Rain

<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span>
<table class=ooc><tr><td>

// <span style='color:#E4BB69'>Nebai Gajtouteym</span> \\
Primary Trade ¤ Tactics (A)
Secondary Trade ¤ Hunter (A)

// <span style='color:#818391'>Temkaja Gajtouteym</span> \\
Primary Trade ¤ Con Artist (J)
Secondary Trade ¤ Poisons (A)​

The twins are capable of speaking to each other in private telepathic speak, so any words in strict italics is this frequency. No one but the two of them can hear her: and it'd take a highly skilled telepath to even try. ;]

Speech in brackets is normal telepathic speech, and can be heard by anyone caring to listen in, just like any Pendragon conversation.</td></tr></table>

The pair had been walking. Walking along the road as they always did. Walking among nature gave Nebai great pleasure, while walking among society pleased her twin, Temkaja.

Today, neither were pleased. Society should have made Temkaja happy, but she was far too busy complaining about the weather. The thunderstorm had just died down again and they had emerged from their shelter in the trees.

Watani was a small area, mostly residential, not much to see. But the twins had a purpose this time: they were visiting this "boring" section of Swaraj to meet their cousin, Tryphaena. And to dote on Tryphaena's son, Bael, who had long since gotten much too big to be considered an infant, but hardly school-aged.

<span style='color:#818391'>{Nebai...}</span> one twin whines to the other, <span style='color:#818391'>{I'm soaked to the bone, and tired as the dead, can we go somewhere to rest?}</span> Temkaja looked hopefully to her wilderness-loving sister. She knew the reply that would come, but she didn't want to think on it. Maybe, just this once, she could convince her sister to rest more.

<span style='color:#E4BB69'>{Temkaja,}</span> Nebai sighs, tired of her sisters' antics. When her twin acted like a child it was sorely loathed. <span style='color:#E4BB69'>{I'm not stopping. We just rested less than three minutes ago. Tryphaena's home is supposed to be nearby, we'll rest and be dry when we get there, and not before.}</span>

The patter on rain on Nebai's head was almost starting to get to her, like a strange form of torture, in combination with Temkaja's manipulative whining. Temkaja wasn't always so, her mood changed depending on which technique she thought would best wind her victim around her finger. Unfortunately, considering the close bone the twins shared, neither was safe from the other knowing all of their thoughts - there are no secrets between twins! And as such, Nebai was immune to Temkaja's wiles, and Temkaja was immune to Nebai's brusqueness.

Nebai's keen hunter's eyes peirce through the evening light, or really, lack thereof, and notice another pendragon on the road. Stumbling... awkward... the rain was too heavy to pick out any words, but they appeared to be trying to speak.

Drunk? Probably. Not too many sober individuals went around in the rain.

<span style='color:#818391'>{I know. Which is why I'd like a nice warm place to rest...}</span> Temkaja had read Nebai's throughts again, a common occurance between the two.

Nebai sighs, tired of her twin's antics. Instead, her hunter's curiosity was getting the best of her, and her drunk 'prey' was stumbling away. Nebai picks of their plodding pace to a slow trot, to catch up with the pendragon who was wandering in apparently no straight line, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>{Excuse me, are you quite alright?}</span> The orange twin chose telepathing the drunk over speaking, just so she made sure she was heard over the pitter patter of the rain.

Temkaja meanwhile happily prances to a very nearby overhang from one of the few shops in Watani's residential area, happy to wait while Nebai conversed with the drunk. Nebai almost always made first contact when in the wild, and Temkaja when in society. Temakaja happily considered this bestial place to be part of the wild. Besides, any reason to stand out of the rain was good enough for her!

 

Nebai wasn't a silver tongued manipulator like her twin, so she was somewhat at a loss of elegant words to console the sobering drunk. She looks a tad helplessly toward her sister, wordlessly and thoughtlessly begging for assistance.

Temkaja grimaces, not at the thought of conversation - no, she lived for that - but for the fact that to speak to the stranger she would have to face the rain again.

And that was hardly a tempting compromise.

But, stepping bravely away from the door, she slowly steps over to the other, <span style='color:#818391'>"Yes, two. Quite a pair we are, more ways than one. 'Tis what happens when you're constantly at the side of your sister."</span> Temkaja smirks a bit sarcastically to her twin. They were alike in most every way, excepting personality and hue. Even if they had been the exact same color, the way they walked would have given them away. Nebai had a stoic like march, while Temkaja seemed to float with unhindered grace. Quite like their personalities, really.

'Kaja shakes her head with a toss or three, the spray of droplets from rain-soaked hair mingling with the falling pattering of the sky-borne droplets. In vain she tried to look a bit more presentable, as opposed to a soaked furry hound. <span style='color:#818391'>"You know, I could really use a bit of paradise myself."</span> The lavender pendragon turns to her twin and queries, <span style='color:#818391'>"How far is it to our cousins' home?"</span> 'Kaja smiles at the sobering stranger, <span style='color:#818391'>"My cousin is rather open with her home, she doesn't mind strangers at all."</span>

Nebai pauses a moment, reflecting just on what her twin was doing. Just because the tangerine pendragon had no skill in the ways of words, didn't mean she couldn't analyze her surroundings. Temkaja had done well to educate her by sheer example how to get oneself in and back out of a foot-in-mouth situation.

This, however, happened to be a 'bringing home a stranger' situation, and there was no rule in the book for whether this was acceptable or not. The stranger looked harmless, and fairly inebriated, but looks were almost always deceiving.

Nebai looks to her twin, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>I don't believe this is a good idea, we know nothing about her.</span>

<span style='color:#818391'>What harm can it do?</span> Her sister counters, <span style='color:#818391'>She's intoxicated, and if senses prove true, perhaps lonely. A warm place by a fire could do her spirits some good. And if she tries anything, you and Penumbra are quite skilled enough to take her out.</span>

Nebai was tempted to shake her head. Since when did her more or less 'prissy' twin considering "taking someone out" to be a normal occurance? This was hardly a fantasy novel. But she had a point in lifting this stranger's spirits, no pun intended, and Nebai concedes to Temkaja's judgement.

Temkaja, alight with new purpose smiles fully for the first time since the rain started earlier that afternoon, <span style='color:#818391'>"Why don't you come with us? I'm sure Tryphaena would love to meet you."</span> That much was true, Tryph shared 'Kaja's joy in meeting people, and Nebai's joy in travelling. <span style='color:#818391'>"My name is Temkaja Gajtouteym, by the way."</span> Her lavender-fur topped skull bobs in Nebai's direction, <span style='color:#818391'>"And this is my twin, Nebai."</span> Directly after being introduced, Nebai inclines her head respectfully to their potentially new found travel companion, for however long the trip to Tryphaena's home required. She may not enjoy society near as much as her twin, but her manners weren't completely nonexistant.

 

<span style='color:#818391'>"No trouble at all, allow me."</span> The lavender 'dragon smiles.

Temkaja flowed smoothly into the guise of a guide for their new companion, Sah`Dja. It was not an oddity to see her on the arm of many a soul, or those on her arm, for that matter - as was the way of her much loved festivals and high snuff parties. The purpose of this clinging was generally feasting after either an intellectual tidbit her prey could bestow, or being in the dominant position, and being the one doing the bestowing. Here was the latter, more or less, but now instead of being haughty and prim, she was now a convoy for Sah`Dja, until she no longer required her services.

Placing one arm out steady for the other to rest on, and lean on when she felt tipsy, the bipedal pendragon begins moving, leading with a slow pace, so as not to rush their new associate.

Meanwhile, still enjoying her quadropedal form, Nebai stalks along, her gait steady and strong, a supreme air of confidence and a certain amount of fearlessness surrounding her. While not completely agreeing with Temkaja's assessment of the situation, she had agreed, and now she would make the best of their somewhat babbling friend.

Temkaja looks to her sister, <span style='color:#818391'>"Do you know when the rain will be ending?"</span> True enough, Temkaja was no nature-lover, and probably wouldn't be able to tell north from south without a compass. But she was tired of being soaked to the bone, and now the air was starting to cool as night set in.

Nebai looks to the sky, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>"I believe the worst is over. Besides, we'll be to Tryphaena's soon enough. It's only around the bend and halfway up the mountain."</span> She pauses, seeing Temkaja's lemon-face, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>"The paths aren't steep, we've been here before, 'Kaja, you know that."</span> If she were unused to her twin's selective exertion phobia (as in certain pursuances, particularly her manipulations and con artistry, 'Kaja was quite willing to give multiples of full percentage to the task), she would've been tempted to roll her eyes. But she wasn't, and she simply ignores her.

Temkaja, seeing that her pulling a face had gotten her nowhere, not that she was really expecting to get anywhere (but it never hurt to try), she falls silent, looking forward to a nice warm fire and dry conditions. Little did she know, one would come without the other.

 

Temkaja's face had bloomed into pert smile as Sah`Dja had begun the retelling of a good memory, and demonstrated the dance. Even though she was cold, she was suddenly revived by their companion's vivacious outburst, and she desired to dance, as well!

It was true enough, 'Kaja knew many new dances - she loved parties, and elegant balls, and enjoyed the manipulative small talk of the high class (or so they thought). It was just an enjoyment to be in a lively place, that was where she was most at home. In the thick of things, right in the middle of society, drinking up every nuance and mood, learning all the secrets of politics and life she could get her claws on.

A swing and a step later, and the lavender pendragon had curtsied back to Sah`Dja, before righting herself to join in the dance. She hadn't a clue as to what she would teach first, whatever the mood felt like, that is what she would teach. Teach by example, no doubt. She would jump and twirl, and her feet would trace their way through movements long memorized, and-

Temakaja stopped, seeing that Sah`Dja had stopped. Having her front facting Sah`Dja's front, she had to slowly turn around, scanning in the direction their travelling partner had focused on, trying to seek out what had made her cease her joyous movement. Then she saw it, and the lavender 'dragon goes as rigid as Sah`Dja. Fear had not yet struck her, but she was more concerned than frightened - neither her cousin nor her cousin's husband did magic, unless something was burning, why was there smoke?

Nebai had been keeping an eye on her twin and their fellow traveller, and had noticed as both suddenly stopped. Stopping something fun was not something Temkaja did often unless faced with something deadly.

This sets Nebai's neck fur to direct bristle, purely out of habit - when Temkaja froze, that generally meant there was something wrong. She follows her twins gaze immediately, and spots the same thing the other two females had seen - the black smoke curling into the sky like a thick fog blotting out the last rays of late evening sunset.

Nebai looks at Temkaja, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>"I'll go on ahead, you follow as quickly as the two of you can make it up the hill."</span> She pauses, <span style='color:#E4BB69'>"Just don't get injured, alright?"</span>

Without waiting for an answer from her twin, the tangerine and cream pendragon, still in quadrupedal form, rockets up the hill, her bushy tail flying behind her. Temkaja nods weakly - hoping that nothing was amiss. She knew that she was just as strong stomached as Nebai, but Nebai always looked out for her in the wild, just as Temkaja looked out for Nebai while in society. And right now, if something was wrong, Nebai would be capable of handling this situation than Temkaja.

The lavender 'dragon turns to Sah`Dja, <span style='color:#818391'>"Ready to continue our travel? It shouldn't be far, now, and we can finish our dance when we get there."</span> Temkaja attempts a smile, but the worry still underlined her face. Sah'Dja may be sobering, but Temkaja doubted the fact that she was stupid. 'Kaja looks ahead, the black smoke a beacon of forbidding doom. ... Or perhaps the lavender 'dragon had just read one too many novels in her day.

 

<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span>
<table class=ooc><tr><td>Um, Zeva told me that I could come and join in with you. If that is alright with the rest of the fellow players. ^^</td></tr></table>


That of a black skinned pendragon shifted it's weight as it's eyes danced over the remains of the household of Typhaena's home. She glared a bit on it and looked down at that of her lower left hand gazing at the silver rose that she left for her fallen friend. Shakes her head lightly and lifts that of her two golden eyes looking towards the ruins before releasing a relaxed sigh. She turned away from the whole scene and looked back into the direction of the elder 'dragon's home that still contained the sleeping hatchling in it. "So, this is the fate that all of the Anubians befall?" She questioned as she slipped away from the ruins going to the elder 'dragon's home.

Her eyes drifted away for a moment to another way that she used to get here. Her ears shifted at the sound of a pendragon coming up the trial. Her eyes narrowed as she looked to the path and noticed the cream and orange 'dragon coming. "She...she must be someone dear to my love...Tryphaena. Perhaps I can leave Bael in her protection..." She spoke once more releasing the silver rose. It tumbled towards the ground before brusting into sand particles and blowing away into the falling rain.

"Uthat sy uthat. Pots sy Pots." She spoke before shifting once more and going into the direction of the Elder home to get the sleeping Bael.

<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span>
<table class=ooc><tr><td>Last bit is a little cheesy. So sorry! ^^;</td></tr></table>

 

<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span>
<table class=ooc><tr><td>gyah. I can't believe it's been a month. >.< I hate it when time flies!</td></tr></table>

The sight that met Nebai's eyes first was the smoke wafting from the charred husk of a cave that used to be her cousin's home. The second sight was through the fog of smoke - the pyre laid out, burned completely though everything around it was wet, the pyre was dry. A mage had done this.

Nebai didn't know whether to be angry or sad. Scream in rage at the one who had done this, or fall to her belly and weep.

A pale white pendragon was then seen emerging through the mist. Nebai's eyes narrow, but the elder's voice cuts through before Nebai can think, speak, or even react past initial impression. "I was your cousin's neighbor, and I did not kill her. I gave her the pyre she and her husband deserved. Their child, your second cousin, is asleep in my home. If you follow me, I will give him to you."

The elder turns and walks away to a home, a wooden door at the beginning of a cave, just down the muddy road. Nebai's eyes follow her, but she can't bring her feet to follow. She was paralyzed. She expected to be met by the warm hugs of her cousin, to see Pen in his naturally jovial state, and to finally see how their tiny infant cousin was growing.

But now none of that would happen. The quadrupedal pendragon falls to the ground, mournful. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She would be strong. Tears were not helpful, tears were not useful. They impeeded a resolution, they didn't assist it. There would be time for crying and mourning later. For now, she would have to care for her sister, for their infant second cousin now orphaned.

Nebai pauses in her thoughts. The elder hadn't denied her cousin and husband had been killed by accident. That implied murder. But by whom?

Her thoughts are interrupted as her sister joins her.

Temkaja had been reluctant to leave Sah'Dja, she wasn't eager to abandon anyone, but at the urging she was given my their travelling partner, and the urge she felt deep within her gut, she had to go. Her eyes met the same sights that Nebai had, except for the elder. Seeing Nebai sitting, the pale lavender 'dragon knew what happened. She would never be able to explain why, she just did. Being twins meant information was shared, and this information was not hidden behind any barrier.

To her credit, Temkaja didn't run around weeping or tearing at her hair and fur, instead, she sat beside her sister in stioc silence. She wouldn't dare act like a fool. She realy wasn't one, at all. But the care free life and act that went along was too much fun to pass up. When push came to shove, however, the twins were equal in their drive and responsibility.

<span style='color:#E4BB69'>"The elder mentioned having Bael, I think we should go see her."</span> Nebai speaks quitely. Temkaja nods, <span style='color:#818391'>"We will. Let's wait for our companion, she'll likely be lightheaded from her endeavor, and it would be heartless to disappear on her. Bael isn't going anywhere."</span>

~ * ~

The elder stirs the soup she was crafting for when the child awoke. He would be hungry, and confused, and a full belly of warm food was always good for the soul.

She looks up and out her window, seeing a flash of dark movement. Ah. So she was coming back, was she? The elder raises an eyebrow. For Bael, perhaps?

Not likely. Not if she had anything to do with it. The child would go to her kin. If this four-armed dark skinned pendragon wished to watch the hand-off, so be it.

But certainly not before the boy was fed his soup.

 

Kyofu came in through the door of the elder's dwelling before making her way over towards the place where little Bael was sleeping. She comes to a stop at the door and looks in at him. Her ears shifted about and moved as she watched with sorrowful eyes for what she did to go and end the life of Pen and Tryph. A sigh escapes her lips as her eyes dropped feeling that she was going to start crying but the tears never came. She just shook her head and listened to the sounds of it Bael as he moved about in the comfort of his own bed and everything. Why does everything work out with someone being hurt? She though as her eyes became relaxed and shut leaving the single blue eye in the middle of her forehead burning.

Perhaps...it would be best to go and confront the relatives? She dwelled on the thought for quite awhile before deciding to go with the course of action. She shifts her weight and moves back through the cave towards that of the outside. Her eyes drifted over into the direction of the two 'dragons that was sitting there infront of the smoldering ruins of the house. Takes a deep breath then pads over towards them coming to a stop at a few inches, feeling the urge to speak truth, but instead it came out in a sense of a lie.

"I managed my best to get into the building before it brusted into flames. The little one was all that I could find that was still breathing. He was back in his room in a deep sleep as if he knew nothing of the events that took place at the head of the house." She spoke with the most convenicing tone that was to mind. Her eyes drifted away from the two and looked back towards the remains thinking to herself a bit.

 

Nebai looks forward the the remains, taking in everything. She knew she had better remember every detail, for the image would be burned into her memory regardless of whether she wanted it there or not, and it was better to have a more acurate picture, then to let her imagination run terribly rampant with the fudged details.

Temkaja looks up to see the dark four armed 'dragon who had spoken first. Her discernment was at play here. Was she speaking the truth? Was she a bystander? Questions swirled about in the lavender femme's mind over the accident, as it seemed, and the story she had been told by this one, and by the elder through Nebai. She honestly didn't know which way was up.

She lets her eyes drop, and stops searching the eyes of the dark femme. She was too unhappy to think logically, even though she knew she had to pull it together. Both of the twins knew that. And yet their psuedo-paralysis held firm.

Nebai then felt the nudge given by Sah`Dja, and after a moment of hesitation - more from not knowing whether she'd have the strength to move and speak, rather than in protest of the idea - nods, her lips parting to breathe deeply, before clearing her throat. Her eyes held no tears, save the ones the rain had washed onto her muzzle. She would cry later.

<span style='color:#E4BB69'>"I agree. The kiom invited us to her home, so let's see if the invitation hasn't been revoked."</span> She lurches to her feet, and is happy to find her legs sturdy beneath her. She would make it, they all would. Temkaja stands and joins her sister, the two of them walking entirely upon the other - both quadrupedal now, shoulders and hips together as they slowly marched. They hadn't walked like this in a long time - they only did it in times of strife: the physical support of each other was always enough to lift their spirits because of the unspoken message it sent to one another - they weren't alone in the world.

Temkaja looks back and meekly smiles at Sah`Dja, then inclies and flicks her head of the direction of the home - inviting their new companion to come with. Nebai, though she often wasn't one much for words, motions likewise to the dark femme. Perhaps more of a story could be brought to light if she chose to come with the trio.

Either way, the twins move to the door, and knock politely, even though it was slightly open. A delicious smell was wafting from the home, and the warm, homey scent did even more to lift their spirits. Glancing back at their companions, Nebai walks into the home first, followed closely by Temkaja.

~ * ~

The silver elder stirs the soup while idily humming to herself. She heard the knock, but offers no vocal encouragement for the four to enter. She didn't need to, she had left the door cracked open for that purpose. Besides the face that her cooking would entice them further into the abode.

From the kitchen she had a clear view of her living room, upon the low couch Bael was swaddled in a blanket, sleeping deeply and soundlessly. Her aged face crinkles into a warm smile and she temporarily ceases the stirring. So they were in? Good.

"Make yourselves at home. Bael is on the couch, if you want to check him over, and the soup will be ready momentarily." she calls from the kitchen. After this brief announcement, she returns to adding seasonings to her soup. It would be enough to feed them all, assuming they wanted any part.

 

Kyofu moved into the livingroom and sighed. She shook her head lightly and reached her hand up slipping it over her head between her ears before leaning back against the room wall relaxing her eyes a bit. I think it is rather pointless for me to hang around...but I have to know if little Bael is going to have a place to go. She thought to herself folding her ears back and sighing. She opens her eyes again at the faint sound of Bael coming from the very back of the household, in the room at which he was placed.
Just the sounds of his wimpers made her wincing and almost break out in tears, but being what she was...she couldn't bring herself to cry. She merely shook her head and looked over towards the twins and their drunken company. "I feel that there was something I could have done...but what could have done for them? The two parents..." she was silent as her eyes dropped and her arms came up about herself. It was to much to go out and say something. What if she would have said the wrong thing, hinting that she was the one that killed them? She sighed at the thought and moved away from the going over towards the fireplace. She takes up the fire-iron and pokes at it for short while before placing the iron back against the wall where it was.