[Gyvaka Swamp][Flashback]Sticks and Stones (Haeli)

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

"We do have something of spiders," the Symenestra murmured distracted, trailing along behind the young woman. His attention was on the ground between them, on the few patches of soil he deemed save enough to thread on. Sure footed he followed in Haeli's footsteps, taking advantage of her knowledge to navigate the tangled green and still failing frequently. His shoes skid over moist grass or sank into the soft soil, water licked hungrily against his heels when he time and again almost stepped into a brown tinted puddle hidden among the tall grass. When he talked, his gaze was fixed on Haeli's lower legs, rather than her face. "We are good climbing, have quick reflexes. You could say we have knack for working the loom and we have patience hunting. Like spider in web."

He shook his head and a smile crept on his face, a strange cross of amusement and sobriety. "I would not advise calling people spider though. Most do not appreciate it. It might get them angry and you do not want to see when in rage. It is a no good thing." Pushing a dry branch to the side, he watched her, secretly begrudging the girl for the ease she moved with, her flowing movements. He had never felt clumsy, but she gave him the idea of what it would be like. With the lightest of smirks he nodded upon the young woman's announcement that she would try find a ruby snake.

"Red eyes is common to have among my people, like most color you find in the fire's dance. Red. Gold. The shades between. Also the tint of the gem you call... ametise? Armthyste. Amethyst?" A moment only he hesitated at the word, but then he nodded as if the assure himself it was indeed the word he was looking to use. His lips moved in silence, repeating the word to himself, maybe in the hope to memorize it. "I had not thought to look for snake in the trees. They have no legs to climb," he tried to explain, but broke of a second later. Haeli smiled at him in a way he was used to from family and friends, casual, without a second though. It was an expression rarely ever came to see on the face of a stranger. Velarian couldn't deny he liked the smile which seemed to come so easy to the young woman, almost as if she was not even aware of it.

"Do not worry about the clothing. I will make new when I get home," he assured her with a shrug. The soiled robe did not bother him. Or, in a way it did, as the idea of being dirty made his skin crawl with discomfort, but he was not troubled by the loss of a robe which had neither been expensive nor of personal value.

Stopping at the cypress tree, Velarian looked up the enormous tree, to the branches touching the clear summer sky above. It was the sort of tree which made you halt in awe seeing its size, sensing its age. Too late he noticed what Haeli was about to do and looking in her direction he observed her for for a too long moment before he finally turned away. Clearly he had behold the symbol gracing her lower belly, the soft skin under her navel and while he had tried to figure out what it was, the mark had not been the only reason he watched.

"You not meet people a lot, do you?" With careful steps the symenestra walked over to the tree, resting one hand on the smooth bark. "You should not do that. Put away clothing. People would not appreciate nor understand,"he warned her. Hearing the rustling of leaves and branches the man dared looking up again to where Haeli was moving among thick and not so thick boughs, sunlight and shadow playing over her bare skin and turning it into a leopard's fur. More reluctant than he usually would have been, Velarian started his ascent into the green height of the tree top. He was a good climber, sure of hand and foot and with the balance of a cat scaling the sharp gable of a house. "I not usually go on trees. I like climbing however. You have to climb to enter Kalinor, climb well too. Humans do not manage the way up usually." Reaching up the man pulled himself on a branch half way up the tree.

"Kalinor is... hanging from the ceiling of cave. You enter buildings through a hole on top most point and everything is connected with long ropes, threads forming bridges and avenues. It is not like cities you might come to see when traveling." Pride was swinging in his voice, yet he was not boasting when he started to talk about his home city, the architects which had designed it. "It is not easy finding food in the cave, but hunters bring game from the world above. There are not... many of us. So we tend to help each other. Do what we can for the... web? Hm, family. That is the word."

Briefly only he tried to describe the light falling through layers of fabric, the soft glow filling the rare lit buildings, but he failed lacking words. Falling silent, his eyes once more searched for the young woman's figure.

"So, how would you go, hunting snake?" Curious the slender man looked around, adjusting his weight on the branch without thinking. Softly the dry wood was swinging under his weight and it might have broken had he been human and not one of the symenestra. He barely seemed to notice as he searched the tree top for something red, something moving.

[Haeli]

Haeli simply smiled apologietically. “I am sorry if I offended you by calling you a spider person. Spiders here are things to be wary of and respected for they both build beautiful things and can be deadly in their bites. There was no disrespect intended.” The girl said softly. But she nodded to his advice and gave him a look that said she would indeed heed what he said and no longer refer to the Symenestra as spider people. “You are right. I do not like to see people angry. My teacher and mother says that many people are unrealistic when angry, even our own.” Haeli added, looking thoughtful as she watched the Symenestra. He could tell she enjoyed his company, even craved his speech because she listened carefully to everything he said without interrupting and with a fascination that was almost disturbing. “Red is not something I have seen. I am sorry if I put my eyes too much on you because of it. I find them … foreign.” She said, though her tone seemed to indicate that this was not in a bad thing in any form. Haeli’s presence was easy with him, as if she knew no other way to behave around strangers. The thing was, she almost acted as if she’d known him a long while and as if she trusted him. “Amethyst… yes purple, deep purple.” Haeli nodded, understanding him after a moment. “Snakes always like the trees. They hunt birds and mice and squirrels and bugs. Many snakes which are small like insects – things that fly and bite and buzz.” She added. When he commented about his clothing, she nodded. “I cannot. Cloth is the rarest thing here besides things that are metal. I might not see new cloth for five or six years so I need to make sure I care for what I have. This is my only clothing. I will not ruin it.” She added. “We meet almost no one here. Traders come, sometimes, on the coast by ship for medicines and plants, but they do not often remember to bring cloth for us. I do not know how to … weave? Sew? I must put it away. I will not have it if I wear it to climb too many trees. People should understand if they manage to get here that there are not things here that there are in the cities.” Haeli said softly, glancing down at herself. If Haeli would have realized she perhaps offended Velarian, she would have promptly apologized. However, in her world she was just being practical and frugal, though she was grateful for his warning. “Thank you.” The girl said politely, keeping an eye on where he as climbing. His skill surprised her enormously. He moved with a lithe grace that bespoke confidence and surety. He’d climbed before, often, and it showed in the way he moved. “I have heard things about Kalinor. Dark things, though people always tell stories and with each telling sometimes things get darker, monsters get bigger, the gods more angry.” Haeli said, moving along one branch now. She glanced back to see where he was and realized that he could easily climb past her. She paused letting him, not realizing he was looking for a solid red snake rather than one that was colored like the tree but with vivid red eyes. “It sounds very strange, your city that is beneath ground yet above it. I would like to see it sometime, though I imagine it is not a place for someone like me.” She added, smiling at him. The symenestra wasn’t at all what she expected, not remotely, though the surprise was a nice one. Haeli found she was enjoying his company and his vivid descriptions. They were some of the more colorful exotic pieces of information she’d yet had from any visitor. “Family, the webs are families? Yes. I’d like one of those someday. I don’t have any now though. Not really. My mentor is a Dhani, and she doesn’t like the fact I’m a human. Dhani are a great deal better than most species, she says. I think she thinks that because they survive easier, but I am not certain. There aren’t many of them, so it is somewhat confusing to me why they are so much better than humans when the human overrun the world. Friends help each other too. I’m helping you. We could be friends, maybe, someday.” Haeli admitted, looking thoughtful. She smiled at Valarian, and continued scrambling. When he paused on the branch, she nodded, and climbed up beside him. “You don’t need to hunt them. They are not afraid of you because you don’t look like what eats them.” She added, her explanation over simple, almost childlike. “You just need to look for one. Sometimes they are so close you don’t even realize it.” Haeli said, reaching out and gently touching a branch near the side of Valarian’s face. It turned out not to be a branch at all but a brownish green snake almost exactly the same color as the Cypress bark. She carefully held it out to him. The creature had deep ruby eyes and hissed unhappily but otherwise didn’t seem all that threatening. “They are like fruit. You just need to pluck them.” She grinned, happy to have found one so easily. “He’s a boy… his whole body is one long series of coiled muscles. And his scales are small and interlocking so he can move easily. He might bite if you don’t let him calm down, but he won’t draw blood because hes not strong enough. “Are you sure you don’t want me to show you how to be a snake? Its easier to study how they move if you yourself can move that way. I’ll start out easy… like showing you only skin changing to scales.” The girl offered, settling back on a thick branch after handing him the snake. She easily looked as at home up in the tree as she did on the ground.

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

"I was not hurt," Velarian assured her with dismissive gesture, his expression akin to a smirk. "It is interesting way to see. Insightful." He tilt his head to the side, ruby eyes coming to rest on her. "Not all would become angry, but not all Symenestra are the same. Like not all humans are the same."

For the man, Haeli was the best example. On his rare journeys he had been met with much anger and fear, with suspicion. In the young woman's face he could merely read idle curiosity, fascination for a part of the world the Symenestra was not not sure she fully understood just yet. Her intelligence and understanding intrigued him. Acumen was a neglected trait in surrogates, valued far less than a healthy body or a beautiful face, a mistake in his eyes, although he could see the appeal of the aforementioned qualities.

He nodded when the girl spoke about snake diet and clothing. Had he understood her language better, he might have felt offended, but the tongue's subtleties where lost on him and so was most but the most basic information offered. "Merchants not come down here bringing cloth, because we make it and not buy. They bring iron things and glass and sometimes books. All for much miza. They also trade for linen and silk and clothing we made. Most our brood learn weaving when still young."

Valerian looked up. Above him branches grew thinner, greener. The sun had warmed the wood under his palms and he did not dare to climb any higher. To his side, Haeli spoke of the things she had heard of Kalinor and his movements halted. "Kalinor is just a place. It can be dark. It can be home and shelter. It always depends on person. And outlook." His face was even when he spoke, but he looked into the distance rather than at the woman.

He could understand the stranger's view on his home. The idea they would would preach to angry gods however came as a surprise. In fact imagining Viratas as a dark god was enough to draw an amused smile on the symenestra's face while he shook his head. "Our god, Viratas is not angry. He values life; family, children. Killing for sport or without reason – he does not approve." Velarian's finger trailed along the branch he was sitting on, although careful one of his nails left a thin scratch behind, soon filling with golden resin. He didn't seem to notice. "Only to protect and sustain family one should shed blood," he continued to explain and this time he did not shy looking at her.

"Numbers do not make people better than others, just more many," the man admitted. "...but family is good. Also adopted." More so than before he sounded honest. As if what he said was what he truly believed. "Web means family for us, yes. I have family in Kalinor. I also have a son, Davariel. He is staying with my sister." Casually the man searched the horizon for signs of nightfall, pleased when he found none. "I could show you city," he said slowly, "but I am afraid might not be as fascinating as in story. Also not good to see with human eyes." At first it seemed it was all he had to say about the matter but then, he seemed to change his mind.

"When you really need clothing you could come Kalinor," Velarian said after a long thoughtful moment. "If you ever come, you will have to climb down cave a bit. Not far. Just to reach fire pit at bottom. Beside it is dust, glittering. You take handful and throw into flames. They will turn rich green and gold. It is the signal for the guards." Now the man leaned forward, making sure he had Haeli's attention, ignoring the fact she had been hanging on his lips already before. "Now listen carefully. When guards inquire your reason visit you tell them you want strike business with Velarian of Zantedeschia web. He would make pretty dress for you in color of moon with fabric swaying like in summer breeze. You will also ask them to bring you to...," for a moment he seemed at loose for words, but then he nodded more to himself, "… to inn for guests, public house." Again he nodded, still watching the young woman. "And when they ask for what you give me," and he had the feeling some surely would realize her inability to pay for anything he animated, "you tell, it is not theirs to know. It is between you and me."

Falling silent the symenestra looked down the thick gold pearls on his fingers, trying to rub the drying resin off with little success. "We could be, eventually. Friends." His smile grew softer and he let his hand fall down, still sticking with the tree's lifeblood.

He froze when Haeli reached out to touch the branch by his face, not moving. With narrowed eyes he watched her take up a snake he had not noticed despite the time he had sat next to it. Three, four seconds his heart beat harder against his rips, surprised, not afraid. The young woman handed him the snake and Velarian took it carefully, feeling the smooth scales under his fingers. There was beauty in the way the animal coiled around his wrist, elegance in the way it moved. Belated he looked towards the girl. "Maybe," he agreed. Breathing out he nodded. "I would be glad, if you showing me."

[Haeli]

If she was completely honest with herself, Haeli would have to admit she was having one of the best times of her young life talking with this stranger and helping him. She couldn't say for certain if it was because of the attention he paid her and how closely he listened to what she had to say or if it was perhaps that he was simply a person she felt totally at ease around. But regardless, there was no fear, no uncertainty, just simple words that traversed barriers in language and culture. There was also mutual respect, for she found a noted lack of arrogance in him that the sailors all had when visiting Ozantha. Haeli had always thought it was because they somehow saw themselves as better than the swamp witches. But this man, this Symenestra, was not treating her remotely like that. She enjoyed it and most especially him. It was true she was more feral than most humans and unconsciously so, but there was still a humanity about her that allowed her to slow down and explain the world around them even as the pair moved through it. "You are right. People are different between each other. It would be easier for me to understand if they are not. Strangers are always unknowns. Animals are easier to understand. If one is hungry, one eats. If one is sleepy, one sleeps. If one is nesting, one will be incredibly protective and aggressive. People can be all those things and never act the same way twice. They... unnerve me sometimes..." She smiled at the use of the big word but explained it in case he missed the translation. "...make me feel uncomfortable. You do not. You are... better, easier, and wise." She added. Haeli was speaking the truth, not trying to flatter him. She wouldn't have understood such a concept anyhow - even had someone explained flattery too her. The invitation surprised her. She knew where Kalinor was, of course, just not how to get inside nor if it would be appropriate for her to indeed visit. The girl tilted her head, thinking things over, and really listened to his instructions. She nodded after a few moments. He could tell the draw for cloth was a strong one, and knew that the unavailability of it in the swamp had always weighted on her. Amber eyes glanced down at his fingers and she smiled suddenly. Laying her fingers on the tree she closed her eyes. Haeli's face took on such a peaceful expression that it was almost tangible to the Symenestra's view. "The cypress tree offers you its sap which to you but not to me means kinship and healing. It has been here a long long time, but not once has it offered a Symenestra its branches for shelter. It says to tell you that you and your offspring may weave in its branches whenever you'd like and to take its sap with you for it will seal your fragile skin instantly when you wet it with the special liquid in your mouth. It will melt then harden." Haeli looked puzzled. She stared at his mouth again. "What does it mean by special liquid?" She asked, puzzled. Then gently she took the snake back and using a corner of his robe, she gathered up the fabric and gently trapped it with the knotted stained fabric in a sort of holding bag that was temporary at best. "Come down with me. We'll sit beneath his branches and lean against his trunk and talk of magic. I have a trade, I think, to make with you." She said, and then she was simply gone. Like a bird born to climb rather than fly, Haeli was away from his branch and down on lower branches quickly. She took two breaths, no three, and in a series of demonstrations as to why going down is a lot easier than going up, she was on the ground. Out of politeness she covered herself with her shift once more, and folded her legs on a dry hummock of land right around the Cypress. She sat cross legged and waited for him. When he joined her, she spoke quietly. "I would very much like to see your city and trade with you for cloth. I will in exchange teach you all I can about the sameness of all creatures around us and how to be like them first in pieces then as a whole. I will teach you as much as you want to know and as much as I can while you are here. I will teach you more when I come to visit. First though, you must promise that I will not be harmed when I visit and that I will be allowed to go at any time I wish unharmed. I would have your word on this, for as much as I like you, Valarian, I have seen what other people do to each other in the wearing of collars and the forcing of work. Slavery is not something I want or desire, though I know many ship people have wanted this for Ozantha and I. We are more valuable as witches than slaves, and a witch is what I want to stay, not as something else. I say this not to insult you, but because in this we are trading and I want the terms of the trade very clear." She said. "I would like to call you friend. I would very very much like to call you friend." If he said yes, she would absolutely visit him in Kalinor and soon at that. And assuming he settled on front of her, legs crossed beneath him in the same fashion she did, Haeli would reach out and take his hand to seal his bargain. Then, and only then would the lesson on djed and morphing begin. :)I'll start another thread for us in Kalinor if you agree to her terms.

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

"I am most certain that too much praise," Velarian said softly, surprised by her assertion. Almost it made him regret his offer, although he knew as long as she claimed the profession of merchant, the Aconite would make sure she did not suffer the fate of woman walking into the spider's parlor blindly. Laudavyn's web wove a fine veil of pleasantries and half-truths to make certain outsiders just came to know their people's best side and tradeswoman vanishing in close vicinity to the city were counter productive to their endeavors. Still, it was not wise inviting foreign women to the dark below. It was selfish, stemming from a strange longing for company and knowledge, not usually part of his nature. He inclined his head in a gesture which would have to be called grateful. "I glad this are your thoughts however."

It was easy to read in her face, as easy as to tell she believed the said. If she is lying however, she it better hiding her feelings than I am reading them, he though, the idea not without a certain amusement to him. Admittedly his abilities in that regard were limited. He rarely came to leave the safety of the cocoon city, yet he could not imagine the girl to fool him willfully.

In his hands the reptile hissed, coiling harder against his wrist, unnoticed by him. Velarian's attention was on the girl and her quiet dialogue with the old cypress. Watching her gave him an not unpleasant feeling of unease, like observing an exchange he was not meant to see. An exchange he could not fully understand, but was still fascinated to catch a glimpse of. Haeli's continued to speak and Velarian's eyes traveled the smooth gray branches. Consciousness. Memory. Neither he would have given a plant, a tree, no matter breed nor age. The girl claimed the cypress had both and in the first moment the man thought she played a joke on him. Her expression however was earnest and the symenestra's smile faltered for just a second. In the end he nodded. He would remember the advise, the permission; the cypress tree. Absently he let the amber pearls rubbed from his fingers, slip into his pocket.

Her puzzled face on the other hand was taken with a smirk. "You know spider can have poison? Symenestra are same. A bit." Velarian smiled and this time he showed teeth. His canine teeth were longer than a human's, sharp with a fang like quality. Realizing the gesture might have seemed treating he quickly closed his lips with an apologetic frown. "It not always kills things large as humans. Just makes them... not moving. It is painful too," he admitted. "So it is reason why one should not anger the spider-people, hm?" He smirked again, quietly watching the young woman take the snake from his hands. One time it had bitten him, its teeth leaving marks on the back of his skin, hard to notice and not deep enough to draw blood. He did not mind and the ruby snake had calmed down since.

With grace Haeli started to climb down then and Velarian followed, considerably slower, careful. Where his shoes had not hindered him scaling the tree, they proved impractical for a save decent. Again he climbed using his hands mostly and the waiting girl would realize the man had not really a hurry reaching the ground, doing so in a manner not causing damage to his fragile frame. When the Symenestra let himself drop down the last foot, his light body barely caused a sound on the luscious grass of the swamp. Picking a dry place opposite of her he sank down, legs crossed. His arms came to rest on his knees as he listened.

When he answered his voice was solemn, calm. His eyes searched hers and he nodded. "I will in turn show city of Kalinor, letting you take pick of cloth I made or making new one if you so want or show you how done. I will not bind you to city in neither word, deed nor chain and you may go when or wherever pleases you, any time. Also, my brothers and sisters wont touch, as long as you not do harm to either people or city," Velarian offered. "My people have great respect for those coming trade, so always remember, you not just looking around. You trading and you are my guest," he reminded her, the smile he offered touching his ruby eyes for the first time.

Gentle he took the hand offered. His skin was smooth and cool. He also seemed to make certain he would not accidently scratch her as his fingers closed around her, the grip firm, yet lacking strength.

"So would I be, glad to be friends with you."

:)That would actually be great :3 I really enjoyed doing this thread with you, it was awesome.

[Haeli]

The Swamp Witch listened carefully to everything he said. Some she understood and other things she hadn't the experience to fully appreciate. Too much praise for someone who'd had none her whole life made no sense to her. She told only the truth and if he did not see such in himself, then she was not to blame. But she knew about venom, but the thought of it had never really crossed her mind being infused in his mouth. Seeing his fangs she naturally leaned closer and caught a good look at them. But they didn't scare her. Everything in the swamp had a bite or teeth to be respected. Even her dhani form had fangs. They would prove useful in a few moments. But Haeli leaned forward anyhow, just curious. The conversation moved on, with talk of Kalinor and bargain. They struck one, together, and when they had climbed down and settled, clasped hands it sealed the deal. Haeli was ready to teach at that point, excited too, in fact. It wasn't an experience she'd had before, though the teaching wasn't what truly thrilled her. The thrill for her was the thought of sharing something with someone that was incredibly powerful and important and personally intimate. Haeli wanted to give Valarian something for his time here with her, a visit no doubt that would last in her memory for years to come when all she had for company was the swamp. Her gasp was warm and strong, but not violent or particularly forceful. It was gentle with promises as she shook his hand then turned it over in her own. "To be something other than you are, you have to empty your mind of the differences between all things living. I know that sounds hard to believe, but when you morph you best understand how alike all things are. It is this alikeness that allows us to easily move between forms and better understand those forms we take." Haeli said softly. She stroked his wrist, thoughtful, remembering back to her own initiation into morphing. "There is a power within us, Valarian. We all have it inside us like blood or tears. Many people call it many different things, but I suspect its true name is djed. Some people never know they have it. Some people are born with an awareness of it. It is a force within us all, even the things that you would not think would have it - deer, trees, wasps, even small things like mushrooms or tiny flowers. You have a limited amount of it, but it will fuel magic for you of all sorts. Morphing is just one of those magics. It is the only one I've been taught. I'll teach you the only way I know." She said softly. "Clear your mind." She said, still having his hand cradled in her own. "Think of nothing. Be nothing." Her voice asked for trust. It whispered of truths. It wasn't seductive or manipulative. It was colored with the innocence of youth untainted by culture or society. "You and I are the same. We breath in. We breath out. We have hopes and fears and turn our faces to the sun when we want warmth and hide beneath weaves when we sleep. We bleed when cut and shed tears when sorrow infuses us. We are the same, Valarian. The very same. All things are. Silence your mind and simply be aware of that." Haeli said carefully. Teaching someone to find their Djed was not easy, but he was a Symenestra and some things he understood. So she watched him, neither feeling silly nor fidgeting with the wait. Important things took time. This was important. She could feel her own djed within her and she gathered it shivering slightly at its potential. Djed wanted out, wanted to be used, longed to be needed. Haeli forced it up into the roof of her mouth and morphed her teeth. She'd seen Valarians, long - slender - graceful. She changed hers as well, matching his, feeling them with her tongue until she knew they were long hollow tubes. She had no poison like he did nor would she until she thoroughly studied a symenestra's shape and got good enough at morphing to utterly assume the shape. But she could do fangs. Fangs were little things. And once they were ready, perfect, she leaned forward and sank them into his wrist. She gave him no warning as she forced her djed out of her body and into his. It wasn't a huge amount, just a tiny bit, nor was the bite bad. He'd feel pinpricks and the gentle pressure of her warm lips and moist tongue on his skin. But he'd know what it was - a bite - immediately. She firmed up her grip on his wrist, not enough to hurt him (not that she was strong enough too, but in her mind she didn't want it so) but enough to hang on when the reaction she suspected he'd have ensued. Gold eyes would be there to meet red ones opening wide with either anger, shock, or surprise. And her words would be quick, hurried, as she explained before he could react with violence - hopefully. "My djed, Valarian. So you can recognize your own. Feel its power, its foreignness. It cannot hurt you for it has no task or purpose. But you know it now. Call your own up, force it to your wrist, overwhelm mine with yours and consume it. Engulf it. Devour it as if you hunger for it." She said, her voice low, exotic again, her s's slipping and once more pointing to her Dhani mistress' influence. "Gather as much as you can in your wrist and let it weep out the wounds." Later, he could learn that djed could be forced out of his very pores, but for now the wounds were easier, if you could indeed call the delicate pinpricks in his wrist wounds. And with that, she reached for the ruby snake still bound up in the hem of his robe in its makeshift bag. She undid the knot carefully, dropped the snake gently in her lap, and would continue the lesson teaching him how to actually do something with the djed if he could indeed find it within himself, gather it, and concentrate it around the bite oozing it out. It was clear to her why he should empty his mind. Things in the body flowed more freely. Djed was produced effortlessly on clear minds, and his level of relaxation should be thus that he had some djed to spare for the task. It also allowed her to bite him unaware and in biting him introduce something foreign into his system that would allow him to recognize what was already in his system hiding neatly under his own nose. Hopefully he remained calm. Hopefully he didn't hurt her. He had no reason to trust her, but she was not plotting anything against him. Instead, she was studying him, helping him with something that would be a lesson for a lifetime. And.. oddly enough, she was quite enjoying it.

[Velarian Zantedeschia]

He had his doubts when they began, nagging feeling of concern, not about the matter itself, but the lack of preparation he could resort to. When approaching a new field of study Velarian liked to do so in theory first, poring over books and reports of wiser man and woman who had walked the particular path he was interested in before, learning from their successes and failings. The symenestra was not worried Haeli might deliberately cause him harm, yet he could not help to see how young she was compared with him, compared with other teachers he had worked with in the past. She was observant, thoughtful and knowledgeable in her element – he had no lack of faith in her abilities, only in his own.

And then Haeli started to talk. The man could feel as his tension started to ease, his breathing calming. Trying to concentrate he closed his eyes and a moment blood was rushing disturbingly loud in his ears. The noise faded to the background behind the girls voice and he concentrated on her words. At first he almost lost his hard obtained concentration. It was not as easy as her words suggested, concentrating on how all things alive where alike. Differences had the often useful, sometimes annoying habit of being so much more apparent. Most every human was born with a head, a body; four limps.

It were the variations which made them out however. Size and weight, hair color and features. And that was only appearance. Velarian could have thought of many more had he not tried to ignore them.

He breathed out. The touch at his wrist caused his finger tips to twitch in her grasp, a motion entirely uncontrolled and barely noticed by the man. It was hard to thing of nothing, almost as hard to think of what all things alive had in common. As soon as you thought 'nothing' you already thought of a more or less define concept. When Velarian actually tried to think about nothing he still thought about the color black, like a room missing any light, so dark was fully engulfing one. There might be things lurking amidst the shadow, but the symenestra tried to not think about them. His self in the room seemed to loose substance, becoming quiet breathing and the feeling of blood flowing though his body. Things had blood. Things needed to breath. Most of these things had a soul too. And wasn't there more? He could almost feel it. Strangely alive and hard to describe, without form nor substance it harbored the promise of power, sweet and alluring.

He was at the verge of starting to muse about the idea, when he felt the bite in his wrist. A quiet hiss came over his lips, warning, but even more so surprised. Velarian could feel his fangs, moving his tongue over his teeth. In the moment of contract they had elongated in the blink of an eye, now touching his lower lip. Only slowly they retreated as the man starred down his wrist, the small wounds opening on the pale skin. His red eyes had been wide, but now they narrowed. He might have tried to withdraw his hand had Haeli not started explaining again. The symenestra shook his head once, twice, calming. Again his gaze wandered to his wrist, the skin prickling as if he had not moved his arm for a quite some while. He could not only feel the tingling on his skin but also below, something foreign worming its way into his body, met by what he had not even known to have within himself.

It was frightening and it was exciting. It filled him with a sense of wonder he had rarely felt in recent years, a feeling reminding him about the first time his father had drawn animation circles on the table in their work room to make a pair of silken butterflies flap their wings. Again he tried to concentrate on what he had been told, to consume the foreign djed and making it his own. His arm went numb as Velarian concentrated on the two crimson spots, almost too small to be noticed. He felt a little heat, yet he was not sure he had not just imagined it. Still surprised he ran a thumb down his wrist. They feeling intensified for just a moment before it faded and the man blinked.

The red of the wounds was still there, but there was more to it than the two drops of blood coloring his skin red. Djed bloomed on his skin in two small pearls, not much, only enough to let Velarian realize he was not just imagining it. His lips curled into a smile, an expression still close to surprise. He tilt his head to the side, trying to hold his wrist parallel to the ground. Although he was not sure the djed could run away, he did not want to risk it. "I heard about, but never though using it," he said quietly, still watching his wrist. "It... looking nice."

He did not resist when Haeli took their captured snake and a little belated he turned his attention towards it and the young woman. Again he was amazed how young she actually was. Velarian had felt angry feeling the pain, but it had been a passing impression, the emotion gone so quickly it was hard to tell how long it had lasted. It would not be the part he remembered, not in the long run. The symenestra did not know yet, but the feeling of anger and uncertainness would fade and what would remain was the liquid memory of his first contact with a form of magic he had never performed before although being well wised in another. He would recall the swamp and the tree, the snake and the smells of grass and the wild green around them; his teacher. A human girl he could not even say why he had searched contact with beside mere curiosity. Now he was glad to have followed his instincts, even when things still felt unreal, intangible.

[Whimsy]

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Experience Award

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Haeli

Exp
+2 Climbing
+1 Intimidation
+4 Morphing
+3 Observation
+3 Teaching
+2 Wilderness Survival

Lores
Bluffing
Where To Find Ruby Snakes
Kalinor
Velarian: Symenestra
Nura Communication: Cypress Tree
Morphing Technique: Understanding Likeness between Forms
Symenestra Fangs
Sharing Djed

Comments
A wonderful thread. I really enjoyed seeing Haeli where she grew up: a little wilder, and more in her element. It was really interesting reading Velarian, too, seeing as how he didn't capitalise on her limited knowledge of the Symenestra and just got to know Haeli. Please PM me if there are any questions or concerns.