Flashback Unexpected Encounter (Kaie)

[Moru]

"Yeah, me too. Sorry." Moru answered as he heard her own annoyance. Her reaction reminded him that it wasn't nice or a good idea to be angry about Kaie. After all she was giving him the pelt and some of the meat of the animal she killed. He would have said more but wasn't sure how without risking to annoy her more.
Considering this the boy stayed calm as she showed no intentions to help with the deer after he began. His father always taught him a Myrian shouldn't be lazy so it was unusual for him but on the other hand at this moment two people might just get in the way of the other.

Still working on the opening into the deer's belly Moru was able to look at Kaie as she told him about the Dhani. He really wanted to know and it showed in his expression. "Wow, yes they sound as nasty and dangerous as the people tell." he answered to it. He hoped for a bit more information but from her answer he guessed she didn't know too much about them too. More than he did but it looked like it was not enough that he could learn something more about them.

Moru wasn't bothered as she asked why he already knew so much without being born here. Other Myrian's might have been annoyed but for the boy it was just the truth and she wasn't the first who came aware of the knowledge he already had.
"I was about two as we made it to the village and settled there. My father fears his clan could reject me because he was a slave as I was born and we don't know the clan of my mother. Only days after we got there he began to teach me all the things he thought I will need to survive on my own if I have to. I think I was around four as he took me hunting into the jungle the first time. I don't mean going for a bird or so but something a bit bigger. But it wasn't planned that I'd be out for more than the day on this hunt and I was never so far out." the boy answered truthfully as he finished that first long cut.

Now the boy concentrated on the nasty part, removing the bowels and gall. He worked careful because spilling that inside the game could ruin a lot of it. His small size had the advantage he got more room inside but he had to get more of his body inside the bloody cavity than a grown up and that showed quickly on his skin.
Working while longer with the next organ he finally came to the heart. After cutting it out he held it up to Kaie. "There it is. You killed the deer so it's up to you to eat from it or share it."
Moru learned from his father that some of the strength of his prey would unite with him if he ate from it's fresh heart. The boy grew up with it and for him it was normal like the ritual cannibalism for a warrior. He didn't know if it was a special rite his father believed in or something all Myrian hunters did and never asked himself that question.

[Kaie]

Kaie watched him carefully, staring down more at what his hands were doing like a watchful supervisor than a student. Really she was just concerned one of them was going to ruin the meat. His story was all that took her attention from what he was doing physically. It aroused questions in her head, plenty of them. Some things made sense to her but most of it did not. Was it because she simply didn't understand the world he and his father had once endured?

"Your father. He left your mother in Keen-ash? Left her as a slave? Why?" She asked suddenly, lips pursing with deep displease at the very idea a Myrian who leave another to the fates of slavery. That a male could possibly leave his female mate to Deyhan masters in a world that was not their own. It sickened her, but her disdain was not projected toward the boy. If anything, she pitied him. His origin was not an ideal one. At least he hadn't spilled the deer's innards all over the place.

Kaie took the heart in her hand, letting the blood soak over her bronzed skin. It was still warm. It was indeed custom in her own clan to eat the heart of the animal one kills. Technically, though, she did not kill the animal on her own. She merely ended its suffering. Had she let it go, it would've wandered off and keeled over all on its own. So the Myrian dug into the muscle with her teeth, letting the red fluid expand from the organ as it gave with the pressure. She then pulled back, taking the bitten chunk with her. The back of her hand rose to wipe her bloodied lips, and soon she had chewed and swallowed the portion. That's when she offered him the rest if he wished. If so, she would began to take over for him. Her knife working quick and hopefully smooth inside the cavity of the deer. If everything was done alright, she could surprise her clan with the fruits of the kill.

"You were probably too young to remember the place you were born or learn their language. Does your father speak the Common tongue?" Kaie couldn't help but ask, changing the subject to a lighter. All her life she had learned the words for other lands, but never had she conversed with a native speaker. She had been told they talk faster, and their vocabulary was far more complex than she knew. Perhaps this boy could give her some insight while they worked.

[Moru]

After some time Moru became aware that Kaie was watching him. He figured out she tried to learn from it. Experiences with some of his friend showed the boy that older children sometimes didn't react well if younger ones tried to teach them something. Considering the difference in their age the boy just made sure that she was able to get a good sight of what he was doing.

Suddenly Kaie's question surprised Moru and he flinched visibly. He avoided doing damage to the deer but he wasn't able to suppress a sad sigh. He needed a moment to get his thoughts calmed down enough to answer her.
"No, not the way this sounds. I know only what father told me and I'm still not sure I understand it all. The man who owned my parents allowed them to marry and father was able to earn some money to buy our freedom back because he was the owners loyal guard or so. As I understand this it wouldn't have taken much longer for us all to be free but our owner went away for some time. During that time slave traders came and the owners wife sold them my mother because she was jealous about her or something like that. There was nothing father could do to stop it without risking my life. After the owner came back he was furious because he gave his word to alow us to go back. He and father tried everything to get mother back but they had no idea where the slavers went and didn't find them. Finally they had to give up and the owner set us free and took care we got back to Falyndar safely."
Moru tried to keep his voice calm but it didn't work too well. It was still quite obvious that the young boy still had trouble to talk about this. That he didn't understand all of it or the reasons behind it didn't help either.

Moru watch as Kaie ate her part of the heart. From the way she did this he was sure it wasn't her first time. Taking his share from her the boy thanked the deer too for giving his life to them to fulfill their needs. Then he ate his part of the heart and watched as the girl took over on the deer. Quickly he had to change what he thought about her skills and just looking. To the boy it looked like she knew what she had to do. Now it was Moru who watcher Kaie during her work. He saw things she did different than he learned it. Some resulted from using a metal knife that allowed or required a different way of approach to cut certain things but other she did in a really different way. The boy compared the different ways and thought which way was better or easier. There was not always an easy answer and there Moru tried to remember her way to try it out for himself at another opportunity.

Kaie's question if his father spoke Common was another surprise for the boy. "You want speak Common?" he asked her in the Common tongue with a cheeky grin on his face. He didn't think much about it besides the excitement to meet somebody who knew that tongue too. Not knowing for sure if she really understood him he changed back to their own tongue. "You're right, I don't remember anything about Kenash but father wants me to learn the Common tongue just in case I have to leave Falyndar. He thinks it would be better to know the tongue mostly used outside of our country. I'm not fluent in it but if you want we can try to talk in Common from now on."

Seeing that Kaie was nearly done with gutting the deer the boy joined her to start the skinning of the deer. The animal was big enough for two to do that work and it would go faster.

[Kaie]

His explanation might've been enough to send the girl on the war path had it been her own family. However it was not, and pressing the boy about matters past and out of his control was unfair. Sometimes it was just useless to open old wounds.

Just as she was starting to saw through sinew of the animal, she heard the words. Those foreign words spoken only within the smoking longhouse of her great grandmother. It was a tongue she did know, but not one she was particularly fluent in. From what she had been told, she could at least carry on a conversation comprehensibly for long enough. The problem was she wasn't quite perfect. This would provide the perfect excuse to practice with one who knew.

"Yes. Don't know it well. Want to," Kaie tried to explain in the Common tongue, hands gesturing along with her words for added emphasis. She couldn't help but mirror him smile, though. Moru had certainly caught her off guard. Too quickly he had switched back to their own language, but she enjoyed listening to his story all the same. That didn't mean she wouldn't challenge him in her reply. "Practice together? Maybe? Kaie wish to leave Falyndar one day. Just to see it all. Leave maybe after come of age if Myri accept with mark. You ever want leave? Go back?"

[Moru]

Moru tried to read Kaie's reaction to the story of his early past and family situation. He had the impression she was angry but he wasn't sure if she was angry on him or about what happened to his family. He guessed as long as she didn't turn against him it would be okay.

The boy nodded as Kaie agreed to it. He still grinned but then the little boy looked a bit stunned at her challenging questions. It took him a moment to think about it. Thanks to beginning his training very early and being pushed on by his father Moru was quite far in the training to become a warrior one day but his father made sure he knew that he still had a lot to learn. The man knew such a young boy became overconfident easily if he was better in some things than his pals and made sure the boy knew he did good but stil had much to learn. Thanks to this Moru was aware he was already on dangerous terrain out here. Going away to explore like Kaie suggested asked for a lot more training.
Being a boy he surely dreamed of adventure and the one dream being most important to the boy was going back and saving his mother. He knew his father hadn't been able to find her despite having help but he still hope to be able to find her if he got older and a good enough warrior one day.
"Yes, one day go back there, look for mother and save her. Me still need lot to learn. Father want me become Myrian warrior and earn my place even if father clan not accept. But if I not allowed me go there, try at least. That reason father me train so hard to be safe. Maybe us meet out there one day?" the boy answered in Common with a few small stops to find the right words. There was no need for him to mention that he was not better in Common than the girl as it was obvious. On the other hand the boy thought it was fun to talk with somebody who was as rough in the language as he was. It heightened his mood despite the sad thoughts this brought and the question at the end was half a joke that showed this while the other half expressed the idea that he would like such a surprise meeting.

[Kaie]

The comprehension was rather slow at first. The words rang emptily upon her ears for a moment while the slow churning clocks processes the foreign language. For the most part, it wasn't so terrible to understand. Like her, Moru's Common was not up to par with the worlds beyond the Suvan Sea. It made conversing far more basic. Their exchange got right to the guts. While the bravo of a fluent speaker always makes conversation more interesting, it was probably still over her head as far as comprehension. She was confident she could at least skate by if given such a challenge. All that threw her off were when to use pronouns as opposed to nouns.

Hold up. Should I be using me instead of my own name? Nah...I'll stick to what I've practiced. For now.

Moru's aspirations were admirable in the eyes of the older Myrian girl. As he should, he planned to rescue his mother from the depths of the barbarian world. Had Kaie been in his position, the very thought of hers being swallowed whole by such a land was traumatizing. If that didn't have the kind of impact that would set her on the bloodiest war path her clan had seen, few things would.


"Yes. If you go, hope we meet. Kaie want to see barbarians for self. See strange land and weapons. Go with father who knows the way, " She explained with a smile, glancing back down to the deer and peeling away from more of the skin. Soon enough they'd be finished with all the flesh splitting, and she'd be left to divide the meat. Hopefully they'd both be able to carry what remained. There were few things worse than wasting what little one could loot from the jungle. "Before you go, train much. Earn place with clan first. Make Goddess Queen proud. Then you go travel. Home come first," She advised him lightly though her brow yanked together gradually with the irony of her words. Was she rushing things? Should she be taking just one more year or two before she whisked her away to see beyond?

[Moru]

Moru kept working on skinning the deer too. He slowed a bit down if he needed to concentrate on his more basic knowledge of the Common tongue but never stopped. The way he had been taught important work came first and getting the deer divided before any predators showed up was important enough. It gave enough dangerous beasts out here a young boy and a teenage girl could not really hope to defeat. On the other hand he needed to concentrate on that work too because one wrong cut could ruin the pelt.
Skinning was one work the boy's stone knife seemed to be made for. The long draw cuts with the knife's side fit much better to the build of this tool than piercing through the skin. For this work the stone blade was nearly as good as Kaie's metal knife.

The young boy smile as Kaie answered that she too hoped they would meet again out there one day. With the outsider's living in his village he had more chances to use or just listen to the Common tongue which made it a little easier for him to find the right words or understand her. He probably knew not more words than Kaie did but he had at least some training in using them. He wasn't more fluent but maybe a little faster with understanding and answering.
The boy nodded but then he reminded himself that this was about talking in Common too. "Me sure go one day. In my village many outsiders you'll find. Can tell about new places." he old her in Common.

Already thinking about the meat Kaie was willing to give him Moru was sure he would be able to carry a haunch and the pelt back. It would be hard work and he would be exhausted but he was sure he could make it. But he realized the remaining meat might be a bit too much for one girl even if she was much bigger than he was. Looking shortly up into the trees the boy checked where he could safely hang his part of the prey and help her before he returned.
Kaie reminding him on the priorities pulled the boy's thoughts back to the present. He smiled a bit weakly at her because she sounded so much as his father. Moru knew she was right but he didn't like it very much. His childish sense of honor and courage wanted him to go immediately but alone this situation here was a reminder to him that he still had a lot to learn.
"Yeah, I know but I not like. If I now go me just die out there and not be help for mother. It be good to have place to bring mother to too after I find her." the boy answered a bit weakly.

"You think you be able bring all meat back to your people? I can hang my part into tree to help if not too far away." the boy offered. It seemed to be the proper thing to do to him and the change of the subject wasn't a bad idea either as far as the boy was concerned.