Flashback Fast Friends

[Fyra Ashworth]

Col was preoccupied by his bread, but Fyra noticed Elauni's gaze shift from them to the alleyway. She decided to keep an eye out, knowing that Col would not. She took a break from eating to watch and to wonder...

"Do you steal often, Elauni?" Fyra asked. "I don't mean to pry or anything. It's just that you were really natural back there." Fyra took her hair out and rebraided it in an attempt to seem more put-together. In reality, she was not used to having personal conversations. She and Col had never had to talk to understand each other. Or, at least, Fyra could not remember a time when they had had to speak. Granted, they met when she was very small; maybe she just didn't remember what it was like then.

Also, Col was a boy and her cousin. The only other girl her age that Fyra really talked to was Nicola, and those conversations mostly consisted of chiding remarks and rolling eyes.

Fyra had so many questions for Elauni. They hung at the tip of her tongue like raindrops to a leaf. Yet she held them back, knowing that listening was an important part of friendship.

Friendship? Is that what this was? Fyra had never had a friend outside of her family. She felt curious and excited and nervous all at once.

For a fleeting instant, Fyra remembered her hands. She was very conscious of the fact that they were closed around the loaf, palms hidden. Even if Elauni did grow to trust her, even if they did grow to be friends, she doubted that anyone in Sunberth would accept her if they knew her secret.

But the thought lasted only for a moment.

[Elauni]

Elauni's mind had begun to wonder then from whether they were being followed to what her plans for the rest of the day would be. She took slow, non attentive steps toward the nearest wall to her left, where she slowly turned to lean back against the rough brick surface. The entire alleyway looked ancient, cracked and broken all the way down, no one caring enough to fix it. That's how most of Sunberth looked though, so it was nothing new. "Do you steal often, Elauni?" Fyra asked curiously. Elauni stared ahead at the ruined wall opposite of her. Her thoughts flashed to her daily life, doing illegal activities of all sorts to aid her Uncle with his 'work.' Yes. She stole often, but she was sure she shouldn't be so up front about it with these children. She barely knew them after all. Fyra gave a quick explanation as to why she had asked, but Elauni had thought nothing of it. She didn't mind curiosity from those who sought to inflict no harm upon her. Elauni glanced at the girl as she started to re-braid her messed hair, "Occasionally. When I need to." That should be vague enough to answer the question without revealing too much of her activities. Elauni had never been one for small talk, so she did her best to stay attentive and speak appropriately when spoken too. The single word sentences she shared with her Uncle were just about all she got now of days, and that wasn't much to go off of for socialization skills. Scanning over the girl, she noticed how she seemed to be sitting on edge, as if she wanted to say something but chose not to do so. She chose to pass it off for later. The girl would speak to her when she felt the need. Her mind then roamed to the situation at hand again. They had been in the same spot for a while now, and should probably be moving to another place to reside away from prying eyes and vengeful spirits that may have been out looking for her. "We should probably go soon," She spoke to the kids. "You could come with me if you like, if not, I have no problem heading out." She offered the two a friendly smile waiting for the answer.

[Fyra Ashworth]

"Occasionally," Elauni answered. "When I need to."

Fyra was taken somewhat taken aback by her answer. Although she lived in Sunberth, Fyra was lucky enough to be fed if not well than at least consistently. Fyra had always viewed stealing as a choice. From her perspective, work was plentiful. She had thought that people stole for the thrill of it, or because they were too lazy or simple to do other work, not so much by necessity. How had Elauni, who seemed both intelligent and talented, gotten herself into such a desperate situation that she needed to steal?

But that was definitely not the type of question to ask so soon into a friendship. Fyra may be new to the concept, but she wasn't a fool.

To keep herself from asking too much too soon, Fyra took a huge bite of her loaf of bread, so huge that when Elauni said, "We should probably go soon. You could come with me if you like, if not, I have no problem heading out," Fyra was unable to answer. Elauni's words were hard and cold, but her smile was welcoming. Perhaps she wasn't accustomed to conversation. "It must be difficult not living with other children around," Fyra thought.

Fortunately, Col, who had already devoured his bread, was prepared to speak, "Sure, we'll come along! Uhhh.... Wait, where are we going?"

Fyra rolled her eyes, swallowed her bread, and added, "My uncle, Col's father, gave us a day off from work. By that I mean hunting. Usually we'd be in the woods right now, shooting down deer and trapping rabbits and... well, you get the idea. But since we have the day off, we're free to do whatever we want so long as we're home for dinner." Fyra grinned, ready for their next adventure together, no matter how big or small.

[Elauni]

OOCI apologize for how late I am with posting, and for the short length of the post. They will get longer and more frequent, I promise. So these children were hunters? Elauni had never actually gone hunting in her life. She was more accustomed to taking what she needed. She looked Fyra and Col over, you couldn't tell just by looking at them, but Elauni had learned over the years to never judge a book by it's cover. These two connected well, and Elauni was sure that benefited them while out on the hunt. Communication is everything when you are in teams. She wondered who did what while in formation. Elauni wouldn't mind learning a little bit about what these people do. She walked at a steady, slow pace out of the alleyway, met with sunlight that couldn't reach her while she was under the shadow of the walls. It really was a beautiful day; the perfect weather in fact. She turned on her heal then, a little too quickly, she almost startled herself with the action. Regaining herself, she offered the two kids a smile. "Would you show me?" She realized how nonspecific she may have sounded. She frowned for a second, shaking her head, "I mean, would you show me how you hunt?" Elauni was truly fascinated now with the prospect of learning something new. She was a sucker for bettering herself. She hoped she wasn't moving too suddenly invading these two's daily activities. She was bored of her normal routine. The lack of excitement that went on in her life now of days was less far too little for her own liking. She was always weary of new faces, but these two did not give her the impression of dishonesty that most others that dwell in this city have. She hoped they would agree, and maybe teach her a thing or two.

[Fyra Ashworth]

Fyra and Col let Elauni lead the way out of the alley, into the sunlight. They had no idea where they were going, but they trusted Elauni enough to follow.

All of a sudden, Elauni turned around sharply to face them. She was so quick about it that Fyra and Col almost bumped into her. Elauni asked, "Would you show me?"

Col cocked his head to the side; Fyra squinted her eyes. Before they could ask her to explain, Elauni added, "I mean, would you show me how you hunt?" She seemed genuinely excited about the idea.

Fyra and Col had only hunted with Uncle Nicolas before. He had always been the one teaching them, not the other way around. Would they be able to explain it as well as he did? Fyra hoped that their ability to hunt was as impressive as Elauni's knack for stealing.

"Sure, we can teach you. We just have to go to the woods first. Uh, this way," Fyra said, taking the lead.

Col walked behind Fyra, next to Elauni, as they made their way out of the city. "You have to be quiet in the woods, otherwise the animals will hear you and run. You're a good runner, but you're nothing compared to a deer or rabbit. You'd never catch them on foot. No offense."

"Only an arrow can catch them," Fyra added.

"Yeah, because arrows fly like birds, and birds are the fastest of all. Birds can even catch rabbits, if they want to," Col explained excitedly, his hands gesturing wildly as he did so.

"Only if the bird is big enough though."

"Well, yeah, obviously. A little bird can't pick up a rabbit. But a big bird... now I mean really big... can. We've seen it happen before. It's incredible! The bird was huge! Like bigger than this!" Col held his arms wide.

Fyra chuckled. "It wasn't that big."

"Yes it was! It was huge!" Col exclaimed.

"Excuse my cousin, Elauni. He has a wild imagination sometimes. Have you ever been hunting before?" Fyra asked. She could talk about hunting forever, but she didn't want her new friend to feel left out. Besides, Fyra was more interested in learning about Elauni.

[Elauni]

Elauni watched the two's expressions go from confused to unsure. She hoped that she hadn't been too forward with asking this of them, but she was sure she hadn't been. These two didn't seem like they were going to reject anything she brought up. The looks on their faces seemed more unsure as of what to do rather than debating on whether or not to actually show her. She vaguely wondered how much they actually knew, but passed it off, anything was better than nothing, and right now, in this area of expertise Elauni had no knowledge what so ever. Fyra spoke up first, "Sure, we can teach you. We just have to go to the woods first. Uh, this way." She took the lead, heading off one way, and Elauni and Col followed closely behind, side by side. Fyra strode steadily, and though it was quiet at first, because Elauni had no words that could break through her current excitement, Col spoke next. "You have to be quiet in the woods, otherwise the animals will hear you and run. You're a good runner, but you're nothing compared to a deer or rabbit. You'd never catch them on foot. No offense." Elauni couldn't help but chuckle about Col's last comment, and his quick apologetic reply, but she already knew he meant no harm. "None taken." "Only an arrow can catch them," Fyra added then suddenly. Elauni then looked to her then with bright blue eyes to see what else she had to add. Every bit of information could be useful. Col was quick to speak up then, "Yeah, because arrows fly like birds, and birds are the fastest of all. Birds can even catch rabbits, if they want to." Col had begun waving his arms about wildly to emphasize his logic on the subect. They kept going on about the logistics of how other animals hunted, which lead off into what seemed like an exaggerated story from Col. It was enlightening watching and listening these two go on. Elauni could get used to it. There wasn't enough communication between her and her Uncle, but looking at their relationship, she wasn't sure she wanted much more communication to take place. It wasn't until the end of their conversation that Elauni was added back into the mix, "Excuse my cousin, Elauni. He has a wild imagination sometimes. Have you ever been hunting before?" Hunting? Not hunting to kill per say, no, her work would better be described as scouting, and then taking. "No I haven't. This is all new to me. I'm sure I would even know how to hold a bow if I had to." It was true, the only real weapon she really knew how to use were her daggers, but she was still a novice with them, and could barely use those.