Completed [Rearing Stallion] Starting Anew

[Kayuqtuq Snowsong]

Timestamp: Summer 29 515 AV
The door buried a splinter in Kayuqtuq's finger as she she slid her oak coloured hand slid down the door. It stung. She pulled the splinter off with her teeth. Open it. Open the door. Kayuqtuq was dressed for what was to come, a simple white dress and sandals. Her necklace was on, and her lute by her side. She was ready.
The door of the Rearing Stallion slid open, creaking, as it revealed a crowded, busy inside. Kayuqtuq pushed through the mess of people and mumbled to a nearby person a question. "Is you of knowings owner where is?" The person, not looking up from his drink, pointed at a man, and Kayuqtuq made her way through the crowd towards him. He looked up as Kayuqtuq tapped him on the shoulder, her eyes glittering a milky, nervous, yellow. "Name is Kayuqtuq Snowsong. Was told you are owner. Sorry for bad Common. Looking for job singing and storytelling and playing the lute." The man grunted. "Yes, I'm the owner, Kevith Aargon. So, you want a job? You better be decent. We don't tolerate laziness here. Follow me." The man grabbed her hand and led her into a different room. "Play me a song. Tell me a story. Just show me exactly why I should hire you." Kevith said. "Fine." She replied. And then she told a story.
"Once there poor hunter. He always out went but never anything got. One day finally saw polar bear. As crawled toward it ice on, bear to him said, "Don't shoot me. If follow me and do what say, will make it so you always be get whatever animals think you about."

Bear told man to climb on back and close eyes. "Do not open until tell you to." Then, man and bear went down in the sea long way. 'Do not open eyes,' bear reminded him. Finally, came back up and man saw an igloo along the edge of pack. Went inside and man saw other bear with a spear in his haunch. First bear said, "If can take spear out of bear and make him well, you become good hunter." man broke off shaft, eased spear point out bear's haunch, and wound began heal. Then first bear took off bearskin and became man.

After wound was healed all, bear-man put back his on bearskin , told poor hunter climb onto back and close eyes, and together went back into sea. When bear finally stopped asked he the man to open eyes. Looking around, man realized he been returned to spot from he began journey. He thought he only been gone day, but arriving home he found had been away a month. From on, man was always good hunter." Kevith looked deep in thought for a second and then spoke. "It was good enough, I guess. You really need to work on your Common, and something more lively would be better for a tavern, but it was a good story. Could you play me a song? It's fine if it's in your native language, which I assume is Vani." Kayuqtuq took a deep breath, and slipped her lute into position. She knew the song she would play. It was something she had learned as a young girl.

"I saw a bear rise,
From the broiling waters,
at the port of Avanthal.
He brandished his paws,
and cliffs of claws.

A dream of an ice-bear,
means a gale from the east.
Battering Ice Wall Gates came the windy beast.
Growing swiftly it hunkered down,
Threatening Morwens icy crown.
Craven and unwilling to rise,
Avanthal knelt,
Not to Morwen that day.

Jedara came,
bathed in night sky hair.
Wielding the moon,
She brought it to halt.

Too late is her action,
For so it is settled,
From the faring I turn, the going is fixed.
Craven and unwilling to rise,
Avanthal knelt,
Not to Morwen that day.

Jedara came,
Bathed in night sky hair.
Wielding the moon,
She beckoned Avanthal.

Then bright shone the morning
The Ice guards heeding,
They said they would charge as one mighty shield,
Yet each held the other back, eyes shifting.
If one were to sway, to stumble, or fall
For certain they would all.

Jedara came,
Bathed in night sky hair.
Wielding the moon,
She beckoned the bear.

Jedara rose.
A new path they pave,
Together.

All we, fight against the east gales
Armed with only companions
At the hearth we join together
To die, only when our friendship cease
Our enemies actions shortened, muted
abbreviations in the snow.
our army, together a ballad,
a trampling ocean flow.
Avanthal knelt,
To Morwen that day..."

She sang the ballad with simple strums, just to accent the music. She felt the free feeling she felt when she sang and played and told stories, and Kayuqtuq loved it. Kevith nodded. "It was good. A little solemn sounding for a tavern, and of course I don't understand the words, but you have a nice voice and that was a nice song. You can have the job." Kayuqtuq nearly squealed. "Thank! What pay is? Any rules? When start?"
Kevith seemed to ponder for a second. "I'll give you 4 gold mizas a day. The rules are simple. Don't slack off, do well, and for you, work on your Common. You start now." Right now? "Where do go I?" She put on her best smile, but inside her stomach was churning. "There is lots of perks to working here. Free drinks, shelter from the weather, good colleagues, we've got it all. You can follow me for a place to perform, and maybe later, after you are done for the night, I can get you a mug of ale and a chance to meet my wife." Kayuqtuq took slow steps towards the door and followed Kevith to a raised spot clearly meant for performing. A chair sat there. She sat down.
All eyes turned to the young Vantha girl sitting with the lute. She fingered her necklace, and she sang the first song in Common she could think of. Thank goodness she had the words to this one memorized. Her brothers had taught it to her.

"Oh, late at night with a glass of ale,
And a pretty lass at my side.
Oh, no place is more delightful,
No place more delightful.

Drowning all my troubles in merry things,
making myself truly happyyyyyyyyy!
THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE FOR MEEEEEEEEEE!"
As the song ended, Kayuqtuq groaned at her choice of song. It was an awful one, loud and way too catchy in a bad way. Even the lute accompaniment was a bellowing, loud, noisy, and awful song. The audience seemed to enjoy it though. Anyone have choice of song next? Or story?"
(OOC: The story is a traditional Inuit story called The Man and The Bear. It is completely copied from where I found it, with a few minor adjustments to suit Kayuqtuq's speech. The song she sings to Kevith is one from the Avanthal Lullabies, Tall Tales and Ballads thread. The last song I wrote myself.)

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan sipped at his mug of ale in silence, no company sitting near him. The room was abuzz with conversation and boisterous laughter. He did not know why he came to these places. Well he did, the food was hot and the beer was good. But, he did not have people he could revel with, share a joke with, or just horse around and have a good time. The atmosphere awakened a sense of longing he had deep within him, one for companionship. Another small sip of the amber liquid disappeared down his throat, and he sighed in contentment. Who was he to resent the warm hearth, and slightly removed company? A young woman he had seen walk into another room with the Brewmaster now returned, lute at the ready. She looked a little nervous, hands clutching at a neclace, black hair flowing out of her head, laying around her shoulders. Dan shifted his body so that he was facing her in his seat, excited to see what she would preform. The woman’s took on a mask of concentration as she started to sing and play her lute. He cocked his head at the familiar tune, but he did not know the words at all. Other patrons sang along while their drinking partners watched, amused at their antics. The woman had an accent, but the words we perfectly understandable. The song ended with applause, whistles, and laughing. “Anyone have a choice of song next? Or story?” Wow, this was so exciting! Maybe his request would be heard. Dan did not know that many songs or stories for that matter, having only been exposed to them by travelers and the occasional street performer. He thought about it, and decided he might as well go with his personal favorite. After all, he would likely be out shouted anyway, his words lost under the clamor. His favorite song was ‘The Knight and His Horse’, mostly because it had a horse in it, but the tune was upbeat and would sound good in this lighthearted setting. Amidst other yelled requests, he bellowed, “Play the Knight and His Horse, miss!”

[Kayuqtuq Snowsong]

An outburst of voices came seconds after she said the question. She was quite unfamiliar with songs sung in Common, however, so only a few were ones she recognised. And most of the requests she did know were ones she hated. Why did you choose to work here and not at the Syliran Theatre? Why?
She made out one request from all the others that she could tolerate singing though. "Play the Knight and his Horse, miss!" She looked towards the speaker, a man with brown hair who was shouting as loud as his voice would allow. Her eyes turned a reluctant hazel-brown as she replied. "All right, I'll play the Knight and his Horse." Several audible groans came, but most people politely clapped. And so she started the song. She played the introduction, a simple merry part on the lute that had everyone, except for her, shaking to it's beat. Why did I have to choose this? And then came the lyrics.
"There once was a knight who fell off his horse.
The horse shot him a look."
Much laughter came. Kayuqtuq was not among the laughing. Save me, Rhaus.
She inhaled, and continued.
"And he said to the young knight,
'Don't you fall off my back!
For I'll kick and buck and rear and bite and....."
She let the people continue the series of bad things a horse could do to a person while groaning at her feeble attempt to imitate a horse's voice. While the horse was talking, she had made a deep, bellowing voice that was definitely not what a horse would sound like. Inside her head, she was screaming in irritation. AAAGH! Petching tavern, with it's petching song and petching horse. When the peoples' list was getting bad, she gritted her teeth and continued.
"And then the knight said to his horse,
'If you kick and buck and rear and bite and......'" She let the audience continue again. When the list got to pathetic things, she picked up the song again.
"'Then I'll slash and stab and hack and chop and.....'" And now, she dropped singing the song, as from there it was just the horse and the knight threatening each other. She just strummed the lute's strings. The song turned into a disorganised flurry of voices, that in turn becoming applause. She saw Kevith beckoning to her from offstage, so she quickly bowed and walked offstage.
"That was good. You can have a break now. Feel free to socialize." He handed her a mug of ale. Socialize? I don't know that word. Her eyes turned confused, curious orange. He saw her confused look and spoke. "I was trying to say that it's fine to go talk to the audience." Enlightened with this new information, Kayuqtuq and her mug of ale relocated themselves next to the man who suggested the song. She lifted her lute onto her lap. "Good choice of song. Is of name Kayuqtuq Snowsong. What yours?"

[Beodan Clathony]

The Horse Kelvic laughed and sang along as the other patrons added more to the list in increasingly nonsensical lines. About when they reached something about removing the butter from biscuits, the young musician tightened the reigns and directed the would-be minstrels onto the second verse. Her horse impression was not bad, under the circumstances. I bet if I could speak as a horse, I would sound like that, only male, Dan mused as the song wound down, decaying into claps and whoops. The girl hopped off of the stage with a bow, and the tavern's inhabitants turned back to their friends, and, maybe more importantly in some cases, their drinks. He was one of them, taking his mug down to about the three quarter mark. His thoughts turned to where he would go once his ale gave way to the wooden bottom of the mug. Leave the city for the night? No, he needed to get out more, or rather, in more. Meet people, see things! Do normal human stuff, what ever that was. Maybe even a job! Horse for hire, he doubted there was a demand for such a position, as the slave horses worked for free. His brow was furrowed when the woman sat next to him at his table, her nearly full mug making a clunk that could make a tavern lover salivate with anticipation. He gazed up at her, a little startled. A snort escaped him, a horse like noise that broadcasted his mild alarm. He shook his head, he had just seen her perform for goodness sake! "Good choice of song. Is of name Kayuqtuq Snowsong. What yours?" Kayuqtuq eyes seemed to dance, and her dark hair shimmered in the warm firelight. It is only when her eyes changed color that he realised that she was a Vantha. That and she lacked the fluency that comes with knowing a language from birth when she spoke common. "Kayuqtuq," he tested slowly, "Was that right? My name is Beodan Clathony, but call me Dan if you'd like. Thank you for the compliment!" He looked her over once more in greater detail, taking note of the necklace hanging from her pale neck, and the lute which she held tenderly, as a child might hold a bunny. "How long have you played? And where do you come from?" Dan asked, questions bursting out with lack of decorum.

[Kayuqtuq Snowsong]

The first noise to escape from the man was a snort. He seemed extremely surprised that she was talking to him. "Kayuqtuq." He said the name like it was a fragile piece of glass, handling it with the caution that comes from holding an easy artefact to break. "Was that right? My name is Beodan Clathony, but you can call me Dan. Thanks for the compliment." She took a small sip of ale, likely betraying the fact that it was her first time having it, and replied. "Yes, was about right, Bay-oh-dan" The name was quite unlike Vani names, rather simple. "I been playing long time, since I about 8. I 20 now. Avanthal is where I from, gorgeous city." Memories drifted through her head, Morwen's Lights, meals around the fire, practicing in Snowsong Hold. She shook herself out of her daze. "Where you from? Sorry my Common bad. Big difference this and this."
Her fingers weaved between her strings. She stroked the wood of her lute in a bored way. "What about you? I have music and stories, you have something. Blacksmithing, hunting, sormething." Why do you have to be so nosy? He won't like that. Won't he, Rhaus? Won't he? She sighed, and changed the topic. "I Avanthal miss. The sky had lights pretty in them. And everyone welcome, we stories told at night. And I had a... a bondmate, a Kelvic one, and... And she's gone now. Dead." She did not know why she said this to him. She hadn't told anyone in Syliras yet. Her eyes drifted to a sad blue-purple, and a tear escaped her. Why did you tell him this?

(OOC: Sorry about the short post, I'm bad at this kind of post)

[Beodan Clathony]

OOCTotally fine, you gave me a lot to write about Beodan’s eyes twinkled with amusement as Kayuqtuq’s face contorted for an instant as she tasted the somewhat bitter liquid. He had only been drinking it for about a year, but he remembered that his first mug had not gone down nearly as well as the third had. He had made a very similar face at the time too, much to the waitress’ glee. She confirmed his pronunciation and he was happy that he had gotten it right on the first go. Perhaps his very limited knowledge of Vani had aided him somewhat. Avanthal. He had never seen the city that had a sky painted with many fine colors, it was far away and he had heard it was very cold there. 12 years playing an instrument, double his own life. The simple fact awed him, his eyes growing wide with wonder. “Where you from? Sorry, my common bad,” she asked, apologizing for her slightly broken speech. Though, he could understand her for the most part, so he waved it off with a smile. “Honestly I do not know. The earliest memories I have are of coming to the city in a small, dark cart. I do not know where I had came from, only that I have lived in Syliras ever since,” Dan explained, his eyes far away. He winced as he recalled the source of the crisscrossing scars on his back. He took a long draft from his mug as she continued to ask questions. “What about you? I have music and stories, you have something,” she inquired, stroking the wood of her instrument with a tender hand. Dan decided to share an inside joke with himself, “I am somewhat of a plant connoisseur...er, specialist!” He spoke of both his love for herbalism, and his horse self’s natural tendency to enjoy eating fine grasses and greenery. But she would not know about the latter! Comedy gold! The Horse Kelvic did not have the most refined sense of humor, but he amused himself at the very least. The Young Vantha poured her feeling of homesickness out to him, and he nodded with sad eyes, a little lost himself. What she said next made his blood run cold. “And I had a… a bondmate, a Kelvic one, and… And she’s gone now. Dead.” He felt great hands of ice reach into his chest and pull and twist at his intestines. One had a particularly firm grasp on his heart. He felt a strong need for a bond overtake him. He shuddered and curled inwards, his eyes down at the table with his back hunched forwards.

[Kayuqtuq Snowsong]

Kayuqtuq's eyes flickered a curious orange as he explained were he was from. That's rather strange, I can't imagine not knowing Avanthal. He went on to describe him being a plant specialist, although Kayuqtuq had no idea what he ment by that. Gardener? Forager? Cook who only makes salad? His next actions were unexpected. As she vented about Avena, his reaction was one of grief. She reacted immediately. She sprang to her feet, wide, frightened brass coloured eyes scanning for a place to run. You said something. Oh, you hurt him. Fix it, Rhaus!
Possibilities raced through her head. Has he lost a bondmate too? Does he hate Kelvics? Is he a Kelvic?
She did the one thing she could do. She held herself back from running. She spoke. Causes me lot pain watching you sad. What is I say?" She waited, fingers tapping on the tables. And she did what any Snowsong would do. She sang.
She played a tragic beginning on the lute, waving to the beat. And she tried to hold back her emotions, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop singing. And she couldn't keep the tears from drifting down her face as she wove back and forth. Her breaths grew ragged. All eyes turned to her. And she opened her mouth and let out a note. It lingered, mournful. And she continued. Wailing, pitiful noises came out, weaving together a song. They flew, and danced, until they stopped. And she stopped. Cautious, curious applause came, but she played no heed. All she needed was an answer.

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan hugged himself, trying not to be ripped apart by powerful inner turmoil. His emotions felt like cold steel in his gut. He was vaguely aware of the woman climbing to her feet, and asking what she had said to upset him. That added a dash of guilt to his internal stew. It should be him who consoled her for her loss, not the other way around. But his phantom pain would have none of that. He gritted his teeth against the deep, soulless feeling.

The True Vantha started to sing, a beautiful pouring of emotions that seemed to perfectly express her sadness and compassion. He felt the terrible emotional pain begin to subside, the muscles around his eyes relaxing, his brow unfurrowed. Tears came to his eyes, though caused by his painful catharsis or hers he did not know. A salty drop traced its way down his jaw, threatening to fall. Having no mutiny, he ruthlessly removed the rouge tear with the back of his hand. Finally able to look up and see clearly, Dan saw that she too had begun to cry, and instinctively he moved to comfort her, his own darkness rapidly fading.’

The pad of his right thumb gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, and his soothed, his voice low, “You didn’t say anything, Kayu. It was just… I don’t know. I felt lost is all, like I need something. Something to hold my pieces together. They were just jostled. Please, do not cry.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” the Horse Kelvic whispered to her over and over.

“It is not your fault.”


Style ChangeI spent some time learning how to style my posts better, thank you Sayana! I will be using this, and might be modifying it a bit, so do not be thrown. Let me know if you have any advice or more improvements to be made. Thank you!

[Kayuqtuq Snowsong]

Kayuqtuq watched in agony as Beodan gripped himself. She couldn't stand it. After what seemed like a century, his tormented form spoke. "You didn't say anything, Kayu. It was just... I don't know. I felt lost is all, like I need something. Something to hold my pieces together. They were just jostled. Please, do not cry."
Kayuqtuq did not stop. She simply hung her head, hiding the tears coming down. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." Beodan's pain echoed inside her. "It is not your fault." She slowly stopped the tears coming down. She sucked in her breath and whispered a question. All the evidence for it gathered in her head, the feelings of emptiness, the reaction to mentioning a bondmate, not knowing were one was born, they all pointed to a young, unbonded Kelvic. "Dan, you a Kelvic are?"

Memories of Avena erupted in her head. Avena, shifting into a human for the first time as I finished my story, clapping merrily. Avena, running from nothing, just characters in my story. Avena, lying on the ground, laughing. Avena, listening to me practice my lute. Avena, bounding through the woods, until a spear flew forward, killing her. Kayuqtuq's eyes flickered different colours for each memory, ending in a deep black pit of hopelessness. "I miss her."

(OOC: Consider the timestamp Summer 29.)

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan inhaled sharply at her perception, though he was not surprised that one who had half of their world could identify his own hurts. Tears had carved paths down her soft cheeks, but no longer fell. He felt the sudden need to comfort her, and himself, so he reached out and placed his hand on her arm, the simple human contact seeming to help such complex feelings.

“Yes. Yes, I am a Kelvic, a Horse,” he affirmed softly, his eyes at his lap. He picked his head up after a few long moments, and saw that her eyes seemed to be shifting through all the colors of the rainbow. Soon, as if the artist had run out of paint, her eyes became orbs of obsidian, black as a starless night. “I miss her.” Beodan’s heart broke for the Vantha, and he wrapped his arms around the girl, one hand holding her the back of her head. “I am sure she is watching over you in whatever comes after this life,” he comforted, knowing that this might offer some comfort, even if he did not know what he believed in, himself. He hummed comfortingly as he embraced her, a simple tune like a lullaby version of what she had sung before.

Very rudimentary and slow, the deep tones only traveling as far as her ears.

Dan stopped after an unknown time had passed, and he moved his head away from her smoothly and gave her a small smile, “You did play well tonight, you know?”