[Flashback] Ale to Warm the Heart (Felakal)

[Sulavik]

Sulavik wrapped his arms around the kids side. His words were slurred and his feet shuffled, the drunkenness apparent. Sulavik could not really blame him for such, anymore. He would be just as drunk as the kid ... probably more so ... if he had been in the same situation. So instead of berating him again, he kept silent and supported him. He shouldered the door open, keeping his arms around the kid. He felt this innate need to care for him - he wasn't exactly sure why. He just knew, he knew, that no kid deserved to be this upset so early in life. He looked in the sky for this Naturii, guessing that either she was an Akvatari or she was a bird. At the moment, he leaned towards the second option. Sulavik was so focused on just supporting the kid and making sure Felakal could walk that he almost missed the question. He paused, thinking. No, he didn't know him. He hardly ever approached strangers like this. He shook off the question for the moment, choosing instead to make sure the kid was alright first. "You alright, kiddo? Sea air not making you too ill?" He looked around, waiting for Felakal to get this bird. "Call Naturii, and we'll get going." Assuming the boy called the bird, and they got going, he pulled him along. "The walk isn't far. I'm only on the second tier." He walked slowly, the walk being perhaps ten minutes from where they were, supporting the kid and eyeing the bird warily. "I don't know," Sulavik said, abruptly. When Felakal looked at him questioningly, he elaborated. "I don't know, why I helped you. I just knew you didn't deserve to be so sad and have no one to take care of you." His cheeks flushed a deep purple, as if he were embarrassed by the caring side of him. They walked in silence, the rest of the way - they reached the house quickly, not more than a minute. Slowly, Sulavik opened the door. "Alright, Uncle's in bed and Father probably is too, you can sleep in my bed until you're alright, okay, kiddo?" He pulled Felakal towards his room, through the smallish, cramped house, opening his door slowly, when he was interrupted in his trek to assist Felakal. "Who is this, Sulavik Vakarion?" his father's voice boomed out. Slowly, he disentangled himself from the kid. Yasij Vakarion stood before the pair of them, much taller than Sulavik himself, more muscled and with a deeper voice. Utterly manly. Sulavik stuttered, looking between his father and Felakal, awkwardly, not knowing how to explain what was going on. "Uhhh... well... ahem..."

[Felakal]

As Felakal and Sulavik reached the door of his house, Naturii who had been flying high above. Gently landed on a tall tree not far from the house, finding a nice perch. She obviously wanted to sleep outside tonight. She had had just as rough a night as Felakal. Felakal watched as a very large and strong Akalak walked into the room. He assumed that this was Sulavik's father. He seemed angry. Either because he wasn't welcome, or because it was so late. Felakal was going to say something to the large Akalak. Sulavik shouldn't be in trouble because of him. But right as he was going to tell the father his name, he swayed to and fro, then eventually collapsing to the ground. Hitting his face full force on the ground. He couldn't hold his alcohol at such a young age. Felakal was asleep before he even began to fall. He had passed out. He would wake up with a massive headache and feel terrible. His face bruised from the fall. He wouldn't dream that night. No, not dream. He was living a nightmare already. All night he would toss and turn, not being able to get his father's blood out of his head. Listening to him as he said his last words. Felakal was in for a rough night. And an even rougher morning. And that's even if Sulavik's father didn't force him to throw Felakal out on the street.

[Sulavik]

Sulavik froze, a young Akalak swaying underneath his arm, and his father glaring at him down the hall way. He had no idea how to explain. Sulavik may have been helping a young boy but he had a feeling that his father would think that ... soft, no matter the reason. His mouth flapped open, his eyes swapping between the other two men in the house, trying to think of how to open the torrents. Before he could even formulate his words, Felakal began to crumple under his arms. He turned his attention to the kid, but was too slow to catch the passing out teenager. It seemed he had had much too much alcohol. He tried to catch him, but he didn't move in time. With horror, he watched Felakal fall to the ground and slam his head onto the floor. He waited for the moan, and he crouched down to the ground, feeling his forehead. He was out cold. Sulavik sighed. Good, he would not feel the pain of the fall until tomorrow then. Sulavik slung his arms under Felakal's and begun to drag him the few more feet towards his bed. Sulavik began to heave and was shocked to see his father lean down and grab the boy's feet, lifting him into the air. They moved the few steps towards the bed and swung him onto it, tucking him in. "I hope you know what you're doing, Sulavik," he murmured. Sulavik tiredly looked up at his father, surveying his stoic face and then looking down at the bloodied arms of Felakal. "You know I don't, Father." Sulavik smiled weakly at his father. Instead of getting a smile in return, he got scrutinised and then a swift nod. His father left the room, leaving Sulavik to deal with the slumbering, drunk Felakal. Tiredly, Sulavik sat in the chair beside his bed. He planned on staying up, waiting for the boy to awake with a pounding headache, but he knew it would take a while. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep. He would be there when Felakal woke up.

[Felakal]

Any hopes that Felakal had of not dreaming? They did nothing for him. He tossed and turned, beads of sweat pouring down his filthy, bloody face. Nightmares shook his young body. Tremors ravaged his entire being. Both physically and mentally. He would wake up with no memory of the dream but he would definatly remember the gruesome night before. Felakal, still sweating and panting, woke up instantly rising to a sitting position. The pain was instant. His head was screaming. It felt like the room was spinning as he gripped his head in his hands. He had never been drunk before. And why would he have? He was only sixteen. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the light. The sun had risen several hours ago. The stranger from last night was already awake, waiting in his chair. Only thing was. He didn't know who or where he was. Felakal wanted to cry, as memories of last night flashed through his head. But the pain was too intense for him to remember everything that happened. The details would come back to him. As the migrain subsided slightly, he lowered his hand and rested them on the bed. Squinting his eyes in the light, he looked at the Akalak. "Who are you? And where are we?" Felakal was so confused. He didn't know what else to say. This man and his surroundings were totally strange to him.

[Sulavik]

Sulavik, on the other hand, had slept surprisingly well - even if he did wake up with an uncomfortable crick in the neck and headache to boot. He had not had any nightmares like the boy before him had. Then again, his father had not been murdered. The sun had woken him, shining through the window at an awkward angle, into his eyes. He had woken up reluctantly, the glare making him squint and look around. It took a while for him to remember why he was in the chair and why there was a young boy in his bed. He blushed bright read for a moment, the thought of having a guy in his bed bothering him perhaps more than it should have, but he quickly brushed that unwelcome thought away, not paying it any more mind, as slowly the remembrance of the night before came back to him. He waited for the boy to wake up, picking at the skin of his fingernails, and nearly jumping a mile high when Felakal suddenly sat up in bed, groaning from the worse hangover. Sulavik cringed for him, feeling his pain - though his own headache wasn't nearly so bad. He waited for Felakal to say something before he did, not wanting to surprise him in case he remembered very little about the previous night. He didn't. Sulavik made a note to keep his voice low, to not aggravate the drunken headache Felakal had. "I'm Sulavik. This is my house. I brought you home from the inn last night, after..." He trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud. He grinned then, trying to cheer the kid up a little. "You're Felakal, in case you don't remember that either." He stood up abruptly, patting the boy on the head as he did so. "Wait here. I'm going to go get you some water." The water would help the boy's headache, but would also give him a chance to be alone, give him a moment to adjust to everything. He smiled briefly, then turned to head out, wandering through the house to the jug they kept the clean water in. His uncle was already there. "Why good morning, Sulavik Vakarion!" he said, cheerily. His uncle was always cheery. "Morning, uncle." He began to fill up the cup he had in hand with water. "I hear there's an Akalak in your bed!" Sulavik blushed at the words. "What of it?" His voice came out more defensive than it should have been. "Nothing, Sulavik. Look after the poor kid." Sulavik smiled and turned back to his room, water in hand. He walked up to the bedside, and offered the still hurting boy the water. "Here," he murmured, sitting down. "Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?" He watched the boy's face carefully, looking for any sign of anger, crying, pain - any emotion at all.

[Felakal]

Quickly gulping down the water, Felakal scooted over to the foot of the bed and hung his feet over. Putting his hands over his head he waited for any memory fragments of last night to come back. The first to arrive were obvious. As soon as he awoke he was blasted by images of blood. His father on the floor, mother in the bed. He did however slowly begin to remember the events at the tavern. Felakal heard him say that he was Sulavik, he was the akalak that brought him away from the tavern. Felakal vaguely remembered being walked somewhere. Sulavik said that it was his house. Felakal still had no idea who Sulavik actually was. But for some reason he must have helped him. He tried to think about what happened at the tavern and the walk, but all he could think about was sitting over his father's dieing body, next to his killer. Felakal couldn't even remember what the murderer looked like, probably due to the alcohol. But they were dead too. He tried to stay calm, but with the raging migraine and the pain tearing apart his young heart, he fell off of the bed onto his knees. Felakal let out a loud bellow of pain and sorrow. Almost like a wolf's howl. His father Feishkal once told him about how much emotion could be read in the howl of a wolf. Which is what could be done here. However it was easy to tell that this was a cry of pain from a boy who lost his parents. Felakal just didn't understand. Why him? He was one of the best boys in Riverfall. Great hunter and fighter. He always studied and was well mannered. And yet the world took all he had away from him. Felakal felt tears below his eyes beginning to form, but he held them back this time. He pounded his fists into the hard ground again and again. Completely oblivious to the spectator that was Sulavik watching from the bed. He shouted in furry this time, still not stopping his hitting of the ground.

[Sulavik]

Sulavik watched the boy carefully. He seemed to be staring off into the distance, not really ‎listening to anything Sulavik said. He was staring off straight into the wall opposite. Sulavik ‎shifted awkwardly, and looked at the same spot on the wall that Felakal was staring at, trying ‎to see what he had seen. There was nothing there. Images must have been slamming through ‎his mind, images that Sulavik could not see and had no right to see.‎ He watched him carefully as he swung his feet off the bed, as if to stand. He was not sure ‎that the obviously hungover kid had the strength to push his muscled body up. He waited for ‎the moment when Felakal would talk to him, acknowledge his presence, as surely such would ‎happen. He was in a stranger’s bed, in a stranger’s house – he could not take it lightly. ‎ He did actually acknowledge him, but not in the way that Sulavik expected. Sulavik let out a ‎decidedly unmanly squeak when Felakal sprung from the bed with a shout of rage and ‎unabridled pain, causing Sulavik to jump from the chair in shock, hovering over the prostate ‎Akalak uncertainly. He didn’t know what to do. He looked carefully at the Akalak’s eyes, and ‎saw, to his uncomfortability but not his shock, that the filmy glaze of tears had made it’s way ‎over Felakal’s eyes. He watched awkwardly as the youth pounded his fists onto the hard floor. ‎The longer Felakal did so, the more weak and painful his wrists would become.‎ Sulavik hesitated, not knowing what to do, but needing to do something, anything, quickly ‎now. He would not let the boy self destruct. He knew the boy had nothing left, nothing to ‎live for – and he knew that’s what Felakal would be thinking. But it was his responsibility to ‎show that there really was something left to live for – he just hadn’t found it yet. ‎ Hurrying to move, Sulavik crouched down and with his strong grip, through extra years of ‎training and skill, he grabbed with either hand each of Felakal’s fists, stilling them, ‎murmuring to him as he did so. “Felakal, you can cry, but do not hurt yourself. Everything will ‎be okay.” Sulavik wasn’t sure if everything would be okay, but he felt a strange tug towards ‎him. Sulavik would stay around Felakal to make sure it would be.‎

[Felakal]

Felakal chuckled. Yes.. everything will be okay. Rubbish. All he had left was his father's eagle. Naturri. She was probably perched outside somewhere. The poor girl witnessed everything that he had and a little bit more. She, at least, was able to try and fight off Felakal's parents' murderer. Felakal was sure that if it wasn't for her, his father wouldn't have been able to kill the attacker. But what would he do? He was only sixteen. A young boy. Felakal was without a parent, no uncles or family to go to. He had no money, and no home. True he could stay in his parents home but there was just no way. He knew that he wouldn't be able to return to his home. Not now. So he had to feed both Naturri and himself. How would he be able to do this? I'll take care of us. Felakal shook his head. What was that?He wondered. Must be his migraine messing with his head. What would he do? There weren't many jobs he could get at sixteen. "No Sulavik. Everything won't be okay." He looked at his fists. Red, but not bloody. "My parents are gone. I have no family left. I have to take care of Naturri on my own, and there's no way I can stay in my parents' house. So I'm homeless as well." He put his back to the bed as he lay his head back. Felakal was doing all he could to not cry from his loss. What had he done to deserve this? His father taught him that if he was good than good would greet his life. Instead his parents were murdered in cold blood.

[Sulavik]

Sulavik swallowed awkwardly when Felakal chuckled. He expected tears, anger, rage, screaming, shouting, punching ... he didn't expect laughter, particularly not laughter so sardonic as that which poured forth from Felakal's lips. He didn't know what to do. He cleared his throat, and slowly took his hands away from Felakal's wrists. Perhaps if he was laughing, he wouldn't hurt his hands anymore. He knew that the laughter was not cheerful - but hey, one could hope. Sulavik stayed crouched next to him. He looked relaxed as his eyes flicked seemingly casually between Felakal's face and hands, as if he was comfortable. But there was a layer of tension, his shoulders held so tightly in preparation for another outburst that it was starting to get uncomfortable. He didn't want Felakal to hurt. He felt himself getting angry; what right did a sixteen year old have to have everything taken away from him at such an early age? He had only just passed his Rite of Trial. Who was to be his master, to teach him in his chosen profession? Who was to look after him as he strove towards his Rite of Manhood? His lungs were getting tighter the more and more angry he got, though he calmed himself as he saw Felakal shake his head. Anger suddenly disappated as he realised the kid was still in need of help. His eyes stayed trained on Felakal's, as if waiting to see why he shook his head. Was he shaking his head at the thoughts, or was he shaking his head at a conversation? But Sulavik had not said anything ... and surely it could not be -- but that wasn't the issue right now. Felakal begun to speak. He waited while the kid spoke through everything before he began to speak. Though his mouth moved, seemingly of his own accord. He did not even process the thoughts, just said them as they came to him, hoping that something he could say could help the kiddo. "Kid, it might not be okay now, but it will be. We just need to get you back on your feet. I will help you get back on your feet." Surprise registered in him as he said that, but the words kept coming. "I can learn to deal with eagles, you can even stay with me, Felakal." He stopped there. Had he just promised to raise the kid? Be his father? As ridiculous as the idea seemed, he could not find it in him to regret what he had said. He only had one more thing to say, and it was said softly. "I can be your family, kiddo."

[Felakal]

He can't be serious? We don't need him! Felakal put his hands to his face. What was wrong with him? He normally had control of his thoughts, and why would he think we? Duh, He thought to himself. Naturri and I. This migraine is really messing me up. Shaking his head again he got up and sat on the bed. Thinking real hard, here this man was, offering safety and a home. But was he really saying family? They didn't even know each other. Maybe I should take him up on his offer... After all, Felakal was only sixteen. It would be a tough life for him and Naturri living off the streets. Even though the elders probably wouldn't let that happen. We could do it. People have done it before. Felakal sighed. Why was he arguing with himself? No. He needed a home. Naturri needed a home. She deserved it. He gave Sulavik a nod. "I appreciate the offer. You don't even know me. But my family is dead." His voice cracked as he said the word. He loved his mother more than anything but his father... his father and him were the best of friends. How could he move on? How could he get back on his feet? Sulavik had good intentions, but they didn't know each other. It was as if Felakal would still be on your own. You'll never be on your own. We'll fight together. Felakal was worried. Either he was going insane, or the thing his father warned him about was finally coming. His other soul was trying to become known. His father taught him to not let down his guard, only Felakal truly deserved to be in this body. It couldn't be the soul anyway. His father said that if he was determined to keep the other soul out, that it would never emerge. Was he wrong? He hoped that he wasn't. Felakal needed to focus on living. On helping Naturri. And on finding out why Sulavik wanted to help him so much. What did he want out of it? "But yes, I want your help... I'll give living with you a shot."