[Stables] It isn't really goodbye (vanator)

by **Delani Denusk** on June 11th, 2013, 7:11 pm

48 Summer, 513

The beauty of the city was blinding, but part of her remained blinded to it as the seriousness of what would shortly happen sank in...

Delani had sent word to the Sanctuary that Vanator should meet with her in the stables. She had arrived late in the afternoon and the sun was already beginning to set; she still had about two to three bells before she needed to be at the garden near the tavern Mr. Syka was renting out to all attendants of his expedition, and she hoped Van would get here in time. She really must speak with him and if they missed this small window of opportunity, they'd likely never have a chance to again. For all the dame knew, this was the last time they would talk.

Dismounting the colorsplash at the stable entry, she gave the stallions side a firm pat and led him in, murmuring softly to the sturdy beast that had been through a lot in his time with Delani. "Good boy, let's hope he gets here soon. I'd not like to be finished with you before he gets here; there will be little time left then." The Denusk did not look forward to the talk so close to departure...it would sting her cousin and Ankal deeply, she knew this...they had only so recently reunited. It was going to be extremely difficult telling him goodbye.

Dela let her mind drift back to the final few days she'd spent in Endrykas before setting out for Riverfall from across the Sea of Grass. It'd been a time spent preparing for travel: enough food procurred to make the 8 or so day trip, and a new tattoo.

The tattoo itself could be seen presently, the sleeves of the faded cloth of a shirt she wore short enough to expose the matching set. The thicker, blade-like parts of the tattoos centered over the inside of her bicep with the bladed tip ending over her elbow, just before the big nerve merged with the joint. The ivy-like remainder had been inked in a dark green color. The left tattoo- had the letter A inked on the outside crescent that lay over her bicep. The right tattoo sported a D in the same adjacent location. It had been an emotional recepit and well worth the mizas, Delani felt. The coin she'd had that day of the storm saved and saved until the time she felt was right to spend it.

Her hands moved over Coram's pelt, rubbing with her palms. The glove covering the lormar was off and tucked into the yvas' "saddlebag" that held tent. "Good boy; hard ride, I know. You'll have a rest for now and then we shall see what tomorrow will bring. Vanator will be here soon..." This last spoken more to herself than to the stallion as he patiently stood by and let his rider groom him.

x

by **Vanator** on June 14th, 2013, 6:18 pm

Vanator took the the note from the young rider, digging a silver miza from a pocket to give to the young Akalak messenger. The rider trotted out of Sanctuary's gate, leaving a faint cloud of dust. The drykas set down the coil of rope hanging over his shoulder and flipped open the folded note. It was written in Common, its language simple, one non-native speaker to another. It was from his cousin Delani.

She had gone into Riverfall without stopping at The Sanctuary, which he found curious. Even more curious was her request to meet her at the stables there, soon. Vanator slipped his yvas on Sirocco, sending Aweston to let Kavala know he was running into town. Within a few chimes, the Drykas was out the gate and heading out the road to Riverfall.

During the short two mile ride, Vanator entertained himself with memories of his younger cousin. She had been raised with him and his sisters since she was fifteen, after both her parents died. It was a fluke accident and the intervention of a teenage webber that reunited Delani with Vanator and Kavala after the Djed Storm wiped out the pavilion. Another Denusk found, another member of the new family.

The stable was not far from the gates, and Vanator dismounted and walked the Strider to the facility. He was familiar with the staff there, who were used to Sirocco as well, and greeted him with a green apple. The Akalak boy gestured down the aisle of stalls, apparently knowing that the he would be looking for the woman that he vaguely resembled.

Vanator could see it in Delani's green eyes, there was...something.

"What is it, Del? What's going on?"

by **Delani Denusk** on June 14th, 2013, 7:02 pm

She heard him from the stable, pausing in her brushing of the stallion but not looking up. It wouldn't take him long to reach this alcove, and then the true troubles would begin. Moving around behind the horse with a hand kept to his flank to let him remain sure of her, she positioned herself to stare across Coram's back at her cousin. He must see the seriousness.

Just as he had learned the day of their reunion, Dela was again slow to speak, as if weighing each word in an effort to measure its value to the conversation, to ensure no biased remark would rise and her troubled emotions would not alter the course she chose. Finally, the woman spoke, slowly and carefully, two words as the brush paused upon the sturdy drive-horses back. "Hile, Ankal." Those focused orbs watched and studied, sparing no glance away as she thought how further to go on. Why must it be so hard?

"T'will only be wrong if you deny my request, Vanator." She said next, moving to the mounts head and scratching his lower lip with practiced fingers and clucking affectionately at him. Dela treated him no different than she might her old strider, though the colorsplash had been in her possession only a year or so. They'd been through a lot, either way, and to treat him otherwise would have been unfair. "I've only a short time to debate it with you, in the end. First, I would ask forgiveness for being unable to address it earlier. Second, I ask for your leave." She stepped from the horse finally and stood before her Ankal, signing in conjunction with her speech so that their dialogue might not be overheard by others in the stable.

"Cousin...brother...friend and Ankal. You are all and one, family when mine was gone, friend when it was sought, love when it was needed." The latter more in reference to the synonymous love the family shared in their now depleted state. "Mathias Syka has accepted my request to join in his expedition; but before I can truly go, I ask for my Ankals leave to do so. I ask for your blessing, Vanator, and for your understanding." Her eyes were full of passion and hope, as if she could impose her will upon him to see it through her, why she felt this the right bend to take.

"Have you received word of the clan leaders decision? The raid camp has already been erected. The caravans that met with the city already have been refused leave. They are as much captives now as the ones taken from Sylira. The heresy of it..." She spoke emotionally but quickly fell quiet before she could cause offense, taking a breath to settle her tongue and her mind. "Van, such ludicrousness I cannot abide by."

Eyris, let him understand...

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by **Vanator** on June 19th, 2013, 4:11 pm

Delani did not immediately turn from grooming the horse as Vanator spoke. The younger cousin had always chosen her words wisely, and Van gave her leave to do so now. Finally, her gaze lifted to her kinsman and Delani greeted him with a formal address. Vanator's brow knit slightly as the tone of Delani's words remained cast in traditional form, as if to sterilize the weighty nature of her request and lessen the sting of its finality.

Vanator let her finish, nodding slightly before turning to stroke the mane of the Colorsplash. He chose to address the second point of Delani's statements first. "I know what the Drykas are doing at the border with Syliras. It has torn at my soul since I heard word of it. Our people have kept slaves, but have never captured them themselves. I do not condone the kidnappings, and will not participate myself. But the clans are desperate Delani, you have seen Endrykas. They choose this path out of extreme need. I may visit the camp, and the captured Sylirans, to ensure they are being treated well. After all, they are to become our people."

Vanator's eyes did not left the horse until he was ready to answer his cousin's request. His hazel eyes softened, his heart aching. This was not only a request from a member of the pavilion to her leader, it was the desire for the approval of a friend.

"I have heard of this man's expedition. It is a bold adventure certainly." Delani was not one for adventure, as he recalled. But the lure of new knowledge was something Vanator knew Delani could never resist. His hand reached for his cousins wrist, examining the designs etched in ink upon her skin. "Why do you want to go with this man, to this lost place? It is strange, they call it jungles, thick forests where you cannot see the sky above you, where Myrians hunt, their prey not limited to just animalkind." His gold-flecked gaze darted again to Delani's green glance.

by **Delani Denusk** on June 19th, 2013, 5:04 pm

The woman's eyes tightened slightly as he tried to correlate what was occurring at the border on the other side of Cyphurs. However, she remained careful of her words, as though each weighed more before they could leave her tongue. "But they will never truly be Drykas; the memory of the experience will remain even as they age."

"They are taking women and children, Van." She spoke firmly. "No men, just these frightened maidens and offspring of a nation that we have traded peacefully with in the past. And now?" She scoffed. "Now we throw aside the sash of peace and verge on war! WAR, Vanator. These children they take will always remember the night they were taken from their families, assuming the survive long enough to be incorporated into the clans. It is the women I pity more..." The dame shook her head in disdain.

"It is akin to rape, that these women who do not understand our culture are forced into now. To be used as breeding stock?" It was how Delani saw it, anyways, these captives to become wives and offspring of lives already well established, no matter how devastated they were. "Do not mistake my despisement of this farse at repopulating as disdain for the clans. I know how desperate they are. But it..." She cut herself off quickly, erring on the side of caution lest she misspeak of something she did not wholly know about. To call the men of the clans lazy in failing to obey the indoctrination was wrong. With a sigh, Dela went on.

"Vanator, they will never be our people no matter how hard we wish them to be. In their eyes, they will feel slaves, captured by a race that fell on hard times. I do not know, cousin...I am troubled by it all, truly. I feel as though the clans have chosen to act irrationally...That their impatience has led them to chase the rump of a mare not ready for them. Perhaps if they had extended the branch to Sylira, explaining their needs..." She trailed off with another of those wary sighs.

Looking down upon the wrist which was grabbed, searching for words to answer his next question. "It is quite strange, I agree. Such places were not meant for one who's known only the wild and open plains we grew up on." But a memory-drawn smile crossed the woman's face and her eyes rose to meet with Vans.

"Remember when father took us to the Hymnal Caverns?" The matron offered as explanation. "Remember how they sung to us when the wind blew? It is the whispering mystery of the unknown that is so alluring. It is as beautiful as it is frightening." She turned her wrist carefully in his grasp and slid the hand up to clasp her hand beneath his elbow. "I do not know how to show you the need I feel to go. I have prayed long since leaving Endrykas eight days past, on the ride, by the fire, breaking camp...and I feel that this is where Eyris wishes me to go. I do not go at this lightly, Vanny, you must surely know this. Since when have I ever been reckless? I yearn with all my being to know...So why remain where I will for the rest of my days be torn with loathing at the actions the clan leaders took this season? Why not go where my Lady has called me? But if you ask it of me, I will stay." Those jade eyes, however, were pleading for him to make the choice she needed most.

"You are my Ankal first, now, Van. I will heed what you decide."

x

by **Vanator** on June 24th, 2013, 6:06 pm

Vanator continued to stroke the course mane of the stallion as his cousin shared her heart. He could not refute nor deny any of his cousin's claims. Delani spoke with care, her words chosen carefully to express her feelings with some restraint, though her true emotions bled through. The woman used words that played heavily upon her older kin, like slavery, rape, breeding stock. Personal experience with those topics triggered volatile responses within the man, until his own voice lifted inside his head. '"These are the accusations you made against the Akalak, when they took Kavala as a Navikak." Such charges fueled a dislike for the Riverians that took seasons to deal with. Now, the Drykas committed similar acts in the name of preserving the race, just like that Akalak.

Vanator's hand slipped from the horse's neck, his gaze falling upon Delani before he turned to look out an open window. "You are right, they will never forget what was done to them," the Drykas man rarely went a day without remembering how he had been taken from his family, "but their children will not know that feeling. Those women and children may never accept being Drykas, but their offspring will be Drykas from birth, and the clans will have new life, new blood." The words sounded harsh, even to Vanator. It was not an approval of the actions, just fact.

"I do not condone this Del, but I cannot stop it, I have no authority among the clans, I don't even have a real pavilion. I can decide to abstain from any of it, stay behind the walls of Sanctuary in protest. Or, I can do what I can to ensure that those taken are treated well, given care, that they do become like members of the families, and not slaves. Is it right, no. You know my feelings. But standing on principles will not help them. Getting involved will."

He turned back to Delani, his features softening. Vanator did not want politics to drive a wedge between he and Delani, especially on the eve of her leaving, maybe forever. She moved to take his elbow in her grasp, and he wrapped his hand around her elbow as well in a familiar sign of affection. The woman expressed with equal fervor her reasons for joining the expedition, heartfelt and resolved. A small smile curled the corners of Vanator's lips as she referred to him as Vanny, her childhood nickname for him.

"Del, I have never doubted your wisdom, nor have I forgotten the call of The Wise One upon you. We never could keep you from exploring, from seeking new things. I know you must go." Thick emotion enriched Vanator's tone. His hand released her arm to lift to her cheek. "Semele had given you up to us, and I am grateful of it, even if we had you for only a short while. You are like a sister to me, Del. I love you as one. My heart begs me to make you stay, but I love you too much to do it. Go with my blessing, with the blessing of the gods and goddesses. My hope will be that some day you will return to us."

by **Delani Denusk** on June 24th, 2013, 7:11 pm

The weight of relief flooded through her and for a moment, Dela thought she might collapse as a sigh slipped from her lips. Her fingers squeezed his elbow and a smile rose upon her lips, earnest and true. "Thank you, Vanator."
Her head turned slightly against the hand which touched her cheek, a measure of appreciation from one who'd felt removed for so long.

"That is all I wanted." Removing her hand from his elbow, she gave a most unusual gesture, one that was typically seen by a bard or noble in cities far from Endrykas. The woman dipped the knee, brief, and bowed her head in a shallow curtsy. "The traders I rode with showed me such. They say it is an honorific to one deserving...I find it silly, personally, and certainly does not give the honor deserved. So...take it for what it is, brother, but take this as well." He being taller than she, the woman reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tight and then withdrawing.

"I believe we will be leaving in a few days, but I am not certain. Announcements are sure to be made at the party near Atri's Place. In the morning, I intend to come by the Sanctuary. I hear Kavala has begun a curious breeding program for horses and dogs. Coram has been a fine horse since my Dela's death, but I have an interest in possibly obtaining a dog from the kennels, something good for guarding that won't struggle too much in the wilds that are the jungles we trek to."

x

by **Vanator** on June 28th, 2013, 1:10 pm

Vanator's grin mirrored that of his cousin, expanding into a full smile as she made the strange gesture she had learned from the foreigners. He bowed slightly in return, as he had seen Eypharians do. But the embrace meant more to Vanator, and he squeezed Delani as firmly as he could without hurting her. He had missed her terribly over the past two years, and it was a bittersweet discovery when Del was found in the Sea. He knew he would endure missing her again. The journey she was about to embark upon was certainly dangerous, the jungles they said were as dangerous as Cyphrus' grasslands. But for now, Vanator knew his beloved cousin was alive.

"I will pray for you sister, I know Semele and Caiyha can watch over you across the sea just as they have here. And please, do come say goodbye tomorrow. You have to see Kavala's new horses she bred to carry the Akalaks, she named the breed Denusk. Beautiful creatures that seem to shimmer in the light. And we have several breeds of dogs that would make excellent guards for you. You also have twin cousins you have not met."

Vanator caught Delani's intelligent gaze again, seeing the young girl he remembered in her mature eyes. Moved by sentimentality, the older cousin leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I know you have preparations to make. I will expect to see you tomorrow morning."

by **Delani Denusk** on June 28th, 2013, 6:13 pm

"I will do my best to visit before we leave. Your prayers will be appreciated. Eyris is a...quiet goddess, but she is wise and knows the minds of those she watches over, knows that which they can and cannot do. Were she undesiring of my attendance here, I am sure she would have guided me to another course."

When he mentioned the horses, the woman smiled thoughtfully. "I will have to find time to admire them. I have already questioned whether to bring Coram with me. He is such a fine stallion and I am sure he could sire many a finer foal even if he isn't a Strider were I to donate him to Sanctuary. Still, afterall the two of us have lived through, how could I possibly leave him behind?" She turned to smile at the old driver who nickered quietly as if understanding what had been spoken of him.

When Van suddenly leaned in and placed a kiss upon her brow, Dela felt a part of her sink. She would miss him terribly; she would miss them all. "I will send word by wing if I can after we set out...Perhaps Mr. Syka might be willing to invest in a few carrier pigeons. I would love to be able to keep you updated on the travels." Dela stepped away now, folding her arms relaxedly across her chest. "But by the by, I should head over. Thank you again, Vanator. Your father would be proud of the man you have become."

OOCA good close if you want it to be

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by **Magpie** on July 16th, 2013, 3:17 pm

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Delani :

Vanator :

Notes :

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, please don't hesitate to PM me.
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Completed [Stables] It isn't really goodbye (vanator)