Preparing for War [Hipparion Tribe. Closed]

[Clover]

((OOC: It happens after this thread.))

 

 

A day had passed from K'rahto's declaration, and he'd barely done anything other than train with his bow in a solitary spot. The boy hadn't returned to his tent the previous night. He hadn't eaten much either. All his attention was on the arrows he kept blindly throwing, almost to no avail.

 

Whatever improvement he'd managed to make, it wasn't enough. He lacked the technique, and he couldn't think of anyone who would give him better instruction. Not like asking for help would have been easy for the proud Tia anyway; if he wanted to be a Nunh someday, he had to endure the trials and learn on his own. Besides, the less people knew about K'nahli's challenge, the better.

 

"I must try harder..."

 

With his trademark fierce, perpetually angry eyes, K'rahto ignored his own tiredness and kept focusing on the task. He had 4 days left...

[Lyraciilee]

 

He hadn't come to eat and K'iara thought it strange for her brother to miss a meager meal. He hadn't come to bed when she finally retired in the even, though this was less strange since K'iara retired very early so she might rise equally early. When he was still not asleep next to her however, K'iara grew worried.

 

Her thick red brows furrowed in concern as she examined the cold empty sheets next to her sleeping place. Where was that boy? Since their mother had died he had been so cold and angry. K'iara could both understand and fail to comprehend. She had been in the same tent as their mother after all. She had sustained similar injuries, and yet somehow pulled through. Sometimes she wondered if he would have been happier if their mother had lived and she had died.

 

But the thoughts died in her head. K'iara did not care for them because they were useless thoughts. She was alive. Their mother was dead. So too, their father.

 

Instead, she rose and scrubbed herself with soapweed and sand to keep clean. Fresh, she dressed in the clothing she wore the previous day and stepped out into the dusty morning sand. K'iara stretched out upon the sand for a time, her nose carefully picking up the morning scents of the desert. She could smell most of her family in their usual place, but the smell of K'rahto was further out. Not so far away she could not smell him, but far enough away it concerned her.

 

Pulling her bow over her chest and her quiver on her back and her axe at her hip, K'iara set out with light feet across the sands. Her movements scarcely left a trace of where she had come or where she went, and the sand did not betray her with sound as she moved.

 

Her brilliant blue eyes caught sight of her brother off in the distance, weary and yet determined. A determination set in his usual anger and introversion. K'iara carefully approached him, sure to not make a noise as she moved until she was just inches behind him and breathed a hot breath on his neck.

 

"K'rahto..." K'iara called softly, her voice a raspy breathy noise as it had been for the last five years. It was almost as a whisper in the wind, but she was sure it would be enough to startle him. And she was prepared for him to flail and either accidentally or on purpose hit her. To that end, she was ready to catch his wrists if she needed to.

[Clover]

K'rahto's deep concentration made him completely oblivious of the shadow approaching him from behind. Even if his senses noticed his sister's scent, his tired mind didn't process that information as something unusual. It was a familiar scent, one he was used to; nothing that should matter at this moment, when his bow was completely stretched and his eyes were glued to the makeshift bullseye.

 

"...!!"

 

The familiar voice behind him was soft, barely a whisper, yet powerful enough to abruptly set his arrow free to the sky, with no aim and no control until it was lost in the horizon. Other than that, there was a surprised gasp and huge open eyes, but the Tia didn't unconsciously attack her. Despite his tiredness, he recognized his sister right away.

 

The boy turned around quickly to face her, his expression still startled and defensive.

 

"K... K'iara! What the hells are you doing here?"

 

For a moment, he felt really stupid. How could he become a good Nunh if even his own sister managed to take him off guard?

[Lyraciilee]

K'iara watched his arrow fly pathetically off into the distance out of the corner of her eye. What was he doing out here, training like a man possessed? And with a bow no less. He reminded her of K'nahli's usual morning rituals. It was something K'iara had always noticed from the corner of her eye, but didn't usually take more than a passing thought to concern herself with.

 

The elders sister's ears twitched lightly, watching her brother's eyes grow and take a small gasp. Only to turn and curse and question her presence. She lifted a single finger and pushed it towards his nose.

 

"You did not eat. You did not sleep." K'iara offered as a simple explanation. "What are you doing?" A question. More of a demand, but K'iara's voice was incapable of showing a very large range of emotions anymore. But her eyes were even more fierce than her brother's, and they demanded an answer from him.

[Clover]

Permanent as the Tia's frown was, it didn't do well enough to hide his embarrassment. He stepped back and half turned away when his sister inquired about his strange actions.

 

"It's... none of your business..." He replied without looking at her, impossibly defensive. His hand reached out for another arrow from his quiver, busying himself with it in order to look less tense.

 

His sister always managed -perhaps without meaning to- to make him feel like a complete idiot. The fact she was one of the finest huntress, while he was merely a Tia who didn't even know how to use the bow properly didn't help either.

[Lyraciilee]

He was embarrassed. K'iara could smell it. It had a strange odor to it. Perhaps she was just imagining the smell, but she would have sworn he smelt differently when he was embarrassed.

 

"Brother..." K'iara called again, stepping forward a moving to place a heavy hand on his small shoulder. It worried her that he was so small sometimes. K'iara was very tall. Perhaps the tallest woman in the tribe. Perhaps the tallest member of the tribe, women or man. While her figure was not what one would call, good for child bearing, she was strong with thick muscles and a sturdy build. Comparatively to her brother...

 

"At least eat. Whatever you are doing will do no good without eating and sleeping." K'iara reminded him firmly, eyes a blazing blue looking to her brother's amber orbs.

[Clover]

The boy's gaze half turned to her when her hand was placed on his shoulder. K'iara was strong... perhaps stronger than what K'rahto would ever be, but this was a fact he didn't want to acknowledge. Not fully.

 

Her words, however, didn't seek to mock him or bother him with further inquires. She was merely worried about his health, nothing more. Not because he was weak, not because he was a mess. He was just her brother.

 

"..................."

 

K'rahto's eyes travelled away from her and down to the ground. His frown softened slightly, albeit it never left. Maybe he'd been succumbing to desperation. Maybe he still was when the impulse to speak guided his thoughts and voice after long seconds. The sound was softer than the usual, though it wasn't devoid of defensive strokes. Admitting his weakness wasn't easy, and it was shown.

 

"I need to become a great archer in 4 days. It's something I just have to do..." he confessed, not adding more details than what were necessary. K'nahli Yohko had made him swallow his pride in more than one way, and her unreachable image was driving him insane. This was no game; if he truly wanted to have any chance to succeed, if he didn't want to lose her forever, he found himself with no other choice than to push his pride away for a little longer and ask now.

 

"Could you...?"

 

His frown deepened. His fierce eyes got the courage to raise from the ground to his sister's calm gaze, contrasting everything she was. His voice came out as an aggressive, determined sound that sought no pity.

 

"Could you teach me everything you know about archery?!"

 

If there was something clear and unquestionable about this situation, that was how deadly serious K'rahto Tia seemed to be.

[Lyraciilee]

There was a long silence. K'iara was comfortable with that silence. She did not find it strange or nervous. It was nice. A quiet that she valued deeply. Her burning blue eyes scanned over her brother's angry form. She wondered how long it was possible to be angry in a life. Could one be angry forever? Maybe. K'rahto was surely working on it if it was possible.

 

K'iara had to admit, she was slightly surprised with K'rahto's confession. He did not easily given in, so it ask for help... He must have been completely desperate. To become a archer? She wondered if it was to impress K'nahli. What was happening in four day however? K'iara strained her mind to think for it. Was there a festival? A celebration? Was she slacking in her daily hunts? Surely they would need a lot more food if there was something like that happening. Yes, she would have to redouble her efforts to bring in enough food for whatever it was they were planning.

 

After a long silence in which K'iara face did not seem to change, she looked down at her shorter brother and nodded.

 

"I will, however..." K'iara paused and leaned down a bit to put her face on an even level with K'rahto. "You will not be able to learn without food and sleep. You must eat your rations everyday and you must sleep at least four hours when you are tired. The rest will give your mind time to process and better understand what I teach you. And, you will hunt with me while I am teaching you. There is no better way to learn quickly than to put your lessons into a real life practice. When you can hit a rampaging Sun Drake in the few spots where an arrow can pierce through soft flesh, you can hit anything stationary from miles away." And with that K'iara straightened again and towered over her brother. She brought her hands to her hips and looked down seriously at him. "Do you agree to my terms?"

[Clover]

Waiting for his sister's reply felt like an eternity, in which K'rahto's unwavering and fierce eyes remained completely fixed on her tall figure. He knew he wouldn't ask twice if she refused to help him, but he was almost convinced that she'd accept his request. It was her concern for him what had guided her steps to him in the first place.

 

Despite his convincement that she'd likely accept, K'rahto found himself soundlessly releasing a breath he didn't notice he'd been holding until hearing her confirmation.

 

At K'iara's positive answer and the list of her more than reasonable conditions, the Tia nodded his head energetically, with no complaints. His gaze remained deadly serious, a sign that he was more than ready to start her instructions. Without a doubt, her plan sounded much better than the waste of time he'd engaged in for the past day, and he couldn't help the rush of excitement that ran through his stomach. He felt hopeless that morning, and now... now perhaps not everything was lost if he tried hard enough.

 

The boy's voice was solemn when he spoke again, his unsmiling eyes sincere. His aggressiveness had been cast away for a moment, just to pronounce those words.

 

"Thank you, K'iara..."