A Dangerous Trek (Vala)

by **Ronin** on March 3rd, 2011, 2:56 am

Timestamp: 2nd Day of Spring AV 511

A Dangerous Trek

It was early in the morning when Ronin awoke, but he was surprised he had slept at all. This was his first chance to get out of Wind Reach in what seemed like forever. The pass had cleared, spring had begun, and it was time for an adventure. Ronin was about ready to go crazy being couped up inside for so long. But as he hurried around his room throwing on clothes and gathering his gear, he thought going out alone would get lonesome. Ronin didn't know who he would invite, but he wanted to invite someone. As he gathered his backpack and slung in over his shoulder, he saw his reflection in a small mirror. He was still not used to seeing his hair in such a strange condition, but he was grateful for the events surrounding his haircut. Suddenly, he knew just the right person to invite.

Vala.

Ronin grabbed his shortbow and quiver, though he had no intention of using them. He had learned long ago not to go out into the woods without them. The world was a dangerous place and he wasn't going to let it get the best of him just because he hadn't brought his bow. After checking his appearance in the mirror once more, he bolted out the door and door the narrow corridor. He was confident that he knew the way back to Vala's since her room was not far from his. Right, Left, Right, Right, 3rd door on the left. He thought to himself. In no time, he was there. As he approached the door he considered the time and hoped he wouldn't be waking her. There was no telling what she might do to him then, he thought with a small chuckle.

Ronin rapped lightly on the door, and then a little harder, fearing he hadn't knocked loud enough the first time. He was obviously excited and whoever opened the door would be greeted by a wide smile and a man who was literally bouncing with enthusiasm. To Ronin's dismay, it was not Vala behind the door. The look on his face suddenly changed to complete horror as the little old man opened the door. Maybe the man had just awoken, or maybe he was just senile, but he had answered the door wearing absolutely nothing. Ronin quickly turned his back on the man and rubbed his eyes as if trying to physically rib the image from them.

"I'm sorry, wrong room, please shut the door."

With a angry grunt, the old man shut the door. He could be heard on the other side talking to himself about how rude the young Inarta were and how Ronin had woken him. Ronin looked back down the hall and saw that he had knocked on the second door, not the third. He went down the hall one more door and pounded on it excitedly. His exuberant look had returned as he awaited Vala's response.

by **Vala** on March 3rd, 2011, 3:30 am

Vala, curled up tight in a fetal position, head buried underneath the thin black covers of her bed, with only her tiny nose poking out, was jolted awake by a sudden, and violent pounding at her door. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. It went on. Vala’s first reaction was to curl up tighter, covering the entirety of her face with the covers. She had no idea who was at the door… no one visited her… especially this early in the morning.

The room was warm and cozy; the fire pit had died out during the night, leaving a few glowing embers to heat the room, and Vala was in no mood to crawl out of her toasty bed. She tried to think of who could be at her door, or at least go through the short list of people who knew where she lived in the first place. The only person she could think of at the moment was Ronin… and she wasn’t even sure if that encounter had, had a happy ending or not… She was sure she had paid her taxes on time.

Vala rolled out of bed and walked up to the door, long red hair askew from rolling in her sleep. She moved on autopilot, her movements jerky, still unconscious of her actions. She jumped, hopping to the door, as her warm feet touched the cold stone floor. She wondered why it was suddenly so cold as her skin prickled in the morning air. At any other time of day Vala would have been wary, alert, and careful, but now, in her dreamlike state, her guards were at her lowest. She opened the door, without even asking who was there.

She yawned a groggy “Hello?” as she stretched her arms up high, forgetting that her only Vinati and Byrda lay draped upon her chair.

by **Ronin** on March 3rd, 2011, 3:49 am

In all his excitement, Ronin had barely thought about the chance of her not being awake. The thought of her not being clothed, that hadn't even crossed his mind. When she answered the door wearing absolutely nothing, Ronin was completely shocked. Not the bad time of shocked he had been with the old man, but rather, stunned by her beauty. He didn't mean to be rude, but the sight of a completely unclothes woman in front of him made it hard to avert his gaze. Giving her a lengthy once over with his, Ronin smiled. Finally, he tore his eyes off her body and looked at her face, though he was still enjoying the view.

Ronin didn't know what to say at all. The groggy look on her face made it seem unlikely that she had intentionally exposed herself. But on the small chance she had, he didn't want to turn her away. He deliberated with himself in his head for a moment before responding to her greeting.

"Hello. I just wondered if you wanted to get out of the city for a little while." He was unsure of what to say about her nudity. " But.. If you had something else in mind, I guess I'm game." He added, motioning with his hand toward her naked body.

Ronin smiled again, but this time it was more awkward. He feared that if this had been unintentional he may have just offended her. Regardless, her forced his eyes back to her face and leaned against the door frame. His hand went up to his hair and he ran it through his mohawk. Ronin considered her honor and didn't want anyone passing by to see her.

"You mind if I come in? I don't think you want the whole world seeing you like that."

If nothing else, this would prove to be an interesting morning.

by **Vala** on March 3rd, 2011, 11:03 pm

In the dead of the early morn, the Common Room corridors were void of most citizens, except for Ronin. And the smell of the city’s morning meal, cooking, wafted temptingly. But even in the nippy spring air, Vala’s mind was still innocently floating in the depths of her subconscious. She smiled warmly at the figure before her; she was glad her dream men were quite handsome; and Vala was not one to pass up a ‘good dream’. She finished her satisfying stretch, her fingers flexing wide; her stance revealing everything.

It was more Ronin’s mild reaction, than her sleepiness, that fueled Vala’s passiveness. As Ronin’s hungry eyes, devoured her lithe body, she remained oblivious. His words, something about ‘getting out of the city for a while’, sounded nothing more intelligible than a guttural growl to her. She nodded compliantly. Wondering why it was still so cold, Vala wrapped her arms around her torso. As her cool fingers touched her bare flesh, it began to sink in, slowly, that she was cold because she had absolutely nothing on.

Her mind reeled. ‘Where am I?’, ‘What time is it?’, ‘Where are my clothes?’ and many others continued to spill, but most importantly, she asked herself. ‘Who is this man?’ Her eyes opened wide: awareness suddenly spiking. It was Ronin. His mohawk was growing out nicely, but was due for a trim soon. Vala grew distracted by his hair - her handiwork - forgetting again that she was naked.

His eyes, his dark blue eyes, staring at her, just eating her image up, surprisingly did not make Vala recoil when she finally noticed. It was a strange reaction for her. She could feel a warm flush rising to... well every part of her body; Bump bump... bump bump... faster her heart raced; her fingers trembled; all at the thought of someone looking at her... lustily.

The power of her body, was nothing new to her, or womankind, but it was a power to be used sparingly. Vala turned, grabbing her Vinati and Byrda off her chair. There was no time for her morning ritual; her mouth pursed at the thought. First, she had to deal with the situation: Ronin. There was no taking back what he saw, unless she wanted to rip out his eyes... no, she pushed the thought from her mind with a wicked smile.

Which was more imperative?... Vala quickly pulled on her Byrda, first. Then she shimmied into her tight, conservative Vinati. Even with the thin black cloth covering her, Vala still felt as naked before. It was obvious the image naked body was still imprinted into his sight.

In an effort to save face, Vala tried to pass off the awkward encounter with as much composure as possible. It was normal for Inarta to show off a bit of skin in the hot tunnels of Mt. Skyinarta, maybe not but allone’s skin, but... right? Vala bade Ronin to enter. “So what were you saying about a trip out?” Vala said with her bell like voice, thin hands fluttering about trying to adjust her clothes to perfection.

by **Ronin** on March 5th, 2011, 10:41 am

Ronin couldn't help but watch as she got dressed. He respected her, but he was still a man and she was still naked. He stayed at the door until she invited him in, not wanting to impose upon her in her seemingly confused state. He laughed when she tried to talk about something else, but Ronin wasn't about to let this go. He had come to accept in their very first meeting that this girl was capable of some very strange behavior, but this was far beyond strange. This was not the first time Ronin had seen a naked woman, but it was the first time one had been so casual about it. Ronin pondered for a moment, trying to chose his word carefully. So far, she hadn't been violent about the encounter, but he had no idea what might change that.

"So wait.. You greet me at the door wearing absolutely nothing. Then, you give me quite the show without even asking me to avert my eyes. And now you want to talk about a trip? Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't this going to make things kinda awkward?"

Ronin didn't know what to think by now. He was starting to think this girl's unique behavior would be something he never figured out. Ronin leaned again the wall and just let his gaze rest on her face. He wasn't focussed on anything in particular, other than keeping his thoughts in check. Ronin was fairly well self-controlled, but this was a situation he had never faced before. For living in a city where physical signs of affection are commonplace, Ronin was very inexperienced when it came to women. If Vala was coming on to him, he could very well be oblivious to it. Ronin reached his hand up and ran it through his ever-growing mohawk. This reminded him of the other thing he wanted to tell her.

"By the way, the haircut turned out well. Thank you."

by **Vala** on March 5th, 2011, 9:25 pm

Everyone has a singular identity, but this singular identity is rarely ever static; faces, depending on the person, can number from tens to thousands: a kind face, a friendly face, a cruel face. For a few, their faces are complicated further by masks: a mask to hide one’s true face. For Vala, while her mask of ‘childish innocence’ is used often, her ‘face’ of the day, is determined by the proverbial roll of the die or spin of the wheel. Today, well today was Ronin’s lucky day. Out of all of Vala’s possible faces, today Vala’s ‘reasonable’ face decided to make an appearance.

She was a little annoyed Ronin refused to let her ‘slip’ go. “Isn’t this going to make things kinda awkward?” he said. Of course it was going to make this awkward, but Vala didn’t want to admit that.

She smiled at him, her lids drooping a little from placidity. “It’s only awkward if you make it awkward.” She took three short steps to her chest of stuff, unlocking it with the key she had in the pocket of her byrda. She pulled her favorite, only, black scarf and wrapped it delicately around her neck. She looked around, feeling like she had forgotten something important. Wiggling her bare toes, she realized she had. She walked over to her pair of boots that she had put away under her table the night before and pulled those on to. She went back to her chest of stuff and pulled out her katinu as well. Now that she was fully dressed Vala felt the need to go, go now.

If he wanted to take a trip outside the city, then it was best to go prepared; she noticed Ronin carrying his short bow and quiver. She grabbed her weapons and journal, locking up her chest right after. She looked up at Ronin who was standing uncomfortably in the middle of her room. Vala knew his type, and from how easily he forgave her from the hair pulling incident, he was obviously not one to take advantage of a girl. She didn’t want to push her luck though; she hoped if she continued to ignore their obvious arousal in each other’s presence, the activity of walking would distract the both of them from any other... ideas.

Lost in the morning’s excitement, Vala hadn’t had time to ‘prepare’ her mind. She wanted to avoid any further awkwardness so she took a moment and listed all the things she knew about Ronin thus far.

~ Archer (better than me)
~ Stronger than me (but is he faster?)
~ Owns a falcon (angered the falcon) (remember to ask how its doing)
~ Glass blowing master died recently (touchy subject) (do not bring up)
~ Forgiving nature (do not take too much advantage of) (Will make good friend)
~ Probably has suspicion of my fear of touch (Try to avoid any more touching) (best to keep in dark)
~ Obviously likes my body (...personal reaction to be determined)

Vala tried to, nicely, shoo Ronin out of her room. “I’m glad you like the hair cut. It looks like the wound has healed up nicely too. The hair’s even growing there. Soooo... trip out of the city? What’s the plan exactly? And how’s your falcon doing?” Vala attempted a not so subtle subject change. Her cheeks still feeling flushed from her earlier exposure.

OCC :

by **Ronin** on March 8th, 2011, 9:52 am

Ronin got the hint that Vala wanted to forget what happened, and, though he didn't want to, he dropped it. However, it would be impossible to unsee what he had seen, and the attraction could not be stopped. Ronin quickly brought his emotions under control and cleared his mind temporarily. He waited patiently for Vala to prepare, and to his surprise, it did not take her long at all. Ronin had always been under the impression that women took forever to get ready for anything.

Once she was ready, Ronin quickly walked out of her room. He usually walked at a fast pace, and this was no exception. He never considered whether others were keeping up. He chuckled when Vala asked him a whole host a questions in a transparent attempt to change the subject, but he happily obliged her.

"Yeah, it is spring now. I've been waiting for weeks to go outside, and now I have a chance. But I thought it would be a little lonely by myself so I thought of you. My plan was that we could take a nice long walk through the woods and maybe short some small game if you are looking for something challenging. What do you think?"

In his excitement about the trip, Ronin forgot to address her question about his Falcon. The bird was fine, and he didn't place much importance on the topic so it quickly slipped his mind. The reddish color in Vala's cheeks brought a small smile to Ronin's face. He knew he had embarrassed her, but she seemed to handle it well. None the less, he didn't make mention of it again, knowing she might become angry.

At Ronin's pace it took little time to reach the edge of the city. Once they made it out through the gate, Ronin slowed a bit. His anxiety to get out of the city had been wondrously quelled. The early spring air was still cool, but he found it far more comfortable than the air in the city that seemed stale and stuffy compared to this. His joy was made perfectly clear by his expression.

It was spring, and he would be happy for every moment outdoors.

by **Vala** on March 9th, 2011, 12:05 am

Vala had to near sprint to keep up with Ronin’s fast pace. His long lean legs moved in a blur; his steps were made in ease while Vala tried not to pant at his side. She tried to adjust her grip on her bow and handful of arrows as not to drop them, her palms starting to feel slippery. She perked up at Ronin’s response. “I thought it would be a little lonely by myself so I thought of you.” Vala had few ‘friends’, even fewer who would think of spending time with her outside of work. Vala was friendly, but she was never good at close relationships. She wondered what she had done to merit one with Ronin… never in a million years would she have figured pulling out someone’s hair would or even could make a friend, unless he liked that sort of stuff… Vala glanced up at Ronin’s features, made fierce by the Mohawk, and wondered if he liked… no, impossible… she giggled… she tried to push out the thoughts of Ronin, in black tight leather, that began swarming her mind; she wasn’t very successful.

To keep her thoughts clean, especially after the morning peepshow, she tried to focus on Ronin’s questions. “I love to take walks, but I keep mostly inside the city, maybe wander the Inner Warrens, but not ever daring to go too deep. Don’t tell anyone but I’m a little afraid of what could be down there; I know most of the stories are tall tales, but they all sound so very real sometimes, you know. Maybe when or if I actually learn how to defend myself I’ll go deeper. The outside on the other hand, well I’m not much of an outdoor person.” Vala didn’t mention the childish tantrums and petulant fits she would hold when her long hair got dirty. “And…uh,” Vala said a little sheepishly, “We’ll I’ve also never actually shot any real game… ever. I’ve only shot at targets in indoor target ranges mostly, like the one where we uh…” Vala giggled, “…met.”

They continued to walk, and in almost no time they had reached the gates to the outside. “So uh my arrows are mostly practice ones, not meant to kill a real animal. So if you really want me to hunt,” She said playfully, “Then I might have to borrow some of yours. And would you mind carrying my arrows in your quiver? I actually don’t have one of my own…” Vala’s left hand was starting to cramp from the tight fist she made to keep a hold of her bundle of arrows. “This is so exciting; I hope you don’t mind having to teach me how to hunt.” Vala was genuinely happy to get out and have an adventure with her new friend.

Vala arched her neck, nose in the air, breathing in deep the fresh spring air. A light breeze ruffled her hair, bringing a few scarlet strands to land delicately before her eyes.

by **Ronin** on March 10th, 2011, 3:12 am

OOCSorry for the slow posts, I'll try to pick up my pace.

Ronin was so caught up in finally being able to go outside that he didn't realize Vala was speaking at first. He tried to piece together what she had said with what he heard. After a moment he was confident that he had gotten the gist of it. When she mentioned not being on outdoor person Ronin worried he was dragging her into something she didn't want to do. But if she didn't want to do this, why was she here? Did she just want to spend time with him? Didn't she have friends who did stuff she liked? Questions swarmed Ronin's mind, but he collected them into a single inquiry.

"Oh, you don't like being outside? I didn't mean to make you into something you didn't want to do. We can go back."

Ronin kept walking, but he looked at her as he spoke. He was genuinely concerned she was here for some hidden reason. Maybe she still felt guilty and was only here to repay a debt, or maybe she had just been confused by the morning's rocky start. When she offered him her arrows, Ronin took them and placed them in his quiver without a second thought. He hadn't noticed her carrying them. If he had he would have offered sooner.

"You can use anything you need. Just let me know."

He said as he started off on the path. If everything went well, and Vala was up for it, they would be out for hours. The thought was thrilling to Ronin. His pace was slower now, but it was still not a leisurely one for someone not used to walking in the woods. He was looking for adventure and there was little that would get in his way.

by **Vala** on March 11th, 2011, 3:09 am

Still feeling a little stiff, Vala tried to stretch, as she struggled to keep up with Ronin. Beads of sweat had already begun to drip from her flushed forehead, but Vala definitely wasn’t one to pass up on a fun adventure, especially if it meant being branded a quitter. “Don’t be silly Ronin.” Vala said in a tone less reserved than usual: he had already seen her naked, there was no possible way to make things anymore awkward, well she hoped there wasn’t; so without any conscious thought Vala began lowering her guard before Ronin. Even her smile twisted with a hint of genuine happiness. “If I really didn’t want to be here, you’d be missing another patch of hair.” She giggled playfully. “But you did catch me... a little off guard this morning. So uh, sorry about that. “ Vala off handedly flitted to another subject. “Its not exactly that I don’t like being-” Vala jumped as she stepped on a dry twig, snapping it with a resounding crack. “-outside.” She continued sheepishly, making sure to watch her footing with more caution. “It’s just that no one’s ever bothered to invite me to a walk before...” She trailed off as they continued to tread through the snowy path.

Vala was unsure what was going on, just allowing Ronin to lead her wherever. She had let her guard down so far as to not even wonder if he had any ulterior motives to leading her into the woods though he barely knew her. Her constant paranoia was momentarily replaced by childlike glee in the feel of a fresh spring breeze upon her cheeks and the quickening pulse of her heart beating within her chest.

The few that knew Vala, well more than just her friendly facade, are the few that have experienced her moments of overwhelming bubbliness and moments of abject rage: both states never far from each other - Ronin’s haircut a prime example. “So what exactly are we going to hunt today? Bunnies?” Vala’s eyes opened wide, lower lip pouting. “I’ve never tried to kill a bunny before...Do they feel pain when we shoot them?” Vala asked Ronin naively.

OOC :