"It's your turn now..."Â
His words came as naturally as the soft breeze that dusted the surface of the sands around them. It was unlike anything K'nahli had ever imagined possible from the merciless K'rahto - absent of both anger and spite alike. Regardless, his calm tone was naught but a deceiving farce that lay upon the blunt force with which his words were swiftly carried. The words shook the girl, struck her suddenly as they somehow bore an unanticipated nature of surprise. A bead of sweat formed over the young huntress's brow as she struggled against the sickening feeling that tortured her insides, taking a brief second before forcing her eyes back up to meet with K'rahto's. Naively, she had hoped that in doing so she would see something within them - a lack of perseverance perhaps - anything that would allow her reason to distract from this spot in the moonlight that was so suddenly thrust upon her and avoid the question entirely.
In truth, his question - and in fact her answer - held little importance to the girl, though creeping concerns lurked meticulously throughout her inner mind, relentlessly subjecting the girl to various thoughts and theories as to why the tia would be asking her such questions, here and now. Nothing of value could come from any answer she gave surely? Yet, why was it so important for him to know..?
Her maroon irises were softened sweetly by the observing moon, though resembled that of a maimed chocobo as they forced themselves upwards from the ground with a noticeably, halting pace until finally, they were locked once again within K'rahto's eternal gaze.
Something was odd, so very, very odd.
The isolated, frozen, rocks of amber that normally commanded the tia's icy glare had melted away into warm and almost welcoming pools of sweetened honey. The common and habitual, fierce expression - one which only served to feed the intensity of his perpetual glower and had once even been believed to be a permanent projection upon to his youthful features - had receded into an unfamiliarly calm and attractive vision which drew itself perfectly across his face. It was as if she were seeing the tia in a new light, for even his hair did not escape her attention. The thin and gentle locks of which sheepishly peeked down across his vision, resembled the colour of the Sagolii dunes when basking in the gentle glow of a sedated twilight and were complimented pleasantly by his naturally, light complexion of mocha.
....His words and demeanor alone, as it would seem, had completely re-sculpted the boy in her eyes.... all the way to the point that he didn't even 'feel' like the person she knew.
"I...." K'nahli tried to respond, though her words quickly wandered stray and lost as her eyes remained involuntarily fixed upon the unknown predator before her. The girl shifted uncomfortably on the spot. She was never the biggest fan of K'rahto but this new side of him was more than she could handle. Something about him confused her and made her increasingly uncomfortable - to the point that it made her feel sick to her stomach; it were as though he had chased her into an area of vulnerability to where the girl's confidence had quickly betrayed her and left her to fend alone... and though her thoughts continued to race while the short silence seemed to roll on endlessly, K'rahto's perpetual gaze did not submit. With every passing moment she could feel his piercing stare reaching deep into her mind and unveiling each and every thought that she harboured silently from the moment that she had slipped into this state of anxiety.
For her to reveal this weakness to K'rahto.... to anyone even... it was enough to drive her to the brink of insanity.
Finally, with a hesitant jerking motion, K'nahli snapped her gaze away from K'rahto once more and threw her eyes back down into the sands. Her parted lips appeared to move subtly upon reclaiming her refuge as the huntress vowed a simple but necessary promise to herself in secret. The girl both blinked and swallowed hard as she attempted to summon herself to give her answer to K'rahto, to quickly put an end to this embarrassment and hopefully leave all of this surmounting shame far behind her.
"I.. have passed little thought to such things...." she spoke earnestly with a voice that merely attempted to sound somewhat stern.
The girl blinked again while she struggled to retain a faint, insincere scowl, as she took a couple of seconds before speaking once more, her mind double and even triple-checking her every word so that she may spare herself from as much as embarrassment possible - as well as hindering any possible answer she foresaw lying within K'rahto, however little she could imagine from the provenly, unpredictable tia.
"I do not yet see myself as one suitable for mothering offspring... It will be many summers before I would even contemplate such a path.." she continued with an almost dejected tone, her eyes failing to carry themselves away from the sand for fear of appearing foolish in his eyes yet again. She watched absently as the strengthening breeze created a faint mist of sand that quickly brushed across their ankles like a shallow pool of running water that gracefully glided and swirled along atop the dune on which they stood. The sensation tingled her skin, lightly whispering around her and doing it's utmost to pacify the unsettled nerves that were no longer being well-concealed beneath the mask whose cracks were growing ever larger.
Wish as she might, it would not carry her away along with it.
His words came as naturally as the soft breeze that dusted the surface of the sands around them. It was unlike anything K'nahli had ever imagined possible from the merciless K'rahto - absent of both anger and spite alike. Regardless, his calm tone was naught but a deceiving farce that lay upon the blunt force with which his words were swiftly carried. The words shook the girl, struck her suddenly as they somehow bore an unanticipated nature of surprise. A bead of sweat formed over the young huntress's brow as she struggled against the sickening feeling that tortured her insides, taking a brief second before forcing her eyes back up to meet with K'rahto's. Naively, she had hoped that in doing so she would see something within them - a lack of perseverance perhaps - anything that would allow her reason to distract from this spot in the moonlight that was so suddenly thrust upon her and avoid the question entirely.
In truth, his question - and in fact her answer - held little importance to the girl, though creeping concerns lurked meticulously throughout her inner mind, relentlessly subjecting the girl to various thoughts and theories as to why the tia would be asking her such questions, here and now. Nothing of value could come from any answer she gave surely? Yet, why was it so important for him to know..?
Her maroon irises were softened sweetly by the observing moon, though resembled that of a maimed chocobo as they forced themselves upwards from the ground with a noticeably, halting pace until finally, they were locked once again within K'rahto's eternal gaze.
Something was odd, so very, very odd.
The isolated, frozen, rocks of amber that normally commanded the tia's icy glare had melted away into warm and almost welcoming pools of sweetened honey. The common and habitual, fierce expression - one which only served to feed the intensity of his perpetual glower and had once even been believed to be a permanent projection upon to his youthful features - had receded into an unfamiliarly calm and attractive vision which drew itself perfectly across his face. It was as if she were seeing the tia in a new light, for even his hair did not escape her attention. The thin and gentle locks of which sheepishly peeked down across his vision, resembled the colour of the Sagolii dunes when basking in the gentle glow of a sedated twilight and were complimented pleasantly by his naturally, light complexion of mocha.
....His words and demeanor alone, as it would seem, had completely re-sculpted the boy in her eyes.... all the way to the point that he didn't even 'feel' like the person she knew.
"I...." K'nahli tried to respond, though her words quickly wandered stray and lost as her eyes remained involuntarily fixed upon the unknown predator before her. The girl shifted uncomfortably on the spot. She was never the biggest fan of K'rahto but this new side of him was more than she could handle. Something about him confused her and made her increasingly uncomfortable - to the point that it made her feel sick to her stomach; it were as though he had chased her into an area of vulnerability to where the girl's confidence had quickly betrayed her and left her to fend alone... and though her thoughts continued to race while the short silence seemed to roll on endlessly, K'rahto's perpetual gaze did not submit. With every passing moment she could feel his piercing stare reaching deep into her mind and unveiling each and every thought that she harboured silently from the moment that she had slipped into this state of anxiety.
For her to reveal this weakness to K'rahto.... to anyone even... it was enough to drive her to the brink of insanity.
Finally, with a hesitant jerking motion, K'nahli snapped her gaze away from K'rahto once more and threw her eyes back down into the sands. Her parted lips appeared to move subtly upon reclaiming her refuge as the huntress vowed a simple but necessary promise to herself in secret. The girl both blinked and swallowed hard as she attempted to summon herself to give her answer to K'rahto, to quickly put an end to this embarrassment and hopefully leave all of this surmounting shame far behind her.
"I.. have passed little thought to such things...." she spoke earnestly with a voice that merely attempted to sound somewhat stern.
The girl blinked again while she struggled to retain a faint, insincere scowl, as she took a couple of seconds before speaking once more, her mind double and even triple-checking her every word so that she may spare herself from as much as embarrassment possible - as well as hindering any possible answer she foresaw lying within K'rahto, however little she could imagine from the provenly, unpredictable tia.
"I do not yet see myself as one suitable for mothering offspring... It will be many summers before I would even contemplate such a path.." she continued with an almost dejected tone, her eyes failing to carry themselves away from the sand for fear of appearing foolish in his eyes yet again. She watched absently as the strengthening breeze created a faint mist of sand that quickly brushed across their ankles like a shallow pool of running water that gracefully glided and swirled along atop the dune on which they stood. The sensation tingled her skin, lightly whispering around her and doing it's utmost to pacify the unsettled nerves that were no longer being well-concealed beneath the mask whose cracks were growing ever larger.
Wish as she might, it would not carry her away along with it.
![[Image: ecec20e41f.png]](https://puu.sh/xvMxb/ecec20e41f.png)
Characters: Andre Winter (Hy'ur) / K'nahli Yohko (Miqo'te)
