Winter in the Park [Semele's Park]

[Favchean Hronis]

Pale blue eyes crinkled a little at the corners when he smiled in a friendly fashion. She seemed at once very naive and very young, but yet her outward appearance put her at an adult age. As an Akalak, who also had a Konti for a mother, he knew the risks of judging age by appearances. "Yes everyone has secrets, but most people learn to tell lies and keep secrets in such a way that it does not draw attention to ones self. The obvious way you were dodging questions was a clear indication. Best to answer with vague answers directly."

Not that Favchean himself was adept at lying, that was his dark brothers venue though even he didn't do it often. There really wasn't much need to, so it was unusual when he ran across someone who felt the need. "It is a delicate balance, some of my brethren do not. They are the ones whit the bright tattoo on their faces. They are dangerous, but play an important role. However there is no balance with their two souls, and their light side has succumbed to the dark half." As she sat beside him, he noted she sat a little ways away which was a good thing, though he wouldn't harm her in any way.

"I don't remember a time when my brother wasn't here, and when he is in control I am still there. We are ...a nice blend. There is very little that he would do but I wouldn't ,or vice versus." He reclined back now. his arms moved back to bend at the elbow to keep his large torso up off the ground. She intrigued him, this woman of mysteries, though he couldn't point a finger at why. "So what are you going to do here in Riverfall before you are on your way?"

[Juriya]

Her gaze moved to the grass as she seemed to mentally repeat his advice on dodging questions. Once she felt she would remember it well enough, she lifted her gaze back to his dark features. "Vague answers will not always work though, not when people like you get too interested and start poking holes in them." Juriya responded as she leaned back on her hands and crossed her legs, the drying grass crinkling with her shifts in position. "At least you do not have conflict." She said as she listened to him speak about the balance between himself and Chaelvan. Her eyes moved about the horizon for a moment before she resumed her awkward staring. Sometimes she felt in conflict with herself. She was not a huge fan of lying, but sometimes it needed to be done she was realizing. But she also really just wanted to throw off all her clothes and take her other form and just run at times, but that little human conscious in her head reminded her that if she wanted to keep the entire city from finding out what she was, she had to try to act like a human. When he asked about what she was planning on doing before she moved on she blinked and regained her focus, pulling herself out of her own head and back into the present conversation. "Oh, I plan on finding a job, and maybe Kuvan status. Though if in a few seasons I don't find what I'm looking for I may move onto another city." She replied softly. "I would not mind living here forever though, it is nice."

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean laughed easily enough, not at all perturbed by the fact that she was holding secrets. He watched the other girl carefully, feeling rather lazy lounging on the grass when there were any number of things he could be doing. "How old are you Juriya, surely not so old to have learned that conflict is in everything you do. Just breathing and letting your heart beat is conflict between life and death."

He closed his eyes, and rolled his head to loosen his neck a habit that he had when he was in a resting state. "Kuvan status?" He asked, raising his arm to show the silvery tattoo on his wrist to show her his Kuvan mark. "I was granted mine in unarmed combat, but now I have also gotten competent in daggers. What weapon would you use to take your test?" This interested him, his slightly pointed ears just about quivering if they were able so attuned to her words that he anticipated. Weaponry and combat was a passion that many Akalak share, and Favchean is no different.

"If it is a weapon that I am competent in I can help you train." This was offered with a smile, and his eyes open as he rolled his head over to look directly at her.

[Juriya]

That panic hit her again when he asked her age, though she managed to reign in her emotions and not let them show on her face. Her mind raced until she remembered hearing a woman asked this same question and the weird response she used to evade it. Juriya had found it an odd way to reply at first, but if it worked for that girl, it could work for her. "A lady never tells." She tried to use the same smug tone she'd heard the woman use, but felt it wasn't as convincing. "But I suppose I understand what you mean." She said, transitioning her thoughts to his comment about conflict. A furrow began to form at her brow as she stared at the grass in thought over this, her form moving forward to hunch over her folded knees. As he brought up her desire to become a Kuvan she perked up immediately, like a dog hearing its owner calling for it. Her eyes moved to his large form and then to his wrist as he showered off his Kuvan mark. She inspected the silvery tattoo with awe for a moment before flickering her gaze between it and his face before lightly touching the skin, ready to pull back if this was crossing a line. Truly she was curious to see if the tattoo felt different from normal skin, she'd never felt one before. His sudden interest in this new topic seemed to seep into her posture as she appeared to grow more animated as she spoke with him. "Well, I'm not too shabby in Unarmed Combat." She replied, offering the slightest of smiles. "So perhaps you can indeed help me train." She was not entirely sure why, but the idea of planning a time to see this Akalak again was exciting, somewhat. At the very least she was not trying to think of ways of avoiding him for the rest of her life here in Riverfall. That had to count for something, after all, it meant perhaps she was making a friend. Worst case scenario, he could help her train her combat skills. The sudden worry that her being a Kelvic might disappoint him flared up suddenly. Would he still want to be her friend, or even train her if he ever found out? Would it even be fair to him for her to keep this huge fact about her a secret if they did end up becoming friends? She mentally shook her head, jumbling her thoughts around and letting the previous excitement she felt well back up as she watched the smile on Favchean's face. Her amber eyes reattached themselves to his face as she couldn't help but smile back, more earnestly this time.

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean tilted his head gently, watching and observing the other's reactions to his questions and then to his Kuvan mark. She was odd, a mixture of curiosity and an almost defensive avoidance of questions. When she avoided the question on her age, he simply shrugged and determined that she was going to be secretive and didn't want to reveal herself to him. Being a son of Akijia he understood this, though he also understood that she would be alone for her life if she continued this evasiveness with everyone, though perhaps it was simply to Akalaks.

When she brushed her fingers over his Kuvan mark, the inked spots feeling much the same as un-inked flesh. Unlike Chevas mark that is slightly raised a tattoo lays evenly on the skin. "Unarmed combat is a truly noble form of fighting. It pits the body against a body rather then using tools. It is indeed my favored form, and is why I chose to supplement my training with training in Daggers. They allow me to be able to more easily incorporate my unarmed skills."

As he talked about the combat styles and weapons his voice becomes animated, and while he does not put off a youthful air, his features did become more boyish when speaking of his passion. "The Tuvya Sasaran has a good training faciltiy, and mats for unarmed sparring." He offered with a smile, "I usually frequent there every other day. Its almost a second home for me."

He had an easy manner, he was generally at ease with most people in Riverfall. Often people look and saw Akalak, and thought dumb slow or worse they thought that he was malicious. He is not sure how that last stereotype got started, wasn't the father of Akalak's the god of integrity? However Favchean was the antithesis of the Akalakian stereotypyes, though with the exception of his preoccupation with weaponry and training his body.

[Juriya]

In a way she was glad he did not linger on her evasion of the question, but then another part of her felt torn, because she wanted to just speak the truth. He seemed so nice and interesting, the deception, or lack of truth was beginning to make her rethink her whole 'do not let people know what you are' plan. But for now she decided she would continue as planned and if she and Favchean did become close friends she would reveal he secrets then, there was no need to possibly chase him off him with what she was now. Her fingertip rubbed the tattoo for a moment and she couldn't help but shiver involuntarrily. It was smooth, as she assumed the rest of his dark skin was. As he began explaining his adoration of unarmed combat the woman decided it as time to relinquish his wrist and arm back to him and with the slightest disappointment she pulled her own hand back to lay in her lap with the other. She was not entirely sure why she was saddened by the broken contact, she supposed maybe she just had enjoy physical contact with another. Wolves were supposed to be pack animals. Her mind shifted back to the current conversation, unarmed combat. She smiled and nodded as he spoke, watching him intently as his tone and mannerisms displayed he truly had a love of training in combat. Juriya assumed all Akalak's must like combat skills then, since after all, one had to be competent in a weapon skill to become a Kuvan. Her face now felt as if it were permanently contorted into a smile, his energy and exuberance in the way he spoke about this passion of his was making her feel just as giddy and excited. "Perhaps I shall look into training there as well." It was interesting, how at first she'd be loathed to run into another sentient creature, but now, she felt as relaxed and calm as if she were just meant to be a social creature. The idea of socialization becoming easier for her seemed a hard one to fathom, was she just naturally a people person once she let go and tried or was this man just a relaxing presence, one she could let her guard down with? "Do all your kind get so excited about training and combat? I mean, from the few I've seen since I got here, you are all really... large and... muscly." Juriya watched him curiously as she asked the question. It was hard to picture such large brutes to be good at much else with their size, but she knew no to judge a book by its cover better than most. She was, after all, just a wolf in human clothing. It was not too hard to fathom that some of these Akalak may have enjoyed cooking, gardening, (especially from the way almost every inch of this place had plants growing,) or even scholarly activities.

[Favchean Hronis]

Despite the fact that the other closely guarded her secrets, Favchean had no problems speaking of himself and his race. He didn't really go into the details of the dual soul, for she hadn't lingered on that so it wasn't really hiding anything. He doubted if she realized exactly what it entailed to be an Akalak, with two minds, two opinions, two needs, two wants, other wise she would probably not be all that interested in learning about them.

"Most Akalak are excited about the prospect of weaponry and combat. Not because we wish to harm, kill or maim..well not as a race we don't, but because the body is something that is to be taken care of and maintained. We are always at the ready to defend Riverfall, and that makes it easier for us to focus on our combative arts." He shifts, now sitting fully up once more crossing his long legs in front of him. One hand raises to scratch at the shaven side of his scalp, feeling the gentle prickles of regrowth, it was time it seemed to shave again. "There are some unfortunate cases who are born without the ...aptitude for learning the art of weapons but for the most part we are all adept at learning the skill."

There was a sense of pride when he spoke of his race and of Riverfall itself. "We welcome all types into our city..with the exception of Zith and the male symenestra." The last is said with a dark glower, that he quickly erased. The male Symenestra was everything Favchean wasn't in his opinion. Kidnapping women, making them bear Symenestra children in doing so killing them. At least with Akalak women had a chance of surviving the birth, though lower then with other races. He didn't associate the Nakivak system as being almost similar to what the Symenestra did.

[Juriya]

As he explained his peoples love of combat and keeping the body maintained she just listened quietly. For the most part she could understand what he was talking about. She never had thought of things that way before, but she understood the viewpoint of wanting to keep ones body in peak physical condition. She wanted to keep her form lean and graceful so that hunting and running was not as difficult as it would be if she sat around and became fat and lazy. "It is good you have something you enjoy and are good at. I am like that with Hunting. It is wear I feel most at home, stalking through the wilds and looking for prey." The admission almost startled her. She had become so relaxed around Favchean she was not really thinking about things before saying them. Her mood shifted from being startled by her own admission to a new, tense feeling as he began speaking of the races they did not welcome. She had heard stories of Zith and Symenestra, but the only Zith she'd ever seen was just a picture in a book she'd flipped through once. It was a relief though, that she had never seen a Symenestra up close before. They did not seem like creatures she would be comfortable chatting with. Spiders were creepy enough without being personified in an entire race of long-limbed pale people with pointy teeth. The thought of running into one who wanted to eat her caused her to cringe and she realized she was not guarding her facial features. And as this realization hit her, so too did the one that he only said male. "Why do you let the females in?" The understanding that Akalak's were a male only species had not come to Juriya yet. While she had seen many big blue men running around the city and not really any blue women, she had not put two and two together yet, in fact she likely was not even that familiar with the Nakivak system. For all she knew Akalak's dug giant eggs out of the ground and they hatched fully grown and blue.

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[Favchean Hronis]

Her admission to loving to hunt struck him as odd, his brow furrowing for a moment. "You hunt?" He asked, clearly impressed for to stalk something out in the wild took skills that he didn't share. He hunted Zith when they came too close to Riverfall but otherwise his ability to track, snare, and spot game was sorely lacking. "I haven't had a chance to hunt, perhaps in exchange for training you you will teach me a little about hunting?"

He grinned easily enough at her words, and even at the grimace and shiver. She was perfectly safe here in Riverfall, the Akalak's would not allow a female within their walls to come to harm. "We tolerate Symenestra females. The females will not come in and kill our females with their offspring the way males will. Though they are watched so that they can't harvest our females." The last is said with a dark expression, his voice usually so controlled dropped to a low growl. Though Konti, his preferred race in his search for the mother of his children and hopefully a mate for life, are not targeted by Symenestra for their lack of ability to bear Symenestra children, he still felt strongly about females of any race -save the Zith- being mistreated in such a fashion.

"If I had my preference the Symenestra females would be under lock and key." He shrugged his shoulders, he had long since come to terms with the warring thoughts on reverence that females could carry life itself, but his disdain for the Symenestra.

[Juriya]

She nodded, stretching one leg out in front of her while the other remained bent at the knee and she leaned back, planting her hands on the ground to support her weight. "I think I could manage that." She said with a smile, though her mind was once again reeling. It was not impossible for her to hunt in her human form, jsut not her preferred method. It would have to do, though, as it was a fair trade, some knowledge on hunting for a partner to train unarmed combat with. This information on Symenestra caused her to peer at him curiously and lift a brow. "You guys are really protective of the women here." Then something doned on her, perhaps there were no female Akalaks. She'd never seen one. She'd seen the pretty pale girls with scales, and humans as well as multi-armed women, but no giant, hulking blue girl Akalaks. "You do not want the males here because they will die from the children they would give them, and you need the women to give you children, right?" She asked with a child-like amazement at her ability to guess all this. She really needed to improve her ability to observe people and learn more about the different races around Mizahar. Before she got too excited about this new discovery she made she began to wonder perhaps if Favchean was searching for a woman to have a child with. The idea was hard to understand in her mind. Juriya was not so young she did not understand biology and how a male and female often came together and created a child, but she wondered if the drive to find a mother for his children was a deep seeded survivalistic need, like the one all Kelvics felt, or if it was a personal need he wanted to fulfill.