Twinflame

Holy crap K'luha way to start the bidding way over my head. You don't really know what poor means. *slogs off, defeated*

It was a cave. No matter how much they'd prettied it up or big of a cave it was, the place was under ground. It was hidden out of Azeyma's day like lair of a primal that couldn't bear her gaze. That this deeply unsettled K'ile Tia should not have come as a surprise, and would've been fairly obvious to his companions. He agitation was visible in how his ears sat low on the back of his head, just bearly lifting to listen to the voices around him, and in the occasional shiver of his tail. When K'luha snapped at K'ailia, K'ile muttered quietly, beneath the conversation, "It's fine. She can be mad at me if she wants." The statement took almost no thought; primarily, he was listening to K'luha's torrent of questions. They were each well-put and straight, just as he'd expect from the woman, though he thought she was being too nice about it. As she finished her questions, the firey-haired Tia stepped up beside K'luha, considering the Hyur. Leave it to Hyur to have such an insulting idea, and leave it K'ailia to get caught up in it. To add his own tone to the conversation, he said pointedly to the Hyur, "Keep in mind that your offer did carry a certain tone of insult." He spoke meanly, but it was intended as mercy. No Hyur could be expected to understand the implications of this idea. K'ailia should have, but apparently she didn't express that to the Hyur. So K'ile Tia gave him the overdue warning so that the Hyur could speak with the necessary deference, if he had the capacity to do so.

Twinflame: The days began differently in this part of Thanalan. In the Sagoli, the heat would've preceded the sun. Perhaps it did here as well, but it was a subtler warmth, still humid from the storms that had been hangining over them when he'd first arrived. Once K'ile Tia had stirred, the strangeness of the light alongside the relative coolness woke him quickly. He was eager to rise and move, and his spear was in his hands early on. There were no edible plants in their immeidate vicinity. Not that he could see or would know how to eat. Finding small game was easy in the rocks, though. The moles he found couldn't go to ground as easily, and the uneven earth let him sneak up on them wihtout too much worry. K'ile returned with a dead mole hanging from his spear, holding it away from him. He noticed K'luha walking around near the boulders they'd slept in the previous night, and waved the weighty corpse over his head in greeting. It swung back and forth with the crack and keen of bone and flesh. "Good morning," he said, when he was close enough to speak easily. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha had woken up shortly after K'ile, mostly because the warmth against her back was missing. She found herself walking about amongst the rocks just to warm up her body again and get her muscles to unlock. They seemed to have stiffened in the night's lack of particularly good sleep. On the wings she could smell.. fire. Amal'jaa. She scowled a bit, only to hear K'ile call to her. She looked over and grunted. "Morning..." * Twinflame: Holding the mole in K'luha's direction, he said with a smile, "You ever eaten one of these before? I'm hoping they taste a bit less faty than the aldgoat. Wolf was all wiry. We need some good, dense meat around here if we're going to settle in long-term!" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha offered a nod and a grunt in retort. She was still tired and angry. She was getting tired of K'ile constantly acting like he liked her, and then hated her. Still, she was angrier still at K'ailia for abandoning her family, or rather about to abadon them. Even more so, she was angry with the damned Amal'jaa. "Yeah. Make a fire if you can. I'll cook it." * Twinflame: "Alright!" K'ile slammed the mole against the ground, set his foot against its body and hauled hsi spear from its flesh with a satisfying rip. He then stuck the head of his spear in the dirt and spun it, which affectively gleaned it of most of the globby fleshy bits, though not as much the fur and blood. Starting a fire was easier. He found a few dead shrubs on the rocks and tore them free, shaking them out. Dead was important, because anything living would throw off too much fire and alert any Amal'jaa scouts of their presence. Really, any fire at all risked that, but they weren't so close that it was worth worrying about yet. And more importantly, they were upwind. Taking a liumb from a nearby tree and giving it a single, firm shake, it lit on fire on either end. It burned fast, seeking his hand within moments, and he threw it into the pile of upturned shrubs he'd placed against a large slab of stone. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha grabbed the dead mole and pulled out her own small hunting knife to clean it of its fur and skin. When it was properly cleaned for cooking, she walked over to K'ile and carefully constructed a small sweker to hold it over the fire with. It took some time, time that K'luha was not interested in talking during. She silently waited until it was cooked before pulling it back and breaking off a piece to nibble on. "It's good." she muttered before handing it to K'ile. "Take your half." * Twinflame: Cleaning the head of his spear while he waited for K'luha to cook, he didn't find the silence disagreeable. When she held the mole out to him, he put his spear securely on his back and took his half of the meat in a great chunk, smiling at it as if he were going to kill it again. Around this time, however, he decided they shouldn't be spending too much time eating. Day was rising, and the Amal'jaa would be as awake as they were by now. So even as he ate, he looked out over their intended path. The fire and the cooked meat blotted out his sense of smell the same way water would muffle his hearing. But he could see the rocky ridges and cliffs that would mark the Amal'jaa camp. "We should approach it a bit more south than we are now," he said. "Further out of the way of the Drybone route." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha tore into her meat and ate it much faster than K'ile did as the other looked around. By the time he had spoken about what route they should take, K'luha had already stood and started snuffing out the cooking fire. "Then let's go." she retorted rather blandly before starting to walk. * Twinflame: Looking over at K'luha with a chunk of meat on his lips, he watched her movements and then, nodding and swallowing his bite, said, "Still got that headache?" * K'luha Haaz: "Yes." The answer was instant and flat as the younger woman jumped down a small clearning of boulders and landed on flatter ground again. She would just as much rather stay silent until they got there. * Twinflame: Reacting to the response as if he'd been punched in the throat, K'ile shook his head and went quiet. The fire out and having brought nothing with them, quitting the 'camp' was as simple as walking away. And that's what K'ile did, cooked mole in hand, to walk with K'luha. He was barely twenty steps away when he got rid of what was left of the mole. Carrying meat around when stalking intelligent reptiles would've been a bit more effective than walking around with a torch held above his head to mark his position. At his insistance, they went a bit farther south than they had to. He assumed the Amal'jaa would have more eyes looking north towards Drybone or west towards the road to Ul'dah, than South towards the Sagolii where (barring a Miqo'te tribe or two) was essentially just more Amal'jaa. The foot and the heat of the day left him energized. He felt more at home in the desert, far from nearby towns, than he ever would've in an inn room or tavern. Two days of rest left him wanting to run, but he doubted K'luha would appreciate that pace and didn't even try. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha walked in front, silence and dead pan. Her eyes scanned the horizons for any sign of Amal'jaa. Her nose worked overtime to pick out their scent on the wind. Even her ears were twitching and flickering, listening and strainng for even the smallest noise. But for the longest time, there was nothing. Not until sunsent did K'luha stop in her tracks and duck behind some brush, her ears hearing the sound of the Amal'jaa far before she could see them. She motioned for K'ile to hide as well, but did not look to see if he did. * Twinflame: The Tia sensed the Amal'jaa, but didn't hide immediately. He was trying to pick out numbers and position, but the things stand so much that he couldn't tell if there were two or two hundred. He could smell smoke clinging to heir bodies, intense enough that it might have been the hellfire of their primal, but he rather hoped not. Meat and blood mingled in there too. Wearing a grim expression, K'ile turned and walked to where K'luha had concealed herself. He dropped down next to her and pulled his bandanna tighter about his head, hiding most of his very bright red hair from view. He took his spear and lay it in the dirt next to him. He watched K'luha carefully. K'ile wasn't so beastly that he could smell her emotions, but he watched her muscles and her poise, kep his eyes on her hands. He didn't tryst her not to try and claim a few Amal'jaa lives if the oppourtunity presented itself, so if she so much as appeared to think about it, he'd have to stop her. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha tensed as a small group of four passed them by. The dark thick reptilian skin, the thick smell of hellish smoke... yes. These were them. But she couldn't tell one from the other. As far as she was concerned, they could all die in a fire with their stupid primal and she would be happy. She wanted revenge for her son. The son she never got to raise. For the life that had been taken after it was so painstakingly brought in the world. Her hand moved to take an arrow from her quiver. She could take on four of them. She could land arrows in their stupid heads before they even realized what had happened. * Twinflame: Turning to look at his the passing Amal'jaa, he counted four of the massive bodies. Each one being large enough and difficult enough to kill that they might as well be worth two men like himself. Their weapongs stood out in his eyes, and the scent of meat spoke to him like a threat. There was no chance of taking them on, but they wouldn't have to, as long as they stayed quiet. K'luha, though, had put her hand to her quiver. The tensness in her limbs and the way her eyes moved told him it wasn't out of fear or in the spirit of preparedness. When he was sure there was no risk of being seen by the Amal'jaa, he moved, quietly but quickly, and thrust his spear in front of K'luha. The gesutre was not subtle. He lay the shaft of the spear against her body, a firm and maybe even painful force, and leveled a glare at her. His set jaw and stern gaze he set upon her, and his own body was as poised to act as he own. Only his was facing her, not the Amal'jaa. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha winced as the spear was thrust in front of her, and somewhat painfully into her as K'ile blocked her from her targets. She looked to him, a sour look as he stared back sternly. She slowly released her grip on her arrow and dropped her hand back to her bow instead, eyes glancing back as the Amal'jaa continued to walk away. * Twinflame: K'ile continued to wait as the Amal'jaa moved away, and he kept the spear against her. His eyes stayed on her. When they were distant, he took the briefest of glances toward the sky, seeing it beginning to get dark. They weren't quite at the Amal'jaa encampment yet. Those four would be scouts, or more likely a hunting party. Sparing K'luha a hiss, he stepped out of their hiding place, low, and began onward. Distance would be more useful than hiding, and if they stayed low, the rocky ground would favor them. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha hesitantly followed K'ile. She wanted to pursue the party of four... but perhaps she could cast her revenge further into the camp. She slipped behind him across the brush with all the grace and stealth that she had learned over the years of hunting and traveling. She wondered if they were to scout it at night. That would probably be best as the hunters would be sleeping and it would be easier to move about. If they followed the way the Amal'jaa had come from, they might find their camp more easily. * Twinflame: The Amal'jaa encampment stank so badly of the beasts that K'ile imagined a hazy cloud of stench moving over the ground at their feet. THat would be merciful, though. More likely whatever he was smelling was right at the level of his nose, invisible, and it was unpleasant to move towards. A long few minutes after they left behind the four Amal'jaa that they'd passed, K'ile stopped and waited for K'luha to be beside him. "Another Malm, about." He reported at a whisper, almost quieter than the wind in the rocks. "We smell and hear better than they do, so if we can take a peak and be gone before sunrise, I'd like to." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded faintly in reply. So they were to do it during the veil of night. A good choice. She motioned for K'ile to lead on and kept her hands tightly on her bow should she need it. Although, to be spotted now might mean death... * Twinflame: Before leaving, K'ile leaned towards K'luha. He hissed, "I'm not interested in being tempered or eaten. So if you plan on killing anything, start with me and save me the trouble." Then he turned and ran on. His spear was still in his hands, and his fist was tight upon it. His fingers wrung it like it was something he could hurt. * K'luha Haaz: "Tch. Maybe I will." she hissed back as he ran off, only to follow him at a quick pace. She lagged only slightly behind him but kept her own hands on her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver, just in case. * Twinflame: A malm passes quickly when you're running to a place that you don't want to be. The stink wasn't as bad as Drybone, but at least there he didn't ahve to worry about K'luha starting a fight that could get him killed. Unless she was starting it with him directly, anyway. He took them close to the cliffs. Near as he could tell, the encampment was built into a thin valley. Most likely so they could control the most conveient eastward ground passage through these rocks. What he was after was mostly numbers and scope, and the business of the Amal'jaa. Their scope seemed mostly restricted; he hadn't caught the scent of any parties until they were within close malms of the place, and they were few. A hunting party of four large Amal'jaa implied to K'ile a need for a lot of meat, since they'd likely send out more than one party on any given day. The alternatives was that they were scouts, and the Amal'jaa here were of more dubious enterprise than that of a simple settlement. If he saw too many weapons, if he could see regiments and organization, then he would have cause to worry. For this, he wanted to find a way to get above the camp. Stopping at a point near enoug to the camp that they could see the light of their fires and K'ile could smell the food they ate, he turned to K'luha and gestured up the cliff face. He assumed she could climb. he'd seen ehr do it enough times. So he didn't wait for her. The shadows were deep this early in the night, but they'd turns shallow as the moon rose towards its zenith. His plan was to climb up now, stay high and out of sight through the night, and then come back down when the moon began to fall again. * K'luha Haaz: The passing of the malm was long and tortuous. K'luha had dealt with such smells since she was attacked, and they brought back fresh and painful memories. She could have sworn she had been here before such a long time ago, but the encampment back then was much, much smaller. As they came upon the clifface, K'luha put away her bow and arrow. She watched K'ile move first and got herself a steady grip before following. She was dexterous and strong enough to climb without trouble, save for the occasional rock face crumbling on her when she grabbed it. Luckily, nothing made much noise as she was about to climb to the top without much problem. Luha edged towards the edge of the overhang to peer down at the valley and quickly nodded the numerous tents and fires that covered the area. She could see what seemed like families and children practicing with spears and lances and magic. She saw cooking food and idols and things that looked like a permeant fixtures. So they stayed put, that much was good. * Twinflame: K'ile exhaled in relief. This was good. He'd been worried he'd Amal'jaa adorned in that dark metal they forged with hellfire. The hint of sulfur in the air had made him imagine some kind of volcanic holy ground hidden in the cracks of the land, and the Amal'jaa preparing to march on Drybone and oust the Ul'dahns from their land. But simple living? This was fine. The Amal'jaa were far from friendly even on the best of circumstances, but there was no motivation here for expension outside of their territories, and they were well enough south that K'ile imagined that there might enver be problems, as long as proper respect was shown. They would just have to impress on the huntresses, on people like K'luha, why spilling Amal'jaa blood was as deadly to the tribe as spilling their own. He relaxed on the cliff face and set his lance aside. There was still the lingering threat. The Amal'jaa were still armed, territorial, vicious, pious to their primal god. But this they could handle. K'ile turned his face towards K'luha and smiled. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha could not smile. She could not look at the Amal'jaa encampment and their children without thinking they should all burn in their own goddamn fire. She could not help but to relish in the thought that she might burn them all to ashes so they might pay for their sins. So that her son might truly rest in peace. She wanted so badly to set fire to an arrow and rain down her wrath upon them... But when she continued looking at them and saw families with children, the thought of revenge soured in her. How could she ever think to harm someone that way? Although she hated them, to wish that sort of pain on another living thing was... inexcusable. K'luha looked to K'ile, a torrent of emotions before looking back to the encampment. They ought to make some sort of notes about their tribe or something before they returned... * Twinflame: Of course she wasn't happy. Whatever K'luha saw in that encampment, it wasn't what he saw. He knew what she thought, or at least part of it, he suspected. They had to be at least a hint of it in himself as well. It had its place and purpose. Tonight was neither, though. He crossed his arms in front of him to take weight off his chest, and settled in to watch the camp for hours. He didn't need to move to see more or take a fluid count of anything. This was all that he himself needed, and so he would watch it until sunrise was near. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha took a seat a little further ways off from K'ile. She didn't really want to see him now. She gazed down at a tribe in full cheer and thriving. Even after the calamity, the Amal'jaa tribes began thriving and rebuilding. It all seemed so easy for them to rebuild. After all, where else could they go? There were no cities to lure them away. There was nothing but their tribe. When had her way of life become outdated to the cities? When had her foundation become... obsolete? Was there truly no purpose for her tribe and life any further? Was there any reason she had given up on her dreams and goals as a child? Life had seemed so much more vivid back then. Back when her first child was about to be born. Back when she could hold him and envision such a bright future for him and the tribe. K'luha hung her head, struggling with the confusion and grief and sorrow. She wanted the best for K'ailia, but was leaving the tribe really best for her? She had always devoted herself to her family, but was there something else she was meant for? If K'ailia was meant to be outside the tribe, what was her own purpose? She had always thought herself necessary for the tribe's survival, but she had been gone for two almost three weeks and no one ever noticed. They had lived on without her completely obliviously. Who in the tribe still gave meaning to her life? For what reason did she continue to be torn further in two directions? Questions with no answers haunted the mother until the sun was up and hitting her back. But withdrawn in her own internal struggling, she barely noticed it. * Twinflame: K'ile reached out and shook K'luha's leg as the sun began to rise. The moon was still in the sky, far down in the west. Now was the best time they would have to leave. Early morning shadows were almost as deep and dark as those of early evening. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha jumped a bit at the sudden touch. Her eyes glanced to K'ile and quickly turned back in focus. Hopefully he had ordained more from watching than she had... perhaps K'ile was right. Maybe she was selfish for thinking of her own problems like that. Still, it did no good to linger on it now. K'luha stood and carefully moved to climb back down the cliff face and head off back to where they had come. * Twinflame: They went together away from the encampment. K'ile could smell the passage of last night's Amal'jaa hunters, but not any for the morning. So it seemed they had managed to sneak off during the between time. As they moved away, and K'ile thought it safe, he said to her, "That was good. I thought it would be a lot worse." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha grunted faintly in reply, her feet carrying her but her heart wasn't in it anymore. It didn't feel like she was going home. More like to a funeral. "How bad was it...?" she questioned, trying to sound even half-interested. * Twinflame: "We'll talk about it later," K'ile said, taking on a more relaxed tone and turning his walk into a stroll. He sidled up next to K'luha and nudged her with his elbow, "You know I got to thinking last night. Figured if it kept you awake, might be a good way to make sure I didn't doze off. Thinking." * K'luha Haaz: "Eh?" she quirked her brow at K'ile and frowned. "Do you think it's a joke K'ile? That I'm thinking this much because I want to or something?" she shook her head again, feeling ill. All of this stress and thinking was really taking its toll on her. * Twinflame: He frowned, but his eyes smiled. "Did I say it like it was a joke? You keep asking me what I think about things, so I figured you might ask me what I was thinking about." * K'luha Haaz: "I... no I'm sorry..." K'luha darkened her expression at the ground. If she kept it up, she was going to turn into her grandmother, wrinkles and all. "What were you thinking?" she questioned, hoping to sound a little more cheerful. * Twinflame: "There you go," he said, and he pulled at one ear, "For awhile I just thought about stupid stuff. The past and the tribe. After awhile I started wondering when and how K'haali is going to die. What do you think about that?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha paled a little bit and stopped in her tracks for a moment. "I... really... would not... like to think... about that..." she stammered out before continuing to catch up with him. * Twinflame: He looked back at her, and chuckled. Not at how what he said had upset her, but how she'd demonstrated it. He went on, "Well it's not like I wanted to think about it. But I guess I kind of take it as a given." He began to count off on his fingers, "K'thalen, K'airos, K'aijeen, K'hodla, K'airi, K'piru." If K'luha was paying attention, she might notice he was counting off the names of people who had died or left recently. He held up one final finger, "If things keep up, K'haali is next. See?" * K'luha Haaz: "K'haali? Why K'haali?" K'luha tilted her head lightly. Why would K'aali leave? "I would think K'ailia would leave before K'haali died K'ile..." she frowned sternly at him and continued walking. * Twinflame: "Because K'haali's blood," he said. Then, with a shrug, "You're all family, but K'haali is blood." * K'luha Haaz: "Because... I..." K'luha frowned. He was right. All of that side of the family was... dead or missing. Or dead to the remaining family. K'ile and K'haali... they were pretty much it. "Don't you think you'd go and die before K'haali old man?" she snorted. * Twinflame: He watched her, growing a bit more somber as he walked. K'ile managed to lose a measure of his cheer long enough to say, "It didn't work that way with Thalen's other kids, did it?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha paused in her walking. Why...? Why did he have to..? She trembled and fell to her knees, covering her her face with her hands. "Why do you have to say that? Our family is already dying... I don't want to think about it... don't make me think about it K'ile..." * Twinflame: Stopping alongside her, K'ile watched her. He found himself feeling... pitiless. No, that was just the surface. He could feel something pulling his muscles tight in his arm, putting a scowl on his face. He didn't like it. His right hand clenched into a fist as though it wanted to answer her pleading. And yet, he laughed. He bit off the sound of his laughter almost as soon as he started, but he couldn't keep it out of his words, "Alright, that's fine. If you're just going to have a breakdown, that's fine. But don't tell me to open up to you and tell you what's wrong if you're just going to beg me to shut up as soon as I open my mouth." * K'luha Haaz: A laugh. He laughed at her. Although he silenced himself a moment after it. She felt like something cold had driven its way through her chest. It made her angry that he assumed she was going to have a breakdown. She clenched her fists and stood without another word and began walking. * Twinflame: He watched her walk away from him. With a look of disbelieving amusement on his face, he just watched. He didn't feel amused. In his arms and shoulders he could feel the same kind of frustration and anger that he experienced when he thought about so many others. "You know who you're like?" He called after her, smiling, but hearing the anger beginning to seep into his words. "You're just like K'piru! She walked away so she wouldn't have to deal either! But she lost three children. You've only lost one! Why are you the only one with the right to...?" He bit down on his teeth, hard, until it hurt. He bit down on his words to crush them in his throat. * K'luha Haaz: "To what, K'ile?" she turned and looked at him with a deadpan face. "Go on. Tell me." * Twinflame: "To ask stupid questions like that," he replied with a snap. He could feel the frustration oozing up from his shoulders into his face. "To be sad, to be angry, to feel alone, to say you've given up everything. You have K'ailia, and she's alive, and she loves you. Even if she leaves the tribe she'll be one Aetheryte away!" * K'luha Haaz: "She'll be dead to the tribe K'ile. To talk to her would be disobeying the tribe's laws, something I fully plan on doing mind you, but I will never be with her like family again. I will always go to her when she needs me, but the longer and further away from the tribes she gets, the less I will understand of her. The less she will be the daughter I raised until at last we have nothing in common and I am just a relic of ages gone past." K'luha replied shortly. She had well thought through what would happen. "So what then? I am selfish and shortsighted because K'piru lost three children and a mate and I whine and cry because I only lost one child?" She scoffed and turned away. "Is that it then? Do you enjoy comparing me to K'piru? Do you enjoy that I suffer and fail to find a way to fix it? Do you think that I enjoy wallowing in misery and self-pity? I do not. I am torn between my child and my family K'ile. I do not know whether to follow K'ailia despite the costs, or to once again give up my daughter for the sake of the tribe." * Twinflame: He listened, calmly. His jaw hurt from how hard he clenched his teeth to stay quiet. His arms ached with the tenseness of the muscles. He could feel his spine bending against the weight of his body. When she was done, he exhaled a hot breath that stung his nostrils. And he walked onwards away from the encampment. He didn't move towards K'luha. His path was at an angle to her, bypassing her completely. "It doesn't matter what you do," he said. "But I what you to remember that I listened to you. Everything you had to cry about, I listened to. And cared. But when I tried to speak to you, you begged me to be quiet, because you didn't want to listen." * K'luha Haaz: "When did I say that!?" she shot back at him, storming after him. "About K'haali? No, I don't want you to talk about how K'haali is going to die! What does that even mean K'ile!?" She ground her teeth and moved sharply to grab his tail so he couldn't walk away. "You listen, you say you care, but every other moment you keep giving me these angry vibes like you hate me. So which is it K'ile? Do you hate me or not? Make up your damn mind because I sure as hell can't!" * Twinflame: With a growl and a hiss, he spun fast and swung an arm to knock K'luha's hand away from his tail. He shouted from his aching jaw, "Why would I ever want to care about anyone! Ever again! If everyone I care about dies or leaves!?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha kept her hand on his tail regardless of his lashing and took the brunt of the blow. It only made her clench down on his tail harder and hiss back at him. "Because everyone dies and leaves us! Would you just live in isolation then forever so you don't have to deal with the pain? Your'e worse that K'piru! She left because she couldn't handle it! You can't even handle thinking about it! You would sooner reject everyone so you didn't have to get hurt!? Pathetic!" * Twinflame: Giving up on freeing his tail, K'ile gestured broadly with both hands and leaned his face close to K'luha's. "At least I keep it to myself and keep doing what I need to for the tribe! I don't shut down or hurt people or go pouring all my woes on someone that I'm not even going to listen to if they try to reciprocate!" * K'luha Haaz: "I have kept it to myself for years! And I...I didn't realize what it was you were doing! I'm sorry!" K'luha yelled back at him, releasing his tail and pulling away. "I didn't understand it... I'm sorry." she added more softly, looking to the ground. * Twinflame: K'ile moved his hands as though to shout again, but couldn't come up with any words. He struggled for a moment, he's freed tail whipping around behind him. Finally, he just growled out, "Well maybe you shouldn't have kept to yourself so long in the first place if you were just going to... Whatever you're doing." Crossing his arms over his chest, he breathed deeply the hot aura of anger that he was emanating. He lingered still only half-way away of the emotion, though, and ended up muttering, "I don't even know what to do with you now." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned at the ground, ears flattened to her head. What was she doing? Driving herself mad with grief, among other things. Why couldn't she just pull herself together like she always did? Wasn't that what she had prided herself on for so long? "I'm sorry K'ile... I didn't mean to hurt you..." she muttered as well, avoiding eye contact for the time being. * Twinflame: "You didn't hurt me!" K'ile snapped back, a little too quickly and forcefully maybe. He wasn't one to get emotionally wounded easily, was what he should've said. To recover, he swung his tail around and said, "My tail's just fine. You didn't hurt it at all. And I'm not upset, either." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded vaguely in his direction and started walking again. "We have a long way to go still..." she murmured wearily. * Twinflame: Breathing in deeply and exhaling slow, K'ile said, "Right. We go on and on," and turned to walk with K'luha back towards drybone. * K'luha Haaz: "Yeah..." K'luha answered back dryly. "We do..." And with that she spent the rest of their journey in quiet. The sun rose high and set and still they were walking. Despite her exhaustion, she wasn't about to be the first to say they needed to make camp. She would walk for another damned day all the way back to the gobble if she had to. * Twinflame: K'ile didn't want to stop. The tiredness and exertion took away the thought, and he wasn't sure if was ready to pass another night not speaking to K'luha. Worse than that would be whatever they might end up talking about. If he wanted to avoid thinking, the best way was to continue walking. * K'luha Haaz: The silence was the indicator to keep walking. And when the sun came up on another day and K'luha was starting to see doubles and her feet felt like they were falling off, she kept walking anyway. She had completely lost her sense of direction to the exhaustion and was just blankly walking in the vague direction of Drybone. Which she sincerely hoped was the right direction. * Twinflame: Eventually even K'ile had to admit this was a bad idea. The sun had gone down and come back up and they hadn't eaten or slept, and they were out in the wild where at any time a wolf or an Amal'jaa could happen upon them. Weakness was nothing to scoff at, and besides that, he was tired. Tiredness was a big thing on his mind at that point. Having no real idea how far they were from Drybone or how late in the day it was, K'ile squinted about until he saw a convenient stone ditch. Mumbling something taking a break, he reached over to take K'luha's hand and pull her towards it. * K'luha Haaz: "Eh...?" K'luha mumbled as K'ile grabbed her hand and walked in the opposite direction. She hadn't heard him speak in the first place. Still, she followed him over to the stone ditch anyway and let him lead here... well wherever. * Twinflame: Thoughtlessly and without discussion, K'ile collapsed in the shadowed ditch and pulled K'luha down with him. There wasn't much pride or awkwardness left in him at this point, so he unabashedly lay down up against K'luha. * K'luha Haaz: Equally exhausted, K'luha collapsed right beside him and let K'ile lay against her. She was far too tired to care where they were, she was just grateful for the shade and the slight coolness beneath the rock. Her eyes closed almost instantly and she fell asleep failing to notice she was still holding K'ile's hand.

K'luha Haaz: K'luha materialized softly next to the Aetheryte in the center of town. She floated for a moment before landing softly and shaking her head. A strange day indeed. Becaue of the heat of Limsa, she had taken to wearing a black bikini top and a short khaki shirt with a side pocket that wrapped around her right leg. Her shoes were a fairly freqently worn gladiator style. The mother Miq'ote rubbed her temples and frowned. Maybe she shouldn't have promised to visit the actual garden grounds. She wasn't even sure she could convince the others to come... and of course there was the matter of Maka's daughter. K'luha's ears flattened to her head thinking of all the things that had happened. "Egh... shit." * Twinflame: The Tia that would never be Nunh was lingering in a corner of the pit where the wind mostly chased off the smell of corpses. He hated resting, and resting in Drybone was the worst fate he could imagine. His keen senses could pick out the differences between the smell of most of the corpses, could tell where they'd been by smells they carried, could even make out a hint of the fetid food in their bellies. It was sickening, and he'd been stomaching it for days. He was trying to nap, because if hewas unconcious he would at least be able to kill some time without suffering. He didn't want to miss his appointment with K'luha, but he figured she'd find him soon enough anyway. The spot he'd chosen was within sight and earshot of the Aetheryte. Still, it was not by sound or sight that he first dedected K'luha's presence. Instead, it was by smell; her particular scent, mixed with salt air and the appealing stink of fish and bait, managed its way through the corpses just barely enough to be picked up. He rolled to his feet eagerly, swaying with dizziness for a moment while his blood tried to catch up. And then he chased after the smell, down to the Aetheryte, hoping to get his weapon, get K'yohko's woman, and seek the less unpleasant smells of the desert and Amal'jaa encampments. "Luha!" K'ile called out, well before reaching the Aetheryte, and again when he got closer, "K'luha!" Quickly he picked out her bronze skin, clad in the light garments that clouder skies and humid air provided the oppourtinity for, and began towards her. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha blinked hearing something that sounded much like her name. Not many people called her Luha, but she had always allowed such a thing to happen if they did call her that. Still, it was enough to snap her from her recent thoughts and glance over as the fiery haired tia ran at her. She smiled a bit and waved back towards him. Strapped across her back were indeed a very well crafted lance, a bow, and quiver. "Waiting for me long?" she questioned as he got within proper earshot. As he came closer, she began unstrapping the lance from her back and offered it up to K'ile. "One lance, it's very good quailty so don't loose it." * Twinflame: "Let's see!" he said, taking the lance with a big grin on his face. He tested it in his own way, which was pretty much just shaking it back and forth and seeing what the head of it looked like int he light. "Good? It's okay. It'll do. Don't lose it? So don't throw it that anything that won't die? Like I'd miss!" He dug the blunt end of the lance into the dirt and leaned on it, turning his smile on K'luha, "So when do we go?" * K'luha Haaz: "Well, now." she raised a brow and reached a hand forward to flick K'ile's arm. "Well, let me change again into something more suited to hunting." K'luha added before walking over towards a nearbye market stand. She took a minute to argue with the person at the stand before she was handed over clothing and finally she ducked behind a large building to quickly change in something more similar to what she'd worn on the way there. She came out again and adjusted the strap for her quiver before looking to K'ile. "Let's go." * Twinflame: K'ile pouted that he had to wait. He stayed leaning on his spear for a moment, then swung it around a bit. He whavked the ground a few times, then got a warning glare from a Brass Blade who didn't appreciate him swinging a deadly weapon around a populated away. K'ile responded by swinging the weapon around faster and whacking even more things, the logical conclusion would've been him getting run out of town were it not for the timing of K'luha's return. "Awesome," he placed the spear in the strap over his shoulders. "You have no idea how badly I want to get out of this town. Buildings and corpses and walls." He didn't wait for her, taking the lead to head for the southward ramp. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha shook her head at K'ile, but followed him without another word. He was so impatient. Just like a little boy. For all his brawn and attractiveness, he really was a little kid still. Maybe that was why he had decided not to be a nuhn. Too young in his head to handle such a responsibility. Luha mused on it for a time as they walked in relative silence. Eventually her thoughts shifted in her meeting with Ventus and some of his folk in Limsa. He was so much different than what she had originally though. He was weak and flimsy. Under pressure he seemed to crumble, though with a bit of encouragement he seemed to improve. She wished she had at least impressed upon him the gravity of his position. If he was stealing K'ailia away, she thought perhaps she also wished to understand him a little more. Him and his people, she would have to understand them more if she ever wanted to understand what K'ailia saw in them. She almost spoke up to mention to K'ile about visiting the actual garden with K'haali and K'ailia but saved it for another time. Perhaps after they returned. In any case, she would go by herself if need be. She had made a promise after all. Eventually K'luha broke into a soft song to pass the time. A song she had learned from her mother, but was unsure a little about where her mother had learned it from. A ballad about two princesses, one of the sun and the other of the moon. K'luha liked to think it was a ballad about Azyema and Mephina. K'luha Haaz: (( interested in the song, I'm stealing it from a fanwork based off ponies. will link momentarily. )) K'luha Haaz: (( replace pony with princess. )) * Twinflame: When K'luha started singing, K'ile's ears at first lay flat on his head. He walked ahead as if nothing had changed, his hands reaching behind him to idly pull the spear against his back, bowing it forward subtly on either side. He continued on ahead of K'luha, not setting a difficult pace at all. They'd left the pit and the smell of corpses behind, and moved well out into the desert. It can be assumed that K'ile had heard the song before. He couldn't remember so well the stories that might of inspired it, but he wasn't a story teller. He wasnt one who thought deeply about the kinds of relationships and emotions that sad song appealed to. He knew songs as well, but they were sand by the desert beasts, or perhaps one or two the huntresses sang of their kills. He didn't think much about songs. The smells of beasts that had gone before them was as plain as the sun in the sky to K'ile Tia. He could sense the Aldgoats of the morning and the wolves of the night, the moles beneath the ground a distance away. He could smell the leaving plants that helf stagnant puddles of dew, the sweet-scented places were insects would lay their eggs at the bottom of the foo chain. These things were peaceful to K'ile. There were more peaceful than the song, though he did not dislike it. K'luha's voice was not unpleasant in hsi ears. Moreover, he eventually appreciated the simple fact that she sang. He let quietness slip back between them when she was done. Her song faded back into the song of the desert. Once that familiar song, more readily interrupted, had returned, he said, "Have you thought much of Maka?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha paused mid word, the song dying in her mouth while they walked. Maka... of course she thought of her sister. Her eyes fell to the ground, brows furrowing. It was... unfair. What had happened. It seemed there was so much in her life that was unfair. "Have you?" Luha countered, picking up her walking pace to surpass K'ile and continue on into the sun across the dusty landscape. * Twinflame: Watching K'luha walk past him, he didn't immediately pick up his pace to keep up with her. He tried to judge her body language, the way she walked, the way she spoke. He answered her question, "Some. Everything waits for the Umbral Era to pile on, doesn't it?" * K'luha Haaz: Lhua paused in her walk, stopping to look up as the sun started to set. "Yeah... yeah it does..." she answered vaguely before hopping down a rock and starting to walk again. She walked with a heavy silence for a time more, not wanting to really talk about all that had happened. Loosing Maka, her daughter now, the tribe's decline, K'raqi's sudden injuries and abscence... She felt like more and more of herself was being chipped away from her soul everyday. Still, she walked towards the Amal'jaa with a feeling so heavy on her shoulders that it almost physically showed in the way she walked. * Twinflame: He allowed himself to be outpaced. The distance she'd put between them was one filled with wind and sand, and she seemed to lurch steadily away from him as he kept stride. Just trying not to let her get too far away. He wished that he knew some song to sing that wasn't so sad, and maybe she'd accept that, but she dind't. At least she wasn't crying again. Walking, he could handle. It was good and healthy. The strain and the silence snuck into a person's mind and slowed their thoughts. Sunset already, and they met at noon. As he realized this, he took a quick series of setps to get closer to K'luha, so he could talk to her more easily. "This area's pretty rough and the Amal'jaa are far enough east that the if the tribe takes sort of circumtuitous route and heads west for awhile out of Sandgate," he pointed with his spear, "The Amal'jaa probably we're migrating through." * K'luha Haaz: A sort of dark and anger look crossed K'luha's features as K'ile approached her to talk of the Amal'jaa. Her tongue clicked in a sort of signature tell-tale sign she was angry or annoyed. "There will not be an Amal'jaa camp to avoid when I am done with it." she answered somewhat sharply and picked up the pace of ther walk again. * Twinflame: The response stopped K'ile in his tracks for a moment, his ears laying back in his hair and his eyes narrowing to a squint at the woman. Then, with a huff, he dashed forward to get up alongside her and said in a harsh tone, "You know better than that. We're scouting. That's it." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked back at K'ile dangerously before continuing to walk without another word. * Twinflame: "Don't be a child," he bit, keeping up with her and growling sideways. "This is already too dangerous without you throwing some kind of fit!" * K'luha Haaz: Luha refused to speak to him any further and marched on, ignoring K'ile as much as possible. * Twinflame: As K'ile waited for an answer, there were long moments of boots crushing sand and the desert shuttering in the evening wind around them. Shrubs bent by the breeze reached bor his feet and legs, and he kicked them away, knocked small stones skittering as he kept even pace with K'luha. His patience thinned and he began to bristle, the incredulity on his face downing down into a scowl. Very suddenly, he reached to grab K'luha by an arm, and his feet took a stubbonrn, frim stance on the dusty ground. "You need to stop!" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha stopped abrupbtly as her arm was grabbed. She tried to pull herself free and continue walking, but K'ile had a firm grip on her. She looked to K'ile, mouth turned into a thin frown. "Why? We have to keep walking. We're not even close yet." she retorted, ears and tail bristling with annoyance. * Twinflame: "I'm not going to wait until we get close to ahve this conversation." It was difficult not to grab her arm too tightly. The breath in his chest pulled at every muscle from hsi shoudler to his fingertips, trying to turn them to iron. But he didn't want ot hurt her. Grinding his jaw, he forced himself to speak quietly, to feign calmness, "We aren't going there to fight any Amal'jaa. We should try not to be seen or heard. They shouldn't know we were there at all." * K'luha Haaz: "Of course." K'luha answered back with a chilly tone. "It's a scouting mission. I know what that is." she snapped, pulling and trying to pry her arm free from his grip. "Let go." * Twinflame: His hand felt paralyzed there. Of course she knew. She was just upset. K'ile frowned down at his hand on her arm, at how the meat of his fingers pressed into the lines of her muscle. He was numb; he couldn't feel her. All he could feel was the tightness of the grip, and the need to hold it back. And for a long moment, he couldn't let go. Jerking his head to one side, his gaze breaking away to look on the desert instead, he spat, "Fine. Don't foget it when we get there." And he wrenched his hand from her arm. It fell to his side, still half-curled, and he reached behind him to grab the heft of his spear instead. Just to give his fingers something to dig in to. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha winced faintly as he tore his grip away so harshly. She quickly pulled her arm back and rubbed it, starting to walk on without him. She didn't answer him, she couldn't. Of course she wouldn't forget it... but that didn't mean she would listen to him either. "We still have another hour or so we could walk." she called as she continued walking, rubbing her aching arm where K'ile had held it moment's ago. * Twinflame: The Tia waited. Yohko's woman walked away from him holding her arm, but didn't say anything to condemn the gesture. She called back to him, but kept on, and K'ile stood still as she once again went ahead of him. The desert filled his senses again. Animals and plants, life and death, dirt and water on the wind. The only sad songs that the desert knew where those that others sang to it, and it would never sing them itself. His hand choked the spear, and he strained it against his back so that it might break. His voice caught in throat as he muttered to the breeze, "What a selfish bitch, right?" When he let go of his spear it snapped back into a straight line with an audible shuff of air and treated wood. Even in the desert, K'luha's scent stood out, and it clung to his body like the stench of the corpses in Drybone. He turned to follow, at a meandering pace, his mood unimproved and his expresison still dark. K'ile watched the woman moving away from him, and walked on behind her. * K'luha Haaz: To underestimate K'luha's hearing was to invite death to your door. The mother had honed her sense of hearing through fifteen years of listening for any sign that K'ailia might be in danger. The soft murmur, the faintest mutter, the most distant of moans, groans, or any such word were her specialty. She did not have the nose that K'ile did, but she had ears far more sensitive than he would ever have. In the desert's quiet dusk, the wind carried his muttered words the short distance between them and stopped K'luha in her tracks. She stopped abrubtply, stiffly, as if something had caught her by the tail. With all of her might and dexerity she turned and lunched to K'ile to pin him to the ground, hands grabbing for his shoulders and neck. "I have given up EVERYTHING for you and my family! Don't you EVER call me selfish! EVER! What more must I give up K'ile before I am generous enough for you? Am I not good enough? Is that why you refuse to take a place as nunh, even when we need you? Am I not good enough? Are our children not good enough for you!?" K'luha raged, eyes ablaze with unleased fury. * Twinflame: The sound of his spearhead crashing down on stone broke the quite of the night when he fell, a harsh steely crack that seemed to silence the night around them and leave it in a nervous hush at Kluha's words. Even the desert wouldn't interrupt her. K'ile lay in the dirt with an unbecoming calm in hsi features, even as K'luha's anger broke against him like hot steel breaking the surface of water. He could feel her anger as much as he could hear it. That fury was red hot in the hands that pinned him down. He remember the way his own hand had felt on her arm, the way his muscles had been alive with energy he couldn't describe. K'ile didn't struggle. He just lay there, and listened, and he watched her face as he words assailed him. When she was done, he took a breath, but didn't feel his lungs fill. He confessed, "I don't know, Luha. Maybe there's just something wrong with me." * K'luha Haaz: "Tell me K'ile..." The fury that burned in her eyes came out as a quiet intensity in her words. "What more do I have to give up? You know everything don't you? What is it that I still have to give before I can make things right? My eyes? My heart? My body?" K'luha clenched her fists around her hold on K'ile's shoulder, nails digging sharply into his skin. "Tell me!" she demanded, her voice raising to a yell again. * Twinflame: His lips were a straight line on his face. He couldn't frown. There was nothing in him like her sadness or her anger. There was nothing in him stronger than annoyance or bitterness. "I don't know," he repeated. Then, struggling for something with more substance, he said, "I'm sorry. Why do you even care about what I say? Just treat me like everyone else does." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha bit her bottom lip harshly before standing up. She dusted herself off coldy, turning her back from him and adjusting her bow and quiver. "Then go home K'ile. You're not needed for this." she answered, the chilling anger in her voice not even bothered to be hidden. * Twinflame: Once she was off him, he sat up quickly, glaring at her back. "Bullshit. You can't even finish yelling at me, and you think you're going to go in there, kill a bunch of Amal'jaa, and then what? I'm nto going anywhere." * K'luha Haaz: "Bullshit yourself!" K'luah turned around again, anger surfacing in a red hot blaze. "If you really wanted me to treat you like everyone else does, you'd go home! Because they treat you like a worthless Tia and I have always valued your opinion K'ile! So pick one! You want me to treat you like them, or do you want me to treat you like I always do!?" * Twinflame: Exhaling a curse, K'ile pulled himself off the ground and readjusted the shaft of his spear where it had dug into his back. He spoke with a groan, "Alright, I get it. You're not selfish. You're not. But you can't go putting this mission at risk just because you want to kill something." * K'luha Haaz: "I know that K'ile!" she snapped, staming a food into the ground angrily. After a moment she sucked in a breath of air and looked away. "I know it." she added, a bit more calmly. * Twinflame: Pulling at one of his ears, he muttered, "I know you do. I don't know why I made a thing out of it." K'il felt suddenly heavy. He felt like he'd lost something that he hadn't know he had, left it behind in the dirt somewhere, and was burdened by the desperate need to find it. But he didn't know what to look for, so how could it? He couldn't, so the feeling into the pit in chest, and he crossed his arms to hold it there. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked up to the sky. With all their arguging it had gotten darker and darker and very soon now there would be no light at all. She straightened herself out a bit before starting to walk. "We need to find a good place to camp for the night." * Twinflame: A reluctant, "Right," was all he exhaled. He didn't look at K'luha. She had become like a point of light that chased his eyes away. He followed her, but he followed the wake of heat she left in the dirt, the sound of her footsteps. After a time he said, "Just pick whatever rock you want. Something that will be shadowed in the monring. I'll keep watch." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha continued walking, her mind wandering from distressing thought to distressing thought until she felt like her mind might explode from all the tension. It made her dizzy and her lack of eating along with the heavy labour she performed while in Limsa made her all the more tired. Still, he feet carried her somewhat clumsily up to a rocky outcrop with a small inlay above the grounds. She clambered up and slipped herself into the outcrop, storing her bow and curling up into a ball, her back pressed to the wall. * Twinflame: Managing well enough to follow K'luha, he stopped when she clambered away from him. He remained with his feet in the dirt as she vanished from view, standing alone. He was not one who enoyed solitude, but he felt K'luha was different. The last thing he said to her was, "There will be food in the morning. I'll keep watch. You don't need to worry." And he stayed awake. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha did not sleep well in that outcrop. In fact, she did not sleep at all. She took shelter it in more to try and hide from her head that made her dizzy with thought and responsibility. The more she thought, the more sick she seemed to feel until she finally climbed down at some point during the night to curl up inbetween to two larges boulders nearby. Her ears faintly listened for K'ile, wondering if he was still nearby. * Twinflame: K'ile was nearby, but he wasn't going to insert himself into K'luha's evening. He had absolutely no intention of lseeping that night himself. He loitered about the stones, deliberately keeping a distance between the two of them, but still keeping watch just as he said he would. * K'luha Haaz: After a long silence K'luha finally found her voice. "K'ile..." she called for him, her voice sounding hoarse and a little weak. She was too dizzy to stand really with her head turning in mental circles constantly. * Twinflame: Well within earshot, at first he thought he'd imagined his name on the wind. After a few seconds, he decided that was stupid, and that he was being an idiot. Finding K'luha was easy. He'd heard her moved and avoided her as if she was something to be afraid of. The boulders weren't as good for shelter as the outcropping had been, but maybe they were more comfortable. The Tia appeared between the boulders, but did not initially approach K'luha. He said to her, "I'm here." * K'luha Haaz: There was a long moment where K'luha thought he wasn't around. Maybe he had just left in the night. It seemed all of her family wanted to leave her these days. It wouldn't have surprised her that much. But the thought was perished when she heard him call out, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. She was grateful he hadn't left. "Is there anything around here that might help settle a headache...?" she mumbled, pressing a hand to her head, which was drenched in cold sweat. * Twinflame: "Maybe," he said, but added a few seconds later, "I'm not much for my knowledge of herbs, unfortunately. You're not getting sick, are you?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha was silent for a few moments before dropping her arms limply to the ground. "I'm not... no. Just... too many thoughts all at once..." she breathed out heavily before beginning to take deep even breaths. * Twinflame: Leaning against one bolder, beneding far enough back that the back of his head was against the stone and his hair fell out of his eyes, K'ile stared at the stars and said, "Headaches are punishment for thinking too much. That and insomnia." * K'luha Haaz: Luha grunted in reply and pressed her hands to her head again. "Punishment...? I thought that was your thing... are you punishing me now?" * Twinflame: "Well," K'ile chuckled, stretched, pulled at his ears some. "If we're being honest I had at least a little hand in that headache, didn't I? So, maybe, a little bit?" * K'luha Haaz: With a soft groan K'luha turned onto her back and flailed a hand weakly out to hit K'ile's leg. She had no idea if she actually hit him or just the rock. "Then fix it. And sleep. You'll be useless if you don't get some sleep." * Twinflame: Hearing the movement but not feel the smack, K'ile muttered, "How am I supposed to fix your headache?" He moved further into the boulders and lowered himself down beside K'luha. "Your best bet is to just go to sleep, and that something you have to do on your own." * K'luha Haaz: "I'm blaming you." she grumbled, feeling him move closer. She paused for a moment, feeling a little more relaxed now that they had spoken again on better terms. Maybe that was all she really needed. "Make sure you sleep." K'luha insisted again, her hand groping across the floor for his leg. * Twinflame: Feeling her hand touch his leg, he reached down and took it in his own. "Yeah, sure." * K'luha Haaz: "No. Seriously. Don't make me tackle you the whole night." A frown made its way on her face as she squeezed his hand and pulled it towards her. "Sleep." * Twinflame: Letting himself be pulled around limpy, K'ile responded, "I said I'll sleep." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha tugged K'ile down next to her before using his shoulder as a pillow. "Don't believe you. Stay put." she grumped, making herself comfortable. "And wear a shirt damnit." She added before piching lightly at his side. "And I met Ventus again in Limsa. I said we would go to the Garden to tour it. Mostly because I want to see where K'ailia will be going to stay without us. Please come with me when I go." * Twinflame: Flinching at the pinch, he groaned at the suggestion. "Don't start tolerating him or he'll take it as approval of whatever he's doing. I'll go to their damn gardening school but I'll wear whatever I want." * K'luha Haaz: "Sounds agreeable to me." she sighed, feeling more relieved at his agreement. K'luha had been very worried she would be the only one going. Getting K'haali to go might be a little more difficult but... K'luha was sure she could probably bribe the girl into going. If only to perhaps see K'ailia off. * Twinflame: "Good," he sounded absolutely unentertained. A bit annoyed. That wasn't a remarkable tone for him to take, though. He lay rigidly, feeling pinned by K'luha. The interaction didn't make him feel any better. He had suspected it might, but in the end K'luha's prickly affection -- if that's what this even rally was -- did nothing. He was honestly annoyed by the thought of going to the Garden, of pretending he cared about Ventus and that place. K'ile still felt like he'd lost something out in the desert. Perhaps a heavy portion of his patience for things like this. Still, he stayed, and he endured the contact with K'luha's clammy body. He knew it was odd that only days ago he'd drawn her to him, and now it was all he could do not to wish he was elsewhere. Maybe there really was something wrong with him. Maybe there always had been. Maybe K'luha's propensity to think herself into headaches was contagious. He muttered, "Let's just shut up and go to sleep." * K'luha Haaz: Something still felt off. She was glad K'ile had agreed to go with her, and he sounded as per usual about it but... there was something different. K'luha had no idea what or why, but that sixth intuative sense was telling her that K'ile was repulsed by her. Even if he didn't act like it. Maybe he didn't like girls. Maybe he didn't like her. Maybe he only tolerated her because he had to. Maybe he was just waiting for the perfect moment to rain hot fiercy punishment down upon her. The thoughts were unsettling even if they were far-fetched. Because if they were true, what did K'luha have in her tribe? When K'ailia left, K'ailia who had been her whole world for the last sixteen years, who was left for her? K'ile, if he truley disliked her and merely tolerated her out of duty, would not be. K'mih and K'nahli were adults now and not her own children, though she liked them and thought them dutiful. K'haali was similar to K'mih and K'nahli that way. Her mother was still there, but her sister was long gone. Her sister's daughter? They had never met and it was because of K'luha herself that her daughter was banished without a real crime. Without having a real reason why, K'luha turned her back to K'ile and adjusted herself to try and sleep. "Sorry..." she muttered, and with that would say no more. * Twinflame: To K'ile, all of K'luha's body language was beginning to blend together. Was she upset or what? Did it even matter? He'd come here and lain down by her, which was far more than he'd intended. There was nothing left to do, so he just lay beside K'luha and closed his eyes. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha had already closed her eyes, but sleep did not come easy. Even when sleep did come it was filled with stressful iamges and thoughts. What would the garden be like? How would K'ailia leave her family? What if she were exiled from her own family for K'ailia's actions? What if Maka's daughter hated her and wanted revenge? If they hadn't fought, would Maka have lived with the tribe even now? Or would the calamity which claimed so many lives, have claimed her anyway? By the time morning had awoken her again, she was grateful to stand even with her headache and walk around to try and clear her head.

I'm very sorry to have been the one to bring that to your attention.

Nope. Can only be used on the beds in housing, and Miqo ladies pose for fashion shots instead of sleeping. I don't know who asked for that, but it wasn't me.

((Having decided to wait long enough for their wounds to heal before they run off to do that scouting they talked about...)) K'luha Haaz: K'luha shivered and pulled the small bands holding her hair out. She set them down on the nightstand as she passed and shook her head hair. She was practically soaked to the bone thanks to that freak downpour again. "K'ile the room isn't going to eat you. You can get comfortable you know." she shivered lightly before pulling off her shoes and leaving them in the corner. "They have a hot bath here we can use as well. I think I'm going to use it. What do you think?" she questioned, turning back to look at him. * Twinflame: His arms crossed over his chest and his back against the wall, K'ile frowned a bit deeper with every word K'luha said. He hadn't taken any steps to dry himself off or make himself comfortable. He honestly didn't know what to do with the room. Having tables and chairs in living areas didn't make much sense to him, and putting a raised bed indoors kind of defeated the point of raising the bed, didn't it? The walls kept the bugs out, so keeping the bed off the ground wasn't necessary. All of those thoughts he kept to himself. He could understand the temptation the room posed to K'luha. It was shelter. Still, "Why would I take a bath?" he finally said. "It was just raining outside. And you know how wasteful baths are." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned faintly, her ears flattened against her head. It was true... baths were very wasteful. Although, it was a secret guilty pleasure K'luha induldged in when she came to the cities at times. She chewed at her bottom lip for a time before sighing. "Because it's cold and I'll be uing the water to bathe for several days while we stay here. I won't be able to buy anything from the markets being dirty. They'll turn me away as a vagrant." she explained before rubbing her hips lightly. It was still freezing because of the rain. She hoped it didn't rain too much around these parts. She wasn't sure she could ever deal with it all. * Twinflame: "Hmph." He pulled at one ear. "There's a right and a wrong way to be filthy, and there's a right and a wrong way to get clean. The Ul'dahns might have enough water that they can waste it soaking their bodies, but I won't contribute to that." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned again, her tail swinging around her leg awkwardly. She really quite wanted that hot bath but... it wasn't as if she was going to take one if K'ile was standing there reminding her what she was wasting. When had she become so wasteful like the outsiders? "What do you propose then?" she questioned, genuinely curious to know what he thought of how to clean up. * Twinflame: Flicking his ears towards K'luha, he said simply, "Sand and oil, just like home. I don't know what kind of plants grow around here, but they ahve to sell that kind of thing, don't they?" He chewed on his cheek, then shook his head, his hair flaring around from his scalp like fire about a shaken torch. "Why do you even care? They can't smell as well as we do, most of them, and it stinks of corpses around ehre anyway." * K'luha Haaz: "I... I suppose so..." she mumbled, a bit crestfallen by his suggestion. The idea of a bath seeming so spoiled now, she instead moved to the bed and began pulling off her gloves and garments. She pased, folder her gloves and setting them on the night stand as well before looking to K'ile. "Did you want your own room? Or I can get an extra blanket for you on the floor. It's a little hard though." * Twinflame: Around the time K'luha moved towards the bed, K'ile stood away from the door and turned to put his hand on the doorknob. "No, I'm fine. I'll rest better outside. Good night, K'luha." * K'luha Haaz: "Ah, it's freaking pouring outside K'ile. How are you going to sleep in the rain?" she demanded, frowning deeply at him. * Twinflame: "I'll find shelter," he said, turning to look at K'luha with his hand stuck on the doorknob. "I don't need brick walls and blankets to sleep. Probably couldn't sleep in here at all, anyway." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha glanced down to the ground again, suddenly feeling like an outsider among her own people. Her ears flattern to her head again and she nodded briefly. "Alright... " * Twinflame: His brow knitting in thought for a moment, he said, "Just enjoy what you paid for, alright?" as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha watched K'ile go and looked back to the floor. Had she paid more than she thought for this comfort though? And more importantly, was it worth it? Feeling more disheartened than ever, she pulled off the rest of her wet clothing and flopped down, pulling the covers over her head to sleep. * Twinflame: The Tia spent his evening brooding in the lobby, for the most part. He wasn't actually that against use of an inn room, especially when it was raining outside, but he wasn't about to accept any one of K'luha's invitations. He wasn't very tempted by the idea of sleeping outside in the wet dirt, among the corpses. There was the comical idea that his sleeping body may be mistaken for a corpse and thrown in a coffin, which would at least provide him with shelter. A merciful decrease in the ferocity of the rain saved him around the time the innkeeper instructed him to either rent a room or leave. He was able to find acceptable shelter in one of the covered walkways that led out of the pit, wedged into the architecture just as he had wedged himself against a cliff wall the evening before. The following day he was at a loss for how to pass his time. Back in Sagoli he had responsibilities that would keep him busy even when he tried to rest. But here, he did not know where to find Ventus, and could not seek to buy weapons for he didn't have money. K'haali was doubtless in the mountains somewhere, and K'ailia? he had no guess. So he went to the inn early on, to see if K;luha had awakened yet * K'luha Haaz: K'luha had left her door unlock specifically for the purposes of hoping to lure in K'ile again. Reguardless of the waste, she had set about having a hot bath in the morning. She wasn't about to smell like mud for the next week, and she had to clean up her wounds a little as well. K'ailia might of closed them, but they still ached and burned and some of them tore open again in her fitful sleep. She stepped from her bathroom and dried off before looking at her old clothing distastefully. She needed something nicer to wear out to look for weapons...or they weren't going to take her seriously. With a quick call to the front desk she had some newer clothing brought in and quickly changed. She had just pulled on the tightly fitted black and white top when K'ile arrived. * Twinflame: Despite his tribal origins, K'ile was still very much a gentleman, if one's only standard of gentlemanly behavior is if they knocked before entering a room. As such, K'ile crossed his arms in front of K'luha's door and leaned forward until he forehead thudded against it. "K'luha," he hit the door with his forehead again, "You can't be asleep!" Anotehr thud, "How many baths are you taking?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled faintly, hearing K'ile just outside her room. She clicked her tongue and let her hands smooth out the shirt and skirt. They were black, well tailored, and most importantly figure flattering. With the white high stockings that came to her thighs and black and white dress shoes to match, she felt about appropriate to go weapon hunting. She stepped over to the door and pulled it open softly, still smiling. "I am not bathing or asleep K'ile. I'm up." * Twinflame: When the door opened, he had his closed-off posture and mild pout prepared. He saw immeidately that it would go to good use, as he looked her over. "Nice dress. I guess we aren't going to be hunting for our food today?" He exhaled, looked to one side, "I guess I can probably hunt an Aldgoat on my own. It's not like there's anything else to do in this corpse-hole." * K'luha Haaz: "Well great warrior without any weapon," She reminded him dutifully, her tail flipping out from her dress behind her. "We need weapons. And YOU need a lance." K'luha huffed, reaching forward to lightly flick his head. "So I will be hunting down some weapons today. There's not much in Drybone so I'll be traveling today. You're free to use my innroom and I'll give you some cash." * Twinflame: Trying unsuccessfully to lean away from the flick, he protested, "I don't need any of your gil. And what would I need an inn room for in the middle of the day anyway? That doesn't make any sense. Where are you going to shop? That bridge place?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha sighed heavily and rubbed the back of her neck. Why was K'ile always so... she shook her head. That was just who he was. He never accepted anything to begin with, much less even think about anything that was foreign to the tribe. K'luha tugged at her top a bit, adjusting it while she thought of what to say. "No, I've got a contact in Aleport who sells good weapons for cheap. He was in Ul'dah and we've done buisness before. So I think our best chance is there. I was going to Aether over and get a hold of him, but I'll be back before sundown..." * Twinflame: Oh. Lame. He lilted subtly to one side. "Fine. I still don't want any of your money. I'll figure something out." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned and gaave another sigh. Sometimes K'ile was very tiring. "Just... just take some. Okay? I don't want you to starve or try hunting without a weapon." * Twinflame: He took a moment to try and think up a good reason to continue rejecting the money. He did have to eat, and it was obvious that begging didn't work around here. He didn't want to end up... Oh! That! "I'll take the chance to scout out some of the plants K'haali was talking about up north. It'll give me something to do and something to eat." * K'luha was completely exasperated with him. There was simply no end to the reasons why he couldn't do anything she asked ever. "Please just... just take some gil." * Twinflame: "Why is it-?" he groaned. The woman was too damned stubborn about little things. She couldn't just leave it be, could she? "Fine. But don't give me very much, because I'm probably not going to spend it." He extended a hand palm-up. "Just another thing to carry around." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha sighed, relieved and pulled the small coin purse from her hip pocket. She handed him several coins, each with about a hundred gil value. He had enough to bribe anyone into doing something he needed, of that she was pretty sure at least. "There. Don't loose them. And please please please come back to the inn room tonight so I can make sure you're alright." * Twinflame: He gave the gil in his hand an unsavory look, and his ears went flat on his head. "Stop mothering me. I'm not going to die between now and this evening." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha grumbled before shaking her head and moving to collect her clothing and fold it neatly. "Then don't be so reckless. Deal?" * Twinflame: "I'm not reckless," the answer was quick. * K'luha Haaz: "You are." she retorted with equal quickness. * Twinflame: "I said I'm not," and since he could predict what her retort would be, he cut it off, "Where is that Aleport place?" * K'luha Haaz: "And you're wrong, you're very reckless." K'luha retorted forcefully, turning to glare at him. "You ran into a fight with a bow that you didn't know how to use, and forgot to bring a quiver of arrows. I wouldn't call that careful K'ile. And Aleport is near Limsa Lominsa. Out near the ocean. You'd have to take a boat to get there without an Aetheryte attunement." * Twinflame: Leaning in the doorway with his posture still closed, he muttered bitterly, "I'm usually not reckless." He pondered the description of Aleport. A town near the ocean. He'd seen a place like that when they were exploring, but he doubted that the place he'd seen had been Aleport. He tried to imagine having to take a boat to get somewhere. He ended up picturing a town floating in the middle of the ocean, with boats docked at ever wall. It put a smile on his face. "I'd like to take a boat to get someplace sometime." * K'luha paused in folding her clothing to look at K'ile. He wanted to travel somewhere...? Really? She glanced down again and finished folding before starting towards the door. "I could take you sometime if you want..." * Twinflame: He waved off the suggestion, "Nah. Too busy to go wandering around just for fun. People like me need to hold the tribe down so K'yohko's damn kids can spend all their time goofing off in Ul'dah." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha's ears flattened. K'ailia. She carefully pulled down on her dress, adjusting it to hide her discomfort. "Yes, well... maybe if we had a different nunh we would have some variety in the children." * Twinflame: A smirk tugged at a corner of his lips. "There's Raqi." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha coughed loudly and turned back to look at K'ile with a frown. "No. Never. I will die first. That man, does not touch me." * Twinflame: K'ile laughed and tossed his head back, right against the doorframe. He winced in pain, but kept laughing through it. "Ah, well, there's your choices! Raqi's kids aren't any better, though." He leaned towards the center of the room and reported proudly, "Thalen was the last Nunh worth the title. You missed out." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned at K'ile and leaned back against the opposite side of the doorframe. "Tch. Well you're his son. Why don't you go take back the title since the other two apparently aren't worth it? I was thinking about having another child anyway." * Twinflame: "Brother. I'm his brother," K'ile corrected. It wasn't the first time he'd been mistaken for Thalen's son, for a variety of very complicated reasons he was sure. Mostly the age gap. As for the rest of what she said, it was hardly the first time. "Anyway, I don't hate K'yohko enough to fight him, and challenging K'raqi just wouldn't be fair. What with him all battered and broken and not around." It was at least encouraging the K'luha was thinking about having another kid. She did deserve another chance affter how thing had gone with K'ailia. But the last thing K'yohko need was more children. That was the last thing the whole tribe needed. Of course, she'd said the bit about the kid after the bit about challenging the Nunh, so maybe she did want kids but didn't want to give K'yohko anymore. In which case. "Wait." He shot her a suspicious squint, his ears shifting back on his skull again. "What are you getting at?" * K'luha Haaz: "Right. Brother. I forget." she waved a hand dismissively and closed her eyes, thinking for a minute. A kit right now would be asking for trouble, and yet... No. She would wait. For as long as she needed to. But she was still of a good age to have another kit, and seeing as all the young girls were so terribly uninterested in mating and K'aila was... as much as K'luha didn't want to admit it, was going to leave the tribe, they would need more kits. She blinked when K'ile questioned her and looked to him. "Hm? What? I'm not getting at anything. Other than we need weapons and a new homeland. Do you think it rains here all the time?" * Twinflame: He squinted at her a bit more, until his eyes were closed, and then he reset his posture and stared at the opposite side of the doorframe. "No. It's probably jsut the rainy season. It's still a desert, after all." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded. Rain... she would not like to move here if it rained like that all the time. "Alright, well, I'm going to Aleport. The inn room's unlocked for you and bring back some of whatever you find okay?" * Twinflame: Stepping out of the doorway, K'ile said, "Go ahead and lock it. I won't be back until you're back." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow but stepped back and closed her eyes before vanishing with a small pop. * Twinflame: "Uhm." He blinked at the empty spot where K'luha had been. He could smell the change in the air, feel the static warmth of channeled aether already dissipating. "Oh. Okay." He closed the and left the inn with the coins uncomfortably heavy in his pockets. He didn't even know where to look for fruit within walking distance. K'haali had made it sound far away. He'd eat rocks if he had to. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha didn't return until very late at night. She sighed heavily as she trudged back to her inn room, vaguely keeping an eye out for K'ile as she walked. It was a tiring day of meeting Ventus and strangers in Aleport and she was more convinced than ever that K'ailia was going to leave. All she wanted now was to sleep and forget about the whole thing. * Twinflame: Resolute to his word, K'ile did not return to the inn until K'luha had come back. The fact that he had been watching for her didn't change the fact. He'd spent his day hunting for fruit and not finding any, though he had found some Amole, from which had squeezed enough use to give himself what amounted to a quick bath. Despite K'ailia's heckling inferences, this had been his first instinct when finding the plant, and it would actually leave him smelling soapy and probably looking cleaner than he actually was. He took a decent portion of the plant with him back to Drybone, a decent number of six-petalled white flowers with a number of stamen. Upon seeing K'luha's entrance to the inn, he waited a requisite dozen or so minutes before intruding upon her. He entered, went to the room she had rented, and knocked his head against it with his arms corssed again. K'ile said, already knowing the answer, "K'luha, are you back yet?" * K'luha Haaz: The door pushed in with K'ile's head knock, as K'luha hadn't even bothered to close the door all the way. By the time K'ile had arrived Luha was already stripped and beneath the covers of her bed, soft muffles cries quickly stifling themselves as K'luha sat up from her bed and looked to the door. "Present..." she called back a bit miserably. She at least had the decency to keep her covers over her nude form. * Twinflame: "Erm," he paused at the sight, and she sat up, he flinched. He could tell she'd been crying again over something or other. Why did women always cry around him? He forced himself to say, "I'm just checking in because you told me to." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded and pulled herself together quickly. She shook her head and sat up straighter, forcing herself to a more normal attitude. "Alright, what did you find out there? Anything?" * Twinflame: "Just some soaproot," he held up the flowing bulbs in his hand. "Oh, and," he produced the gil she'd given him earlier, every single coin of it. "I told you I wouldn't need it." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at him and motioned for him to put it on the nightstand. "You didn't eat did you?" * Twinflame: "Uhm." Well she caught onto that pretty quick. "It's not like I didn't eat. I ate." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha gave him a deadly look. "Do not make me get up and chase you naked through the inn K'ile. You will go to the front desk and order some food for myself and yourself and then you will come back here and we will eat. Got it?" * Twinflame: He held up an assuaging hand, "Alright, sure. Put some clothes on if we're going to eat, though, okay? I don't want your daughter getting any ideas about us." Tossing the Amole down, he quickly retreated from the room and shut the door behind him. * K'luha Haaz: "Eh? Why would K'ailia...?" But he was already gone. She sighed and stood, pulling on her hunting clothing that had dried out by now before sitting back down on the edge of the bed and waiting. * Twinflame: K'ile ordered "food". that's exactly what he did. At the prompting of the innkeep he specified, "A meal. Two actually," and after further prompting "Look I don't know look here's some gil okay?" He tossed down about half of what K'luha had given him, noted the expression on the innkeep's face and took a couple of coins back, then put one back on the pile because he had no idea what he was even doing. He left things like that and retreated back to the inn room, where he hoped K'luha wasn't naked anymore. Which, upon opening the door, he found that she wasn't and was far more comfortable for that. He really wanted to avoid having K'yohko's women hanging around him in the nude. If the elders got wind of that and assumed anything based on it, they might take the fire away. "So," he greeted, "I ordered food. And I guess I bought it?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked to the door as he returned and nodded. "Good. I'm hungry anyway. Guess whom I met in Aleport?" she stood and stretched before finding a more comfortable seat on the couch in the room. * Twinflame: "Uhm," he looked to one side, then returned his gaze and guessed. "Your friend who was going to sell you weapons? No, that's obvious. Uhm. K'ailia!" * K'luha Haaz: "Ventus." she replied, unamused before shaking her head. "God knows where K'ailia's gotten off to..." Luha muttered a bit sadly before looking back to K'ile. "He had invited us to meet him tomorrow at Bronze Lake, which is rather far away. Some sort of hot springs party for his company... I am unsure I wish to attend." * Twinflame: "Parties at hot springs," K'ile rolled his eyes, "Yes, he's definitely teaching K'ailia more about fighting than about Ul'dahn excess." * K'luha Haaz: "Hrn... tis what i thought." she shook her head and looked sadly to the ground. "K'ailia... she's going to leave us K'ile... I can feel it. Ever since she threatened to leave us... I knew... I know..." * Twinflame: Taking up an wakward position roughly in the center of the room, K'ile looked around at his surroundings as he spoke. "Well. I remember talking about this. If it happens it happens. There isn't too much you can do about it." * K'luha Haaz: "I.... I suppose so. I suppose she simply wasn't meant to live the way we do. She has no interest in our people. Her only interest lies in everything else..." K'luha laughed weakly before looking up to K'ile. "Have I failed as a parent? Or is there simply no value to our way of life anymore?" * Twinflame: He frowned down at her heavily, and his words fell heavily from his jaw, "That's kind of a bullshit pair of choices. You're not a bad mom, but there's only so much you can do. If she doesn't value home, then that's her choice to make." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha furrowed her brows. Was she not a bad mother? She lost one child and now another? She should really have a third child if she was only going to loose them too? "Why then? Why doesn't K'ailia see the value in our way of life? Why does she not care about her family?" * Twinflame: "I don't know," K'ile said. He could try talking about how home and family weren't the same thing, but he'd taken that approach with this issue already. And in all honesty, they were exactly the same thing. There was no separating them out. Maybe with small things, personal things, but not in general. "I really don't think she understands. Maybe the people in this Garden of hers don't value family and they're trying to convince her it isn't important." * K'luha Haaz: "Maybe... it seems like they're... sort of a strange family on their own though. I simply... don't understand. Family has always been the most important thing to me. I have given up everything I ever desired for my family. To see K'ailia throw it away when I gave up so much for her? I am both saddened and furious..." K'luha breathed out heavily, only to look back up as there was a knock on the door. "Ah, the food." * Twinflame: Flinching at the knock on the door, K'ile promptly muttered, "Oh, they just...?" he went to the door to open and said, "Oh, hello," only to have two plates of food thrust at him, "Oh, okay. The food. Thank you. That's alright. Goodbye." He kicked the door shut. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha sniffed the air and licked her lips. Delicious goat. And with drinks too! Which reminded K'luha. She stood and pushed the door open behind K'ile and called out for two drinks as well before closing it again. She looked to K'ile like he might criticize her and frowned. "What? I want to try one." * Twinflame: Still holding the plates of food, he just shrugged at her, "That's fine. Whatever it is we're trying." He looked around the room again, trying to figure out what to do with the food. He ended up putting it next to the soap weed, which was mostly not toxic, as long as the food didn't actually touch it. Should he keep talking about K'ailia, or should he change the subject? He didn't want to keep her upset and he couldn't offer comfort. He might be able to share her emotions some, if he wanted to. Nobody else had ever really... Yeah, no benefit. "I'd rather have hunted and cooked this myself," he said instead. * K'luha Haaz: "Yes well. Tomorrow you can. I got in touch with my contact finally and we're meeting up in Ul'dah tomorrow." she replied, moving around to grab a plate a food from next to the soap weed. Food in hand, she moved to the edge of the bed and began picking at her meal. * Twinflame: "Ul'dah? What's with all the moving around? Why couldn't you just buy the weapons in Aleport and bring them back?" He stood in front of his plate, and began to pick at it. His hunger, so long deferred, was slowly coming upon him * K'luha Haaz: "Because apparently there was a large weapon theft in Aleport so it scared off the seller." she grumbled, eating her own food happily. "He contacted me and told me to come to Limsa. Also he said the weapons would be free if I did some work for him earlier in the day. Did I say Ul'dah? Shit I'm tired. It's Limsa." * Twinflame: "That's even... I don't even know where Limsa is." He shook his head at his food and muttered, "You can go anywhere you want anytime you want but you stay around the tribe. You'd think folk would learn a thing or two from watching you." * K'luha Haaz: "Of course I do." K'luha answered almost instantly as she finished off her meat. "My family is everything to me. I couldn't begin to think of life without it. My mother and my grandparents and you and all of nieces... you are all everything to me. " * Twinflame: "Same," K'ile said. "Even if the blood gets kind of thin in some places. I'll never be able to understand the kinds of people who can just... not come home. What's a person going to do without a home?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha shook her head. She had no idea. But luckily there was another knock at the door. She stood and fetched the drinks before shutting the door behind her and handing a bottle to K'ile. "I have heard it is good. But I've never tried it. I think it's... ale?" * Twinflame: "Just ale? Is it a special kind of ale?" He took the bottle. He'd had ale before. Once. Years ago. It was rather cheap as far as foreign commodities went, and travelers always seemed to have some. He couldn't remember what it tasted like, but he knew it was commong. "I thought outside the Sagoli people drank mostly ale and stuff." * K'luha Haaz: Luha gave a nodd in return before taking a sip. She licked her lips still tasting the flavour, unsure if she liked it or not. "Yes, but I have never had any so I was curious while we were here." * Twinflame: "Tastes like sand?" He said, making it a question. He didn't remember, so he took a sip, and made a face, "Tastes like dirt. And spices, I guess. Seasoned dirt. I'm not sure why they like it so much." * K'luha Haaz: She shrugged and drag the rest of it in relative silence anyway. She felt full now, and maybe a little better, but still tired. "Are you going to sleep outside again?" she asked after a long moment of silence. * Twinflame: He mulled the question over in his head for a bit. Uninterested in finishing the strange mud-drink which outsiders favored, he set the 'ale' aside. K'ile Tia was not fond of resting, especially if he was going to spend days at a time doing so. If he had his say, they'd have been off on their mission yesterday, but with K'luha's injuries... "When do you think you're going to be well enough to go scouting," he said. * K'luha Haaz: "As soon as I have procured the proper weaponry." she answered easily, stacking up her dish and empty bottle on the nightstand before sitting on the edge of the bed again. "Everything's pretty much healed anyway." * Twinflame: "I suppose it's too much to hope you'll have weapons by noon, isn't it?" * K'luha Haaz: "Hn... well I could try..." * Twinflame: With a groan, he muttered, "No. That's... We'll just have to 'rest' another day, won't we?" * K'luha Haaz: "No... I'll be back then." K'luha gave a definiative nod and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. "I'll be back. Meet me at the aetheryte. Then we'll leave. Still, are you going to stay here or not? Because I'd like to undress if you're not." * Twinflame: "Okay, sheesh. That sounds a lot like being told to leave." He left everything near the soapweed on the nightstand and turned to head to the door, "Don't stress, okay?" * K'luha Haaz: "I'm stressing." She called back with a frown. "And you don't have to leave, I just want to know if I should undress or not!" * Twinflame: He paused at the door and turned to her, making the most eloquent of arguments, "I just told you not to stress so stop it," and followed it up with a question of challenging depth, "What are you stressing about?" * K'luha Haaz: K'luha groaned, irrirated with K'ile's lack of understand. For her equally eloquant answer she ripped off her shirt and threw it at him. "You're an idiot!" * Twinflame: "Oh, would you-!" he smacked the shirt to the ground, "Sorry for... Ah, nevermind." He turned to the door and opened it to step out. * K'luha Haaz: "I'm sorry!" K'luha yelled after him. She waited before groaning and throwing the covers over her form to sleep again.

There is definitely a Duskwight linkshell. I'm in it. Kari and a few others have invite privileges to it. There's also an Elezen linkshell in general, I'm pretty sure. Not everybody likes to RP the lore racism and that's fine. I don't know very much about it and turned down the invite, though, because I personally prefer my RP with a heavy helping of clan-centric distaste. Strictly IC, of course. Having a strong opinion on Elezen lifespans is mandatory for me since I'm RPing a Duskwight so old that he's at the extremes of their lifespan. I play him as being in his 80s and on the verge of natural death. Someone else RPing an elezen still strong and capable in their hundreds would really harsh my groove.

K'ailia Yohko: hi guys! K'ailia Yohko: Hmm they asleep? K'haali Thalen bows theatrically. "I come bearing the gifts of the north!" before noticing they've dozed off K'haali Thalen: Huh... K'ailia Yohko: hehe I gots idea! K'luha Haaz is completely dead asleep, still exhausted and looking a little bit like shit. Mostly notable was the dried blood, the tip of he right ear missing, claw marks on her shoulders, and a large chuck bitten out of her right left. K'haali Thalen: Does it involve drawing, because, i have a stick of charcoal... K'ile Twinflame is like all that except less wounded. All he has is a severely bruised chest. He must just be a wuss. K'ailia Yohko begins moving her arms in motion as magic begins playing across her hands, and above... a glob of water forms... K'luha Haaz would like to point out that K'ile is totally a wuss. K'ailia Yohko stops the spell and the water crashes down on the two sleepyheads. K'haali Thalen: I'd like to make it formally known I have no part in this plan of yours... and i object, but won't stop you K'luha Haaz forgot to mention her head is wrapped up with K'ile's scarf, as she also has a head injury. K'ailia Yohko laughs. K'haali Thalen looks at K'ailia Yohko and panics! K'haali Thalen pokes you. K'haali Thalen gives a concerned look at K'ailia K'ailia Yohko: Oi... what's wrong with em? K'ile Twinflame stirs slughishly out of the water. Luckily he doesn't assosciate being splashed with water with being attacked or he would've reacted differently. Actually, he barely even wakes up, just muttering groggily. K'haali Thalen shrugs at K'ailia Yohko. K'ailia Yohko: Oi oi K'ile? K'ailia Yohko: Ma? K'luha Haaz squeaked loudly at the sudden freezing cold water being poured onto her. Her ears suddenly went alert , and her tail frazzled, but she had already learned her lesson about jumping and flailing. She was still too tired to do that yet. K'luha blinked a few times, still groggy herself and looked around. "The fuck...?" K'haali Thalen points incriminatingly at K'ailia K'ailia Yohko: Oh hi ma. Glad yer awake K'ailia Yohko laughs. K'luha Haaz slowly looks to K'ailia for a moment before scowling. "Very cute." she scoffed. K'luha Haaz is annoyed with K'ailia Yohko. K'ailia Yohko: Haali ya realize, I jes gave K'ile his bath K'ile Twinflame mutters, "Don't need a fuckin..." K'ailia Yohko: What happened ta you two? K'luha Haaz lightly pulled at K'ile's ear. "Oiy. Wake up." K'ile Twinflame pushes K'luuha off of him and rolls away from her, managing to his feet groggily, "Why are you women always bugging me?" K'ailia Yohko: So... yer scoutin' mission seemed ta suggest maybe I should o' went with you two. K'luha Haaz gave a loud 'oof' as she was pushed off of K'ile and onto her stomach. She grumbled, but didn't move quite yet. "Idiot." K'haali Thalen: It was something that worried me while you were away; you wouldn't have access to treatment if you had to fight... K'ile Twinflame mutters a general 'bleh' K'luha, then looked over at K'ailia, "You don't listen to anything, do you? We haven't done any scouting yet. Just heal your mom, okay?" K'luha Haaz: Says Mister broken ass ribs. Go heal him first. K'ailia Yohko: yes ma. K'haali Thalen: You always were fond of tossing coins K'ailia Yohko: bah! I am gonna hit ya both! K'luha Haaz whips her tail back at K'ile, smacking his leg. K'ailia Yohko begins channeling Medica II K'ile Twinflame crosses his arms over his chest, "Your mom has a head injury. I'm fine until she's healed. Don't let her bully you." K'haali Thalen ducks K'ailia Yohko: That spell should help the more serious wounds. K'ailia Yohko: But still gonna need ta rest. K'luha Haaz blinks at the sudden and somewhat disturbing healing of wounds. After a few moments she legs to her leg, which is good as new. She carefully got to her feet and stretched. K'luha Haaz stretches. K'ailia Yohko: Anyways ma... got a question fer ya. K'luha Haaz: What is it? K'ailia Yohko: Do ya' know who a K'makanee Haaz is? K'luha Haaz looks at K'ailia Yohko in shock! K'luha Haaz: I... do. K'ailia Yohko: So was she part o' our tribe? K'luha Haaz nods to K'ailia Yohko. K'luha Haaz: She was... K'haali Thalen fetches a roll of fresh linen gauze from K'weh's bags and hands it to k'ailia K'ailia Yohko: Alright... well... I got a letter from Gridania taday. K'luha Haaz quirks a brow, wondering what a Gridanian letter has to do with it. "Is K'makanee in Gridania then?" K'ailia Yohko: Seems they want ta give her daughter ta us. K'luha Haaz looked quizzically at K'ailia and tilted her head. "Why would K'makanee want to give her daughter to us?" K'ile Twinflame looks suspicious, "What does that mean?" K'ailia Yohko: The letter dinna say it was from her. Jes from some matron in Gridania. K'luha Haaz gazes upon K'ailia Yohko in deep reflection. K'luha Haaz: Some matron? Why would some Matron have K'makanee's child... unless? K'ile Twinflame: Matron? What's that? K'haali Thalen gives a sad shrug K'ailia Yohko: Dunno, very vague letter. K'luha Haaz: There's no way K'makanee would ever give someone her daughter... she must have died.... K'ailia Yohko: So... should I go get the kid? K'ailia Yohko: I know my way around the shroud better than yall K'ile Twinflame says sternly, "No, K'ailia. You should not." K'ailia Yohko: a-alright... K'luha Haaz looks sadly at the floor, her ears flattening to her head. "So then... she did have that child? I thought for sure she would miscarry because of the fight..." K'luha shook her head and looked to K'ile. "Since she was exiled, is her child exiled as well?" K'haali Thalen: It seems unlikely she'd raise her child to follow the tribe's customs if she was exiled. No doubt the Gridanians are simply looking at the closest family she has K'ile Twinflame turns a frazzled gaze an K'luha as though she said something unthinkable, "What? That...! I don't. Hey, I'm not assuming Maka is dead." K'ailia Yohko: But... if she is dead, maybe we can mold her daughter ta our ways? K'ailia Yohko: We'd get at least, another huntress ta assist in huntin' K'ile Twinflame scoffs at K'ailia, "We can't even mold you to our ways." K'luha Haaz frowned and shook her head. "Maka is my sister, remember? I know her. She would have never given her child up. And she would have never offered to give her child to us if she was alive." K'ailia Yohko: Who says I've forsaken our ways K'ile. K'luha Haaz: Well, you parcially have. K'ile Twinflame throws his hands in the air, "By the Matron can we not have that conversation right now!" K'haali Thalen hangs on to one of K'wehs reigns and leans into his breast for support while observinging the exchange K'ailia Yohko: Hmm... well... maybe the elders will know how ta address this letter. K'luha Haaz winced a little and looked down to the ground again. Thinking for a moment she sighed. "We're going to have to deal with it eventually K'ile...." K'ailia Yohko seems lost in thought. K'ile Twinflame shakes his head, "No, Ka'ilia's right. It's not up to us what to do with the girl. That's all on the elders. They'll decide what to do about it and who should take care of it." K'ailia Yohko: Mister K'ile... if it will make ya' happy.. if the tribe moves here. I will give myself over ta whatever ya wish ta teach me. K'ailia Yohko: Ya' can mold me however ya want. K'ile Twinflame frowns, "I'd have you breed, so don't make that promise." K'luha Haaz nodded faintly in agreement. The elders would have to decide that girl's fate for now. "In other news... there's plenty of game here." K'luha quickly changed the subject, not wanting to linger. K'ailia Yohko 's jaw drops K'ile Twinflame hops on K'luha's bandwagon by turning to K'haali, "How'd your evening go?" K'ailia Yohko looks shocked. K'haali Thalen seems to recover from his breeding talk. "Well... as a change of pace from everyone else's day; fantastic" K'ailia Yohko: Yeaaaah.... takin' that offer back. Anyways, I really like this place. K'luha Haaz: Oh? K'ailia Yohko: I definitely think it is perfect for our needs. K'haali Thalen opens K'weh's panniers to reveal a bounty of fauna, some evidentlly edible, some of questionable use. K'haali Thalen: "I think this is corn isn't it?" K'haali Thalen: There's fields upon fields at the base of the hills to the north K'luha Haaz peered over at the bag. "Wow..." K'ailia Yohko looks it over. K'ile Twinflame: That's edible? K'luha Haaz shrugs at you. K'ailia Yohko: Yeah that definitely is corn! K'ailia Yohko: It is very good food. K'ailia Yohko: We jes have ta cook it first, an season it. K'ailia Yohko holds her hand out for the corn. K'ile Twinflame puts a fist on his hip, "Medicine plants in there too?" K'haali Thalen opening another satchel she pulls out a creamy-white crystal. "And, this is alumen salts isn't it?" K'haali Thalen: I recognise it from the sagolii, but there's loads of it in the hills to the north. K'ailia Yohko: Hmm... why it look more like a crystal though? K'haali Thalen: Which is good, because we sued it to treat sandwurm hide, havign a supply close to hand will be useful. K'haali Thalen shrugs. "Richer supply I guess" K'ailia Yohko: Ya' sure it aint jes a crystal? K'haali Thalen: Well, that's why I wanted your opinion, I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff we used tio treat the wurm hides. But i might be wrong K'ile Twinflame: Why don't you try taking it to the markets near here and see if someone there is interested in it? If it seels like salt, that's what it is. K'haali Thalen: That's a rather good idea... unless, they also assume it's salt incorrectly K'ailia Yohko: Hehe if it be salt, there be two places I know that could tell ya' fer sure. K'luha Haaz seems lost in thought. K'ailia Yohko: The botanist guild in Gridania, or the culinary guild in Limsa Lominsa. K'haali Thalen: We could just take an aldgoat rawhide and try treatting it, see what happens. K'ailia Yohko: Oh that's not a bad idea! K'ailia Yohko: Want me ta help ya take one down? K'haali Thalen: If it tans it, it's good enoguh for the job, even if it's not the salt I thought it was K'haali Thalen: That depends if everyone feels like aldgoat tonight K'ailia Yohko: Oh yeah an' mister K'ile, Ventus said he will see ya when he finishes some business o' his. K'luha Haaz: When would that be? K'ailia Yohko: Today. K'ailia Yohko: His business apparently is eatin' a good meal an' takenin a bath. K'ile Twinflame frowns at K'ailia. "He better be coming here, then. I've business of my own." K'ailia Yohko: Oh aye, told him ta come ta drybone. K'luha Haaz: K'ile should we delay to see him until we have scouted, or should we head to Ul'dah this evening first? K'haali Thalen: Well, I'm content from what I've already seen, that this place is a veritable paradise!. And no doubt we'll discover more once we settle in. K'ile Twinflame: No. He can come here and we'll ask him what his lands have toffer that this place doesn't. If he can't answer well, we can just take him out and throw his body in a ravine. Nobody will ever know. K'luha Haaz laughs at you. K'haali Thalen bursts out laughing at you. K'ailia Yohko: Hey! No need ta kill him! K'ailia Yohko: But, maybe instead o' takin' his offer. K'ailia Yohko: Maybe we can hire him ta help the tribe get past the amalj'aa canyon K'ile Twinflame: No. I prefer killing him. K'ailia Yohko is annoyed with you. K'luha Haaz: K'ile, K'ailia. Play nice. You smirk confidently at K'ailia Yohko. K'haali Thalen gives an impish grin at K'ailia. "I've always wondered what a hyur-leather saddle would feel like. K'luha Haaz: Everyone has to place nice with the Hyur man. K'haali Thalen wallows in self-pity. K'ile Twinflame: You're joking. K'ailia Yohko: But like I said, we could prolly use protection gettin' past them Amalj'aa K'luha Haaz raises a brow at K'ile. "Do I look like I'm joking?" K'ile Twinflame squints at K'luha. "... Yes." K'haali Thalen: If nothing else, their stomping about would serve as an admirable distraction from the tribesfolk K'luha Haaz reaches forward and pinches K'ile's cheek. "No, you have to play nice. He's K'ailia's teacher." K'ailia Yohko beams with delight at K'luha Haaz. K'ile Twinflame smacks K'luha's hand away, "Strange coming from you." K'luha Haaz smirked faintly and dropped her hands back to her hips. "I already had a discussion with him. So we can play nice for now." K'ile Twinflame: Hey, you're not the only one who has a right to bloody someone's lip. K'ailia Yohko: Aaaan' I will be over there. Yeah... K'luha Haaz: I didn't say I was. In any case, should we meet with Ventus tonight or later? K'ile Twinflame: Hey! K'ile Twinflame mutters to K'luha, "We'll meet him today if he's coming out here," and then to K'ailia, "We're still talking. Don't just run off." K'luha Haaz nods to you. K'luha Haaz gazes upon K'ailia Yohko in deep reflection. K'luha Haaz: I think she's taking after me in terms of running off. K'ailia Yohko laughs. K'haali Thalen: Oh!. I almost forgot I also found these; they're fungi I think, but some fungi are edible... I'm wondering maybe someone could identify them. K'haali Thalen presents a mixture of fungi, some rock lichens but also truffles and button mushrooms. K'luha Haaz: We could perhaps get them checked out in Drybone? K'ile Twinflame: There should be healers or shaman there who know. K'ailia Yohko: Actually, there's a merchant that sells that kind o' stuff over at the bridge. K'haali Thalen nods K'luha Haaz: Then we could just go look at his wares and discern what they are for ourselves. K'ailia Yohko nods. K'haali Thalen: maybe I should just start digging up every likely looking object and have you run them by the merchants at highbridge K'ailia K'haali Thalen bursts out laughing at K'ailia Yohko. K'haali Thalen: Distribution of labour K'luha Haaz smirks confidently at K'ailia Yohko. K'luha Haaz: All yours then K'ailia. K'ailia Yohko: Alright. K'ile Twinflame: Alright, so let's do it this way... K'ailia Yohko pulls out a little black box and presses a button. K'ailia Yohko: Shall we? ((Garlean mechasuit appears)) K'haali Thalen takes the panniers off K'weh and drapes them over K'ailia's shoulders; they weigh a fair bit. K'ailia Yohko: No problem, I be back soon! ((K'ailia disappears)) K'ile Twinflame was about to speak, but then, "Did K'ailia just run off again?" K'ile Twinflame: Idiot girl. K'luha Haaz laughs at you. K'luha Haaz: Sorry, she takes after me. K'ile Twinflame: Now we have to change our plans. K'ile Twinflame looks over at K'haali, "Did she take the salts too?" K'haali Thalen nods. "She also took a few other things they might find interesting to look over... she also took my medical supplies and lunch, I didn't expect her to actually take the panniers, they were rather heavy..." K'ile Twinflame: Yes, well, she doesn't listen well. K'ile Twinflame looks at K'luha, "Are you too injured to hunt down an Aldgoat on your own? They can get mean." K'luha Haaz sighed and frowned. "I have to drop by Drybone first. I lost my bow last night." K'ile Twinflame: Same. I guess we're together in that. Do we have money? K'luha Haaz nodded yes and pulled out a small sack of coins from her boot. She kind of kept a lot of stuff in her boots. "Enough for a LANCE and a bow." K'ile Twinflame: That's fine. I guess we'll just buy our food and weapons tonight and head south once we're ready. K'luha Haaz nods to you. K'ile Twinflame: K'haali, what's your plan? K'haali Thalen: i guess i hadn't thought that far ahead. I was going to wait to see what you did, I presume we'll be meeting the gentlemen from that university soon, and then going back to the tribe? K'luha Haaz: Yes, that's about right. K'ile Twinflame: I'm meeting the Hyur and then K'luha and I will be heading south for a couple of days to scout the Amal'jaa camp. K'ile Twinflame: Someone needs to let the Elders know about that child K'ailia mentioned. K'luha Haaz: You're going to meet with Ventus on your own first? K'ile Twinflame: Probably. You just pick out a nice big lance for me and we'll meet up in Drybone to eat. K'haali Thalen: I could begin the journey to report in the the elders now; or might it be wiser to wait til after we meet Ventus so I can tell them how that went, if I go now they'll only know about the potential settlement site K'haali Thalen: Interesting, but not that useful without the full picture K'luha Haaz nodded to K'ile. "Alright. Do you want me to help you use the Aehteryte to get there and to Drybone?" she questioned before looking back to K'haali. "It's up to you really K'haali. Could you make it back on your own?" K'ile Twinflame thinks, "There's no point telling the Elders about the migration sites until we've at least scouted out the Amal'jaa camp. I don't like leaving the matter with the kid alone, though." K'haali Thalen: I believe so; a few days south of here takes you through broken water, and the little al mhigan mesas. After that it's familiar territory, the red labyrinth to avoid the amal'ja patrols K'haali Thalen: However, as you say, leaving too soon seems like a wasted journey K'ile Twinflame: You can keep harvesting things. It might be faster to just wait for K'luha and I to be done scouting and send her back through the aetherytes. K'haali Thalen shrugs. "I'll just make myself useful here for now, and stand by to travel back to the tribe when you need me to" K'luha Haaz nods to K'haali Thalen. K'luha Haaz: Thank you K'haali. K'ile Twinflame: Is using aetherytes something a person can help with? K'luha Haaz nods to you. K'ile Twinflame: Huh. That's... Okay, if you say so. K'haali Thalen looks at the sun. "I'll prepare to make camp for myself then." K'luha Haaz: I can bring people along with me through Aetheryte travel. But... I would only do so once with either you at K'haali as it will pretty much exhaust your supply of aether for a long time." K'ile Twinflame: I'm not even using my aether. K'luha Haaz: That's probably a good idea. We should go K'ile." K'ile Twinflame watches K'haali walk off, "Okay, bye." K'ile Twinflame: Yes, fine. No reason to tarry. K'luha Haaz: So how do you plan to meet with Ventus? Have him come out here? K'ile Twinflame: That's what K'ailia said she told him to do. I assume she'll turn up when he does. K'luha Haaz nods to you. K'luha Haaz: We should start walking then. And avoid any wolves. K'luha Haaz: Although, we could also the the Aetheryte there. K'ile Twinflame: I'd assumed we would. I don't need you tiring out your leg before we head out south. K'luha Haaz scoffed lightly before bringing her hand forward. "Alright, take my hands then." K'ile Twinflame awkwardly grabs K'luha's hands, "Why does magic have to be so touchy?" K'luha Haaz rolls her eyes lightly and squeezes K'ile's hand. "Hold on tight and don't let go, lest you be lost in the Aetherways forever."

I've been working off the assumption that if it were anything significant, they'd have made a greater point of it. If Hyur live eighty years, Elezen probably live like ninety. That's how I'm playing it.

K'luha Haaz had fallen asleep rather quickly after she had eaten, leaving K'ile to mostly fend for himself. Her leg burned and shot pain up her spine all night and it kept waking her up. Her shoulders too, cried out from the deep claw wounds that the wolves hand inflicted. Worst of it all was probably her ear, which she couldn't put any weight on but kept turning on it to sleep comfortably. After about the eighth time she woke up that night crying, she realized now that she was also freezing. K'luha Haaz sat up and looked at K'ile with a small glower. Stupid idiot. If only he wore a shirt she could just still it, but no. He had to run around without a shirt all the time. Disgruntled, K'luha dragged herself across the rock and put her back to his to sleep, leeching whatever little or much bodyheat he had to try and get back to sleep again. Thankfully, it worked enough for her to finally fall back asleep until the sun came up. At the first touches of sunlight on her skin, K'luha winced and opened her eyes to note that her face was buried in something very red. And possibly also brown. But it was also rather warm and comfortable. For about ten seconds before K'luha realized she had at some point during his disgruntled back to back warm leeching, turned around to a full on cuddle. With a sudden and loud flail, K'luha promptly smacked K'ile in the head before scrambling to her feet like she had never done it in the first place. Only to regret that very much and fall back down to what was probably directly on K'ile's face. "Ow!" K'ile Twinflame is kind of an inconsiderate shit, so he didn't once wake up all night. Sleep is top priority, even when some chick is snuggling up to you and there's nobody else in a thousand malms. He awoke not for the cuddling, now the flailing, scquirmed and resisted waking up for the smack and only finally stirred when she fell on his head. Which is where we must remember that he's inconsiderate and has no idea what's going on. So he obeys his instincts and reacts as though he's been struck. He knocks K'luha off of him with both fists, snarling, and jumps to his feet. A pile of curses so dense as to be unintelligble peels from his lips, and he stops just short of kicking the woman. K'ile Twinflame doesn't manage a smooth recovery, just grabbing his head and growling out, "Ah, K'luha, what in the hells!" K'luha Haaz cried out in pain as she fell ungracefully, only to cry out a second time; this time more loudly than the first and more desperate. She wasn't so terribly light as that he could kick her off and fling her around, but since she was already close to the wall her head managed to sharply smack backwards into it. K'luha sharply curled up into a, her hands covering the back of her head which had just struck rock, and cried. A cry of pain that sounded unlike anything a Hyur or any other race could make. A distinct Miq'ote cry that indicated an extreme amount of pain, and there had only been two other types K'luha had cried like that. The first was when she lost her son. The second, when she and her sister fought which lead to her sister's exile. K'ile Twinflame hesitates in his sleepiness. He's not without pain himself, since his ribs were broken just last night (even though he'd been healed somewhat). It takes him a moment to work his way around to "Gods damn it," and then he moves over to K'luha and crouches over her, reaching out to her, "You okay?" K'luha Haaz found her head throbbing heavily with pain. It felt like she'd opened something up on her shoulder as well, but maybe it was just lingering pain from moving so fast. Still, her tail was terribly frazzled and tucked between her legs from the sudden attack. She hadn't expected to fall, much less be thrown onto rock as quickly as she'd fallen. Her head was hurting so much she hadn't even heard K'ile, much less noticed his reach. K'ile Twinflame mutters more curses as he puts his hands upon K'luha's. "Hey, what's hurt? What'd I do?" K'luha Haaz mewled out in pain, curling up into a small ball when K'ile put his hands on hers. She couldn't even properly think of words as her head still seared with tremendous pain. He would simply have to wait while it died down before she could speak again. K'ile Twinflame hissed, "Twelve-cursed... What am I supposed to?" he bent over K'luha to look her over. "You're bleeding. Hold still." He took his bandana off his head and pulled the shells and fetishes from it, shaking it out into a strip of cloth. Kneeling, he put one hand to K'luha's head to see if she would protest the contact. K'luha Haaz did not protest, other than to mewl again with agonizing pain. K'ile Twinflame put the bandana behind K'luha's head and put pressure against the wond to try and stop the bleeding, and maybe help with the pain some (though the immediate effect would probably quite the opposite). K'luha Haaz cried loudly at the pressure, raising a hand to scratch at K'ile's arm weakly. She stopped after a few moments and went mostly silent, though her ears were presed down to her head still. K'ile Twinflame stubbronly ignores her protests and, with one hand still on her head, puts his other beneath her shoulders and lifts her shoulders onto his lap so he can get a better angle on her poor skill. HIs next task would be to carefully tie the bandanna very tightly around her head, making sure not to pin her ears down. K'luha Haaz whined loudly at his touch to her shoulders, which were still injured as well. Still, she didn't fight him back and tensely settled into her new position. K'ile Twinflame successfully ties of the bandana and now has completely exhausted his knowledge of first aid. He looks over her, but all the wounds he sees were there last night, and she didn't complain about them then, so they couldn't be the problem now. K'luha Haaz remained tense, moving her hands to grasp at K'ile's legs. Something, anything to cling to to help alieviate some of the pain. She dug her sharp nails into his legs and remaind still and silent, save for the occasional pained cry. K'ile Twinflame didn't really have much to do, so he waited. Her nails didn't hurt him through his clothes, and he wasn't against just holding her until she felt better. He kept one hand on her shoulder and his other on his head to support it, well away from any injury. K'luha Haaz after what felt to K'luha like hours, but perhaps was more like a few minutes, the pain started to recede. However, the broken and painful sleep she had gotten left her exhausted and the strange, but welcome comfort from K'ile lulled her back to a light sleep for a time. K'ile Twinflame was busy waiting patiently for K'luha to stop being in pain, and when she wasn't groaning or writhing anymore, he muttered, "Hey, so... did I hurt you or... Oh you're asleep. That's... Uhm. Okay." And so he sat there like that. And his knees hurt and his legs cramped and his arm got so tired supporting her head he thought it might fall off, but he stayed there and just alternated between watching K'luha and watching the wall. It was fine. K'luha Haaz couldn't sleep for long. Especially not with the sun rising higher in the sky. She was probably only asleep for another ten minutes before a soft whine alerted K'ile to her awakening. She slowly tried lifting her head and found it still throbbing dully. "Nngh..." she groaned, bringing her hands from K'ile's legs to her head. K'ile Twinflame continued to support her and, but moved his hand from her shoulder to her side. Obviously he wasn't trying to make things less awkward. Any awkwardness in the situation hadn't occured to him. At K'luha's first groan he flinched, an instinctive reaction to having essentially knocked out one of the most volatile people in the tribe. After a moment's ponderance, he forced a smile, though it didn't show in his eyes. "Ah. Good morning. How... uhm... how was... sleep?" K'luha Haaz ever so slowly moved to sit up, hands pressed to her head. She was trying to remember why she hurt so much, but the reason wasn't coming to her. She looked to K'ile hazily, taking a few seconds to first recongize him and second comprehend what he had asked. "Sleep...?" she repeated hazily, looking at him completely clueless and glassy eyed. K'ile Twinflame blinking at K'luha and taking a few long seconds to consider his answer, K'ile at length replied, "Yes. Good morning. Are you okay? You hit your head pretty bad." K'luha Haaz blinked at K'ile before wincing again. Head. Pain. Ow. "I... did?" K'ile Twinflame: Yes. First you hit my head, and then you hit yours. I think. That's how you woke me up. K'luha Haaz blinked at K'ile as if she didn't quiet understand what he was saying. After a few moments she leaned back against the rock wall and closed her eyes again. "Oh." K'ile Twinflame stands and stretches to loosen the joints that cramped while he was cradling K'luha, "When you fell back to sleep I was abit worried. Are you alright? You were honestly bleeding." K'luha Haaz opened her eyes slowly and looked down at herself. Her shoulders were torn, there was a huge chunk out of her leg, she could feel her head still pounding where it was hit, and she could still feel the missing chunk out of her right ear. "Fine." K'ile Twinflame points at the sky, "Azeyma can't see so clear, so you can get away with lying to me for now. But either way, we're having K'ailia heal what she can when she gets here." K'luha Haaz seemed to perk up a bit, well a lot, when K'ile mentioned K'ailia healing her. "Absolutely not." she snapped sharply, eyes coming into a quick focus on K'ile. K'ile Twinflame crosses his arms and leans over K'luha, "Blame your injuries on me if you want. Say we got in a fight and beat you up. I don't care. But if you don't get healed, I can't take you with me on the scouting trip." K'luha Haaz clicked her tongue and looked K'ile over. "Says Mr. Half-broken ribs." she grumbled, forcing herself to an unstable stance. "Our pathetic hunt last night is not something I am going to ever admit to K'ailia. There's no way I would let her heal me after such a mortifying night. " K'ile Twinflame couldn't keep the hard edge out of his voice, "I'm going to have her heal me, too. The difference is that you hurt your leg and have a head injury. Those aren't things you play with. If you're not going to let her heal you, that's fine. I'll just go alone while you wallow in Drybone." K'luha Haaz expresses her annoyance with you. K'luha Haaz: You will do no such of a thing! K'ile Twinflame: Maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. If you think I'd even consider taking an injured huntress to an Amal'jaa camp. K'luha Haaz: Maybe you hit yours if you think I would let you go on your own after that pitiful display! K'ile Twinflame: Then I guess you're going to have to let your daughter heal you, aren't you! K'luha Haaz growled deeply in her throat at K'ile. He was right, like he was always right, but she hated it. She hated that he was always right. "Can't you just be wrong for once you stupid arrogant shirtless bastard!?" K'ile Twinflame turns his gaze towards the goobbue. "I'm not going to apologize for that. Stop losing arguments so much and I'll stop winning them." K'luha Haaz pulled at her hair furiously and screeched loudly before dropping back to the floor in anger and defeat. She turned her head away from K'ile and crossed her arms under her chest, fuming. K'ile Twinflame mutters, "At least we know your head's okay. Okay as it ever is anyway. By the way," he looks back at K'luha, "I'd decided not to get you about running off on me during that downpour in Drybone yesterday, but as long as we're fighting in the first place." K'luha Haaz blinked and looked back at K'ile, confused for a second. Running off? Oh, that's... that was... K'luha frowned again, less angry and more saddened. "Was that what you were talking about yesterday?" K'ile Twinflame nodded, "Right. I told you rainstorms like that were dangerous out here, and off you go! K'ailia went off after you alone, putting her in danger. K'haali and I went looking for you too." K'luha Haaz clicked her tongue, her ears flattening out while she looked away again. "You never said such a thing. Not that you needed to. And no one needed to look for me. It wasn't as if I wouldn't return after I did what I needed to." K'ile Twinflame punches the rock wall next to him, "I did say, that there would be flash floods and mudslides in that weather. You should've taken someone with you or at least said where you were going. Or anything! Other than me just looking up and seeing your tail swing off into the rain." K'luha Haaz: Tch. Don't break your hand too... K'ile Twinflame grinds his knuckles against the stone for a moment, then puts his hand back to his side, "I doubt whatever you had to do was that important anyway." K'luha Haaz: I... visited his grave. It was important to me. K'ile Twinflame squints, takes a moment to think and then huffs, "Dammit, dont..." he swings a hand to one side, "I still have a right to be mad at you! You could've told me that! I would've understood." K'luha Haaz didn't look to K'ile, but instead looked back to the ground away from him. "No... you can't. You can't understand what it felt like to dig that grave with your bare bleeding hands while you were dying. And you can't understand how it feels to dig up that dead body and move it to a real graveyard. That is something you cannot understand K'ile." K'ile Twinflame looks away, muttering, "That's not what I was talking about. Is that were doing out there last night?" K'luha Haaz there was a persistant silence for a time before K'luha sharply inhaled at a sudden pain her leg. She pressed her hands to it and frowned. "You cannot tell K'ailia what happened." she insisted, looking back to K'ile. K'ile Twinflame shakes it his limbs, muttering curses, "Bah, Warden damn it all." He runs his hands over his face and sighs heavil. Then, he approaches K'luha, exhaling annoyance, "Which part of what am I not telling K'ailia about?" He drops down next to the woman. K'luha Haaz let up a little, relieved that he was going to follow through on her request. Supposedly. "Our epic failure as hunters, obviously." she scolded, massaging her half eaten leg. "Come up with a better story. I don't even care what it is, but anything is better than that." K'ile Twinflame: If we said we got in a fight, everyone would believe us. Probably better to say we took on a few wolves. We'll just flip it so they were hunting us and got their tails whipped instead of the other way around. K'luha Haaz slowly nodded before crossing her arms. "Yes. That will work..." she mumbled before giving a relieved sigh. K'ile Twinflame: Good. You should've taken me with you when you walked out of Drybone all alone last night. I know we'd just been arguing and it was personal, but I... Don't get it. I respect it. K'luha Haaz looked down at the ground somberly again. "....Do you remember? When K'yohko brought me home after it happened...?" K'ile Twinflame moves over against K'luha and puts his arm around her, carefull not to hurt her, "Yes." K'luha Haaz leaned into K'ile lightly, looking still out at the ground. "I can't remember it. I just remember watching him die. I remember pain. I remember crawling across the floor. I don't even remember how K'yohko found me, or what happened when I got back to the tribe... Just... it's all a whitewash of pain." K'ile Twinflame says, "It was nothing worth reliving. You shouldn't..." but he stops talking, and seems to run out of words. He's quiet for a few moments, and then. "I'm not saying to forget about it. I'm not saying not to talk about it. You didn't need to run off yesterday and you can talk to me about it when you need to." K'luha Haaz nodded distantly, still lightly leaning on K'ile. Everything hurt. It was nice to have someone to lean on a little bit. "It's hard... to talk about it. I don't think... It's not something I can really explain. I just... I just remember overhearing someone outside my tent one night. Saying about how I would never be able to be any good for the tribe now. That I was just going to end up being a waste of food and space. And it made me mad. I was so angry that someone would think that... I..." K'luha Haaz shook her head a little and looked away. "I went to K'yohko that night and insisted on it. It was... bad. I shouldn't have done that. Because I insisted on it while I was still weak K'ailia came out so small. I thought she was going to die too..." K'ile Twinflame pulls on one ear, "Okay yeah I don't need to think about you and Kyohko doing anything!" He chuckles, awkwardly. "Sorry, go ahead." K'luha Haaz smiled weakly at K'ile and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry... I didn't... It wasn't even that good. I was so angry... it was..." she laughed weakly at the memory without going into detail. K'ile Twinflame looks uncomfortable, his ears pinned flat on his head. K'luha Haaz looked over to K'ile, noting his discomfort very quickly. "K'ile...? What's wrong...?" she asked quietly, her brows raising to show her instant concern. K'ile Twinflame looks away for a second, and his ears bounce back up. "Nothing! Uhm." Turning back to K'luha, "Listen, it doesn't matter how small K'ailia started out or why she started that way. She grew a big, powerful personality. Being small's not a huge problem, and you can trust me on that one." K'luha Haaz flattened her own ears against her head. There was something... something he wasn't telling her. About why he didn't want to be the nunh. Did it have something to do about his sexuality? Or maybe it was some sort of physical limiation? He was hiding something from her. She sensed it inately now. Although... Was his thing small or something? Or maybe he was just refering to being short. K'luha frowned and rubbed the back of her head ever so lightly. She was overthinking this again. "K'ile... You've been there for me so much... you know I'm here for you too. If you have something you want to talk about. Anything. I'll be here for you. Even though I'm stubborn and I get angry with you, I'll always do my best to support you too. K'ile Twinflame listens to K'luha with an unmoving expression, watching her face as she speaks. When she she's done, he blinks at her, and his lips twitch. He turns his gaze to watch the goobbue's corpse for a moment, turns his ears to listen to the wall behind him. After a long time, her just squeezes K'luha slightly and says, "Hey, you know me." K'luha Haaz bit her bottom lip lightly. "I know you're hiding something from me K'ile.... but I won't force it out of you. If you want to talk about it, or anything else though..." K'luha shifted her hand lightly and grasped for K'ile's free hand. K'ile Twinflame doesn't change expression or tone in response to K'luha's gesture, but he does grab her hand. "I'm not hiding anything. I've got nothing to hide." He smiles, "I don't even wear a shirt. I'm just how I look, right on the surface." K'luha Haaz gave a small squeeze to his hand and continued to hold it while looking out towards the sunrise. It was really... a beautiful spot they had found. The tribe would surely, if nothing else, like the view. It was fine if K'ile was going to insist he had nothing to hide. There was something he wasn't speaking about, and in good time perhaps he would tell her. K'ile Twinflame sits in silence for a time. After a minute or so, he yawns, then shakes his head. His bright hair twists back and forth beneath his ears and then settles over his eyes. "Wonder if we can catch a mole or something for breakfast." K'luha Haaz snorted lightly. She had enjoyed the silence, but he brought up a good question on breakfast. "With your fabulous skills at the bow, we'd be lucky not to set everything on fire and kill ourselves." she scoffed, hitting him lightly with the side of her head, only to lead her head against him again. "Maybe one of these plants has fruit." K'ile Twinflame: I usually hunt with a spear. Spears don't ned quivers. K'luha Haaz rolled her eyes again. "Then why didn't you bring a stupid spear?" K'ile Twinflame: Because I'm trying to learn the bow! I can shoot it just fine if I get the arrows on the stupid string and the thing I'm shooting at isn't moving. K'luha Haaz narrowed her gaze at K'ile. Really? "So unless it's already dead on the ground, you can't hit it? You're such an idiot sometimes." she huffed. "Have K'nahli or K'yohko or someone teach you! Hell, I can teach you if you really want!" K'ile Twinflame looks defiantly away from K'luha, saying, "K'nahli's teaching me, thanks. If I need someone to shoot /at/ me, I'll let you know." Though he said that with annoyance he laughs at it a half second later. K'luha Haaz huffed somewhat annoyed, but also relenting. "Maybe if I shot at you, you would learn to bring a spear with you!" K'ile Twinflame leans a bit more of his weight against K'luha, "Nah. If you were really after me, I'd know better than to defend myself. I'd just give up." K'luha Haaz huffed again, leaning back against K'ile as if to compete against him. "Oh? Then you know what's good for you." K'ile Twinflame: Yes. Allowing myself to be killed would be better for me. Assuming you'd kill me and not just aim for the knees or something cruel like that. K'luha Haaz: Oh come now. Do you really think I'm so cruel? Although, I wouldn't kill you anyway. K'ile Twinflame looks at K'luha, "Cruel, yes. It's not an insult." K'luha Haaz stuck her tongue out at K'ile before leaning all the way against him. "Hush you. I'm going to sleep again until the others get here. Don't move. You're a good pillow." K'ile Twinflame chuckles, "Not that again." He turns slightly, "You should hold me up this time. I'm not your cot." In the next moment, though, he just flops backward against the rock wall putting one hand behind his head and pulling K'luha against him with the other, "Or we compromise." K'luha Haaz blinked as she was suddenly shifted again. Well... that was strangely comfortably. She shrugged faintly, mindful of her wounds before closing her eyes. "Good enough. I'm still exhausted..." she mumbled, closing her eyes again. "I'm sure K'ailia and K'haali will wake us up when they get here so..." she yawned and decided on stopping talking and just sleeping. K'luha Haaz falls asleep beside you. K'ile Twinflame half-heartedly protests, "We were supposed to meet them by... Well, whatever." And then is quiet as well.

K'luha Haaz: For some reason, K'luha had simply assumed K'ile could even use a bow in the first place. She simply assumed anyone in the tribe, save for K'ailia, was able to at the very least shoot and hit a target. Wrong. K'luha looked to K'ile, shocked for a moment that he was doing it all wrong. He was clusmy and had terrible posture and was totally going to get them killed if she didn't get him something he could actually use. At least he could use it like a torch. Wait, how the hell did he keep simply lighting things on fire!? K'luha dashed forward anyway before pushing her knife into K'ile's hand. "Use that." she snapped sharply, pulling up her bow again and readying an arrow as the pack started closing it. She pressed her back to K'ile to watch their oppositie direction and shot an arrow out, hitting another wolf in the chest. She laced her bow ready once more and turned to shoot another wolf that was starting to charge K'ile. * K'ile Tia: Looking at the knife as though she'd given him a peice of lettuce to fight with, K'ile frowned. "If you just shoot them all before they get here we're not going to have any fun!" He slipped the knife in his belt and leaned a bit of his weight against K'luha, just so that she could feel he was still present. He tested the spin of the bow. It wasn't really balanced like a staff, which meant he wouldn't be able to do anything fancy with it. Still, he was able to turn it at a decent rate, and in the night it drew a very definite red circle in front of him. K'ile Tia: K'ile turned the fire on a wolf that had been in mere charge and barked, "Come on! I'll cook ya before I skin ya!" and the wolf changed its mind, probably more confused than scared. He wouldn't actually be able to cook or kill anything with the bow, though, now that he though about it. The wolves were kind of big. "Actually, keep shooting them," he said. "I was wrong. It was a good idea." * K'luha Haaz: Fun? They could get mauled by wolves!? And he was thinking of fun!? Was he fourty or freaking fourteen!? K'luha huffed irritably, letting loose another arrow into the torso of a third wolf and then a fourth. She glanced back for a moment when he tried intimidating a wolf. That was... weird. But a bit effective. Not very much so for K'luha. While she was distracted a wolf came up on her and jumped. K'luha yelped, the wolf pouncing on top of her and knocking her off to the side of K'ile. She dropped her arrow but held the bow tightly in her left hand. There were still what, like six or seven left? The wolf on top of her went for her throat, but K'luha shoved her bow in its bow instead and tried to push it back. She could feel its claws in her shoulders. * K'ile Tia: Knocked rolling by the wolf that had hit K'luha, K'ile found his feet quickly. He turned first to her, his immediate instinct being to help, but the pounding of paws and the yip of a hungry beast invaded his instincts and turned him around to face the slathering jowls of a beast that was almost on top of him. Wolves would all pounce at once, just like the tribe did. They were hunters after all. K'ile swing the bow hard, laying the taste of fire on the wolf's tongue. Its body convulsed at the heat, its head shook, and when K'ile pulled the bow free of its teeth the wolf coughed out splintered wood and sparks. It's painful cries only came after. The stink of wolves permeated K'ile's senses. He could hear them converging. His immediate thought would've been to throw fire on the ground, but thanks to the earlier downpout he knew nothing would catch. In his hand he spun the bow, and he turned it on all sides of him as he looked for the animals. Unfortunately, the light from his fire was ruining his night vision. After a few moments of searching in darkness, he called out, "K'luha, let me know where you are!" * K'luha Haaz: None of the beasts wanted to get near the fire. As K'ile rolled away to take on a few, the rest turned to the already subdued prey. K'luha's ears flattened in fear as she tried to fight off the wolf on top of her. It snarled and gnashed at her, his teeth continuously getting caught on the metal handle in the middle of her bow. K'luha pushed the bow up further against the wolf's mouth and kicked her feet up to kick it off her. No sooner had one wolf tumbled off but two more jumped forward. One bite down on hear ear and the other at her leg. K'luha screeched loudly and swung her bow blindly at the one nearer to her face. Her legs kicked to try and free her leg from the wolf's bite and she managed to kick the other wolf in the face. But the remaining wolves were beginning to swarm with the sound and smell of injured prey. Still, as the wolves released her she scrambled to her feet, trying desperate to put distance between herself and the pack. * K'ile Tia: The sound K'luhai made wasn't one that K'ile had ever wanted to hear from her. Without thought or planning, everything in him turned and rushed towards her cry. The fire moved nturally with him, even as one end of the bow sputtered into streaks and coals. His other hand pulled the knife from his belt. And that was all the preparation he had when he jumped bodily at the wolves that had beset K'luha. They'd seen him coming, of course, and he probably shouted as well, for one of them ad already jumped away. The other took fire right to the facce, and whipped about in a sudden panic made of teeth and fur. Still, the best he was doing was scaring it and making it angry. He stabbed at its neck, but didn't have what he needed to kill it clean and easy. He recoiled from that wolf. The others were still close. Even in the rush of movement and canine sounds, he could hear K'luha retreating. He hoped at least he'd startled the pack into taking a moment to regroup. Still, he gave a flourish of fire from his dying bow as he followed quick behind K'luha. * K'luha Haaz: Much like a cat in trouble, K'luha's panic sent her darting across the landscape again. As hungry as she was, death really wasn't all that appetizing for her right now. All she could think of was to get out of reach of those wolves and figure out what to do from there. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of a tree and sharply made a b-line for it. Her nimbe form scaled the tree with relative easy and she came to rest at the top of a heavier branch, clinging to it like she might death otherwise. And it was true, she indeed might have. Wolves couldn't climb after all. They would be stuck waiting below, giving K'luha all the time in the world to think. Suddenly from her panic she remembered she was not alone and quickly scanned the horizon for her companion. "K'ile!" she yelled out, looking around in another panic. Even if she had to jump down, she would find him again. * K'ile Tia: He really, really didn't want his bow to stop burning. So of course it did, and all but collapsed from his hand into ash and coals. This left him not only defensless, but senseless as well. All he could smell was smoke, singed fur, and the stink of wolves. The smell of a panicked K'luha was somewhere for sure, but he couldn't track it. And he couldn't see, either, his night vision by now completely claimed by the light he'd been swinging around. The clouds from the earlier storm hadn't cleared, leaving the moon completely blotted out. So every sense he had was full of nothing but wolves, and an angry dozen of them at least. They didn't rush him immediately, probably afraid he'd pull out more fire, but that would only buy him until he demonstrated some kind of fear. His first instinct was to run like hell. He obeyed that instinct. The wolves, sensing his fear and already having him surrounded, pounced quickly and caught him as he ran. His screams were more like blood-curdled sqwaks when his throat was peeled from his spine, leaving him to writhe pitifully while he was eaten alive. Luckily, the above did not occur. About five seconds before that happened, K'ile's fate had actually been changed when he ran face-first into a rickety tree trunk that swayed in the night above him. Sparing a half a second to mutter insults at the "Bitch tree sneaking up on me," he dug the knife into the side and pulled himself up its length. Not too long after this, everyone in the desert would see the canopy of a lone tree burst into flames seemingly without cause. Oddly enough, the base of it caught fire too, and in between was a laughing Tia throwing burning sticks at the wolves that surrounded him. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha clusmily dropped from her perch to grope desperately around for her bow and an arrow. She spun desperately, looking for some sign of K'ile. Something, anything would do! And about three seconds later she yelped and fell over, covering her eyes from a sudden burst of light. In the darkness, it seemed and entire tree went up in flames just south of her. It was all she could do to collect herself only to screech and fall over again as the pack of injured wolves went running, yipping and howling from the fire. K'luha shakily sat back up and started to crawl towards the tree that had been set alight. No doubt it was K'ile... probably. "K'ile? K'ile!" she called out worriedly, only to yell again when she pressed her front hand into the corpse of the alpha wolf. She pulled it back and wiped off the wolf's blood on her good leg. Thank god it wasn't totally for nothing. She was slightly moritifed at how horrible hunters they were though. K'luha stood agian and grabbed the wolf corpse by its neck, hauling its dead weight across the ground and towards the burning tree again. "K-k'ile!?" she called, squinting as she got closer to the tree. * K'ile Tia: There was a small circle of burnt sticks around the tree, all of which he'd thrown at the wolves. He was sure he hadn't actually hurt any of them, but exploding a whole tree ought to keep them away! To drive home the point, K'ile was calmly standing upon a branch, arms to either side, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Flee, beasts! I am the Sagolii Fire God! I hold the power of Azeyma in my hands!" He laughed at this a great deal. So much that he almost fell out of the tree. He still eventually heard K'luha shouting at him, and when he saw her pulling the wolf's carcass towards him, he smiled broadly and waved over his head, calling her name, "K'luha!" When they'd given primary chase to him, he'd assumed she'd gotten away. Since she was still thinking about food, she was probably fine, too. So they'd done well! He was down a bow, but that was fine. "K'luha! Hold on, I'll help you with that!" He shouted, and then clambered back to the trunk of the tree to climb down. Obviously climbing down was impossible, though, because he'd set the base of the tree on fire. So he went right back out on that limb. But he couldn't really jump off without hurting himself. He needed to do something different. So he made his way back to the trunk of the tree, which was still on fire, and actually kind of more on fire now than it had been last time. Yes, that fire was definitely coming up towards him. So, okay. He was going to burn to death in the tree he'd set on fire. No, he decided he didn't like that plan. "I'll be right down!" he called out, still trying to figure out how. He ended up walking back out onto the primary branch, rubbing at his chin in thought. He'd just have to jump. He cleared the ring of fire, landed foot-first but collapsed unpoetically right away, his body hitting the earth with a heavy thud. He lay there for several seconds before pulling himself up on all fours, forehead still in the dirt, and coughing. * K'luha Haaz: Hnn... arrogant as ever. K'luha's ears twitched lightly when she heard him yell something about being a Sagolii Fire God. While she wasn't really sure how he lit things on fire so easily, she was sure that he wasn't a God. Sexy bodies and lighting things on fire didn't make you a god. Because if it did, K'luha was definitely a Goddess. She looked up as he walked back and forth on a branch... that was quickly burning. It was high up and, yup. He jumped and landed terribly ungracefully on the ground. K'luha winced at the sound he made and grabbed the carrass over closer to him before kneling down at his side. "You okay Sagolii Fire God?" she questioned, smirking faintly. * K'ile Tia: K'ile's initial attempt to answer K'luha's question came out as a shuttering cough, so he took a few more moments to catch his breath. He managed first, "Fine," and then, "Immortal god," and finally, "Always fine," before just waving her off. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha narrowed her gaze at him. Coughing? Really, she hadn't thought the injury was that bad. Even if it had been mortifying, she almost... ALMOST wished K'ailia was here to heal him. "You idiot." she hissed lightly, realizing he was more hurt that she at first thought. She reached a hand out to lightly try and press on his chest to assess the damage done. * K'ile Tia: Nope. K'luha's first breath of mothering was enough. He rolled to the side quick as could be and was on his feet before should could touch him. "I'm fine," he said, feeling faint. He stumbled a bit, shook himself. He supporessed a cough and decided he'd count broken ribs later. "I'm good. You good? How are you? Did you get bit again?" A single cough escaped and he suppressed it. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned as the damned idiot Fire God rolled up and got to his side, practically falling over again. She clicked her tongue and motioned for him to sit again. "Sit the hell down. You've got broken ribs and I know it!" she ordered, her concern for K'ile very obviously overpowering any cocern for her own wellbeing. Namely her complete ignorance of the biting pain in her leg where a wolf had taken a nasty chunk, and her right ear which also was now missing a large chunck and bleeding profusely down her hair and the side of her face. * K'ile Tia: Crossing his arms over his chest, K'ile protested weakly, "So what if I do?" and then, with a cough a wince, let his arms fall to his sides and dropped into a defeat crouch. "You're bleeding." * K'luha Haaz: "Lay the fuck down." K'luha ordered sharply before crawling across the ground to sit next to K'ile again. "Let me check. I might be able to help. If nothing else I can assess the damage. Come on K'ile...please?" If she had to resort to pleading and giving him the saddest face she could muster, so be it. * K'ile Tia: Rolling his eyes, K'ile let himself flop onto his back. Probably not the best idea he ever had, because he had him wincing and coughing again. He pulled himself back together pretty quick, though. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha let out a small breath of relief. It was a little victory, but one that meant a lot to her. The younger Miq'ote carefully ran her hands over K'ile's chest and tried to remember something she learnt in Limsa. How did the healing spell go? Something... something... channeling aether... something something... life forces... In a small burst of green, K'luha managed a fairly pathetic healing Physick, about the equivalent of tacking his ribs back together with duck tape. * K'ile Tia: Staring at the burning tree above them with a scowl on his face, K'ile tried not to feel too humiliated by K'luha's touch. Particularly since the woman was also obviously hurt and wasn't even acknowledging it. The sudden flash of green light surprised him, but not enough to make him flinch. His chest felt a bit different afterward, and the urge to cough was dimishing. Looking down at where she was touching, he said, "Now where'd you learn that?" * K'luha Haaz: "Someplace cold and wet." K'luha replied with a small smirk. She pulled her hands from his chest and glanced over to their kill. What a pathetic attempt. She sighed to herself. She had really been slacking on hunting. K'luha quietly promised herself to start going on hunts again as much as possible. As her worry for K'ile's well being diminished, her hunger and pain started to set in. Still, she was more hungry than anything. "Still have that knife?" she asked, glancing back to K'ile. * K'ile Tia: "You can have the knife," K'ile said, "When you do something about your wounds. You can't heal me and just sit there bleeding all over the place. You make me look like I can't take a hit." * K'luha Haaz: "Well I'm hungry and I have no bandages." K'luha replied with a small huff, holding out her hand for the knife. "If you want to cut up the kill while I bleed, feel free but someone needs to start cooking." * K'ile Tia: Rising to a sitting position -- slowly, this time, to test the set of his ribs -- K'ile took a knife from his belt. It was not K'luha's knife. He'd actually had his own all along, but she hadn't really asked. "Do that shiney thing. I don't want any of your wounds getting infected. We've got a hike tomorrow, remember." He got to his feet and walked around to the wolf carcass. The alpha's pack would come back, but probably not until the tree burned down. It seemed to have enough fuel to last a bit. * K'luha Haaz: It was easier said than done honestly. Still, K'luha gingerly touched her bite wound on her leg and attempted the same sort of channeling. Blah blah blah aether blah blah blah math blah blah balh life force... although this time it was more like a pathetic spark that sharply fizzled out and then nothing. K'luha tried a few times, but every time it seemed to do the same. Apparently healing herself didn't work so well. Or maybe she was just stubborn that wound ought to mean something. Either way, K'luha sighed and looked to the tree. "Think that will last until morning...?" * K'ile Tia: "No," he said. "I'd try to take the whole carcass back to camp but that would make the walk take a long time. And I'm afraid those wolves will be smelling your blood." Even under the fire, with the burnt fur and wet dirt all around him, the blood cut right through. "I'll be better to cut off what we can carry and bury the rest until later. Don't suppose you borught a shovel and something to wrap it in, though, did you?" If they couldn't keep the meat around, they'd have to settle for goat in the morning. No way was he hunting more wolves when he didn't even have a bow. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha shook her head no. She didn't really want the wolves to follow her back to the camp either. But how to get ride of the smell of blood? Maybe dirt? She frowned and glanced to the ground. "Cut what you can take I guess. I have nothing but my clothing, which I guess we could use but I kind of only have that and it's not very plible like that. So that's a no go." * K'ile Tia: "I'll try not to be disappointed. I'd offer my shirt, but, ya know." He began to chop into the wolf, and he put a smile on for it. The sounds of tearing flesh could be heard underneath his muttering, "You can't fight now cause you're dead. Who killed you? It was us. We killed you." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha smirked faintly herself. "One of these days..." she muttered to herself before lying down on the ground for a few moments. She waited until she was sure he was done before standing and starting to limp towards the camp. "Come on. We'll eat back at the camp." * K'ile Tia: "Yep," he held the flesh to one side, having adapted his bow's strap into a makeshift sling for it. "Just gotta follow the smell of the smoke back to camp!... Stupid tree." He cast a glare back up at the burning tree, which was completely obscuring his ability to smell the fire he'd left at camp. "I really need to learn to stay out of my own way. Okay, I'll just follow you then." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled weakly back at K'ile and started out towards the general direction in with a limp. After a few minutes of walkign she finally picked up the scent of their camp and within another ten minutes they were finally back. K'luha clambered up onto the warm rock and flopped down, finally getting the chance to look at her injuries again. Save that she didn't want to look at them at all. She wanted to eat and sleep. She motioned for K'ile to pass her a share of the food so that she might eat in relative silence. * K'ile Tia: He cooked the food and gave it K'luha and was just a generally useless Tia all night.

K'ile Tia: Evenings in Thanalan settled in quickly this time of year. The sun had no sooner turned red for twilight than it had begun to fade into night. K'ile knew he would be hunting in the dark, so didn't bother to rush making camp. But camp, to him, was a simple thing: a comfortable piece of earth near the cliff opposite the goobbue's corpse, a pile of wood to make a fire that would warm him and guide him back from the hunt, and a decent place to lean his bow when he wasn't using it. After building the pile of wood that would become the fire, setling some kindling about it and stacking up a reserve of dry wood behind him, he took one of the limbs and shook it. As though it were his staff back in camp, the thing spawned fires on either end, and he flipped it a couple of times with a playful smirk before sticking it lengthwise in the pile to start the fire. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha had busied herself mostly with examining the platlife around the new area. Any sort of fruit would be good to try, albiet making sure it wasn't poisonous first. While she didn't find much in the way of fruit, she did find a plant good for soothing wounds and pulled out a small dagger strapped to her leg, cutting the plant from its roots. She carefully pulled off her ringband gloves and braces to examine the bite from earlier. It really wasn't that bad, although it had started to sting a little. K'luha poked it and winced before carefully slicing the plant in two and placing the inside over the wound in two covering strips. "Stupid..." she muttered mostly to herself, narrowing her eyes as she noticed that somehow it had turned dark already. Her eyes were quckily drawn to K'ile and his fiery staff. It was good one of them had gotten the fire together. K'luha hiked up to where the campfire was to be and sat down on the rock, looking over her makeshift bandage and treatment again. * K'ile Tia: Humming happily at the fire that was growing, K'ile amused himself by grabbing an extra stick in each hand. A quick flick and they both lit on either end, and he spun them as he watched K'luha drop down near him. She seemed to be in some kind of mood, but everyone always looked like they were in a mood by the fire, and K'luha tended towards moods anyway. Noticing where the woman's eyes were focused, he said, "How's that bite?" and tossed one of his two sticks onto the growing fire. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha took parcial notice of K'ile's fire stick twirling, but didn't say anything about it. For a Tia, he really did like to show off, didn't he? Still, K'luha lightly picked at her wound only glancing up when he spoke to her. "It's really fine. It's a bit nothing. Give it a day and it will be healed." * K'ile Tia: "One day on its own for the same end that your daughter coudl get you in five seconds," K'ile said, but quickly put a hand up to stave off whatever retort she could manage. "But I get it! You're not wrong, and it makes sense. Where is K'ailia, anyway?" * K'luha Haaz: "Off to train. I assume she'll end up with K'haali or in Ul'dah or Drybone." K'luha frowned and clicked her tongue a bit irritably. While it was true that K'ailia could fix everything so easily, somehow it felt like wounds meant nothing if you could instantly heal them away. Didn't pain have to have some sort of meaning with it or something. She sighed again. Maybe not. * K'ile Tia: "Kids. She says she'll camp, but off she goes! I swear, if she had to spend just one week in a single place, she'd never last." The single flaming stick in his hand spun idly, and he watched it. His staff back home was belt to contain the fire on the ends, but there was no such precaution here. The fire was slowly working its way towards his fingers, and he watched it. "Oh, but she's an adult now, isn't she?" * K'luha Haaz: "Technically she is. Remember, that's what we argued about at the meeting?" K'luha gave a small sly grin to K'ile before looked back down to the fire. "Sometimes she acts more like an adult than I do... and sometimes I am reminded just how young she is." K'luha frowned deeply at the fire. "And then I wonder what her brother would have been like..." * K'ile Tia: The stick stopped suddenly in his hand, and it kicked sparks out into the sky. "Don't do that to yourself." The heat on his hands reminded him of the fire seeking out his fingers, and he tossed the stick into the coals. "I know it's hard, but don't." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha stayed quiet, looking into the fire like she might find her son there. She wanted so badly to see him. To see what he would have become. He hadn't even gotten a real name yet when he died. He'd only lived a few months... If only she hadn't gone by herself. If only she could have saved him. * K'ile Tia: K'ile dropped down next to K'luha, leaving the fire to grow and turn as it wished. The wind that blew across dirty land above eddied over the cliff and curved the wind around them, leaving the two Miqo'te in a windless haven. The smoke from the fire moved straight up for a few meters before it began to drift and was eventually dissipated in a sudden maelstrom. "What kind of children do you think K'ailia will have?" he said. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha stopped and glanced over to K'ile. When he had sat down next to her? Although, he question was a good one. She smirked faintly and playfully elbow'd his side. "Hopefully not arrogant brats like you." * K'ile Tia: He barely felt her elbow, but he embellished the squirm away from it. With a chuckle, he said, "I hope she does have a kid just like me. And one like K'thalen. And K'raqi, too! Three wild boys to drive her crazy!" The eyes of the dead goobbue caught the firelight and flashed at him in the dark. The distant, endless thunder of a waterfall kept the air heavy. Smiling at nothing, he said, "And she can have a daughter like you to keep her sane. Everyone deserves a little help with that." * K'luha Haaz: "Three boys? Are you trying to start a Nunh war?" K'luha joked lightly, shaking her head. Although his last comment took her a bit by surprise. She was so surprised by it, she flushed faintly and looked back at the fire. That was... was that compliment? "Heh, I don't think I would keep her sane K'ile. More like infuriate her with my stubborness." she joked back lightly, her tail coming up behind her and moving to lightly smack the back of K'ile's head. * K'ile Tia: Hitting people was one of K'luha's main methods of expression, and he was just going to have to deal with that. Shaking his head to make his hair resttled where here tail had tussled it oddly, he said, "You say stubborn. I say confident. Well-grounded! People who aren't like that just make it an insult so they feel better. Stubborn's a good thing." * K'luha Haaz: "Hmm... Maybe. But maybe not sometimes. After all, your stubborness gets you in trouble as well K'ile." K'luha turned and raised a brow at him. "Don't you remember how angry we got at each other for being stubborn? And how angry K'ailia was with you when you so vehemently rejected her idea?" * K'ile Tia: The Tia just shrugged at that, "Apologies cleared it up. That's how it works with family. Anyway, it's possible to be stubborn without being rude over it. I just suck at it." * K'luha Haaz: "That's true." she smirked again, looking him over. "You do suck at that." K'luha shook her head and looked back to the fire. Jeez, she was doing a lot of head shaking over K'ile. Despite him being older, she often felt like he was just a kit. * K'ile Tia: K'ile couldn't help the smile on his face when he stood. The sense of great success had him as sure as he'd shot down a Sand Drake with a blowgun. For once in his life, he'd stopped a woman from crying on the first try! If only K'thalen could be alive to see it! "Feel up to some hunting?" K'ile trotted around the fire to get his bow. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned slightly at the fire. Still, it bothered her. Especially now that they were here. Where it all happened. She could feel the place on her back where that Amalj'aa had stomped on her. She could feel where they ripped the bundle from her arms. All because she'd interuptted some sacred ritual. She hadn't even known. K'luha pulled her arm bands back on and readjusted her shirt. "If my son had lived... I would have wanted him to be like you..." K'luha muttered quietly to herself before picking up her own bow and forcing herself to give K'ile a cheerful look. "Of course I am. Let's quit wasting time. I'm hungry." * K'ile Tia: Not many things froze K'ile in place, but what K'luha said just then did. He stood with one hand on his bow as though unsure if he should take it, waiting for his mind to do something with her words. Her voice seemed to settle over his arms and shoulders, leaving him heavy. His head felt empty of thought, and yet somehow he scrabbled together enough of one to look over and say, "You're not going to start thinking of me as a son, are you?" He had enough presence of mind to add a chuckle, making it sound like a joke. The cheer on K'luha's features probably helped. He pulled his bow up over his shoulder and added on, "Cause I'm just a few years short of being your dad." That was undershooting it. A few years as in, like, ten. But still! * K'luha Haaz: K'luha had to chuckle softly at his reaction. She had almost hoped he hadn't heard that but, since he did she was glad he didn't take it badly at least. It was a compliment after all. As for thinking of him as a son, maybe. Not quite though. She wasn't as protective of him as she would have been of a child. Although, he did make her feel younger. She had to grow up so quickly because of the need for children. Trying to raise one, and then raising K'ailia when she was only seventeen? She had tried to grow up fast. But sometimes K'ile brought out that seventeen year old that never got the opportunity to be a stupid teenager. "A dad, or a mate." K'luha added, chuckling again as she walked past him. Her tail lightly flicked his shoulder as she nimbly hoped up a rock formation to look over the dark plains. * K'ile Tia: K'ile was surprised by the strength of K'luha's tail against his shoulder. It didn't deel that different from getting slapped, except that the furt made it softer. His own tail whipped about self-conciously behind him. He stood still and watched her move away from him for a few seconds before grabbing his quiver and moving with her. Looking up at where she stood on the rock above him, he said, "You're not going to see much this time of night. We should try and sniff out a wolf! Two hunters shouldn't settle for a dumb old goat." * K'luha Haaz: "Way ahead of you old man." K'luha teased. She was already sniffing the air for wolf and bigger prey. She didn't want to go after something too terribly large though. It could be a waste of food... but if she salted it she could preserve it as rations for the next days of travel. "I smell... mostly goat and dust but..." Her ears flicked back and forth, listening keenly for the tell-tale sounds of a wolf pack. "No wolf. Maybe further out then... you?" * K'ile Tia: "Oh, there's wolves. Has to be! Picking them out of the damned goats and this godsdamned pollen would be a trick, though." K'ile was good help on a hunt, but it wasn't really his thing. His senses were better for tracking people. It was a less practical skill, especially out here where no one was. It would come in handy when they were scouting the Amal'jaa, though! "Want to try getting away from the goobbue some? Head towards that fresh water? We can follow the smoke back." * K'luha Haaz: K'luha gave a short nod and deftly hopped up and over the rock. With a silent step, she glided gracefully across the nightscape. Her footsteps made hardly a sound and her dark skin and clothing in the nighttime made her very difficult to see as she moved. She lead, or rather she hoped K'ile could follow her, further inland. Her best bet was that water source they found earlier. No doubt game would come there for water as well. They just had to pick up a scent there. As they approached, K'luha ducked beneath some foliage and examined the watering hole. It was mostly empty now, but the scent of fresh game was all over it. Mostly goats, but where there were goats there would be wolves. K'luha glanced about for K'ile for a moment, hoping he had been able to follow her easily enough. * K'ile Tia: That woman was a beast in the night. K'ile hadn't realized how effective her dark leathers would be until she'd gone out ahead of him and vanished. Once he'd lost sight of her, he paused for a moment. And then he followed again, this time by scent. She was easier to pick out than any wolf; he'd been exposed to that scent for most of his life, after all. Besides. He knew where the water was, so he wasn't exactly going to get lost. K'ile didn't keep her waiting too long, stepping from the night to join her by the foliage. No game hanging out by the water, but that would be too much to ask. The wolves would probably do something similar to what they were doing and track pray from here into the open desert. If he was lucky... A smile split his lips. "I smell a kill," he said in a hushed tone. "Someone doesn't have anything against eating the goats." He pointed upwind. * K'luha Haaz: "Get lost?" K'luha jibed lightly as K'ile finally appeared some time later. She squinted out into the night again and looked for any signs of movement. The dirt was more malleable here than in the sands of the Sagolii. Tracks remained for a long time after the prey had moved through the area. She would have to learn fresh tracks from stale ones. K'luha sniffed the air deeply as he mentioned a kill upwind. Yes, he was right. His nose was better than hers was, but she was glad for it at the moment. "Right. Let's go." she motioned with her tail to move and again darted out silently through the plains. She kept low to the ground even while running, obscuring her form to blend in with the local brush. It was probably about a five minutes run northward, but finally the thick smell of blood caught her nose. It was very close. She could smell the wolven scent as well; musky and earthy. It was distinct, and stood out strongly from that of the nannies and billies in the area. K'luha darted behind a thick brush and peered out at the scene about four hundred yards in front of her. She counted for wolves at least and a large Billy that had been taken for dinner. Four wolves, meant there was probably more around the area. It could mean trouble. They would be best if they could pick one off. But wolves had very keen hearing. The trouble was how to communicate with K'ile, and if K'ile would be silent enough to stalk a wolf pack. * K'ile Tia: K'ile did okay with being quiet. He was up next to K'luh before she heard him at least, so he figured that was pretty good. He didn't know if the woman's hearing was a good gauge for the wolves, figured it probably wasn't, but still felt pretty prepared.He was about to say something to K'luha when he remembered the whole silence thing. Sand worms, drakes and orobons don't hear that well, so he'd almost forgotten it. He wasn't clear how to communicate without speaking, so he just gave K'luha a rather helpless look and tried not to look ridiculous doing so. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned faintly. Well, at least K'ile was too terribly noisy. She peered past the brush at the pack, watching the alpha eat first before he started walking away and letting the rest of the trio fight for the carass. The alpha wandered off eastward and K'luha saw their chance for dinner. She let her tail talk for her, reaching back to tap K'ile and point in the direction of the Alpha. With that, she swiftly moved through the brush, crouching low and stalking the large wolf through the plains and waiting for an opportunity to strike. * K'ile Tia: He almost missed the tail, and was again more surprised by it than anything. K'ile probably wouldn't have been if he'd been watching the wolves more closely. A few seconds after K'luha's gesture he noticed the one wandering off alone, and discerned her intentions. Following her closely, he took his bow out and held it below him, watching to make sure he didn't hit anything with the arms and make unnecessary noise. Reaching back to take a bow from his quiver, he realized he didn't have his quiver and fuck that what in the seven hells was even wrong with him. He padded over towards K'luha and whacked her with his tail to get her attention. Having no idea how to sign that he needed an arrow, he just decided to help himself to her quiver. He didn't feel very smooth in that moment. * K'luha Haaz: K'luha was focused intently on her prey, looking through the dark with glowing eyes to find its weak spot. The perfect target would be... of course. On the neck. She could see precisely where to put her arrows. But the question was, could she hit her mark? Of course, she assurred herself. And even if she didn't she could take down a single wolf. Although, all was almost lost when something whacked her. She jumped faintly, making a rustling noise before shooking a glowering look back at K'ile. He took her arrow? She glanced back towards his back and noted he had forgotten his quiver. With another shake of her head she took her own arrow and looked forward at the wolf. Which had promptly spotted her. Fabulous. The wolf was snarling and looking directly at her, which mean she only had one shot. She pulled her own arrow out and stood, releasing the bow to fly true... and totally miss her intended target to hit the wolf's torso instead. The wolf let out a loud howl and before K'luha knew it she could ear the movement of the entire pack. Yay. K'luha pulled another arrow from her quiver and shot again, hitting the wolf between the eyes this time. The beast staggered and K'luha threw her bow around her body to pull out a dagger that was strapped to her leg again. This was going to get messy. * K'ile Tia: Around the time K'luha was launching her first arrow, K'ile was putting his arrow against the string and trying to remember how he'd seen K'nahli do it. But K'nahli's fingers were so much smaller than his, and something just wasn't working. He'd fired some arrows before, but he really thought it would just come naturally once he was in a real hunt with his bow. And it wasn't. His head popped up at that howl, and he heard the rest of the pack moving their way. He was too hungry to abandon the kill, and from how K'luha went for her dagger, she agreed. So they'd have to defend it. Jumping up his feet, K'ile ran over towards the fresh carcasse, forgetting the arrow in his hands. He said quickly, "K'luha, get close to the dead wolf." With a shake of his wrist, the terminal ends of his bows' arms suddenly burst into flames. There was a pop as the bowstring snapped. He'd need a new bow.

((K'ile finds K'haali outside of town)) K'ileTwinflame: What're you doing out here? K'haaliThalen: I'm asking myself the same thing! K'haaliThalen: Luha ran off; and Ailia went after her on chocobo, but I couldn't tell you where in this weather K'ileTwinflame answers easily, "West. So much for taking shelter from the rain, huh?" K'haaliThalen: ....and which way is west? K'ileTwinflame: Come on. K'haaliThalen motions to lead on K'ileTwinflame: Leave it to Yohko's woman and kid to run off on us in a storm. ((Someminutes later...)) K'haaliThalen: You're lost yoo.... K'ileTwinflame: And now I don't have the scent anymore. The rain's pulling up all the dirt and stink. K'haaliThalen: Well, town's back down this road at least. if nothing else K'ileTwinflame: Feh. Alright, let's back-track. We'll have to wait for them to come back. K'haaliThalen: I'm sure they'll be fine on their own. A little rain isn't going to kill them... perhaos they need the quiet time anyway K'ileTwinflame: Maybe. How long can this rain last? K'haaliThalen: Looks at the sky, apparently made out of a sponge. "soon?" K'ileTwinflame utter in exasperation, "Those women better not make us wait too long." K'ileTwinflame stands with his arms crossed, brooding, "Let me know if you see them." ((Backin Drybone, having waited for a time...)) K'ailiaYohko: oi oi! K'ailiaYohko: Come on ya two! K'haaliThalen welcomes K'ailia Yohko. K'ileTwinflame: Hm? Where the hell'd you go? K'ailiaYohko: Ma thinks we found the perfect spot! K'ailiaYohko: les go! K'haaliThalen: K'ile's nose failed us K'ailiaYohko beckons to you. K'ileTwinflame: Oh, she just runs off intot he ran and sents a messenger back to get us, hm? K'haaliThalen Don't bean old sour-puss K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'haaliThalen grins K'ileTwinflame: We decided to wait out the storm cause she was being all cold and pathetic in the first place. ((Headingout of town)) K'haaliThalen: I thoguht you said they ran West! K'ileTwinflame: THey must've ran back east. K'haaliThalen: Your nose isn't what it used to be K'ileTwinflame grumbles. K'haaliThalen: No shortage of game or water K'ileTwinflame: If you like goats. K'haaliThalen: It beats sandworm K'haaliThalen: Maybe the cold has made his joints sieze K'ailiaYohko laughs at you. ((Arrivingat that giant goobbue corpse in far eastern Thanalan, the rain suddenly ends and then sun comes out)) K'ailiaYohko: this is the place K'haaliThalen: What is that? K'ailiaYohko: A dead goobbue K'ailiaYohko: Yay! rain stopped! K'luhaHaaz: The rain stopped.. K'luhaHaaz: I feel like that's a sign or something... K'ailiaYohko smiles. K'ileTwinflame shakes water off his arms, "Finally." And he fixes K'luha with a glare, "The hell is wrong with you?" K'haaliThalen: If that's not auspicious I don't know what is K'luhaHaaz: What? K'ileTwinflame chews on his words for a moment and then shakes his head, "Later." K'luhaHaaz flattens her ears to her head and glance at the other two. "Well, what do you two think?" K'ailiaYohko: Plenty o' plants. An up that hill be goats with lots o' meat K'ailiaYohko points. K'ileTwinflame: ... It's a little creepy. K'luhaHaaz: The giatn dead carass you mean? K'ileTwinflame: It's eyes and teeth. K'luhaHaaz seems lost in thought. K'ileTwinflame: Gotta love the view, though. K'ailiaYohko: What ya think sister? K'haaliThalen: It is lovely; but a view doesn't make a good place to settle. I want to survey the area better K'ailiaYohko: an' we'd have privacy too K'ailiaYohko nods. K'ileTwinflame crosses his arms, looks down at K'luha, "This is a nice hole, but we need more than one pretty campsite. We need land to move around in." K'luhaHaaz: Did you look at the lands on your way here? It's only Drybone and they mostly stick to themselves. All that other land is free. Not to mention there's a bridge to the east with more unfettered lands. K'ailiaYohko: An' a lot o' these plants bare fruits. K'ileTwinflame: I was watching. K'haali! What do you think of the resources here? K'ailiaYohko: An some can even be used fer medicines. K'haaliThalen: These plants are certainly of great value; even if there isn't enoguh here to support the tribe, if those rains occur frequently we can try and grow more K'ailiaYohko: an up that path be lots o' game. K'ailiaYohko points. K'ailiaYohko: plenty o' food K'haaliThalen: I want to survey the surrounding land now the weather's broken. There's no doubt game, we at least stumbled upon those; but accessible water K'ailiaYohko: Water, I found a lil lake up this way K'ailiaYohko: It was how I got back ta drybone. K'ileTwinflame: Another thing to look for is alternate camp sites. We should pick out three or four. ((Upthe hill and back in the plains, there's a decently sized watering hole not too far off!)) K'haaliThalen: Well this is ideal; water, food, game. K'ailiaYohko: Maybe they jes dun care about this land yet. K'haaliThalen: I daresay we might all become fat and spoiled living here K'haaliThalen bursts out laughing. K'luhaHaaz: No. There's one problem. K'ileTwinflame shakes his head, "This water's only here because of the rain." K'ailiaYohko: Or maybe we've gone beyond Ul'dahn lands? K'luhaHaaz: There's an Amalj'aa Encampment just south of here. K'luhaHaaz: That's why they haven't settled here. Because the Amalj'aa are trying to do the same. K'ileTwinflame idly pulls at the leaves of the plant next to him. "How south is just south?" K'ailiaYohko stretches. K'ileTwinflame watches K'luha walk off unhappily. K'haaliThalen seems lost in thought. K'ailiaYohko: Can't be as big a camp as the one we passed in Sagolii K'ileTwinflame: K'luha and I can scout out the Amal'jaa camp. You two don't need to worry about it yet. K'haaliThalen tosses a rock across the water K'ailiaYohko: want us ta scout north? K'luhaHaaz: Maybe a day's walk south from here. K'luhaHaaz: That's my estimate. K'ileTwinflame: A day's walk isn't far enough to be comfortable. K'luhaHaaz: Like I said. That's the problem. K'haaliThalen looks dejected at yet another good opportunity running into a snag K'ailiaYohko: Course, maybe the Amalj'aa jes got a tiny lil encampment an haven't spread up anymore. K'ailiaYohko shrugs. K'ileTwinflame: Still not a big enough problem to knock it out of the list. It's got good resources and nobody owns it far as I cn tell. K'ailiaYohko: An' we'd be able ta get fed real good. K'luhaHaaz closed her eyes and crossed her arms, thinking on it. K'ileTwinflame: How's the trading at that Drybone place? K'ailiaYohko seems lost in thought. K'haaliThalen: Unless you sell funerary goods.... K'ailiaYohko: Ma' an' I when we headed ta Gridania, our wagon went by another settlement at a bridge. K'ailiaYohko: Why dun we check their markets? K'luhaHaaz: Highbridge. They do okay trade. K'luhaHaaz: Not to mention wer're only a day or two from the South Shroud. K'ileTwinflame looks at K'luha. "Okay's good enough for us. We're not trying to get rich." K'luhaHaaz nods. K'ailiaYohko: Well... if we all in agreement. K'haaliThalen shrugs. K'ailiaYohko: We should prolly map a good course fer the tribe ta travel ta get here. K'haaliThalen: I'd certainly like to get a better look at the lands K'ileTwinflame: I'm going to stay out here until someone secures a time to meet with Ventus. No better way to judge the area than live off it. K'ailiaYohko nods. K'luhaHaaz: That's true. I'll send him a moogle message from Drybone then. Hopefully he'll respond quickly. K'haaliThalen pouts. "I was planning on doing the same, but with you around you'd likely eat all the goats!" K'luhaHaaz laughs at K'haali Thalen. K'ileTwinflame: K'luha. You and I will have to walk down and scout out the Amal'jaa camp. That's a couple days there. You okay with that? K'ailiaYohko: So who goes back ta camp ta tell the elders? K'luhaHaaz nods to you. K'haaliThalen eyes turns to K'ailia K'ileTwinflame: We haven't decided anything yet, so there's nothing to tell the elders. K'ailiaYohko: Okay. K'ailiaYohko: What ya want me ta do? K'luhaHaaz: Perhaps try and get in contact with Ventus again. Set something up perhaps. K'luhaHaaz: I don't think K'haali should be out here by herself though. K'ailiaYohko: I can do that when he stops sleepin'. K'ailiaYohko pulls out her necklace with the linkpearl. K'luhaHaaz: Then perhaps you should stay with K'haali then while you wait for him. K'ailiaYohko: Okay. K'ileTwinflame: Why not? K'haali, you scared of a bunch of goats? K'ailiaYohko: Actually... there's wolves out here too. K'luhaHaaz looks irritably to K'ile. "That is what I thought a long time ago K'ile. And we all know how that ended...." K'ailiaYohko points. K'ailiaYohko: like thatone over there K'haaliThalen: This place seems like paradise compared to the sagolii and I spend plenty of days and night out by myself. K'ailiaYohko: Oh there's high bridge K'ailiaYohko points. K'luhaHaaz: Still. You could be overwhealmed in your sleep. Or run across trouble you can't handle. I would feel better if someone where with you. K'ileTwinflame: Kluha's right, but it's up to you, K'haali. K'haaliThalen: I'll have K'weh for company! K'ailiaYohko: Well I can always go see about settin' up a meetin' with Ventus. K'ailiaYohko: While she scouts. K'ileTwinflame smiles, and says, "Well, at least for the first night, I'll be within a stone's throw of the goobue. You can all stay with me if you want. After that K'luha and I will be on our way to the Amal'jaa camp. K'ailiaYohko nods. K'haaliThalen: So, rendevous here, tommorow morning before you depart? K'luhaHaaz: That works as well as anything. K'haaliThalen: Well; at the goobue. Younod to K'haali Thalen. K'haaliThalen: That suits me just fine; you watch - by tommorow morning I'll have found and prepared a full set of hunting gear entirely from local resources, just to prove it's viable!. K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'ileTwinflame: Hah. If you did that I'd be impressed! K'luhaHaaz: Where shall we stay tonight then? Here? K'ileTwinflame: I'll be setting up camp at the goobbue and then hunting dinner. K'luhaHaaz: I'll stay with you then I suppose. K'ileTwinflame nods to punctuate his statement, and then turns to head back there, "I'd like it if you did. The two of us together can hunt something more fun!" K'luhaHaaz smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright then. Will the two of you be staying here as well?" K'ailiaYohko: Aye K'haaliThalen looks to the hills to the north. "I'd rather hoped i might explore north before nightfall and set up camp along the ravine in a secluded spot. K'ailiaYohko: Lily has my belongin's K'ailiaYohko: So I can get some hand ta hand practice in. K'ailiaYohko nods. K'luhaHaaz: Alright. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning. You should set up your campsit. K'ileTwinflame: Enjoy your mountains, K'haali. Youbid farewell to K'haali Thalen. K'ailiaYohko: I wonder though K'ailiaYohko points. K'haaliThalen: Maybe i like rocks! K'ailiaYohko: what are them giant glowin' rocks? K'luhaHaaz laughs at K'haali Thalen. K'haaliThalen: But, see you in the morning K'ailiaYohko: they shaped so weird. K'luhaHaaz: I don't know. K'haaliThalen: They remind me of aether crystals, but, collosal K'ileTwinflame: Can't you ask your teachers, K'ailia? K'ailiaYohko: Aye, when they pick their pearls up K'ailiaYohko: hehe folks sleep a lot taday

K'haaliThalen: This is what i hoped we might find K'ileTwinflame: I said I don't like cold wet places. So they doung hte coldest, wettest place they could. K'luhaHaaz: It could be worse. K'haaliThalen grins K'ileTwinflame gestures to the Efts, "You're right. There could be efts." K'luhaHaaz: There ARE efts. K'ileTwinflame: Nooo. K'luhaHaaz laughs at you. K'ileTwinflame: Before either of you says it, we aren't living in any caves! K'ailiaYohko: I agree K'ile K'luhaHaaz: I don't think any of us were seriously considering that. K'ileTwinflame: Just making sure. K'haaliThalen looks quizziclly, having missed the conversation K'ailiaYohko: Hmm... that way leads ta eastern thanalan. K'luhaHaaz pulls out her map from her boot again and glances down. "So... it seems we can go east or north from here pretty easily. Which way shouled we go?" K'ailiaYohko points. K'ailiaYohko: hmm I got an idea! K'haaliThalen: The ground here must be host to a huge ant hive; I doubt anywhere within miles of here is habitable K'ailiaYohko pulls out a single gil and tosses it in the air "Heads we go north, tails we go east" K'luhaHaaz frowns as she looks to the north. "Wait, the north is all industrialized... " K'ailiaYohko 's coin lands tails up K'ileTwinflame: We shouldn't be leaving this to a coin-flip. K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'luhaHaaz: East is... K'luhaHaaz trails off and goes quiet. K'ailiaYohko: East is Drybone. K'haaliThalen: I can't see the guardian through this mist... K'ileTwinflame: Guardian? K'haaliThalen: Azeyma, the sun! K'ailiaYohko: Come ta' think o' it, east had a lot' o' open land. K'ileTwinflame looks up, "Oh. Of course." K'haaliThalen: She'd show us east from west K'ileTwinflame: Ask K'ailia's map which way is east. K'ailiaYohko points. K'ailiaYohko: that way K'ileTwinflame: Alright. ((...walking...)) K'ileTwinflame: They've got some crazy rocks around here! K'ileTwinflame: Damned frogs. ((Killingfrogs at the Unholy Heir)) K'ailiaYohko: frog legs anyone? K'ailiaYohko bursts out laughing. K'ileTwinflame: No thanks. ((Theparty zones into Eastern Thanalan, going from cloudy skies to sudden torrential downpour!)) K'luhaHaaz: Gah. K'luhaHaaz shivers from the sudden change in temperature and going from dry to soaked. K'haaliThalen shouts over the storm. "I thought you said the mist would clear!" K'ailiaYohko: eeep! K'luhaHaaz: Well, I THOUGHT it would! K'ailiaYohko puts her hood up K'ileTwinflame lays his ears flat against his head, "Dammit. This is... Kind of nice, but cold." K'ileTwinflame: Cold and wet. K'ailiaYohko: an' the town out here be called drybone. K'ailiaYohko: How did it get its name with this rain? K'luhaHaaz: Ha. K'haaliThalen: On the upside, can we really complain about extra water? K'luhaHaaz: We can find shelter out here somewhere while the storm passes. K'ileTwinflame: Rain like this in the desert can cause flooding. K'ailiaYohko: no actually, I kinda like it K'haaliThalen: If it rains, we can try growing crops K'ailiaYohko: Aye drybone very close K'ailiaYohko: we can go ta the inn or the church K'haaliThalen: Those moles don't look very threatening; but plenty fat K'ileTwinflame: We don't need shleter. Just listen for any waterwalls or mudslides. K'ileTwinflame: Now I know I smell carcasses here. K'luhaHaaz crouches under the oning and shivers. "It's fucking cold." K'ailiaYohko points. K'haaliThalen: Reeks of death yet everyone here is acting normally... K'luhaHaaz: That's because everything that dies in Thanalan comes here to its final resting place. K'ailiaYohko: I found shelter! K'ailiaYohko: I found shelter K'ileTwinflame crosses his arms, looking up at the oning, "We're wasting time." K'haaliThalen raises an eyebrow at K'ailia declaring the "place where things come to die" as a palce for them to go K'ailiaYohko: So what shall we do? K'luhaHaaz gets up, a bit irritated and holds her arms tightly across her chest. "Alright, fine. Get going. I'll follow." K'ailiaYohko nods to you. K'ailiaYohko: Well... followin' roads takes us inta settlements. K'haaliThalen: If K'ile had brought a shirt, he could offer it to you right about now. K'ailiaYohko: So maybe we should go off road? K'haaliThalen offers an impish grin K'ileTwinflame weathers K'luha's irritation briefly, then shakes his head. "You look like a sad, wet old cat." He looks to K'ailia, "We can take shelter for a few minutes. Rain like this can't last too long, right?" K'haaliThalen: Anywhere that has roads is obviously bleonging to, or clsoe to ul'dar property K'ailiaYohko: Aye, the inn is over there K'haaliThalen: it's not like we can see much through the storm. K'luhaHaaz: Who are you calling old? K'ailiaYohko points. K'haaliThalen: I'll be easier to survey by daylight K'ailiaYohko: Oh an they dun allow chocobos in there. K'luhaHaaz grumbles irritably and follows anyway. K'haaliThalen leads K'weh away K'ailiaYohko pulls her hood down and shakes the water everywhere off herself. K'haaliThalen: I think that was the stables... until they do fried chocobo out here. K'ileTwinflame: We'll just wait out the storm. Just that. K'luhaHaaz wrinkles her nose and wrings out her hair. "Smells like dead bodies." K'haaliThalen: Are you sure this is "that" kind of resting place? K'ileTwinflame tosses his bow against a wall, rings out his bandana, drops into the seat next to K'luha. "I didn't say you were old. I said you looked like an old cat." K'ailiaYohko: Well gotta say one thin' K'luhaHaaz shivered violently next to K'ile before glancing at him a bit darkly. "So I just look old then?" K'ailiaYohko: We wont want fer water. K'ailiaYohko: Get some pots, set em outside the tents an' we'd have plenty o water. K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'ileTwinflame shakes his head at K'luha, and his hair throws drops of water, "Old cats don't look old. They're jsut cats." K'ailiaYohko delivers a confident smirk. K'luhaHaaz grumbled irritably and reached over to pinch K'ile's arm. "Are you telling me I look like an old lady or not?" K'luhaHaaz is annoyed with you. K'ailiaYohko: K'ile I think yer diggin' yerself a big hole. K'ailiaYohko: Better ta jes say sowwy an' nod. K'ailiaYohko nods. K'haaliThalen dozes off quietly. K'ileTwinflame glares at K'ailia, "Just leave me to die, okay?" and then to K'luha, "No, I'm not." K'luhaHaaz: So say it properly then. What are you saying? K'ailiaYohko falls on the floor laughing and rolling around. K'haaliThalen dodges the topic by feigning tiredness K'ileTwinflame crosses his arms, "Well starting now I'm not saying anything." K'luhaHaaz: Don't be a baby. Tell me properly. And K'ailia, don't be rude. K'ailiaYohko: I am gonna go out an' see if I can get the elements ta stop drownin' us. K'ileTwinflame: I'm not being a-... What, do you want me to call you old? I'm older than you are. I was just saying you looked all cold and sad! K'haaliThalen watches her go NathalaneeReinhart ducked in out of the rain, grumbling a bit. K'ileTwinflame glances past K'luha, "And now you chased the girls off by being scary too." K'luhaHaaz: I don't want you to call me old. You could have just said that in the first place. K'luhaHaaz sighed and glanced down to the ground, going quiet. NathalaneeReinhart raised an eyebrow, looking over towards K'ile and K'luha for a moment. K'ileTwinflame sighs and stands, "you're only as old is you feel. Don't listen to what I say." K'ailiaYohko waves to K'haali Thalen. K'haaliThalen looks at K'ailia. "I think the old guys are still going at it in there" K'luhaHaaz stays quiet, looking somehow mournfully at the ground. K'ailiaYohko: oi oi. K'ailiaYohko: Ol' people move slow, an' worry about weird stuff. K'ailiaYohko nods to K'haali Thalen. K'ailiaYohko: I am gonna ask around about the surroundin' areas. NathalaneeReinhart spun around on her heel after a few moments and headed back out, shielding her grimoire under her arm again. K'haaliThalen looks at a sky made of wet blankets. "I, think it might be clearring up?" K'haaliThalen: Who'm i kidding... NathalaneeReinhart: "That was bloody awkward." K'ileTwinflame tries to come up with something to say but can't manage. After a moment he mutters something incoherent and walks towards the door. K'luhaHaaz looks to K'ile as he walks off, but says nothing and looking back to the ground sadly. NathalaneeReinhart moved to stand more or less in the doorway of the armoury, reaching up to wring a bit of water out of her ponytail. K'ileTwinflame: Hey, Kailia! K'ailiaYohko: This man at the tavern. K'ailiaYohko: Said ther- Youwave to K'ailia Yohko. K'ailiaYohko: yeah K'luhaHaaz's eyes brim over with tears. K'ileTwinflame looks past her at K'haali, then back to K'ailia, "Uh, what's going on?" K'ailiaYohko: I went an' asked around about the surroundin' area. K'ileTwinflame: Ah. And... There goes your mom. Great. K'haaliThalen shrugs. "I couldn't say, I've been seeing if I can out-stare the clouds." K'ailiaYohko: This man at the tavern said there's a spot with a dead Goobbue that has grown a paradise o' plants an stuff. K'ailiaYohko: Oi! what did ya do?! K'ileTwinflame: I think I called her old or something. Someone should get after her. K'ailiaYohko: I will. K'ileTwinflame: Okay, thank you! ((K'ilewaits a long time. K'haali wanders off, leaving him alone.)) K'ileTwinflame stands alone for a time before muttering. "Damn women." And venturing back out into the rain.

K'ileTwinflame: What're you kids doing? Staring at walls? Let's go! K'haaliThalen pouts at the accusation of being a "kid" K'luhaHaaz: K'ile, I have got to teach you to ride a Chocobo. K'ileTwinflame: Good luck. Find me a hipparion! I'll ride that til I die! K'luhaHaaz: What about a courel? K'luhaHaaz: Or a unicorn? K'ileTwinflame thinkgs for awhile and says, "Yeah, I could do a Coeurl. Unicron's out, though." K'luhaHaaz laughs at you. K'luhaHaaz: I think you'd look good on a unicorn though. K'luhaHaaz: We should definitely find you one. K'haaliThalen: I didn't even think coeurl were native to this region anymore; where'd you find a herd to train. And a unicorn... K'ileTwinflame: I'd look better on a hipparion. K'haaliThalen: "kids" K'ailiaYohko: or one of these! ((Queue Garlean mechasuit)) K'luhaHaaz looks at K'ailia Yohko and panics! K'haaliThalen: Couldn't you just paint stripes on a horse? K'ileTwinflame: Put it up, K'ailia. ((K'luharan off again)) K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'ileTwinflame: Ul'dah's tackiness is rubbing off on you a bit. K'haaliThalen: I'm thinking of ways to fulfill your demands in your own lifetime ((Catchingup to Luha)) K'luhaHaaz expresses her annoyance with K'ailia Yohko. K'ileTwinflame: Have a nice jog, K'uha? K'luhaHaaz: Stop scaring me with that stupid thing! K'ailiaYohko: hehe K'luhaHaaz: You shush your mouth! K'ileTwinflame: It's just an ugly toy. K'luhaHaaz: Yeah, but she got it out of nowhere! K'luhaHaaz: I don't like that thing. K'ileTwinflame: Garlean magic is meant to scare people. Thats just how it's made. K'ileTwinflame: Hey, hold up out there! K'luhaHaaz: It works too well for my tastes. K'ileTwinflame: I don't hate this area. There any places around here that aren't owned by anyone? K'ailiaYohko pulls out her map K'luhaHaaz: Is right here owned by anyone? It's pretty close to Ul'dah though. K'ailiaYohko: Well I know a spot near here, that technically be in central K'ailiaYohko: it's not owned by anyone, jes has tracks runnin' through it. K'luhaHaaz: Let's see as much as we can before we really start deciding. K'ileTwinflame: We need enough room to have hunting grounds. It's like better game than piestes and cactuar, but let's not be too picky. K'ailiaYohko nods. K'luhaHaaz: Central's this way. K'ailiaYohko: cross this bridge we make a left. K'luhaHaaz: Out here is nice. K'ailiaYohko: Aye K'ileTwinflame: But everywhere you look there's buildings and archways. K'ailiaYohko: the spot I saw is jes like this K'haaliThalen: How can you tell, that mist still hasn't lifted? K'luhaHaaz: I can see enough. K'haaliThalen points. K'haaliThalen: This won't do... K'haaliThalen: Look at those termite mounds K'ileTwinflame: What's wrong with it? K'ileTwinflame: What? no. K'ileTwinflame: Where? K'luhaHaaz: That's a rock K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'luhaHaaz makes a poking gesture. K'luhaHaaz: Rock. K'luhaHaaz frowns at all the damn flies and shakes her head. K'luhaHaaz: Ugh. These damn flies. ((K'ailiadoes something sparkly and the flies all die)) K'luhaHaaz: Oh, that's better. K'ileTwinflame punches the wooden support beams. "Owned. Someone owns this land." K'ailiaYohko: Well this be the only other area I seen. K'luhaHaaz: No, I don't think so. It's just the train track. K'haaliThalen unhooks her botany tools form her shoulder strap and replaces it with a hunting spear K'ailiaYohko: Aye jes a tracks, they dun own it. K'ileTwinflame: They own the tracks. K'luhaHaaz: But, I don't think we want to be so close to a train... K'ailiaYohko: well oh wait! K'ailiaYohko: follow me! K'ailiaYohko: I had almost forgot about that K'ailiaYohko points. K'luhaHaaz looks around. K'haaliThalen corrects her balance at the cliff edge K'ileTwinflame: Ruins again. K'luhaHaaz: Awful lot of spprigans. K'haaliThalen: I see rocks;... K'luhaHaaz: The river is nice. K'ileTwinflame looks to the left. "Waterfall. Ain't seen one of those in a decade." K'haaliThalen: Sure there's water, but... that's all. ((K'luharuns off again)) K'ileTwinflame: Heh. Your mom's exploring. K'ailiaYohko laughs. K'ailiaYohko plays in the water. K'ileTwinflame doesn't look like he trusts the water. K'luhaHaaz: Well it's not a bad spot. All the water is very nice. And it's moving so it's fairly clean. K'haaliThalen: Huh... this water flows into the rocks; where does it flow from? - A location with caves would make excellent shelter from dust storms K'ailiaYohko nods. K'ileTwinflame: If you say so. K'haali, how are the rocks? K'luhaHaaz smirks faintly and kicks the water to splash K'ile. "And K'ile can finally take a bath here." K'ileTwinflame: Would you girls just leave me alone? K'haaliThalen jabs the rock. "Just sandstone." K'luhaHaaz: Put on a shirt and maybe. K'ailiaYohko: Sorry mister K'ile. K'ailiaYohko smiles. K'ileTwinflame looks to have a retort on his tongue, but swallows it. K'ailiaYohko: an' above be them giant bird things. K'ailiaYohko: good eatin' K'luhaHaaz: Well, the only problem is all the Spriggans but they seem to be friendly. K'ileTwinflame: Spriggans carry things away, don't they? K'ileTwinflame: We don't want them absonding all our stuff. K'luhaHaaz nods to you. K'luhaHaaz: They carry ore mostly. K'luhaHaaz: From what I know at least. K'haaliThalen: Crystals, I thought. I think they consume the aether in them K'ailiaYohko pulls out her map so everyone can see "Where ta next?" K'luhaHaaz: Oh? K'luhaHaaz peers over at K'ailia's map and hums. K'ailiaYohko: we are here. K'ailiaYohko points to the spot K'haaliThalen peers over k'ailias shoulder K'ileTwinflame doesn't bother to look at the map. K'haaliThalen or tries, being short K'ileTwinflame watchs the waterfall instead. K'ailiaYohko turns around so everyone can see. K'haaliThalen: I think we should track this water back upriver. K'luhaHaaz: Sounds good to me. We could see who else uses the water for what. K'haaliThalen: Where there's water, there's a good site to settle K'ailiaYohko: That aint a bad idea! K'ileTwinflame: Sure. Might find a place with fewer sprigans. K'haaliThalen swats biting insects aside "and bugs" ((walkingonward now...)) K'ailiaYohko: well there's cactuses K'haaliThalen: These rocks seem to contain minerals, but. I can't tell you what just looking K'luhaHaaz: Eck. Ants. K'ailiaYohko: there's the water K'ileTwinflame: You could grab some of the rocks maybe? K'haaliThalen: Annnd herrrre's our river K'luhaHaaz: A... refugee camp? K'haaliThalen: Orobon? - I thought they were sand-swimmers K'ileTwinflame looks at the pile of rock and lichen before them. "Now that's awesome."

((As they head back to Vesper Bay, K'ailia and K'luuha manage to get K'ile alone while K'luha walks on ahead.)) K'ailiaYohko: jes a moment! K'ileTwinflame: What is it? K'ailiaYohko: Yarzon be poisonous K'ailiaYohko: I dun wanna take chances K'ailiaYohko: I need ta look at ma's arm. K'ileTwinflame: She going to get sick before we got back to Ul'dah? K'ailiaYohko: Dunno. K'haaliThalen grins. "Why don't you offer to suck out the poison K'ile" K'ileTwinflame looks at K'haali, "Why don't you?" ((K'luha returns!)) K'luhaHaaz: What did I miss? K'haaliThalen: I didn't want to ruin your opportunity! K'ileTwinflame: They're still on about that bite. K'ailiaYohko: Ma, Yarzon be poisonous K'ailiaYohko: I really wanna check that wound K'luhaHaaz rolls her eyes. "It only got one bite off. It's fine. You all worry too much." K'ileTwinflame: Just let 'em take care of it so they stop worrying. K'haaliThalen: "She can check it now or check it when it goes purple and drops off; I heard yarzon bites do that" K'luhaHaaz laughs at K'haali Thalen. K'luhaHaaz: I highly doubt it will come to that. K'haaliThalen puts on her best game face K'ailiaYohko: Well can I at least use a spell ta treat any poison? K'ailiaYohko: Wont hurt! K'haaliThalen raises an eyebrow at the suggestion that "magic won't hurt" K'luhaHaaz makes a face and sighs, about to give in before K'haali speaks up. "Hrn, no. It's fine. I'll pick up an antidote at the merchant." K'ailiaYohko sighs. K'ileTwinflame: And you lose. Well played, girls. K'haaliThalen: I'd call it a draw K'ileTwinflame: Don't trust magic? K'luhaHaaz: No... well, not really but I just don't want K'ailia healing me. I already feel enough of a failure. I don't need my daughter taking care of me now too. K'ileTwinflame smiles, "I hear ya. I don't think a little bite will matter that much, though." K'luhaHaaz: Bah. That's precisely why I don't want her healing it. It's such a stupid little thing. K'ileTwinflame: Whatever you say. Let's go before they start making fun of us again. K'luhaHaaz sighs and nods, starting off again.

Hipparion Tribe is super crazy active like woah.

The worm was about one meter from his face and two meters wide, so hitting the thing with his arrow turned out to be really easy! So when the arrowhead glanced against a bit of armored hide and flipped off into the sand without doing any damage, K'ile felt somewhat robbed. With the worm towering over him and writhing in the air, small barbed legs kicking about and sand shifting beneath his feet, K'ile Tia tried to notch another arrow and spat at the thing, "Don't screw with me. I'm gonna get an arrow in you if I gotta-! Oof." One of the thing's many legs struck his bow sideways and the barbs grabbed his arm, tearing at muscle and throwing him to the side. He hit the ground and rolled, loose arrows flying from his quiver and littering the ground around him. Sand in his eyes, he muttered curses and grabbed at the string of his bow again. But the string was limp, and the bow was half-broken. "Bitch!" He snapped the cheap bow into two pieces and dropped it, grabbing up two handfuls of fallen arrows. "I said you're gonna take an arrow! Stop squirming!" In all of his great wisdom, K'ile Tia ran at the worm with arrows clutched in his fists, shouting curses.

"Uhm," K'ile wasn't sure what K'nahli was thanking him for, but wasn't one to turn down credit. "No problem." He was truthfully surprised K'mih had taken his advice, but then women did respond well to a little smile every now and then, didn't they? Turning to face K'nahli, the Tia said, "Keep your bow on you for a quick second," and pulled an arrow against the string of his own. Around this point K'ile was wishing he had a better idea of how to use his bow, or that he'd brought his spear. His fingers couldn't decide where to settle in the shaft as they strained against the bowstring, but his nose picked out where to aim. Pointing his arrow off to one side, he said, "Try not to shoot your father."

Just after midnight on almost every evening, the hoods brought their victims to this alley between Pearl Lane and the lower class markets. On none of these occasions, so far as anyone could tell, did the Brass Blades interfere. Despite the complaints of shouts and scuffles in the nights and all the blood mopped off of these stones, no investigations were made. And nobody was surprised. Tonight's victim was an older Hyur woman. Her old joints hit the stone like a bundle of sticks, and her blood-soaked lips had already been diminished to incoherent blubbering before they'd even brought her here. "I know you got more'n this," a Hyur man shook a bag at her face, and it clattered with the sound of loose gil. Not enough to buy bread with. Not enough to hurt someone over. "Your boy borrowed money to get ya medicine, didn't he? But you ain't sick, is ya?" The woman just cough and spat and tried to squirm away. Had shadows lay over her craggy features and spared the hoods the need to see what they were inflicting on her. The man shouted, "Where's the money!?" And the men behind him, a Roegadyn and Lalafel, nodded. Their chuckles were thick like cold oil. They sound and tasted foul, and in disgust, invisible hands reached out and stopped them cold. That hushed snickering stopped so suddenly that the two men might've vanished, but they simply stood suddenly frozen and breathless. Still squirming on the ground, the woman hadn't noticed, but the man who'd been shaking the money in her face turned to them and squinted into the shadows they'd been hiding in. "Eh, what's goin on there?" He waited a few seconds for his companions to answer, and then the blood touched his toes. The growing puddles of blood beneath his companions' feet reached out through the cracks on the ground toward him. When he noticed it, he flinched and pulled a knife from his belt, ducking into a defensive stance and turning about aimlessly. "By the hells?" A rough voice, shaking and echoing like a whisper from the bottom of a well, inquired from the shadows, "You daylight as one of the Brass Blades, don't you?" The man with the knife shook as the bodies of his companions fell at his feet as though cut free from the strings that had been holding them, "Who's asking!? Thal take you I'll-" His head split sideways at the eyes, and the splatter of blood was mercifully silent compared to the high-pitched gurgling sounds he made before he collapsed. The Hyur woman was silent for a moment, but screamed when she saw the dark form standing in the center of the corpses. Thin, tall, pitch black and silent, it stood unmoving as though it had always stood there and had simply gone unnoticed. The form bent down and picked up the bag of clattering gil. It muttered to the woman, "A pitiful bounty for a night of stalking, but I guess I don't require much, do I?" and she just continued to scream. Nimble fingers drew three coins from the bag. "Yes," it said in its deep voice, "I think Ul'dah will treat me just fine. These shadows feel good to me." Throwing what was left in the bag at the screaming woman, the Duskwight turned to exist the alleyway. Stepping out of the shadows did nothing to smooth out the image, his body wiry and skin tight like a half-starved scarecrow, his thick hair and beard ratty and filthy. The Hyur woman continued to scream until the Duskwight was out of sight, and then took her money and crawled home. When normal people moved to a new city, they found homes and decorated them with things. When Elder Megiddo Desfosse moved to Ul'dah, he found shadows and decorated them with blood. He wondered who his new neighbors would be.

K'nahli was too much like her father. Put a Sand Drake before the woman and she's cool as ice, deliberate and confident. Talk to her when she's in a mood, though? She'll sprout razor spines and a shell thicker than dragonscale. It was the kind of weakness that reticent K'yohko carried like a plague and spread to his children. For all of the embers in her glare, K'nahli was just as afraid as K'mih, sometimes. In those who possessed strength and will, meekness was a sin, and it dripped hideously from the down-turned gaze K'nahli offered her sister. "The wind was carrying your voices toward camp," K'ile stated, settling himself in the place that K'nahli had indicated. "And my ears do not choose between sounds to hear. I do not resent your accusation, though. Wait until you've seen just how much guidance I need! It's humiliating!" He ended with a chuckle. When he turned his gaze to K'mih, he saw a girl in desperate retreat as though pursued by Amal'jaa. At least her meekness was sincere. The blood of her grandfather K'thalen, even so deluded, was stronger than that of her father K'yohko, and it was easy to discern from which that honesty came. "K'mih," he gave the girl a smile, "Come have your sister teach you as well! I'm afraid she's mad at me, and I wouldn't want to go into such danger alone." His red ears bounced a couple times and swiveled towards K'mih.