A New Start [Jyn]

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el nodded, smiling vaguely. It would be good to give this one skills in order that he might be able to protect his daughter. The young Drykas couldn't bring himself to orphan another creature when it had been done to him. As to martial training, there was a scimitar strapped to his yvas, as well as his short bow. A hunting knife hung from his belt. As a Watchman, he had to be ready to leave at a moment's notice to protect Endrykas. In modern Mizahar, one just never knew what threats might loom on the horizon. "I could show you how to defend yourself, and hopefully I won't end up with Dira's smile someday," he said, drawing his thumb across his throat meaningfully. "And the pony is yours. You just have to pay off your bond. "Anyway, I'm getting to know the Sea of Grass better and better. You'll soon see that I have to ride out for days at a time, sometimes longer. So if you don't like me, never fear." He winked and grinned. "Ah... what is your daughter's name?"

[Daejyn]

"To be fair, I could do that without any training, assuming I had the element of surprise. I do know which end of the knife is sharp." He smiled with a certain feral quality, suggesting that he at least had it in him, that he wasn't as docile as he appeared. It wasn't directed at Sama'el though, that would be both stupid and cowardly. He wasn't afraid of putting in the work to get what he wanted, which was his freedom and a life among these people. As he gained more of an understanding of the world outside the Zith encampment he was from he was starting to develop a stronger idea of what his personal ethics were. Now that he had choices to make. Crime was, generally speaking, for the lazy... or the very desperate. And currently he was neither.

"Lilani," He answered, reaching back again to touch her foot, the easiest part of her to reach when she was on his back. She seemed to accept the rather bouncy ride without much of a fuss. Regardless of the horses gait, Jyn did not sit easy in the yvas, though he tried, it was still a pretty bumpy ride. "It doesn't mean anything, well, not so far as I know. I suppose it could mean something in another language. We just picked it because we liked the sound of it." Which as far as he knew was how his name was chosen. He supposed he had parents at one time, but he had no memory of it. The Drykas seemed to pick meaningful names, but he got the understanding they also changed and picked their own, when appropriate, so if Lilani was embarrassed of her meaningless name, well, then she could just change it, he supposed.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el just smiled away the almost defiant words; to be honest, he wished he had been so strong during his captivity, but he had groveled like the rest until he could lay his hands on a horse and enough supplies to make a run for it. Even then, he likely would not have survived had it not been for the intervention of an ancestor who had been drawn up into Syna's realm centuries previous only to be spit out again as an ethaefal. "Pretty name," he offered. Now that he had no prospect for marriage, he didn't even want to think about children. It was a setback, surely, to having a pavilion, but not the end of the world. For the time being, anyway, Jyn and Lilani were part of his household, such as it was. "You should see to her needs first," he said, trying to lay some ground rules without being a tyrant. "We will figure out a routine, but for the most part so long as everything gets done, I don't mind when you do it. Except for obvious things like feeding Horse when I'm gone." He smiled. "As soon as she's walking, we'll have to teach her to ride."

[Daejyn]

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," he said with a proud grin. He just hoped she got his intelligence and Yaana's added together, not averaged, in Jyn's opinion, neither he nor Lilani's mother as all that bright.

"Her needs are minimal for now. It helps that I keep her attached." He indicated the sling holding her to his back with his thumb. "When she starts walking, that will be a whole other ball of yarn." He'd have the physical strength, he thought, to wear her well into her toddling years. The problem was, children that age wanted to use their new found walking skills. "I can manage the work load, and in timely fashion. I think you would be hard pressed to match the sort of work load I'm used to." For all that he worked hard here for the Drykas, he got more sleep and more food, and the work was no harder, just often different. His fair face and preforming skills had kept him interesting enough to avoid becoming food, but most of the time he'd been doing whatever labor there was. And, of course... a few other things... He had some confidence in his physical safety here as well, and that also made a difference. "But thank you," he added after a moment when he realized when Sama'el was trying to be kind.

Jyn nodded quickly when Sama'el said they should get her up and riding as soon as she was walking. "Yes, absolutely. She seems to like Ugly Pony." He hoped that was a good sign. He might never really be Drykas by their standard, never be chosen by a strider, but he was going to do everything he could to make sure Lilani was in the best position for that to happen. "Can I ask you something? They say the strider's choose, or at the very least, accept whoever their...person... is to be," Rider seemed to general and certainly owner wasn't the right word. "What is it the seem to look for?"

He couldn't, and wouldn't, try and trick a strider. But if there were certain skills or attributes that would be better to hone or focus on, he could put his energy into that.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

The Drykas smiled and nodded, though he would have to get a closer look sometime when they were at his camp. Their camp. He had her a bit swaddled up and Sama'el didn't want to intrude. "Well, good. I was thinking of getting a dog, perhaps. There are some that are very good with herding children as well as livestock. Something to think on... And I should hope helping me is less strenuous than for a whole pavilion. I'm not lazy; I don't shirk my tasks either." He grinned. Then he nodded, silently accepting Jyn's thanks. He was thoughtful for a time while Jyn spoke of horsemanship and then the Striders. Rubbing his chin, he sat for a while on Dohaina's back without speaking. Then, "They were a gift from Mother Semele and Father Zulrav. They are part of the Drykas Mysteries. Raise her to be a good woman and I will make sure she's a good rider. Then it will be much more likely she'll be chosen." Pointing to a glyph tattooed to the inside of his left wrist, he said, "Hasieran chose me when I was still a boy, but that made me a man, or at least a full-fledged member of the clans. Seven years old, me. Him, full grown. I couldn't believe my luck..." He rubbed the smooth skin wistfully. "I think now that part of him knew what was going to happen, that the raiders would catch us outside Cyphrus. He died keeping me a live..." Remembering himself, he tried to gloss over several years. "I didn't think I'd ever be chosen again, having failed my first Strider, but Dohaina chose me almost as soon as I was back within the ancestral lands. She came right out of a Cyphrus storm and into a battle with glassbeaks for shelter." He turned a surprisingly vulnerable smile on Jyn, even if he didn't go into his years of slavery. "It's fate, I think. I certainly didn't deserve to be chosen a second time."

[Daejyn]

Jyn watched Sama'el intensely as he spoke, studying him, listening to the subtle inflections of his voice, and felt like there was something he was side stepping. How big of a thing remained to be seen. He nodded slowly, finally returning the weight of his eyes to the grass in front of them.

"Obviously I don't know all the details, considering I know next to nothing about striders, have only and intuitive understanding of fighting... and am still learning the language and the culture. But, you're barely full grown now," not that Jyn himself was one to talk, he had a good bit of filling out to do yet. "So, if you had time to be away and still be as well established as you are, you must have been fairly young when that happened. Still physically a child. No child can stand against a full grown man. I don't see what it is you could have failed at." It wasn't that easy of course. When you were the one spared, it haunted you. He shrugged. "Of course, what do I know." He was the last person who should be giving advice on pretty much anything, unless it was how to scrub a pot.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"If you raise her Drykas, she stands a good chance," he said quietly after a few moments of silence. He glanced sidelong at the man, wondering if this would remain an engagement of employment or if the gods were guiding him to help Jyn and Lilani that they might truly become a part of his nascent family. It was a nice thought. "Do you... wish to be Drykas?" he asked, looking curiously at the man. He certainly seemed stoic about his fate, but working toward bettering his station, which was admirable. The Drykas were not an entirely closed society. They married outside the clans and brought fresh blood into the fold, and if they respected a person enough, they might make them an honorary clansman. It was far, far too early to tell, and Sama'el didn't want to get his hopes up, not like he had with Dymphna and with Denen.

[Daejyn]

Jyn nodded slowly after a minute. "Yes, that is my hope. I was under the impression that individuals who take on the Drykas way of life are accepted in the same way that born Drykas who don't yet have a strider are, and that striders will choose people who weren't born among the Drykas if... well, I'm not sure what the 'if' is, but I assume it has to do with how well the person has assimilated on top of whatever they look for in clan-born." He shrugged. "I haven't asked directly yet... it was just what I heard, from traders, before Yaana... that's Lilani's mother... and I left."

He was quiet for a moment, "Of course, my situation is different." he had no idea if his theft had dashed his chance at being a true part of things here or not. Even if he did, he wouldn't have chosen differently. Well, maybe a little, in that knowing what he knew now, he might have tried just asking for help first. But he was perfectly willing to sacrifice for his daughter. "Yaana was hoping for Riverfall. Women have it quite well there, we'd heard. We found you all first... which had been what I was hoping for." he smiled a little. "Anyway, I'm okay with doing what I can to earn my keep, if there's a good chance Lilani will be accepted."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el nodded. "Striders sometimes choose outside the clans, and then the person is Drykas. You could become Drykas... honor can be reclaimed." This was, perhaps, a sticky subject. He had no idea what idea of honor, if any, Jyn might hold dear. "You could also just be adopted by a pavilion. If anyone were to challenge the decision, you could take it before the Stalk Meet for adjudication. But I think that would be rare unless... Unless your crimes were very grave." They were nearing the camp. It was small and simply laid out. The tent was large enough for four, though it only housed Sama'el now. There was a campfire of smoldering coals, a covered bucket with water drawn from a nearby stream, clothes drying on a line. A place to tie up Horse just in case, though Dohaina did a fair job of keeping him from wandering off while Sama'el slept. They were herd animals, after all. "We can take it easy today," he said. "Get to know one another a bit. I've taken care of most everything. We could set up your tent or... you are welcome to share my tent."

[Daejyn]

"I stole some milk, and bread, I don't know how serious that's considered." he shrugged. "I have both hands, so I guess it didn't warrant too harsh a punishment." He looked around the small encampment and nodded.
"In the winter, I will probably take you up on it. Lili will be older then, for now, I wouldn't want her to wake you." She mostly slept through the night, but not always. "Thank you, though."

When they stopped, Jyn dismounted a bit uncertainly, but managed not to fall out of the saddle, untying Ugly Pony from Horse, and bringing him over to tie up near camp, not wanting him to run off. "Are you sure there's nothing I can take care of for the day?" he asked over his shoulder, uncertain what to do with the idea of being idle.