We'll be the best of friends [ Paladienne ]

SanctifiedSavage · November 25, 2018, 02:01:21 AM

Tuyet would never understand his sense of obligation, not really. She only liked to be around people who were nice to her, and thus far... that did not seem to be the case. But because he had told her how she could help, Tuyet was quite happy and willing to do just that. She smiled sweetly at Rhyske and moved to mirror his own placement, on the other side of his mother.

She wasn't heavy to the shapeshifter. Tuyet likely could've carried the woman, but she didn't offer. It was better that she help and not overstep any bounds that might further upset her new friend.

When he made mention that they'd be having an adventure, her ears perked up more so and she nodded, though did so in a way that did not jostle his mother. This was important to him, so she was careful. Mindful. Accepting most of the weight, if she could.

"I think an adventure would be fun. Have you been on many? What do you do with your mother when you go on an adventure?" The questions were said quick, but quiet. Like she was afraid she might wake up his mother by speaking too loud. Which, as far as she was concerned, might very well happen.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · November 25, 2018, 11:26:03 AM

Rhyske sighed as some of the burden of his mother was lifted off his shoulders. Having help with her, that actually made him feel a little happy. Maybe Ayami wouldn't be so bad to have around. Actually having another set of arms and another pair of eyes would help when it came to taking care of his mother and making sure she was safe. That they were both safe. Rhyske still didn't know what to do with Ayami, nor what really to say to her, but she seemed content enough to do whatever he asked her to do. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help, but at the same time, Rhyske thought he sensed an air of separation from her, as if she was there but not there. Like she'd rather be doing something else than doing what he'd asked of her. But since she didn't show any sign of wanting to leave, nor did she seem to show any sign of not wanting to do as he'd told her - after all, she'd made the offer, why wouldn't he take her up on it? - then Rhyske wasn't about to complain.

And, more so, it was nice to have someone to talk to who didn't yell at him or throw things at him or hit him or whatever else because he was too loud or too quiet or, or, or.

At her questions, Rhyske took a moment to think about his answer. After all, she was being quite accommodating to him, and he didn't want to make her angry or upset her by answering her flippantly or by lying. He glanced a Rubiyah and found that she was in her typical fugue state after consuming so much food - or not enough, he never was sure - so even if an explosion happened in her face, she'd never notice.

"Um, well," Rhyske started, "I don't know how many I've been on. I've been wandering around ever since I was born. I've been to a lot of cities and towns and villages. They're all different, but they have enough similarities that you could walk into one village and find all the same things in the same places as the last village you just left. Usually, I try to earn money when we're in villages. You kinda need money in order to travel around and make sure you can buy food and things like that. Clothes. Shoes."

He tilted his head to one side so he could try and see her on the other side of his mother. "As far as real adventures, I can't say I've ever experienced those. I've never met a dragon or a pirate or a werewolf. I've never seen Ketra. I've never sailed the ocean. About the only exciting thing that's ever happened to me is being chased out of somewhere by angry villagers and trying not to get caught stealing."

Rhyske turned his gaze away from the red-haired cat girl and focused on the road ahead. "As for Mother... she goes with me. Or she drags me with her. I carry her when she's like this. When I go out to work, she usually stays in bed at an inn or in a tavern eating everything in sight."

Rhyske realized his answers probably weren't what Ayami wanted to hear, but they were the only ones he had for her. He did sometimes wish to lead a more exciting life than the one he was leading now, but he loved his mother, and he didn't want to leave her behind. He didn't want to leave her somewhere and then learn something terrible befell her. He knew that she already was hanging by a thread, and had seemed to be for some time, and he didn't know how much longer she would be around. That idea both enthralled and frightened him, because on one hand, he'd finally be free of his mother and get to do whatever he wanted to do and go wherever he wanted to go, but on the other, he would be alone. Lost. Adrift with no anchor and nothing familiar.

That he could survive on his own, he was certain.

But... he wasn't sure if he could deal with being alone.

SanctifiedSavage · December 06, 2018, 04:21:16 PM

Because her memory was so flawed, there wasn't much that Yin could compare to what he said. Villages were villages - that she could agree on, but as to their composition and placement of things, she had never made the connection that they might be roughly the same. Every village was sort of new to her. When he spoke, though, she was quite interested in what he would say. Though Yin wasn't aware, she rather lived through the people she connected to. The people she became attached to. She couldn't remember anything, but they could. They could tell her about things and share experiences, in their own way.

Wanting to be helpful, Yin added, "I can help you get food, and clothes, and shoes." With no concept that stealing was really, really bad, she actually quite enjoyed pilfering things and trying not to get caught. Small things were quite easy, when she was a cat, and if it would help her new friend, all the better.

When he listed the things he hadn't done, she nodded a little. "Maybe we could go see those things together? Since there are two of us, we could watch your mother and still see the coast, hm? The ocean? Or a boat? Maybe?" It was all a suggestion because she really didn't know what he felt he could do and what he felt he couldn't. Then, perking up a little more, Yin offered, "I could always watch her for a little bit if you wanted to ride a boat." That's what friends did, right? Helped one another out.

Then, idly murmuring to herself, she said, "It isn't bad camping out though, hm? Maybe sleeping outside. Especially when you're not alone."

@Paladienne

Paladienne · December 09, 2018, 02:51:36 PM

Rhyske smirked and would have laughed out loud if he thought she wouldn't take it the wrong way. Of course, he probably could've laughed, and Ayami wouldn't know the difference between genuine laughter and self-deprecating laughter. She would just see him laughing and probably join in, even though she had no clue why he was doing what he was doing. She seemed awfully simple that way. But her offer... her offer, whether it was given in jest or in seriousness, made that smirk of his turn into a soft, almost indulgent smile.

"I... I don't really have any plans, you know?" he said at last, looking toward her. "I just go where she wants to go. And usually, she doesn't really know where she wants to go, either. I mean, I doubt Mother would even recognize any direction we chose to go in, so we could go somewhere we've never been before." Rhyske looked away from Ayami then, focusing on the road ahead. He hardly knew her, but traveling with someone was the best way to get to know them, right? Sure. "We could go to the ocean, if you wanted to go with me. We could find some kind of adventure to go on. I don't know what, though. Usually, I just try to make sure I have money so Mother can eat and have a decent place to sleep. But we're going to run out of that before long, and right now, there's not another town for at least a day and a half."

He felt quiet as he listened to her soft mumbling and when he smiled this time, it was amused. He showed Ayami a little bit of teeth, and a look of pure happiness came over his face, transforming his features into something handsome. "And camping out isn't bad at all. It can be fun. There's all sorts of things you can do. But it can be dangerous if you don't take the proper precautions. In the wild, beasts and monsters roam, and they might see someone like us as an easy snack."

SanctifiedSavage · December 10, 2018, 09:03:41 PM

She didn't even notice the weight of the other woman. The shapeshifting cat might as well be walking down the road with a bag of feathers. Her attention wandered toward the sky while she contemplated the things that her new friend had to say. In an odd way, it made Ayami a little sad. Not because he said he didn't have any plans - she never did so why should he? But mostly because everything predicated on whatever his nonsensical mother wanted. Since she didn't understand the familial bond that tethered him to the unresponsive woman, it just saddened her to think that he might be missing out on something he couldn't even name because of something she couldn't comprehend.

When Rhyske mentioned that they could go to the ocean, though, she turned her attention back to him with a small smile. "We could. And find a boat. Big enough for both of you. I can catch you fish!" That, she knew how to do. So long as the water wasn't too deep. Ayami knew how to swim, but cleaning herself afterwards was just a mess she didn't want to have to deal with.

At the mention of monsters out and about, though, another frown touched her lips. "Monsters? What manner of monsters?" Nothing had ever bothered her, as far as she could remember. That was the kicker though, wasn't it? There could've been all manner of monsters she'd ran into in her past, she just didn't remember them. Nor did she have the knowledge of forgetting. With that came a certain sort of pure innocence in that regard. Either way, she was quick to add, "We shall camp together and it won't be bad at all." She knew that much, at least.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · December 16, 2018, 03:10:47 PM

Rhyske smiled at Ayami, uncertain of how to respond to her. Getting a boat? Was she serious? He assumed she was, considering her expression. He wished that he could figure her out somehow, but she seemed to be that one enigma that kept changing before you had ever solved the final clue. Every time Rhyske thought he had figured her out, or at least figured out some angle to explore, Ayami tossed a wrench into it and made him reassess that angle. It wasn't difficult, really. Rhyske was used to making mental leaps and bounds, but he wasn't used to making them with another person, or because of another person. There were things that were familiar and that he was used to; Ayami was neither of those, and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with her.

But he figured, the longer she stuck with him, the closer to understanding her he would come. At least until she got bored with him and decided to go her own way. He wasn't sure how long that would take, but he was certain she'd get bored eventually. Once she did, he assumed life would continue on as it always had. But until that day came, until it actually happened, Rhyske had to deal with Ayami and what she represented.

"Camping isn't so bad. It's finding food that's the hardest part, if you aren't prepared. Eating things out in the wild could have terrible consequences." Rhyske said. "Drinking the water could be dangerous, too. So, you have to be prepared as best you can. But, sometimes, you're never as prepared as you could be."

He didn't know why he was explaining anything to her. But he often talked to himself under pretense of talking to his mother while they traveled, especially if she was in one of her catatonic states. Having someone to talk to who could actually answer back and seemed to want to answer back, that was a luxury Rhyske didn't often have.

"So, Ayami," Rhyske said after a stretch of silence. "Did you want to pick the campsite? We can make some good distance today, if we keep walking, but we'll eventually have to find a place to shelter in. We'll have to build a fire, so we can have something for dinner."

SanctifiedSavage · December 23, 2018, 02:05:30 PM

Yin nodded as Rhyske explained some of the aspects of camping. There were things that Yin instinctively knew, as a cat, that kept her from vomiting her brains out from eating the wrong thing. Luckily. So, she said with a fair degree of confidence, "I could hunt something for us!" Granted, the sort of things that Yin was likely to hunt down were small things : squirrel, chipmunk, mice, and maybe a rabbit. She might be able to change into a cat at will, but the size of the cat never changed.

The idea of a fire, though. That was a novelty. Yin never had a fire. At least, she never remembered having a fire. The idea that water might be bad, too, was a strange one. Yin would bow to his superior knowledge of such things, though. He clearly knew far more about camping than she ever would.

When Rhyske asked if she wanted to pick a place for them to stop, she looked around. Trying to figure out what would make a good spot, not just for her, but for her new friend and his odd mother. Some place sheltered, probably? Because that was always important to her. Yin would also sometimes sleep up in a tree, but she doubted that he would want to find a way to balance his mother on a branch.

Could Rhyske even sleep in a tree himself?

Yin didn't like sleeping on the road because people were there, and she didn't like being around them when she slept. So she gestured, with a tilt of her head, toward a small copse of trees a bit off the beaten path. "Somewhere in there?" It seemed a bit hidden, which was what she liked, but that didn't mean it was actually a good camping spot.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · December 30, 2018, 03:53:29 PM

"That works," Rhyske said, moving toward the area she had pointed out. The copse would keep them well-hidden from the road, and it would keep people from seeing them inadvertently. Perhaps, even, it would keep predators from seeing them and deciding they were easy prey. Rhyske wasn't sure if the beasts of the area would think they were food, considering they never had before, but he knew desperate things often took chances they otherwise wouldn't, especially if they hadn't eaten in a long while.

When he reached the copse, he settled his mother on the ground and stood over her, studying her for a while. Then Rhyske moved to start gathering firewood and tinder and built up a small triangular tower of wood. He didn't light it yet, though, as there was still enough light for him to see by. But he had it ready, for when it became too dark and they needed the light of the fire to see, and maybe, even to cook. When that was finished, he turned toward Ayami and gave her a small smile.

"Well, now that that's done, should we go looking for something to eat out there in the wild?" Rhyske swung his pack off his shoulder and set it beside his mother, moving then to cover her with a blanket he removed from the bag. It wouldn't do much to protect her if she were attacked, but it would keep her warm, and perhaps give her the illusion that someone was holding her, so she wouldn't wake up and freak out that she was alone. "We can go see what things there might be. Mushrooms, edible plants... maybe we can even find something meaty."

He checked his knives, then moved toward the edge of the copse, turning back to look at Ayami. "Unless you wanted to stay here, which is fine. I'll be back in a little while."

SanctifiedSavage · March 19, 2019, 11:05:04 AM

When her new friend approved of her suggestion, Tuyet immediately smiled. Quite proud of her suggestion. This was new to her – as many things were – but it still warmed her that she was picking up on it really quick. Forming attachments might come quick, but they were still very real and she was trying to do her best for him and his mother – even if she didn't understand the attachment he had for his mother.

Tuyet helped get his mother into position then watched, curious, as Rhyske started gathering up bits of wood, leaves, and... well, what she considered scraps. It only took a moment before she moved to do the same, copying his action. Picking up sticks, leaves, bits of moss, and even dead shrubbery that had fallen off. When he was done creating his odd little pile, she had a small pile herself nearby.

When he made mention of hunting, she glanced around before nodding some. Birds, squirrels, rabbits... Those were the sorts of things that Tuyet commonly chased after. While he dug around in his pack, she easily shifted into her cat form. He had said hunting, so that meant she should go hunting! Seemed simple enough. When he turned around to ask if she wanted to stay, Tuyet was already gone. She wanted to further be helpful!

The oddly colored cat stalked through the steadily darkening underbrush, picking up the scent and sound of ground mice and squirrel retiring for the night. That would have been enough for her, for the night, but there were two of them. That meant she should try for something bigger. A rabbit would be perfect, and they would be foraging in the gloom of evening.

It didn't take her long to find one, and fight to bring it down, then return to the spot with her catch. Hopefully he'd be as happy with the rabbit as he had been with the spot she'd chosen! She sat near the pile of sticks she'd gathered with the rabbit she killed.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · March 24, 2019, 02:16:45 PM

Rhyske blinked when he found his newfound shadow suddenly missing. He wondered if she'd just wandered off, but then, considering how attached to him she'd been, that wasn't likely. He noticed the pile of leaves and sticks that she'd made, and realized that she'd made the pile in mimicry of his. He shook his head. He wasn't going to ignite a second fire, if that's what she was thinking. But he supposed he could convince her that her pile could be the spare stuff that they could add to the blaze to keep it from going out.

With flint in hand, Rhyske pulled his knife from its sheath and set the steel against the pile he'd made. With quick motions, he struck the flint against the steel, trying to create a shower of sparks that would ignite the tinder. He kept at it for some time, striking over and over again until the sparks finally caught on the leaves, then he dropped low and breathed gently over the fledgling flames until they started to grow. When they began to consume the pile of tinder, Rhyske added more sticks to the pile, doing his best not to smother the flames but feed them. Soon, he had a decent campfire going, big enough to provide light in the growing dark, keep them warm, and cook their food.

Speaking of food...

Rhyske turned around to begin to gather things he could use to hunt, when he spotted a strangely colored cat trotting back over toward him. Considering he'd seen it before, he recognized it as Ayami immediately, and he realized that she must have gone hunting when he'd mentioned it before.

Well, maybe having her around wouldn't be so bad after all, especially if she could catch things in only a handful of minutes that it would likely take Rhyske hours to catch, if he was lucky.

When she dropped the rabbit by her pile of sticks and looked at him, Rhyske couldn't help the smirk that etched itself onto his face. "Not bad. Although it helps if you tell me where you're going next time, so I don't get worried about you."

He didn't want to make her feel bad, and he in turn felt a little selfish in the fact that he'd missed her a little bit after all he'd done to try and make her go away. He was a jerk. He'd been self-reliant for so long that having someone else around who could actually do something was unthinkable. He didn't want to get used to his cat-shadow being there, only to have her vanish to parts unknown and then miss her fiercely. That wasn't fair to Ayami.

"I take it that's dinner?" Rhyske asked, indicating the rabbit. It was a fair size, with a decent amount for two, no matter what form Ayami decided to wear. "Should I cook your share too, or do you prefer raw?"

SanctifiedSavage · March 27, 2019, 10:26:31 AM

It pleased Yin immensely when her friend was pleased with her catch. Her ears perked forward and she sat up straighter. It also warmed her, though she couldn't say why, that he might worry if she were gone. That was a good sign, was it not?

Yin shifted fluidly, the form of her girl-self replacing the oddly colored cat quickly. Though she was still sitting. Her ears perked forward as she contemplated. "Cooked?" It really didn't matter, but she couldn't cook on her own, so it seemed like a good opportunity to both have something new and watch him do it. "And I will remember to tell you if I leave." To the best of her ability, of course.

Then, her attention wandered to the fire he started, so she crawled a little closer so she could study it. The construction of the fire was beyond Yin, but she hoped what she had gathered would be useful. Never mind how pretty and warm it was! She had slept next to other people's campfires before, but she'd never had one that might be considered hers before – not to her memory – nor a camp that she'd help set up. It was oddly heartening. "You know so much," she murmured, the fire catching her amber eyes when she glanced his way. "How did you learn it all?" It seemed incomprehensible to her that his... mother... could have taught him much of anything.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · March 31, 2019, 02:16:01 PM

Rhyske tried not to laugh at her apparent eagerness. She held the air of a child about her, but also seemed very worldly. She wasn't like anything he'd ever encountered before. Of course, he wasn't like anything most people have encountered before.

"Be careful," Rhyske said, when she began to get closer to the fire. "You don't want to get burned. That's pretty hot, and it could really hurt you."

He reached for the rabbit and began to prepare it for cooking, somewhat expertly gutting the creature and skinning it. When it was ready, he took some of the wood that they had gathered and began to skewer the meat, leaning it upright against the rocks he'd gathered to ring the fire in.

As the fire cooked their dinner, Rhyske found himself watching Ayami, fascinated by her fascination with the fire. Then, when she looked toward him and asked her question, Rhyske found himself rocking back on his his heels - figuratively, not literally. Her question was one he'd heard before, but in different ways.

Most people assumed he was much younger than he actually was - something that he felt Ayami must have done, considering her question - and often believed that he couldn't do anything on his own. He looked like he was in his early teens, but more accurately, he was only a little over one hundred years old. Rhyske didn't debate it with anyone; he just accepted it. People weren't used to seeing someone like him, and that was just fine. Oh, they might know an elf for an elf, but there were so many kinds of elves, just like there were so many kinds of humans. To a human, all elves looked the same. To elves, all humans looked the same. It just was.

Rhyske looked toward his mother where she lay on the ground, oblivious to everything. Then he looked back toward Ayami. "By watching," he said. It was the simple truth, but extremely loaded with so many nuances and innuendos that it couldn't be summed up as neatly as he'd said it. "My mother, believe it or not, actually taught me most of everything I know. She wasn't always like that. And other things I learned over the years, either by being taught by someone else or figuring out for myself."

His gaze went to the fire then, staring into its golden depths. "There's still a lot I don't know, though." he said softly. "Maybe one day I'll learn everything there is to know."

SanctifiedSavage · April 09, 2019, 04:01:54 PM

Tuyet watched her new friend when he explained, to her surprise, that his comatose mother was actually the source of most of his knowledge. Eventually, she smiled and simply accepted it. The cat wouldn't have a solid argument and she didn't think he'd lie. There was no reason for it.

She crouched with her arms resting on her knees, watching the meat cook. It smelt wonderful. She'd not realized that she was actually hungry until it'd caught her nose.

"Do you think you could teach me?" Tuyet looked from the cooking meat to her new friend. She couldn't remember having anyone she could talk to like this and she definitely didn't know how to construct a fire. Cooking seemed easy enough once the fire was made. Put the meat on some sticks. "I promise to watch." If that was the secret to it, then Tuyet could certainly promise as much. Her attention didn't easily wander, not when there was something she actually wanted to do.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · April 14, 2019, 05:17:06 AM

Rhyske blinked at her request. Teach her? Why would she want him to teach her? Shouldn't she know how to do all this already? After all, she was a cat. A cat-girl. She didn't need him to teach her anything. But then he realized that maybe she didn't know, that the skills she knew as a cat couldn't translate over to her as a girl. Besides, what was the harm in teaching her what he knew? It was nice to have someone to ask him to do something for once, and she was easy enough to get along with. Besides that, if she were going to travel with him for a long while, it wouldn't hurt to have someone else around who could build fires and skin animals and prepare meals. That way, he could focus on his mother and not have to worry whether he'd go hungry or be cold at night. Having someone else there... it was a lure of paradise.

"Sure, I can teach you."

He reached for the meat on the sticks, turning them as the meat cooked. "This is the easy part, once you get them on the sticks or a flat rock that's been heated up by the fire. Try not to touch the flames; they'll really hurt you if you do. That's why you lean the sticks against rocks, like this. That way the flames reach all of it without burning away all the good stuff." Rhyske pointed at each aspect as he talked, ensuring that Ayami was watching. He smiled as he spoke, finding that he actually enjoyed talking to her.

When the meat was done, he showed her how to make sure that it was ready to eat, so that she wouldn't get sick by eating raw flesh. Of course, he didn't know if she could eat raw and be fine, but as she said, she was willing to learn.

He bit into his meat, making a soft noise of pleasure as the juices flowed over his tongue. "Be careful," he said after swallowing. "It's still pretty hot."

SanctifiedSavage · April 14, 2019, 06:37:02 PM

Yin sat cross legged as she watched him, talking about cooked meat. Something she'd obviously had before but had never cooked herself. Yin just ate what she caught when she was a cat, raw. It'd been how she'd fed herself when there was no one else. The sheer novelty of having someone just talk to her and explain something so seemingly trivial was nice.

A small smile tugged at her mouth while she watched and listened.

When it was done, there was a childish, genuine excitement of a lesson learned and a job well done. Hunting was something she was good at, after all, and it was nice to see that something she'd done had turned into something beneficial for both of them. A cooked meal.

He wasn't lying about it being pretty hot though. Holding the stick gingerly, she nipped at it, blew on it, and tried again before deciding just to wait. She could see the steam curling away from the hot meat, which idly fascinated her for a moment.

Then, while she watched her meal cool, she asked, "What is the one thing you want to learn most?" Her eyes narrowed before she tried to take another bite, chewing noisily because it was still a little hot but it did taste quite good.

@Paladienne

Paladienne · April 21, 2019, 02:05:08 PM

Rhyske contemplated her question for a long while, slowly chewing as he ate his meal. His blue eyes stared into the flickering flames, as if trying to peer through them to the other side. His gaze followed the cracks in the burning wood, studying the dark glowing orange of the embers as if the answer he was seeking would appear within them. He honestly didn't know what to tell her. What was the one thing he wanted to learn the most? How could he answer that with just one simple word?

Rhyske finally turned his attention to Ayami, watching her eat her meal. She was chewing with her mouth open, breathing out to try and cool the meat and keep it from burning her tongue, all the while trying to keep it in her mouth and not lose the bite. It was kind of amusing, and it reminded him of a time when he was far younger and his mother wasn't so... like she was now. When she actually gave him care and love before some kind of switch flipped and he was suddenly the one taking care of himself and her.

Why was this question so hard?

He turned his attention to the form of his mother, still beyond the light of the fire, wrapped up in whatever it was that was plaguing her mind. She wasn't moving, but Rhyske knew she wasn't asleep. Whatever she was, it wasn't like she was going to be joining the conversation any time soon. But, studying her, Rhyske realized the question wasn't so hard to answer after all. One word summed up everything quite simply.

With a small smile, Rhyske answered, "I don't think there's just one thing... I think... Everything. I want to learn everything the most. Everything I can, about everything. Personal things, of course. Like who my father was, where he came from, why he left us. And I want to know where my mother came from and why she is the way she is. But I also want to know why the stars turn and why the seasons change, and how big the world actually is. If there are other places filled with other people."

He fell quiet for a moment, and then looked at Ayami. "What about you? What is it you want to know?"

SanctifiedSavage · July 06, 2019, 10:46:09 AM

Ayami continued to eat noisily while the meat was still pretty hot. Fully unaware she looked a little young and foolish doing so. It wasn't all that often anyone had given her food so fresh and she was just enjoying it, in the moment.

When he did answer her, though, she paused to give Rhyske her full attention. Everything sounded like... a lot. She blinked and shook her head a little, trying to even comprehend how someone could even hope to learn everything. Taking his answer rather literal. However, she did smile and declare, pointing a little with her meat stick, "I shall help you in your huge quest to learn everything!" That felt right. It felt good.

Ayami took another bite, this one cooler so not as loud. When he asked, though, she scrunched up her face in contemplation. What did she want to know?

"I want to know what is wrong with your mother." That was the thing bothering her the most, at the moment. What was wrong with the odd lady and why did Rhyske feel so attached to her even though she didn't seem to do anything for him. Granted, Ayami didn't know how to express all of that in words. So, the simplest answer was she wanted to know what was wrong with the woman.

Question answered, Ayami resumed enthusiastically eating.

Paladienne · July 07, 2019, 02:44:15 PM

Rhyske stared at Ayami for the longest time, unsure of how to answer her question. She wanted to know what was wrong with his mother. Well, that was great, because so did he. His mother hadn't started acting this way until he'd gotten old enough to take care of himself, as if some kind of switch had been flipped and their roles had been reversed.

"It's... not like this all the time," Rhyske said at last. "But just enough that it's... I dunno how to describe it. It's strange. Weird. Unusual."

He lowered his skewer and looked into the fire. His face was pensive, his eyes narrowed as he tried to order his thoughts to better explain himself to her. "My mother... wasn't always like this. In my earliest memories, she cared for me. She loved me. She took care of me. She was always smiling, always happy. It was like nothing could take away this light she radiated with. But then... it was like something happened between the moment I was a helpless child reliant upon her for every little thing and the moment when I became a little more independent. She became like that." Rhyske gestured toward the form of his mother beyond the firelight. "The problem is, I don't know what happened. I don't know what caused the shift. But I know if I leave her, something terrible is going to happen. Something... I don't think could be stopped. But I don't think I can honestly answer why I choose to stay, either. She's my mother. I love her. She brought me into this world and stayed by my side when she could have abandoned me. What kind of child would I be if I ignored everything she's done for me and struck out on my own?"

Rhyske shook his head and began eating again, though it was mechanical and not because he was enjoying the taste. He wasn't sure why, but Ayami's words bothered him. He knew she didn't mean any insult by them, and was only expressing her curiosity in the only way she seemed to know how.