Our Time
Log Info
- Title: Our Time
- Place: Akochilistli Kuauhtla
- Summary: Rune and Harkashan discuss their search for answers, both to Harkashan's strange connection and Rune's search for the Golden Fate.
It's a bit into the evening within Am'shere. The jungle is lit with the great flame atop of Akochilistli Kuauhtla's Ziggurat, as well as the many flames around the tribal settlement. The sound of birds, lizards, and the occassional swarm of bugs are everywhere as usual. There's some kind of dance going on in the distance. There's the sound of drums being hit and a strange horn being blown into.
It all fades into the background at the edge of the settlement. Not into the jungle, but far enough from the warm and welcoming community. Seated upon one of the Hotstones of this place, he's staring out to the jungle itself. Watching the occassional rustle of leaves and patrolling Hunter slipping by.
He's got a cloth laid out over the stone, with thick leaves on top. Atop that, wraps of spicy meat, a few bowls of different kinds of meats, and further wraps. An opportunity to make their own combinations and spiciness. A big container of water is also nearby, but it's off to the side of the stone itself.
There's a few 'candles' set out, and one might almost say this were a 'romantic' kind of setup, in as far as the Sith'makar has ever attempted to romance Rune. Having invited her here, he awaits her with a quiet rumble in his chest.
GAME: Rune rolls stealth+4+2: (8)+13+4+2: 27 GAME: Harkashan rolls Perception: (5)+5: 10
The shadows shift with the flickering of candle light. It's a subtle and quiet enough motion that Rune isn't immediately visible until she chooses to step forth. It may be just silent enough to surprise the Makari, though it is obvious she isn't trying to sneak up on him. "Well, this is certainly elaborate." It may be her voice that he catches first.
As she steps closer, the shadows seem to naturally shift back as the light catches her features. Just a play of the light, it seems. The rogue is dressed in a simple, sleeveless top, but there are feathers tied up in part of her hair and along her shoulders. The candle light flickers along her smile, but there is something about it that doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"How are you doing?" Rune's voice shows gentle concern. They hadn't really talked much since his encounter at the Elder's home and what revelations it had laid on him.
Harkashan's quiet rumble startles, when she indeed surprises the Sith-makar. There's a little jolt in his body. He's gotten used to her speaking out of nowhere, to him not noticing her, but it never quite stops the shock of it. Especially not this close to the jungle's edge.
He slowly brings a hand up to his chest, and then lets out a long breath.
"I wanted something... elaborate." He answers her, touching a spot near him on the warm stone, before looking her way. Warm eyes looking out at her. Taking in the sight of her. He himself is wearing more simple garb today as well. No heavy armor. Just some colorful cloths, and a few lavastones woven into rope hanging from his horns. As well as her own, prominent at its center.
"The shadows continue to lick at your body, like they would rather not relinquish you." He rumbles softly, as he lifts a hand up and reaches out to touch one of the feathers tied into her hair to try and tell what creature it came from. And to appreciate it on her.
"I'm okay." Harkashan then answers her. "... I think, I am okay. It feels better to have at least some answers. Even if those answers lead to far more questions." He proposes.
Then, he simply adds; "Come, sit, eat." Inviting, not demanding. Never demanding.
"Didn't mean to scare you." Approaching slowly, Rune takes a seat on the offered spot, settling herself next to him and looking ever so slightly rueful about it. "The shadows and I are old friends." And yet, that doesn't really explain anything about how the shadows seem to linger with her at times. Perhaps she simply doesn't know.
"What's the special occassion?" Blue eyes look from Harkashan to the food and back again. Her brows raise slightly, head tilted. When he reaches to touch the feather in her hair, he'd notice that it has an irridescence to it, blue shifting to green along the feathers. "I bought them from one of the traders. When in Am'shere, might sa well play the part."
Then, one ear twitching at his answer, Rune nods her head, "I know how that feels, all too well." Her lip quirks. "Better to know something than to be wondering in the dark." She hesitates then, "Did you... have any luck finding that cave where we unlocked the pendant?" Which, of course, addresses matters of her own strange conenctions.
At the invitation to eat, rune does just that, preparing herself some wraps from the various meats gathered, but it's obvious she's paying attention to Harkashan.
There's a little thoughtful 'hrrrm' at her mentioning that the shadows and her are old friends, and leaves it at that for now.
"The occassion?" He then asks. "Hrrrm - a moment of peace, for the two of us, I think?" Having let go of her feathers, he puts his hands on either side of his body, leaning back a bit. Quiet for a bit - aside from that constant dragon-like rumble in his chest.
When she asks about the cave, he nods first, then begins to prepare his own food. Similar to herself, thought just one wrap. There's no 'silverwear', but there's some leaves he uses to keep his fingers a bit cleaner.
"I did." He then takes a small bite, in as far as Sith-makar take small bites. "It was hidden by means of a... glammor, I think? Something hid it." Another bite. "I found an hourglass symbol, and a peculiar blue butterfly friend. Though she didn't speak to me, she led me away. Likely guiding me away from danger." He explains.
"What about yourself? I believe you went to check up on the Shaman, Miquitlani?"
"Peace and quiet? We're allowed to have that?" Rune asks, a hint of laughter in her voice as she seems amused by the concept. Since the moment the two had met on the road to Alexandria, her life had been anything but peaceful and quiet.
The rogue doesn't seem to mind eating with her hands, biting off nearly half of one wrap and chewing as he tells her about his experience searching for the cave. She makes a 'Mmm!' of sound and then seems to rush to chew a bit faster before speaking again. "So I was right. There has to be some kind of connection between Am'shere and the Golden Fate."
She pops the other half of the wrap into her mouth, giving her time to think beforre speaking again, her foot tapping slightly. "That's the second time we've encountered our butterfly friend. I wonder just what sort of danger might have been waiting."
Then, licking at her fingers, Rune makes a thoughtful sound. "Apparently the Shaman didn't know much about that sort of thing, but... there seem to be some sort of Fey-like creatures here in Am'shere called the Chaneque. She said that if anyone would know of the Golden Fate, it would be them." She scrunches her nose, "But, she also warned me that they can be nasty and malicious, and usually it requires some sort of offering to earn their favor, or... to at least keep them from being trouble."
Harkashan nods his head; "Hrrrm, yes. Oft found in places where it would otherwise be too dangerous to travel." He remarks when she speaks of the Chaneque. "There are Shamans who see to it that such beings are adequately soothed in some regions." He explains, befoer quieting himself in order to have a few more bites.
"I can talk to some of the Shamans around to see what kind of offerings they might desire. But there's also something... else." He pauses for a moment, squinting his eyes a bit. "When I saw that hourglass symbol... it's like a part of me was familiar with it. A distant... memory of one of my ancestors." He explains to her.
"There may be some more things we might learn back at my Hatchery." He notes, before leaning in just a bit. "Or... the Keepers may help me with drawing on some memories." There's a little shake of his head. There's many options to further delve into that.
Thinking for a moment. "We may wish to return to that cave - with others. It's possible that the only reason we found it that time, was because you were there." He then notes. There's a lot of things they could do.
But...
He then reaches out and touches his hand to her shoulder, as he's done so many times, looking at her. But his gaze is a bit softer than usual. "Thanks for sticking by me through this... messiness."
"That was my thought, as well. Try to find out what sort of things we could bring to appease them or convince them to offer us aid." With food at the ready, Rune isn't going to let it sit idle for long, so she quickly starts to create another wrap as Harkashan lays out all the possible options that might lie before them.
"One step forward, sixteen branching paths." This seems to be all too common for Rune, these days. "Let's start with the Chaneque first, see what they can offer. If that ends up a dead-end, we can take a group back to the cave and see if my presence or the locket being there makes any difference."
Bite. Chew. Thoughtful sounds. "I'll leave checking with the Hachery or the Keepers to you, but I'll come along. You're better with diplomatic stuff and ancestral memories seems like a sensitive topic."
One that seems a bit uncomfortable for Rune, in fact. Enough so that when he touches her shoulder and offers that thanks, her expression shadows somewhat. "You know I'll always be by your side, so long as I'm able and you want me to be." Her thumb fidgets with the edge of the wrap, "But... I admit that it's been a bit uncomfortable. You've been acting so strange. Sometimes it almost feels like you're someone else entirely."
Harkashan finishes his own wrap, but instead of making another, he steals some meat more directly and chomps down on it as Rune speaks. Indeed, so many branching paths. So, he's happy to let Rune decide which path to walk. They don't have enough information to suggest one may be better than another.
But when the topic shifts to him, he leans forward a bit. Leaning his elbows to his legs, staring out into the jungle for a bit.
"I'm still me." He answers her, turning to her again not moments later. "Just... taking some time getting used to the changes within me. And enjoying some time back 'home'." He rumbles. "Trying to find my place in a world that seems rather fit to change around us at a rapid pace."
Harkashan pauses for a moment, tilting his head. "Anything that particularly has you worried I'm secretly some kind of doppleganger?"
"Sometimes you seem like you aren't even here." Rune elaborates, waiving a hand in front of his face. "Lights are on, but no one is home." She explains with a shake of her head, "Other times, it's like you're focusing really hard on something, so your nose gets all scrunched up." She immitates the gesture with her own nose, rolling her eyes up slightly. "It's... a little unsettling." She returns back to normal with a shake of her head.
As for the question on what makes her feel he might be changing before her eyes, that... is a bit more complicated. "You carry yourself differently." Rune starts, then realizes that she needs to add more context to that. "You'll walk right into danger without thinking about it, like you're the group leader and we're all left following in your wake. Or you sit with a group of Makari and you can tell they respect you or look to you and it's different than just being a Death-singer. It's more... fundamental."
Her lips press together and she finally eats the last piece of her second wrap, seeming uncertain of how to continue with it. After chewing for a moment, she reaches for her waterskin and takes a drink before answering, "Sometimes... I just wish you'd let loose a bit more. Like back in the old days." She looks down at her hands, at the tattoos covering the back of her right one. "But... I guess nothing is the same as it used to be."
"Hrrrm..." Harkashan lowers his head as she mentions 'not being there'. "That's - yeah. Both are the same. It's why I wanted to look into what was going on with me. These... memories that are not mine. That are Theirs." He explains. "Thirku." He adds, making sure he's clear on it. "I hope that will come more naturally soon, because I do not like the way it has been making me lose my place in time." He rumbles.
He then tilts his head at him carrying himself more differently. She is right that he steps forward like a leader. "My armor is oft the heaviest. It isn't that I walk into danger without thinking. It's rather that sometimes, I estimate I can better take the punishment than others in our group." He explains.
The matter of the Makari is something else though. "On the Makari... I can only theorize." He notes. "Telamon calls it an 'aspect', an expression of the past, or of Ea. I think..." He lifts his arm. "They see something old in me. Perhaps this is also Thirku's influence. Perhaps this is my own. But, my people have an instinctive reverance of those which feel like Dragons." He then lowers his arm once more. "I cannot say more because I do not know more. But, I think it's something like that."
He takes a bit of food once more, chewing, tilting his head back, gulping it down after a few bites, before looking back down to her. "Letting loose?" He asks. "Hrrm, like we used to dance amongst my kin?"
"I figured that much." Once Rune had learned a bit about the reasoning behind his strange episodes, she had been able to connect those to some aspects of his odd behavior. "I can't even imagine having memories that aren't my own. Ones from pepole long gone from this world. It sounds... like the sort of thing that could make a person feel like they're losing their mind."
At the moment, Harkashan is not wearing his armor, so Rune reaches out and lightly touches the cloth coverings and sighs to herself. "I know. It's just... different. I know you're more than capable in a fight, and your magic means you're not nearly as vulnerable as I am." Her brows furrow, "I just can't help worrying, though." She had given her life to protect his, and there is a certain measure of that that still remains.
Then, her hand falls away and she looks towards one of the flickering candle lights. "It was really hard, when I first awoke again into this world, not to come find you. I was so confused about everything." This, he would already know. "I guess, some part of me was always a little afraid you'd be different. So different that you weren't the same person I knew. That I cared for..." Rune trails off with a sigh. "It's a silly, stupid fear."
"I guess I'll always miss those days. Coughing from how spicy the food was. Dancing like an idiot at festivals. Curling up with you and the others on cold nights. Living like we had all the time in the world." Rune casts her gaze skyward, "We've both changed. A lot."
"My Kin are more used than others to memories that are not our own. But... this is different enough to be rather disorienting." He admits to Rune. "I... did feel just that. Like I was losing my mind." He adds, shaking his head a bit. "But I'm starting to be able to parse them better. The memories, the feeling of Deja Vu, they have a different... 'scent' than my own." He explains. "But it will take time."
He tilts his head further, seeing her reach out. And as she touches the cloth, he lays his hand over hers for a moment. Welcoming the touch.
"I appreciate your worry. I am not immortal, and do not believe myself otherwise. I understand when to fear, and when to step back. But I also know when things must be done." He rumbles. "I will not throw away this life of mine, you have so gracefully protected."
As her hand falls away, he drops his hand he touched her with. Instead, he brings his closer hand up and touches to her side. Not her back, he knows not to touch there. "I am still me. But your fears are not silly or stupid. I have changed through the experience. It... keeps me up at night sometimes still." He admits. "I do not hide this."
He then slips his hand along her back, and draws her closer. Trying to pull her to him for warmth. "We are here. We are in Am'shere. You may no longer cough from the spice of our food, but we can still dance like idiots, and curl up with others of my Kin. We do not have all the time in the world... but..."
He presses his muzzle's tip against the side of her neck. "We have Our Time. So let us use it."
The way that Harkashan explains it makes some sense to Rune, though it is still something quite difficult for her to actually imagine living with. "Well, just make sure that your dragon friend knows that he has to share you sometimes." She points a finger right at his nose. "You hear me, Thirku? He might be yours, but he's mine too." It isn't the first time that Rune has laid that claim on him.
There is a sort of comfort as his arm goes around her side, and Rune leans against his larger form, enjoying the warmth that he radiates. "I'm trying to become stronger, myself. Strong enough that I don't risk losing this second chance, I have." A second chance that she seems very, very grateful for.
Her head leans in against him, letting her cheek rest against part of his face in the process. "Our time, huh?" She murmurs. "What do you have in mind?"
Harkashan is not so sure Thirku is a 'he', but he's too amused at Rune pointing her finger at his nose to really comment on it. Instead, showing some of that more youthful playfulness, he licks at the edge of her finger with that big tongue of his. Mlep.
"I'll make sure they get the message." He answers her.
Once she's leaning to him, he nods his head. "We are both doing a good job at getting stronger. Imagine if we went back to that farm and helped protect against those Dire Wolves again now..." He's pretty sure they'd do a lot better now.
As she leans in deeper, he wraps his arms around her. "First, we're going to finish off this meat. After that... how about we share the night together out here? Watch the stars and try and rest easy. See what may come. The night is yet ours."
"You better." The creature that has hitched a ride on Harkashan may be powerful, but Rune is a stubborn creature and isn't about to lose someone she cares about.
She gives a little sound of amusement, "I suppose you're right, but the enemies we face seem to get stronger, too." The world keeps moving forward.
But tonight, the prospect of just finishing a good meal, curling up beside the person she cares for most, and just living for the moment. That sounds like heaven. "Sounds like a plan." Then, she reaches forward, grabs a piece of meat and pops it into her mouth with a laugh.