Ready for Adventure (Blythe)

[Keyta]

Keyta smiled as she continued to drink her water and took a look at Blythe's hair as she ran her hand through it. The little Kelvic put the top back on the waterskin and placed it back in her bag and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Just then Blythe started asking several questions about where she had been staying. Keyta tried to think about how to tell her when Blythe then mentioned she would help her gather some fruits. The small bat inside her got excited at the very thought of finding more oranges. She quickly calmed back down however and held out her hand with her palm up and used her other hand and put her finger to her thumb and made a movement across her palm. Little Keyta hoped that she was being clear enough when she was making her request.

[Blythe]

Blythe stood silently awaiting the girl's reply. After a few moments, Blythe noticed that she was making some sort of motion with her hands. She took a few steps closer to get a better look, but still could not discern what it was that the young girl was trying to say. "What does that mean?" Blythe asked. "Are you... are you trying to sign? Can you speak at all?" Blythe paused for a moment as she stared, positively perplexed at the young girl. "I... don't understand. Does that mean you want to go get more fruit? Do you want to come with me back home? We can set up a nice little place for you in my room... or maybe Briar's if you'd like." Blythe began to scratch her forehead, she couldn't help but feel as though she were missing something. "Just nod your head for 'yes,' and shake your head for 'no,' and maybe I'll finally understand..." Blythe said, as her voice trailed off into the night.

[Keyta]

Keyta looked at her in confusion for a moment and then quickly shook her head to say that she was wrong. The Kelvic then focused a little more on what she was trying to say, she took her right hand and pretended to hold a pencil, focusing on making sure it looked like she really was. She then took her right hand to her left and tried to make it look as though she were writing across her palm to attempt to ask if Blythe had anything to write with. Keyta held her hand out as far as she could to try and make sure Blythe could see clearly in the moon light and waited for the response to make sure that she understood this time. She had an idea if it didn't work again though, but hopefully this would work first.

[Blythe]

It appeared as though Keyta were trying to write something. Was she trying to communicate with her? Blythe wondered, as she took a few steps closer to the girl, rapidly closing the gap between the two of them. Taking the last few steps, Blythe soon found herself standing on her tippy-toes behind Keyta's right shoulder. What on earth was the girl writing, or trying to write? Blythe wondered. "Can you do that again?" Blythe asked. "Since you seem to be writing something, but I cannot tell what it is... maybe if you try again. Or, do you have a sheet of paper and a quill? That would make life a lot easier on both of us, if I do say so myself. But then again, you could always use a stick and the dirt... or even the sand if you don't have either." Blythe paused again. "If only my eyes would adjust to this light. It is just so dark out today, isn't it?" Blythe asked. She wondered why the girl wouldn't simply spit out what she wanted to say. Maybe she had gotten sick and lost her voice. Or been cursed by a God. But then again, she wondered if one of the Gods would ever do such a thing. She shook her head and looked at Keyta's hands again. She shouldn't allow herself to be so easily distracted, she thought to herself as she tried to sound out the letters Keyta seemed to be writing. "B..BB... Br...Bri... are those a 'B,' an 'R' and an 'I?' Blythe asked, as she squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look. She was wondering if she were even on track at this point, or if she had veered off course. She was biting her bottom lip. Why was it so hard for her to communicate and to see? Blythe wondered, silently cursing herself.

[Keyta]

Keyta watched as Blythe walked around behind her and when she was asked to repeat what she was doing, she did but couldn't understand why. "Are those a 'B', and 'R' and an 'I'?" Blythe asked while still standing behind the tiny little girl. Keyta froze and tried to figure out how she got that from what she was doing. She looked at her palm and didn't quite see how she made a B, R, and I from that motion. Could Blythe really not see in such bright moon light? Keyta shook her head at Blythe and started looking around for something, anything to draw with and on, but if Blythe couldn't see Keyta's palms, she didn't really know how she would see anything else.

[Blythe]

"Suppose that was the wrong assumption," Blythe commented, as Keyta shook her head. She had stopped what she was doing, and appeared as though she were looking around for something. "Do you need any help? Is there something you want?" Blythe questioned, feeling rather helpless. What could the girl be looking for? Blythe wondered, as she looked all around. But all she saw were the stars and the moon in the night sky, and darkness all around them. The occasional outline of a cottage off in the distance. There seemed to be nothing useful, for a lack of a better word. "It'd be easier if you spoke, then we wouldn't have to play charades... or twenty questions," Blythe muttered under her breath. Silently, she wondered if Keyta had heard her, or how much longer she expected her to keep up this little game. Blythe didn't want to appear rude, but she was growing more and more tired by the minute, and thus, more and more impatient. She wasn't sure how much longer she could wait on the girl to get her point across. After all, all she wanted was a straight answer from Keyta, and that wasn't too much to ask, was it?

[Keyta]

The little Kelvic over heard Blythe's comment on how much easier thing would be if Keyta were just speak with her, but decided to ignore it and hope she would understand everything soon enough. Keyta noticed that the Konti woman seemed to be having trouble moving around however, almost as though she couldn't see, so the Kelvic quickly grabbed her arm and started leading her out toward the forest. Keyta let go once they reached the border of the forest and began to look for a couple of branches, just a few to light a small flame. She then took out her flint and steel to begin work on making a fire so Blythe might be able to actually see and help Keyta with her idea. Once the flame was lit, Keyta started to walk away but turned quickly and put her hands out in front of her to tell Blythe to stay where she was. The Kelvic girl ran out into the forest and began gathering pine needles from the white trees all around her. She collected handful after handful and put all of them into a pouch on the inside of her leather bag. Keyta continued to collect these needles until the pouch itself was completely full and bulging so much that it could be seen from outside of the bag. Little Keyta then ran back to where she had left Blythe and started dumping the white needles onto the dark dirt next to the fire. The little girl did make sure that they were far enough away that they wouldn't catch on fire but still close enough that they would almost glow from the flame's light. She then put her opened hand on her chest and then quickly placed that same hand down onto the pile of needles to try and tell Blythe that she will almost communicate by using them.

[Blythe]

Blythe was startled by how cold Keyta's hands felt. They sent chills up and down her spine, and caused the tiny hairs on the back of her hands to stand up straight. Her scales were shimmering a light pink shade in the pale moonlight, as Keyta led her along. Blythe had no idea where the young girl was taking her, but for once, she didn't ask questions. Instead, she remained silent, and trusted that Keyta knew both where she was going and what she was doing. They walked along for what felt like a long time, under they reached the edge of the forest. Blythe couldn't help but wonder what the girl had wanted to come here for. It was so dark, and the trees cast long shadows into the night. They were somewhat spooky. "You forget something out here?" Blythe asked, finally breaking the strange silence, as the girl let go of her hand suddenly, and started gesturing to her again. But all Blythe could see through the trees was the outline of her hands. Dark shadows, surrounded by more shadow. She wasn't sure what Keyta was trying to say exactly, but she felt as though it would be best if she didn't try going anywhere without the girl to guide her. She could hardly see, and would more than likely get lost in the dark. Not to mention there was safety in numbers. One never knew what lurked in the night. After a few moments, Blythe noticed a flickering flame by her feet. Keyta must have started it, she thought, as Keyta disappeared for a few moments before returning to the side of the fire. She noticed something in her hands. "Did you get those for me or something?" Blythe asked, before she realized that Keyta was gesturing to them. "Wait a minute, you're trying to communicate," Blythe said as she knelt down by the side of the tiny fire Keyta had made. Blythe squinted trying to get a closer look at Keyta. "You're... you're going to use those pine needles to help you? Is that what you're trying to say?" Blythe asked, as she looked up from the pine needles to Keyta, and then down to the needles again.

[Keyta]

Keyta looked at Blythe and tilted her head, trying to understand how it was truly as difficult as she was making it. After a very brief moment of question, the Kelvic girl shook her head and began taking the needles to shape them into her pictures. The very first picture she worked on started with a human stick figure standing by itself with its arms lifted upwards. This figure then had a moon added above it, a semi crescent to represent that it was awake when the moon was up. Right beside this character Keyta then began to make another stick figure but it was on its side, almost looked dead so Keyta made a bed underneath it and added a blanket of it to show it was sleeping and not dying. Above this sleeping figure was then added a high sun, big and iconic rather than realistic. The Kelvic then began to work in a completely different area to not mess with the two characters she made, and started to work on making a house with another figure leaving this house with a bag on its back and in front of this figure was then an island with a thick forest of needles on the top of it. The Kelvic was then trying to figure out how to do another picture, but couldn't think of anything at the time. So half satisfied, she then grabbed Blythe once again by her arm and dragged her to the same side Keyta was on to better get a look at the work Keyta had just finished. She then waited patiently to read Blythe's reactions.

[Blythe]

Blythe felt a cold hand and a sudden tug on her arm. It was a light tug, but still forceful enough to get Blythe to go wherever Keyta wanted her to go. Her hands were still cold, although they were warmer than before. "What? What is it?" Blythe asked, slightly unnerved by the force the young girl was exerting over her. "What are you trying to show me?" Blythe asked as she soon found what Keyta had been leading her to. Resting before her were a series of pictures made out of pine needles. The first one was a stick figure with the moon above its head. "This is you?" Blythe said as she pointed to the picture, and looked up at Keyta again. She waited for some sort of response. Whatever that may be- a nod, some sort of grunting noise. Keyta didn't seem too verbal. After she had supplied a sufficient amount of time, she turned back to the second picture. The sun was out, and a person looked like they were resting. "Asleep during the day," Blythe delicately raised her right hand and patted her bottom lip with her fingertips, as though she were thinking. Or trying to be thoughtful and polite perhaps. "You must be an insomniac," Blythe commented. "Poor thing. Not being able to sleep can be rough. You should just ask my sister Briar about that." Blythe giggled. "She hates how she can't sleep easily. Makes her very very cranky, you know, until she's had a rather large cup of coffee." Blythe giggled again as she turned to the next picture. The next picture was of a stick figure leaving what looked like a house. She was heading towards something. "And that must be me," Blythe commented. All of the drawings looked like they had been done by a five year old. They reminded Blythe of her youngest niece's artwork. Special, but impossible to discern, everything was a stick figure or blob that had far more meaning to the artist than anyone else who looked at it. She felt bad for thinking so little of the art. The girl was young, couldn't be more than ten, Blythe supposed. But even so, she Blythe had no idea what she was looking at, and felt no sense of pride in her. The two weren't related, and had only met once before. However, she did commend the girl for being so creative. After all, she was using pictures to communicate, because apparently, she couldn't simply speak like everyone else. But even so, Blythe couldn't help but realize that she DID have a soft spot for the girl. Despite all of her harsh criticisms for her. After all, she seemed so young. So innocent, so lost and alone. She doubted she had a home. Not only that, but Blythe couldn't even begin to imagine how hard life must be without a voice. It must be difficult to make it from day to day, Blythe thought. People must have thought the girl so rude. Always ignoring them, when simply, she was a mute. Blythe couldn't help it. A single tear escaped her right eye and dripped down the side of her face, and off the tip of her chin. It was cold, but even so, she didn't bother to wipe it away, or worry about the possibility that Keyta may see it. "It's me, going out, isn't it?" Blythe asked, as she stared into the tiny fire Keyta had made. The orange flames were dancing across a few ash-lined twigs. It was crackling nearly inaudibly, and swaying slightly in the wind. It cast long shadows over each of their faces, making each of them seem far more frightful than they actually were. "The first few pictures are of you, the other one here," Blythe said as she pointed to the picture of the house, "is of me..." she still didn't understand the point in Keyta's pictures though. Why depict those things as opposed to something else? Why not write out a name? Or mention family members or something? Blythe wondered. Until it hit her all over again: maybe Keyta didn't have anyone to go back to.