anyhow, since he had never done anything worse than act like an ass in public. If Hatot hadn't thought it was safe, he wouldn't have let him loose to come help the girls build. The more controlled and conditioned side of the duo probably needed a break. Kavala understood that, but in her mind it still felt odd watching Hatot move around and knowing it wasn't Hatot at all. It was as if someone who didn't belong had seized control of his body. She wondered, in that instant, what it was like for them... if they went to sleep within their own forms when they weren't in control, or if they just receded and became casual observers.

But what she'd made a mistake about was with Flick. Kavala quickly reached out and touched the Kelvic, stroking her long hair and lowering her voice. "Radris won't hurt you." She turned to face the girl, squatting down on her knees in front of her and looking up at her so the girl could see how serious she was. The truth was the emotional damage Flick's master and son had done to Flick was rolling off her - spurred by Radris being there - and it was effecting Kavala because she was picking up the fear, the violence, the heartbreak, and the pain that was all contained in Flick's memories. It caused a cold sweat to break out on her skin as she tried to shut out the emotions the kelvic was giving off in waves. Kavala stroked Flicks hair again reassuringly. "Radris won't hurt you. He has a very strong honorable side named Hatot that will not let let Radris do so. Both of them are nothing like your Master or his son. I promise. Radris might act boldly, speak freely, and generally be an ass, but we do like him. And we do appreciate his help. I think you'll enjoy it. He's come to harass Akela a bit, I suspect, and well you've met her. She's already been teasing you. That means you need to root for Radris to give her a run for her money. We'll watch them both okay? And see which one comes out on top." She smiled, rose, and walked over to the basket.

She pulled out a length of rolled paper, and laid it out on a small table she carried over for the task. It was a forge, complete with a side workstation and a large hood that vented smoke upwards. The chimey to the forge was tall, designed to be stacked well over the tops of the stalls to carry smoke out and away from the courtyard. There as also a layout of the courtyard, including where the forge went, which was right off the edge of the veranda between the round pen and where they normally gathered to eat. It was off to one side, so horses could still be brought passed it or lead into their stalls, but by and large the design was simple.

"I've given it lots of thought and talked to some experts. This will take us a while. We need to prep the ground, which thankfully is already hard packed dirt. We need to lay the first row of mortar and stone down on foundation bricks, then level that, lay more mortar, level it... and keep going until we have the whole thing bricked into a square big enough for both the forge and workstation. Once thats done, we need to make the hood, chimney, and something called a smoke trap... then we'll need to build the chimney up... and that will take some time." She added. "I spent a lot of time talking to a blacksmith in town and he said we could make swords on a fully enclosed smaller forge with holes in the other side to allow the length of iron to pass through, but this style would be better because we can also make farm equipment on it... and if we make a small side blower and firepot to the side, we can do small things like nails and gate fasteners without firing up the whole thing as we'd need to for say working on a plow or sword." Kavala said. She also laid out notes that she'd taken from her interviews before deciding to build the forge.

She moved to another pallet of wood, this one covered with a tarp, and removed the tarp. Stacked neatly on the pallet was a set of bellows, a large and small firepot, a large and small blower, and tuyeres needed for all of the proper sized set up. It was quick to see Kavala had thought ahead, so she had everything they needed plus the connecting pipework to get things properly set. "The brickwork we need to do must allow for these to be installed so we have a proper place to work... and must match evenly both level and square when we get it properly done." She added.

And with that, she slipped on a pair of gloves and picked up a broom to start sweeping the area clean where the forge was going to set. "I suggest we start with chalk layout, perfectly square, of where the forge will sit. Then we can take the buckets and bags of mortar and start mixing mortar and lay our first few rows. There's a level in the tool kit in the shed by the staff quarters, as well as some chalk, measuring tape, twine, and anything else we might need." She suggested, hoping someone would go fetch the stuff while she got the site ready by sweeping.