[Flashback] Crash Landing (Quelen - Tayl - Dlight)

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Quelen tilted her head at the name the dark man gave, "Dlight? Do you not like your name?" She'd never heard of someone that did not like their name before. Maybe it meant something bad?

When Dlight asked if she knew the Akvatari Quelen gave an energetic nod. She found the Akvatari fascinating, and definitely planned on visiting them on her journey. Able to both swim and fly Quelen believed they would have some very beautiful dances.

Returning her attention back to Dlight and his words she tilted her head to the side again as she listened. The story Dlight told was very interesting, and Quelen's head nodded every now and again to show she was listening. Could all land dwellers be this interesting, or had she been lucky in her first encounter? Either way, she was very glad she had been here when Dlight fell from the sky.

"Well, I will do what I can to help you learn quickly," Quelen said with a smile to Dlight, "Is there anything you wish to know of me?"

[Dlight]

The Zith had named himself long ago when he began selling his bonecrafts to others, and although he couldn't remember exactly what season or even what year that had been, he could remember the meaning of his name. Your blight is my delight. It had been a phrase he commonly said and when a name was needed, he merged the two words into one, bringing together delight and blight as he had already been doing for his whole past life.

Dlight found himself feeling emotional about the question and ignored it, feeling he couldn't respond without losing face. The Charoda seemed intrigued by his past, and ultimately smiled at him when he was finished. "Well, I will do what I can to help you learn quickly," She said finally, "Is there anything you wish to know of me?"

Really, Dlight was curious as to what background Quelen came from. What sort of danger had she been in that allowed herself to lose an arm? "Tell me about yourself." He wished to be distracted from his current situation and immerse himself in her words. "What do you like to do, and where are you from? How long have you been living?" He willed himself to lose his frown, "Who do you worship and why?"

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Quelen was surprised that one of Dlight's first questions was not about her arm. It seemed only normal to her to be curious about it, but if he didn't wish to know that was fine with her.

"I enjoy music and dance," Quelen responded to Dlight's questions with a smile, "I sing and play the harp, though I mostly sing now. Do you know of the city of Charbosi? It is not too far from here," she gestured with her right arm out in the direction of Charbosi, "A city of coral that the Charodae call home. It was there that I and 6 of my siblings were born almost 17 years ago. I worship Laviku like many Charodae as he is king of the sea and all that we live and partake of. Being a great lover of music I also worship Rhaus."

She smiled at Dlight as she finished answering his questions. She briefly thought of asking Dlight the same questions, but realized that most of them seemed to have been answered by what he had said already. Noticing that the sky was quickly growing darker with the coming of night she asked, "Do you know of somewhere nearby where you can sleep for the night? There are some dangerous people who sometimes come to the shore."

[Dlight]

Rhaus, that must be the God or Goddess of music then. "I know of Charbosi," Dlight replied to the Charoda, "If I could swim as well as fly, I would visit." When Quelen had finished telling him about herself, she noticed that the sky had grown much darker from when he had first been saved. Dlight had noticed as well, he'd been paying attention to the retreating Syna since sunset began, willing her to move faster.

He would transform when night came. During his first rest after flying, Dlight realized that, and was thankful he had taken a break rather than trying to fly through the night lest he fall from the sky and nearly drown once again. But because he would transform, Dlight had to really consider Quelen's words. Falyndar was doubly more dangerous at night than it was during the day.

"I'll probably fly up to the highest tree I can find and stay there until dawn." That did no good against Dhani or Myrian archers, but it was better than laying there in the sand. A decent amount of strength had returned to him, enough to fly for a short while. "I'll return here at dawn and leave for the trees during the night. Visit me any time you'd like." He was tired and it showed as he pulled his feet underneath him to squat, finally bringing himself to a wobbly stand that left his knees and calves aching.

After nearly stumbling into the sand, Dlight closed his eyes and tried to will himself to stay still amongst the dizzy spinning he was feeling. "Now, I believe... I must go rest..." He looked around, seeing that things were less blurry now and managed to flash a hazy smile at Quelen, "Thanks for everything, Charoda..."

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

As Dlight struggled to stand Quelen stood up next to him and offered her right arm to help steady him. Giving him a a smile that was tinted with worry she nodded, "I will travel to Charbosi and gather some items. It might take a day or two until I return. Please, be careful," her smile warmed, "I would not like to lose my first landwalker friend anytime soon."

Once it seemed that Dlight was standing well on his own Quelen moved over and helped Tayl up as well. As she got the small Charoda up she realized something, and turned to look at Dlight again, "Ah, is there anything you wish I could get for you while I am gone? I am not sure I could find much in the way of meat, but I will look."

[Dlight]

"I'll do my best to survive here," Dlight assured her, but even though in the past he'd been able to hunt and thrive in the wilderness with ease, he hadn't lived that way for a very long time and doubt was evident in his voice. The concept of having a friend wasn't foreign, however Dlight didn't know how to react to the word. In such a devastating time, he felt extremely lucky to have someone that considered him a friend, someone important, yet at the same moment felt such a word useless because all he wanted was to be joined with Leth once again.

In the end, Dlight returned her worried smile, although his smile was much more heavy with the emotion. He watched as she helped Tayl to her feet, preparing to turn and head for the trees when her voice stopped him. Anything he wished for? A dozen unsuitable answers came to mind, but only one escaped, the most sensible. "You play the harp, you said? If you bring one for me, I will learn." It was better than simply trying to learn only from a book, Dlight guessed, and maybe he would enjoy the harp. He wasn't sure-- he'd never heard or seen such an instrument. "And perhaps you're knowledge of wild life in this area will help when I'm hunting. That will come later, though..."

Tiredness began to set in again, and his voice that had become strong grew faint. "Don't worry about price, or food... I have food here that should last me a while, I hope..." The weakness of his voice was evident, but in his next words Dlight tried to put in as much emotion as he could. "My thanks, Quelen and Tayl." It was hard getting them out, because of stubbornness, pride, and the general feeling of not being able to appreciate anything that wasn't from Leth. But he wanted the Charoda girls to know, he actually did appreciate what they'd done for him despite his tired, aggravated appearance.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

"I will bring my harp," Quelen said with a smile and a nod to Dlight, "Until then," and with that she helped Tayl back into the water, and the pair moved on their way down away from the land and on their way to Charbosi.

Swimming deeper into the water she smiled to herself. She did not know of Leth and his intentions for Dlight, but she was happy the man had landed near Charbosi. Her first landwalker friend was a good and encouraging sign, and made her all the more eager to begin her journey to learn of the song and dance of Mizahar. First she had to help Dlight to learn music, of course, but after that then she felt confident she could leave Charbosi and start traveling on her journey.

OOCBelieve that's it for me. Wanna do a closing post for you then we can submit it for grading / move on to the next one?

[Dlight]

Dlight watched Quelen help the smaller Charoda into the water, until he could no longer see them and they were long beneath the surface. He turned back towards the darkening jungle ahead of him, feeling more than slightly nervous about having to survive in the wilderness when he was so tired. The beach was lonely, though, and Syna was retreating quickly, so Dlight had no time to hesitate.

Without a glance behind him, he walked into the smothering foliage of the jungle, intent on finding the tallest tree and falling asleep beneath Leth's gaze.

[Rage]

GRANTING OF XP Dlight Observation - 2xp Wilderness Survival - 1xp Socializing - 2xp Interrogation - 1xp Storytelling - 1xp Lores: Charoda, Flying In Broad Daylight, Leth's Calling, Akvatari, Location of Abura, Leth Contacts: - Quelen - Tayl Tayl Layou Coral Manipulation - 1xp Observation - 2xp Socializing - 1xp Lore: Meat - Food of other races Contacts: - Quelen - Dlight Quelen Dran'Sora Swimming - 1xp Bodybuilding - 1xp Investigation - 1xp Socializing - 2xp Persuasion - 1xp Lore: Wanderlust, Meat - Food of other races, Ethaefal, Akvatari, Charbosi, Leth Contacts: - Tayl - Dlight