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Fallan and Tay go hunting

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Not found on any map, Endrykas is a large migrating tent city wherein the horseclans of Cyphrus gather to trade and exchange information. [Lore]

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Hunting For Amateurs[hunt]

Postby Taylani on November 4th, 2013, 3:39 pm

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ooc noteTime Stamp might be adjusted as I don't want to run into a conflict with Shahars hunt party
Time Stamp: 83 Fall 513

The morning air had a crispness to it that could only be considered cool, a light breeze out of the north added to the sense that it was definitely getting to be late Fall. In Syliras people would have been beginning to wear heavier clothing already for it would have been more then just a chilled wind in a city that didn't migrate, staying ahead of the weather. For all the briskness and chilled air the sky was clear and blue, Syna fully over the horizon and many Drykas already starting their busy day.

Taylani was no exception, walking with her companion toward the outskirts of the Tent City. Her red hair today was braided into a single plait that hung over her right shoulder, leaving her neck and back free though with the wind against her bare throat caused a shiver once in a while. On her back a light cloak fluttered with the breeze, tied loosely though occasionally she would raise her hand to adjust it to better shield her neck from the chill.

She no longer stalks as she walks, there is little of the woman who held onto pent up emotions that was so common place for her left. If occasionally there was a far away sorrow in her blue eyes it is short lived if not rare. She didn't describe herself as happy, but she was at peace with her circumstances now.

They were closing in on the area where the Amethyst clan kept their horses, the smell of the animals grew stronger though there was no where in Endrykas that didn't smell of horses. Taylani knew that her companion was intending for them to go hunt for something, she figured it was animals but she was hoping not. She had no skills in that endeavor at all, and the closest thing to a weapon she had ever handled was a kitchen knife.


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Postby Fallan Windchaser on November 4th, 2013, 9:54 pm

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Fallan was so used to moving with the seasons that he didn't even really consider what it might be like to be stuck in a city or on a farm where you were at the mercy of the seasons. He appreciated the sun as they walked, and he was very aware that the air still carried the scents of autumn as they had done all of the season. Not yet, and not at all would those change to that of a Northern Winter. Here they reached almost as far South as the Run would take them and soon the city would start to make its way along the North of the desert regions and for all that it would be much colder, still the warm winds from the heart of the desert would keep it warmer.

Today, once more they would be heading out to gather food to store away and to tide them through the tighter Winter months. More than just food for the people needed to be gathered, there was always the herds, striders and other animals to be considered as well. Some techniques could and had been applied with regards the grass to be grazed and it was for this reason that before winter was over the Windchasers would have reversed course and be heading back along the course of the Run, back towards their Summer routes, taking advantage of the areas which had been grazed short by the clans and would now be starting to be covered in fresh new growth.

He had not discussed it with Tay, for how much skill and courage did you need to creep up on a blade of grass? He carried as ever just the yvas and pad which was all that any Drykas used on a strider. He carried also a bag for his intent was to hunt for tubers, in particular the ones which were a favourite of Stormchaser. But even gathering had it's dangers for Dryaks were not the only predators, indeed they were not even the most dangerous of those to be found out on the sea of grass.

"Tay ready leave city?" He wondered how she now felt about being away from the tents now. It had not been so long since she had made her own attempted journey there, one which he had cut short, though his reasons were likely enough ones which she had understood at the time.

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Postby Taylani on November 4th, 2013, 10:25 pm

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It was different, everything seemed different to her eyes now that she had made that aborted attempt at running. It almost was as if she was not quite walking in her own skin any more, but was an observer..a peaceful observer but an observer. Her emotions seemed blunted rather then sharp, even when her ire was aroused it was a pale mimic of her former anger. It does not concern her, it was much easier this way especially with the idea that she was free to choose for now.

As they approached the place where the Amethyst clan kept their horses, Taylani had a rather abrupt thought. Surely those who cared for her small horse here would have told him that she had made that purchase, she hadn't done much riding she was still too nervous about her own lack of skills there to do that on her own, but she did come and visit her enough so that the mare that Taylani had call Freedom so long ago would know her. It was one of the many small rebellions that she had tried to make against Fallan.

She took a deep breath at his words, looking out across the grasses, past the final pavilion into the distance. Without thinking her hand fell to her stomach, instinctively sheltering the life that grew within. Turning her blue eyes back to Fallan, she gives him a small smile, just the barest of upturning of her lips. Her smile might have been small but there was no sorrow within her eyes, "As ready as I can be." She said, ducking beneath the makeshift fencing that did more to help keep things out of the horses rather then keeping them in.

She was nervous yes, but there were no storm clouds in the sky and the wind did not have the humidity that the air had the night she had ran. Plus this time Fallan was with her, and she could finally admit to herself that his presence gave her a small sense of safety even if she had yet to admit that to him. Their relationship had changed, this is true, and she no longer thought she was disgustingly wrong to enjoy him in many more ways then one. However there were still hurts and history that had to be overcome before she would be able to fully open herself to him. But she didn't think it was just she that needed to heal over the past.

This time her smile was brighter, and wider as one of the Drykas that were caring for the various mounts and striders here loosed her small roan. The horse was small, not too small to be an adult but was definitely no match in size for a strider, but the blonde mane and the tan markings made the animal beautiful. That and the fact that she was not nearly so frightened at the thought of sitting on top of this horse by herself as she was sitting on Fallan's had made her choice.

Her hands raise to run along the side of Freedom's neck and over the mare's side, without the practiced experience of Fallan's but with as much care. She finally turned toward Fallan, her brows raising gently, wondering if she was correct in assuming that the people who cared for her mount here had told him.


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Hunting For Amateurs[hunt]

Postby Fallan Windchaser on November 5th, 2013, 1:55 pm

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Fallan had his mind upon the gathering and hadn’t as yet fully adjusted to the changes which would yet become apparent in their relationship. Had he even conisdered the matter then he would also have realised that she was still adjusting too. No real discussion had been made of this trip and what it would involve either in terms of work or of the dangers that might be involved.

One of the advantages of the Run was that the camp never entirely destocked any particular area in the way that a permanent city would do, but it came close, even if just for a short while. These facts were not ones that really came to Fallans attention for he was used to them almost since birth, but he did know as a result that there would be little to easily find close to the camp and that they would need to probe further out where other gleaning teams had not yet been.

It had not as yet occurred to him that he should push Tay into riding, he had seen her initial reluctance and left it at that, waiting for the right moment that never came and he never pursued. When they arrived with the horses Fallans moves were instinctive and it didn’t take him long to identify the dark colours of Stormdancer nor to attract her attention. He slipped a somewhat dried tuber from the pack that he carried and fed it to her whilst he chatted abstractly to her and checked her hooves against the unlikely case that she had picked something up that she had not made known to him.

When he finished he glanced over to find Tay, only to not find her where he had parted company with her and it took a moment to rescan and locate her talking to a horse that was not quite a pony, but certainly of a smaller frame than the one he rode. He watched for a moment, slightly puzzled though he could see immediately that the two were familiar beyond any casual connection that might be made between a horse borrowed for lessons. He recognised the horse too he realised after his surprise had faded a little for he had seen it around Stormdancer when he had been here.

Taylani looked over at him, her expression not quite challenging, but there was something in it of that. He smiled in return, accepting that she had won this round, a contest he hadn’t been aware of being in and walked over, Stormdancer following along.

”Now see,” he said with a nod to the mare. ”Stormdancer know, not have words speak me.” He ran his eyes over the mare appraisingly walking round and nodded. ”Good choice,” he said, slightly put out that she had done this without him and unsure of how that made him feel.

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Postby Taylani on November 5th, 2013, 2:17 pm

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Taylani was a little apprehensive as Fallan walked over to her and her mare, and that apprehension showed in the way her fingers tighten in Freedom's light colored mane and how her back straightened. She waited in silence as he moved around the horse, watching his expression and his body language carefully. On one hand she understood that he might be annoyed, she had came to purchase a horse on her own for the express reason to do so without him. A large part was just wanting to do something on her own, to be some-what self-sufficient and not fully rely on him. A smaller part was to show him that she was not under his thumb.

When he speaks she relaxes a little, her hand buried in the horses hair moved out to smooth the mane back. "Her name is Freedom. Not a very horse-like name I suppose, but it is what I felt when I purchased her." Taylani didn't feel the need to bring up why freedom was such an important subject to her, and to have named her horse after the most important thing to her spoke volumes of her intentions of not shirking the duties of horse ownership. "I still haven't been brave enough to ride her much more then just the length of this area.." Her hand raises to indicate the expanse they were now in. "But I have made sure I came by to learn how to care for her, and to get to know her. Eventually I figured I would have to learn to ride better."

Once more, the Drykas that had been working with Freedom to have had to release the mare for Taylani came back with her own purchased but as of yet unused Yvas and Pad. She smiled briefly remembering her determination to not buy a proper saddle simply because she had thought to refuse to allow Fallan to see her as any less then the children of the Drykas who learned on these things. She helped...or rather tried to help at the same time as getting a feel for readying Freedom because the Drykas really didn't need any help in securing the Yvas properly but Taylani had always learned better by doing then by watching.

"I didn't think you would want me to always ride double on Stormdancer..and Irea from the opal tents did tell me that I would need to ride more then walk later..in the last few months.." Shrugging, Taylani drops her gaze to the grass at their feet for a moment, not voicing her concern on exactly how Irea thought she would be getting on the horse that far along..it had been awkward enough for her to mount the few times she had already when Fallan had her ride with him and she didn't have an extra burden along.


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Postby Fallan Windchaser on November 6th, 2013, 10:52 am

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Fallan eyed Tay as she made her explantions, but the words were yet more proof that the relationship had not at all worked out as he had expected. Once more she had proved willfull and it amused him that she had done so even when she had thought herself a slave. There was certainly a rebellious element there, but he could not fault it for he had never wanted to crush her spirit. He’d admit to enjoying the process of dismaying her and of effectively taking her against her will by putting her in a position where she volunteered it, but there had never been an intention to make her into a docile slave who merely did what she was told.

This was a much riskier proposition of course, but it was also more challenging and exciting. It too was how he had been brought up for all that he himself had attempted to rebel against that when he was younger.

He smiled, pleasure finally overcoming the disappointment at her choices. It seemed a perfectly good horse for a novice rider to ride, and he was also pleased at whoever had sold it to her in guiding her to the choice. How long she would choose to ride it remained to be seen, for she might yet outgrow it and wish for a faster or stronger one, but that would come in its own good time and he felt no desire to mention it as it would undermine her decision.

”Today good practice then,” he noted to her comments about having only ridden within the compound. He glanced around at the sky checking the weather and grunted to himself in satisfaction for it looked like it would hold and there would be no pressure to ride fast or in difficult conditions. It looked a good day for a gentle walk out to allow her to get used to being on horse back and her mare would likely follow his own quite comfortably. It amused him too that the horses had been aware long before he had for certainly Stormdancer would have noted Tay and her attachment to this horse.

He combed his fingers through Stormdancers mane roughly and slipped the yvas over his head, settling the pad in place before turning his attention back to Tay. Away from Cyphrus he knew that saddles with stirrups were commonplace and he also knew that allowed easier mounting. Whilst he was pleased that she had a yvas of her own it did raise the question in his mind as to whether she had mastered the ability to mount on her own.

”Not good ride double,” he agreed with her and certainly there was normally little reason for it. ”Need help mount?” He was fairly sure that the stubborn side that she sometimes manifested and as well demonstrated by this current situation would mean that she would refuse, but better to ask now than to mount and watch her struggle.

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Postby Taylani on November 6th, 2013, 1:50 pm

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Taylani was not certain how he would take to the fact that she had pushed ahead and bought a horse without his input. While she didn't think that it was a big rebellion it had been one, and it had been sort of her intention to rebel. She believed that no one would blame her, not to mention that she had used her own miza and not stolen from him to do so. However she was still uncertain enough of this truce they had built that she wondered over his reaction. He seemed to have reacted positively but for so long Taylani had kept that preparedness to fight about herself in defense that it was hard for her not to immediately go to that place.

While took care of readying his strider Taylani continued to show affection to Freedom, simply because of the weeks she had been troubled or tormented it was this horse that heard all about it. Which was odd to Taylani, the connection she felt with this animal since she had never had a fondness that some had for pets or the like.

When he asked if she needed help to mount there was a struggle visible on her face. True the stubborn independent side wanted to tell him no. The side that was more wounded and battered then her stubbornness -her pride- wanted to tell him yes because she didn't want to humiliate herself with looking foolish trying to mount without success. Of all the things she had lost over the last season, her pride was the most obvious, though perhaps it was the most easily retaken as well.

"I might." She finally admits, knowing she was going to have to learn, though she thinks it is a matter of upper body strength and pulling herself up. Fortunately Freedom was a smaller horse then Stormdancer, so when she reached up she could easily put her hands on the yvas holds and braced her arm against the horses back. It took her two tries, the first hop she didn't quite get enough momentum, the second though allowed her to move her arm over the side and pull herself up. Was it pretty? Decidedly not, nor was it as practiced or as fluid as his mounting, but she was up there...mostly. The docile horse steps a couple steps to adjust to the weight but mostly took the awkward mounting with patience.

Her face was a little pinched, and the grip her hands held was a bit harder then absolutely needed but determination to get this down overrode her fear of not being able to control this animal. Yet her eyes did scan the horizon with trepidation, as she contemplated leaving the relative safety of the tent city. She looked down at him before he could move away, and quickly spoke, "Fallan?" her voice quiet, aware that there were ears and perhaps a little of her tattered pride still clung not wishing them to hear her fear. "Don't leave me?" She returned her gaze to the open plains, knowing how fast his horse could run, and knowing that she probably could not even bring herself even push this horse to a gallop let alone an all out run.


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Postby Fallan Windchaser on November 6th, 2013, 4:40 pm

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He noted her doubts about mounting and simply nodded in acceptance of it, remaining where he was. She hadn’t said yes or no, so whilst he moved to stand nearby in case she needed it, it was better he thought if she at least had the opportunity to try for herself. It was better to catch her if she fell and risk injury to her pride than to her person.

For someone who had not ridden before she could walk, he reckoned that she did a fair job of it, though he could see the struggle and the weakness in both her arms and legs. Still though he reckoned it was better and more graceful than the average city girl would have managed so that was doubtless down to her dancing training. He knew that she had a good sense of balance from watching her train so he assumed that she would be able to manage reasonably well when it came to the actual riding part. He didn’t expect perfection, for horses had a number of gaits, each of which required a different amount of technique and poise, especially the faster ones where a rider had only the yvas to help them stay on. But then the Drykas didn’t have much regard for perfectly healthy people who were unable to stay on a horse without strapping themselves to it. It said much for a lack of sympathy between horse and rider if the rider had to tie himself to the horse in order to ride it.

He smiled reassuringly at her question and nodded, his hands reinforcing the truth of his statement, yes, of course. The words were Pavi, the comment unthinking and he used a little momentum as he walked back to Stormdancer in order to mount, but there was none of the showing off that he had done the first times he had ridden her in front of Taylani.

He shifted his balance to move Stormdancer into a walk and looked back to see how Tay managed. He suspected that this might be a little different for her if as he suspected her mare would just tag along after Stormdancer. It was what he expected having now put the pieces together but he never counted on too much where horses were concerned.

Soon they were out of the camp and into the grasslands that surrounded it. He remained at first on the higher ground so that they could both see out over the landscape to get some idea of where the city lay in relation to what landmarks there were to be seen, and in truth there were always some almost no matter how bland the terrain was. The city was never overly far from water, there were too many people to do otherwise but water also brought both prey and predators which was another reason for now to stick to the high ground and away from it.

After they had ridden for a short time he slowed Stormdancer to allow Tay to come up next to him. He looked at her as she did so and smiled. ”Ride OK?”

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Postby Taylani on November 6th, 2013, 5:08 pm

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Taylani managed a tight-lipped smile at his Pavi words, surprisingly she knew what he said simply because she recognized the very first word. That was the extent of her Pavi learning, piecing together words that she knew and approximating what the words she didn't know meant. She hoped that one day the language would not be so difficult for her to navigate, for many reasons. Not the least of which a conversation with Fallan that she could be sure that neither one of them left making assumptions on what the other was saying.

She watched him, trying hard to not be obvious that she was watching him so blatantly, as he mounted. Finding herself appreciating the way his muscles moved beneath his shirt, the ease in which he mounted even without the flair for the dramatic as he had the last time -discounting the mad ride in the rain of which Taylani remembers very little of the ride except the discomfort of being bounced around on horseback.

There was a tiny squeak in her throat as Freedom instinctively begins to follow Fallan and Stormdancer, though the abrupt movement caused Taylani to tighten her legs around the horse's side confusing Freedom into stopping and starting a couple of times until Taylani found her seating and relaxed her legs.

She had not ridden for more then a few steps by herself before, and she felt strangely frightened at the thought of being on her own horse. It wasn't the animal any more though when she was first brought to Endrykas she had had a healthy fear of horses, it was more fear of leading herself, of guiding her own horse that filled her with dread.

Her body at first remained tense, trying to fight against the easy sway of the walking gait, but it wasn't too long before Taylani realized that she wasn't suppose to try and hold completely still. Watching Fallan ahead of her, watching how his body seemed to sway in time with the horses steps Taylani tried to mimic that, loosening her muscles -gladly-. At first she felt completely out of control, felt as if she was going to slide right off but after a few moments and she didn't slide off, and instead seemed more secure then when she was trying to be completely and utterly still on the horse.

When Fallan fell back, Taylani even managed to look up away from the ground to meet his gaze. "I am doing okay I think." She spoke and instantly gripped a harder on the yvas as she missed a sway timing she had been counting in her head. "Better when I don't over think it." A strained smile is offered back to him. Though things have been less tense between them since the night she had ran, Taylani still could not quite let go of everything. Though this time might have been more to do with trying to do well with the riding.

To keep her mind busy, so that she couldn't undermine herself by not letting instinct work on the horse she continued to look at him and asked him a question that had been lain in her head for a while now, almost since the first time he took her into his family's pavilion. "Why do you dislike your mother so very much?" She could not imagine having the tension between she and Angelia that she had seen between Adetse and Fallan...nor did she want to imagine that same tension between her and her own child.


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Postby Fallan Windchaser on November 7th, 2013, 9:14 am

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He returned her smile, pleased that she was now riding for it made everything so much easier now. He had to wonder though why she had not taken the horse when she made her run away from the camp, since she had clearly had the animal for longer than that, certainly he had seen Freedom and Stormdancer together since before that and she had gone from unable to ride to being able to ride with a yvas so the facts pointed towards a longer time. He watched her ride now for the first time since she was no longer behind him and noted the deliberate corrections to her riding and the occasional stiffness in her position. Even a poor rider would have been better on a horse, but then he recalled that she had left in the dark and he would grant her that it would have been difficult on horseback. He would still have done it but then he wasn’t her and riding was natural to him. He allowed the thought to drift off as unimportant for the moment and cast his eyes over the landscape.

The grass, even here was dry and brown, having thrown up its flowering stem and now the dry and fluffy seeds dispersed in the wind. At the base it was still green and he kept an eye out for the distinctive leaves of the tubers he wanted amongst the soft green of the grass. He didn’t answer her question at first for it was one that was not easy to answer and so he took a moment to reflect on it. The antagonism was mutual and old hurts were buried deeply for them both, but time had healed some of it for Fallan. Still it hadn’t been something he had considered from it being unusual and so reflected on it for the first time.

”Not sure,” he answered eventually with a small frown upon his face. It was an honest answer and he rode a little further before he spoke again, his thoughts still turned inwards for when spoken aloud it seemed an odd answer - how could you not know? It was the answer of a child and he was a little chagrined that he was not able to immediately explain. But, he countered in his mind at least he wasn’t keeping score as some people did, and as he was sure his mother did and which was a large part of the problem. Perhaps it could be remedied? It was a slightly uncomfortable thought, and to overcome years of disagreement would be no easy task, even if they were both of a mind to it.

”Adetse expect much from Fallan,”he said slowly, beginning to wonder if in fact some of it might be his fault instead of hers as he had always believed, though he could not imagine exactly what he might have done differently. ”Always argue, Fallan never do well enough.” He didn’t add that it was major reason that he had spent so much time away from his family, nor that that desertion as his mother saw it had done anything to improve her opinion of him.

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