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The Guiles of Fortune [Atalia]

Started by Ahnnie, November 24, 2014, 11:36:09 AM

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Ahnnie

Kaye blinked in the sunlight, completely taken aback by the sudden change in scenery. Where he once had been standing on tropical ground, surrounded by island flora and the occasional calls of exotic birds, he was now in a pastoral meadow with trees here and there and a forest to be seen in the distance. The landscape was reminiscent of the milder countries, such as Connlaoth or Serendipity. But he did not know how he got here. All he had done was step through a crack between two trees, and...

Oh, it suddenly hit him then. This is the Meeting Place.

He had heard of it before, mentioned by many a traveler he had met on the road as a place connected to all other places in the world by way of magical access points. He believed then that what he had stepped through was such an access point. Turning around, he saw what looked like a little hollow in a rock behind him, and he surmised that that must be the access point he could use to go back to Thanatos.

This was something new and unexpected completely. He had been planning on coming to the Meeting Place for some time, but always things had just stood in the way. Now that he was here, he could explore it all he wanted, and possibly discover other access points to other countries so that his traveling could be done a little easier. The magic of the Meeting Place also protected those without weapons, so unless he brought a weapon with him (which he didn't really own, seeing as he wasn't part of the Temple caste), he would also be safe whilst he traversed the place.

Atalia

It had been a hectic morning for Atalia. Firstly, she had lost track of her best and sweetest companion, Trill. He was a little yellow songbird who had found it in his interest to fly off into the mountainside and leave her stranded, unable to find her way back to her small cave. "Trill?" She called hopelessly, seeming to fold in slightly on herself. After listening to her voice echo a few times throughout the area, she took in a large exasperated breath and reached her hands out in front of her. Without a guide bird at her side, she was completely and utterly lost. So it was that she went about the area cautiously and almost painfully slow. Her slightly pointed ears perked up and she shivered, when suddenly the thin air and frigid environment changed completely in a matter of seconds.

"W-what...? Atalia's mouth gaped open and a shock went through her nerve endings causing her to yelp. The young seer stood ridged for the span of a second before quickly reaching out to try and feel for her surroundings. Her hands immediately caught onto a tree, and from the feel of it, it wasn't like any trees (the few there were) that inhabited the mountainside. Shaking, Atalia's eyebrows furrowed and she called out hesitantly, "...Trill?...Anyone?"

What on earth had happened? She most definitely wasn't anywhere near her home anymore..

Ahnnie

Hmm, where should I begin? the fortuneteller thought as he walked down the slope. The air was nice and cool, not as warm as the tropics, but pleasant enough for a man like him to go about shirtless, as he always did. To a Thanati like him, it was completely normal, even desired since it was also done to display his tatoos. Kaye had little in the way of piercings, having only four studs on either ear, although that might change soon in the near future.

But anyway, he wasn't sure if the Meeting Place had any notable locations to it. So far it seemed like meadow terrain with the occasional tree and forest. He wondered why there were no houses or buildings here--it was such a nice place to live, and one could be free of wars or conflicts as long as one had no weapons.

As he was pondering this he heard a young woman's voice calling out reticently: "...Trill?...Anyone?"

He looked to his left and saw in the distance said young woman hugging a tree and looking very disoriented. Curious, he came up to her slowly.

"Hello there, miss," he called out to her in Common. His Common was just as good as the next Kunata Thanati-man although perhaps with a slight tropic accent, but it was still very legible. "Are you all right? What seems to be the matter?" When he came up to her he could see that she had delicate features, the fair skin of the mainlanders, fiery red hair and gentle blue eyes. In short, she was quite pretty. But there seemed to be something about her that caused Kaye to think she was extremely vulnerable here. Maybe it was the way she was holding onto the tree? He shrugged to himself, deciding to wait for her answer before he came any closer.

Atalia

At the sound of a voice somewhere off to her right, the fiery redhead made a small sound of surprise and jumped out of her skin from fright. "W-who are you? Where am I?" Without even realizing it Atalia, in her fear, had broken off a small branch from the tree she was grasping and was now brandishing it like a weapon. Upon realizing this, a red blush fell over her face and neck and it even went as far as her pointed ears. She dropped the stick like it was on fire and pulled her hands behind her back. "Uh...Sorry." The seer smiled sheepishly, bowing her head in apology. As her head lowered, a curtain of red thick hair fell down across her face, covering it completely. After a moment she lifted her eyes, unfocused as they were, in the general direction of the stranger. Atalia grasped at the tree once more, biting her lip. "I seem to be...Uh..Rather lost. My friend, Trill, ran off and left me in the mountainside..That of which I'm obviously not in anymore." A nervous laugh fell from her plush pink lips and she started plucking leaves off one of the branches of the tree. Without the young woman realizing it, a few leaves lodged themselves into her long thick hair as she went about her task.




Ahnnie

The young woman seemed frightened when she heard Kaye's voice. "W-who are you? Where am I?" While it was understandable that she might be a first-time visitor to the Meeting Place (and unexpectedly so, as Kaye had been), the Thanati didn't know why she practically jolted when she heard him speak. Hadn't she seen him when he was coming up to her?

"Everything's all right, miss," Kaye reassured her. "I am no enemy."

Then a branch on which her hand had been resting broke off, and in her defensiveness she held it out before her as one would a dagger. Kaye arched an eyebrow at this, taken aback by how suspicious she was of him, but then she blushed and dropped the stick. "Uh...Sorry." She gave him a sheepish smile and lowered her head so that her thick red hair covered her face. Her gesture reminded Kaye of a child caught in a mischievous action, waiting to be reprimanded.

A little while later she lifted her head up again, although when she directed her gaze to Kaye, it was...different, he supposed, than from how other people looked at one another. It was like...she was seeing him, but then, not seeing him. How was this so? Kaye scratched his head in confusion and then listened to her as she went back to gripping the tree and said: "I seem to be...Uh...Rather lost. My friend, Trill, ran off and left me in the mountainside..That of which I'm obviously not in anymore." Chuckling nervously, she began to pick the leaves from a nearby branch.

"The mountainside?" Kaye echoed. "This friend of yours sounds quite horrible for abandoning you like that. Well, this is no mountainside, that's for sure. This is the Meeting Place. Have you heard of it?"

When he noticed the leaves planting themselves in her hair, he came closer ever so slowly--this young woman proved to be quite skittish!--he loosely gestured toward one of the leaves, touching its tip lightly. "Ah, you seem to be collecting leaves in your red locks, miss."


Atalia

"Well..Trill isn't exactly.." Atalia trailed off, unable to think of the right words. "..Human." She offered lamely after a moment of silence. "He's a bird you see, and he gets easily frightened. There was some larger animal, a wolf I believe...At least that's what it smelled like, who had been trailing us for a while. It was harmless, but Trill didn't know that." The young seer gave a slight shrug and opened her mouth to speak when the young man interrupted.

"Well, this is no mountainside, that's for sure. This is the Meeting Place. Have you heard of it?"

With a tilt of her head, Atalia's facial expression morphed to one of curiosity and wonder. She shook her head and leaned over as if she was a child listening intently to a bedtime story. "No I've never heard of it..Not even a whisper." At the sound of the man's approaching footsteps, the redhead stiffened and when he reached to lightly tap one of the leaves in her thick hair, she jumped again, startled. Like some small frightened animal, she attempted to flee...But doing so was a difficult task when her world was grey and sightless. Instead, she found herself sprawled across the forest floor just in time to hear the man speak.

"Ah, you seem to be collecting leaves in your red locks, miss." But his comment was all together too late for any effect. She was already thoroughly embarrassed. "Perhaps..When you find the need to come closer to me..You tell me first..Yes?" Breathless, Atalia attempted to wipe the dirt from her palms. "Or else I might do that again..And that is something I would very much like to pretend never happened.." The young seer let out a small nervous chuckle, attempting to regain her composure.

Ahnnie

So Trill was a bird. In that case, Kaye had made a mistake. When he heard her story of the wolf, he could then understand why Trill had left her like that. He nodded knowingly, and sympathized with her again when he heard she didn't know of the Meeting Place. Not even he did, until those travelers told him, and then he came here coincidentally. What baffled him most of all, however, was her reaction to his touch--or rather, indirect touch, since he had only just poked the leaf. What did she do but fall right down onto the ground?

"M-miss?" Kaye asked, bewildered.

"Perhaps..When you find the need to come closer to me..You tell me first...Yes?" she asked him breathlessly. "Or else I might do that again..And that is something I would very much like to pretend never happened.." She chuckled nervously.

"I...I am sorry, miss," he then apologized, "for startling you so. I had no idea." He extended a hand out towards her, retracted it hesitantly as he wondered whether she would flinch at even this gesture, and then extended it out towards her again once he reasoned that it was a helpful gesture that couldn't possibly be interpreted as hostile. "Here, allow me to help you up."

((Kaye is so oblivious XD))

Atalia

"M-miss?" Kaye asked, bewildered. "I...I am sorry, miss," he then apologized, "for startling you so. I had no idea."

Atalia's mouth perked up slightly and she attempted to dust the leaves and dirt off of her dress. "It's quite alright. Just make sure to warn me and I'll be good as gold." The young seer gave a small bobble of her head and listened for a moment as a creek somewhere to their right bubbled and splashed. What she would give to have a sip of that cold water right about now. Almost immediately upon thinking that, her stomach growled, as if saying: "Hey! Pay attention to me too!"

"Here, allow me to help you up." Atalia heard some light rustling in front of her and then felt a slight breeze from the man's hand as he offered to help her up. A small noise of amusement fell from her lips and she outstretched her hand. Upon doing so, she would have no idea, none at all, that she was turned slightly away from him, thus putting her hand out to empty space. When she grasped at nothing, she turned a little in the direction that she thought Kaye was in, but it happened to be that she had in fact just turned completely away from him. She must have looked an odd sight, accepting his offer of help, yet facing backwards with her hand out, patiently waiting.

((I can tell haha xD)

Ahnnie

"It's quite alright. Just make sure to warn me and I'll be as good as gold."

Kaye smiled sheepishly as he offered to make peace for his previous slights. The young woman seemed to have accepted this offer of peace, for she was reaching up to accept his hand...only, she was reaching in the wrong direction. Dismissing that first miss as a little blunder due to having fallen rather violently onto the ground, Kaye waited patiently for her to correct her aim. He watched with a baffled expression as she turned in the opposite direction entirely, holding out her hand as though she were waiting for him to grasp it. "What...?"

He then rounded over to where she held out her hand and grasped it firmly, pulling her up. Blushing a deep beet red, the Thanati-man said as he helped her up, "I'm so sorry miss...I had not realized...um..." That she was blind? Would it have been tactful to say it to her face like that? "Had I known it sooner, I would not have let you fall like that. I'm truly sorry. Here, let me help guide you--it would be unwise to go in unfamiliar places alone."

Atalia

"I'm so sorry miss...I had not realized..um..."

Atalia's lips quivered upwards as she attempted to keep her laughter internalized. The man before her was obviously struggling, and when their hands finally connected and she was lifted up off the ground, the young seer gave his hand a light squeeze before letting it go. "It's okay..You can say it. It doesn't bother me."

"Had I known sooner, I would have not let you fall like that. I'm truly sorry." How strange, all of a sudden the male's temperature rose...Was he blushing? Oh no, he was embarrassed. How adorable. How she knew this...was a mystery actually. She could sense weird things sometimes, and she didn't really try and attempt to question it anymore because all it led to was more questions.

Tilting her head, she blew a small strand of hair away from her face and crossed her arms over her chest. "So..If I hadn't been blind you would have let me fall like that? Tsk, tsk." Atalia mock chided the man, arching a brow. When he offered to guide her out of the area, she hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded her head, wide blue eyes pointed down towards her feet.

Ahnnie

When the red-haired lady said he could speak of her disability frankly, that it didn't bother her, Kaye blushed even deeper and said nothing. It was embarrassing enough that he hadn't realized it upon meeting her. To think he actually attributed all that she did to a skittish nature! He felt foolish and ashamed at the same time, thinking that she must be laughing at him within her mind by now. Thus her next remark caught him by surprise:

"So..If I hadn't been blind you would have let me fall like that? Tsk, tsk."

"Wh-wh-what?? N-no, I only meant that I...I should've shown some consideration..." he stammered, obviously nervous. He wondered what was wrong with him today; it wasn't like him to be so embarrassed about a blunder. Or a lady's jest, for that matter. Shaking the thought away, he noticed the young woman's assenting nod in response to his offer to guide her. Extending his arm out to her, bumping against her arm slightly so that she knew it was there, he said, "In that case, where would you like to go? Do you happen to remember where you entered from?"

Then he inwardly chided himself for asking that question. You idiot, of course she doesn't know! She can't see! But maybe she remembered the general direction? Could she somehow sense the magic of the access point she had gone through? "Ah yes, and what is your name, miss?" Kaye then asked. "Mine is Kaye."

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