Closed Returning Home (Tourmal)

[Kyra]

Kyra could relate to his story in a way. She too had travel from place to place and sampled the ale, beer, wine, and whatever else was offered to drink. For her it was curiosity but more so because people continued to offer it to her. Still, she never liked the taste and even the sweet wines couldn't completely dilute the raw taste of the drink. "It's really popular I think. A lot of people enjoy it..just not me. I don't enjoy it at all."

When Tourmal placed his coin on the bar top, Kyra reached inside of her pouch and removed the same amount and placed it on the table to pay for her water. Turning her head slightly, she stared up at him from beneath the cloak of her hood as he asked her a question. It was a good question, an honest try, but she really didn't know how to answer it. At one point in her life, she could have claimed to have a job, but now it wasn't as easy to pin. She simply did what she needed to get by. "I used to be a performer. I worked with a talented magician, and together we made coins enough. But no longer, that was along time ago."

Once their drinks arrived, Kyra took up her mug and sipped the water for a bit, and placed the mug back on to the table. Again she glanced at Tourmal, who seemed to be really enjoying his drink, though how he liked it, she had no idea. She looked back to the mug again and lifted it to drink more of the water and peeking out at those around them from behind the mug.

"It's not strange.." she replied and placed the mug on the table for a second time. "You don't know about me, because I haven't told you anything. I didn't tell you anything because you never asked." She looked to him again and waited to see what he would ask, if he would ask. It was about this time that a man lifted an instrument from under the table where he sat, and with a few others crowded around him, he started to play. The music soon filled the room and Kyra turned away to see what was going on. The music was different, but the instrument was familiar.

Moments later, a few people started to get up from their tables and dance. Some dancing alone and others with a partner. Kyra turned back to her companion and tilted her head towards him with a smile. "Do you play, dance perhaps?"

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Winter 70, 512 AV The man nodded in agreement when she said it is popular. Then she continued with how she does not enjoy the taste. He shrugged his shoulders thinking 'To each their own.' The sound of the next few words caught him off guard. So much that he almost coughed on his drink. 'A performer!' the man thought. Staring at his guide wide eyed, in interest. “Please do tell” He said after she finished talking of her past life. “What kind of performer?” He asked smiling while he concocted a few mental images, those of which would have likely offended her, had she known. After explaining the peculiarities of their situation, she replied matter of factly. It was blunt straight and to the point. He liked it that way. Too often had women strung him along with long complex reasons and explanations for things. After trying to unravel the complex knot he often times found himself disinterested in both the explanation and the woman. He would need to keep an eye on this trait for if it was a recurring theme it was one he would not tire of. “I suppose It is my fault then. I should have done what is natural to me. Charge in head first without rhyme or reason.” He thought of what to ask the woman when some music began to play. His attention was diverted from his friend to what was going on behind them. As people began to get up he laughed and clapped along with the music attempting to match the beat. He did not partake in revelries such as this often and he spent much of his youth cooped up inside his own mourning he had never gotten the hang of holding a beat. So he was mostly off after a minute of trying he figured he would do the room a favor and give up. Then Kyra asked the worst question she could have. “Me dance!?” He didn't know how to respond. “Uh... I guess... Do you want to?” He hoped she would say no. But he had likely sealed his fate to embarrassment. Because like music he also lacked in the skill of dance. Sitting by and moping while all the other men of the clans dance the nights away with girls didn't help either. And there was one thing he knew for sure. That was that women like to dance.

[Kyra]

"Do you know of Buskers Tourmal? I was a busker, and I assisted Marcelo with his magical acts. We traveled around Sylira putting on shows for the people in different cities. It was a lot of fun." The young kelvic left off the part explaining that the whole magician and assistant act was a ruse to steal coin from the people watching their performances, but she had mentioned that they made money from it.

Kyra was curious to hear what he wanted to asked her. She wasn't exactly the secretive type, but she had reasons not to go about telling any and everyone with ears that she was kelvic. Beyond that she had no problem with talking about her life, though a person would simply need to know what to ask. The girl had been asked questions by many, but they were usually selfish questions that only worked to their advantage.

There weren't many who bothered to ask anything about her personal life, wants, or needs. If they had she would have gladly answered them possibly with more information than they had wanted. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?" she asked just before the man started up the music and caused their conversation to shift to the dancing going on in the middle of the bar. "I do like to dance." Kyra smiled hearing that he liked to dance and took his hand to lead him onto the floor. "Dance with me Tourmal."

The music sped up, as if the player was attempting to hype the people in the tavern into all joining in. Kyra glanced back towards her companion as she led him onto the floor. The dance was different from what she had learned as child, and certainly nothing like the dances she'd seen in the dark delights district. She turned to face him once they were in the middle of the floor, and started to clap her hands and twist to the right in a half circle before clapping again then moving to the right while taking his hand.

It was an odd dance, and quick in pace leaving her to stumble a few times and miss the steps as she continued to learn. Kyra enjoyed this, living in a world surrounded with pain, suffering, and violence was hard. For her, being able to settle down and enjoy the simple things and just have fun was precious.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Winter 70, 512 AV “Buskers? No what do they do?” He was unsure what the term meant. As he listened he came to realize what exactly it was that she did. Helping a magician with shows well she was pretty and that would add a lot to any public showing. Women like her were usually his favorite parts of shows. “Well I'm sure you made plenty of money with your good looks.” He winked at her smiling. “How did you meet this Marcelo?” The man wanted to know more about her. He had traveled for most of a season with her and knew very little, besides now he knew that she was a busker and helped a magician. Tourmal was so distracted by the music that he had not heard Kyra ask her next question. Instead he was clapping away like a fool who was having a stroke. After resigning from his attempts at keeping pace with the music and a little chatter between the two new friends. She replied with a smile then invited him to dance with her. (Dum Dum Dum!) He had no choice he had set himself up for failure. Now all he had to do was not crush her feet on the dance floor. 'Easier said than done' he thought to himself. As the man walked toward his doom sure that after this he would have no chance with the woman he had spent the larger part of a season with. The music was different than he was used to. If he knew the song at least he could have sung along. He wasn't sure what the song was about entirely, but he did know that it involved a man doing something the celebration of his return and becoming a paladin afterwards. As the woman moved he tried to follow her steps but he found himself bumping into either her or someone else every turn. “Sorry” He repeated each time he stumbled. His steps were late and so was his clap. As he fumbled along the dance floor his face grew flush in embarrassment. The man thought himself a bumbling oaf. And by the end of the song he hid his face from his dance partner as much as he could, for he could not look the elegant beauty in the eyes. When the next song began they continued to dance. He took a peek at his partner and noticed that she was enjoying herself. After watching her closely he realized she too was making mistakes however she was still having fun. 'How?' He thought to himself. After a few moments he gave up thinking about it and tried to learn from her and not worry about how ridiculous he looked and continued his attempt at dancing. Lets see. Clap.. twist... clap... hold her hand... The dance was nice and simple however he was still not able to do it. The only part of it that he enjoyed was contact with his beautiful companion. “Forgive me for my mistakes please. If you would like to stop I wouldn't blame you, with me loafing around and the like.” As he spoke he continued to dance waiting for her reply. He had split emotions on the matter. On one hand he enjoyed the revelry with her and the time the two were spending together. Watching her graceful movements on the floor how her body curved and twisted was quite entertaining. On the other he didn't want to injure the woman by stepping on her feet to hard or even start a quarrel with a local for bumping into the wrong person. Either way his fate was in her hands.

[Kyra]

Kyra was surprised that Tourmal hadn't heard of buskers. After all as Marcelo had told her, they were people of their craft moving all over Sylira. Even she and Marcelo had visited the castle city during their run some time ago. "Well...Marcelo was the magician and I helped him with his act. Sometimes I would throw balls at him, and he would pretend not to catch them, but when people looked there was nothing on the ground either. So it would look as if the balls disappeared into thin air. It was a nice trick really and people seem to enjoy it."

She smiled to herself for a moment, thinking of those fun times that she had shared with her friend. "Once I got to throw knives at a person, but he was a brute of a man, and not very nice. at all." She looked at him for a tick, and almost blank stare when he mentioned about her looks making her money. She knew by now that people found her attractive, but not for a moment would be believe that she could steal the show from Marcelo. His magic tricks had been all the rage for her and others as well.

"When I was younger, my mother died, and I was taken away by a man she thought she could trust. The same man who killed her. He sent me away and give me to a man who treated me like I was an animal. But then Marcelo came, and he saved me from that life...I shall always owe him everything...."

The words had spilled forth from her mouth easily, as if they had been waiting for a long time to be spoken. Kyra wouldn't have trusted anyone with her life's story, even as short as it was. But she felt that she could trust him, that he cared for her and that meant something. "Since then, I've just been traveling and searching for the monster who took him away from me...Do you miss your family Tourmal?"

Then they were off to the floor to dance their cares away. Kyra had thought for a few moments that she knew the dance that they were doing, but upon further investigation, she learned that it was something different. She clapped along the best as she could, and turned and twisted when she was supposed to, all the while trying not to stumble into anyone or into her own partner. It took her a bit of time, but with her natural grace she was able to learn as she went without making a fool of herself.

Clap.. twist... clap... take his hand..

It was fun for her, even with the mistakes that she made. It felt good to just let go and enjoy the simple things. She noticed through short glances that Tourmal seemed to be having trouble keeping up, but as they went along he improved just as she did. Once the dance was over she smiled to him and gave a dainty curtsy. "That was a lot of fun, did you enjoy our dance?"

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Winter 70, 512 AV “Hmm... Well you must have been quite successful, I'm sure your show had sell out crowds.” Tourmal still didn't know what buskers meant, He now guessed it was another word for magicians. The man had frequented street shows and may have even seen one of Kyra's in the past. He just never heard of the term applied to them. “So where did you perform? Theatres, concert halls, stadiums?” 'Knives?!' He thought interesting not sure if he would have enjoyed having knives thrown at him or not. Sounded like Marcelo was quite the man and set him back a bit unsure if he could ever live up to the man who preceded him. Evidently he had been taken from her either by force or he was killed either way that is not a good way to say goodbye. At her next question he paused before speaking. “Yes and no.” He thought about how he would explain. “See I miss most of my family but meh older brother, eh... Not so much.” He shook his head. “I lost me twin when I was 13. He was killed in a glassbeak attack. Luckily I got away.” His face turned somber. “He was my best friend.” As the music started he gulped down the rest of his mug and diverted his attention from his memories toward something more merry. As the two danced Tourmal went from being embarrassed and scared to being carefree. Clap... twist... clap... hold her hand. The two danced together for the length of the song then at its end Kyra curtsied and the dance was over. “Yes it was, I enjoyed it very much thank you” Tourmal was sad that it was over he enjoyed the contact of holding her soft hands for a few seconds at a time. The two went back to the bar and sat down Tourmal ordered another ale hoping that the tender would not require further pay. “The SM he gave to him should cover the cost', he thought 'It always did in Syliras.' “What do you say after this drink we head in? You can show me an inn on the way. Can't let something bad happen to you now that the journey is done can I?” He wasn't really worried about her safety. He knew she could hold her own, the offer was more to impress her with chivalry.”

[Kyra]

Kyra glanced upward, her full lips puckering out as she rolled her eyes around in thought. She remembered seeing people at the shows, a lot of people, but they never sold out any crowds. The shows, if that's what they were called were free and the con that would happen later could only be done to an extent and it was never so much to make them rich. "We performed in the city mostly, but sometimes there were Theaters, concert halls.." She giggled a bit at his confusion about the knives. "Well..it was a trick really, and we threw them at the apple atop his head...but I missed.."

The young kelvic listened to his story, and as it seemed with most there was a tragic tale. She had come to believe that most of the world was bad, or at least chaotic and stories like Tourmal's only served to reenforce those thoughts. "Do you intent to travel...back to your home perhaps?" Kyra wished that she could, she wished her family was still around and that she could go back home, but it was only wishful thinking on her part.

The dancing did seem to help lighten the mood. Kyra was starting to get used to the dance steps, or at least she thought so. The girl stepped lightly, clapping her hands and twisting about before giving her hand to Tourmal once again. There was something about when she was around people, she could feel something inside, something that warmed her when they were having fun, just as it would chill her if someone wasn't enjoying her company.

"Thank you for the dance."

Kyra smiled and followed him back towards the bar, she took a seat again, placing her hands into her lap and sitting with her back straight. She glanced a final time at the floor where people had start to slide their chairs back to the table. It had been fun and if her new companion chose to stick around, she was sure that they would do more fun activities. "As you wish, I remember where the Inn is. We could get there quickly enough." She decided not to drink anything more and instead waited for him to finish so that they could move on.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Winter 70, 512 AV “Did you hit him?” Tourmal asked. In response to the woman's questions Tourmal answered “Yes I have since gone back. However only for the summers when Endrykas is closest to Syliras.” He thought about his older brother. His father had been training him to become the next ankal however the boy took the position much too seriously. “Despite my brother, I generally have a good time visiting.” Some day he will take charge of the pavilion and Tourmal's life. When that day comes he will be none too happy. The drink was just as the first, if not only a little less strong. The taste must have been effected by the alcohol already in his system. Because of the drink earlier he had relaxed just a bit enough to help him dance and enough to enjoy his ale even more. 'As you wish' he thought to him self. He liked the sound of that. This girl was very trusting. Even though he had gotten a few good sights out of their predicament he knew that he should not take advantage of the situation. Still the temptation was still there. As the man finished his drink “So you ready to head off?” As the two set off out the door on to their next destination. The man thought to himself about the possibilities that awaited him. Living in a city and only knowing one person, who just happens to be one of the most beautiful women he has met.

[Kyra]

"I did hit him...but it was a lot lower. He didn't take kindly to it either." for some reason, she wasn't in the mood to finish the story and tell of how the dagger's handle thumped the man's crotch. It had been funny at the time, and the man had howled loudly enough.

The conversation continued and her Drykus friend spoke of his home and the time in which he decided to visit. It seemed he must have really liked Syliras to only visit his home when it was closer to the castle city. "You must really enjoy your life in Syliras. I suppose it's okay." Kyra didn't share his feelings for the city, but she wasn't completely against it either.

"There is a boarding house near the docks. I will take you there." Kyra smiled to Tourmal and left the tavern with him. It wasn't a very long walk to the docks, at least not for Kyra. The young kelvic had spent seasons not only walking, but even running the streets as she went from place to place. Once they reached the docks, Kyra led her companion to the place in question.

"Well here we are. You can rent a room here and stay for the night. Tomorrow I will come here to find you and we can go and have breakfast?"

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Winter 70, 512 AV The thought of getting hit how Kyra had described to him was gut wrenching. He shook his head and scowled at the thought of such things. “Syliras yea it's nice I can work on my weapon crafting easily enough. It is a bit harder in the Sea of Grass. They don't have as much resources and it gets quite expensive trading and bartering for your supplies. That's why I stay. For work. I love it.” The two of them left for the boarding house she had told him about and when they got there she invited him to eat breakfast with her the next morning. His plans had changed but only slightly. He would be there for a bit he had plenty of time to find out where the sexy vixen lived. “Sure sounds good to me. See you then.”