"And they seek to conquer tribulation with routine."
--
He had laid still and unmoving for quite some time, but feeling gradually returned to his limbs, enough for him to stand and even walk. The caretaker at the entrance of the chamber had quickly dispensed Kasrjin's equipment back to him once he'd identified himself. The furs and leathers had been cleaned and washed, his sword had been polished, and the harness was new. The Xaela re-equipped himself quickly before leaving the cave in a brisk, refreshed stride that increased in pace as he grew more comfortable with the return of his motor functions. The air was somewhat cold but not frigid, and a gentle breeze whistled past him, sending his loose hair rippling. The solemn blue walls of cave's ice gradually gave way to dirt, rocks, and snow, and when Kasrjin emerged from the mouth of the cave he came upon something truly unexpected--brilliant sunshine piercing through idle tufts of cloud. The sky seemed to glow with azure radiance in sharp contrast to the constantly gloom of the overcast lowlands that he and his warband had spent the last moon occupying.
All circumstances considered, it was far too welcoming of a day.
The Xaela shielded his eyes, allowing them to adjust. From the sun's position in the sky it appeared to be barely midday. The sensations of the outdoors bombarded all senses and he found himself stunned for a spell before managing to regain his bearings. The mouth of the cave sloped into a familiar dirt path, the incline of the trail descending rapidly into a wide valley, surrounded on all sides by sheer walls of snow-topped mountains. Though it was the middle of winter, the climate had been kind; the soil was frozen but the snowfall had been gentle, blanketing the region in a soft white sheet, and the defensive blizzards that usually blanketed the area had ceased for the Communion.
With his vision fully focused, Kasrjin could barely spot the gold-streaked walls of black granite occasionally poking out from at the base of the opposing series of mountains, but what interested him more were the neat, organized squares of leather tents that had been erected. While this season's Communion generated no small amount of consternation, such events always held a bright side. He could see the smoke of fires, hear the sound of his people, and while there was much to worry about, the Khadai warrior could at least take refuge in the relief that seeing the bustle of activity brought him.
There were roughly nine squares of circular tents distributed in the valley in front of the wall of foreboding black granite, the structures arranged in practical straight columns and rows. The number of tents differed with each square; the largest square of dwellings, in the centre, held nearly eighty or ninety tents. The smaller squares ranged anywhere from ten to fifty tents. Communication at range was highly difficult, especially given the terrain, so it gratifying to see the presence of so many.
He swiftly made his way down the trail, eager to collect news from the others. Kasrjin had not seen any members of his own korum since the formation of the warband nearly two full moons ago. A marked smile creased his face at the anticipation of seeing them again.
The Xaela swiftly made his way down the snow-covered trail and into the nearest passageway between two rows of tents and was soon greeted by the true commotion of the gathering. The artisans worked tirelessly on their crafts, daring those around them to interrupt in the stretching of hides, the shaping of metal, and the carving of wood, while the caretakers fussed over toddlers and young children, carrying baskets of foodstuffs that would inevitably be required by those who had yet to recover from their experience of Communion. Kasrjin stepped through row after row of circular tents, taking in the sights and scents, boots crunching in the gentle flakes that had settled onto the ground. Every gathering was different, and the mood was borderline festive despite the grim implications it held.
A group of Jungsai near one larger tent were wildly swinging trophies and shouting at one another; one male Xaela, wearing a necklace of animal teeth, held the tooth of a shark that was nearly the length of his forearm that had been fashioned into a fearsome-looking awl. A second male, whose horns were ornamented with wild ivory, held a furred winter mantle fashioned from the fur and hide of one of the steppe tigers. A third who had a large hawk feather tied into his hair held aloft a small but impeccable roll of silk extracted from some manner of insect. The shark tooth hunter would wave his awl and yell, the mantled hunter would merely scoff, while the silken hunter would spin his trophy in satisfaction and nod silently to himself.
"Move," came a grunt from behind Kasrjin. Without dispute or even turning to see who it was, he swiftly stepped to the side of the tent aisle. Marching past were two more males, their faces splashed with orange paint, vigorously transporting a collapsed tent to an undisclosed location. The Khadai continued his stroll.
A pair of young children sprinted in front of the warrior's path throwing snow at one another, and chasing them was a female Xaela from whose curled horns dangled thick string holding a band of turquoise and a sprig of mistletoe. The exasperated Yerenai dropped the basket of dried meat she had been carrying to roughly snatched the children by the shoulders before herding them into a nearby tent, clearly out of patience.
"Kasrjin!"
He turned his head at the shout, and was greeted with a familiar clump of wild, unkempt white hair. Kaizhan was waving his spear in the air; clearly, the younger Au Ra had not been affected by his experience all that much, even though he had been the first in the warband to succumb to the Forfeiture. The younger Khadai was quick to close the distance between the two.
"You appear to have recovered quickly," Kasrjin murmured, offering his adolescent peer an affectionate pat on the shoulder. Kaizhan merely shrugged.
"For a second Communion so soon after my first, it was not much. Perhaps the Tsenkhai simply did not want me."
"That would not be surprising in the slightest," Kasrjin responded dryly. Kaizhan merely grinned and held his spear aloft. He cocked his head towards a different direction, and the pair began to walk. If there was one thing that always struck Kasrjin about the gatherings, it was the smells. Cooked food freely intermingled with burning wood. Strong herbs of incense cloyed with the heat and odour of so many bodies in close proximity. A stench of decay would waft from where the Jungsai prepared the parts of animals, mingling with the oils used by the Erdegai in their crafts. Other Khadai stood vigilant at various points, occasionally stepping forward to quell a dispute or to herd individuals away from certain areas.
"Have you located our korum?" Kasrjin rumbled. Kaizhan nodded, flashing a toothy smile.
"Safe, and there has been little trouble. So far the most I have had to contend with is Erdeni complaining that I do not properly maintain my leathers. She worked through the night to restore our equipment while we were in the Communion. Can you guess what irritated her the most?"
Kasrjin glanced at the handle of the sword upon his back, and Kaizhan laughed. "I would not worry about it over much. You know Erdeni works better when she has something to yell at us about." The youth patted the crossguard of Kasrjin's sword, as if reassuring the weapon of its status. Kaizhan's easy expression gave way to a wince when the youth noticed a stern female, blood red hair blending with the rust red hue of her skin, approaching them in a brisk and severe stride. Her face was creased in a mixture of annoyance and relief, which was soon to be replaced with indignant anger.
"I'll let you handle Alaqu. I'm, ah, meant to visit the Yerenai for this rash I have..." And with that weak excuse, Kaizhan broke out into a run, swiftly losing himself within the row of tents. His mane of wild white hair shivered with laughter as he dodged people and obstacles with agile ease.
"Khadai!" The female shouted indignantly, herself attempting to run but only making it a short distance past where Kasrjin was standing before giving up. Her heavy fabric robes were only lightly padded but the short distance she ran left her breathing somewhat strained. "You should have stopped him, Kasrjin," the female coughed as she paused to catch her breath.
Kasrjin merely tilted his head. "I was not aware I was meant to."
"Do not offer such trifling excuses." The red-haired female sniffed and brushed the snow off of her robes indignantly. Her blazing amber eyes peered at the furred warrior curiously. "You are oddly cheery considering the current state of things."
"Things are not well, no, but nonetheless I do enjoy these gatherings while they last." the Khadai observed. Alaqu Aljai merely frowned and crossed her arms in a huff. Her crimson hair was cut in a short, practical bob, keeping her face mostly clear of errant strands.
"Such things are simple for you to say, having been away from the korum for...two moons, now? You may enjoy these gatherings, but I will be grateful when we have retreated." Alaqu briefly paused in her tirade to examine him, as if looking for signs of illness. "The Tsenkhai who came to us said she would see you and verify the health of you and your brothers. What has she told you thus far?"
Kasrjin scratched his head. "Troubles plague the Tsenkhai and interfere with the Communion. Too few had awoken by the time I did. She held some concerns for Tsuven, but I was not able to address them. Other than that, nothing."
Alaqu's eyebrows shot up in consternation, and she tucked a slender hand beneath her chin in contemplation. She barely reached above the abdomen of the much taller male and thus had to crane her neck up to gaze at his face, but her expression was unambiguous. "Tsuven? What do you mean? What concerns did she raise?"
"I had received a character of the Correspondence during my experience in Communion," Kasrjin admitted bluntly. "She wished to know if I possessed information as to how I remained connected to Tsuven's role as a Tsenkhai. I did not." The Khadai tilted his head in the other direction. "What do you worry about?"
Alaqu sighed and pinched the bridge of her scaled nose with her fingers. "The Aljai are currently swamped in coordinating all of the korum together. This gathering is far too soon after our last, and we had accomplished too much at the last gathering, if you can believe that. We struggle to maintain optimal production while the korum are together." From within the sleeves of her robe she withdrew a small, palm-sized piece of rectangular black granite. Inscribed upon the tablet was a myriad of curved, flowering designs. Whenever the Aljai blinked at it, the designs seemed to shift rapidly in both shape and colour from fiery red to blinding violet.
Alaqu shook her head, shooting a glare at a nearby tent that threatened to burn a whole within it. "If you see Kaizhan, drag him back to us. We are short of Khadai, and he will be needed to keep the perimeter secure. As for you, Erdeni wished to see you when you had awoken, but when you had finished your discussion with her, you will see Albei to be reassigned." She gave Kasrjin a rueful, yet somewhat sadistic grin. "You are aware of her dim opinion of the assembling of the warband?"
"If I did not know before, I am sure to know now," Kasrjin noted, rubbing the back of his neck before nodding. "I will do so." Alaqu gave him a shrug for his efforts, jabbing her finger in a direction. "Erdeni's dwelling possesses the ingots near the entrance. Albei has her violet flag atop hers." With those quick directions, the Xaela sauntering off, eyes still glancing at the tablet in her hand. The Khadai, too, quickened his stride in the direction indicated.
After his conversation with Alaqu, Kasrjin's thoughts swirled in turmoil and austere apprehension. It was no longer his role to contemplate such things, but he could not keep himself from doing so. Somehow, Kaarad-El remembered his previous role as Tsuven Tsenkhai, but how? If something had been imparted to it during the forfeiture, then that meant that all of their collective knowledge was in jeopardy: it would be impossible to discern what had been forgotten and what remained a part of the recollections. And that was to say nothing of the exceptionally poor harvest of characters that the Tsenkhai had been suffering. In what way was all of this related?
Such were the notions wisping idly through Kasrjin's head when they were suddenly interrupted by a sharp impact against the point of his boot that came from him absent-mindedly having kicked over a small pile of ingots in front of a yurt. The ingots clattered slightly as they tumbled over each other into the soft snow beneath. Immediately following was a familiar sound; the irritated thrashing of tools.
"Whatever thrice-damned idiot that was better be picking those up!" Emerging from the yurt was another small female Xaela. Her smoky iron-coloured skin was stained with soot and splashes of grease and oil. Her left hand grasped a pair of heavy tongs, and her right held a sharp, pointed stitching awl. Her pointed oval face was swept with black hair that came just above the nape of the neck, fringed with bangs of forest green. A thin collar of silver links holding a pair of small metal trinkets shaped like a knife and an anvil. Flashing emerald eyes shot a sharp glare at the Khadai interloper, and a scowl creased her face.
"I'd have thought you were less clumsy than that," the female spat, setting her tools aside and kneeling to pick up the ingots and pile them back together into the small pyramid they had been shaped in. Her heavy leather clothing looked unwieldy, but she manoeuvred easily to move the metal back into position.
"It is good to see you are well," Kasrjin returned evenly, the corner of his lip curling in slight amusement. Erdeni Erdegai huffed and crossed her arms severely, an unimpressed glare flashing from the male Xaela's face to the sword on his back. She grunted disdainfully.
"I have told you thrice previously. Refrain from being accompanied by that waste of metal. I find it offensive."
"It would be more of a waste if I did not use it," Kasrjin observed dryly. The female snapped an indignant look at him for his efforts but said nothing in response. Erdeni simply snorted air out of her nose before picking up her tools and disappearing within the yurt, making an idle gesture with a free hand for him to follow.
The inside of the dwelling was stuffed to the brim with racks, tables, and tools, but oddly did not seem unclean. Every piece of furniture could be disassembled or condensed into modular forms; the tools were all neatly organized within boxes or saddlebags, and the latticework racks were simply folded to carry. Erdeni walked to the end of the sizeable yurt to a workbench holding several lengths of toughened, boiled leather and sat crosslegged in front of the lowered bench. The stitching awl flashed itself into her hand and the artisan set about carefully puncturing the lengths of boiled leather.
"I wish to know of your health," the female said, her back to the warrior as he glanced about her dwelling. "The Tsenkhai who came to our korum told us that too few had awoken from their experience. I was concerned that you were among them."
"I am well, though the experience brought me many questions. Kaarad-El somehow remembers Tsuven Tsenkhai. The occurrence has caused concern." Kasrjin slipped the harness off of his back and lay it to the side, leaning against one of the latticework rackes, and sat as well. It would be considered an odd scene to most; Erdeni brushed locks fringed with green away from her face, emerald eyes critically examining the diameter of the holes she punched into the leather with a practised, confident eye. Kasrjin glanced about the workshop, and when the sights ceased to stimulate, merely closed his eyes to rest. Neither faced one another, yet they continued the conversation.
"I wanted to tell you that Albei has decided to accelerate the reproduction cycle. With the recent warband campaign, and with our Jungsai maintaining quality harvests along the coast, it is her hope that you and I, among others, may introduce new Khadai into the korum. The exact time frame has not been decided, but I expect it will be within the next few moons."
Kasrjin glanced at the artisan quizzically. It was not necessarily unexpected; much of his own warband had come from his own korum, and only a handful had survived the battles against the black ones. Still, with everything that was going on, it was a curious decision for Albei to choose to accelerate reproduction. He and Erdeni had been arranged to mate near the time of Kasrjin's Forfeiture, but he was not expecting to have to engage in such things any time soon.
"The decision is not mine to judge, but I believe it to be hasty," the male observed. "Albei is...singular minded towards output. And more Khadai is not necessarily better. Ulan died in our last conflict, though it is worth noting that apparently, he had never undergone the Forfeiture."
Erdeni glanced at the seated warrior with a raised brow out of the corner of her eye before settling back into her work. "That is a curious mistake. Nonetheless, you are correct. It is not your place to judge."
"Does Albei's acceleration concern you?"
"Of course it does," the female Xaela snapped with irritation, switching one of the needles in the stitching awl for one of a different size. "I have been made aware of the complications. I do not wish to see my productivity impacted so drastically by an experience that sounds so very...obstructive." A wipe of her finger across her forehead. "Especially with times looking as ominous as they are now. Blast it." Her slender hands briefly struggled to fit a particularly obtuse needle into the awl. "If the last freezing had not claimed so many of our Yerenai, even with acceleration I would not have needed to worry about the reproduction cycle. I do not wish to be burdened."
"Can Ersugen not assist?" Kasrjin asked. A considerable amount of air blew through the female Xaela's nose in response
"It is not your place to know, so I will forgive the grave offence against me you have just committed by suggesting such a thing," Erdeni said, the wrath in her voice rising, though she remained focused and delicate on the task at hand. "Ersugen cannot even begin to touch what I do. His is a mind of metal. It is surprising to me that he has not slammed his head against that precious anvil of his. It would be akin to....to..." her hands paused as she stared at the wall. "It is akin to Kaizhan assuming the responsibilities of Alaqu. Utterly absurd."
Kasrjin scratched his head. "I concede your point. Even considering such, howe--"
His thought was interrupted with the entrance flap of the yurt practically blasting open.
A male Xaela ducked into the dwelling, his face splashed with orange paint. Both Kasrjin and Erdeni paused to glance at the new intruder.
"The Aljai will see Tsuven Tsenkhai." The new male gave a hard, long stare to Kasrjin. "Now."
--
He had laid still and unmoving for quite some time, but feeling gradually returned to his limbs, enough for him to stand and even walk. The caretaker at the entrance of the chamber had quickly dispensed Kasrjin's equipment back to him once he'd identified himself. The furs and leathers had been cleaned and washed, his sword had been polished, and the harness was new. The Xaela re-equipped himself quickly before leaving the cave in a brisk, refreshed stride that increased in pace as he grew more comfortable with the return of his motor functions. The air was somewhat cold but not frigid, and a gentle breeze whistled past him, sending his loose hair rippling. The solemn blue walls of cave's ice gradually gave way to dirt, rocks, and snow, and when Kasrjin emerged from the mouth of the cave he came upon something truly unexpected--brilliant sunshine piercing through idle tufts of cloud. The sky seemed to glow with azure radiance in sharp contrast to the constantly gloom of the overcast lowlands that he and his warband had spent the last moon occupying.
All circumstances considered, it was far too welcoming of a day.
The Xaela shielded his eyes, allowing them to adjust. From the sun's position in the sky it appeared to be barely midday. The sensations of the outdoors bombarded all senses and he found himself stunned for a spell before managing to regain his bearings. The mouth of the cave sloped into a familiar dirt path, the incline of the trail descending rapidly into a wide valley, surrounded on all sides by sheer walls of snow-topped mountains. Though it was the middle of winter, the climate had been kind; the soil was frozen but the snowfall had been gentle, blanketing the region in a soft white sheet, and the defensive blizzards that usually blanketed the area had ceased for the Communion.
With his vision fully focused, Kasrjin could barely spot the gold-streaked walls of black granite occasionally poking out from at the base of the opposing series of mountains, but what interested him more were the neat, organized squares of leather tents that had been erected. While this season's Communion generated no small amount of consternation, such events always held a bright side. He could see the smoke of fires, hear the sound of his people, and while there was much to worry about, the Khadai warrior could at least take refuge in the relief that seeing the bustle of activity brought him.
There were roughly nine squares of circular tents distributed in the valley in front of the wall of foreboding black granite, the structures arranged in practical straight columns and rows. The number of tents differed with each square; the largest square of dwellings, in the centre, held nearly eighty or ninety tents. The smaller squares ranged anywhere from ten to fifty tents. Communication at range was highly difficult, especially given the terrain, so it gratifying to see the presence of so many.
He swiftly made his way down the trail, eager to collect news from the others. Kasrjin had not seen any members of his own korum since the formation of the warband nearly two full moons ago. A marked smile creased his face at the anticipation of seeing them again.
The Xaela swiftly made his way down the snow-covered trail and into the nearest passageway between two rows of tents and was soon greeted by the true commotion of the gathering. The artisans worked tirelessly on their crafts, daring those around them to interrupt in the stretching of hides, the shaping of metal, and the carving of wood, while the caretakers fussed over toddlers and young children, carrying baskets of foodstuffs that would inevitably be required by those who had yet to recover from their experience of Communion. Kasrjin stepped through row after row of circular tents, taking in the sights and scents, boots crunching in the gentle flakes that had settled onto the ground. Every gathering was different, and the mood was borderline festive despite the grim implications it held.
A group of Jungsai near one larger tent were wildly swinging trophies and shouting at one another; one male Xaela, wearing a necklace of animal teeth, held the tooth of a shark that was nearly the length of his forearm that had been fashioned into a fearsome-looking awl. A second male, whose horns were ornamented with wild ivory, held a furred winter mantle fashioned from the fur and hide of one of the steppe tigers. A third who had a large hawk feather tied into his hair held aloft a small but impeccable roll of silk extracted from some manner of insect. The shark tooth hunter would wave his awl and yell, the mantled hunter would merely scoff, while the silken hunter would spin his trophy in satisfaction and nod silently to himself.
"Move," came a grunt from behind Kasrjin. Without dispute or even turning to see who it was, he swiftly stepped to the side of the tent aisle. Marching past were two more males, their faces splashed with orange paint, vigorously transporting a collapsed tent to an undisclosed location. The Khadai continued his stroll.
A pair of young children sprinted in front of the warrior's path throwing snow at one another, and chasing them was a female Xaela from whose curled horns dangled thick string holding a band of turquoise and a sprig of mistletoe. The exasperated Yerenai dropped the basket of dried meat she had been carrying to roughly snatched the children by the shoulders before herding them into a nearby tent, clearly out of patience.
"Kasrjin!"
He turned his head at the shout, and was greeted with a familiar clump of wild, unkempt white hair. Kaizhan was waving his spear in the air; clearly, the younger Au Ra had not been affected by his experience all that much, even though he had been the first in the warband to succumb to the Forfeiture. The younger Khadai was quick to close the distance between the two.
"You appear to have recovered quickly," Kasrjin murmured, offering his adolescent peer an affectionate pat on the shoulder. Kaizhan merely shrugged.
"For a second Communion so soon after my first, it was not much. Perhaps the Tsenkhai simply did not want me."
"That would not be surprising in the slightest," Kasrjin responded dryly. Kaizhan merely grinned and held his spear aloft. He cocked his head towards a different direction, and the pair began to walk. If there was one thing that always struck Kasrjin about the gatherings, it was the smells. Cooked food freely intermingled with burning wood. Strong herbs of incense cloyed with the heat and odour of so many bodies in close proximity. A stench of decay would waft from where the Jungsai prepared the parts of animals, mingling with the oils used by the Erdegai in their crafts. Other Khadai stood vigilant at various points, occasionally stepping forward to quell a dispute or to herd individuals away from certain areas.
"Have you located our korum?" Kasrjin rumbled. Kaizhan nodded, flashing a toothy smile.
"Safe, and there has been little trouble. So far the most I have had to contend with is Erdeni complaining that I do not properly maintain my leathers. She worked through the night to restore our equipment while we were in the Communion. Can you guess what irritated her the most?"
Kasrjin glanced at the handle of the sword upon his back, and Kaizhan laughed. "I would not worry about it over much. You know Erdeni works better when she has something to yell at us about." The youth patted the crossguard of Kasrjin's sword, as if reassuring the weapon of its status. Kaizhan's easy expression gave way to a wince when the youth noticed a stern female, blood red hair blending with the rust red hue of her skin, approaching them in a brisk and severe stride. Her face was creased in a mixture of annoyance and relief, which was soon to be replaced with indignant anger.
"I'll let you handle Alaqu. I'm, ah, meant to visit the Yerenai for this rash I have..." And with that weak excuse, Kaizhan broke out into a run, swiftly losing himself within the row of tents. His mane of wild white hair shivered with laughter as he dodged people and obstacles with agile ease.
"Khadai!" The female shouted indignantly, herself attempting to run but only making it a short distance past where Kasrjin was standing before giving up. Her heavy fabric robes were only lightly padded but the short distance she ran left her breathing somewhat strained. "You should have stopped him, Kasrjin," the female coughed as she paused to catch her breath.
Kasrjin merely tilted his head. "I was not aware I was meant to."
"Do not offer such trifling excuses." The red-haired female sniffed and brushed the snow off of her robes indignantly. Her blazing amber eyes peered at the furred warrior curiously. "You are oddly cheery considering the current state of things."
"Things are not well, no, but nonetheless I do enjoy these gatherings while they last." the Khadai observed. Alaqu Aljai merely frowned and crossed her arms in a huff. Her crimson hair was cut in a short, practical bob, keeping her face mostly clear of errant strands.
"Such things are simple for you to say, having been away from the korum for...two moons, now? You may enjoy these gatherings, but I will be grateful when we have retreated." Alaqu briefly paused in her tirade to examine him, as if looking for signs of illness. "The Tsenkhai who came to us said she would see you and verify the health of you and your brothers. What has she told you thus far?"
Kasrjin scratched his head. "Troubles plague the Tsenkhai and interfere with the Communion. Too few had awoken by the time I did. She held some concerns for Tsuven, but I was not able to address them. Other than that, nothing."
Alaqu's eyebrows shot up in consternation, and she tucked a slender hand beneath her chin in contemplation. She barely reached above the abdomen of the much taller male and thus had to crane her neck up to gaze at his face, but her expression was unambiguous. "Tsuven? What do you mean? What concerns did she raise?"
"I had received a character of the Correspondence during my experience in Communion," Kasrjin admitted bluntly. "She wished to know if I possessed information as to how I remained connected to Tsuven's role as a Tsenkhai. I did not." The Khadai tilted his head in the other direction. "What do you worry about?"
Alaqu sighed and pinched the bridge of her scaled nose with her fingers. "The Aljai are currently swamped in coordinating all of the korum together. This gathering is far too soon after our last, and we had accomplished too much at the last gathering, if you can believe that. We struggle to maintain optimal production while the korum are together." From within the sleeves of her robe she withdrew a small, palm-sized piece of rectangular black granite. Inscribed upon the tablet was a myriad of curved, flowering designs. Whenever the Aljai blinked at it, the designs seemed to shift rapidly in both shape and colour from fiery red to blinding violet.
Alaqu shook her head, shooting a glare at a nearby tent that threatened to burn a whole within it. "If you see Kaizhan, drag him back to us. We are short of Khadai, and he will be needed to keep the perimeter secure. As for you, Erdeni wished to see you when you had awoken, but when you had finished your discussion with her, you will see Albei to be reassigned." She gave Kasrjin a rueful, yet somewhat sadistic grin. "You are aware of her dim opinion of the assembling of the warband?"
"If I did not know before, I am sure to know now," Kasrjin noted, rubbing the back of his neck before nodding. "I will do so." Alaqu gave him a shrug for his efforts, jabbing her finger in a direction. "Erdeni's dwelling possesses the ingots near the entrance. Albei has her violet flag atop hers." With those quick directions, the Xaela sauntering off, eyes still glancing at the tablet in her hand. The Khadai, too, quickened his stride in the direction indicated.
After his conversation with Alaqu, Kasrjin's thoughts swirled in turmoil and austere apprehension. It was no longer his role to contemplate such things, but he could not keep himself from doing so. Somehow, Kaarad-El remembered his previous role as Tsuven Tsenkhai, but how? If something had been imparted to it during the forfeiture, then that meant that all of their collective knowledge was in jeopardy: it would be impossible to discern what had been forgotten and what remained a part of the recollections. And that was to say nothing of the exceptionally poor harvest of characters that the Tsenkhai had been suffering. In what way was all of this related?
Such were the notions wisping idly through Kasrjin's head when they were suddenly interrupted by a sharp impact against the point of his boot that came from him absent-mindedly having kicked over a small pile of ingots in front of a yurt. The ingots clattered slightly as they tumbled over each other into the soft snow beneath. Immediately following was a familiar sound; the irritated thrashing of tools.
"Whatever thrice-damned idiot that was better be picking those up!" Emerging from the yurt was another small female Xaela. Her smoky iron-coloured skin was stained with soot and splashes of grease and oil. Her left hand grasped a pair of heavy tongs, and her right held a sharp, pointed stitching awl. Her pointed oval face was swept with black hair that came just above the nape of the neck, fringed with bangs of forest green. A thin collar of silver links holding a pair of small metal trinkets shaped like a knife and an anvil. Flashing emerald eyes shot a sharp glare at the Khadai interloper, and a scowl creased her face.
"I'd have thought you were less clumsy than that," the female spat, setting her tools aside and kneeling to pick up the ingots and pile them back together into the small pyramid they had been shaped in. Her heavy leather clothing looked unwieldy, but she manoeuvred easily to move the metal back into position.
"It is good to see you are well," Kasrjin returned evenly, the corner of his lip curling in slight amusement. Erdeni Erdegai huffed and crossed her arms severely, an unimpressed glare flashing from the male Xaela's face to the sword on his back. She grunted disdainfully.
"I have told you thrice previously. Refrain from being accompanied by that waste of metal. I find it offensive."
"It would be more of a waste if I did not use it," Kasrjin observed dryly. The female snapped an indignant look at him for his efforts but said nothing in response. Erdeni simply snorted air out of her nose before picking up her tools and disappearing within the yurt, making an idle gesture with a free hand for him to follow.
The inside of the dwelling was stuffed to the brim with racks, tables, and tools, but oddly did not seem unclean. Every piece of furniture could be disassembled or condensed into modular forms; the tools were all neatly organized within boxes or saddlebags, and the latticework racks were simply folded to carry. Erdeni walked to the end of the sizeable yurt to a workbench holding several lengths of toughened, boiled leather and sat crosslegged in front of the lowered bench. The stitching awl flashed itself into her hand and the artisan set about carefully puncturing the lengths of boiled leather.
"I wish to know of your health," the female said, her back to the warrior as he glanced about her dwelling. "The Tsenkhai who came to our korum told us that too few had awoken from their experience. I was concerned that you were among them."
"I am well, though the experience brought me many questions. Kaarad-El somehow remembers Tsuven Tsenkhai. The occurrence has caused concern." Kasrjin slipped the harness off of his back and lay it to the side, leaning against one of the latticework rackes, and sat as well. It would be considered an odd scene to most; Erdeni brushed locks fringed with green away from her face, emerald eyes critically examining the diameter of the holes she punched into the leather with a practised, confident eye. Kasrjin glanced about the workshop, and when the sights ceased to stimulate, merely closed his eyes to rest. Neither faced one another, yet they continued the conversation.
"I wanted to tell you that Albei has decided to accelerate the reproduction cycle. With the recent warband campaign, and with our Jungsai maintaining quality harvests along the coast, it is her hope that you and I, among others, may introduce new Khadai into the korum. The exact time frame has not been decided, but I expect it will be within the next few moons."
Kasrjin glanced at the artisan quizzically. It was not necessarily unexpected; much of his own warband had come from his own korum, and only a handful had survived the battles against the black ones. Still, with everything that was going on, it was a curious decision for Albei to choose to accelerate reproduction. He and Erdeni had been arranged to mate near the time of Kasrjin's Forfeiture, but he was not expecting to have to engage in such things any time soon.
"The decision is not mine to judge, but I believe it to be hasty," the male observed. "Albei is...singular minded towards output. And more Khadai is not necessarily better. Ulan died in our last conflict, though it is worth noting that apparently, he had never undergone the Forfeiture."
Erdeni glanced at the seated warrior with a raised brow out of the corner of her eye before settling back into her work. "That is a curious mistake. Nonetheless, you are correct. It is not your place to judge."
"Does Albei's acceleration concern you?"
"Of course it does," the female Xaela snapped with irritation, switching one of the needles in the stitching awl for one of a different size. "I have been made aware of the complications. I do not wish to see my productivity impacted so drastically by an experience that sounds so very...obstructive." A wipe of her finger across her forehead. "Especially with times looking as ominous as they are now. Blast it." Her slender hands briefly struggled to fit a particularly obtuse needle into the awl. "If the last freezing had not claimed so many of our Yerenai, even with acceleration I would not have needed to worry about the reproduction cycle. I do not wish to be burdened."
"Can Ersugen not assist?" Kasrjin asked. A considerable amount of air blew through the female Xaela's nose in response
"It is not your place to know, so I will forgive the grave offence against me you have just committed by suggesting such a thing," Erdeni said, the wrath in her voice rising, though she remained focused and delicate on the task at hand. "Ersugen cannot even begin to touch what I do. His is a mind of metal. It is surprising to me that he has not slammed his head against that precious anvil of his. It would be akin to....to..." her hands paused as she stared at the wall. "It is akin to Kaizhan assuming the responsibilities of Alaqu. Utterly absurd."
Kasrjin scratched his head. "I concede your point. Even considering such, howe--"
His thought was interrupted with the entrance flap of the yurt practically blasting open.
A male Xaela ducked into the dwelling, his face splashed with orange paint. Both Kasrjin and Erdeni paused to glance at the new intruder.
"The Aljai will see Tsuven Tsenkhai." The new male gave a hard, long stare to Kasrjin. "Now."
