Xha'li Moui

Xha'li shook his head, "Not really, I'm a farm kid we kept herds of animals and only killed as needed; it was grains and other produce that I'm more familiar with reading for preservation other then jerky." Bowing his head with his ears folded Xha'li continued, "If I've ruined it I humbly apologize and promise to help work to replace it."

Li rolled his eyes at his uncle, "Well of course, but a tiny bit of salt with some other seasonings-some of which can be found growing wild in the area- can improve the taste of the meat." Pointing to one of the urns Li continued, "Only that one is salted for preservation."

Li looked up as K'ile returned and grinned as he moved the last of the meat on to cook, "Not been lazy, though I can't say how good it'll be-you've got nothing besides salt to season the meat." Grinning wickedly he poked his tail up out of the front of his shirt and waved the tip slightly before tucking it back in, "And look no tail to burn easily!"

Xha'li eye'd the fire nervously as K'ile turned his attention towards K'luha before sighing and lifting his shirt up exposing his slightly tanned skin and toned muscle from the swimming in Limsa Lolimsa. Quickly wrapping his tail around his torso he let the shirt drop back down before turning his attention to the meat and carefully starting to fry it.

"Well time to get back to helping Mr. Wantta-be-Nuhn." Xha'li said with a smirk as he stood up and dusted himself off. Sniffing at the meat he grinned before heading off to dig through the supplies before sighing in exasperation and muttering under his breath about plain salt being a waste of good antelope meat as he dutifully salted and prepped the meat for cooking.

Xha'li scrunched up his nose, "That'd be a bit weird, the Xha in my name is my mothers, the li refers to me, so my name literally means 'third son of Xha moui.' Still I appreciate the gender, maybe just K'li? I go by Li often enough anyways save having members of the other races call me by my moms name."

Xha'li nodded, "The Keeper equivlent are Breeding Males, and in my village you just had to be of age, the real challange came in that the expectant father was expected to spend the last two moons as well as the three following birth with the mother of his new kits helping to keep the house clean and ensuring there was plenty of firewood along with food in store, especially if the had the 'luck' to expect a winter birth." With a wistful, if somewhat sad smile Xha'li continued, "Thats apparently what happened to dad, he'd gone out on one last trip to ensure we'd have enough meat to last the winter before the snows came, unfortunately that night winter came early and with a vengeance. By the time the winds died down and the skies cleared three days later the snow was up to three fulms deep in places."

Xha'li sat down next to K'deiki and shook his head, "No, I gathered it was important but my father, K'zhuzu, died when I was only 4 and I remember almost nothing of him, let alone anything he might or might not of told me and my brothers of his former tribe." Reaching up to scratch Kedah's chin Xha'li continued, "Most of what I know of him I've learned in the past few moons, before that I didn't even know I had Seeker ancestry as no one really liked to talk about him, it was always 'when you're older' or 'best not dredge up unpleasant memories for your mom'."

Xha'li returned holding the urn K'ile had given him and Kedah curled around his shoulders, nodding to K'deiki he held out the urn to K'ile, "Here you go uncle, the hottest coals from the heart of the bonfire." Setting the urn down he turned back toward K'deiki and bowed, "Honored Elder, how fare you this evening?"

Xha'li shot K'ile an incredulous look and flicked his left ear, "No I thought you'd be cooking with cold coals. Just cause I'm prone no nearly setting my tail on fire as soon as I try to cook over around a fire doesn't mean I don't know the basics." Taking the urn from K'ile Xha'li turned around and headed over towards the fire absentmindedly summoning Kedah as he went before setting the urn down by the edge of the coal-bed and looking at Kedah, "OK girl, we need to fill this with hot coals, and Uncle seems to have forgotten to give me a set of tongs so you'll need to grab 'em and put 'em in." Chirping an affirmative Kedah turned darted among the coals, grabbing the hottest she could find and bringing them back to be dropped into the urn while Li stood by casting mild charms after every trip to maintain the familiar.

Xha'li grinned, "As long as you keep me away from the cookfires, yah." Grinning sheepishly Xha'li continued rubbing the back of his hand, "I don't think K'zhumi would be happy having to treat a burned tail when we could avoid it by simply keeping me away from the fire."

Xha'li lets out a slight gasp as the dance starts, eyes immediatly darting to the red gem on the pink-haird Miqo'te's wrist, reaching up to the stone at his throat Li whispers softly, "That couldn't be a soulstone...could it?" Shaking his head to clear the thought for the time being he returns his attention to the ritual, and bows his head resepctfully as the Elders make their way away from the fire. Looking around he spots K'ile and heads over to him, doing his best to stay downwind and behind the older Miqo'te before clapping his hand on the Tia's shoulder when he's close enough and saying with a chuckle, "You said to see you after the Ritual Unc'?"

Xha'li shifted in his seat as the male elder began to beat his staff into the ground. Turning his attention outwards he paused as he realized that the tempo of his staff striking the ground matched the pulsing of the aether around them, or perhaps he mused softly the pulsing of the aether matched the tempo of his staff. Rising he brushed the sand off him and moved to stand amongst and behind the bulk of the tribe with a grin he turned and bowed his head to Menphina as she rose above horizon before returning his attention towards the ceremony taking place before him.

Watching the ceremony Xha'li leaned back on his hands and gently reached out with his aether as he'd learned under Hearer Kinzie, trying to get a better feel for the mood of the local elementals in the still air around the campfire. With a relaxed sigh he grinned slightly as he felt a small breeze ruffle his hair before dissipating, it seemed the local elementals were around and paying attention to his father's tribe but had yet to form any opinion on them. As the elder finished speaking Xha'li bowed his head slightly and spoke in a soft voice, "Watch over Menphina as they sleep, keep them safe so they might greet Azeyma when She rises once more."

Xha'li nods at K'ile before patting Rin on his neck, "Go on boy, I'm not going to be getting into any trouble in camp, just keep an eye on our chick ya?" Grinning as Rin preens his hair quickly before urging Fubuki away Li goes off himself, heading towards the center of the camp and the gathering of elders and huntresses to find himself an out of the way spot where he can have a good view to see and hear what happens.

Xha'li nods before grinning sheepishly and saying "Cook? Me? That might not be the best idea...I'm more liable to set my tail on fire then anything else." With a shrug he turns towards K'ile more fully and awkwardly scratches the back of his head, "I guess I could help a bit with the prep, so long as I stay away from the actual cooking part. And no need to worry, I'll stay out of the way and observe during the ceremony keeping my questions to bug you with later Uncle."

Rin glared at K'ile as he popped his nose before moving around him and cooing as he leaned into K'luha's touch. Chuckling as he got off Li reached out and scratched Fubuki as the chickabo came around and nuzzled against him. Yawning and trying to talk around it Xha'li turns his attention towards K'luha and asked "Would there be any issues with me coming to watch the ceremony?"

Seeing the crazy-idiot-kin of his cat gathered with others who smelled like him Rin turned and strolled up behind K'ile before stopping and bending his head down by K'ile's ear before warking softly it. Awakened by the cessation of movement Xha'li jerked awake and looked around confusedly, and asked while stretching slightly in the saddle "How long have we been here? Looks like the camps pretty setup already."

Xha'li stirred slightly on Rin's back as the chocobo came to a stop with the rest of the tribe before falling once more into his evening slumber. Well used to his boy's odd sleeping habits Rin simply wandered around the edge of the camp warbling at Fubuki to keep up when the chickabo showed signs of getting distracted. The boy had been sleeping less and smelled sadder then Rin could remember these past few suns, and Rin wasn't tired yet so he saw no problem walking around the camp if it meant his boy could get the sleep he seemed to need. Turning his head around he coo'ed softly at Li before facing forward and continuing his lazy meandering.

Xha'li nodded and flicked an ear as K'ile walked off before rising and making himself and heading back towards where K'luha was seated at the edge of the oasis. With a touch to the topaz at his throat he called his familiar out before laying down in the water with a sigh using her as pillow.

Xha'li was shaken out his mood by getting splashed in the face, and chuckled though it wasn't as open or genuine as earlier, "You and Yohko were doing some sort of dominance thing weren't you?" He asked with a bit of curiosity, though his distraction was still clear,"And I know I'm lucky to have family here I could find, even if I only found out about my dad this past Starlight Celebration when I finally pestered my former Conjury Master into telling me as he was there when my parents met." As he mentioned his master a contented smile appeared on his face, "Still not used to the fact that my mom's old adventuring party who aren't even Miqo'te have treated me more like family then my own older brother."

Xha'li sighed glumly and looked up at K'ile, and softly with a hint of regret in his voice, "It just that for the first time since I got exiled for having even the potential to be a mage nearly a cycle-and-a-half ago I've never really felt at home anywhere until these past few suns traveling with the tribe." Sighing again Li looked down as his ears drooped and his tail curled around him, "Then seeing you and K'yohko wrestling around like that reminded me of how I used to wrestle and play with my older twin when we were younger kits. I guess until now I've never really realized how much I've missed him and my mom, or even having a family." Shaking his head he continued even softer, his voice dinged with a mixture of anger and resignation, "Not that I miss our older brother or many of the other members who were followed that evil Garuda-spawned bat of a Matriarch and acted like I was never even born, never mind that I was still a kit then, and will be for several more moons yet. As far as I'm concerned the lot of them died that day." Looking up towards K'ile Li wiped as his eyes, "Not that I expect you to care all that much, its just you're the only family I really have that has acknowledged me."

Xha'li sat off to the side as he watched the antics of K'ile and K'yohko, thoughts drifting back to his village and his twin Xha'to. As his thoughts drifted his tail swayed to his left, the tip twitching around as if looking for something, while the joy that had been on his face moments before became less pronounced, tempered by a deep seeded loneliness, "I wonder how your doing my twin, do you miss me as much as I miss you?" he whispered softly.

Xha'li spluttered before laughing once more as Yohko's tidal wave rushed over him. Gasping between laughs he manged to get out "Healers Orders, have fun." Before jumping towards Yohko to create his own tidal wave to sweep over the tribe gathered around the oasis.

Xha'li looked up and pouted as his water ball missed K'ile..."Thats what I get for warning him I guess..." he said resignedly before shouting back, "This ain't wasting water Uncle, here at the springs it'll quickly flow back down to replenish the pool in a matter of days."