Open Too Many Witnesses

[Waisana]

47th Winter 513AV

The bison expedition had returned.

As soon as Wasiana had heard, she'd had a longing to see what they'd brought back. The party that had gone had been sizeable, she'd seen them leave but she couldn't imagine how the party must look now with the new beasts. She couldn't help being curious, especially as there wasn't all that much going on at the moment. It would be good to have a bit of excitement.

The girl clutched her cloak tightly to her as a barrier against the chill in the air. The weather had grown cool enough for the first snow to fall some days ago and a chill had hung in the air since, the same as the snow had continued to hug the grass. The white flakes stuck to her boots as she moved through the drifts, their chill seeping in through the material to freeze her toes as she tried to navigate between the pavilions. She had to stop every so often to try to stamp some life back into her feet but they still felt numb and harder to move than usual.

As she emerged into a more populous part of the tent city, her foot caught on a rope concealed under the snow. She was slow to react as her foot jammed under the rope beside the peg that held it in place, banging against it and pulling it out in the process. The sudden release of its hold on her made her stagger forward rather than trip and sent her barreling into another pavilion head on. She bounced off the taut material and landed hard on her backside. The impact sent pains through her legs and she cried out in shock and pain, even as the laughter began to sound around her.

The young healer's cheeks grew hot and she tried to scramble back onto her feet. It wasn't easy because she hurt but nobody was coming to her aid, just laughing. There had been quite a few witnesses to her painful little fall but they'd sooner laugh than help apparently.

[Taylani]

Taylani was eager for the Bison expedition to return too, Fallan had gone because his leather working skills had seemed useful to have. She, herself, had stayed behind not having the skills that would be useful did not see the wisdom in risking her own life and that of Fallan's child. So she had stayed behind, and for the first time since her captivity - no longer truly such- she had been amongst the Drykas all alone. While she no longer held the Drykas in contempt or hatred, she did have trouble opening up to them so she stayed mostly to herself, or learning her midwifery lessons from Sharika.

Now, though, Fallan will have returned and that in and of itself put a small faint smile on Taylani's lips. Her belly was now starting to show, her breeches pulled taunt against the swell and her hand curved protectively over the bump that held her child. Ahead she heard laughter and her red brow crooked high over her blue eye when she saw what they were apparently laughing at. She was not Drykas but even she knew that was not very Drykas behavior, especially for someone who was wind marked. Where was the Drykas help Drykas spirit?

Shaking her head, Taylani moved forward to the younger girl, and let her hand fall forward, offering her hand to Waisana with a smile. "The snow is fun to play in, but sometimes its better to enjoy from our feet." The cold was not too bothersome to Taylani. It would have been much worse in Syliras, a cloak was tied tightly against the wind but the simple motion of walking through the camp kept her blood circulating.

[Waisana]

They probably would have helped her, after a fashion. It was much more fun to laugh at the clumsy girl right now despite the fact that that could have just as easily have been them sprawled in the snow. Tears of embarrassment had welled in her eyes and it blurred her vision, something she was grateful for in one sense because she couldn't see the mirth of the others but it also stopped her seeing something to help her up.

Stopping her attempt at rising to try to calm herself down, Waisana heard the laughter begin to die and feet begin to crunch through the snow towards her. They'd had their enjoyment out of it now and were obviously willing to help now. A bit late, she thought but any help would be better than none at all. She just had to blink away the tears that were threatening so that her helper wouldn't see how upset she was. Despite her embarrassing fall, she still had her pride intact. It'd make those who'd laughed at her feel guilty but that didn't mean that she wanted their pity.

The voice that came from above her was unexpected. Wiping her eyes in what she hoped was an inconspicuous way, the healer smiled up at the woman. "Taylani!" she gasped, almost crying with relief as she took the former dancer's hand. Grasping it firmly, she used the leverage to get to her feet, wincing as her backside and right hip ached.

It had been a hard fall.

The crowd that had stopped to watch her had turned away, looking purposely busy now that she was looking at them but she decided that they weren't worth her attention right now, instead turning a grateful look in Taylani's direction.

"Thanks, Tay. I really needed a hand there. How have you been?"

[Taylani]

Taylani tilted her head to the side, watching the young healer quietly. She returned the other girls smile though, and once she finished, Taylani reached out to try and snag the blonde's arm with her own. If she is successful she would start walking in the direction she was going. "Come on Waisana. Fallan should be back soon." Before Taylani would not have said that with a smile, but this time she did. She still was uncertain about her feelings towards him, only knowing that she no longer tried to hate him.

"He went with the bison expedition. How have you been?" She knew that Waisana and Fallan had no love for each other, so she did slow her trek through the tents though she could not contain the desire to see him. It was odd, feeling so alone after a full season of trying to keep herself separate. Her hand fell to the swell of her belly that was starting to protrude more pronounced now as she neared the end of her first trimester. On normal body types the swell might not be noticeable at all at this stage but for those who tended toward the long, too-thin, lanky body builds that are prevalent in dancers the bump becomes noticeable far faster.

[Waisana]

The woman's arm stretched out to lead Waisana in the direction that she'd been moving in and the healer allowed herself to be led. She had no idea where the woman was going but Taylani brought it up soon enough and it turned out that they'd been heading the same way and for similar reasons. She'd just been about to ask how the situation was between Taylani and her... well, between her and Fallan but the ex-dancer's smile seemed to say it all. Well, when the two women had last talked, Taylani had seemed happier to be with Fallan but things seemed to have improved between them if she was glad of his return.

"Oh well, that's good that you'll have him back. I hope they've brought back something good. We could do with it," she replied, her voice kept neutral as she tried not to let her opinion of Fallan colour her tone. The man had made good and true points when she'd come across him but that didn't mean that she had no to be angry with him. "I've been good, despite my epic fall just there. That was... embarrassing, certainly. I'll probably be covered in bruises tomorrow. As long as it's just bruises though, I don't mind."

The teen lapsed into silence then, catching the movement of Taylani's hand from the corner of her eye. The woman was pregnant but Waisana didn't know how far along she was. She had no idea when the woman had found out but it had obviously been before she'd told the horse maiden so could it possibly be a season?

"How's pregnancy been treating you? No problems, I hope. How far are you along now? A season, or close to it?" the healer inquired, her tone becoming professional and almost businesslike. It was a not so subtle reminder of her occupation and perhaps the young woman would realise that she could come to her if she needed anything.

The healer clipped her foot on a stone and tripped, sending shock waves up her leg. "Oh for goodness- Just go on, Tay. I think I might sit down for a bit to check that I haven't done myself an injury. I'll probably go to the healing tents and get something for the pain while I'm at it," the teen reassured the captive. Taylani looked reluctant to leave her but Waisana was insistent and once she mentioned that Fallan would be waiting, she was more willing to leave the youth.

Moving over to a little seat by the entrance of a pavilion, she brushed its surface before lowering herself onto it and beginning to probe and flex her ankle, muttering about her own idiocy as she worked.

[Hope Dawnwhisper]

* Hope * * The day had been an unproductive one, to say the least. It had been suggested numerous times that Hope headed out to join the foragers, and she had considered it, seriously enough to get a basket ready in preparation. She had decided against it, however, believing, possibly wrongly, that her attempts would be fruitless at such a time of year. She had, however, deigned to leave the Pavilion and see Dainellas. The horse was still not letting her near her hooves since the last incident, where Hope had almost ripped open the creature’s frog with the hoof-pick, but she was allowed to continue to brush the coat and stroke her… as long as she stayed well above the knee. Hope had apologized to the mare numerous times, and each time became less sincere as she felt like she was losing her only friend. The horse trusted her, yes, but not as much as her previous one, shadow had. “And look what happened to that poor beast,” a malicious voice muttered in the back of her mind, “The horse who trusted you with his life… ended up paying the ultimate sacrifice for that folly.” Tears pricked at her eyes and she blinked a few times, trying to keep them from falling. Hope had been told that Shadow was “lost”. It was nly later that she learnt, through the language barrier that the horse had just been lost to [i[her[/i], rather than her captors. It was possible that Shadow now belonged to one of the Drykas men who took her to the tent city; she hadn’t actively sought out the horse, and there was no chance of her having seen every horse kept by the peoples. Even though it was possible, Hope imagined that it was more likely that the horse was dead; the Drykas were horse-lovers, and it was likely that Shadow was put out of his misery before the journey to Endrykas had the chance to kill him. Walking aimlessly from visiting Dainellas, Hope heard a loud sound, almost like a cry. Looking around for the sound, she spotted two figures not far away from her, both female, one standing and the other on the ground. A few steps closer and she realized that she recognized both. Taylani, the pregnant Syliran girl was the one standing. A wave of cold shivered through the runaway slave as she remembered that it was that girl’s words which led her to Shahar that fateful day. It wasn’t that she disliked Taylani for sharing the purpose of the captives, more that she hated being reminded of what had happened. The other, the girl on the floor, was a Drykas girl, a nice child which an equally good-tempered horse. She was motioning for Taylani to carry on, and only then did Hope approach. “Waisana?” She asked, coming up behind the girl, “Hurt?” Her pronunciation was dire, she knew, and she could not form full sentences still in the Pavi Tongue, but she was trying, and starting the conversation in Pavi, even if it would take longer, was a good way to start. Hope assumed that Waisana would not indulge her slow efforts to learn the language should she actually be in pain.

[Waisana]

(Terribly terribly sorry for the delay. I kind of forgot about this)

Her fingers didn't find anything broken in her ankle which was a good sign. It didn't mean that there might not be a hairline fracture but it was unlikely. Her fingers continued to press around the swelling flesh. It was most likely just a sprain but it still hurt. The swelling could be brought down with something cool, which the snow could accomplish but she couldn't just put it straight on or she'd be causing more harm than good. She'd head back to the healing tents and get something that the snow could be kept in while the swelling went down. It'd have to be a careful trip or she might make the damage worse.

Raising herself up carefully, she put weight on her foot gingerly and made to limp back the way she'd come. A voice that she recognised from somewhere made her look around and she smiled as she realised who it was. "Hope! Hello!" she called in Pavi before switching to the language that the captive was more proficient at. Common would make the conversation go an awful lot faster. "I'm all right. I just hurt my ankle a bit. I'm going to the healing tents to get something for it," she explained, moving close to the girl with slow, careful steps. She could ask her to come with her, the support would help, but she wasn't sure if the girl would oblige. She was almost embarrassed to ask her for help. They didn't know each other very well and the healer was usually very independent. She was also practical though so if Hope was forthcoming then the horse maiden would gladly take the help.

"I'm not very steady on my ankle right now, it's quite sore. I'm wobbly. Would you... mind walking to the tents with me?" she asked, chewing on her lip, before continuing hurriedly, "The support would really help me. The less weight I put on it the better. If you''re heading somewhere else though I won't upset your plans. Just if you have the time." Her expression was hopeful as she regarded her acquaintance. It'd make her life considerably easier if she had help but she could only hope that Hope was both sympathetic and had free time on her hands.