Flashback Horsing Around [Billie]

[Lissa Maze]

Lissa Maze Lissa wondered for a brief moment if she had been the obnoxious in comparison to the stable's typical peaceful--she hoped not. She didn't like to be a nuisance. As Billie continued, though, Lissa decided that she had not meant to call Lissa obnoxious, but rather make a more general statement. Syliras was peaceful--famously so. Lissa tried to rustle up everything she knew about Sunberth and came up...empty. The name, she knew; but the culture, the history, even where it really was--all of them were a mystery to the girl. So it wasn't peaceful. And, she learned, it was a place you could be pretty independent. Probably not as many nosy neighbors, based on what Billie said... “Independence is important, I agree. I had an abundance of it when I was growning up. Everything I could do on my own, I did all by myself. If I was raised anyother way I might be dead by now, actually.” Lissa nodded, fascinated. "You learned a lot on your own?" she queried, excited. She was on her own now--how much she might learn, then..."What's Sunberth like?" The question burst out just as Billie posed one of her own. Lissa mentally shrugged--she never knew why people were so embarrassed about such interruptions. It wasn't as if one person could have known the other was about to speak, and anticipated, and prevented it. How could simple coincidence be rude? To be sure, sometimes you could tell someone was about to speak--but really. Communication was all about the words and hearing, right? Lhavit, and Wind Reach! So far away. Wind Reach sounded like something out of a story to Lissa--the very name seemed to suggest that the air, the wind, was something alive, there....and it had birds, she thought. Eagles? Someone had told her about the eagles in Wind Reach. Neither of them, of course, were anywhere near as exciting as her own choice. "Avanthal," she replied almost instantly. "I mean, my mum was more Vantha than anything, and that's where lotsa my family had to've come from, then. And...there are still horses there, so it's an alright place, and stories. And it's probably different from here." She knew fairly little about Avanthal, really, but there had to be a lot to see there. But all this talk of travel made Lissa wonder, and to her surprise she was nervous. She rather liked this odd connection with a woman she'd seen on and of, and she liked the woman's horse. "Are you planning on leaving Syliras, then?"

[Billie]

Billie smiled and chucked at the teen’s question, which was very nieve. The city would chew her up and spit her out if she ever ventured there without any kind of skill in combat. And even still, she would be mistrusted and looked down on there. Lissa wasn’t a predator, so she’d become the prey. “Sunberth is an anarchy.” She began “It’s a lawless town where criminals walk the streets without fear of prosecution.” She continued, “Sunbethians have a strong dislike for any kind of authority. It’s not the ideal holiday destination for outsiders who’d like to keep their life, lets just say that.” She said “I wouldn’t go back there without cause, but I don’t hate the place, It’s my hometown afterall.”

Lissa went on to praise Advanthal, naming it as a place she’d want to visit because her mother was from there. All Billie knew about that place was it was cold. Very cold. And that it’s people have beautiful eyes that changed colour to depict what they were feeling, like the celestial lights that coloured the sky at night. After all the talk of travling the globe, it was no surprise what Lissa’s next question was.

“Eventually, I guess.” Billie answered vaguely “But I’m going to stay here, find a job, practice my hunting skills first.” She decided “Leaving a town is a big commitment since traveling is so difficult.” She shook her head and her mood quivered a little “And there’s some things I gotta figure out.” She was far too much of a mess to leave yet. She needed to make some good friends here, and remain in one place for a little while. Lonely months traveling at this point would. Sula was great, but she didn’t talk back like people did.

“So, apart from working with horses and storytelling, what other things can you do?” She asked eventually. Billie had a vague idea of how to carve things out of wood, and Lacey had been a singer so she had tried that before. Not that she would ever do that in front of anyone else without some serious convincing.