PM to join Need an Ice Pack [Dravite]

[Kaitanu]

Kaitanu was as deferential toward Pearl as he was toward the rest of her family. Wherever she moved while she tended the injured newcomer he would shift himself so as not to get in her way. To the woman’s smiles he offered a nod of acknowledgement, like he knew she wanted some reciprocation but couldn’t offer it in kind. The former slave’s pale lips still didn’t know how to turn upward without looking like a grimace. Even if he could, a smile wouldn’t have suited the occasion, not with the tang of blood floating in the hot air about them.

As Pearl stood up and communicated with her husband in their wild-sounding language, Kaitanu turned his attention back to Kyo. The other man’s broken words still rattled around in his brain like so many puzzle pieces. Making any sense of them took some effort, though he’d had practice in the last few weeks. Dravite’s Common was much worse. Anyway, the spark of fear in Kyo’s eyes lent more meaning than his garbled sentences. Kaitanu was surprised to note how Kyo shied away from him, though vaguely, like Kyo didn’t quite understand what he was doing himself. Mingling uneasily with concern, the horse kelvic felt something akin to mirth bubble up in his throat. The injured man was afraid of him? The pale, skinny shadow of a person the goats liked to butt around when they were bored? Of everyone in the camp only the children were less of a threat, provided they were kept away from messing about with the family’s weapons. To think that anyone looked on Kaitanu as dangerous was totally incomprehensible.

Of course, he reminded himself, this newcomer was speaking of horses and a blow from a hoof. Even unintentionally Kaitanu could do harm in his horse skin simply by being so much heavier. How Kyo knew that Kaitanu was really a horse was anybody’s guess. Surely he hadn’t been in town long enough- or at all- to have heard about the pale man who shifted forms. Maybe the kick had addled his brain? Or perhaps Kyo saw or smelled something…

With sudden comprehension, Kaitanu’s eyes opened slightly wider, and he let out a low breath. Kelvics did not know one another on sight, but hand’t he smelled predator all over this injured man? And hadn’t he wondered why a stranger would run around naked? Now Dravite’s request that he come and speak to the injured man made more sense.

“You’re kelvic, aren’t you?” Kaitanu asked, wondering if the man knew that word. “You change shapes, am I right? You’re a wolf, or a dog of some kind? A dynakuva?” His gaze strayed to the little pup nosing at Kyo’s collarbone. Having never seen a coyote before he assumed that Kyo was the same thing as the creature he held so closely. For a moment or two, something like curiosity brightened his eyes, making him look a bit less the former slave.

Recalling Kyo’s accusation, though it wasn’t made in anger, brought back all Kaitanu’s caution the very next moment. With a meek bowing of his head, the pale man’s former attitude returned. “I am a horse kelvic, but I was not the one who kicked you. I was here when that happened. There is no reason to fear me.”

Pearl was back again, and Kaitanu shifted back a bit to give her room. His head was not down now, but when he watched what she did it was to memorize the look of the medicine and how it should be taken. Somehow, he knew he would be asked to help the newcomer during his recovery and he wanted to be prepared. This was not out of kindness, at least, not in its correct form. Kaitanu had not arrived at the stage where he would help for the sake of it. The cogs of his thought still turned on pleasing his benefactors, rather than just doing good. However, he was no longer acting entirely to escape pain, which was something in itself.

[Kyo]

She said he could rest but not sleep, and that made him unhappy. He just felt so tired. It was a physical feeling, in his body, but mostly it was in his head like a fog. He blinked his eyes closed, and they wanted to stay that way.

Except someone was talking to him, and so he had to keep his eyes open.

Kyo cracked his eyelids to keep most of the sun out, and tried to focus on the pale horse man. Vaguely he knew the nice woman had stood up, as if to leave, and he felt a sudden uneasiness that she was going away, after being so close before. He didn't like people to go away. He remembered... but no. He wanted to listen to the horse-man.

Unfortunately, the first words the horse-one said made him even more uneasy. "You’re kelvic, aren’t you?" That one word, Kelvic, he somehow didn't like at all. He had never understood it to mean anything other than different from other people. He knew it described himself in some way, but it was an unwelcome description. Now that he had been around others for long enough he knew in his mind that different was not really bad. Just not-the-same. But in his heart he still didn't like it. It made him think of being small and stuck.

And right now with his head hurting so badly, he was feeling stuck, too, in a way. Abruptly he wanted to shift coyote.

But the man had continued talking, so Kyo would wait for the moment. "You change shapes, am I right?" He was asking if Kyo was a wolf or dog, even Dynakuva, which the coyote-man took to mean like Pack. He shook his head, more carefully this time so it wouldn't make him so spinning-sick, and then said, "I change shapes, yes. I don't... I don't like 'Kelvic'. It hold..." He paused, looking for words, then realized he didn't know what he was trying to say so he gave up trying to say it. As to answering the horse-man's question, well, he didn't have a word for coyote. So he said, "Yes, dog-like. I will, you will see."

Now he would shift before they might try to stop him, but then the woman
--doctor, she was a doctor-- came back, folding herself down next to him, smiling. He gave her a wan smile of his own, still feeling a sense of unease
--maybe dread-- but she was too kind not to smile at. Whatever the medicine was she wanted him to eat it. Somehow it would fix him. The puppy tucked against his chest started to squirm free and he set Pack down, but the little dog cried at him as if wanting back up, pawing at the side of his leg.

Distracted, he took the medicine-thing carefully from her slender fingers, not knowing what it was. It didn't look like anything he had eaten before, and he was unsure. But then she reached out to touch his hand, encouraging him, and slowly his uncertainty petered out. Kyo put the thing in his mouth and chewed slowly. It, whatever it was, was mostly dry with a bitter, sweet, oddly hot taste, completely unfamiliar. He forced himself to swallow, despite the feeling that his belly would not take it, pressing his free hand to his mouth again. After a moment or so he decided it would be alright, he would not be sick. And the woman had said that the thing would make him better.

Now he had done what the doctor-woman had wanted, and he could show the horse-man the form he had wanted to see. Or not wanted to see? Just asked about, it didn't matter. He shifted suddenly in a blur of lights, shrinking to coyote-size, and the puppy wagged his tail uncertainly, flopping to his belly. The coyote's paw was still in the woman's hand and he took it to put it on the ground. Somehow he was already beginning to feel better. He didn't know if it was because of the medicine, or because he had been able to shift form.

Now, in a dim blob of understanding, he realized what the puppy wanted from him in its crying: food. Pack probably hadn't eaten all day, unless he had snitched a meal from someone in the tent city when he had been lost, earlier. The coyote's feeling of unease had gone, so it was okay for him to get up now. He wobbled to his feet, then wandered away from the side of the black tent, looking around as if food for the pup might just be laying on the ground. If he found a dead animal it would be, maybe that was what he was looking for. The sun was so bright it was like he could see the light fuzzy in the air. He nearly walked into the man-who-had-brought-the-thing-to-eat, then skittered around him at the last moment, the pup staying close to his side.

[Pearl]

Pearl blinked several times at the blinding light that appeared before her, having not expected it in the least. A hand came up to shade her eyes for a moment until things returned to normal around her. As she now saw the coyote, and held his paw for a tick before he removed it, the knowledge of it all came full circle to her. She smiled again and rose to her feet, replacing the lid on the jar of the crystalized ginger. More of it may be needed at a later time, but apparently things were better for the moment. The small packet of Acklar Tree bark was folded and placed into the pocket of her pants; the powder far too potent and potentially harmful to be left lying around.

“Looks like he is feeling a little better now,” she spoke in common to Kaitanu as she watched Kyo and the small pup began to traverse the camp with their noses to the ground. “Coyote,” she offered the word in explanation as to what Kyo was in his animal form, though it had taken her the course of several chimes to come up with the word. “Hungry?” she mused as she continued to watch them, trying to discern what it was they were doing, “scenting for a trail?”

“Perhaps both,” she said as she walked towards the main tent and slipped inside to deposit the jar of crystalized ginger root back with the rest of the stores. Belkaia, Kyanite and Garrison were each given a kiss to their heads as they were gathered on the furs for a mid-day nap. Upon emerging, she went to her husband and slipped her arms around him from behind, pressing a trail of small kisses over his neck as she did so. “Mm, he’s feeling a bit better now. Perhaps hungry, or scenting the trail he was after in the first place?” she offered as explanation. “I’m going to get back to the auctions and then stop at The River Flower before I return home. He can have a little more of the ginger if he needs it for nausea, otherwise, just let him do this thing so long as he doesn’t overdo it, and doesn’t sleep until I get back. Resting is okay.” She kissed her husband’s neck again, nuzzling her face into him for a tick before she sighed and stepped away.

Walking over to Knox, she gave Kyo a small pet along his back, careful not to touch his head so as not to cause him pain, and spoke in common, “I will see you again soon to check on you.” She pulled herself up onto Knox then and eased him out of the camp, careful of the new arrivals. She gave a small wave to Kaitanu, “Perhaps you could help him find something to eat?” It was meant as a suggestion and nothing more, “If I am needed, please have someone send for me,” she said before she turned Knox with a nudge of her right foot against his side and gave him that familiar click of her tongue against the roof of her mouth to ease him out onto the path. Once they were away from camp, she clicked at him again and commanded him to step up into a trot as they disappeared around the bend in the road.


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[Kaitanu]

”I don’t like kelvic…”

Kaitanu found that a strange sentiment, though he wasn’t exactly sure what Kyo meant. Puzzled, the horse kelvic thought it might be himself Kyo didn’t like, yet a moments’ observation told him that was probably not true. Kyo seemed to not like the word itself, but the coyote’s reasons were a mystery. To Kaitanu there were much worse words. “kelvic” meant no more to him than any other descriptor, like, “blonde” or “short” or “green-eyed”. It was merely a word used to differentiate things. In Kaitanu’s mind, kelvic meant, “able to change shapes” and nothing more. If he had only ever seen kelvics chained up it might have had a whole different connotation. If ever there was a word worthy of fear and hatred, "slave" fit the bill.

Kaitanu was inside himself for a moment or two, pondering that mystery when the other kelvic’s incipient transformation was announced. Before anyone could stop him Kyo’s bare skin suddenly had fur again, and Kaitanu was introduced to a new breed of animal.

“Coyote…” he tried the word out on his tongue, and stored it away for later. The horse kelvic found it a bit easier now to remember things than he used to, but information still had to be consciously committed to memory. Even then, he was often unsure of the source of one piece of information or another. Things would just come to him as though he had always known them, but their origins were murky and often inexplicably painful. Kaitanu couldn’t even recall exactly how he knew what a wolf was but not its lankier, smaller cousin.

Pushing himself up to his feet, Kaitanu trailed the weaving coyote with a frown, keeping a few feet back so as not to upset Kyo. He hadn’t intended for the other kelvic to transform, and blamed himself for not being clearer in his speech, and somehow giving Kyo the impetus to change shape. Doing so always took a certain amount of energy, and if Kyo kept shifting back and forth it would wear him out and make healing more difficult. That was a lesson Kaitanu had learned himself on very hard terms. At the very least, he guessed that Kyo would feel an increase in his hunger, as that always happened to Kaitanu. Of course, the horse kelvic could go out and satiate himself with what grew naturally all around them. For Kyo, and his little dynakuva companion, it would not be so simple.

Only a few paces away, he heard Pearl come to the same conclusion he had; that the wandering of the newcomers was tied to hunger. He had been about to ask what would be good to give their guests but the woman had moved over to her husband, and the kelvic didn’t wish to interrupt. Instead, he kept an eye on the coyote and the pup, whose snuffling noses were carrying them forward as fast as Kyo’s injury would allow. In truth, Kaitanu was glad of a distraction from Pearl and Dravite’s affectionate behavior. Though he was getting used to it, there were always dark, vague memories to lock away whenever he heard the sound of lips pressed against bare skin. Any hint of intimacy at all was painful for him to witness, though he didn’t show it. Except for a somewhat faraway look in the kelvic’s strange eyes no one on the outside would know that he was bothered. It wasn’t anything he would want them to know. Kaitanu did what he had always done in such situations; reassemble his fractured thoughts as best he could and move forward.

In this case, he had concern on his side. He only half-noticed that Pearl had left Dravite’s side to slip into their tent. By the time she came back out Kyo’s little companion had padded his way close to where some of the goats were hiding themselves under a large cart. It wasn’t so much Pup but the coyote following him that sent them into huddled, bleating panic. They knew the look and smell of a predator, Kavu and Meka notwithstanding, and hoped to evade death by making themselves as small as possible. Any closer and more than one of them would likely fall over in a dead faint. Goats were funny that way.

Pearl had told Kaitanu to bring the kelvic and his companion some food. Whether she meant it as a suggestion or a command, Kaitanu had the tendency to take it as the latter. In any case, he could see that feeding the other kelvic and the pup was a better idea than sacrificing a goat or two. Rather than move right away, he turned to Dravite for permission to get some of the better meat cuts for Kyo since he was an actual guest. Dravite assented, probably thinking Kaitanu didn’t need to ask but the former slave couldn’t help himself. He was still getting used to the idea that he might come and go as he wished, and make decisions on his own.

With his customary lowering of the head in Dravite’s direction, Kaitanu trotted off to the back of the main pavilion, where a tall rack of wood beams had been erected over an open fire pit. He had been keeping an eye on it while tending to other things at the camp, and now was a good time to throw some more cattle chips on the dying embers. Not enough to cook, but to get a good smoke going. Kaitanu then took two rabbits from a recent kill- one large, one smaller- off the rack. These hadn’t been thoroughly dried yet, but he knew that wouldn’t hurt Kyo, and certainly not the pup. In fact, the kelvic might appreciate that there was still quite a bit of “juice” left.

As he rounded the tent once more, both rabbits were held up to Dravite in case he had plans for them in particular. Once he was sure of his choice, Kaitanu turned to see where the other kelvic and the pup had gone. In an effort to draw their guests’ attention, and avoid a mini-stampede, Kaitanu spoke louder than usual.

“Kyo, if you please, there is food for both you and the pup if you are hungry. I have it here with me.” He held out the rabbits, hoping they would be enough. Kaitanu had every intention of going out later and replacing said rabbits. Even though it was not his “fault” that they had extra mouths to feed, the kelvic horse tended to take undue responsibility on himself.

[Kyo]

The word 'coyote' was said once or twice, and said animal bobbed his aching head as if to agree to the sound of it. He wagged his tail lightly. He really was beginning to feel better, enough to walk around. His head still hurt a lot, but he could feel it was not bleeding and matting his fur, and so it could not be that bad, right?

Besides, he could not afford to be wishy-washy now. Pack was hungry, bawling at him again in a little puppy whine, and so the coyote, as his adopted father, must feed him.

But that was a bit of a problem right now. He was still having trouble focusing. Vaguely he heard the others speaking in the background, even in words he might have known, but he was tuning them out, trying to concentrate. Where to find food?

Abruptly the coyote turned around, moving a little drunkenly, to follow the doctor-woman, who had climbed on a horse and was leaving. She had given him something to eat before even if he hadn't known what it was, and even though it had been small. So maybe she would do it again, for Pack? He had almost caught up to her, this was a good plan, and then he noticed the churning of her horse's hooves at the ground, strong hard hooves good for kicking, and that was bad. He stopped just as abruptly as he had started. No, following the horse was not a good plan.

Feeling a little dizzy from the exertion of trying to catch up to the horse
--coupled with the sudden stop-- he went to look for something else. Pack was drawing his attention to an animal-smell, and he sniffed that way, and found some goats hiding. Their noisiness and fear was hurting his head. He showed them his teeth to make them stop, and they bleated louder. Goats. He wished they would just stop their noise-making. If they were dead they would stop, and dead goats were good for eating, even little baby ones...

But suddenly he smelled something else, distracting him, and a voice called out, "Kyo, if you please, there is food for both you and the pup if you are hungry. I have it here with me." It was the horse-man, and now the coyote remembered guiltily that he should probably not eat the people's goats. He gave the silly animals another look, just to be certain, and then turned away, trotting towards the horse-man.

He wasn't really hungry-- his stomach had hardly settled, and the coyote didn't know how much he could handle. But Pack moved forward eagerly, nipping at the horse-man's ankles and pawing at his leg. Soon the food was within reach and the coyote helped the pup tear into the smaller of the rabbits. These were strange-looking, bare as if their fur had been stripped off and missing parts, but still warm as if living, and smelling of smoke, which added a peculiar --but not unpleasant-- taste. The coyote ate only a little, not trusting his belly, and flopped down sleepily to watch the pup as he ate. By now the little creature knew the best parts of an animal to eat, and so the coyote didn't have to show him. But he did look after him, to make sure the pup didn't gorge himself and make himself sick. He had a habit of overeating, if the coyote was not paying attention.

They had only taken one rabbit, but it was enough. After having his fill the puppy was sleepy, ready to snooze off the meal, and when he yawned the coyote yawned with him, head throbbing unpleasantly. Now just to find a place to sleep...

They wandered away from the carcass, around the camp, searching for a good spot. Under the cart would be good and no one would bother them, but the goats were still there and they were just too loud. They would not like to share their space. The coyote wearily trudged back to his original spot against the tent, but then deemed it not comfortable enough, and wandered away again, around the side. There was an opening which he had seen people go through before --the woman, the horse-man-- and so he did as they did, ducking within. It was a big place, nice and dark and cooler than outside, reminding him of a huge den. Homey, and smelling of people, which was nice.

And speaking of people, there were others in here, he now saw. And they were sleeping, all together, curled up in a bed of what looked like furs. That place was as good as any, and better, because it meant being next to other warm bodies. The coyote picked up the pup by the scruff --Pack was falling asleep on his feet-- and then dragged them both over to the outer part of the pile, finding a place next to a sleeping child. The coyote went in a circle, making himself dizzy again, and then lay down, pup by his side. He closed his eyes.

[Kaitanu]

With a strange sort of fascination, Kaitanu watched the coyote’s gleaming teeth tear through raw flesh. It wasn’t so much because the horse kelvic didn’t eat meat himself; he did when in human form. Perhaps what drew his attention, and also made his stomach churn, was the instinctive repulsion that existed eternally between herd and pack. Kaitanu couldn’t quite shake the image, or the horror he felt as it stuck in his mind like a burr. He even had trouble watching Meka and Kavu gnaw on bones; the very sound set his teeth on edge.

Turning his attention away from the two wolflike creatures, Kaitanu distracted himself by clearing around the home fire for a bit. There was always a buildup of ash to be spread about, and tufts of dried grass to pull and take far away from the surrounding stones. Out of the corners of his eyes he could still see the coyote and pup, but only to make sure they didn’t wander off. Otherwise, his attention was fully on the mundane task. Though he showed none of his discomfort, Kaitanu was supremely grateful when they at last left off their gullet-stuffing. Now he could look on them again without that native urge to panic and flee. The horse inside him never quite went to sleep, after all.

Both Kyo and pup were off again, leaving behind what they hadn't eaten. The bones from the larger rabbit Kaitanu was able to throw onto the main fire without that same disgusted feeling. Now that there were no predatory teeth involved he could look again on the carcasses without any particular feeling. Bending down, he picked up the smaller rabbit, which lay untouched on the ground, and went around the main tent to the smoke rack. After scraping off as much of the dirt as possible, Kaitanu re-tied the carcass above the low-burning fire. That one could be his. A sand-riddled rabbit was better than what he used to get. Anyway, it was his fault for bringing more than they needed. Somehow, the ravenous little pup appeared to be full, which surprised Kaitanu. The way it tore into that first rabbit… Better not think of that.

Eager to get out of the direct sunlight, the horse kelvic moved back around the leeward side of the tent. At the same time his attention was on the newcomers and their movements. Dravite and Pearl were apparently counting on him to see to their “guests”, which was exactly what he would do. However, Kaitanu couldn’t help asking himself what now? He wasn’t exactly an expert on coyotes or dynakuva. Following the two canines closely was all he could think of, so that was what he did. Even if his passive nature allowed him to insist on Kyo staying put and resting, the other kelvic probably would have ignored him anyway.

As for the little pup, Kaitanu couldn’t speak its howly, snuffly language. He was just barely getting used to Kavu and Meka, both of whom lay in the shade of the big tent and watched the proceedings with sleepy interest. Kaitanu wondered why they hadn’t come over to challenge either Kyo or his pup. That much about their kind he knew, but the whys and wherefores were a mystery. Neither of Dravite’s pets appeared at all concerned about the newcomers, beyond being watchful. Maybe Dravite and Pearl had been enough to convince them that the situation was alright.

At any rate, they could hardly be threatened by the pup that trotted alternately between Kyo and Kaitanu’s legs like nothing was amiss. It seemed neither hungry nor afraid, only curious. Also, the horse kelvic noted, a bit wobbly. The pup’s little nose zeroed in on every small space and dark nook he could find, never getting too far from Kyo, but his curiosity was giving way to something even a horse would recognize. Like the children in the tent, the pup's inquisitive brain was moving faster than his body. His little pink tongue stuck out as he yawned, but all four legs would keep going until the pup collapsed. He would have fallen asleep where he stood had Kyo not intervened. Kaitanu watched with relief as the sleepy pup was carried into the tent. The horse kelvic peered into the dark warmth inside, feeling a bit more relaxed to see his charges prepared to stay in one place for awhile. A little nap would be a good idea…

Kaitanu caught himself in time. He’d been watching the scene from just outside the tent flap, and while he wouldn’t have afforded himself a luxury like a mid-afternoon nap, it looked like a cozy situation for both coyote and pup. Only it couldn’t be, not for Kyo. Pearl had left specific instructions- no sleep, only rest. Much as he hated to intrude on anyone, the horse kelvic understood that he had been entrusted to take care of this situation. Dravite and Roan had work to do, and Pearl had gone back to the River Flower. If something went wrong it would be Kaitanu’s fault. Whether this was strictly true or not, he still couldn’t help the fear that crawled through his stomach at that idea. It would be a long time yet before he overcame the terror of punishment.

With a quick, soft step, the pale young man slipped into the tent and crouched down next to Kyo. Nearby, as though keeping guard, Meka and Kavu lay by the opening, unfazed to have a coyote and pup in their midst. Kaitanu didn’t realize that his own behavior toward the two newcomers was just as important to them. So long as he treated Kyo and the pup like part of their “pack” they were not at all concerned if they slept with the two-legged pups. Meka went back to dozing, while Kavu watched idly as Kaitanu reached out to touch Kyo’s shoulder, shaking him a little.

“Please,” he whispered, “Please, Mistress…Pearl…she said you must not sleep. Not until she returns. Please wake.” Kaitanu’s words were no more than a breath in the warm air. The last thing he wanted was to wake anyone else in the dimly-lit tent. "Come with me to my tent- we can talk until you are well enough to sleep."

[Kyo]

Someone was whispering. “Please,” they pleaded, speaking on, and though the words had little sound --if any-- the coyote's sharp ears easily caught them.

He was tired and hurting and he wanted to keep as he was, warm here in this place that smelled like people and comfort. But that voice, so quiet and beseeching, woke him. He had trouble resisting the word of a human tongue, even when he blinked his eyes open and looked and it was the not-human that was talking to him. Even if the pale man was actually a horse, he stilled looked human. And the quiet desperation to have the coyote get up and go with him was too much to ignore.

Slowly, stiffly the coyote stood, leaving the pup to cuddle into his human-form counterparts. The coyote staggered from the furs, once touching against the horse-man's leg as if to balance himself, before looking up at the other and waiting, patient as anything.

He had said that they were going to go to a tent and so they did. It was smaller than the big black one that the coyote had just been in, and the bed-place was not as comfortable looking, and smelled more like the horse-man than anyone else. He looked down at it, wanting to lay, but then sighed openly and sat to the side, near the tent's opening. Here he shifted, turning once again to man-form, gathering one knee to his chest to rest his head upon, one hand on the ground for balance. Had the other mentioned talking?

Once more he looked around for his clothes but could not find them. That was strange to him but the puzzle hurt his head too much to think about, and so he didn't. He assumed the other shifter would not mind his bareness like the humans usually did. This was another animal, after all.

"Talk?" he asked gruffly, and then yawned. He shut his eyes, but that didn't feel right. It was the smell of the tent, not only of another animal but also of a stranger. Stranger. He opened his eyes again, and asked, "What is you name?" And then, as if not realizing they had already gone over this, he automatically went on: "I'm Kyo. What talk? You... what you want to know? You are a horse, yes? I... don't... hunt horse. So yes, talk. Yes... friends." He was so tired and did not know why he needed to talk, but if he would... it would be better to be friends, right? And not get kicked again. Horses had never made him nervous before, but he had not been so near to them. And he had not been alone, without his dogs. He shifted slightly, not quite uncomfortable but curious and always keeping his eyes on the other.

[Kaitanu]

For a moment, Kaitanu held his breath. Even at the best of times he was never certain of how others were going to act, and Kyo couldn’t help smelling of blood. Thankfully, there was no angry snapping of teeth, and the coyote even seemed to be listening to him. Kaitanu wasn’t used to making anyone do anything, even by gentle supplication, so this was a relief. He had feared trying to force Kyo to stay awake, having no force behind his own word, and almost no confidence in himself. He was still better of than his first few days in this place. If Kaitanu had any concept of “home” he might have thought of the collection of tents that way.

To be fair, the tent that had been given to Kaitanu was better than most places he’d lived. It was certainly more comfortable than out in the hot sun. Inside, Kyo would hopefully find the darkness enough to ease his throbbing skull. Kaitanu had honestly expected the coyote to take over his bed, since what was “his” truthfully belonged to whomever wished to use it. When Kyo stayed near the opening flap of the tent, it gave the horse kelvic pause. Offering the space seemed as though it was his to share, but that couldn’t be right. The idea that anything could belong by right to Kaitanu was only beginning to filter into his thoroughly-indoctrinated mind. Then again, it was his duty to make sure Dravite’s guest was comfortable, even if he was not allowed to sleep.

“Please, use the tent and the bedroll provided for me as you wish.” Kaitanu gestured toward it with one hand, then sat beside the neatly-placed blankets in his accustomed slave position. None of the Blackwater pavilion had ever required this behavior, but old habits died hard deaths. He knelt with his back straight, both hands placed on his knees and head tilted slightly downward. “If there is anything else I can do for you, I am at your service.”

In all things and in all places, the pale kelvic was exceptionally formal, except when it came to matters of dress. Kyo’s nakedness didn’t bother him one whit. Kaitanu often went bare himself, allowing the standards of the Blackwater clan to guide him. At present he was only wearing a pair of black pants himself. Old scars mottled his porcelain-fine skin but he was, as ever, unconscious of them. His mind was far too taken up by the task at hand to even remember the mending he’d been about earlier. It lay beside his bedroll untouched as Kaitanu, with sudden worry, blinked at Kyo. The other kelvic seemed to be having memory problems. Kaitanu had seen enough beatings to know, albeit vaguely, that such a thing was a bad sign.

“We will speak of whatever you wish. I am Kaitanu, a horse kelvic.”

Even if he had the ability to feel impatience it would have remained hidden. Kyo wasn’t at fault, after all. The pale former slave also had no real concept of the word “friend”, or how it applied to him. Something about the way it fell from Kyo’s tongue stirred Kaitanu’s memory, but he brushed that away. There was an unpleasant sensation that followed which he did not wish to explore. Kyo could consider him whatever he wished, so long as it made him happy.

As far as what Kaitanu wanted to know, curiosity was yet another new concept in his life. Finding out that he had questions, and that he might find answers without retribution, might yet turn him into a glutton for knowledge. At present he could only feel the first stirrings of intellectual pursuit. For Kyo’s sake, more than for his own, Kaitanu asked him a few general questions. At least it was not an empty exercise meant to flatter anyone else’s vanity.

“How did you come to this place? Are there others like you where you live? Other…coyotes?” It took him a moment to recall the word, and another to remember not to say ‘kelvic’. Kyo did not display any signs of having been a slave, but even if he had Kaitanu wouldn’t have asked. There would have been a silent understanding between them that needed no further delving.

[Kyo]

Even in his head-hurting state Kyo could tell that something was different about this Kaitanu, the horse-man. He was... stiff...? Impersonal, maybe. Not like a human, really, and not like an animal either, unless he thought of a scared animal, one that froze when it felt eyes on it. But that couldn't be right. To his eyes, Kaitanu didn't look scared. Kyo was thinking wrong again. He rubbed at his face with one hand.

Then there came that word, the one he didn't like, and he stopped trying to think about what Kaitanu was in favor of thinking about... another thing that Kaitanu was. What he openly said he was, like it did not matter. Like it did not hurt him, or make him feel uncomfortable. “We will speak of whatever you wish. I am Kaitanu, a horse kelvic.”

A horse Kelvic. For some reason, Kyo looked at the other's neck, like there might be something there. But there was nothing. He looked more closely, then stopped, wondering if Kaitanu might be watching him. Instead, he let himself be distracted by the questions the other asked. “How did you come to this place? Are there others like you where you live? Other…coyotes?”

How did he come to this place? His mind no longer hurt so much that he couldn't think about past things, not exactly, so... he remembered running. Smelling. He had tracked... the girl. The girl he had the question for --did she see the boy-- the question he had come to the city to ask. Yet he still had not asked her. He was coming to realize that he might never ask her. And he didn't want to think about that, about his fear. It was better to think about how to word an answer to so many hard-language questions.

"I come to the city to find a friend. To speak with her. I... hunt... her?" He meant track, and hunt implied attacking, but it might be close enough. "I hunt her --not to hurt her-- and come here. Where I live..." He shrugged. "Don't live in any place. No home. My good home is lost, place far from here. I live... outside." Not exactly right either. He didn't live outside right now. He was with... with Ruari, he remembered. He lived in the city. But mostly, before, he had lived out with his dogs, together. "And no coyotes, no others like me. Only me and my dogs. My dogs are my... friends? My more-good friends." His family.

"You have more-good friends here? P-- Pearl?" he asked uncertainly, trying to bring back the name, linking it to the kind woman-doctor. "And you are..." He stopped again, thinking back. I am Kaitanu, a horse kelvic. "You are a Kel--vic? What... what is 'Kelvic' to you? Is it not bad? Like... much bad? Is it not-like-people? Not... not good like people?" Maybe he didn't know what he was asking. He was watching the horse-man nervously again, fidgeting slightly where he sat. Suddenly he looked away, trying not to let his eyes go back to the other's neck, trying not to imagine... what... there? He didn't know. He didn't want to know.

"Sorry, sorry. Bad... head, bad speak. Uh... you need... need me to do... you have a care --something{all things}, a chore{small, easy}?-- for me to do? I don't... I need to do..." He gave up with the struggle for words, suddenly frustrated, irritation spiking through the nervousness, and he didn't much like that either. What was he doing? He needed something else... something... anything...

There was not much in the tent, but there was something lying next to the bed, a pile of material, and with a sloppy movement he pointed to it, looking questioningly at the horse-man. Was that something to do? That he might do, even feeling like this? Something to make him stop feeling like this... make him stop thinking... make him stop questioning his thinking.

OOC EDITThis thread is getting sorta long and since it ended up turning a bit Kai/Kyo-centric, we decided to break off into a Part II which is posted in the link below.

Here!

[Naiya]

Here's what the Fox says

Name: Kyo
XP Award:

• Intimidation +1
• Observation +5
• Running +1
• Socialization +5

Lore:

• Puppies need to be watched quite closely
• Intimidation: Bared teeth
• Kaitanu: Horse kelvic and friend

Awards: None
Notes: Great little thread! I look forward to seeing how the relationships here grow

Name:Dravite
XP Award:

• Leadership +2
• Planning +2
• Weaving +1
• Wilderness Survival +2
• Animal Husbandry +2
• Cleaning +1
• Medicine +2
• Cooking +1
• Logic +1
• Investigation +1

Lore:

• Medicine: Things to do for a person with a head wound

Award None
Notes: Nice little skill booster. Great job as always.

Name: Pearl
XP Award:

• Observation +2
• Medicine +2
• Teaching +1
• Socialization +2
• Riding +1

Lore:

• None

Awards: None
Notes: No lore today because the ones I found were already in your CS. If you think I missed one that you were aiming for, please let me know.

Name: Kaitanu
XP Award:

• Observation +5
• Logic +1
• Cleaning +1
• Socialization +5
• Intelligence +1

Lore:

• Pavi word: Coyote
• Kyo: A coyote kelivc, and friend

Awards: None
Notes: I love seeing slaves accustom themselves to the Drykas lifestyle. Most drykas, even if they 'own' a slave don't seem to treat them as a slave, more like a set of extra hands to bear the burden of the lifestyle. the adjustment is surely hard for PCs like yours. Great work!