.
Khara hadn't expected the sudden outburst of emotion and at first she had wondered if she had done something horribly wrong, if there was some sort of ritual or meaning behind it that came from Zhol's homelands that she was oblivious to. And then he thanked her and she was pulled to him and the flurry of kisses dissolved all worry from her, leaving her instead breathless and happier than she had ever expected the simple gesture to make either of them. Her fingertips reached up and traced along his forehead before she realized the gloves she wore weren't going to make the touch as light and gentle as it normally was. Instead she gently placed her palm against his jaw and quickly found her feet going to toes again to close the difference between them so she could lightly kiss him in return.
"I am glad you find as much meaning as me with it." She softly admitted, knowing the words weren't quite right. Her arm lowered her hand, softly trailing it from his cheek down neck and shoulder until finally it paused just before where the small piece of linen was now tied. "It can mean two things, if you like. What it means to me as I said, and to you it can mean that a piece of me is with you whenever you wear it."
Her head rested against Zhol's chest for a moment, a slow breath drawn in as she wrapped her arms back around him. "I'm always with you, my love. You always carry my heart with you, but now you have something to remind you of that."
Another few breaths were allowed, ticks passed and then ever so reluctantly she withdrew from the hold they had on one another. "Come, we should keep going, though. We said we were not going to do this sort of thing and yet here we stand."
A gentle embarrassed laugh left her as her hands slipped into his. "The quicker I finish, the quicker we can go back to home," she promised and finally fully pulled away and took a breath to refocus on the task.
Turning back to the trees and the snow covered ground was almost impossible as every bit of her wanted to remain entirely focused on Zhol. She looked to the sapling once more before scanning the rest of the trees in the area and slowly walked through the thinly forested area.
"There should be more," she said, mostly for her own benefit and to help fully put her mind back on the migration route. "I think it's a territorial thing? Animals mark up trees in all kinds of ways for that reason. Sometimes it's just to tell others that they are here, other times it's a bit of a warning to keep out. I think I'll ask Orthin if he knows the reasons one of these days. Maybe I'll see if the Enclave has any answers so I don't have to keep bugging other people so much."
As Khara talked she looped around several of the trees, eying space above her normal eye level where a fully grown elk would be more likely to find easy access to. The first few trees gave nothing, there were other marks and scratches, but nothing she could easily identify or say for certain was made by the animals she needed to confirm had come through. Finally though, a larger tree had a large section of bark clearly scraped off. Rather than raw pale undergrowth, however, the damaged area was darker, already somewhat healed as best as the tree was going to be able to do so.
"See, this is what I was looking for." Khara said with a small nod of satisfaction. "I don't know how old it is, though. I would guess it gets darker the older it is since when they're really fresh they are very light because the wood underneath is newly exposed. This isn't new at all, though."
A slightly frustrated sigh left her at her again lack of knowledge on the subject that should have been the very foundation of what would answer the question of when the elk had passed through. "It could be from a few days ago or a few years for all I know. I guess I could try and use the hatchet you bought me to scrape away some bark next to it and see how much different it is."
Khara paused and glanced over her shoulder at Zhol, another embarrassed smile easily forming. "Sorry, I think I talk too much about nothing."
Khara hadn't expected the sudden outburst of emotion and at first she had wondered if she had done something horribly wrong, if there was some sort of ritual or meaning behind it that came from Zhol's homelands that she was oblivious to. And then he thanked her and she was pulled to him and the flurry of kisses dissolved all worry from her, leaving her instead breathless and happier than she had ever expected the simple gesture to make either of them. Her fingertips reached up and traced along his forehead before she realized the gloves she wore weren't going to make the touch as light and gentle as it normally was. Instead she gently placed her palm against his jaw and quickly found her feet going to toes again to close the difference between them so she could lightly kiss him in return.
"I am glad you find as much meaning as me with it." She softly admitted, knowing the words weren't quite right. Her arm lowered her hand, softly trailing it from his cheek down neck and shoulder until finally it paused just before where the small piece of linen was now tied. "It can mean two things, if you like. What it means to me as I said, and to you it can mean that a piece of me is with you whenever you wear it."
Her head rested against Zhol's chest for a moment, a slow breath drawn in as she wrapped her arms back around him. "I'm always with you, my love. You always carry my heart with you, but now you have something to remind you of that."
Another few breaths were allowed, ticks passed and then ever so reluctantly she withdrew from the hold they had on one another. "Come, we should keep going, though. We said we were not going to do this sort of thing and yet here we stand."
A gentle embarrassed laugh left her as her hands slipped into his. "The quicker I finish, the quicker we can go back to home," she promised and finally fully pulled away and took a breath to refocus on the task.
Turning back to the trees and the snow covered ground was almost impossible as every bit of her wanted to remain entirely focused on Zhol. She looked to the sapling once more before scanning the rest of the trees in the area and slowly walked through the thinly forested area.
"There should be more," she said, mostly for her own benefit and to help fully put her mind back on the migration route. "I think it's a territorial thing? Animals mark up trees in all kinds of ways for that reason. Sometimes it's just to tell others that they are here, other times it's a bit of a warning to keep out. I think I'll ask Orthin if he knows the reasons one of these days. Maybe I'll see if the Enclave has any answers so I don't have to keep bugging other people so much."
As Khara talked she looped around several of the trees, eying space above her normal eye level where a fully grown elk would be more likely to find easy access to. The first few trees gave nothing, there were other marks and scratches, but nothing she could easily identify or say for certain was made by the animals she needed to confirm had come through. Finally though, a larger tree had a large section of bark clearly scraped off. Rather than raw pale undergrowth, however, the damaged area was darker, already somewhat healed as best as the tree was going to be able to do so.
"See, this is what I was looking for." Khara said with a small nod of satisfaction. "I don't know how old it is, though. I would guess it gets darker the older it is since when they're really fresh they are very light because the wood underneath is newly exposed. This isn't new at all, though."
A slightly frustrated sigh left her at her again lack of knowledge on the subject that should have been the very foundation of what would answer the question of when the elk had passed through. "It could be from a few days ago or a few years for all I know. I guess I could try and use the hatchet you bought me to scrape away some bark next to it and see how much different it is."
Khara paused and glanced over her shoulder at Zhol, another embarrassed smile easily forming. "Sorry, I think I talk too much about nothing."
"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"
