Swimming in The Sea of Grass [Van & Satu]

[Satu]

Vanator’s voice was husky in Satu’s ears. But his Heart, how it mimicked her own! Anticipation, Passion, Curiosity, and even a hint of Fear. She surprised herself by feeling all these things for the Drykas. It was different for the suvai fighter, these feelings he sparked within her, and this new emotional tide that coursed through her Heart Vessel. It was so immense and encompassing, the HeartSeer almost felt drugged. His earthly eyes held hers, and the emotions were there to read easily. And from some faraway place she wondered how long they could hold one another’s gaze. Vanator’s rough and tanned hand gently brushed a stray hair from her pale face and Satu’s hand lifted to embrace his fingers, and to place them against her cheek. Desire! He felt it! And she felt it within both of them! But they hovered upon an invisible ledge, each unsure what the next moment would bring. Unknowing if it should continue or not… He was talking, and the words floated about her. Satu had to focus intently on his meanings instead of on the feelings in her own body, and the waves she felt from his. “I do not know,” Satu whispered, “I practice the art of Divination. The visions come to me and I see them. Avalis sweetly offers them… But I do not know how you also see it. I have never experienced such a sharing before…” And her mind slid easily to the memories of vision once more, and her eyes closed briefly, making her face glow in the sunshine. Her body then touched his, along his length; she was so close her body almost molded itself to him. “Your want is also my want… I feel it. I feel it! Yet, as it threatens to consume me, time is moving and changing, there is little time left between us.” So little time… it moved too quickly, she was aware of every moment that passed, as it felt pressed against her for the briefest instant. And always the pull of Drainira’s thread tugged upon her and Satu’s Heart beat wildly in want, and confusion, and… she had to act swiftly!

[Vanator]

Drykas and Konti drank from one another's gaze, earthy brown and stunning azure. Satu's eyes gleamed the same deep hues of his half-sisters', which were the only thing the horseman had in way of comparison, never seeing the blue water of the tropics. But this woman's gaze was different then that of the Denusk Kontis. There was an otherworldliness to it, a mystical magnetism that held Vanator's attention, not by force, but only by the fact that he did not want to look away from their exotic beauty, that he could not stare deep enough into their depths. His eyes only left her long enough to dart to her hand as it entwined with his, pressed against her smooth cheek. Her whispered words reached his ears over the roar of his heartbeat resounding in them. Diviner, seer, a Konti in the truest sense. But even she admitted she had not experienced such a connection. Van did not understand what was happening, why it was happening, and how it had become so overwhelmingly intense. Then Satu pressed against him. One leg shifted back to steady his balance as the Konti's lithe body fit against his, sparking a dangerous jolt along Vanator's nerves. She felt his want for her, and he knew desire had arisen withing Satu as well. How had it come to this? The Drykas had instinctively placed his free hand on Satu's hip, feeling the worn texture of her leathers, his other still linked with hers, resting against her lovely face. She was nearly as tall as him, and from the contours he could feel pressed against his form, he knew that her milky skin concealed lean muscles firmed with much use. He had gone far, much farther than he had ever believed they would. His senses were awash in savoring every aspect of the Konti, even the strange feeling of her presence in their quasi-djed bond. Satu spoke again of time, of the urgency of the moments they shared. What was there so little time for? Vanator's desires spoke to him of an urgent need, but with the mysterious Satu, he did not know if some more ethereal event was to take place. It was if he was in a dream, unreal, yet alive with real emotions and wants, and entirely too tactile to be a figment of his imagination. Fueled by Satu's own desires, seemingly swirling around him like a thick mist, Vanator acted on his driving feelings. Slipping his hand from Satu's face to the back of her head, taking her hand with him, Vanator leaned in, painfully slow, his eyes making contact with the Konti's before pressing his lips firmly against hers. The mood was too intense for a small peck, and Vanator's kiss lingered, pressing, lips sliding slightly against Satu's. With tremenous effort, Van then pulled away, his lips tugging slightly at hers as they parted. When his gaze fell once again to the Konti's smoldering blue gaze, she could see the desperate dilemma of Vanator's heart. "Satu, my heart belongs to others." The words were hushed and breathy, the resolve in them wavering even as he uttered them. He was confused. What if she was right, what if their paths, their threads, crossed here and now for a purpose? Why had this strange sharing occurred? What this...what they wanted...to serve some purpose, or had his own libido turned the encounter into something far more sensual? Heart and mind and core wrestled even as his hand pulled Satu closer against him, warmed by her, his control waning. Had it been any other woman, Vanator could have turned her away without effort. This one, this woman had seized upon him in some way.

[Satu]

His body stood solid against the press of Satu’s lighter frame; Konti against Drykas. Woman against Man. Satu, who normally felt no fear, felt it coursing thunderously through her veins. Afraid to move, she feared to break the mystical connection between them, but she was also fearful to let the link between them spiral out uncontrollably. At his touch to her hip, sensations flared and her attention moved with the Drykas’ hand. Her breath grew forced. Drainira’s thread still pulled at her, but the Konti ignored the urge to continue her journey, so lost was she within the vortex of shared emotions. She watched his face draw near, each line and each sun mark noted with interest. Panic rose to flare in her eyes, but Satu pushed it down and down. His intent was clear. So slowly did he lean towards her, that she understood. His tanned hand at the back of her head pulled her in and she did not fight him; his touch somehow reassured the previously mistreated Konti. The HeartSeer stilled as his lips brushed hers, the kiss thawing the coldness in her Heart, as her body slowly remembered what it was like to not be scared or injured by touch. And when Vanator pulled away, she almost cried at the absence of this new balm on her spirit. "Satu, my heart belongs to others..." the man’s words, like his Heart showed confusion, and so stopped any protest the Konti might have had, but she answered, her own confusion reflected in her voice, “Do I take you from them? Or ask you to forsake them? No. They are yours for as long as you wish them to be. You and I share but one brief moment in the weaving…” They were so close, they overlapped. What was happening between them? Her logical mind answered, that they wasted time, but this was so much more than that. Vanator’s hand was firm against her, and he pulled her even closer. She forgot once more the world around them. They were almost eye level, her moistened lips parted in want, and her lips touched his softly at first. She found a new energy and a new desperation, and the kiss deepened as desire took her. His stubble was scratchy and rough, so different from the smooth skinned women she had been intimate with in the past. Her need was great and deep in her throat as she purred, and her hands moved to hold his face in a surprisingly strong grip. Something was restored that she hadn’t known was lost. But something changed then with the new feelings that flooded her. Panic took hold of Satu’s body, and threatened her stability. Men’s faces! Men’s hands! Her own hands suddenly shook, lowering to Vanator’s chest and she pushed herself away from him, her desire. Oh Avalis! She was breaking their sweet connection! Silent tears filled her eyes, though no drops fell upon her pale cheeks. And her hands fell to the side, as they continued to shake. She hurt! Satu wanted him in the most desperate way, but yet… she could not bring herself to continue. The scars were too deep, and the pained look on her face was heartbreaking. Satu could only stare at the man before her sadly, as she stood in the grass. She had no words; she was lost again but this time in regret.

[Vanator]

Vanator's heart pounded so violently in his chest he was sure Satu, pressed against him, would feel it. He understood the conflicting message he sent, his embrace saying one thing, his words trying vainly to convey another. They stood in the physicial and the ether, struggling against not only the familiar emotions and attractions of man and woman, but the extraordinary intertwining on a higher level of consciousness. It confused while threatened to overtake them. Satu's gaze had changed. The confident, mystical and at times arguably insane countenance she once possessed was replaced by very human qualities, apprehension and passion. Her words, like honey and oil, sounded so reasonable. The Konti posed no threat, they were shadows that passed for a breath in the time line of their individual lives. She could not take him from his wives, she said. But the electric sensation vibrating through him caused him to fear, wondering that if Satu ever showed up in Endrykas, would she turn his world upside down? With the Drykas teetering on the edge of abandon, the beautiful outlander kissed him again, pushing him over the edge, the embrace of their mouths deep and wanting and wonderfully sensual. He sighed as her hands flew to his face, her hands strong yet delicate, calloused but somehow feeling soft. Then she changed. In an instant the desire in her eyes fled, leaving a gaze that was fearful. Not as before, but one that seemed tinged with terror. Satu suddenly pushed off of him, and their connection tore away. Vanator groaned aloud as her warmth, her touch, her presence in his being was ripped from his longing, desperate grip. Once again, the strange, unpredictable Konti spun a new twist on him. Vanator stood, panting, as the seductive, passionate woman became cold and withdrawn, pain and secret tragedy evident in her moistening azure eyes. "Satu," The horseman spoke softly, hoarsely, "I...what...don't..." He was at a loss. Of course the egocentric man believed he had done something wrong. Unsure of what he could have done to so abruptly offend her, how he could have hurt her, Vanator tried to clear his mind, still possessed by his desire for Satu, the need she had ignited within him. Maybe he had gone too far, maybe they were just playing a game, maybe his kiss crossed some invisible line. But seeing the deep hurt in her gaze, the Drykas' heart went out to Satu. " I am sorry if I offended you Satu, I just, have never experienced anything like that before, never experienced anyone like you." His hand moved out as if to touch her, but hesitated, then fell back to his side. He was surprised at his own desolation at their separation, feeling a longing for even the smallest contact with the Konti. "Please..." Again his hand raised, but it did not move to touch her, instead hovered, palm up between them, an invitation to take hold of it.

[Satu]

A line of quiet tears slid down Satu’s cheek as one buried memory rose to the surface of her mind. It was only a partial remembering of when she had been abused by the men of Opportunity, but still it was too much for the sensitive Konti. Not once in the past year had anyone seen Satu in such a vulnerable state. She looked scared, and she appeared softer, and smaller, like the girl she had once been. Her liquid eyes could not hold Vanators and the threads that bound the two travelers slowly began to disperse. The Konti, unable to hold her focus could not keep them. Her eyes watched sadly as the gossamer lines faded, so similar to when her youthful innocence had slipped away between the cold bars of that cell. Satu watched Vanator’s calloused hand extend out for her, only to fall back down before she might move to retrieve it. But then he lifted it towards her once more and her eyes raised to his. Indecision filled her Heart, and Guilt flared in his. What should she do? What should she do? This loss of confidence was foreign to Satu. But she was blanketed and slowed by the nearness of tragic memory. The dry grass brushed against Satu’s scaled legs. “You are not those men.” She said again so sadly, searching the lines of his compelling face for understanding, “yet I remember their touch. There were too many. I did not know what to do.” It was a confession, one she had never made before. Satu was not embarrassed or ashamed, but more deeply hurt than she knew. What manner of thing had passed between her and the Drykas that she could share her hurtful past? Her eyes still held the horrors of it, freshly remembered. Again she looked at his hand, and said to it, “Your heart is different. And I don’t know how to…” But she didn’t elaborate on what she didn’t know how to do. “Am I damaged? And broken?” she questioned, more to herself than him, attempting to look inward, but only for a moment. Already she tried to push the memory away, and Satu was caught between who she had once been and who she was now. For a moment she understood what she had become, “You should not be here… with me. It is not… safe.” But her wounded eyes said otherwise, and the curve of her body suggested otherwise. Still she felt the undeniable pull as her chest tried to contain her breath and her Heart was torn between the memories of the past and the Drykas before her. And her fingers moved painfully slow towards his offered hand.

[Vanator]

In a moment, the physical world that seemed so small and close around Satu and himself, and the dimensionless awareness they shared in another realm was abruptly replaced with the waning wisps of that other world, and the Konti, human and horse standing like minute specks in the vast carpet of the grasslands. It was like a splash of cold water in Vanator's face, and the fire that the intimate closeness to Satu had stoked died down to embers. A tear caught the morning sun as it slid down Satu's alabaster cheek. There was stark silence, only the rustling of the winter wind through the undulating dry grasses. The Konti now seemed so small and fragile. There was fear in her countenance and the sight of her sudden vulnerability brought an ache to Vanator's heart. His hand remained extended, patient as the glistening blue eyes avoided his gaze. After a mournful pause, Satu's eyes lifted again to look at him. Her voice, soft and subdued, washed over him like bitter water. She did not have to elaborate, her few words sufficient for him to discern the tragedy that Satu had experienced. He felt a pang of guilt, that his actions may have opened grievous wounds that had not fully healed. He thought of another Konti that had suffered at the hands of men, his own Konti sister, and the thought of Kavala being abuse so had torn his heart from his chest. Compassion welled within him, his hand stretching a fraction closer to the woman. The Konti continued, and the Drykas listened, as if a witness to the confusion Satu wrestled in her mind. He could see the uncertainty in her posture, the contradiction between words and emotions. She admonished him, warned him against staying with her. Only then did Vanator speak. "I am not like those men. I hunt them. I will not harm you, nor leave you unprotected." His brown eyes held hers in confidence, their gold specks glinting in the sun. He was patient as her hand edged torwards his, her slender pale fingers sliding across his, her palms coming to rest atop his. Vanator's fingers curled carefully around her hand, gently. He did not advance upon her, not even a step. He would not force his comfort on her, she would have to take it willingly. He spoke softly but strongly, "And there is nothing broken that cannot be fixed."

[Satu]

“Nothing is broken that cannot be fixed…” The man’s words reverberated in Satu’s mind. Broken. Fixed. Broken. Fixed. Her hand so shaky in his just a moment ago stilled in uncertainty. She turned her body and her head from him, even as he held her hand so gently. That vulnerable place was too great. Her fragile mind could not remain in it for long. The hurt! Her face contorted, but Vanator would not be able to see the inner struggle transforming her features. Satu’s defenses flared within. And the thought came unbidden to her mind from its depths, and she replied with quiet feeling, “Unless one can be reformed… Stronger.” For wasn’t she now more than she had been? She was! She was more! And she pushed, and pushed that pathetic other away. And like a starving woman who suddenly finds food, strength returned instantly, filling her Heart with Power. Satu’s eyes flashed, and she turned back to face him, innocent no longer, even with the still wet tears upon her face. She watched him with delicate strength and deadly grace as if it had always been there. Soft no longer, challenge was in her very being. She smiled then as traces of their closeness still pooled in her eyes, but there was a wild quality to it, untamed and unafraid. “You should leave,” she warned, as she wished him not to. Her scales sparkled. The Konti stood taller, more striking for the renewed strength in her exotic features. Her hand still held his, but there was a different quality to it, one of spirit and challenge. “I am not what you think, no longer do I need protecting like some Weak kitten… Your Compassion is misplaced.” She added, seeing so easily into his Heart, as she watched it again, observing his reactions. She was on edge now, and her form fitting leathers creaked softly in the silence between them. Like the fighter she was, she stood ready, on the balls of her feet. She was beautiful in wildness and unpredictability. Yet still she felt the pull of him, and the attraction. Though now she was not afraid, or even fearful. In need of him, her nostrils flared softly. But her hand withdrew. And she turned once more to follow Drainira’s thread with her line of sight, before she turned regally once more to face him. “We have not finished yet, Drykas man...” She taunted. For something had kindled within her at his touch, and at his kiss. Slowly one foot took a step backward in to the long grass, and then another as she retreated from him. Her hips moved suggestively and hypnotically, each movement filled with deadly precision. “But I have tarried too long.” The thread called. Power called. “We shall meet again.” She said, as warning. And perhaps at that unknown time her attraction towards him would be fulfilled. In the distance, a caravan sent up clouds of dust as it approached.

[Vanator]

The change in Satu was visible first in the subtle nuances. The sudden firmness of her hold on his hand, steady after a moment of tembling. Her body had shifted, as if to shield him, or herself, from the lingering attraction that had threatened to to ensnare them both. Satu's face looked away, her eyes averted. A scowling mask passed over her delicate pale features before the Konti turned back to look at him with newfound resolution. In an instant he saw again the woman he had met the night before. Self-assured, determined and more than willing to test her physical and mental prowess against the Drykas man. Her posture shifted from frail uncertainty to confident, almost challenging. Vanator mourned for a breath the woman he had held in his arms moments ago. She had captivated him, enthralled him. But perhaps he had touched upon places the Konti had been wounded, her words had suggested as much. Regardless of who that Satu was, the horseman was sure she was now gone. The determination and strength behind the flash of Satu's penetrating blue eyes ensured him of that. Vanator remained fixed in her gaze, his hand no longer holding hers in delicate compassion, but with strength, as if gripping the hand of a rival before a match. Satu's Cerulean eyes hinted at many things, some alluring, others threatening, all wild and untempered. Vanator found them no less thrilling, perhaps more so, like the eyes of a dangerous predator one wished to hunt. Again she warned him, as if she were more of a danger than the predator-filled savannah's surrounding them. She rejected his compassion, and he withdrew it, for he saw Satu no longer needed nor desired it. That heart-felt concern for her was replaced by a grudging respect. Yes, she seemed even more beautiful now, the morning sun reflecting from the hint of scales on her skin, her head tilted up in defiance, eyes deep and rich with passion for things he could not see. She was like a fine white lioness, grace in her powerful legs, strength in her lean muscled arms and profound self awareness in her squarely set jaw. Perhaps it was for the best that they part ways, for Vanator could easily lose himself pursuing this fascinating woman. It seemed she may not need his protection afterall. Somehow the mysterious Satu had made it this far alive. Somehow he knew she would make it to the end of whatever this thread was she followed so zealously. Her steps backward pulled her hand from his, their eyes locked, Vanator unwilling to let go of her gaze, still yearning for what had been so very near, enlightening and magnetic. Finally the beautiful leather-clad Konti made her ominous promise, that the two of them would cross paths again. As she turned to walk away, towards the caravan in the distance, the Drykas secretly prayed, against wisdom, that they would indeed meet again. Vanator watched Satu make the trek towards the slow moving train from atop his horse. The man would not return to his own until he knew she was safe with others. Or, was it that he could not bring himself to turn away from the sight of Satu as she exited his life.

[Baku]

Thou has written, and thou has completed, so I award thee the following.... Satu: +5 Observation, +5 Rhetoric, +1 Navigation, +3 Riding, +5 Dancing, +3 Fortune Telling, +3 Seduction Lore: Following Drainira’s Thread, Awkward in Crowds, Integrating For Secrets, Being Led Astray, A Drykas’ Caution Ignored, One Track Mind, Seeking Hidden Signs, Declarations of the Heartseer, A Realization of Necessities, The Sway Another’s Heart Holds, Compelled by Message, Trying to Reassure Trust, Impatience Over Rest, Questioning Reservations, The Web, The Dance of the Heartseer, Challenge in the Dance, What Time Reveals, Seeing in a Different Light, A Risky Prospect, Shared Emotion, Loss in Regret, Fear of Unfamiliar Surroundings, Refocused Determination Vanator: +2 Webbing,, +5 Observation, +5 Rhetoric, +5 Riding, +1 Negotiation, +5 Dancing, Lore: Waking by Webbing, Intercepting Intruders, Giving Chase, Urging Caution, Not Mistaking Determination for Arrogance, Offering Options, The Heartseer’s Declaration, Offering Heart, Suggesting Other Chances, The Many Emotions of Satu, Offering Escort, Explaining Situations to Family, Questioning Choices, Knowing When to Rest, Revealing Reasons for Reservation, The Chavi, Offering Clothes, Learning to Dance, Challenge in the Dance, What Time Dictates, Caution Over Magics, Shared Emotion, The Claimed Heart, A Vow to Protect, Letting Go Despite Yearning Additional Notes: An interesting read, and one of the longest threads I’ve had to grade yet. Philisophical with a hint of “Damsel/Konti in distress who will gut you for helping” and with a twist of crazy. A good read.