Crossroads

[Paladienne]

@DragonSong


The sun was beginning to set, panting the sky in pastel colors and reminding him that he was going to have to find shelter soon. And if he didn't find shelter, then he would have to make some himself. Tourmaline was used to roughing it by now. It had been many days since he'd left his own tribe to begin his journey, and he'd learned so much about taking care of himself. And he'd also learned that someone as big as he, someone shaped like he, would be in danger traveling in the dark through areas heavily populated by strangers. He knew he looked like a monster, like something dangerous. He was tall and broad, with fangs and claws, with strange feet and blue/pink scales that traced his body. While most people he'd encountered knew he was a Kulshedra, there were just as many that didn't.

Tourmaline paused in his step as he noticed something glittering on the edge of the riverbank. Canting his head, he studied the glittering object for a moment before he started toward it. Perhaps it would be another gift for the Fire or another member of his tribe, if they expressed interest in it. Tourmaline wasn't about to give up a potential offering, but it had to be the right one. His backpack was full of perfect offerings for the Fire and for the Elder and for his family, but there was always room for more. The more he brought back, perhaps then, the more the Elder and the Fire would know how much his tribe meant to him, and that his choice to leave was just a phase.

Tourmaline dug his clawed toes into the soft earth of the riverbank for traction as he reached the object. Crouching, he reached to pick up the small round white stone, turning it over and over in his hand so it caught all the different rays of the afternoon light. He decided this would make a good offering, too. He palmed the stone, then looked up toward the bank and began to navigate his way back up the incline, his tail gently swinging side to side to help him maintain his balance. Once he was safely on level ground, Tourmaline swung his backpack off his shoulders and crouched, opening it to slip the stone inside. Once he secured his newest acquisition, Tourmaline rose and continued on his way, seeking a suitable place to make camp for the night.

[DragonSong]

"This is the long way around."

Citrine closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. One... Two... "No, it's not," he said calmly, not even bothering to look back at his brother. "This is the same path I take on patrol."

"Yeah. So the long way. The shortcut is--"

"We're not taking a shortcut," he cut Blue off. "Not again. After the last time, I'm surprised you want to."

Blue huffed and pouted. He didn't need to look back to know that's what he was doing. "Yeah, well, it would've been fine if we hadn't gotten got in that damn briar patch..."

"But we did get caught. Because you wanted to take a shortcut. So, forgive me, but I'm not trusting your intuition about this anytime soon," Citrine grumbled. Blue muttered something under his breath, but he wasn't paying attention. Movement up ahead drew his gaze, his ears flicking up, on alert.

"Shhh..."

"I didn't say anyth--"

"Shh!"

For once, Blue listened to him, perhaps sensing the urgency in his brother's stance and tone, or simply having caught the stranger's scent himself. Creeping forward in a hunter's crouch, Citrine flicked his ears up and forward, trying to pinpoint the sounds of footsteps. Just ahead...a little to the left.

Drawing himself up, the bigger kulshedra marched through the underbrush, spear at the ready and mouth curled in a snarl. "You. Stranger. What is your purpose here?"

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline tensed at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, his entire body going rigid as his heart began to hammer in his chest. He kept his hands away from his body, knowing from experience that if he made any sudden moves, the speaker might feel threatened enough to hurt him. Tourmaline didn't have any weapons on his person, but that didn't mean whoever he met along his journey believed he was unarmed. He didn't want to cause trouble if he could keep from it.

Slowly, the young Kulshedra pivoted to face the speaker, his eyes going slightly wide to find that, behind him, were two of his own kind, though definitely not from his own tribe. For a moment, Tourmaline wasn't sure what to do or to say, but he swallowed and did his best to communicate with them as he had others who'd accosted him on his travels. He hoped that they would be able to understand him when he spoke; he didn't speak many languages and though he'd picked up a few words here and there, he couldn't speak much fluently. He tried, but his attempts were mostly laughable.

"I..." Tourmaline started, his voice quiet and almost subdued, "I'm just passing through. Traveling. Seeing the world. Is this your territory? I'm sorry. I was looking for shelter for the night. I'll move on."

[DragonSong]

Citrine and Blue both blinked, caught off guard. They'd caught the stranger's scent easily enough, but hadn't exactly been expecting another kulshedra.

With a sigh, the orange-scaled man rested the butt of his spear in the dirt and leaned on it slightly, stance relaxing. "Where are you from, stranger?" he asked in his tribe's approximation of the kulshedra common tongue: heavily accented, but understandable.

"Citrine..." Blue eyed the trespasser warily, unsure why his brother had let down his guard. "He could be--"

Citrine snorted. "What, Western Peak? No, if he'd been from their tribe he would have already attacked." Turning his attention back to the stranger, he cocked his head. "You lost or something?"

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline blinked, staring at the orange-scaled man called Citrine and then switching his gaze to the younger Kulshedra, taking into consideration the boy's expression. He was afraid. That was something Tourmaline was used to, considering his own tribe's physical attributes, but the fear came, usually, from creatures like humans who had never really interacted with Kulshedra or his tribe before.

But what they were saying, about him being from this Western Peak, about him attacking if he was... he realized, quickly, that he could be in danger here, and the danger wouldn't just be the wild animals and natural hazards that existed in these mountains. The danger would come from his own kind, and he'd lucked out considerably by having Citrine and his companion come across him.

Realizing that Citrine was waiting for an answer, Tourmaline shook his head. "I... I'm not from here. Not from this Western Peak. And I'm not lost. Not really. I'm seeing the world. I just... don't have anywhere to stay for the night, so I was just going to camp out."

He smiled slightly, his lips lifting away to show his fangs for the slightest moment before they fell back into place. "But I don't want any trouble. I'll move on."

[DragonSong]

Well. That was a bit unfortunate.

If he'd been lost, they could have simply pointed him in the right direction and all been on their own ways. As it was...

Another sigh and Citrine twirled his spear around to rest across his shoulders, elbows hooked over the shaft. "Alright. Come back to camp with us then."

Blue gaped. "What?!"

Citrine shrugged. "He's not a threat, and it's not safe out here after dark. Wouldn't feel right to just shove him along. It's not like he'd been any trouble, just for the night."

His little brother stared at him a moment longer, then sighed himself and rocked back on his heels, tilting his head at the stranger. "Well...okay. Whatever you say, Triny."

The older kulshedra rolled his eyes at the pet name, but it was the stranger he addressed. "What's your name?"

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline's eyes went wide, his own shock mirroring Blue's. He couldn't even believe that he was being offered shelter by these two strangers, even just for a night. He blinked slowly, as if trying to figure out whether or not Citrine was telling the truth. He knew from experience that he had to be careful with those he didn't know, because he could very well end up in a worse situation than he currently was in. But... he didn't think that these two were going to hurt him or betray him somehow. It wouldn't be a good idea if he dropped his guard entirely, of course, but he couldn't get through life without trusting someone. So he had a choice to make.

He did need shelter, and they were offering it. And there was safety in numbers, especially if, as he figured, this area was far more dangerous than he'd originally believed it to be. Making his choice, Tourmaline offered a slight smile.

"I'm called Tourmaline." he said, doing his best not to let his smile grow any wider and show his fangs. "Thank you, for your offer. But I don't want to cause any trouble for you."

[DragonSong]

The older kulshedra smiled slightly and held out his hand. "Citrine. Well met, Tourmaline."

He nodded his head toward Blue. "My brother here is called Blue. And you're not causing trouble for us. We'd rather you'd spend the night safe in our camp than get picked up by some Western Peak boys."

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline nodded at Citrine and at Blue, accepting their titles without much argument. Still, he was uncertain about following them back to their camp, sure he would only cause more trouble than he really wanted to be responsible for. But, he was also curious about why they would mistake him for someone from this Western Peak tribe, and why they seemed to hate that tribe so. He could infer several reasons why, because his tribe often had skirmishes and issues with neighboring tribes, not necessarily all Kulshedra, but Citrine's words held a bit of anger in them, and Tourmaline could only imagine why.

"I..." He could argue, he really could, but somehow arguing seemed pointless. Citrine seemed to have made up his mind. "Thank you."

He fell into step with the two other Kulshedra as they began to head to this camp of theirs, and was quiet for a time, trying to gather the courage to ask the questions that were roiling in his mind. He wasn't sure, though, if he should ask, or what to expect if he did.

Tourmaline swallowed and asked quietly, "This Western Peak, are they that dangerous?"

[DragonSong]

Walking just a few paces ahead of the other two, Citrine's shoulders stiffened. Blue noted the subtle change to his brother's stance and lowered his head with a soft sigh.

"We think their Fire is dying," the younger man murmured in response to Tourmaline's question. "They're...they're desperate. They've been trying to get to our camp, our Fire, for years now. We've lost a lot of good warriors to them..."

Citrine abruptly cut him off with a sharp, "Look lively, the path gets narrow here," as they suddenly found themselves emerging from the foliage to walk along a narrow path set into the side of a steep stone slope.

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline made a soft noise at the mention of the Fire dying. He couldn't even begin to imagine something like that happening. The Fire was the most precious, priceless thing a tribe could have to care for. It was their god, their everything. For a tribe to allow their Fire to die it was... blasphemy. Unthinkable. It resonated even more with him because he knew, when he returned to his own tribe, his responsibility would be to the Fire. He would be responsible for it, guarding it, caring for it, making sure it burned bright and strong. He couldn't even begin to imagine letting his tribe's Fire die. He'd sooner die himself than allow that to happen.

He wasn't sure what to say to comfort Blue. It was clear that the conflict had cost the young Kulshedra and his brother quite a bit. What that was, Tourmaline wasn't sure, and he didn't have the courage to ask, especially since Citrine had barked orders so sharply. It was clear, then, that whatever had happened had been especially bitter for Citrine, and he didn't want to tell the tale. That was fine with Tourmaline; either the tale would be told, or it wouldn't. He wouldn't pry.

He turned his attention to the path as Citrine ordered, carefully maneuvering his feet to not only prevent himself from slipping and sliding down the path, but also not to step on his companions. Tourmaline had had plenty of practice walking down - and up - slopes such as this, but never with anyone so close to him. He had to concentrate in order to make sure he was stepping safely, but he was definitely holding his breath somewhat until they reached safe ground again.

"Your camp must be well-protected," Tourmaline observed as he walked, "if this is how you get to it."

[DragonSong]

"Well, it is now." Blue glanced at Citrine's back, and when his brother didn't tell him to shut up, continued, "We moved a few years back, when-- when the war started getting bad. It was dangerous, the Elder was against it, but we just had to. We weren't safe in the old camp anymore."

"Just watch where I step," Citrine tossed back over his shoulder. "There's a trick to this path. We've known these foothills all our lives, so we have an advantage. But outsiders tend to have trouble."

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline nodded, understanding Blue's reasoning. His Elder probably would've made the same decision had his tribe been facing the same problems as Citrine and Blue's was. At Citrine's words, though, Tourmaline stopped his talking and decided to hold his questions for later, watching where the other Kulshedra stepped and following him as close as he could without bowling him over. His claws dug into the earth to hold his balance, but he needed to stick out his arms at some point in order to keep his balance even more and keep from tumbling off the side of the trail.

He would definitely breathe easier when they reached more stable ground, Tourmaline decided, but until then, he had to carefully follow Citrine's instructions. It wasn't like he hadn't traveled over uneven ground or through dangerous places, but Citrine was right; an outsider who didn't know what he was doing could easily get hurt, whether it was his fault for being inattentive or because of a series of unfortunate events. Tourmaline had seen it somewhat often during his travels, and had learned what to look out for, but sometimes it was the unseen and unknown that made even known dangers come from different sources.

When they reached a stable place, Tourmaline paused to take in the view, committing everything to memory. "Thank you," he said at last, his voice low, "thank you, for allowing me this. I'll leave in the morning, if you're willing to guide me back out."

[DragonSong]

Citrine paused, allowing Blue to pick his way ahead of the other two-- they were almost to camp, and he knew his brother would be anxious to inform everyone of what had happened on their patrol.

He watched Tourmaline's face, head tilted slightly, almost curious. "Yeah, well...don't thank me just yet. Our Elder's not gonna kick you out or anything, but the tribe is-- well. Everyone's a little wary, these days."

He sighed quietly and rubbed at the back of his neck, then shook his head, forcing himself into the present. "Come on. Here, this last bit can be rough."

Without thinking, he reached out to take the other kulshedra's arm, as he sometimes did with the younglings when he would escort them to or from camp.

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline was shocked as Citrine reached back and to touch him. It was something he hadn't expected, nor was it something he was used to. He wasn't sure if he should allow Citrine to grasp his arm in order to guide him down the path or take a step back and put himself out of reach and navigate down the rest of the way himself. His indecision proved to be his undoing, though, as the moment Citrine's hand closed around his arm, Tourmaline took a step back out of uncertainty and his foot slipped.

Gasping and reaching out for anything to help him catch himself, Tourmaline found himself falling backwards, and unconsciously latched his hand onto Citrine's arm. He hit the ground hard on his back, cracking his head upon the hard stone, and then found the breath driven out of him further as Citrine landed on top of him, having been pulled down by Tourmaline's own momentum. Lying stunned beneath the other Kulshedra, Tourmaline squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe, sucking in air through his mouth as he tried to inflate his lungs and force the pain in his head, back, tail, and ankle away.

When he thought he could form words again, he opened his eyes and looked at Citrine, trying not to grimace. "I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry."

He released Citrine and made to push him off, moving slow and hoping the other Kulshedra didn't think he was a clumsy fool. Only once Citrine was standing did Tourmaline try to stand himself, hissing softly as pain shot up his leg.

[DragonSong]

Citrine had approximately half a second to regret reaching out to a total stranger the way he did-- i.e. like a dumbass-- before said stranger was pitching sideways and they both went crashing tot he ground.

"First Fires!" he swore, wincing both as he hit Tourmaline's chest and as he heard the other kulshedra's head crack against the rock. He stared down into his face, slightly slack-jawed, as he apologized. "It's...not your fault..." he mumbled stupidly.

Then he realized he was sill laying across Tourmaline's body and quickly stood, unintentionally dragging Tourmaline with him as he had forgotten to release his grip on the other man's arm. "Oh. Um, sorry..."

Hands to yourself. Wincing again, he snatched his hands back, doing his best not to meet the other kulshedra's eyes. Then Tourmaline winced and hissed and he snapped his attention back to him. "Oh, shit. Are you hurt?"

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline reached to massage his ankle, hoping it was just bruised and not twisted. He didn't want to be so badly injured that he couldn't continue on his journey, and such that he had to impose on Citrine and Citrine's tribe longer than just the night. His fingers manipulating and palpating the flesh, he could feel anything broken. It definitely hurt, but he decided he could still walk, and it would still support his weight.

At Citrine's question, he shook his head. "No, no, I think I'm fine."

He was glad Citrine wasn't trying to touch him anymore. He felt bad that he'd recoiled initially, and felt even worse that he'd brought Citrine down with him. He tried to give the other man a smile, but that quickly turned into a grimace as he tried to put weight on his ankle in order to push himself up to stand. It supported him, but it was certainly protesting that. Just like his head was protesting his cruel treatment of it.

Somehow, Tourmaline managed to stand, but it was clear that he wouldn't be able to continue any further without help. When he took a step, he couldn't do it without limping. He looked at Citrine apologetically.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not fine." He laughed softly, lifting his shoulders in a simple shrug. "I hate to be such a burden to you. I should be more used to walking on mountain trails."

He took a hopping step, but even moving like that would be slow going. Tourmaline clenched his jaw until his teeth began to hurt. Could he possibly be any more clumsy? And could it possibly get any worse? He felt like such a fool.

[DragonSong]

"Easy there." Citrine couldn't help smiling crookedly as he reached out to steady the other man. "Look, no one's gonna fault you for gettin' a bit tripped up. It's tricky paths here, even for those of us that've walked the mountains all our lives. Here."

He reached out again to loop Tourmaline's arm over his shoulder, then suddenly hesitated. "Ah-- is it okay-- I mean do you mind if I...?" He trailed off, cheeks a little warm.

[Paladienne]

Tourmaline blinked rapidly as Citrine reached for him again. He couldn't seem to find his voice, and could only stare dumbly at the other man. He wasn't a stranger to offered help, but he seemed surprised that Citrine was asking if he could help him, and he wasn't angry at Tourmaline's clumsiness. He was even smiling, like he was amused by it. And he recognized the sudden unwillingness to touch him, considering that he'd flinched when Citrine had first grabbed him arm.

Which was how he'd ended up slipping and falling, with Citrine landing on top of him.

Chalking his hesitance to the blow his head had taken upon landing, Tourmaline gave the other Kulshedra a somewhat uncertain and shy smile. It wasn't Citrine's fault that Tourmaline wasn't used to being touched by strangers. Perhaps other Kulshedra freely touched each other when they met others, both of their kind and not, he wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of was that his own tribe kept their distance from strangers, even other Kulshedra, and avoided being touched by the outsider. Maybe out of superstition that being touched by an outsider would drive them to want to leave the tribe? Tourmaline didn't know. After all, he hadn't been inspired to leave by a few innocuous touches; he'd been inspired to leave because of the stories the wanderer had told, stories that had made the outside world seem so exciting.

Which it was. But it was dangerous too.

"Uh..." Tourmaline started, uncertain how to answer. But, really, there was no way he was going to make it to camp without help. His ankle wouldn't allow him to do so. And he didn't think that Citrine was going to go on ahead, even if Tourmaline could walk on his own. "S-sure. I'm sorry. I really am."

He let Citrine hook his arm over his shoulder and did his best not to let the other man take too much of his weight. It would just be until they reached the camp, after all.

"Thank you," Tourmaline said quietly, his blue eyes on the ground. "I'm usually not such a burden."

[DragonSong]

"Hey, it's...it's fine." Citrine smiled again, though honestly he wasn't quite sure himself why he was acting the way he was. Sure, it would've been just callous to let Tourmaline limp along on his own, but...well, why did he care so much about a stranger's comfort? A stranger who would be gone in a day?

Maybe because just that. Because he was a stranger. Someone new that he didn't have to fight for once.

It was refreshing.

"Just take it easy, alright?" Citrine cautioned as they picked their way down the path, toward the camp. Fire, Blue was never going to let him live this down. He could already hear all the "slow old man" jokes.