Completed Escape (Beodan)

[Roselina]

She looked around the place upon realising she hadn't really payed much attention to her surroundings. It was nice, scents of herbs drifted through the area. Nature was nice, she thought to herself. Much better than the city anyway. She hated the city, even though she considered it home. It was packed to the brim with people, and the majority of her time was spend indoors.

She felt oddly calm, and happy, much different than her usual mischeivious or more chaotic joy. It was unusual, she supposed. She then pondered to herself whether the emotions were hers or the kelvic's sitting across from her, then decided that it didn't really matter.

Smiling at his attempt to console her, she spoke "It's fine, its been many years since my brother died, I'm over being upset about it now."

Roselina listened to him, as he chattered about his friends in the city, she could feel how happy he was to talk about them, and he was obviously close to them. He seemed to like herbs alot, perhaps as much as she enjoyed to trick people.

It was strange how Roselina hadn't made any friends in the city, despite living there for many years. She liked to keep to herself when she wasn't working, and when she did talk to people she was usually being untruthful, or playing a trick on them.

She concluded it wasn't really a shock that she didn't have friends there.

She smiled at the Kelvic sitting next to her, and a question came across her mind. She wondered if he had had a bondmate before. She didn't know that much about Kelvics, other than they were basically humans that changed into animals, with a few other racial things, such as the bonding.

She considered whether it was rude to say it, slightly concerned about sounding rude, then decided to anyway "Have you ever had a bondmate before?" She paused for a moment, realising the question might have sounded abrupt, and spoke again. "I, uh, mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Roselina looked at him curiously, suddenly wanting to know more about him and his race.

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan chuckled, “No no, it's quite alright! Yes, I have had one before. She…” He let out a shaky breath, “She just vanished one day, but I could still feel her through the link, so I knew she wasn’t dead. After going on like that for months, eventually it was too much. My friend helped me break it, and gave me some emotional support before she left too.” It was a sad tail, the Kelvic’s lonely existence out in the woods. He prefered the terms peaceful or isolated, but that did not change the fact that company was not a daily occurrence. Come to think of it, Syliras seemed to be a city where lots of people came and went, leaving behind horses they had come to know. It was always something, family in Sunberth, no market for scarves… Ah well.

The bondmates sat in comfortable silence for a pair of chimes, before Dan felt words that had been kept buried inside him clawing their way out his throat. “Her name was Moxie, she… she was unlike anyone I’d ever met,” he said barely above a whisper, his chocolate gaze melting with the intensity that he stared at the embers. Rolling the now empty mug, save for a few damp leaves at the bottom, between his palms, he looked up at her. “She completed me, as you do now.”

It was almost funny. After living alone for so long after Moxie, perhaps despite a few tent-guests, he now had someone with whom to spend all of his time with. He felt as if he had been given new purpose, unaware that he had ever even been without one in the first place. But now what he knew what an anchor to this world felt like, it was easy to criticize the past. How could he have ever lived like that? He sent an enormous swell of happiness and fulfillment across the link, hopefully impressing upon Rose the depth of their bond. A depth that would only grow with time.

After the fire had its time to speak in its strange language of pops and hisses, Dan interrupted, “Would you like to go back to the city tonight? It will start getting dark in a bell. I would be happy to take you, no riding experience required! Or you can stay here, if it pleases you.”

[Roselina]

She listened intently as he told her of his old bondmate, she felt a pang off sadness, probably his emotions she mused, though it seemed to go as quickly as it came.

The way he spoke made it seem like this happened a long time ago, as if it was in his past now. It must have been awful at first, having someone leave you like that, but being able to feel their emotions still. She thought to herself about that for a while, then he spoke again, elaborating on what he had said before.

It sounded sad, and almost lonely as he spoke. He must have been extremely close to his old bondmate, or Moxie, as he had called her. She had suffered from loss, loss of family and loss of friends, she knew what it felt like to lose someone. His sounded worse to her strangely, at least Roselina had known why they had gone, whether it have been death or her leaving them herself, but it still hurt a lot, she still felt sad over losing people now, years later.

She smiled at him, upon feeling his emotions through their new link. Calmly, she put her hands over the fire, warming herself up, as even though it was an extremely mild winter, it was still kind of cold. It was more of an autumn like cold than one that would usually be felt at this time of year.

Feeling calmer than usual, despite her early qualms and nerves, she listened to his next question before replying with a smirk. "Well, it might not be a brilliant idea to be back In the city right now." She spoke, feeling slightly nervous about going back to the city, knowing that the man wouldn't have forgot her easily just yet. "I would like to stay here, if you don't mind."

[Beodan Clathony]

The Kelvic raised his eyebrows, remembering the strange man that had given chase to her. It is odd, he had almost looked familiar at that far distance. If only he had seen his face, then maybe recollection would have been triggered. Perhaps their paths had crossed without knowing it! While interesting to think about, it hardly mattered safe in his abode. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t be the most brilliant of ideas!” he agreed, nodding towards the fire. To the expression of Rose’s desire to stay, he hummed warmly in approval. He rarely went to the city twice in one day, and while he would have easily made an exception for her, it still felt wrong when he did. His tent always felt more like a home with company. No amount of herbs hung from every available surfaces were a suitable replacement for humanoid companionship, just another presence warmed up the room and made the lamps shine a little brighter.

It was known to Dan that the first handful of moons of a bond were the most important. The bond seeked to get stronger and thicker, more sensitive. And he knew first hand that accomplished this by lowering the comfortable range of the bond to almost nothing. After a while, it had not been uncommon for one of the pair to go into the city, or for the Horse Kelvic to return into the forest to forage or graze without the other half of the pair needing to be there to hold his hoof. But two newly bonded were inseparable, seeking to be in each other’s company as much as is humanly possible. To learn more about the other, to know them in their entirety, what keeps them up at night with sweat coating their brow, what they hope changes each coming year, what makes them unique. Shoot, even the little stuff like favorite season, or color. The bond did not discriminate in its definition of physical and emotional intimacy.

That reason being while the Kelvic felt a pull towards her, like a bit of string with a weight in the middle forcing it ever tighter. It was not a particularly strong pull, or an uncomfortable one, just a suggestion. He chuckled, supposing it was similar to the compulsion one feels when one smells fresh pies baking. Now that was hard to resist! Come to think of it, that might be a bad metaphor, if only for failure to account for the unstoppable power of fresh pies on a hungry man. Beodan stood abruptly and fixed his gaze on her, filled with equal parts excitement and mischievous. Wordlessly, letting his grin speak for him, he held out a hand to his rose.

The one good thing about Morwen neglecting her duties this winter, is that the great snowy blankets of clouds were absent as well. “Let’s go stargazing!” Dan suggested happily, “You probably haven’t actually looked at the stars in ages, what with those dingy castle apartments, and all the torches and lamps the have burning! Come, follow me!” Kicking ashe onto the fire, when her hand found his he set off at a brisk walk to a nearby meadow. It was his favorite. The flowers bloomed in the summer and were quite tasty. The grass was delicious year round, and frequent grazing had made it soft and vibrant green. It was just about a stone’s throw across, and about twice that long. He laid back in the center of the meadow, a cushion of green catching him as he nonchalantly pull them both to the ground playfully.

Look up.

[Roselina]

Her bondmate agreed with her upon staying here, and she was relieved it didn't bother him. She hated to be a burden on people. Roselina was so used to living on her own and not having to rely on anyone, that even the smallest things felt like she was being a burden.

She shook the thoughts away, that didn't matter now. Someone to rely on was what she had now, and she had someone who was going to rely on her. Thinking about it, it was nice to have someone again.

She found herself curious about him, wanting to know a lot about him, and wanting to spend more time with the Kelvic she was sitting with.

It was strange to her still, the bond. The idea of sharing emotions with someone was an extremely foreign concept to her, and a scary one. Pretending had been a part of her life for almost all of her life. Pretending her parents were nice to her, pretending she was an orphan, not a runaway, and pretending to like people who she didn't. Now there was someone she couldn't lie to, it frightened her, but at the same time it made her happy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by him standing abruptly, and helding out his hand to her. A mischievous grin on his face, one similar to what Roselina would wear if she was tricking someone, or if she was just having fun.

A smile graced her face, and she took his hand carefully, standing up as he chartered on about going stargazing. They walked to a meadow which was nearby with bright green grass, he lay down, pulling her down with him.

Roselina looked up, he was right, it had been a while since she saw the stars. It was beautiful, not like what was considered beauty in the city, displays of wealth and good looks. It was natural. She loved the stars, and nature.