Wandering Without Him...And Scared Out of Her Mind (Blue)

[Anonymous]

Satu was merely fooling about--she wasn't serious about the whole "I promise to get lost" thing. She was making a joke with a clerk when she was buying something for Lomion, her lifemate. She had said to him that she didn't know the area. He said I needed a guide.

"I don't need one," she'd said, "I'll be fine."

"You're promising to get lost, young lady," he had warned, the eldery man smell emitting from him.

Then, Satu promised to get lost.

She was in a new land--she just remembered wandering to the North...or South...and ended up here. She had left the village of Ketra behind her by accident. She wanted to go back--Lomion was waiting for her somewhere.

"Help..." Her mind refused to eek from her mouth and her mouth fought her mind until the word stupidly peeped from her lips. Hopefully, he would know she was lost. Lomion knew a lot of things. He was much older than her and knew so much...she thought of him as the smartest person around. "Help?"

[Anonymous]

A small, white-tailed kite sailed overhead, adjusting its wings occasionally to account for the slight changes in the air currents around it. Immature, this kite had only a two foot wingspan, with another foot to go, but was still a rather large bird when compared to creatures such as pigeons or sparrows. Incredibly keen red eyes spot movement in the brush, and the bird â€" well, Kelan, technically, but in his bird form, as he had been for the past few days â€" swooped. Kelan was, unfortunately, not very used to hunting in his bird form. It tended to give him the willies when he changed back into a human; the fact that he had just eaten a mouse or a vole or some other little rodent didn’t sit well with him (often quite literally). Until the past few weeks he had never hunted as a bird, and was still getting used to it.

This would explain why, instead of swooping down and getting what ended up being lizard, Kelan swooped and crashed into a bush. Hopping away indignantly (and still quite hungry), Kelan spotted for the first time a humanoid on the road beside him. How he had managed to miss Satu for so long was a mystery, especially considering his supposedly exceptional raptor eyesight, but he did. Upon noticing her, however, Kelan froze in his place. Honestly, it was incredibly unlikely that she hadn’t seen him crash into the bush, because it wasn’t a very quiet collision, but Kelan seemed to be set in his animal mindset: freeze, and maybe it won’t see you.

[Anonymous]

Despite the fact that Satu didn’t see the poor bird crash, she heard it quite well. She heard a sort of “shoonk� sound when he’d plunged into the brush, which startled her a bit. She pulled out her kamas and looked about, not knowing the sound’s exact origin.

“Who goes?� She asked. Why was she being so…so sensitive lately, anyhow? Was it because she had found her lifemate, someone who had softened a part of her semi-stony heart? Whatever the reason, her scaredy-cat-ness was getting on her last nerve. “Who goes?�

She then noticed something bouncing out of the corner of her eye. What the…? She turned her head slightly and noticed that it was only a bird. A frozen bird. What kind of bird…she had no clue. But she knew it was frightened and put her kamas down.

“Poor thing. You okay there? Huh?â€? She slowly sat down on the road to make sure the bird knew she meant no harmâ€"also to make herself not look so big to the bird. “C’mere, sweetie.â€? She clucked her tongue and held out a hand, beckoning the bird to come closer.

[Anonymous]

Kelan nearly had a little birdy heart attack when the huge person â€" well, not really huge, but he was only a foot tall, so he supposed it was excusable â€" pulled out weapons. His day was just getting better and better by the second. First he missed the lizard, and now this. Then, though the weapons went away, making Kelan feel infinitely better about his immediate security. She ducked down, too, and started making the noises his parents had made to calm him down whenever he, in a panic, changed into his bird form.

Instead of staying frozen, therefore, Kelan hopped a few steps towards Satu and her outstretched hand, waited a moment and cocked his head, looking around, and then hopped a few more steps. It wasn’t really typical bird behavior, but Kelan wasn’t really a typical bird, so that all evened out. He stopped about a foot from the offered hand and tilted his head to the side, red eyes staring suspiciously at the woman (who was, admittedly, much smaller and less threatening than she had been a few moments before). A couple seconds later he let out a tiny noise that sounded oddly like “kreep�, but made no further movements save the cocking of his head.

[Anonymous]

She smiled at the approaching bird and noticed that its eyes were red. Odd for a bird. Were there any birds that had eyes like that? She thought back to all of the times she used to watch birds...not once could she come up with a bird with red eyes. This must've been a new breed.

When it made its "kreep" sound, she beamed at it. She leaned forward a little and lightly stroked its head, praying it wouldn't bite her. "Oh, you're such a sweet bird," she cooed. Her voice wasn't sing-song-y, but rang like a crystal bell. "Here. Look..." She looked in the bag that she had been carrying with her and dug around a moment. She pulled out a half of a loaf of bread and broke off a piece. "I'm not sure if I can eat this stuff anymore, but I'm sure you eat it, right? You're a bird, anyways..."

What was she doing? Was she losing her mind? Talking to a bird...honestly! But maybe it was just a reaction to being separated temporarily from her lifemate. This must have been a way to calm herself down so as to keep from losing it completely.

She thought back to when he had watched her memories, read her mind. She thought of how he had blocked her from touching his mind...maybe if she tried again, he'd know that she was lost...or something like that. She reached as far as she could in her mind, using all of the mind-energy she could.

[Anonymous]

Kelan hopped forward a few more steps, allowing the woman to pat his head and even leaning into it slightly. Yes, he thought happily, I am a sweet bird, aren’t I?</I> Spotting the bread, Kelan snatched it quickly from her hand. He was, admittedly, a bird of prey, but that didn’t mean that his human side enjoyed it. Scuttling away a few feet, Kelan debated internally.

He really should turn back into a human to eat the bread. It would be much better on his digestive system that way, and besides, Kelan hadn’t been human for nearly two weeks â€" a new record for him. He was beginning to think that he would forget how to turn back into his original form, and be stuck as a bird forever. On the plus side of that, though, was the assumption that if he stayed avian long enough, he would eventually get the hang of hunting and figure out the whole landing issue. If he turned into human form, however, the nice lady who had fed him might pull out her weapons again, and Kelan really didn’t deal with threats of any kind. Well, there was always the option of turning back into a kite and flying away if something bad happened.

Thusly decided, Kelan hopped a few more steps, behind the bush that he had originally crashed into, and transformed. He popped his head out a few seconds later, still-red eyes peeking warily at the seemingly distracted woman â€" what was she doing, anyway? â€" and nervously skimming the surrounding area. Kelan as a human looked surprisingly like Kelan as a bird, with an incredibly delicate face, pale skin, and nearly white hair. Clutching the bread that he had been given a few moments before, Kelan ripped off a tiny chunk and began chewing it slowly, fighting the urge to gobble it all down â€" it had, after all, been quite a while since he’d had anything other than rodent or lizard.

[Anonymous]

The bird snatched up the bread so quickly that it startled her a little. Satu smiled and set another piece on the ground beside her if he decided to return. She noticed suddenly that her eyes had been closed. Possibly because she was trying to contact Lomion.

Maybe he forgot about her already.

She shook her head. Ridiculous. Lifemates don’t forget one another; she hadn’t forgotten about him…

She looked to where the bird had gotten to and tilted her head. “Odd bird, that one…â€? She would’ve investigated, but she was too busy trying to locateâ€"“Lomion!â€? She figured she might as well…maybe he was nearby. “Lomion!â€? She stood and cupped her hands, calling his name.

Where was he? Better yet, where was she?

(Sorry. Crappy post. >.<)

[Anonymous]

Kelan chanced another move when he finished the bread, only a few seconds later. Edging forward around the bush, he suddenly realized that it wasn’t really a good idea. He was slightly more conspicuous in his human form than his bird form, and if she had noticed him in his bird form, then she would probably almost definitely see him in all his five foot glory, too.

But there was bread…

His stomach rumbled angrily, and Kelan shushed it, although in truth his shushing was much louder than the sound his stomach had made. Patting it gently (There there, you’ll have food in a minute, food that isn’t living</I>), Kelan crouched and inched towards the food again, waiting until he was only a few feet away. His hand shot out, reaching hopefully towards it, as he glanced nervously up at the figure above him.

((Hm, I was debating whether or not that sort of forced you to not see him until a certain point, or only act a certain way, or whatever. I hope not. It's early. >_<))

[Anonymous]

((Nah, you're fine. ^-^))

Satu's ears suddenly caught a tinny sounding...sound. It sounded like a tree's leaves hissing in the breeze, but...there was barely any breeze about. Was it a person? Or just her imagination? "Lomion, hurry soon..."

She heard something making its way towards her and merely thought it was the bird. Instead, what appeared beside her, was a hand. The appearance of it was so abrupt that it scared her silly, making her drop the rest of the bread and scramble to the other side of the road.

"Who goes?" She demanded. She noticed her kamas weren't in their holds, but on the ground in front of the hand. "Show yourself if you mean no harm."

[Anonymous]

As the woman â€" who seemed almost as afraid of Kelan as he was of her â€" scrambled across the road, Kelan fled as well. He only managed to make it a few steps back before realizing that yes, she had dropped perfectly good bread, and it was just lying there, out on the road, waiting patiently for any wild, rabid critter to just wander up and take it. Kelan, as it happened, was the wild, rabid critter at this point in time, scurrying forward the few feet that he had just lost and snatching the bread up.

“Three second rule,� he muttered quietly to himself, dusting the bread off. Realizing that he had practically just stolen someone’s food, however, made Kelan scowl. Smoothing his features slightly (he wasn’t very good at it), Kelan extended the bread in the general direction of Satu. “Um… sorry I scared you,� he said quietly, voice cracking a bit from disuse. “I just… missed the lizard.�

[Anonymous]

Noticing his fright, Satu tilted her head e’er so slightly. Why was he running from her? If anything, she should be running from himâ€"despite his size. She watched as he muttered the words “Three Second Ruleâ€? to himself as he scrambled for the loaf of bread.

She blinked when he tried to hand it back to her. She merely pushed the loaf towards him. “Take it. I don’t need it.� She smiled at him, noticing his voice. It sounded as if it were still being pulled into the manhood stages. She scooted over towards the kamas, keeping him in her sight, and slowly picked them up and placed them back in their holds.

“Where…? How…? I thought you were a bird.� What a dumb thing to say…

[Anonymous]

Surprised, Kelan pulled the bread back towards him and ripped off another piece, trying to be polite and shove it in his mouth at the same time. It didn’t work well, and Kelan ended up having, quite literally, bitten off more than he could chew. He tried to swallow several times, and by the time he finally managed, his face was bright red. It only flushed more at her next comment, and Kelan squirmed a bit uncomfortably, eyes darting around but never really staying on Satu.

“Well, that’s because I was. Because I was hungry, and I can’t find things as a person, and even if I could I wouldn’t be fast enough to catch them, although I really don’t even know why I try since I can’t manage to catch them as a bird either, and â€"“ Kelan stopped himself with a jerk, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, I blather.â€? Blather, really, wasn’t the right word. Kelan had a chronic, incredibly severe case of verbal diarrhea. When no one talked to him, he would feel the need to fill the silence with conversation, and had been known to just keep talking for hours at a time.

“Oh!� he exclaimed, as if recalling something important. Which he kind of was, although most people woudn't consider it so. “Where are my manners? I’m Kelan.� He extended a hand, but continued talking anyways. “Although really, I don’t know if I should bother with manners at this point, since I practically stole your bread and all…� He remembers the bread at this point, and manages to stop talking to take another bite.

[Anonymous]

She listened to him patiently, smiling at his every word. When he mentioned that he "blathered," she waved a hand at him. "It's all right. I'm the exact same way." She understood where he was coming from--she'd felt an uneasy pause in their conversation coming and was hoping that either she or he would think of something to say.

He beat her to the punch by declaring he was a bird and so forth.

She blinked as he offered her his hand and smiled. She gently took his hand with her own. "Satu Mitsumi. A pleasure to meet you," she said quietly.

She heard voices down the road as Kelan ate more of the bread and turned her head towards the noises. Two men, it sounded like--and they both sounded quite rough. She put her hands behind her back, lacing her fingers together. She had to be ready--and having her hands behind her back meant that she could retrieve her kamas faster than ever.

The men scaled the horizon of the road and stopped at the sight of them. "Wha's this?" Asked one. He looked familiar..."Didn' I see you somewhe'a?"

"Him?" She asked hopefully.

"Not him, princess--you." She winced at the pet name. "Oi, Barthus...doesn't she ring a bell?"

Barthus, a tall, broad-shouldered man with stubble on every part of his square chin, stepped forward and circled her. Satu, however, turned with him, making sure he couldn't see her kamas. "Not really--"

"--Hey! What're those?" Drat! She'd forgotten the other one was standing there. Her back was to Barthus' partner...her identity was revealed. "Sickles?"

"Y-yes, sir! I'm the daughter of a farmer, and he wanted me to be safe, that's all...sir."

"Lemme see 'em."

"What?"

"Lemme see 'em, girl."

Barthus watched her with intensity as she backed away, backed away from Barthus and his partner, from Kelan, from the road, into the surrounding brush. "Go on, girl! Wha's your problem, eh? Givvim the sickles."

She was yea close to being home free--if she hadn't've fallen flat on her face. The two men had a good laugh as they pulled her to her feet--and pulled a kama out of its hold. Barthus yelped and dropped the kama and his partner pulled out a sword of his. "What is your name, girl?"

"I have none!" She had done this several times before.

"Don't toy with me! Wha's your name?"

"Better yet, what's your alias?"

Standing there in the dark green brush, she remained silent. She picked up the kama on the ground, pulled the other from its hold, and held the blades close to her face, the points facing away from her, in the shape of a menacing cross. The blades let off a light that gave her an ominous look...and she smiled.
That smile was there to tell them everything. "Who do you think, sir?" The men stared at her. "Aren't you going to be on your way?" Hesitantly, they scrambled off, watching her all the while.

She put her kamas away and looked for Kelan from the corner of her eye. She was sure she'd scared him away by now...