Post by Nyssa on May 1, 2010 13:08:23 GMT -5
The Pristine Lake
Kein, Nyssa
The Guide has been silent she leaving her in a whirlwind last night, and while she has not been at a complete loss, she does feel as though a part of her has gone missing. It really is just another part of her being, and when not there she cannot be whole. Nyssa has not gone very far from the woods, and she has managed to force herself north, to the lake, back in the direction she came. Not because she wants to, no; she needs to find whatever it is deeper in those woods but she will not tread so unwelcome on a chieftain's lands... And so she waits, he had said to her, "Tomorrow," though whatever the morning brings to her, it certainly has not been piece of mind. Nor breakfast. She sits near the edge of the lake, one paw dipped into the water, breaking the glass-like surface in absentmindedness as she stares off down into the valley below.
If winter brought Kein one thing, it was sleep. Not an excessive amount, but enough, at least. With the snow slowly melting, just a little more everyday, that trend is unlikely to continue, and Kein is still dragging as he finally reaches the lake that is outside of his land. By the time he gave up on finding any food last night, the moon was nearly directly overheard. Were it not for the longer nights, he probably would not have gotten any rest at all, before the bright sun pulled him from his sleep. Suffice it to say, if anyone is counting on him for food today, they are likely to go hungry, because he wants nothing more than to return to his den and rest. Once, that is, he finds out what Nyssa wants of him.
My, it seems as though the predators are slowing down just at the time they should be readying themselves for the bounty to be had ahead; or perhaps it's just a little too early yet. There is little to Nyssa's expression that says she was concentrating on anything in particular, but there is a fleeting and familiar tug at the fur around her ears that rouses her, pulling her attention back to the forest behind her. She pulls her paw from the water and sets it into the wet snow, calling gently, "Chieftain," before pausing only briefly to examine him from the distance; his gait is tired, no, exhausted. And then, softly, "You came."
"Nyssa." Kein stops a short distance from the female. As he speaks, he remains standing. "I learned early, the value of sticking to my word." And the severe pain it can cause him when, for whatever reason, he fails. He does not push, does not immediately ask her why she asked him to come out here. If he is at all curious, it is muted by his exhaustion.
"Sit, Chieftain, you are tired. Rest, and I will tell you." That said, she nods once and settles to her haunches, wrapping her long, thick tail around her paws. The female watches him for just a moment before beginning what feels like a story, a tale woven for the very young during the dead stillness of a heavy winter. "You and I, Chieftain, are of different tribes with different beliefs. I know that there are many of us in the world, all doing what we think is best for others and ourselves, not knowing others who exist in our lives. You and I, we have never met, yet I look at your face, your markings-- the hot ready of newly autumned leaves, well, I feel as though I know you, Chieftain." Nyssa pauses a moment, staring at Kein's face, tracing the simple lines found there, until she focuses on something hidden deep behind his eyes. "I do not mean to frighten you."
Kein stares at Nyssa for a moment, before accepting her advice once she starts speaking, as it seems it may be something of a long speech. As he watches, as presumably listens to, her, his expression remains blankly neutral. Although Amaranth has a spiritual foundation, although he has seen proof enough of things outside his perception, in his lifetime, he finds it hard to accept ramblings such as these at face value. Once she pauses in her speaking, he blinks, then says, "I think it would take a great deal more than that to frighten me. But you've yet to tell me what you /want/."
Nyssa smiles, genuinely, and her eyes soften around the edges at Kein's question in silent laughter. "I want nothing from you, Chieftain." And then she looks away, far to the northwest, where her paws had carries her from over great time and distance, and sighs gently. "My tribe speaks of the Great Mother, a cougar who brought the knowledge of our Guides to us, and showed us that from the moment of our being, before we can hear, or see, or speak, or even know our mother's gentle touch... our Guide is with us. They teach us, watch us." From behind, perhaps Kein could see the smile playing at her lips, "I know you have trouble accepting this; I know you know of it, but your eyes show your doubt. But that is not why I'm here." Nyssa looks back at him once again, shaking her head. "I can't answer your question, Chieftain, not the way you would wish it answered. But what I want is to know why I was Guided here, and something deep inside me tells me that you are part of it."
Kein is uncertain whether it is just a common trait of all females, that they must speak in circles, or whether it's his own failing that he can't always grasp what they are trying to tell him. She wants nothing from him, but she wants to know why she is here and believes he is part of it. To him, the two ideas seem contradictory. At least, he stubbornly tells himself that. After a long moment spent trying to figure out what to say, he replies, "Knowing as much as you do, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that /I/ don't have the answer as to why you believe what you do, why you think you've been called to me." He's not being rude. He's not trying to be, anyway. Mostly, he just doesn't understand.
Her ears curl forward, a subtle and delicate tilt, and sit very neatly on top of her head as Kein speaks, and almost so lightly that it may not be seen, shakes her head. "But I don't know," she whispers, the breeze picking up around the two of them to carry that delicate sound all the way to Kein's ears before it vanished into nothing. Once the sound has left her ears, her smile returns and she glances to each side of her, and up to the cloudless morning, "My Guide has been quiet since I've arrived, and for whatever reason refuses to tell me anything more. I've asked, pleaded almost, for an answer that will set my paws in motion again... but I haven't heard. Kein," she suddenly says to him, her eyes falling to his face with a seriousness, an urgency behind them, "The air is so very heavy on your lands, and I am sorry for that. No Chieftain should have such a struggle as you. I won't ask why, it is not my place, but I will say that I am sorry. The whole weight of an entire tribe is not one creature's task alone..."
Kein has often felt overwhelmed, and has at least as often felt unappreciated. So often, in fact, that he is accustomed to it, and when Nyssa speaks, he foolishly takes it as an affront to his pride, his ability to see to the safety of this tribe. As such, lifting his head, he says, "It is my job, and I have never complained." Not aloud, anyway. After his initial response, he shakes his head, a response to his internal, and constant, judgment of himself, before adding, "I appreciate the sentiment. Truly. But do not feel sorry for me because I have a home that I have earned with every scar I carry, children who have grown up safe, and a mate who... who is fulfilled."
"And what about you?" comes Nyssa's whispered response, green eyes soften but wide as she takes in Kein's response as though the responsibility was all her own; and perhaps it is, after all, how is she to know what life was like before she stepped over the threshold into Amaranth. But she knows that it is her responsibility to do something, at least. Is Kein happy? She wonders this as her brow gently furrows, maw open just slightly as she takes in a short breath. What about Kein?
How could he claim to not be happy without betraying absolutely everything he has worked for all of these years? He ought to be baring his teeth at the merest insinuation that there is any chance that he is not absolutely thrilled with everything, as it is. He doesn't, though. "I chose my path a long time ago, Nyssa. I am..." He trails off, tilting his head as he looks at her. Why should he be speaking to her about this at all? "I am committed, and I would never back down on that commitment." Whether he is happy doesn't matter. It never has, really. Not to him.
They watch each other. A moment passes by. Nyssa allows her eyes to flutter closed, and they squeeze shut for just a second, forcing what might have been a tear away from them. When her eyes open again, they are gentle, but saddened, "Nor should you," she gives him in response, voice just above a whisper, and she tears her attention away from him. He is lost, without his Guide; he is one without Purpose, to her tribe, and it is one of the most heart wrenching things for the young female to bear. Though she and Kein have never truly met, deep within her she feels bounds to his existence in someway. She mentions none of this, though, and instead tries to strengthen her voice a little. "You are honorable, Chieftain; there are many who would admire that of you. But what of a Chieftain? Who looks after him?"
Kein stares at Nyssa for a moment longer. Is that not what he really wanted, when he was told his mother was to return to him. Has he not often been disappointed, that he thought he was once more going to have her, to express to her his fears and worries, only to have that foolish hope taken from him? Again, he shakes his head to his own internal thoughts. "Again. I appreciate your sentiment. But I do not need looking after. I am not some cub." No. He's a foolhardy, stubborn, adult.
From across the lake, a crisp but soft breeze comes eddying over the water, and Nyssa closes her eyes and tunes her ears to its approach as a sadness washes over her face. She stills her body for just a moment as the air rushes from behind her, swirling around her pelt before whisking past Kein and up, up into the pale sky and... is gone. She feels it, and follows it, and when her eyes open they are staring at thin, wispy clouds that have begun to drift above them. "No," she says, dropping her head and rising to her paws, setting her forelimbs in motion with effortless grace, "No, you are not," she assents before beginning to move off, in search of a meal, perhaps, or some rest, or perhaps even her Guide. "Until later, Chieftain," she mouths to herself without looking back.
Kein stares after Nyssa as she departs abruptly. He came her because she asked him too. But that says nothing of why he stayed for so long, or why he finds himself oddly... disappointed, when she departs. He does not have the words, however, to keep her here. He's not even sure what half of what was already said /means/, and after a time, he frowns and turns to head back to his territory.
Kein, Nyssa
The Guide has been silent she leaving her in a whirlwind last night, and while she has not been at a complete loss, she does feel as though a part of her has gone missing. It really is just another part of her being, and when not there she cannot be whole. Nyssa has not gone very far from the woods, and she has managed to force herself north, to the lake, back in the direction she came. Not because she wants to, no; she needs to find whatever it is deeper in those woods but she will not tread so unwelcome on a chieftain's lands... And so she waits, he had said to her, "Tomorrow," though whatever the morning brings to her, it certainly has not been piece of mind. Nor breakfast. She sits near the edge of the lake, one paw dipped into the water, breaking the glass-like surface in absentmindedness as she stares off down into the valley below.
If winter brought Kein one thing, it was sleep. Not an excessive amount, but enough, at least. With the snow slowly melting, just a little more everyday, that trend is unlikely to continue, and Kein is still dragging as he finally reaches the lake that is outside of his land. By the time he gave up on finding any food last night, the moon was nearly directly overheard. Were it not for the longer nights, he probably would not have gotten any rest at all, before the bright sun pulled him from his sleep. Suffice it to say, if anyone is counting on him for food today, they are likely to go hungry, because he wants nothing more than to return to his den and rest. Once, that is, he finds out what Nyssa wants of him.
My, it seems as though the predators are slowing down just at the time they should be readying themselves for the bounty to be had ahead; or perhaps it's just a little too early yet. There is little to Nyssa's expression that says she was concentrating on anything in particular, but there is a fleeting and familiar tug at the fur around her ears that rouses her, pulling her attention back to the forest behind her. She pulls her paw from the water and sets it into the wet snow, calling gently, "Chieftain," before pausing only briefly to examine him from the distance; his gait is tired, no, exhausted. And then, softly, "You came."
"Nyssa." Kein stops a short distance from the female. As he speaks, he remains standing. "I learned early, the value of sticking to my word." And the severe pain it can cause him when, for whatever reason, he fails. He does not push, does not immediately ask her why she asked him to come out here. If he is at all curious, it is muted by his exhaustion.
"Sit, Chieftain, you are tired. Rest, and I will tell you." That said, she nods once and settles to her haunches, wrapping her long, thick tail around her paws. The female watches him for just a moment before beginning what feels like a story, a tale woven for the very young during the dead stillness of a heavy winter. "You and I, Chieftain, are of different tribes with different beliefs. I know that there are many of us in the world, all doing what we think is best for others and ourselves, not knowing others who exist in our lives. You and I, we have never met, yet I look at your face, your markings-- the hot ready of newly autumned leaves, well, I feel as though I know you, Chieftain." Nyssa pauses a moment, staring at Kein's face, tracing the simple lines found there, until she focuses on something hidden deep behind his eyes. "I do not mean to frighten you."
Kein stares at Nyssa for a moment, before accepting her advice once she starts speaking, as it seems it may be something of a long speech. As he watches, as presumably listens to, her, his expression remains blankly neutral. Although Amaranth has a spiritual foundation, although he has seen proof enough of things outside his perception, in his lifetime, he finds it hard to accept ramblings such as these at face value. Once she pauses in her speaking, he blinks, then says, "I think it would take a great deal more than that to frighten me. But you've yet to tell me what you /want/."
Nyssa smiles, genuinely, and her eyes soften around the edges at Kein's question in silent laughter. "I want nothing from you, Chieftain." And then she looks away, far to the northwest, where her paws had carries her from over great time and distance, and sighs gently. "My tribe speaks of the Great Mother, a cougar who brought the knowledge of our Guides to us, and showed us that from the moment of our being, before we can hear, or see, or speak, or even know our mother's gentle touch... our Guide is with us. They teach us, watch us." From behind, perhaps Kein could see the smile playing at her lips, "I know you have trouble accepting this; I know you know of it, but your eyes show your doubt. But that is not why I'm here." Nyssa looks back at him once again, shaking her head. "I can't answer your question, Chieftain, not the way you would wish it answered. But what I want is to know why I was Guided here, and something deep inside me tells me that you are part of it."
Kein is uncertain whether it is just a common trait of all females, that they must speak in circles, or whether it's his own failing that he can't always grasp what they are trying to tell him. She wants nothing from him, but she wants to know why she is here and believes he is part of it. To him, the two ideas seem contradictory. At least, he stubbornly tells himself that. After a long moment spent trying to figure out what to say, he replies, "Knowing as much as you do, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that /I/ don't have the answer as to why you believe what you do, why you think you've been called to me." He's not being rude. He's not trying to be, anyway. Mostly, he just doesn't understand.
Her ears curl forward, a subtle and delicate tilt, and sit very neatly on top of her head as Kein speaks, and almost so lightly that it may not be seen, shakes her head. "But I don't know," she whispers, the breeze picking up around the two of them to carry that delicate sound all the way to Kein's ears before it vanished into nothing. Once the sound has left her ears, her smile returns and she glances to each side of her, and up to the cloudless morning, "My Guide has been quiet since I've arrived, and for whatever reason refuses to tell me anything more. I've asked, pleaded almost, for an answer that will set my paws in motion again... but I haven't heard. Kein," she suddenly says to him, her eyes falling to his face with a seriousness, an urgency behind them, "The air is so very heavy on your lands, and I am sorry for that. No Chieftain should have such a struggle as you. I won't ask why, it is not my place, but I will say that I am sorry. The whole weight of an entire tribe is not one creature's task alone..."
Kein has often felt overwhelmed, and has at least as often felt unappreciated. So often, in fact, that he is accustomed to it, and when Nyssa speaks, he foolishly takes it as an affront to his pride, his ability to see to the safety of this tribe. As such, lifting his head, he says, "It is my job, and I have never complained." Not aloud, anyway. After his initial response, he shakes his head, a response to his internal, and constant, judgment of himself, before adding, "I appreciate the sentiment. Truly. But do not feel sorry for me because I have a home that I have earned with every scar I carry, children who have grown up safe, and a mate who... who is fulfilled."
"And what about you?" comes Nyssa's whispered response, green eyes soften but wide as she takes in Kein's response as though the responsibility was all her own; and perhaps it is, after all, how is she to know what life was like before she stepped over the threshold into Amaranth. But she knows that it is her responsibility to do something, at least. Is Kein happy? She wonders this as her brow gently furrows, maw open just slightly as she takes in a short breath. What about Kein?
How could he claim to not be happy without betraying absolutely everything he has worked for all of these years? He ought to be baring his teeth at the merest insinuation that there is any chance that he is not absolutely thrilled with everything, as it is. He doesn't, though. "I chose my path a long time ago, Nyssa. I am..." He trails off, tilting his head as he looks at her. Why should he be speaking to her about this at all? "I am committed, and I would never back down on that commitment." Whether he is happy doesn't matter. It never has, really. Not to him.
They watch each other. A moment passes by. Nyssa allows her eyes to flutter closed, and they squeeze shut for just a second, forcing what might have been a tear away from them. When her eyes open again, they are gentle, but saddened, "Nor should you," she gives him in response, voice just above a whisper, and she tears her attention away from him. He is lost, without his Guide; he is one without Purpose, to her tribe, and it is one of the most heart wrenching things for the young female to bear. Though she and Kein have never truly met, deep within her she feels bounds to his existence in someway. She mentions none of this, though, and instead tries to strengthen her voice a little. "You are honorable, Chieftain; there are many who would admire that of you. But what of a Chieftain? Who looks after him?"
Kein stares at Nyssa for a moment longer. Is that not what he really wanted, when he was told his mother was to return to him. Has he not often been disappointed, that he thought he was once more going to have her, to express to her his fears and worries, only to have that foolish hope taken from him? Again, he shakes his head to his own internal thoughts. "Again. I appreciate your sentiment. But I do not need looking after. I am not some cub." No. He's a foolhardy, stubborn, adult.
From across the lake, a crisp but soft breeze comes eddying over the water, and Nyssa closes her eyes and tunes her ears to its approach as a sadness washes over her face. She stills her body for just a moment as the air rushes from behind her, swirling around her pelt before whisking past Kein and up, up into the pale sky and... is gone. She feels it, and follows it, and when her eyes open they are staring at thin, wispy clouds that have begun to drift above them. "No," she says, dropping her head and rising to her paws, setting her forelimbs in motion with effortless grace, "No, you are not," she assents before beginning to move off, in search of a meal, perhaps, or some rest, or perhaps even her Guide. "Until later, Chieftain," she mouths to herself without looking back.
Kein stares after Nyssa as she departs abruptly. He came her because she asked him too. But that says nothing of why he stayed for so long, or why he finds himself oddly... disappointed, when she departs. He does not have the words, however, to keep her here. He's not even sure what half of what was already said /means/, and after a time, he frowns and turns to head back to his territory.